TwinIon

I've actually put a decent amount of time into No Man's Sky since the update, but none of it in VR. I started a new save from scratch and I've gotten much further than my original save. The increased stack size of Beyond is an incredible improvement to the game, to the point that it's bewildering to me that it took so long for them to do. I've largely been enjoying the game, and I appreciate all that they've added to it, but it's still a really messy game. Obviously it's a game about discovery, but intentionally or not, it's a game where you largely have to discover the basic gameplay mechanics as you go along. So many things that make incredible differences are either never explained, explained in entirely optional quests, or relegated to occasional tips that you might not get for dozens of hours, and might not even notice when they do pop up. It makes a quite impressive game into an often frustrating experience. Then there are the little quality of life issues that I can hardly believe have survived through years of refinement. How is it that learning languages takes so long, or that I have to sit through the exact same text conversations with every freaking alien to learn a new word? Why in the world can't I just sell a ship, and why isn't there any kind of ship market? Why is it that low level resources maintain such prominence forever? (I can be building the most advanced tech ever, have thousands of refined materials, but still need to go find more ferrite dust for some metal plates. Why not just let me build 5 of them from a couple pure ferrite instead?) There are also some pretty significant issues with the larger direction of the game. Why is it that the vast majority of in game progress is marked by storage space? How is it that this game about exploration is also trying so hard to keep me in the same place? Why is it that the only real barriers to exploration are resource consumption? After just a couple hours you have everything you need to go pretty much anywhere and do pretty much anything. On the one hand it's great, but at the same time, it makes the gameplay loop rather unsatisfying. Again, I've put a bunch of hours into the game now and I've largely enjoyed it, but I think my time with the game is reaching an end. I was playing to level up my stuff so that I could go do cool things around the galaxy, but I think I've experienced pretty much everything in the process of getting more stuff. The sandbox of NMS is unparalleled, but it's still a really disjointed experience.

That's what Jeremy Corbyn said they should do after the vote today: Part of the problem with a second vote is there isn't really a plan to vote on. The thing that makes sense to me is that you put forward a plan that has already been approved by both the UK and EU, but the only such plan has proven historically unpopular. I can only imagine the imaginary deal that Johnson would want to put on the ballot. Still, it does seem like the obvious choice. Perhaps the biggest problem with the original referendum is that no one really knew what leaving the EU would be like, and most of the arguments for leaving where incredibly dishonest.

I doubt we'll see that many exclusives on this next gen. Sony/MS exclusives yes, but I doubt we'll see many PS5 only games for a while, if ever. I think that'll be especially true on the Xbox side. Given't Microsoft's strategy it's hard to imagine them cutting off the One X or even the OG X for a while. They'll do their best to push what the new hardware can do, but I think we'll see support for the various X consoles for a while.

We did look at the Bolt, and it just feels so much like a toy rather than a real car. In particular there is a lot of cheap feeling shiny plastic. I completely agree about the Model 3. We looked at them as well, and for the price it's what I'd buy. I have some issues with it, in particular the lack of physical controls, but it's a purpose built EV that feels like a $45k car. Though, you can't get the full federal tax credit with either the Bolt or the Tesla, which is a shame. In the end though, this is my wife's car, so if she wants a Niro, that's what we'll get.

In a way, this might not be a terrible thing for those that oppose a no-deal Brexit. It pushes the opposition into high gear more than a month early. We could find out next week if the votes in parliament exist to pass legislation stopping a no-deal Brexit. I'm no expert, and I wouldn't personally bet on such legislation happening, but I do feel like such a sudden and harsh attack on the role of parliament might be more likely to produce such legislation than just leaving them alone.

I suppose already paying for the AMC subscription makes a big difference in my willingness. One ticket to The Matrix alone is $20.

I really wish this was some kind of actual break between Trump and Fox, but in the end they both know all too well that they need each other. A few mean tweets won't stop Fox being a propaganda outlet, and aside from some weird YouTube nonsense there isn't going to be a more Trump approved broadcaster anytime soon. I'd love to see them actually at each other's throats for an extended period. I'm honestly not even sure who needs who more at this point, but my instinct is that Trump probably needs Fox more. Trump routinely loses popular support for his pet causes even with Fox constantly blaring at half the nation. How much worse would family separation or the trade war go over if you didn't have the most watched news in the country shilling for their orange messiah? How would a Trump campaign energize their base without Fox's hate factory running at full steam? In the end though, Fox doesn't have anywhere else to go. They're not suddenly going to go all in on Joe Walsh. I'm sure that as soon as Trump is out of office Fox will be happy to blame him for all the GOP's woes (real or imagined), but until then they'll keep working for him, because he's pretty much all they've got.

To me, this seems like the kind of thing that will make the border wall take even longer. If you just seize land instead of bargaining for it, and if you ignore environmental regulations instead of either changing them or fulfilling them, you're very quickly going to end up in court, where this administration doesn't have the best track record. I often think that the only saving grace of the Trump administration is just how inefficient and ineffective they are in their villainy.

Historically, the "base" models of consoles have always dramatically outsold the mid-cycle upgrades and therefore remain the default development targets long after they've been "replaced." Things have obviously changed a bit, but I think that will hold true for the PS5/Xbox Whatever era. I don't think that Control's performance issues is particularly indicative of a larger shift of how devs approach the various platforms. It gets hiccups on every platform, and from what I watched fo that video, only the One X seemed even remotely stable. Even then, it was really only the frame rate that seemed to change. Other visual elements remained consistent across platforms. So they clearly weren't targeting the One X and then lowering things for other platforms. If you buy a PS5 or the equivalent Xbox, you'll almost certainly see a far greater leap in performance than what we saw with the One X or the PS4 Pro. Ray tracing will probably make something of an impact, and the SSDs will greatly decrease load times. In the end, if you only wanted to buy one console per generation, and you could buy either the launch one or the mid-cycle refreshes, I think you'd probably be better off with the launch consoles. They typically have, and likely will continue to have, a longer lifespan at the top of the heap, and will certainly live longer as the default development platform. In addition to graphics, full gen cycles tend to introduce other new bits, like new controllers, and capabilities. There will always be a better thing just over the horizon, but I think launch consoles remain a pretty good bet for how long they'll remain relevant.

My wife drives a 2003 Mercedes C230 that seems to be on its last legs so we've been shopping around and the thing she seems to like the most is the new Kia Niro EV. I'm not the biggest fan, but she seems to have her sights on it. We went and drove one over the weekend and it's fine. It's overpriced for a Kia, and I'm generally not a fan of any EV conversions (so much empty space under the hood), but overall it seems like a fine little car. The crazy thing about seeing it this weekend was the dealer's local market upcharge of $7,500. The MSRP is $45k, so that's a 16% additional charge, the entire value of the Federal tax credit. We're not planning on buying anything immediately, but does anyone have any experience with these kinds of fees? The EV version just recently became available, so I imagine it'll last until demand dies down, but I haven't the foggiest how long that lasts. One Month? Six?

RDR2. While I there might have been more hyperbole surrounding GTA4, I still think it was an excellent game. RDR2 is an impressive game that was similarly met with hyperbolic expectations and reviews, but even after having finished it, I'm not sure it's a particularly good game.

AMC is celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Matrix by having screenings in all their Dolby Cinema theaters from 8/30 through 9/5. I never actually saw the film in theaters, so I'm excited to get a chance. When first announced showings filled up pretty fast, but I noticed that my local theater just added some new showtimes, so I was able to get a great seat for a screening tomorrow. I'm not aware of them having done any special work to show it in HDR or ATMOS, but I imagine it'll still be a worthwhile viewing. Especially with a fourth film just announced, anyone else taking the opportunity to revisit The Matrix?

Final Trailer released:

My wife works for a lung doctor, and while they don't have any particular expertise when it comes to vapes, one thing always holds true: putting anything in your lungs is bad for you. I imagine there are a lot of potential variables that this could be related to; specific flavor/drug/other additives, temperature, or simply the the aerosol itself.

We've now got some technical details about Disney+ that sure make it sound like Disney is getting it right. Even at $7/m you get 4 simultaneous streams and 4K, with up to seven profiles on a single account. I don't really need more than one stream, but included 4K is sure nice. Of course, Disney bought BAMTech, the company behind MLB's streaming and HBO Now, so it makes sense that the technical infrastructure will be able to handle everyone streaming Avatar over and over again, as it's clearly the main draw here. (Jokes aside, will Avatar get put on Disney+? Other Fox content like The Simpsons is. Interesting that Nat Geo gets a prime location, and there's no obvious spot for Fox films/shows) Screens of the interface also seem promising, with a simplified, more elegant UI than Netflix. We already knew they'd be breaking it out into sections (Disney / Pixar / Marvel / Star Wars / Nat Geo), but overall it certainly seems they've gotten it right. Iger has called Disney+ the most important product in the company, and it certainly seems like they're getting it right.

Also, not many players are in the position Luck is in. Very few make $100M in 5 years, very few would have his same prospects outside of football.

Of the three defendants in the case, two settled without admitting wrongdoing, and one got a fine at the bottom end of the scale ($500M-$5B). I'm certainly glad J&J didn't win, but it's a hollow victory. I guess we'll have to see how it affects other similar lawsuits.

My first reaction to the Rey thing is that it feels kinda desperate. Not that I'm questioning how it works in the movie, that's quite impossible before seeing it, just that they decided to release that image. I'm no spoiler-phobe, and regardless of how this images happens, it feels like a moment that you don't want in a trailer. Maybe the film has a bunch of other shocking moments that they could put in a trailer and decided not to, but it still feels like a step too far for a film that didn't really need it. It's the end of the Star Wars saga. It's going to make money. Obviously this got everyone talking, so it's doing what it was supposed to, but it still feels unnecessary. All that said, it's a cool saber design, and vision or not I hope we see Rey slice up some folks with it.

The man made nearly $100M playing football and doesn't want to destroy his body (any more than he already has) for more money. That seems like a very reasonable decision to me. Dude can now do whatever he wants football related forever, or he can put that architecture degree to work and get paid to be a consultant when the next city decides to mortgage it's future to build a stadium. It's almost surprising this doesn't happen more often.

Lordy.

I imagine Xi is overall not too concerned with Trump or his Twitter rants, but it does seem like poor foreign policy to call the leader of a superpower your enemy in such an offhand way.

David Koch Escaped the Climate Hell He Helped Create That's a spicy headline.

"hereby ordered" lol

There must be something crazy going on behind the scenes of this movie. Tom Holland just starred in Sony's highest grossing film ever, Trachtenburg loves video games and seemed very enthused about the project, I imagine he was probably pretty cheap to get, and (unlike Bioshock or Halo) there isn't anything about Uncharted that demands a crazy budget. Something is making this film much harder to make than it should be.

There is an ending, and it's pretty interesting.