Sexting only in that case!
It's a pretty apt word to describe a lot more than just technology/platforms right now unfortunately. It fits into too many things.
Also...
In a companion vote, sibling organization the American Name Society selected “Gaza” and “Barbie” as Names of the Year for 2023 in its 20th annual name-of-the-year contest.
WOW. That just feels...blech...
Upgrade by Blake Crouch put his work on my radar. The premise sounded intriguing and I couldn't put the book down. It led me to Dark Matter, Recursion, Pines, and Abandon, of which only Abandon I opted to quit reading. He went from essentially nobody to me to "Ooo, there's a new book coming out!" in the span of this year.
My other surprising hit was getting back into reading comic books and diving into Radiant Black and the associated Massive-Verse stories. It felt like a blend of superhero and Power Rangers style storytelling and parts of it felt very unique and interesting to me (how they handle the main character and where the power of Radiant Black is in the comics releasing now is really cool, trying to avoid spoilers!). It also comes across as a more realistic version of the stories that superhero/PR tell where there's social media and dialogue that comes across as real speech. I think of it akin to Star Trek vs. The Orville, both great but I see the path of how we get from here to the type of world The Orville embodies but the people on Star Trek don't feel exactly like real people by today's standard and it seems that much farther out.
Your comment about who typically likes and doesn't like this book is really interesting because I loved the book AND love playing games. I hadn't heard this criticism of the book before.
I think reading your comment in hindsight, yes that DOES strike me as off looking back on it now but I don't think it stuck out while reading to me outside of one Metal Gear Solid reference that made me quirk an eyebrow and knew it wasn't right.
I think the flaws of the characters decisions either come from gambles that don’t pay off or there are levels and movements they don’t see happening (and sometimes both). Their failures feel…earned if that makes sense? To be fair, it’s been a few years since I started the series so it can mush all together in my head :)
Alright, we've got some overlap here, let's see...
- The Red Rising Saga. I'm working through book 6 right now as an audiobook and I'm sneaking in a few minutes wherever I can. Definitely expands its scope as the series goes on and while I feel like I'm losing context for some of the new/returning characters at this point, I can follow enough to go along with it. The main character is born into the lowest caste of the society and works to infiltrate the highest caste. It's a long ride and ebbs and flows from hopelessness to triumph throughout the course of it.
- The Combat Codes Saga. Probably closer to science-fantasy then fiction, but an interesting idea about nations using hand-to-hand combat to settle wars, territory, etc...I have only read the first book so far but I enjoyed it a lot.
- Alex Benedict - I would encourage this more as a filler or inbetween books series. Binging all of the books can make them feel very samey. The core idea is that all of the books except the first one are told from the perspective of a colleague/assistant/"jill of all trades" woman who works with one of the most famous artifact hunters in the far future. Each book is essentially chasing an archeological mystery of some sort.
- The Jubilee Cycle - I found the first book a long time ago at random in one of those discount bookstores and picked it up based on the cover alone. It's about a future where everything you do costs you money, to the point where political parties debate whether or not autonomic functions like breathing should cost money. The prose is a little dry and the author works as a translator, but I enjoyed the world that he built up as the main character peels back the layers of this society after he gets essentially bankrupted by a mysterious and unknown transaction.
- Teixcalaan - Can't link the series for some reason. The main character is an ambassador to the ruling empire of the galaxy, trying to figure out who killed her predecessor and a conspiracy surrounding him. It felt very dense when I started it but I enjoyed it a lot!
Re: Outer Wilds, either console or Steam is fine but I would recommend a controller in either case. The flight mechanics can be a little tricky with a keyboard and mouse, but I had no issues getting it with a controller.
Totally could see that being the case. I think it was a combination of seeing the difficulty curve and not having a consistent group to play with that probably did me in. I’m happy to lose and learn, but not maybe as much as it seemed like I would playing solo!
Given more time, definitely something I’d want to get into more.
The marketing for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and The Man Who Erased His Name seem to have worked on me because I decided to start playing Yakuza 0 on my Steam Deck. Sticking to pure easy mode and mainlining the story. It's got some weird jank to it but I also kinda like it? If it hooks me, maybe I'll take the plunge on the others. Yakuza: Like A Dragon looked like a lot of fun so I'll probably stop and smell the roses when I get to that one.
Otherwise, Fights in Tight Spaces is my current non-story focused game I'm making my way through.
I don't think I played any truly bad games, but I do have a list of games that I bounced off of for one reason or another. Maybe I ran out of steam to play them, maybe life got in the way and I couldn't come back to it, or I just didn't want to "git gud" with the limited time I have. I basically deemed them not worth my time when I did manage to sink a ton of hours into Spider-Man, Cyberpunk, and Talos Principle.
So that abandoned graveyard consists of...
- Tunic - I hit a wall at one of the bosses and just couldn't progress. Ran out of juice unfortunately.
- Mr. Sun's Hatbox - Such a weird quirky game. Didn't get close to beating it but I got enough out of it and called it quits.
- Hunt: Showdown - This one was a bummer. It's been on my "need to try" list. I tried it, solo, and died right away. I could tell it was one of those games that needed a time investment to make it work and I just don't have it in me.
- Cult of the Lamb - Something about the roguelike aspect of it didn't mesh with me, which is weird because I feel like that's really become a genre I like.
- Overwatch 2 - I played poorly as Lifeweaver, was griefed in chat, and quit :)
Man, there really was rampant voter and electoral fraud!
It's astounding how much the Right projects onto their political enemies the stuff they're already attempting. They can't not tell on themselves.
First off, the kagi news is a bummer. I've really liked it and picked up a subscription mostly because of some buzz I saw around here, but seeing this news is a shame and setting up some red flags in my mind.
But to answer your question, I think I personally have a couple ways I approach this...
If the evidence someone is transphobic, racist, etc...is from a long time ago (eg someone is digging up ancient tweets to prove someone is some sort of "-ist" today), I tend to give them more grace because people should be allowed to change. I know I didn't have great views on some of this stuff when I was younger and it's easy to forget these celebrities/people in power are fallible human beings. I'll take their response to unearthing these views as a sign of whether or not they're worth supporting going forward. If they're regretful and seem like they're trying to do better, I'm good. The kagi creator seems to not pass this standard for me.
If it's something I want to use/consume and it could impact more than just the individual. JK Rowling is a good example of this. I'd struggle to want to buy any of her books again because I see a clearer line of sight from my purchase to her pocket. But something like Hogwarts Legacy, which I knew I would enjoy and my wife would love, and is made by many people with a passion for her world, I'm OK with it. The line to Rowling is a lot blurrier and impacts people who don't have a say in what project(s) they work on.
It's also easier to ignore or skip smaller scale things like an indie game from a deplorable developer vs. the next Marvel/HP/insert your beloved franchise game from someone equally deplorable. None of this is ever perfect and time and attention are finite resources for all of us. If Harry Potter is how you need to unwind because it's your favorite thing, more power to you. It's not my job nor anyone else's to police the things you like or make you feel bad for liking them.
We should all do our best to try and support good people in a system that incentivizes bad people and give ourselves some grace when we (seemingly inevitably these days) find out those people were actually scum.