Thanks, the stories I’ve read have made it hard to piece together this timeline.

Interesting, thanks for explaining. I agree with the aspiration but maybe not the practicality?

In a perfect world elections would be about hard policy discussions, but in 2024 policy barely matters. Campaigns don’t even release real platforms any more. The first party to take the emotion out of politics would lose horribly, because so many voters respond to it.

Personally, I also like when people acknowledge that policy discussions impact real people. I think there’s an important role for displayed genuine emotion in rational discussion.

I also don’t think that what we’re discussing is relevant to Gus Walz. We have every reason to believe that was a genuine and beautiful apolitical moment.

I don’t think I understand. Are you suggesting that it’s impossible to prepare a speech about something you care deeply about?

Or are you saying that people only cry the first time they tell an emotional story?

I’m sure there are people with those experiences, and maybe you’re one of them. If it helps, I can attest that there are “well rehearsed” stories that I’ve told dozens of times, and I still cry during each telling.

NieR: Automata

For some reason this New Scientist cartoon lives in my head. Maybe because it challenges the way I think about the future? Or maybe it’s just cute.

Original source, by Tom Gauld

Thanks so much for doing this! I almost forgot to enter.

No worries! I had actually decided not to buy the bundle because the separate VR listing on Steam confused me, so your comment was very helpful.

For those curious like me, the VR version will be a free add on:

We’re integrating VR mode into Escape Simulator! This means every owner of Escape Simulator will automatically receive the ES:VR version for FREE.

Thanks! I wasn’t aware of the async option, but it sounds useful. I’m a weirdo who likes playing boardgames against AI, so maybe I’ll read some reviews.

Thanks for this! Do you know if many of these are viable as single player experiences?

I won’t be using these features, but I’m not sure there’s cause for concern. The implementation seems very sensible and legitimately privacy-centric. The LLM runs locally and is meant as an very basic email proofreader. The crypto wallet is a likely an extension of the password management tech they’ve already developed, with transaction features that some people care about.

I can see why some people want these features, and I’m glad there are new alternatives.

Can’t wait to see this team, but I don’t understand why they paid this much. Wow.

Wow, the “little” max has gotten big! Going to take a while to get used to these numbers.

Musk is gross and SpaceX has some questionable marketing claims that you’ve identified, but I don’t see how anyone could claim that anything about the company’s products are a shitshow.

Falcon 9 has radically changed the economics of the space industry, and has no competition to force lower prices.

Starship has had a very successful testing campaign, and operates within a different development paradigm than Saturn. They’ve shown more progress on more technology in the last year than almost any rocket ever. It won’t be long before Starship has demonstrated all the capabilities you mentioned. While the price tag is large in absolute terms, it will be very cheap relative to the competition.

Dear Moon was not canceled by SpaceX, and no one who follows the industry has ever believed Musk’s timelines.

I guess I’m confused, because everything I know about Starship points towards it being one of the most incredible engineering accomplishments ever. There are lots of other problems with SpaceX’s leadership, environmental impact, and work culture, but aren’t the products inspiring?

Yeah that’s fair. I’m pretty low on these Mavs and would bet against them in a re-run of these playoffs, but they’ve certainly made a good case for themselves and initial odds are partly hype-based.

I’m not sure how to justify those Mavs odds. They had a great run, but will anyone be picking them over the Nuggets or Thunder (or Grizzlies?) next year? I’d expect them to be a 5 or 6 seed.

Thanks for this! I’ve spent several dozen hours trying to get SteamVR working well on Linux, and finally gave up.

Is the Monado experience close enough to Windows to be usable? Are you aware of any major tradeoffs?

At this point I accept that Valve probably can’t compete with the billions poured into the Meta Quest 3, but I’m glad they understand there’s an enthusiastic audience for whatever they do next.

I expected to roll my eyes at this article but it’s actually quite compelling and well written. The Kagi website’s lack of nuanced privacy discussion already turned me off, and now I’m just going to pretend the service doesn’t exist.

Thanks for posting this!

I just bought Ragnarock for full price, but thankfully can still refund it.

Ragnarock is incredible, for anyone who hasn’t tried it!