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UK government responds to Stop Killing Games campaign
  • But the Department emphasised that all video game companies are beholden to existing consumer laws and regulations, adding:

    "If consumers are led to believe that a game will remain playable indefinitely for certain systems, despite the end of physical support, the [Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008] may require that the game remains technically feasible (for example, available offline) to play under those circumstances."

    Interesting! It sounds like there's no interest in preserving live service games at the moment, but this would be a great step for toning down "always online" games.

    The petition needs more signatures before it'll be considered, apparently

  • Removed
    Billionaire hasn't heard of Streisand effect
  • Yeah, in the first bit, I could see where she's coming from even if I disagree with her.

    Then she starts going on about welfare, and I'm rolling my eyes and the portrait starts making sense.

    Then that line hits, and it feels like something by a movie villain or a teenager on 4chan...

    It WAS 40 years ago though, and I don't know how old she is. Hopefully she's smartened up by then.

  • Virtual Boy: The bizarre rise and quick fall of Nintendo’s enigmatic red console
  • The Wario game is pretty good if you liked the original Game Boy Wario games.

    Mario Clash is a fun take on the original Mario Bros game which didn't need to be 3D, so I'm a little disappointed they haven't revisited it.

    Jack Bros. is notable for being Atlus' first release in the West, and I remember having some fun with that one.

    Mario Tennis was also pretty good, but there are probably better Mario Tennis games by now.

    How many consoles can say that ~28% of their library is worth checking out? Haha

  • What is a good eli5 analogy for GenAI not "knowing" what they say?
  • LMAO! I tried it, and it said:

    The man takes the goat across the river first, then he returns alone and takes the boat across again. Finally, he brings the goat's friend, Mr. Cabbage, across the river.

    LMAO

    I asked what if the man can't swim...

    In that case, the man can still take the goat across the river first. Then, he ties the goat to the boat and pulls the boat across the river using a rope, ensuring he stays on the side of the river where he can safely manage the boat without swimming.

    I asked who Mr. Cabbage is...

    My apologies for the confusion! Mr. Cabbage is a playful addition. In the classic riddle, there's usually no mention of Mr. Cabbage. It's just the man, the goat, and perhaps another item or animal depending on the version of the riddle. I just added Mr. Cabbage for some extra fun!

    Then I asked what some other additions could be...

    Certainly! You can add various characters or items to make the riddle more entertaining. Here are a few ideas:

    1. Mr. Wolf: The man, the goat, and Mr. Wolf need to cross the river. But if the man leaves the wolf alone with the goat, the wolf will eat the goat.

    2. Ms. Hen: The man, the goat, and Ms. Hen need to cross the river. But if the man leaves the hen alone with the goat, the goat will eat the hen.

    3. Professor Fox: The man, the goat, and Professor Fox need to cross the river. But if the man leaves the fox alone with the goat, the fox will eat the goat.

    4. Princess Diamond: The man, the goat, and Princess Diamond's precious gem need to cross the river. But Princess Diamond has warned that if anyone other than herself touches the gem, they'll be cursed.

    Feel free to mix and match or come up with your own additions!

    And the "solution"...

    Ah, that's a fun twist! Let's see:

    1. The man takes Mr. Cabbage across first, then returns alone.
    2. Next, he takes Ms. Hen across but brings Mr. Cabbage back.
    3. He then takes Princess Diamond's gem across, leaves it on the other side, and takes Mr. Wolf across.
    4. The man leaves Mr. Wolf with Ms. Hen on the other side and returns alone.
    5. He takes Princess Diamond across, but before he leaves, he swaps Mr. Cabbage with Princess Diamond's gem.
    6. The man brings Mr. Cabbage across, leaving Princess Diamond's gem with Mr. Wolf.
    7. Finally, he takes the goat across.

    Everyone safely crosses the river without any mishaps!

  • I this a firm and polite way to tell an opinionated coworker to stop pushing his agenda I don't care about?
  • I'd probably go with something like...

    Hey.

    (Leave a pregnant pause to let it sink in a bit)

    I'm sorry[.] I can't be the good listener you want when it comes to this/these topics [at work]. I know you're very interested in this/them, and I value our relationship as colleagues. I can't think about this stuff at work, so I'd really rather we stop talking about it/them, please.

  • I this a firm and polite way to tell an opinionated coworker to stop pushing his agenda I don't care about?
  • Or, instead of a "bar" conversation..

    This is a lunch conversation. And only go if you're willing to listenand he agrees to foot the bill! Lol

    Depending on how many good restaurants are around and what your free time is worth...but depending on the topic, I'd take a free lunch for that! Lol

  • Brain-reading device is best yet at decoding ‘internal speech’
  • On the one hand, this could be devastating for privacy purposes.

    On the other hand, this could be groundbreaking and life-changing technology for people incapable of speech!

    It's kind of a "this is why we can't have nice things" situation... except the other way around. The potential for abuse is probably WHY this technology will get funded...lol

  • How can I start a timer from my home screen by voice without saying "Hey Google"?

    I used to be able to press the microphone button on my home screen and say "Start 5-minute timer" and it would start the timer.

    Now, when I do that, it does a Google search for "Start 5-minute timer".

    How do I get that functionality back?

    I don't want to open an app, and I don't want to use a number pad or anything to enter the number.

    EDIT: Thank you! I went into the Gestures section of Settings, and now I can long-press the power button to get the desired behaviour. This might even be more convenient than tapping the mic icon!

    14
    [bug] Webpage not available and back button doesn't function when trying to subscribe to a community after searching.
    1. Tap search button on the bottom.

    2. Search like normal for communities with the search term. Results returned like normal.

    3. Clicking the unfilled heart (to subscribe) results in the error presented in the attached screenshot.

    4. The back button (Android) doesn't work. App must be force-closed.

    5. The subscribing action was successful; discovered on reboot.

    6. Repeating the steps, but instead of the unfilled heart, clicking on the community successfully navigates to the community.

    7. This didn't happen before.

    8. I might be one update behind current as of Mar 18

    6
    What are some food items that cost less than what they "should"?

    Bananas are ridiculously cheap even up here in Canada, and they aren't grown anywhere near here. Yet a banana can grow, be harvested, be shipped, be stocked, and then be purchased by me for less than it'd cost to mail a letter across town. (Well, if I could buy a single banana maybe...or maybe that's not the best comparison, but I think you get my point)

    Along the banana's journey, the farmer, the harvester, the shipper, the grocer, the clerk, and the cashier all (presumably) get paid. Yet a single banana is mere cents. If you didn't know any better, you might think a single banana should cost $10!

    I'm presuming that this is because of some sort of exploitation somewhere down the line, or possibly loss-leading on the grocery store's side of things.

    I'm wondering what other products like bananas are a lot cheaper than they "should" be (e.g., based on how far they have to travel, or how difficult they are to produce, or how much money we're saving "unethically").

    I've heard that this applies to coffee and chocolate to varying extents, but I'm not certain.

    Anyone know any others?

    129
    datahoarder @lemmy.ml otp @sh.itjust.works
    Seagate Expansion external HDD power supply making a very faint alarm sound

    I've got a fairly new 14tb Seagate Expansion. It works fine, and I've been using it for a month and a bit.

    I don't know how long it's been doing this, but the power supply is making a very faint alarm sound. The power supply is plugged into a Belkin surge protector powered on and with the "protected" status light lit, and it is plugged into an outlet. The HDD is currently not plugged in to a computer.

    It's not a beep or electricity. It's a distinct weewooweewoo. I couldn't even determine the source until I pressed my ear against it.

    Googling just points me towards typical "my HDD is making a sound, how long do I have until it dies", but nothing pointed me to the alarm sound from the power supply.

    I'll check again if it makes the alarm in other conditions, but in the meanwhile, I was hoping someone here might know something.

    Thanks in advance!

    EDIT: The sound only happens when...

    • Power adapter is plugged into the HDD, AND the outlet
    • HDD is NOT plugged into the computer.

    Plugging it into the computer stops the noise from the power adapter.

    19
    Conspiracy theory: Year in Review hides games not available for sale

    Due to personal circumstances, I haven't had much time for gaming in the last year.

    I did have a couple of months in the summer with some free evenings though, so I dumped a bunch of time into Pokemon Violet, and I also completed Super Mario Sunshine, spending several hours getting those last few shines and blue coins after leaving the game at ~85% completed back in 2022.

    Other than those 2 games, I hadn't really played much of anything on the Switch.

    My year in review said I put a ton of hours into Pokemon Violet, single-digit hours into F-Zero 99, and less than 1 hour into NES online.

    No mention of Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

    I was wondering why it didn't count. But then I realized that these year-in-review things are not a nice service or gift to subscribers... they're ADS that they intend people to share with their friends to get their friends to buy more games. (What's a better review than "Your best friend played this game for 200h last year"?)

    Since SM3DAS isn't available in the shop, it'd be useless to advertise that game. So maybe Nintendo is excluding it from their calculations...

    Can anyone else confirm or deny this? Did anyone have any delisted games make their year-in-review? Or am I just going to need to spend a ton of time 100%ing Super Mario Galaxy in 2024, and only play 2 other games on my Switch? Lmao

    2
    What do ridiculously rich people (like Bill Gates etc.) ask for/get for Christmas/birthdays/etc.?

    I know money can't buy happiness blahblahblah.

    Do they do gift exchanges at all?

    Do they ask for anything?

    They have enough money that they could get anything made or done for them at a moment's notice. Like having ChatGPT, but for services. Ridiculous things we couldn't imagine.

    Anyone have any insight into general trends along those lines?

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    InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)OT
    otp @sh.itjust.works
    Posts 6
    Comments 1.8K