Open Thread

Open Thread #303

Aaron "Sleazy" Elias

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38 thoughts on “Open Thread #303”

  1. According to a new study, childhood mortality and the number of childhood vaccinations are positively correlated:
    https://www.cureus.com/articles/164423-neonatal-infant-and-under-age-five-vaccine-doses-routinely-given-in-developed-nations-and-their-association-with-mortality-rates#!/
    Given that the baseline for childhood mortality in the developing world is higher, the measured effect is most certainly understated, considering that the developed world has the most barbaric childhood vaccination schedules. The worst offender is the US, with over 50 shots. Strangely enough, the following site does not show up among the top search results on Google, but this is surely a total coincidence:
    https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/just-many-shots-cdc-schedule/

    Reply

    1. The gay dancing animations would have never allowed me to take this game seriously. I’m only half-surprised about this holocaust museum situation. I’m guessing there were some BlackRock incentives happening behind the scenes here.

    2. I recently found out that there was an MLK event in Fortnite back in 2021 where some players threw tomatoes at the screen. Epic’s response was to disable “disrespectful” emotes during the event. Want to hazard a guess as to whether or not such player actions are allowed at the garillion memorial?

  5. I just gave Super Ghouls and Ghosts on the SNES a try. The difficulty of this game is completely off the charts, but I can certainly see the appeal. The game would be difficult enough by itself but to keep it exciting, there is significant randomization. I knew about random enemy placements and patterns, but I was not aware how much of a factor it is. The differences between each attempt are so significant that you cannot rely in memorization, which is a stark contrast to games like Super Mario World, which allow you to speed through them once you know the level layout.

    Reply

    1. I played a few more credits of Super Ghouls and Ghosts today, and I am starting to see the appeal. I also like how well designed the game overall is. There is a continue-system based on game progress, i.e. depending on your score, you earn extra credits, which allow you to continue after the game-over screen. You keep your weapon. You also start at the last checkpoint you reached. This is an interesting progression system as it does not punish you by making you start over from the very beginning. Just making it past stage one is not trivial, though. This game is considered harder than its arcade predecessor, but with this continue system Capcom was able to create a pretty interesting progression curve as it allowed them to make the game a lot more challenging, without it coming across as being completely unfair. With a fixed number of credits, this game would not present a difficulty curve but one difficulty wall after another.

    2. I’m glad you’ve picked up and are enjoying this gem! I personally believe it’s in the top 10 or so of all SNES games. A couple of other games I’m definitely going to go back and check out that are new to me are Castlevania IV and Demon’s Crest. The latter is actually a spinoff of SG&G’s bastard of an enemy, Firebrand. If you haven’t already then you should certainly check out the opening of this game, which features a boss battle with a huge undead dragon. It’s certainly a unique game overall for the time: https://youtu.be/3CXSmSYIyWo

    3. The continue system of Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts really surprised me because I don’t even recall it being mentioned anywhere. I found one lone post on GameFAQs. Otherwise, people seem pretty oblivious to it.

      Demon’s Crest is a pretty curious game. When it came out, it seems to have gone completely unnoticed, and only in recent years have I seen it pop up in online discussions from time to time. I have not played it yet, but one day I might. There is one track in this game, which I like a lot, and have listened to multiple times. In the video you linked to, it starts at the 1:35 mark. Castlevania IV was one of my absolute favorites back in the days, and it holds up very well.

    4. It’s been a while since I played SG&G. Is the continue system hidden or something?

      Speaking of vidya soundtracks, you may be interested in Atomic Heart’s OST volume 3. There is a lot of house/trance sounding stuff that I think is pretty nice. Great workout stuff: https://youtu.be/7b4YV3_omio

    5. No, the continue system is not hidden. You get the option to continue once you have lost all your lives, and on that screen the game also hints at the importance of the money bags you can collect as there is a counter for them on one side, and a counter for the continues on the other. After you have continued the game and lost all lives again, it may be the case that the counter for the remaining continues is steady or even higher than before.

      Thanks for posting this soundtrack. It is pretty good.

    3. I am not going to clean up after you indefinitely. This is the second such request in 12 hours.

    4. @Sleazy

      Sorry for causing you trouble. That wasn’t my intention. I won’t bother you anymore.

  7. I watched “Oppenheimer” yesterday. Convoluted, weird and chaotic. Too many cuts, too much drama. Sound mixdown was not good: I didn’t understand what they were saying.

    But good actor selection. They really looked like the real ones.

    Reply

    1. This seems to be a recurring issue with Christopher Nolan’s movies. Tenet had the same problem.

    3. Saw this the other night on 70mm Imax. One of the best movies of the past 10 years.

      Note: probably doesn’t do it justice to see it anything but 70mm Imax

    5. They looked like the guys from the Manhattan Project? Must have had big noses ????

    8. Most of them were Jews.

      Did they discuss nuking Germany? I think that was their primary goal. Not that the Japanese lives are any less precious. And carpet bombing was just as bad. But I find it interesting that Oppenheimer changed his views on nukes when Germany was no longer the enemy but an ally against communists. And I’m aware the H-bomb was much worse. I’m sure Oppenheimer and Einstein would be cool with the H-bomb being used on National Socialist Germany if the technology permitted during WWII.

    9. Based on what I read, there were plans to nuke Germany, which were only not executed because the country collapsed too soon for them to come to fruition.

    10. I was actually watching some essay format video made a couple years back arguing that the bombs in Japan were completely unnecessary. The official rhetoric is that the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were the most moral and ethical option, as they prevented the most possible casualties since the ruthless Japanese (allegedly) refused to surrender. Is this the type of moralization that the film presented, I wonder?

    11. I also came across similar reasoning for why Dresden had to be bombed to smithereens. In case that, heaven forbid, Washington, D.C., or NYC ever get wiped off the map, will it be fine to use the same argument, dear globalists? Asking for a friend.

  8. Hey Aaron, how much of a red flag is it if somebody is into NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming)? Does being interested into such a bogus „science“ say at least a few things about a person and should such an individual be avoided?

    Reply

    1. I would not jump to conclusions. It seems like a bit of red flag, but it is also important to consider to what extent they are interested in this field. For instance, I have read up on some of the most outlandish “conspiracy theories”, and doing so taught me a lot about the world. Learning about MKUltra, for instance, turned my world view upside down. At the very least, someone reading up on NLP is curious about dissenting views. I would probably much rather have a random conversation with such a person than yet another brainwashed and vaxxed-out normie.

  9. The other day something very surprising happened during a hike: I came across a black squirrel, the first one I have seen in my life. I did not even know they exist in this color. On a more general note, I warmly recommend spending more time in nature, and away from our pozzed culture. It does wonders for your mental health.

    Reply

    1. I had no idea such squirrels existed. Sometimes when I get off the internet for a few days and go out into nature it’s as if the increasing insanity of the collective is completely irrelevant. Btw, in my home neighborhood, it has recently been plagued by black bear and a skunk frequenting the area at night. Lots of deer have become tame enough to wreck several gardens as well, even those with 4 foot high fences.

  10. There were some totally unexpected layoffs in gaming recently. Striking Distance Studio, the masterminds behind the visually arresting but otherwise disappointing The Callisto Protocol, laid of a few dozen people:
    https://www.ign.com/articles/striking-distance-studios-callisto-protocol-layoffs
    On top, CDPR who managed to squander half a decade of goodwill built up via The Witcher III with the shoddy Cyberpunk 2077 is laying off 100 people, about 9% of their staff:
    https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/26/23808484/cd-projekt-red-cdpr-layoffs
    Despite having multiple big projects in the works, CDPR “already know[s] we don’t have other opportunities for them in the next year.” Any guesses about the hair color, sex, and BMI of those affected? Well, it could also be the case that they are flushing out the last remaining straight, while men.

    Reply

    1. I’m sure CDPR will make up for any unjust layoffs by increasing the amount of diversity in their games, and perhaps a gender reassignment side-quest for the protagonist of the 4th installment.

  12. Just wanted to make to make a shoutout to Alek!

    Someone today on another server just asked if I had autism,and they suspected it because “I talk too much”. Honestly,I had suspected for a very long time I may be similar to you in this regard,although I have never been officially diagnosed.

    Man,you know,many of the folks I follow (You and Aaron included) and respect are very in-depth about their subject of choice. It boggles me why people are unable to appreciate this quality. It is this indepthness that makes your writing not only interesting,but more easily turned into practical application. How often have we run into “gurus” in the self-improvement industry that give really vague and unactionable advice for example?

    Now,there’s a difference between being in-depth and just being a rambling mess. I’ll admit that I may sometimes fall into the latter rather than the former. maybe that’s what the guy meant. I doubt it though,because I’ve actually managed to help quite a few folks with some of the “detailed” advice I’ve given out. The unappreciative ones are often those not grappling with the problem at hand and then telling me I get too detailed. sigh.

    Reply

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