My experience is that they generally are, but if they’re not they’ll be very friendly in suggesting that they’re not the right venue for you.
If that sounds weird, go (or phone) and ask them. If they say “Well we’ve got a pretty hardcore community here,” then that’s a sign that maybe it’s not where you should start. But gamers, on the whole, LOVE sharing their passion with new people.
Just finished playing Morrowind for the first time in decades. Half-tempted to go back and do it all again as a pure mage.
Failing that, I have so many games in my catalogs that I’m not sure where to start. Maybe Portal Revolution, maybe Brütal Legend, or maybe I finally get into the Witcher III. I keep trying to like Ride, but racing games never feel remotely like actually riding or driving a vehicle and I always spend my time in the weeds.
I had a cousin who probably could have been diagnosed as a psychopath. He had no sense of right or wrong, of good or bad. The only think that registered with him was who he could manipulate, and whether he could get away with it.
It was interesting to see. At a family funeral, he started goading his brother, talking about how much time he had to golf (in jail, no less) while the brother had to work all the time. He thrived on being an irritant to get his own way.
I have very very little respect for people who cheat in a marriage instead of getting out; but it is clearly not your mom’s choice to make.
If you’re closer to your dad, then stay with him. Explain to your mom that you’re not trying to attack her, but choosing your own well-being first (as you should).
Yes, yoy are. But so what? You’re not hurting me with your weirdness, so go hard,
I’ve thought a lot about this over the last few years, and have decided there’s one critical distinction: Understanding.
When we combine knowledge to come to a conclusion, we understand (or even misunderstand) that knowledge we’re using. We understand the meaning of our conclusion.
LLMs don’t understand. They programmatically and statistically combine data - not knowledge - to come up with a likely outcome. They are non-deterministic auto-complete bots, and that is ALL they are. There is no intelligence, and the current LLM framework will never lead to actual intelligence.
They’re parlour tricks at this point, nothing more.
In other words, “fancy auto-complete.”
I absolutely love Star Wars - I saw the first movie four times in the theatre back in 1977/78 as a kid.
But let’s be clear: Star Wars is “cowboys and indians in space.” (Yes, that’s a dated and culturally inappropriate comparison - it is also perfectly appropriate for the era.)
Technology has never played a significant part in it - light sabres are magic swords, FTL travel is a well-worn convenient trope that ‘just happens’ (unless it doesn’t). Droids are servants.
Basically, tech has never been a core aspect of the SW world, mostly because the show has never been science fiction.
Because you love in the US.
I’ve got a playlist for that. Two that come to mind are Gliry Box and Fade Into You.
Lots of discussion points here, but let me address two or three in particular:
blatant Nazism hurts their legitimacy in the eyes of the public
Nope. No, it really doesn’t. Trump was never a legitimate contender from his opponents’ perspective (due to dirty foreign money) and his true believers would stand buy him as he ate a live baby on TV.
Take a look at some approval polls that show he still has significant support from Americans. (Likewise with Musk, likewise with DOGE.)
Second point: It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t NEED legitimacy or approval any more. He’s in power, Musk is at his right hand, and the two of them are acting with complete impunity. Seriously, they should both be hauled off in chains and tried for treason, not to mention hate crimes and hundreds of less-sexy crimes. But they’re not, and so it just doesn’t fucking matter.
Thirdly, where did it come from? We’re discovering now that the Christian hard-right has been carefully staging this for HALF A CENTURY! Since not long after Roe v. Wade, they have been laying the groundwork for what Project 2025 is carrying out right now: A ruthless coup backed by religious extremists and foreign opponents. The Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973. PNAC was founded in 1997. And there are more.
Fundamentally, Trump’s first term was to see how much they could get away with. When they lost the 2020 election, the Nazis spent four years purging the party of unfaithful (i.e. people with either thoughts or morals, or maybe even both), then won last year, and were finally able to remove their veil: The government no longer needs the will of the people to execute their extremist plans.
No discussion in the article about fraud or conflict of interest.