good morning
(Source: thevaultoftheatomicspaceage, via mostlysignssomeportents)
"
The other issue I mentioned is a much larger one, and has to do with BioWare’s entire RPG philosophy that has really come to a head in Mass Effect: Andromeda. It’s just too big. In every way. It’s so big that in order to be that big, it has to be stuffed with fluff and filler, and all of that heavily dilutes from the main story and interactions/quests that are actually worthwhile.
In the run-up to Andromeda, BioWare was bragging that you could have detailed conversations with 1,200 characters and there was more dialogue than ME2 and ME3 combined. They were using that as a point of pride, but in practice, it’s actually a detriment. To me, that’s like saying a new book is 2,000 pages long, or a movie has an ensemble cast of 500 speaking characters. Even if there is a good story or script buried in each of those, it’s going to get drowned out by all the extra crap. It’s like watching a TV show and having the main character stop every five minutes to have a conversation with their barista, mailman, dog-walker, and the person stuck in traffic next to them. Literally everyone. There is a reason that stories usually focus on a core cast of characters. But Andromeda, and many BioWare games, try to drown players in interactions, the vast majority of which are not substantive or engaging.
"— What BioWare Should Learn From The Reaction To ‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’
(Source: forbes.com)
Officials at the D.O.J. tried to convince the F.B.I. that all Comey had promised Congress was that he would take a look at new information, that he risked creating another misimpression by sending a letter, that doing this so close to an election was insanity, and that “the overwhelming odds are that this will amount to nothing,” as one former official puts it.
One argument that the F.B.I gave in response was that now that the circle had become much bigger, including agents in New York, the probability of a leak was high and would only increase once the request for the warrant was filed. “Yes, it was absolutely explicit that one reason for the letter was that the agents in New York would leak it,” says a Justice Department source. “That is a crappy reason. You can’t manage your people? And a leak would have been better than what happened.” (In fact, on the morning of November 4, Giuliani returned to Fox & Friends, to gloat, “Did I hear about it? You’re darn right I heard about it.” Later that day, he tweeted, “I still challenge someone to produce proof of my direct involvement w @fbi.”)
But, multiple sources say, the Justice Department never ordered Comey not to send the letter, and neither Lynch nor Yates personally called Comey. Instead, staff called over to the F.B.I. A source says, “I do know that [Lynch] never spoke directly to Comey, and she didn’t allow the D.A.G. to speak to him… . In his position, I would have understood this as permission to do what I wanted.” He adds, “Before something this consequential would occur, you would at least want the A.G. to look Jim Comey in the eye and say, ‘Do not do it.’ ”
"Gail: Well the first challenge for the Democrats is to come up with a message somewhat more powerful than “the cabinet nominees are terrible.”And instead of just letting the Republicans flop around over health care, I’d like to see the Democrats chart out a vision of their own for improving what is obviously an imperfect current system. “Medicare for all” sounds good to me."
— NYT
"Mr. Nadler said he thought Mr. Comey should have been fired “months ago.” Other Democrats, perhaps concerned about who Mr. Trump would name to replace Mr. Comey, either said that he should remain on the job or that they were still unsure."
— The problem with Democrats right here http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/us/politics/democrats-confront-james-comey-fbi-chief.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad
"In 2015, Obama struck a deal with the Republican Congress to make those tax cuts permanent in return for making permanent a series of supposedly temporary business tax cuts that had been routinely extended for years. Also, in 2013, the administration allowed expiring Bush-era tax cuts on incomes over $450,000 to lapse, which triggered the return of higher Clinton-era tax rates. The combined effect of lower taxes on the middle class and the poor, higher taxes on the wealthy, and Obamacare provisions reduced post-tax incomes for the highest-earning one percent by more than 5 percent and increased incomes for the lowest-earning tenth of households by an average of 27 percent. With vanishingly little attention, Obama had moved the needle against income inequality."
"But the problem with this model isn’t that it’s flawed. It’s that it’s flawed in a way that perfectly mirrors existing sexist expectations of romance, with such specificity that it is hard to view it as unintentional ."
— How RimWorld’s Code Defines Strict Gender Roles | Rock, Paper, Shotgun
(Source: rockpapershotgun.com)
before blaming others, think: whats the 1 constant in all your failed relationships? its that cursed egyptian amulet why do u even have that
(Source: gothicprep, via coluring)
"America asked for public healthcare and got instead a baroque system of insurance bullshit. No one asked for this shit. The only people who asked for Hillary Clinton’s “progress” are the health insurers and fuck them, frankly.
You know who I really don’t give two fucks about? Insurer-Americans.
Most Americans want single-payer healthcare and have for over 70 years.
So Sanders supporters are not delusional or “drunk” as Bloomberg Politics shat in a headline this morning. Sanders supporters are Americans demanding a human right that most of Americans want to see enshrined into law. Sanders supporters don’t care about Clinton’s lobbyist constraints."
You know who I really don’t give two fucks about? Insurer-Americans.
Most Americans want single-payer healthcare and have for over 70 years.
So Sanders supporters are not delusional or “drunk” as Bloomberg Politics shat in a headline this morning. Sanders supporters are Americans demanding a human right that most of Americans want to see enshrined into law. Sanders supporters don’t care about Clinton’s lobbyist constraints."
— Hillary Clinton Introduces New Campaign Slogan: “No, We Can’t” — Medium
(Source: medium.com)
"If the government were to redefine normal weight as one that doesn’t increase the risk of death, then about 130 million of the 165 million American adults currently categorized as overweight and obese would be re-categorized as normal weight instead… In other words, there is no reason to believe that the trivial variations in mortality risk observed across an enormous weight range actually have anything to do with weight or that intentional weight gain or loss would affect that risk in a predictable way."
— Our Imaginary Weight Problem - The New York Times
(Source: The New York Times)
"Stop the presses! According to a new poll by Quinnipiac University on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) destroys Republican candidate Donald Trump in a general election by 13 percentage points. In this new poll, Sanders has 51 percent to Trump’s 38 percent. If this margin held in a general election, Democrats would almost certainly regain control of the United States Senate and very possibly the House of Representatives.
It is high time and long overdue for television networks such as CNN to end their obsession with Trump and report the all-important fact that in most polls, both Hillary Clinton and Sanders would defeat Trump by landslide margins. In the new Quinnipiac poll, Clinton would defeat Trump by 7 percentage points, which is itself impressive and would qualify as a landslide, while the Sanders lead of 13 points would bring a landslide of epic proportions.
It is noteworthy that in this Quinnipiac poll, Sanders runs so much stronger than Clinton against Trump. It is also noteworthy and important that both Sanders and Clinton run so far ahead of Trump in general election match-up polling. And it is profoundly important and revealing that Sanders would defeat Trump by such a huge margin — 13 points in this poll — that analysts would be talking about a national political realignment and new progressive era in American history if an enlightened candidate such as Sanders would defeat a retrograde race-baiting candidate such as Trump by a potentially epic and historic margin."
It is high time and long overdue for television networks such as CNN to end their obsession with Trump and report the all-important fact that in most polls, both Hillary Clinton and Sanders would defeat Trump by landslide margins. In the new Quinnipiac poll, Clinton would defeat Trump by 7 percentage points, which is itself impressive and would qualify as a landslide, while the Sanders lead of 13 points would bring a landslide of epic proportions.
It is noteworthy that in this Quinnipiac poll, Sanders runs so much stronger than Clinton against Trump. It is also noteworthy and important that both Sanders and Clinton run so far ahead of Trump in general election match-up polling. And it is profoundly important and revealing that Sanders would defeat Trump by such a huge margin — 13 points in this poll — that analysts would be talking about a national political realignment and new progressive era in American history if an enlightened candidate such as Sanders would defeat a retrograde race-baiting candidate such as Trump by a potentially epic and historic margin."
— http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/264023-in-blockbuster-poll-sanders-destroys-trump-by-13
(via wilwheaton)
"With AngularJS, the “Ready, Fire, Aim” learning methodology of duct taping together a handful of tutorials and a cursory glance through the documentation will lead to confusion and frustration."
— A Better Way to Learn AngularJS - Thinkster
(Source: thinkster.io)
"
Ronald Reagan launched the Secret Service career of the man who saved Ronald Reagan’s life. So past RR indirectly (but causally!) saved future RR’s life. It’s like a time loop paradox!
—
Mr. Parr was an agent for 23 years, his wife said, and retired in 1985. His fascination with the service began as a child, he wrote, when his father took him to see the 1939 film ‘Code of the Secret Service,’ which starred a young Mr. Reagan as Agent Brass Bancroft.
“'It was such a strange thing that me,’ Mr. Parr said, 'seeing his image on a film when I was 9 years old, and then I ended up helping save his life.’”
—
""When asked by Game Informer magazine whether The Taken King would feature some sort of dramatic narrative twist, director Luke Smith smiled and replied, “The twist is that there’s a story. We’re trying something different.” He was joking, but he wasn’t kidding: One of the most significant improvements The Taken King offers over year-one Destiny is the fact that it has a story in the first place."
— Destiny: The Taken King: The Kotaku Review
(Source: kotaku.com)
