Kolanaki linked it above. It’s a disgusting crusty gamer den implying the game is so addictive you’ll live in filth. I remember that image being on the first couple of pages of a PC Gamer issue from the late 90s or early 00’s.

I remember seeing these ads as an impressionable young gamer and getting the idea that Playstations had games that were scary and weird, and Nintendo games and handhelds were for boys. Generally the ads told me “this is not for you”. Because I only ever saw ads for specific PC games and never for PCs themselves, (they were aimed at adults, not in the kind of magazines and comics young me was perusing) even though I was still not the target market it clicked more with me. I think that might be a part of why I’ve only ever really gotten into PC games over the years. I knew there were games I’d like and games I wouldn’t, and never got the same platform level messaging.

I remember seeing an ad for Thief and thought it looked cool, and I remember being super grossed out by that Quake 3 ad, but I never felt unwelcome or out of place playing PC games. In contrast, the focus on marketing to young males is really obvious in those console ads.

Examples of some PC game ads I remember working for me and led to me getting them:

https://cdn.mobygames.com/promos/18308445-thief-the-dark-project-magazine-advertisement-pc-gamer-usa-issue.jpg

https://www.retromags.com/rmg_fs/gallery_imgs/monthly_2022_06/large.1061174590_LordsofMagic02(December1997).jpg.82c9c4e56622e154a87711d93647ccc3.jpg

https://cdn.mobygames.com/promos/6568546-the-elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-magazine-advertisement-pc-gamer-.jpg

A humble farm boy’s guardians and village are burned, leading to him leaving his home and finding refuge with a wise old man who has special powers. He tells him he knew his father, that he was a knight and they fought together. He gives him his father’s sword, and teaches him to use his own special powers. They receive a message from a princess in distress, who tells them she’s being held hostage by the evil emperor. They travel to save her with the help of a roguish anti-hero and free the princess. Once freed, they learn of a crucial weakness in the emperor’s fortress, and together they lead a raid to siege it. They succeed with the help of a rag tag bunch of rebels and the princess awards them with medals in her throne room.

That doesn’t sound like a story about how technology, science or knowledge effects people or society to me.

Local parking companies are getting rid of pay machines and forcing apps and QR codes on people so that it’s less convenient to pay. They know people will have trouble so then they can fine people who are “non-compliant”.

Unsweetened chocolate is sometimes called “baking chocolate” and you can usually find it where the spices and chocolate chips are found at the grocery store. You could always try getting some and melting it in the microwave or double boiler, then adding some dairy or non dairy milk products to see how it is without added sugar.

We’ve been making a conscious effort to be more friendly to pollinators and fireflies for the last two years. I stopped leaving the exterior lights on when we didn’t need them. I overseeded wildflower mix on a part of our lawn that is hard to mow, and while I mulched the leaves, I left them where they were and then just didn’t touch a whole section of our land that now looks pretty wild with weeds. That part was some laziness too, but it was so validating to see twinkling lights in the field outside and in the brush. I’ve been making a point of going to look for them at twilight, they really are magical.

Do you really not have dark chocolate bars where you are? It’s pretty easy where I’m at to get 70% chocolate bars, and even 80% and 90%. You might have to go to a specialty shop for them but they’re just in the grocery store where I’m at.

It’s delicious, complex and depending on the origin or blend it can be fruity, dark, earthy, bitter, slightly spicy or taste like coffee. Proper dark chocolate has a kick of caffeine in it too. Hope you get a chance to try it!

Wow, love this and could totally use it in the future. Thanks for the link!

I’d honestly recommend seeing if you have any local brick and mortar tea vendors so you could go get your nose in some tins. If you already know you like breakfast blends, you will get such a better experience from your tea if you can really smell the leaves and let your nose lead the way. Tea doesn’t always taste how it smells but a lot of the major notes will be there. If you are unfortunate enough not to have a local place, then if you’re in the US, Adagio has lots of samplers and they’re usually my go to.

The latching baskets, the little spring spoons, cages, muslin bags, I’ve tried them all and absolutely nothing is as convenient or easy as just getting a pot with an inset stainless steel infuser. The infuser just fits around the inside of the tea pot rim underneath the lid, and when my tea is ready I can dump used tea leaves right in the compost bin with a good tap or two, rinse it and it’s ready for another pot. Highly recommend it, don’t mess with anything more complicated.

What kind of tea experience are you looking for? A sweet and fruity herbal good hot or cold? Something refreshing and subtle to enjoy with a touch of lemon? Something dark and complicated? Smokey and earthy? There are so many options you should probably think about what you want from your cuppa.

He already did this one, iirc induction was better for Americans without access to 240v connections.

I think it’s this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yMMTVVJI4c

I’ve been on a real chai kick and got the biggest available size of this tea a month or so ago and I’m already nearly through it. I love it with milk and sugar, it has some caffeine and a spicy complexity that gets me going in the mornings. It’s amazing cold too, if I don’t finish the pot before it goes lukewarm I’ll put in a glass bottle in the fridge for later.

Oh and buy loose leaf tea. Even cellulose and paper teabags are apparently riddled with micro plastics.

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Yes, because context matters. Exceptions don’t make the rule, and speaking generally about things is allowed when they are related.

So what is the exception here? You said, and I quote, “science is by nature unethical”. So you’re saying any experimental methodology in any school of science exploring any number of completely benign things is somehow unethical.

This isn’t debate club.

I see you’re new to the internet.

Ah yes, everyone knows how famously unethical astronomers are, they should respect the privacy and consent of supernovas. Filthy perverts peeping on those innocent stars!

You said “science”, not any specific type or category of study, so if you mean a specific school of science is unethical you should make that distinction.

Why do you think that asking questions, making a hypothesis, testing that hypothesis and writing down the results is unethical?

IMO the show did not do a good job introducing characters and settings, and failed to do a lot of “screen writing 101” stuff like establishing who the characters are and their relationships to each other in the first few episodes. It also failed at using visual language or motifs to define the different settings and distinguish them which was frustrating and confusing. I started the show first and was intrigued enough to pick up the books, but absolutely reading the books gives you a shortcut past all of the “who’s that guy?” and “wait, I thought those people were in the same place” type moments of confusion. I still really enjoyed the show and I figured everything out eventually, but yes it benefits from a read-through.

I quite enjoyed Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series, which is also (relatively) hard-ish sci-fi and has a creative and interesting exploration of non-human intelligences. I enjoyed the first two books but was meh on the third. Certainly would still recommend them but they don’t scratch quite the same itch the Expanse does.

Another series I devoured and then re-read a year later was the Murderbot Diaries. It’s dystopian but also kind of hopeful, it’s a story about realizing one’s personhood and self determination and making a life for yourself, with a very dry sense of humor. It’s a great audio book read, (the Kevin Free version) and was recently turned into a series on Apple TV.