Chris Longhurst

I've been on the periphery of this all day and my takeaway from most of it is "Sure, it helps *you* -- but what about all the people downstream of you?"

Something something also a good way to turn your computer off permanently.

[We see a close up of a young white male, tanned, white teeth, coiffed hair clearly an influencer on social media. It is an image such as you see when social media posts are shown on the news. In the corner of the screen is named a location: DUBAI. He is staring slightly off-camera for several silent panels of the comic strip. His eyes move slightly. He is having a thought.] From off-screen a newsreader’s commentary comes: NEWSREADER: Extraordinary images here of an expat in Dubai [The influencer’s eybrows raise slightly] …Having their first ever geopolitical thought. [CUT TO a BBC news scene. The BBC newsreader CLIVE MYRIE is talking to an interviewee next to the screen showing the social media influencer’s face. The interviewee’s name is David Jones]. CLIVE MYRIE: To explain the significance of this moment we’re joined by David Jones, our Expat Thoughts correspondent DAVID JONES: Clive, this is momentous It was caught on film at the end of an Instagram post titled: ‘Dubai Is Brilliant’. [Pointing at the screen, the influencer’s expression still the same] You can clearly see in the eyebrows here, the dawning realisation that there *might* be something in the world beyond his dickhead self. It marks a *huge* departure from all the Dubai Expat’s previous thoughts. CLIVE MYRIE: Which are…? DAVID JONES: You've Got To Get Yourself Out Here Mate, Everything Is So Clean, I Don't Have To Pay Taxes, I Am Incurious As To Why I Do Not Have To Pay Taxes, and Spa. CLIVE MYRIE: And might we see an expansion of these new Thoughts in coming days? DAVID JONES: I think we can expect to see: “I Deserve To Be Airlifted By A Country I Pay No Tax To” CLIVE MYRIE: Mmm. [Ends]

The really interesting part from the second one is that the experimenters discovered a bunch of coders in their no-AI control group tried to use an AI assistant to do their task anyway.

Like, a key takeaway here is that AI users *cannot be trusted*.

I'm pretty sure there are two studies now which *have* done the maths. One found that AI assistants universally make coders slower, although the coders thought they were going faster; the other found that it made coding very slightly quicker but the output was way, way worse.

The thing is, when you copy-paste from Stack Exchange you're usually still learning stuff just adapting the solution to fit your context, or from the discussion around it. (Or at least, I am.) When the slop machine does it you learn nothing.

Everything I know about coding I have taught myself so I can make -- and maintain! -- my own applications in the face of this torrent of broken shit.

God, this is such a bleakly accurate description of the situation where I work.

The horrible revelation: Sam Altman is here.

I mean, depending on where in 1950s Europe you wouldn't even have to tone down the gunplay much.

Jesus *Christ*.

One of my many Opinions is that it's all puzzles, all the way down. A fight is a puzzle. A social encounter is a puzzle. A puzzle dungeon is a puzzle. Being allowed to fail a puzzle, eat the consequences, and move on is the same as being allowed to fail at anything.

The Good: It is in fact a more polished version of the same thing.

The Bad: 2017-era references and fourth wall breaking. Argh.

I am now moving on to Styx 2, which I've never even started before. Fingers crossed it'll be a more polished version of the same thing.

The plot twists and turns nicely, the levels are nonlinear except when they're not, and even then setpiece rooms will usually have multiple ways to approach them.

Since Styx 3 was released recently I've gone back to Styx 1 and 2, which I already own but never finished. Just polished off Styx 1 and it still holds up even a decade(ish?) after release. Yes it's got jank, and some infuriating sections, and it's very grey-brown, but still worth a go.

The Road Wario

'More baguettes' is just good life advice.

The epic handshake meme. One arm is labelled 'RPG design', the other arm is labelled 'XML transformations' and the handshake is labelled with a screencap of a Git commit I did three years ago saying "This attribute is unnecessary and causing problems."

At last, my two spheres of expertise overlap.

This poll has my constituency as Labour, when it hasn't been Labour... ever. Tory since creation, then swung directly to Lib Dems at the last election. I think your data is bad.

I'm going to pivot to calling it "D&D 2024" exclusively out of spite.

YouTube video by Mixed Signals How a joke sound defined 90s rave

This video is a pretty short and very informative bit on the iconic 90s rave sound.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkh2...

Solo But Not Alone is running for one more month!
itch.io/b/3481/solo-...

Get your bundle of solo games to keep you company in the Lonely Times, and your money goes to help other people through THEIR Lonely Times!

Whoa!

On the one hand, this sucks. On the other hand, if you've survived the initial infection you'll recover just fine. Focus on rest and repair.

(I had appendicitis when I was 17.)

NEBULA ...IS 4 YEARS OLD & VERY WEE ...IS A PROPER LAP CAT ...IS CHILL AND ENJOYS OTHER CHILL CATS ...IS FIXED, VAXED & CHIPPED ...IS AN INDOOR/OUTDOOR CAT ...NEEDS A LOVING HOME DO YOU ...WORK FROM HOME OR STAY AT HOME DURING THE DAY? ...HAVE A SAFE OUTDOOR AREA AWAY FROM BUSY STREETS ...FEEL COMFORTABLE NEVER GOING TO THE BATHROOM ALONE AGAIN? EMAIL ME (GABBY) AT GABRIELLETPATTERSON@GMAIL.COM

Titus the Large Treasure. When he came to us, Titus was a 9-month, 3.9kg pest. Now, he is a 12 month 5.8kg treasure. He is fixed vaccinated and chipped. He loves to play with his foster brothers, trill his little songs, & cuddle on any available lap. If you have a younger or playful cat & time to enrich the life of this delightful himbo, email me (Gabby) at GABRIELLETPATTERSON@GMAIL.COM

Hello, I'm Gabby, fosterer & re-homer of cats. After a friend passed in Dec, we took in their precious babies. Typically, we don't struggle to find homes but this time we've hit a wall. These cats are AMAZING & we will deliver to anywhere in the UK for a perfect home where they're loved forever.

Yeah. I push back where I can, but management have fallen in love with the LLM promises so about the best I can manage is recording everything for the world's largest I Told You So in 18 months or so.

ARC SEED on Steam Face the interstellar Archangels in a turn-based tactical game with deckbuilding elements and destructible environment, where you pilot powerful mechs to save the Earth from destruction.

Been playing a bit of Arc Seed and it's pretty good. I can see bits of Evangelion, bits of Fights in Tight Spaces, and bits of Into The Breach, which is like 66% things I enjoy. If you're feeling like some turn-based tactics, give it a look!

store.steampowered.com/app/2332970/...

The sort of laughing that's really just screaming, rhythmically interrupted.

Going to put Nioh 3 and Styx 3 on separate monitors and play them with one controller at the same time. Surely this plan is flawless.

A cute, black dog-like creature with a flame pattern around its head and a dopey expression.

In all seriousness, if Pombon is pushing all your buttons, the game isn't out until next year so you've got plenty of time to go and play Cassette Beasts and pick up this *other* fiery dog named Pombom.