I’ve been using a Steam Deck for almost a year damn near daily with maybe 1 OS crash that was largely due to a very unstable game. How is ArchLinux unstable, exactly?

This is the correct interpretation and the crux of the matter in Valve’s view. Why should they be forced to allow other retailers to sell Steam keys at whatever price they want, effectively taking money out of Valve’s pockets, when it’s Steam providing all of the actual services for said key to function?

This should not be confused with gray market key resellers, by the way (e.g. G2A, Kinguin, etc) . Those aren’t the same as retailers like Fanatical or GreenManGaming.

There was another case in 2021 that originated this complaint and some of these plaintiffs in the 2024 case actually broke off from that one to start this one. We’ll see what evidence they actually end up bringing to court to argue their case and how legitimate it is. All I know, is this will likely end up with Valve stopping third-parties from selling steam keys entirely.

They’re only doing this because of the class action being brought against them. It’s cheaper to let this go to court than to try and settle tens of thousands of individual arbitrations. In fact, there are plenty of companies now reversing course and realizing how badly forcing arbitration can backfire.

Edit: For those unaware: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/video-game-giant-valve-hit-with-consumer-class-action-over-pricing-2024-08-12/

Oh for sure, I fully understand that there are tons of things/mechanics we take for granted every day that we don’t actually know how it/they work(s) at the most fundamental level. Static electricity just seemed like a pretty important one that I’d just assumed it was well and thoroughly researched/understood.

Anyway, completely agree with you that this breakthrough is great news and that there are some exciting practical applications that may emerge as a result, particularly the more that model is understood/completed.

I had no idea this was unknown, and it’s even crazier that the model for it is still not complete even after this breakthrough. More power to them, being able to fully understand triboelectricity and eventually fully controlling it will be great. Hopefully they’re able to crack the rest of the mystery soon.

I think it’s because PSN isn’t available in a number of countries, so it’s an arbitrary obstacle to an otherwise fully functional game that doesn’t and shouldn’t need an account. Requiring external accounts to play a game is nothing new, but I’m happy to see people reaching their threshold for these ridiculous practices and openly complaining. If people didn’t complain and simply didn’t buy the game, how would Sony know why people aren’t buying it?

This is what my wife and other lady friends into fitness use while working out. I don’t think I’ve seen non-high waist leggings in workout settings for years, come to think of it.

I was super annoyed when they first took away the links. “Pages are more dependably available now,” is such a lazy excuse. Storing the cached content probably wasn’t even that expensive for them, as it didn’t retain anything beyond basic html and text. Their shitty AI-centric web search was likely the main reason for getting rid of it.

That poor movie was a travesty on multiple levels. Why Shyamalan was chosen to write/direct that movie, I care not to look up. My off the cuff theory was that he had kids obsessed with the animated show and he wanted to destroy something they loved after they accidentally broke his one and only Golden Globe award.

Name one outrage among conservatives in the US when a white person was cast for a role that was any other ethnicity in the source material. Sure, it happens on the Left, Netflix is especially accused of white washing (recent example: Three Body Problem). But, conservatives don’t give a shit when it happens the other way around.

Regardless, I truly couldn’t give a shit who gets cast for what regardless of source material. If the actor/actress is able to play the part well, I come for entertainment and couldn’t care less.

Personally, I think the lack of outrage is because the people who get outraged by black people being cast for roles that were previously white characters, aren’t concerned when it’s white people being cast no matter the source material.

I mean, sure, but if it detects something and there’s no reason to suspect it’s necessarily cancerous, then I’d hope doctors would recommend just keeping an eye on it and possibly scheduling periodic checkups to ensure it doesn’t continue growing. No competent doctor is going to recommend invasive surgery right off the bat.

The UN’s Global Plastics Treaty is certainly a step in the right direction. I’m not sure what can actually be done about the problem, especially with how pervasive synthetic materials are throughout the world. And what is medicine supposed to do? Plastics revolutionized sanitation, particularly in the medical field. Very complicated issue to resolve.

Talk to your primary doctor if they can get you a referral for an MRI. Insurance loves to try and deny MRIs, so I think a referral is probably required due to how expensive they are. IMO, they should be included in annual physicals since it’s one of the only (if not the only) ways to detect brain tumors early, which is critical given how difficult it is to treat brain tumors and the earlier the better.

This isn’t always the case, technically. Dental can be considered for normal health insurance if it’s directly impacting your health (like an emergency surgery). That being said, your insurance may fight the shit out of this and will still most likely require you to list your dental insurance as the primary for billing.

Checking for prostate cancer is super easy now and doesn’t even require a finger in your bum. It’s a simple blood test that is far more accurate than the traditional manual method. I get one done every time I have a physical since they just add it on to the other stuff they check my blood for.

Yeah, this dataset seems very incomplete/limited. I’d also argue that the US probably doesn’t have over 5000, as many of these vendors have their “own DC” that’s just hoteled inside the same giant multi-building complex.

I don’t think Pokemon is first-party since that IP and the dev studios fall under The Pokemon Company, whereas games like Mario and Zelda are developed by studios within Nintendo itself. I could be wrong.

Edit: I just looked it up, and yep, Nintendo only owns 33% of The Pokemon Company.

Yeah, games like Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart, Luigi’s Mansion, etc. are fun as hell and very polished. I can’t think of a single first-party Nintendo game that’s released riddled with bugs in recent memory, whereas the rest of the industry can’t say the same, excepting Sony’s first-party games.

He’d dismiss the sarcasm and make it genuine, “Yes, Timmy, we really are very impressed. Good job, Billy!”