It was really hard not to, but so very illegal. There was a woman walking around with an osprey on her arm. I presume she was part of the anti-quokka-feeding patrol.
Holy fucking shit that’s insane. What’s wild is, if I understand it correctly, that’s basically linear with how many users have joined, meaning people are posting more than ever before (on a per user basis).
After moderating a bigger subreddit and seeing just how much spam there was in the comments and just how many people spend time replying to these bots I basically stopped reading them. Here I haven’t see bots yet and at least my home instance watches out that it stays that way.
Haven’t seen any identifiable bots here either, on redshit they were everywhere, comment stealers and just plain weird agenda having bots. I hope it doesn’t turn into that here, maybe since we haven’t really been saturated with bots yet some type of preventative protocol could be put in place? No idea what that would be but it would make sense
I think instance admins will just have to make sure they don’t have bots on their platform and block instances that do a bad job at it leading to others getting invaded.
The captcha and text prompt to join definitely helps. Having those types of simple security measures prevents people from automatically making hundreds of bot accounts, and I think is just as if not more worthwhile than verified emails for making sure that the people here are actual people.
My home instance requires you to submit proof that you are human by either posting on an existing social media account or anonymously by sending 0.01 XMR (about 1.5€), that system is really hard to game (i guess you could spend a bunch of money on accounts but those would get banned and the funds would just pay for hosting lol).
What’s funny is I’ve been getting 10x more replies since the announced api changes which is odd. Before they were announced I would comment many times a day but rarely ever get many replies. Since the api change announcement? I’ve been staying off mostly bc fuck that place but when I have checked my account there have been 10-20 replies a day to older comments. Weird. Tin-foil-hat me feels like maybe there was a reduction of interaction after he screwed everyone over and maybe he’s using bots to make it seem lively. Definitely seen an increase in bot comments
It makes sense, I mean consider that these big social media platforms started making sweeping changes the moment the technology to accurately emulate humans became available for mass integration. Changes that would Inevitably lead to an exodus of a significant number of users.
Now you can trick the real users by claiming you’re still operating just the same as before when in reality half the website is just GPT bots and the population has taken a massive hit.
There’s no way they’d have been this confident in their choices without a backup plan like subsidizing with generative AI, which means their timing is either coincidental as fuck or exactly where you’d expect it to be based on the invention of the technology they need to ensure longevity.
It’s like a scam isn’t it, use chat bots to make your site look huge to sell high dollar add space and get big money from investors. It’s almost kind of comical, spending all that money to advertise to a bunch of bots.
I think the hot algorithm here is weighted better. It pulls up brand new comments on a similar weight to older comments with hundreds of points, which makes people more likely to see and interact with new comments. The Activity and New Comments post sorts also prioritize ongoing discussions, which I think is pretty cool.
Eugh, yeah. Sainsbury’s have recently changed their caramelized onion chutney to a “new, improved recipe” in a jar about 2/3 the size of the old one and costing quite a bit more.
Do they not have to say what percentage is actually meat? Where I live (not UK), if I look at, say, ham slices, the ingredients list will say something like “meat (85%)” and then water, and salt and other things. Cheap meat is only about 55-60% meat. Fancy packages are like 92% or 95%. I’m not exaggerating even slightly. I bought ham yesterday and settled on the 85%.
Edit: I checked beef and chicken-turkey mince in my fridge. 82% and 92% (77% chicken and 15% turkey).
Ingredients list is compulsory in UK, but water doesnt need to be listed. So the mince above is only allowed to be beef/pork/whatever you’re not allowed to advertise it as beef mince if there’s anything else in it, but they don’t have to state how much they’ve pumped it up with water.
Having said that beef doesn’t retain water like chicken and pork does, it’s the latter two that are most commonly injected with water. Not sure what the science is on that as to why.
Wasn’t there a DOS version later? Or maybe I’m confusing it with a similar game? I remember playing to death a game like this on DOS a long time ago but I completely forgot how it was called.
I played the fullsize Super Off Road this Friday at our local barcade.
It is generally fun mayhem, but sometimes a frustrating airborne collision will set you back half a lap. Easy to win 6-8 races on 1 credit(was probably on lowest difficulty) .
I still prefer Championship Sprint overall, for the precise control, full slide turns and the shortcut jumps. (Plus laying down awesome donuts by constantly spinning the wheel)
Special mention to Badlands which adds guns and an apocalyptic theme.
Or the original Sprint series that had no speed-limiter, which made for hilarious out of control death drifting.
Similar top quality games on home computer were:
Supercars II on the Amiga, top multiplayer action.
and
Slicks ‘n’ Slide for DOS. 3-4 player on a single keyboard with excellent drift physics, just brilliant!
If they inject meat full of water then you pay more for less. Stay away from supermarket meat. have you cooked bacon recently? It spooshes all over then pan and then poaches itself.
Dry cured bacon is the way to go. More expensive per pack, but the other stuff disappears in the pan once the water has evaporated, so I don’t think it’s actually better value than the dry cured. Thick cut from a butcher if you can, supermarket stuff is sliced so thin it’s almost see through.
As a producer who aims to make 2-10 million dollar genre flicks, I don’t see why ticket prices shouldn’t be scaled to budgets. Don’t want to pay 25 bucks to see Avengers 16? Pay 10 to see a low budget crime flick instead.
To keep profits up, theaters should bring back double features, intermissions, and sell popcorn with THC butter. Snack sales will explode.
We didn’t ask for a billion dollars in CGI. That’s their fault. That’s why people rather wait for their favorite site to have the movies and watch it from home. Even then… most movies are still disappointing.
I agree with you that this summer of 300 million dollar studio flops is well deserved and that the unholy fusion of Big Tech and Hollywood has destroyed our industry. Unfortunately for TV buffs, the era of big budget streaming is now also coming to a close due to a mixture of labor actions, rising interest rates, and the simple fact that there are too many apps and none of them make money.
The reason I prefer watching movies in theaters because I enjoy communal experiences and feel good movies are enhanced by leaving home and joining a crowd. It’s the same reason I go to concerts, sporting events, and the theater. Plus I am required to turn off my phone.
I do like the theater but it’s hundred plus dollars to go with me and the family. It makes more sense financially to pop some popcorn, invite their cousins over black out the living room best we can and watch the movie at home.
Why don’t you all get togther and make a kickstarter for films, to go around the big corporate structure. Some sort of non-profit film studio that’s devoted to creating creating great scripts and funding their production.
Crowdfunding has been great for small indie video games and products and historically awful for film. Remember the Veronica Mars movie on Kickstarter? They raised a shitload of money from fans and then sold it to WB. We haven’t seen a high profile film crowdfunded since. WeFundr exists, but isn’t particularly killing it.
To make a real movie with wide theatrical potential, you need people willing to put six and seven figures in. Investors in movies want equity and access. They want a piece of the potential profit, they want to visit sets, meet movie stars and directors, and come to premieres and festivals. They want to have a cameo in the movie or give their kid a job on set. They want to see their names on a screen. They want to give notes. They want to tell their friends they made a movie. They want to be a part of the show. It’s my job to facilitate these investments while protecting my filmmakers from interference.
Stop watching the high budget movies then. Higher budgets creates higher risks, thus prioritizing methods to getting a return on their investment rather than just what would make the movie better.
Or better yet, just watch the movies that you think look cool and stop worrying about the underlying political mind games of the film industry.
I think its a fair assumption. Statements like “movies suck now” are big indicators of the types of movies the person making the statement are watching. There are tonnes of excelent films out there, they just dont get the backing and advertisement that big budget films get. You have to go out and find them. There are resources all over the internet for finding good movies (big or small budget) but you have to make the effort to look and find something good. Thats just what happens when big industries get their fingers in the pie.
If you are watching a trailer and deciding based on that alone if you want to see a film thats fine. But dont be mad when you walk out feeling like they missold the quality of the film.
Some of the best films ive seen have looked bad or uninteresting in trailers.
Refardless my point was there is no reason that you should be offended by the assumption that you only watch mainstream films especially when you basically admit that when arguing back.
Bruh, stay off the ego juice and realize that your logic isn’t everyone else’s. Which is why people aren’t going to the movies at these prices. The big budget films are what we see in NORMAL theaters and they are stale/boring/bad.
You should apply what you just said to yourself. Ego has nothing to do with me agreeing with someone who innocuously assumed your taste in films. My taste in films isnt necessarily better that yours or anyones. You are the one who seems to be getting offended when someone claims you are only watching mainstream films.
I love loads of mainstream films! Why would that be embarrassing? You are missing the point and falsely accusing me of being big headed.
Dude, again. Your ego is the problem not mine. You are trying to make this conversation about something completely different from the original topic so that you can then be smug.
People are not going to movie theaters. They are too expensive for what you get. It’s simple economics. If the product is not worth the price, people don’t want to buy it. You can tell me to go watch better movies all you want but that completely misses the point of the original conversation.
If the MAJORITY OF PEOPLE don’t want to watch what is showing then you have a problem. Telling me to go watch b movies or to find better ones is so asinine.
Hey mate. Im not interested in arguing about the price of movies. At no point during our conversation have i done that. I responded to a comment you made telling someone not to make assumptions about you and stated that i think they were pretty spot on with their assumptions about the tyoes of movies you watch. I never said your taste in films made you less than me or anyone else and even outright stated that i enjoy mainstream films too so i dont think im better than you.
You keep fighting with me about something im not arguing and calling me egotistical.
Please understand that if anything i have said has come across as aggressive or offensive (other than me pointing out how ‘reddit’ like this chain has been) please understand that was not my intention so im sorry.
I would like to say however that theres nothing asinine about suggesting if you arent happy with the films you are watching that you should go find better ones. Its pretty much the only answer to the problem.
Again, you keep making this about me going and finding better movies. Stop. That is NOT THE POINT. You keep trying to come off like you are magnanimous but it’s incredible smug of you.
I do not have to do anything. It’s not about me finding better movies. I don’t have to look for anything. If Theaters don’t want to become blockbuster they are going to have to change their practices.
If you don’t want to have this discussion stop responding to me. Your ego clearly cannot allow you to not have the last word though. So I’m sure you’ll come back and give me some other argument.
Forget it mate. You think im arguing with you, i think you are just looking for a fight.
Please re read our conversation. You werent talking about the price of films in the comment you made which i first responded to, and neither was i.
You were defending yourself when someone claimed you need to stop watching main stream films if you think they are all crap these days.
You said something to the effect of “thats why films are all crap these days, you need to fix that” then someone said you need to stop watching those types of films and look for stuff that actually looks good and you told them not to “assume shit” about you.
Then i stepped in and commented that the other guy clearly made an accurate assumption. And now i would say its pretty clear that he touched a nerve with you.
Infact id say that you need to wind your neck in. You need to stop projecting, you keep claiming my ego is huge but your the one who keeps getting triggered when yours is poked.
You call my suggestion to watch better films “asinine” (which means stupid or foolish) when it is literally the only answer to the problem. Like if you bought a certain type of tv because its popular brand but found the quality was suffering lately. You would buy a different brand with better reviews. If thats asinine then i guess im thick as pig shit…
And now you say im being magnanimous when i have repeatedly stated outright that i dont think im better than you. Ill say it again. I dont think im better than you. Or anyone.
I think you are mad, maybe got truggered by something and have been unable to let it go. It happens to all of us all the time. You have to let it go. We all do.
Please, if you respond, understand tat im done arguing with you. I will not reply to anything you say. Unless its from a non aggressive and offensive place.
Theatres were dying before covid. People can get a better experience from home for less money. This is one of those things covid helped speed the death of up. Just like distributed working for those who have jobs that can be done remote offers better productivity with lower costs to employers and workers. Those businesses that fail to adapt will be brought into the future kicking and screaming or just fail to adapt and die off.
You are incorrect that the future of entertainment is an endless, perpetual feed of on-demand home video. It is completely unsustainable. The streaming model peaked during the global quarantine and is now in freefall. You will never have as many people watching TV at the same time again. There was literally almost nothing else to do. The reason why David Zaslav is butchering the MAX catalog, Netflix is cracking down on password sharing, Disney+ and Hulu are set to merge, Paramount is on the verge of a total shutdown, Apple and Prime are canceling shows left and right, and Peacock is seeking a lifeline is because these services existed to thrive during a pandemic. The shutdowns are over and people are going outside again.
You are correct that the studios’ major theatrical releases are flopping this summer and that multiplexes are suffering: The failure of Indiana Jones and The Flash are a testament to Hollywood’s greed, bloat, and hubris. But spend some time in New York, LA, Portland, Chicago, and more and you will find dozens of repertory and revival theaters selling out classic movies every single night with enthusiastic crowds. People want affordability and quality. And they want to leave their homes and enjoy entertainment with their communities.
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