SloMoMonday's recent activity
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Comment on I am worthless, I couldn't write a good article or draft to save my life in ~creative
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Comment on EA is looking at putting in-game ads in AAA games — 'We'll be very thoughtful as we move into that,' says CEO in ~games
SloMoMonday LinkThere's plenty of games with incredibly in-your-face ads. You could argue that Alan Wake 1 was an elaborate Duracell ad, Monster Energy is the official drink of post-apocalyptic American postal...There's plenty of games with incredibly in-your-face ads. You could argue that Alan Wake 1 was an elaborate Duracell ad, Monster Energy is the official drink of post-apocalyptic American postal services and there was even a Burnout game with Obama election signs. Like the article says, people don't really mind when the ad is thoughtfully placed and it's understandable when that money likely went to development.
But seeing that AAA studios can already afford development and the bean counters will never actually play the game, I'm curious what their thoughtful considerations are. What are advertisers are willing to pay for subtle background placement vs a main menu banner or full loading screens. Which advertiser are willing to pay premium for exposure young and impressionable audiences? How much of the experience can be compromised before it affects overall revenue?
Judging by the almost oppressive escalation of YouTube and mobile marketing, I really hope players keep pushing back against this idea.
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Comment on Kendrick Lamar - Meet the Grahams (2024) in ~music
SloMoMonday Link ParentI'm not even a rap/hip hop fan but this was an experience that got me to learn about the history and people around it. And from the outside, any way it goes does not paint Drake in a good light,...I'm not even a rap/hip hop fan but this was an experience that got me to learn about the history and people around it.
And from the outside, any way it goes does not paint Drake in a good light, especially if we take him at his word on the last song. Because it looks like he's been fishing for drama to hype up a potential rap album. Then JCole stepped out and Kendrick Lamar, who really dislikes him, was not responding.
So if he fabricated all this really vile conspiracy just to air out Kendricks dirty laundry; it doesn't help the image of him being a lieing manipulator or that the idea of being a sex pest is so believable. Like in 6.16 Kendrick implied that he was ready to be exposed but he could sleep easy because it's for the greater good. And Drake was inviting all of it.
Personally, I don't think that it's staged by Drake. Like maybe the secret daughter thing was a plant, he was instantly ready to adress that. But it was just secondary to the crusade against him. I don't think anyone was ready for personalized family letters and an amazing club song calling him a pedophile. Even if it's not true, Drakes son will still hear that and can hold it over him. He'll likely get A Minor, FAN and OVHoe cries for the rest of his life. It'll take considerable brand rehabilitation to close any big deals, let alone signing new artists and he this saga did not net him any new supporters. Also the man at the end of The Heart did not sound to me like he was celebrating a successful long con.
The assault claim killed the respect I developed for Kendrick and I hope it's addressed. But he resented Drake enough to his reputation on the line. But if he was baited into this, the guy would be justified in keeping this up. Drake is not short of flaws and I found Kendrick battle raps from almost a decade ago. He has the ammo and ability make good on the Drake hate album threat. So right now I'm just looking forward to what happens next.
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Comment on Is TV advertising still relevant? Does anybody under 60 even watch traditional TV anymore? in ~tv
SloMoMonday LinkThe current ad model makes TV unwatchable for me and the last time I was subjected to broadcast/satellite programming, it felt like they packed a 15min volley of AI generated ad copy for every 10...The current ad model makes TV unwatchable for me and the last time I was subjected to broadcast/satellite programming, it felt like they packed a 15min volley of AI generated ad copy for every 10 seconds of show.
I used to love cleaver advertising. All the way through to the late 2000s I'd follow the industry news and trends. Still catch myself humming some of the big jingles and repeating old catch phrases. It was good balance of programming to ads and there used to be legitimate competition between brands and agencies. Because we don't allow direct comparative ads here (like the coke vs. Pepsi challenge) people would need to get creative with one-upping the competition.
So please forgive me while I nerd out about a fun part of South African advertising history:
Back in the late 1980s, a guy dozed off behind the wheel of his Mercedes. He was driving along Chapman's Peak Drive, a winding scenic drive where you're on a narrow strip between a cliff and the ocean. Thankfully the man did not go into the water and survived with barely a scratch. This miraculous fortune was attributed to two things: he was wearing a seat belt and he was driving a Merc.
Of course Mercedes made this story the subject of an ad campaign. A one minute recreation of the incident, showcasing the protection you will have in such an event. Wildly successful ad and made for fun water cooler talk.
Fast forward a few weeks and this ad appears on prime time TV, in near the same spot that the Mercedes ad would play. Same road, same lighting; but it's a BMW driving along. And the moment the car is supposed to go over the edge, it doesn't. "Because you'd want a car... that can beat the bends."
Fast forward 30 years and I'm subjected to 4 different spots betting sites flashing big numbers on the screen for 100 seconds, t's and c's apply.
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Comment on What does “going with your gut” feel like to you? How did you learn to “trust your gut”? in ~talk
SloMoMonday LinkThe way I always interpreted it is that gut feelings are just your subconscious jumping to conclusions. It's working constantly to unpack minute details, emotions, knowledge and interactions to...The way I always interpreted it is that gut feelings are just your subconscious jumping to conclusions. It's working constantly to unpack minute details, emotions, knowledge and interactions to make a ton of connections. But they're not always logical connections and you can't tell if they're all good or not.
Like my mom didn't study botany or had any formal training in landscaping. But doing it for twenty years, she had really good hunches on what worked and what didn't. On the other hand, maybe there was a character you deeply dislike who looks or acts in a certain way. Seeing those traits in real life might automatically shape your perceptions of a stranger.
So maybe be a little introspective about your intuitions. If you have a strong gut reaction to something, dig into that feeling. Is it rational? Is it coming from a place of knowledge or ignorance? Does it even impact your life? In what situations does the result reliably match your expectations?
It's like any other tool and knowing how and when it works is the only way to figure out how and when to use it. There'll probably be situations where it's spot on, times when it's a good guide and occasions to bury it and focus on the facts.
That being said, don't only rely on intuition, especially if you have the luxury of time.
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Comment on ‘Red One’ down: How Dwayne Johnson’s tardiness led to a $250 million runaway production in ~movies
SloMoMonday LinkIt feels like if celebrities don't cycle out of the spotlight and then diversify their brand, the general public eventually hits a point of apathy. Dwayne Johnson has been in everyone's faces for...It feels like if celebrities don't cycle out of the spotlight and then diversify their brand, the general public eventually hits a point of apathy. Dwayne Johnson has been in everyone's faces for over a decade and the cracks started to show with the whole Vin Diesel beef. The stories like this have been around for a while but his movies were making enough money that the PR spin was worth it. But he just kept going all in on his Disney-safe persona and every one of his roles became the exact same character. Black Adam was that critical point where everyone sort of agreed that we don't want to deal with The Rock for a bit.
I've noticed it happen with the Kardashians craze tanking after the Kanye/Pete Davidson drama and even the Taylor Swift hype seems to have soured after the Grammys and Superbowl were hijacked by the artist. Now there's some weird diss track thing going on and a few of the casual fans I know seem completely uninterested.
Feels like Mr Beast and Ryan Reynolds are creeping on that limit as well and I'm curious what the tipping point could be.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkGot into the Hades 2 technical test and it ran flawlessly on the Steam Deck for my dozen runs. I know that it's a limited release of a fraction of the game so I'm not going to speak about story...Got into the Hades 2 technical test and it ran flawlessly on the Steam Deck for my dozen runs. I know that it's a limited release of a fraction of the game so I'm not going to speak about story and levels.
But the gameplay is still fluid and responsive with rich environments and soundscapes. At first it feels very similar to the original, until you realize that Mel is far less durable and a little slower than Zagrius (I love the names but don't ask me to spell any of them). But you make up for it with a lot more tools and toys.
The boons are still great with a lot of returning faces, some borderline OP new abilities and a little fanservice moment when you meet one of the original gods. On that note the characters are still a ton of fun. Haven't yet seen the big bad but the writing glosses over the mythologicaly accurate drama and goes for an almost cozy family dynamic. I can't get over just how excited the gods get when you call and everyone trys to be the cool uncle/auntie. It's engaging writing and voice work and I'm never uninterested in a character, even if the boon sucks.
Also, my wife was pretty excited that "the unreasonably hot people" game was back but disappointed that most of her best boys were nowhere to be seen.
I do have a lot of reservations but it's all balance that will likely work out through early access. Difficulty seems way off for a returning, high heat player and that seems to clash with the way they seem to be telling the story. Not a fan of the pick-10 upgrade card thing and resource game with tool limits. Some glaring imbalance with boon synergy and the moon ultimate powers seems interesting but half baked.
In the end, it does seem like a solid game and it's still too early to say if it holds up to the original. I am split if I want to see more follow ups to the stidios other games. I love the Bastion, Transistor and even Pyre (#3 best sport game for me) worlds, but I think their strong point was to always go to new in interesting places with each title.
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Comment on The cycling revolution in Paris continues: Bicycle use now exceeds car use in ~transport
SloMoMonday Link ParentCyclist aggression often comes down to poor planning, infrastructure and rules (and that's not including the weirdos who hate everything else on the road). For example, I nearly hit a cyclist the...Cyclist aggression often comes down to poor planning, infrastructure and rules (and that's not including the weirdos who hate everything else on the road). For example, I nearly hit a cyclist the other day and if I were in an SUV or pickup, it could have been much worse. But the situation was a perfect storm.
Street parking on a popular road was removed for a painted bike lane. Businesses resorted to using the bike lane as drop-off/pickup zones. That creates high risk situations where two car lanes and cyclists all need to coordinate around a massive delivery vehicle at high traffic times. And it wasn't helped when the giant truck, my tiny Toyota and the cyclist all had very different views of the situation and ideas on what needed to happen.
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Comment on Reddit, AI spam bots explore new ways to show ads in your feed in ~tech
SloMoMonday (edited )Link ParentIt was a growing group of adults with families, clinging to the hope that someone figures out how to host a regular table. Think the last actual meet was boardgames before Christmas 2019. Group...It was a growing group of adults with families, clinging to the hope that someone figures out how to host a regular table. Think the last actual meet was boardgames before Christmas 2019. Group wasn't the biggest loss but the memes were fun.
As for WhatsApp, I know Apple
message app is the main text system in the States, but whatsapp is almost the everything app here. Like Musk just wants what South African WhatsApp is and toxic broadcast communication was the worst path to get there. It feels like WhatsApp is a few APIs away from becoming WeChat here and it will take a monumental impact to dislodge it from anyones life.I'm just mad that the goalposts have been moved so far back that now I'm fine with Mark Zuckerberg personally reading every one of my messages sent on his single app that governs my life, so long as he gets hes pet AI out of my face.
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Comment on Reddit, AI spam bots explore new ways to show ads in your feed in ~tech
SloMoMonday Link ParentFor a while our small lfg WhatsApp group was swarmed with spam/scam bots. And the ads look like a paid service because they link to unrelated and very niche Etsy, Amazon and ebay offers, depending...For a while our small lfg WhatsApp group was swarmed with spam/scam bots. And the ads look like a paid service because they link to unrelated and very niche Etsy, Amazon and ebay offers, depending on the conversation. Custom drone parts, rare TCG packs, DIY kits, entire RPG gaming tables.
Looks like the MO was that every few hours it'd look at the current conversation, cross reference with their product list, one of its identities would engage a with generic statements (often hinting that they have a solution), then droping a link and recommendation after after someone asks.
Some guys got suspicious when most links would not ship here and figured out how to reliably bait it. But the admins could not keep up and just shut the whole thing down.
In unrelated news, WhatsApp has just decided to force Meta AI front and center on all it's users for no good reason. I'd happily switch if all my work, family, community and friends were not there. Seriously, my muscle memory is scuffed because search results now return dumb AI queries to the top of the search box.
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Comment on Cartoons such as Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, or Avatar? in ~tv
SloMoMonday LinkStar vs Evil does calm down on the "random" humor as the plot ramps up and the character needs to grow up. Unfortunately, it's a case of "it gets good by season 3". A lot of my favorite western...Star vs Evil does calm down on the "random" humor as the plot ramps up and the character needs to grow up. Unfortunately, it's a case of "it gets good by season 3".
A lot of my favorite western animations are already mentioned so some anime recommendations I give to everyone are:
Spy x Family - A cold war, Mr/Mrs Smith story where the kid, dog and babysitter are all wrapped up in it.
Violet Evergarden - Post WW2 drama about a child soldier finding herself by working as a typist. A little more anthology but you track the characters development over 5 years. Can be on the nose at times but it's beautifully animated and I ugly cried at times.
A Place Further than the Universe - A grounded school adventure about kids wanting to go to Antarctica and figuring out how to do it.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Fairly new but quickly moving up my favorites list. the story begins at the end of a decade long debenture to kill the demon king. And we immediately skip 50+ years to where the heros die happy and peacefully, save for the immortal elf who figures out a little too late how important those relationships were. This comic sums it up best.
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Comment on Former naturalists/materialists, what changed your view? in ~humanities
SloMoMonday LinkTwo things that really messed up my comfortable idea of natural reality was compound trauma and psychedelics. With psychedelics, on a logical level I understand that I'm a complex chemical...Two things that really messed up my comfortable idea of natural reality was compound trauma and psychedelics.
With psychedelics, on a logical level I understand that I'm a complex chemical computer and I tossed in some chemical soup that messed with processing. But while this may sound stereotypical, my two experiences (mushrooms and a trusted friends mystery cocktail) sort of left me with this recurring sense of wonder at the overwhelming scale of reality. The idea that I did not exist for almost infinity and will not exist for almosy infinity and that the very idea of "now" is just finite instance of time that can somehow contains infinite data. And we humans can only perceive within certain limitations and our tools of perception are limited by our comprehension. And our comprehension of everything amounts to looking through the cracked door of a massive library. (I told you, stereotypical stoner stuff)
This may sound like a religious apologetic or mythospiritual mumbo jumbo. But I still have no faith in human defined supernatural ideas. But I'm also less sure about the current scientific tools and methods ability to fully understand the universe.
And on the other hand, I fully acknowledge that my beliefs born of grief are an irrational and a coping mechanism, but it gets me to sleep at night.
It's just a single hope that that there is anything on the other side and we can't see it from here.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
SloMoMonday Link ParentThe limitations were a pretty tough pill to swallow, especially if you get things super optimized and breeze through the storm. I do sort of agree with it. The early game balance is important to...The limitations were a pretty tough pill to swallow, especially if you get things super optimized and breeze through the storm.
I do sort of agree with it. The early game balance is important to get right so limiting people to that would yield more focused feedback.
The district system is a mixed bag. In the long term, I suspect only housing and maybe industrial districts will be permanent and it'll become a colony logistics game, like the On The Edge DLC. And I'm the logistics nerd that enjoyed that over Last Autumn so that's how I plan to play. (but they really need to polish the overworld systems first)
So I'm actually in an opposite mind with district reorganizing. It sort of plays like Dorf Romantic where every decision needs logn term considerations. Because in my mind, there's somthing wrong about a city just demolishing a neighborhood when its not useful or poorly positioned. As an optional difficulty toggle, if a district runs it's course, I think it should exert a major health, crime and squalor cost until it's converted to a type of housings or industry.
The hub system is an incredibly versatile utility. For that power, I expected a higher and scaling costs with a significant Stean Core investment. But beside Steam Hubs and Security Hubs, I can't see how many other options there could be to augment neighboring districts.
Overall I'm looking forward to the Flashpoints in the story. The expectation is for colony revolt or open faction wars, but I really want the Old World powers to show up with an army and demand the generator cities bend the knee. Because I'll just let the Ice Bloods loose on them. Those guys roid themselves up and fight polar bears as a hobby.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
SloMoMonday LinkPlayed a lot of the Frostpunk 2 Beta and I'm going to gush about it for a bit. Edit: apologies, I really went off here. TLDR: great game. Give it a look at release. Decided to preorder after...Played a lot of the Frostpunk 2 Beta and I'm going to gush about it for a bit.
Edit: apologies, I really went off here. TLDR: great game. Give it a look at release.
Decided to preorder after watching several playthroughs/streams of it. After playing 10 hours (5 plays of the preview time limit) at all difficulties, it feels like the sandbox alone is well worth the price of admission for me. But I did hold off on the season pass until I see the DLC.
The biggest positive is that it's a completely different game from the original and not meant to be a replacement or upgrade. The first is a micro-heavy survival city builder; this is more macro focused politics/colony manager. And I normally hate the latter type of game but it's the setting and writing that sucked me in.
The major gameplay loop comes down to satisfying the cities need for fuel to stop people freezing to death. Fuel needs to be mined by people (I suspect they that people could even be fuel). People need: homes, money, heat, goods, food, medicine, jobs, community, relationships, childcare, a social contract and ideology. You should see where the problem comes up. And in juggling all the human needs, its easy to forget that a single misstep and drain your fuel and that leads to a glorious failure cascade.
But when you get the hang of it, it's all simple supply and demand. That leads into the roadblock of the politics involved with an ideologically fictionalized population.
The beta starts of innocently enough, 51% of the population are machinists who believe in equality, progress and expansion. 49% are survivalists that value tradition, personal merit and isolation. These groups want a say in the runnning of the city and a vote in setting policy.
And it's a tense balancing act because I have a gods eye view of the situation and know the objectively best move. But I promised machineists freedom to table the next motion if they voted to approve the child lab... I mean apprenticeship bill and I don't care about welfare when we are already in a budget deficit and need border control because of the housing crisis. And this is just the first hundred weeks (45min).
It gets even better when the extremists movements start popping up. They might start off as small 20% of the population, but they are willing to research the more dubious technologies and throw support rallies when they get their way. But ignored, they are enough to shut down districts until you buy their respect with "donations", council seats or promises. They also will never negotiate on policy because of the hardlines in their world view. I thouht it was a little stupid when their was a major storm, resources on a razors edge and the Ice Bloods were firm on a position that would directly lead to peoples deaths. But then I thought of the last few real life years and it checks out.
All of it is punctuated with how many actions (and inactions) can lead to a little story pop ups about how policy affected someone's life. My personal favorite is the gang kid learning to read and wanting to write stories about a world without snow. But it can become depressing and outright horrific if the last game was any indication. It grounds the stats and cost benefit calculations in very human narratives and thats important for me in games.
This is the appeal of the game to me. Because the theme is the value of morality in the face of human extinction. But it feels like the people in the story forget that. There's almost this wistful references to the last game where The Captains absolute authority saw mankind survive a -184F snowstorm. But no one remembers that it was 50 people eating sawdust in some ripped tent and that the captain was a despotic monster or religious zelot. They hint at the systems and laws that will allow you to chip away at people's freedoms, but it doesn't hold a candle to the some of the extremes the factions could go to. Human obsolescence, forced marriages, punitive punishment, chemical enhancements.
While I really enjoy this game and series, there is a lot I think needs work before release. The UI looks like someone installed WinXP on a flashbang. The overworld supply line interface needs a lot of work, there's no clear frame of reference for time and it feels like the hardest difficulty is more about following the right script instead of any organic problem solving.
Also, the game looks pretty at a glance but doesn't compare to the first with a lot of fine detail and character in almost everything. I can understand it's because you have to focus on the big picture and at some point I stopped registering the city and just saw tiles, district colors, resource symbols and building slots.
I did break my pre-order rule for this game and I'll have egg on my face if the full game releases in a horrible state. I'm being generous in believing that the closed beta was for series fans who would likely pre-order to test things out and give feedback because its a major departure. And regardless, I've gotten less playtime from more expensive games so it's not a complete loss.
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Comment on Startups want to geoengineer a cooler planet. With few rules, experts see big risks. in ~enviro
SloMoMonday Link ParentThere's also the unintended consequences. Because a lot of our current issues are a result of immediately capitalizing on an opportunity/technology or as a reaction to other issues. We could argue...There's also the unintended consequences.
Because a lot of our current issues are a result of immediately capitalizing on an opportunity/technology or as a reaction to other issues.
We could argue that we didn't have to decimate every woodland or build every factory or burn all that oil. But human brains have a hard time imagining things at a mass scale and globalization is a fairly novel concept. I single car trip or Starbucks or iPhone isn't causing a wildfire but every one just might.
I can't wrap my mind around the Rube Goldberg machine of climate systems that will be set off by cooling one city, let alone a country. And VC tech bros aren't exactly concerned with consequences beyond the IPO.
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Comment on Scammers are targeting teenage boys on social media—and driving some to suicide in ~life.men
SloMoMonday Link ParentThat's only so much people can do from a prevention point and it feels like almost all scams are enabled by a major gap in enforcement from some technology providers. it's just way too late to...That's only so much people can do from a prevention point and it feels like almost all scams are enabled by a major gap in enforcement from some technology providers. it's just way too late to fix.
No company will ever turn away new business so any scam operation can masquerade as a legitimate company. A lot of these groups are practically franchises at this point and with a small investment on a few hundred anydesk/twillo licences and some scripts to hook victims, you can have a full scam call center under the guise of a technical support hotline. Hell, with AI voice models I'm sure it's already well on the way to full automation.
Beyond that, any proper controls would likely be invasive and negatively affect the experience. And it feels like anything short of full surveillance of every user leaves room for bad actors to loophole their way into freely using these tools.
And then theres the hell of catching people in developing nations, especially ring leaders who are likely wealthy and connected. And on the rare instance that somthing does happen, a dozen more can pop up the next day. And there's still tens of thousands of the small frys operating out of their bedroom with a VPN and few dozen disposable phones and Gmail accounts.
It just one of those truly hopeless situations that needs a concerted international effort to even begin to solve.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
SloMoMonday (edited )Link ParentThe full Arkham trilogy makes for a good complete story. Asylum, City and Knight are complete games on their own and none feel like you're being short changed, but it's far more enjoyable with the...The full Arkham trilogy makes for a good complete story. Asylum, City and Knight are complete games on their own and none feel like you're being short changed, but it's far more enjoyable with the context of the previous title. There's also plenty of lore and snapshots of the wider Batman world to discover. My plan is to split the series over the year just to keep the formula fresh.
There's also Arkham Origins and that is a bit of a tougher recommendation for me. It's a prequel that was made after the series, so starting with it feels like you're taking a technical step down. It's also the game that I enjoyed least and mostly because I don't like full prequel titles. We already have a complete story and a ton of context over 3 games so it feels like there wasn't much more to do. But beside that, gameplay is still solid and its by no means a waste of money. It just feels like the black sheep of the series.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkSo I tried a bit of the Suicide Squad game and as a long time fan of the Arkham series, I saw a spark of somthing special that I wanted to explore it a bit more. So I decided to play the Arkham...So I tried a bit of the Suicide Squad game and as a long time fan of the Arkham series, I saw a spark of somthing special that I wanted to explore it a bit more.
So I decided to play the Arkham series again.
Took a little work to get it working on steam deck (just need to install GEProton and play in airplane mode) but Asylum plays like a dream in comparison to Suicide Squad. It's also amazing with regards to power usage.
Environments are rich and crammed full of detail. The Riddler prop puzzles were an amazing excuse to cram every room with somthing unique while also grounding it in the world. And because players will be scouring every corner of every room, it needs to be well designed and individually distinguished. On the other hand, not a fan of Riddler trophies. Sort of breaks the immersion to have needless dead ends for a collectable.
The best way to discribe combat is Meaty, every hit lands like a hammer and all the tools allows you to be creative or you can get by on button mashing. And I'm invested in every fight, not because I think I could loose, but because the combo must grow. I will say that while every upgrade does make a mechanical addition to the gameplay, I'd consider very few as meaningful game chargers.
I'm particularly enjoying the writing. It's classical comic book narrative style and a far cry from the "MCU dialog" that's we'd associate with the genre. Joker going nuts over the PA. Villains devouring the scenery. Civilians being in absolute awe of the Bat. Every goon having the individuality of a clone trooper. Everyone is fully committed to the fiction in spite of the absurdity.
Overall, I'm having fun and it's a shame that the Arkhamverse needed to be sacrificed on the alter of infinite live service multiverse nonsense.
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Comment on How do you organize your phone's home screens and apps? in ~tech
SloMoMonday LinkOn android I noticed that I never really used widgets effectivly and I had a ton of apps I used once and never deleted. For media control and notifications just use the pull-down menu and for...On android I noticed that I never really used widgets effectivly and I had a ton of apps I used once and never deleted. For media control and notifications just use the pull-down menu and for time/weather/calander glances I just check the lock screen. I also don't like navigating folders or pages so I want a one screen solution.
So I use something call Lens Launcher. It basically dumps all my apps on the home screen with the most used ones sorted to the bottom. It looks horrible and unintuitive and I get a lot of comments whenever someone sees it. But 90% of the time I'm looking at the bottom 3 lines. I can identify and reach 25 apps without adjusting my grip after after unlocking and I can tell exactly which apps need to go. It's not a solution for everyone but it works for me.
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Comment on Where will people commune in a godless America? in ~humanities
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkI only really engage with religion from a counter-apologetic point so it's interesting to see this topic from a religious perspective. Because on the one hand, they're arguing that these communal...I only really engage with religion from a counter-apologetic point so it's interesting to see this topic from a religious perspective. Because on the one hand, they're arguing that these communal spaces encourages social cohesion and political moderation, but they also acknowledge that the inflexibility of religion drives out progressive, educated and moderate people. While its described as a Christian denominational issue in the discussion, I'm sure this phenomenon plays out with other religions as well.
And at the same time there's the growing trend of Cultural Christians. These people don't care for the theology, do not engage in the community components (attend church less than once a year and does not participate in social programs), but are fully supportive of the conservative beliefs and social prohibitions. Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a prominent atheist that now advocates for this and I think her reasons give a good snapshot of this view:
So, what changed? Why do I call myself a Christian now?
Part of the answer is global. Western civilisation is under threat from three different but related forces: the resurgence of great-power authoritarianism and expansionism in the forms of the Chinese Communist Party and Vladimir Putin’s Russia; the rise of global Islamism, which threatens to mobilise a vast population against the West; and the viral spread of woke ideology, which is eating into the moral fibre of the next generation.
It's telling when Woke Ideology (2) is mentioned more than Jesus (0) in the letter.
So in my mind, the issue is less about where people will go. They even made a point of it in the discussion. Sports clubs, volunteer work, community game store, libraries. These places are probably better options because there's healthier power dynamics, financial accountability and more cultural diversity. It's a matter of outreach and accessibility to bring people in. The question would be, why would anyone still go to a place of worship? Because it seems like the focus is less for social need or societal good or even to learn and preach theology. It's just another political tool to further policy goals and enforce social conservative values.
Edit: fix spelling
Don't be hard on yourself. Hell, you just wrote a post snapshotting your situation, history, desires and insecurities. That little work resonated with peoples feelings and it was enough to move them to take action and respond. You put a part of yourself out there because you wanted to, which is more than a lot of people can say. So keep that up.
When it comes to actually writing and developing ideas, there a lot of strategies and techniques to call on. It just requires time and practice to figure out what works for you. But like a lot of people say, the one thing that always works is to write as much as possible. My personal favorite technique is to just say what I see.
Discribe what people are doing, their appearance, thier expressions. Then go a step beyond and imagine their thoughts and motivations. Then paint a story around that. Doesn't need to be some ground breaking work of fiction or even have to be published. You're just training your brain to construct narratives.
Beyond that, try to difine what you want to say and figure out how you manifest those ideas. Some people speak out thier thoughts and make sure to record it. Other people use post-it's or white boards to organize thier thinking. Other people need prompts and templates to jump start their creativity.
I use idea "blocks" and have "bins" to sort out different story elements. In practice that's folders of settings, themes, plots and characters and I like to mix and match them. It works for me writing narrative for games or world building. I don't find it suitable for traditional text storytelling but I'm not particularly interested in that.
But I the end, just keep making thing. Publish it. Get feedback. Even if it's bad, it's still more than what most people do.