smiles134's recent activity
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Comment on Is there a reason that we aren't seeing pushback to US President Donald Trump's blitzkreig? in ~society
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Comment on Is there a reason that we aren't seeing pushback to US President Donald Trump's blitzkreig? in ~society
smiles134 I'm a federal contractor and though I've never worked through a transition before, from my what co-workers have told me, nothing like this has ever happened before. I was in a meeting on Tuesday...I'm a federal contractor and though I've never worked through a transition before, from my what co-workers have told me, nothing like this has ever happened before. I was in a meeting on Tuesday with about ~35-40 people who work on the grants our agency administers and our CFO was saying in his several decades of work in federal government, he's never seen anything like an order to stop payments like that, even through government shutdowns.
Elon is systematically removing all the career employees who are there to keep government functioning as a service and installing loyalists whose only interests are in serving Trump's (and his lackies) interests.
It's been only two weeks. It is going to get much worse.
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Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games
smiles134 I think you're misunderstanding me. I mean things like where your character gets injured and you have to limp across town. Or the infamous desert sequence in Uncharted 3 where the player has to...I think you're misunderstanding me. I mean things like where your character gets injured and you have to limp across town. Or the infamous desert sequence in Uncharted 3 where the player has to wander through the desert for several minutes as Drake is slowly dying from exhaustion. It's tedious and could easily just be a cutscene.
The one in Assassin's Creed 3 is probably my least favorite example of all time. You get injured during this really annoying chase sequence in the final minutes, you're then forced to limp after your opponent and I swear it takes forever -- there's a loading screen and a new setting, and you're still forced to limp, and when you finally reach him, the game switches to a cutscene and you kill him during that. So the game made you wander tediously across the map just to rip away the only part of the experience that would've had any catharsis. And then there's like 10 minutes of unskippable credits.
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Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games
smiles134 I'd rather just watch something like that in a cutscene. I haven't played any of the MSG games, but if all I'm doing is holding down the walks keys or the joystick, just let me watch it in a cutscene.I'd rather just watch something like that in a cutscene. I haven't played any of the MSG games, but if all I'm doing is holding down the walks keys or the joystick, just let me watch it in a cutscene.
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Comment on ‘Atropia,’ ‘Twinless’ win top Sundance 2025 awards in ~movies
smiles134 (edited )Link ParentOh interesting -- love the novella, didn't realize they were making a film.Train Dreams
Oh interesting -- love the novella, didn't realize they were making a film.
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Comment on The disturbing tweets blowing up Emilia Pérez’s Oscars campaign in ~movies
smiles134 I don't think I've ever seen a kind word said about this movie by anyone. Why did this movie get any noms in the first place? Pandering?I don't think I've ever seen a kind word said about this movie by anyone. Why did this movie get any noms in the first place? Pandering?
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Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games
smiles134 Completely eliminate sections where my character is forced to move slowly without any other gameplay elements. Drives me insane. Also last night I was playing Metroid Prime Remastered and had to...Completely eliminate sections where my character is forced to move slowly without any other gameplay elements. Drives me insane.
Also last night I was playing Metroid Prime Remastered and had to skip an optional section where I was trying to launch up a halfpipe in the ball form and it made me nauseous/my skin crawl. I don't know why. But I'd get rid of whatever that was.
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Comment on Less than two weeks into US President Donald Trump 2.0 and I completely understand why Jon Stewart left The Daily Show after eight years of George W Bush in ~society
smiles134 I'm all for holding the Democrats accountable for the many many missteps they've made in fighting back against this wave of regressive conservatism, but at the end of the day, we also need to...I'm all for holding the Democrats accountable for the many many missteps they've made in fighting back against this wave of regressive conservatism, but at the end of the day, we also need to clearly state that Republicans are at fault. If the Democrats had done this or that, sure, maybe we wouldn't be here. But Republicans are in charge and Republicans are doing the damage. Blame the Republicans for their actions.
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Comment on Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport closed after a military helicopter collides with a landing regional jet in ~transport
smiles134 This has to do with the TSA/DHS so not really relevant to avoiding collisions/air traffic control which falls under the FAA/DOTI will just note that he recently axed a key aviation safety board
This has to do with the TSA/DHS so not really relevant to avoiding collisions/air traffic control which falls under the FAA/DOT
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Comment on Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport closed after a military helicopter collides with a landing regional jet in ~transport
smiles134 (edited )LinkIt seems to have been an American Airlines flight colliding with an Army Blackhawk helicopter. Content warning: Explosion seen at a distance Kennedy Center webcam caught the collision over the...It seems to have been an American Airlines flight colliding with an Army Blackhawk helicopter.
Content warning: Explosion seen at a distance
Kennedy Center webcam caught the collision over the river
edit: this tweet identifies it as a DC police helicopter, but further evidence later in the thread identifies the helicopter as an Army Blackhawk.
edit 2: replaced the link with the streamable mirror as the original tweet was deleted.
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Comment on Deafheaven - Magnolia (2025) in ~music
smiles134 The Sunbather tour was excellent. I'm a huge Touche Amore fan too so seeing them again was fun.The Sunbather tour was excellent. I'm a huge Touche Amore fan too so seeing them again was fun.
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Comment on Deafheaven - Magnolia (2025) in ~music
smiles134 Love Deafheaven, and I know their last release was somewhat provocative with how dramatically their sound changed but I did enjoy it. Definitely glad to see them come back to this style though....Love Deafheaven, and I know their last release was somewhat provocative with how dramatically their sound changed but I did enjoy it. Definitely glad to see them come back to this style though. Sunbather is such an incredible album and I can't recommend it enough.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
smiles134 This is exactly how I felt about it. I played for a couple hours and was actively frustrated the whole time. Never picked it up again after that. Glad everyone who loves it loves it so much, but...While this is not something that would have killed it for me on its own, in combination with the capricious physics engine it meant that I often felt that I was arbitrarily being bounced back to the start for things I had no ability to predict or in some cases even control - and, yes, I am aware that this aspect of the game is somewhat intentional, but I did not find that it improved my experience.
This is exactly how I felt about it. I played for a couple hours and was actively frustrated the whole time. Never picked it up again after that. Glad everyone who loves it loves it so much, but it's definitely not for me.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
smiles134 Reviews of the new Mel Gibson/Mark Wahlberg movie have me dying. Has anyone been brave enough to see this?Reviews of the new Mel Gibson/Mark Wahlberg movie have me dying. Has anyone been brave enough to see this?
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Comment on US Department of Homeland Security terminates all advisory boards, halts all investigations in ~society
smiles134 I'm not following -- to be clear, the department heads are folks who've been put there within the last couple of days by the Trump administration And the template was really like, "Send this...I'm not following -- to be clear, the department heads are folks who've been put there within the last couple of days by the Trump administration
And the template was really like, "Send this email, sub in your department/agency/whatever acronyms apply"
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Comment on US Department of Homeland Security terminates all advisory boards, halts all investigations in ~society
smiles134 I'm a federal contractor, this language was circulated via memo to all agencies as a template to share from department heads. This fucking blows.I'm a federal contractor, this language was circulated via memo to all agencies as a template to share from department heads. This fucking blows.
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Comment on US Department of Homeland Security terminates all advisory boards, halts all investigations in ~society
smiles134 Well I just saw a rumor that the US could give B2s to Israel...Well I just saw a rumor that the US could give B2s to Israel...
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Comment on US Department of Homeland Security terminates all advisory boards, halts all investigations in ~society
smiles134 I don't think this is specifically a move to make anyone richer, but taken with everything else, it's about crippling and neutering government services, programs, regulations, etc.I don't think this is specifically a move to make anyone richer, but taken with everything else, it's about crippling and neutering government services, programs, regulations, etc.
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Comment on US Department of Homeland Security terminates all advisory boards, halts all investigations in ~society
smiles134 It doesn't seem to want to function at all. Remove all barriers from the richest people getting richer.It doesn't seem to want to function at all. Remove all barriers from the richest people getting richer.
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Comment on A shower thought on cameras in ~talk
smiles134 mullets are making a comeback, especially in sportsmullets are making a comeback, especially in sports
Department heads are being directed to put employees who take the offer on admin leave ASAP -- how soon that will be is gonna vary by position, but it's absolutely not going to be remote work through September for just about anyone.
Beyond that, I highly highly doubt what they're offering is something the government can even follow through on. It's unbelievably idiotic that we're in this position.