Badabinski

Don’t forget fully automated!

As a child, I greatly preferred the original. A lot of the emotional subtext from the sequels went over my head (since I was raised in a very emotionally repressed environment), but I could totally grok the cold, somewhat impersonal nature of the first book. It was easier to imagine myself in this huge alien structure when I could understand the characters. Nowadays I think I’d probably prefer the sequels since I derive a lot of enjoyment from interpersonal drama and conflict. I’ll admit that it’s been ages since I’ve read them, so I can’t say for sure.

It makes me happy to see Rama mentioned here! I read the first book in the series when I was 8 or 9, and it’s what really hooked me on science fiction. Like, I had to read it with a dictionary open because some of the language was way too technical for me, but I was absolutely enthralled.

Game: Noita
Book: The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks (RIP, you deserved more time)
TV show: Cowboy Bebop, I think
Movie: Honestly, I can’t think of one.

In order of priority, I’d put The Player of Games at the top by a wide margin (seriously, it’s an amazing book by a brilliant author), followed by Noita, with Cowboy Bebop at the end.

Time to see if this comes across properly without escaping:

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I do, but certain Android browsers don’t support plugins. I have to use a specific browser for compatibility reasons with some work shit (I do on-call stuff). I need that to just work, so I can’t use, say, Firefox for Android. I use multiple browsers on computers, but I just can’t be bothered on my phone. That leaves me with DNS-based ad blockers. Those work almost as well, but only when I’m home or VPNed home. I don’t want to use a hosted service for privacy reasons, and I don’t want to expose a DNS server on the internet. This means that when I can’t VPN or I forget to, I get fandom rage. I’m sure I could do something to address this, but I have bigger fish to fry right now. The nice ad-free fandom frontend sounds like a great compromise to me.

You’re an absolute hero. I’m easily irritated by ads, and fandom has driven me to genuine rage a couple of times when I’m on mobile and only have DNS-based adblocking some of the time. It’s a wiki, for Christ’s sake, so why does it need so, so many ads‽ It’s just static content most of the time!

edit: to provide more context, this is a frontend for fandom wikis that strips out the bullshit.

To the tune of “Pop Goes The Weasel”:

x equals negative b /
plus or minus the square root /
of b squared minus 4 ac /
all over 2a!

I cannot believe that stupid fucking song is still in my head, but good God damn it worked. It’s there for all 0 times I’ll need the quadratic equation in my daily life.

He’s got 3000 subscribers, but I really love Brother Jauffre. This video lives rent free in my head: https://youtu.be/ERfhHK8zBdE

He just makes absurd little videos about whatever. If you like silly nonsensical things (which I do), he’ll be great for you.