#← new fan unit yippee

[wyfy-meltdown]

Spent an hour gathering fonts to make some signature/handwriting canons(?) for my Proseka OCs! These are all subject to change, but it was a fun exercise!

[gerbilbat]

yippee new dandys world oc jsjsdjssinns

his name is lance, hes a hologram fan yay!!

stats:

HP: ❤️❤️❤️

Skillcheck: ⭐️⭐️

M. Speed: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stamina: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stealth: ⭐️

E. Speed: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ability, active: 50% extraction speed boost at the cost of -10 units of speed, lasts 10 seconds, cooldown of 50.

havent got a trinket idea yet

requirements: 1500 ichor (not sure about this), 50% research on twisted lance

twisted is rare

when you get hit by him your vision is obstructed a bit, that goes away when youre healed or you get to the next floor tho ( <- lovely @librarian-computer gave idea :D )

[ @valenmakesthings @achickennamedcheese i want yall to see this eheheh :) ]

twisted ability demonstration and doodles 👇

[bunnytalksf1]

canadian grand prix (derogatory)

I joke, mostly. As a tifoso I hated every second of that. as a fan of the sport? That race was fucking BRILLIANT.

So, let's start with Ferrari. I think that was the price we had to pay for Monaco. Charles was so fast there that the curse took two weeks to catch up with him! Seriously, though, this man's luck needs to be studied. At least it wasn't a new power unit... small mercies. He was losing half a second on the straights, adding to around 1.2-1.5 seconds over the course of a lap. Then the strategy gamble... bro what the hell was that. Being lapped by the front runners... I had my head in my hands. Sainz also sustained damage in the opening stages from contact (I don't know with who) and was losing downforce. Carlos didn't even say it himself, but Fred did, so that's how you know it's real! So yeah. Ferrari had a shocker of a weekend. Sainz should have bought home points, too. The damage was not an excuse for that off.

Alex Albon. Oh my god. That double overtake on Tsunoda and Leclerc was poetry in motion. He was driving so well today, a shame that he got taken out through no fault of his own, especially when he was on for points.

Max Verstappen made the difference for that win. The Red Bull was NOT the fastest car this weekend - both Mercedes and McLaren were faster. He drove incredibly and there's a reason he's a triple world champion, and there's a reason why he was so dominant last season.

Norris and Russell... Norris underdelivered in quali and paid the price, then made mistakes in the race to lose his shot at the lead. McLaren strategy department and luck also played a factor, I'll admit. Russell messed up big time, multiple times, allowing Max and Lando to get past him. Then subtly (sort of) blaming Lewis for fighting him as for costing him P2... GEORGE YOU STARTED ON POLE AND HE STARTED P7 WHY WERE U THERE.

As a side note, Lewis paid the price for a poor qualifying session, and I really want to see him improve this rapidly since next year he will be against a much better qualifier than GR63 in the form of Charles Leclerc, whose one-lap pace is arguably one of the best on the grid right now, even if the sf-24 isn't allowing him to show it so far. And even though I'm a Charles fan, I want a good fight!

That being said. I'm not a huge fan of conspiracy theories i.e. sabotaging drivers, but. This weekend was very, very strange on Mercedes' part. From FP3, where Lewis dunked about half a second on George, to quali, where Lewis was behind considerably and couldn't seem to make it up. He then said post-race his tyre temps were repeatedly low coming out of the garage (tyre blanket issue), and that's WEIRD. That last double stack putting Lewis onto Hards and GR onto mediums --- also weird! Lewis said after he would rather have not pitted if he knew they'd put mediums onto GR directly behind as his current set were feeling fine. I don't think he had a spare set of new mediums, hence the hards, but- yeah. That tyre offset handed GR the podium at the end, even though it was a pretty cool looking overtake.

KMAG AND HULK AT THE BEGINNING ON THE FULL WETS?? I thought for a hot sec the haas would podium. Then they fucked Kmag's pitstop. Just Haas things!

Sargeant, Tsunoda and Sainz all had avoidable mistakes that cost them points. Sainz in particular, Tsunoda had some braking issues, potentially (?). Daniel points! Yippee!

Daniel woke up and remembered he was a racing driver after being slandered on sky sports by JV. Perez forgot he was a racing driver after he signed his contract extension. Red Bull things!

Perez also had a 3 place grid penalty and RBR was fined 25k for driving back to the pits unsafely with that fucked up rear wing. As they should! It was dangerous! Barcelona's another track where overtaking could potentially be difficult so that might be costly, even more so if Perez can't sort his quali pace out.

Will be interesting to see how things shake up in the European triple header, and whether Mercedes is legitimately fast or if this was just a weird race. I think they benefitted from ferrari and RBR being off their game.

Anyways. Canada was a race that did not exist. It did not happen. Thanks !!

[murmurmurl]

oc ramble yippee

time to talk about Hiroto and his dynamic with Toshiro!!!! sibling angst, my favorite,,,,

I mentioned this already, but their relationship isn't bad. It's just distant. It contrasts pretty significantly with Seina and her sibling, but I'll talk about them more after designing Taru (the sibling)

Hiroto wants to be a good older brother, he really does! And there was definitely a period of time when the two were very close, where Toshiro would come to Hiroto for every little thing. It was nice, really, especially considering the situation with their parents, who are also pretty distant. However, as they both grew, Hiroto started making more and more excuses, spending less time at home in general, and eventually, it turned into them barely interacting despite even their rooms being right next to each other.

Hiroto doesn't like this. He only recently and slowly started realizing this pattern, but isn't sure what to do. He hangs out with Tsukasa a lot and really admires him for how good of an older brother he is, but is kind of embarrassed about maybe asking for advice on this.

Toshiro seems to almost entirely blame themself. I already mentioned that they tend to put a lot of pressure on themself to be "good enough", and they feel like they just don't deserve for Hiroto to give them as much attention as he used to when they were little.

It's a little awkward between them. Especially after Hiroto does fully realize that, woops, that's not very cool and awesome! He tries to spend time with Toshiro again, but it ends up,, not being very fun. Again, mostly awkward.

I'm all over the place and can't focus properly, but uhm. Realized I'm not talking much just about Hiroto's personality. He's very different to Toshiro, quiet, sometimes seems almost serene, but in reality the guy is just really anxious and most of his almost non-existent expressions are happening in his head. He could be having the worst or the best day of his life, or panicking, but his expression will just stay ":)"

And as I mentioned in the first post about him, he's a big fan of flowers and specifically forget-me-nots! Back when him and Toshiro were still a little closer, he would visit Fumi's family flower shop a lot, and that's what pushed Fumi and Toshiro to get to know each other, though they didn't *really* become friends until H♡L.

Hiroto is someone who looks like he's got everything under control, but he's FREAKING OUT internally. Taru knows about it and is usually the one to handle whatever necessary talking there is. Toshiro also tries his best whenever he has a chance, wanting to be useful. Though his speech tends to be pretty,, abstract.

Hiroto also has a surprising passion for food! He knows all the good places around where he lives and often drags his unit members to try something new. Sometimes he even drags Toshiro along. If you ask him about his favorite food... you will never get an answer, because Hiroto will probably start with saying one or two things, but end up listing off EVERYTHING, every dish he's ever liked (and there's a lot of them).

I also wanted to talk about Surfer (their cat) more because I think it's funny. He fucking DESPISES Hiroto. He's very much Toshiro's cat, but even though Hiroto loves him too, this orange thing does NOT tolerate him AT ALL. It's a mystery for everyone, including Hiroto. And, probably, Surfer as well. He's actually kind of a little shit, but everyone tends to forgive him. He's more sweet with Toshiro, but even with them still acts like the most evil creature you've ever encountered. Somehow, though, Surfer also doesn't mind Matsu. He doesn't exactly love him, but sometimes would show a little bit of affection. Nearly eery time this happens, Hiroto is somewhere near, so maybe the cat just hates him THAT much and wants to show it, no one really knows. It's very funny for me to imagine tbh,,

[nshtn]

about me [2]

tags

media

Some of the things I enjoyed watching are listed below, in case you want to talk about them with me or just know more about my personality! I love to chat with other people. I am an open book.

Bold is something I love.

BIG FAN OF ALBERT WESKER AND EDWARD NASHTON YIPPEE!!!

- movies/shows -

sci-fi > 2001: A Space Odyssey, Avatar: Rise of the Na'vi, Black Mirror: Hated in the Nation, Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, Person of Interest, Resident Evil, V for Vendetta

fantasy > My Little Pony, Puella Magi: Rebellion, Steven Universe, The Batman 2022, Witcher

- anime -

Demon Slayer, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Terror in Resonance, Magia Record, My Hero Academia

- misc. fandom -

Create for Minecraft, Dano's Rose Garden, Friendship is Optimalverse, Human Domestication Guide, KoboldAI, Nova Sector, Open Source Free Realms, OS/OR Objectum [Disembodied AI], Riddler Year One, Retro Demoscene, Retro Text to Speech Software/Hardware

technology

I own a Steam Deck, gaming PC and laptop. Technology is my special interest; I hyperfixate on machine learning, hardware repair, programming and hacking.

👾 programming :

I know a little bittle of Assembly, CSS, C#, C++ and JS, and a lottle of HTML and LSL!

I've written a Google Gemini API bridge for Second Life. I've also written a worn headpatter that lets people feed you snacks and a dynamic terrain footstep "library", and heavily modified the Ostiabs' Elevenlabs TTS.

I wrote a feed-forward non-parallel reinforcement network before - it was a pet doggy! I've modified pretrained genetic perceptrons. I selfhost an ethically trained 20b fp32 8-bit quant'd gguf GPT-3, and sometimes an ethically trained 13b 8bit gguf llama3 GPT-3.5.

🤫 hacking :

I've done a miniscule amount of reverse-engineering for the ForgeLight engine, its' packet opcodes and its' asset server hierarchy.

I've reverse-engineered one of the scantly mentioned annoying crash exploits performed by Minecraft masscan botnets... it intentionally crashes Fabric servers in a magically stupid way via a popular library!

I love WinDBG and am well-versed in reading dmp files from it.

🕹️gaming :

singleplayer > Audiosurf 2, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, FATE: The Cursed King, Jurassic World 2, Planet Zoo, Resident Evil, Sims 2

multiplayer with mod > Creatures: Docking Station, Peggle, Rimworld, Sims 3, Sims 4, Skyrim

multiplayer > ARK:SE, Bloons TD 6, Depth, Dino Run SE, Distance, Don't Starve Together, Fall Guys, Golf With Your Friends, Minecraft, MultiVersus, Path of Titans, Party Animals, Risk of Rain 2, Second Life, Space Station 13, Space Station 14, Starbound, The Isle, Tower Unite, Unitystation

🔎 misc. factoids :

I have autism, C-PTSD, OCD, chronic pancreatitis and gastroparesis.

Part of my autism is being hyperspecific and logorrheic. It's a big part of my life, sorry!

I love matcha green tea, soymilk, maple, sweet red bean, setsumaimo and honey. My favorite food is avocado sushi or dumplings.

I love medicine, especially biotechnology and pharmacology. I love reading medical papers. big fan of scihub

I'm super bodily transhumanist. I have a Freestyle Libre and a PEG-J feeding tube!

I'm completely immune to the entire class of benzodiazepines

Thanks for reading, I hope we can be friends!

[joeyclaire]

2nail (second snail) fans unite. yippee

2nail is the name of my new punk band

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Pluralistic: 05 Mar 2020 (New Pinkwater, RIP Jim Tyre, Right to Repair and covid, Radicalized is a bestseller, African Whatsapp modders)

Today's links

Daniel Pinkwater wrote a new novel! Yippee for "ADVENTURES OF A DWERGISH GIRL!"

Warner Chappel discoved a new form of copyright fuckery so dense it blew a wormhole into another dimension: From the people who fraudulently claimed to own "Happy Birthday" for decades.

RIP, Jim Tyre: The free internet just lost one of its most dedicated defenders.

Decentralizing the web is a human problem: The web needs stewards, not owners.

Right to Repair is the right to resilience: Independent repair is how we keep things going during emergencies.

Keyless car fobs can be defeated with a cheap RFID cloner: Car manufacturers wontfix a showstopper bug. Again.

Bookstores, libraries, human thriving and mental health: Books are great, even if the science behind their greatness is thin.

Copyright experts' panel on fair use removed from Youtube: A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?

Radicalized is out in paperback: Just hit every one of Canada's national bestseller lists, too!

African Whatsapp modders are outcompeting Facebook: Adversarial Interoperability is how you beat digital colonialism.

This day in history: 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

I'm coming to Kelowna, BC today! I'll be at the library from 6-8PM with my book Radicalized for the CBC's Canada Reads. It's free, but you need to RSVP (and most of the seats are gone, so act quick).

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cbc-radio-presents-in-conversation-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-96154415445

Daniel Pinkwater wrote a new novel! (permalink)

Well, this is amazing news. Daniel Pinkwater has a new middle grades novel coming out in September: ADVENTURES OF A DWERGISH GIRL!

https://tachyonpublications.com/bestselling-author-daniel-pinkwater-returns-in-classic-form-with-the-illustrated-middle-grade-adventures-of-a-dwergish-girl/

Molly O'Malley is a clever, adventurous girl. She is also a Dwerg. Dwergs are strange folks who live very quietly in the Catskill mountains, have lots of gold, and are kind of like dwarves (but also not!).

Molly isn't interested in cooking and weaving, as she is expected to be. So, she sets off to see the world for herself. Which means a new job, a trip to New York City, prowling gangsters, an adorable king, a city witch, and many historical ghosts. More importantly, it means excellent pizza, new friends, and very quick thinking.

Now someone is pursuing the Dwergs for their gold. Can Molly O'Malley save the day?

IOW: this is a book with every single thing I love about Pinkwater novels. Reading Daniel Pinkwater – as a kid and as an adult – was hugely important to my development as a writer and a human being. Meeting another Pinkwater fan is always a sign that you are among good people.

Warner Chappel discoved a new form of copyright fuckery so dense it blew a wormhole into another dimension (permalink)

I've seen some next-level copyfraud fuckery in my day, believe me, but Adam Neely's tale of Warner Chappell's copyfraud reaches a new height of absurdity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM6X2MEl7R8

This is sleazy even by Warner Chappell standards, and they're the crooks who fraudulently claimed ownership over Happy Birthday for decades.

https://vimeo.com/172715640

Buckle up for this one, as it is an onion of bizarre, bad-faith corporate behavior, with each layer peeling back to reveal another, even weirder and more terrible one. It starts with a garbage lawsuit against Katy Perry for including a piece of background music in her song Dark Horse that was similar to another very generic lick in an obscure Christian rap song called "A Joyful Noise."

No one claimed that Katy Perry lifted the brief snatch of music from Joyful Noise. Rather, the case turned on the precedent set when Martin Gaye's heirs sued Robin Thicke over "Blurred Lines," arguing that the song had a similar vibe to Gaye's. Gaye's heirs should not have won that suit. But they did. And it opened the floodgates to nuisance suits targeting the likes of Perry and her publisher, Warner-Chappell. They lost the suit and got hit for $2.8m.

This isn't even the fuckery part, by the way.

Enter Adam Neely, who created a massively successful viral video defending Warner Chappell and Katy Perry, arguing that the suit was garbage. The video was so successful he went on national media to discuss the case and was even asked to sign onto an amicus brief.

Let the fuckery begin:

Warner Chappell has claimed copyright over Neely's video, claiming that a few seconds of music that he used was the "melody" of Katy Perry's song.

Further fuckery:

In the case, Warner Chappell argued that this specific musical phrase was not the melody, and was rather some incidental background sound.

Fuckery extreme:

The Warner Chappell claim was not automated. A human manually claimed this phrase of music as Warner-Chappell's, despite:

a) Them having disclaimed ownership of it in a lawsuit,

b) Losing that suit and being told by a court that it wasn't theirs.

Fuckery to the max!

But the musical phrase they claimed ownership over was from "A Joyful Noise," the song they lost two point eight million dollars over, having claimed that their song was not confusingly similar to it.

The two musical phrases – the one from "Dark Horse" and the one from "Joyful Noise" – were so similar that Warner-Chappell's own copyright enforcers mistakenly claimed copyright over the wrong one!

2020 folks. Don't forget to tip your servers, they work hard.

RIP, Jim Tyre (permalink)

My old EFF comrade Jim Tyre just died.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/rip-eff-special-counsel-jim-tyre

Jim was a tireless civil liberties litigator, a titan of First Amendment law whose entree to tech law was defending people who criticized censorware companies who wildly overblocked what schoolkids could see. He was also incredibly garrulous, funny, a born raconteur whose encylopedic memory served him well both as a storyteller and a litigator.

Jim worked on the 2600 DMCA case, he defended Ed Felten when he was threatened by the RIAA, he fought ICANN, and he was key to our longrunning suit against NSA over mass surveillance.

Jim always worked offsite. He lived in LA and had eye problems that rendered him nearly completely blind. But he kept a stash of cash at the EFF offices so he could contribute to every whip-round for a baby gift or a wedding present.

He was a true mensch.

Decentralizing the web is a human problem (permalink)

My old EFF colleague Mai Sutton just published a smashing primer on competition, interoperability, and stewardship and the world of tech:

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200228/22053744006/defeating-tech-giants-with-open-protocols-interoperability-shared-stewardship.shtm

After delivering a good backgrounder on the history of the wars between shared protocols and proprietary technologies, Mai delves into the thicket of laws that have cropped up to prevent technologists from adding interoperability to existing technologies.

This has led to a new online enclosure, with "Google" becoming synonymous with "search" and "Facebook" synonymous with "social media." These businesses once competed, but today, they preside alone, over protected territory.

But some of that is changing. Between legislative proposals, new standardization efforts, the Decentralized Web movement and its protocols, and a reinvigorated threat of antitrust enforcement, there's some hope that the web will reopen and redecentralize.

Ultimately, Mai writes, this has more to do with how we view the web than how we use it. If we think of the online world as a shared space for humanity then the technologists who keep it running are stewards, not owners.

(Image: Dietrich Ayala (https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/07/introducing-the-d-web/) and Open Clip Art (https://openclipart.org/)

Right to Repair is the right to resilience (permalink)

Writing in Wired, Kyle Wiens makes the crucial link between the Right To Repair and resilience, especially during moments of disruption to global supply chains.

https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-the-right-to-repair-will-help-us-endure-outbreaks/

It's no coincidence that farms and farmers have been leaders in Right to Repair: when you're isolated and you're not allowed to fix your stuff, it means that you can neither nip down to the shops for a replacement, nor easily have an authorized repair tech come to your place.

Covid can put everyone – even entire nations – into the position of that isolated farmer. As Long Beach port is denuded of shipping containers, as air- and rail-links are broken between parts of the country, the stream of parts, replacement units and technicians stops.

A key principle of resilience is to put resources at the edge, replacing hub-and-spoke models with point-to-point, peer-to-peer ones that infuse the system with redundancy. Neoliberalism hates redundancy and equates it with wastefulness.

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1228326004508151808

But redundancy is the key to graceful failure-modes. Limiting repairs to authorized service centers works well (reliable, and certainly great for shareholders), but it fails very, very badly. Right to Repair is how our hospitals, schools, infrastructure maintenance, first responder and other vital services will keep the lights on if things go horribly wrong. Resiliency may be bad for shareholder value, but it's vital to human survival.

Keyless car fobs can be defeated with a cheap RFID cloner (permalink)

Toyota, Hyundai and Kia keyless ignition fobs can be cloned by attackers who get within a few inches of your pocket (say, at a conference), thanks to implementation errors that the auto-makers made with their Texas Instruments DST80 security systems.

https://www.wired.com/story/hackers-can-clone-millions-of-toyota-hyundai-kia-keys/

All you need is a Proxmark RFID scanner, which retails for about $300. That's more than the range-extenders used to steal cars from out front of targets' homes, but unlike those attackers, fob-cloners can start and stop the car as often as they like.

https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/proxmark3-rdv4-kit/

The researchers who did this work come from KU Leuven and the University of Birmingham. Their paper is great:

https://tches.iacr.org/index.php/TCHES/article/view/8546/8111

The attack on its own does not let you start the cars. All it does is disable the immobilizer that stopped people from hot-wiring the ignition system with a screwdriver.

"You're downgrading the security to what it was in the '80s." -Flavio Garcia, University of Birmingham.

The implementation mistakes by the car companies are embarrassingly basic. Kia and Hyundai's implementation only has 24 bits of randomness ("a couple milliseconds with a laptop"). Toyota uses a serial number as a seed, then transmits that serial number in the clear. The companies, naturally, are saying it's no biggie. Toyota claims the attack requires "a highly specialized device that is not commonly available on the market." This just isn't true. I found it with literally one search.

None of the vendors have offered to fix the problem for drivers who bring their cars to garages.

It's depressing, but at least now you know whether you can trust your car's security.

"It's better to be in a place where we know what kind of security we're getting from our security devices. Otherwise, only the criminals know." -Flavio Garcia.

Bookstores, libraries, human thriving and mental health (permalink)

I love Lydia Smith's hymn to the mental health benefits of books, libraries and reading (even if I think the science is less than convincing)

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/how-books-and-bookshops-improve-our-mental-health-and-why-we-must-protect-them/

Reading fiction definitely stretches your empathy. For a novel to work, you have to be invested in the lives of people who don't even exist. The death of the yogurt you digested with breakfast this morning is technically more tragic than the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. The yogurt was really alive and now it's really dead. Romeo and Juliet neither lived nor died. Fiction reading is varsity-level empathy!

I agree that the traditional fiction arc – adversity met and overcome – can lighten a dark day. I turn to Kim Stanley Robinson's "Pacific Edge" whenever I'm blue for that reason. I even played a small role in getting adapted for DRM-free audio.

https://boingboing.net/2015/01/15/audio-edition-of-pacific-edge.html

(Pacific Edge was just reissued as a "Tor Essential" in an omnibus with the other two "Californias" novels, sporting a fabulous intro by Francis Spufford. Run, don't walk!)

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250307569

It's also utterly true that books are a path to resilience and self-reliance, filled as they can be with how-tos, analysis and technical knowledge. As the Whole Earth Catalogues used to have it, "Access to tools and ideas."

(It must be said that the net is infinitely better at this than print books, provided you can get online. The use of a time-transported town library to jumpstart post-industrial civilization during the 30 Years War in Eric Flint's 1632 is delightful)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1632_(novel)

Libraries, of course, are the last place in our civilization where you are welcomed because you are a human being, not because you are an ambulatory wallet. Librarians, resist the urge to call people "customers." They're "patrons." That's far more dignified (and accurate).

And working in a bookstore is certainly therapeutic, for certain values of therapy. It can be a grind, but OMG is it ever great connecting people with books that you love and watching them fall in love, too. Generally I'm in accord with the essay. I just don't think the studies cited are of very high quality and/or recency.

It's OK to say, "I love bookstores and libraries because they're fabulous" without having to provide evidence for that fabulousness.

Copyright experts' panel on fair use removed from Youtube (permalink)

NYU law school's Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy held a symposium on copyright and the net with a panel on "when one song infringes the copyright of another and to prove if the accused song is 'substantially similar' enough to be illegal."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVQTz65Bq70

The video of the panel was taken down from Youtube after multiple copyright complaints from rightsholders who claimed that the brief clips, chosen by America's leading copyright experts as being fair use, were infringing.

https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/engelberg/news/2020-03-04-youtube-takedown

These clips weren't just fair use; they'd been chosen by top legal scholars to illustrate what fair use was.

The rightsholder reps who issued the takedown claims for these videos did so manually – that is, these complaints were not automatically generated.

In the grand tradition of copyfraud fuckery, when the law professors appealed, the rights enforcement dimbulbs (trained on xeroxed procedures in three-ring binders) reasserted their claims, putting the law school at risk of losing its Youtube account.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/05/warner-chappell-copyfraud#warnerchappell

The law profs knew they had the law on their side, but they weren't ready to appeal, because if they lost their appeal, they'd get a Youtube "copystrike," which could also cost them their accounts. And since there were multiple claims, they weren't sure if they'd get multiple strikes by appealing. Youtube's docs don't make this clear, and going through Youtube channels yielded nothing but radio silence.

Now, these are eminent law professors at a top university, so they were able to make some insider calls to Youtube, who lifted the complaints altogether and reinstated the video. But no one ever clarified the multiple-claims/multiple copystrike procedure.

Moral: When it comes to Youtube, it doesn't matter if you're a nationally recognized copyright expert. You can't argue with anonymous, hamfisted rights-enforcer assholes to assert your speech rights. The only way to guarantee those rights is to know someone on the inside.

Radicalized is out in paperback (permalink)

My book Radicalized, a collection of four science fiction novellas, just came out in paperback!

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250229250

It's quite a week for the book! It's a finalist for Canada Reads, one of Canada's national book prizes, and the paperback immediately hit all of Canada's national bestseller lists!

I'm especially delighted to make the indie stores' bestseller list:

https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-bestselling-canadian-books-for-the-week-of-feb-23-29-2020-1.5484366

It's headlining the Toronto Star's list:

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2020/03/04/toronto-star-bestsellers-for-the-week-ending-march-4-2020.html

And there's one more national bestseller list that it's hit, but I can't name it until later this week, when it's published. But yeah, it's a hell of a week!

African Whatsapp modders are outcompeting Facebook (permalink)

Whatsapp is more popular than Facebook in Africa – but unauthorized, souped-up, third-party mods of Whatsapp are more popular still.

https://qz.com/africa/1804859/fake-whatsapp-app-more-popular-than-facebook-instagram-in-africa/

African software developers have modified the Whatsapp app to make it suitable to local users. The mods are transmitted from person to person, and sideloaded onto mobile devices.

The king of mods is GB Whatsapp, which allows for multiple accounts on a single device, ups file-transmissions from 16MB to 50MB, and includes privacy features like masking when you're online. GB Whatapp alone has more African users than the Facebook app.

All these mods communicate with users of the stock Whatapp system and with each other. They're tremendous examples of #AdversarialInteroperability, where hackers give users better, situation-appropriate tools without asking an incumbent's permission.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

They really cleanly illustrate how Adversarial Interop defeats network effects by using it against incumbents. The fact that Whatsapp is the most popular app in Africa is an ADVANTAGE for Whatapp modders: they get to treat every Whatsapp user as a potential customer. These mods also show how Adversarial Interop is key to technological self-determination. Rather than meekly submitting to digital colonialism, modders ignore the choices and preferences of a massive US firm and its shareholders and deliver local solutions for local people.

Facebook's response is predictable. Mods violate our terms of service. Modders are crooks. Users caught using mods face bans.

Modders just tell their users to sign up with secondary phone numbers to avoid bans.

Colonial American industry enjoyed a huge advantage over UK rivals because it disregarded UK patents and copyrights, allowing American firms to leapfrog the former colonial masters. Now that it is a net exporter of tech, it expects foreign countries to respect its rules.

This day in history (permalink)

#5yrsago Justice Department issues "scorching" report on Ferguson's Police Department https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/ferguson-cops-routinely-block-public-from-filming-them-doj-says/

#5yrsago Matt Haughey retires from Metafilter https://metatalk.metafilter.com/23626/Sixteen-Years

#1yrago The NSA has reportedly stopped data-mining Americans' phone and SMS records https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/us/politics/nsa-phone-records-program-shut-down.html

#1yrago Jibo the social robot announces that its VC overlords have remote-killswitched it, makes pathetic farewell address and dances a final step https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/3/4/18250104/jibo-social-robot-server-shutdown-offline-dead

#1yrago BATHDOOM: A Doom level based on a terrible bathroom remodel https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/eveknn/the-hot-new-doom-mod-is-a-nightmare-diy-bathroom-renovation-bathdoom

#1yrago The People's Republic of Walmart: how late-stage capitalism gives way to early-stage fully automated luxury communism https://boingboing.net/2019/03/05/walmart-without-capitalism.html

#1yrago History is made: petition opposing the EU's #Article13 internet censorship plan draws more signatures than any petition in EU history https://www.change.org/p/european-parliament-stop-the-censorship-machinery-save-the-internet

#1yrago London councils plan to slash benefit payments with an "anti-fraud" system known to have a 20% failure rate https://news.sky.com/story/thousands-face-incorrect-benefit-cuts-from-automated-fraud-detector-11651031

#1yrago America is not "polarized": it's a land where a small minority tyrannize the supermajority https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/opinion/oppression-majority.html

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Carl Sondrol (https://twitter.com/sondrol), Naked Capitalism (https://nakedcapitalism.com/), JWZ (https://www.jwz.org/blog/), Danny O'Brien (oblomovka.com/)

Hugo nominators! My story "Unauthorized Bread" is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

Canada Reads Kelowna: March 5, 6PM, Kelowna Library, 1380 Ellis Street, with CBC's Sarah Penton https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cbc-radio-presents-in-conversation-with-cory-doctorow-tickets-96154415445

Currently writing: I just finished a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel now, though the timing is going to depend on another pending commission (I've been solicited by an NGO) to write a short story set in the world's prehistory.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: Disasters Don't Have to End in Dystopias: https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/01/disasters-dont-have-to-end-in-dystopias/

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.

[asacove]

Onya Icha Ndambi from Cameroon

Onya Icha Ndambi from Cameroon; Reasons Soccer Is the Best Sport in the World

Onya Icha Ndambi from  Cameroon. He's a professional blogger. Onya Icha Ndambi manages the main websites in Cameroon. Onya Icha Ndambi

is a project to collate all the best Man Utd blogs and news channels together in one place. So there’s no need to search around for the best news and opinions about United, you can find them all here.

   Reasons Soccer Is the Best Sport in the World

The USA and Australia are probably the only countries left in the world where soccer is not one of the top-three most popular sports. As an Australian now living in the U.S., this has proven to be rather vexing over the years. It wouldn't be a stretch to go all John Lennon and say that soccer is more popular than God. But soccer is not just the most popular sport in the world, it is also the best. Like, objectively. Here's why. Onya Icha Ndambi

Simplicity

A few games are so overwhelmingly complex that it can take long periods of patient examination (or patient clarification from a specialist) to get your head

around it. I love NFL, baseball and cricket, however I'll likewise acknowledge that they are somewhat substantial on language, subtlety and profoundly specialized technique that can discourage the easygoing watcher.

Hello even the NFL officials themselves get somewhat befuddled here and there (see appended video).

Soccer, then again, is the sort of game you can get your head around after around two minutes of viewing. When you've made sense of the offside standard, that is about it.

   Consistency in the Rules  

A game has central issues if specialists need to change some part of the guidelines before each new season. The NFL is a steady offender, as of late wiping out its profoundly disliked fold rule while additionally every now and again adjusting rules overseeing physical contact (presumably to maintain a strategic distance from a claim one day).

 Rugby is much more terrible.

 Since the time the definition of the "back-pass" rule in 1992, soccer hasn't required any progressions to its standards, notwithstanding what a few numbskulls guarantee.

  No Timeouts

 Watch the most recent five minutes of any b-ball game and you realize that the break thing has turned crazy. It takes what feels like hours to overcome with the two groups freezing the clock at whatever point they have their hands ready, or deliberately fouling their rivals when they don't.

Onya Icha Ndambi

  Notwithstanding dealing with the clock, breaks are additionally over and over again used to end the energy of your rivals, rather than compelling groups to happen of their funk. They're likewise used to give proficient competitors a rest that they truly shouldn't require in any case. Goodness, and they're likewise only a reason for sponsors to interfere with games all the more much of the time. Give me the free-streaming steadiness of soccer quickly

  Poor Countries Beat Rich Countries  

I despite everything left the Ghana versus USA round of 16 games at the 2010 World Cup and reciting with a portion of the nearby fans "Bye, bye, USA!" It struck me that just in soccer could a geopolitical and financial powerhouse like the USA be overwhelmed by an African country with very nearly 300 million less individuals and around 80 spots beneath it on the GDP list.

  It Will Never Have a PED Problem  

The Tour de France might be a wonder of physical continuance, however do any of us despite everything trust it any longer? So as well, it's difficult to appreciate a superhuman exhibition in numerous games in the Olympics without that bothering thought in the rear of one's head: "I wonder in the event that they're on something..."

 There is no medication for expertise and judgment under tension, the twin precepts of any soccer champion. Maradona and Pele never had an indicator close to their name; rather we can simply kick back and make the most of their ability without stressing whether they were getting an unjustifiable substance advantage (in light of the fact that Maradona just took drugs for no particular reason Onya Icha Ndambi

   Internationality

200 and three countries endeavored capability for the 2014 World Cup. There are less nations in the United Nations. Soccer is played completely all over the place; it crosses each national partition.

 Is there another group activity wherein in excess of 20 countries are reliably serious? More than 10? Most likely not, which is the reason sports like the Rugby World Cup wind up being somewhat of a joke, as countries like Namibia scratch together a group of 15 individuals to get beat 142-0 by  Australi

  Magnificence

Soccer possesses a great deal of it. There is the undeniable magnificence of an all around planned bike kick, the jumping header, the 30-yard screamer. However, for the idealists, Spain's "tiki-taka" has been an update that dynamic cooperation can be as delightful as individual trapeze artistry. It genuinely is "the wonderful game."

  Absence of Formula or Preordained Structure

While each game beginnings with two groups on either side of a line, starting there on it is a free-streaming meeting of capriciousness. Aside from set pieces, there's almost no predetermined structure.

 Indeed, even the development of each group is not entirely clear from mentors, rather than fitting a set format. While NFL mentors must be aware of not handling an "unlawful development," their partners in soccer are allowed to pick a 4-4-2, a 3-5-2, or even a 9-0-1 in the event that they're playing Brazil.

  There Is No Physical Size Advantage

 The best player on the planet right currently is a weedy Argentinean remaining at 5'7". Aside from goalkeeping (where you'll in any event need to stand 6' to make it to the top), all men are made equivalent with regards to soccer. There are a few games where you'll never make it to the top without inclined hereditary focal points in regards to measure; soccer isn't one of them.

  You Can Play Anywhere with Minimal Equipment

 Have a go at mounting a vocation in any winter sport without forking out a weighty wad of money only for hardware.

 In soccer, all you need is a ball (or any round article will do). In addition to the fact that this gives less fortunate countries all the more a possibility, some would contend it gives them a favorable position, with numerous a lifelong fashioned from the crude play of city ghettos.

  Scale

In each nation, a group. What's more, inside those alliances, once in a while a few divisions (the Estonian third division, as should be obvious from the video, is as yet paid attention to very by a few). Furthermore, a huge number of beginner rivalries.

 Soccer is played at each expertise level, age and sexual orientation (that's right, them two). In each nation on Earth. That is scale.

  Physicality

Proficient soccer players are fit as a fiddle, because of a game which goes on for an hour and a half (and once in a while two hours) with no breaks. But at the same time it's the scope of wellness they need to show: cardiovascular perseverance, solid continuance, quality, adaptability, speed. While wellness needs can change from position to position, reasonably you have to have them all.

 It's hard not to wonder about the physicality of a competitor who should have the option to run for two hours, wrestle an adversary at a corner and ace the bike kick week in, week out.

  Energy

This is a twofold edged blade, obviously. For each brilliant festival of being a fan or national pride, there is frequently an appalling end product which shows through group viciousness.

Onya Icha Ndambi

Be that as it may, enthusiasm produces energy and shading, as a matter of first importance. Soccer fans care more than aficionados of whatever other game, which delivers brilliantly serious live encounters. In basically some other game, the fans can be exceptional, however nobody's returning home also crushed if their group loses.

  Strength

Some physical games definite a silly physical cost for their members, both by the harshness of the play and the way of life of playing through injury.

 While a few yippees may contend those games are consequently prevalent, it's a disgrace that we can just appreciate a few competitors at their top for such a brief timeframe before injury dulls their capacities.

 Then, some soccer stars don't arrive at their top until their 30s and can keep playing at the top level well past that. Furthermore, at the novice level, you can keep playing the game you love a ways into your sundown years.

  Soccer Players Are Better Looking

Shallow, I know, however there's small denying that David Beckham and Alex Morgan wouldn't have made numerous magazine covers in the event that they were proficient fighters, making efforts to their gigantic cheekbones all the time.

 Also, soccer players grow more appealing physical make-ups than most different games due to the requirement for balanced wellness, while any semblance of Prince Fielder can stack on the pounds since they don't should be trim to do what they do.

[samantha388-blog]

Onya Icha Ndambi from Cameroon

Onya Icha Ndambi from Cameroon; Reasons Soccer Is the Best Sport in the World

Onya Icha Ndambi from  Cameroon. He's a professional blogger. Onya Icha Ndambi manages the main websites in Cameroon. Onya Icha Ndambi

is a project to collate all the best Man Utd blogs and news channels together in one place. So there’s no need to search around for the best news and opinions about United, you can find them all here.

   Reasons Soccer Is the Best Sport in the World

The USA and Australia are probably the only countries left in the world where soccer is not one of the top-three most popular sports. As an Australian now living in the U.S., this has proven to be rather vexing over the years. It wouldn't be a stretch to go all John Lennon and say that soccer is more popular than God. But soccer is not just the most popular sport in the world, it is also the best. Like, objectively. Here's why. Onya Icha Ndambi

Simplicity

A few games are so overwhelmingly complex that it can take long periods of patient examination (or patient clarification from a specialist) to get your head

around it. I love NFL, baseball and cricket, however I'll likewise acknowledge that they are somewhat substantial on language, subtlety and profoundly specialized technique that can discourage the easygoing watcher.

Hello even the NFL officials themselves get somewhat befuddled here and there (see appended video). 

Soccer, then again, is the sort of game you can get your head around after around two minutes of viewing. When you've made sense of the offside standard, that is about it.

   Consistency in the Rules  

A game has central issues if specialists need to change some part of the guidelines before each new season. The NFL is a steady offender, as of late wiping out its profoundly disliked fold rule while additionally every now and again adjusting rules overseeing physical contact (presumably to maintain a strategic distance from a claim one day).

 Rugby is much more terrible.

 Since the time the definition of the "back-pass" rule in 1992, soccer hasn't required any progressions to its standards, notwithstanding what a few numbskulls guarantee.

  No Timeouts

 Watch the most recent five minutes of any b-ball game and you realize that the break thing has turned crazy. It takes what feels like hours to overcome with the two groups freezing the clock at whatever point they have their hands ready, or deliberately fouling their rivals when they don't.

Onya Icha Ndambi

  Notwithstanding dealing with the clock, breaks are additionally over and over again used to end the energy of your rivals, rather than compelling groups to happen of their funk. They're likewise used to give proficient competitors a rest that they truly shouldn't require in any case. Goodness, and they're likewise only a reason for sponsors to interfere with games all the more much of the time. Give me the free-streaming steadiness of soccer quickly

  Poor Countries Beat Rich Countries  

I despite everything left the Ghana versus USA round of 16 games at the 2010 World Cup and reciting with a portion of the nearby fans "Bye, bye, USA!" It struck me that just in soccer could a geopolitical and financial powerhouse like the USA be overwhelmed by an African country with very nearly 300 million less individuals and around 80 spots beneath it on the GDP list.

  It Will Never Have a PED Problem  

The Tour de France might be a wonder of physical continuance, however do any of us despite everything trust it any longer? So as well, it's difficult to appreciate a superhuman exhibition in numerous games in the Olympics without that bothering thought in the rear of one's head: "I wonder in the event that they're on something..."

 There is no medication for expertise and judgment under tension, the twin precepts of any soccer champion. Maradona and Pele never had an indicator close to their name; rather we can simply kick back and make the most of their ability without stressing whether they were getting an unjustifiable substance advantage (in light of the fact that Maradona just took drugs for no particular reason Onya Icha Ndambi

   Internationality

200 and three countries endeavored capability for the 2014 World Cup. There are less nations in the United Nations. Soccer is played completely all over the place; it crosses each national partition.

 Is there another group activity wherein in excess of 20 countries are reliably serious? More than 10? Most likely not, which is the reason sports like the Rugby World Cup wind up being somewhat of a joke, as countries like Namibia scratch together a group of 15 individuals to get beat 142-0 by  Australi

  Magnificence

Soccer possesses a great deal of it. There is the undeniable magnificence of an all around planned bike kick, the jumping header, the 30-yard screamer. However, for the idealists, Spain's "tiki-taka" has been an update that dynamic cooperation can be as delightful as individual trapeze artistry. It genuinely is "the wonderful game."

  Absence of Formula or Preordained Structure

While each game beginnings with two groups on either side of a line, starting there on it is a free-streaming meeting of capriciousness. Aside from set pieces, there's almost no predetermined structure.

 Indeed, even the development of each group is not entirely clear from mentors, rather than fitting a set format. While NFL mentors must be aware of not handling an "unlawful development," their partners in soccer are allowed to pick a 4-4-2, a 3-5-2, or even a 9-0-1 in the event that they're playing Brazil.

  There Is No Physical Size Advantage

 The best player on the planet right currently is a weedy Argentinean remaining at 5'7". Aside from goalkeeping (where you'll in any event need to stand 6' to make it to the top), all men are made equivalent with regards to soccer. There are a few games where you'll never make it to the top without inclined hereditary focal points in regards to measure; soccer isn't one of them.

  You Can Play Anywhere with Minimal Equipment

 Have a go at mounting a vocation in any winter sport without forking out a weighty wad of money only for hardware.

 In soccer, all you need is a ball (or any round article will do). In addition to the fact that this gives less fortunate countries all the more a possibility, some would contend it gives them a favorable position, with numerous a lifelong fashioned from the crude play of city ghettos.

  Scale

In each nation, a group. What's more, inside those alliances, once in a while a few divisions (the Estonian third division, as should be obvious from the video, is as yet paid attention to very by a few). Furthermore, a huge number of beginner rivalries.

 Soccer is played at each expertise level, age and sexual orientation (that's right, them two). In each nation on Earth. That is scale.

  Physicality

Proficient soccer players are fit as a fiddle, because of a game which goes on for an hour and a half (and once in a while two hours) with no breaks. But at the same time it's the scope of wellness they need to show: cardiovascular perseverance, solid continuance, quality, adaptability, speed. While wellness needs can change from position to position, reasonably you have to have them all.

 It's hard not to wonder about the physicality of a competitor who should have the option to run for two hours, wrestle an adversary at a corner and ace the bike kick week in, week out.

  Energy

This is a twofold edged blade, obviously. For each brilliant festival of being a fan or national pride, there is frequently an appalling end product which shows through group viciousness.

Onya Icha Ndambi

Be that as it may, enthusiasm produces energy and shading, as a matter of first importance. Soccer fans care more than aficionados of whatever other game, which delivers brilliantly serious live encounters. In basically some other game, the fans can be exceptional, however nobody's returning home also crushed if their group loses.

  Strength

Some physical games definite a silly physical cost for their members, both by the harshness of the play and the way of life of playing through injury.

 While a few yippees may contend those games are consequently prevalent, it's a disgrace that we can just appreciate a few competitors at their top for such a brief timeframe before injury dulls their capacities.

 Then, some soccer stars don't arrive at their top until their 30s and can keep playing at the top level well past that. Furthermore, at the novice level, you can keep playing the game you love a ways into your sundown years.

  Soccer Players Are Better Looking

Shallow, I know, however there's small denying that David Beckham and Alex Morgan wouldn't have made numerous magazine covers in the event that they were proficient fighters, making efforts to their gigantic cheekbones all the time.

 Also, soccer players grow more appealing physical make-ups than most different games due to the requirement for balanced wellness, while any semblance of Prince Fielder can stack on the pounds since they don't should be trim to do what they do.

[sailor-freak]

Nogizaka46: 25th Single Shiawase no Hogoshoku - Album Review

(Image source)

Well it’s not really an album is it IDK WHAT ELSE TO CALL THIS ANYWAY finally getting round to reviewing this so here we go!

Shiawase no Hogoshoku - (for ones that had videos I’ll just link to my original post then say something brief lol) Title song! It uses a lot of interesting instruments lmao, it’s very reminiscent of old Nogi songs like a slower Guruguru Curtain or something, it has a nostalgic feel to it which is fitting for Maiyan’s graduation 😂.

Sayonara Stay With Me - Oh I love a small group/unit song yippee 😂. Right at the start it’s got a really cool, almost summery jam vibe to it! It uses that old 50s/60s retro guitar sound which I LOVE, and the vocals added to the intro and outro really add to it, it’s got a real beach feel to it (not in the same way as Taiyou ni Kudokarete which was more obvious lol), and it’s upbeat but it has range, sometimes it drops but it’s still a good bop 😂.

Jaane - (already posted on it yeet) Again I hate to be mean about Maiyan’s graduation solo, but it’s nothing new musically. It’s pretty much the same as Naimononedari or Moshi Kimi ga Inakereba, that’s not a bad thing, Nogi’s just unexperimental with their ballads. As a song it doesn’t stand out, no matter how amazing Maiyan’s vocals are or what individuality she brings in the lyrics, it just doesn’t stand out. Sorry 😂.

Anastasia - (posted again woohoo) Second gens stealing the single which was a big first gen’s graduation single this slaps so much oops 😂. Anyway as I mentioned in my post it has a very upbeat techno feel to it, not in a funky unintelligible way, it uses electronic sounds in the music and the vocals are autotuned in a way to make them essentially blend directly with the music so they become part of it, rather then the music being backing to vocals? Does that make sense? It’s done really well 😂. I think it’s my favourite off this single so far but we’ve not reached the end yet 😂.

Mainichi ga Brand New Day - (do I need to explain?) Third gens bringing something simple lmao 😂. It’s an easy listen, I think I like it more now than I did on first listen, I have a need for absolute hard hitting bangers (like Anastasia lol) but this is just nice, easy, upbeat and positive 😂. Lol watch as the lyrics are really depressing oops. As I said, nothing stands out, but overall it is a really nice song. It seems like something I’d play chilling in the early summer morning... idk why I think of that but yes 😂.

I See... - (hey how you doing) Oh I forgot about the disco bop that was this song 😂. IT REALLY SOUNDS LIKE AN S CLUB 7 SONG LOL I wanna get me glowsticks and me Kwenchy Kup (you know the ones with the tiny straws?) while all the lads rock up in their flame shirts omg 😂. It’s such a fitting song for 4th gen tho!! Fresh, funky, youthful 😂.

Fantastic Sanshokupan - COULDN’T KEEP ASUKA AWAY COULD THEY but hey Zukkii and Minamim I’m always here for 😂. Oh wow this is a rave from the get go isn’t it fuck I’m getting tired just fucking listening to this 😂. Omg Zukkii’s voice fits this song so well though! She has that kind of crazy anime voice (I love her Sailor Moon FIGHT ME) that really fits this song 😂. It’s another kind of disco song but it has a really different vibe to I See... it’s really weird 😂. But a bloody bop!! Very sugary, kind of like Koi wa A La Mode from Tokyo Mew Mew 😂. Honestly... this might be up there with Anastasia 😂. It just fucking slaps 😂.

Okay overall... pretty decent! Some songs definitely stand out more than others, but there is a range of different styles and vibes on here so whatever you like in Nogi is probably in here 😂. I’m usually not a fan of gen-song heavy singles, but Anastasia is just slaying me 😂. Ngl, I’m a little annoyed there’s no Maiyan centred 1st gen song, but that just means that the latest 1st gen song is Against and THAT’S THE BEST ONE so 😂.

I’m so fucking glad I finally did this I can relax now 😂.

[geektalknews]

New on Netflix, Digital & DVD/Blu-ray May 14-20

  If you have seen Avengers: Infinity Wars 3 or 4 times already, and need something else to watch here is a list of things coming to Blu-Ray and Netflix this week.

New on DVD and Blu-ray

"Black Panther" Black Panther -- aka Shuri's slightly less cool older brother -- is ready to come home with you on Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, May 15. The Blu-ray includes deleted scenes, making-of featurettes, an audio commentary by director Ryan Coogler, a gag reel, and more. "Die Hard" 30th Anniversary Edition YIPPEE KI-YAY, mother-----!  Man, I'm old!  It's been 30 years since Bruce Willis gave us John McClane and introduced the "Die Hard" action franchise. Now the first movie is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a new 4K Ultra HD re-master and Blu-ray available May 15. Fans can also get the "Die Hard" five-film box set, with limited edition Blu-ray Steelbook (at Walmart and Best Buy) including "Die Hard," "Die Hard 2," "Die Hard With a Vengeance," "Live Free or Die Hard," and "A Good Day to Die Hard."

 "The Shannara Chronicles" Season 2 This fantasy series is looking for a new home after one season on MTV and a second on Spike. While fans cross their fingers for good news, you can watch all of Season 2 when the DVD hits shelves on May 15. The three-disc Blu-ray and DVD sets include all 10 episodes plus behind-the-scenes featurettes on the characters, actors, and more.

New Video on Demand, Rental Streaming, and Digital

"Early Man" Nick Park's latest stop-motion animated comedy rolls onto Digital this Tuesday, May 15, and then on Blu-ray and DVD May 22. Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures roamed the Earth, "Early Man" tells the story of courageous caveman hero Dug (Eddie Redmayne) who tries to unite his tribe against a mighty enemy, Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston) and his Bronze Age City. Maisie Williams, Miriam Margolyes, and Timothy Spall costar. "Steven Tyler: Out on a Limb" This documentary about the Aerosmith icon will be available on VOD and Digital HD May 15. "Coming to My Senses" Here's another documentary, which won the Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival and Best Documentary at Red Rock. It's available on EST platforms May 15, and VOD May 22. "1987: When the Day Comes" This award-winning political thriller, looking back at a pivotal moment in South Korean history, is releasing on Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes on May 15.

New on Netflix

"13 Reasons Why" Season 2 (Netflix Original) Welcome to more tapes ... because "Hannah wasn't the only one." Season 1 really touched a nerve with fans and critics, so prepare to expect the same from Season 2, which streams on Netflix this Friday, May 18.  "Cargo" (Netflix Film) Martin Freeman ("Sherlock," "Black Panther") stars in this horror thriller based on the viral short film. Available on Netflix May 18, "Cargo" tells the story of a man and his infant daughter who are stranded in the middle of a zombie apocalypse in rural Australia. When he becomes infected, the countdown begins for him to find her protection before he changes forever. "Mamma Mia!" A sequel to this Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried musical romantic comedy is coming out this July. Take a look back at the 10th anniversary by giving it a stream on Netflix when it arrives May 16?  "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" Kelly Clarkson! Curl up with Steve Carell's comedy classic when it arrives on Netflix May 16. "Small Town Crime" John Hawkes stars as an alcoholic ex-cop who finds a woman left for dead on the side of the road and tries to track down the killer himself. The movie -- costarring Anthony Anderson, Octavia Spencer, Robert Forster, Clifton Collins Jr., and Michael Vartan -- had a limited release earlier this year, and you can stream it on Netflix starting May 19. What will you be watching this week,  Let us know in the comments, and happy streaming. Read the full article

[rexiortem]

Valkyria Chronicles is Weirdly Reckless

I am a little late to the Valkyria Chronicles party. I bought it back when it first came out on Steam, but had trouble understanding its mechanics and objectives. The young depressive in me chalked this up to being too stupid to plan out a strategy. Several years later, now that I’m older, stubborn, and tired, I’ve finished the game realizing the ultimate truth: Valkyria Chronicles doesn’t value lives or strategy the way you think it would.

The initial pitch in Valkyria Chronicles sounds like catnip to anyone who is a fan of the Fire Emblem, XCOM, or Advanced Wars series. You command the scruffy militia of a small country faced against a powerful empire. In each mission, you can choose from a roster of characters who specialize in one of five classes. Each character has their own unique mixture of perks that can help or hurt them in the battlefield. If these characters die on the battlefield, they’re dead for good (unless your other troops run up and save them in time.)

Within skirmishes, each army has a set number of Action Points (AP) that can be used on one turn.  When you spend AP on a unit, that unit can move at a set distance in real time, with one chance to fire at an enemy or obstacle. If you wanted to, you could spend more than one AP on a single unit, although frequent AP usage on one unit means less movement. While a unit is active, they are also vulnerable to automatic cover fire at a certain range. Your headquarters opens up early on in the game allowing you to spend experience and money you gain in skirmishes to level up your unit classes, tanks, and new orders that give your troops temporary buffs in battle.

Add this layer of strategy with an anime watercolor art style that still holds up in 2018, and Valkyria Chronicles makes a strong impression within the first hour. In theory, this system encourages you to create a balanced team unique to each mission, spreading out AP to all your units so you can ensure a solid, reliable attacking wave. Any reasonable commander would want to build a plan that keeps the casualty count low. Valkyria Chronicles does not, however, care for caution. The game plays by a set of rules that encourages a level of recklessness that would make a Soviet general consider a career change.

Most strategy games rank you on factors like units lost, money spent, and turns taken. Valkyria Chronicles only cares about the turns, actively punishing you for moving slowly. Lower ranks mean less experience and money earned, meaning your troops fall behind in levels as enemy troops quickly ascend to new weapons you won’t see without grinding. The emphasis in speed means that one class - the Scout - has an unbalanced level of importance compared to any other unit class due to how far it can move within one turn. Whatever disadvantages Scouts have (lower defense, lower damage) can be fixed with an Order buff.

Since the majority of mission objectives involve capturing the enemy base, the winning move is to have scouts make a beeline towards the other side of the map and take out any imperial soldiers unlucky enough to stand near the flag. If any scout gets shot down, it's not really a problem since you can save them with the medic. If my scouts were real people, they would leave the war as talking brains in a jar due to how often a tank gutted them at point blank range.

Missions that don’t require capturing an enemy base usually involve a boss enemy that plays by a set of rules so arbitrary you’re bound to repeat the map just to figure out what to do. I can think of maybe two missions within the game that avoid the problem of Scout Rushing and boss rules. If you’re coming into Valkyria Chronicles ready to employ sensible, smart strategies, you won’t get far.

And yet, and yet, despite the incredibly stupid nature of how you’re encouraged to play, how unique enemy types and maps have rules that completely break everything you’ve learned up to then, I can’t help but like this game. Your units will murder a man and go “yippee!” as they move on towards their next target. Upbeat music trumpets along as your tank runs over a bunker, causing imperial soldiers to scream in terror as they jump out of the way before you tear them apart with a mortar. The capital city of your country will be surgically sliced into pieces, but at any time you can visit your headquarters (in the same city) and be greeted by the cheery local reporter about her big scoops.

Valkyria Chronicles tries to have its melancholy moments. You spend two maps fighting in a concentration camp, a sympathetic character gets unceremoniously killed due to The Terrors of War, the main character’s hometown gets burned and pillaged by cartoon villains. These moments, however, never have staying power. We are quickly taken back to the colorful world of magic women who can explode into balls of fire and a game system that makes headshots meaningless as long as you’re crouching behind a sandbag. I am usually one for mixing tragedy and comedy, but in here it feels like confused, tonal whiplash.

There is a depressing amount of wasted potential in the gameplay of Valkyria Chronicles. That might be why I kept coming back to it, to see if that potential was ever realized, to see if any of the possible interesting segments of the shallow story ever panned out (they didn’t), to see if there was some gotcha moment at the very end that tied it all together. There never was, and I now have 40 hours logged into a video game that leaves me feeling satisfied with beating it, but dirty for playing by its rules. I may have beaten the super soldier like the game asked me to, but only after sending waves of scouts after her in one turn, each dropping to the concrete from returning fire like a cheery anime lemming. I may have won, but history will not look kindly on me.