#ESPECIALLY with some of them so reliant on ai!!!!!

[charmre]

Feel weird bc I told a classmate (in the closely tied writing concentration) that I didn't think that 'art director' was a legitimate school concentration/track

And they haven't responded...😬😬😬

[wirewitchviolet]

How a Computer Works - Part 1 (Components)

I am about to teach you on a real fundamental, connecting up electronic components level, how a computer actually works. Before I get into the meat of this though (you can just skip down below the fold if you don't care), here's the reasons I'm sitting doing so in this format:

Like a decade or two ago, companies Facebook pushed this whole "pivot to video" idea on the whole internet with some completely faked data, convincing everyone that everything had to be a video, and we need to start pushing back against that. Especially for stuff like complex explanations of things or instructions, it's much more efficient to just explain things clearly in text, maybe with some visual aids, so people can easily search, scan, and skip around between sections. It's also a hell of a lot easier to host things long term, and you can even print out a text based explainer and not need a computer to read it, keep it on a desk, highlight it, etc.

People are so clueless about how computers actually work that they start really thinking like it's all magical. Even programmers. Aside from how proper knowledge lets you get more out of them, this leads to people spouting off total nonsense about "teaching sand to think" or "everything is just 1s and 0s" or "this 'AI' a con artist who was trying to sell me NFTs a month ago probably really is an amazing creative thinking machine that can do everything he says!"

We used to have this cultural value going where it was expected that if you owned something and used it day to day, you'd have enough basic knowledge of how it worked that if it stopped working you could open it up, see what was wrong, and maybe fix it on your own, or maybe even put one together again from scratch, and that's obviously worth bringing back.

I'm personally working on a totally bonkers DIY project and I'd like to hype up like-minded people for when it gets farther along.

So all that said, have a standard reminder that I am completely reliant on Patreon donations to survive, keep updating this blog, and ideally start getting some PCBs and chips and a nice oscilloscope to get that mystery project off the ground.

Electricity probably doesn't work like how you were taught (and my explanation shouldn't be trusted too far either).

I remember, growing up, hearing all sorts of things about electricity having this sort of magical ability to always find the shortest possible path to where it needs to get, flowing like water, and a bunch of other things that are kind of useful for explaining how a Faraday cage or a lightning rod works, and not conflicting with how simple electronics will have a battery and then a single line of wire going through like a switch and a light bulb or whatever back to the other end of the battery.

If you had this idea drilled into your head hard enough, you might end up thinking that if we have a wire hooked to the negative end of a battery stretching off to the east, and another wire stretching off to the east from the positive end, and we bridge between the two in several places with an LED or something soldered to both ends, only the westernmost one is going to light up, because hey, the shortest path is the one that turns off as quickly as possible to connect to the other side, right? Well turns out no, all three are going to light up, because that "shortest path" thing is a total misunderstanding.

Here's how it actually works, roughly. If you took basic high school chemistry, you learned about how the periodic table is set up, right? A given atom, normally, has whatever number of protons in the core, and the same number of electrons, whipping all over around it, being attracted to those protons but repelled by each other, and there's particular counts of electrons which are super chill with that arrangement so we put those elements in the same column as each other, and then as you count up from those, you get the elements between those either have some electrons that don't fit all tight packed in the tight orbit and just kinda hang out all wide and lonely and "want to" buddy up with another atom that has more room, up to the half full column that can kinda go either way, then as we approach the next happy number they "want to" have a little more company to get right to that cozy tight packed number, and when you have "extra" electrons and "missing" electrons other atoms kinda cozy up and share so they hit those good noble gas counts.

I'm sure real experts want to scream at me for both that and this, but this is basically how electricity works. You have a big pile of something at the "positive" end that's "missing electrons" (for the above reason or maybe actually ionized so they really aren't there), and a "negative" end that's got spares. Then you make wires out of stuff from those middle of the road elements that have awkward electron counts and don't mind buddying up (and also high melting points and some other handy qualities) and you hook those in there. And the electron clouds on all the atoms in the wire get kinda pulled towards the positive side because there's more room over there, but if they full on leave their nucleus needs more electron pals, so yeah neighbors get pulled over, and the whole wire connected to the positive bit ends up with a positive charge to it, and the whole wire on the negative bit is negatively charged, and so yeah, anywhere you bridge the gap between the two, the electrons are pretty stoked about balancing out these two big awkward compromises and they'll start conga lining over to balance things out, and while they're at it they'll light up lights or shake speakers or spin motors or activate electromagnets or whatever other rad things you've worked out how to make happen with a live electric current.

Insulators, Resistors, Waves, and Capacitors

Oh and we typically surround these wires made of things that are super happy about sharing electrons around with materials that are very much "I'm good, thanks," but this isn't an all or nothing system and there's stuff you can connect between the positive and negative ends of things that still pass the current along, but only so much so fast. We use those to make resistors, and those are handy because sometimes you don't want to put all the juice you have through something because it would damage it, and having a resistor anywhere along a path you're putting current through puts a cap on that flow, and also sometimes you might want a wire connected to positive or negative with a really strong resistor so it'll have SOME sort of default charge, but if we get a free(r) flowing connection attached to that wire somewhere else that opens sometimes, screw that little trickle going one way, we're leaning everyone the other way for now.

The other thing with electricity is is that the flow here isn't a basic yes/no thing. How enthusiastically those electrons are getting pulled depends on the difference in charge at the positive and negative ends, and also if you're running super long wires then even if they conduct real good, having all that space to spread along is going to kinda slow things to a trickle, AND the whole thing is kinda going to have some inherent bounciness to it both because we're dealing with electrons whipping and spinning all over and because, since it's a property that's actually useful for a lot of things we do with electricity, the power coming out of the wall has this intentional wobbly nature because we've actually got this ridiculous spinny thing going on that's constantly flip flopping which prong of the socket is positive and which is negative and point is we get these sine waves of strength by default, and they kinda flop over if we're going really far.

Of course there's also a lot of times when you really want to not have your current flow flickering on and off all the time, but hey fortunately one of the first neat little electronic components we ever worked out are capacitors... and look, I'm going to be straight with you. I don't really get capacitors, but the basic idea is you've got two wires that go to big wide plates, and between those you have something that doesn't conduct the electricity normally, but they're so close the electromagnetic fields are like vibing, and then if you disconnect them from the flow they were almost conducting and/or they get charged to their limit, they just can't deal with being so charged up and they'll bridge their own gap and let it out. So basically you give them electricity to hold onto for a bit then pass along, and various sizes of them are super handy if you want to have a delay between throwing a switch and having things start doing their thing, or keeping stuff going after you break a connection, or you make a little branching path where one branch connects all regular and the other goes through a capacitor, and the electricity which is coming in in little pulses effectively comes out as a relatively steady stream because every time it'd cut out the capacity lets its charge go.

We don't just have switches, we have potentiometers.

OK, so... all of the above is just sort of about having a current and maybe worrying about how strong it is, but other than explaining how you can just kinda have main power rails running all over, and just hook stuff across them all willy-nilly rather than being forced to put everything in one big line, but still, all you can do with that is turn the whole thing on and off by breaking the circuit. Incidentally, switches, buttons, keys, and anything else you use to control the behavior of any electronic device really are just physically touching loose wires together or pulling them apart... well wait no, not all, this is a good bit to know.

None of this is actually pass/fail, really, there's wave amplitudes and how big a difference we have between the all. So when you have like, a volume knob, that's a potentiometer, which is a simple little thing where you've got your wire, it's going through a resistor, and then we have another wire we're scraping back and forth along the resistor, using a knob, usually, and the idea is the current only has to go through X percent of the resistor to get to the wire you're moving, which proportionately reduces the resistance. So you have like a 20 volt current, you've got a resistor that'll drop that down to 5 or so, but then you move this other wire down along and you've got this whole dynamic range and you can fine tune it to 15 or 10 or whatever coming down that wire. And what's nice about this again, what's actually coming down the wire is this wobbily wave of current, it's not really just "on" or "off, and as you add resistance, the wobble stays the same, it's just the peaks and valleys get closer to being just flat. Which is great if you're making, say, a knob to control volume, or brightness, or anything you want variable intensity in really.

Hey hey, it's a relay!

Again, a lot of the earliest stuff people did with electronics was really dependent on that analog wobbly waveform angle. Particularly for reproducing sound, and particularly the signals of a telegraph. Those had to travel down wires for absurd distances, and as previously stated, when you do that the signal is going to eventually decay to nothing. But then someone came up with this really basic idea where every so often along those super long wires, you set something up that takes the old signal and uses it to start a new one. They called them relays, because you know, it's like a relay race.

If you know how an electromagnet works (something about the field generated when you coil a bunch of copper wire around an iron core and run an electric current through it), a relay is super simple. You've got an electromagnet in the first circuit you're running, presumably right by where it's going to hit the big charged endpoint, and that magnetically pulls a tab of metal that's acting as a switch on a new circuit. As long as you've got enough juice left to activate the magnet, you slam that switch and voom you've got all the voltage you can generate on the new line.

Relays don't get used too much in other stuff, being unpopular at the time for not being all analog and wobbily (slamming that switch back and forth IS going to be a very binary on or off sorta thing), and they make this loud clacking noise that's actually just super cool to hear in devices that do use them (pinball machines are one of the main surviving use cases I believe) but could be annoying in some cases. What's also neat is that they're a logical AND gate. That is, if you have current flowing into the magnet, AND you have current flowing into the new wire up to the switch, you have it flowing out through the far side of the switch, but if either of those isn't true, nothing happens. Logic gates, to get ahead of myself a bit, are kinda the whole thing with computers, but we still need the rest of them. So for these purposes, relays re only neat if it's the most power and space efficient AND gate you have access to.

Oh and come to think of it, there's no reason we need to have that magnet closing the circuit when it's doing its thing. We could have it closed by default and yank it open by the magnet. Hey, now we're inverting whatever we're getting on the first wire! Neat!

Relay computers clack too loud! Gimme vacuum tubes!

So... let's take a look at the other main thing people used electricity for before coming up with the whole computer thing, our old friend the light bulb! Now I already touched a bit on the whole wacky alternating current thing, and I think this is actually one of the cases that eventually lead to it being adopted so widely, but the earliest light bulbs tended to just use normal direct current, where again, you've got the positive end and the negative end, and we just take a little filament of whatever we have handy that glows when you run enough of a current through it, and we put that in a big glass bulb and pump out all the air we can, because if we don't, the oxygen in there is probably going to change that from glowing a bit to straight up catching on fire and burning immediately.

But, we have a new weird little problem, because of the physics behind that glowing. Making something hot, on a molecular level, is just kinda adding energy to the system so everything jitters around more violently, and if you get something hot enough that it glows, you're getting it all twitchy enough for tinier particles to just fly the hell off it. Specifically photons, that's the light bit, but also hey, remember, electrons are just kinda free moving and whipping all over looking for their naked proton pals... and hey, inside this big glass bulb, we've got that other end of the wire with the more positive charge to it. Why bother wandering up this whole coily filament when we're in a vacuum and there's nothing to get in the way if we just leap straight over that gap? So... they do that, and they're coming in fast and on elliptical approaches and all, so a bunch of electrons overshoot and smack into the glass on the far side, and now one side of every light bulb is getting all gross and burnt from that and turning all brown and we can't have that.

So again, part of the fix is we switched to alternating current so it's at least splitting those wild jumps up to either side, but before that, someone tried to solve this by just... kinda putting a backboard in there. Stick a big metal plate on the end of another wire in the bulb connected to a positive charge, and now OK, all those maverick electrons smack into here and aren't messing up the glass, but also hey, this is a neat little thing. Those electrons are making that hop because they're all hot and bothered. If we're not heating up the plate they're jumping to, and there's no real reason we'd want to, then if we had a negative signal over on that side... nothing would happen. Electrons aren't getting all antsy and jumping back.

So now we have a diode! The name comes because we have two (di-) electrodes (-ode) we care about in the bulb (we're just kind of ignoring the negative one), and it's a one way street for our circuit. That's useful for a lot of stuff, like not having electricity flow backwards through complex systems and mess things up, converting AC to DC (when it flips, current won't flow through the diode so we lop off the bottom of the wave, and hey, we can do that thing with capacitors to release their current during those cutoffs, and if we're clever we can get a pretty steady high).

More electrodes! More electrodes!

So a bit after someone worked out this whole vacuum tube diode thing, someone went hey, what if it was a triode? So, let's stick another electrode in there, and this one just kinda curves around in the middle, just kinda making a grate or a mesh grid, between our hot always flowing filament and that catch plate we're keeping positively charged when it's doing stuff. Well this works in a neat way. If there's a negative charge on it, it's going to be pushing back on those electrons jumping over, and if there's a positive charge on it, it's going to help pull those electrons over (it's all thin, so they're going to shoot right past it, especially if there's way more of a positive charge over on the plate... and here's the super cool part- This is an analog thing. If we have a relatively big negative charge, it's going to repel everything, if it's a relatively big positive, it's going to pull a ton across, if it's right in the middle, it's like it wasn't even in there, and you can have tiny charges for all the gradients in between.

We don't need a huge charge for any of this though, because we're just helping or hindering the big jump from the high voltage stuff, and huh, weren't we doing this whole weak current controlling a strong current thing before with the relay? We were! And this is doing the same thing! Except now we're doing it all analog style, not slapping switch with a magnet, and we can make those wavy currents peak higher or lower and cool, now we can have phone lines boost over long distances too, and make volume knobs, and all that good stuff.

The relay version of this had that cool trick though where you could flip the output. Can we still flip the output? We sure can, we just need some other toys in the mix. See we keep talking about positive charges and negative charges at the ends of our circuits, but these are relative things. I mentioned way back when how you can use resistors to throttle how much of a current we've got, so you can run two wires to that grid in the triode. One connects to a negative charge and the other positive, with resistors on both those lines, and a switch that can break the connection on the positive end. If the positive is disconnected, we've got a negative charge on the grid, since it's all we've got, but if we connect it, and the resistor to the negative end really limits flow, we're positive in the section the grid's in. And over on the side with the collecting plate, we branch off with another resistor setup so the negative charge on that side is normally the only viable connection for a positive, but when we flip the grid to positive, we're jumping across the gap in the vacuum tube, and that's a big open flow so we'll just take those electrons instead of the ones that have to squeeze through a tight resistor to get there.

That explanation is probably a bit hard to follow because I'm over here trying to explain it based on how the electrons are actually getting pulled around. In the world of electronics everyone decided to just pretend the flow is going the other way because it makes stuff easier to follow. So pretend we have magical positrons that go the other way and if they have nothing better to do they go down the path where we have all the fun stuff further down the circuit lighting lights and all that even though it's a tight squeeze through a resistor, because there's a yucky double negative in the triode and that's worse, but we have the switch rigged up to make that a nice positive go signal to the resistance free promised land with a bonus booster to cut across, so we're just gonna go that way when the grid signal's connected.

Oh and you can make other sorts of logic circuits or double up on them in a single tube if you add more grids and such, which we did for a while, but not really relevant these days.

Cool history lesson but I know there's no relays or vacuum tubes in my computer.

Right, so the above things are how we used to make computers, but they were super bulky, and you'd have to deal with how relays are super loud and kinda slow, and vacuum tubes need a big power draw and get hot. What we use instead of either of those these days are transistors. See after spending a good number of years working out all this circuit flow stuff with vacuum tubes we eventually focused on how the real important thing in all of this is how with the right materials you can make a little juncture where current flows between a positive and negative charge if a third wire going in there is also positively charged, but if it's negatively charged we're pulling over. And turns out there is a WAY more efficient way of doing that if you take a chunk of good ol' middle of the electron road silicon, and just kinda lightly paint the side of it with just the tiniest amount of positive leaning and negative leaning elements on the sides.

Really transistors don't require understanding anything new past the large number of topics already covered here, they're just more compact about it. Positive leaning bit, negative leaning bit, wildcard in the middle, like a vacuum tube. Based on the concepts of pulling electrons around from chemistry, like a circuit in general. The control wire in the middle kinda works in just a pass-fail sort of way, like a relay. They're just really nice compared to the older alternatives because they don't make noise or have moving parts to wear down, you don't have to run enough current through them for metal to start glowing and the whole room to heat up, and you can make them small. Absurdly small. Like... need an electron microscope to see them small.

And of course you can also make an inverter super tiny like that, and a diode (while you're at it you can use special materials or phosphors to make them light emitting, go LEDs!) and resistors can get pretty damn small if you just use less of a more resistant material, capacitors I think have a limit to how tiny you can get, practically, but yeah, you now know enough of the basic fundamentals of how computers work to throw some logic gates together. We've covered how a relay, triode, or transistor function as an AND gate. An OR gate is super easy, you just stick diodes on two wires so you don't have messy backflow then connect them together and lead off there. If you can get your head around wiring up an inverter (AKA NOT), hey, stick one after an AND to get a NAND, or an OR to get a NOR. You can work out XOR and XNOR from there right? Just build 4 NANDs, pass input A into gates 1 and 2, B into 2 and 3, 2's output into 1 and 3, 1 and 3's output into 4 for a XOR, use NORs instead for a XNOR. That's all of them right? So now just build a ton of those and arrange them into a computer. It's all logic and math from there.

Oh right. It's... an absurd amount of logic and math, and I can only fit so many words in a blog post. So we'll have to go all...

CONTINUED IN PART 2!

Meanwhile, again, if you can spare some cash I'd really appreciate it.

[gloriousburden]

So much fucking AI generated content on Pinterest. It’s every single image when you search something up at this point. It’d be a lot less insufferable (albeit, still insufferable) if it were mandatory for people who “create” and post that shit to put a disclaimer/somehow sort it under AI generated so it could be hidden/filtered through by those who have no interest in it.

If AI generated content HAS to be a thing, it should be organized in a separate division from everyone else. They “create” and enjoy their AI shit amongst their own crowd, and we don’t have to see it. We need restrictions and regulations on it ASAP.

It shouldn’t be mainstream and heavily accepted especially in such an early stage where it is ever evolving, and all these apps/websites should stop pandering. Especially on apps/websites like Pinterest where human creativity and authenticity is supposed to thrive. We’re all supposed to connect due to our shared love of everything from recipes, to anime girl fanart, and AI takes that away.

AI should not replace human passion. It should not replace human creativity and human skills. Learning skills is not an inconvenience, and it is ALWAYS rewarding. Learning how to draw and getting to see your practice and hard work come into fruition is rewarding.

Writing stories/fanfiction and finally getting to start off the plot line you were most excited for after finishing writing the plot line you were becoming really bored with, is rewarding. You learn, and you grow from these experiences, Even “boring” work/practice is rewarding whether you realize it at the moment or not.

Lyrics from one of my favorite Björk songs:

“Lust for comfort

suffocates the soul

Relentless restlessness

Liberates me (Sets me free)

I feel at home

Whenever the unknown surrounds me”

You have to do things that are “boring.” You have to do things that are uncomfortable and foreign. That’s how you learn. Not every part of acquiring new skills or learning something new is going to be easy or make sense immediately.

If some experiences were not boring, then the other experiences would not be enjoyable. If you are constantly comfortable, comfortability loses its appeal. We’ve gotten too reliant on comfortability and instant gratification. (Insert Tom Hiddleston talking about delayed gratification on Sesame Street)

What would be the point if there were no challenges? It would all be quite unfulfilling, and you’d stay the same. You wouldn’t learn to look at things differently and challenge yourself.

And I saw someone selling earrings with AI generated images on them without disclosing the fact that the images were made with AI. It’s kind of a scummy thing to do when people are likely buying your shit because they value authenticity and would like to support a likeminded person with creative passions rather than supporting corporations who mass produce shit with no passion except a passion for greed.

How do corporations nowadays have more passion than someone selling something on a site like Etsy where self made items, diy, and creativity are the main focus? Why stoop that low?

Remember, you’re supposed to be the alternative to PURE greed.

Let’s bring back being passionate about creative hobbies and let’s bring back mastering skills out of love for said skill. Out of love for creativity and expressing yourself through what you created. Let’s bring back authenticity and wanting to share your own authenticity with others.

How does this not scare people? That others are no longer passionate about anything? That human beings have become so fucking lazy, that even some of the most fulfilling things you can do in life are too much work?

So lazy, that they’d be more satisfied with typing prompts into a website so a machine can generate literal internet slop made from preexisting art/images on the internet rather than them creating something themselves and getting to make all the creative choices and have every last detail be theirs to decide.

And I didn’t even get into how fucked up it is that AI has little to no regulation/restriction. It’s fucked up that images can be made depicting public figures of any kind. Anything, and anyone. Singers, Actors, Comedians, Politicians, literally everyone.

It’s fucked up that voices can be made to say anything. To sing anything. To declare anything.

But go on, keep feeding the machine because you were too lazy to pick up a fucking pencil to draw one of your OCs. See where your laziness and lack of passion gets us all.

Mind you, people used to be happy to draw their own OCs. Putting them in new outfits and such and maybe even giving them new haircuts. We have lost every plot, because people are too busy acting out those plot lines out with AI chat bots instead of with other human beings. They’re too busy feeding prompts to a machine before they could even think for themselves about how they would want the plot to go.

TL;DR: FUCK AI!!

[boxx-sama]

The Usage of a Rotary Telephone in Ai Nan Desu Yo

This was just something I happened to notice when rewatching the MV!

As pictured here, we can see Mahiru using a rotary telephone to communicate with her boyfriend. It may not be of much significance to some, but there is/could be a deeper meaning to this specific phone being used, rather than a modern one!

This specific one happens to be a vintage telephone. The development of rotary telephones dates back to the late 19th century, which is all the way back in the 1800s!

The concept of a rotary dial for selecting numbers on a telephone was first proposed by inventors and engineers in the 1870s. Almon Strowger, an undertaker from Kansas City, is often credited with inventing the first practical rotary dial telephone system in the late 19th century. His system aimed to eliminate the need for human operators to manually connect calls.

As amazing as the invention itself is, however, it did have flaws, especially considering the time period this was invented in! There wasn't modern technology, so using this phone had some issues.

Error-Prone: Rotary dialing was EXTREMELY susceptible to dialing errors! Users could miscount the number of digits, skip a digit accidentally, or make other mistakes while dialing.

Mechanical Complexity: Rotary phones were mechanical devices with many moving parts, which made them more prone to wear and tear. This complexity also meant that maintenance and repairs could be more challenging compared to modern electronic phones.

Lack of Advanced Features: Rotary telephones were designed primarily for basic voice communication! They lacked many of the advanced features that modern phones offer, such as caller ID, call waiting, voicemail, and speed dial.

Considering some of these, it is rather odd, isn't it? Mahiru is clearly pictured to be taking inspiration from modern blogs and such for her perfect journey of love.

So how is this particularly standout in any way?

Well, it's simple! Rotary telephones had many communication issues. They were difficult to handle, very slow, and had to be used in specific ways. (Dialing certain numbers, etc.)

I think that the usage of a rotary telephone in such a modern world that Ai Nan Desu Yo portrays might just be Mahiru's lack of communication with her boyfriend when it came to more serious matters!

This also may be a stretch on my part, but even the lyrics at this part of the MV kind of add to my small theory here.

Ring ring, I’m calling you in the middle of the night Forcing you to wake up, and I say “Good Morning!” But I fall asleep before you, I really feel bad you know? We can both feel lonely sometimes, but wonder if you’ll get angry soon I’m going to start relying on you if you’re kind to me, so please forgive me, thanks!

It just feels like there's some sort of communication issue here, if that makes sense. Mahiru is being a biiiiit over-reliant and wishing for forgiveness from her boyfriend due to her clear needs, and it's unsure whether they were actually met or not. Daisuki kind of paints a clearer picture on this with the whole cake feeding metaphor, but that may be a theory for another time.

It can also be noted that Mahiru is not happy at all when she uses the telephone, implying that she is also stressed, despite sharing the feeling of love with her boyfriend.

But, to her, it wasn't a big issue at all! Because in the end, all of this is love in of itself. And even if their communication is flimsy, surely love will power through.

Again, using the lyrics to support this:

If you don’t hug me, even our hearts will start drifting apart

This is a claim of responsibility from the two of us with matching love

We fought sometimes, I was happy to get hurt Let’s have matching pain, this sickness is pretty bad?

Mahiru seems to idealize love and the idea of being together to an unhealthy point, believing that if she can experience all of love's ups and downs and remain with her S/O, then everything is all okay in the end! That being said, I do NOT see her as completely naive, and she definitely had some awareness in the situation.

I guess that's all for my little theory! Let me know what you guys thought of it.

[gascon-en-exil]

Now that you've mentioned it, I'm curious how'd you'd rank the Zelda games minigames from best to worst

That would be entirely too many minigames to do individually, especially from memory since I haven't played most of these games in years. I can go by individual title though, ignoring the ones that don't have minigames in the usual sense (the NES games, both Four Swords games, Tri Force Heroes) and also Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom because I never actually played the latter and because my frustrations with both are on a much deeper conceptual level. I do recall BotW having some obnoxious minigames though, involving horses I believe. I'm not counting as well any minigames that offer only minor rewards that don't contribute to 100% completion, because those can be safely ignored.

Rating is out of 10 based on how obnoxious they are, with 1 being perfectly manageable and 10 being so annoying that they actively discourage me from replaying those games.

A Link to the Past - 2/10

The only really notable ones are the treasure chest game and the digging game, both of which are pure RNG and thus can be save-scummed. They're also in the Dark World so you shouldn't be strapped for money when you play them which is nice.

Link's Awakening - 1/10 for the original/DX, 4/10 for the Switch

On the Game Boy (Color) the fishing, crane, and river rapids games are all simple one-and-done affairs if you know what you're doing. The Switch remake however adds a bunch of new mechanics and rewards to all of them which makes them more annoying and time-consuming. There are rare fish to save-scum for, a realistic physics engine to make the crane more finicky, and a rapids race that requires precise maneuvering to get its best stuff. I'm not counting the Chamber Dungeons as a minigame because that's basically a separate mode unto itself...and also because they're usually pretty fun.

Ocarina of Time - 8/10

Not off to a great start for 3D Zelda. The gravedigging "tour" is pure luck, Bombchu bowling is also RNG-reliant, the treasure chest game is only not a nightmare because you can cheese it later on with the Lens of Truth, and the shooting challenges are serviceable at best. It's the fishing hole that truly lands OoT this score though, because it's the perfect storm of awful: partially luck-based, finicky mechanics, and actually physically painful at times on account of how hard and for how long you have to hold the analog stick to reel the big fish in. Oh, and you have to beat it twice, and the second time is harder!

Majora's Mask - 3/10

Surprisingly manageable and even fun in places, like the beaver races and the shooting galleries even if they require perfect scores. The horse and Goron races have issues with rubber band AI, the hitboxes in some of Honey and Darling's games can be stingy, the treasure chest game is (again) mostly RNG...but MM somehow makes all of these not so bad in their own ways, perhaps to compensate for the constant stress of the ticking clock. If I had to pick a worst one it might be the jumping minigame in Great Bay, because it takes a while to reach and the camera is liable to screw you over. The dog race is mostly luck-based, but at least it takes very little time and can be somewhat cheesed with the Mask of Truth. I am absolutely not counting the fishing hole added in the 3DS remake, because it's not required for 100% and because screw fishing in particular.

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons - 6/10

Sort of unfair lumping them together since Ages has all the really bad ones, but these two have always been a package deal. The baseball game is hard to get down precisely and also has a fair amount of RNG, the seed shooter game also requires some exact shots, and while both have dancing minigames Ages is the only one that takes into account timing. Making all this worse are the Oracle games' randomized ring system...plus a whole lot of randomized other things (Maple, Gasha trees) that aren't exactly minigames but still make these titles really annoying to revisit. Huh...I just noticed that "Gasha" sounds like "gacha"; were gacha games even a thing in 2001, or were Nintendo and Capcom just extremely ahead of the curve?

The Wind Waker - 5/10

Has some real nuisances, like the battleship game (RNG), the Flight Control Platform (precision gliding), and sword training (endurance). Much like my feelings on BotW however, it's not really the minigames that make me dread replaying WW so much as its various other headaches - many of which were addressed in the HD remake, granted, but they're still there.

The Minish Cap - 2/10

Another one where it's not really about the minigames. The only mandatory one I can even recall was catching cuccos, and a lot of that comes down to item progression later in the game. Kinstones are the real pain in MC, but even they're not so tough to find that you have to rely on minigames to get them.

Twilight Princess - 2/10

Same rating as MC, but for very different reasons. For me it's quite similar to MM in that there are a bunch of minigames but most of them are either inoffensive or actively enjoyable, and without the in-game time limit they're less stressful too. Snow sledding, popping balloons, the Clawshot cage games...all pretty fun. The only ones that stick out in my mind as not great are either quickly handled (goat wrangling, sumo wrestling) or are just boring (bombing pots on the river). Note however that this ranking would have been higher if I'd gone solely off my initial impressions from the Wii version. Having played the Gamecube and later HD versions afterward, I can safely say that, as always, motion controls make everything worse.

Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks - 9/10

The touch screen controls are bad enough, but I can distinctly recall both of these games also having some downright awful minigames. Hourglass has fishing and a merciless shooting gallery, Tracks has the whip race and the pirate shooting game, and both have stuff like another WW-style training endurance test and randomized part prizes making everything worse. I have very few good memories of either of these games, honestly; all their good bits get drowned out by the clunky controls and the miserable optional content.

Skyward Sword - 7/10

Again, motion controls suck - but at least the HD remaster fixed most of that, and in both versions a good number of the minigames are optional even by my standards. There are still some extremely bothersome ones here though. Fun Fun Island is very much not, the minecart race isn't the most responsive and the pumpkin shooting game can be very grating until you nail the exact way to (sort of) cheese it. I actually switched this ranking with OoT's as I was writing this, because I remembered how much losing the motion controls redeems the experience of this game. Still by no means a favorite, but at least I want to come back to it sometimes now.

A Link Between Worlds - 5/10 normally, 10/10 if you count the giant cucco

Fittingly, it's LttP but more of it - including more annoyances. There's still the RNG-dependent ones, but there's also now a racing game that requires some fairly precise movements as well as a finicky baseball game. The rupee-gathering games are now more about having a stopwatch on hand, but phones can cover that. The cucco-dodging game is a real pain and bumped the rating up a full point, but note that I am never in my life attempting to survive for 1000 seconds (that's over sixteen and a half minutes!) to get the giant cucco in the end credits. Even completionists have to know where to draw the line.

[jangmo-othewarrior]

Playable Patty Concept? Playable Patty Concept!

Truth be told, this has been stirring in between my ears for a while now. Patty is always fun to brainstorm about, and I've seen some posts discussing her playstyle, so I've decided to put my hat in the ring.

First things first, what makes Patty unique?

Every single character in DMC has their own unique quailty to their gameplay that differentiates them from each other. Lady primarily uses guns, Vergil has the motivation gauge, which encourages precise and accurate gameplay, Dante has a revolving door of weapons and guns, you get the picture.

So, what about Patty?

Patty is the descendent of a demon summoner, and thus has the ability to summon recreations of powerful demons she has already defeated (bosses). She utilizes these alongside her rapier and her twin pistols to mow down demon hordes like a freshly cut lawn.

In a way, this style would be somewhat similar to Nero; one melee weapon and one gun weapon with a revolving door of one more thing. However, the demon summons themselves would be more similar to Dante's weapon switching, with some differences. Which leads us too...

How does Patty's weapons work in gameplay?

Similarly to Nero, Patty has her pistols and her rapier. The pistols are somewhat similar to Ebony and Ivory, but they are much more equal, both technically being interchangeable for the other rather than having specfic purposes. These pistols, whose names are Fuchsia and Magenta (she was ten and wanted to have cool, rhyming guns like Dante), are special in their ability to link up with her demon summons for combos, but we'll get into that soon.

Patty's rapier, affectionately nicknamed Harmonia after the Greek godess of unity (Vergil approved), is unique in DMC weapons in its swordplay style. Instead of slashing like the DSD or Red Queen, Homonia is designed for stabbing and disarming. Patty's sword style is much more reliant on dodging and finding openings for stab attacks than just brute force. This works in tandem with Patty more squishy nature compared to the Demon Bois. Harmonia also links up with demon summons for combos, just like Magenta and Fuchsia.

So, how do Patty's demon summons work?

Similarly to Dante and Vergil, Patty has a rotating door of different summons collected from the remnants of her bosses throughout this hypothetical game. She can switch between them just like how Dante switches his weapons, and she can summon them with a click of a button, just like V. They can also be dismissed at the click of a button as well.

Unlike V's familiars, however, these summons are autonomous and attack enemies with basic attacks with no input from Patty. She can, however, run up to a summon and link up with them to access their combos. Each summon is upgradable, and they are all unique. I don't currently have concepts for these summons specifically, but at least one should be a demon from the Anime for funsies.

Okay, but what about Patty's upgrades specifically? What is her skill ceiling like?

Now this is where the fun begins.

Patty's skill ceiling comes from the player's ability to manage summons. Which one should you use when, that type of thing. However, with a simple upgrade, Patty can have multiple summons out fighting at the same time. Obviously this can become chaotic, especially when the player upgrades enough so that ALL of Patty's summons can come out at the click of a single button.

Obviously, this can can be overwhelming for the player. Four separate, autonomous entities all fighting enemies and you want a specific one for combos but you have to run up to it in the middle of the extremely chaotic fight just to use the combos you want? Seems like a hassle. Thus, there would be upgrades that let the player map specific summons to certain buttons so that Patty can have her chosen summon immediately link up with her for combos.

Essentially, Patty's gameplay is like if V's familiars were on DT AI mode the entire game except there are 4 of them and Patty can link up with them for combos as easily as Dante can style-switch. (It would even use the D-Pad just like style-switching on a controller!)

Finally, what about her Devil Trigger Gauge?

Well, looking at the only character somewhat similar to her, V, his DT summons Nightmare. So, Patty's DT would have her summon a powerful demon, easy. But which demon? Nightmare worked because of his status as one of the last bosses before Mundus in DMC 1, and his lore surrounding his power being so great that Mundus threw him into his own dimension because he didn't want to deal with him. But DMC5 Nightmare at least listened to V, so Patty's DT summon would need to at least have to listen her, which most demons, if not all, fundamentally don't. So clearly we've run out of options, right?

... Wrong. Who better to function as Patty's DT summon than the demon she has bossed around and annoyed for a decade at this point? A demon she has managed to get emotionally attached to, and who is definitely emotionally attached to her? A demon who owes her for cleaning the office he trashed in a fight again, so Dante better show up before she drags Vergil into this mess.

Dante's doppelganger features as Patty's DT, and essentially functions similarly to Nightmare. Fully autonomous, until you upgrade him. Then, Patty will jump onto his back for a demon killing piggyback ride. The doppelganger would look similar to Vergil's doppelganger, just with Dante's SDT design and red instead of blue. Also, just for fun, when DT ends Doppel!Dante can say a funny quip as he dissipates along the lines of 'We should do this more often!' or 'Don't tell your mom about this, Pattycakes!' I dunno, something fun :)

Once I had this idea in my head, it just wouldn't go away. The idea of Patty basically calling her dad and asking him to beat the shit out of whatever demons she's fighting is so fucking funny to me. True father-daughter bonding right there.

[fauxkaren]

My Holo Love - 7/10

This was cute. Idk if it was especially GOOD, but it was cute. The premise felt fairly unique while still having some classic K-drama tropes. I think the execution wasn't always perfect but there was at least an attempt to explore some interesting themes and do some good character work regarding being open to people and vulnerability.

You've got to suspend a bit of disbelief in terms of the technology, but like... just go with it. Don't question it or think too hard, lol. Secretive genius computer programmer, Nando, has developed a holographic AI (called Holo- whose entire appearance is based on Nando's) that the user can view and interact with via a fancy pair of glasses. When a competitor company tries to steal the Holo glasses, Nando's sister ditches them in a stranger's purse to hide them. This stranger is Soyeon, a woman with face blindness. You can see how a holographic AI can be helpful to a woman with that condition. Soyeon becomes increasingly reliant on Holo and Nando monitors their growing relationship while also hiding his identity from Soyeon.

As you can surmise, the show explores if an AI can experience emotions and whether a human can love an AI. Luckily the show doesn't spend TOO much time on that because really it kinda becomes obvious that Soyeon finds herself following in love with Holo because she's isolated herself from others due to her face blindness and Holo has helped her open up to people. And, lol of course, it's WAY less low stakes and emotionally vulnerable to love an AI vs to love a flawed human being. So you know... relatable, lol. But it's obvious to the viewer that Soyeon's really just projecting her growing feelings for Nando onto the AI he made and modeled on himself. So there's that aspect of AI that the show deals with, but it also takes a stab at addressing the dangers of wearable tech in terms of like a surveillance state and society not engaging with each other. I think the show is a less successful on that front but they tried at least!

Other than the AI stuff there's also the standard K-drama fare of Evil Conglomerates, a Secret Tragic Past, and Hidden Childhood Connections. It's all pretty well done and overall the show was enjoyable even if it wasn't super spectacular. If the premise seems even a little bit interesting to you, it's worth watching.

[dumb-phone-diaries]

So Friday morning my phone shit itself. I'd been considering moving to a dumb phone but wasn't really expecting to have to make a decision quite so quickly, but here we are. Since I'm still chronically online though, I've made this blog to document my experiences and see how I go and how long I hold out before I cave and just get another smartphone I guess.

I've just been becoming more and more tired of finding myself scrolling mindlessly down apps I don't care about, that are feeding me content I don't want to see, and more adverts than posts by people I care about. I've become tired of constant software updates, planned obsolescence, and my battery running flat by 3pm every day. And now the introduction of AI generated content. If no one can be bothered to create it why would I bother to look at it, y'know?

So yesterday I went and bought this beauty. She's a Nokia 325 4G in "Future Dusk" (that's dark purple) and she cost $89.

This was the most up-spec phone I could find that didn't run android (or ios). She has a 2mp camera! I'm thrilled with how grainy and creepy the photos look, but i am going to need to get a proper camera, which is not a bad thing. I've been sussing out some options and I think I've found a cool Canon compact on Marketplace.

I've gotta tell you though, this feels like it has less personalisation options than my old 3315. It probably doesn't though. although what ever happened to a little hook on the corner so i could attach a wrist strap or a little flashing hello kitty charm or whatever? rude.

The predictive text feels very clunky, there doesn't appear to be a way to save custom words in the dictionary, which i definitely feel like the old T9 did. There's no emojis so we're back to texting ascii art, which is fun tbh.

Ring tones are limited but you can set MP3's as ring tones so that's fine. The standard text tone I've set is actually very cute, it sounds very magical, and receiving text messages is suddenly very exciting. especially since I've become so used to messenger.

Oh wait! I've just figured out how to add words. Great. So like, even as someone who's used this kind of tech before, there's still a little bit of a learning curve as I reacquaint myself with it.

There's no way to move menu options around to suit my preference as far as I can tell but there aren't that many of them so it's not that much of an issue.

The big challenge I'm facing is how to listen to audiobooks. I've become rather reliant on listening to audiobooks in order to get tedious tasks done. It's honestly something I dreamed about as a kid and audible basically saved my life, I'm not even exaggerating (much). This little phone can play mp3s, and there are ways to convert audible files to mp3 but having a 30 hour long mp3 with no way to skip back and forth on the track is not especially useful, and there's also no way that i've found so far to change the play speed.

There are MP3 players capable of running audible, but that also means they're capable of running all the other apps that I don't want to be able to have access to. I don't feel that I'm addicted to my phone precisely but I also don't have a lot of self control as regards the bad habit I've developed of reaching for my phone any time my hands are not otherwise engaged. If anyone out there knows of some ways around that please let me know!

Anyway

Please appreciate these grainy-ass photos I took with the phone's camera of my dog Tillie, and some Daffodils growing in my garden.

[allsonicgames]

Team Sonic Racing

Original Platform: Xbox One, PS4,Switch, PC

Original release: 21st May 2019

Version Played: PC

Available to buy: Yes

Taking things in a different direction from Sonic All Stars Racing and Transformed, this kart racing game is entirely focused on the Sonic franchise, but with a twist of its own: you play in teams of three. While it does present some problems, it has some really interesting ideas.

Characters are split into three types: Speed, Technique and Power (similar to Sonic Heroes and Sonic Riders). Speed characters have the highest top speed, technique characters can go over rough terrain with no penalty and power characters can smash through obstacles without taking damage. They all ultimately feel quite balanced, and you can make further customisation to your cart to change stats or colour styles.

The racer on your team in the highest position will leave a “trail” behind them, any teammates following the line will build up a boost, which activates when they move out of it. If you coordinate well enough, you can technically keep leapfrogging each other. You can also pass item boxes between you (which can also increase the power of some items). Doing these team actions will build up your ultimate gauge, which you can trigger an Ultimate power, which makes you invincible and faster for a short period, and works even better if all three people on a team activate it at once.

All the items are based on Wisps, which is a neat idea for items, but unfortunately their icons aren’t very clear, so it’s not as easy as some games to remember what each one does. Different skill types also have their own unique wisps. These are more impactful than in the previous games (especially in speed types), but if an ally swerved in front of you, you get a little boost to recover much faster, so it’s a nice little touch.

Team Sonic Racing has a story mode called Team Adventure. Bizarrely, this is single-player only (I was expecting up to three players locally, especially as it’s literally got the word “Team” in the mode name). This is where one big problem with the team gameplay impacts you the most: you’re reliant on your AI teammates to be good. You can sometimes perform really well and get first place, pass back every single wisp to them and still not win the race.

Having to rely on AI racers also means that local multiplayer feels a bit off, due to having your performance affected by how well your teammates do. The ideal way to play Team Sonic Racing is to organise groups of 6, 9 or 12 people to play online, with voice chat set up between each team, which is a lot of faff to do. You can play without the team mechanics, but if you’re turning off the main feature, you may as well play Sonic Racing Transformed instead.

The 21 tracks are split into 7 locations. The new locations all look stunning: Planet Wisp, Glacierland, Sandopolis and Rooftop Run, and the individual levels feel distinct (although all Plant Wisp levels look quite similar).I really love the three Rooftop Run levels, all with a completely different atmosphere. Glacierland is a brand new icy location, with lots of floating ice crystals that look like more detailed versions of the Laser Wisp crystals from Sonic Colours.

Unfortunately, the other three locations are Seaside Hill, Casino Park and Final Fortress. These nine tracks are returning from the Sonic All Stars Racing games. The visuals have been completely updated and they look nice, but the layouts are the same and they’re all locations we’ve seen before in Racing games. I also find it odd that there’s a complete lack of classic themed tracks. While some main Sonic games have leaned on nostalgia too much, a kart racer is one time where it should lean on nostalgia.

Team Sonic Racing is a very solid kart racer. It has some extremely interesting mechanics which are implemented really well, and the new tracks in it are incredibly good fun. It’s main issue is that the main mechanic only works if you have the right amount of people to play with, and even then the story mode can’t be played as a team.

[contextualstudiesy2]

Exhibition Report

The Tate modern exhibition was a wonderful show showing contemporary works of modern. The piece which stood out to me the most was Mark Bradford’s Los Moscos, 2004 [1] as it had an abstract presentation of modernity. The havoc of the piece relates to the globalization of today's society. The rush of movement and the constant noise of transport and people. The work is presented in an aerial view showing the audience the full picture. Bradford seems to have captured his vision very well, as just upon looking at the piece as a whole, you get the gist of it. However, if you look closer, you can see details of graffiti and marks that resemble neon street signs and club lights. Such detail is key with showing the current time. The piece was created in 2004 when city life was still very much alive but now 20 years later it has advanced even more. One might say that many cannot live without the technological advancements which have taken over our daily lives. Humans have become so reliant on technology and this is not a new discovery. It has been happening since the industrialization period of the Victorian era, where machinery has become the new fuss, one might say. Bradford’s use of blur in his piece signifies that there is so much happening in today's world it's hard to follow. Every day there are new things being introduced to us, from computers in the 90s to AI systems in 2024. Many are amazed by these advancements, but for some, they are a concern. These are also issues, as with this, many forget life without them. Addiction to Phones and iPads, anything technological, is a real issue. As many cannot live without them and a slight buzz of a phone can take away their whole concentration.

There are many studies which have been taken out to investigate the effects of technology on people, especially the younger generation which has not experienced life without technology has “Findings suggest that attachment dimensions exert not only a direct but also an indirect effect on technology addiction through self-esteem and persistence” [2] This is rather important as it signifies that technology is a big impact on peoples personality. Through his art piece I believe that Bradford tries to bring this thinking to light and it's quite interesting to see that even though this piece is 20 years old it still has the same significance today as it did back then.

As an illustrator, I think relativity is a big factor in today's art, especially modern art. Pieces that are easy to understand help bring to light today’s issues. However, it's not always a negative. It may also be the admiration of industrialization and how far we as a community and as people have managed to go. As a human being living in the world, I believe such artworks give the power of imagination whether it makes you think whether the artist is trying to be negative or positive. I think that’s important, as today we are fed what is right or what is wrong through social media, and we rarely stop to think about such matters ourselves. Visiting Tate Modern was definitely eye-opening to me as for an artist as there were many amazing pieces, however los Moscos 2004 was definitely the centerpiece of the exhibition.

References

1.Tate, 2024. *Andy Warhol and Mark Bradford*. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/media-networks/andy-warhol-and-mark-bradford> [Accessed 10 December 2024].

2.Remondi, C., Compare, A., Tasca, G.A., Lo Coco, G., Chiozza, V., Favini, A., Carrara, S., Greco, A., Poletti, B., Zarbo, C. and Brugnera, A., 2022. The effects of attachment, temperament, and self-esteem on technology addiction: A mediation model among young adults. *Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking*, 25(4), pp.258-263.

[jcmarchi]

Navigating the World of AI While Building Authentic Business Relationships

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/navigating-the-world-of-ai-while-building-authentic-business-relationships/

Navigating the World of AI While Building Authentic Business Relationships

Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving faster than anyone could have imagined. From enhancing productivity to improving decision-making and creativity, AI in the workplace is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a fundamental part of our daily lives. According to Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index, three-quarters of all employees (75%) are now using AI at work in some capacity.

But while AI is increasingly prevalent in our interactions, it’s important to ask: are we building or eroding relationships in the process? AI may excel at many things—processing data, finding patterns, predicting outcomes—but it lacks the emotional intelligence that forms the bedrock of human relationships. As the world becomes more reliant on AI to communicate, fostering genuine human connections requires a level of intentionality and adaptation that algorithms simply can’t provide.

If we can navigate this new landscape where AI assists (but doesn’t dominate) our communication, we stand a better chance of cultivating deeper, more meaningful relationships that can drive real business impact. The organizations that thrive in an AI-driven world will be those that balance the efficiency of technology with the irreplaceable value of empathy, active communication, and gratitude.

Building Genuine Relationships in the Age of AI

AI has already woven itself into the fabric of business. From streamlining operations to optimizing decision-making, it offers tangible benefits:

Improved decision making

Reduced human error

Increased productivity

In fact, AI is projected to manage 85% of business relationships with customers by 2024. On paper, this sounds great—efficiency! Consistency! No more dropped balls! But here’s the thing: AI, despite all its prowess, will never replace the messy, nuanced, and deeply human aspects of relationships. Algorithms can’t build trust or loyalty; they can’t provide the comfort of an empathetic ear, or offer a fresh perspective that cuts against the grain.

AI can support relationships, but it can’t create them. It’s better to think of AI as a tool to handle the mundane tasks—the scheduling, the data entry, the follow-up emails—freeing up time for professionals to focus on what really matters: building authentic, human relationships. In the end, these are the relationships that foster loyalty, inspire trust, and ultimately, drive revenue.

Balancing Technology with Authenticity

The danger, of course, is that professionals could come to rely too much on AI for the wrong things. If all your customer interactions are outsourced to an algorithm, don’t be surprised when your customers start to feel like they’re just talking to a robot.

That’s why it’s critical to balance AI’s efficiency with authenticity. Here are a few strategies to help:

Personalization with Purpose: AI is great at analyzing data and surfacing insights about customer preferences. Use this to your advantage by personalizing interactions—but always keep the human touch. People can tell when they’re on the receiving end of a templated message, no matter how personalized it seems on the surface.

Human Oversight Is Key: AI-generated content, while fast and often helpful, can sometimes feel robotic or insincere. If you’re using AI to draft an email, make sure to review it and add a personal touch. This is especially important when dealing with sensitive topics or high-value customers, where an overly mechanical message can do more harm than good.

Continuous Learning: Just as AI evolves, so too must the professionals using it. Stay curious, embrace AI’s growing capabilities, but also be mindful of when it’s time to bring in a human perspective. Not every task or interaction should be automated.

Never Lose the Human Touch: AI might be able to remember that your client has a dog, but only you can seize that moment to ask about their weekend hiking with their dog, leading to a genuine connection. Empathy, active listening, and true engagement will always trump the best algorithmic prediction.

In short, AI can make our work lives easier, but it’s our responsibility to make sure it doesn’t turn our relationships into a series of automated transactions.

Transparency When Using AI

Another important consideration is how transparent businesses are when using AI in their customer relationships. Trust is a cornerstone of any successful relationship, and that trust can quickly erode if people feel like they’re being tricked or misled by AI.

According to PwC, 93% of business executives believe that building and maintaining trust improves the bottom line, and 94% say they face challenges when it comes to building trust with stakeholders. Unfortunately, trust in AI is trending in the opposite direction. A recent Edelman report revealed that trust in AI and the companies developing it has dropped from 50% to 35% in the last five years.

It’s not hard to understand why. AI, when left unchecked, can lead to unintended consequences—biased algorithms, security concerns, ethical lapses. The American Psychological Association has warned that biased algorithms can promote discrimination and inaccurate decision-making, potentially causing harm. The more AI is seen as a “black box” of inscrutable decision-making, the harder it becomes to trust it.

So how do you use AI responsibly while maintaining trust? Transparency. Let your clients and colleagues know when AI is part of the equation, and reassure them that human oversight remains a priority. People need to know that AI isn’t making decisions in isolation, and that there’s a human being accountable for the outcomes.

A Hybrid Approach to Success

At the end of the day, business is still all about relationships. AI can enhance productivity and make our work more efficient, but it should never replace the authentic human connections that drive success. By strategically integrating AI into workflows—while prioritizing the human touch—business professionals can have the best of both worlds.

As AI continues to evolve, it may eventually serve as a helpful assistant that can mimic aspects of human relationships. But, much like you wouldn’t outsource your entire workload to a human assistant, you shouldn’t outsource relationship-building entirely to AI. It defeats the purpose.

Embrace AI for what it is: a tool that can help you be more efficient. But when it comes to relationships, keep them genuine, keep them human. It’s what will set you—and your business—apart in an increasingly automated world.

[fcukfodmap]

Day 29: Low-FODMAP Cheeseburger Casserole

The high-FODMAP version of this hotdish has been a favorite in the household: it's dead easy comfort food. After my success with a mac & cheese-style casserole, I figured I'd give a low-FODMAP version a go. There didn't seem to be too many substitutions, and the flavor profile didn't seem too reliant on garlic and/or onions.

That's all true, but I want to take a moment and bellyache about how quickly and thoroughly AI has ruined Google searches. I wanted to know if American cheese was low-FODMAP, and duly googled it. The very first link went to a site which was obviously written by AI, and included verifiably wrong information.

For example, the site claimed that milk was low-FODMAP, which it is not. After a little more searching, I found an article written in 2018, well before LLMs turned the internet into gray goo, that indicated that American cheese has way more lactose than other hard cheeses, like cheddar, and could not be part of a low-FODMAP diet. I'm going to believe that over some fcuking AI hallucination. The internet sucks.

So. To the recipe:

Low-FODMAP Cheeseburger Hotdish

12 oz gluten-free elbow macaroni

1 1/4 lb ground beef

3 c water

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 c chopped dill pickles

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp brown sugar

6 slices bacon

6-8 slices fake American cheese (or cheddar slices)

salt, pepper & vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 475F. Generously grease a 9x13 baking dish with vegetable oil or lactose-free butter. Spread noodles in dish, and crumble beef into 1/2 inch pieces over the noodles.

Mix water, tomato sauce, pickles, Worcestershire, mustard, sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper together in bowl. Pour into the dish with the noodles and stir to combine. Cover tightly with tin foil and bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave bacon until crisp, and then cut into crumbles.

Remove the dish from the oven, and stir thoroughly, scraping the sides. Lay cheese slices on top of casserole to cover, sprinkle with the bacon crumbles, then return to the oven and bake for another 4-7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

This turned out exceptionally well. Before this low-FODMAP nonsense, I had tried cheddar slices as the cheese topping, but I didn't particularly like how they melted. So I used Violife Just Like American Sandwich Slices Vegan Cheese Alternative, which are actually as advertised. They melted well and honestly taste like American cheese, but without gluten, lactose, or soy, which a lot of fake cheeses have. But cheddar slices would be fine in a pinch.

The other questionable thing in a low-FODMAP diet was the canned tomato sauce. Tomatoes are okay in smaller quantities, which for sure this was, but most tomato sauces have garlic and onions in them, which is on the no list, FODMAP-ily speaking. I was able to find a sauce that was just tomatoes -- the brand is Pomi -- but for sure you could use petite diced or crushed tomatoes, and this recipe would turn out fine. Pay attention to labels, per usual.

Anyway! Everyone went back for seconds (and one for thirds) so this was a total win. So much so I don't really have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, which is annoying. The drawbacks of success.

Disclaimer: I am no dietician. I'm doing my best to minimize FODMAPs in my diet, but it's possible for me to be misinformed or mistaken about various ingredients. Especially because the internet is broken.

[wowfikufixx]

The Impact of AI on Journalism: Automated Newsrooms and Fact-Checking

In the media, discussion around AI has focused on whether it will replace journalists or not. But it’s important to remember that AI is a tool. It can be used to make people’s lives easier, save time and money and enhance what humans do by automating some of the more tedious tasks. As such, it can be used to supplement journalism or to free up journalists’ time so they can concentrate on other things like investigative work or creating high quality content.

It’s also worth pointing out that AI has been used for years in the business world to automate many of the same tasks that journalists perform. For example, social media companies use AI to connect users with the type of content that resonates with them. Banks leverage it to facilitate their customers by simplifying payment processes and reducing the number of trips to a branch.

Some of the most interesting examples of the use of AI in newsrooms are related to fact-checking and automated writing. These types of applications of AI have not yet made anyone redundant, but they are certainly making it possible for journalists to do their jobs much faster and more efficiently than ever before. In addition, they are helping journalists focus on higher value tasks like investigative reporting and developing innovative ways to cover the most important stories in our society.

One of the main reasons that people worry about AI taking over journalism is that it How is Bitcoin and Tokenomics interlinked? may result in a reduction in quality. However, there are many ways that AI can be used to improve the quality of journalism and help maintain its integrity. For example, the Los Angeles Times was able to publish an article about an earthquake three minutes after it happened using an algorithm that automatically wrote articles based on data from the US Geological Survey.

This sort of AI can be extremely useful, especially for long, detailed reports about highly technical subjects such as science and technology. It can also be used to write short news reports on topics where only simple facts are involved. In fact, research has found that algorithms often outperform humans in terms of producing such texts.

The danger, though, is that bad actors will be able to use AI to create their own false information and disinformation. This could have serious consequences for public trust in journalism and democracy. It is therefore important to ensure that fact-checking and automated writing in newsrooms are transparent to readers. For example, journalists should explain how an algorithm worked to detect a claim or identify a pattern.

Another concern is that people will become too reliant on the output of automated journalism and lose sight of the need to verify their own sources. Fortunately, there website technology check are initiatives to educate people about how to spot fake news and other forms of misinformation. In addition, there are new kinds of journalists who are using the latest technologies to investigate and expose misinformation on platforms such as Facebook. These enterprising journalists, from BuzzFeed to the independent site Bellingcat, are challenging a wide range of erroneous claims by using new techniques and technologies.

[techverceus]

Cracking the Code: Uncovering the Unknown Factors of IT Consulting Services in New York.

In today's digital age, businesses are increasingly reliant on technology to remain competitive in the market. As a result, IT consulting services have become a crucial element in the growth and success of companies across various industries. However, the world of IT consulting can be complex and difficult to navigate, especially in a bustling city like New York. From identifying the right IT solution to implementing it effectively, there are many unknown factors that can impact the success of IT consulting services. In this article, we'll explore how to crack the code of IT consulting services in New York and uncover the key factors that contribute to their success. We'll dive into the latest trends, strategies, and best practices that IT consulting firms are leveraging to help businesses thrive in the ever-evolving digital landscape. So, let's get started and discover the unknown factors of IT consulting services in New York!

The Importance of IT Consulting Services for Businesses:

In today's world, where information technology is the backbone of every business, IT consulting services play a crucial role in helping businesses thrive. IT consulting services help companies identify the right IT solutions and implement them effectively to improve their productivity, efficiency, and profitability. IT consulting services can help businesses in multiple ways, including:

Identifying and implementing the right IT solutions to meet their unique needs

Assessing the current IT infrastructure and identifying areas for improvement

Providing guidance and support for IT-related decisions

Offering training and support for employees to effectively use IT solutions

In short, IT consulting services can help businesses improve their overall performance, reduce costs, and stay competitive in the market. However, finding the right IT consulting services can be challenging, especially in a city like New York, where there are many options to choose from.

IT Consulting Services Trends in New York:

As technology continues to evolve, so do IT consulting services. In New York, IT consulting firms are leveraging the latest trends and technologies to help businesses grow and succeed. Some of the latest trends in IT consulting services New York include:

Cloud Computing: Cloud computing has become a popular solution for businesses looking to store and access data more efficiently. IT consulting firms in New York are helping businesses migrate their data to the cloud and ensuring that it is secure and accessible from anywhere.

Cybersecurity: With the rise in cyber threats, cybersecurity has become a top priority for businesses. IT consulting firms in New York are helping businesses protect their data and networks from cyber-attacks by implementing the latest security measures and providing training to employees.

Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence is transforming the way businesses operate. IT consulting firms in New York are helping businesses leverage AI to improve their operations, automate processes, and gain insights into customer behavior.

These are just a few examples of the latest trends in IT consulting services in New York. IT consulting firms are constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of businesses and stay ahead of the competition.

Common Challenges Faced by IT Consulting Services in New York

While IT consulting services can be extremely beneficial for businesses, there are also many challenges that come with providing these services in a city like New York. Some of the common challenges faced by IT consulting services in New York include:

Competition: There are many IT consulting firms in New York, which means that competition can be fierce. IT consulting firms need to differentiate themselves and provide unique value to stand out in the market.

Talent Acquisition: Finding and retaining top talent can be a challenge for IT consulting firms in New York. There is a high demand for IT professionals in the city, which means that firms need to offer competitive salaries and benefits to attract and retain the best employees.

Managing Client Expectations: Managing client expectations can be difficult, especially when clients have unrealistic expectations about what can be achieved. IT consulting firms need to communicate effectively with clients and set realistic expectations to avoid disappointment.

These are just a few examples of the challenges faced by IT consulting services in New York. However, with the right strategies and best practices, these challenges can be overcome.

Case Studies of Successful IT Consulting Services in New York

To get a better understanding of how IT consulting services can be successful in New York, let's take a look at some case studies:

Case Study 1: Teknion Data Solutions

Teknion Data Solutions is an IT consulting firm based in New York that specializes in data management and analytics. The firm has helped many businesses in the city improve their data management processes and gain insights into customer behavior. Teknion Data Solutions has been successful in New York due to its focus on providing customized solutions that meet the unique needs of each client.

Case Study 2: Accenture

Accenture is a global IT consulting firm that has a strong presence in New York. The firm offers a wide range of IT consulting services, including cloud computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. Accenture has been successful in New York due to its focus on innovation, agility, and collaboration with clients.

Case Study 3: NetCom Learning

NetCom Learning is an IT consulting firm based in New York that specializes in IT training and certification. The firm has helped many businesses in the city improve their employees' IT skills and knowledge. NetCom Learning has been successful in New York due to its focus on providing high-quality training and certification programs that are tailored to each client's unique needs.

These case studies demonstrate that IT consulting services can be successful in New York by focusing on providing customized solutions, innovation, agility, and collaboration with clients.

Conclusion and Future Outlook for IT Consulting Services in New York

In conclusion, IT consulting services play a crucial role in the growth and success of businesses in New York. By leveraging the latest trends, strategies, and best practices, IT consulting firms can help businesses stay competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape. While there are many challenges that come with providing IT consulting services in New York, these challenges can be overcome with the right strategies and best practices. The future outlook for IT consulting services in New York is positive, with continued growth and innovation expected in the coming years.

[allcalculator]

Why should you use a Statistics Calculator?

If you've read thus far, you presumably believe that statistics is a subject you must master whether you're a math student, a recent graduate, or even a mother assisting your child with his statistics homework. Yet, there is still the question of why you should use our descriptive statistics calculator as opposed to a standard scientific one or seeing a teacher. We're pleased you asked, so let us give you a few justifications for using our tool:

Expensive Tuition 

Math tutors can be very costly these days, but there are good reasons for that, so they are not to blame. After all, they depend on it for their livelihood, and they've undoubtedly spent years learning the subject and honing their abilities so they can teach it to young people. Also, tutors may help you by pointing out your errors and correcting them.

Even if such justifications could persuade some parents to spend the money on a tutor, it's still a considerable sum of money, especially in light of the fact that you can achieve almost the same outcomes by utilizing our.

Can become self-reliant with our calculator

No matter what industry you work in, admitting one's errors and attempting to correct them is a crucial component of developing and getting better. Arithmetic is about learning and being motivated to advance, not about showing your instructor the right answer to feel great in front of your peers. Simply input the issue, choose Display, and review the outcome. If you made a mistake, you may review the detailed steps that lead to the outcomes to determine the precise level at which you erred.

You'll not only bring the right assignment to the class, but you'll also advance your statistical expertise by doing so.

Statistics Calculator 

Have you ever tried performing statistics on a standard scientific calculator? Even the simplest jobs may be really hard to do, especially if you're new to the statistics area. Push shift, click this, and click there. Our is the simpler, more user-friendly option you're searching for.

What else can you do with the online calculator?

An allcalculator.net’s statistics calculator  software may help you with everything you need to perform in the subject of statistics. This app can serve as a: This app can serve as thanks to the built-in examples, clear symbols and interface, and precise directions that are delivered by the AI.

Calculator for statistics and probability

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Alternative to the Ti 84 statistics calculator online

Calculate percentiles; statistics

Statistics from a power calculator

statistics using a probability calculator

Calculator for T-test statistics

An allcalculator.net’s statistics calculator includes all the features of the legendary calculator, but with a more user-friendly design and instructions. Hence, the claim that it is an online virtual graphing calculator is entirely accurate. What more could you possibly want? It's time for you to start working on your assignment!

[cadybear420]

Adding my thoughts because I love to talk about this series

I do think it sucks that you can't pair Emma and Caleb together if you're not romancing them--maybe not in book 1 since Caleb is still processing his breakup, though.

Honestly same. In concept I really like Emma and Caleb as a couple, I feel like they'd be pretty cute. But I will admit, making them a couple in the story would have been a disservice to both of their arcs. That being said, I do really like the idea of them maybe getting together in the later future, as a sort of a "coming together older and wiser" thing.

I do wish we had more extracurricular options, but I understand this is in the earlier days of the app, and they did well with what they had.

Even the most fleshed out choice-reliant stories are going to have limitations. For what it's worth, I do think what we got was pretty damn good. Though I'd definitely be all for exploring more activities as well.

Funny how you mention that "this is in the earlier days of the app, and they did well with what they had" though. It's been 7 years since this series and PB's effort has only downgraded since then. To the point where they're frequently using AI generated shit.

I feel like Zoe and Brian's arcs in this series are A MESS, though. Zoe cheated on Caleb since Summer vacation and Brian had some kind of feelings for her, but when Caleb finds out, she tries to go back to him, and it felt very flat.

Teenage relationships can be a mess lol. I definitely think Book 3 was much stronger for both of their arcs though. Book 1 was pretty good with them, but Book 3 really solidified it for me.

Brian also gave a weak apology, and it looks bad because you decide whether or not Caleb forgives him, which makes it feel like MC allowed room for Caleb to excuse Brian's actions again.

I mean, even when you choose the option to be more forgiving to Brian and hence Caleb forgives Brian, they do still make it clear Caleb wants nothing to do with him anymore. So it kind of has more of a "I'm accepting it and moving on" feel.

Another thing I'd have enjoyed was explaining why MC transferred to Berry High, as well as their relationship with their parents; half of their dialogue with Scott is just "Dad/Daaaaad/Dad!"

I honestly prefer it that way, that they don't explain the backstory for MC. It allows players to create their own, which I think is something that can be beneficial in a choice-based story like HSS. Variability in the story experience is something I consider fairly important in interactive novels, and giving MCs set backgrounds can often cheapen that.

I also wish MC got the option to work at the school station during the winter season, and the friction in the school felt unfair towards students like Caleb who didn't think anything bad of Principal Isa's hall monitors. Those who fought against Isa were really insensitive to those who followed her rules like they didn't understand those who were raised to respect authority (even to extremes) and were being abused themselves.

IDK what school station is... but I definitely agree with the unfair treatment. What especially bothered me is how the band and cheer rooted against the basketball team in order to stand up against Isa. Like, even the ones that weren't hall monitors, like MC and Julian. It's not out of nowhere and I get why they behaved like that, but it's still very painful to play through. Especially as someone who likes doing the jock route.

And lemme just say: the road trip gave me "The Freshman" vibes and I wish we'd gotten to have more fun like that outside of our "High School Story."

Stuff like that is one of my favorite things about OG HSS for sure. There's always this air of adventure, thrills, and excitement. We did not get enough time with our group tbh.

And why were Maria's dads the only parents who were suspicious of Isa?

Like @lover-also-fighter-also said, one of Maria's parents dads is a detective, so he has a little more experience with these sort of red flags. Aiden's parents were more focused on how their son was changing in behavior. MC hadn't been directly harmed by Isa. Emma and her mom were both worrying about their own shit. Caleb's and Michael's parents... yeah that's one thing that does bother me a little. Why don't we ever meet Caleb's and Michael's parents?

I will say it was kind of weird how deep this rivalry was, given that how you act affects the attitude of the freshman students from your rival high school.

HSS 1 does establish the rivalry and some of its background, but if you play HSS Prime (RIP) you'd get the full origin story for it.

Speaking of them, I'm glad we can pair up some of our rejected love interests, though they brought up something I wished we could've discussed more in the series: sexuality and identity. It's rare to discuss sexuality in GOC books with main characters since everyone is playersexual, but Cameron talking about being nonbinary and Emma talking about coming out as bi had me wishing that we'd gotten to address this earlier (especially since many modern genderlocked Choices books try to work sexuality into the mix). For example, if in book 1 you go to homecoming with someone of the same sex, your dad doesn't know it's romantic and you have the option to come out to him in book 2

honestly I'm surprised Aiden didn't have his own Kaitlyn Liao moment by coming out to his helicopter parents

Same tbh. I do think Aiden's parents weren't meant to be quite as strict as the stereotypical Asian parents, given he mentions that their behavior to him in Book 2 is fairly unusual for them. But a coming out subplot definitely would have suited him.

I also wasn't the fan of the main villains being from the rival school (and how they look like college students, even if some high schoolers look like that).

Yeah, Max and Kara were the weakest villains in the trilogy for me. Something like a fight for prom crown did not need nearly as much importance as the story tried to give it. I kind of like to read it as them considering prom court to how they measure "loyalty to Hearst", but still.

If they had to go that route, make Zoe and Brian the villains, both of them further spiraling after Caleb's disassociation from them

I do like what they did with them in this book. Zoe's redemption arc was fantastic, how she's able to stand up to Brian for Myra, how she truly understands how bad she is because she dated him, how she can even try to get some closure with Caleb in the truth or dare game. And I love that she doesn't just instantly become buddy-buddy with MC and friends. She just improves as her own person, it doesn't need to be signified by her befriending the protagonists.

And it is an interesting juxtaposition to Brian too. While Zoe improves as a person, Brian only gets worse. Brian saw people like Caleb and Zoe as nothing more than trophies to make himself look popular, and when he's lost both of those, he just spirals down and doubles down on his arrogance.

or have Skye be the villain with Brian to give off a Cheryl and Jason Blossom vibe, and after Skye's beat, she becomes the better person we see in book 1 of Class Act.

Oh what I would give to have Skye more integrated in the OG characters' storylines.

I kinda wish these books were spaced out during several school years rather than one.

Fucking preach. I like the series and I still consider it top tier, but one school year with these characters was just not enough. There was too much more to explore with them. CA may have been cute, but it did not do the HSS franchise much justice. Speaking of which...

NGL, it was messed up how we get blamed for our original MC getting hurt while auditioning, and I HATE slow burns, so the crush on Rory and cold shoulder from Ajay was annoying, to say the least.

Yeah, I found it a lot more mean-spirited than the drama in OG. The other theatre cunts were just so quick to jump to assuming our MC guilty and practically ostracize them for days(?) on end. At least in OG there was actual reason for the characters to act irrationally, such as turning on the basketball team or accusing MC of the fake tryouts email. And at least we got to see our characters overcome the adversities. In CA the drama just sort of... happens, and they just expect us to roll with it until it's over.

but you know what would've been super interesting? If this book kicked it up a notch and focused on investigating how MC got hurt (or maybe a random character is hurt/killed).

Yeah... A big thing that made the OG series so special was how proactive our friends were. They'd be able to investigate what had happened and catch the culprits. They'd go through plenty of setbacks for sure, but our MC and friends sort of took action and got shit done in situations like this. CA stripped that away and it left the stories feeling a lot more passive and lukewarm to me.

And the twin dating Amber felt kind of out of nowhere; I feel like Amber didn't need to be a factor in this in that the twin could've had their life together better than MC, but that's just me.

I actually found it one of the stronger plotlines of the story. But it does feel like it lacks importance after the first book though.

Class Act: Book 2 wasn't as fun for me as book 1. It focuses on how MC's twin and Rory are running against each other for class president. It was super icky, especially if you're romancing Rory. Your twin's feelings of betrayal feel (almost) unjustified since they expect you to help them win simply because you're related. It's super ugly and Ajay's issue with his parent's divorce felt like a B-story despite how it affected him. But I do want to praise the fact that we see the characters wear new outfits for the winter season!

Book 2 was hands-down the worst in the whole franchise for me. Neither Twin, nor Rory, nor MC get anything out of this whole plotline. They try to push this "MC we don't want you to feel pulled in two directions", only to shoot itself in the foot. And the turning point relies on the whole school acting like five year olds over a kitten video.

Ajay's subplot and romance route was leagues more compelling.

Class Act: Book 3 focuses on your spring musical going to an international convention in London! Honestly it's the most fun I've had in the CA trilogy.

Book 3 was for sure the most pleasant of the CA books. Unfortunatley I still had to take points off because it treated the OG characters like nostalgia bait.

You also find out that MC and their twin have a biological family member living in London. I don't recall it being mentioned before that they were adopted. Was this addressed in the previous books? Maybe I missed that, but it was fun to get to know more of your character's family--though I do hate how it feels like a missed opportunity to cement MC's ethnicity; oftentimes, MC is customizable but their race is ambiguous. It'd be nice getting to know more of their British culture (along with Asian or African, depending on their race).

One reason I do think confirming a background for MC can be fucky due to "letting the players create their own characters" definitely has some things to do with customizable MC race. Some pre-set backgrounds might not feel fully right for MC's of certain ethnicities. This story isn't one of them, but yeah.

Even addressing MC's race can be fucky, there are various ethnicities but the sprites generally only include four, and many players may headcanon their MCs outside of those. I'm Indian/brown, so I almost always imagine the brown MC sprite as Indian despite that the game files call them hispanic. So it would be a bit awkward for them to acknowledge a brown MC as hispanic if there are players who are interpreting otherwise.

But a BIG issue I have is with Rory's dad. Throughout the book, he sneaks around with one of MC's teacher, and it's revealed that he's been going through some emotional things that he couldn't bring to his wife...and we all don't dig deeper than that. I won't fault him since it's a "toxic masculinity" topic, but the fact that his wife forgave him so quickly felt a bit off, I guess?

I appreciate them trying to address toxic masculinity here, but this subplot definitely felt very cheap. It's just a handful of chapters of the kids thinking Rory's dad is cheating, only for it not to be and just turning out to be the good ole *misunderstanding* cliche. And it didn't really do anything for Rory's character either, which especially sucks considering they're very underdeveloped.

And Skye is being manipulated by her parents since they're financing the school play and it's future in London is in their hands. It was a really good arc, though in my alternate idea for "HSS: Book 3," it would've been interesting to see more Brian in the book. Even if he's awful, it'd make more sense.

Agreed. Skye and her arc was the best thing about the trilogy.

Both trilogies are replayable and as a franchise, a fun time, though the changeable extracurricular activities and various love interests in the original series makes it somewhat better, imo.

Yep, pretty much. CA was cute, but it lacked a lot of the effort of OG.

Choices review: High School Story

Continuing on with my reviews, I'm doing one of the fan-favorites: High School Story! In the first trilogy, you play a sophomore going to a new school and you have to navigate new friends, new bullies, an evil principal, and a school rivalry. For the second trilogy, captioned "Class Act" you play a freshman who's school life focuses mainly on extracurricular activities, namely drama and helping friends run for class president. Don't worry--it's not as boring/cliché as I make it sound. And I have a habit of listing drawbacks to things rather than positives, so don't assume I hate the book! Make sure to check out my overall feelings at the end of each review.

Book 1 was really great. While the plot didn't intrigue me like other stories and the media's usual portrayal of high school made the relationships in the book feel very PG by comparison, but the characters were probably the best part of the book. Something that kind of annoyed me is how Michael is labeled the "bad boy," even though he really isn't. He's more of a loner who occasionally breaks rules--and I'm glad, considering I'm not big on bad boys. I do think it sucks that you can't pair Emma and Caleb together if you're not romancing them--maybe not in book 1 since Caleb is still processing his breakup, though. I do wish we had more extracurricular options, but I understand this is in the earlier days of the app, and they did well with what they had. I feel like Zoe and Brian's arcs in this series are A MESS, though. Zoe cheated on Caleb since Summer vacation and Brian had some kind of feelings for her, but when Caleb finds out, she tries to go back to him, and it felt very flat. Brian also gave a weak apology, and it looks bad because you decide whether or not Caleb forgives him, which makes it feel like MC allowed room for Caleb to excuse Brian's actions again. I'm just glad the writers didn't make Brian and Caleb become friends again, considering what comes later. Another thing I'd have enjoyed was explaining why MC transferred to Berry High, as well as their relationship with their parents; half of their dialogue with Scott is just "Dad/Daaaaad/Dad!" Overall, it was a good book, even if it didn't immediately have me wanting more.

Book 2 covers how the principal is caught in a scandal and is replaced by the vice principal, who is not only totalitarian, but also scamming the school. In comparison to the previous installment, it felt better and inferior in my opinion; It was too bad that despite us being able to make Emma and Luis a concrete couple in book 1, we don't have the option to lock down a relationship until the end of book 2. I also wish MC got the option to work at the school station during the winter season, and the friction in the school felt unfair towards students like Caleb who didn't think anything bad of Principal Isa's hall monitors. Those who fought against Isa were really insensitive to those who followed her rules like they didn't understand those who were raised to respect authority (even to extremes) and were being abused themselves. And lemme just say: the road trip gave me "The Freshman" vibes and I wish we'd gotten to have more fun like that outside of our "High School Story." And why were Maria's dads the only parents who were suspicious of Isa?

Book 3 was probably the best book in the OG trilogy--and shouldn't the last story in an arc always be the best, from a writing perspective? After a fire burns down the rival school, they come and stay at your school--and rivalries inflame the school. I will say it was kind of weird how deep this rivalry was, given that how you act affects the attitude of the freshman students from your rival high school. Speaking of them, I'm glad we can pair up some of our rejected love interests, though they brought up something I wished we could've discussed more in the series: sexuality and identity. It's rare to discuss sexuality in GOC books with main characters since everyone is playersexual, but Cameron talking about being nonbinary and Emma talking about coming out as bi had me wishing that we'd gotten to address this earlier (especially since many modern genderlocked Choices books try to work sexuality into the mix). For example, if in book 1 you go to homecoming with someone of the same sex, your dad doesn't know it's romantic and you have the option to come out to him in book 2 (honestly I'm surprised Aiden didn't have his own Kaitlyn Liao moment by coming out to his helicopter parents). I also wasn't the fan of the main villains being from the rival school (and how they look like college students, even if some high schoolers look like that). If they had to go that route, make Zoe and Brian the villains, both of them further spiraling after Caleb's disassociation from them--or have Skye be the villain with Brian to give off a Cheryl and Jason Blossom vibe, and after Skye's beat, she becomes the better person we see in book 1 of Class Act. I kinda wish these books were spaced out during several school years rather than one.

Class Act: Book 1 has you play a Freshman character at Berry High, and your original main character makes occasional appearances, with mention to their dating life and extracurricular activities if you choose to import them. The book primarily focuses on how you navigate your crush on your childhood best friend Rory and auditioning for the school play. NGL, it was messed up how we get blamed for our original MC getting hurt while auditioning, and I HATE slow burns, so the crush on Rory and cold shoulder from Ajay was annoying, to say the least. But it was satisfying--but you know what would've been super interesting? If this book kicked it up a notch and focused on investigating how MC got hurt (or maybe a random character is hurt/killed). Though I will admit part of this desire is fueled by wanting Daniele to be punished for her actions. It's mentioned later that she's going to therapy, so maybe that could've been court-mandated? And the twin dating Amber felt kind of out of nowhere; I feel like Amber didn't need to be a factor in this in that the twin could've had their life together better than MC, but that's just me.

Class Act: Book 2 wasn't as fun for me as book 1. It focuses on how MC's twin and Rory are running against each other for class president. It was super icky, especially if you're romancing Rory. Your twin's feelings of betrayal feel (almost) unjustified since they expect you to help them win simply because you're related. It's super ugly and Ajay's issue with his parent's divorce felt like a B-story despite how it affected him. But I do want to praise the fact that we see the characters wear new outfits for the winter season!

Class Act: Book 3 focuses on your spring musical going to an international convention in London! Honestly it's the most fun I've had in the CA trilogy. You also find out that MC and their twin have a biological family member living in London. I don't recall it being mentioned before that they were adopted. Was this addressed in the previous books? Maybe I missed that, but it was fun to get to know more of your character's family--though I do hate how it feels like a missed opportunity to cement MC's ethnicity; oftentimes, MC is customizable but their race is ambiguous. It'd be nice getting to know more of their British culture (along with Asian or African, depending on their race). But a BIG issue I have is with Rory's dad. Throughout the book, he sneaks around with one of MC's teacher, and it's revealed that he's been going through some emotional things that he couldn't bring to his wife...and we all don't dig deeper than that. I won't fault him since it's a "toxic masculinity" topic, but the fact that his wife forgave him so quickly felt a bit off, I guess? And Skye is being manipulated by her parents since they're financing the school play and it's future in London is in their hands. It was a really good arc, though in my alternate idea for "HSS: Book 3," it would've been interesting to see more Brian in the book. Even if he's awful, it'd make more sense. Overall, it was an enjoyable book.

HSS was a long series! Honestly I find "Class Act" more interesting story-wise, but the original trilogy had 5 love interests (not that having the option of Rory being a handsome male theatre nerd completely secure with his masculinity wasn't AMAZING), so in that aspect, it's superior. Both trilogies are replayable and as a franchise, a fun time, though the changeable extracurricular activities and various love interests in the original series makes it somewhat better, imo.