#ios 14 features

[creationsbyast0ner]

hi guys!! happy october!! i thought id start the new month with a proper theme lol. hope u all r doing okay!! im hoping to start posting more! 💖

[mokubetech]

Learn how to add your name on your iPhone lock screen with this simple tutorial. Personalize your device and make it easy to identify in case it gets lost!

[ruben-tech]

TODOS LOS iPhone X | iPhone X vs iPhone XS vs iPhone XS Max vs iPhone XR COMPARACIÓN ¿CUÁL ES MEJOR? 🔥👉🏿 https://youtu.be/A6Rvy4NgQbY

[shahtoqir]

#iOS#Beta2#EverythingNew#iOS17Beta2#TechCashPro Everything New in iOS 17 Beta 2 Apple has just released the second beta version of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates to developers. This beta version is used for testing before the official release. Similar to other beta updates for major software updates, this version includes several small adjustments and changes. Apple is making these refinements to improve the operating systems before they are officially launched. We have gathered all the new features and changes that we have discovered in this second beta version so far. keywords: ios 17 beta 2, ios 17 beta 2 features, ios 17 beta 2 download, 17 beta 2 hindi, ios 17 beta 2 changes, ios 17 beta 2 release date, ios 17 beta 2 release, ios 17 beta 2��reddit #EverythingNew#iOS17Beta2#iOS#Beta2TechCashPro

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Subprime gadgets

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me THIS SUNDAY in ANAHEIM at WONDERCON: YA Fantasy, Room 207, 10 a.m.; Signing, 11 a.m.; Teaching Writing, 2 p.m., Room 213CD.

The promise of feudal security: "Surrender control over your digital life so that we, the wise, giant corporation, can ensure that you aren't tricked into catastrophic blunders that expose you to harm":

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

The tech giant is a feudal warlord whose platform is a fortress; move into the fortress and the warlord will defend you against the bandits roaming the lawless land beyond its walls.

That's the promise, here's the failure: What happens when the warlord decides to attack you? If a tech giant decides to do something that harms you, the fortress becomes a prison and the thick walls keep you in.

Apple does this all the time: "click this box and we will use our control over our platform to stop Facebook from spying on you" (Ios as fortress). "No matter what box you click, we will spy on you and because we control which apps you can install, we can stop you from blocking our spying" (Ios as prison):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

But it's not just Apple – any corporation that arrogates to itself the right to override your own choices about your technology will eventually yield to temptation, using that veto to help itself at your expense:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

Once the corporation puts the gun on the mantelpiece in Act One, they're begging their KPI-obsessed managers to take it down and shoot you in the head with it in anticipation of of their annual Act Three performance review:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/08/playstationed/#tyler-james-hill

One particularly pernicious form of control is "trusted computing" and its handmaiden, "remote attestation." Broadly, this is when a device is designed to gather information about how it is configured and to send verifiable testaments about that configuration to third parties, even if you want to lie to those people:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/08/your-computer-should-say-what-you-tell-it-say-1

New HP printers are designed to continuously monitor how you use them – and data-mine the documents you print for marketing data. You have to hand over a credit-card in order to use them, and HP reserves the right to fine you if your printer is unreachable, which would frustrate their ability to spy on you and charge you rent:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/hp-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-36-month-to-rent-a-printer-that-it-monitors/

Under normal circumstances, this technological attack would prompt a defense, like an aftermarket mod that prevents your printer's computer from monitoring you. This is "adversarial interoperability," a once-common technological move:

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

An adversarial interoperator seeking to protect HP printer users from HP could gin up fake telemetry to send to HP, so they wouldn't be able to tell that you'd seized the means of computation, triggering fines charged to your credit card.

Enter remote attestation: if HP can create a sealed "trusted platform module" or a (less reliable) "secure enclave" that gathers and cryptographically signs information about which software your printer is running, HP can detect when you have modified it. They can force your printer to rat you out – to spill your secrets to your enemy.

Remote attestation is already a reliable feature of mobile platforms, allowing agencies and corporations whose services you use to make sure that you're perfectly defenseless – not blocking ads or tracking, or doing anything else that shifts power from them to you – before they agree to communicate with your device.

What's more, these "trusted computing" systems aren't just technological impediments to your digital wellbeing – they also carry the force of law. Under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, these snitch-chips are "an effective means of access control" which means that anyone who helps you bypass them faces a $500,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence for a first offense.

Feudal security builds fortresses out of trusted computing and remote attestation and promises to use them to defend you from marauders. Remote attestation lets them determine whether your device has been compromised by someone seeking to harm you – it gives them a reliable testament about your device's configuration even if your device has been poisoned by bandits:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/05/trusting-trust/#thompsons-devil

The fact that you can't override your computer's remote attestations means that you can't be tricked into doing so. That's a part of your computer that belongs to the manufacturer, not you, and it only takes orders from its owner. So long as the benevolent dictator remains benevolent, this is a protective against your own lapses, follies and missteps. But if the corporate warlord turns bandit, this makes you powerless to stop them from devouring you whole.

With that out of the way, let's talk about debt.

Debt is a normal feature of any economy, but today's debt plays a different role from the normal debt that characterized life before wages stagnated and inequality skyrocketed. 40 years ago, neoliberalism – with its assaults on unions and regulations – kicked off a multigenerational process of taking wealth away from working people to make the rich richer.

Have you ever watched a genius pickpocket like Apollo Robbins work? When Robins lifts your wristwatch, he curls his fingers around your wrist, expertly adding pressure to simulate the effect of a watchband, even as he takes away your watch. Then, he gradually releases his grip, so slowly that you don't even notice:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/ppqjya/apollo_robbins_a_master_pickpocket_effortlessly/

For the wealthy to successfully impoverish the rest of us, they had to provide something that made us feel like we were still doing OK, even as they stole our wages, our savings, and our futures. So, even as they shipped our jobs overseas in search of weak environmental laws and weaker labor protection, they shared some of the savings with us, letting us buy more with less. But if your wages keep stagnating, it doesn't matter how cheap a big-screen TV gets, because you're tapped out.

So in tandem with cheap goods from overseas sweatshops, we got easy credit: access to debt. As wages fell, debt rose up to fill the gap. For a while, it's felt OK. Your wages might be falling off, the cost of health care and university might be skyrocketing, but everything was getting cheaper, it was so easy to borrow, and your principal asset – your family home – was going up in value, too.

This period was a "bezzle," John Kenneth Galbraith's name for "The magic interval when a confidence trickster knows he has the money he has appropriated but the victim does not yet understand that he has lost it." It's the moment after Apollo Robbins has your watch but before you notice it's gone. In that moment, both you and Robbins feel like you have a watch – the world's supply of watch-derived happiness actually goes up for a moment.

There's a natural limit to debt-fueled consumption: as Michael Hudson says, "debts that can't be paid, won't be paid." Once the debtor owes more than they can pay back – or even service – creditors become less willing to advance credit to them. Worse, they start to demand the right to liquidate the debtor's assets. That can trigger some pretty intense political instability, especially when the only substantial asset most debtors own is the roof over their heads:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/06/the-end-of-the-road-to-serfdom/

"Debts that can't be paid, won't be paid," but that doesn't stop creditors from trying to get blood from our stones. As more of us became bankrupt, the bankruptcy system was gutted, turned into a punitive measure designed to terrorize people into continuing to pay down their debts long past the point where they can reasonably do so:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/bankruptcy-protects-fake-people-brutalizes-real-ones/

Enter "subprime" – loans advanced to people who stand no meaningful chance of every paying them back. We all remember the subprime housing bubble, in which complex and deceptive mortgages were extended to borrowers on the promise that they could either flip or remortgage their house before the subprime mortgages detonated when their "teaser rates" expired and the price of staying in your home doubled or tripled.

Subprime housing loans were extended on the belief that people would meekly render themselves homeless once the music stopped, forfeiting all the money they'd plowed into their homes because the contract said they had to. For a brief minute there, it looked like there would be a rebellion against mass foreclosure, but then Obama and Timothy Geithner decreed that millions of Americans would have to lose their homes to "foam the runways" for the banks:

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2012/08/how-treasury-secretary-geithner-foamed-the-runways-with-childrens-shattered-lives/

That's one way to run a subprime shop: offer predatory loans to people who can't afford them and then confiscate their assets when they – inevitably – fail to pay their debts off.

But there's another form of subprime, familiar to loan sharks through the ages: lend money at punitive interest rates, such that the borrower can never repay the debt, and then terrorize the borrower into making payments for as long as possible. Do this right and the borrower will pay you several times the value of the loan, and still owe you a bundle. If the borrower ever earns anything, you'll have a claim on it. Think of Americans who borrowed $79,000 to go to university, paid back $190,000 and still owe $236,000:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/04/kawaski-trawick/#strike-debt

This kind of loan-sharking is profitable, but labor-intensive. It requires that the debtor make payments they fundamentally can't afford. The usurer needs to get their straw right down into the very bottom of the borrower's milkshake and suck up every drop. You need to convince the debtor to sell their wedding ring, then dip into their kid's college fund, then steal their father's coin collection, and, then break into cars to steal the stereos. It takes a lot of person-to-person work to keep your sucker sufficiently motivated to do all that.

This is where digital meets subprime. There's $1T worth of subprime car-loans in America. These are pure predation: the lender sells a beater to a mark, offering a low down-payment loan with a low initial interest rate. The borrower makes payments at that rate for a couple of months, but then the rate blows up to more than they can afford.

Trusted computing makes this marginal racket into a serious industry. First, there's the ability of the car to narc you out to the repo man by reporting on its location. Tesla does one better: if you get behind in your payments, your Tesla immobilizes itself and phones home, waits for the repo man to come to the parking lot, then it backs itself out of the spot while honking its horn and flashing its lights:

https://tiremeetsroad.com/2021/03/18/tesla-allegedly-remotely-unlocks-model-3-owners-car-uses-smart-summon-to-help-repo-agent/

That immobilization trick shows how a canny subprime car-lender can combine the two kinds of subprime: they can secure the loan against an asset (the car), but also coerce borrowers into prioritizing repayment over other necessities of life. After your car immobilizes itself, you just might decide to call the dealership and put down your credit card, even if that means not being able to afford groceries or child support or rent.

One thing we can say about digital tools: they're flexible. Any sadistic motivational technique a lender can dream up, a computerized device can execute. The subprime car market relies on a spectrum of coercive tactics: cars that immobilize themselves, sure, but how about cars that turn on their speakers to max and blare a continuous recording telling you that you're a deadbeat and demanding payment?

https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/miss-a-payment-good-luck-moving-that-car/

The more a subprime lender can rely on a gadget to torment you on their behalf, the more loans they can issue. Here, at last, is a form of automation-driven mass unemployment: normally, an economy that has been fully captured by wealthy oligarchs needs squadrons of cruel arm-breakers to convince the plebs to prioritize debt service over survival. The infinitely flexible, tireless digital arm-breakers enabled by trusted computing have deprived all of those skilled torturers of their rightful employment:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/02/innovation-unlocks-markets/#digital-arm-breakers

The world leader in trusted computing isn't cars, though – it's phones. Long before anyone figured out how to make a car take orders from its manufacturer over the objections of its driver, Apple and Google were inventing "curating computing" whose app stores determined which software you could run and how you could run it.

Back in 2021, Indian subprime lenders hit on the strategy of securing their loans by loading borrowers' phones up with digital arm-breaking software:

https://restofworld.org/2021/loans-that-hijack-your-phone-are-coming-to-india/

The software would gather statistics on your app usage. When you missed a payment, the phone would block you from accessing your most frequently used app. If that didn't motivate you to pay, you'd lose your second-most favorite app, then your third, fourth, etc.

This kind of digital arm-breaking is only possible if your phone is designed to prioritize remote instructions – from the manufacturer and its app makers – over your own. It also only works if the digital arm-breaking company can confirm that you haven't jailbroken your phone, which might allow you to send fake data back saying that your apps have been disabled, while you continue to use those apps. In other words, this kind of digital sadism only works if you've got trusted computing and remote attestation.

Enter "Device Lock Controller," an app that comes pre-installed on some Google Pixel phones. To quote from the app's description: "Device Lock Controller enables device management for credit providers. Your provider can remotely restrict access to your device if you don't make payments":

https://lemmy.world/post/13359866

Google's pitch to Android users is that their "walled garden" is a fortress that keeps people who want to do bad things to you from reaching you. But they're pre-installing software that turns the fortress into a prison that you can't escape if they decide to let someone come after you.

There's a certain kind of economist who looks at these forms of automated, fine-grained punishments and sees nothing but a tool for producing an "efficient market" in debt. For them, the ability to automate arm-breaking results in loans being offered to good, hardworking people who would otherwise be deprived of credit, because lenders will judge that these borrowers can be "incentivized" into continuing payments even to the point of total destitution.

This is classic efficient market hypothesis brain worms, the kind of cognitive dead-end that you arrive at when you conceive of people in purely economic terms, without considering the power relationships between them. It's a dead end you navigate to if you only think about things as they are today – vast numbers of indebted people who command fewer assets and lower wages than at any time since WWII – and treat this as a "natural" state: "how can these poors expect to be offered more debt unless they agree to have their all-important pocket computers booby-trapped?"

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/29/boobytrap/#device-lock-controller

Image: Oatsy (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/oatsy40/21647688003

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[letomills]

Download: SFS / Mega

Outfits converted for the MartaXL edit body shape. All are for AF & EF and have fat & preg morphs. Files are compressorized, recolors are BSOK'd.

Full previews, credits and details under the cut.

Hodgekiss Polly dresses

With loafers (2,824 poly) ↓

With sneakers (2,920 poly) ↓

Categorized as everyday. Converted from my edited versions of @hodgekiss's Polly dresses.

~

io Audrey Sweater Rolled Skinnies

Polycount: 2,306. Categorized as everyday. Original sweater and jeans by io / @serabiet.

~

io Cardigan Horne Skirt

Polycount: 3,246. Categorized as everyday. Original cardigan and skirt by io / @serabiet.

~

io Bbdoll Dress

Polycount: 2,966. Categorized as everyday. Original outfit by io / @serabiet. The @berrynooboos textures are from here (I edited most of them for more variety - mostly the socks, also the tops in the case of #24 & #25).

~

Amaryll Slitted Dress

Polycount: 2,282. Categorized as formal.

Original dress by Amaryll. The io / @serabiet retextures (Valene dress) are from here, the @artemida-sims recolors of io's textures are from here, the @skulldilocks retextures are from here.

The shoes' texture and material definition are in the mesh file to save space.

~

MissTiikeri Begging You Dress & Nightie

Dress ↓

Polycount: 7,224. Categorized as everyday. The boots' texture and material definition are in the mesh file to save space.

Nightie ↓

Polycount: blockfeet: 1,890 // Marvine feet: 2,198 // sexyfeet: 6,472 (choose one mesh). Categorized as sleepwear.

Both based on tops by @misstiikeri. The boots are my edit of Klira's 4t2 Shoetopia A Little Death Boots. If you like these boots on MartaXL, I made outerwear featuring them here.

I also have versions of this dress for Maxis-size AF & TF here and for Athletic Girl here.

~

Slip

Polycount: blockfeet: 2,054 // Marvine feet: 2,362 // sexyfeet: 6,636 (choose one mesh). Categorized as sleepwear.

Original mesh by Maxis. The Maxis recolors can be either standalone or repo'd to the Maxis AF & YAF recolors. The @aweeshie textures come from here - the Chalkmetal textures are from their Girl's Night In and Wild sets - the @littlelittlesimmies textures are from here.

I also converted these nighties for Melodie9 fat AF & TF here.

~

Serenity Aster Undies

Polycount: 1,948. Categorized as underwear.

Textures from Serenity's Aster Set 4t2 converted by @kestrelteens (I made some edits).

This is a new mesh distinct from the one I made for the MartaXL swimwear & underwear set. It has no alternative feet options since that wouldn't work with the socks, so feel free to delete the sockless recolors (2 & 14) if you have a 'no blockfeet' policy for your game.

[livingforstars]

Galileo's First Colour Image of Io - July 19th, 1996.

"Above is the first colour image of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, released by the Galileo Project. The image was made on June 25th, 1996, when the Galileo spacecraft approached within 1.4 million miles. It reveals features as small as 14 miles across - comparable to the resolution of the best 1979 vintage Voyager images. The Voyager flybys discovered active volcanos on Io's mottled surface, and this image indicated that dramatic changes had occurred since, notably in the region of the Masubi volcano, located in Io's southern hemisphere. This region, apparently covered with new deposits of sulfur and sulfur dioxide frost deposited by volcanic eruption, is seen as the pronounced white area at the bottom of the picture. While scientists continued to analyse this image and other Galileo data, the robot spacecraft would continue to explore Jupiter's moons. The next scheduled close encounter was set for September 6th, 1996, with the moon Ganymede. Higher resolution images of Io were also expected during the mission."

[forgottenporkbun]

Alright people. Buckle up cus it's finally time i tell you the history of Animal Crossing!!!! (After putting it off for awhile)

Originally named どうぶつの森 (Doubutsu no mori) in Japan meaning Animal Forest. It was introduced at Spaceworld 2000 in Japan and many people have claimed there was a playable demo there. I believe there is a bit if footage you can find on it but I may be wrong.

Doubutsu no mori released on April 14, 2001 on the Nintendo 64 exclusively in Japan. Only 8 months later on December 14, 2001 they released Doubutsu no mori + for the Gamecube which contained extra features left out of the 64 version such as the museum and the Able sisters (along with house upgrades I believe) and used the Gamecube's built in clock.

Finally, they localised and released the game under the title Animal Crossing: Population Growing in North America on September 16, 2002, Australia on October 17, 2003, and Europe on September 24, 2004 on the Gamecube

However, on June 27, 2003 Japan release yet another version of the game titled Doubutsu no mori e+ where they added even more new features for villagers such as: extended dialogue, the best friend system, sickness, likes/hates, catching fleas, etc. In this version of the game you could use the e card reader to obtain certain items. In this version of the game you could also buy an island from Tom Nook which you could access through Kapp'n. Once you got to this island you could name it, create a flag, and download it onto your Gameboy Advance to continue interacting with your islander or even trade islands with other players.

Animal Crossing Wild World released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on November 23, 2005, North America and Australia on December 5, 2005, and in Europe sometime in March of 2006.

On June 1, 2006 a Chinese version of Doubutsu no mori called 动物森林 (Dòngwù Sēnlín) was released for the iQue Player, a Chinese Nintendo console. Dòngwù Sēnlín is the original N64 version of the game despite featuring characters from Doubutsu no mori + on the cover.

Animal Crossing City Folk was releases in North America November 16, 2008 for the Wii followed by its release in Japan on November 20, 2008, Australia on December 4, 2008, and Europe on December 5, 2008. City Folk was compatible with the Wii Speak microphone, which allowed you to talk to other players who had it- essentially a form of voice chat. Fun fact: there's an add for the game where it is featured being used!!! One feature i absolutely love in this game is the fountain , where you can throw an axe into it and a special character named Serena will appear and she is how you obtain both the silver and golden axe.

Now onto Animal Crossing New Leaf was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan and South Korea on February 7, 2013. After that, it released internationally across June of 2003: June 9 in North America, June 14 in Europe, and June 15 in Australia.

Animal Crossing Happy Home designer was released for the 3DS in Japan on July 30, 2015, North America on September 25, Europe on October 2, and Australia on October 3. This game was very different from the others and the main goal was to design houses for villagers.

In November of 2015 we were cursed with Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival for the Wii U. The game only sold 490,000 copies and was considering a failure.

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp was released on Android and iOS mobile devices on October 25, 2017 and 40 other territories on November 22, 2017- but other sources say it was the 21. Sadly, in the last year we received news that it will be shutting down, but apparently from what i know they will be making another version of it or something of the sort.

Animal Crossing New Horizons was released on March 20, 2020 internationally for the Nintendo Switch. This game introduced DIY crafting and in later updates, cooking. Eventually they added the Happy Home Paradise DLC on November 5, 2021 which essentially functions like Happy Home Designer, but unlocks new skill you can use on your island.

I must say, we've come a longggggg way with this game. It helped a lot of people through 2020- including me. Can't wait to see what's in store for us next. Hope you enjoyed learning about the history of the games and if you would like to know more (like stuff about merch or even the movie) ask away! :D

[mayalaen]

VPNs aren't just for pirates and company data anymore

A friend complained to me that they couldn't access pr0n anymore because the government is now requiring ID to verify age where they are, and due to data leaks and privacy issues, didn't want to share their ID even though they're of legal age.

Shit like this doesn't work on the intended target. It only frustrates people who are aren't tech savvy while a lot of kids have already found their way around it because that's what kids do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

When I talk about VPNs (virtual private networks), non-tech savvy people's eyes glaze over 😂

It sounds like complicated, unknowable magic. It's not! And you don't even have to understand it to use it!

With the government and ISPs (internet service providers) invading privacy more and more and hackers breaking in and stealing user data from companies, VPNs are becoming necessary.

Some Things a VPN Does for You:

hides your data from others

can make your internet speeds faster if your ISP does speed throttling (purposely making your speed slower)

hides what you're doing from your ISP

keeps you safer from some malware, viruses, hackers, and trackers

allows you to access things that are either restricted in your area or not available in your area (such as content in other countries)

keeps you safer when you're out in public connected to wifi

Below is a basic infographic on how VPNs work. When you access the internet, a VPN encrypts your data - making it into a secret code that can't be read by anyone else including your ISP.

Tech companies, ISPs, etc. want you to think VPNs are complicated so that you won't use them.

When searching for a free VPN, please be aware that a lot of the free VPN services out there are malware or full of viruses and trackers.

Either do some research into which one to choose or use a paid VPN service. You can either pay monthly or yearly - the yearly is always cheaper in the long run.

Some of the Top Rated VPN Services:

ExpressVPN $7 - $13/month

NordVPN $3 - $13/month

Surfshark $2 - $14/month

PrivateInternetAccess $2 - $12/month

ProtonVPN (some sites block this one) $4 - $10/month

CyberGhost $2 - $13/month

I use ExpressVPN, so for the purposes of this post, I'm going to use screenshots from ExpressVPN.

Once you have an account, download the program from the website to your desktop/laptop or find the app on Android or iOS app stores.

Signing in requires a code that the VPN will email to you that unlocks all the features. Pay attention when the program installs because it'll ask you about preferences, and you can easily check yes on blocking pr0n when that's the reason you wanted a VPN in the first place 😂

When the program is open, you'll see this:

As you can see in the screenshot, not only do I have the program, but I have an ExpressVPN icon on my browser. The program installs this automatically, and when the program is running, the icon will have a green checkmark on it so you know it's working in your browser.

You'll notice I've recently connected using Japan. I did this so I could watch a series that isn't available outside of Japan.

The program automatically chooses a location near you, but if you want to access things that are restricted to you, make sure you click on the three dots to the right of the selected location (see screenshot below) and search for a state/country/place that your content will be available in.

Once your location is selected, click on the start/power button, and you'll get a popup notification from your computer that ExpressVPN is connected.

Go to the site you want to use and use it like you normally would.

Here's what it should look like when it's running correctly:

Keep in mind that if you leave a VPN running all the time (which is perfectly fine to do), search engines like Google will assume you live wherever ExpressVPN tells it you live, so searching for "stores near me" will give you results that aren't close to you.

When you're done using the VPN, just hit the power button again and it shuts off.

I use this on all my handheld devices, my desktop, and my laptop for business and personal reasons. I'm a pirate, and I've been using VPNs for a long time, yet none of the ISPs I've used have ever given me a warning about torrenting.

Good luck, and enjoy all the new things you can access!

BTW for anybody wondering, my desktop wallpaper is a map of the world's time zones. So pretty!! 😍

[aemiron-main]

me: 1, apple: 0 (PSA to anyone else who hates the IOS 18 update/photos app update- there IS a way to revert it)

PSA to anyone else who fucking hates the AWFUL new ios 18 apple photos app UI: I managed to revert my phone back to EXACTLY how it was prior to the update WITHOUT losing any of my stuff (I had been running IOS 17.7.2 prior to the update). Here's what I did:

1.) I had an iCloud backup from BEFORE updating to 18.1.1. This backup was from when my phone was still on 17.7.2. You can still undo the update without a backup, but you'll lose all your stuff/your phone will be wiped. 2.) I went here and picked my phone type (iphone 13 pro in my case) and then downloaded the most recent ios BETA version (17.6 ver 3 beta)- it has to be one of those beta versions, because apple keeps their beta versions signed longer than other versions, and there are no longer any versions of IOS prior to IOS 18 that are still signed. You can't install unsigned versions via itunes, so they're useless. 3.) I downloaded the 17.6 ver 3 beta file to my computer 4.) I opened iTunes with my phone connected 5.) I right-clicked on "Restore iPhone..." button, and selected that 17.6 ver 3 beta file from my "downloads" folder 6.) I let it restore/factory reset my phone & it downloaded IOS 17.6 ver 3 beta to my phone because I selected that file in step 5.) 7.) It finished resetting it and then I SET IT UP AS A NEW IPHONE and i did NOT click the "partial setup," button because THAT button took me to a screen where they were going to force me to update to 18.1.1 AGAIN 8.) After setting it up as a new, blank phone, running on the IOS 17.6 ver 3 beta, I went into my iPhone settings, went to the software updates section, and updated to 17.7.2 (it gave me the option to update to 17.7.2 instead of 18.1.1- this is where the little loophole is, because the 17.7.2 file is no longer available for download online/is no longer signed, but you CAN still update from 17.6 to 17.7.2 from within your iphone settings) 9.) I updated it to 17.7.2. This would be your final step if you don't have an IOS 17.7.2 or earlier iTunes or iCloud backup to restore from. 10.) You can only restore from an iCloud backup during the setup process- so, I factory reset my phone AGAIN, but from within my phone settings this time (instead of using iTunes like I did when factory resetting & installing that IOS 17.6 version) 11.) During THIS setup process, I didn't click on the "partial setup," option, and then just clicked on the iCloud backup option after declining the "partial setup" option, and it restored from my 17.7.2 iCloud backup without forcing me to update to 18.1.1 12.) My phone was back to how it was right before the update! I then went and shut off all of apple's stupid "automatic update" features, made sure that it CANNOT update without me going out of my way to update it, because apple has LOST automatic update privileges with this vile, wretched IOS 18 photos app update. 13.) If you are going to do this, I recommend you do it as soon as possible, because even though the signed 17.6 beta was available, and even though I could update to 17.7.2 from within my phone's settings, there is NO guarantee how long this option will last, it could be gone tomorrow, it could be gone two days from now, it could be gone an hour from now.

14.) I suggest Apple stops letting their UI devs reach into my mind while I sleep & use my nightmares to design their UI, because I don't really think there's any other explanation for how that mess was perfectly catered to piss me off & make the photos app unusable for me.

[satoshi-mochida]

MONPIC: The Hatchling Meets a Girl launches November 14 - Gematsu

Heartwarming monster adventure game MONPIC: The Hatchling Meets a Girl will launch for Switch, PC via Steam, iOS, and Android on November 14 for $8.99 / 1,280 yen, publisher Happy Elements and developer Cachalia Studio announced. It will feature English and Japanese language support.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

MONPIC is a 2D adventure game that portrays the bond between a dragon hatchling named Pico and a girl transforming into a dragon named Yuzuki. Experience a charming story of monsters and humans while enjoying point-and-click exploration.

Story

Humans and monsters inhabit this world. These two groups live in tandem with one another. At times they quarrel, and at times they work together, long is their shared history. One day, a girl named Yuzuki gets lost in the forest and finds a delicious-looking apple. Thinking “Lucky!,” she eats it. Just then, a hatchling dragon named Pico appears and… Suddenly bursts into tears! It turns out that this was a special apple, a “Dragon Apple” essential for a dragon’s growth. After eating the Dragon Apple, Yuzuki starts to grow horns and begins to transform into a dragon. Can Yuzuki return to her original ‘Human’ form? And can Pico, who has lost his Dragon Apple, grow into a magnificent dragon? Guide them on their journey. “I hope we can meet again someday.”

Watch a new trailer below.

Release Date Trailer

English

Japanese

[applesolution98]

iPhone 12 (256GB)

Price $399

*Display:*

- 6.1-inch Super Retina HD display

- 1080 x 2536 pixels resolution

- 460 pixels per inch (PPI)

- OLED technology

- HDR10 and Dolby Vision support

- True Tone display

- Wide color gamut (P3)

*Processors:*

- Apple A14 Bionic chip

- 64-bit, 6-core processor

- 4-core graphics processor

- Neural Engine for AI tasks

*Memory and Storage:*

- 6GB RAM

- 256GB internal storage

*Cameras:*

- Dual-camera setup:

- 12MP main camera (f/1.6 aperture)

- 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera (f/2.4 aperture)

- Features: Night mode, Portrait mode, 4K video recording at up to 60fps, slow-motion video, and more

*Battery:*

- Up to 10 hours internet use

- Up to 8 hours video playback (streamed)

- Fast charging (up to 18W)

- Wireless charging (Qi-compatible)

*Additional Features:*

- IP68 water and dust resistance (up to 4 meters for up to 30 minutes)

- Face ID facial recognition

- iOS 14 operating system

- Dual-SIM support (nano-SIM and eSIM)

- No headphone jack (Lightning EarPods included)

*Dimensions:*

- Height: 150.9 mm (5.94 in)

- Width: 75.7 mm (2.98 in)

- Depth: 8.3 mm (0.33 in)

- Weight: 182 grams (6.4 oz)

[himejoshikomaeda]

i'm kind of curious what you like about lostword. never really tried it myself n all.

— io

1. really easy to get your favorite characters

2. really easy to make your favorite characters viable no matter who they are

3. game isn’t very hard — no artificial difficulty spikes that force you to spend money to max out a unit or whatever. on that note, leveling up and upgrading units doesn’t take much time at all, allowing you to use lots of your favorite touhou characters if you’d like to.

4. the only characters that would probably require real money to aid in acquiring are the game’s made-up alternate universe versions of characters that i can’t imagine anyone giving a shit about. (sorry guys i’m never going to want to spend money so i can have.. sci fi space warrior sanae)

5. no temptation to buy anything in the store because the prices are all absurdly high. i will literally never be tempted to spend 80 dollars on a microtransaction. i consider this point to be a positive, because what is being sold is completely unnecessary.

6. game is written by perverts.

7. protagonist is a girl. this can’t be changed.

8. the main story is FANTASTIC. it’s really really really cool. finishing chapter 3 is what made me gush last night. the hifuu story is really cute too.

9. this might be something not everyone cares about, but the characters are very touchy-feely with each other, and with the protagonist. it’s very nice. i like when characters are handsy. skinship is compelling to me

10. writers aren’t pussies about yuri (important)

11. there is never not an event story going on (they rerun old events in between new ones), so if grinding event points is fun for you (it’s fun for me), that’s always an option no matter what.

12. great autobattle features. lots of customization for autobattles and auto-rematches for grinding materials.

13. despite what i just said, grinding is honestly optional. you don’t need to grind for levels, because levels come easily, and you don’t need to grind for materials after a while, because they give you so many.

14. story card (equippable items basically) art is cute. where would we be without modelo patchouli and her fat thighs?

15. despite having the usual scarlet devil mansion bias, a LOT of more obscure characters get a lot of spotlight, especially in event stories. one i remember enjoying a lot starred seija, sagume, and.. shizuha aki.. as the main characters (along with the protagonist of course). there are lots of cases like that.

16. characters all feel like they love you without it feeling at all like a harem game. sorry if this is cringe but don’t fucking lie and say you don’t want to be loved by the cast of touhou.

17. less of a point for me because i’ve been playing it since launch, but my girlfriend got into it recently and they have been ABSURDLY generous with her as a new player.

there are obviously criticisms to be had with the game (it’s a mobile game, it’s not perfect or anything by any stretch of the imagination), but you asked me what i liked about it. i’ve had a lot of fun with it in my time playing it, and my girlfriend is, like, obsessed with it, just getting into it.

[lloyd283]

I should explain things. You know claire's history from corrupted timeline, but not how zoe lee and norma khan fit in yet. Don't worry, next month should clear things up. (Look for custom miraculous and custom dead end stuff next month).

Norma khan's here after bonking her head too hard and hallucinating seeing all this, but able to interact in the past. Zoe lee doesn't appear here, but she's aware of things.

One-shot 3/3

Whilst fighting in the elevator, they arrive in other realities such as an elevator in arcadia, dream brooklyn, phoenix parks, a paris one during a wasp armada, an IO lift, lots of things. Eventually, the headmaster pushes a button for his home, but it buzzes in error, allowing Lloyd to return them to the academy's basement. The headmaster lost but decides to accelerate the basement collapse to allow him to escape, and he does. Claire's got about everyone but a few others, so after helping her, Lloyd forces claire to shadow rift into her bed to save her, saying events are in motion she must move with and temporarily restricts her power until Rot arrives... Before she does, Claire's magic in proximity to norma forces a rift that brings norma, barney, pugsley, Courtney, gord, badyah, and logs over to present day at a hospital but norma's still there and pulls something through before waking in the hospital bed, which luckily nothings changed or norma would have a panic attack and a repeat of a parliament school trip with someone... (yeah, I'm certain norma wouldn't like being barefoot when unnecessary, like walking in parliament. Yes, a true thing I, too, fount out and freaked out over.) Lloyd and centi get caught up in the collapse, ending up in a subway tunnel station and surfacing in a hidden room which Lloyd leaves centi to flee from the cover up, saying the indigo ring should hide her and he'll see her again one day. Gord appears and speaks, with centi hearing noises whilst gorb says Lloyd's body was caught in fatal rubble and will need to repair itself. They part as Lloyd shifts form to a female temporarily and disappearing for a while before reappearing at his house on Christmas eve.

He hugs his mother before closing his eyes and opening them underwater. Claire's diving to rescue him and pull him up, and she does. He thanks her and says they were trying to close in on the rogue headmaster, unaware that the good one's at the hospital where the others are after the incident in ep7. Norma grabs a defensive weapon and begins panicking over his presence, saying to leave her alone and not to hypnotise her in which he shows that's not his intention. Dinah hunter who's upstairs comes down, seeing him and is having a hard time believing he's good until he asks norma to say what she saw, somehow aware she entered an unnatural state that brought her and her friends over. She explains the rogue headmaster and the events she's seen before revealing what she pulled out from 2016, to which the good headmaster says he knows where they need to go immediately. Barney asks if he caused norma to change turtlenecks after briefly entering episode 5 and getting Hunky parker gunge stains on it, leading to a panic and her wearing her dark blue one again. She stands fine and precedes to move normally but notes gord speaking to her whilst the others hear noises. Gord tells norma that it's best she doesn't say the events that happened in 2018 and that Lloyd's in very serious danger...

We end with eli in the forest near the rogue headmaster's camp and stumbling through the same portal as we learn that during her fight, and a secret as to how she escaped her nose bled and centi welcomes eli to a place her mother knows all too well.....

One-shot is accompanied by a soundtrack of 80s and 90s songs with popular 2016 songs to the tune of 14 tracks featured at some point including marketing.

The series and one shot here have ending credits like Marvel that show and hint upcoming things. Ep1-7 and festive special has the elevator closed but beep. Here for One-shot to episode 11, it's open with a haunting change after episode 11......

It seems the 2018 incident is well hidden for a reason.....

[theomeganerd]

Video Game News Stories for March 17th, 2024

Unionization Efforts Gain Momentum: The ongoing movement towards unionization within the gaming industry continued with news of another 600 Activision QA testers joining the cause. This development comes amidst the ongoing battle between Activision Blizzard and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) over union recognition. The additional workers joining the cause solidify the movement within Activision and could have significant implications for working conditions across the industry.

Epic Games Scores Victory in Europe: In a significant development, Apple reversed its ban on Epic Games' developer account following an enquiry by the European Commission. This reversal stems from the ongoing legal battle between the two companies concerning in-app purchases and Epic's use of its own payment system within Fortnite. While the ruling only applies within the European Union, it represents a potential turning point in the ongoing fight for fairer App Store practices.

SAG-AFTRA Considers Strike Over AI Terms in Contracts: The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is reportedly considering a strike over proposed contract language concerning the use of artificial intelligence in video game performances. The union is concerned about the potential for AI to replace voice actors and the lack of clear regulations regarding ownership and compensation for AI-generated performances. This development highlights the growing challenges posed by AI in the entertainment industry and the need for fair treatment of all performers.

Minors Prioritize Safety in Online Gaming Spaces: A new report revealed that minors and young adults prioritize safety in online gaming spaces. The study highlights concerns about harassment, bullying, and predatory behavior within online games. The findings call for developers and platforms to prioritize safety features and implement stricter moderation policies to create a more welcoming environment for younger players.

Industry Gears Up for World Video Game Hall of Fame Finalists Announced: The finalists for the 2024 World Video Game Hall of Fame were officially announced. The prestigious list includes iconic titles like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Pong. This year's inductees will be revealed later this year, sparking nostalgia and debate among gamers worldwide.

Twitch Viewership Dips: While the news wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, reports also emerged regarding a slight dip in viewership on Twitch in February 2024. While the exact reasons are still being investigated, this could indicate a shift in viewing habits or increased competition in the streaming landscape.

New Video Game Releases for March 17th, - March 22nd

Thursday, March 21st

Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Collection (PC): The critically acclaimed PlayStation 5 exclusive Horizon Forbidden West arrives on PC with this release. This Complete Collection includes the base game and all story-based DLC.

Final Fantasy 14 (Xbox Series X/S): Fans of the MMORPG rejoice! Final Fantasy 14 is finally playable on Xbox Series X/S.

Midnight Ghost Hunt (PC): This asymmetrical hide-and-seek horror game tasks players with either being a Ghost haunting a mansion or a Hunter trying to banish them.

Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile (iOS, Android): The popular free-to-play battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone comes to mobile devices.

Friday, March 22nd

Dragon's Dogma 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S): The long-awaited sequel to the 2012 action RPG Dragon's Dogma is here! Expect an all-new story, new enemies, and a revamped pawn system.

Princess Peach: Showtime! (Switch): In this new musical adventure game, Princess Peach uses her singing voice to defeat enemies and save the day.

Rise of the Ronin (PS5): Team Ninja, the developers of Nioh, bring you Rise of the Ronin, a new open-world action RPG set in Japan during the Boshin War. Play as a former samurai forging your own path in a changing world.

The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered (PC, Switch, PS4, PS5): This remastered version of the RPG The Legend of Legacy includes a new guidebook function and high-definition visuals.