atomicpoet

atomicpoet, 6 days ago to random

Today, I discovered Visitors, a Swedish synthpop duo.

My gateway is their song “This Time The Good Guys Gonna Win”.

Imagine if ABBA and Pet Shop Boys had a baby! It would be Visitors!

And even though this song came out in 1990, it sound incredibly 80s. At one time, I thought this particular sound was cheesy. But as we get further and further from the 80s, I find myself realizing that nobody makes this kind of music anymore—there’s only so many songs that sound like this.

Believe me, this is an earworm.

https://youtu.be/FK-SXcQWTME

atomicpoet, 6 days ago (edited 6 days ago) to random

I’m shocked that Skydance Media is buying Paramount Global for $8B!

Especially since Paramount’s current market cap is $8.9B. Just a few years ago, their market cap was $35B. And just a few years, they merged with Viacom.

This is the company that owns CBS, Showtime, the Star Trek franchise, and more.

I feel that $8B is a pittance for that entire media portfolio.

You know who mostly owns Skydance? Larry Ellison’s son, David.

https://qz.com/paramount-global-skydance-media-merger-deal-1851515827

atomicpoet, 6 days ago to random

A new Texas stock exchange is launching next year. It’s backed by BlackRock and Citadel Securities.

It looks like they’re pitching themselves on requiring less board diversity than the Nasdaq.

So basically, if you want a board full of heterosexual white men, the Texas Stock Exchange is the place for you!

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/blackrock-citadel-backed-group-start-new-national-stock-exchange-texas-wsj-2024-06-05/

atomicpoet, 6 days ago to random

The French video game industry has been just as impactful as their Japanese, American, and British counterparts.

Here’s the major reason why: the Thomson 8-bit microcomputer.

It was the 80s microcomputer that took off in France. I’ve never touched one physically but I have emulated it. And I played a lot of great games on it: Sorcery, Mission: Liftoff, Androides.

That machine was home to so many classics. And it looked cool!

atomicpoet, 6 days ago to random

“I wish Atari still made consoles.”

Atari actually does make consoles! My personal favourite is the Atari VCS. It’s basically a PC that runs Linux with a custom front-end.

If you want, you can run Steam on it.

I don’t own a VCS but from what people tell me, it’s actually pretty good. It’s got a lot of great retro games on it as well as some fantastic indie titles.

atomicpoet, 6 days ago (edited 6 days ago) to random

For the second day in a row, I’ve been enjoying ASCII text graphics.

This time, it’s with Monsterland – a game so obscure that it doesn’t even have an entry on MobyGames.

Monsterland is brilliant. Take the basic idea behind Doom, convert it to a top-down shooter, give it ASCII text graphics. And it actually works extremely well!

The ASCII text gives this game a level of abstraction that makes this so damn fun. You’re represented by the letter “P”. All monsters are “M”. Your guns can be found with numbers. For example, a ranged shotgun is “2” while a chaingun is “4”.

In this game, you wake up from a cryogenic sleep. All of humanity is dead, and monsters have run amok. Your sole purpose is to survive.

One of the unique aspects of playing a game with ASCII text graphics is seeing all the signs in the corridor. For example, when you walk by a corridor, there’s yellow text that says “NO LOOTING”. You wind another corner and you see a shop that sells guns and food. Nobody’s in that shop so, of course, you can loot it.

Controls is pretty easy. You move with WASD keys, and shoot with the arrow keys. To change guns, you just press the number that is associated with one of them. It’s also worth knowing that this game works with gamepads, and it plays well on a Steam Deck.

Now you might be asking, “In this day and age, why play a game with ASCII graphics?”

The better question is, “Why not?”

I grew up playing games with ASCII text graphics. NetHack looks just like this and it was awesome. I also remember visiting lots of BBSes and enjoying lots of homespun ASCII text art. It was good times.

I’ve been playing Monsterland for eight years. I enjoy the colours, and icons, and just the general mood. Recently, the devs did an update to make this work on Steam Deck, and it is a blast.

Even though the graphics are based on ASCII text, this game has more advanced sound design. There’s a soundtrack, sound effects, voice acting, and the general ambience is great. The sound really builds the tension.

Second Variety Games developed Monsterland. So far, this is the only game they’ve made. Looking at the credits, it seems like the devs hail from some place in Eastern Europe. Once again, I’ve been impressed by all the great games that have come from that part of the world.

This is an inexpensive game. It only costs C$2.29. Personally, I think it’s well worth it.

atomicpoet, 7 days ago to random

Let me emphasize this: if an old Windows game doesn’t work well on modern Windows, try Linux with Proton instead.

It is much quicker and easier to just use Linux than try to deal with legacy driver issues with Windows.

atomicpoet, 8 days ago to random

I know that activism is performative when people say things that sound good but are utterly unfeasible.

For example, “Stop all oil drilling now.”

I’d love oil drilling to be stopped. I’d love for us to move away from oil entirely.

Every bloody year now, I have to contend with wildfires due to global warming. It’s now a “season”. 15 years ago, wildfires weren’t even a concern of mine. They are now.

Yet, we can’t just stop oil because people own cars. Everyone depends on plastics. All our logistics requires trucks, trains, boats, and planes—all which require oil.

We, as a species, are completely dependent on this resource. Now we’re paying the price.

Part of that price is that we can’t suddenly turn off the taps. We have to reduce our consumption and pivot to something else.

That’s the reality of the situation.

atomicpoet, 8 days ago to random

It looks like Canada and the EU are diverging from the USA when it comes to interest rate cuts.

The USA probably won’t cut until September. That is, if they cut at all this year.

How this will affect inflation, I don’t know. The Canadian economy is in the doldrums, though, with productivity down and companies thus far refusing to invest in in efficiency.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/03/european-and-canadian-central-banks-expected-to-cut-interest-rates-this-week

atomicpoet, 8 days ago to random

Ayn Rand was unintentionally hilarious.

When she died, her funeral had a floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign.

She really loved money but money didn’t love her back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand

atomicpoet, 8 days ago to random

It generally sucks to find out that a game franchise that I love has been hijacked by a racist and transphobic asshole.

Honestly, I’m torn. Video games are collaborative ventures. On one hand, a game is not the creative work of whoever happens to own the IP.

On the other hand, whoever owns the IP ends up with the profits. 🤬

atomicpoet, 8 days ago to random

I am so mad. 😡

My wife told me that a local record shop in the Asian mall closed down. They sold lots of J-pop and city pop on vinyl. I was able to get these albums for $20 each.

It was so cheap, I didn’t want to tell anyone about it because I knew it would be raided of all the city pop. I wanted to keep it all for myself.

And now it doesn’t matter because that record shop is gone forever.

atomicpoet, 8 days ago to random

I think the reason I’m so tired is because I was around a big crowd of people. For whatever reason, I find this stressful.

It’s a large reason I avoid busy restaurants and packed events in the first place.

atomicpoet, 8 days ago to random

I’ve been completely, utterly tired today and have been lying in bed for 10 hours.

But now I’m about to run 2km and lift very heavy weights.

At least I’m well-rested before taxing my body strenuously.

atomicpoet, 9 days ago to random

An overcast blue hour.

atomicpoet, 10 days ago to random

There’s nothing I dislike more than when pet owners compare their pets to my child.

Maybe you feel like your pet is your child but keep your feelings to yourself.

atomicpoet, 10 days ago to random

“Why don’t you just do everything on your smartphone?!”

sigh

Because when you’re a married dad, you can’t turn off notifications. Believe me, I’ve tried. It always ends up in a bad conversation because, well, when I turn notifications off, I don’t like turning them back on.

Occasionally, I can tell certain people that I went for a walk and “forgot” my phone. Oopsie daisy! How absentminded of me!

And this is why I use other devices apart from my phone.

atomicpoet, 10 days ago to random

The PlayStation is way better than the Nintendo 64.

Better game library, better storage, better gamepad.

I’d rather spend an evening with Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid, Ridge Racer, Final Fantasy VII, and Tekken.

atomicpoet, 10 days ago to random

There’s certain technology that I earnestly wonder why we abandoned it. For example, digital audio players (DAPs).

These devices provided something smartphones don’t: a distraction-free way of playing music.

And they were way more personal because everything on your DAP was put there by you! They were a collection of your genuine taste!