What are your thoughts on Windows 11 so far? Have you upgraded? Are you avoiding upgrading? Do you even use Windows?

I actually like it quite a bit so far, but I absolutely hated Windows 10 so it'd be hard for them to do worse. The last Windows version I liked was 7 (although 8.1 was really good on a tablet), and 11 reminds me a lot of the Aero design aesthetics from that era. The default centred task bar also reminds me of OSX and Gnome, which I think is a positive comparison. Design-wise, I have mostly good things to say. It also feels a lot punchier than Windows 10, which I found to be really slow even on a decent PC that was designed for it.

The only complaint I have is the icons on the right-click menu for things like copy, paste, rename and delete are a lot less intuitive than the old menu where everything was labelled. It's even worse because it isn't even consistent. Sometimes those things are fully labelled and sometimes they're just icons. It'd be nice to be able to bring back the classic, full right-click menu without having to edit the registry.

I haven't noticed any of the intrusive advertising that has been reported about Win11, but I'm not on the insider builds where they preview a lot of that stuff so maybe I'll end up inundated with it later. So far, though, I'm enjoying the experience.

There's clearly lots of music fans here, so I'm curious how many people play music themselves.

I have been mediocre at a few different instruments, like trumpet, guitar, piano and harmonica. I usually get to the point where I can play a few songs I like and then stagnate. I played trumpet in high school band class, but definitely don't have the muscle tone in my lips to play anymore. I also sang with a few different groups of friends who were trying to start a band but we never got past practicing in the garage and playing covers in front of friends.

If I had unlimited time and no other obligations, I'd definitely dedicate it to finally starting a band for realsies.

What are the names of your pets? Do you prefer giving them names like Fluffy and Mr. Cuddlesworth, or human names like Bob and Susan?

I have two cats named Boris and Hunnicutt. Hunnicutt is named after my favourite character from M*A*S*H, but Boris just looked like a Boris as soon as I saw him.

What do you think is the best games console that totally bombed?

The big two are probably the GameCube and Dreamcast, but I want to posit the Wii U as the most underappreciated console of all time.

It really was a victim of bad branding and timing. Casual players thought it was just another peripheral for the Wii, and capital G gamers thought it was underpowered when the PS4 and Xbox One were just on the horizon. But it was powerful enough to keep up with the PS3 and Xbox 360 at the end of their lifespans, had a lot of great first-party games and actually had a lot of cross-platform support in the beginning as well. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was definitely best on Wii U because the big map on the gamepad screen made sailing way better. But when it became obvious the console wasn't selling, third party support started dropping off so a lot of games that were released on Wii U didn't get all of the DLC that other consoles got (I'm still mad that I never got to play as Martian Manhunter in Injustice), and then later games didn't get released on Wii U at all until even Nintendo stopped supporting it.

But if you compare it to the Switch, a lot of the Switch's best games early on were just re-releases of Wii U games so you can't say the games on Wii U weren't great. And the Wii U actually has that old hardiness that Nintendo systems used to be known for. While the Switch has joycon drift and feels like a fragile bit of tech that would shatter if you dropped it, the Wii U is beefy, sturdy and could probably survive an attack by wild boars. The gamepad is also incredibly comfortable to hold. The Switch is actually the first Nintendo system post-SNES that I found uncomfortable, and actually had to buy a grip case to prevent my hands from cramping.

The touch screen was also used a lot more on Wii U than it is on Switch, because the Switch has to account for people playing in docked mode. But the Wii U didn't have that limitation. Even if you were playing on your TV you still had the gamepad in hand, and you could also play a lot of games exclusively on the gamepad like a handheld (albeit only within wireless range range of the console, but the Switch's battery life is so short I would hardly consider it a true portable either. I never play it handheld unless I'm within range of a plugin). So games like Scribblenauts could take full advantage of the touch screen and stylus. It was like having a Wii, a DS and an Xbox 360 mashed together into one system.

Lastly, the Wii U was fully compatible with all Wii games, including the full Virtual Console. Compared to needing a subscription to play the few classic games Nintendo releases on Switch, the VC was amazing and is sorely missed.

There's a lot of retro web fans here, but what (if anything) do you actually like about the modern web?

The first thing that came to mind for me is online shopping. I don't enjoy shopping, and I hate leaving my home even more. So being able to get what I need without having to go out is really nice. Especially now that online shopping is so prevalent, it forced delivery companies to up their game and now I can actually get things shipped to me all the way out in the boonies. Fifteen years ago, expecting any company to deliver out here was unheard of. If it didn't fit in the mail box, we had to drive into town to pick up any packages.

Did anyone else think the new live action Cowboy Bebop series was better than most people gave it credit for?

I love the anime but I didn't want a recreation of the same thing in live action. I wanted an original take on the same material and that's exactly what I got. The style was the same, but the story and characters were different enough that I couldn't see what was coming while still being close enough to the original that they're instantly recognizable. I think that's exactly what you want in a remake or reimagining. If you want something exactly like the original, why not just watch the original?

Above all else, I think the casting was perfect. As soon as I heard John Cho was involved, before reading the article I immediately thought "he's gotta be Spike". And despite not being black in the anime, Mustafa Shakir still looked and sounded so much like Jet that it was uncanny. He was totally perfect in the role.

Some of the things they changed didn't work, and some of the controversy was justified. But overall I think the series got way more hate than it deserved.

Has anyone else noticed that games made with the Unity engine all have a particular look or feel to them? Not that they all look alike or play the same. A huge variety of games types and art styles have been made with Unity. I can't place exactly what it is, but there's always something peculiar about them to me. Maybe it's something about the physics or the rendering. Whatever it is, it's subtle enough that I can't figure it out definitively.

I just played Oddworld Soulstorm for the first time and it gave me the same feeling as when I played Recore and a dozen other Unity games. It's always there but I don't know what "it" is.

I can't say it's a nice sense I get from them. Even if it's made by a major developer with a big publisher, something about it just feels low budget to me. (Not that low budget inherently means the game is bad, of course.)

I was just curious if this is all in my head or if anyone else gets the same feeling.

What are some of your favourite music videos?

I always think of "South Side" by Moby and Gwen Stefani. It's a great lampooning of '90s celebrity culture and vanity.

Oh, and I almost forgot "Twisted Transistor" by Korn. When I first saw it I was young and really naive, had never seen what the band members looked like and was totally clueless about rap, so I totally missed the joke and thought those were the actual band members. I can now thankfully say I know who Snoop Dogg is.

I guess the trend is I like music videos where the artists make fun of themselves

I remember this from an old forum I used to visit.

One person asks ____ or ____ and the next person says which they prefer, and then asks their own ____ or ____.

So since I'm going first...

Snakes or spiders?

When you were growing up, who is someone from pop culture that you look back on as having the most positive impact on you?

For me, it's Uncle Phil (James Avery, The Fresh Price of Bel-Air). Big letters for a big man who helped raise me.

I grew up in the golden age of family sitcoms, but when I look back on them he's the only positive father figure who stands out. Danny Tanner (Bob Saget, Full House) was so bland that he barely existed except to deliver an exasperated face and a moral at the end. Tim Taylor (Tim Allen, Home Improvement) was a man-child and definitely not someone you should emulate. And Carl Winslow (Reginald VelJohnson, Family Matters (who also has the coolest name in the history of the world)) was definitely good hearted but had a huge temper and was out of line more often than not.

Uncle Phil was the GOAT. He could only ever be considered an antagonist in the typical sitcom dad way if you ignored that Will was an antihero. He stood in Will's way a lot, but it was always out of concern for him when he was making a mistake. Watching him mentor Will over the years, trying to steer him toward good choices and being there for him even when he messed up really stuck with me throughout my life. I'm actually giving myself The Feels by writing this.

In the spirit of sharing knowledge, post something short and interesting that you have recently learned. If you can, include a source so we don't risk spreading misinformation.

I recently learned that the big, red nose often associated with alcoholism is actually caused by rosacea. Source

AI is a really controversial topic right now, with artists protesting against their works being used to train algorithms without their consent, or AI art being used (and in at least one case winning an award) instead of hand-crafted art which threatens the livelihood of professional artists.

Then on the other side, there are people being denied copyright because they used AI generators for all or part of a work they lay claim to. I personally think that is a bit extreme because it does take effort (and a lot of patience) to craft the ideal prompt for what you want to generate, and there is a lot of editing and decision making when deciding what to include in the final piece for compiled works. AI is a tool that people work with to generate the desired outcome. You could argue that it's like using digital art programs like Photoshop. Yeah, one takes a lot more effort to create something than the other, but they're both tools so I'm worried about where people draw the line between tool and creator.

In the case of the guy who generated an entire children's book using AI for both the text and images, I think I'd probably consider him more of an editor than an author. But it would depend on whether he just went with whatever the AI gave him and threw what worked together, or if he spent a lot of time regenerating to get the result that he wanted and then touching it up after. I can sympathize with that, because I often have an image in my head that I want to get out, but still, after decades, don't have the skill to realize it.

That said, I think there are legitimate uses for AI that don't harm other artists or detract from the artist's claim that they created the final piece.

I have used AI in the last couple of years to help me when I'm stuck with writing. I give it what I have up to where I'm stuck, and then let it generate the next passage to get me over that hurdle. It usually involves clicking "regenerate" over and over until I'm happy with the general result, and then I do a lot of editing to make it fit and put it in my own words.

I also have used AI text-to-image generators to create pieces of a larger artwork that I'm struggling with. Again, it requires a lot of trial and error to get the prompt and result to look generally right, and then takes a ton of editing after to adjust the lighting and painting over the seams to make it fit into the overall image.

But maybe you think even those two examples are going too far. Let me know what you think.

Either way, I don't think there's any stopping algorithmically generated art. Even in our utopic scifi depictions like Star Trek, they have the holodeck which can generate an entire virtual setting and characters from a voice prompt. But Star Trek also explored the ethical ramifications of this in a couple episodes, like in TNG when Lt. Barclay created virtual versions of his crewmates and in DS9 when Quark is asked to create a digital likeness of Major Kira for some rich guy's sick pleasures in the holosuite.

I'm a big Dark Souls fan, but it takes so long for From Software to make a new game that I always get a craving in between. There are a lot Souls-likes, but a lot of them aren't very good. So let's compile a list of the good ones.


Ashen



I love the art style of this game. Everything has a faceted look with sort of impressionist textures. The coop is a bit like Journey, where you just stumble on other players who are in the same area, but I don't think many people are still playing it so you're more likely to come across NPCs. You're not really meant to tell which is which.


Death's Gambit



This is the only 2D Souls-like I really enjoyed. I don't think the Souls-style combat translates well into 2D, but Death's Gambit is more of a traditional platformer with Souls-like elements so I think it works out pretty well.


Jedi Fallen Order



When EA first showed this game, I thought it looked lame. EA's track record definitely didn't help. But if they had just said that it was a combination Star Wars/Souls-like/Metroidvania game, I would have been instantly sold. It's definitely the best Souls-like I've ever played.

Recently I've been watching live performances of the bands I grew up with back in their prime and comparing them to their recent live performances. It's really interesting seeing how they've aged and changed so I thought I'd share some and encourage you all to do the same.

The one that inspired this topic is Blink 182's performance of "I Miss You" for the Chester Bennington tribute concert a few years ago.

Here they are in 2004 vs 2017:

I can't really say their vocals hold up today, but the song obviously hits a bit heavier now, especially in this context.


The big one for me, though, is Pearl Jam. I don't go to a lot of concerts, but I really hope to be able to see them live someday. Watching videos of them in their heyday, and seeing the way Eddie Vedder somehow manages to effortlessly strain his voice, really is amazing.

Here's their song "Black" in 1992 and again in 2018:

In the more recent video, the vocals are less refined but also sound more natural. The older video almost sounds rehearsed and performative while the newer one is more like a person singing off the cuff and earnestly. I love both, though, and wouldn't be able to choose which I prefer.

As a bit of a bonus, here's an interesting analysis of the MTV Unplugged performance by a vocal coach/opera singer.

Is anybody else playing the new Pokemon? Which version did you get?
 
I'm really impressed so far. This is the first Pokemon RPG I've actually enjoyed since Red. I bought Violet because I liked the look of the legendary more.

And also Eiscue!

I know a lot of people are talking about the game being ugly and running poorly. I don't really agree. It's definitely not the prettiest game on Switch and it does have some performance issues, but it's not nearly as bad as a lot of the complaints I've read make it out to be and neither issue is severe enough to ruin the game.

To me it feels like one of the old RPGs crossed with Pokemon Snap. It has the classic gameplay, but you get to see the Pokemon out in the world doing things naturally. There are maybe too many Pokemon scattered around, so the world feels kind of cluttered and like their placement is haphazard. But I prefer that over there being too few and having to search endlessly to find something, like hunting in Red Dead Online.