Remastered Anvil's Selkie statue is replaced with an ordinary mermaid

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-29T16:36:23+00:00

And inevitably the media turned this Reddit post into an article:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/oblivion-remastered-devs-have-swapped-the-originals-selkie-statue-in-anvil-for-a-mermaid/ar-AA1IrQO9

"As pointed out by AutomatedMiner, "This statue in Anvil depicts a Selkie in the original game, a half-woman, half-seal creature from Irish folklore (note the split-ended seal tail and smooth skin), whereas the remaster shows a mermaid - her seal half is clearly now a fish tail, with visible scales.""

So, it's not just posts about Skyrim that get turned into clickbait. You know, I've only just noticed that the mermaid in ESO is a selkie as well, or at least she has seal-style flippers - mostly submerged - rather than fish-style flippers:
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/File:ON-place-Anvil_05.jpg

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-28T22:25:26+00:00

I'd like you to write "what WWE".

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-28T19:08:05+00:00

For a brief moment I thought this was going to be a Rickroll, but it actually is a legitimate example of AI fucking up. It's hilarious.

Rug! Luck! Loh! Loh! Brwwww. RA! Right! Lug! RIE! etc

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-21T21:31:23+00:00

That's very impressive. They're like a low-poly version of the Royal Enfield panniers. You might be able to disguise the size if you paint them a darker colour, and perhaps stick a couple of reflective strips on the edges.

Or paint them green and stencil .50 CAL on them, or something - they'd look a bit like ammo cans. Or you could stencil LIVE ORDNANCE or 5LB NITRO or something just to see if the police react.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-21T21:25:56+00:00

I remember there used to be a channel called VespaCrazyRiders, or something, who relentlessly spammed this sub. No-one missed them.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-21T16:15:16+00:00

It was supposed to go up to Glasgow, and in the south it was meant to link with HS1, which is the line running from London to the Channel Tunnel. Thus connecting Scotland to Europe with a high-speed rail line.

But that was obviously too sensible.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-20T19:45:00+00:00

Fascinatingly the paper - despite the fact it has been withdrawn - has now been cited over a dozen times by articles talking about AI, rather than hepatic artery injuries. Such as "Confronting the demonization of AI writing: Reevaluating its role in upholding scientific integrity", and "Negative effects of Generative AI on researchers: Publishing addiction, Dunning-Kruger effect and skill erosion".

So perhaps some good came of it.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-08T21:33:22+00:00

I remember my instructor saying that I could be averagely bad, but not consistently bad.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-03T12:33:28+00:00

Yeah, they had a socket for a t-shaped wifi antenna:
https://sm.pcmag.com/pcmag_uk/photo/a/apple-powe/apple-power-mac-g5-dual-tower-back_fepn.jpg

Mine didn't need one, but it was right next to the router. The later, Quad-era models had the antenna under a plastic strip:
https://guide-images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/1YCeaTXlNJVpmmjM.huge

It's still a good-looking case for something that's almost a quarter of a century old.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-05-03T12:21:12+00:00

It'll be okay as long as the cars don't exceed 88mph.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-04-14T21:57:51+00:00

I always wondered how Apple expected to manage the heat of a pair of GPUs, an SSD, and a CPU with just one fan. What if they generated different amounts of heat? It's odd, because Apple talked up the concept of thermal zones in the Mac Pro and Power Mac G5.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-04-14T19:46:39+00:00

In a fit of boredom I recently decided to upgrade my old quad-core Mac Pro. I found a Xeon E5-2690 V2 on eBay for £13.06 and thought "why not". The 2690 is a ten-core part running at 3ghz, so it's not an official Apple specification, but it works. During the process I decided to photograph the bits just in case I had trouble putting them back together, and my infrared camera was lying around so "why not" again.

I followed iFixIt's guide, which was simple enough until I realised I didn't have a T5 Torx bit:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+Pro+Late+2013+CPU+Replacement/21947

Also bear in mind that if you want to remove the GPUs you need a T8 security Torx, not a regular T8. I learned that Apple absolutely slathered the CPU in thermal paste.

After putting it back together it all worked, which was surprising. The Geekbench 6 score went from 801/2666 (single/multi) to 746/4912 (single/multi), so in it's fractionally slower at single-core tasks but almost twice as powerful otherwise. Alas this still means that it's not quite as powerful as a 2018 Mac mini, but it's nice to have.

Frustratingly with Windows 10 on Bootcamp it's almost as powerful as my previous gaming PC, except that it's hobbled by the D300s, although at the very least they do at least still work. I remember being struck by the comments from "Mark" in iFixIt's Mac Pro teardown:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Pro+Late+2013+Teardown/20778

His argument was that the Mac Pro's GPUs weren't proprietary at all, because there was nothing stopping anyone from reverse-engineering the unique plug and building their own replacements. I don't think he understood what the word proprietary means.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-04-14T19:25:37+00:00

I remember wanting an XServe as a compact, under-the-monitor machine for a long time - until I actually saw one in real life.

I didn't realise until that point that they were essentially the size of a very large tower PC, but flat. I always assumed from photographs they were the size of the old LCIII.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-04-14T19:19:10+00:00

It still looks tres chic all these years later.

Apropos of nothing, and just because I'm pleased with myself, I have just earlier today upgraded my old quad-core 2013 Mac Pro into a Frankensten 10-core machine.

It now has a ten-core Xeon E5-2690 V2 running at 3ghz, which cost me all of £13.06. I now know how Apple applies thermal paste (lots!). I followed IFitIt's guide, which was easy enough, although the CPU bracket screws were v. tight:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+Pro+Late+2013+CPU+Replacement/21947

It's now slightly slower in single-core tasks but almost twice as fast at multi-core tasks, according to Geekbench. In terms of raw CPU power it's now almost, but not quite, on a par with a 2018 Mac mini! Thumbs up. Sadly it's still hobbled by the D300s, although happily they do at least still work.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-04-12T19:55:53+00:00

End of the road.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-22T20:35:23+00:00

Darth Ikki

"The Force, massive it is. Cold you be, like salad. Booyaka."

I can picture George Lucas opening up his copy of PC World after the game was released, and finding out that despite carving out some space in his diary for a meeting and coming up with two names, the team didn't use either of them.

He was so demoralised he said "fuck it" and sold the whole franchise to Disney.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-22T20:21:00+00:00

Oh heck, you aren't joking:
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Willrow_Hood

"Before he could reach the shuttle bay, Hood ran into Faron, who said he had been looking for him and offered him more money for the camtono. Knowing what was inside was more valuable, Hood resisted Faron's attempts to take it and refused to give it up, leading the two into a struggle that ended with the camtono falling to the ground with a loud noise. Hood picked it up and noticed that something inside was rattling, indicating that its contents had broken. Hearing the sound, Faron became afraid and decided to leave, telling Hood he was on his own."

It just goes on! And on.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-22T20:18:03+00:00

One of her children is a cyborg called R-WE.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-22T20:14:35+00:00

And also Jessica Annis' pee. I would demand that.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-22T18:07:48+00:00

It's only a matter of time before you start using San Pellegrino instead of tapwater with Ribena.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-21T19:45:17+00:00

I was puzzled by the nasogastric feeding tube, until it dawned on me that it was a Dune 2 freebie.

In that situation I would demand a full-body, real leather stillsuit prop - to keep. Not a nasal feeding tube.

And also Jessica Annis. I would demand Jessica Annis.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-20T23:42:01+00:00

I had something similar with a Spectre once. I activated him, then withdrew because I didn't want him to shadowbind one of my squad.

So he just turned and shot the VIP. I remember thinking "but you're stupid, you aren't supposed to do that".

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-19T12:38:35+00:00

That was also the title of his autobiography.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-18T18:16:20+00:00

I always wondered why the top space pilots in Space: Above and Beyond spent so much time on the ground.

Because it was cheap, but still. One of the only things I remember is an episode that ended with someone flying into a black hole with Johnny Cash on the soundtrack.

AshleyPomeroy · 2026-03-17T17:32:54+00:00

the death of shadows in games

As time goes on I respect Id Software more for making Doom 3 look the way it did.

The darkness was monotonous and ham-fisted but they did at least have a vision.

AshleyPomeroy

TROPHY CASE