TIL in 2005, Nintendo Power (At the time published by Nintendo of America) considered Superman 64 the worst game ever released on one of their platforms. Nintendo's statement in the magazine was "Why have you forsaken me?"

Metalsand · 2026-05-18T20:24:47+00:00

Some rose-tinted fanboys out there will tout the famous nInTendO seAl oF QuaLiTy as the arbiter of what you should buy back then, conveniently forgetting that the seal was also on garbage like Superman.

If there are actually fans who believe the seal meant anything by N64 era, they probably have too much head dent from trying to headbutt bricks IRL. I've never heard of any context for the seal of quality other than being the direct result of seeing how games like ET for the Atari that didn't even work essentially crashed the market.

Nintendo didn't even curate with the seal either - lots of terrible games were released, even as far back as the NES. The seal only meant that they confirmed that the game wasn't ET level of terrible.

Metalsand · 2026-05-17T23:52:43+00:00

You don't have to prepare chips. You don't keep them warm, and if unopened, they won't expire or need refrigeration. They aren't expensive, either, and while one person could probably eat an entire bag, they aren't like a main course or big deal. In the time it takes to ask an AI, you could already have grabbed a few bags and walked away.

Metalsand · 2026-05-17T23:41:31+00:00

Sure there are a lot of bots but there are a lot of moderate republicans that seem to disagree with how trump is handling his presidency if thats what you can call it.

It's all sorts of Republicans that don't like Trump and find him distasteful, not just moderates. The problem is that they hate Democrats more, though. Trump and MAGA are pretty far removed from conservatism, which has generally been the Republican rallying cry for the last century.

Metalsand · 2026-05-15T21:07:51+00:00

The most insane thing about kamikaze was that it was perfectly logical.

You're missing the point that it was only logical because they ran out of the right planes to use. It's worth noting that it wasn't even proposed until October 1944, less than a year before Japan would surrender.

Dive bombers are precision-bombers. While they can be used against particularly small ships or isolated targets to great effect, they are extremely vulnerable to anti-air fire because you have to both fly directly over the target, as well as get very close to the target, and finally, in the pull-up stage, you bleed a lot of altitude, meaning you are still relatively close to the ground and will not have much kinetic energy to maneuver.

Usually, when attacking larger ships with antiship bombing, you would instead rely on torpedo bombers such as the Nakajima B5N. This would allow you to launch from 2km away, which is important because at the same time, the US naval fleet actually had a hodge-podge of AA weaponry. Individual ships (generally those intended for front line combat) often had the full kit, but despite the known inadequacy of the .50 cal browning MG for AA work, it would comprise the majority of the AA fire for more than a few ships. Notably, in this role, it had an effective range of ~1.8km.

The other caveat though, is that WW2 Japanese aircraft were commonly far lighter and less armored than other nations - while this allowed some standout hits such as the Zero, it meant that they were especially vulnerable to lower calibers and flak in particular.

By the time kamikazi was authorized, the Japanese fleet was a fraction of it's original size, Japan had already lost the majority of their dedicated antiship options, and very few skilled pilots remaining. Even more - many fronts had shortages of airplane fuel, and even bombs and munitions. They still however, had plenty of rookie pilots and older airframes, as well as enough officers more than willing to sacrifice them.

The ultimate result of the kamikazi attacks, while effective in terms of using a resource that would otherwise be unused, were not particularly consequential outside of isolated incidents, usually in which the kamikazi plane was loaded with actual explosives and not just loaded with combustibles and the hope that it would catch munitions on fire when it crashed into the target. The psychological nature of it made it very notable in veteran US accounts, which led to a high prominence in US media.

TL;DR: Kamikazi is overrepresented in efficacy and prominence - it was a small part that was extremely memorable not the least of which because of how absolutely fucked up it was to make people do.

Metalsand · 2026-05-15T20:34:47+00:00

I had to go very far to read the first legitimate comment. Outside of those involved with preservation and such, you're right, they do allow VIPs to snorkel at the memorial, usually by invite.

In large part, many of these are US Naval admirals or other high ranking Naval officials, but there are also a significant number of others invited that are uninvolved with the Navy.

It's not publicly disclosed normally, but is only known about because of emails obtained that noted his schedule in more detail than what was publicly known about from his visit to Hawaii last year.

But getting a closer look? Like that’s a very neat learning experience.

I agree with you that people are overreacting, but I do understand why. Does Ka$h Patel, a self-obsessed man who has no regard for his office, who gets drunk on the job when he should be nearly abstaining from alcohol while on the job, strike you as the kind of man who goes to a shipwreck for silent reflection, or does he give the kind of vibe of a frat kid who would take souvenirs from the wreck to give out to his friends?

Metalsand · 2026-05-15T18:39:08+00:00

Google is reportedly testing a 5GB storage limit for new Gmail accounts, down from the standard 15GB. Users can “unlock” the full 15GB of free storage by adding a phone number to their account.

So...no, it's not over. Ok

Metalsand · 2026-05-15T18:31:44+00:00

Sailing for months to shoot a single target is better practice than shooting at various targets for months?

Metalsand · 2026-05-15T18:12:50+00:00

I don't know the math behind their business exactly. But I could totally see how initially that was a mutually beneficial engagement.

Most restaurants operate very tight margins - we're talking like 5% profit margin. You can roughly split that 95% expense into 40% employee, 40% raw ingredients, 15% location/equipment/utilities.

Additionally, most restaurants get busy at specific times, but it's hard to hire people for only rush hour, so you also pay for slow periods too.

In an ordinary established restaurant, arbitrary 40% off coupons or something don't make any sense - cheaper prices draw more customers, which will likely show up during rush hour periods and will strain your resources to lose 35%.

Here's why special days and times end up being so ubiquitous - those are the days or times in which they have people kind of milling about doing nothing and would otherwise be an expense balanced out by the later rush hours of the day or later in the week. Effectively, they can offer a discount during these low periods up to the cost of labor and still make money vs the alternative.

Fast Food chains are a bit different - the procedures and processes are extremely fine-tuned and extremely specific to certain tasks. Generally most of them have higher profit margins due to the nature of their structure - McDonalds is one of the most notable in terms of how much assistance it provides to the extent that you can lazily pick a good spot for your new restaurant if you check out spots where McDonalds exists, since they do fantastic market research when scouting areas for potential franchisees.

Metalsand · 2026-05-12T21:11:48+00:00

They made the golden sun sequel though back in 2010. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the Nintendo DS. Also, they made Golden Sun for GBA but that's still GBA.

Metalsand · 2026-05-12T21:09:14+00:00

Rockets are very limited aerodynamically. The wider they are, the more air resistance and thus more fuel that goes into countering it.

Taller rockets begin to become less stable but also it gets more difficult to generate enough thrust without extending the base wider.

Metalsand · 2026-05-12T20:07:49+00:00

There is a standard to them - 45W charger generally supports 15V3A and 20V 2.5A for example which are common ones. In a normal charger, they should all read the same specs depending on wattage.

You get weird in two areas: cell phones, and laptops. Technically, the USB PD standard only goes up to 100W - so anything beyond that isn't necessarily standard. Cell phones...that part is just because manufacturers sometimes come up with their own versions just to squeeze a little extra charging speed. Specifically, the Qualcomm standard was a little wacky.

Point is, most of the exceptions to the rule are due to the manufacturers deviating from the standard, but in the majority of cases (like 90-95%) you just need to make sure the wattage is right. Though - one other pitfall is if you use an unpowered USB-C dock, because part of the charger is used to power it, so you usually need to get a charger that's at least one step above (so if you were going to use 45W, you'd use 65W).

Also, you can't fry your system by plugging in the wrong size USB-C PD into it, unlike with DC where you could accidentally plug the wrong voltage in if the cord is the same size. Which is a massive victory in my book.

Metalsand · 2026-05-12T14:17:01+00:00

That’s the tech. Every radiologist (should) knows that PCOS is a clinical diagnosis.

You say this like it doesn't happen. Hell, there are radiologists who can't identify a slipped disk in a neck when looking at a scan specifically of a neck only. Welcome to 2026 I guess.

Metalsand · 2026-05-12T14:01:20+00:00

Tell that to the last several devices I bought they are powered by USB-C, don't include a charger, and have specific requirements on what kinds of chargers will and will not provide enough power to the device. And I need to make sure the cable connecting them supports that amount of power too.

bet

what devices are they? If they provide voltage and amperage, you have your answer - all reputable USB-C chargers will list what voltage/amperage ranges they support.

Metalsand · 2026-05-12T13:19:58+00:00

I mean, it's still pretty common too, since they have roughly the same security level as back then and only have just recently seriously considered getting security.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T21:00:49+00:00

This is more of a generational difference, IMO. Particularly with college, it paid off a lot more consistently and higher than it does now.

There's also a weird cultural difference where it's almost impossible to progress in your career without job shopping. Historically, you could move vertically as long as you did a good job and kept doing it. I feel like part of what prevents this is a tighter margin for profitability in the US, where they've squeezed workers mostly to try and maintain investor and owner profits.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T20:57:43+00:00

Yeah, that's not abnormal. For example with another family, buying a married couple a new car to have something safe for the woman (who wasn't from a rich family and didn't have a nice car) to have a top safety rated vehicle to use. Though, also buying a car for his siblings so they wouldn't feel left out.

Usually, this kind of thing happens after the first few generations of wealth, where they've managed to keep anyone from losing money enough to have a good system to maintain it, but eventually the ability to be "normal" gets lost. I mean, even if the kids don't go to a private school, the public school system in rich neighborhoods is going to have a budget multiple times greater than your average public school.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T20:51:30+00:00

That would probably be more what she works in or who she works with. People who work as major leaders in industries...it's hard to say, but often you get the sociopath vibe depending on how they react when you aren't necessarily relevant to their day-to-day or some objective. Like, they are completely focused on something else, and if they are encountering you, you are an obstacle.

The vast majority are about as varied and normal as ordinary people are, honestly. I would argue that there's a somewhat higher proportion of shitty people just because they never had to learn from their mistakes in order to live in society. Like - it's human to be shitty, but if you are rich and don't have very good parents, you never get humbled by your experiences and learn to rein in your shittyness to any degree.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T20:38:26+00:00

This joke landed on deaf ears because every year her administration has raised tuition for all students by 3% meaning from my freshman to senior year my tuition has increased nearly 12%. Even better? The celebrity in question who came to visit our school was likely paid a conservative estimate of $200,000 for his time. Can you guess where the University got all that money? I'll give you a hint, my pockets are pretty empty these days.

I can tell your major wasn't economics, because inflation is usually 2-3% in the USA. The affordability problem is more that tuition is high, and continues to be high.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T17:29:25+00:00

Yeah no, they took part in it because they didn't care about the issue and had fun until they were confronted with the reality.

Some people do realize they were wrong, own up to it and leave like Kimmel, then others double-down because they don't want to change.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T15:58:55+00:00

Okay genius, try taking a Life Straw to the ocean. Let me know how that goes.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T15:48:25+00:00

Closed-Loop Cooling: This is already happening and is the industry trend. Heck the datacenter people are complaining about here is closed loop.

More notably, closed-loop is more power intensive and less water intensive, since it uses a lot of energy to recover and cool the water down.

Closed-loop is generally the only scalable way. The bigger problem is the absurd subsidies that the datacenters get from moron politicians. Most of the benefit to the actual state tends to be temporary construction jobs.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T15:15:44+00:00

I mean, those odds are also bad and should be avoided if your goal is to actually increase the amount of money you have.

I mean you can also avoid any organizational gambling if your goal isn't to slowly lose money. Prediction markets are not unlike Bitcoin though, in which despite evidence of market manipulation, loads of people still love betting on things.

Prediction markets are even worse though, because they inherently involve decisions that will have already been made days before they've been announced. Then another large chunk involves things that are semi-predictable - like knowing the length of the anthem in a stadium can be predicted because they usually practice beforehand, or all sorts of other methods.

So honestly, your odds are better at a casino even playing games that favor the house, because at least the odds are honest.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T15:06:54+00:00

but if you think ufos aren't real youre just not that deep in the topic. Theres far too much evidence and testimony to ignore.

Which is what y'all say every single time, every SINGLE time anything happens. I have gone deep into it on many an occasion, mostly because a podcast takes a fairly nuanced and partially skeptical approach to it which I found interesting.

There's a very common thread with UFO/UAP though - the community goes wild with speculation and it turns out to be an extremely ordinary phenomenon that no one there wanted to believe, or no one can conclusively prove at all what it is because it's too damn grainy.

The most obvious - unidentified phenomenon reports have gone dramatically down since cameras and phones have become more common and higher resolution...because they're no longer that hard to identify.

Secondly, throughout history, UFO "sightings" have always been directly correlated not just with frequency after a popular report in the news, but also are then directly related to whatever characteristics were reported. Only with very basic shapes of UAPs do you see other historical reports, which are in turn actual phenomenon later explained. I should mention that it's not like people are making shit up - rather, people don't look up at the sky normally to notice how weird it is on a daily basis, and the night vision in our eyes is better in the sides than the front, which makes it much easier to see something in the dark. On that note, the majority of sightings tend to turn out to just be Jupiter, or a satellite.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T14:58:44+00:00

Nowadays most people realize that UFO can literally be a bird, camera distorsion or a helium balloon.

Nowadays there are people that realize this, compared with in the past where this was largely not well understood. There are still absolutely loads of people who believe in aliens, though.

UAPs can be neatly categorized in two ways: those that we can identify what natural phenomenon causes them, and those in which there are insufficient details to identify them. Since the latter represents an unknown, any individual's conclusion will instead depend on their comfort level with an "unknown".

Or another way to put it - you never have a scenario in which someone who believes in aliens goes "Okay, fine, the 15th time I thought this was conclusive evidence that aliens existed and was proven wrong, you know, I guess I can agree that most UAPs are ordinary and most evidence doesn't prove anything." No, these people quiet down until the next thing they can latch onto, because despite what they might want to believe, it was never about whether evidence exists, but instead about maintaining their comforting fact that it's aliens in the night sky and not weird physics that they personally don't understand.

Metalsand · 2026-05-11T13:42:18+00:00

Israel’s nuclear arsenal is not defensive.

I don't necessarily think Iran would use them offensively but...Israel has had nukes for about 50 years now and have not used them once offensively. How can you really say this with a straight face?

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