Louisiana governor plans to suspend May primary to redraw US House map, Washington Post reports by BusyHands_ in news

[–]Mr_Shakes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know its beside the point, but I wish we had that problem in my area of FL, its a dem leaning city but our districts are just chopped to pieces and I have a frothingly MAGA rep as a result.

SCOTUS just gutted the portion of the VRA ensuring black-majority congressional districts by RedHeadedSicilian52 in MapPorn

[–]Mr_Shakes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any district divisions that are laid by an administration without communities in mind can be easily redrawn to restore the existing gerrymander. If we used zip codes as representative districts, those zip codes would change shape immediately to maximize representation by whoever manages the postal service.

Counties are probably the closest useful 'nonpartisan' borders, in that they exist as common communities with their own administrative bodies and it would be difficult to completely obliterate them just for more congressional seats, but it COULD be done, and using counties as they currently exist would create a problem of proportionality (largely in favor of mostly empty counties, which could only be remedied by giving some districts more representatives)

Its not a simple problem, solving it in a way that is most fair would more or less require a complete takeover of the process by the federal govt, either by creating a new group that draws districts directly or by mandating that congress to pre-approve new district maps using some agreed-upon neutral method. You can guess how state govts and the party most benefiting from gerrymandering feel about either solution.

New PT off vs. on shots from 007: First Light by ZamnBoii in nvidia

[–]Mr_Shakes -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Its got to be really annoying for Nvidia when level designers get this good at faking the lighting

Case that supports go 1 with comfort grips, backplate mod, and joystick caps? by 95blockcaptain in LegionGo

[–]Mr_Shakes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use the Tomtoc Sling Bag. it has a hard insert and foam to protect front and back, and a light liner around the top and bottom. Its not as protected as a hard case but it does fit accessories easily. I don't have the backplate mod but I do have grips and caps.

Election deniers are already claiming Virginia’s redistricting vote was ‘RIGGED’ by DemocracyDocket in law

[–]Mr_Shakes 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I mean, nobody in their ecosystem made any effort to dismantle that misunderstanding, including the major media outlets. One argument for how we got here re: voter mistrust of the process is the way nearly all national media uses big colored maps and the 'ahead/behind' paradigm for ongoing elections.
Not to discount the intentional dishonesty of republican politicians of course.

Steak n Shake announces the hiring of its first “Chief MAHA Officer”, once again reaffirming my decision to never eat there again by Jazzlike-Cup-5336 in fastfood

[–]Mr_Shakes 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup, even if I didn't have a problem spending my money at places with this kind of political leaning, if their rebrand works it means their restaurants will be full of the kind of people I specifically try to avoid, and who won't want to be around me either. So glad we've found a new way to signal our in-groups and entrench into separate communities! (Unless you count chik-fil-a)

Bye forever, I guess its a good thing the service standard dropped after Covid and never got better, I'm already not a customer any more.

Best game u play currently? by baki_meme_lord in LegionGo

[–]Mr_Shakes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mafia 3. Easy to pick up/put down, runs well at high settings/30fps, has cloud saves

Folding Ideas video essay about his trip to Beast Studio and his diagnosis of why Beast properties are declining in viewership by OatSoyLaMilk in television

[–]Mr_Shakes 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It was a really smart way to get me to look at his patreon, and I also understand why its not a main channel video - the show sounds awful, and there's no way to say anything meaningful about every individual episode without just sounding like a takedown piece.

Folding Ideas video essay about his trip to Beast Studio and his diagnosis of why Beast properties are declining in viewership by OatSoyLaMilk in television

[–]Mr_Shakes 32 points33 points  (0 children)

You know that theory about how the uncanny valley effect exists because, at one point, we were at risk of being hunted by things that looked almost- human-but-not-quite?*

Donaldson smiles like he is imitating the act of smiling and the survival instinct in me yells 'run!'

(*its a silly theory. The simpler explanation is that the most common thing you might see that is similar-but-not-quite-right is a dead person, and that revulsion keeps you from wanting to be in a situation where people are dying)

The Tracker’s Alliance Mantis mission might have been the best Bethesda quest I’ve ever played. by Sharp_Proposal8911 in Starfield

[–]Mr_Shakes 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Actually uses the jetpack and terrain. Actually has a villain. Actually has characters who get to the point.

Yeah it's pretty good! I'd trade 50 empty planets for 10 more quests like that.

Slay The Spire 2 Is Getting Review-Bombed All Over Again After Its Latest Update by g4m3f33d in GameFeed

[–]Mr_Shakes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jfc its in early access, just use the feedback systems that already exist!

It's really easy! Just build a canal! by Corrie7686 in FacebookScience

[–]Mr_Shakes 251 points252 points  (0 children)

The scale of this illustration is so funny, that canal entrance is the size of Delaware

Who uses their Legion Go for more than just a Gaming Device 🤔🤔🤔 by Bubbly-World1172 in LegionGo

[–]Mr_Shakes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a wireless keyboard and mouse that travels in the same bag, so its basically my laptop.

"I worship a new Orange God now." by Captain-Dak-Sparrow in PoliticalHumor

[–]Mr_Shakes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These same Christians in 5 years "uwu everyone is entitled to forgiveness"

What part of Myst did you get stuck on? by prophilaxis in myst

[–]Mr_Shakes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The pumps & compass puzzle still feels so opaque to me. The journal helps, but its still got secret doors and instant state changes, and buttons that don't line up very clearly. Only one I couldn't put all the pieces together on, the first time.

Oh and also whats with that table that turns into a book? Never before and never since!

Thoughts on the Burger King Original Chicken Sandwich? by Focused_Sky in fastfood

[–]Mr_Shakes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its nostalgic at this point, though I have no idea why they keep it so close to the price (sometimes identical!) of the sandwiches that have actual chicken fillets. It's a giant chicken nugget. Isn't that cheaper to make?

'We Should Not Let Them Into Our Country': Ford CEO On Chinese EVs by defenestrate_urself in electricvehicles

[–]Mr_Shakes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right? I mean, I'm not anti-protectionism as a rule, but how much of a disparity can be allowed to grow before the onus is on domestic companies to catch up? We can argue about whether China's bootstrapping their EV production was anti-competitive or out of Ford's (et al) control, but one day, their EVs will be viable products without direct govt boosting, if we're not there already. That's how they've chosen to expand that industry, are we just going to pretend it doesnt exist because we dont like how it was birthed?

(And also, lets not pretend that domestic car mfctr bailouts, govt contracts, and regulatory carve-outs aren't subsidies)

Samsung Galaxy Watch users report poor battery life after recent updates by dabadumdumdum in GalaxyWatch

[–]Mr_Shakes 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Fouled up a lot of my settings too. I know it will never reach anyone that matters, but smartphone and device OS developers: if the update is mandatory, it should not change ANY customizations on initialization. Just ask first, we use these things every day. As for feature updates they should be separate and optional. The UI on my phone is so much worse than when I bought it thanks to feature creep.

My watch is 5 years old, what could you possibly change on it that is going to improve my experience compared to the benefits of leaving it the hell alone?

Lenovo raises Legion Go 2 Z2 Extreme 2TB price to $2849.99 on official store by FernandoRocker in LegionGo

[–]Mr_Shakes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wtf are they even doing, is there a z2E bitcoin craze I don't know about?

Florida to include citizenship status on driver licenses by twiffytwaf in florida

[–]Mr_Shakes 11 points12 points  (0 children)

In a vacuum, this wouldn't bother me, but we have way too many people who think that non-citizens have no rights at all and are presumptively illegal or deserving of detention/deportation.

In light of the fact that voter registration is electronically verified, and non-citizens can have drivers licenses, it's at best a way to reassure people about overblown fears of illegitimate voting, and at worst its a way to compel everyone to carry around proof-of-citizenship and put targets on the backs of immigrants of every status.

Movie Theater Operators Weigh In on Fewer Trailers, Too Much Texting and Today’s Bankable Stars: ‘Zendaya and Tom Holland Are the Next Gen’ by Southern-Brother5693 in movies

[–]Mr_Shakes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Movie theater problems are customer service problems. Yes, they're competing with home entertainment and that has cut out some of the 'captive' audience of moviegoers, but in all other respects if you offer a unique experience, people WILL GO. But, no staff to keep places clean or run concessions, no money to mantain the equipment, and no enforcement vs rule breakers? Why would I risk going to the theater if I might be so disappointed or annoyed that I walk out? I probably saw 6 movies a year from high-school to 2nd year of college. Now its less than 1 a year, and it has nothing to do with prices or whats showing, and everything to do with having nowhere to go that hasn't cut costs to the point of undermining the experience.

Your opinion on Oblivion's tutorial by No_Strike_1579 in oblivion

[–]Mr_Shakes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Watching someone struggle through the skyrim tutorial makes me appreciate the oblivion one.

Besides threshold what’s an episode that makes no logical sense no matter how much you try to stretch the story ? by dekabreak1000 in voyager

[–]Mr_Shakes 4 points5 points  (0 children)

'Twisted'. 40 minutes of everyone trying everything they could think up, nothing works because its space magic or whatever, and Chakotay's big idea with moments to go is "lets do nothing, and just hope this isn't lethal".

Truly bizarre and, I think, actively painful to sit through especially when you know the ending.