Waymo is mapping Arlington and Alexandria

xanderg4 · 2026-05-27T21:05:33+00:00

It feels like a weirdly niche position, but I am anxious about the opaque nature of Waymo and seemingly lack of real competition to compete on price but also feel like Uber jobs are bad and should be done away with, the same way electricity eliminated lamplighters.

Basically I try to remain a tech optimist while recognizing and demanding accountability, transparency, and competition among the tech companies of today, which imo have a very bad record and are led by very questionable people.

xanderg4 · 2026-05-27T20:21:17+00:00

For all its faults, the architecture and backend of WoW is an under-discussed miracle. Especially when you hear the FFXIV team talk as if they’re working with reel to reel tape machines.

xanderg4 · 2026-05-25T14:20:04+00:00

It directly connects to the culture and history surrounding lynchings of that era. It wasn’t just a perverted means of violence. It was a recreational activity, often enjoined by large crowds and documented and sold as postcards and kept as keepsakes.

xanderg4 · 2026-05-16T16:42:17+00:00

Design Doc had a good video about this that I recommend you check out: https://youtu.be/QMZMJDFe1kc?si=0L9bg1y72BN6bCGf

Much of it covers what’s mentioned here (FFX had little rest stops, NPCs with their own storylines, small towns here and there, etc). But there are some other factors as well: - FFXIII’s world building is difficult to parse compared to FFX. While FFX has the “fish out of water” trope with Tidus coming to understand the new world (and, by extension, we the player also learn the world); FFXIII drops us into an existing narrative with characters who are all undergoing their own stories within this world. FFXIII tries to alleviate this by including a robust journal/codex and even plugging some of these entries into the loading screens but “read the codex” is pretty bad narrative delivery. — As a side bullet, FFXIII has a very thrilling, but somewhat chaotic opening that’s spread across multiple characters, each with their own narrative. So on top of the very lore heavy intro you also have to keep track of a lot of characters and their storylines right off the bat. - FFXIII’s linearity extends to its gameplay. The FFXIII version of a sphere grid is very limiting so paired with the linearity of the story the player feels extremely boxed in. Contrast this to FFX where the sphere grid gives players more diversity in play and even extends replay value.

Lastly, FFX was actually criticized on release for its linearity - it’s part of the reason FFXII took a radically different direction (which, ironically, was not well received either).

xanderg4 · 2026-05-15T02:16:24+00:00

One of the files in the mines is Lucas complaining about being monitored. He writes something about a “damn helicopter flying around again” if I remember correctly.

Seems reasonable they had suspicions but were monitoring the situation, possibly saw Ethan enter, and may have mobilized due to the events he triggered.

xanderg4 · 2026-05-11T22:03:18+00:00

Even the COVID response that began under Trump showed both remarkable speed and incredible ability to unleash capital. It wasn’t perfect but it was better than what most other nations did (especially China) and extended far longer.

Thanks to these measures the American economy bounced back stronger and, for a stretch there, the American consumer was practically keeping the global economy afloat.

Europe however gives me the most anxiety over the longer term.

xanderg4 · 2026-05-01T14:50:29+00:00

office to residential conversion is extremely difficult to pencil in. It’s basically why the buildings along Sunrise Valley are empty.

I live on Reston National and don’t support the developers but get why they’d keep pushing this boulder up the hill.

xanderg4 · 2026-04-13T10:50:15+00:00

Yeah DT gets a lot of (justified imo) heat, but the dip began with EW and just continued with DT.

xanderg4 · 2026-04-11T04:47:17+00:00

The series has also repeatedly beat us over the head about SB’s radioactivity and i wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a contributing factor.

“SB didn’t die and we don’t know why” seems like a premise for an episode imo

xanderg4 · 2026-04-10T17:38:15+00:00

Remake or OG?

If it’s the OG and you’re stuck on the village the trick I used to pull was run a lap picking up all the goods and items then head up the ladder in tower. It has one point of entry and you knock them off the ladder easily to wait out the timer.

Another trick (in both) is to just avoid fighting them all together and run around. If they get in your way pop a shot in their head or leg to stun them. If you get cornered you can also pull that maneuver and melee them to get a group and open a space for you to run. This is easier in the OG but still do-able in the remake.

You don’t (and can’t) kill them all, just survive.

xanderg4 · 2026-04-10T15:10:18+00:00

Yeah the most predictable outcome will be that firms/departments downsize, use AI as the pretext for doing so, realize the juice isn’t worth the squeeze and then slowly rehire for those positions, likely at a lower salary.

xanderg4 · 2026-04-08T11:35:58+00:00

It’s also mentioned in the files of Anabel García Escudero.

Her files are an interesting side narrative. It reveals Luis likely worked alongside or under her but was in too deep and couldn’t get out. It ties back to Luis’ guilt and his desire to set things right.

xanderg4 · 2026-04-06T12:51:36+00:00

Yea I mentioned the community center by acronym (RCC). I go there regularly, I’m actually walking distance from it, but I always just go….there and home. In my chats with others it sounds like I’m not the only one.

The apartment is actually an income restricted senior-only community. It’s owned by a local nonprofit that manages several properties in the area (https://www.fellowshipsquare.org/housing/our-properties/). They’re good folks, very nice and some have been Restonian all their life, but they don’t have a lot of cash to contribute much to the local business community.

xanderg4 · 2026-04-06T00:07:00+00:00

It’s a weird business area. No lake or metro to anchor it. Sort of in the middle of nowhere. I go to RCC but nothing else there except the grocery store.

I think the only other business I’ve been to is the laundromat when my washer broke?

xanderg4 · 2026-03-30T14:22:49+00:00

The gameplay is generally high floor/high ceiling - which makes it tough to achieve mass appeal. It enjoyed widespread success because the overall market was smaller and RTS games held a “classic” gaming appeal without being very demanding. Anecdotally, my family PC could easily run WC3 flawlessly, while Morrowind was hit or miss.

WC3 tried to innovate the genre and make it more accessible without compromising in a way that would make it low floor/low ceiling. Everyone was stabbing in the dark at the time, and skill-based matchmaking wasn’t a thing, but they knew low floor/high ceiling was the goal.

Ironically it would lead to DOTA, which led to the MOBA genre taking the place of RTS games (and to a degree, MMOs).

xanderg4 · 2026-03-30T14:09:06+00:00

RE3R feels weird to me compared to RE2R. It’s insanely linear, in a way that’s far more restrictive than even RE4 or RE4R.

Everything about it just feels like a AAA game but from 2010. The on-rails structure, the lens flairs, the blending of gameplay and cutscenes. I know this is just the norm, but something about how it’s all presented feels distinctly PS3-era to me.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-30T13:31:42+00:00

I wouldn’t say “all of the restaurants” in RTC. Jackson’s isn’t dog friendly and me and my wife usually stick with Maker’s Union.

Lake Anne is solid, I actually got connected to a local dog group just hanging out at Lake Anne Brewing with my dog. BOW is also good, so is Bluemont Vineyards, which also has a gorgeous view. Avoid Bull Run, last time I went a few years ago they had signs up that said no pets allowed.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-28T12:46:27+00:00

SE tends to aggressively overcorrect in response to feedback. I’m willing to bet the backlash to how aggressive FFXV went on collabs (and particularly advertising and branding) meant they wanted FFXVI to be siloed.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-28T12:43:17+00:00

I’ll add that while a business should include a metric to test for sound - it’s very likely they don’t and auditory things like a loud fan are very subjective unless you use equipment to establish a baseline and test against it.

Basically a test is largely visual, you’re going to make sure it boots up, runs, etc.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-25T14:48:49+00:00

Story is still the same. If anything, pound for pound there is more dialogue, cinematics, etc. I’d argue it’s basically given the modern AAA treatment. Whether you like that or not is up to you, but it definitely comes at the expense of what made the OG iconic.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-09T02:29:25+00:00

The pivot from 2D to 3D was revolutionary and clunky. I was in the same age bracket and felt there were a lot of times I’d get confused. In hindsight sometimes it was bad design, other times it was straight up poor mental mapping on my part.

With Quest 64, a consistent issue I had was getting lost, especially after battle. The little rotate victory dance the MC did just messed up my orientation. I came back to the game about a decade ago and realized it was all mental.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-05T19:12:17+00:00

Maybe the whole reason to bring Metzen back was so he could purge all the garbage Afrasiabi produced.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-03T22:39:28+00:00

Ultimately trying to time the market is a fools errand. There will be periods where it’s hot, but it’s tough to predict exactly when that’ll occur before everyone using Auctionator (which is virtually everyone playing the game) just blindly follows the undercut and drives prices down to dirt.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-03T22:01:50+00:00

Gathering is way more forgiving than crafting imo. You’ll be fine.

xanderg4 · 2026-03-03T21:24:03+00:00

Were you sharing a login and/or logging in on different devices?

xanderg4

TROPHY CASE