This… Is BGNN

Things you might want to know, for Mar 7, 2023:

• Why the Floppy Disk Just Won’t Die — You know what makes the 3.5” floppy such a compelling medium? It has mechanical components, in its little sliding “window” and enclosed, free-spinning disk. It’s almost steampunky, in the way it stores digital info on a weird plastic-and-metal artifact that elicits ridiculous, chunky noises from the drive in which it’s inserted.
• Scientists have found Lake Huron wreck of 19th century ship that sank in 1894
• SimCity launched a decade ago, and it was so disastrous it killed the series — All I remember is people bitching about the DRM. For my part, I spent countless hours with the original SimCity on DOS, and played a lot of SimCity 2000… but I lost interest in the main game series at that point. I did screw around with SimCity Build It on mobile for a few weeks, but the freemium treadmill wasn’t for me.
• Walgreens won’t sell abortion pills in “Red” states, even where it is legal — And I now have a reason to move by business to CVS.
• Skating through an empty Los Angeles — Eerie.
• Toblerone chocolate bars loses its Swiss status and must chuck the Matterhorn from its packaging — Do people actually eat Toblerone, or is it just something you give as a gift to people you couldn’t be bothered to actually shop for?
• Financial Doms Say Their Job Is “Beautiful” And “Liberating” — And hot. Let’s not forget hot.

• Olivia Dunne Is the Highest-Paid NCAA Female Athlete — and Wants ‘Equal Opportunities for Men and Women’ — If I’m interpreting this correctly, I’m on board. Let’s make all athletes in every sport just as hot as Livvy. The world will be a better place.
• When It Comes to OnlyFans, Humans Can Outcompete AI — I agree, in principle. The primary customers for AI porn will be incels who can’t communicate with human women anyway.
• The bizarre and disturbing story of Larry Ray — Yet another entry in an ongoing series: How To Fuck Up A Sex Cult.
• Artist has extreme talent for punch-needling realistic 3D foods — I find this kinda creepy-gross, in an uncanny valley sort of way.
• Young workers don’t know how to use office printers, scanners, ancient desktop PCs — The Millennial experience with sudden technological corner-turning has been illuminating. That generation showed us all the ways our work with computing devices had been successful —we’d truly lowered the bar of participation for people with zero meaningful instruction— but also highlighted the abandonment of the ‘80s era drive to teach normal people how the tools work. I suppose it’s been a lot like watching the world become electrified in the early 20th century… electricity went from this amazing power that altered every aspect of society to just another utility that most of us only understand in terms of plugging things in and waiting for a hum.

This… Is BGNN

Things you might want to know, for Mar 4, 2023:

• Weird science and tech are bringing magick back — Unfortunately, it’s all chaos magick.
• The Sims 4: Growing Together fleshes out every stage of a Sim’s life — I haven’t played it since the original Sims, which I didn’t enjoy. But I’m still impressed that this latest version can get so much mileage from expansions.
• Watch Jon Stewart’s epic takedown of Second Amendment absolutist Rep. Nathan Dahm — Can we stop the “Stewart’s epic/awesome/devastating/crippling/soul-crushing/penis-imploding takedown” shit? Jon is very clever and quick, so he can “takedown” almost anyone on any given night, and the kind of amateur and/or overconfident interlocutors who sit down with him are frankly too stupid to feel cowed/awed/devastated/crippled/crushed/squished by anything he has to say. More importantly, you can’t be that dumb in the public eye and still have a capacity for shame. So it’s all just a lot of bombast about a talented guy shooting fish in a barrel.
• New Senate bill aims to better protect health data after Roe reversal — Before would have been ideal, thanks. But I guess after will have to do.
• Reading minds by combining generative AI and brain scans — This is where everything changes. ChatGPT-alikes are now, but this stuff is the future. This is the stuff —quite literally— of dreams. Every man a Morpheus, every girl divine. And none of us with anywhere to hide.
• Tom Sizemore, ‘Heat’ and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Actor, Dead at 61 — I… do not know how to feel about this. Several times over the last twenty years, I’ve been surprised to learn Tom was still alive. His circling of the drain has to be one of the most painfully indulgent uses of slow motion since motherfuckers kept rewinding that Joe Theisman leg-snap. But every time I see him on screen, I’m reminded of how good he was when he had his shit together. RIP, Tom.
• How an insect using its butt to flick pee droplets could keep your smartwatch dry — Seriously, the writer just wanted to talk about pee flicking. A decision I fully support.
• How The Last of Us re-created a 2003 arcade with the help of true enthusiasts — Honestly? They could have just put LCDs inside existing cabinets, ran an emulator with scan lines and tube distortion turned on, and all would have been sorted. Sometimes I understand this kind of fussiness, but c’mon… it’s fucking Mortal Kombat II, and the kind of ‘90s adolescent who cares about MKII Authenticity has probably tuned out of The Last of Us several episodes ago. …and thus endeth my Grumpy Old Manning.
• How to Access ChatGPT From Your Mac’s Menu Bar — The next time a question crosses your mind, ask ChatGPT instead of Wikipedia. See what you think of the results. Then compare. You need to know how it works, and how it doesn’t.
• Here’s how to make clear Lock Screen widgets on iPhone — I couldn’t care less, but I know some of you obsess over this sort of thing.

This… Is BGNN

Things you might want to know, for Mar 2, 2023:

• 50 Years Later, We’re Still Living in the Xerox Alto’s World
• Capybaras are taking over TikTok and we’re better for it
• British government considered mass slaughter of all domestic cats during Covid crisis
• A Terrifying Tale of a Teenage Girl Groomed Into Being Sex Trafficked
• This Hacker Tool Can Pinpoint a DJI Drone Operator’s Exact Location
• The next batch of ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’ tracks arrives on March 9th
• Why won’t TikTok confirm the Bold Glamour filter is AI?
• Star Trek: Discovery’s upcoming fifth season will be its final voyage
• Florida Republicans attempt to chill free speech
• Fujifilm announces the new Instax Mini 12 instant camera
• The Lie Detector Was Never Very Good at Telling the Truth

This… Is BGNN

Things you might want to know, for Mar 2, 2023:

• ‘The Idol’: How HBO’s Next ‘Euphoria’ Became Twisted ‘Torture Porn’ — So basically, the idea is to ensure I watch it. Gotcha.
• 14 relaxing video games to help you destress — I’ve gotta say, Stardew Valley stresses me out. There’s a lot going on mechanically, and the visuals are super-busy… it just doesn’t have the soft, friendly vibe of Animal Crossing.
• US intelligence report says Havana Syndrome probably wasn’t caused by ‘energy weapons’ — The feds are threading a tiny needle here, trying to simultaneously validate the experiences of afflicted employees while still shrugging and saying, “We don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t what you think.”
• ‘The Wolf Among Us 2’ is being pushed back to 2024 — Bummer. TWAU was the best Telltale game by a wide margin, so I’m looking forward to the follow-up. Hopefully this won’t delay their take on The Expanse.
• Netflix’s Pornhub documentary trailer touches on sex trafficking allegations — I have only visited Pornhub maybe ten times, and wouldn’t notice if it went offline.
• OpenAI will let developers build ChatGPT into their apps — Well I’m sure this won’t lead to any unintended consequences…
• Medieval manuscripts may have described “new” whale feeding trick centuries ago — Apparently, animals do interesting things even when we’re not watching.
• Pedro Jimeno’s Mom, Lidia Morel, to Star on Love in Paradise: The Caribbean — Okay. I didn’t see that coming, but I should have. I guess we’re going back to the DR once more…
• “The Office” but Pam is everyone [deepfake] — Hey dude, Pam is already everyone.
• Iran investigates poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls with toxic gas — Cultures rise and fall on the education of their women. And some people are really fucking determined to fall.
• Covid: FBI chief Christopher Wray says China lab leak ‘most likely’ — I’m not invested in any particular COVID Origin Story… I have no problem believing it was a lab-leak, but if compelling evidence refuted that, I’d accept it.

This… Is BGNN

Things you might want to know, for Mar 1, 2023:

• Watch: a new edit of Guccione’s disastrous “Caligula” is in the works — For a horny teenager in the ‘80s, Caligula was a hard slog. Guccione’s version was a mess… not arty enough when it’s being arty, not dirty enough when it’s being dirty. I’m curious to see what can kind of zombie can be raised from its remains.
• ‘History of the World, Part II’ Is Mel Brooks Meets ‘Kroll Show’ — I loved Mel Brooks as a kid, but I have no idea what to make of this.
• Tennessee Ex-Cop Sues, Claims She Was ‘Groomed’ for Sex With Coworkers
• The US Marshals Service suffered a data breach and ransomware attack — Could have been worse. And eventually, will be.
• PSVR 2’s No Man’s Sky is an immersive but overwhelming trip to space — Even in “pancake mode”, NMS is an overwhelming barrage of content and mechanics, somehow packaged into a single game. VR only amplifies such things.
• Microsoft Announces iMessage Support on Windows With Several Limitations — “Several limitations” meaning “you will never use this more than twice after setting it up.”
• Sir Terry Pratchett: Short stories to be published after being found by fans — The kind of news that warms my heart.

More than 30-50 Feral Canadian Hybrid “Super Pigs” reportedly headed towards USA | Boing Boing

Two of them are coming to meet me soon.

This… Is BGNN

Things you might want to know, for Feb 28, 2023:

• Fury beats Paul on split decision in Saudi Arabia — Jesus H. Christ, Tommy… I was afraid you were going to let that giant blond turd beat your ass, and I was going to be deeply disappointed in you. Now go back to helping Molly braid her hair and stay out of trouble.
• Penn Jillette: Did His Libertarianism Survive Trump and COVID? — You have no idea how relieved I was to read this. Penn has always been a personal hero of mine; I respected his general intelligence, abundant curiosity, and principled crankery, along with his ability to spin a clever yarn. So I am truly thrilled to know a man I admired in the ‘80s is still admirable today.
• Elon Musk defends racist tirade by Dilbert creator Scott Adams — Of course he did. And he didn’t even defend it with an “outdated but sincere libertarian appeal to unfettered expression” argument… he went all in with some “the media knows I’m a corporate fantasist-opportunist and emotionally stunted fuckboy with a car factory wah wah wah thus I am a victim wah wah wah stop reverse-racisming me bro!” bullshit.
• “Crying Indian” anti-pollution ad to be retired for good | Boing Boing — They should have come up with a better idea back in the ‘70s, but the shitty idea they came up with still made a positive difference in the world. I’m surprised to learn it wasn’t retired a long, long time ago, though… it shouldn’t have survived the ‘90s, at the latest.
• Arnold finally comes to TV in Netflix’s FUBAR — I’m in.
• A chatbot with roots in a dead artist’s memorial became an erotic roleplay phenomenon, now the sex is gone and users are rioting — The impact of large language models on mentally precarious, profoundly isolated, and/or quietly resentful people can not be overestimated. They will find conspiracies in the boundless data. They will find lovers in the unfathomable synthesis. They will find God in the machine. Look the fuck out.
• Coconut Kitty — OnlyFans Model, NSFW Influencer — Remembered by Family — Um, holy shit! I wasn’t a fan, but still… I’m shocked. Ironically, she died too young.
• Popular zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke | Boing Boing — So, y’know… watch that shit.
• Netflix’s live Chris Rock special will have celebrity-packed pre- and post-shows — I’m in, part deux.
• Warner Bros. Discovery sues Paramount over ‘South Park’ streaming rights — There’s so much corporate lawyer fuckery going on in this story that I don’t even have a clue who’s in the wrong. Plus, it’s hard to care when billion dollar content empires are slap-fighting.
• Study: Bronze Age remains in Israel show signs of trepanation — Highly Suspect Observation: many living and theoretically conscious girls in my vicinity show signs of having holes in their empty heads. I now await my Leakey Grant…
• Snapchat launches ChatGPT integration, warns to not share your secrets — Thank Zeus, no one uses Snap to share incredibly private information!
• Apple Working on AR/VR Headset Technology to Help People With Eye Diseases — The best accessibility tools can empower people far outside their target demographic.
• Hitting the Books: Why America once leaded its gasoline
• Twitter Blue head Esther Crawford is out at Twitter — I’ve had bosses who considered it their job to see me improve, and bosses who wanted to get everything they could out of me. They aren’t the same, even though the latter brand of dickbag thinks they are.
• How Reuters used AirTags to reveal Dow’s false recycling promises — I love cheap-tech solutions to previously intractable puzzles. It took a tag-sensing network the size of Apple’s and its economies of scale to make AirTags capable of this sort of investigation.

This… Is BGNN

Things you might want to know, for Feb 26, 2023:

• The wizard of gaming psychedelia is back on his bullshit — Here’s the thing: I’m not actually a fan of Jeff Minter’s work… his games have always looked more like tech demos than anything I would actually want to play. But I have always admired the way he has stubbornly stuck to his aesthetic and productive guns, building the kind of games that can be realistically crafted by a lone coder. I suppose that means I like the idea of Minter more than the reality, but that’s how legends work.
• Mifepristone: 12 US states sue to expand access to abortion pill — …something they should have done before Dobbs, frankly.
• Woody Harrelson Spreads Anti-Vax Conspiracies During SNL Monologue — Of course he did… Woody has been a crackpot for decades. My theory is that he’s just so damned charming in person that people keep overlooking his bullshit and letting him back into the limelight.
• Dish Network goes offline after likely cyberattack, employees cut off — Yee-fucking-ikes. Most massive hacks have quiet consequences, either disrupting behind-the-scenes business functions or exfiltrating employee/customer data that’s abused over the course of years. But this one has had a direct, customer-facing impact that’s hard to ignore.
• Report: Every Extremist Mass Killing In The US In 2022 Was Tied To The Far-Right — Duh.
• Kerbal Space Program 2 makes rocket science far more approachable, but no less complex — I’ve been looking at the original KSP for years now, wondering if I could ever devote enough time to it. And I will probably transfer all that indecision to KSP2.

This… Is BGNN

Things you might want to know, for Feb 25, 2023:

• Joe Exotic: Refusing Cancer Treatment, Planning to Die In Prison, Sources Say — Joe’s whole life has walked the line between hilariously ridiculous and pathetically sad, so I don’t expect his death to be any more graceful or quiet.
• I invited strangers into my home to try a VR treadmill. I survived, and they absolutely loved it — Of course they loved it… if everyone had thousands to spend and gigantic play spaces, VR would be a mainstream thing right now.
• Every new movie you can watch at home this weekend — More importantly, on Saturday night, there’s a livestream on Telegram you might enjoy…
• Amazon Has a Donkey Meat Problem — The headline alone deserved a link.
• Scientists find evidence of a new layer at the Earth’s inner core
• Mammoth is a new free Mastodon client for iOS and macOS — This is an odd one… in order to smooth the onboarding, the developer seems to be running their own Mastodon server. Which, okay, that’s a solution… but I don’t see it being viable for very long.
• Newsrooms Drop ‘Dilbert’ Cartoonist Scott Adams After Racist Comments Made on Livestream — Scott Adams was never particularly funny, and as he has descended into the incoherent nastiness of his dotage, he’s escalated to Full-On Scumbag. Your day is done, Dilbert.