The thing about Microsoft shutting down Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin is that it isn’t really a case of finance bros not understanding how game development works. Sure, saying “we need smaller games that will win us awards” while shuttering studios which have a record of producing smaller, award-winning games looks dumb on paper, but you need to know how to parse corporate doublespeak.
In brief, they want the prestige of producing smaller, award-winning games, but not the risk. The way you get the former without the latter is by constantly buying up independent studios which already have successful titles in their portfolios, keeping them around long enough to provide post-launch support, crank out paid DLC for their already-proven properties, and finish development of whatever is currently in the pipeline, then dismantle them and shut them down before they get any funny ideas about risking your money on new, unproven projects.
If you’re thinking “hey, that sounds a lot like a predatory business model”, well, exactly.
I feel like that would be illegal. For example, if a company buys another, they should take good care of them. Otherwise, they should be allowed to be unbought and be separated and even be given financial compensation. Is it just me? Am I sounding insane?
This practice of repeatedly buying up and subsequently shutting down one’s smaller competitors arguably already is illegal under American federal antitrust laws. It’s just that those laws haven’t meaningfully been enforced in decades.
Don’t let the media make what’s happening with Israel, Iran and Jordan into some “middle-east problem” again. This was entirely orchestrated and encouraged by the US and the UK. Israel initiated every attack against Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Iran. Israel KILLED, targeted, the children and grandchildren of Palestinians political leaders. And the US could’ve stopped all of this by simply not giving Israel money and weapons bu they didn’t.
The Western media has constructed this narrative that countries like Iraq and Iran are the problem and the western nations are the antidote keeping their ‘terrorism’ at bay. No, they have always and at all times started the conflicts, or worsened them.
Because they want the land, they want hegemony over the resources of that region and that is it. And they’ve demonstrated already by killing over 33,000 people that they’ll do anything.
Stop joking about World War 3 and take the loss of lives and the horror of what is happening seriously. This cannot keep escalating
i forget baby bugs don’t really exist not in the way i want them too anywYs. i was like how come ive never seen a baby beetle i bet theyre soo cute and then i googled and i was like oh right. grub
why do they always show cranberries in thos big pits n its implied its wet and possibly swimmable. do cranberries really grow like that. wh
You’ve never heard of The Bog?
th
the what
EACH ADDITION TO THIS POST MAKES MY BLOOD RUN COLD
This is a cranberry bog (unflooded) it’s how cranberries grow. Once they’re ripe, the blog is flooded and the cranberries harvested.
Basically by using big floaty things to round them all up and then scooping them out of the water.
thank u. i hate it a little less but the horrible little man in my head is still screaming “BOG BODY BOG BODY BOG BODY”, but i appreciate the education,
oh here is a fun lil perspective on cranberry harvesting i never heard about anywhere else. the guy who owns the restaurant right down the road from the farm, who fries our chickens sometimes, is from Boston, with the strongest Boston accent ever, and in a former life before he started slinging reasonably priced barbeque and occasional organic chicken, he was a cranberry farmer.
His farm was on the leading edge of kinda using organic/sustainable pest control methods, and one of the things that they did to keep insect damage down was that they encouraged wolf spiders to live in the cranberry field, to eat the bugs.
This was all fine and good until they flooded the bog. Now, you don’t just like flood the bog and then go around it in a boat or whatever. No, you use hip waders to get in there and put the big floaty things where they go and get all the berries and such.
Well when you’re in the bog in hip waders, that makes you the tallest thing. Wolf spiders can swim a bit, but they don’t like it, so they’re, quite understandably, looking to climb out of the water onto a tall thing.
So yeah the first interview question he always asked potential cranberry bog harvester hires was “are you cool with spiders?”
“You’d be amazed,” he said to us, shaking his head a little, “how many guys would just straight lie. Like, you think I’m asking you that question to be cute? Nah man you’re gonna have like a hundred wolf spiders trying to climb your eyebrows, you gotta be chill, those wolf spiders are fellow employees. You really gotta be chill with spiders if you’re gonna work a cranberry harvest.”
happy international workers day to the cranberry bog spiders
I want any cranberry farmers reading this to know, really truly know, that “are you cool with spiders” is not a specific enough question for this situation.
[id: a tweet from dumpling queen @/ladydumplings that reads, “so zionists are covering up orange handprints, placed as memorials to victims and survivors of residential schools. because apparently, opposing any genocide is an attack on them.” attached is two photos of an orange hand print on a black background. over one photo is a blue sticker that reads, “our love is stronger than your hate” with a star of david over it. the other photo is an orange handprint, unvandalized.
a quote retweet by hannah ♿✨ @/genzalternative reads, “they saw hands with blood on them and immediately assumed it was [about] them.” /end id]
i love telling people i accidentally made too much food and itd be a huge help if theyd take some off my hands because there’s simply no way i could eat this much. because i love lying.
me, throwing an extra cup of rice in the cooker: whoops…oh noooo…whatever shall i do….how can this keep happeninggg…better text my loved ones about this shameful display of hubris after i make all this onigiri…=)
me: hi friend i accidentally made too much onigiri do you want some for dinner?
friend: omg yes please!!
me: cool thanks i’ll see you downstairs :)
translator’s note: it was not, in fact, an accident. it did this on purpose. because it is evil.
I like that people included male rape victims as well! This is a good post
“They shouldn’t have gone out with someone they met online.”
always always reblog
This is amazing as a two time survivor it’s fucking time to hear this shit debunked! Hate has no place!
Can not not reblog.
If I here someone say any of the sentences above…
I can’t believe some people need to hear this but RAPE IS RAPE. How can anyone excuse it? Survivors have to hear this bullshit smh. I feel so horrible for the people who have to hear this from people. I feel so horrible for the people who have had traumatizing experiences like getting raped and people don’t see how serious and scarring it can be.
^^ if any of you don’t agree please unfollow me thank u -.-
[100/10: TRULY A MASTERPIECE. I THINK THIS MIGHT BE THE BEST POST. IN GENERAL.]
Hi! Sometimes it can be hard to read a fic where the author puts two spaces in between paragraphs, as opposed to a single space/line break (not sure what to call it!) Is it possible to add any code to my site skin that would make paragraphs have the standard single-line space? Thanks so much!
The author made a bunch of Bookmarklets and Userscripts, it is quite helpful if you don’t want any empty paragraphs. And Bookmarklet also works on mobile so it’s great!
The extra paragraph happens when you upload something to AO3 via the rich text rather than the HTML screen, and the rich text of your document contains formatting or characters that AO3’s code doesn’t parse correctly. I’ve seen this happen pretty regularly when pasting from Gdocs, for example.
As the author, you can try the preview function to get an idea of how AO3 is gonna parse what you pasted in. You can also switch to the HTML editor to see what’s going on in the background. Don’t be disheartened by the code you’ll see; mostly it’ll be your text, just wrapped in paragraph tags: a <p> at the beginning (that is the tag that starts a paragraph) and a </p> at the end (that’s the end of the paragraph).
If you see an empty paragraph, like so:
<p> </p>
or like so:
<p> </p>
you can delete those. The “ ” is a HTML character called “non-breaking space”, which is just what it sounds like: a space (like between words), but one that doesn’t separate two words in a line break, should the line break fall there. It’s also a HTML place holder to put in an empty paragraph, because HTML doesn’t like empty paragraphs. The reader won’t see it, because it’s “just a space”, and the browser will parse the HTML correctly: as an empty paragraph - and that’s just the thing you do not want, right? So, delete that shit.
This also works with already-published fics when you click on “edit chapter” - AO3 shows you that HTML then, and you can manually delete all your empty paragraphs.
adding to the troubleshooting for any ao3 writers out here: sometimes if you’re using html to add italics/bold text/homestuck formatting, if you have an open carat somewhere in your work, going in to edit and then exiting again can add more spaces. Double check your formatting before you post and keep a backup each time you make edits!
the most annoying people are the ones who just reply “no 💖” to recovery/self-improvement posts
THE WET BOX
ill never forgive you guys for reblogging the version without the wet box addition now there’s edgelords in my notes and nobody gets to hear about the wet box
“Is Communion Vegan?” - the greatest thread in the history of forums, locked by a moderator after 12,239 pages of heated debate,
it’s fine bc it’s punching up
Hm, I’d go the other way, you can consume communion wafers on Fridays in lent, therefore the transubstantial body of Christ is theologically either grain or fish.
Iirc, theologically speaking, the body of Christ is gluten free. However, the miracle of transubstantiation means that the body of Christ gains the properties of a glutinous cracker.
Weird but technically correct argument for portraying Jesus as a white cracker.
Mongolians are cool because they’ve merged their traditional and modern ways of life so rather than having poverty due to losing all their important skills they just live in their yurts with their cows and 827474874mbs internet
sure their GDP in dollars is low but when you can survive like your anscestors did it doesn’t mean anything, nothing wrong with adding a motorcycle and wifi into the mix
Everyone should live like their ancestors did 1000 years ago but with the addition of wifi tbh
Adapt. Survive.
this is the single most inspiring piece of information I have yet to come across in all my moments in this world
People are hesitant to believe you when you say that the most drama-filled community is like…the knitting and fibre arts communities.
Like, I am not someone who even knows how to knit, but these people are crossing more than stitches, they are getting in lifetime beefs, claiming to have invented basic patterns that have existed for 100s of years, having about 100 Fyre festivals per tax season, some extremely serious cultural appropriation issues, racism, threats, legal actions and multiple faked deaths.
These people are wild, I swear. They may all act like they are just in permanent grandma mode, yet what are knitting needles rather than ready-made shivs?
Fandoms come and go, but fibre arts are forever, and some of these people are clearly carrying the grudges of their ancestors. You don’t know the fable of power corruption until you see someone with 3k followers letting all that imagined fame go to their head and accuse some random store of stealing their design, I swear. This community is full of dropped stitches, and everybody snitches.
something my mum always taught us was to look for the resources we’re entitled to, and use them. public land? know your access rights and responsibilities, go there and exercise them. libraries? go there and talk to librarians and read community notice boards, find out what other people are doing around you, ask questions, use the printers. public records offices? go in there, learn what they hold and what you can access, look at old maps, get your full birth certificate copied, check out the census from your neighbourhood a hundred years ago. are you entitled to social support? find out, take it, use it. does the local art college have facilities open to the public? go in, look around, check out their exhibit on ancient looms or whatever, shop in their campus art supply store. it applies online too, there is so much shit in the world that belongs to the public commons that you can access and use if you just take a minute to wonder what might exist!!!
hey if you live in the usa i am on my knees begging you to go to benefits.gov and take their quiz to see if you qualify for literally any government benefits at all. the income requirements for some stuff (i.e. SNAP) are actually not quite as low as one might think! the quiz is really straightforward and only took me around 5 minutes to complete. i do recommend a computer over a phone but it works ok on mobile too. it will share so many great resources for you and will show you things even if you only technically meet one eligibility requirement.
will forever feel violent about us election season being forced on the entirety of the english-speaking portion of the internet because a handful of politically illiterate people believe they have something original to say. it’s not even interesting. what’s it gonna be next time? most important election of our lives again? stopping fascism again? oh registering to vote is important huh? let me hear about how questioning parlamentarism is voter suppression again, you only sound more serious each time. should we call AOC? should we tell will wheaton? either shut the fuck up for a year, get a better system or just collapse already
I’d like to know what possesses usamericans that compels them to not only become the exact type of person the thing they’re reblogging is complaining about, but to also blame people for not “filtering their feed”
you stupid fucking bitch. you are not only apparently oblivious to what cultural hegemony is, you’re actively coming to my post to tell me to filter my feed. Just shut the fuck up! is it possible for you to shut the fuck up? Just once? oh it’s important is it? man if only the post you’re reblogging brought that up
the post is about imbeciles like you forcing your dumbass elections on the non-us internet, and that’s exactly what you’re doing! zero self awareness!
If you’re still filtering tags related to Palestine in May of 2024 to avoid seeing posts related to it on your dash you’re evil AND if you’re accommodating people ask you to tag Palestine posts so they can filter it you’re even more evil. It’s been 229 days of genocide, at what point are you going to decide you’re ready to bear witness to it?
Well, you shouldn’t make statements like that.
What about all the people who have a good reason to do so? You shouldn’t shame them.
I’ve had a chat with a woman named Suad and she’s trusted me to share her story with you all.
Suad is a young engineer from Gaza who was excelling in her field, and had recently been told that she is pregnant. She had a bright future ahead of her until disaster struck and Israel and their constant bombings destroyed everything she holds dear.
She and her husband are now living out of a tent like many Gazans now. They have had to struggle to find food and water, and not only this, but Suad is also trying to nurture an unborn baby without access to adequate food and the prenatal care that a pregnant mother needs.
She is fundraising now to get herself, along with her husband and their family members out of Gaza. They require $20,000 to get out of Gaza and an additional $8,000 for transfer costs and living expenses in Egypt.
ALT
(ID in Alt)
As of right now, they have made only $2,732 of their goal and their situation is urgent. Suad is now nearly 9th months along and will be giving birth to her child very soon in very dangerous conditions for both herself and the baby.
Please donate whatever you can to this fundraiser, and if you cannot donate, I urge you to share!
It’s hilarious how far you need to dig into headlines from different western sources reporting on this to find out the context and what the bill actually was. Turns out it’s an anti-corruption being passed to impose penalties on government officials who commit perjury in parliament. Meaning this was done in a panicked violent attempt to prevent an anti-corruption law.
Haha. So funny. So quirk. Weird how that’s not widely circulated. Probably has nothing to do with how we want to avoid making Taiwan seem like the corrupt dysfunctional rump state it is because we need to make them look like a beacon of upright liberal rules-based democracy compared to EVIL mainland China. Naw. Nuuh. This is just a funny little event devoid of any context or meaning, haha, epic Taiwan reddit moment!
Imagine, just for a moment, how this would be reported if this happened in Beijing.
It’s hilarious how far you need to dig into headlines from different western sources reporting on this to find out the context and what the bill actually was. Turns out it’s an anti-corruption being passed to impose penalties on government officials who commit perjury in parliament. Meaning this was done in a panicked violent attempt to prevent an anti-corruption law.
Haha. So funny. So quirk. Weird how that’s not widely circulated. Probably has nothing to do with how we want to avoid making Taiwan seem like the corrupt dysfunctional rump state it is because we need to make them look like a beacon of upright liberal rules-based democracy compared to EVIL mainland China. Naw. Nuuh. This is just a funny little event devoid of any context or meaning, haha, epic Taiwan reddit moment!
Imagine, just for a moment, how this would be reported if this happened in Beijing.
It’s so weird seeing people who don’t live in tourism heavy areas going “oh ur complaining ab tourism??? Yet your whole economy depends on it. Curious.” Yeah idiot why do you think we’re complaining
This isn’t about annoying tourists, if your country is in the G7 and/or its economy doesn’t collapse in itself during a short lockdown, shut up. This is about supermarkets price gouging everything because western tourists can afford it (but fuck the locals) and cops telling us to fuck off when we make complaints about rude or loud tourists that’d get locals fined, because tourists are especially privileged and God forbid they decide not to spend more money here. This is about the fact that some people can’t live because of tourism, but can’t live without it either, because everything depends on it, including people’s income. This is about countries where even people with “regular” jobs have to rent out their homes. This is about countries where home prices are rising to the point of becoming out of reach to locals because foreigners are buying property as vacation homes or to rent out.
ALT
