Random News not worthy of own thread

[Gavrushka]

@pjknibbs - it's just familiarity. Ever since I bought my first PC, an Intel 486 SX2 50, I've had nothing but apart from one Athlon. - The Athlon was the only one that failed on me, so it's just personal experience. I'd not feel comfortable with anything different now.

[Ronald Sandoval]

OMFG i have just watched this clip https://twitter.com/melodyMcooper/statu ... h-11994974 i think it is shocking and her intentions are clear to get the police to come and do what they are good at killing black men all he did was ask her to keep her dog on the lead

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

It's unbelievable how xenophoby in the 21st century is still so common.

[burger1]

Some Corsair Power supplies being recalled.

https://www.pcgamer.com/corsair-recalls ... -failures/

From above link:

Corsair's SF series models are compact units broken up into two high efficiency categories—80 Plus Gold models (600W and 450W) and 80 Plus Platinum models (750W, 450W, 600W). All of them are fully modular units.

The issue presumably affects all wattages, as Corsair doesn't exclude any models in its announcement. However, the company says the recall is limited to units manufactured between October 2019 and March 2020, with lot codes 194448xx to 201148xx.

To see if yours is affected, look at the label on the side of the PSU. The lot code is represented by the first eight digits below the barcode. Hopefully that doesn't mean pulling apart your whole PC....

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

In Italy, they created a mobile application to track people for covid prevention. It works with gps and alerts you if, in the past days, you've been close to someone who tested positive. A simple thing, useful or not I'm not here to tell, but that's not the point. The app is called "Immuni".
So, people went to mobile stores to download it. Turns out there also is an app called "Immune System", which is an educational application and is in English language. People (a lot of people) downloaded the latter, afterwards assaulting the store page insulting the devs because "this app is in English only!!!", posting very poor reviews and destroying the app visibility on the store.
Hundreds of reviews. One of the best is like "5 stars? I reply to idiots which are good in English, I live in Italy, I am Italian and I'm not replacing my grammar with one which is taking me back to Middle Ages!!11!1!!!" I mean: "idiots who are good in English"? Why? It's the triumph and magnification of ignorance. Again, why? If you're dumb like a rock and didn't realise it's the wrong app, why are you insulting the ones which noticed it wasn't the app you had to download?

[burger1]

It looks like a service called Rainway is trying to make it so you can stream/play games from your pc to many different devices ( android, ios, xbox and more?) at 144 fps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhTroAIzJ9k

[burger1]

Windows update KB4561600 might cap your internet speed to 10Mbps

[pjknibbs]

Windows update KB4561600 might cap your internet speed to 10Mbps

Got a link for that? Although, having said that, KB4561600 appears to be an update for Adobe Flash Player anyway, and if you're still using that, you might be disappointed to find out it's being discontinued at the end of the year.

[burger1]

Windows update KB4561600 might cap your internet speed to 10Mbps

Got a link for that? Although, having said that, KB4561600 appears to be an update for Adobe Flash Player anyway, and if you're still using that, you might be disappointed to find out it's being discontinued at the end of the year.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comm ... _internet/

[red assassin]

Yeah, seems like the solution here is probably "why on earth do you still have Flash installed on your computer in 2020", although I am curious how exactly a Flash update can be limiting network speeds.

[felter]

Flash and flash player are two different things, Flash itself isn't going anywhere it is just getting a new name and is now called Adobe/flash Animate, it's just flash player that is being binned. I haven't used flash in a while. I only have a flash mx version can't afford to spend £20 a month on something I would only use once in a while, I suspect it has been drastically changed but it will still be flash at it's heart.

There is a good free alternative to Flash Animate or so I've heard, it's called Synfig Studio I'll have to give it a try sometime.

I don't know if it still is but Simons cat was originally made using flash, so it would be a shame for it to be binned too.

[pjknibbs]

Wicksteed Park, near Kettering, has gone into administration this week--I remember visiting there with my father when I was a lad:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-englan ... to-my-eyes

[felter]

"If a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling,"

So that's the quote of the day, can you guess what they are talking about. If you didn't manage that they are talking about loot boxes in video games, and it's not just some random Joe either that made the statement, it's a quote from the UK's house of lords, so it is a statement with clout and probably means the end of loot boxes here in the UK. I suspect this will have a knock on effect with other countries following suit. But it's not just loot boxes, as they also mention the likes of Fifa player packs, so it is also not looking good for the likes of those either. Something I would also like to see the back of is game currency, you know where you have to buy the game currency to buy cosmetic items but where the item may cost 1 buck but the cheapest game currency cost 5 bucks, meaning to buy something at 1 buck costs you 5 bucks. There is no mention of that but I suspect it is only a mater of time. The likes of EA, Ubisoft, Activision|Blizzard and take two to name a few, knew this was coming and it couldn't happen soon enough.

[Vertigo 7]

"If a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling,"

So that's the quote of the day, can you guess what they are talking about. If you didn't manage that they are talking about loot boxes in video games, and it's not just some random Joe either that made the statement, it's a quote from the UK's house of lords, so it is a statement with clout and probably means the end of loot boxes here in the UK. I suspect this will have a knock on effect with other countries following suit. But it's not just loot boxes, as they also mention the likes of Fifa player packs, so it is also not looking good for the likes of those either. Something I would also like to see the back of is game currency, you know where you have to buy the game currency to buy cosmetic items but where the item may cost 1 buck but the cheapest game currency cost 5 bucks, meaning to buy something at 1 buck costs you 5 bucks. There is no mention of that but I suspect it is only a mater of time. The likes of EA, Ubisoft, Activision|Blizzard and take two to name a few, knew this was coming and it couldn't happen soon enough.

Wasn't that argument heard in UK a while back with one of EA's reps calling it "surprise mechanics"? I know there's been some interest in hearing these arguments in the US congress as well, though obviously has taken a back seat due to, well, everything.

I'm all for getting those things out of gaming. I've never once seen any example of how a loot box can add a positive experience to game play.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

"If a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling,"

So that's the quote of the day, can you guess what they are talking about. If you didn't manage that they are talking about loot boxes in video games, and it's not just some random Joe either that made the statement, it's a quote from the UK's house of lords, so it is a statement with clout and probably means the end of loot boxes here in the UK. I suspect this will have a knock on effect with other countries following suit. But it's not just loot boxes, as they also mention the likes of Fifa player packs, so it is also not looking good for the likes of those either. Something I would also like to see the back of is game currency, you know where you have to buy the game currency to buy cosmetic items but where the item may cost 1 buck but the cheapest game currency cost 5 bucks, meaning to buy something at 1 buck costs you 5 bucks. There is no mention of that but I suspect it is only a mater of time. The likes of EA, Ubisoft, Activision|Blizzard and take two to name a few, knew this was coming and it couldn't happen soon enough.

That's a very interesting discussion and I agree loot box mechanism is, in a way, gambling.
Personally, I kinda like loot boxes (random loot, to be precise, like the wheel of fortune mechanism in Forza Horizon), even if I never buy them: I only "buy" them with in game money, the one you get playing and not buying it. If I want a cosmetic of some kind (e.g. Elite ship skins), I buy the one I want (I don't think there was the option to buy a "random skin", though).

On the other hand, in some (all, maybe?) countries (like Italy), you have to declare what you win in gambling (over a certain amount, of course) and pay taxes on it. For this reason I think it's a fiscal matter.

[Vertigo 7]

"If a product looks like gambling and feels like gambling, it should be regulated as gambling,"

So that's the quote of the day, can you guess what they are talking about. If you didn't manage that they are talking about loot boxes in video games, and it's not just some random Joe either that made the statement, it's a quote from the UK's house of lords, so it is a statement with clout and probably means the end of loot boxes here in the UK. I suspect this will have a knock on effect with other countries following suit. But it's not just loot boxes, as they also mention the likes of Fifa player packs, so it is also not looking good for the likes of those either. Something I would also like to see the back of is game currency, you know where you have to buy the game currency to buy cosmetic items but where the item may cost 1 buck but the cheapest game currency cost 5 bucks, meaning to buy something at 1 buck costs you 5 bucks. There is no mention of that but I suspect it is only a mater of time. The likes of EA, Ubisoft, Activision|Blizzard and take two to name a few, knew this was coming and it couldn't happen soon enough.

That's a very interesting discussion and I agree loot box mechanism is, in a way, gambling.
Personally, I kinda like loot boxes (random loot, to be precise, like the wheel of fortune mechanism in Forza Horizon), even if I never buy them: I only "buy" them with in game money, the one you get playing and not buying it. If I want a cosmetic of some kind (e.g. Elite ship skins), I buy the one I want (I don't think there was the option to buy a "random skin", though).

On the other hand, in some (all, maybe?) countries (like Italy), you have to declare what you win in gambling (over a certain amount, of course) and pay taxes on it. For this reason I think it's a fiscal matter.

Well there's 2 very important laws that almost every country/locale has in one form or the other, beyond tax implications, and thats age restrictions on gambling or outright bans on gambling. And when governments start classifying loot boxes as gambling, then the developers suddenly find themselves in violation of laws.

And the bottom line is that trading real currency for virtual currency and using that to attempt to win a random prize of some sort is no different than walking into a casino, trading cash for casino chips and sitting down at a game table to play.

If they wanted to keep loot boxes in the game and remove any real money trade, replacing that with in game methods of earning that currency, awesome. If they remove the random mechanics and allow direct purchase of items, awesome (so long as it doesn't get into pay-to-win, imo). I would endorse either scenario with preference being on the former.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Oh, right, I forgot about age restrictions. Does it mean I'm too old or too young?

Anyway, that's a big problem for like 90% of mobile apps.

[felter]

So Ghislaine Maxwell daughter of Robert Maxwell and fiend of Jeffrey Epstien has been arrested in America not sure what the charges are at this moment but they are related to the Jeffrey Epstien case. As far as what has been alleged, she was as dirty as Epstien was and if so she deserves some jail time.

[birdtable]

What a miserable load of Off Topics .. Misery, Despair and Righteous condemnation.. This section (Off Topic English) should be called The Doomsayers Delight...

[felter]

A follow up on Ghislaine Maxwell. She has been charged on 6 counts, the list of charges are:

• Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts

• Enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts

• Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity

• Transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity

Up to 5 years in jail for 5 of them, while the sixth id up to 10 years, so that a possible 35 years in total. Her Daddy would have been so proud.