It's interesting to me

[666f173eede1bicemann]

Fallout 4 is a mixed bag. The combat is great, the world is quite large and there's heaps of content. On the other hand a lot of the RPG stuff was removed such as:
* Actual choices in conversations
* Stats and skills giving additional conversation options
* Skill System
* Ability to play how you want, and be the type of character that you want to be. Good, neutral or bad.

For a far superior Fallout experience I'd recommend New Vegas preferably with the 3 fan made expansions + Tale of Two Wastelands mod to combine the game with Fallout 3. Far better experience of the wasteland.
Plus lots more.

[666f173eee00evoodoo47]

so I've watched a (new) FO4 playthrough for a bit;

-yes, all the annoyances are still there, Bethesda don't care
-people who just do not save are not exclusive to the SS2 environment
-the ability to continuously ignore all attempts of the game to teach the player how to work the mechanics is not rare

not getting into that anytime soon.

[666f173eee250fox]

Apparently MS is gradually introducing a "service" called 'Recall'. What it does is taking a screenshot of your screen every 5 seconds, store it, index it and make it searchable via MS's AI 'Copilot'.

Sounds like a great idea, right?!

[666f173eee367voodoo47]

eeeh I've already been using linux for everything but forums, games and Dark Engine modding. so, whatever?

[666f173eee4a6fox]

Switching to something Linux- or Unix-based is probably becoming unavoidable at some point in the very near future. Having some prior experience, I feel no enthusiasm for it whatsoever, no matter how usable it became. Sure has its pros but the days of me actually wanting to tinker and learn OS-related stuff are long gone. I just want it to do its job with minimum hassle and without betraying me.

Also: RIP Kabuso!

[666f173eee665Nameless Voice]

Giving Microsoft a complete history of everything you do on your computer? That couldn't possibly be abused for fraud, blackmail, or large-scale population suppression.

[666f173eee8afZylonBane]

"Recall" is that you do to things that are defective.

[666f173eee9c5icemann]

Couldn't possibly be used for ransomware style stuff. Right? Right?

Whoever came up with that stupendously idiotic idea has too much time on their hands. Another reason not to "upgrade" to Windows 11.

[666f173eeedd7sarge945]

Bethesda games are overall getting less unstable, which is good, but the overall quality of the rest of their work has absolutely plummeted.

Starfield was a total wet fart and I don't think Bethesda can recover from it.

[666f173eeefafJoin2]

I've not played it but it can't be worse than Oblivion and Skyrim...can it? Those games are blandness personified. Blows my mind they're so popular. The content gets stale and you notice the mindless repetition FAST, balance gone to shit in no time at all, the only soul in the entire games come from Jeremy Soule.

[666f173eef0d1icemann]

Trump found guilty on 34 counts of paying hush money to Stormy Daniels. Will he go to jail? My money is on a big no.

[666f173eef5e1JDoran]

Another reason not to "upgrade" to Windows 11.

Since Windows 7 (by far the best Windows version, if you ask me) was dropped by MS in favour of Windows 8, I have always intended to see about changing to Linux. But laziness, age (I'm no longer as fascinated and keen to learn abut computers as I used to be), and the fact that I need to be very familiar with Windows (I work in I.T. support) have always kept me with Windows.

But Windows 11 might well the over-bloated, personal-data stealing, every software update threatens to knock out a different software function or hardware peripheral, "Your PC and laptop now belong to us [Microsoft], and not you", blending the line between malware and an operating system, anti-consumer Microsoft OS that makes me finally look into, and probably make the switch to, a good and not too technical version of a desktop Linus version.

If someone has put together a desktop version of Linux that functions like, and is controlled like, Windows, and makes running Windows games easy and reliable, then I'd be interested to hear of it. I have read that most Windows games can be made to run well on Linus now, but I can't remember where I read that, can anyone on here summarize the situation, please?

[666f173eef78bvoodoo47]

my general experience is that full switch to linux in nigh impossible, as there is always that one thing™ that just doesn't work.

Xubuntu on my secondary machine (a thin client converted by a few nonstandard parts, because why would I be running a normal computer if I can do something not intended by anyone), it does what I want it to do, all I had to do is rearrange the desktop panels to get windows-like functionality (start button bottom left, tray bottom right). didn't bother with skins, I don't mind it not looking like windows.

the thin client is tiny, completely silent and eats almost no juice, and I can switch between the computers just by pressing a button on my monitor. I don't mind doing this 'till kingdom come.

[666f173eefa62fox]

Trump found guilty on 34 counts of paying hush money to Stormy Daniels. Will he go to jail? My money is on a big no.

Or will he go to jail and get elected anyway? Now that would be something. I don't think that this will happen but apparently it would be possible according to US law.

[666f173eefc86fox]

Black Lotus Labs (owned by Lumen Technologies, a Windstream-competitor): The Pumpkin Eclipse

Lumen Technologies’ Black Lotus Labs identified a destructive event, as over 600,000 small office/home office (SOHO) routers were taken offline belonging to a single internet service provider (ISP). The incident took place over a 72-hour period between October 25-27, rendered the infected devices permanently inoperable, and required a hardware-based replacement. Public scan data confirmed the sudden and precipitous removal of 49% of all modems from the impacted ISP’s autonomous system number (ASN) during this time period.

600.000 destroyed routers in 72h and the ISP in question, Windstream, isn't commenting on it - at all.

[666f173eefe4dJDoran]

I really can't see Trump spending even one minute in prison. He's a life-long criminal and conman, he's even been found guilty of rape, incited an insurrection, and stolen military nuclear secrets (and has probably sold/given US military secrets to enemies of the US, resulting in the deaths of many US agents abroad) yet he's still free and allowed to roam about as he wishes. The traitors who he incited to try to overthrow democracy are locked in prison, whilst Trump himself plays golf and lives in luxury.

Trump is just one more example, albeit a phenomenally overblown and unique example, of how the law treats people according to their wealth, power, and influence.

[666f173eeff5bvoodoo47]

one of the things I really like about this forum is that there is pretty much no politics.

[666f173ef0170JDoran]

Regarding Linux, if nothing else, I might end up dual-booting Linux and Windows 10. I never play video games online, so if I keep Windows 10 offline, then I can play all of my Window games (and offline Windows programs) without problems, And for anything involving the internet, I can safely use Linux.

Or, given how unpopular Windows 11 is, then perhaps some talented Windows 10 users can come up with a safe and easy way to keep Windows 10 secure when Microsoft abandons it, so we can just stick with the lesser rubbish of the two Windows versions. And yes, I know that I used the word's 'secure' and 'Microsoft' in the same sentence.

Or I might bite the bullet and read up on how best to use a purely Linux solution. I don't even know which of the four zillion Linux versions to use yet, but no doubt some people have put together a few that mimic the Windows experience (minus the data-mining, updates that stop your hardware from working, and the way Windows seemingly alters it's own settings at random) to ease the user's migration from Windows to Linux. And yes, even at the most optimistic, there will still be some Windows programs that won't work well on Linux, but  I don't tend to use unusual programs, just a web browser (Brave, at the moment), office software (Libre Office is fine), a stack of third party programs that compensate for Windows' lack of decent functions, a relatively simple graphical editor, a music player, a video player, etc.

I doubt any of this stuff is lacking in the Linux world. As long as my games (most of which are not open source, of course) can be made to run under Linux (which is allegedly the case now), then moving to Linux should be very rewarding.

[666f173ef046aJDoran]

one of the things I really like about this forum is that there is pretty much no politics.

Is that a subtle hint that we should stay away from the subject of politics? 

You are right though, political discussions often turn nasty, and never result in anyone involved changing their own viewpoints. So let's leave Trump and other political stuff out of this forum. Until SHOWDAN takes over the world, then politics will be a relevant subject here again.

Though not for long, if Microsoft created her. Then we'd have no worries, because SHODAN won't even be able to copy a file without blues-screening and allowing for a simple hack that would allow a white hat hacker to gain full access and control over the formerly evil A.I.

[666f173ef05c4fox]

Skald: Against the Black Priory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWLZu7bjQzU

[666f173ef0704Nameless Voice]

If you want to use a Linux that acts a lot of like Windows, with a similar (but better in some ways) UI, then you should use Linux Mint.  Get the version with the Cinnamon desktop.

It's great for anything non-game-related.  I've been using it at work for years.

Sadly, Linux has issues with gaming, and especially with game development (still no proper launcher/installer/Marketplace for Unreal Engine on Linux), so I've never been able to use it full time for my own PC.

[666f173ef0a3aicemann]

Is that a subtle hint that we should stay away from the subject of politics? 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what he meant was that we're all around the same level. No hard lefties or right aligned. More all somewhere around the middle. With the odd exception here and there.

OT: Anyone else notice Youtube has put back the "Ad blockers violate YouTube's Terms of Service" screens again? Annoying.

[666f173ef0b83voodoo47]

this is a place where we go to so we can escape RL garbage, I would presume. so lets do that, perhaps.

not going to tell you what to do or not to do, but a recommendation, that I can give.

[666f173ef0cb9Nameless Voice]

Eh, I am. I just don't talk about it here.

Anyway, regarding YouTube, there's an arms race between Google and the people who work on ad blockeres.
Generally forcibly flushing / re-updating your uBO lists should fix that.  the uBO team work fast.