Random Thoughts II

[xpandnz]

Dang, its been a hot minute.

[wazza]

lol, sup nerd. 1on1 ra3?

[Lightspeed]

FTC files “the big one,” a lawsuit alleging Amazon illegally maintains monopoly

Fingers crossed this goes somewhere.

[Cyberbob]

Counter-Strike 2 just came out, free to play, if anyone's interested in getting nostalgic.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Ab

Speaking thereof, I may be in the 09 Dec-Jan. Details as they come to hand.

Update: flights booked, I'll be arriving AKL Thurs 21 Dec, departing AKL Wed 17 Jan. First time home since COVID hit, so there's a lot of whanau to catch up with and I'll be all over the place. NZG drinks sometime towards the end of the visit?

[wazza]

sweet, I can be the weird sober one, hah!

[Lightspeed]

Sounds like the ticket.

[xpandnz]

Originally Posted by wazza

lol, sup nerd. 1on1 ra3?

Tbh, keen at some stage. I caught up with DAB18 when I was in Bangkok this year.

[wazza]

Originally Posted by xpandnz

Tbh, keen at some stage. I caught up with DAB18 when I was in Bangkok this year.

<3 dab, he turned off my interleaving when almost no one could get it turned off. joys of being d2d/esm

was thinking the other day, i've had my esm avatar as my windows/microsoft account picture since the late '00s. shit's nostalgic af.

interestingly enough i haven't gamed in a decade. well, other than maybe 6months of fortnite/pubg back in '18-20 and i noticed i didn't even invert my mouse. i'd be interested to see what my muscle memory would be like if i went back to ra3 or qw leaving invert off, i reckon i would do some retarded shit when it'd come to strafe-jumping / bunny hoping. i haven't even sat at my gaming pc in 3 years, it's in a different room and just acts as a p2p server. everything i do is via the couch and a htpc attached to a 65" display (even when i work from home, on the odd occasion)

random thoughts. joy.

[Lightspeed]

US monitoring large Serbian force along Kosovo border

Did Serbia just watch what Azerbaijan pulled off, taking control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region from the local ethnic Armenians, figure they could get in on that action too?

Just 1.5c over average this year and everything is already kicking off.

[xpandnz]

Dab is a pilot for Cathy Pacific. Was good to see him.

I haven’t played PC FPS in ages. But loaded up Portal, and finished it again. Such a cool game.

Also, I recommend the FPS documentary. It’s over 4 hours long but has some interesting interviews with creators.

[Lightspeed]

The footage from Nagorno-Karabakh is pretty crazy. Deserted city. The fear of genocide is still as real as ever in Europe it seems.

[Cyberbob]

Originally Posted by xpandnz

Also, I recommend the FPS documentary. It’s over 4 hours long but has some interesting interviews with creators.

Speaking of which, anyone read John Romero's "Doom Guy" yet?

[StN]

Originally Posted by Cyberbob

Speaking of which, anyone read John Romero's "Doom Guy" yet?

After reading the first few chapters on amazon... ordered! (I still like my dead tree collection)

[StN]

Originally Posted by StN

After reading the first few chapters on amazon... ordered! (I still like my dead tree collection)

And its here - wow, Amazon got quick!

[StN]

Originally Posted by The Guardian

A former US army intelligence officer has been charged with attempting to provide classified defence information to the Chinese security services during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic – including some listed in a Microsoft Word document titled “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government”.

[Cyberbob]

Sounds like the sort of name I used to give to my pr0n folder.

"Boring Legal Documents"

"PowerPoint Tutorials"

"Important Information to Share with Chinese Government"

[Lightspeed]

[StN]

Wait - when did haveIbeenpwned become a subscription service?

[xpandnz]

Originally Posted by Cyberbob

Sounds like the sort of name I used to give to my pr0n folder.

"Boring Legal Documents"

"PowerPoint Tutorials"

"Important Information to Share with Chinese Government"

Those folders would be deep in the system files folder, right?

[Ab]

[Lightspeed]

Egypt warned Israel days before Hamas struck, US committee chairman says

Israel was warned by Egypt of potential violence three days before Hamas' deadly cross-border raid, a US congressional panel chairman has said.

House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee head Michael McCaul told reporters of the alleged warning.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu described the reports as "absolutely false".

Israeli intelligence services are under scrutiny for their failure to prevent the deadliest attack by Palestinian militants in Israel's 75-year history.

[Lightspeed]

Humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. 2.2m people with nowhere to go, no food, water, safety. (Don't worry, they're brown and poor.)

[Lightspeed]

I wonder how quickly Israel can genocide Gaza? If nothing and no one is going in or out, if there's no water or food, what will we see?

Two weeks? In a month's time might we be wondering how we sat by and watched a genocide unfold?

That's probably a generous timeline tho, about 40% of the population is under the age of 14, so would perish faster.

🤷

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

Humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. 2.2m people with nowhere to go, no food, water, safety. (Don't worry, they're brown and poor.)

What's the word, begins with G? Not Gaza.... ghetto. That's the one.

[Lightspeed]

From Anne Leckie's Ancillary Justice, the protagonist to the oppressor of their oppressed:

"When they behave properly, you will say there is no problem. When they complain loudly, you will say they cause their own problems with their impropriety. And when they are driven to extremes, you will say you will not reward such actions."

Of course, the dynamic here is more the extremes are used as proof to justify the oppression.

[Lightspeed]

It seems like the push to spare the residents of Gaza is starting to get underway. US congress has made its first moves. It's still pretty light handed tho:

‘We are deeply concerned’ – Progressive lawmakers make plea to Biden ahead of Israel’s Gaza campaign

It's not like the only region there's a volume of human lives on the line.

Blinken warned lawmakers Azerbaijan may invade Armenia in coming weeks

The rapid exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh shows the fear of mass extermination is very real and present.

And if any of this kicks off for real, we can be sure to see other fractures appearing, other populations vulnerable to complete upheaval and destruction.

I think sanity will prevail, but it's chilling getting this close to the brink. And how checked out most people seem to be to what's going on.

[xor]

Anti-Semitism on the rise. Jewish schools closed due to vandalism, threats of violence. Pretty wild

[Lightspeed]

This is a bit more of a concrete step towards protecting the civilians of Gaza:

Appointment of David Satterfield as Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues

President Biden has appointed former Ambassador David Satterfield as the Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues. Special Envoy Satterfield will lead U.S. diplomacy to urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including work to facilitate the provision of life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable people and promote the safety of civilians, in coordination with the United Nations and U.S. partners. He will lead a whole-of-government campaign to mitigate the humanitarian fallout of Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel, supporting critical efforts by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. His role builds on the long-standing U.S. commitment to supporting peace and stability in the region.

[Lightspeed]

The boss is stepping in:

Biden to visit Israel on Wednesday

Figure water will be turned back on by Thursday. People are already turning to sea water, can only be a few days before people actually start perishing.

[StN]

He got schwifty with it...

[xor]

A missile launched by a Palestinian group exploded mid-air (Reason unknown) and one piece fell on the hospital causing an explosion.

The geolocation and timing of the footage is conclusive.

More information will be added to this thread.

https://twitter.com/GeoConfirmed/sta...90274900734049

[Lightspeed]

Happy birthday sidbo.

[Ab]

HB sidbo

[sidbo]

Thanks my NZG'ers.

Fuck I'm old.

[p-b]

Just been taking a trip through the vault. Good times!

[Lightspeed]

About 100,000 protesters join pro-Palestinian march through London

About 100,000 people joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central London on Saturday, marching through the British capital to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel two weeks ago.

Chanting "Free Palestine", holding banners and waving Palestinian flags, the protesters moved through London before massing at Downing Street, the official residence and office of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

[Lightspeed]

I hate the lie that gets repeated that Israel is defending its existence, when it's obviously working to maximise its existence at the expense of the Palestinians.

All this violence does is ensure the next round of violence. All those who lose their family, lose their children, lost in the world.

Hamas is just the stand in name for the trauma response. You can't destroy that. Which is perfect for Israel. They've got their next round of territory gains organised.

[Lightspeed]

It's not genocide if you call them terrorists first:

Israel tells Gazans to move south or risk being seen as 'terrorist' partner

[xor]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

They've got their next round of territory gains organised.

Israel gave Gaza back to the Arabs/Palestinians. The Arabs/Palestinians elected Hamas to govern them and then fire rockets into Israel...