-Sketchy Sketches-

watching 4chan die as a tumblr user is like. its like watching another titanic hit another iceberg and sink faster right in front of the already sinking titanic that youre on

dear universe give me ten billion dollars and infinite free time and indestructible hands so i can do every hobby ever

This video is a perfect demonstration of just how badly elderly people need to be introduced to video games. Like it should be a thing in facilities and assisted living, it's like a no brainer, and could enrich these people's live SO MUCH!!!

Someone probably already said this somewhere in the notes, but it is critical that we end the stigma of video games being brain rotting wastes of time. The controlled mild stress of playing a video game is actually very good for staving off the onset of dementia because the snap decisions necessary while playing them keep the brain active and focused, as opposed to just passively taking in information like you do when watching TV or even reading a book to an extent.

Video games could keep people cognitively coherent for a longer time. This means they could literally keep families communicating and connected for a longer time. And yes we could use more than just Wii Fit and Wii Sports at nursing homes because those are less physically accessible than video games that don't require motion controls.

Hey did you know there's a tell all book about the behind the scenes of Meta and the author is forbidden from promoting it?

The good news is however that it's already published and can't be stifled and whoever didn't sign the NDA can promote it as much as they want.

She's not allowed to promote it?

Well then, I guess we'll have to do it for her.

It's available from bookshop.org and Barnes & Noble in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. It's on the front page of the B&N website and they're advertising $5 off currently.

Also request it at your local library if they don't already have a copy!

i read the hobbit in 3rd grade and i thought it was really lame. however i liked bilbo baggins for some reason and i was fully convinced he was some sort of rabbit/mouse thing until i saw the lotr movies and was really, really confused

Viggo Mortenson does not get enough credit for delivering lines like "not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall" with a complete sincerity and gravitas

The whole lotr trilogy works because every single person on set and behind the scenes treated it seriously and with gravitas. It was completely earnest and I don't know if anyone making movies today has that in them anymore.

one of my favorite parts of the director's commentary is Jackson talking about Sam's "that there is some good in this world" speech. he talks about how when they were writing it, it was like "is this too much? is this too sentimental? are people going to be cringing in the theater?" but at the same time, it was necessary to keep the audience emotionally invested bc TTT was ending on such a dark note. and he knew, KNEW, it was all going to come down to Sean Astin's delivery; there was no wiggle room, he had to nail it. and then, of course, he did.

I was watching a video the other day about irony poisoning in movies- what the youtuber called "well that happened" writing and what I've always called "whedonesque"- and the dude watched the LotR movies basically cringing the whole way through; not at the writing, but for the sarcastic moment-killing one-liner that always shows up nowadays in movies that just... never happened

wait hang on lemme find that video

wait no that's not it, but it's good you should still watch it

I had completely forgotten I'd watched two different videos on this, say gang I think we might have a problem on our hands

There should be an extension where every single Mario Kart World image that gets posted to social media has text superimposed on it that says "Okay but...this game costs 80 US dollars."

Artist Rendition

just saw a post that accused someone of using generative ai to write an essay because 'no one uses — instead of commas or semicolons' and i've never been more offended in my life

i'm not as offended as i was when i read the ai thing, but i Am offended

EM DASHES AND SEMICOLONS ARE THE ONLY THING KEEPING YOUR STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS SLOP FROM BEING ENTIRELY COMPOSED OF RUN-ON SENTENCES, AND THAT'S WHY YOU'RE FAILING YOUR ENGLISH CLASSES.

I recently watched a video about AI posts on reddit who pointed out that the em-dash rule is extremely useful on reddit because their text editor doesn't have an easy or automatic way to make em-dashes, so if you come across posts with em-dashes on reddit then either somebody very knowledgeable about the text editor put in the effort to insert them properly, the post was copy-pasted from another location (like maybe they typed it out in Word first), or it's AI. So this is a good indicator of AI in certain places like reddit.

Perhaps this is my inner editor showing, but. Doesn't everyone just use the keyboard alt codes? alt+0150 for en dash and alt+0151 for em dash? No?

No, most people use the double dash and let the word processor combine it into one character. Using the alt codes will get you an em dash on reddit but so few people use them that they're a decent indicator of probable AI when combined with other AI-isms.

What if the Truman show did a queerbait arc

What if the Truman show did a queerbait arc but then they found out Truman was gay for real and had to recalibrate and their tv network would have to take a definitive stance on homosexuality, yay or nay in the late 90s and it's not like they can recast Truman. They would have to either plot him into an it's okay to be gay fake happy relationship like they did with his tv wife or try and scare him off homosexuality by doing homophobic gay misery storylines at him to try and keep him firmly in the closet.

To everyone considering paying 5 billion dollars per year to play gamecube games on switch

Take my hand. I can show you a better way

Reminder that the 3DS used to cost $250 at launch. When Nintendo noticed it didn't sell, they lowered the price to $150. And it stayed that way.

Do the same. Don't buy the Switch 2 day one. They'll lower the price if it doesn't sell.

$450 for a console is too much. (And don't get me started with the Canadian price. $630 oof.) Use Dolphin for GameCube games on PC. And there are tons of good game on the original Switch. Trust me, you will never get bored of that console.

nintendo switch 2 looks cool but kinda expensive Everyone promise not to buy it for 1 year until they panic and drop the price like they did with the 3DS pretty please 🙏

He’s recharging

So many Americans online don’t realize: We in Southeast Asia interact with working-class Americans far more than the rich ones. Why? Because our region is where poorer Americans actually come to work low-wage resort jobs, teach English, or retire on Social Security checks that don’t stretch at home. The ‘ugly American’ tourists? The military guys? The sexpats? Not exactly the 1% yacht crowd. But keep pretending your working class has no global footprint.