Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@Tjuz the existence of religious voters answers half the question, I think.

@PorkChopExpress I largely agree with your point of view, in the sense I don’t have much respect for politicians in general and it usually devolves into choosing the lesser of two evils. I also avoid the cancer that is most social media platforms and their design of being echo chambers and/or radicalized outlets (because that’s how they monetize and keep user engagement). It creates a false sense of reality and loses any and all nuance to the real world situations. Ditto for most news outlets, unfortunately. Certain news stations have become 24/7 advertisement for certain parties and so I have to be careful where I even get my news.

Nevertheless, I have been known to do write-ins on my voter ballots, and still attempt to participate. I used to be apathetic about exercising my civil duties to vote, but I’ve come around on at least writing someone in who I think would be good. I’m not saying you have to do that, but I feel like at least participating gives me the right to complain when things go awry.

And I understand the allure of not even voting, because I get questions all the time at work and in social situations asking “Who did you vote for?” And it’s a no-win situation, and if you answer “wrong” then you’re in for an argument or at least an awkward interchange if the person disagrees. When I’ve responded with “I didn’t vote for him. I did a write-in candidate” it usually disables the conversation, or at least makes it less awkward and then it can turn toward discussion of actual political ideals rather than just the flame war of political parties. Because, as an independent voter and independent thinker, guess what — I don’t agree fully with either party’s views all the time! Go figure. It boggles my mind that people just vote straight ticket because they just blindly adhere to a party, like they are rooting for a sports team or something. Sticking with just a party line is way too regimented, imho.

And as far as “For me, nothing changes and life goes on”, well I guess I can partially see your point in the sense whether your candidate wins or loses you are no less affected if you voted or if you didn’t vote. But your life absolutely changes with the outcome, whether you like it or not. Granted, those changes often occur subtly like the prices of goods and how much you pay in taxes. Nevertheless, even as small as I keep my circle (like you), I still know or regularly interact with undocumented immigrants, women of child bearing age who live in a state where having an ectopic pregnancy is a death sentence, several LGBTQ+ individuals, people who work in education or scientific research and other disciplines that are being proposed to change drastically, etc, etc. I’d be willing to bet that you are only 1 or 2 degrees separated from such individuals as well, no matter how small your circle is. If nothing else, the guy who changes your oil or cuts your grass might be adversely affected by potential legislative changes. And unless you’re in the highest tax bracket and have the lawyers and accountants to manipulate the system, I’m sure you’ll be affected when April rolls around.

I do agree with your sentiment (if I’m interpreting it correctly), that things do change a lot less than we think they will. The machine of government churns very slowly, and change is not affected overnight. In fact, I’m certain that in 4 years when all the issues that Donald said he would fix are still unfixed, then there will be a lot of excuses about how things take time to implement and have their effect. In fact I had to chuckle when he’d say during the presidential debates how he’d have ‘X’ problem fixed by ‘X’ date, especially when he was talking about an issue that would need to go through Congress, be funded, manpower assembled to implement it, etc. I’m no expert but I know one person can’t snap something into existence like that. The people love the confidence though, even if these promises (again, from both sides) are mostly window dressing.

@PorkChopExpress I’m with you buddy. Definitely can relate. I’ve got plenty of my own problems and there’s only so much emotional energy that one can have.

I’ve been surprised how many people have told me something similar to you over the last week — that they chose not to vote just out of fatigue from the whole thing and not having the bandwidth to care because of stuff going on in their personal life. And these are smart and reasonable people, one of which is going to be susceptible to devastating affects on their family if things go through as proposed by Trump. And this person didn’t vote. I found that astounding. If someone was running on a platform of “Eradication of all video game consoles because they pollute people’s minds” then I would be first in line at the voting booth! 😅

@PorkChopExpress @Th3solution I've not voted in the last few elections either. Some of the reasons already listed are true for me too, and also I just don't pay enough attention to politics to feel like my vote would be geniune enough.

As a non-American I've watched the US elections and from time to time looked at news about the things in the US for the past 4 years. I think the majority of Americans made the right choice. For the past 4 years the US looked like a really cringey bad meme.

I ordered a Steam Deck (1tb OLED) today! I have been mulling it over for a year so it was almost inevitable, but I have pulled the trigger at the worst possible moment really (amongst a bunch of other huge outgoings) but...what the heck.

I basically just want to play Half Life 1 and 2

Any tips?

@kyleforrester87 Yes, I have some!

1. If you are into GoG (Good Old Games) you can install their releases on the Steam Deck in desktop mode and just add it to the Steam Library from there. Awesome way to expand your library

2. There is an option to dualboot Windows on the Steam Deck. I have windows 10 on an SD card and I can just put it in the Steam Deck dual boot and play on windows (it is really comfortable with the trackpads).

3. Glass protector is a no brainer but still worth to mention it

4. Do not forget about Black Mesa as well! And soon they will release Black Mesa: Blue Shift!

4. Also, for emulation if you like that kind of thing, just search for Emu Deck. It is amazing!

@Zuljaras Thanks - yes I need to play Black Mesa.

The 1TB version comes with the non-reflective etched glass screen. Apparently this is much more hard wearing (I have read it effectively doesn't scratch??), but it's also non-glossy, and by putting a screen protector on it you essentially make it reflective. For that reason, I doubt I'll get a protector for it, to be honest, as I am pretty careful and it's unlikely to ever really leave the house.

@kyleforrester87 This now confirms you will drop the Steam Deck and scratch the screen.

@JohnnyShoulder I would absolutely love it if that happened!

@kyleforrester87 Just make sure you are always surrounded by a pool of jam to protect your screen from scratches.

I'm just curious. What sort of social media platforms are people on? (w/o disclosing usernames, avatars, personal details etc. i.e going against the rules on here) I used to have fb and I'm still technically on X (but I don't use it or my instagram account) so technically Push Square is my only form of social media, if this website qualifies as that. But what about everyone else? I don't really see the point of it in general, everything is better IRL or on a forum such as this where common interests can be discussed.

Oh, and there's also reddit, but that doesn't really count imo. That's more of an online billboard site, as the name would suggest.

Just Strava and this place really.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN In addition to this, I use Goodreads religiously. I'm also still on Facebook, which I have painstakingly fashioned into a news aggregator by following my favourite sites (such as PushSquare) and musical artists. As a result, 90% of what I get in my Facebook feed is actually interesting to me and the rest I can easily ignore. I know many use Twitter (I refuse to call it the other thing) the same way, but I never got started on that one back when it wasn't pure toxicity, and now I wouldn't get on there even if I was paid for it (well, even my principles have a price, so if Musk were to offer me half his fortune, I'd consider it).

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Yeah ditto for me to what others have said — Push Square is really the only ‘social media’ that I engage with, and a little of PSN obviously. I’ve been told I should use Reddit, but I worry that it would just pull me into endless rabbit holes. I tend to exist on the other end of the spectrum from @Jimmer-jammer in that my misapprehension of the popular social media platforms has worsened over the last several years. I think it started to really tank when I watched “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix. I even have started to steer away from using Google and its associated products when I can avoid it. I know it comes across as ‘tin foil hat’ conspiratorial, but it feels like that the monetization aspects of these platforms has overshadowed any and all moral principles.

I think some of the entities have tried to curb their platform to make them less toxic and have put up guardrails (like I think Tik Tok and others will send you a warning message if you’ve been scrolling endlessly on it for too long) but at the end of the day most platforms make money by keeping your eyes on the screen and its ads and they do so by computer algorithm driven bait which results in echo chamber creation and effectively discarding truth, equity, and balance in favor of enslaving the commodity of your attention and ideals. Most of these outlets can too easily manipulate the populace and although freedom of expression is a good thing, the Wild West of social media is a deceptive illusion of freedom. And I don’t mean the debate about censorship of loose cannons spreading open lies or the muzzling of dangerous falsehoods - rather I mean that the way some social media presents the world to its patrons paints unrealistic impressions and tends to drive people toward more and more extreme stances.

I mentioned this when discussing the recent election but the ‘illusory truth principle’ can be escalated very, very quickly when it sends these messages in a steady constant stream of 10 second intervals. In one engaged afternoon a person can essentially be brainwashed.

Also, there’s some solid data that says the most productive communication and exchange of ideas occurs with face to face interaction. There’s no substitute for breaking bread with our peers and it’s just a much better way to form views about the world and our fellow humans.

All this being said, I really enjoy interacting with the users here on Push Square. It’s a nice way to connect with a relatively niche community that I otherwise could not find in the ‘real world’. Also, the engagement is not manipulated (that I know of) by AI driven individual profiling and steerage toward certain articles or discussions. I know users will often complain on the front page about “click-bait” articles and headlines, but these aren’t nefariously fed to us through a prism which excludes other conflicting ideas.

I apologize for being so negative but like so many other inventions, what started as something good and useful we turned into a weapon and a way to profit. And I understand that social media and internet interactions aren’t unique in their attempts to constantly maximize engagement for profit. Nearly every industry uses misleading advertising or an addictive component of their product to keep you coming back, be it the food industry, the car industry, tech, all forms of entertainment including sports, movies, and music, etc, etc. But the difference is the nature of how social media changes how humans interact with one another rather than just how one spends their own time. I’m pretty laissez-faire with how other people want to entertain themselves, but I’m not a fan of exploitation of the fabric of society.

Some interesting and variegated opinions there ,chaps. I'd say social media is a platform that can be used for good or ill, depending on the user and their intentions. Just to change the subject slightly now, and, perhaps lighten the mood somewhat, I will now divert matters back to gaming-related discussion.

I am planning to take an extended break from gaming after completing Elden Ring, if I can complete it. It's been a long journey, but that would be the last of the Miyazaki-helmed video games in the Souls/Soulslike series that I complete, and the remaining games out there that I am interested in are limited, I want to savor them.

@Th3solution How are you, my friend? I hope life, work, and travel are all treating you well as usual, and wish you all the best with your current endeavours. What are you playing atm?

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Doing better than I deserve, buddy. I’m done with 2 out of 3 DLC in DS2 and maybe 1/3 of the way through the last one. I’ve been splitting some time with a narrative adventure Sci Fi game, Deliver Us the Moon. Otherwise, the occasional few hours of Balatro as well while watching football. How’s it coming with your Elden Ring run and your music and reading pursuits?

@Th3solution Elden Ring is going well, but I've been told I'm getting a bit obsessed with it 😂, so today's a break day from the game. Four major storyline-related bosses to go and then I'm done with it. But, yeah, upgraded my Greatsword to the maximum level of +25 for the final bosses, and have a good summon available so, yeah, feeling confident for the gauntlet of the endgame. On the music and reading front, I recently saw Julian Lage live, he was amazing, potentially the world's leading guitarist right now (jazz guitarist) he did a solo show that I attended and was suprisingly well-animated for someone restricted to sitting in a chair with an acoustic guitar on their lap for the entirety of the show, I'd highly recommend seeing him live if you like jazz mixed with other genres such as rock or are a fan of guitar music in general.

On the reading front, I'm reading Chekhov right now, got into him 'cause Dr. Cornel West said he is a Chekhovian Christian, in terms of his personal philosophy and worldview, so I thought it mighr be worth diving into his (Chekhov's) work! Very rewarding reading journey so far.

@LN78 The entire stereotype of ‘foaming mouth activists’ just makes me laugh these days considering the ‘anti-woke’ lot are the ones chasing ghosts they’ve created.