Editor’s Note: You may notice that I finally figured out how to use dynamic footnotes in this update. I think they r neat.

Youtube Obsession

In lieu of anything cool, I would like to show you what is being pushed to me on the insidious TikTok-derivative “YouTube Shorts.”

First off, I’m gonna put a NSFW warning here because though nothing is outright NSFW it has the ish of NSFW ya know?

First up are these bizarre Los Angeles Hoods videos that appear mainly to be perving on prostitutes² . I have blocked a few of these accounts but they continue to pop up and therein lies the issue I have with the shorts algorithm: The algorithm is biased towards misogynist and -by extension- general conservative hate content. But why? Because it appeals to conservatives and it angers leftists into engaging with the video. That’s it! The content isn’t “for everyone” but it causes everyone to engage with it.

Let’s take another look at what the algorithm continues to push despite my having blocked dozens of accounts. TW for transphobic hate speech.

Gaines’ story -which absolutely did not happen- is all too common among TERF losers¹ who don’t understand hormone therapy and the strict rules the NCAA has in place for trans athletes to participate in sports³ . But all that context is lost when Joe Rogan clips get shared like it’s some big blow against the left.

Joe Rogan is 90% harmless. Libs tend to dismiss his appeal much like they dismiss large swaths of the American south. And thousands of AI assisted content channels posting hundreds of these hate-mongering videos is going to be the end of YouTube unless they change their algorithm and moderate content.

Until then, I will continue to block AI channels ad Infinium so I can watch my dog grooming shorts in peace.

Watching

A woman, in over her head lights a fuse in LA and the tension rises as it burns all the way to Arkansas. One False Move directed by Carl Franklin is a cool movie. I highly recommend watching it with no spoilers so please watch the movie before you read on.

Maybe it’s the James Ellroy fan in me but what love about this neo-noir is that all the main characters are bad people, good people only get hurt and no one learns a lesson. The film may be set in Los Angeles and Star City Arkansas, but it is more about the places where we don’t belong.

Though the cinematography is amazing, a few clunky edits and Bill Paxton’s on-the-nose portrayal of a small-town cop eager to please really jar this otherwise pitch perfect neo-noir. Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Beach and Cynda Williams turn in great performances. I can’t wait to check out Franklin’s other films.

Reading

You might hear about Red Plenty by Francis Spufford from reviews saying that it is a new genre that bravely mixes fiction and non-fiction to give a not-entirely historical⁴ account of the USSR’s planned economy. Oh you mean Historical Fiction? Let’s stuff the snobbery and not gussy up what is essentially no different than Amish love novels (content aside).

I have mentioned before, that generally, I don’t enjoy math as a subject and I don’t want it anywhere near novels I’m reading. But a good author can do anything they damn well please. Much like a John Le Carre, Spufford has the ability to make economy numbers and stratagem interesting by engaging the reader with well written characters.

Overall, Spufford sheds distrusting light on communism. I am no Marx scholar but even I can tell when he’s being less than generous. If you want to go deep into the ideological fallacies of his interpretation you can read a great reddit post here.

I recommend Red Plenty if only for it’s uncommon subject matter.

Playing

While working at a used car lot in my early 20s⁵ I would do the USA Today Crossword puzzle everyday. I was fairly good at completing Monday through Wednesday; Thursday onward they would start to introduce cute clues and puzzle themes that would usually annoy me more than entertain.

I’ve tried other newspaper games; Wordle and Spelling Bee for a short time but (for obvious math related reasons) I never touched Sudoku. Only recently, a fellow of mine introduced me to NYT Connections and I am addicted.

The board presents you with 16 words. The object is to group each word with 3 other words that share “something” in common.

It’s simple, fast and tickles the right parts of my brain similar to a crossword puzzle. Also, NYT is a games platform now and I hope they add more bangers.

****Surprise Tarkov Update

So on Thursday morning 4.25.2024 BattleState Games, the developer of Escape from Tarkov, imploded their community goodwill completely. I’ve spoken on Tarkov many, many , many, many, times and just last week I spoke about how I have been supporting the game monetarily for years.

The “deluxe edition” I purchased was originally touted as the “season pass edition” of Tarkov, allowing owners access to any further additions to the game (which is still technically in beta testing). Today, however they released this:

“The Unheard Edition” base features are already worrisome considering increased PMC pockets and stash size are not exactly P2W⁶ but will help early wipe progression immensely. This also shows why BSG⁷ has been so against the free Single Player Tarkov mod project: They are locking their own offline mode behind this $250 edition.

But wait, if you read further into “Additional equipment” you find:

Scavs are the PvE element of Tarkov and they can sometimes shoot you from across the map, so having a 60m bubble of safety is absolutely P2W. The “Distress signal device” is just egregious; This is so unlike any other mechanic that it feels lifted out of another game entirely.

So what, I bought the deluxe edition in 2019 for $180 that promised all additional updates correct? Well, it did promise that until BSG started live editing their website with new verbiage.

All this, rather than make the game 1.0 ready for release to sell to a wider audience. They literally could have done a gofundme and gotten a better response than this.

BSG killed their own game years ago with too much “feature creep.” By keeping the game in beta for so long and continuing to add features (The game, pre-alpha, does not need 12AK platforms, 7 different ammos for 2 guns, endless hideout upgrades and tedious quests meant only to slow down progression for the gamers who can poop-sock the early wipe.) but not solve the core gameplay loop or implement any of their original gameplay goals, they cannot introduce them as DLC for the release proper. DLC that thousands of people would have bought.

Ultimately, I don’t think I have wasted a dime on Tarkov. I have enjoyed my time with it immensely and I will continue to do so in SPT but I’m definitely not updating any more patches from BSG.

Other Notables

**More evidence that streaming is in no way the same as “preservation.”

**   “There’s something in the supposedly groundbreaking portrayal of flawed people who exist in dioramas of privilege that ultimately rings hollow.”

** “We're built to be gullible. It is part of the rules that make civilization possible.”

1  Gains herself is complaining about a 5th place medal.

2  The videos have varying levels of dubious legitimacy. I am not wholly convinced these aren’t staged.

3  Famously, Ben Shapiro wanted to make a documentary about cis-men performing femininity to join a women’s basketball league. But since every league they approached would require the men to undergo years of hormone treatment they settled for a shitty conservative comedy, Lady Ballers.

4  Alternate?

5  Nearly 20 years ago TT~TT

6  Pay to Win

7  BattleState Games