@kevinwalsh: I think Destiny is just Brad's type of thing (it's mine, too). When a game fits your tastes and habits and desires, it's hard to back off on it, flaws and all. Sure, there are some things to nitpick, but it still feels like falling in love.
I absolutely COULD NOT STAND Super Mario Maker but it was like heroin to Jeff and Dan, despite the rest of the crew's pretty "meh, it's fine" response to it.
People using f- and n- are using a word whose express purpose is to denigrate a minority that has no choice in who they are: gay or black.
Austin saying "Jesus Christ!" is not meant to denigrate Christians. It's a figure of speech used in surprise or exasperation or alarm, much like "shit!" or "darn!" or "dammit!" or "oh fudge!" Nobody is being specifically attacked with the use of those terms.
Your choice to be a Christian and believe that the usage of "Jesus Christ" in that manner is sacrilegious is fine. So don't use it that way, and cluck your tongue at those that do. But remember: you being a Christian is a choice, and nobody is trying to specifically offend you.
The n- and f- words exist entirely to marginalize people. There's a world of difference.
I'm actually pretty happy with the way Destiny 2's single player campaign played out. So many large games - think the Mass Effect or Elder Scrolls series - set up a cataclysmic scenario and task the player Chosen One to save the world/universe/dimension/etc. Then, the player gets to take their unlimited sweet ass time doing endless side quests, joining factions, resolving broken relationships of their party members, discovering interesting hidden truths, solving mysteries, becoming a trial lawyer (KOTOR!)… all while the apocalypse just chills in the background.
“We are all going to die and only YOU can save us! We have never faced an evil like this! Please, save us all… you know, whenever you have time.”
I feel like the Destiny 2 campaign actually made good on the existential threat premise in a way that other games do not. The Last City is destroyed. The Guardians are apparently extinct. Humanity is literally on its last legs while a supervillain drains the Traveler’s Light and prepares to detonate the Sun. There is no higher priority right now besides eliminating this threat. Soul-searching about the nature of heroism and the flawed “utopia” of the Guardian-controlled Last City can wait. Diving for lore and learning more about your NPCs can wait. Glimpses are fine - and they are given - but destroying Ghaul and the Almighty must be priority one.
And so the player reassembles a bare-bones leadership council, everyone formulates a plan, and the plan is executed. Earth and Humanity are saved. The Last City is refounded. NOW we can get down to all the side stuff.
That’s how the game content is presented, as well. As the guys mentioned on the cast, a bunch of stuff is locked until the campaign is nearly complete, or completed. Strikes are locked until late in the campaign. You aren’t guaranteed to get a Sparrow. New missions appear on each planet for further exploration, lore, and relationship building. It actually makes sense! I'm eager to get back to Nessus and figure out what happened to Failsafe's crew. I'm ready to mop up the remnants of the Red Legion operations in our solar system. But all of that was understandably delayed until the EXPLODING SUN was handled.
So perhaps a lot more interesting questions and lore will be addressed in future expanded content. As the game stands right now, that possibility exists. Hopefully Bungie will be smart enough to grab that opportunity.
I have a friend who's an Iraq war vet, and he told me a story about how a bunch of shit-lords started making gun and explosion noises at him and it set off his PTSD. Does the right just fucking love being assholes? Christ, people.
Yes. Yes they do. Because if you can't "handle it" when they're an asshole to you then you're not a "real man" so they'll stomp your "snowflake" face into the mud to make themselves feel superior. "They're just words."
But if you tell them that, say, the Bible is "just words" then look who runs straight to the government for protection to practice their religious discrimination.
Everyone's got a trigger. They just think theirs is more important.
The "memory effect" of rechargeable batteries losing capacity over time is in nickel-based rechargeable batteries: nickel-cadmium (NiCad) or nickel-metal hydride (NiMH). You'll find these as the "normal" user-replaceable sizes of batteries such as AA/AAA/C/D/etc. Here's Wikipedia.
Mobile phones, laptops, battery packs, Bluetooth headsets and most other devices with internal rechargeable batteries use lithium-ion batteries that do not experience the memory effect. All the misinformed Apple Geniuses and conventional wisdom about avoiding overcharging, charging and using to empty, or other tech voodoo battery methods are just urban legend. Here's a very detailed rundown from Popular Mechanics on the proper care and feeding of Li-Ion batteries.
It's a long article, but here are the key bullet points:
Most lithium-ion batteries have a rated lifetime of between 500 and 1500 full charge cycles. This means that most Li-ion batteries will last 2-3 years on average before they need replacement. By that time, you will probably replace your phone. Also, there will always be outliers on the short or long end of the timeline.
Leaving your phone or laptop plugged in all the time is not bad for its battery. There are chips and logic embedded in every device that switch to trickle charging when necessary.
Charge them a little bit whenever you can. Lithium-ion batteries do not like to be fully charged/discharged. They perform better with being topped-off as necessary.
Excessive heat will shorten the lifespan of a Li-ion battery, so don't get in the habit of leaving your devices in a hot car.
TL;DR - Charge your phone every night. Live your life without unnecessary battery rituals. Don't freak out about your phone battery. Every battery dies eventually.
Haven't finished the vid yet so maybe you guys come around to it, but the "pedal backwards to brake" is called a coaster brake, and I vastly prefer that method to hand brakes.
@eastbound4: Please don't be an ass. A lot of us (probably older folk) are really hurting over 2016, between personal tragedies, cultural tragedies, and political tragedies. You may feel differently and that is completely your prerogative, but please back off your venom a bit.
(For the record I am 38 years old, married with 2 kids, and 2016 was by far the most painful year of my life.)
@vinny 's story about a teacher with a plate in their head sounded reeeeeeeeeeal familiar.
"Don't go puttin' none of that stuff on my sled, Clark. You know that metal plate in my head? I had to have it replaced, cause every time Catherine revved up the microwave I'd piss my pants and forget who I was for a half hour or so."
-Cousin Eddie, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, just before the super sled sequence.
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