BananaTrifleViolin

I loved CS1 and have had CS2 since launch. I just can't get into CS2 - it's just not fun.

A large part of that is Paradox Mods in CS2. When CS1 launched from day one you could go onto the steam workshop and download player made models - houses, offices, train stations, roads etc. It grew rapidly and continuously, and it meant every city you made you could customise and change. The game was constantly refreshing and fun, and you could make whatever you wanted.

For CS2, 2 years on and you still can't add custom assets to the game. Paradox/CO have released themed region based asset packs that they have made and the mods are there, but the player made assets remain largely missing. And I suspect the reason is Paradox Mods and the upcoming console version - the PC version seems to have been held back from being good so Paradox can get it's console launch. There seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding that the player made content was what made CS1 so great. I suspect CO get that, while Paradox only cares about DLC.

Wow this is terrible news. Basically Paradox owns the IP to Cities Skylines and Colossal Order seemingly want out.

I'd say a large reason CS2 has been such a mess is because it was rushed out, the paradox mod system is just not fit for purpose and there remains a ridiculous focus on getting the console version released + move on to DLCs rather than fixing the main game. I'd put most of the blame on Paradox's shoulders to be honest.

It'll be interesting to see what CO does next. CS1 was a great game, CS2 could have been a great game. Will they do another city sim or more onto something else? Seems a shame if they move on as they have grown so much expertise in the genre. I'm hoping they're cutting free to do a game with their own vision, which was how CS1 came to be.

It's historically interesting to maybe understand who he was as a human being. He's often painted as a monster but he was a human, and is a warning to all of us what evil human's can achieve.

For example, they're revealed he had Kallmann Syndrome (which can cause a micropenis and undescended testes) - he may have essentially been essentially asexual which may explain some of his life choices and why he was so dedicated to politics and gaining power. They've also shown he had high genetic risks for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, as well as ADHD, autism.

Sensationalist reporting aside, these findings do add something to our understanding of a historical figure who had massive influence on human history.

Yes; it makes no sense to have multiple communities when the Steam Machine and Steam Frame are so similar to the Steam Deck. It may be that in the future it makes sense to split out topics if their isn't overlap, but I'd say the community isn't flooded with content and there is a lot of overlap between these topics that will benefit everyone.

It's not about the item whatever it is, it's about your reaction to it. This was something your spouse got you to show you that they love you; they bought something they thought you would want and need because they see you using this item all the time. It doesn't matter that they know you like using old things - for them the thing they got you is an expression of their love for you, and your reaction (lets return it, I don't want it) is like rejecting their love and is insulting.

I don't know how you said it to your spouse but the way you've described it here your reaction sounds like it was entirely factual and emotionless. It may not be what you're saying but how you said it that is the issue. Did you acknowledge how kind and thoughtful the gift was? Did you acknowledge what it means to get a nice gift from your spouse before saying that actually it's not something you'd use?

Instead of seeing it as a tit-for-tat exchange and the same as you gifting t-shirts, you need to understand that this was a personal gift from your spouse. You also need to acknowledge you're difficult to get gifts for because you like old things. You're not the bad guy for wanting to return the item, you're likely the bad guy for how you've gone about it and hurting your spouses feelings in the process. It may be that you're not an emotional person or have difficulty reading other people including your spouse - that's fine but you may need to acknowledge that you've hurt their feelings even if you didn't realise or mean to, and apologise - that may help a lot. It would also be helpful to tell them how your mother-in-laws gift has sentimental value and you didn't want to replace it. It may still be that you end up returning the item - but it's far less important that your relationship with your spouse.

Did you set your Mint to autologin to desktop? If so then your Keyring is then locked and you get prompts to unlock it when you want to use anything that needs it - websites, software like email etc. The keyring holds your passwords and credentials to pass to on as needed and keeps your system secure. If you set your desktop to not autologin - i.e. have a login screen - your keyring is unlocked automatically as you log on to the PC and you don't keep getting prompts to unlock the keyring. You can disable the keyring entirely or give it a blank password, but it's better to use the login screen to keep your device secure, and let the keyring do it's thing in the background even though "login automatically" is so easy to tick and use. The wallet is the same concept on KDE desktops.

Otherwise the only password prompts you should get are similar to windows - when you want to make system level changes.

I'd recommend OpenSuSE Leap with KDE. User friendly, stable, with a good GUI for making all system changes. Fedora KDE is also a good popular distro; I'm not sure how good it's GUI is but I'd be surprised if you need to use the terminal. People often recommend the terminal (because it IS quicker - often one step instead of "go here, click here, click here") but there is usually a GUI way of doing everything.

There may be another name change but not back to NBC. "MS NOW" was spun off from NBC so can't really use the name any more. The "meaning" behind MSNOW is nonsense; the reality is it's 5 characters like MSNBC and sounds similar enough while being easier to say. They shouldn't have tried to make it a dumb acronym and make it seem like there was more thought in the name than there really was; thats whats driven lots of ridicule.

The a specious quote. That implies that all gain can only be at a cost for someone else. Instead of the conservation of mass, we're talking the conservation of misery. It's nonsense.

This is certainly a part of the problem. The other side of the coin is "why bother when it's going to be streaming". It's a perfect storm of a terrible experience in cinemas and easy access to streaming in the comfort of your own home. At home I have a perfect view on my big screen TV, can control the lighting, the temperature, the food, and the audience. Cinemas feel like they're in a death spiral - they make less money so they pump in even more ads and increase fees making the experience worse, which puts off even more punters, so they make even less money.

Hollywood is largely to blame as the article mentions briefly - the 90 day exclusive window for cinemas to show films created an incentive for people to go out and see them, made the cinemas and the studios lots of money, and made movies "special" - they were an event like going to the theatre or going out for dinner. Now going to the cinema feels more like an event such as catching dysentery.

Since the pandemic, the studios have devalued their own product. If you want to see a movie, you just have to wait a couple of weeks and it'll be available to rent to stream from home. It costs less to rent a movie than go out to the cinema with a much better experience, and Hollywood gets a smaller cut of that. But lots of people don't even bother with that - for the vast majority of movies you might as well wait until it ends up on a streaming service like Netflix, where Hollywood makes even less.

If Hollywood wants to save itself, it should listen to the cinema chains and extend the exclusive period back to 45 days (or even 90). If you want your product to be premium, it needs to be a premium experience.

The text here on the fediverse is the prologue; bit confusing but click through the link and it makes sense.

Interesting read, thank you. Also I recognise this type of procrastination: sit down to do one thing, end up installing a whole different OS :D

KDE is genuinely incredibly flexible - you can make it into pretty much any GUI that exists. The default windows like set up is fine, but there are so many easy tweaks and changes you can make to get it however you want. I have a floating dock-like set up instead of a window-like taskbar, with application launcher, icon-only view, system tray, clock and power button.

For simple tweaks yoy can right click on most component of your KDE panels and select "Show alternatives..." to see different official versions of the same component. For example, the Application Launcher offers an alternative Application Menu with cascading menus like an old-school windows start menu, or a full screen gnome-like Application Dashboard. And there are also loads more user made tools if you right click and select "Add or Manage widgets". Every component of the desktop is a widget and can be moved, swapped out, duplicated or replaced.