I really need somewhere to post about my ongoing renewed Pikmin fixation so here it goes.

Recently I went to Walmart and they had a Pikmin 4 demo and that obsession has pretty much immediately taken over my life again. I haven't played a Nintendo game since Omega Ruby and I want to play this game so fucking bad. I can't justify it to myself but I want it

Anyway, since I made a pact with myself to not buy Nintendo titles anymore (NEARLY TEN YEARS!!!), I have been replaying Pikmin 2. (This is because I tried to play Pikmin 1 and the time limit made me feel like I was going to have a panic attack, but maybe I will go back and play Pikmin 1 later, idk)

I'm about 12 in-game "days" into Pikmin 2 and just hit 70% of the debt, so who knows how long this thread will even last, but maybe there's enough postgame stuff to keep me entertained, and I also have to finally try Pikmin 3 too so we'll see how that goes.

I DID NOT like Pikmin 3 when it first came out because I thought it made Olimar and Louie too mean and dumb respectively, but I will make myself try it and I will probably like it.

I have a Pikmin bag from Club Nintendo and it is in horrible condition and I have had it forever and it is my main bag that I carry everything in. I took it to church back during the stage of my life where I was going to church (I do not go to church anymore and I am not religious so don't ask me about it). The pattern was subtle enough that no one has ever really commented on it. It's just my Pikmin bag.

You could ask me anything and I would have a lot of opinions on it

I covered Threads a bit already here but it looks like it's time for its own thread. I'm still working on my Twitter writeup but obviously that's been a bit delayed.

Threads has launched early! You can just go to the App Store and download it!

Quote:Threads has an algorithmic feed full of posts from everyone on the app and…that’s it. Unlike Twitter, Mastodon or Bluesky, it doesn’t seem possible to only view posts from people you follow. There’s just one feed full of people and brands I don’t follow. Very annoying.

(Very interesting: I found this through a Tumblr screenshot which preserved the original ending text of "It kind of sucks". Softening it for defenders? Or maybe clarifying it really sucks?)

No Instagram Threads app in the EU: Irish DPC says Meta's new Twitter rival won't be launched here

Quote:The new Threads platform is designed to import data from Instagram, including behavioural and advertising information.

In its US format, the platform tells users that it will collect a wide variety of data from users, including health, financial information, browsing histories, location, purchases, contacts, search history and sensitive information.

HEALTH?!?!? Why does Instagram have that information in the first place???

Reminds me of a related article about Google, which I actually didn't link because I thought it was too cynical, but here we go:

AI developments detect Parkinson’s from your mousepad and won’t tell you

Quote:Researchers at Stanford reported in March 2018 how digital tracks left by a computer mouse may reveal involuntary tremors or shakes, most commonly attributed to Parkinson’s disease. Eric Horvitz, one of the researchers, believes this information, along with other user web search data, could help diagnose Parkinson’s in people before they’re even aware of it. Or, Google could indirectly raise premiums by alerting that individual’s insurance company.

Finally, here's a sample of their quality content:

I have a whole writeup I've been doing. But I have some ~Exciting~ news to post first that made me want to start this thread sooner, so consider this post...

RESERVED

I haven't been able to go to Goodwill in weeks and I am MISSING IT. I wanted to go this week so I could get some storage bins for the move but, um, gestures at wildfires

Show me stuff you've found! And maybe it'll motivate me to go through my photo collection too.

The area I live in has been at 220+ air quality for two days now; that's Purple for "Very Unhealthy".

• 0 to 50: Good - Air quality is satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
  
• 51 to 100: Moderate - Air quality is acceptable. However, there may be a risk for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
  
• 101 to 150: Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups - Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is less likely to be affected.
  
• 151 to 200:  Unhealthy - Some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
  
• 201 to 300: Very Unhealthy - The risk of health effects is increased for everyone.
  
• 301 and higher: Hazardous - Health warning of emergency conditions; everyone is more likely to be affected.
  

I stepped outside today (in retrospect, dumb, but I wanted my interlibrary loan and the Volcano Burrito. Dumb.) and instantly went back inside to grab the N95s. I haven't been exposed to much smoke in my life that wasn't cooking-related. It smelled like the entire parking lot was an ashtray.

Lucas claimed at one point to see ash particulates. I might have seen the same but I can't tell the difference between that or regular old pollen. BTW, I have to imagine this is like, the worst possible time for allergy sufferers.

I had to haul my wheelchair out of the trunk today because Paula was too sick. The physical exertion left me gasping and I thought I was gonna pass out.

Nightmarish situation. And people are saying this will probably become a new annual event.

This goes hand-in-hand with the Reddit issues, but I figured I'd make this its own thread, since it keeps coming up.

Actually, what prompted me to start this thread was THIS bold move from YouTube:

I don't think I've seen them pull something quite this evil before.

I've written about YouTube already here. I have been watching YouTube less and less - it's hard not to when you become painfully aware of the blood it's powered on - but I genuinely don't know if blocking it would be possible for me.

I don't have the anti-adblocker popup(?) yet. People are saying it's easy enough to bypass. I still think it bodes poorly.

New Furbies:

I........ DO NOT like them. I'm not gonna be a hater cos I can already see one of my friends likes them. Just curious to see if anyone else dislikes them as much as I do. I liked Furby for being creepy and this misses that. But I will admit to being a contrarian who liked 2005 Furby for the skinlips.

(Positive opinions are OK too!)

I Mean It's A Classic.

I don't really watch these but I know they're popular!

I got like 3 items into copying down a list of everything they announced before I realized I didn't care. Here's the things I care about:

• They're actually doing Super Mario RPG??? I am ashamed that I actually want to play this. I don't like modern Nintendo games so I am trying to remain apprehensive. I feel bad because I actually like the art, always thought SMRPG felt too grungy for a Mario game, but that's also what gave it its unique identity, so maybe this is homogenizing it... Idfk.
  
• Lucas showed me that there's another dog in the new Pikmin footage. I like the dogs
  
• I only learned there was a new Nintendo Direct through furries going insane over elephant Mario, so there's that, I guess. Why does Yoshi look so plastic in this game
  

Would love to hear your thoughts.

An interesting situation to say the least.

This space is RESERVED, in case my brain eventually permits me to make an extended coverage of the situation...

In the meantime, summary: Reddit is breaking many third-party app readers, leaving disabled users in the lurch. In a Q&A, the CEO made accusations of blackmail (supposedly being done by the most popular app's dev) that he was not able to back up. It has turned into, simply, a clusterfuck.