Final server merges happened in both the EU and NA so it has been pretty fun. It’s in its final years now and development looks like its winding up in a few months, but with server populations so high currently it’s a great time to be playing it.

Biolabs

I’ve been playing PlanetSide 2, so this caught my attention lol

Even then it will have a negligible impact. People online really seem to live in a bubble thinking Nintendo customers a) are even aware of the existence of emulators or b) actually have the time, knowledge and interest to use them. Most Nintendo players just buy their games for their stock Nintendo console and are happy to do so.

Bots attempting to manipulate humans by impersonating trauma counselors or rape survivors isn’t useful. It’s dangerous.

It used to be closer to the former, the rise of The Greens as a third force in Australian politics has been a result of the right faction of the Labor party pushing them away from some of those roots as it desperately tried to win elections. Many Greens voters are former voters from the Labor left. With Labor’s main opponents in complete disarray, however, there is potentially a greater possibility for it to shift left over the next term (and longer, depending on how quickly their opposition regroups).

I can see them go full Trump and get aligned with our extreme right wing parties and billionaires and make their own truth social and just double down hard calling it a hoax.

They might do that but it would mean political extinction. The Liberals simply cannot form government through appealing to fringes on the right, it just doesn’t work like that in Australia with compulsory voting. At this election there was literally a Trump party running in every seat, funded by a billionaire who was spending insane amounts of money (as he has done in previous cycles). He gained absolutely nothing and actually went backwards.

and companies would just give up trying to design a separate app for the Chinese market

I’m not so sure about that. Some of these brands (and their sub-brands) enjoy significant market share outside of China. I suspect it would be in their financial interests to continue to maintain “global” versions.

I don’t know why you’re complaining about downvotes in response to me, I don’t even have vote scores enabled. But in general I agree with you, I think the only console I got at launch was the Wii and that was a Christmas gift when I was still living with my parents so I didn’t spend any of my own money. It was also because Twilight Princess was a launch title and I didn’t own a GameCube so I was yet to play it (Zelda is my favourite Nintendo series so that made it a worthwhile purchase at launch).

Okay, so you’re asking what the point is in buying it at launch…in which case I’d agree. The same could be said for many consoles throughout history, and particularly for Nintendo consoles which are always primarily about the games.

It has microSD and up to 3 major Android upgrades (so probably 3 - 4 years of security), according to GSMArena. If it’s anything like the first one, the “modularity” aspect has nothing to do with repairability and is just a gimmick.

What’s the point of the Switch 2? It seems like it’ll only have a small handful of exclusives that’ll cost maybe $1,000… that seems crazy expensive for like.4 games.

The “point” is that more exclusive games will be developed for it over its lifetime, which will last a lot longer than the year of release. You can point to many consoles throughout history and ask “wHaTs tHe PoInT???” based on their launch titles.

Take a look at this list. SHIFT from Germany is somewhat comparable to Fairphone in terms of modularity, HMD from FInland has also recently introduced some modular design into their phones. Note that these phonse are not manufactured in Europe, I’m not sure if any smartphone is. Another option not listed on that Wikipedia page is Mudita, from Poland, which is in the process of launching its first minimalist e-ink smartphone the Kompakt.

Android journalists do the same pump and dump with the 9 - 12 month newer Motorola every year now. It’s quite funny how they all just collectively ignore desynced release cycles and pretend like their comparison between the 2025 Motorola and the 2024 Samsung is a fair and/or useful one. Wouldn’t you know it? The newer Motorola wins every single time! How surprising!

Not sure if it’s a practical choice but that ‘Mountain Trail’ one with the “wood” back looks amazing.

Recently, it’s been listening to audiobooks while sharpening all my kitchen knives.

This sounds so ominous lol

Haven’t they had major issues with the OneUI 7 rollout on other devices? I don’t think this has anything to do with OneUI being “bloated” as others are saying, like you my family has many mid-range Samsungs and none of them ever had performance issues. Last year’s weren’t anywhere near this bad, either. To me it sounds like something is seriously fucked up with OneUI 7, which these new phones are launching with, and that is the major reason why it the weaker chipsets are suddenly struggling.

That white one is a thing of beauty, such a clean design. I always loved the look of these phones with their uninterrupted displays (kinda crazy that is actually a feature now).

Weird, I don’t remember that being in the article when I read it.

It’s from a different article, that’s why I linked it at the end of the quote.

is there precedent for Nintendo going after people who sell Jailbroken devices without copyrighted content on them?

Not that I’m aware of. Companies are generally much more concerned about distribution rather than usage, as the former has greater potential to affect them financially. That’s why they try to shut down modding projects, go after re-sellers, threaten people who share (seed/host) pirated content, etc. It’s much more efficient than trying to target individual users one-by-one. In adjacent industries, like the film and music industries, companies target torrent site owners and seeders rather than people who only download pirated content. The definitions and legal precedents around copyright law in particular countries can also make it difficult for companies to go after individual users. Basically every single case I have seen in the decades I’ve been following this stuff involved people who were trying to make money or distribute publically.

HMD are doing everything better than fair phone now with their latest models.

How much are the factory workers paid? Where are the raw materials sourced? What percentage is recycled? What work is HMD doing to change the industry?

Better to get an older phone and hold onto it.

That’s sort of how they’ve marketed their phones over the years. Fairphone exists as a fairer alternative to brand new phones, but the company has always been quite clear that the most environmentally friendly phone you have is your current one and that you should keep it for as long as realistically possible.