I dunno, I didn't have much of a problem with them unless my hands were wet. Occasionally couldn't make the triple-tap work, and maybe some issues with accidentally adjusting the volume. I found the "push and hold to play notifications" function to be super reliable, though.

Meanwhile, Google's like, "We're removing the ability to silently check your notifications using your Pixel Buds. You have to use the voice command now. No, we don't care that you primarily use them in public spaces. And we really don't care that our voice recognition has a 15% success rate."

The emotional part of my brain is telling me to buy this ASAP, because the N64 was such a formative part of my adolescence.

The logical part of my brain is reminding me of all my other nostalgia-fueled purchases that subsequently failed to spark the joy of youth.

Anti-bullying policies at schools aren't meant to protect victims. But they aren't meant to protect perpetrators either.

They are instead meant to protect the school administration, notably from having to actually assign fault in bullying situations. They can simply say "zero tolerance," punish all parties equally, and wash their hands of it.

It really wants me to host a webinar. I get a pop-up every day telling me about how great this function supposedly is. You'd think there was a VC generative AI project attached to it with how hard it's being pushed.

I think that was Kent Hovind, not Ken Ham.

A Canadian airline being complete trash, what else is new.

And this is Porter, which in my experience is at least somewhat better than Air Canada.

They are mostly a toy store now. Last time I visited a GameStop I was told they don't even stock new games at release, except for pre-orders. There doesn't seem to be a point in going there anymore.

Nah, just the sad message of "Pretty please love me (because we sunk a bunch of money into this)."

Connections Puzzle #445
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One of the things I initially liked about Pixels was that I could uninstall/disable a lot of the proprietary garbage that would be mandatory on other phones. But now it looks like Google is abandoning that flexibility in favour of shoehorning Gemini into everything.

My only interaction with Gemini so far was telling it to kick rocks when it sent me an unsolicited text message. I also barely use Assistant to begin with. So once my current phone dies, I guess I'll have to find something new.

While jarring and ad hoc, I didn't think BSG's finale was catastrophic. I honestly disliked the transition from S2 to S3 more than I disliked the ending.

Here's the story.

The actual monetary loss to Air Canada (known affectionately as Fuckstick Flights Inc.) was insignificant, but the PR was bad.

Then again, I can't remember the last time AC had positive press. Before that they forced a guy with cerebral palsy to drag himself off the plane.

Wordle 1,162 3/6*

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I changed up my starter word and it paid off.

I phrase my dislike of dogs differently: I do not care for 99.9% of dogs. If a (human) friend has a dog, I will dutifully engage with it on a limited basis. I may even enjoy myself a bit, too.

But a random person walking their dog in the park? Please keep it away from me. I don't care how much of a "good boy" you think your pup is, I don't know or trust them.

I grew up in southern Ontario, and it took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure this out. I heard the acronym daily as my parents listened to CFRB, but it didn't click until I was almost 20.

Furthermore, there is an option to destroy the special "gift" if you can resist accepting it. However, all you get for doing so is a few brief lines from the Emperor. Your companions don't seem to notice, and there isn't even an quest log update.

Anxious Times by The Luka State or Hardship to Sail by Excuses Excuses.

So say we all.

Somewhat related, I wonder how much of an effect birth month can have on a child's school performance, social development, and athletic ability.

Where I live, a child is eligible for junior kindergarten starting in September of the year they turn four. A child born in January would therefore be around 56 months old on their first day of school. Meanwhile, a child born in December would be around 45 months instead. That is a substantial gap, and my experience with kids that age is that even a difference of a few months can see dramatic changes.

I'm personally thinking right now of my nephew, who starts JK in a few weeks. He will turn four right before Christmas, and when he returns from holidays, some of his classmates will start turning six because he'll be in a combined JK/SK class. I can't imagine how difficult it might be for him to keep up with those much older classmates, a situation caused by virtue of his birthday.