clothes

NieR: Automata

For some reason this New Scientist cartoon lives in my head. Maybe because it challenges the way I think about the future? Or maybe it's just cute.

Original source, by Tom Gauld

Thanks so much for doing this! I almost forgot to enter.

No worries! I had actually decided not to buy the bundle because the separate VR listing on Steam confused me, so your comment was very helpful.

For those curious like me, the VR version will be a free add on:

We're integrating VR mode into Escape Simulator! This means every owner of Escape Simulator will automatically receive the ES:VR version for FREE.

Thanks! I wasn't aware of the async option, but it sounds useful. I'm a weirdo who likes playing boardgames against AI, so maybe I'll read some reviews.

Thanks for this! Do you know if many of these are viable as single player experiences?

I wonder how predictable the thrust reduction is. I would have thought they could account for this in software, but maybe there's too much uncertainty. Or perhaps ground tests showed the seal can fail in dangerous ways.

If NASA defers to its fallback plan, flying on Dragon, it may spell the end of the Starliner program. During the development and testing of Starliner, the company has already lost $1.6 billion. Reflying a crew test flight mission, which likely would be necessary should Starliner return autonomously, would cost much more.

Through this lens, I get why they're taking their time with the decision.

I was firmly in the "nothing is actually wrong and the media coverage is silly" camp, so this report is pretty shocking.

If there are real engineering reasons (as opposed to anxious bureaucrat ones) that Dragon needs to rescue them, this seems like one of the bigger crises in the modern era?

Will wait for more details, but clearly I was wrong about media coverage!

I won't be using these features, but I'm not sure there's cause for concern. The implementation seems very sensible and legitimately privacy-centric. The LLM runs locally and is meant as an very basic email proofreader. The crypto wallet is a likely an extension of the password management tech they've already developed, with transaction features that some people care about.

I can see why some people want these features, and I'm glad there are new alternatives.

Great points. I think my concern is that a failed catch has the potential to look very dramatic, even if nothing significant goes wrong. I worry that a lengthy investigation will be triggered. But admittedly I don't know how that process works!

I wonder if a successful catch will be what accelerates the launch schedule.

I hope a failed catch doesn't mean a six month pause...

They have, and that seems to be the industry standard. I don't expect issues. But you can't test everything in a full gravity vacuum chamber and SpaceX has never made an EVA suit before.

I'm sure the depressurization process includes tons of safety measures and tests, but I'm still creeped out by a tourist flight being this experimental!