Absolutely obsessed with Beach Bunny lately.
music
movies
Netflix’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel from last year might be one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.
apple
The inaccurate reporting of non-standard USC-C ports, removal of silicone cases, and a lack of battery updates in this year’s iPhone lineup is a great reminder to take those Apple rumour sites with a grain of salt, if you weren’t already.
video games
Sam Lake’s comments about longer games
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell for Rock Paper Shotgun:
[Lake] himself has difficulty setting aside hours for longer games. “[It’s] just struggling with finding time and you know, being interested in a story, wanting to see it through,” he said. “So it can even be daunting at times to start playing a game that you know is really, really long.”
I definitely relate to this.
On numerous occasions while booting up Starfield I’ve felt that, while the game is good, it’s almost too massive for me to really dig into. I know I won’t get around to many side missions because I’ll be burnt out from the main quest and wanting to move on to something else in my backlog.
Comments like Lake’s are interesting coming from Remedy as they’re an example of a studio that produces tightly written, well-paced games that never overstay their welcome. I’m hoping that doesn’t change with Alan Wake 2, despite the noted 20-hour-plus playtime.
apple
The iPhone 15 lineup looks great but, having gone the Pro route last year, I think I’ll stick with what I have. I’d hate to lose the always-on display going with a 15 and I’m not sure there’s enough new features in the 15 Pro for me to justify it.
design
Still not sure how to feel about the changes in the Mammoth beta. I miss the old bottom navigation, the updated version with the titles feels unnecessary.
apple
Analyst expects $100 price increase for iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max
The analyst is expecting the base model iPhone 15 price to remain unchanged, but sees $100 price bumps for both the 6.1-inch Pro and 6.7-inch Pro Max. This would be the first time Apple has increased pro iPhone prices since the iPhone X debuted at $999 in 2017.
The last time this happened, nobody even noticed. Customers finance new phones through their carriers, through Apple directly, or have enough disposable income to buy it outright and, at that point, don’t care about $100.
security
LastPass is still the worst.
remote work
Amazon CEO reportedly told remote employees: “It’s probably not going to work out”
In a recording of the meeting obtained by Insider, Jassy told workers, “It’s past the time to disagree and commit,” adding that “if you can’t disagree and commit… it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week.”
I’ve heard it said best, I can’t remember where, that CEOs like Jassy, that are pushing for a return to office, do so from the ultimate place of privilege. They don’t have to worry about organizing and paying for child care, costs of commuting, etc.
Demanding that people return to the office and have to deal with these challenges again, especially when the people forcing this can’t relate in any way, is beyond ignorant.
video games
So far, Starfield feels like a Bethesda game in every sense with, somehow, substantially less jank than expected.