Another benefit of Religion is community. I recall back when we went to Church we had tons of people who took the time to reach out when things weren't going well.
That's easily the difference between being an isolated island of a person, miserable thinking the world is against you. Or being a bit down, and getting a hand up.
Sounds real fun! Of course unless you do your research you'd never find out how little they care about user safety.
Since I'm ranting, I don't see getting trapped in the Social Media matrix as being good for anyone. The old fashioned way to meet folks was to be active in your community. Since that's now seen as optional we have an entire generation of isolated miserable people.
The Social Media Dilemma ( Netflix movie )goes into greater detail , but you need real life human interaction to function. I know I've had no issue making friends (etc), since I became social media free.
The world is an awesome place. Instead of wasting money on Tinder Passport, you can get a real passport and see new places. A flight to Europe can be as low as 300$ !
>This means that thousands of high-quality games go completely unnoticed and die a quiet death. Unless you have that star power to get people paying attention in the first place, or you win the social media lottery and go viral, you're probably toast.
Games can take thousands of people to make, from coding to marketing. Maybe one or two will be able to start a new company with any success. I do really like John Romero's smaller projects though.
We have Micky Mouse laws in the US. Legally mega corps have to do whatever ensures rising profits. If they pollute the local river, causing birth defects and cancers, it's often more profitable than not polluting in the first place.
Push come to shove you can just shut the company down when you get sued.
The only thing you can do is be a smart consumer. Know who owns your data, and be mindful of what your actually buying.
I really want a VR headset, not a Facebook Advertisement delivery device .
The EU has been doing a great job when it comes to safeguarding user privacy. Tons of apps that require your location for one purpose, end up selling it to third-party brokers for other reasons. The EU was able to find this in one of their reports.
I really hope all nations start to implement serious controls here. In my opinion you should need a license store user location data and they should be revoked immediately if you're found not protecting it, or retaining it longer than you need to.
For example a rideshare service should only store your location for the duration of your ride and then should delete it within 10 days or so. I love ridesharing, but I don't like the idea of someone being able to know everywhere I've been for the last 2 years.
Right now I'm primarily using Game pass to play games on my Android phone, and at that it's doing a very good job. As a very surprising bonus, I saw flight simulator was included. This is downright aggressive of Microsoft. They're bundling a $60 game with a $15 a month service. Meaning even if you don't particularly like streaming games, you get your money's worth as long as every three months or so Microsoft adds another $60 game.
Of course since we all forget things, eventually you'll let Game pass keep recurring while sparsely using the service. This Gym like model is what every subscription service strives for.
I'm not complaining, if anything I might buy a new Xbox since I'm already entitled to tons of Gamepass games as well as Xbox live.
Edit: Might also just play everything on my PC. Good job Microsoft. Took them 3 generations , but they've finally merged the PC and console. Nothing on the Series X isn't coming to pick
I have a nice full time job so I can support myself, I don't think I'd abandon the project if I get bad feedback at this stage. I'd probably just tweak it , if 6k in I still can't make it fun then I'll call it a learning experience
Great movie that I agree with 1000% .
I suggest Lost Connections and 10 Arguments for deleting your social media ( mentioned in the movie) as well.
I stopped using all social media as of last year and the results have been amazing.
I'm more at peace , I no longer getting into stupid Facebook arguments. Online you aren't interacting with whole people, so being absurdly mean is easy.
Most people online are just their for validation( or are bots , see the Ashley Madison hack and the FTC complaint against the Match Group). At this point in my life I'm no longer seeking that. Plus , as the movie points out constant validation seeking will wreck your mental health.
I was having an amazing time meeting folks pre Covid and I have a plan to become more active whenever this ends. I'm thinking I'll try improv. Being around people does something for you that internet interactions simply can't.
That's easily the difference between being an isolated island of a person, miserable thinking the world is against you. Or being a bit down, and getting a hand up.