Dungeons, Dragons, and My Stupid Bi Feelings

That’s Louis Rossman, a repair technician and YouTuber, who went viral recently for railing against Apple. Apple purposely charges a lot for repairs and you either have to pay up or buy a new device. That’s because Apple withholds necessary tools and information from outside repair shops. And to think, we were just so close to change.

Have an iPhone and are in need of repairs

Have a friend with that problem

Hate Apple and are more than happy to spite them in some way

So I asked the internet, well how hard IS it to repair? And I saw this guy’s video, and while I am no techie, I AM fueled by spite, so I was all “oh, they do that shit on purpose specifically so they can charge me $1200 bucks or make me buy a new computer hunh? FUCK THEM” and I bought all the tools I needed for about $25 and I bought all the parts I needed for about another $25 and I watched a few tutorial videos, and I replaced my own keyboard.

So, once you are doing the actual deed, it becomes pretty obvious that they are finding creative ways to make this much harder than it has to be on purpose. On thing that stood out to me is, instead of all the tiny screws being the same size, there are about two dozen very slightly different sizes. They could easily be all the same size, or like, two sizes at most, but no.

These mother fuckers will take a panel that screws into place and they’ll use a different size screw for each corner. They are so close that you almost cannot tell them apart visually, but they each will only screw into the matching corner. Like, it’s a pretty clear “fuck you” to anyone trying to do repairs.

I'm just gonna slide this on in here for anyone that is interested in preserving old games. They take it very seriously too, they want an archive of every single game. Like, they have lists of every game ever released for a system, and once that system gets old enough, they add it to their archive and start collecting. Their latest addition was the Xbox 360, they opened that vault up in September 2022, and proudly announced they'd finished their collection of games for it back in April.

Also, while their game archives are almost entirely complete, they've got another project of archiving the manuals that came with those games, and that is... considerably less well filled out. Their collection of Xbox 360 manuals is especially rough, they've only gotten manuals for three games. So if you've got some Xbox 360 games kicking around, and the manual's still with them, please consider scanning them and submitting them to the site!

because its like

teleportation

mind reading

knowing shit

sympathy(?)

flying

healing

traveling /going fast(?)

demons

dead

but... that's nine rings, no? why do they keep talking about eight rings? what am i getting wrong?

I've been asked about this a few times now, enough to make me realize that perhaps something wasn't as clear as I thought it was when I wrote it. It's not the greatest form in the world to just answer it here, but just to clarify what's happening with that count...

Okay, so let's break it down from the point of view of Episode 12.

The first four (movement, mind, divination, sympathy) are all accounted for. There's people out in the world that have them and are using them.

Then, before the commercial break, Adam, Amy, and McCandless translate two more tablets, which seem to point towards the Ring of Skies and the Ring of the Body. That's six so far.

And then, while Adam is out in the garden talking to President Shepherd, McCandless and Amy crack the basics on two more tablets, which allude to the Ring of Demons and to a ring that lets you talk to the dead. That's eight, which is the full set.

The confusion arises from an exchange that McCandless and Amy have shortly after the commercial break, in which they go:

AMY STIRLING: All right, so... “in this covenant is granted... the... dominion over... issues -”

JULIAN MCCANDLESS: “- or matters -”

AMY STIRLING: Right. “... of the...” I don’t know “daionica.”

JULIAN MCCANDLESS: It’s a slippery term. Lots of double meanings. But generally... “distant place?” “Far off place?”

AMY STIRLING: So another ring related to moving matter? To… speed? Adam what do you think?

Which is where a lot of people have been left with the impression of a phantom ninth ring that doesn't quite fit with any of the other ones.

The thing that to my mind was dazzlingly obvious (but which absolutely isn't, given how many people have asked about it) is that while Adam is off in the garden, Amy and McCandless realize that the "distant, far-off place" that daionica is referring to is... well, death. Or the place where things go after life. The ultimate distant place that we can't really reach, if you will.

as long as you smile and nod, people are satisfied. it’s just to show that you are nice and there with good intentions. we’re small in a big world and have to rely on other people to be decent to us. so we do our little human dance to each other to say, “i’m not here to hurt you. here’s something we have in common, like the weather or sports or itchy sweaters, so we both know we’re on the same team. we both agree on a basic fact, like that it is rainy or that being itchy is uncomfortable, and this proves we can get along. i’m being light-hearted and non-threatening right now.”

small talk isn’t to get to know a person. it’s just a greeting to affirm you’re buddies in the universe.

>look inside

The website has a long list of supporters, so if you really know nothing and / or are afraid of trying it and messing something up you will be able to get professional help from this website.

There's even a list of places where you can go physically to get help. All over the world, not just in the USA by the way.

Say goodbye to Microsoft treating you like you don't own your PC. Say goodbye to intrusive features you didn't ask for. Say goodbye to ads on the OS you paid for.

They were heckling the actors in Ford's theater on the day Lincoln was shot.

They heckled the first reading of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

They heckled the first lifeform to crawl onto land.

"I can tell."

"How so?"

"Because this show is a waste of it!"