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#1
Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic
Last post by Jacob - Today at 01:50:49 PMQuote from: Josquius on Today at 12:08:20 PMThe version I've heard has you transported to a isolated forest with a bear or a man. Not just seeing a bear in a normal situation on a hiking trail.
The odds of the bear being freaked out and attacking are pretty high.
Also I'm assuming brown or polar bear here. I understand black bears are cowards.
In Svalbard it's literally illegal to leave town without a gun the bears are just that dangerous.
So your assumption is that the random man appearing is someone like their uncle or brother or yourself - so harmless; while the random bear appearing is a highly aggressive grizzly or polar bear.
Perhaps the women are making the assumption that the man appearing is strong and has violent inclinations, while the bear is a well fed black bear on its way to a nice blackberry patch.
#2
Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic
Last post by Grey Fox - Today at 01:24:58 PMMen will believe a women that says it's been attacked by a bear, almost instantly.
It isn't the universal the other way around and it seems a lot of women feel betrayed by that.
It isn't the universal the other way around and it seems a lot of women feel betrayed by that.
#3
Gaming HQ / Re: The Miscellaneous PC & vid...
Last post by The Minsky Moment - Today at 01:24:34 PMSony is in a weird place; they don't seem to know what to do.
Nintendo has a clear strategy; they have built high walls around their core IP and run a purely closed system. They churn out iterations of the same game over and over, but get away with it because the IP is well loved and because their design people do a solid job and produce quality product. But if you want to play Mario, Zelda, etc. you are stuck doing it on Nintendo hardware, which at present is a big phone screen layered over 2015 era Nvidia Shield surplus parts. The closed system means high sales of the hardware at great margins, but it limits their reach. And if emulation ever goes mainstream, they could face problems, which is why they are the only major policing that ecosystem with lawsuits.
Microsoft has gone completely in other direction, pushing openness and interoperability, and centering their strategy around gamepass for subscription-based distribution with bring your own device. Accordingly, "Series" X Box sales have stalled and XBox is firmly mired in the #3 position in the console wars, but does MSFT really care that much? They see that Steam has become such a powerful player in the gaming market, that developers have to develop or port to PC or forgo a big chunk of potential sales. And once a game is playable on PC it can played on virtually any platform - again Valve has helped demonstrate that. I think MSFT is looking into a future where consoles became obsolete or just one of many interchangeable "boxes" that can be used to stream content.
Where does that leave Sony - seemingly stuck between two stools. The PlayStation is their core platform, but it doesn't look like this gen will match PS4 sales, much less the heights of PS2. That means hard decisions to be made on the publishing side - do they go exclusive to the console to try to flog more PS5 sales, or dual distribute on Steam for the revenue boost. Helldivers 2 seemed to the poster child for the second strategy, but it also appears Sony is understandably scared for the long-term implications for their console if that becomes the new model.
Nintendo has a clear strategy; they have built high walls around their core IP and run a purely closed system. They churn out iterations of the same game over and over, but get away with it because the IP is well loved and because their design people do a solid job and produce quality product. But if you want to play Mario, Zelda, etc. you are stuck doing it on Nintendo hardware, which at present is a big phone screen layered over 2015 era Nvidia Shield surplus parts. The closed system means high sales of the hardware at great margins, but it limits their reach. And if emulation ever goes mainstream, they could face problems, which is why they are the only major policing that ecosystem with lawsuits.
Microsoft has gone completely in other direction, pushing openness and interoperability, and centering their strategy around gamepass for subscription-based distribution with bring your own device. Accordingly, "Series" X Box sales have stalled and XBox is firmly mired in the #3 position in the console wars, but does MSFT really care that much? They see that Steam has become such a powerful player in the gaming market, that developers have to develop or port to PC or forgo a big chunk of potential sales. And once a game is playable on PC it can played on virtually any platform - again Valve has helped demonstrate that. I think MSFT is looking into a future where consoles became obsolete or just one of many interchangeable "boxes" that can be used to stream content.
Where does that leave Sony - seemingly stuck between two stools. The PlayStation is their core platform, but it doesn't look like this gen will match PS4 sales, much less the heights of PS2. That means hard decisions to be made on the publishing side - do they go exclusive to the console to try to flog more PS5 sales, or dual distribute on Steam for the revenue boost. Helldivers 2 seemed to the poster child for the second strategy, but it also appears Sony is understandably scared for the long-term implications for their console if that becomes the new model.
#4
Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...
Last post by Gups - Today at 01:15:54 PMMatthew Syed was pushing a land tax in the Sunday Times replacing income and corporation. Annoyingly he doesn't provide any details.
#5
Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic
Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 12:10:04 PMThe point I meant about every woman has had a story wasn't that because of their experience they have a "phobia" (these mainly straight women with male partners etc etc), but that every woman I've spoken to about this has a story.
Similarly it's not about distrust or fear of the majority of men or whatever but about a random guy and, sadly, that's again because most women have a story. It is, to nick a phrase, lived experience for many, many women that men can be very dangerous to them.
It's something men should try to think about and be mindful of - not least because we're not mind readers so women have no way of knowing which one is going to be the bad guy.
Similarly it's not about distrust or fear of the majority of men or whatever but about a random guy and, sadly, that's again because most women have a story. It is, to nick a phrase, lived experience for many, many women that men can be very dangerous to them.
It's something men should try to think about and be mindful of - not least because we're not mind readers so women have no way of knowing which one is going to be the bad guy.
#6
Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic
Last post by Josquius - Today at 12:08:20 PMQuote from: Jacob on Today at 12:05:48 PMJosq, encountering a bear on a trail is not "almost certain death" and the possibility of being eaten alive is quite small. In Canada, on average 3 people are killed annually by bears; people encounter bears significantly more frequently than that.The version I've heard has you transported to a isolated forest with a bear or a man. Not just seeing a bear in a normal situation on a hiking trail.
The odds of the bear being freaked out and attacking are pretty high.
Also I'm assuming brown or polar bear here. I understand black bears are cowards.
In Svalbard it's literally illegal to leave town without a gun the bears are just that dangerous.
#7
Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic
Last post by Jacob - Today at 12:05:48 PMJosq, encountering a bear on a trail is not "almost certain death" and the possibility of being eaten alive is quite small. In Canada, on average 3 people are killed annually by bears; people encounter bears significantly more frequently than that.
#8
Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic
Last post by Sophie Scholl - Today at 11:57:34 AMSome of you just... 
#9
Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic
Last post by Josquius - Today at 11:48:28 AMQuote from: Sheilbh on Today at 11:06:23 AMQuote from: Jacob on Today at 01:49:17 AMHmmm... well... I live in a place where bears are fairly frequent. I can tell you that more women are killed by men every year than are killed by bears. I'd wager that the number of incidents of women having had encounters where they felt threatened or scared by a man's behaviour is orders of magnitude greater than those who've had scary encounters with bears. I think most women have felt endangered by a man at some point in there lives; and if they haven't, they know a women who has. I doubt the same is true when it comes to bears.Yes. Of women I've spoken to about it I think more or less all have experienced male violence or the threat/risk of violence. Also waited with female friends at the bus stop that I don't need at a discreet request because there's a man who is concerning them in some way.
Perhaps if you calculated the rate of scary encounters and the rate of murders per encounter, men would be statistically safer than bears due to the large number of encounters. But in terms of absolute numbers men have a much higher impact on women's safety than bears.
It seems only natural that this would impact women's threat perception. And it seems pretty silly to be offended by that, IMO.
I think it's mad to be offended by that or think it's about you.
It's made me conscious of how I behave - I mean I'm an incredibly weak, fairly herbiverous gay man but that's not clear at night when I'm walking down the street. So if I'm walking somewhere for example and I'm behind a woman on her own, chances are I'll cross the road - no extra time/impact for me, but hopefully remove something that could concern her.
Who thinks it's about them?
If a woman has been a victim of assault then it's obvious they would have this irrational fear of all men and make dangerous decisions rather than risk an encounter with their phobia.
Logically this is clearly wrong. But phobias don't follow logic so nobody can be blamed there.
But when someone hasn't been a victim of such a thing, has no such phobia, and is still pushing this idea that almost certain death, possibly being eaten alive, is better than being alone with a random man....
That a majority of men couldn't be trusted in this situation of being alone with a random woman.... That is just sexist and dumb.
#10
Off the Record / Re: NHL Hockey thread
Last post by Sophie Scholl - Today at 11:46:12 AMToday is the last day of the PWHL regular season. The playoffs start... Wednesday I think? Toronto is the top seed. 