For all that money they are supposed to be spending on improving weather forecasting, they aren't doing a very good job. The European Model is considered to produce better forecasts. For US weather. Drop the screwing around with highly theoretical climate models and get better at "operational weather forecasting and warning responsibilities".

Climate Science politics may very well be distorting the forecasting function. You don't start out with your idea of the weather and then seek out data, models and scientists to support what you'd like to see.

Well, the Death Star was back in later films...

Just saw the new Jurassic movie. That was real easy to follow. Of course, it's just a horror movie. But cool.

Sure, itâ(TM)s quite possible for two people to exchange offhand remarks about the local weather apropos of nothing, with no broader point in mind. It happens all the time, even, I suppose, right in the middle of a discussion of the impact of climate change on the very parameters they were discussing.

Exploration may be worthwhile, but it is a totally separate thing and won't provide relief for climate issues. The only possible way it could help anyone on that front is that the select few that go are hard for the desperate starving people to follow. But you'd never be able to build a civilization at any scale there without also figuring out ways to make Earth way better. Any habitat you make that can survive on Mars you could make on Earth, any CO2 scrubbing you can do in a small environment you can also scrub that environment on Earth (problem is the scale is useless for atmospheric CO2).

Plants may be happy to have CO2, but the resultant weather may not be so good for the plants.

If we could "fix" the moon or Mars, then we could fix the Earth easily. Moon/Mars colonization is insanely harder than dealing with even the harshest likely Earth climate changes.

With a more energetic atmosphere, who *knows* what the weather patterns will be, what crops will be feasible, and how much plant life and animal life we can cultivate for food. There is some non-zero chance it somehow pans out with less drama than feared, but significant chance that humanity will suffer starvation and violence that dramatically harms our population. Seems like a bet we shouldn't be taking if we can help it.

I don't know about the UK, but in the USA, copper thefts are commited by drug addicts*. And as they are a protected species and communications and power cables are a significant resource necessary for their survival, nothing can be done.

*They actually harvest fiber optic cabling and aluminum high voltage conductors as well, being unable to distinguish between these and copper.

A major natural gas producer.

"That'll teach people to stop sniffing our farts."

On the system requirements angle, PC gamers generally don't care anymore, however, MS can certify a few standard tiers, say, 'xbox 2026', 'xbox 2026 premium', 'xbox 2026 ultra' and the software and hardware ecosystem follows those.

Microsoft can curate a store of games regardless of the nature of the hardware. The app stores choosing to let developers run wild has nothing to do with in-house hardware.

For the software modding and third party applications, they can have their software platform do this. Windows being open is a choice (and in fact one they wanted to roll back with 'S', but to no success. They could release/license out 'xBox OS' for this experience.

On the game discs, the consoles are largely killing this anyway, famously Switch 2 game cartridges are likely to be nothing more than a dongle and Sony selling variants with no optical media at all. Online entitlement is their direction, and the industry seems content to screw over second hand market (that's a bonus for them) and anyone with zero internet.

A GPU only costs as much as a console if you go for a GPU more potent than what goes into a game console. An xBox Series X equivalent GPU is like $250.

Most games that release for xBox release on Steam for PC as well. It's generally considered an easy port for bigger market reach. That's why pairing a game controller with a PC is so popular, and steam big picture mode.

I would not at all be surprised for the near future for 'xBox' to be Asus, Dell, Lenovo, etc devices under a licensing deal with perhaps restrictions around particular TPM endorsement keys and certified specification levels for performance and portability use cases.

From a business perspective, those haven't given them the results they would have wanted.

Paradoxically, their worst products make the most money.

Will they allow outside raw sewage? Or will we have to buy it at their snack bar?

I carry earplugs routinely, but the IMAX is the one theater that I actually use them for. Other theaters are reasonable. IMAX is quite possibly unhealthy with it sound intensity.

Those aren't bed bugs.

Don't tell me that "A.I. Weekly" is going out of print. We just got a new puppy.

You're not watching on a better sound system.

Saw 2001 during the pandemic, in IMAX. Absolutely awesome, and there's no way in H that you can duplicate that sound at home. I have pioneer at 125 W/channel and speakers that weigh 95 lbs each, and it won't even come close.