xkcd

[keybounce]

You're curious if people will have an idea, and then google to see if anyone actually expresses that idea?

Let me google and see ...

[Kato]

I kind of agree with Mr Munroe yet again. I've never been one to enjoy horror movies, or at least only very few. Then again, I do see the appeal for other people.

Also, it's interesting how much often is included under the umbrella of horror, when there are so many different types. (in movies, books and in video games)

[Fyraltari]

Seconded as well.

[factotum]

I kind of have the opposite problem in that I just don't find most horror movies scary. I can think of a couple that genuinely gave me chills--the original Poltergeist, for instance--but that's a rarity. Something like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th, not scared in the slightest.

[Lethologica]

Eh. Terrible things happening to people is par for the course in cinema. And it's far from surprising that many people enjoy fear-catharsis in a safe environment.

[Kato]

I kind of have the opposite problem in that I just don't find most horror movies scary. I can think of a couple that genuinely gave me chills--the original Poltergeist, for instance--but that's a rarity. Something like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th, not scared in the slightest.

Hm.. I'm very susceptible to jump scares, even if I see them coming. And jump scares are just cheap and have no positive effect apart from releasing stress hormones (yay?)
On the other hand the whole torture **** and gore genre might be slightly gross but gross is not entertaining. If I wanted to be faced with body fluids and injuries, I'd be a nurse.
What can get me are instances of psychological horror, though it's hard to pin down what exactly. i.e. the game P. T. makes me very uncomfortable, even just watching it.

[factotum]

Hm.. I'm very susceptible to jump scares, even if I see them coming. And jump scares are just cheap and have no positive effect apart from releasing stress hormones (yay?)

Jump scares can die in a fire as far as I'm concerned--if your movie (or video game, for that matter) is having to resort to them to get a reaction from the audience, you know you've failed badly. I don't recall Poltergeist having a single jump scare in it--it just builds the tension until everything goes to heck at the end, which is why it's one of the few movies I find genuinely scary.

[John Campbell]

If I want to watch terrible things happen to people and feel afraid, I just check the news.

[Kato]

If I want to watch terrible things happen to people and feel afraid, I just check the news.

Too real, man, too real..

On a more cheerful topic, I guess "not everybody got hacked" because there still is something like security software and effort VS reward... Also, I don't think most people want to see society fall apart.
I have to admit I rarely have these kind of thoughts, at least not to the degree that it troubles me.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

On a more cheerful topic, I guess "not everybody got hacked" because there still is something like security software and effort VS reward... Also, I don't think most people want to see society fall apart.
I have to admit I rarely have these kind of thoughts, at least not to the degree that it troubles me.

Google got hacked. Mind you it was merely google+, so all of three people might have got their accounts breached, but if we can't even trust Google, who has always been at the forefront of security, the "everyone got hacked, we just don't know it yet" scenario is looking a lot more plausible this week.

Grey Wolf

[Max_Killjoy]

Google got hacked. Mind you it was merely google+, so all of three people might have got their accounts breached, but if we can't even trust Google, who has always been at the forefront of security, the "everyone got hacked, we just don't know it yet" scenario is looking a lot more plausible this week.

Grey Wolf

I've been getting Russian phishing emails that make it clear LiveJournal was hacked, or just sold all the data, after it was bought by a Russian company.

Spent all day Sunday changing all my passwords for everything I could remember ever having a a login for, because a password I haven't used in a decade is showing up as my "username" in these emails. (Got an LJ account ages ago, never did anything with it.)

[factotum]

I got a very similar e-mail with an old password in it, and so did my mother, and neither of us have ever used LiveJournal? Assuming this is the same e-mail (is it the one saying they've got video of you performing self-abuse and will send it to all your friends and colleagues if they don't receive $800 in bitcoins within 48 hours)?

[Max_Killjoy]

I got a very similar e-mail with an old password in it, and so did my mother, and neither of us have ever used LiveJournal? Assuming this is the same e-mail (is it the one saying they've got video of you performing self-abuse and will send it to all your friends and colleagues if they don't receive $800 in bitcoins within 48 hours)?

That's the one.

Something out there got seriously hacked if lots of old passwords are being thrown around.

[The Glyphstone]

You know, I'm glad this came up, because I got curious and went poking in my spam folder, found an email exactly like the ones you are describing, including the 48 hours threat. It's been sitting there for 10 days, so I'm not terribly concerned, but I am going to do a total password reset anyways.

[Max_Killjoy]

You know, I'm glad this came up, because I got curious and went poking in my spam folder, found an email exactly like the ones you are describing, including the 48 hours threat. It's been sitting there for 10 days, so I'm not terribly concerned, but I am going to do a total password reset anyways.

I sat down with a notepad and started writing out all the places I have a login and needed to change the password... it's terrifying once you start counting them up.

[The Glyphstone]

I sat down with a notepad and started writing out all the places I have a login and needed to change the password... it's terrifying once you start counting them up.

I've got a lot of places with passwords, but most of them are low-impact. For example, I don't care if someone hacks my Kongregate.com account, so I'm not going to bother changing that password. My email and bank accounts, though, definitely are getting changed.

[keybounce]

I will check my spam folders as well.

But:

1. Low-security password. Not intended to be secure, known to be in hacker database/text files. Some PHP systems don't use https for the password anyways. I don't care if these are stolen/hacked.

2. Mid-security passwords. Variations on the low security one. Typically because "you must have one special character", or "you must have a digit", or "you must have a capital", or "you must not use special characters", or "Too short", or "too weak". I rely on my browser knowing these, so it's as secure as access to my computer or browser state.

3. File-access password. Used to log in, to access the online backup of my files, etc. A combination of a foreign word and a foreign name, from two different languages.

NB: My external drive that has time machine backups is not secured. If someone can get into my house, they could image my external and get all my passwords that-a-way.

4. Money password. A mis-spelling of a foreign name. A bad, deliberately bad mis-spelling. Expected chance of guessing: 0.
Used any time access could give bank or other financial access.

[The Glyphstone]

Now that I look at it again, they also used an outdated password in their 'threat', which is probably why it got dumped into Spam; it clearly wasn't actually sent from my account, just spoofed to look that way. Still doing a password shuffle.

I generally have two tiers - stuff I don't care about gets one password, and often the exact same password. These are game sites, forums/chat rooms, and similar social environments. My second-tier is email, banking, and other things with sensitive data, who get individualized passwords in the XKCD fashion of 'horsebatterystaple', customized so I can remember them easier.

[factotum]

I went through a major password change process a couple of years ago when a website I use got hacked (I forget which one), and at that point I started putting all my passwords in a Keepass database on my desktop, so I can easily use a different password on every site, no matter how important. Banking doesn't actually have a password because they give me a PinSentry device that requires me to insert my card and enter my PIN number to log in.

[Lord Torath]

You know, I'm glad this came up, because I got curious and went poking in my spam folder, found an email exactly like the ones you are describing, including the 48 hours threat. It's been sitting there for 10 days, so I'm not terribly concerned, but I am going to do a total password reset anyways.

I just went through my Spam folder looking for something similar, but didn't find anything. But apparently, Jeff Sessions wants to give me $25 million! See ya, suckers! I'm gonna be RICH!. Supposedly the funds are coming from The Reserve Bank of Australia. Nothing else is visible in the preview, though, and I find I have no inclination to actually open the email. Why, exactly, Jeff Sessions would have anything to do with the Reserve Bank of Australia will have to remain a mystery.

[Rockphed]

I just went through my Spam folder looking for something similar, but didn't find anything. But apparently, Jeff Sessions wants to give me $25 million! See ya, suckers! I'm gonna be RICH!. Supposedly the funds are coming from The Reserve Bank of Australia. Nothing else is visible in the preview, though, and I find I have no inclination to actually open the email. Why, exactly, Jeff Sessions would have anything to do with the Reserve Bank of Australia will have to remain a mystery.

Probably a hilarious coincidence has the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Attorney General of the United States sharing a name.

Or spammers are just stupid. I think that is a viable theory.

[keybounce]

I'm used to using emulators to slow a system down. This would be the first time I would want an emulator so that I can pretend that there were more clock ticks than normal, which would actually make this a reasonable game.

[Lord Torath]

I'm used to using emulators to slow a system down. This would be the first time I would want an emulator so that I can pretend that there were more clock ticks than normal, which would actually make this a reasonable game.

Ever try Sim Earth?

[keybounce]

1. Never tried Sim Earth.
2. Did not know that Archive.org was archiving video games.
3. Knew of a browser-based 2600 emulator and apple 2, but a browser-based C64? First generation Macintosh (68000)?

Do they have a Trs-80 emulator for playing those basic/assembly mix games with actual good moving graphics? (Z-80, should be easy in comparison, but the keyboard ...)

Do they have an Amiga emulator, and do they have either a working Killing Game Show (all the cracked versions had a timing error, 50 fps vs 60 fps, and the original disk is long since lost for me) or the Battle-tech work-alike fan game that moved the timing from turn-based to time-based, and exposed that all of the FASA mech designs were absolutely horrid as soon as you had to treat heat realistically?

[Kato]

Something seems off about that graph... I know! What barbarian labels their axis on the inside?!

[Rockphed]

Something seems off about that graph... I know! What barbarian labels their axis on the inside?!

I am trying to figure out how it relates to Wagner. Currently all I am getting is that Galadriel is from The Lord of the Rings, and Wagner wrote the Ring Cycle.

[Iruka]

I am trying to figure out how it relates to Wagner. Currently all I am getting is that Galadriel is from The Lord of the Rings, and Wagner wrote the Ring Cycle.

I think that's pretty much it. The joke relies on putting those authors literary cycles (which both feature rings prominently and end with a decline/fall of mythical powers) together with the Carnot cycle.

The whole comic is a big mixup of similar words and concepts, right down to the circular agument in the first step.

[Kato]

Oh wow, I don't think I've seen Mr Munroe as political as he's been this last week.
But politics are over* and we can get back to more important issues: Whi is missing in the new Smash Bros?!
Of course we need to include ALL THE POKEMON!!! Like, literally, at best a male and female version for everyone.
Why are there a dozen characters from Fire Emblem but not a single one from Dragon Quest Characters? And only one Final Fantasy character? Impossible!
Also, still no Toad? No Rabbid's even after their recent success?
Only Simon but no Dracula?
How is Ridley and Dark Samus in the game but not Mother Brain? I want to fight as a giant disembodied head, dammit!
And where are Snake's enemies? I want Psycho Mantis and Ocelot in my Smash Bros!
Speaking of enemies, Robotnik? Or Tails? Knuckles? Poor Sonic is all alone.

(note: These are at best 10% serious and I haven't actually played Smash Bros in years. I'm still somewhat curious on their choice of characters)

[Rockphed]

Oh wow, I don't think I've seen Mr Munroe as political as he's been this last week.
But politics are over* and we can get back to more important issues: Whi is missing in the new Smash Bros?!
Of course we need to include ALL THE POKEMON!!! Like, literally, at best a male and female version for everyone.
Why are there a dozen characters from Fire Emblem but not a single one from Dragon Quest Characters? And only one Final Fantasy character? Impossible!
Also, still no Toad? No Rabbid's even after their recent success?
Only Simon but no Dracula?
How is Ridley and Dark Samus in the game but not Mother Brain? I want to fight as a giant disembodied head, dammit!
And where are Snake's enemies? I want Psycho Mantis and Ocelot in my Smash Bros!
Speaking of enemies, Robotnik? Or Tails? Knuckles? Poor Sonic is all alone.

(note: These are at best 10% serious and I haven't actually played Smash Bros in years. I'm still somewhat curious on their choice of characters)

See, I would probably be less annoyed at his forays into politics if he did more things like his Secretary series where he was just making fun of politicians in general.

Let's see, what would I want in SSB? Presumably from titles that Nintendo already has the rights to. Hmmmmm ... I have no idea. I haven't been keeping up with the latest news, so I don't know who is in. I mean if they could get the rights to it, putting Wreck-it Ralph in would be amusing, even if he was just a re-skinned Donkey Kong (which he pretty much is).

Various sonic characters would be nice, though I can only really think of Sonic, Tails, Shadow, and Robotnik.

The tanks from advance wars. I don't know how to do that, but it surely can be done.

There are currently Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. I want more Legend of Zelda monsters. Even if they pop out of pokeballs.

Depending on how far afield we can go, get me Tanya from Red Alert.

Get me Conan the Barbarian, lack of shirt and all.

Get me the Paladins of Voltron. They all have the same moves, but depending on color they make different sounds and are different sizes.

While we are at it, give me Shrek and Puss.

This is supposed to be a gladiator combat, I want proper gladiators.

Bring me the broomstick of Little Caesar. And the shoes of Ronald McDonald. And the crown of the Burger King!

[5a Violista]

There are currently Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. I want more Legend of Zelda monsters. Even if they pop out of pokeballs.

I wanted a Breath of the Wild Lynel to show up as an assist trophy so much.

I guess there's still the possibility that a Lynel shows up as a boss in the new Adventure mode, or that it'll show up as a Spirit.