Chris B

🇹🇹🇬🇧triathlon retired, swimming, cycling = love, 5k - rubbish, 10k - piss poor, 1/2 Mara - laughable, Mara - snails move faster, ultra - don’t be silly

[exQUIZitely 🕹️ @exQUIZitely]

22 kilobytes.

I often think about the technical limitations that game designers had to work with in the 80s - both in terms of software and hardware. To me, the game that stands at the very top is Elite (1984).

Elite is smaller in data size than many modern text files or desktop icons, yet it lets you freely explore a multi-galaxy-spanning universe that felt gigantic and virtually limitless.

Think about this for a second: The core game code on the BBC Micro version has roughly 22 KB of memory. The C64 version from 1985, which I played as a kid, isn't much bigger.

Now think about what Braben and Bell turned those few kilobytes into: a massive universe with eight galaxies, each containing 256 star systems (for a total of 2,048 planets per system). Each system featured unique details: government type, economy, technology level, population, commodity prices, and even descriptive text.

Oh, and by the way, the game also rendered 3D wireframe ships, stations, and planets in real time on a 2 MHz 6502 processor.

This is no slight on today’s game designers. They work with what they have, and that's okay. But when I think about the worlds that some old school programmers created with the tools they were given, it sometimes breaks my brain trying to to even remotely understand how they did it.

Not megabytes, not gigabytes... kilobytes!

[Marcus @TrafalMarcus]

Caralho e hoje ainda tem Bleach

[Taşsakallı Adam @tassakalli4dam]

Harcanan suyun hakkını vermişler

[BBC News (UK) @BBCNews]

Fans prepare to say goodbye as anime series Bleach officially ends https://t.co/4RcqULQWlK

[Chris B @Chopperb]

Best film I’ve seen in a very very long while was #Hamnet
Hands down a beautiful movie. I was a wreck at the end! I watched this on an airplane and I can only apologise to me fellow passengers

[Daft Punk @daftpunk]

NOT an archive #01 @LEGO_Group and @daftpunk 🔺 Building a new era.

[Chris B @Chopperb]

How does #vision float in a pool?!! It’s bugging me. Especially turned off, he would just sink

[Marvel Mania @Sksj002]

‘VISIONQUEST’ EPISODE 3: ALL THE MARVEL EASTER EGGS AND REFERENCES EXPLAINED

• Ten Rings Syndicate supplying adamantium armor
• Paladin’s past encounter with The Punisher
• Werewolf by Night’s Jack Russell
• Daredevil’s billy club and Hell’s Kitchen
• F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s heartbreaking reference to Tony Stark’s death
• WandaVision sitcom callbacks
• A possible reference to Scott Lang’s book, Look Out for the Little Guy!
• “What is grief, if not love persevering?” callback
• Tommy’s super-speed powers and his Speed identity

Marvel really packed this episode with references!

[Brandon Davis @BrandonDavisBD]

#VisionQuest Ep. 3 & 4 prove that Marvel TV has finally fully embraced it is exactly that.

There are loads of MCU references, episodic story beats, and excellent cliffhangers. Plus, Tommy Maximoff is the MCU’s star of the year and Ultron is a devious little shit. Great stuff.

[JustJamie @OYourNameHereO]

The lunch ladies are on fire…

[Jack (-_•) @captaincupkick]

It’s so impressive how he can look like both a kind old peepaw and also the most evil man in the world

[💛🖤 KINNICK NORTH🖤💛 @KinnickNorth23]

I had something of an epiphany today regarding Angel Reese. And it took me about 30 years of sports fandom to recognize the irony. 😂

Let me explain.

Before the 2023 national championship game between Iowa and LSU, I had absolutely no idea who Angel Reese was.

My introduction to her was watching her follow Caitlin Clark across the court, repeatedly making the "you can't see me" gesture and pointing to her ring finger.

As a lifelong Iowa fan and enormous CC fan, I was PISSED.

You just won a national championship. Go celebrate with your teammates! Why the hell is Caitlin Clark the first thing on your mind?!

And from that moment forward, I couldn't stand Angel Reese.

Every missed layup? Hilarious.

Every arrogant comment? Insufferable.

Every bit of trash talking? More evidence of why I couldn't stand her.

And let's be fair. Reese gives opposing fans PLENTY of reasons to dislike her. She's cocky, confrontational, talks a tremendous amount of trash, and sometimes comes across as though everything revolves around her.

But something interesting happened.

Watching her play alongside Caitlin in an exhibition setting, seeing their chemistry, and then watching Reese make significant improvements offensively this season, I found myself developing a greater appreciation for her actual basketball abilities.

I've previously compared her to Dennis Rodman.

Elite rebounding. Defensive intensity. Relentless effort. A willingness to do the dirty work.

But today, something occurred to me.

The similarities between Reese and Rodman extend well beyond basketball.

I grew up a HUGE Michael Jordan fan.

And when Dennis Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons?

I HATED THAT MAN. 😂

Rodman and Bill Laimbeer were practically the embodiment of everything I despised about the Bad Boys Pistons.

Arrogant. Physical. Antagonistic. Constantly talking trash. Deliberately trying to get under opponents' skin.

I couldn't stand them.

Then, in 1995, Rodman joined the Chicago Bulls.

And suddenly?

I FUCKING LOVED DENNIS RODMAN. 🤣

Did he change?

HELL NO!

He was the exact same obnoxious, trash-talking, confrontational Dennis Rodman I'd spent years despising.

But now he was doing all those things FOR Michael Jordan instead of AGAINST him.

And I absolutely loved it.

Which brings me back to Angel Reese.

Imagine, for a moment, that Reese became Caitlin Clark's teammate.

Imagine an opposing player getting overly physical with CC, and Reese immediately getting in her face.

Imagine Reese grabbing 18 rebounds, talking trash, intimidating opponents, and getting under their skin.

I'd be sitting there screaming:

"FUCK YEAH, ANGEL! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" 😂

The very things I currently can't stand about her would suddenly become things I absolutely loved.

And that's when it hit me.

Sometimes we don't actually hate the behavior. We hate whose side the person exhibiting that behavior is on.

When OUR player talks trash, it's competitive fire.

When THEIR player talks trash, it's arrogance.

When OUR player gets physical, they're tough.

When THEIR player gets physical, they're dirty.

When OUR player celebrates in someone's face, they're passionate.

When THEIR player does it, they're classless.

And the funniest part?

We can recognize the hypocrisy and STILL feel exactly the same way. 😂

So, has this revelation made me an Angel Reese fan?

Absolutely fucking not. I still can't stand her. 🤣

But I've realized something important.

If she ever becomes Caitlin Clark's teammate, there's a very good chance I'll become one of her biggest defenders overnight.

Because 30 years ago, Dennis Rodman taught me something about sports fandom that apparently took me until today to fully appreciate:

Sometimes the difference between an asshole and a fan favorite is nothing more than the jersey they're wearing.

And THAT, my friends, is sports. 😝

[Chris B @Chopperb]

No way!! The night agent was in super 8!!! He looks the same (facially) 😀

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

In 1969, the number one song in the USA was made by a band that never existed, The Archies.

[Jay Johnson @Michael96303310]

Is this Empire Strikes Back, or, Return of the Jedi?

[Pulp Librarian @PulpLibrarian]

Postman Pat in Japanese. Very relaxing...

[💛🖤 KINNICK NORTH🖤💛 @KinnickNorth23]

Listening to Kelsey Mitchell's exit interview, I couldn't help but laugh a little.

Not because what she's describing isn't difficult. I'm sure it is.

But I continue to believe that one of the biggest adjustments happening in the WNBA right now is that these women are learning what it's like to play in a genuinely relevant, heavily scrutinized professional sports league.

KM talked about how hard it is being a Fever player. About waking up every day and giving your best, only for your best to not be enough for some people.

And my lifelong sports-fan reaction was basically:

Well...yeah. 😅

Ask an NFL kicker who misses a 38-yarder to lose a playoff game how many fans appreciate that he "gave his best."

Ask an NBA point guard who goes 3-for-17 in Game 7.

Ask an Iowa QB after three straight three-and-outs. 😅

She talked about how hard it is "showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you."

Kelsey...

Sports fans have disliked players ON THEIR OWN TEAM since approximately 15 minutes after sports were invented. 😂

Iowa fans can love the Hawkeyes with every molecule in their bodies while simultaneously demanding that somebody be benched, fired, or launched directly into the sun.

That's SPORTS. 😅

And I've never seen a professional sports league collectively so consumed by social media discourse.

Players talk about tweets. Coaches talk about tweets. Reporters ask players about tweets. Other players respond to those comments. ESPN discusses the response. Then somebody's podcast discusses ESPN discussing the response to the response. 😂

Caitlin Clark didn't invent obnoxious sports fans.

She brought an enormous number of mainstream sports fans into a league that had never experienced this level of attention and scrutiny before.

And THAT'S the distinction.

What they're experiencing may genuinely be new for the WNBA.

It is absolutely NOT new for professional sports.

Fans second-guess you.

Fans criticize you.

Fans irrationally blame you for losses.

Fans love the superstar more than they love you.

Fans scream that you should pass her the damn ball.

Fans demand trades.

Fans say stupid shit on the internet.

Welcome to big-time sports! You've made it! 😅

For decades the WNBA wanted more attention. Bigger audiences. Packed arenas. Better TV ratings. More money. More relevance.

Well...

Mainstream sports relevance comes with mainstream sports bullshit. 😂

[exQUIZitely 🕹️ @exQUIZitely]

It’s 1981, and you play this game for the first time… and your mind melts. Early-80s arcade games were so far ahead of home computer gaming that it’s hard to put the gap into perspective today.

Tempest stood out because it felt like nothing else on the floor: a super-fast, almost hypnotic tube shooter built on color vector hardware and a physical spinner. Pretty much everything about it was unique.

Atari designer Dave Theurer (who also created Missile Command) started from an idea for a first-person Space Invaders, which ultimately became Tempest.

It generated roughly US$150 million in its first year from cabinet sales and coin take, making it a massive commercial hit for Atari.

[Peter Mick @ThePeterMick]

font choice matters for your startup

[Kwill @kwill105]

@biggle1908 This gives a bit of context. BTW, I’m not defending the price as it just cost me £80 to get half a tank in my Defender!