Simon

Curious.

[Simon @SimonDingle]

We’re so back.

[Simon @SimonDingle]

@DrNeilStone These are not mutually exclusive concepts.

[JJ in NH @JustJoshinNH]

Somebody asked me today why I was wearing a pride bracelet if I’m straight and I pointed out their Red Sox cap doesn’t make them a member of the team

[Simon @SimonDingle]

Harping on about "values" and then doing business with online gambling companies is pathetic. History will not be kind.

[𐌁𐌉Ᏽ 𐌕𐌉𐌌𐌉 @OrevaZSN]

No, I do not want the AI overview.
I want to read a Wikipedia page that leads me to another Wikipedia page, and another, and another, and get lost for hours down a completely unrelated rabbit hole as the gods intended.

[Neil Stone @DrNeilStone]

The breakthrough drug that has doubled pancreatic cancer survival time, was borne out of years of hard work and investment

Much of it at the NIH, which has now had funding slashed by RFK Jr and Co in favour of pointless pseudoscientific quackery which will lead to nothing

[Neil Stone @DrNeilStone]

I've never been at a medical conference where the results have been greeted with a standing ovation

Tremendous breakthrough in pancreatic cancer treatment

Through science

Hard work, rigorous research, clinical trials.

Science

Not the quack pseudoscience of social media

[Simon @SimonDingle]

@victorzh @OpenPasskey That makes sense. The convenience of the tap is really all that matters. The card layers behind it should be redundant.

[Simon @SimonDingle]

@victorzh Agreed. In this case providing a choice might be the best option.

[Captain Paul Watson Foundation 🐋🏴‍☠️ @CaptPaulWatson]

Industrial krill trawling in Antarctica is expanding while whale populations are still recovering from commercial whaling. That should concern everyone. 🐋 #KrillWars

[terminally onλine εngineer @tekbog]

people misunderstand what AI does
it accelerates everything
even incompetence

[Neil Stone @DrNeilStone]

Experimental gene therapy truly is amazing

[Simon @SimonDingle]

A Google Sheet I was working on updated to the new branding mid-stream and I am genuinely frightened.

[Simon @SimonDingle]

Just realised I could run a @The_Pi_Hole on my @Tailscale Tailnet and route all traffic through it on my devices no matter where I am, and this is a top-3 moment on the internet.

[Simon @SimonDingle]

@byronrode @badlogicgames My interest in slightly peaking again around glasses though. Startups like @EvenRealities, @XREAL_Global, Meta’s Ray Ban collab and Google’s latest announcement are setting the scene. Be interesting to see what and when Apple arrives. Spatial computing is going to be weird.

[Simon @SimonDingle]

Miracles and wonders. Science.

[ScienceFocus @ScienceFocusonX]

Reading glasses might be done.

The FDA just approved a once-daily eye drop called VIZZ that sharpens near vision in about 30 minutes and keeps it sharp for up to 10 hours.

One drop. Each eye. Per day.

That's it.

The active ingredient is aceclidine, a compound first used back in 1975 to treat glaucoma. Scientists figured out it could be repurposed to gently shrink the pupil, creating a "pinhole effect" that pulls close-up text back into focus, the same trick your eye does when you squint.

Unlike Vuity, the 2021 drop that came before it, VIZZ doesn't mess with your focusing muscles. So no blurry distance vision. No brow ache. No weird zoom effect.

It was tested across more than 30,000 treatment days with no major complications.

Cost is roughly $2 a day.

This matters because presbyopia, the age-related slide that hits most people between 40 and 45, already affects more than 120 million Americans. By 2030, the World Health Organization expects around 2 billion people worldwide to have it.

LENZ Therapeutics, the maker, started rolling out samples in October.

The squint era is ending.

Source: Ynetnews, FOX 26 Houston, Yahoo News

[Simon @SimonDingle]

And remember everyone, this is definitely not socialism, OK?

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

TOMORROW: Trump Accounts, on your phone. 💰

Manage everything. Watch the growth. All in ONE place.

[Lammie_Art @Lammie_Art01]

If there's watermelon, shouldn't there be earthmelon, firemelon, and airmelon. The elemons

[Simon @SimonDingle]

Beautifully put. One of the few digital spaces for which I experience nostalgia, and where we made life-long friendships IRL. Early WoW was pure magic. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll see anything like it again.

[exQUIZitely 🕹️ @exQUIZitely]

The last "modern" game I ever played was World of Warcraft, from 2004 to 2010, the end of Wrath of the Lich King.

I know there were MMORPGs before (and after), but when the original World of Warcraft launched in 2004, it felt closer to "perfection" than any game before or since.

Nothing has changed that feeling to this day. What changed was the game itself after the death of Arthas in Wrath of the Lich King.

The original WoW felt so vast, so open, and so alive - it’s hard to put into words. There was no hardcore min-maxing yet (at least not to the same degree as today), no speedruns, no parsing record chasing, no gear score requirements in the early days. If you were really pro, you connected with friends or guildies via Ventrilo.

There was no WeakAuras, no threat meters, no Questie guiding you.

You quickly learned that even the most expensive vendor gear was trash compared to quest rewards.

You had to walk from Elwynn Forest to the Redridge Mountains - and if you dared peek across the river into Duskwood, the spiders there would one-shot you (I’m sure we all did that).

The first time you equipped a green item! The first time you swapped it for a blue! And the envy of seeing someone with purple gear, omg!

Saving up for a mount and the catharsis when you could finally afford one!

The first time you entered the Deadmines, the foolish solo attempt on Hogger only to realize instantly it was a death sentence.

Stepping into Alterac Valley battlegrounds and being in awe of its size.

Wiping on Ragnaros again and again before finally killing him, and the sheer joy of celebrating together with your guild.

The excitement and awe of entering Naxxramas for the first time, struggling to down Patchwerk, the teamwork, the slow progress, seeing Sapphiron dead on the frozen ground and being moments away from Kel’Thuzad… so close!

It truly felt like a massive world - not just in size, but in stories. The announcement of The Burning Crusade and the Dark Portal appearing in the Blasted Lands; you couldn’t wait to walk through it.

Then the ultimate climax when Wrath of the Lich King launched, eventually facing the most badass character in gaming history: Arthas.

World of Warcraft was magic. Until it wasn’t. Just like Blizzard was once the greatest game studio of all - until they weren’t.

Warcraft used to be tough, glorious and epic... now it's pink Disney fluff.

Nothing has recaptured that feeling from 2004 to 2010. I wonder if anything ever will again.

I sometimes watch the trailer of the original WoW. It still hits close to the (gamer) heart…