Venko's recent activity
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Comment on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces a 4th July general election in ~news
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Comment on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces a 4th July general election in ~news
Venko Link ParentInflation has dropped but it's still over the bank target rate which means the Bank of England is unlikely to cut rates. So there's no big mortgage rate drops to look forward to for the...Inflation has dropped but it's still over the bank target rate which means the Bank of England is unlikely to cut rates. So there's no big mortgage rate drops to look forward to for the Conservatives.
As for the Rwanda deportations: there has been a lot of press in the UK and Ireland that makes it appear that the Rwanda scheme will have an impact. But every successive summer the number of boat crossings increase so the longer the Conservatives wait, the more the Rwanda scheme will likely be shown to be ineffective.
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UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces a 4th July general election
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Venko LinkOracle of Ages & Seasons Platform: Gameboy Colour / Nintendo Switch Online Subscription (played on Steam Deck) The oracle games were two Zelda games developed by Capcom, with a similar playstyle...Oracle of Ages & Seasons
Platform: Gameboy Colour / Nintendo Switch Online Subscription (played on Steam Deck)
The oracle games were two Zelda games developed by Capcom, with a similar playstyle to the earlier Link's Awakening gameboy game. Although they use the same underlying engine they are two separate games with separate mechanics, items and stories. Ages focuses on puzzles and uses time travel as a core part of its puzzles and storyline. Seasons focuses on combat and uses the four seasons as a core part of its puzzles. You can play the games in either order and, once you've completed the first game, you can start the other game with some unlocks and a link to the story and characters from the previous games.
I started with Oracle of Ages and, having recently completed it, have moved onto Oracle of Seasons. The puzzles and mini-games are definitely easier in Seasons but the combat is noticeably harder. The Ages games have some tricky puzzles and I referred to a guide a few times to progress. The total playtime for each game is under 20 hours and you can break up the playtime easily to fit small gaps in your free time.
I strongly recommend playing through both games but make sure you complete one first so that your playthrough of the second counts as a "linked" game.
World of Warcraft Remix: Mists of Pandaria
Platform: Windows/MacOS
Blizzard Activision recently released a new gamemode called "WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria". This is a time-limited, three month system exclusively for new characters. These characters are locked to the continent Pandaria until the gamemode is retired. You start the game with flying and dragonriding (the more fun version of flying, added in the latest expansion) and work through the quests and storyline from the Mists of Pandaria expansion. This expansion has aged very well and is a lot of fun to play through.
Every quest reward has been changed to a chest that contains gear and gems. There are two kind of gems:
- Stats e.g. critical chance, haste (ability speed/recharge), leech etc.
- Ability/passives - either whole new abilities or passive effects, some of these are from other classes
The gear has categorised gem slots for the different types of gems above. Gems can be transferred between gear and stat gems can be combined to create more powerful gems (much like Diablo).
You can unlock a lot of collectables (mounts, transmogs, toys) for the main game by playing and level new characters. If you're a fan of WoW then I recommend giving it a try but I can't see the main gamemode ever being fun again compared to this.
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Comment on Switzerland's Nemo wins Eurovision as UK comes 18th in ~music
Venko LinkThe detailed results are interesting with the public and jury votes varying substantially. The top 5 performances for each group are as follows: Combined Votes (Jury+Public) Switzerland's Nemo...The detailed results are interesting with the public and jury votes varying substantially. The top 5 performances for each group are as follows:
Combined Votes (Jury+Public)
- Switzerland's Nemo (591)
- Croatia's Baby Lasagna (547)
- Ukraine's Teresa & Maria (453)
- France's Slimane (445)
- Israel's Eden Golan (375)
Jury Votes
- Switzerland's Nemo (365)
- France's Slimane (218)
- Croatia's Baby Lasagna (210)
- Italy's La noia (164)
- Ukraine's Teresa & Maria (146)
Public Votes
- Croatia's Baby Lasagna (337)
- Israel's Eden Golan (323)
- Ukraine's Teresa & Maria (307)
- France's Slimane (227)
- Switzerland's Nemo (226)
I was curious to see if the Jury and Public disagreed with each other so much in previous years or if this year was for political reasons on either party. Take a look at the data for 2023, 2022 and 2021 and you'll see that the general public and the jury always vote completely differently. It looks despite having half the voting power the jury usually fail to crown the winner with this year the exception.
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Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news
Venko Link ParentWell the UK government says that it's too early to judge the impact of the Rwanda plan on Ireland but the Irish deputy prime minister, and foreign minister, said it's impacting Ireland. See BBC...Well the UK government says that it's too early to judge the impact of the Rwanda plan on Ireland but the Irish deputy prime minister, and foreign minister, said it's impacting Ireland. See BBC Source.
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Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news
Venko Link ParentIt's clearly working for the UK even though nobody has actually been sent to Rwanda. Ultimately I think that this all comes back to the EU being extremely weak on migration. As bad as things are...It's clearly working for the UK even though nobody has actually been sent to Rwanda.
Ultimately I think that this all comes back to the EU being extremely weak on migration. As bad as things are in the UK and Ireland they're far, far worse in mainland Europe.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Venko LinkStardew Valley, 1.6 update This update really is fantastic. There are so many quality of life improvements over the previous version of the game with dynamic dialogue and seasonal events that...Stardew Valley, 1.6 update
This update really is fantastic. There are so many quality of life improvements over the previous version of the game with dynamic dialogue and seasonal events that change every year. I won't touch on all of the new features because that topic is spoiler heavy. What I will say is if you enjoyed Stardew Valley in the past then you'll really enjoy the new content.
Whilst you can play the 1.6 update on PC/Steam Deck it's still in active development for consoles. I strongly recommend waiting for the update if you're a console player.
Brotato
I've been playing this on the iPhone but it's also available for Android, PC and consoles. If you pick it up on iPhone/Android then make sure you buy the version with "Premium" in the title as the other version is riddled with "micro"transactions.
This is a similar concept to Vampire Survivors but it's far less rough around the edges. There are twenty rounds and within each round have to kill as many monsters as possible and pick-up the currency that they drop. Doing so gives you experience to level up and money to spend within the shop. Between rounds you select a stat to increase for each level up and purchase items from the shop. If you reach the twentieth round then you'll face a boss.
On the "danger" settings (harder difficulties ranging from 1-5) you'll see harder enemies and mini bosses. The first time that you beat each difficulty or beat round 20 with a character you'll unlock an item or another character. There are 44 different characters each with their own playstyle. It's a lot of fun although perhaps too addictive.
Persona 3 Reload
I've been playing this on Xbox via Game Pass. It's an apparently faithful remake of an old Persona game and it shows. The combat itself is decent and very similar to Persona 5 Royale but the in-game dungeons are randomly generated and very dull.
The main story seems interesting but a lot of the side content is just generic Japanese tropes. I'm trying to push through to finish the game.
Every time I play a Persona game it makes me think about how a good a similar game from western studio with a western focus and characters could be with the same kind of gameplay loop.
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Comment on The migrant highway that could sway the US election in ~misc
Venko LinkAs a European with no prior context on American migration I found this visual report very informative but be warned that there are some very distressing things happening to the migrants and that...As a European with no prior context on American migration I found this visual report very informative but be warned that there are some very distressing things happening to the migrants and that is reported on within it.
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The migrant highway that could sway the US election
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Comment on Stardew Valley 1.6 update released on PC in ~games
Venko Link ParentI found that the default settings were great for vanilla 1.5 but with mods installed (especially Stardew Valley Expanded) the battery life massively drops. However you can set a TDP limit and,...I found that the default settings were great for vanilla 1.5 but with mods installed (especially Stardew Valley Expanded) the battery life massively drops. However you can set a TDP limit and, although the load times will slightly increase, it will drastically improve the battery life when mods are installed.
Playing with a controller takes a little getting used to after playing with a keyboard and mouse. I didn't experiment with controller mappings or the touch screen though.
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Comment on Stardew Valley 1.6 update released on PC in ~games
Venko LinkWarning: the full changelog does contain spoilers. This looks like a massive overhaul of the game. I can't wait to check it out with a new save on my Steam Deck once I can find a spare few hours....Warning: the full changelog does contain spoilers.
This looks like a massive overhaul of the game. I can't wait to check it out with a new save on my Steam Deck once I can find a spare few hours. What does everyone think?
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Stardew Valley 1.6 update released on PC
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Comment on India moves to implement controversial citizenship bill that excludes Muslims in ~humanities
Venko Link ParentSpouses of an Indian citizen are eligible for an OCI after just two years of marriage although that does expire in the event of divorce or the Indian citizen's death. That seems very generous to me.Spouses of an Indian citizen are eligible for an OCI after just two years of marriage although that does expire in the event of divorce or the Indian citizen's death. That seems very generous to me.
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Comment on Abolishing inheritance tax sent Stockholm's startup ecosystem soaring – tax cut could revive Britain's flagging economy in ~finance
Venko (edited )Link ParentIn the UK the inheritance tax allowance transfers to your spouse in the event of your death. For a couple passing down to children, the combined tax free allowance for inheritance tax, provided at...In the UK the inheritance tax allowance transfers to your spouse in the event of your death. For a couple passing down to children, the combined tax free allowance for inheritance tax, provided at least 350k of it is in form of a house, is one million pounds.
A lot of houses in desirable areas or cities are worth more than 500k in the UK today but very few houses have ludicrously high valuations like those in California.
It's worth saying that the increase to 500k from 325k only applies to children and grandchildren whether they be blood, adopted or step children. Inheritance taxes are also generally waived in full if you donate your estate to a charity.
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Comment on Google Bard is now Gemini; Gemini Advanced launched in ~tech
Venko Link ParentWell most families with Google accounts have them paired together in a "family". This isn't just used to share storage upgrade plans. It also powers family features across all of their apps and on...Well most families with Google accounts have them paired together in a "family". This isn't just used to share storage upgrade plans. It also powers family features across all of their apps and on Android itself.
If you want to use Gemini as the admin of the family account you can choose to triple the price and access it. But if you're the spouse, child of or parents of the family admin then the only way to subscribe to Gemini is to leave the family.
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Comment on Google Bard is now Gemini; Gemini Advanced launched in ~tech
Venko LinkI'm a subscriber to Google One's existing 2TB plan which is £80 a year. For the new AI plan they only offer monthly billing so it comes to £228 a year which is almost three times the price....I'm a subscriber to Google One's existing 2TB plan which is £80 a year. For the new AI plan they only offer monthly billing so it comes to £228 a year which is almost three times the price.
Apparently the AI features aren't available to other family members either. This feels dead on arrival for any existing Google customers.
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Humble Choice - December 2023
Sorry for the delay in posting this month. December's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games: Steam Page Opencritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck...
Sorry for the delay in posting this month.
December's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games:
Steam Page Opencritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB Expeditions: Rome 81 82/88 Win Playable Platinum Midnight Fight Express 76 82/91 Win Verified Gold ELEX II 65 61/75 Win Unsupported Gold Nobody Saves the World 80 87/91 Win Verified Platinum The Gunk 70 86/86 Win Playable Platinum The Pale Beyond 78 96/91 Win Mac Verified Platinum Last Call BBS TBC 95/95 Win Mac Lin Playable Native From Space TBC 88/67 Win Verified Platinum Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~food
Venko Link ParentOutside of the very well known vegan cafes and restaurants in London what do you recommend? It's very expensive but I really enjoyed the vegan seven course tasting menu at Galvin La Chapelle.Outside of the very well known vegan cafes and restaurants in London what do you recommend? It's very expensive but I really enjoyed the vegan seven course tasting menu at Galvin La Chapelle.
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Comment on Most US Black and Hispanic adults expect to get the new COVID-19 vaccine, though most white adults don’t in ~health
Venko Link ParentCovid is only one of many, many vaccinations where the individual takes it for the benefit of the herd. Vaccinations should definitely be free but, if the vaccination uptake rate isn't high enough...Covid is only one of many, many vaccinations where the individual takes it for the benefit of the herd. Vaccinations should definitely be free but, if the vaccination uptake rate isn't high enough for herd vaccines, they should offer incentives to the individual.
We did have fixed election dates via the Fixed-term Parliaments Act but, as parliament is sovereign in the UK, it didn't really mean anything. One election was called despite it using a notwithstanding claused act of parliament and then parliament later used its sovereignty to repeal it.