A lot of misinformation around this.

1. AirDrop is a proprietary Apple ecosystem thing, everyone knows that. It's basically just Bluetooth for discovery and a proprietary Apple WiFi protocol for transfer.

2. In the EU, Apple was forced to switch from that proprietary WiFi tech to another WiFi tech that Apple is also involved in. Someone else named it, it's called WiFi Aware.

3. Google made Pixel 10 (and only that model) compatible in such a way that it can AirDrop to and receive AirDrops from an iPhone.

4. Nothing has to be done on the Pixel to receive the AirDrop.

5. To receive AirDrop from a Pixel 10, the iPhone must be set to allow AirDrops from anyone for 10 minutes. It does not work if they're in your Contacts — that method requires iCloud authentication (same with iMessage and FaceTime). So even if they're in your contacts, iPhone users have to allow AirDrop from everyone for 10 minutes to receive.

6. WiFi Aware is supported all the way back in Android 8. But it requires an iPhone running iOS 26 or later. That's either the iPhone 11, or the iPhone 12, or newer. I wanna say 11 because SE 2 got 26 and that's got the same chip as the 11, but I'm really not sure on that point.

7. Anyone who's anyone in tech doesn't give two shits about AirDrop. AirDrop just makes it easy. I'm an Apple guy. I use Universal Clipboard more than AirDrop. I have an iPhone (16 Pro Max) and an Android phone (Galaxy S10, from 2019). I never use AirDrop to send files between them. Obviously because I can't. But I mean, it's no problem to have one host, the other log into the first, and send/receive files. It's easier if the iPhone hosts because the Android file picker is basically more open (I use Solid something or other, I forget the exact name, used it for over a decade though). That said, since the last iOS or the one before, the iOS Files app isn't bad. They're both capable enough. Anyway, it's trivial for me to copy stuff over. Both ways. And from the Galaxy S10 to the Mac or vice versa. This has never been a problem for most techs. It's just about making it easier for older folks... who would be better served by Apple products (because they're basically easier).

I follow that logic as far as computers today could not simulate this reality. Computers in the far future? What if — and this is a complete ass-pull, so feel free to disregard it as such, but what if — 25,000 years in the future long after the world's dead and moved on, someone pulled some information on the way we were and made a simulation of it, and you're one of them, with no memories of life outside, experiencing what this ancient civilisation experienced?

So maybe science types feel they can rule out the explanation because computer science as they know it doesn't have the capability. But what about alien tech? Future tech?

I'm not a huge fan of the "simulation" theory, but I think ruling it out because it exceeds what we can do now is a bit silly.

Saints Row 3 was awesome, but Saints Row 4 reused the same city and added super powers. Also awesome, actually — I suspect the problem is, the ending erased the possibility of a proper sequel, so you have the "new one" feeling like some bad AI slop.

The first one was Xbox only IIRC, and kinda trash by today's standards. It had some weird quirks like you couldn't just get ammo, you had to get more guns or something. And it was harder than it needed to be. The second one improves things a bit, but it still hasn't aged very well. You can get them cheap on sale on Xbox, if you have that. The second one is on PC but doesn't work well, so I imagine in this post-Windows world, for those of us who have moved on, it's even more inaccessible without an Xbox.

I'm honestly not surprised. Any group of people who are given power over another will attract the type of people who abuse and exploit.

Cannot get into BG3. I bought it because I was like, "hey, D&D game that supports Mac!" and it's funny, I know how to play it if I play a rogue. That is certainly an advantage. But turn-based RPGs don't work for me. At the table it works because the DM is your friend and you're all having a good time, everyone wants the story to go a certain way, whereas with a video game you have to "beat" the computer. It's adversarial vs friendly, and until a game can capture that, make me feel like I'm having fun... I feel like games don't 'get' D&D.

You want a game that's great for ADHD/Autism? (Well, maybe. I'm undiagnosed. Also, I don't speak for everyone.) I've been having a blast with Blue Prince. It's obtuse AF, it doesn't tell you much. It seems like a dumb puzzle game, build rooms randomly to try to get to the top. Oh, you need a key, that closet that gave you a dead end, a key, a gem, and a coin might have been useful! So you "call it a day" (quit) and start over the next day, all the rooms reset... there's no penalty for "losing" and AFAIK you can't "die" (it's not that kinda game). Note what there's 2 of in nearly every room. Note the relationship between them. Then you get a pad and paper and start writing it down... the stuff you "find" in this game is wild. I feel like I'm not smart enough to play this game. But I don't wanna look up spoilers because I'm afraid they'll give the whole thing away and it'll be over. But I also feel like I learn something with each run. Next time, I think I'm gonna look around outside as well, if I don't run out of steps (that's a whole thing but it's explained in the beginning).

Child abuse comes in many forms

Who cares? They officially support child predators. Not pedophiles who have never offended — those who actively prey upon children and have done so. Reddit says they're a protected group now, you can't even call for them to receive longer prison sentences. That's what they banned me for. AI, maybe, but upheld by a person upon appeal.

Microsoft sold the acquisition as good for consumers. Now they're doubling the price of GamePass.

Cue Jack's lack of surprise, or however the Fight Club meme goes.

A Nintendo Switch running Animal Crossing. Assume it has some kind of perpetual battery, and they can figure out how to operate it/play the game, and read our modern English.

I'm thinking they figure modern civilisation is about (or back to) fishing and farming... and that animals are intelligent. Like validating TF outta the Egyptian pantheon. You're a human but you have a dog for a neighbor, here's a koala, a gorilla, an eagle... and they all talk and wear clothes.

(Of course, if we wanna blow their minds with a game AND we can assume they can play it, why not just go straight to Cyberpunk?)

That’s what OnePlus, Nothing, and FairPhone are supposed to be about.

For privacy, I like my iPhone, but I can’t really recommend them anymore. Even with “Apple Intelligence” the keyboard is hilariously terrible. It gets a few things right and I’m wondering more and more if the ecosystem is worth it. But throwing money at Google somehow seems worse.

At least with Cyberpunk we have a number e.g. CP77

I won't believe any of this "woke Barrel" shit until Cracker Barrel opens a location in California. As I understood it, they were avoiding CA because of its civil liberties.

Outside CA, you can find a CB at every other exit off the highway, it seems like. More so in the South but they seem to operate everywhere else but CA.

Before I'm willing to even entertain the notion that CB has "gone woke," I'm gonna need to see them open a few locations in the Golden State.

I don't much care either way. They make good breakfast food, but so do I. The plumber doesn't call a plumber and pay them to do what he can do himself, so why should I go to Cracker Barrel? Same reason I don't go to burger places. I can, in fact — or at least, in my opinion, make a better burger than they can. So, firstly, I don't use American cheese, I use pepper jack. Better flavor, melts just as good, costs a little bit more, but worth it for my burger. Second, I make my burgers thicker. When I eat out it's to get food I don't know how to make or can't make as well.