I don’t want a big loud box near a tv.

With mATX or ITX you can make a shockingly small and attractive computer; examples include this mATX case or this ITX case. People have even designed 3d printable cases, plans for laser cut/CNC acrylic and metal, etc… If that’s not small or classy enough, the miniPC market has really taken off and depending on how modest your needs are, you can get by with things like Zimaboards or go all the way to something like the MINISFORUM AI X1 Pro - a very capable machine that has an Oculink port that allows you to connect an external GPU if you need even more power.

Generally speaking you’re never driving a media PC hard enough for the fans to ramp up, but if you somehow are, just buy quality fans and/or watercooling. I can speak for Noctua fans not just being a meme; they are actually very quiet.

How would you even control it ?

I have a small keyboard with a built in trackpad. It’s a bit bigger than a TV remote but not obnoxiously so, but given you get the ability to actually write stuff in instead of using an onscreen keyboard with an IR remote it’s a worthwhile trade.

This post is odd because you’re talking about on-rails shooters but Call of Juarez is not one of them (it’s an FPS).

voting with their wallet I’m onboard with your argument but I really don’t think voting with your wallet works in cases like this. When there are so few players in a system and they’re all colluding to make things worse, there is no vote.

I am deeply frustrated that people aren’t getting more involved. I link them to groups, I show them the consumer rights wiki, I talk to people about getting involved politically at the local level… So few people care. Things are going to have to get much worse before they take action, best thing we can do is have the framework in place for when they finally wake up.

Can you describe an example of detailed mass surveillance that has not been used against us?

I am not willing to trade a modicum of safety for one of the greatest privacy and ownership violations of all time.

Most days the kids are such beautiful creatures. They are learning, experimenting, cuddling, playing games with me… I wish I got to see more of them but I’m in office 5 days a week with a long commute, and we’re all feeling it.

But every once in a a while there is the day where they smear an entire dresser with zinc cream and that shit takes ages to wash off. Or they piss on you the moment you remove them from the bath. Or they spend an hour fighting you about going to bed so you just throw them into their bedroom and use your body to block their door until they get too tired from banging it and screaming and pass out; really started to appreciate my Steam Deck after that.

You remember these events well because they don’t happen often. You don’t remember every time you cuddled watching a movie, worked on a project together, made food together, or felt proud of them, because that’s pretty much every day.

I will add the caveat that this is for “normal” kids. I used to volunteer for a few groups for seriously disabled children and you didn’t see too many couples at those events… Usually one parent wants to keep the child while the other says they cannot effectively raise them, and you can guess how that goes. Having spent a lot of time with those kids and seeing the damage families suffer because of it, I do not suggest taking on the challenge of serious disability unless you are able to secure substantial material assistance; it’s far lonelier and harder than you can imagine.

Do you think that generated depictions of the sexual abuse of children are ok in any context?

False equivalence.