Were you thinking “I can’t believe this is WoW” or “I can’t believe how good this looks?”
Because, I haven’t experienced the first one. To me, once I’m in the game, there really seems to be an amazing consistency in how things look. After a while things look “realistic” but in a “realistic for WoW” way. Like, obviously Orcs and Demons are not realistic, but the consistency is so strong that how things look, and move, and behave is so strong and predictable.
The trouble with photorealism is that you very easily stumble into the uncanny valley. In addition, something that often looks “photorealistic” today will look really dated in a few years.
If you go with artfully styled games, it can actually be much harder. You need to adopt a consistent artistic style and have that style be used by many different artists. Unlike with photorealism, there isn’t always going to be a reference available. You have to watch that over time, and as the scope of the game grows, the style remains consistent. But, when it’s done well, it can be amazing.
One of my favourites in terms of artful styling is the game Interstate '76. It came out at a time when full motion video cutscenes were the style of the day. You’d have low resolution graphics, and then come in with a VHS-quality cutscene with real actors and real sets. Then back into low resolution graphics. Interstate '76 chose an amazing artistic style, then did in-engine cutscenes, which kept the style consistent.
The other master of this, IMO, is World of Warcraft. It must be a gargantuan undertaking to have a game with that many different models and to have a consistent style for all of them, but they mostly do. They often do out-of-engine cutscenes, but their style is so consistent that their cutscenes just look like even more detailed shots from that same world.
Why does gravity cause two things to attract? Why does the strong nuclear force hold protons together? Why is the speed of light 3 x 10^8 m/s and not half that, or 1000x as fast?
It’s often possible to figure out how certain initial values of the universe cause it to behave in certain ways. But, as for why those initial values are the ones that they are, that’s like asking about angels dancing on the head of a pin.
But we’re not talking about getting money in the future. We’re talking about getting full ownership of a house in the future, while being able to live in it for the full 50 years that it is being paid off.
The bank also isn’t talking about getting money in the future, they’re getting a steady revenue stream for 50 years.
So, I don’t see how this really applies to 50 year mortgages.
Poor timing? You bought at the absolute peak of something known as The United States Housing Bubble. Your experience is not typical. You’re one of the unlucky people who had the absolute worst timing possible.
The idea of using a home as part of your retirement should be a lie, but unfortunately for the vast majority of people it isn’t. The world would be much better off if people only got what they paid back when they sold their houses. But, the reality is that most people have been absurdly lucky and their homes have been going up faster than all but the best stocks on the stock market. You just happened to be someone who jumped on the ride at exactly the wrong time.
Normally that only works if you have DRM that locks the games to your platform, so that people don’t get the hardware at a discount then use it to run someone else’s software.
But, in Valve’s case, it really has no competitors in the PC gaming space. That might not last forever, but it almost certainly will last as long as this PC / console is around.
AFAIK it has to be like that because you can’t copyright a recipe. But, you can copyright the rest. The other reason is SEO. Dump as many keywords into the text as possible, and the recipe shows up near the top of the search results.
What I like are tools that can find the recipe in the text and extract it. The one in the Paprika app works really well.
At least “zero talent” makes more sense.
There are countless stories of people spotting a teacher at a nightclub, or someone they know from church at some fetish event. Just because you don’t expect to see someone somewhere doesn’t mean you won’t recognize them when you see them.
In a movie? A TV show? A comic book? In the golden age? Bronze age? Silver age? Platinum age? Modern age? Copper age? Chrome age? Plastic age?
And in the real New York people are obsessed with superheroes even though they’re not real. Imagine how obsessed they’d be if those heroes were real and could be spotted out in the wild. I mean sure, you’d probably have some Gothamites / Metropolites who were too cool to care. But, you’d also have obsessed fans staking out the places where these heroes were likely to appear.
And, for Henry Cavil’s stunt, people didn’t notice him or didn’t recognize him. But, he was in Times Square. The place people would stake out to try to find him would be red carpet premieres of things. Similarly, Superman superfans would stake out The Daily Planet. Even if they didn’t know he was Clark Kent and worked there, they’d know that he always seemed to be around whenever Lois Lane was in danger.
It’s not Eel Jelly. It’s actually Jellied Eel. The difference is that with a name like “Eel Jelly” it would seem to be a dish made by adding Eel to Jelly. But Jellied Eel is actually eel cooked in such a way that it becomes jellied. Eels are naturally high in collagen, so you don’t need anything special to make them jellied.
Back in the day that was a bonus because eels were poor people food, and the fact they became jellied resulted in a bit of natural preservation, which was important for poor people’s food in the days before refrigeration.
As for the spices used, I imagine before colonization it was whatever naturally grows in the UK for the peasants, and whatever grows naturally in Europe for the nobility, who were often tied to or from European noble houses. Here’s an article on some of the things that can be foraged in the UK. I imagine that a lot of the spices that used to be used are no longer used. They were probably replaced with better spices that don’t have a bitter aftertaste, or have a stronger pleasant taste.
What about the reed instruments where you have to give your instrument oral, and it’s your tongue and lip control which determines the note you produce?
You also make music nose by beating animal hide with sticks.
Or it was New York city and nobody cared.
If Jennergirl’s disguise was just a mask, and she wore spandex while fighting crime, I think people would connect the dots pretty quickly.
I think both are a bit absurd.
Sure Batman covers half of his face and disguises his voice. But, both Batman and Bruce Wayne regularly appear in newspapers. Bruce Wayne may be reclusive for a billionare, but he still regularly goes to high society / charity events and gets his picture taken. I don’t know if you could identify Batman by the similarlities fo their chins alone. But, they’re the same height, same weight, etc. too. Plus, why is this billionaire ridiculously jacked? Why does he frequently have injuries? And yeah, Batman disguises his voice, but he doesn’t put on what seems like a different natural voice. He doesn’t do an accent or something. He just adds a bit of a growl to it.
People are obsessed with superheroes as it is, and they’re fictional. Imagine how obsessed people would be with Batman if he were real. Take the obsession people have over celebrities and athletes and dial it way up. Even if a chin isn’t a lot to go on, people would be obsessing over his chin and lips and neck, looking for any identifying features.
Superman is even more ridiculous. It’s just glasses. Maybe his hair is a bit different, but his head and face are almost unchanged. And, AFAIK, it’s not even like his glasses have real lenses in them. If he did something like wear contacts with a strong prescription and glasses with an opposite but strong prescription so that the glasses completely distorted his eyes, that might do it. But, he’s basically just wearing frames.
And again, there’s the body. Why does the nerdy reporter have a body like he spends every spare moment in the gym, and yet he apparently doesn’t even play any sports? Why does Superman almost never save him, but is always saving his colleague at the Daily Planet? It isn’t like Batman where Clark Kent’s image is in the newspaper all the time. But, there are plenty of people who know Clark Kent well, and also spend a lot of time around Superman.
The one thing I can see going for Superman is that it’s not clear that he actually has a secret identity. Batman goes around with a mask, which hints that there’s something to see under that mask. Superman seems to have nothing to hide. People might assume that when he’s not out saving lives, he’s at home, or he’s recharging his powers somehow, or returning to his home planet, or something else. Why would this super-being have a day job?
But, surely any Superman fanatics who wanted to spot him in person, or wanted to know more would spend all their time hanging out at the Daily Planet building. If there’s one place you’re likely to find Superman in Metropolis it’s near the Daily Planet. So, while these superfans are staking out the Daily Planet, wouldn’t they notice this guy in a suit who has Superman’s build, Superman’s haircut, and most importantly, Superman’s face?
Not “Public Domain”. That has a specific meaning in copyright law. It’s about creative works that are owned by the public and not subject to copyright.
What the judge decided is that their outputs are Public Records: “qualified as public records subject to the state’s Public Records Act”.
What was that?!
Flying saucer.
Oh.