It is July.
Last week marked a historic low point in terms of reproductive rights, as the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
And while the U.S. experiment in democracy still has more personal freedoms than other countries, it makes celebrating Independence Day a bit hard with mixed emotions, and I would not judge anyone if they would rather not celebrate.
This decision will have major consequences. People will die.
And on that happy note,1 let’s get to some roundup.
Off The Beaten Path2
I received an email from a website I used in 2020 to track availability of IKEA furniture. If you’ve used IKEA’s website before, you’ll know it’s a mess when it comes to knowing if items are available. Even if you sign up to be notified, the chance of actually being notified is LOW. Well, thankfully a developer made their own website that was 1000 times more functional than what IKEA provided. Unfortunately, they need to move on because it shouldn’t be left to one developer to do this on their time. Thank you dongst!
Reading
Apple’s 12 Most Embarrassing Product Failures
Today I learned that Apple worked open platform multimedia hub that Bandai Namco tried to turn into a gaming console.
Leading toy maker and game developer Bandai stepped up to the plate, evolving Apple’s “Pippin Power Player” prototype into the Pippin Atmark game console in Japan and Pippin @World in the US. Running on a PowerPC 603 32-bit processor with 6MB of RAM, the Pippin Atmark/@World wasn’t the most powerful system, but it did have some innovative features, including an NTSC/PAL switch, a boomerang-shaped controller, games that could be run on a Mac desktop, and support for a full-size keyboard.
Upgrading from Google Hangouts to Google Chat
Google Hangouts is finally no more. Google’s messaging journey has been a confusing one and I’m glad I just don’t use them anymore, my life has improved without them. I remember when they forced Google Voice into Hangouts, and it was just the WOOOOORST.
Google Expands Carbon Emissions Calculator for Gmail, Docs
The original “carbon footprint calculator” was released by BP in 2004. After decades of climate change denial, fossil fuel companies decided to pivot to the notion of personal responsibility, deflecting the environmental focus away from themselves. The plan worked pretty well. We’re still constantly talking about individual carbon footprints— even though climate change is a problem that cannot be fixed at the individual level.
For massive companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, I think it’s important to understand how much cost data has on the environment. This website you’re reading right now has an impact on the environment3.
Lake Mead Could Soon Form a ‘Dead Pool’ as Water Levels Drop to Extreme Lows
John Oliver did a good piece on water shortages in the Southwest, and basically the summary is, people don’t live in reality.
But hey, sometimes record droughts lead to finding ancient cities?
Video Games
Thanks to fans, the weirdest official Doom game is now playable on Windows | Ars Technica
All I know about the Doom RPG was that it made a canonical tie between Doom and Wolfenstein, which, is kind of cool. I’m glad we’ve got some cool perseveration projects working like this.
Did I mention Eastward was my GOTY 2021?4 It is, I love it, and I love this deep dive into the art design.
Are you like me, and consider yourself a Pepsiman Stan? Dive in to this fantastic documentary about the legacy of the character, the creation the commercials (presented in the highest quality yet). Did you know Industrial Light and Magic was behind the CGI of Pepsiman? I didn’t!
#bringbackpepsiman
#NEAT
The Floppotron has been upgraded to 3.0. Be awed by its power.
Hippos are terrifying, but adorable, but also NOPE.
That’s all for this week in roundupnanigans. I’ll be back next week with something. Maybe.. probably.
̵̡̛̼̯̖̱͓͈̟̗̱̦̜̺̬̹̬̟̘̳͔̘̯̱̫̅͛̏͑̋̒̍̀̈́̎͑͆͂͗̈́̃̒̿̑͊͊̈́̐̍̓͐͋̔̎͝ͅ
- Jared, I don’t think you understand what “happy” means. ↩
- Look I’m work shopping section headers okay. They can’t all gems.
- Stay tuned for the offline edition of the Jarbochov Weekly Roundup. Subscribe today by sending a postcard to: D̶̡̧͉̳̮̙͓̠̲͙̏̂͌͋̚̚͜͠e̴̡̨̧̢̧̪̞͙̼͍̻̫̝̪͍̯̤̪̥̯̼̤̳̹̤͍̙̼͙̥͒̌̃̐̈̄̂̈̿̉̊̍͋͑̒̉̆̑̊̽̔̚̕͘̕͜͝ä̶̖̭͖͉̘͙̟́̀͋̈͌͗̐̏͐́͝t̴̖̂̏̈̽͋͒͠h̸͕̓͛̿̏̑̓͗͗͑̃̐̎̀̕ ̸̨͎̭̭̣͚̥͎̯̠͉͖̮̥̘̠͇̯͔̜͈̜̮̥̹͖̔̊̂̓̍̓̌̑͑̅̀̇̇̑̎̈́̀̆̅̂̉̽͗̓̄͊̕̚͠͠ͅc̴̘͉̻̜͊͑̈́͛͑͛̅͑̀́̀̽̿̓̓̄͑̏̾̈͑͑͗͑͛̊́͒̚͘̕͠ͅọ̸̡̡̡̖̜͍̳̲͍̭̜̜̺̼̞͔̔̊̄̃̄̔̂͗͛̌̆̀̎͛͑̍̾̍̓̀͐̔̔̈̏̊̚͝ͅṁ̷̧̡͙̙̘̘̝͓͔̟͍͇̠̬̀̈͛̎̀͑͊̀̃͑͌̑͛̈́̓̾̽͜ͅe̴̥͈̬̤͔̜͚͗͛̌͊͆̓̈̾̒̊͒̐̐͑͐̾̑s̵̢̢̢̢̛̪͇̤̗̩̼̭̬̰̰̥̗̘̙̗̟͖̹͚̠͉̦͎̟̘̻̞̣̽͊́͌̀̏̉͂̄̓͛̕͜ ̵̡̡̢̨̗̩̰̯͔̯̤̳̘̫̞͙̜̲̭͈̘̺̮̗͇͚͇͓̝̙̖̺̞̉̎̈́̀͐͒́͂̈́̐͘̕͜ͅf̵̡̛͔͚̞̩̈͂̀̂͑̔̔̀̒̿͋̓̓́̚͝ő̴̭̲̘̬̼̭̖̾̄̇̚͠͝r̴̛̗͉̻̣͖͍̹̲̗̘͙̝̬̼̰͉͈̙̰̘̥̙̍̎̈̋͛͒̈́͋̀̐̇͆̋̇͐͆͊͑͗̀̃͘͘̚͜͠͠ ̶̢̨̻͇̭͙̤̥͔̻͖̳̮̺͉͒̋̈̚ͅư̴̟̻͓͓̻̩̬͈͔̘̭̤̙̤͇̼͚̬̺̞̓̃̊̃͊̄͗̏̀̾͜ͅs̷̢̡̡̡̢̼̹̝̙͔͍̬͉̦̰̘̺͍͚̤͖͕͕̱͓̰̿̌́͛͊̌̓̓͘̚͜͜͝ ̶̧̧̧͙͙̘̘̫̹̹̤̻̰̣̟͛͆̐̋̈̑̈́̎͂̄͝ͅa̴̢̧̘̤̳̥̱͎͓̮͎̞̪͎̳̻̳̭͉̟̐͐̎̌͂̂͒̏̈̏̅̅̓̓͋́̇̏͝͠ͅl̴̨̨̡̢̧̛̛͉̠̦̞̻̭͎̤̬̼͔̻͇̬̰̼̯̮̖̪̫͙̤̯̫̥̞̹̏͗̈́͆̀̐̔̈́͒̄̊͗́̎̽͒͌̐͑͗̍̏͘̕̕̕͝͝͠͝ͅͅļ̵̞̺̤̭̱͕̠̣̞̳̻͎̘̔̅͂͋̇̓̽͛͊̎́͑̎̚͘̕͜͠ͅ ↩
- No because I haven’t written about games in a while. I started drafting some quick thoughts on some recent games but then just stopped. If you want to read them let me know. ↩
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