No more meat

Read the following article:

By 2040, 60% of ‘meat’ won’t come from dead animals.

In as little as 200 years time it is very possible no one will be eating real meat anymore. They'll look back in horror and wonder how anyone could consume dead animals. And many people in 2219 AD will despise anyone from our era who ate meat. Their statues will be pulled down, their books will be removed from libraries etc. Or at least conceivably this will happen!

If everyone died at once

Just thinking if there were a worldwide calamity, and humanity -- almost 8 billion of us -- all died at once. And let's also suppose there's an afterlife. Suppose that would be better than an individual dying alone. I mean, almost 8 billion of us floating up to some afterlife realm or realms. 8 billion bewildered souls in telepathic communication with each other asking where are we, what is this, where do we go? Be less scary than if one just died by oneself.

I am going to die sooner or later

I am going to die sooner or later. I don't know what will happen. Whether I'll just descend into eternal nothingness -- and wouldn't that be so boring, and bizarre? It would mean our lives are absurd and all things are absurd. That our lives and all things are a joke. Or I'll ascend into some new reality. That's also bizarre. So many questions like what the heck will I experience, how will my mind states change and so on. But, regardless, death will happen to me -- it will happen to all of us. Then my questions may be answered. Either that or an eternal sleep.

An asteroid heading towards the Earth

Just thinking. Suppose an asteroid were discovered heading towards the earth and it is calculated it will hit the earth and wipe out all complex life, including humans. And suppose the impact were to occur in 9 months time. I imagine people would panic. No one would go to work. Civilisation would break down. Power would go. All the supermarkets would be quickly emptied. So, in fact, most people would die in somewhat less than 9 months?

Population growth from 10,000 BCE to today

Wow, amazing animation: Population growth from 10,000 BCE to today.

Credit: @RARohde pic.twitter.com/SLjjww0eK9

— Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill) August 9, 2019

Instant liking of others

It's funny how some people really connect. I think it happens when they share the same values, ideas, what constitutes fun etc. It could be 2 knuckleheads who think that life is all about screwing as many women as possible. Or it could be 2 people that are "woke". But there's that connection there, an immediate liking of that other individual who is so like them in so many ways.

But what about the poor unfortunates like myself who are utterly unique?

Goodreads ratings

Looking at these novels with a high goodreads rating, most of them seem to involve a fantasy element and/or taking place in a world very different from our own.

I like to read novels about ordinary people living ordinary lives (like me), but who then get plunged into extraordinary circumstances. Travel back in time millions of years, or everyone else suddenly disappearing from the planet apart from you, or suddenly becoming acquainted with an individual who is very intelligent, strange, different and enigmatic etc.

Clear my mind

Living on the coast, or in a lighthouse would clear my mind. An empathic identification with mother nature in all her majestic glory.

The Remakes of the original Resident Evil and Tomb Raider Games

I talk about my experience with the original Resident Evil and Tomb Raider games here.

Currently, I'm playing the remake of the original Resident Evil.  And a few months ago I tried playing the remake of the original Tomb Raider game called Tomb Raider Anniversary, although I only completed the first 3 levels of the latter before I got sick of playing it; a stark contrast to my experience of the original game!

Resident Evil Remake

I have to confess I'm bitterly disappointed with the Resident Evil Remake.  It's just completely lost its atmosphere compared to the original.  Before commenting further I'd just like to quote someone else who is comparing the remake to the original.  Go here.

The original is an ugly game at this stage, looking more like a prototype than anything else. The overall gameplay mechanics are sound, but the effect of some really good scares tends to get lost due to almost laughable graphics, cheesy dialogue and predictable enemies. 

The remake improves on every, repeat, every aspect of the original. It handles better, looks better and is a game that genuinely instills a sense of dread.
...
As much as the original game is loved, there are only two real reasons that players should opt to play it over the remake: 

If playing the entire series start to finish, you may want to watch the progression and improvements made between games. 

The hilariously cheesy one-liners, which are unfortunately omitted from the remake in favor of regular cheesy one-liners. The best of these one liners can be found here:Resident Evil One-liners.

This praise for the remake seems pretty much universal.  Virtually no-one prefers the original to the remake.  But I'm one of those few people.

I loved the original to bits.  The atmosphere, the haunting music, just everything.  I played it again and again and again.  With one playthrough as Jill, I only used the knife and successfully completed it.  The remake I just can't be bothered to play.  Why?

First of all the original music has disappeared.  The music was what gave the original game its atmosphere.  It was everything. It's just not the same without that music.  But, apart from the music, the original had you in the mansion, exploring room by room, it created a kind of tension and atmosphere.  The remake has you having to enter a graveyard right at the beginning that is accessed halfway up the stairs to the first floor!   It kinda breaks the atmosphere.

And the remake keeps having you come back to the mansion time and time and time again.  It feels like there's a lack of progression.  I want to continually move into new areas as I progress through the game.

The cheesy one-liners are often mentioned in the context of the original.  To be honest, when I played the original on the PlayStation one, I never noticed anything particularly cheesy about the dialogue (I was around 35 at the time).  It's often the way people speak!  I neither liked nor disliked these "cheesy" one-liners.  And I also don't like the defence items, nor the fact the zombies turn into crimson heads.  The remake is inferior to the original in every way apart from the graphics.

Tomb Raider Anniversary

The remake of the original Tomb Raider is even more of a travesty.  I've only played the first 3 levels of this "remake", but I've had enough.  First of all, it doesn't seem like a remake at all, it seems almost an entirely different game.

The first game had the occasional haunting beautiful music.  It had vast open areas to explore.  It had puzzles.  It made me feel a certain way.  Most importantly I wanted to play it.  It never felt tedious and was something to be savoured.

Compare that to the remake.  Tedious beyond belief!  Most of the time Lara seems to be climbing cliffs and jumping on different ledges etc.  In the original, most of the exploration was on foot.  And the T Rex in level 3 was absolutely awful.  I spent an eternity trying to figure out how to kill it.  By that time I'd had enough.  I would rather play the original game again any day.  And you can buy the original on steam and have it on a high resolution.  I paid a mere 99p! Looks very nice.  The only trouble is it doesn't have the blue diamonds and you can save anywhere.  So that's the main detraction.

Concluding Remark

If only these "remakes" had been real remakes but with enhanced graphics.  But others are not in agreement with me, at least for the resident evil remake.  There does seem more dissatisfaction with the Tomb Raider remake though. 

Before the Internet

I'm reading the following article:

Innocence lost: what did you do before the internet?

It says:

How did [my father] sit there all day, I wonder, without the internet to keep him company? 

In this age of uncertainty, predictions have lost value, but here’s an irrefutable one: quite soon, no person on earth will remember what the world was like before the internet.

I used to read novels, listen to music, watch TV, go out drinking. But yes, the Internet has been a Godsend. 

I hope it won't be that soon before no-one remembers!

I think I first ever used a computer in possibly 1994.  I went on a course for beginners to learn about "windows" and how to send emails etc.  I had never heard of windows at that time.  Anyway, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.  This was in stark contrast to everyone else.  I'm not even sure I successfully sent an email.  Spent a long time trying!  I never went back after that one lesson.

Got my first ever computer in December 1998, first went on the Internet in 1999.  I was blown away!  Unfortunately, I was charged per minute so my time online was strictly curtailed.  It was a dial up connection of course using up the telephone line.  Although see this blog post by me too.

Came here to fart

Jus' read the following article:

This is What Happens When You Hold in a Fart

It says:

The next time you feel a large volume of intestinal gas getting ready to do what it does, try to move to a more convenient location.

That's all very well, but suppose this happens?