Interesting Links for 27-08-2024

[andrewducker]

1. Minecraft! Meets! Bloodborne!

(tags:minecraft games horror video )

2. The gay penguins that changed how we think about same-sex love

(tags:lgbt homosexuality penguins )

3. Jaywalking Legalized in California - What It Means for Pedestrians (There's no such concept in the UK)

(tags:USA walking cars law California )

4. Don't make fun of renowned Dan Brown (possibly the finest review of all time)

(tags:review satire funny )

Comments

[simont]

#3: "If you step from a curb into the flow of traffic and an oncoming driver does not reasonably have enough time to stop to avoid striking you, [it] could mean little to no financial compensation being paid by the driver’s car insurance company for your injuries and medical bills."

Ugh. With that dire threat, you have to wonder why they needed a jaywalking law in the first place – the medical bills probably exceeded the fine anyway!

[andrewducker]

Yeah, the idea that your healthcare might depend on whose fault something is is just so dystopian.

[channelpenguin]

I don't think it's the case with actual health care here in Germany, but definitely things like grants to adapt your house, or get carers definitely can depend. I recall doing a benefit gig with my band for a young guy in a wheelchair after a fall in which it was deemed to have been his fault (no other party involved).

[foms]

This might help explain a bit: https://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7551873/jaywalking-history

[dreamaastrid]

I think this will lead to more pedestrian deaths cause so many people don't look before darting out in traffic. I live in a metropolitan area with sidewalks and crosswalks and so many people (mostly teens) insist in walking in the streets rather than on sidewalks at night wearing all black. So surprised we don't have more pedestrian deaths. And I have friends that live in Ocean City MD, a huge popular beach destination, and the official first day of summer tourist season for the locals is the day every summer a tourist (often impaired by alcohol or drugs) is hit and/or killed by a car when jaywalking.

[bens_dad]

The Dan Brown review was hard work, but at least I now know what is wrong with Brown's writing.

I'm reminded of Anthony Horowitz's Sherlock Holmes novel. The worst things about it were all in Conan Doyle (well, the crime itself might be worse than anything in Conan Doyle).
One review said that Horowitz's James Bond failed because James Bond was in it.

Clever skill to show off another author's failings, but not very nice.

[anef]

It would be unkind if Dan Brown were actually trying to write well, but I don't think he cares. Otherwise he would write better. He obviously doesn't need to write well if his books sell. (Full dislosure: I haven't read any and this doesn't encourage me!)

[andrewducker]

I've read the first page and a half of The Da Vinci Code.

And then had to stop because it was bothering me so much.

Jaywalking

[trailer_spot]

An anecdote regarding jaywalking. More than a decade ago a friend from the US I knew from LJ visited me in Germany. On some days we explored my hometown. During one walk I crossed the street away from crossroads because I thought it's nicer to walk on the other side. While she didn't outright object, she clearly hesitated a moment to follow after me. While I considered the crossing completely safe, I just assumed she was cautious to cross the street.
Only many years later I understood the concept of "jaywalking", which is obviously completely foreign to me. It then occurred to me that probably the main reason why she hesitated a bit back then was that she thought we were doing something "illegal".

[melchar]

#2 = hurt to read. The article writer commented that researchers were only 'beginning' to look into animal sexuality, showing she never heard of a major work in the field: 'Biological exuberance : animal homosexuality and natural diversity' by Bruce Bagemihl, published in 1999.

Sure, the topic was less visible 'so long ago/way back then' & social media less prevalent, but surely just a teeny bit of awareness on the topic would have turned up one of the seminal works in the field? It's a bug-crusher of a book at almost 800 pages. The gathered research & observation on 450 species of animals make for fascinating reading, establishing that homosexuality turns up as a part of survival strategies across the animal kingdom.