Man those games are great. I recently-ish tried out one of the decompiled versions of the original after the source code leaked. It’s still a lot of fun

What you describe is a huge part of vehicle racing in general. Getting into a flow state is fast. If you can stress an opponent out enough by threatening to overtake or even just keeping up, you can very often push them to start taking bigger risks and to drop out of that flow state

Funnily enough, if you do really well in a specific mode of some of the Wipeout games, you do indeed get a rating of “zen”

Funny you should say that, they actually caused one in Moscow just over a week ago (October 31st)

It seems to me like Ukraine is focussing its efforts on military targets and oil production, though. Russia’s oil industry has been getting absolutely hammered, to the point where it has had to start importing fuel

I can’t necessarily offer an answer here, but I can give you a bound at least. I was able to find this 1703 geography of the Kingdom of Naples that explicitly calls Italy a boot, so “some time before 1703” can be said for sure

Forma una Penisola, à guisa di uno Stivale, fi come l’Italia tutta fù meditata da Strabone, e da altri Geografi di rigo

Machine translated:

It forms a peninsula, like a boot, just as all of Italy was studied by Strabo and other renowned geographers.

I’m fairly sure the Strabo bit means “we’ve known it was this shape since Strabo” rather than “Strabo said it was boot-shaped”

To speculate a little more, I think the style of boot that Italy looks like started off as riding shoes developed in 10th century Iran (heels are good for staying in stirrups, apparently). If that is correct then it can’t be earlier than the 10th century since there weren’t boots that Italy looked like

I thought I was being so clever making the connections of what I could do with that and it turns out I would actually have been

If I had a lot more patience it would be cool to try to recreate one of those slide reels as panels around the pumpkin

It is, yes! I think I should have simplified the hearthian’s design more to make them clearer, but I’m pleased with it overall

Thanks!

He already has been, the amount of money Lockheed Martin has missed out on due to countries turning away from the F-35 is eye-watering

Both, based on IFW Kiel’s numbers. Military aid was about even until the end of Biden’s term, Europe generally provided a bit more non-military. The US sent a huge amount right at the end of Biden’s term. Since then, the US has sent basically nothing and Europe has mostly covered the shortfall

deleted by creator

That price includes a whole bunch of stuff besides the actual tank. To quote the Czech Ministry of Defence (machine-translated):

The purchase price of 44 tanks includes self-propelled and anti-mine protection systems, as well as integrated logistics support including spare parts, support management, documentation and training.

So basically it’s 44 tanks plus a massive service and supply contract to keep the tanks running properly

I appreciate the recommendation! Unfortunately the keyboard I’ve got is very old and does not have a MIDI output. I don’t mind learning the old fashioned way though! It got me through the other instruments

Ask and ye shall receive

Although apparently my cat is laying claim to it today

Blues and rock are my comfort zones, and I can happily get along with most genres of jazz and metal that aren’t ultra-technical. I can do some passable funk

Guitar is what I’m best at, I’m decent on bass, and I’m complete dogshit on keyboard but working to change that situation. I technically also own a little reed flute that I bought from a whittler at a winter solstice festival that I know how to play the Shrek theme and Darude’s Sandstorm on

If you play guitar, bass, or piano/keyboard, we’re having a jam session. Otherwise, board games! Flashpoint is a cool one, it’s easy to pick up and it’s cooperative

Most of the Nordic countries do not have those. Norway has a lot, Denmark has a little, the others have nothing significant

Anecdotally I would say that London specifically, rather than the UK as a whole, has either an unusually high population of foxes or a unusually bold one. I’ve never seen so many out in the open as there

Thank you for adventuring responsibly! I’m glad you had a good time here

I see this as even more reason to use my idea