In 1983, Atari created one of the first 3D filled polygon games I, Robot. You play as a robot that gains sentience and rebel against big brother by turning red squares to blue and destroying big brother’s eye.
Fast forward, and Atari has paired with Jeff Minter to re-create this odd classic with Minter’s classic trippy style. I half wonder if the idea for this came when both Minter and many of the Atari folks were at Portland Retro Gaming Expo in 2024.
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:36-39
When faced with cancer and prayed the rosary, I immediately related to this passage. Is this really what must happen? Is this really the end? Why are things happening this way? Can you take this cup away from me?
I’m afraid and distraught. I know that pain and suffering are coming. What pain would I endure? Would I have major surgery? Would treatment leave me debilitated or handicapped in some way? If it didn’t work – would I still be facing a slow, painful death even after all the treatments?
Jesus knew what was coming and had publicly predicted his death many times – but now the time is here and it is crushing Him. There was comfort knowing that I could take all these things and bring them to Jesus – who knew exactly how hard facing death was. Especially when it seemed there must be some other way. Surely the Father could think of another way? Why would God let this happen?
Jesus could have brought down a legion of angels, raised and fed an army, and even brought back the dead. He could easily have overthrown the invading Romans, shown his glory to the temple officials, and become a ruler of the world. He would be the greatest ruler Israel, and the world, had ever known. Instead, he allowed himself to be betrayed and captured, falsely convicted by the leaders of His own people, sentenced to death, and given over to one of the most brutal and humiliating criminal deaths in the Roman Empire.
Instead, the kingdom of God was going to be brought about in whole new way. We, his humble creations and children, were going to be participate with the Trinity itself. We wouldn’t just witness to the acts of God like in the past – God wants to dwell in and work through us. God wants to adopt heirs as sons and daughters. God wants us to participate in His plans by being part of them. This great mystery is one the greatest saints and apostles have written about. Yet, even the most humble person in the world is given this invitation now – precisely because Jesus died for our sins so the Spirit could be sent to live in each of us.
Maybe Jesus knew all of this, but maybe He was simply obedient and trusted in the Father’s plans. Jesus trusted His Father’s plans would be even better than anything Jesus could do Himself – even conquering the entire world. In the end, Jesus simply said, “Not my will, but yours be done.” and in doing so – became the King of Kings who redeemed each of us and will reign forever:
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
Revelation 5:6-10
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[b] on the earth.”
There was nothing for it but to pray and know the Father can make my suffering mean something. I knew that even if this end looked completely futile, God could use it to help the world. I told Jesus I wanted to unite what I was experiencing with what he surely had to feel in Gethsemane. I prayed I might find healing and the cup may pass me over – but not my will but yours be done Father. If I were to die, I asked God to make some good come from it for someone. We are all going to die – we can let God make it mean something. God can bring purpose and meaning to even the worst tragedies in our lives.
Not my will Father, but yours be done.
In real life, the scariest things are not ghosts or ghouls – it’s running into other people alone and in a place where there is no help or law. The most horrible things can happen.
This urban explorer runs across a homeless guy in the depths of an abandoned factory at 22:00. To say he is extraordinarily lucky nothing happened is an understatement. When working with homeless, it is vitally important to understand that many suffer from serious mental health issues, could be on reality distorting drugs, and are so often assaulted that many have learned to aggressively defend themselves/attack others if someone approaches them at night. In this case, he simply backs off and leaves without incident.
Even more frightening is what he didn’t see at the time. Homeless often spend nights in groups as a safety measure. If you encounter one person, you may have just walked into a group of folks in the area. As it turns out, later in the video after he did analysis, at least one other person is seen behind a pillar he didn’t even notice and walked within 10 feet of them.
He could have very easily been robbed, assaulted, or killed. It’s a reminder that the dangers of an abandoned location are not just the mold, asbestos, toxic chemicals, and structural hazards – people can be some of the worst dangers.
Google’s CEO revealed that AI systems now generate more than a quarter of new code for its products, with human programmers overseeing the computer-generated contributions. The statement, made during Google’s Q3 2024 earnings call, shows how AI tools are already having a sizable impact on software development.
Stack Overflow’s 2024 Developer Survey, over 76 percent of all respondents “are using or are planning to use AI tools in their development process this year,” with 62 percent actively using them. A 2023 GitHub survey found that 92 percent of US-based software developers are “already using AI coding tools both in and outside of work.”
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/10/google-ceo-says-over-25-of-new-google-code-is-generated-by-ai
This new VR headset proports to fix a lot of common VR issues. It boasts 2560 x 2560 micro-OLED displays at 75hz native and a hugely wide 116º diagonal FOV that claims to have 100% edge-to-edge sharpness all in a much smaller package than current VR headsets. It comes in a dramatically lightweight 272 grams compared to 518 grames of a Quest 3.
Bigscreen Beyond 2 isn’t cheap – it costs $1019
This is a pretty good review. He’s most impressed with the groundbreakingly amazing lenses, comfort due to light weight, and using some methods that help reduce the jitter that normally makes quick left-right head turns disorienting.
The CEO is clearly a technically knowledgeable fellow who likes talking about the factors that make this device good – a wonderful change from Apple’s ‘magical’ marketing and Meta’s shotgun approach. He talks about the challenges and promises of newer approaches like foveated rendering.
Norwegian Xplorer has some great videos of driving around the extreme portions of Norway in winter. In this video, he travels through a polar vortex storm as he drives between Vadso and the extreme northeastern city of Vardø. He braves closed roads along the artic ocean. It’s pretty amazing.
Ground Score puts homeless to work cleaning up downtown. They are ‘association of informal recyclers, waste pickers, canners, dumpster divers, and other environmental workers who create and fill low-barrier waste management jobs in Portland, Oregon.’
No word on how to hire them if your business or living complex has been trashed by homeless camps – they only seem to take donations on their website. I sure hope they are helping the city and these folks connect to their communities through solid work – and not part of the growing homeless-industrial complex of Portland.
Unity Research decided to find out how hard it really is to beat modern anti-cheat systems in many FPS games. She deep dives into the history and current state of cheating.
Cheating in CS2
2,000 Brits recently took part in a study by online casino MrQ to see if AI could make a picture of the ‘average’ British cheater. They collected descriptions and then asked AI to make a composite image.
The average male cheater that seemed to be someone in his forties, with blue-grey eyes, small lips, short facial hair and little to no head hair. Someone who has a larger nose and visible frown lines.
The typical woman who cheats, apparently, has dark-haired and is in her early fifties. AI reckons that they are more likely to have a small nose and a medium-sized pout.
Links:
In the recently published ‘Financial State of the Cities 2025’, Portland is ranked in the bottom five “Sinkhole Cities” along with Honolulu, New Orleans, Portland, Chicago and New York. Not surprising when you know Portland has the highest commercial vacancy rate in the country and has had a declining population for 3 years running.
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/financial-state-of-the-cities-2025