HIPAA applies to whichever entity consciously chooses to move/store data.

Generally, after a patient downloads a healthcare-related item, they are that entity - and as the patient, they have full control/decisions about where it goes, so they can’t violate their own HIPAA agreement even if they print it and scatter it to the wind.

BUT, if your operating system “decides” to upload that document without the user’s involvement, then Microsoft is that entity - and having not received conscious permission from the patient, would be in violation. It’s an entirely different circumstance if the user is always going through clear prompts, but their more recent OneDrive Backup goal has been extremely forceful and easy to accidentally turn on - even to the point of being hard to disable. As you said, encryption has nothing to do with it.

The moment a lawyer saves their medical records in a way that unintentionally and without their consent uploads them to OneDrive, they have a pretty solid case to charge Microsoft for a HIPAA violation.

It’s a way of verification and trust in a system where no one trusts any central authority, but does trust an algorithm. That seems too specific to ever actually be useful. People will end up relying on services or instructions that make the system digestible and usable for them, but as long as they still rely on those giving the instructions, the same problem arises.

And when an example case is brought up, it’s always one central authority that is pushing the idea - and could achieve the same more easily and without power waste using a central server.

Eating and drinking on set is notoriously difficult to pull off. You see one take, but the crew has done about 17 takes of the same scene. Even with chefs on hand, they can’t bloat the actors up with food. Hence why in most dinner scenes, there’s a lot of cutting and mocked chewing but little goes in their mouth.

Man I’m still trying to get one part for a gun that only spawns in a certain kind of weekly mission.

I log on, see that mission isn’t available, log off. Such engage, much gameplay.

If this helps the flame train derail a bit:

Most Source engine game trailers, like Half-Life 2, are “pre-rendered”. If you record a sequence of gameplay as a “demo” (kb-level file that records player movement in a level) then you can record that demo into a video at a much slower rate than the gameplay, capturing every frame; as well as add camera motions to it. There are guides for individuals to do this using the “startmovie” command.

It’s just a logical way to ensure the video is seamlessly presented, especially since framerate optimization comes late in development.

I’ve pretty much abandoned Xbox over this issue, and I’ve been an apologist for them for a lot of things.

The third item, while it fits the narrative, was a quote directed more towards the option of subscription services. It wasn’t really directed to gamers, but to shareholders to explain low Ubisoft+ numbers, basically saying people may need time to warm up to the idea.

Considering how many interesting indies I’ve played on Game Pass (and, ever since Tango was murdered, PS+) I think there’s merit to that (just not on Ubisoft’s platform). There’s probably dozens of old PS1 classics we never would have tried out if our local Blockbuster hadn’t had them available for rent. I mean heck, $60 was a LOT back then for those polygons.

If they add any patches, then Series S owners won’t be able to install it at all, much less own any other games.

Some things to say back to this:

Most people now have the console they prefer, and it’s lasting them. They don’t necessarily need new consoles. This is true EVEN if that console is a PS4, Xbox One, or Switch. They don’t get everything, but a surprising number of major releases still come to all those destinations.

It’s still nicely convenient to have consoles for less setup and configuration. Some people manage really complex problems for their work and home projects already - a desktop computer may be beyond their tolerance.

I do not enjoy Soulslikes, but I really liked Tunic. Some things it has going for it:

• It is extremely nonverbal, but what it does give you is invested in helping you figure out a path to success. By intention, that’s not always obvious. You may need to work out for yourself when to dodge or to block.
• The atmosphere is bright and cheery, though it has its spooky and atmospheric bits.
• The camera is top down, so you don’t need to manage the camera while playing.
• Dying is not very punishing. You lose a bit of currency, which you can retain at the same spot; and that currency isn’t often critical to progress

I’m a little surprised it’s that low. I mean, considering their cloud and hardware divisions they’d be getting, shouldn’t Valve pay a bit more than $16m to buy Microsoft?

Whatever you think of Nintendo, it’s not encouraging that Google could end up being responsible for a leak of something put up on YouTube privately.

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The most agonizing debate is one you agree with, but not nearly to the extreme degree of the position you’re responding to.

There are some nuts out there that literally only buy a certain gun because “it’s in Call of Duty and it’s cool.” Worse, this demographic are not likely to be responsible gun owners - they are not buying for any perceived need. They don’t lock their guns correctly, or keep ammo separate. Those guns are the type most likely to be stolen for use in a mass shooting (or used by their owners). Arguably, those guns are designed to appeal to this exact crowd, not serve as a functional tool or hobby item.

That said, there are much better targets for gun legislation than “scary looking black guns” or Call of Duty’s choice of theme.

Even if I side with the community on the turnout, I feel like a community manager’s job is to represent the company’s interests to some degree. Kind of like a defense lawyer.

They shouldn’t go as far as lying to people or making bad promises, which can make it a tough job, but they definitely shouldn’t be siding with the players against the company, or the internal employees are catching flak from both sides.

They are announcing that they are ready to announce the announcing of a future announcement of further announcements.

The biggest stumble seems to be from releasing without the requirement initially, and making the game available for sale in non-PSN countries.

Other studios like EA and Microsoft have traditionally required their accounts on online games since release; but unless I’m wrong, those accounts are also available in more countries.

I’ve still not really seen issues in just including options for total overthrowing of difficulty. I’ve enjoyed some hard games that have prompted frustration from some Dark Souls players; eg, Furi, Tunic, . The options menu include capabilities for infinite stamina and invincibility, and I just ignored them.

Even though I can beat those games without those options, I consider them better for having them because each player plays differently. It is not a tremendous ask for the developer to decide on the best way to address playability concerns, even if they go for something extremely simple that removes challenge and lets them explore the world.

On topic: A new Spongebob-Souls game is out called “Another Crab’s Treasure”. It has positive reviews, and its own implementation of this (aside from being generally a bit easier) seems to be an options menu box which gives your crab a gun.

One ethics quandary is AI child porn. It at least provides a non-harmful outlet for an otherwise harmful act, but it could also feed addictions and feel insufficient.