Into the Heart of Borneo and In Trouble Again by Redmond O’Hanlon.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/123474/into-the-heart-of-borneo-by-redmond-ohanlon/

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/123475/in-trouble-again-by-redmond-ohanlon/

To be clear, O’Hanlon was a natural history book REVIEWER, before all this. His editor decided, in a fit of whimsy, to pack him up and send him to Borneo for two months.

"As a former academic and a natural history book reviewer I was astonished to discover, on being threatened with a two-month exile to the primary jungles of Borneo, just how fast a man can read.

Powerful as your scholarly instincts may be, there is no matching the strength of that irrational desire to find a means of keeping your head upon your shoulders; of retaining your frontal appendage in its accustomed place; of barring 1,700 different species of parasitic worm from your bloodstream and Wagler’s pit viper from just about anywhere; of removing small, black, wild-boar ticks from your crutch with minimum discomfort (you do it with Sellotape); of declining to wear a globulating necklace of leeches all day long; of sidestepping amoebic and basillary dysentery, yellow and blackwater and dengue fevers, malaria, cholera, typhoid, rabies, hepatitis, tuberculosis and the crocodile (thumbs in its eyes, if you have time, they say)."

The book is an absolute delight and when he survived, returned, and submitted it, his reward was to be sent to the Amazon for FOUR months.

He did a third book in the Congo which is not a light and friendly read. I’m glad I read it, but it’s absolutely horrifying on multiple levels.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/123476/no-mercy-by-redmond-ohanlon/

His 4th book, Trawler, isn’t as morose as No Mercy, but it’s not light and friendly either. Basically “Deadliest Catch: The Book”.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/123477/trawler-by-redmond-ohanlon/

I’ve said this for years… There was no “gaming crash”, people just started playing games on the C-64.

Happened with me in FFVII back in the day… Doing well, had to take a 2 week business trip, got back… “Wait, did I just GET to this town or was I LEAVING this town?” No clue what I was doing, I may have just started over…

It depends on what you mean by “assault rifle”. The “technically correct is the best kind of correct” definition is a semi-automatic rifle with a select fire switch capable of full auto, burst fire, and semi-auto.

Those are HEAVILY restricted at the Federal level. To be clear “restricted” doesn’t mean “illegal”. If you’re willing to jump through the correct hoops and pay the correct fees, you CAN get one, expect to spend upwards of $20,000 to $30,000 in the process.

Now, if you mean the knee-jerk definition of “black scary semi-automatic rifle” like an AR-15… The laws on that vary greatly state by state. The Supreme Court will likely have a national ruling on it this year. June is going to be fun because that’s when all their decisions get released.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/01/litigating-gun-rights-an-interview-with-pete-patterson/

States like California or Maryland? You’re going to have a bad day getting an AR-15. Texas? Yee-haw!

https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/which-states-have-assault-weapons-bans/

Even in the days of memory cards you could back up saves to other memory cards…

Yeah, but you don’t give pirated goods as gifts. 😉

I still have the OG Advance Wars carts for my GBA.

Reddit killed the app I used.

I picked up Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot for my kid for Christmas. $60 still after coming out in 2023.

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/advance-wars-1-plus-2-re-boot-camp-switch/

(* “My kid” - He’s 29, he should be buying his own games! LOL.)

The Switch 2 is the first console I’ve just outright skipped in… well… years now. I guess since the Wii U?

Just every piece of news about it as it was coming out made it sound less and less appealing…

$70 games (that never get discounted because Nintendo.)

Games aren’t “games”, they’re download keys.

Special SD cards that are more expensive.

Microphone support requires a subscription after 1 year.

Charging $10 for a hardware demo that should be included, like Desk Job on the Steam Deck.

And, like you say, the remote detonation option, which is burning legitimate players:

https://www.gadgetmatch.com/nintendo-switch-2-lawsuit-bricked-consoles/

Generally with new hardware it’s “Hey, what’s not to like?”

With the Switch 2 it’s more “What is there to like?”

Everyone ignores GenX and we worked really hard to make that happen. 😉

I did the math… 48% of my time is pre-scheduled meetings.

“Accomplishment? Well, I haven’t quit this fucking job yet…”

We will enter a period where you aren’t allowed online unless you present a government issued identification as proof of age and/or national origin.