The GHA conducted a survey that showed 11% of teenagers have stolen and wrongfully used their parents debit or credit cards to spend money on some form of in-game transaction. These in game transactions have been put under the umbrella of ‘paid for loot boxes’, and the GHA have called for the purchase of these products to be labelled as gambling – which would make it illegal for people under the age of 18 to play these games. What would that mean? What are the implications of such a law? For one, you run the risk of alienating a large chunk of your consumer base. Unfortunately, the majority of popular games are reliant on the purchase of in game add ons. As per Statista.Com, I was able to identify the top six most downloaded games on PlayStation have products and/or features behind the paywall that are near-essential for maximum experience of the software. FIFA has FIFA points, Call of Duty has weapon upgrades and skins, NBA 2K has virtual currency, so on and so forth. At their core, video games are an escapist hobby, to be played for fun either solo or socially. Putting the best features behind a paywall removes the parity and innocence that gaming was built upon. So, my personal evaluation is as follows: micro transactions have ruined gaming.

IBM defines artificial intelligence (AI) as “technology that enables computers and digital devices to learn, read, write, create and analyse.” In Klara and the Sun, the titular character is an AI designed to befriend a child. To me, this is an interesting premise as it allowed for Ishiguro to use this novel as a vehicle to present and explore a number of questions regarding morality. Is AI subhuman? Does AI deserve the same level of respect and reverence as ‘real’ people? If an AI displays feelings, sadness, anger, regret and the like, are these feelings valid or just simply programming? I don’t ask these questions with the intention of them being a load of annoying rhetoricals. I ask because these are all questions I asked myself while I was reading this brilliantly reading novel. I felt sorry for Klara, I related to Klara. We all want friends; we all want to be loved and accepted. If we’re supposed to believe that technology is as smart as they tell us it is, I don’t see why Klara doesn’t deserve the exact same.

A classmate of mine told me this movie made him cry and I laughed at him. I just found it funny, and to be honest, a little bit of toxic masculinity never hurt no one. Okay, maybe it has, but that isn’t the point. Maybe I’m just being harsh, in theory this movie is sad, a young man dying from either starvation, dehydration or being poisoned. Or all three. And for what it’s worth, it’s decently written and shot. My issue is the pretentious main character, ‘Oh look at me I’m so rich, I graduated damn near at the top of my class! Let me set fire to all my money and go live like a hobo because I’m so much better than all this!” We f*cking get it, mate. F*ck off. There’s nothing I hate more than a self-indulgent, up his own arse main character who ends up the most annoying thing about the movie he’s supposed to be the hero of. Tell you what, Mr “Supertramp”, there ain’t nothing heroic about dying from poisonous seeds. I should probably sign off by saying something good about this movie. I liked how it was his sister narrating instead of some lonely love interest he left behind; it gave the narrative even more of an emotional weight and didn’t feel cliché at all. Also, has William Hurt ever played a likeable character?

Pretentious d*ckhead, btw.

When I die, I am going to hell and my eternal punishment will be having to sit around and read “1984” until the end of time. Honestly, is there a more over referenced or overly discussed novel than “1984”? Listen. Despite the tone of this post, I actually don’t have an issue with Orwell. I think he’s a brilliant writer and his works are still as just as relevant now as they were back then, so that counts for something – counts for a lot, even. Thing is, that’s the issue, his works are still super relevant which means there’s no escaping them, it means every walk of life I’ll come across some wise guy who’ll ask me, ‘have you read 1984, bro?’’ and when I tell him I have, he’ll start telling me how it’s so relevant to the world we live in, and how Orwell was a genius and predicted the future. Me, being the polite guy I am, won’t tell him how sick of “1984” discourse I am. Or how annoying I find it that the most famous reality TV show in the world cri

bbed its name from a novel that was WRITTEN AS A CAUTIONARY TALE. F*CK. Is me writing a blog post about a novel that I’m sick of talking about the same as trying to escape a prison by setting fire to it? Excuse me while I figure out how to answer that totally non-rhetorical question in newspeak.

A modern interpretation of 1984, theobjectivestandard.com https://theobjectivestandard.com/2023/02/the-terrifying-prescience-of-george-orwells-1984/ <29/04/24>

Sometimes you watch a movie or read a book and you think to yourself, ‘wow, this protagonist really isn’t a protagonist’. Sure, the movie ends with him technically saving the day, but isn’t he the one who sent his girlfriend to literally break into someone’s house? Like think about this here for instance, right. If I push you into a river then save you from drowning, do I still get credit for saving you even though I was the one who pushed you? Okay, this metaphor got away from me a bit, what I’m saying is, if I broke my leg I could think of a million things I’d rather do than sit at my window and spy on people. Mostly because spying on people is weird as fuck. Now, this would normally be the part where I would proceed to list said ‘things’ I would rather do, but this piece has a word limit. So, you’ll have to just use your imagination. I’m not sure how to feel about Hitchcock, he’s objective very good, but he feels like one of those guys who you kind of have to think is good

Alfred Hitchcock, hollywoodreporter.com, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/exclusive-decades-old-legal-battle-33649/ <30/04/24>

because everyone else thinks he’s good so if you don’ t think he’s good you come across as contrarian and trying to be different. Guess it depends how much suspense you want with your pint of Stella. Also, ‘Disturbia’ is better than this. Take that, Sheldon Abend Trust.

This was a realistic and eloquent peek into what it means to be a black person in a white person’s world. It wasn’t pretentious or self-indulgent, there isn’t any self-pity or pandering. Just the honest story of an unfortunate outcast who wants to take control of her life. The setting of the novella, a pretentious dinner party hosted by wealthy white people brings to a mind a line from Bell Hooks, “it was one of those social gatherings where only one other black person was present”, as she chronicled an experience that she herself had a dinner party. What is it with white people and dinner parties?

Assembly is a powerful account from the perspective of a rich, well-spoken black woman who despite all her success and intelligence is still, to a lot of people only that – black. Because what does that mean? What’s the most important thing for a black person today, in a world that’s history is soaked in the blood of the oppressed and marginalised? Is it power? Wealth? Or is it agency and the ability to be in control of your own fate?

Right, I can’t draw from experience ‘cos I’ve never had phone sex with Scarlett Johansson, but either way allow me to give my opinion on a few bits from my very limited vantage point. For all intents and purposes, ‘Her’ is a good enough film, great even; hell, I gave it 4 stars on Letterboxd.

Homer Simpson listens to a record tape, twitter.com, https://twitter.com/reactjpg/status/1530974547452735492 <29/04/24>

It’s pretty difficult to make a bad film with Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams so I’m not exactly patting Spike Jonze on the back. Conceptually, it makes a lot of sense, too. It shines a light on humanity’s growing reliance on technology (for better or worse depending on who you ask) and plays with certain questions around catfishing. Can you love someone you’ve never seen – let alone met? It also draws parallels to quote, unquote real relationships. And it made me think – realise, rather, how important the physical aspects of a relationship are. To be able to touch, hold hands, cuddle, embrace. To be able to see emotion, or even something as simple as being able to share a meal. So, my main take away from this film was this: Nah. Never me, I’m afraid.

But then again, if I had Scarlett Johansson’s voice in my headphones every day, shit… I might fall in love, too.

You’ve Got Mail, facts.net. https://facts.net/movie/32-facts-about-the-movie-youve-got-mail/ <29/04/24>

In the year 1969 computers at Standford and UCLA, colleges in the United States connected to the internet for the first time. This movie came out thirty years later, which is twenty-five years earlier than when this blog was written. Basically, guys, the internet is really, really old. You know who else is really, really old? Tom Hanks. Don’t let the jovial nature of that photo fool you, Tom Hanks is an absolute a**hole in this film. I guess in a roundabout way that’s kind of cool, I think? Because how often does Tom Hanks ever play an a**hole? Okay, think about it, right. You meet a woman in a chatroom, talk to her while you’re in a relationship, stalk her, lie to her about who you are, run her out of her business, which is also the last vestige of her late mother, might I add. How is this guy not being dragged through the mud by the end of this film. Meg Ryan even fell in love with him! I don’t know, I’m not exactly a love guru so don’t take my word for it, but I think that’s some bullshit. Tom Hanks is a nice guy, though. I guess. Stay away from chatrooms, kids.