Tarkblog

So a couple of nights ago, the microwave dies. It was mysterious, since we weren’t microwaving anything at the time.

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First: This story is NOT about Chad Rangoon.

Second: I had a dental cleaning today, which went well as usual, save for now I have to two back in 2 months and get a wisdom tooth pulled. They’d do all four, but the other 3 aren’t that bad, they’re all under the gums (which means it would require an “oral surgeon” instead of a dentist). This one has been peeking out for a few years now, and has a cavity. I’m not looking forward to this.

Anyway, my bigger concern is what’s happened to me the past two times I’ve done:

Hygenist: I’m a little concerned about tooth #elventy. Your incisor cuspid has a stain which shows a small fissure. If I know Dr. Laura, she’s going to want to fill that.

5 minutes later.

Dr. Laura: Your teeth all look real good.

So the hygenist is finding problems that she recommends getting fillings for, and the dentist doesn’t even say a word about it. Should I be concerned?

This is me testing out a new category.

My first thoughts of Columbus, some 6 years ago, were mixed.

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With the realism that pervades today’s video games, I’m a little baffled about the concept of “life” or “health”.

The last grand theft auto I played was GTA3, and I would say that it was pretty real. I can only imagine how real the current versions are. Yet, in that game, you can take quite a beating (= bullets) before you “die”. And you can heal yourself up again and again.

What happened to the good old days, where realistic games like Contra only allowed you one hit before you died? Or that game where you were a knight in armor and one hit lost your armor, the second hit killed you.

Yeah, flying pill capsules and bad guys that can jump 3 times their height is a bit unrealistic, but so is the whole concept of “health points”.

Hit me back now - how could these games be more realistic?