This is a cute romance, but one where I was hoping the main character would fall for the other girl instead of his main interest.
A second one where I preferred the secondary love interest instead of the primary.
In this one, the main character is very annoying. Another where the secondary love interest is a far more compelling character. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t finish it, but it has a strong following.
This one’s kind of good, kind of meh, but has some interesting concepts.
The back half of 2025 looks like we’re going to get second seasons of a few of my previous faves. Needless to say, I’m excited and a bit cautious. Second seasons can be a bit of a crapshoot. Some are awesome, and some are let downs. Some completely ruin a series. Still, I’m hopeful.
Looting is bad, so are curfews. This one I’m not so sure I agree, but it makes valid points. I can see both sides, but I tend to lean more to control of the area. Limiting chaos factors while dealing with a situation makes sense.
The FDA is trying to ban cigarettes by making the nicotine content close to zero. Brought to you by the same folks who banned flavored vapes because it might harm children and fueled an increase in cigarette smoking in children. I swear, it’s like they think that people react exactly like they think they should just by passing a rule.
Via The Brother, Arc Technica has a review of Civ 7. Knowing me, I’ll be uncomfortable with the changes for the first couple of months until I figure out the gameplay and then will just go to town on it.
New year, and time for links. I took a break and a bunch of stories happened. I’m not going to recriminate myself. I needed it. Anywhoo, this is also a bit of a tab clearing edition, so hold on.
Reason first.
New European rules have pretty much enshrined USB-C. I like USB-C. I think it’s a great technology. I hate it being forced down everyone’s throats at the point of Europe’s guns. I also hate that this will make it harder for new charging technology to be brought forward.
Coverage of Meta’s decision to eliminate “fact-checkers” among other changes. There’s been talk that Zuck is not only trying to ingratiate himself with the incoming administration, but finally feels the environment is strong enough for him to push back against the “hostage-takers” among his staff. Both of which are kind of pathetic reasons when you think about it. It still gets me a result I want, considering FB is normally how I distribute the blog.
Ohio is going to charge people to get access to body cam videos. I’m actually going against Reason on this one. Since fees are capped at $750, it may be reasonable. However, considering governments generally are horrible at timely providing information, I can sympathize with organizations worried it’s just another speed bump in transparency.
NYT covers the new congesting pricing implemented for entering Manhattan. Congestion pricing is one of those ideas I like in concept, but don’t trust the government to implement. For example, all the fees from this new tax are supposed to go to a public transit system already overfunded and incompetent with no demand for improvement in the system.
The Verge discusses BMW’s new iDrive. The idea of a Heads-Up Display for the car intrigued me, and the limited one on the BMW that The Wife and I rented last summer was nifty.
Like I did last year, I will include the trailers for the top five. The rest will be grouped into “Loved”, “Liked”, “Meh”. Each category will be alphabetical.
Top 5
Loved
A Sign of Affection
Ai Yori Aoshi
Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
Banished From the Hero’s Party
Bocchi the Rock!
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozoki
Chiling Out In my 30’s After Being Fired From The Demon King’s Army
Chillin’ In Another World With My Level 2 Super Cheat Powers
A Couple of Cuckoos
Days With My Stepsister
Fruits Basket
Hanndyman Saito In Another World
Higehiro
I’m Giving The Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness
I’m the Villainess So I’m Taming the Final Boss
I’ve Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills
Love After World Domination
My Love Story
One-Punch Man
The Apothecary Diaries
The Devil Is A Part Timer
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague
The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to be Archenemies
Tomo-Chan Is a Girl
Liked
Azumanga Daioh
Don’t Toy With Me Miss Nagatoro
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Full Metal Panic
Highschool of the dead
KanColle
Love Hina
Macross Frontier
My Hero Academia
Recovery of an MMO Junkie
Space Battleship Yamato 2199
The Asterisk War
Meh
Arpeggio of Blue Steel
Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill