Margaret

@margaretwanders.bsky.social

Posts

Excerpts from wandering across the world. Opinions are my own.
| comms/marketing, travel, TTRPGs, FFXIV, books, etc |
@EtoEWanders on Twitter | @[email protected]

Posts Replies Media

Only on the Chesapeake Bay would both my dad & @emilyinpublic.bsky.social see a guy try to teach his pet iguana how to swim and simultaneously send me their own blurry photos of the lizard in question. I don't think the dog they're trying to teach to swim has noticed the iguana...

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Margaret

NEWSFLASH: After 14 years in power, the U.K.’s Conservative government is on track for its worst-ever election result. It is now projected to be replaced by the Labour party, led by Keir Starmer — exit polls suggest that Starmer’s party will wield a massive majority:

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Margaret

Keir Starmer, 61, is a social liberal, fiscal moderate and leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, which polls predict will win Thursday’s parliamentary election by a landslide.

Who is Keir Starmer? A look at the man likely to become the next U.K. prime ministerwww.npr.org The U.K. is electing a new prime minister. Leading in the polls is a human rights lawyer and a knight who's rumored to have inspired a character in the Bridget Jones movies.

The UK general election is today and polls should be open until 22:00 BST.

How 14 years of Tory rule have changed Britain – in chartswww.theguardian.com Charts show what has happened in five key areas, from the NHS to food banks, since the Conservatives came to power in 2010

NPR on the Boeing's Starliner: "Instead, a series of leaks and malfunctions have caused NASA to indefinitely delay the duo's return. Just whatever you do, don't say they're stranded". They highlight that the ship can "remain in space up to 210 days" but "was supposed to be limited to 45 days".

'We’re not stuck.' Why Boeing’s Starliner isn’t returning to Earth (yet)www.npr.org The return of Starliner has been indefinitely delayed, but NASA and Boeing say the astronauts will use the spaceship to get home — eventually.

Really happy with how smoothly the FFXIV Dawntrail early access has been especially in comparison to Endwalker. BBC highlights that the "summer vacation" expansion is arriving at time when "Square Enix makes '50% to 80%' of its profit from 'overseas fans'".

FFXIV: Dawntrail a 'starting point for the next 10 years'www.bbc.com Director Naoki Yoshida says the new release is a significant moment for the Final Fantasy franchise.

I don't entirely understand the push to have level 3 as the starting Dungeons & Dragons level for 5.24 & still calling it the third level instead of calling it the starting level (ie. why isn't it just level 1) outside of not wanting to make adjustments to highest tiers of game play. (1/2)

Dungeons & Dragons Leans Into 3rd Level as New Starting Place for Most Campaignscomicbook.com Dungeons & Dragons wants players to start campaigns at 3rd level, not 1st.

One of the biggest changes in the revised D&D books is a focus on new player onboarding but then they have this split for where experienced players should go start. That makes it a tough call for DMs with a mixed group & I assume will probably end up with new players also starting at level 3. (2/2)

FFXIV has Rhys Darby as their "Interim Deputy Director of Turalism" in a bunch of videos on social media and the TourTural.com website. If you're looking for a game to play during patch, looks like the website has a bunch of hints and things to uncover about Dawntrail.

Reply to

Kosturdistan

Looks like it has been used as a reference a bunch (well into the thousands) on Wikipedia. At the very least, those links typically get added to the Wayback Machine. en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...

insource:"www.mtv.com/news" - Search results - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

Reply to

Kate Violette

My mom's surgeon suggested the hospital w/ a geriatric team who implemented all these things to help w/ recovery. It included orders to not disturb her at night unless life threatening. Letting her sleep along with a bunch of other sensible things made all the difference. Should be standard stuff!

Reply to

darjr

Oh I know that the formal title uses "revised". But that doesn't mean people will settle on it as the common shorthand. What the nomenclature becomes will be interesting because it's not always what marketing intends; they want revised to indicate backwards compatibility since 5.x might not do that.

Great article from @lincodega.bsky.social (@rascalnews.bsky.social) on the limitations of being excited for D&D when Wizards is only showing talking points instead of the actual updated books. As an aside, are people referring to this as 5.1 or 5.5? Does it depend on how much of an update it is?

D&D almost deradicalized mewww.rascal.news The media events are a good overview, but without getting a look at the product I’m left parroting corporate talking points.

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Margaret

Things are not looking good for Dicebreaker, one of the few good board game websites: aftermath.site/dicebreaker-...

I appreciated @adashtra.bsky.social's take on Dragon Age: The Veilguard - cautious optimism from the hands-off gameplay demo while reserving final judgement for when you can actually play it. For me it's going to come down to how it plays + accessibility options.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has more magic, color, and customizationswww.theverge.com We are, and I cannot stress this enough, so back.

FFXVI's action-based combat was unpleasant enough to drop the game early. I enjoyed BG3 & FFVII Rebirth but have taken an extended pause from FFVII b/c it feels a bit like minigame hell (which I don't think will be an issue in Veilguard!). I'll probably do FFXIV Dawntrail before circling back to it.

Reply to

Kieron Gillen

What RPGs/games have you worked on besides DIE that you'd like to highlight? Also, what are some of the differences in your game writing process compared to comics?

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Margaret

Link dump coming: The Mighty Nein animated series gets a production update comicbook.com/gaming/news/...

Mighty Nein Animated Series, Based on Critical Role, Gets Big Updatecomicbook.com Voiceover work for The Mighty Nein series is being recorded now.

Bummer that the Boeing Starliner launch was scrubbed at T-minus 3:50 but better a hold then something worse. The optimistic next launch window is tomorrow afternoon at 12:03ET followed by windows on June 5 & 6.

Boeing forced to call off its first launch with NASA astronauts once againwww.nbcnews.com The launch attempt was scrubbed with only minutes to go in the countdown.

They're still streaming if you want to watch the NASA Blue Team get the crew out of the capsule:

NASA’s Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Launch– June 1, 2024 (Official NASA Broadcast)www.youtube.com Watch live as two NASA astronauts launch from Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft as one of the final steps on the road to certification. Launch of the ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket and Starliner spacecraft is targeted for 12:25 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 1 (1625 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch attempt on May 6 was scrubbed due to a faulty oxygen relief valve observation on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket Centaur second stage. The two NASA astronauts aboard, flight commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams, will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system, including launch, docking, and return to Earth. After a one-week stay docked to the International Space Station, the Starliner and crew will land under parachutes in the western United States. Launch coverage on NASA+ (https://plus.nasa.gov) will end shortly after Starliner orbital insertion. NASA Television (https://nasa.gov/nasatv) will provide continuous coverage leading up to docking and through hatch opening and welcome remarks. Learn more about Boeing Starliner: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/boeing-crewflighttest/ Learn more about the Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/commercial-crew-program/

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Margaret

*****GUILTY ON COUNTS 1, 2, 3, ... ***** (via Tyler McBrien)

Guilty sweep on all 34 counts (graphic from the ABC News stream on YouTube).

At 10:34AM, I clicked on the early access link for Romeo + Juliet on Broadway & only just got through the all day queue plagued by technical difficulties. I had nearly given up but it finally worked! Looks like most of the October weekends are sold out but plenty of Tues-Thurs tickets are left.

Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler Headline Broadway ‘Romeo and Juliet’www.nytimes.com A production featuring the screen stars, with music by Jack Antonoff, will open in October at Circle in the Square.

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Margaret

PSA: If you live anywhere near this blob and it’s not cloudy, tonight is a good night to go outside and look up www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/...

Per AdWeek, the leaked details on OpenAI's pitch "add further color" to their relationship with digital publishers. "The uncertain legal standing of the data-scraping methodology that OpenAI uses to power its large-language models has made licensing negotiations between the two parties complex".

Leaked Deck Reveals OpenAI's Pitch on Publisher Partnershipswww.adweek.com OpenAI's Preferred Publisher Program offers media companies licensing deals.

If you want to trace the development of the Met Gala, @constancegrady.bsky.social has you covered:

How the Met Gala became the fashion Oscarswww.vox.com Turns out the first Monday in May is the perfect venue for celebrity image-making.

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Margaret

Editorial from UCLA student newspaper. At this point, I’d say you should only be reading/listening to college journalists on these stories. dailybruin.com/2024/05/01/e...

Editorial: UCLA is complicit in violence inflicted upon protesters, failed to protect students - Daily Bruindailybruin.com It began with ear-piercing screams of wailing babies loudly emitting from speakers. Counter-protesters tearing down the barricades. Laser pointers flashing into the encampment. People in masks waving ...

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Margaret

TO THE DAY

April 30, 1968: "University Calls in 1,000 Police to End Demonstration As Nearly 700 Are Arrested and 100 Injured; Violent Solution Follows Failure of Negotiations"

Reply to

Margaret

WKCR's website is having issues under the extreme traffic. Their twitter account has recommended connecting via wkcr.streamguys1.com/live.m3u. On air, they've also said they've gone live on instagram (www.instagram.com/wkcr_oncampus/). #Columbia #StudentPress

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Margaret

I'm gonna keep posting this piece over and over again. It didn't get much traction when it was first published, but bsky has the juice. (And thanks to everyone who has read and shared it so far!) "Tear gas" is a chemical weapon that should be banned.

Here's my Scientific American piece on the topic, which documents the multiple ways "tear gas" violates human rights, including the possibility of spontaneous abortions in pregnant people

Police Who Tear-Gas Abortion-Rights Protesters Could Induce Abortionwww.scientificamerican.com Tear gas is widely used by law enforcement, even though it may cause spontaneous abortion