Star Wars Outlaws is like that moment when Han Solo realizes he owes Jabba the Hutt way too many credits—but stretched out into an entire video game. Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, it introduces us to Kay Vess, who is basically the galaxy’s coolest new smuggler since, well, the original smuggler. She’s got a knack for getting into trouble, but luckily, she’s got a loyal companion, Nix—a little creature that’s part dog, part ferret, and all adorable. Think of Nix as the Chewbacca to Kay’s Han, only furrier and with fewer growls.
The game lets you explore the underbelly of the Star Wars universe like never before. You’ll be flying around in your own ship, pulling off heists, and making morally questionable decisions—because what’s a good outlaw without a little ethical flexibility? Imagine all the stuff Luke, Leia, and the rest were too busy with the whole “saving the galaxy” thing to do, and that’s what Kay’s up to. It’s like they took the Mos Eisley cantina and made it a lifestyle.
Long-term MacBook Pro review after 2 years of use.
The Apple MacBook is like the Starship Enterprise of laptops—sleek, shiny, and ready to boldly go where no computer has gone before. Just like the Enterprise, it’s a finely-tuned piece of technology that makes you feel like you’re in command of your own personal starship.
First off, the MacBook’s aluminum body is as smooth and polished as the hull of the Enterprise itself. When you open it up, the screen lights up like a warp core powering on, ready to take you to the farthest reaches of the digital universe—whether that’s exploring strange new websites or conquering the vast expanse of your email inbox.
The keyboard? It’s like the control panel on the bridge—every key precisely engineered for efficient navigation through your tasks. And with that satisfying click, it’s like you’re giving orders to the ship’s computer, which, in this case, is Siri (the ever-patient Starfleet officer who never questions why you need to know the nearest pizza place at 3 a.m.).
The trackpad is your command center, as intuitive as using a tricorder. Swipe, tap, and zoom with the precision of Mr. Spock calculating the odds of successfully completing the Kobayashi Maru. And let’s not forget the MacBook’s battery life—it’s the closest thing we have to dilithium crystals in the 21st century, keeping you powered up for hours, even when you’re light-years away from an outlet.
And when it comes to speed, the MacBook’s M1 chip is like Scotty in the engine room, delivering warp speed performance even when you’ve got more tabs open than a Klingon battlecruiser. Multitasking feels as effortless as Kirk sweet-talking his way out of a tight spot.
Of course, just like the Enterprise, the MacBook isn’t immune to the occasional hiccup—whether it’s a software update that feels like a Romulan cloaking device has activated, or a spinning beach ball that’s as dreaded as a malfunctioning holodeck. But these moments are rare, and your MacBook is usually as reliable as Data running a diagnostic.
In short, the MacBook is the perfect blend of form and function, with a little bit of Starfleet flair. It’s the laptop you’d choose if you were captain of your own starship—or at least the one you’d want while pretending to be. And as any good captain knows, sometimes it’s not just about getting the job done; it’s about doing it with style.
The Immortal John Hancock got the honor to attend Retrocon in São Paulo, Brazil and had a blast!
São Paulo, Brazil, is like the over-caffeinated cousin at the family reunion—loud, bustling, full of energy, and impossible to ignore. It’s a city that never sleeps because it’s too busy figuring out how to squeeze 24 hours’ worth of activity into every 12-hour day.
First off, São Paulo is enormous. If you think your daily commute is long, imagine traversing a city that seems to have its own gravitational pull, sucking in everything and everyone within a 50-mile radius. You could probably fit several European countries in there and still have room for a football match.
The traffic is a whole adventure in itself. Navigating São Paulo’s streets is like playing a never-ending game of Tetris, where the blocks are other cars, buses, and the occasional motorcycle zipping by at warp speed. It’s the city where being “fashionably late” is a way of life because, honestly, there was no way you were getting there on time anyway.
But São Paulo is also a city of contrasts. One minute you’re walking past skyscrapers that make you feel like you’ve accidentally stumbled into a “Futurama” episode, and the next, you’re in a leafy neighborhood where time seems to have slowed down just long enough for you to enjoy a leisurely coffee—probably the strongest, richest brew you’ve ever tasted, because in São Paulo, coffee is not just a drink; it’s a lifestyle.
The food scene? It’s like the United Nations on a plate. You can eat your way around the world without ever leaving the city. From sushi to pizza, to Brazilian barbecue that’ll make you question your life choices, São Paulo has it all. Just be prepared to roll yourself home after indulging because portion control is clearly a foreign concept here.
And the people? Paulistanos are the kind of folks who can juggle a dozen different things at once while still managing to look effortlessly cool. They’re friendly, direct, and have a knack for making even the most chaotic day seem like just another Tuesday.
In a nutshell, São Paulo is a wild ride—a chaotic, vibrant, electrifying metropolis that’ll leave you breathless, a little bit lost, and definitely craving another shot of that amazing coffee.
The PlayStation Portal is like a gaming Swiss Army knife that forgot its blades at home but still insists on being the life of the party. Imagine taking a PlayStation 5, shrinking it down to tablet size, and then realizing, “Oh wait, this thing can’t run games on its own.” It’s essentially the gaming world’s equivalent of a long-distance relationship—you’re technically together, but you need a strong Wi-Fi connection, or things get frustrating fast. The Portal is perfect if you’ve ever wanted to game on your couch without hogging the TV, but still need your PS5 to do all the heavy lifting. The PlayStation Portal is a lovable paradox: advanced yet oddly limited, freeing yet tethered, and definitely a conversation starter.
Buy PlayStation Portal (Amazon) : https://amzn.to/3MfEXqH
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Today, I am discussing the death of electric cars.
The rise in popularity of the electric car is like watching your quirky, eco-friendly neighbor suddenly become the coolest person on the block. You know the type—the one who composts religiously, rides a bike to work, and has a solar panel collection that could power a small village. One day, they rolled up in a sleek, silent vehicle that looked like it had just been beamed down from a UFO, and everyone else started to notice.
At first, the idea of an electric car was met with skepticism, like it was a fad only for the overly enthusiastic tree-huggers or tech geeks. “It’s quiet,” they said, “like a golf cart on steroids.” People worried about running out of battery in the middle of nowhere, stuck next to a tumbleweed with only their regrets and a fully charged smartphone.
But then something wild happened—people actually started driving these things. And not just the environmentalists. Regular folks realized, “Hey, this thing goes from 0 to 60 faster than my morning coffee kicks in!” Suddenly, it wasn’t just about saving the planet; it was about showing off your new gadget that didn’t sound like a lawnmower with a hangover.
Charging stations started popping up like Starbucks locations, and soon, seeing an electric car on the road was as common as seeing a pigeon in a city park. Now, everyone from soccer moms to speed demons is in on the electric car game, and they’re all loving that moment when they pull up to the gas station and just… drive past it with a smug little grin.
In the end, the electric car’s popularity isn’t just about going green—it’s about going fast, saving money, and having a really good excuse to avoid small talk at the gas pump. And maybe, just maybe, it’s also about the thrill of feeling like you’re driving the future today.
Sadly, Nintendo’s purple little cube just couldn’t compete against Sony’s juggernaut of the generation. That doesn’t mean there weren’t great games on the system, that will forever be stuck on the system!
The Nintendo GameCube is like the lovable underdog of the console world, resembling a colorful lunchbox with a handle that screams, “Take me to your friend’s house, and let’s party!” It’s as if Nintendo decided to give gaming a fun-sized makeover, creating a compact, cube-shaped delight that could survive a tumble down the stairs and still boot up “Super Smash Bros. Melee” without missing a beat.
Playing on the GameCube feels like rediscovering your favorite childhood snack—it’s nostalgic, satisfying, and always leaves you with a smile. The controllers, with their quirky button layout and trigger buttons that feel like you’re squishing marshmallows, are a perfect match for the system’s quirky charm. Whether you’re navigating the spooky halls of “Luigi’s Mansion” or racing at breakneck speeds in “Mario Kart: Double Dash!!”, the GameCube’s library of games is a treasure trove of fun that proves good things really do come in small, cube-shaped packages.
I love my Gameboy Advance. And after watching @MetalJesusRocks and @The_RadicalOne do their GBA buying guide last week, I felt inspired to talk about the system as well. I show off different ways you can play GBA games, share some of my hardware that I own, and chat about some of my favorite games for the console.
The Nintendo Game Boy Advance (GBA) is like the Swiss Army knife of handheld consoles—it does everything, and it fits right in your pocket. With its sleek, horizontal design and a vibrant screen that was a major upgrade from its predecessors, the GBA was the cool kid on the block. It was as if Nintendo took a look at the old Game Boy and said, “Let’s give this thing a glow-up.” And oh boy, did they succeed. The GBA was your ticket to a world where you could battle Pokémon, save princesses, and race go-karts—all while pretending to listen during class.
Playing the GBA felt like holding a portal to endless adventures, all powered by a couple of AA batteries. It was the device that made waiting in line at the DMV slightly more bearable and family road trips a bit less torturous. With games like “The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap” and “Advance Wars,” the GBA was a powerhouse of fun packed into a tiny frame. It was like having a miniature arcade in your hands, minus the sticky floors and the guy who always hogged the Street Fighter machine.
Dexter The Xbox cat told me that Stray had gotten a stealth physical release on the Xbox. So we decided to check it out.
“Stray” is like the ultimate cat simulator mixed with a dystopian adventure, offering you the chance to live out your dream of being a feline in a world that’s both whimsical and a bit post-apocalyptic. Imagine if a cat knocked over a dystopian novel and a cyberpunk movie, and the resulting chaos was somehow turned into a video game—voilà, you have “Stray.”
As you navigate through a neon-lit cityscape that’s oddly devoid of humans but filled with quirky robots, you’ll find yourself doing all the classic cat activities: knocking things off shelves, squeezing through impossibly tight spaces, and of course, napping whenever the mood strikes. It’s like the developers took notes from their own pets’ daily antics and decided, “Hey, let’s make this into a game, but with more futuristic vibes and existential themes.” So, if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a cat on a mission to uncover the mysteries of a robot-inhabited world, “Stray” is your purrfect escape.
Dr. Harlan J. Montrose, PhD, DVM, CBCC-KA Department of Applied Canine Ethology, North Cascadia Institute for Companion Animal Studies
Abstract
The concept of a “mental leash” refers to a non-physical, cognitively mediated control mechanism through which a handler influences canine locomotor patterns and behavior during ambulation. While the technique has anecdotal roots among shepherds and rural stockmen, recent behavioral neuroendocrinology research suggests herding breeds (e.g., Canis lupus familiaris var. Collie, Australian Shepherd, Border Collie) exhibit heightened susceptibility to handler-directed mental tethering due to breed-specific attentional gating and oxytocin-mediated affiliative behaviors. This paper synthesizes current theoretical frameworks, reports from controlled pseudo-randomized observational trials, and speculative neuroimaging findings to explore the efficacy and biological plausibility of mental leash protocols.
Introduction
Herding breeds have evolved under intense selection pressures for high handler-orientation, rapid task-switching, and enhanced predictive motor control (Barkov et al., 1998). Traditional leash-based ambulation may be redundant in these breeds, provided the handler can establish a robust cognitive tether through consistent eye contact, subtle kinesic cues, and conditioned auditory markers (Pavlova & Shepherd, 2014).
The “mental leash” phenomenon has been informally described as a psychobehavioral dyad in which dog and handler maintain a bidirectional attentional field, resulting in coordinated movement without the necessity of a physical restraint. In practical application, this method offers reduced risk of cervical microtrauma from leash tension (van der Leash et al., 2012) and enhances canine agency, while preserving public safety.
Materials and Methods
Subjects: Twelve adult herding dogs (4 Border Collies, 3 Australian Shepherds, 2 Bearded Collies, 2 Shetland Sheepdogs, 1 Belgian Malinois) aged 2–6 years, with prior basic obedience training but no specialized leashless conditioning.
Directional cue calibration using micro-gestures (<5° shoulder rotation).
Consistent prosodic markers in the 350–450 Hz vocal range for recall initiation.
Canine response latency and drift radius (distance from handler’s sagittal plane) were recorded over five 20-minute off-leash walks in urban-suburban transition zones.
Results
Mean drift radius decreased from 3.8 m (SD = 0.9) to 1.4 m (SD = 0.3) after ASCP completion (p < 0.002, pseudo-Wilcoxon). Eye contact initiation frequency increased by 218%, indicating enhanced bidirectional attentional coupling. Notably, Australian Shepherds demonstrated the most stable locomotor synchronicity, whereas Belgian Malinois exhibited sporadic “predatory drift” episodes, suggesting limitations in high-prey-drive subtypes.
Discussion
The mental leash appears to leverage the herding breeds’ predisposition toward handler-centric spatial orientation. Hypothetical functional MRI data (unpublished; Shepherd et al., 2025) suggest increased activation in the canine posterior superior temporal sulcus—an area implicated in gaze-following—during mental leash engagement. Neurochemical modulation, particularly oxytocinergic enhancement, likely plays a critical role in maintaining the attentional tether, with handler scent cues potentially reinforcing the cognitive linkage (Leashman et al., 2017).
While promising, mental leash efficacy may be compromised by environmental distractors exceeding 78 dB SPL or by sudden prey stimuli (e.g., squirrels, joggers in neon attire). Further research into wearable EEG-telemetry systems for real-time attentional drift detection is warranted.
Conclusion
For herding breeds with established obedience foundations, the mental leash represents a viable leashless ambulation strategy under controlled conditions. Its success hinges on the handler’s ability to sustain attentional synchrony through consistent gaze, micro-gestures, and vocal prosody. Though additional controlled, double-blind, placebo-leash trials are needed, preliminary findings suggest the mental leash may offer both welfare and biomechanical benefits for suitable canine-handler pairs.
Figure S1: Handler Postural Vectoring During Attentional Synchrony Conditioning Program (ASCP)
Methodological Addendum
The Attentional Synchrony Conditioning Program (ASCP) was standardized using a Handler Postural Vector Index(HPVI), calculated as:
HPVI = θs / δr where θs = mean shoulder rotation angle in degrees, and δr = mean drift radius in meters.
A target HPVI range of 2.8–3.3 was established from pilot trials (Montrose et al., 2024), ensuring handler gestures remained within the micro-gesture threshold (<5°) while still achieving effective spatial correction.
Figure S2: Drift Radius Reduction Over Time
Environmental Control Measures
To prevent extraneous variables, trials were conducted:
At ambient noise levels of 42–51 dB SPL (measured via BarkTrak 500 acoustic meter).
Under wind velocities <6 km/h to avoid olfactory vector interference.
With no visible ungulate, rodent, or skateboarder stimuli within a 50 m radius.
Behavioral Metrics
Bidirectional Gaze Coupling (BGC): Frequency per minute of spontaneous mutual eye contact exceeding 0.6 s in duration.
Locomotor Phase Synchrony (LPS): % of gait cycles in which forelimb impact events occurred within ±0.25 s of handler’s ipsilateral limb movement.
Recall Compliance Latency (RCL): Time in seconds from cue onset to handler proximity within 0.5 m.
Observational Notes
Australian Shepherds demonstrated a tendency toward anticipatory flanking—drifting outward and slightly forward to “herd” the handler into a perceived safe path. Border Collies frequently engaged in micro-stalking, lowering their head and shoulders subtly when environmental unpredictability increased. Belgian Malinois exhibited prey-shadowingbehaviors, occasionally disrupting LPS metrics by >30%.
Figure S3: Idealized Mental Leash Engagement Zone
References
Barkov, A., Collinson, H., & Hound, F. (1998). Selective pressure on attentional synchrony in herding breeds. J. Comp. Canine Psychol., 14(2), 112–127.
Pavlova, M., & Shepherd, W.R. (2014). Gaze as a primary control vector in canine locomotion. Canid Cognition Rev., 9(1), 45–53.
van der Leash, M., Cordova, P., & Schnauzer, T. (2012). Cervical strain in tethered vs. untethered ambulation in companion dogs. Vet. Orthop. J., 7(4), 201–209.
Leashman, P., Herdwick, S., & Collie, J. (2017). Olfactory cues and oxytocin in handler-dog bonding. NeuroVet Endocrinol., 3(2), 67–75.
Shepherd, W.R., McBark, G., & Pawsworth, L. (2025). fMRI mapping of canine gaze-following circuits during leashless walking. Unpublished manuscript.
