
Well, from what I can find it doesn’t seem that much of an attack vector –


– My phone does not have 2G compatibility, this probably only tracks location if you’ve switched on location services and I’d wager most people use IM calls and texts rather than cellular. If the phone is old enough to have 2G or 3G, perhaps there’s a threat. If you live in the US it’s ironically probably smart to leave it on – state forces are a bigger threat than malicious conglomerates atm

Even so, I can’t do this if I want to keep some services or games – I’m currently liberal with my app downloads and around a dozen refuse to work unless they’ve been installed or updated to the absolute latest release with the Play Store version - Aurora versions don’t work. There’s the argument that if it doesn’t work, it’s not valuable enough to keep, but I play games quite a bit.

They flagged Rustdesk a while back, which is a probably harmless open-source remote access software. Because of this I learned that Google not only has Play Protect in Google Play settings, but a second, separate setting in Security called Advanced Protection, that prompted me to remove Rustdesk, and a second time after it re-enabled itself. It reminds me of the days I ran Windows and the antivirus would kill vital programs or script files for some games.


We can’t play games unless we play exactly as the developers intended (constant bug fixes, online requirement, anticheat etc. for non competitive games), but Nvidia can ensure games are portrayed differently, entirely shoving a middle finger in artists’ faces? And you raise a valid point –
AI is trained on what, exactly, because AI filters always enhance facial definition, add makeup like shadow, blush and lipstick, and full body upscaling adds flat stomachs with abs, perfectly symmetrical D cup breasts, in this case blonde highlights are apparently more appealing than the original… It all stinks of the generic 2010’s Western white heterosexual man’s idea of the perfect woman’s body. It’s like every beauty filter is made by Jack Black’s character from Shallow Hal.
I agree - some games are alluring for their unique style, some for recognisability and comfort. Plus, normally I don’t like too much of a departure from realistic physics in favour of fun factor, like being a damage sponge or tilting and boosting a horse in a different direction, but as a whole this definitely looks great to play. Even has breakable structures that crush enemies, it reminds me of ‘Pursuit Breakers’ in Need for Speed Most Wanted
Hell, I wish more games just had humanity. It might be due to me being antiwar, but when playing MMOs (whose MO is pretty much always ‘kill each other’ PVP) I wish folk were not so quick to kill, especially not when the kill isn’t imperative. Face it, some of the best ever moments in gaming are when folk have the option to kill each other and dont. A shred of humanism.
Universal signs in COD existed to plead for mercy, such as switching to a knife and looking away. In Black Ops II there’s a rave room in a map and several players spent a minute bobbing their characters around until someone else came and mowed the other team down. One time in Battlefield I spent the majority of a game (no mic mind you) chilling on a roof with half a dozen players from two teams. I came to multiplayer FPS games for the combat, stayed for the randoms I met.