For those who scroll, it’s become obvious how much energy the gambling platforms have expended to get their name in front of youth. These ads are cleverly embedded in the content, a simple bet to cover lunch or to give a tip. They typically win and make it look as simple as pressing a button to win some money. I believe that these ads should be more prominently labeled and upfront, given the target audience.
A significant difference with gatcha games compared to traditional cash gambling is that you cannot chase your losses. You either get the skin/item or you don't, but there is no false hope that you could recover the money you gambled with if you spend even more. Obviously, that's not true when the game allows you resell the skins individually for real cash (eg. CS skins). Chasing losses and borrowing money to earn back the money you lost and getting even more in debt is what makes people kill themselves in casino parking lots.
Yes the best examples of chasing is probably TCG, followed by Valve.
With young people, not sure that it matters. They will become gambling age eventually. The psychological affects are there. See Genshin and Monopoly Go.
There's a future where people (or AI) will take pictures, AI will edit and post the ones that will be liked, and then AI will like pictures based on previous like history.
I would add another metric: how are businesses doing since the change? I was walking around the city on a Wednesday evening and it was utterly eerie how empty it felt. This past weekend seemed to be the exact opposite thanks to the nice weather, but I haven't seen that level of emptiness.
I notice empty storefronts and anecdotally, I feel like there is an increasing number. I have a friend who opened a store downtown just before this happened. I don't dare ask yet, but I can't see it being a benefit for small businesses.
Empty storefronts in lower Manhattan have become more prevalent especially as Walgreens has been downsizing their Duane Reade locations and banks have reduced branch numbers. Historically I've heard that landlords try to hold out for high rent paying large corporations but in the past few years there are less and less of those tenants. Also I'm sure it's tied to the 10 year lease renewal/rent increase cycle.
Anecdotally, I notice a lot more foot traffic in Fidi than last year and far less traffic when I do need to take a taxi or uber. It seems like greater foot traffic would be a benefit for your friend's store unless it's a destination store that sells large products (furniture/appliances/etc).
Pure anecdote, but it reminds me of that time, I mentioned on a call that a particular piece of code was a time bomb waiting to explode, only to have Alexa wake up and listen as I was standing nearby and noticed the light. I immediately disconnected it and never looked back.
My jaw was dropping as I started reading that second paragraph because it's unimaginable that someone would regret an m2 air.
I got a refurb 8gb/256gb m2 air somewhat impulsively when in the market for a use-on-the-couch laptop. It is NICE. My real laptop now never leaves the dock.
Real-time mesh networks for disaster recovery. Cameras would be a plus as well. Each drone can be a node in the redundant network. If they can pick up cell phone signals, then they can be even more useful.
I could see this being useful for ranchers/farmers. It can be used to identify loss.
It can be used to identify invasive species and where they are flourishing. Or to find where mosquitoes are breeding and possibly prevent them from doing so.
Some of these may not require regulatory approval.
