Today's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

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#3465465 27-Feb-2026 14:40

If you're a game developer, expect the US to have up to 50 different state laws around age verification.

Also in the United States, the FTC settlement settled with Genshin Impact. I'm really confused about this one because it requires age verification and parental consent for loot boxes for players under 16, but isn't a nationwide statutory requirement (???)

On top of potentially dozens of standards for countries, games with loot boxes or similar gambling-like mechanics make things even more complex.

Brazil -- loot boxes cannot be sold to minors

Australia -- loot boxes = “M” classification, gambling-like = R18+

Germany -- confusing. game age-rating authority includes loot boxes as a factor in age ratings.

China -- limit loot box spending by users under 18 and require disclosure, so de facto age verification

Spain -- developing -- loot boxes may not be sold to minors

Belgium & Netherlands: Loot boxes are treated as gambling under local law. In effect they’re prohibited without a gambling license.

And that's just loot box laws, not just violence and sex themes.

Perhaps we should pass age verification laws on the Bible. It's pretty spicy.

Apple And Google Are Doing Global Age Verification...

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#3465470 27-Feb-2026 14:45

Having an issue with our printer.

Long conversation on WhatsApp.

“

As checked with our backend team, we request you to make the printer standalone by removing all peripherals, including the power cord and any other connected devices. Then, power off the printer, press and hold the power button for 20 seconds, and release it.

After that, reconnect only the power cord, turn on the printer, and try adding the device again. Please let us know if you are able to complete the setup.”

I’m no IT technician but surely I can’t power off the printer AFTER I remove the power cable?!

floydbloke

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#3465477 27-Feb-2026 15:15

kingdragonfly: If you're a game developer, expect the US to have up to 50 different state laws around age verification.

...
On top of potentially dozens of standards for countries, games with loot boxes or similar gambling-like mechanics make things even more complex.

...

Good!!!

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

richms

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#3465511 27-Feb-2026 16:03

Ouch. It's absurd that so many places want to put their laws on overseas businesses.

Richard rich.ms

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#3465513 27-Feb-2026 16:07

Apple is playing nanny in the UK, going so far as to not only block their own services, but even third-party websites in Safari. Apparently it won't let you browse to tinder.com until you verify your age.

I'd like to say this will be the beginning of a downfall of "big tech", but the fanboys will probably celebrate these new restrictions.

kingdragonfly

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#3465518 27-Feb-2026 16:22

This car was in New Plymouth car Americana rally today, among the possibly 200 mostly American classic cars. Main event Saturday and Sunday.

Note the exterior partially concealed side pipes / lake pipes, which was not easy to do.

According to Gemini "This unique, lime green vehicle is a heavily customized four-door sedan, and while it has been modified almost beyond recognition, it appears to be based on a 1951 or 1952 Kaiser." Not so sure...

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sir1963

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#3465545 27-Feb-2026 18:41

richms:

Ouch. It's absurd that so many places want to put their laws on overseas businesses.

Its absurd that so many overseas businesses do want to obey local laws.

sir1963

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#3465549 27-Feb-2026 19:04

Behodar:

Apple is playing nanny in the UK, going so far as to not only block their own services, but even third-party websites in Safari. Apparently it won't let you browse to tinder.com until you verify your age.

I'd like to say this will be the beginning of a downfall of "big tech", but the fanboys will probably celebrate these new restrictions.

Put me down as celebrating.

Feel free to explain why people need an ID to access porn, Alcohol, Weed(depending where you live), Vapes, Cigarettes etc etc etc in real world shops where you have to walk through a door.

But online it should have zero restrictions.

US wants no gun restrictions, other civilised countries have them. Guess which country has the most school shootings, higher murder rates, higher rates of rape, violent crime, etc etc etc..... yeah it's the one with the highest prison population too.

And don't give me the BS about "kids will work around it", there are ZERO laws that are 100% perfect, and if that is the criteria they must meet, we become lawless.

And then there is "The parents" argument, well as a parent and now as a grandparent , I have yet to have a child that was in my sight 24/7.

Also remember 50% of parents are below average, just like 50% are below average height, intelligence, health, vocabulary, maths ability, financial handling, wage, etc etc etc etc.

These sites also pay sod all taxes, the mental health and other issues get dumped on the tax payers to pay for.

Kids are entitled to be protected until such time as they can made informed decisions, which means they have had time to be educated about misinformation, addiction, scams , etc etc etc and not be subject to doom scrolling and other highly addictive habits that trigger Dopamine hits while their brains are developing.

Like adult stores, if you are too ashamed to identify yourself to buy anything , perhaps you should not be in there.

And as for free speech.... well the MOST IMPORTANT free speech is the right to vote, and guess which 1st amendment country uses gerrymandering, voter suppression laws, identification requirements etc etc etc to deny peoples free speech, and then all the people who cheer that on.

Edit <just tidied up to make part more clear>

sir1963

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#3465556 27-Feb-2026 20:45

AND, I would add, no child has ever chosen who their parents will be.

So why punish the child just because they are unfortunate to have been born to bad parents.

Kids have ONE opportunity to grow up and be the best they can, so let's make that easy for them. The fewer who end up in prison, and the more that are in the workforce, the better off we will ALL be, and I am retiring soon, so I have a self reason to make sure the taxes are best looked after.

Edit : Spelling

fe31nz

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#3465617 27-Feb-2026 22:54

Geektastic:

Having an issue with our printer.

Long conversation on WhatsApp.

“

As checked with our backend team, we request you to make the printer standalone by removing all peripherals, including the power cord and any other connected devices. Then, power off the printer, press and hold the power button for 20 seconds, and release it.

After that, reconnect only the power cord, turn on the printer, and try adding the device again. Please let us know if you are able to complete the setup.”

I’m no IT technician but surely I can’t power off the printer AFTER I remove the power cable?!

Actually, depending on how the printer works, that could make sense. Sometimes holding down the power button while it is unplugged will discharge any residual power in the circuits, allowing for a full power on reset of everything. Or the button my even be a software control going to a tiny microprocessor that is still running when everything else is off. This sort of thing is one of the reasons I hate "Press to start, press to stop" buttons - it is much better to have an actual switch in the phase wire coming into the device, so the power really will be off when the switch is off.

kingdragonfly

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#3465650 28-Feb-2026 10:24

sir1963: AND, I would add, no child has ever chosen who their parents will be.

So why punish the child just because they are unfortunate to have been born to bad parents.

Protect kids? Absolutely. But we overprotect them and raise adults who’ve never learned to spot a scam.

My generation survived Rick Rolls, "two women, one ___", “Go_tse” and early internet chaos.

Did you not Google search for obfuscated phrases? Good on you. You picked up it was a bad idea. At some point you developed skepticism, got wise, got inoculated, developed internet survival skills.

The same debate exists with safe playgrounds. If you remove every risk, you also remove the chance to develop judgment.

Guardrails make sense. Bubble wrap doesn’t.

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richms

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#3465661 28-Feb-2026 11:19

sir1963:

richms:

Ouch. It's absurd that so many places want to put their laws on overseas businesses.

Its absurd that so many overseas businesses do want to obey local laws.

Uk wanting overseas companies to pay their overreaching ofcom idiocy fines when the companies have no presence in the UK is the one at the moment. 4chan has the right response.

Richard rich.ms

kingdragonfly

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#3465670 28-Feb-2026 12:13

The “too-tight leash” vs. a “completely absent leash”

Libertarians and overzealous regulators share a rigidity of principle.

Overzealous regulators is rigid in enforcing rules regardless of practicality,

Libertarians in rejecting rules regardless of consequences.

The friction arises because either extreme ignores the gray zone where compromise, dialogue, or practical enforcement would work best.

If regulators hate loot-boxes, they'll hate P2W / “gacha” / “paying game”.

Just like it's normal for videos to have warning that flashing images may cause seizures, the same should be upfront before every game with suspect mechanics.

Not buried in the T&C. for their own self-serving reasons, a quick punchy 15 second spot warning in less than 20 words, to prevent overzealous regulators from stepping in.

deepred

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#3465678 28-Feb-2026 13:38

kingdragonfly: This car was in New Plymouth car Americana rally today, among the possibly 200 mostly American classic cars. Main event Saturday and Sunday.

Note the exterior partially concealed side pipes / lake pipes, which was not easy to do.

According to Gemini "This unique, lime green vehicle is a heavily customized four-door sedan, and while it has been modified almost beyond recognition, it appears to be based on a 1951 or 1952 Kaiser." Not so sure...

Or a 1953 Studebaker Cruiser, going by the grille:

"I regret to say that we of the F.B.I. are powerless to act in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate commerce." — J. Edgar Hoover

"Create a society that values material things above all else. Strip it of industry. Raise taxes for the poor and reduce them for the rich and for corporations. Prop up failed financial institutions with public money. Ask for more tax, while vastly reducing public services. Put adverts everywhere, regardless of people's ability to afford the things they advertise. Allow the cost of food and housing to eclipse people's ability to pay for them. Light blue touch paper." — Andrew Maxwell

geek3001

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#3465688 28-Feb-2026 14:58

@Geektastic:

Having an issue with our printer.

Long conversation on WhatsApp.

“

As checked with our backend team, we request you to make the printer standalone by removing all peripherals, including the power cord and any other connected devices. Then, power off the printer, press and hold the power button for 20 seconds, and release it.

After that, reconnect only the power cord, turn on the printer, and try adding the device again. Please let us know if you are able to complete the setup.”

I’m no IT technician but surely I can’t power off the printer AFTER I remove the power cable?!

Well, I was just searching for a suggestion for a printer that works perfectly fine, but where the computer it's connected to by a USB cable stubbornly insists that the printer has a media jam.

Have a look at this Google AI generated crap, I mean, suggestion:

Apparently both ends of the power cable need to be disconnected, and you need to wait for several minutes to clear the printer's memory.

Really?

What do I do if the printer end of the power cable is not detachable ?!?!

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