
This is why I couldn't have a time machine. I'd go back in time and fuck with people. Leave a modern day Bic pen deep in a cave in New Zealand, or a randomly shaped object with no clear use made from something like titanium in a forest in the middle of Brazil.
It's like Gabe said (paraphrased): "Piracy is a service problem, not a pricing problem."
Make it easy to buy stuff and people will. But the more barriers you put up, the more people will pirate. Granted, there are persons like you (and I counted among those at one point) who cannot afford things from time-to-time, but we're a minority. Every game I've ever pirated from those days I have made sure to purchase once I was able to.
Make it available for easy purchase and people will buy it.
Plus now there's an installation script that is really good for basic installs. Takes about 10 minutes now.
It usually takes about 8 seconds.
I got mine last January and it's been pretty much flawless on Arch with KDE and Wayland. No regrets whatsoever. Battery life is probably the only weakness, but I also push my stuff hard. Overall, I'm super satisfied with the choice.
Hell yeah. I was in the hospital recently for some heart stuff. I kept the socks cuz they're comfy.
The oldest hardware I'm still using is an Intel Core i5-6500 with 48GB of RAM running our Palworld server. I have an upgrade in the pipeline to help with the lag, because the CPU is constantly stressed, but it still will run game servers.
I love pictures of scrungy cats.
Honestly, who doesn't?
She's probably being made to take a bath.
I think we all did. I had both Transformers and Ninja Turtles toys.
And here I am taking off my entire birthday week off like a rube.
Pretty sure they're just slightly higher quality 3D printed vinyl figures. Probably cost pennies to make.
You got it.
Not much really. Maybe being able to download random exes for silly shit, but I could always spin up a VM for that.
It's Patreon exclusive, behind the Tsundere (NSFW) or Sneakerhead (NSFW) tiers. Chaesu only recently started doing NSFW variants.
The nude version is very good too.
Pixel Tablet the Flamethrower! Ah the kids love that one.
This one was a little over a decade ago, when plasma TVs were still manufactured and sold, and LCD TVs were still catching in terms of awesomeness.
I was a young, bright-eyed electronics associate working for the big "blue and yellow save money" company. This particular day was a steady but peaceful day, and I was working the counter, cashing people out and directing them to various areas in the department where they could find things.
I had just finished ringing a customer out for a PS3 game when a fella walks up to the counter and the following exchange took place:
Strange Customer: "Hey man... do you sell TVs?"
Me: caught off guard by the question, I slowly turned to the TV wall that sat in full view roughly 30ft away, filled with 30+ different TV models, then slowly turned back to him "Sir, I don't think I can help you."
SC: "Oh alright man, no problem."
And then he just left. It remains, to this day, the most bizarre customer interaction I have ever had, and I would not be surprised if it was a part of a YouTube prank video. I've been at the store I work at for over 13 years now, and nothing has topped this one for weirdness.

I hate pants. Founder of The Ungodly Geeks Podcast, coming back some time in 2024!
I play a lot of Destiny 2. Reddit refugee.
IF THE ZOO BANS ME FOR HOLLERING AT THE ANIMALS I WILL FACE GOD AND WALK BACKWARDS INTO HELL
Primary Alt Account: popekingjoe[at]lemmynsfw.com