How many people can honestly say that they have four fresh bear paws in the trunk of their car? Right now, I can!
­­­­­­­­­­
I mean, I bought new summer tyres for my car today. The brand is "Kontio" (one of the Finnish words for "bear"), and the model is "BearPaw". So it's just a honest statement. 😏

An evening of long queues again... 30-ish minutes to go until it begins and I still have no clue about what sort of build to make for this league.

#PathOfExile

Aston Martin #F1 drivers being unable to handle more than 15-25 laps without risking permanent nerve damage due to how much the car vibrates sounds very bizarre.

At first I thought teams need more testing opportunities after huge rule/tech changes, but then again, only Aston has that problem... 😏

"We are sad and disappointed with ourselves about the review bombing..." -Massarutto

Maybe don't remove features advertised as main selling points AFTER having taken in customer's money. Or refund everyone who says they bought it for the promised economy based career.

Just sayin'... 😏

#ACEVO

Babylon 5 was released into YouTube for free.

Babylon 5 disappeared without a trace.

As in, Babylon 5 "did a Babylon 4".

Always optimistic Finnish media:

"If Tuukka Taponen does well in #F3 this year, moves on to #F2 next year and does well, he could be the next new Finnish #F1 driver in 2028."

Also: If that was to happen, he would be the youngest Finnish driver to ever race in #F1, beating Räikkönen by a few days.

Rant of the day:

I really hate people who delete their Reddit posts etc after getting a reply that solves their issue.

Why? It puts my replies "out of context" as the original question no longer exists, and prevents others from searching/finding solutions for the same issue.

Do-Not-Delete-Them! 😠

My motivation with any sandbox game comes from being able to approach things from a different angle in every playthrough.

Tall vs. wide playstyle, settler vs. nomadic playstyle, living hand-to-mouth vs. hoarding everything, and so on. Or any mix of those and other possible similar choices.

I'm pretty sure that out of these three drivers, Ella will win...

#Formula1

It's a Finnish company called SNT-Group that is a specialist in industrial textiles and many other things. Things like seat covers for airplanes & armored vehicles, kevlar vests, helmet parts, covers for weapons etc.

Finnair has been using their products and services for more than two decades.

I may have found a new addiction - #Geoguessr.

I've played it on a couple of nights a week for the last year, and only just recently started trying out some duels. Going up the divisions surprisingly easily - at least for now... 😱

Even though I rarely race myself these days, this kind of occasional feedback is the reason why I still keep offering advice to new drivers - even on as "toxic" of a platform as Reddit.

This is from a thread saying how much the SA rating in ACC sucks. Or maybe it doesn't suck after all?

#simracing

Nice things about living in the middle of nowhere with very little light pollution...

These auroras were so bright tonight, that even though it was pitch black outside, I didn't need any lights to walk around the fields.

Was kind of testing my camera's limits, this was taken at ISO 12800.

#aurora

Uh oh. I may have to get back to watching #F1 next season if the still-only-rumoured Cadillac driver lineup is going to happen.

I may have slightly blue&white-tinted glasses on when watching, but I lose interest when there's no Finnish driver. Even one in a new team at the back of the grid is fine.

When you create a sim racing song and it's chorus says...

"There is no racecraft here
Just kamikaze moves and fear..."

...and so on. Ah well. I need to listen to that myself before every race as a reminder of the harsh reality and to get my expectations back to realistic levels. 😏

Why don't I watch #F1 from Finnish broadcast by Viaplay?

Apparently, the commentator has literally just called the water spray rising behind the cars "dust". Oh dear.

Add in the intentional mistranslations of interviews to promote their own speculations, and you've got a "quality broadcast"...

🤦‍♂️

Interesting. KymiRing's new CEO says they have to turn down potential events on the track, as their calendar is so full.

As of now the biggest upcoming event seems to be FIA World RX of Finland weekend. The "dream" is still to host major events like MotoGP, but they want stabilize things first.

Best news in a very long time: YouTube is going to stop monetizing AI-generated, repetitive and low-effort content with no real human input in it.

About time. Some estimates say that could cut off 40% of YT Shorts from monetization (and probably like 90% of what the algorithm keeps pushing).

It makes me wonder if wings given by Red Bull are going to be enough, or if they should already start negotiating with something like Spirit AeroSystems to make those cars "fly" again?

How about a rule change for next season? As wet tyres are apparently useless as they can't be used when it actually rains, everyone just goes back to pits and changes the whole vehicle...

...into a Formula 1 Powerboat!

I saw a short article about Bearman's practice shenanigans and 10 place grid penalty, and then this...

Had to go back to check what Gasly and Alonso did to deserve a place in the same sentence, referring to the "great performance" of all of them, and that "shot at decent points"... 😏

Hmm. Where does it go on this chart, which is obviously the most important chart ever? 🤭

I have not followed #F1 or #F2, but seeing someone say...

"After watching F2 this morning, this (context: AI drivers absolutely wrecking the human driver in a racing sim) might just be hyper accurate AI"

...made me curious enough to find out. Holy cow. They must have practiced in Wreckfest 2. 🤭

Very much so. Although there's usually something concrete behind such teasers. Could be ongoing negotiations, could be a signed contract to be revealed later.

(Or maybe it was the first sneak peek at Cadillac's upcoming F1 car: A two-seater, saves money as they only need one car for two drivers!)

Teaser by Bottas, looking into a Cadillac SUV and noticing how both seats are free, but he doesn't want to sit in it "yet"...

Interesting, but not in any way unexpected. It's was rumoured and speculated even before this current #F1 season properly started, and that definitely adds fuel to the fire.

Me: Gives advice to a rookie driver on Reddit based on a posted lap.

Rookie next day: "hey dude, little update, hope you don't mind, smashed my record today, 1,6 seconds improved"

Right. Maybe I should start that Coach Beldin Academy we joked about 2-3 years ago... But nah, I CBA, lol.

#simracing

It's a common style in spoken language, kind of more casual than just "kiitos".

You could also use "paljon kiitoksia", which would almost directly translate to "many thanks", but as stereotypical Finns like to speak as little as possible, we prefer single word replies. 🤭

Source: I'm a native Finn.

Free #Finnish grammar lesson, about importance of getting it perfectly correct:

"Juhannussima teemukissa" = "Midsummer mead in a tea mug"

"Juhan nussima Teemu-kissa" = "A cat called Teemu that was f*cked by a guy called Juha"

You're welcome. And good luck to anyone trying to learn the language. 😏

What about this pheasant death stare that obviously says I'd better give him everything he wants, or something bad is going to happen? 😏

Cropped from a photo I took at my front yard last week.

Done. PoE would be pretty much unplayable without your filters after all, so you definitely deserve to get your questions answered. :)