The better we understand the nervous systems of other species, the better we can understand our own through comparison and testing, which in turn can lead to more ideas for medical treatments- or augmentation, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Tbf, they sold the Steam Controller for a while, and eventually dropped the price to $5 just to clean out the rest of their stock- and that was the end of a product line instead of the older, cheaper version of a current product.
Alternatively, they may have realized that some people who want the Steam Deck but cannot afford it justify the OLED model as their first handheld PC would most likely go to a competitors’ product instead, or write off handheld PCs as unattainable due to cost.
For my part, I was on the fence about the LCD model when it came out because I didn’t think I’d have enough use case scenarios to justify the initial cost, and only after someone I know upgraded to the OLED and gifted me their old LCD model did I actually find out what I was missing out on. Now that I’ve had one for the better part of a year, I can say that the LCD model works for my needs.
If I had any complaints, it’s that the touchpad is too low in its position and too square for me to comfortably use for FPS games, and the select & start buttons are placed in such a way that I have to reach my thumb over their respective analog sticks just to reach, which feels awkward sometimes; I feel that the touchpad and analog stick positions should’ve been swapped- though iirc the OLED has the same form factor, so it’s not an issue exclusive to the LCD model. I’m also coming from the perspective of a Steam Controller fan, too, which to me is nearly perfect as a controller. (I only wish the left pad was just a dedicated d-pad, better analog emulation when using keyboard inputs, and as many back paddles as the Steam Deck.)
Not to add to the whataboutism, but don’t forget how the US firebombed Tokyo.
Tax evasion on top of the other illegal activity can increase the consequences if you’re caught. They tend to require warrants before divulging information to other authorities, however any information gathered through legal means can be used against you.
The main benefit of reporting the income is to reduce the likelihood that somebody gets suspicious of the change in buying habits and starts in investigation in the first place.
For the longest time I didn’t understand why some quotes were in unwrapped text blocks that made it unnecessarily difficult to read on mobile; difficult enough that I just passed over posts and comments that featured it.
Now I know that the code block feature is being used, and I feel unreasonably annoyed that it’s being used for anything other than code blocks.
For the record, I’m using Connect.
It’s not hard, but it’s still a hurdle. Warrants also can’t be requested from a judge by just anyone in the USPS iirc, so the start of the process often relies on an employee taking time out of their day to report something they deem suspicious in the first place, likely in an understaffed and overworked office that’s not built to handle the package volume of the area they serve.
Iirc, the USPS can’t unilaterally search your letters or packages because, as a government institution, it would be a major violation of the 4th amendment- even postal inspectors need to get a warrant to open a letter or package that’s not expressly addressed to them if it was in the care of the USPS. I think the only exception is when it’s an ‘Operation Santa’ letter, and there are regulations in place for how those get handled to protect the privacy of the sender.
The private parcel and package companies probably don’t have to abide by the same restrictions because they’re not government owned and operated.
To add to this: taking territory is the easy part.
The hard part is holding it, because you don’t just have to worry about staffing the front line, but maintaining security in the occupied regions long enough for non-state actors to cease hostilities and accept the invading force as the new legitimate authority- which may never fully occur- all the while dealing with resistance fighters.
This means orders of magnitude more personnel, funding, and equipment for an unknowable length of time across a much larger area than just the line of incursion.
It’s taken them two years to fail to take the land, and now have an incursion into their own soil to contend with. so I’m skeptical they’d manage to keep it permanently.