Just restrict network access (both in and out) with proper (trusted) hardware firewall. It’s much safer that relying on disabling / configuring etc. You can’t attack what you can’t reach (directly or in reverse).

Is this AI generated? I don’t think so because it is lacking nonsensical stuff but maybe AI is this good now??

He told his friend about the game. I don’t think he would have done so if he copied or felt he had “stolen” anything. If he remade the game with this own code and assets then he put a lot of work into it and he can be proud of that (and telling his friend shows that he was). Comparing the game, i do think the clone is better made / more polished. So he really like the game and made a better version of it. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. IP has to be respected (can’t just copy assets or code) but if that’s the case then anything goes and that’s a good thing, it gives us better games.

Think PalWorld, for example, Nintendo, one of the most copyright abusing companies in the world, doesn’t sue them and it’s arguably a better game than anything Nintendo has come up with recently (no new / modern / good / 3D Pokemon games).

TF2 is no longer making a lot money for valve. Veteran players have all theirs special hats/cosmetics and no new player wants to invest time and money in a game so riddled with cheating bots. They could easily handle the situation. Detecting obvious cheating bots isn’t hard but valve doesn’t even try. Yes, there are community servers, like Uncle Danes, that are good at handling bots, but it’s also a big burden for them to constantly ban/remove cheating bots.

Valve is testing server side AI cheat detection in CS2. Let’s hope that they will bring that to TF2 valve servers. Maybe don’t VAC ban players being detected (AI is buggy), just remove them when detected and maybe disallow them from joining valve servers for a week.

It would be a evolutionary benefit to fear / avoid any person that is behaving strangely in certain distinct ways. Could be a dangerous transmittable disease, i.e. rabies etc.

Basically all service providers in the EU will be forced to change their terms of service that all users will have to agree to in order to continue using the service. You will simply get an “updated terms service” notification with a link and one big “OK” button and nothing else. If you follow the link to the terms of service, somewhere deep down (like page 276 of 389) it will says “I agree to be monitored”. You now have the choice to uninstall the app or to click “OK”. It’s basically everything. Obviously Google, Outlook, Yahoo etc and all the Chat apps (Signal, Telegram, Whatsapp) etc. So “Consent” is not really optional if you want to use any internet service, they can just pretend that it is so that can go on an uncontrolled unwarranted spying rampage against everyone and of course for everything.

China chill? The legitimate concern is that China is controlling the way certain messages are pushed (“the algorithms”) to control topics that they have an interest in. I.e. pushing misinformation to drive support for Trump or Biden, as an example. That is not free speech or privacy, that is malicious interference and the the fear of the US doing this is the sole reason China has already banned similar US apps in China. That is also the reason they would rather be banned than to “give up the algorithms” (they certainly won’t allow anyone to see how they push misinformation).

Straight from the horse’s mouth!

There are also many organizations that wish they has some local backups after their cloud service providers lost all their data. Lesson to learn: Backup properly with offline storage. Tape in a safe, maybe even off-site, etc.