SwingingTheLamp @ SwingingTheLamp @midwest.social

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Joined

2 yr. ago

My boss has AR glasses that transcribe conversations in real-time (more or less).

On family road trips when I was a kid, I remember looking at the flow of cars in the opposing lanes, and thinking about just how many people there were in the world: We'd pass another car every second or so with at least one person in it, for hours and hours. It was a never-ending parade of humanity, and with only a handful of exceptions, people I would never, ever see again. The mind can't grasp those kinds of numbers.

And I'm old, so there are, like, almost twice as many people now.

I thought that, too. The movement will whither without a charismatic, shameless entertainer as its face and focus; who else is out there like that? Then, it hit me.

Joe Rogan.

But it's not like President Leon is cozying up to Rogan... right?

Yes, actually the plan literally is to Judgement Day the planet.

"The Bible predicts the final world conflict will happen on the plain of Megiddo in Israel when the superpowers assemble together to do battle," he explained. "Well, I think we can see now how a regional conflict could quickly escalate into a worldwide conflict. And that is going to happen one day."

Aren't you glad you asked?

I had to donate to United24, because, what else can I do?

Reminder that he got fired as CEO of one of the few companies he legitimately founded, twice.

I keep seeing this sentiment over and over and over: "I don't understand how so many people are duped." It's bizarre, and seems to defy our common sense. So, maybe it's time to consider other explanations, and there are some which are backed by scientific research. I've been flogging this article since it was published, because it's the only one that I've seen so be far that talks about it:

What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your Brain

One key element here is that the mind hack needs an 'in,' like fear, to get started, which explains why it affects some kinds of people so much more than others.

Egypt's Sisi rejects transfer of Gazans, discusses aid with Biden

This is a completely false account of what happened, and is emblematic of why I'm completely done with the Democratic Party.

Trying to change leadership away from evil policy is "literally nothing." Yup, this is why I'm totally done with the Democratic Party.

That's funny, I seem to recall an Uncommitted movement...

"Good" isn't a natural phenomenon that just needs a little space to establish a foothold. It takes deliberate action, effort, and sacrifice. And society doesn't magically reach a stable state. That's ridiculous.

Each election may have a bad and a worse outcome, but it's relative. Voting for the less-bad is a strategy that works even when both parties push toward evil. It works even when the choices are a party that supports genocide quietly and one that supports genocide loudly. If the "practical left" is just voting for the less-bad, while shitting on and shunning the people trying to do the hard work because the magical Fairy of Good hasn't yet shown up to establish that foothold with a wave of the wand, then I question how practical and how left that faction actually is.

I've been thinking about sharing my rule for making Lemmy a better place by having more discussions, and keeping even the arguments respectful:

Never tell another person what they are/think/believe/want.

The rule of thumb is just like in intimate relationships: Use "I" statements instead of "you" statements. Don't tell people "you obviously think..." or "you support..." or "you are..." Yes, that applies even to racists, transphobes, tankies, everybody. At best, it will never change the other person's opinion, because everybody is the hero of their own story. At worst, other people judge you to be the asshole. If somebody is truly vile (like Neo-Nazis), disengage. It's up to the community moderator or instance admin to remove them.

In my experience learning Windows 10 for my job, the results of searching for how to do something are: 'click-this' tutorials that don't work because Microsoft changed something in the next edition, editing the registry, or PowerShell commands. The registry editing sometimes doesn't work because Microsoft changed something. The PowerShell method is the way to go, because Microsoft has embraced the command line.

Enough farmland? I suggest reading up on the Ogallala Aquifer. Also, where the best climate zones for agriculture will be 50 years from now.

Oil lamps. They have the same appeal that's behind the resurgent popularity of vinyl records. They're hefty, kinesthetic items that feel good in the hand. There's a little ritual that goes into using them. There's the sensory appeal. I bought a Thomas & Williams miner's lamp that was said to have been a prize that the original owner won in a regatta in the 1920's. It's all shiny brass, with a heavy, solid feel, and the parts fit together with such a satisfying precision. There's feeling the heat of the flame, and the slight scent of kerosene that it emits.

(Although, I'm not sure that they're outdated, since they're still manufactured and sold as yacht lamps, and you can still get parts. Last month, I ordered a brand new glass chimney for it.)

I felt the same way about the Hulu episodes until Quids Game, which I just straight-up hated, at first. No real connection to the larger premise, just torture porn in the form of weird aliens playing with/killing off the familiar characters.

Later, it hit me: The episode is a meta-commentary on the Hulu seasons. The "quids" are self-insert characters for the writers, poking fun at themselves. They aren't doing a coherent storyline with this reboot, they're just playing with familiar characters in different scenarios, and wringing out a few new jokes in a way that they couldn't do with the established canon. In a way, it's Futurama fanfic by Futurama writers.

From that perspective, I've found the reboot a lot more enjoyable. The good parts are a bonus, and the duds are forgettable.

Okay.

Slackware is the oldest distribution which is still active. I remember Yggdrasil came before it, and I'm looking it up, I see that Slackware was based on the earlier SLS.

Franky, I read all of your comments here, and the main message that comes through is a lot of vague specifics with the subtext of, "I am very smart."

Yes, we know there's a bigger picture, but bigger pictures are easier to focus on when the details don't include bombs falling.