theparadox @ theparadox @lemmy.world

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2 yr. ago

More like they need to have everyone use the app so that they can offer "AI Assistant" features through it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/01/28/new-details-free-ai-upgrade-for-google-and-samsung-android-users-leaks/

Allegedly, British strikers in the 40's, maybe earlier. The phrase itself is older. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACAB

Might have been used by any number of groups upset with police. It's anti police.

Why are you trying to associate it with racist skinheads?

The analogy might be questionable, but the logical and inevitable conclusion of capitalism (markets and the profit motive) is the continued accumulation of power/wealth by those who own the means of production.

Barring very strong regulation that somehow manages to avoid capture or a perpetually benevolent ruling class it becomes defacto fascism.

I thought Embracer Group was fine. I was almost a fan of their hands off investments in game studios.

Then they had a major deal go through that cost them a lot and they have been gutting or closing a lot of great studios they invested in ever since. Anything that isn't currently making or isn't guaranteed to make them money hand over fist in the near future, regardless of past performance, is at risk.

The sacrifice would be tiny if the general population made that same tiny sacrifice. Instead they don't bother to ever wear a mask, exponentially increasing the chances they'll spread it to someone else.

I have a family member that relies on me for help as well as a friend that I see weekly. Both are very high risk for COVID complications - family has almost no immune system and friend has a rare clotting disorder. I don't think I would be able to forgive myself if they caught COVID from me.

I also don't want to end up like two other friends of mine with long COVID. They were healthy and extremely active, now they are riddled with problems and had to abandon the activities they used to enjoy (and that I'd really prefer to continue to enjoy myself).

So, yes, avoiding everyone who takes no precautions has become quite a sacrifice. If I was confident that I'd be surrounded by people who were vaccinated and (regularly) wearing N95s I'd feel safer at restaurants, shops, gyms, public transit, parties, maybe even a concert. Instead I do take out or occasionally outdoor dining, minimize my time in most places, and avoid gatherings of any significant size.

Being extremely careful because nobody else is willing to be even a little careful really shrinks your world and it fucking sucks. Alternatively, I could join my dumbass aunt and make fun of people masking at the grocery store immediately after complaining about suddenly, mysteriously being diabetic following her third COVID infection.

That's actually something that's likely already happening, assuming they manage to even achieve that.

I guarantee there are tons of potential geniuses born that are never afforded the chance to develop or even demonstrate their abilities... and when they do, aren't recognized. Either because they are from the dirty poors and/or the Moneybags family can just leverage their resources to ensure their kids get the opportunity or recognition instead.

If you don't believe in fairness or equality, the potential benefits to yourself by way of improvements to society from geniuses should motivate you.

I'm so tired of the pattern of a well balanced society flourishing and then a few selfish fuckwads hoard resources and starve their society back into a stagnant imbalanced fief.

Maybe if Israel indiscriminately bombs some more civilians Hamas will change their mind and start dancing?

Bill Gates' money has done more good for the world than anyone you've ever known, and nearly also everyone you've ever read about, combined.

Unfortunately, his foundations' spending also gives him an absurd amount of power and influence... which I suppose is great if you agree with what he thinks is good for the world.

Some of the uses of his money/foundation have done real good. Others have absolutely done real harm and/or just made him and his friends richer. Others expenditures are still are up for debate. He's got a fuckload of money so yeah, there is a lot of good but that's selection bias if you don't consider the bad.

Money going to a cause you like is good... but that money had to come from somewhere. If Bill robs Peter to cure Paul's malaria is Bill a hero, a villain, or a billionaire who thinks he knows what's good for the world and has the power and influence to just do it, or push someone else to do it, without consulting the unwashed masses who maybe have other priorities?

the businesses who've tried this have largely failed.

See most nations outside the US

Paying a fast-casual dinning or fine dinning worker the same as a McDonald's worker isn't going to bode well for customers expecting a higher level of customer service

Then wages can be set to match the establishment and expected level of customer service.

I've eaten at restaurants outside the US and prices are not ridiculous. However, US businesses assert they'd need to be. If it's truly going to set prices outside the affordable range for US customers I'd like to compare restaurant balance sheets inside vs. outside the US. What is costing US restaurants so much money that they have to pay their employees so poorly?

Honestly, that was my first hope.

The tea party was basically astroturfed into existence by the Koch Brothers and other rich assholes. On the left we basically have rich neoliberal assholes who are desperate to do good while still making sure their capitalist class asses stay as rich and relevant as possible. The "good" they do is also, conveniently, great at keeping them politically powerful while simultaneously lessening their tax burden.

I vote. I research and try to push the most progressive candidates. I still live in a reliably blue district in a relatively blue state. The establishment candidates have always won.

I'm not encouraging people to give up the fight. I'm just venting because I'm just so fucking tired.

I continue to hold my nose and vote blue because in virtually every case the Democratic candidate is far better than the Republican candidate (from my left leaning perspective).

What frustrates me is that I have no power to push the party further left. In my fantasy, crowds of people can shout from the streets "Democratic party, do X or I will withhold my vote!" and the Democrats will lose an election, realize their folly, and move to the left. In reality, they'll just write those crowds off as unrealistic and unreliable and likely move center to try and court more "independent" votes. With two parties dominating and the current electoral system, that's just how it goes.

I don't have the energy to be the difference, politically. I try to do the right thing and I help people I can in small ways - at work, in my small social circles, and by donating to organizations I trust will help. Hell, I'm afraid to be part of the shouting crowd because doing anything openly could jeopardize my work situation or even my employment. To add to that, I am antisocial, anxious, and too stressed in daily life to really engage in effective, direct action.

I'm just tired and disheartened. I feel like when I hold my nose and vote blue, sometimes I'm endorsing what I often perceive as a shift to the right.

Powerful, self-interested, wealthy people on the right though... they can just throw so much money at a problem. It takes so, so many more of us to fight against it. Deep down I know reducing my involvement just gives those assholes more power. It's what some of them are fighting to do - dishearten the masses so that they'll just give up.

I don't really have a point I guess. I'm just tired. I know that the right is becoming so openly fascist because they know they don't have the popular support... but they have the resources to drag this out. Maybe even change rules to make it so that breaking the law, even violence, becomes the only way to fight back. I just hope it ends soon. I'm tired of thinking about what it means when they continue to get close to half the votes all across the country.

I honestly only kind of care about the "story" and just want to watch a documentary about all the weird shit happening in the environment around them.

I had already narrowed the size down to a smallish (I forgot what I used for comparison) electronic cooking appliance so a full oven was already out. "Toaster oven" was negative, so I tried microwave oven route instead.

Is it an oven? 👍 Is it a microwave oven? 👍 Is it a countertop microwave oven? 👍 Can it grill food? 👍 Is it a grill microwave oven? - exceeded the question limit, big reveal, answer was "microwave". Interesting but I wasted a lot of questions trying to determine what kind of microwave it was because "microwave oven" was not accepted.

I don't think low rates caused inflation, and I don't think high rates were to lower inflation.

Inflation resulted from supply chain issues and businesses believing (correctly) that they could raise prices beyond their increased costs and rake in additional profit, all while blaming inflation.

High interest rates were to punish labor - to raise unemployment in order to prevent labor from obtaining enough power to demand better pay and better conditions.

Because things escalated significantly in the last few weeks.

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/06/1210831466/death-toll-gaza-israel-hamas-conflict

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_wage

Apparently our typical installer for Visio 2016 and our 365 license use "incompatible installers" so it is going to be a pain in the ass for me to have both installed at the same time. Thankfully I'm trusted by IT so I might be able to just do it myself.

Edit: Looks like I'll need IT after all. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/use-the-office-deployment-tool-to-install-volume-licensed-editions-of-visio-2016

Now if only it would stop dropping leading zeros unless you ask it

That appears to actually be a feature.