doom_and_gloom

doom_and_gloom , 10 hours ago

I hear Bill Ackman’s name far too little for as often as I have his paid opinions appear in front of my eyeballs. I’m not sure if he has pressured Adams directly as per this article, but I know he has been pulling strings with university admins.

doom_and_gloom , 10 hours ago

Great trick, isn’t it: They’re employed to protect the capital of the titans, from the taxes of the people who they are protecting the hoard from.

It’s no wonder so many people have trouble wrapping their brains around it, honestly. It’s devious.

doom_and_gloom , 3 days ago

The game that changed everything, at least to my memory. It kicked off a new and exciting era in gaming. It gave us CS, DoD, and who could forget playing as Barney the security guy in Blue Shift. A landmark title imo.

doom_and_gloom , 2 days ago

“Might not.” Such kind phrasing.

doom_and_gloom , 4 days ago

It’s a kei car, though.

doom_and_gloom , 4 days ago

They can usually be imported for private use, but kei cars aren’t street legal for most consumer purposes in the US. Which means they would be selling to a very small market. The very few that end up getting sold in Europe are usually modified versions designed for export is another limiting factor.

doom_and_gloom , 4 days ago

There is a small market for kei cars, for private use and export. But the economies of scale required for making these top-sellers don’t exist without regulatory and tax reform in foreign markets.

doom_and_gloom , 4 days ago

Yeah that existing market is a good point, I’m used to Americans talking about wanting kei cars (and the discussions of finding 25 year old trucks in good condition lol). I’m sorry.

It might have to do with production limitations for EV models (perhaps in part because of the focus on hydrogen and delayed battery procurement contracts vs. competitors), and mature competition from Chinese suppliers. Even so, iirc the entire kei market is significantly smaller because they are so much cheaper and because even if some countries do accept them, they can’t be sold universally. Also I think Japan changed incentives several years back which might have impacted sales and profits trends. That all probably makes the economics of expanding EV offerings abroad challenging.

I think that if they could do it they would, but you are absolutely right that Japan is not the only market where kei cars are relatively cleared and common place. I think I’m on the same page now.

doom_and_gloom , 7 days ago

Yet with those 100 watts, the brain cannot model itself in this detail - even though it is the literal embodiment of it! A strange thing to consider.

doom_and_gloom , 7 days ago

Not so different, I agree. But like you said, it’s still a weird thing to think about.

doom_and_gloom , 7 days ago

Have some respect for your elders. That dog has seen some shit.

doom_and_gloom , 7 days ago

But then what do we do with all of the naptha?

doom_and_gloom , 6 days ago

Hehe.

But really, we’re going to continue refining petroleum, and it’s nearly impossible to beat the economics of using a readily available industry byproduct. These plastics are a horrible thing but that’s the reality of the situation.

doom_and_gloom , 7 days ago

They’ve both got good points.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

doom_and_gloom , 10 days ago

I help maintain !collapse

Although it doesn’t take much effort at the moment.

doom_and_gloom , 10 days ago (edited 7 days ago)

Mother 2 is the best game of all time and if you disagree, Ness’ bat would like to have a word with you. Paula will pray for whatever is left of your soul when he is done.

Nintendo digitally re-released the original strategy guide awhile back, but I think my copy is faulty because I can’t smell the scratch and sniffs…

doom_and_gloom , 10 days ago

I hope you can get to both of them soon… especially EB.

doom_and_gloom , 11 days ago

This isn’t the most practical advice but here it goes: Live your life, chase your passions, find community, volunteer your abilities, and work on fulfilling yourself. Along the way, keep an eye out for other lonely souls. At least this way, you’re more likely to be starting from some sort of common ground.

If you’re a bit of a black sheep locally, it can also really help (in a multitude of ways) to move somewhere that you fit in better. It’s unfortunate but true, at least in my observations.

doom_and_gloom , 12 days ago

The taiga has been burning for years due to climate change. Some of these fires are nonstop, with so-called ghost fires burning underground through the winter that reignite into bigger fires when it gets dry. Siberia has had it the worst. I wonder if this is related. I would think it probably is.

It is noteworthy that the mayor of Bratsk (Irkutsk region) has already stated that “in all cases, fires are handmade, everywhere the human factor.” In all likelihood, the season of kebabs with alcohol in nature gave a new impetus to the elements. In some settlements, the fire was close to multi-storey buildings.

This could be a possibility too, although I don’t know whether the statement is in earnest or coming from a climate-denial perspective like you hear in the US and Canada. Hopefully the former. Is anyone familiar with the mayor, by any chance?

doom_and_gloom , 12 days ago

I’m really hoping an expert on Bratsk politics shows up to the thread to let us know lol

doom_and_gloom , 15 days ago

I’m not saying this explains all of it, but there is a lot more resistance to the mainstream culture now than in previous decades. That culture is the continuation of Roman Imperialism which is where shaving the face is adopted from. This was in contrast to other societies such as the Greeks and Vandals.

Of course not everyone wearing a beard is counter-culture, but the counter-culture is currently strong enough to influence acceptable trends. Looking like Zuck isn’t cool anymore. I would say this trend started many years ago with the hipsters, and has steadily expanded beyond that group.

doom_and_gloom , 16 days ago

lmao well he isn’t wrong about Japan at least

doom_and_gloom , 16 days ago

Because it is what early !collapse looks like from a consumer’s standpoint.

doom_and_gloom , 17 days ago

HR is not your friend, but unless your colleague is C-level, HR probably isn’t their friend either. Just be mindful of workplace politics - but their behavior is not just toxic, it’s radioactive.

If you wanted to take it a step further, you might consider getting a bill for therapy sessions to support a lawsuit. You should probably seek out counsel if you go down that avenue, though.

doom_and_gloom , 17 days ago (edited 15 days ago)

BG3 will feel like an entirely complete game on its own. It is in the same world and has some recurring characters, but the game is designed for newcomers so they don’t assume that you know the characters and history.

For those who have played BG1/2, it starts off feeling more like a spiritual successor imo. But eventually you see how it all actually fits, and it fits very nicely. But that’s more of a bonus for return visitors to the Forgotten Realms because the game stands just fine on its own.

doom_and_gloom , 21 days ago

omedetou

doom_and_gloom , 21 days ago

I remain thoroughly unconvinced.

doom_and_gloom , 26 days ago

Solar radiation management. To fix climate change burn more fossil fuels.

doom_and_gloom , 28 days ago

I think they can probably be held liable if damages can be proven and litigation is initiated through the US court system, but that is a big undertaking.

YouTube has some algorithms set up to remove content that it believes is highly likely to lead to trouble for itself. They are legally compelled to not host certain types of content, but most removed content is not in this category and is instead removed for business/political/optics reasons. The algorithms are primed for moderating western content because that is where YouTube expects these legal/political risks to come from.

In other words it is a very leaky net and there is no serious desire to make it airtight because it’s not a matter of mandatory regulation, it’s a matter of risk management. (If it were regulatory then the platform wouldn’t realistically be able to exist in the form that it does.)

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Because other countries can’t respond appropriately unless they are aware. China would rather not be attacked, than wait to be attacked to reveal its capabilities.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago)

This doesn’t read like science, but more importantly it is deeply flawed logic:

A person is in a car that is heading off a cliff. While they are naive of this fact, they are content but destined to an untimely demise. They are made aware of the fact and become deeply anxious.

What is causative in this scenario? Ignoring the cliff, we could say that the awareness is at fault for the person’s anxiety. But if the person were better informed about their state and there was no cliff, there would be no anxiety.

A root cause analysis would show that fundamental problem is not that the driver knows where they are going, but the fact that they are headed off a cliff in the first place.

To determine that social media is the root cause of increased teenage mental illness rates, we would need to confirm that social media in a utopian environment still causes mental illness. This is a claim without much evidence, particularly because the more one becomes informed about the world the more the will be exposed to its legitimate problems. What would be more practical, then, is to determine what incidence of mental illness occurs with awareness of these issues where social media is not a factor, and then to evaluate what if any factor remains to be explained by social media. The editorial does not take this approach, but instead appears to attempt a firehose of rationalizations that don’t converge to make a coherent thesis.

Perhaps the editorial author’s book isn’t selling well.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Nothing like a K-shaped recovery to help the rich get richer.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

I expect that many other planets have life. I suspect that interstellar travel is not the only means of traveling between planets.

I am not at all convinced that foreign intelligences do visit, but I do consider it a very real possibility. If I were to somehow know they were here and nothing more, then I would feel confident that their visitation is being concealed.

It’s a wonderful topic, but I’m not particularly interested in beliefs related to it. I am much more interested in the possibilities.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago)

There are plenty of alternative explanations.

For a few examples:

• In such a huge universe, even if FTL travel is possible, why should we expect Earth to be a common destination?
• It is possible that only species who do not wish to colonize the galaxy will avoid the Great Filter and acquire the technology needed to colonize it.
• Not all space-faring races must be highly populous, while less populous species will encounter less of the issues that would cause a population to collapse before becoming space-faring.
• We could be colonized without recognizing it.
• Colonization itself could be inherently unsustainable.

There is also no reason to limit the discussion to a galaxy. If we assume that an FTL civilization will colonize (in a way that we would recognize), then they could come from any galaxy. Given the expanse of the universe, if such a behavior is common enough that it would stand a chance of succeeding, then it should probably exist already. And yet we do not appear to be colonized. Which is more likely: That FTL intelligences must colonize, or that we are all alone in the universe? Axiomatic reasoning reveals that the latter is statistically much less likely than the former. So it is less likely to successfully explain why we appear to be uncolonized.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

No, I don’t think I have.

What instances/comms are you noticing it on?

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

nom nom nom nom

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Israel really gave zero fucks about those hostages.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Wobblies dropping knowledge and answering life’s biggest questions out here.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

rip in power graebae

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago)

Meaning in life does not come simply from collecting money. It largely comes from how we spend our time. Most of us spend a large part of our time at work or commuting. If fulfillment does not come from your job, then it’s going to be hard to find time to be fulfilled.

Now, some who have nothing to do at work are able to fill their time in a way that is meaningful to them - especially remote workers. But to have to give up your time, to have no challenges to apply yourself to during those work hours, and to be prevented from doing anything else that would be meaningful? That sounds like the 9th circle of hell to me.

Life is short. Few things are worse than watching it tick away in boredom.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Yellen is threatening a trade war over them making renewables affordable lol

China opened a case with the WTO to protect it’s EV industry from the US.

However the US can appeal it and it will go into a void, because the US has been blocking appointments to the bench since 2019.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Looks great!

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Khan Younis

Kirby says that’s just to rest and refit. (But speculation is that they will be sent to the Rafah operation.)

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

And this is Iran trying to defuse that trap. They’ve explicitly told the US not to take the bait on it, and are offering an olive branch instead of insisting that the only option is blood for blood.

Of course the message won’t land, but imo they’re being pretty clear about it.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Use software with an active community, don’t install things you don’t need, update regularly, and be thankful that you probably aren’t worth using a zero-day backdoor on. Your telecom provider, on the other hand, might be - but there’s not much you can do about that!

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

Sometimes I think the crows are more self-aware than humans.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

They’re definitely smarter than us, seeing as how we’re the ones killing the planet.

doom_and_gloom , 1 month ago

What is your favorite game in the series?

The one with dinosaurs!

What is the first entry you ever played?

The first one.

What aspects do you adore about it?

Tank.

What doesn’t work for you?

Tank.

on a more serious note

Great series that has covered a lot of ground. It’s hard to talk about any of them without talking about all of them.