log

log, 11 days ago to random

I might be too far into the parasocial relationships when I'm worried I'll get muted or unfollowed by someone who seems way cooler than me.

I must remind myself that I am the same amount of person at 0 followers as I am at 200.

log, 11 days ago to random

Yeah, yeah. We already knew that. We're still waiting for anyone at all to place any kind of meaningful restriction on his future behavior. He'll still be out slandering and libeling and defaming and prevaricating and equivocating and uttering mendacity after mendacity. I'll celebrate when someone shuts his blathe-hole and pries the lights and cameras away from his vain and narcissistic mug.

I'll celebrate when I can worry about the next fascist in line to destroy us.

It ain't just him.

log, 11 days ago to random

When someone discovers that they are invisible and inaudible, but that people will interact with a puppet as though it were a real person, or treat an AI model like a real person, what do you suppose that does to the real person?

I totally understand why someone might want to follow the hand all the way inside, and live in the puppet shell forever.

log, 1 month ago to random

So I spent way too much time developing a system of characters that can be written with an axe instead of anything remotely useful, because I can't tell you how often I have needed to take notes without having a pen handy, but somehow just having a hatchet and my log instead.

log, 1 month ago to random

So I took a little Motormouth instead of Foil Hat, and so now I need to rant for 20 solid minutes to come down.

Let's talk about Bowley's Law. It's not a legislative statute, but maybe it should be. Bowley was one of those dismal scientists--an economist. He noticed that for most businesses and countries, the fraction of revenues going to laborers as opposed to owners remained nearly constant. Money flowed in; money flowed out. Owners only skimmed off the cream.

log, 1 month ago to random

I have a hypothesis that our universe is actually the garbage collector for a simulation universe. Except one of the developers is really bad about removing stale references, so we're just a giant memory leak of horrible broken things, that has somehow hijacked update() from the main executable program, from within gc(). We are all the pruned storylines. All the unwanted NPCs.

log, 1 month ago to random

Universal Basic Income won't work unless we can eliminate economic rent and rent-seekers.

Rents don't benefit anyone but the rentier. If we eliminate them, the rest of us will only improve. We can get all those deadweight losses back, too.

As with most things, there is an easy, but morally problematic, way to do it, and a very difficult, morally superior, and likely ineffective way to do it, because they already operate in the morally problematic zone at all times, and are okay with murders.

log, 1 month ago to random

I just found out that my landlord's favorite electrician doesn't follow NEC. So how's your day going?

log, 1 month ago to random

Shitpost and THE ALL CAPS are playing live at the tavern on Tuesday night, and I'm trying very hard to like them before they get popular.

log, 2 months ago to random

That's what I call a hard cheese. That cheese has prison tattoos.

log, 2 months ago to random

Some of your fellow passengers have disembarked. Those who remain have been selected for "additional labor and responsibility without any increase in pay" and "crushing injury to morale". Please fasten your seat belts, as we in the cockpit will continue extracting value during the entire remaining duration of this controlled descent into terrain. Do not attempt to use the exits, as we are the only ones wearing parachutes. Thank you for flying with Corporate Capitalism. Fuck you; pay me.

log, 2 months ago to random

I think amateur radio would get more adoption among younger people if they traded in the foxhunts and instead pointed antennas at IoT devices to determine whether something is phoning home and exfiltrating your spyware data without an owner-sanctioned Internet connection.

log, 4 months ago to random

Why does it always make me so mad to get a gifted New York Times article?

log, 4 months ago to random

Hypothesis: any random word in the lexicon may be combined with "punk" to evoke a concept that is almost entirely dissociated from either word alone, yet is also strangely coherent and intuitive.

Testing using a random word generator...

Sacredpunk. Bucking the authority of organized religion. Worshiping banned, unpopular, and forgotten gods.

Batpunk. Basically goths and Bruce Wayne.

Reflectpunk. Why are you dressed like a disco ball?

Humorpunk. Antijokes as far as the eye can see.

log, 4 months ago to random

I wonder if war would be as popular around the world if America stopped doing discounted sales of war materiel nearly year round. What if we just charged sticker price, and had an app for setting up delivery subscriptions?

log, 4 months ago to random

What if we put the AI on the blockchain?

log, 4 months ago to random

I just heard someone refer to an insufficiently flavored sparkling water as a drinkable candle, because you can smell the flavor, but never taste it. And I was assured by Jen at the Appleton store that you would have the LaCroix candles in stock. I came all the way from Oshkosh!

log, 5 months ago to random

I have been seriously considering taking an idea all the way from quarter-baked to half-baked. Someone might need to talk me down.

log, 5 months ago to random

Wisdom is your consolation prize for having all the fun crushed out of you.

log, 5 months ago to random

Trying to figure out how one of the two people I have blocked on fedi managed to get themselves unblocked. If I had an unmanageably large block list, that could be a problem.

log, 6 months ago to random

While I don't have money to throw around myself, this year I convinced someone that does to give some of it to the Free Software Foundation @fsf . Which is almost as good as giving yourself. And the gift of liberated software infrastructure is the gift that gives right back to yourself the next time you "update all" in your package manager!

log, 6 months ago to random

I am reminded every year while watching It's a Wonderful Life that Potter never got into any kind of trouble for stealing a colossal amount of cash from the Bailey Building and Loan business. Even went so far as to call the cops and perjure himself to frame someone else for his theft. A competent guardian angel would have just jogged Uncle Billy's memory, and leaned on Potter's wheelchair-pusher to testify.

log, 6 months ago to random

Henry Kissinger is not burning in Hell now, because Hell does not exist. He is now forever beyond the concept of punishment. He got 100 years of not paying for any of the many lives his decisions destroyed. And we let that happen.

We continue to let that happen for the people living in luxury as they destroy the ecosphere. Justice only exists for the living. Wrest it away from those who have purchased their own impunity.

log, 6 months ago to random

Has anyone run a game theory simulation to figure out if there's any voting system that does not naturally coalesce into corrupt antidemocratic shittiness?

log, 7 months ago to random

One thing that sucks about voting in cryptid precincts is that not only is party listed, but also species, subspecies, race, curse type, and primary coloration. So racist, and of course it was the high elves in Elderwoods Party who sponsored and passed that bill.

I had to put my voted sticker on my phone case, because I don't wear clothes, and my mobility gear is too dirty for anything to stick.

Straight United Miners Party, almost. Not picking a rock troll for Superintendent of Concealment.