GuinansEyebrows

i haven't seen this since the flash days. so cool. glad you ported it so it's still accessible!

cute!

why would i want a toaster rendering anything but hot bread?

perhaps not, but cynicism in kind is understandable when you have no real power to effect change.

> The old adage that the people elect the governance they deserve; comes to

this idea has always bothered me. i think people (even ones i disagree with) deserve better.

the longer i stay, the more i think "amen to that".

...yeah, yeah, greener grass, i know.

hmm, not quite OpenDyslexic. looks a little like Comic Mono but maybe a little rounder? the "l" is a lot curvier than most comic-like fonts. almost reminds me of one of the annoying Samsung fonts :)

openbsd has a funny cultural meme around comic sans. i've seen other writings on it but this might be the origin: https://www.openbsd.org/papers/bsdcan14-libressl/mgp00025.ht...

some of the openbsd folks use it as a weapon in the fight to prioritize content over presentation. i got a chuckle out of it and it convinced me to stop thoughtlessly hating on comic sans, easy as it is.

unironically, yes. go get good at tetris if you need a high score for personal validation.

a non-trivial portion of the guitar-amp world is still very much set on tubes, even as amp simulators get closer to "the real thing".

a cool recent development i've been following is the Octal by Verellen Devices (created by an awesome musician who also built some highly coveted boutique all-tube amps): https://www.verellendevices.com - it's basically designed to replicate the push/pull of power tubes in a solid-state package to push extremely loud guitar cab speakers. they seem to impart their own sound signature but still sound really really good, especially compared to a lot of solid-state guitar amps.

my condolences :) just kidding. hope you found oneness with cup rubber.

i'm like this at home for sure, until i want to play along to something in tune.

i'm also the one at rehearsal literally throwing TU-3s at my bandmates who don't have tuners on their boards for some reason. you have to have a tuner if you play with others. no question.

thanks for linking to my page and reminding me how badly i need to do a round of updates -_-

> Instead you would have an equally powerful company with no moral compass whatsoever.

given the information we have, this describes the current state.

> there would be no hope of the company ever improving.

if they can't do anything about it now, what makes you think that situation will change in the future? if remedial action would be punished by those higher on the ladder, it certainly won't be promoted by those folks, leaving this hypothetical employee in exactly the same position they're currently in.

quit.

here's why i don't think that holds water:

i no longer believe a company of alphabet's size cannot weather a "controversy" around surreptitious data collection. too many people accept this possibility as a matter of course.

beyond PR, alphabet, like every other company at or near its size:

    * has obviously bribed the current administration
    * they can afford a relative slap on the wrist should any financial penalty be imposed
    * and of course, NSA letters continue to allow the federal government to receive whatever data they wish to ask for

> I absolutely trust Google the most.

why?

truly not trying to be snarky here but i don't understand why you would place this level of trust in an Alphabet Inc brand.

there is a third option: don't make one at all if you feel your only recompense involves selling this data. that's what creeps do.

there is so much more subversive marketing out there than any of us can really fathom. i try not to be too paranoid but it's getting a lot harder every day.

i know someone who worked in what we might call the 'astroturfing' space within the entertainment industry. after having a few discussions with him and with things like this[0] becoming more known, it's really difficult to afford any assumption of organic intent when money is on the line - especially at the scale that microsoft works at compared to something as comparatively quaint as the music industry.

[0] https://www.wired.com/story/geese-chaotic-good-marketing-ind...

> It will be painful

you are choosing the pain of the masses over the pain of the wealthy.

maybe.

i think the types of environments that foster the culture of bullshit jobs are bereft of conscience (ymmv as far as how you react to that in your own job).

additionally, many people within those environments feel that scrutiny or lack of job security even when they play by the rules.

something i've been thinking about a lot lately is that i don't feel very bad being cynical about these kinds of systems when they're helmed by people who are cynical about me. if my job is at risk due to mismanagement, restructuring, "the market" or anything else that would cause my employer to see me as a line item and not a human being with needs, i have every right to view my employment as an asset to manipulate as i see fit as well. turnabout is fair play. conversely, i've also been lucky to have had some good bosses and i don't act as ruthlessly in those situations.

> They're not wrong about their experiences. But they're also not talking about the technology. They're talking about the corporate users of that technology.

i think that's the point they're trying to make: the users and purveyors of the technology are inextricable from the technology itself; and given who the purveyors are, we can safely/rightly assume that their profit motives (at best) or cultural motives (more sinister) will be at the forefront of their push to expand the uses of these technologies.

i don't think it's a particulary well-fleshed out point (as another commenter said, what do we actually do with this besides burn down datacenters?) but it's still worth making clear that we are allowed to be as cynical about this technology as the purveyors are about their target users.

unfortunately, it's never amusing to read the thinly-veiled self-narratives of the condescending when comments like this get posted.

how's your 401k doin' bruh?

if you're truly interested, please check out the podcast 'Knowledge Fight' which covers alex jones and infowars in stunningly minute detail, including the defamation cases in texas and connecticut. the main host was even called as an expert witness in one of the trials to give testimony about alex jones' involvement and denial in harassing and inciting his listeners to harass the parents and survivors of the shooting.

we can learn new things about people that change the way we feel about them and the work they produce. nothing is truly static.

a lot of that happened before his views were more widely known. much like jk rowling. a lot of people have written both best-selling authors off as bigots; this is just a matter of fact. they may be financially comfortable but their standings have been irreparably harmed by their own statements.

> Does his opposition of homosexuality some how make his point about writing critiques less interesting?

i'll bite: yes. it belies a lack of compassion, imagination, openness and curiosity required to create compelling fiction or writing advice that resonates with people who aren't bigots.

are you asking me, a numbskull with an associate's degree, to propose public policy*? i think we're allowed to want qualified people to do better in the positions we've elected them to :)

* if so, my policy is that all guns be vaporized overnight. also, my policy would include the end of lobbying entirely, including but not limited to the small arms industry and the NRA along with police guilds and other organizations supporting the small arms race in this country