VelesDude

I suspect that if it going to happen, it will happen a lot closer to the actual election. By having it close to the day, it gives less time for it to be proven false.

Not OP but I would assume that because they where still somewhat isolated groups in terms of directly lived culture, this would have influenced their works differently.

Like how the Blues didn't come out of a comfortable lifestyle.

Embrace, extend, extinguish.

Companies love open standards, at first. They love them to get traction but once they have the majority locked down, use it to force others out. Same with "free" markets.

Currently we question if it is AI, eventually we will question if it is a person.

The problem I see if that many will try to use shock value alone to try and stand out from the AI materials and that will be a whole different issue.

That is a good question but I suspect we wouldn't know. Just educated guesses and I cannot find those at the moment.

I think the other big issue is that back then we didn't have industrial civilization and high level agriculture dependent on specific environmental factors.

Short term that is the biggest issue that I fear.

I am in Australia and I have said it for many years, if it goes badly, we will welcome refugees with open arms. Those arms being machine guns and explosives.

That we will move into the realm of Lifeboat ethics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeboat_ethics

I do hope that do not take this path as it would become the greatest moment of shame for our whole species.

There is no history of this happening before, at least not on the time frames we are talking about here. This is thousands of years of change in decades. It isn't so much just the change but the pace that is the issue. Like how jumping off a building and taking the elevator achieve the same amount of change but on a very different time frame and thus very different results.

There is a decent book on this called 'Apocalypse Not' by John Michael Greer that covers the history of all these end times predictions. Good thing for putting these kinds of claims in perspective.

Yes, we have big issues facing us, some we can solve, some we can merely respond too. But we have to be mindful about some of the alarmist language that can be used. While many want to alarm people into action, it can also become fear that paralyze folks from doing any action.

It isn't so much that the overall temperatures will change too much when averaged out, that would relate more to the slow down/stopping of the AMOC.

First order effect, this would mean that you get less predictable weather events. Essentially, heat domes and artic blasts become much more persistent, sticking around for weeks or even months (worst case) rather than just brief periods.

Second order, A month long heat wave can kill a lot of crops followed by a month low wet spell that can completely flood the same area.

Third order effect, In metropolitan areas this is an inconvenience. For the food system, this is deadly.

Forth order effect, a fragile food system that feeds the metropolitan areas - things get dicey fast. Tough times, tough leaders, rise of authoritarianism etc. May you live in interesting times.

Oilprice.com is always like that. Everything always sounds urgent regardless of the actual content.

The 2025 date while possible, is much less likely than a middle of the range date.

That said, with the rate that dates relating to climate issues keep getting moved forwards, I would be surprised if in 5 years we dates like between 2030-2060 being proposed.

Yet another example of "it is so stupid it just had to be done.". I love it!

Yep, like most things it is no one single thing driving it. They arise mutually.

Absolutely, it is kind of the badge of an operating system that if it can run the GNU tool chain - it is a complete operating system.

I am still 100% on board with the libre/freedom stuff but you are right, a lot of the GNU stuff is being over run by more nimble newer things. A part of that is probably in part due to the technical legacy of some of the GNU tools having code dating back to the 1970's.

Always glad to see Jeff Minters work featured.

As an aside, check out his youtube channel. It is entirely just him and his life/work partner feeding sheep, donkeys and llamas on this property. Very cool! Many discs are inserted into them. Discs being hobnobs biscuits/cookies.

https://www.youtube.com/@stinkyox

This is why I think Richard Stallman had some success. His living requirement where so low that for most of the 1980's/early 90's, he only had to work 6 weeks to make all the money he needed for that year.

It opened him up to work on building/promoting GNU and FSF.

I have said for years that things like Free software would have come along eventually, he just happened to be in the right position to make it happen when it did.

A slight tangent but it is kind of mind melting that smartphones now do need a minimum of 1GB just to send an SMS. I mean look at any Nokia phone form the 90's and none of them probably had more than 1MB of RAM, many way below that. Yes there is a lot of quality of life and security features but the bloat is real.

I'm not saying "because they are lazy!" but, I think it is a combination of a large portion of people wanting a large piece of land and planners just using cars to fill in the gaps on convenience. I do think that a lot of folks would prefer to have better public access to things like parks, it would mean a lot less personal maintenance. But this is a hard sell for some people that have a vision of a certain lifestyle. And for planners, they are probably working with some very tight budgets and timelines to deliver. It is just easier to produce yet another grid of McSame because they know there is an audience for it and it makes their jobs a lot easier.

I do wonder where this will lead in decades down the line but for many that is not an issue they are considering.

Spoken like a real Gronk! Nah, your cool.

I suspect it is just something we picked up from our British heritage, the whole slang thing.

Apple and Pairs, Up the Stairs - all that.

I do find it funny when some folks have been here for a few years and they have picked up all the slang. Someone I used to know had been here for 10 years but still had a very thick Italian accent. It was always a joy when he would bust out a sentence like "I took the mars bar up the Tulla but it was right chockers. All I wanted for a Chook!". Translated, "I took the car up the freeway but there was a traffic jam. I wanted a hot chicken."

Yep, until folks see it they cannot understand the scale of these things.

It isn't just Crown in Melbourne, which for most folks is more like the traditional Vegas casino. All my local RSL's/Pubs are all about 50% pokie machines.

And yep, that complimentary bus is not there to bring the old folks in for a pot and parma.

Funnily enough, while it isn't the most pervasive, in New Zealand is where I have seen folks that are betting the highest. The wave of depression that hits you when see a lot of people all down on their luck betting $10 a spin every few seconds is just wild! I mean, yeah the Christchurch winter is bad but not that bad!

I wouldnt say it is bad but be careful of what you wish for.

On the flip side if someone is merely after fame that is not such a bad thing by comparison. It is not like those that seek wealth and power, it is at least going a more ethereal and potentially much less destructive goal. Having lots of fame doesn't necessarily take from others.

The problem with a lot of fame is that the more of it you get, the more decided people will be. A good modern example would be Taylor Swift. Some people love her, many don't even notice but some call her Taydolf Swifler.

Turns out you cannot get just the good, you have to have the bad come with it as well. Unless you are Weird Al, everybody loves him!

There is the idea that I kind of subscribe too but not entirely, that if you want to improve yourself - you would just do it rather than force it.

In that trying to force it is like Sisyphus. In giving up the battle, you are freed up to actually do it.

So your exaple is great, you had a good intention but once you gave up that structure then you actually got to the goal.

I would have considered the use of the Ad populum falacy more for use in terms of testable facts rather than opinions.

Is quality of language and taste opinion or fact? I could see the debate being vigorous on that one.

I do see where you are coming from but alas, language is an ever moving democracy. As much as many would like to define it in certain terms - it is largely beyond control.

This is why the English of Shakespeare doesn't hold up today because we are constantly adding and changing these things in a wonderfully organic fashion. It just makes it difficult to define.

The question is should we define it or is it like catching the wind with a net?

Another example is the word Monetize. It used to mean to turn a item into a form of money like currency. Almost nobody uses it like this nowadays. Decimate is another one.

It is a strong theme of taoism that in giving up on clinging to a set goal, it allows you more flexibility to do great things when needed.

For there to be famous people, there has to be non famous people. In the same way that up needs down, black needs white.

A figure I saw once was based on "do they have a Wikipedia page" as counting as famous. And the ratio was something like 50,000:1 relative to the population.

Would you bet your lives actions on a 50,000 to 1 chance? And even then do you think it would be possitive? Sometimes fame is the worst thing that can happen to someone. Being anonymous can be a blessing in disguise.

That is a key lesson of many religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism etc that the state of contentment comes from within. They have been telling everyone this for decades with mixed results.

Suffering is what happens when expectations do not match with reality. You can still have pain but suffering is that gap.

You hear folks that say "it is the journey that matters" but that implys a destination. I think it is all just one big ’happening'.

If life is a race it is a 100n stroll. And yet many people have convinced themselves that it is a marathon and that everyone else needs to be doing that race otherwise they would be the fool. The joke being that there is no other finish line and that many will go to the grave thinking they havent run the race enough.

Thanks for that. I will go through the whole video later but that at least covered the basic premise.

Essentially, due to the technique used for collision detection, tiny gaps in the geometry causes collision system to treat parts of the scene as having very thin walls that stretch to the top of the play space. Depending on if Mario's quarter steps align with this little gap means that a collision can be made despite it not being visible. Also explains why they impact Mario sometimes and not others.

Like throwing a marble through a mesh fence but you cannot see the fence. Odds are you will make it through but it is essentially chance.

Well I... umm... hmmmm...

All the other comments here make a good point but this is a core problem that I really worry about. Assumption of technology usage. And that eventually you are forced into usage of something you might not want. The amount of businesses and even government divisions that just assume the following.

1) You have a smart phone

2) It is either Apple or Android and nothing else

3) You are happy to use their proprietary app/setup.

I started to become aware of this over a decade back when using Windows Phone. And while I am on an up to date Android phone now, that you are forced to participate.

This is also why Ted Kaczynski was fascinating, An absolute insane lunatic that made some good points about the nature of technology. While his idea about this was a lot more broad, the requirement of phones is just another inch being taken to get to mile took.

"127. A technological advance that appears not to threaten freedom often turns out to threaten it very seriously later on. For example, consider motorized transport. A walking man formerly could go where he pleased, go at his own pace without observing any traffic regulations, and was independent of technological support-systems. When motor vehicles were introduced they appeared to increase man’s freedom. They took no freedom away from the walking man, no one had to have an automobile if he didn’t want one, and anyone who did choose to buy an automobile could travel much faster and farther than a walking man. But the introduction of motorized transport soon changed society in such a way as to restrict greatly man’s freedom of locomotion. "

This is something I highlight with the trend toward dumb phones. The input system on them sucks, it makes smart phone input look eloquent even though it is clumsy.

The idea that a lot of the time the opposite of one bad idea is another bad idea.

The Blackberry form factor is a reasonable middle way that could be explored again. Blackberry input systems but with the expanded functionality of smart phones - just adjust the app quantity/quality to your needs. There have been companies that have tried but their efforts have been clunky and with out native OS support and apps developed with it in mind, it is an uphill battle.