Roboticide

No, it’s not a terrible argument. Anyone can have a pitch or idea. That does not mean it’s automatically a viable product/service or a viable business.

It’s a valid question, how do we define “founder”? To play devil’s advocate, I’m curious if the people who think Musk didn’t co-found Tesla also agree Aaron Schwartz didn’t co-found Reddit. He joined later, after reddit was already incorporated by Hoffman and Ohanian.

In business, “founder” is already an honorary title. It has no inherent power. Co-founders often ensure they get C-suite positions as a company grows, have stock/shares, or other legal powers, but none of those are guaranteed just by being a “founder”. So practically, there’s no difference between calling Musk a “co-founder” versus “honorary co-founder.” Let’s just focus on calling him a piece of shit for the very definitive and obvious things we can point to.

Presumably people who bought NFTs. If you’re going to trick yourself into thinking your dumb, AI-generated piece of shitty “art” was a worthwhile investment, you might as well enjoy the perks of being in such an exclusive, stupid club.

In my experience, ad personalization is still so bad it has no impact, like in your last example. But at least now I’m not seeing random shit. I don’t really bother to try and counter targeted ads, and the vast majority of the ads I get are for products I actually already bought or never intended to buy but was researching for other purposes. Yes, Google knows I spent a lot of time researching drills, but guess what, Home Depot isn’t telling them I bought a drill, so I’ll get drill ads for a month. And yeah, I looked at a bunch of luxury sail yachts, private jets, and cars, but it’s not because I suddenly make more money. It’s because I’m interested in design and engineering. But Google just stupidly assumes I became a billionaire overnight and gives me 100’ yacht ads.

I’d honestly be more worried about a random ad getting lucky and pre-emptively catching my interest. Targeted ads are so reactive it’s not a problem.

I mean, good journalism costs money and journalists deserve a living wage. Everyone hates ads, so what does that leave reputable sites that don’t want to just be shills?

Maybe for that specific article it’s ironic, but it’s not like the Wired web page is bothering to check what the headline it’s serving is before asking readers to sign up.

“Free and open internet” still costs a ton of money. Not everyone is able, nor should be expected to volunteer their time to provide content or services to others for free.

Exactly! And it’s not like crossover content doesn’t happen between publishers already without blockchain. Look at Fortnite. All it takes is a promo code.

The belief amongst some is that reddit basically did a rug pull. People could and would buy these crypto points with real money, so reddit likely made money. Odds are it just was not successful outside of niche subreddits, hence:

Its newer Contributor Program, which rewards users with actual money from the Reddit gold and karma they accrue, is one such example. “Part of why we’re moving past this product is that we’ve already launched, or are actively investing in, several products that accomplish what the Community Points program was trying to accomplish, while being easier to adopt and understand,” Reddit’s director of consumer and product communications, Tim Rathschmidt, told TechCrunch.

Crypto also hopefully seems to be on the decline, and it’s possible Reddit did not want to appear to be behind the times.

And where these are most popular, the police would choose not to do anything anyway.

I just bought a big ass TV, and I’ve just started buying discs for movies I truly want to own for a few reasons.

1. You own it, period.

2. Even if you trust Amazon, do you trust your ISP to stream 4K reliably on demand? I don’t. Fuck Comcast.

3. A physical collection just kind of looks nice, especially if you fork out for Steelbooks and only buy your favorites. Steelbooks on eBay are like ~$30.

This is what happens when you don’t teach your kids the Laws of Thermodynamics in school…

That’s the joke. The Wachowskis both ended up being trans sometime after they made The Matrix.

Why are you saying this as if the AI would have control over the reactor.

It’s unlikely they’d even be in the same building, or even the same campus. We have these crazy things called “wires” that let us transmit a lot of power over distances, so your small nuclear reactor can be remote, safe and secure and your AI lab can just be on your main campus.

That’s a funny name for a toilet.

Since the Pixel 1 I’ve been buying a new phone every four years. Honestly I prefer it that way. Saves money and the upgrades feel more meaningful. As long as the battery is good, you still get security updates, and the hardware is intact, what is the reason to upgrade beyond being told to consume?

Looking forward to the Pixel 8 next month, since my 4 is actually starting to show it’s age.

Sure, but even rich people don’t buy more than two phones, if they have one for personal and one for business.

Lots of states have casinos, this country loves to gamble. My understanding though is the brothels are highly limited in Nevada. Like, they are severely limited to where they can operate. There’s not actually any in Las Vegas, for instance.

It’s hardly the model we should be copying.

Yeah, the thing with phones is they’re used every single day, and see a lot more wear and tear than say, a Kindle or a laptop. Not everyone wants to fork out for an OtterBox or some other ultra tanky case.

I try and go four years between updates, but for my Pixel 4 that meant a warranty replacement on year two due to a charging defect, and buying another used Pixel 4 off a coworker three months ago when mine got water damaged. The replacement just shuts itself off randomly multiple times a day, and that’s fine for a couple months but I’m really looking forward to upgrading to the Pixel 8.

We probably shouldn’t treat phones like leading cars, upgrading every year because something shiny and new came out, but upgrading regularly just due to wear and tear makes a lot of sense.

Because in 2016 it was a huge deal when they introduced a $5 monthly subscription for a few perks.

Now a $500 subscription triggers about the same level of response because we’ve all been worn down by subscription fatigue so much, so no one is really surprised, but we feel like we should still be really indignant and mad about this.

I’m kind of surprised that not a single state has yet.

Like the states that legalized weed have made a bonkers amount of tax money while the others continue to lose out to other states or the black market. And oh look, suddenly way less drug crime.

Legalize it, regulate it, then tax it. The Netherlands figured it out. Kind of surprised Nevada hasn’t taken their shot. A state could legalize it and watch their tourist and tax revenues skyrocket while likely lowering human trafficking to boot.

Earlier this year a bunch of people got stuck on a 4 hour Amtrak ride for like 18+ hours, without power, toilets or water. Were told they couldn’t leave and not allowed/able to transfer to another train.

I’d rather just die in an incredibly rare plane crash than trust AmTrak to get me across the country in days versus a flight which can get me there in hours.

Glad I fly Delta, even with the typically higher cost.