Signtist

Yeah, I was confused about why a nihilist wouldn’t want to live. I guess some people tie their will to live so strongly to their sense of meaning that they can’t fathom someone still wanting to live if they don’t believe that things exist for a reason.

The new season premiers in the spring.

Most people don’t actually care about the state of the world, they just want justification to think that it’s not their problem.

Now you’re getting it!

After I got my first girlfriend, now wife, through a dating site at 25, I found out later that her best friend’s mom and my best friend’s mom are friends, and we only found out because the two of them just happened to be talking on the phone and got on the topic of how people in their lives had recently found love, then realized they were talking about the same couple. The connection may have been a little late for me and my wife, since we’d already gotten together, but it would’ve been a great match otherwise.

My friend himself met his wife through a recommendation from his pastor, whose niece was also a shut-in who loved manga and anime; you might as well take the opportunities that come along. It might not work out, but the only way to get good at asking people out and dating is to ask people out and date.

That’s a great analogy as well, though with the stakes as high as they are, I don’t think either side is likely to fold. I think we’ll have to show our hands and see who wins. I’d love to hear that the government caved in to our demands and everything is fine, but if that doesn’t happen we need to understand that our work isn’t done until we get what we need, regardless of whether or not they decide to give it to us willingly.

My mom was a huge speeder. She almost never went below 10 over the limit. Any time someone told her something along the lines of “The sign says 60, and you’re going 80.” she’d respond along the lines of “Well, good thing signs can’t stop me then, huh?”

She’d always slow down if she thought she saw a cop, though.

I always think about that when people talk about protests as if they’re the final step and not just the warning before a revolt. If you want self-centered people, like the ones running our government, to listen to your signs, you need them to fear what comes afterward if they don’t.

Well, the country was founded by one, so there’s that.

Everyone thinks they’ll be Neo, when really they’ll be bystander #5 that gets turned into an agent just to shoot at him once and miss.

I have no doubt in my mind that the wealthy view the non-wealthy in the same way that an average person would view an ant. They may not hate it, but they don’t like it, and wouldn’t feel the slightest bit guilty killing one if it happens to be in their way, or killing thousands if they feel as though they’ve “infested” what they view as their property.

You definitely don’t know my mom.

20% has actually been the norm for a while. Maybe it was a bit on the upper end a couple decades ago while now it’s more default, but I remember my parents tipping 20% for normal service back in the 90’s. Of course, with prices soaring tipping is still getting pricier and pricier, but the expected percentage here has been relatively stable.

The thing that’s out of control is where you’re expected to tip now. I often see a tip prompt come up at retail stores where the only service the employee provided was ringing up the items I brought. I never tip in those kinds of situations, and I doubt the employee would see any of it even if I did.

Love me a Papa Murphy’s stuffed pizza.

What you see as “spot the error” type training, another person sees as absolute fact that they internalize and use to make decisions that impact the world. The internet gave rise to the golden age of conspiracy theories, which is having a major impact on the worsening political climate, and it’s because the average user isn’t able to differentiate information from disinformation. AI chatbots giving people the answer they’re looking for rather than the truth is only going to compound the issue.

This is the real concern. Copyright abuse has been rampant for a long time, and the only reason things like the Internet Archive are allowed to exist is because the copyright holders don’t want to pick a fight they could potentially lose and lessen their hold on the IPs they’re hoarding. The AI case is the perfect thing for them, because it’s a very clear violation with a good amount of public support on their side, and winning will allow them to crack down even harder on all the things like the Internet Archive that should be fair use. AI is bad, but this fight won’t benefit the public either way.

I used to tell a story about how my boss had to call me into his office to show him how to maximize a window after he accidentally changed its size. I had to do similarly basic instructions for several young news hires lately, and most don’t seem to be picking it up very well.

It’s less that kids are dumb with computers - since everyone’s dumb with computers when they’re inexperienced - and more that they’re as unwilling to learn as my grandma; I’ll show them how to do something, and they’ll completely forget how by the next day.

I saw computers as an exciting new thing, but the next generation seems to think of them as outdated tech.

Which is why they pump the uninformed majority of voters full of the idea that the current system will always save them. My father in law has a degree in political science and still thinks that we’ll vote Trump out in 2028 to fix everything. Decades of things generally continuing to function for the middle class white demographic has brainwashed every democratic voter over 50 I know to believe we’re still well within the acceptable bounds of politics.

I made a bunch of mistakes on my driving test, but they passed me anyway since my mom made me take my test on my 16th birthday and the instructor felt bad for me. I proceeded to get into 2 car accidents in my first year driving. I got pretty good at it eventually, and haven’t had any major issues since then, but I definitely would’ve benefited from a bit more practice before being given free rein.

It definitely was, but now I can only find this pic.

It’s like voting; obviously all I can control is my own actions, so I’ll do what I can, but if too many people stay home our chances drop significantly.