bitwank

Thanks. It seems a bit more complicated than I’d assumed. I probably should spend more time researching these things. I’d seen a BBC prince on the Christian section of Tyre and extrapolated. I had previously heard about the priest. I think these was one in Gaza as well. Such terrible, bloody times these are.

That’s absurd. It is the only game I’ve ever played other than chess. Maybe it’s not popular with FPS gamers, but a lot of people don’t like FPS.

Is Israel firing into Christian neighborhoods? I think I saw something saying they were not. That seems consistent with Israel’s strikes being intended to target Hezbollah specifically (because Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel at the outset of the military operation in Iran).

He is well known to be morally troubled— his postings here over the years gave off that vibe for most who paid attention— but even if he were a hypersexual psychopath or something like that, it doesn’t prove he molested his little sister all those times. There’s a lot of grey area in childhood sexuality, and Sam seems like a “grey area” sort of guy fwiw. He is probably mostly innocent.

You protest too much. If I were a betting man, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

We don’t need to. We already won at least a half dozen times already. We’ll have won a few more times before it’s over in two or three more weeks.

Good to know. Where were the places you worked at?

Even if there was a 29 style crash, assuming you can hold for 20 or so years, less than the length of most home mortgages, you would still come out ahead. Not that it wouldn’t be painful for seniors and those who are middle age and not well diversified, but it’s hard to not see a US crash as a buying opportunity for international capital.

Yeah, the fact they announced it proves it’s nothing. I saw a picture of him smoking a cigar. We’ve already seen him drinking beer and acting foolish; probably enough to get you executed in Isfahan, but a giant nothining in the USA.

Nope. It’s like thinking you can overthrow the government by littering. It’s just being lame. If you’re going to be lame to other people, don’t gloat about your lameness online. “If everybody littered, they’d have to do something about it!”

I’ve watched YouTube daily for nearly 20 years. The majority of the content as well as the algorithm have changed substantially over that period of time. I’m not the only one to notice this btw. There is even a word to describe the phenomenon, “enshitification”. I do clear my watch history, and have never signed into YouTube, frequently resetting the app and watching online in private sessions with adblock. The frequency with which I have to reset the app to prevent the algorithm feeding me terrible undesired content has gone up overtime, I now do it once every few weeks. That’s how much I dislike what it pushes on me. I used to get stuff like “philosophy overdose” and sapolosky’s stanford lecture series, good operas. I now get stuff like “these 5 things are killing you while you sleep!!!” and “mom is shocked to find out her teenage son is raping and eating babies severed limbs.” I’m not being hyperbolic; that’s actually what YouTube recommends.

I never made that claim, and in fact believe the opposite. I simply disagree that heroin is a drop in replacement as a mental model. The differences between the heroin trade and YouTube are meaningful. For example, one is a physically addictive illegal drug that is a commodity exported by certain foreign nations while the other is a digital platform that makes money by ad sales and is a monopoly. Both can be addictive, but they are not the same thing.

Heroin is a different business model than advertising. Respectfully, you are wrong.

I will never pay a subscription for the current clickbaity slop. I might if the algorithm were better, closer to YouTube of 10 years ago, when it would suggest lectures, artfully done film shorts, and overall more interesting, high quality content.

Certainly not. People don’t want the slop they push, the anxiety provoking, salacious, clickbaity spam that it has devolved into. Anybody that used YouTube before the last few years can tell you the difference is pretty major. This is not content people want, it’s content that maximizes clicks and ad sales.

Everybody seems to want a drawn out conflict. There was going to be a blue wave in the midterms anyway, now Trump can blame the Iran conflict so it’s a win for him. A long drawn out war is in Israel’s interest so it’s a win for them too. Iran obviously isn’t interested in another agreement that won’t be honored so forever war it is. The losers will be European countries, places like Australia, the Philippines which are running out of fuel.

But does anyone believe for a second that YouTube is responsible for a person's internet / video watching addiction?

Yes? Is there an algorithm or not?

Only the good die young.

There are no beds in most bars and nightclubs.

I always do it under the table; something I instinctively do without ever being told to. Now I wonder if I might have picked up on nonverbal cues at some point in the past. If I were someplace where chopsticks were the norm, I would probably just carry my own as I find the disposable wooden ones very off putting. I have to wonder if there is a rule about using your own chopsticks though.

Neck planks, reading while laying on your stomach helps, raise your monitor.

I totally get how much more convenient home viewing is, but there’s something about going out and watching something in a group that is special, like we do with opera or theater, sporting events or concerts.