TransFemmeWarmachine's recent activity
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Comment on CMV: Once civilization is fully developed, life will be unfulfilling and boring. Humanity is also doomed to go extinct. These two reasons make life not worth living. in ~talk
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Comment on What precautions to take when someone is out to get you? in ~life
TransFemmeWarmachine LinkDue to some issues I had growing up, I personally struggle with hypervigilance, and paranoia. As a result of my issues, I would also say that I also have a 'Kill Mode,' as you describe your ex...Due to some issues I had growing up, I personally struggle with hypervigilance, and paranoia. As a result of my issues, I would also say that I also have a 'Kill Mode,' as you describe your ex having in your post about the divorce. (Having a 'Kill Mode' also means that I have a responsibility to not use it for anything but the most dire of circumstances.)Take everything that I say with a grain of salt. It's a series of evaluations of things that people could theoretically do to cause issues.
Harming you is very possible from a multitude of vectors. You've taken some great first steps, but I'll go over avenues that I see.
The first one that comes to mind is vehicles are often the first target of ire. Hopefully, your name, and your name alone is on the title and insurance of the vehicle. If it's not, you'll want to be extra cautious, as theoretically your ex would have some claim to it. (as in, if you called reporting your vehicle had been stolen by her, if her name was on the title, there is a chance that the police would decide this was a civil matter.) Make sure that you know where all keys to the vehicles you own are. Additionally, get a dash cam for the vehicle. Still, It's quite easy to slash someone's tires, scratch with a key, or to smash a windshield. How predictable is your routine? Are there areas that you frequent? Is there a workplace you go to regularly? If possible, if you are visiting a place you go regularly, park in a secured area. At minimum, try to park near an area with security cameras. It might be worth looking under the body, for any GPS trackers they could have installed. Finally, if you're concerned about the vehicle being stolen, get some form of GPS tracker for your car. (Airtags are cheap and good for this.)
Monitoring your home is a great start. I think it would additionally be prudent to invest in a fire proof safe for documents / valuable belongings and heirlooms. I would additionally make sure there is an interior entrance camera, if you do not have one already. Do not ever let your ex or any of her allies into any area of your property that is unmonitored. The likelihood that she will attack your property is low, but "finding documents just 'laying around' is not something you want her to be able to say. Personally, I wouldn't even let her use your restroom. If for some reason she does, check the toilet tank and other hiding spots for any illegal substances that she could plant. (also she might just clog the toilet to be an asshole.)
If you consume any form of recreational weed-based product. (or any recreational drug other than alcohol/cigarettes, legal or illegal) Have a locked, hidden area for substances and paraphernalia. A quick and easy tactic is to contact Child Protective Services, and out the other partner as "a drug addict." Also, lock up any alcohol while you're at it. CPS takes a dim view of substance use of any kind around children.
If you notice any injury, bruise, rash or abrasion on your children, document it immediately. You don't even need to be weird about it, just make sure you have some record that states the date it was noticed, and what the child reported the cause as. (For example, my partner's parents had a nasty custody battle, and her skin is quite reactive to soaps. As a child, her mother reported that the rashes on her skin were for something nefarious.) If your ex could, even theoretically, claim that you caused an injury to your child, have it documented so that you can immediately be able to refute any claims she makes.
Your ex might not be a 'violent' person, but you still need to be extremely careful around her. Get a recording app for phone calls, and record every conversation with her that occurs. (please check your jurisdictional laws for this, most places are 1-party consent.) What I would worry about most, is she shoves you, and then immediately starts screaming that you attacked her. Never, ever trust your local police to properly sort this out. Recordings that you can pull out and show to police might be your only immediate defense. Do NOT put yourself in any situation with her that is not recorded, or monitored by a 3rd party.
Be careful what you say in front of your children. Additionally, do not say anything negative about your ex in front of them, even in the slightest. Children love to repeat what they hear, and you should assume that your kids will talk to your ex about anything you say. Children are also exceptionally easy to bribe. I would expect your ex to weaponize your kids against you in a heartbeat. It's one of the first things that happens in these situations. Even something like "mommy isn't being nice to me" could be twisted in a court hearing.
In addition, set up some safety measures with your children as well. Make sure that you go over "stranger danger" with them. Have a "safe phrase" that they can use with you in case of emergency. (example, have them say something like "when are we going on that trip to <place you'd never go>?") This will allow you to react quickly to situations your ex causes. In addition, make sure that they know who your "trusted list of people" are. (example: You wouldn't have some friend they haven't met pick them up from school) Remember, most child abductions are custody dispute related.
Go through your banking information. Verify that your credit cards have not been set to any automatic payments, or saved in any browser history she can access. Set 2-factor authentication to maximum. If you can, change banks to one your ex doesn't know about.
Turn on location tracking on your phone. One tactic that people use, is to claim that their ex is stalking them. Avoid anywhere and everywhere you could ever encounter your ex. By having verifiable data that you're minding your own business, you'll be safe on this front.
Check in with your work's HR. Don't say much, just that you're going through a divorce, and your ex is not to be treated as a contact for you. Make sure she is not your emergency contact. If anything happens, just apologize profusely, and explain everything. Otherwise, just keep it short.
Make sure that anyone that you care about knows that your ex isn't to be trusted. Again, you don't need to say much, just something like "Hey, <ex> and I are going through a bit of a rough time. Please let me know if she is weird with you? I'm so sorry to be a bit paranoid here." (Personal example. A friend of mine was taken advantage of emotionally and financially by a very crazy guy she was dating. He immediately started making unfounded accusations to family members after they separated, and called the police on her as well. She had to get a lawyer involved, and she was out another grand at the end of it.) Additionally, establish who can can or can't trust. Friends and family will usually take sides, even if they don't want to. Don't put them in the position where they have to, of course, but just be careful with mutual people.
Weaponry. You don't want or need any weapon that can be used offensively. Essentially, if there are any uncomfortable screaming matches where the police are involved, you do NOT want to be possessing an offensive weapon. It will not help anyone. For self defense I recommend the following. First if you actually want a 'weapon,' get a can of pepperspray: This is an excellent defensive weapon. No normal person is going to run at someone to hurt them with pepperspray, it's just not effective for that. Second, get a small metal LED flashlight. It can blind a foe in a heartbeat, and it isn't a "weapon" by most standards.
Court records. Make sure that you pull any and all court records for your ex and any regular associates they interact with. This is usually quite easy, just google "<my area> court records" and you can get quite of information for next to nothing. (again, jurisdictional. I am USA based, and my advice is a bit tailored for here.)
Finally, as you mention you are divorcing, take all advice of your lawyer. If you do not have a lawyer, get one on retainer. Do not talk to police without a lawyer, ever. A restraining order might be prudent, but see what the lawyer says.
Oh, and document everything. Keeping a journal is great for mental health anyways, and it can be useful in these uncomfortable scenarios.
I hope that helps. Best of luck to you, your family, and I hope you take care. You owe it to yourself to be happy. My advice here is... borderline extreme in places, but everything listed should be legal and above board. I'd love to see any updates when you make it to the other side.
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Comment on The Kikkoman soy sauce bottle is priceless in ~food
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentBuy at Asian Markets, the more authentic, and immigrant focused, the better. They're often priced a lot better as well. Recently, a large "Asia Mall" opened within driving distance, and the...Buy at Asian Markets, the more authentic, and immigrant focused, the better. They're often priced a lot better as well.
Recently, a large "Asia Mall" opened within driving distance, and the supermarket was nowhere as good as the nearby local market.
This also goes for Hispanic, or Halal goods.
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Comment on How Norway's EV rising star Easee fell foul of Swedish regulators, which took it to the brink of bankruptcy in ~transport
TransFemmeWarmachine (edited )Link ParentAfter reading your post, and the release you linked, I concede the original points I made. This does feel like a bureaucratic decision that was made arbitrarily, but I lack the information to make...After reading your post, and the release you linked, I concede the original points I made. This does feel like a bureaucratic decision that was made arbitrarily, but I lack the information to make any substantial points as to this. I really appreciate the additional research and context. I will concede that personal bias has definitely affected my thoughts on the matter, and that I was overly aggressive in my original comment. I still feel that given the true need for rapid scaling of Electric Vehicles, that these decisions should not be made arbitrarily. Additionally, I am dismayed by the lack of test data or methodology.
The ESV cites the lack of an electromagnetic fault circuit breaker, as they used an earth fault circuit breaker, as the basis of their decision. Their reasoning is that potentially, a charger, after operation of greater than 1 year, the unit could break and cause property damage or injury. I wish they would describe what the scale of damage they think this could cause, because that's not clear from the materials provided.
I really think they needed to have released the data on this. If this is a truly a product design that had issues, it is important to know why, so that a company doesn't repeat the same mistakes. Additionally, I wonder if they simply verified that the charger didn't have an electromagnetic circuit breaker, and based their results off of those findings. Do we know if their research is released anywhere publicly?
I must say, that given the need for rapid scaling of EV technologies, safety regulations may need to be revaluated for greener technologies. It's a great example of Pascal's Mugging, where the potential catastrophe of climate change may necessitate 'riskier' solutions to potential issues such as this. It's also worth pointing out as an EU member (even if it doesn't use the Euro) the impacts of its regulatory bodies may be contradictory to other regulating bodies in the EU.
On a very personal note, I'm from the US, a nation built on 2 on centuries of government agencies being manipulated by corporations. I definitely feel like it's warped my perspective on issues like this. I really think that in this age of misinformation where competing interests wield tremendous amounts of market power, it's seriously important to be transparent in these issues. I will concede my original points about this , as I cannot offer enough information about Sweden, or the safety of EV chargers from my own experiences.
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Comment on How Norway's EV rising star Easee fell foul of Swedish regulators, which took it to the brink of bankruptcy in ~transport
TransFemmeWarmachine (edited )LinkEDIT: After excellent points made by Malle below, I must concede that my points were biased by my experiences of US regulatory bodies being manipulated by corporations. I do not consider this post...EDIT: After excellent points made by Malle below, I must concede that my points were biased by my experiences of US regulatory bodies being manipulated by corporations. I do not consider this post an accurate take on the matter after being provided with further context.
Just disgusting. So according to the Swedish National Electrical Safety Board, the product is "dangerous enough to stop selling" but not "dangerous enough to need a recall."
That seems really suspicious to me, in all seriousness. I mean, Sweden has in 12.3 Billion Car exports, 8.8 billion refined petrol exports, and another 5 billion in automotive part exports. Seems decently beneficial if a popular EV charger manufacturer using a "technically functional but not industry standard" for their product was immediately given a lot of scrutiny. This of course is leading towards conspiratorial thinking, and I have no evidence in backing anything up, so I won't continue with that argument.
The issue I have, is that the alternative, i.e. gasoline powered vehicles, are powered with a highly flammable and dangerous fuel. If these chargers were even as dangerous existing transit and fueling solutions, that's not been communicated by the ESV. Like, most articles I see about a product that needs to be banned have had some sort of definable impact. Someone gets electrocuted, or it breaks a building's electrical system or something. However, given that they haven't been recalled, the ESV trusts them that much. This feels fishy no matter which way I look at it.
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Comment on My friend was hit by a car in ~transport
TransFemmeWarmachine (edited )LinkI'm really sorry about your friend. That must be really scary, and I can see why you're very upset. The fundamental issue is though, the Bike Lobby (and the Walkable Streets Lobby) isn't ever...I'm really sorry about your friend. That must be really scary, and I can see why you're very upset.
The fundamental issue is though, the Bike Lobby (and the Walkable Streets Lobby) isn't ever going to have the political leverage that industries such as Construction, Automotive, and Oil Lobbies have. Additionally, those kind of fixes cost taxpayer money, and that's always a thorny issue.
Recently, in my city, they redid a 20 block stretch of an avenue, and it cost ~15 Million. (I've seen a few figures online, and this figure might not be the most accurate is it also includes other necessary "non street related" expenses, but some of those may have been on other budgets as well, I've seen a few numbers thrown around.) It was slightly over budget, but one huge issue was that while they did set it up with bike protections, it also created issues for snow plows, and emergency services. It actually necessitated a last minute redesign, and people were furious. It is essentially complete at this point, and I personally like what they ended up doing, but the amount of political will and effort it took to get one single 20 block stretch done was immense.
This is the damnable fact of American roads. They are, and have been designed for the automobile. In the eyes of the city and federal, governments, your friend was not using the roads as intended as he was not in an automobile. He is an acceptable casualty in the eyes of the state. If he were to have perished, the driver of the vehicle would be scapegoated, and you would have the ability to set up one of those little "side of the road" crosses.
America doesn't value human life. That's the long and short of it. Cars are just a fun little part of that. The highways were built by bulldozing through African American neighborhoods. The streetcars were taken away because the automotive industry partnered with governments to get rid of them. This of course leads to issues with fumes from leaded gasoline. Hell, I haven't even mentioned the conspiracy theories behind the lack of development in solar panels and the electric car.
The average American owns a car. Actually, 87% of Americans own cars. 34% of Americans own bikes. Democratically, the interests of the car owners continue to exceed those of the bike owners. It might be higher, if there were, say, reliable public transit options for Americans, but that only makes up about 45% of Americans. Investment in public transit immediately runs into the NIMBY crowd, and essentially always runs over budget. And, assuming that it is even set up, it's chronically underfunded, leading to issues with crime.
The deck is stacked against anything that would help with the safety of bikers. It just is. I wish I had a better answer for you, and maybe you live in a community that can overcome these obstacles. At the end of the day though, the issue isn't "It's not good that the road didn't have protections for bikers," the issue is "America, as a whole, isn't designed for people who don't want to own a car."
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Desktop GUI is the most efficient and fulfilling way of Human-Computer Interaction in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentPlease read the article. It's not about CLI, it's about the shift to web services. The title is aggressively misleading.Please read the article. It's not about CLI, it's about the shift to web services. The title is aggressively misleading.
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Desktop GUI is the most efficient and fulfilling way of Human-Computer Interaction in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentI really appreciate the points you make, especially from the web development perspective. I agree that the author did not argue his points well, and you raise some really good critiques here that...I really appreciate the points you make, especially from the web development perspective. I agree that the author did not argue his points well, and you raise some really good critiques here that I hadn't considered.
I think the fundamental issue is, "What is the internet best used for in 2023?" We really do have to consider that the idea of the internet only came to the mainstream in 1995, and wasn't ubiquitous until 2015 or so. (these are my personal dates, they are obviously fuzzy, and specific to industry, interest, field, etc.) The original internet was just HTML pages, forms, and file transferring. Now, given network speeds, we can literally run entire computers in the cloud.
From my personal perspective, having worked with both Excel as an application and as a web service I really prefer having it as an application. Word on the other hand, really doesn't lose too much when run out of a browser, in my opinion. (Taken anecdotally from my work computer)
With services like Google Stadia, a user didn't even need to download large pieces of software like games. However, the service ultimately did not gain traction with consumers.
Given that these are the capabilities of the technology we have today, I think we're at the point where it's really uncharted waters here. Many users aren't capable of really understanding the technologies they're utilizing daily, even on a base level. Thus, we're in this weird period where a majority of services seem to have been moved to the web for the user base, despite all of the underlying issues of bloat, poor coding, data tracking, and authoritarianism.
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Desktop GUI is the most efficient and fulfilling way of Human-Computer Interaction in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentI love your comment, but the article actually has nothing to do with command line vs. GUI based programs.I love your comment, but the article actually has nothing to do with command line vs. GUI based programs.
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Comment on Unpopular opinion: Desktop GUI is the most efficient and fulfilling way of Human-Computer Interaction in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine (edited )LinkI fundamentally agree with the author's main point, that we've offloaded too many tools to browser based, and it would be worth using more application based services for tasks. It's less then well...- Exemplary
I fundamentally agree with the author's main point, that we've offloaded too many tools to browser based, and it would be worth using more application based services for tasks. It's less then well written and argued article however. I actually went into reading this thinking that this would be some sort of article based on how command line interfaces are overhyped. I'm ignoring the tone, phrasing, and style in my critique here. (Which should not be held as accountable as the substance.) The article just doesn't really argue well.
There's some really valid points to be made about traditional program based applications being consistently moved to web browsers. Additionally, I agree with all points the author raises. I agree that web design as a whole is bloated, is open to 'authoritarian' monitoring, spreads propaganda, and uses poor, inefficient programming paradigms.
However, none of these points are well argued. There's a lack of references, and we're essentially supposed to take these points at face value. Really, even a quick hyperlink to Wikipedia can really add a lot of context to even a simple opinion post. Additionally, it doesn't go into the nuances of each issue. Like, are we sure that W3 is catering to enterprise over consumer? Or is that also just the author's opinion. (If someone has an article, please link it here, I'd love to know.) I'd say more, but the article just doesn't have enough to latch onto.
I'm very unimpressed with the title of this work as well. "Unpopular Opinion: Desktop GUI is the most efficient and fulfilling way of Human-Computer Interaction" does not provide adequate description of the issue. It's a poor description of the issue, which is, "I feel that the move of services to browser based rather than OS based is not a good trend in computer science."
Furthermore, the author fully neglects to realize why this change happened, despite tripping on it in the article. "Circa 2008-10" was the exact moment in CS history that smart phones and mobile browsing became widely accessible to consumers. Thus, we see this huge shift to the web, since the broad majority of people literarily start carrying around a device capable of accessing it in their pockets. Additionally, applications are more tailored for mobile currently. A quick search reported that roughly half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices in 2023, whereas desktops made up about a third .
I fundamentally agree with everything this author brings up, but it really does not do justice to the issue. I would also posit that this author is posting this publicly enough that they aren't interested in saying anything especially controversial. Regardless, it could be better written. I do appreciate their attention to the issue, however, and they're definitely onto a very major and contemporary issue.
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Comment on How do you counter pessimism? in ~talk
TransFemmeWarmachine LinkI'm at the point in my life where every attempt to "not fall into pessimism" that's been presented to me normally has only made my life worse. This is how I addressed it, and it's going to make me...I'm at the point in my life where every attempt to "not fall into pessimism" that's been presented to me normally has only made my life worse. This is how I addressed it, and it's going to make me sound cold and detached.
For Question One: Personally? I just remind myself that my perspective is merely a series of chemical reactions in my brain. I follow that up with a reminder that humans force every issue through their personal perspective, meaning that if I'm seeing things pessimistically, it's a result of previous experiences that would result me to develop that perspective. Then I remind myself that I am ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of anything, and that pessimism is entirely meaningless under that lens. After all, the universe will do what it will, and my feelings about the matter will not impact that whatsoever. I back that up with some fatalism, to remind myself that it genuinely does not matter what I say or do, so I might as well make peace with it.
It's not at all the "normal and healthy" way to deal with it, but honestly I think that being as catastrophically depressed as I am does unfortunately mean that I need to exist this way. Ultimately, a good majority of my issues are a result of people and society being unconducive to my existence, and I can't control that. What I can do, is continuously lower my expectations of others, and approach this world from a perspective of utter fatalism. The alternative would be to actively cull every energy-exhaustive relationship from my life, (i.e. all of them) and possibly regionally relocate, which I'd rather not do. This really sounds overdramatic, but I'm just at that point. I'm exhausted from saying "hey, I need XYZ" only to get X or Y, or nothing. People don't listen to me, and it's just easier to detach from it all at this point. I don't care enough to continue to scream for help, because somehow that would be more exhausting.
Just don't feel hope in the first place. It's just an easy way to set yourself up to be hit twice as hard.
For the Second Question? Take a lesson from improv. "Yes And?" and/or "But why though?". Pessimism does have a logical end point, and if you make a person go down the line to find it, they may have the ability to move past it.
Take something simple: "Hating Mondays" leads to "Their Job Sucks" because "the principles of global capitalism don't value the human condition." (I could keep going but then you get into theories of history, psychology, and political science.)
Any point can eventually be taken to the logical conclusion. People express pessimistic beliefs because they have a belief, incorrect or not, that a negative outcome will happen to something. Well, the thing is, life will probably go on, after the outcome. Whether this is good or bad is entirely a personal perspective on the outcome. Taking people to this conclusion helps free them from the cycle of constantly stressing about things.
You don't even need to corroborate with them. Just make them work themselves through their own thought process. You don't need to agree or disagree with any of it. Honestly feeling like you need to do anything about other people's pessimism is such a selfish thing to do. You're either going to invalidate their logical conclusions, or you're going to have to worry about internalizing them yourself. So don't. Let them get to the point that "life will go on."
Or just steer the conversation towards a positive. People like pets. Pets are cute. That's usually my goto.
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Comment on Denmark is to restrict the sale of alcohol to under-eighteens and increase the price of suckable nicotine sachets, as their growing popularity is worrying health authorities in ~health
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentWell, off the top of my head anecdotally, 1.) Increased Isolation following the Coronavirus Pandemic. 2.) A lack of future opportunity globally. (Increases in regional conflict, growing...Well, off the top of my head anecdotally,
1.) Increased Isolation following the Coronavirus Pandemic.
2.) A lack of future opportunity globally. (Increases in regional conflict, growing isolationist sentiment from major regional powers i.e. U.S. , U.K. , China, Russia, Israel)
3.) The looming issue of climate change, and it's implications to the human race.
4.) Social Media creating further arenas for interpersonal conflict, FOMO, and doomscrolling.
5.) Access to global media allowing a user to view uncomfortable media constantly. (Doomscrolling)
6.) Lack of political will to improve things.
7.) Constant Surveillance. (Adults in particular being able to track their children with cell tracking)
8.) Constant Connectivity, especially for younger people.This leads to a global sense of malaise and futility as a result of these other issues, leading to some choosing alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Really, times are pretty bad, and young people are sensitive to that. Hilariously, these are just the Anglo-sphere ones, I could add another dozen for the states.This is all just knee-jerk reactionary behavior in response to a symptom, rather than attempting avenues for improving the human condition.
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Comment on A coder considers the waning days of the craft in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentI appreciate your perspective, but I think that you are jumping from point one to two optimistically quickly. AI has an issue. It can't generate new solutions. This makes it useful for problem...I appreciate your perspective, but I think that you are jumping from point one to two optimistically quickly.
AI has an issue. It can't generate new solutions. This makes it useful for problem solving existing problems, but damn near useless for fixing new issues. It will definitely impact repetitive jobs like data entry, but due to the extreme amount of edge cases in any industry, it's just not correct to assume that knowledge workers are going to get replaced by this anytime in the near or even medium term future.
At present, AI is really only capable of tasks that are essentially "Take this piece of information, and do this with it." This means, organize existing documents and data, grabbing information the user needs from data, changing the data from one form to another (ex. programing languages, and eventually human ones.), changing the aesthetics of a piece of information, and recalling previous solutions to that piece of information.
This is because LLMs are drawing from massive sources of information. Essentially, averaging and consolidating correct responses to existing questions. As of present, AI cannot create a new solution to a problem, without drawing from existing sources. Literally, it's why it's called "large" as it needs a fair amount of data to even run in the first place.
Ex. The meme "Thanks Obama." Essentially, this is a sarcastic meme from the 2010s era where Obama was blamed for various nonsensical problems in such a sarcastic way that it quickly becomes clear that it has nothing to do with President Obama's actual career or political choices. (I would link it here, but I'm on a work terminal <.<) If such a meme were to arise without the knowledge base, it can't make heads or tales of it. Hilariously, you can literally try this right now. Ask ChatGPT about "Dark Brandon." As this meme originated in early 2022 i.e. after the knowledge update, ChatGPT can't figure this out. It just attempts to latch onto words involving "dark."
Prompt: -attempt to create a meme with the punchline "Dark Brandon" based on your existing knowledge
-Caption: "When someone asks how I take my coffee." Image: A picture of a mysterious, shadowy figure sipping coffee with a caption next to it saying, "Dark Brandon: Like my coffee, my secrets are strong and black."
AI isn't going to design a building without a human. If it's researching chemical interactions, it's because we've already got a knowledge base of existing chemicals. AI can generate art, because it grabs from existing artists.
Another thing I've tried to have it do, is to generate "life stories" for people. (I suck at character work and I wanted inspiration.) Asking it to make a brand new thing makes it stutter, since it doesn't have any way of creating new ideas.
I'll start worrying a hell of a lot more when we get generative AI, but right now, AI is a great tool for figuring out software solutions, pulling info from annoying PDFs, and a hat trick for muggles.
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Comment on Will the switch to USB-C be good for repair? in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine LinkI don't think I've successfully been able to repair a phone since 2018? Essentially, what I've run into every single time, is that's it's more economical to purchase a new model than to bother...I don't think I've successfully been able to repair a phone since 2018? Essentially, what I've run into every single time, is that's it's more economical to purchase a new model than to bother with a cracked screen or a busted port on an existing one.
I genuinely do not know how repair shops make money nowadays, it seems like every affordable model for sale is built in a way that makes it resistant to repair. Pieces are apparently glued instead of screwed, and the wiring is minute enough to make it nigh impossible to repair.
I really hate this, and it feels so disgusting to me that the world is set up this way. It's late stage capitalism at it's finest.
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Comment on Graduated and moving to an apartment in a major city in the US, advice/tips? in ~life
TransFemmeWarmachine LinkWell, welcome to the adult world. Given your lack of personal connections, and familial ties, I must warn you that it is dog eat dog out here. My partner had a very similar "experience" we'll say,...Well, welcome to the adult world. Given your lack of personal connections, and familial ties, I must warn you that it is dog eat dog out here. My partner had a very similar "experience" we'll say, and there was a lot of places she probably could have gotten trapped.
1.) Do NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, pay a landlord a year upfront. It gives them literally no incentive to fix or repair anything that breaks. My partner's first living experience was pretty terrible. She rented a room in a house a few blocks from the university. Her father was unwilling to cosign on it, and desperate, she paid a year upfront. The property was trashed on move in, and she realized it was not a good place to live in within a week of moving there. Due to her paying a year in advance, she had no leverage whatsoever, and had to convince the landlord to let her sublet the room. It worked out in the end, but it was a bad situation. If you do this, you can very easily be taken advantage of, with very little legal recourse.
2.) Buy a mattress, find the rest of the furniture at thrift stores, or off the side of the road. Honestly, you can find a lot of good stuff in alleys in spring when people are moving in or out. Also, weird thing I've noticed, is I've never had any good bedframes in my adult life. Like, for one, if you're getting a queen mattress or larger, bed frames in any reasonable price-range seem to be very flimsy. I literally bought one from Ikea 2 months ago, and I don't think it will last more than a year. Having a mattress on a floor, especially if you buy a box spring, is a very reasonable thing, imho.
3. I wouldn't do this. I honestly have heard too many stories of a person getting scammed this way. Budget in money for a hotel, and then just search for places with immediate movein. The upfront cost is higher, but it cuts down on a lot of risk.So, landlords are scummy. They just are. It's just one of those businesses. I've actually dealt with it enough that I am the resource for "landlord issues" in my friend group. My brother's friend literally almost lost 2 grand on a crumbling rental that was unlivable like a week ago. (that one ended up getting solved when his mum screamed at the landlord until he got his money back, fortunately enough.) Everyone I know has some sort of "terrible landlord" story. Now, good landlords definitely exist, but you won't know that one is until you've lived under their roof.
You are Naive. I do not mean to be rude in saying this, but you are a newly minted adult, and you are the exact target of a predatory landlord or management group. Additionally, given your lack of familial ties or local connections, you are in an exceptionally weak position. Additionally, given the stress of your toxic family, you are more likely to make risky decisions, a further weakness. The world likes to chew people like you and spit them out. It actively culls people like you. It's dark, gross, and terrible to people who aren't street smart. Really, take care of yourself, especially if you ain't got others to be there for you.
From personal experience, I do not think you're making a good career choice. Unless you've literally studied to be a paralegal, it's not an easy profession to break into. My personal experience, is that I have 2BAs, and dropped out of Law School (among other things), and I was never able to find any roles in my midwestern location in the legal industry. At the end of the day, you will be competing with every other newly minted graduate, many of whom are going to have family ties who can get them jobs via connections or nepotism. (The Legal profession is super nepotistic, by the way.)
Seriously, the easiest way that anyone is going to get a job is via connections. Given AI screening resumes and cover letters, it's way too easy to get flushed out before you even get an interview. Sometimes, you literally need someone on site to put in a good word for you. It's the game, it sucks but it's literally how the world works. Getting jobs is HARD, especially without experience in what you're doing. Unless you have internship experience, I think you should broaden your search, and look further.Additionally, you're one of 2 million other college grads from 2023. How many of them are smarter, better connected, stronger, and/or capable then you? Even if you graduated top of your class, about 100,000 of those other students graduated magna cum laude. These are people you will be actively competing with. I don't mean to be a doomsayer, but this world is not conductive to the success of the majority.
You do have some advantages though. You can technically search the continental USA for jobs, and get an apartment after the job. That's not an advantage most people have. Additionally, you do seem very smart, and you have a plan. Just remember that no plan survives contact with the enemy.
Final Advice? Search the continental US, find a job you like in a place that seems nice, get the letter of hire, travel to the city, and find a job. When you're there, build community as fast as you can, and find the people you need to get you where you want to be. (Also, Minneapolis is a major city with decent public transit and walkability, imho.)
At the end of the day, all we have is other people.
Honestly, I hope this advice is meaningless to you, and you've long since moved to a new city. Best of luck out there!
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Comment on I skipped to the ending in ~life
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentI don't think that there isn't really a good way or reason to hold the individual programmers and software engineers who code Google's abominations into being. Google has massively changed...I don't think that there isn't really a good way or reason to hold the individual programmers and software engineers who code Google's abominations into being.
Google has massively changed society, and certainly for the worst. Unfortunately, holding low level actors responsible for this wouldn't change anything here. If it wasn't OP, it would be some other programmer or engineer dealing with the same issues.
The problem is systematic, and more evident of human nature as a whole.
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Comment on YouTube’s anti-adblock and uBlock Origin in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentWhat's scarier to me, is that I don't think it would be easy to tell if this is a grass roots group of people doing this, or Alphabet / Google / Youtube Astroturfing a campaign to do the same...What's scarier to me, is that I don't think it would be easy to tell if this is a grass roots group of people doing this, or Alphabet / Google / Youtube Astroturfing a campaign to do the same thing.
It's like the old saying "On the internet, no one knows you're a dog." Given the ability to obscure and drown the truth on a forum like reddit, I can't say for certain it's just entitled people making those comments.
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Comment on Boy, 16, arrested after felling of famous 300 year old Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall in ~enviro
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentWell, Herostratus was also tortured and executed, which one can also imagine was a bit of a deterrent to this sort of behavior. This kid will get what, a slap on the wrist?Well, Herostratus was also tortured and executed, which one can also imagine was a bit of a deterrent to this sort of behavior.
This kid will get what, a slap on the wrist?
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Comment on Opinion by Brian Merchant: I’ve always loved tech. Now, I’m a Luddite. You should be one, too. in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentThe invention of the Cotton Gin was one of the largest drivers drivers of the Atlantic Slave Trade in the United States. The Cotton Gin greatly increased the speed of cotton production, leading to...I don’t think that something was lost because we replaced people with the cotton gin
The invention of the Cotton Gin was one of the largest drivers drivers of the Atlantic Slave Trade in the United States. The Cotton Gin greatly increased the speed of cotton production, leading to more fields of cotton being planted, and more African people being enslaved to match production. The invention of the Cotton Gin lead to massive losses of life, and cultural genocide, so it is fair to say that "something" was lost with it's invention.
Of course the solution isn't to just not have new technology, but rather to realize that the inherent competitive nature of technology leads to new technologies quickly being twisted and used to gain market shares and power over the consumer.
Green technology shouldn't mean that all coal miners and oil rig workers are just left jobless. In a just society, they could be given resources to be educated to work new roles, and their livelihoods provided for while the changeover from fossil fuels to green technology happens. Instead, that won't happen because we've set up our society to just not have safety nets. In reality, coal has declined naturally, meaning people have already lost their jobs, and then Pharmaceutical companies used the communities to sell addictive painkillers, effectively gutting the region.
The villain, as always, is capitalism.
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Comment on Ads for AI sex workers are flooding Instagram and TikTok in ~tech
TransFemmeWarmachine Link ParentFully agree with you, and I'm so horrified by this development over the last 150 years. I won't retype my comment(s) point's, but we've had so many uncomfortable shifts in culture that have really...Fully agree with you, and I'm so horrified by this development over the last 150 years. I won't retype my comment(s) point's, but we've had so many uncomfortable shifts in culture that have really isolated people in our society. It's too easy to get mad at a technology like this, when it is a solution (if an uncomfortably poor one) for how loneliness has become an uncomfortable norm in our society.
Well, these are two very low level philosophical questions all things considered. Like, this is 101-course level in my opinion. I don't mean that to be super dismissive, they are valid questions, but genuinely this has been argued about in philosophy for all of human existence.
To the first question. Obviously, as soon as we came to understand our human nature as a creature who evolved as a life form in a universe that had a definable beginning and has valid end theories (heat death, big rip, etc.) We began having issues with these questions.
Your personal take is basically describing nihilism/fatalism. You are going to die. It might be tomorrow, or 100 years from now. Then the sun will explode, and the universe will have the stars die off in some unimaginable scale of time. Do what you want to do in the meantime. Like, no argument here can disprove that. The real question, is what you do with the obvious inevitabilities.
I personally am a fatalist. My perspective is that life is about dealing with the inevitable rather than any actual control over the matter. You can forestall/prolong, attempt to shift, hasten an inevitability. Anything other than that is folly.
In particular, I find the idea you put forward that we "will cure cancer / end world hunger / give everybody the ability for a happy existence" is such an easy fallacy to fall into. Yeah, we might get bored when we get all of those things done, but we are nowhere close to achieving those goals, due to how stratified our society is. Like, how many people are hungry, diseased, scared, displaced right now? How many millions are living their lives in fear of being slaughtered? To propose that because "we can reach 100% human happiness, and then what? :(" is so invalidating to those experiences, that it is entirely a useless argument. Like, gee it might be real boring one day when everybody gets their fair share of the pie. Let's just cross that bridge when we get to that point....
Also, have you considered that the real issue is that you have a poor definition of fulfillment? Seriously, what does fulfillment even mean? It's really just chemicals sloshing around. The joy of scientific achievement can be easily simulated with some heroin.
Real question, why does a return to nothing scare you so much? You were born of the void, and you will return to it. This moment is but an arrangement of chemicals in your skull. Scientifically, there's little difference between yourself and any arrangement of atoms. You aren't really even real in a way I think you want to believe. In all seriousness, one might as well just consider "you" as an etching on the face of time. An inevitable relationships of particles that could exist, and currently does for reasons outside of its control. This arrangement has the ability to create self similar patterns that allow it to reference the composition of the arrangement. It's not necessarily alive, or conscious. One day, the pattern will not exist, and time will continue.
The real answer is you're here now. Read a book on taoism, or sit in a garden, or something.