Makeitstop

@Makeitstop@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Electricity is basically magic. It only seems mundane because we take it for granted. If sorcery, the force, investiture, or any other fictional magic system you could think of were real, we’d harness it, get used to it, and stop thinking of them as magic too.

  Dont let familiarity diminish the sense of wonder. Understanding doesn’t make electricity less magical, it just makes you a wizard.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I am not saying that we will necessarily go down the road to fully automated luxury, or that if we do that the journey there would go smoothly. The current “AI” bubble is an unsustainable mess which is causing a lot more problems than it solves. In the long term, we are looking at the development of incredibly powerful and dangerous technologies that can potentially reshape society.

  I mainly just wanted to highlight the weird, shortsighted reasoning behind this post. The argument that we need to keep cashiers so that we have a human connection feels a lot like arguments for going back to an agrarian lifestyle. It’s a losing argument that requires glossing over a lot of downsides and ignoring much better alternatives.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  People should have to work shitty service sector jobs so that I have someone to talk to. Because obviously I will never encounter other humans if they aren’t being forced to trade half their waking hours for money. What am I supposed to do, talk to people who aren’t being forced to put up with me if they don’t want to lose their income?

  The “AI” being pushed on us now is trash, but if we do eventually get to the point of being able to automate away the vast majority of jobs, we ought to use that to free people from the need to work. Give us UBI, make robots do the shit that you wouldn’t do for free, and let us all have free time to do the things we actually want to do.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Opinions on Jurassic Park as a Zoo⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Also, the book makes it clear that Nedry isn’t just some greedy asshole, he’s someone getting screwed over and financially ruined. Hammond hired him as the lowest bid for the job of setting up the systems, with a contract that explicitly stated that support was not included, only for Hammond to threaten to sue him until he goes broke and ruin his reputation so no one else will hire him unless he provides free support. He’s being dragged to the island and working around the clock and he’s not even getting paid for it. Of course he’s going to take the opportunity to get paid for screwing over Hammond.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How do I stop sleeping through everything?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Things that have helped me include:

  • an alarm across the room that I have to get up to turn off.
  • a light that turns on before that alarm
  • an alarm app on my phone that can only be turned off by solving puzzles.
  • having an engaging activity that I want to do ready for me and fit into my schedule
  • getting up a little earlier so I have time to make a decent breakfast instead of grabbing some trash or just not eating.
  • a TV set to turn itself on and set to a channel that shows stuff you can’t easily get used to (the history channel used to show random documentaries in the morning, no idea what it’s like now)
  • strict discipline about never sleeping in even when I can.
  • avoiding spending time in my bedroom when I’m not trying to sleep.
  • setting a reminder to start getting ready for bed
  • popping melatonin when that reminder goes off if I’m not already tired.
  • drink water before drinking caffeine.
  • stop caffeine at least 6 hours before bedtime.
  • prescription medication in the morning. Not enough to replace all the other stuff, but definitely something that makes a huge difference with my sleeping disorder.
• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Just a little bit more⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Had a coworker who was riding a motorcycle on the highway by a semi when the tire next to her blew out. She ended up dropping the bike and sliding along the road. Fortunately she was covered head to toe in protective gear, but it’s still amazing that she wasn’t seriously injured.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨best episodes for people who've never seen star trek?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  The context is important, but all that needs to be said is that she is a main character that died in the first season. It’s actually the firsted episode with Tasha that I saw when Istarted TNG and how I’ve introduced others to the show. There’s no details needed, no history, just the knowledge that she is dead.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨best episodes for people who've never seen star trek?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Depends on what you are looking for. Trek does a lot of different things and can appeal to people in different ways.

  I like measure of a man and yesterday’s enterprise for TNG. Both work as examples of a lot of the best aspects of star trek, and come early enough to jump into the series while skipping the crap in season 1, at least until they know they like the show.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s like my dad always used to say: “The day I can’t do my job drunk is the day I hand in my badge and gun.”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What's the most memorable guest performance in a TV series that you've watched?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Chiana and Scorpius on Farscape were both intended to be guest characters, each for a single episode, Both instantly became main characters, with the latter replacing the main villain for the series. And then he did it again when they retconned Harvey into existence.

  Babylon 5 has a few really good ones,* including a very early role for Bryan Cranston. But Wayne Alexander as the inquisitor is particularly notable. There’s layers to the character and the performance really rises to meet the challenge. He perfectly balances a character that is cold, heartless and monstrous while having a surprising amount of humanity. In his performance you can see the idealist and the cynic, the zealot and the apathetic, cruel but without malice, a man who is totally devoted to his his mission who would like nothing more than to fail. His last line is understated and it should seem like an afterthought but it’s only because of the performance and the writing that it can work so well because we’re so invested in this character, and suddenly all the pieces fall into place.

  ---

  * Walter Koenig as Bester needs to be mentioned but I believe he was always meant to be a recurring character.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Hollywood Execs Fear Ryan Coogler’s Sinners Deal ‘Could End the Studio System’⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  If this became a trend it would probably just push the studios to be that much more focused on big franchises where the director is just doing a job for hire. And of course, their long term goal of being able to replace as many people as possible with AI, just as soon as the slop it churns out is good enough sell tickets.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I love the future.⁩ ⁨⁨7⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Being a criminal is practically a requirement for a post in this administration.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨my version is better⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Here’s to you Mrs. Robinson; She’s a slutty moron you should know.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨TFW you think you got away with it for 137 years but then the cops come knockin⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  God I love that episode. Just a fantastic performance and great writing. There’s so many layers to it, and in particular I just love how ominous and terrifying the vorlons become the more you think about what they’re doing here.

  On the other hand, Star Trek made Piglet Jack the Ripper, and the thought of him in a top hat and mutton chops running around the hundred acre woods stabbing hookers is also quite enjoyable.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I grew up poor in a fairly cosmopolitan city, and I still felt like I was going to crawl out of my own skin the first time I went to a slightly dressy business event. I have no fucks to give anymore, but back in the day, this would have probably been a fairly reasonable disaster preparedness plan if I had to be invited to something formal with a lot of social expectations that I was not familiar with.

  It’s walking into a different culture, and while the hosts should be understanding, it can be reasonable to prepare someone who isn’t familiar with the culture before sending them in. Still, no need to be a dick about it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Reminds me of my cousin. Her parents are lovely people, but they are not exactly… refined. Her dad in particular makes a first impression that I’d describe as a somewhat toned down Earnest P Worrell. And while he isn’t stupid he never learned a lot of important life skills and his past mistakes have have caused a fair amount of hardship, and that only fuels the resentment.

  By the time she was in high school it was clear my cousin was ashamed to be associated with her family. She kept her home life and social life as far apart as possible, and she was always excited to spend time with members of our extended family that she saw as much more normal. (Especially funny to me since my mom made that list and I’ve seen that woman scratch herself with the cutlery while dining out). She was also pretty fucking rude to her parents, openly talking crap about them while they were in the room. Very shitty, but not exactly shocking for a teenager in her position.

  Fast forward to today when my aunt and uncle own a hipstery restaurant, while my cousin got knocked up ended marrying a contractor / meth head.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Baldur’s Gate 3 Dev Larian Says Its 'Full Attention' Is on Its Next Game, 'Media Blackout' for the Foreseeable⁩ ⁨⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  With the renewed interest from the show, it would make sense for Microsoft to get someone else working on a Fallout game since Bethesda isn’t going to do it any time soon. However, I would think that Obsidian would be the more natural choice. I would guess that MS would prefer to utilize one of the studios they own rather than license it out, but I could be wrong about that.

  And even if they did license out development on a Fallout game, I would assume that they would be in a hurry to get something out there, which would make Larian far less appealing to them. I agree that they would probably make an amazing Fallout game, but another studio would probably make a decent enough game that costs less to develop and pays off sooner.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  When a man marries his mistress he creates a job opening.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨the council⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Huddlefish

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Marvel calls for more reshoots on ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ after failed test screening⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You know, maybe if you prioritized getting a really good script before shooting the movie, you wouldn’t have to keep reworking the thing. Scripts are cheap, it costs practically nothing to just keep working on them until you have something really smart and creative.

  Or you could slap something together based on the studio roadmap and notes from marketing, because it’s all just a placeholder and half of it will be replaced in post production when they decide what they want the movie to actually be. Why pay a good writer or two when you can work an entire vfx studio half to death trying to crunch their way through to the release date?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨BioWare knew the deepest secrets of Dragon Age lore 20 years ago, and locked it away in an uber-plot doc⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  They’re trying to portray it as something that was done from the very beginning, as opposed to something they only pinned down in preparation for the 3rd game in the series. Nothing wrong with them getting through two games before writing out their bible, but that doesn’t make for a very compelling article.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨BioWare knew the deepest secrets of Dragon Age lore 20 years ago, and locked it away in an uber-plot doc⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  “A lot of that was in my head until we were starting Inquisition and the writers got a little bit impatient with my memory or lack thereof, so they pinned me down and dragged the uber-plot out of me. I’d talked about it, I’d hinted at it, but never really spelled out how it all connected, so they dragged it out of me, we put it into a master lore doc, the secret lore, which we had to hide from most of the team.”

  So, no they didn’t know the “deepest secrets” of the lore 20 years ago. One guy had vague notions in his head, and they only actually fleshed it out when they were working on Inquisition.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"And now for some golden oldies!"⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  More like the whimpering twenties.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"And now for some golden oldies!"⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Downside of being an ageless immortal: oldies stations all play that new crap and no one plays your favorite hits from the roaring twenties anymore. NPR’s still good though.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Subnautica 2 - Official Teaser Trailer⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  One of the things that sets the original apart from a lot of other open world survival craft games is that it was designed to be a single-player experience. Hopefully they can make it work well for both solo and co-op, but that’s a tricky balance.

  One thing I’d really like to see is for creatures to be able to damage structures, and to balance that by having defenses to protect those structures. Being able to throw together an invincible fortress in seconds made some of the dangerous areas a lot less threatening.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Treegasmic⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Bloomkkake

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Maika Monroe to star in ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ remake for 20th Century Studios⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  The movies that need remakes are the ones that had potential but just sucked (or at least, failed to deliver a fraction of what they could have been). Unfortunately, those are rarely huge hits that people will still recognize decades later. It’s the popular and successful movies that they want to remake.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Vance Says He Will Keep Calling Haitians Legally in Springfield ‘Illegal’⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  So, his response is to double down on lying by claiming that that actually are here illegally because they were only allowed in by an illegal order from Kamala Harris.

  Nevermind that Harris gave no such order, that many of these immigrants arrived before Harris was the vice president, and that both the program that they are here under and the decision to make Haitians eligible for that program were authorized by Congress, which passed legislation to make this happen. It’s not against the law, it is the fucking law!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Would it be legal to crowdfund a licensed private detective to investigate a public figure and publish their results publicly?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  At this point, I’m not sure if he’d lose even 1% in the polls if a recording came out showing him with Epstein, explicitly stating he’ll take the 12 year old girl, then dropping his pants. Most of his supporters would claim it was fake, some would claim it was out of context because they didn’t release any footage of actual sex, and at least a few would argue that there’s nothing wrong with sex with 12 year olds.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨If Necromancy suddenly became possible, can the undead be called as a witness during court proceedings?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I think the most reasonable interpretation is that the law doesn’t currently recognize the undead as being people, let alone being the same person they were in life. It would need to be shown to be a reliable source of evidence, similar to any new technology that claims to offer insight into a case. A random judge might allow it, but it would be easy grounds for an appeal if it can’t be shown to do exactly what it claims to do.

  DNA evidence was new once, but so was the polygraph. Only one of these is admissible, and for good reason.