ToastedRavioli
@ToastedRavioli@midwest.social
Born to Squint, Forced to See ⚜️
- Comment on 3 hours ago:
Defamation requires some degree of lying to damage someones reputation, so this is not defamation.
Technically they suspended them for being elected and for the subsequent media interest, per their own words. Both of those things factually occurred
There is much that could be said about how fucked up that is, but it is also not defamation
- Comment on So are they like extinct or something? 17 hours ago:
What is a rhombus but two triangles, my dear
- Comment on I'm not sure they will 6 days ago:
Fuckin homophoves, man
- Comment on I'm not sure they will 6 days ago:
LLMs are just a more complicated algorithm though. AI would be a pretty useful term so long as people are sure to make that distinction and only use AI to refer to a truly complex algorithm. Calling a thermostat algorithm on an A/C “AI” is definitely a meaningless use of the term
- Comment on I'm not sure they will 6 days ago:
Younger generations are, by and large, as technologically illiterate as boomers are. It doesnt apply to all of them, but the majority of them grew up with nothing but easy UIs. They may not chicken-pick to type, but they still cant troubleshoot anything and tend to know nothing outside of interacting with a typical interface. They definitely grew up with nothing like Windows 95 or 98 (or even XP) where you had to actually understand how a computer works to some extent to use the thing (or fix it)
- Comment on Texas Rejected an AI-Driven School’s Bid to Open a Charter. The State Still Approved It for the Voucher Program 6 days ago:
Over the last two years, officials in numerous states have questioned the model, characterizing it as “untested” and ”experimental.” In North Carolina, one charter school board member feared two hours was “not nearly enough” to teach required subjects. A month earlier, in August 2024, an official in Utah worried that the school’s instructors may act more like “a life coach” than a teacher
I agree with that assessment 100%, but it makes you question other things that get approved even though the same case applies. If were gonna apply that assessment to this kind of AI bullshit program, then the same standard should be held to all of the athletics-centered programs that are all over the place. There are tons of private programs where kids go to class for an hour and then participate in a sport for two hours and then back to class for an hour, etc. Hockey is especially rife with these kinds of programs because hockey kids tend to have money. Why is a school allowed to get any degree of public funding when half (or more) of the kid’s “education” is just playing a sport? Beyond public money, how is that considered an acceptable equivalent to an actual 8 hour a day public education?
They cant even make any argument that these kids are likely to be successful because of the sport. Odds are their academic skills will be too shitty to play for a college (if they are held to real standards), and the odds of them succeeding in athletics are slim to none considering how rare it is for someone to become a professional athlete. Sports based schools shouldn’t exist
- Comment on Rich ppl live longer 6 days ago:
I suppose thats kind of what I meant. For sure there are actual differences between a $30 bottle and an $80 bottle, but after $30 it is mostly a game of massively diminishing returns. A $60 bottle of wine is nowhere near as good of a value as two $30 bottles of wine. A $300 bottle is sure as shit nowhere near good enough to be better than the value of 10 $30 bottles
- Comment on Rich ppl live longer 6 days ago:
A good bottle of wine is only in the $20-$30 range. IMO, every wine I have ever had that costs more than $30 is not any better than wine that is $30. Ive tried quite a bit of different stuff up to $75-$300 bottles that I got for free. None of it was worth more than a $30 bottles, at least to my palette. The one exception probably being Veuve Cliquot champagne, which is really good but costs like $50.
There is a pretty big difference between a $7 bottle of wine and a $30 bottle of wine though. Honestly wine is kind of an acquired taste, and there are a lot of varieties. If you want something good but also cheap then you cant go wrong with a $10 bottle of sweet table wine. Any other kind of wine its worth it to spend for something in the $20-$30 price range
- Comment on Walmart actually teaches their employees how to get food stamps 1 week ago:
Im not victim blaming, Im saying the story doesnt add up. And no one is a victim of their own decision to work for Walmart, there are other places to work.
Personally I have worked for them on several occasions and they always paid above the average entry-level wage in the area, provided benefits beyond what is legally required (even for part time people, as I was), like PTO, and I never personally saw anyone get hour limited at 29 hours. That aspect doesnt even make sense either, as Im pretty certain the classification for full time hours is 32+, not 30.
Either way, Walmart isnt the devil incarnate that everyone claims it to be. I didnt leave because of mistreatment, I left because its a poorly run company that makes stupid decisions. Its not a perfect company, and sure they are intensely anti-union which is fucked. That said, Im pretty sure this story is fake ragebait, or at best the details have been highly edited to sound worse.
- Comment on Walmart actually teaches their employees how to get food stamps 1 week ago:
If she has a partner with an income then she isnt trying to afford $1400 rent on $1700 income
If she has a partner without an income, then the story is still sus af because no landlord would rent to someone for that far over 1/3rd of their income.
The math aint mathing. And $1400 is nothing in some places and is more than you need for a 2-3 bedroom house in others. Its all about location
- Comment on Walmart actually teaches their employees how to get food stamps 1 week ago:
I know we all love to bash Walmart, but it makes no sense that someone who earns $1700 a month after tax could qualify to rent a $1400 a month apartment. No landlord would reasonably do that, so this story is fishy at best already
Even if true, thats kind of the fault of the person who decided to spend 4/5ths of their income on rent rather than get a roommate or rent something cheaper
- Comment on In-between 1 week ago:
Kidnap the santi claus, put him in a bag
- Comment on Anon has a paranormal experience 1 week ago:
He/him/hisssss
- Comment on On fire 1 week ago:
Technically the bombardier beetle does not bite nor sting. Instead it shoots hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone in two different streams, which when reacted together pretty much instantly reach 212°f and chemically burn whatever they are shooting at
- Comment on It’s That Easy [Tommy Siegel] 1 week ago:
They really did though. As someone who prefers wearing shorts at the knee or below, I literally cannot find shorts anymore when I go shop. Every single pair of shorts in my waist size is so damn short they would be halfway up my thigh.
When the hell did male booty shorts become a thing? Bring me back to the mid 2000s era of baggy shorts that are three inches below the knee before you make me wear a pair of booty shorts. For fucks sake
- Comment on Anon is strong 1 week ago:
A true ope moment
- Comment on socks :D 2 weeks ago:
I feel like that cat is far to symmetrical to naturally have that coloration, and that someone painted this cat. Which is messed up tbh
- Comment on Going Back ↪️🏨 4 weeks ago:
Ive stayed in Airbnbs like 20 times in many cities, different states, even different countries. Literally have never had any issues like what people complain about whatsoever. My cat even scratched up an (admittedly already somewhat roughed up) couch at one, not terribly but it was damaged, and the guy didnt charge me anything at all.
The only issue I take with airbnbs is that there are so many that should be free market rentals or family housing rather than short term rentals
- Comment on Scope 5 weeks ago:
Nathan Pyle is a national treasure
- Comment on Chat, is this accurate? 1 month ago:
Can I lick it? (Yes, you can)
- Comment on Anon invents a time machine 1 month ago:
Forced is kind of a strong word. The US was the first to a strong independent standardization system, even though other countries had some individual standards. The US system was effectively the inspiration for ISO in the first place, as Hoover started the US system in the 30s.
The catalyst was that American manufacturing was removed from the conflict, so the US was in the best position to become a world supplier of anything it could manufacture. Especially arms and planes etc. Everyone knew what a pain in the ass sharing arms and vehicles during WWI had been because of the lack of standardized parts, so the allies were already primed to pick a standard either way. The reason the US became the standard is because situationally it became the largest supplier of goods, and also because it had already spent thousands of hours more time on committees to decide why its standards should be what they were. Other countries hadnt done much of that legwork
- Comment on Anon invents a time machine 1 month ago:
If WWII never happened, the US never would have built up bases all over the world nor would they have been able to get the head start on pushing American manufacturing standards as ISO standards (due to being physically removed from the conflict in Europe). In that case, the US never sees the boom that it did from those situations, and never would have nearly as much economic, military, or social power as it did from being involved in the war.
How they would manage to take over all of north and south America in that situation is beyond me. Clearly written by someone who believes in American exceptionalism
- Comment on Anon joins a shitposting group 1 month ago:
We are but a spinning plate in the great cosmic microwave oven of the universe
- Comment on Day 107, suspicions are high and a fear I must soon leaf 1 month ago:
In the DR, especially in Santo Domingo, there are a lot of Norfolk Island Pine trees / Araucaria. They are the only conifers that can exist there at sea level, so they look super out of place surrounded mostly by palm trees and other tropical plants
They look exactly like the fake cell phone tower trees, but they are actually real. Really threw me for a loop seeing them when I was there
- Comment on Thanks, little buddies. 2 months ago:
Its important to remember that human bodies are effectively an environment unto themselves, and that there really isnt a distinct “you” and then other things like this.
For example, there are trillions upon trillions more cells of bacteria on/in you than there are human cells. Every person’s overall existence is composed primarily of stuff that isnt technically “you”, although it is inseparable from you. While people’s bodily ecology can be modified, you couldnt possibly remove every quasi-foreign substance from yourself and still survive.
Its part of why seemingly horrific stuff like fecal transplants can be very helpful. If youve cultivated a very mean ecology for one reason or another then resetting that to a healthier state is essential. Its like the gut version of you being a country suffering from unrest. But even though we think of negative or positive bacteria as being totally distinct from us, we are strongly defined by those bacteria. It affects your brain and emotions far more than most people realize. Scientists are still just beginning to understand the complexities of these systems, too.
These little dudes I would assume are a similar situation. They probably have some form of essential symbiosis with us that we may not even understand yet. Killing them off would likely be bad. And even if you did, you would be creating a vacuum that could be filled by something worse. Our bodies are fertile ground for such tiny individuals. Better to have benign ones or helpful ones than it is to have bad ones
- Comment on How do students who are always involved in mathematics and physics get to know about sex? 2 months ago:
Fun fact: Will I. Fuck is actually the maternal grandfather of Black Eyed Peas member Will I. Am, by way of his mother, Anita Good Fuck
- Comment on Yard Sale 2 months ago:
Mfs moved west and decided street names werent useful, I guess. Youll never see a city in the eastern half/third of the US with a “226th Street” but most major cities west of the Mississippi have a ridiculous lack of street names. Just mundane shit instead
- Comment on Andrew Mountbatten Windsor's Daughters Are Still Receiving Rent-Free Royal Accommodation 2 months ago:
Tbf they did choose. They dont have to work there and are free to leave. A lot of people pay 1/3rd of their income in rent, so 1/6th is honestly a pretty good deal IMO
- Comment on Well now I want to 3 months ago:
Jesse, we really have to stop cooking
- Comment on Europemaxxing 4 months ago:
Work for like one half hour, two half hour
Then for lunch, maybe something cool like a cigarette
