scarabic

@scarabic@lemmy.world

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Do you think a story that mixes magic with super advanced technology can work?⁩ ⁨⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩:

  I think you inevitably face the whole “magic IS advanced technology” thing. If you actually want them to be different things, you have to have some answer to this.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why is it okay for shit to go down the drain but not food?⁩ ⁨⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩:

  Just don’t read about gutter oil afterward or you might immediately have some solids to throw at your plumbing.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨what language would be best for me to learn?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  I learned French and it hasn’t done much for me. Occasional use in the Middle East but I’ve spent considerable time in multiple countries there and it’s still only occasionally useful. I love the language and have no regrets. But I’d get 1000x the use out of Spanish, here in the US.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨what language would be best for me to learn?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  China’s economic growth was on such a steep climb for enough years that we all basically thought we’d need to know Mandarin to get by in the future. Remember in Firefly how they all cursed in Mandarin because it was basically the primary language of humanity. I know white people in California that send their kids to Mandarin language school.

  But this impression has peaked. In the 80s we thought we’d all be speaking Japanese soon. And the Chinese growth miracle is over. With demographic collapse staring them in the face, I’m no longer seeing them featuring so prominently in 20 years. India has surpassed their population and are taking a lot of their business - and they speak English

  Though I suppose as languages go, Mandarin is as good as any other and better than many. What are you going to do with Italian, honestly?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What's the process of black market weed consumption?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  My friend, life is ticking by. Get out there or you’ll miss it. Good luck.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What's the process of black market weed consumption?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I think there’s a lot in this post about how times have changed. Notice the part about not being able to get time away from parents. Or not being able to get outside somewhere to smoke up. Kids these days don’t go out like we used to. Shit my brother and I used to haul our asses a couple of miles over some hills that had rattlesnakes to reach a video arcade. Our mom just made us carry a snakebite kit. OP now sits at home pecking at their phone asking how to go outside and gosh is it just impossible in suburbia? I am floored by this post.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Thank you and the person above you for having adult attitudes. I can’t believe the teenagers in here shrieking “you don’t know what’s in my heart from one word I said!”

  People need to learn the meaning of the words they use. Mistakes can happen, but they should not be amended not defended.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  The context was provided here and the comment was, frankly, uncivilized. Race isn’t directly involved but there’s a deep legacy of racist attitudes expressed in terms like “uncivilized savages” that this comment unfortunately treads near. Obi Wan Kenobi taking about blasters being uncivilized does not.

  So I agree context matters, but I don’t care that they were thinking - It’s a badly chosen word for this situation. Does it make the person a racist? Not on its own. But it does make me wonder what kind of person makes this sort of slip in 2025.

  Someone can say the word “negro” in a respectful tone with all the best intentions but yeah, they should still just plain find another way to say it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s been one of the UN’s primary missions since its inception to unwind the horrific legacy of European colonialism, and help every former colony complete the transition to statehood. When I visited the UN and took the tour some 20 years ago, they were almost ready to call this mission done, but still had about 5 spots they were working on. It’s worth learning more about. Regardless, the course of history has been changed forever by colonialism and Europe continues to enjoy benefits built on its spoils while developing countries still struggle from their wounds. The world will in all practical terms never be free from the stain of colonialism.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How are Americans so outgoing and extroverted and how can I become the same?⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  The Americans you meet in Germany are not a random selection.

  Americas is simultaneously the best country ever and one of the worst in its class. If you’re affluent, it’s the best. I make double what I could in Germany and have no complaints about my healthcare or kids schools. America only sucks for people with less money, and for them it is a shithole country in a first world suit.

  Now: which kind of Americans do you think a young guy in Germany gets to meet? The poor Americans who can’t afford to go to the dentist? Or the affluent ones who can afford to travel, move abroad, or who work some fancy international job?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Interesting. I found the opposite. I was never very good at moderating. Complete cold turkey removes the question from the table. It might suck, but at least you aren’t in a constant battle with yourself over whether you can have a cabarets now, or should wait. Is one more too many? Am I no longer smoking moderately but addictive? I found it was way too easy to slide down the slope on all that. Getting through the day without smoking meant holding fast 1000 times, and relapsing just meant giving in once. I could always talk myself into why a cigarette eas okay this time, why I deserved it, how I’d been doing so well…

  Cold turkey just shuts all that off and I could move forward.

  Do what works for you. Just make sure it is actually working and not just giving you the illusion of that.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What would it mean for the world if America was confident they developed a technology that would act as a fool prove deterrent from nuclear attacks what would that mean for the rest of the world?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  This points to a flaw in your question.

  You probably should have said “foolproof countermeasure” if you really just wanted to remove nukes as a factor to see what happens.

  But you said “foolproof deterrent” and now you’re quibbling at people over whether a psychological deterrent can actually be foolproof.

  Maybe not, but even your question is nonsensical. The fact is that we are already using guaranteed total destruction of the world as a deterrent and it has so far worked. What more deterrence are you even suggesting we might add to that???

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What would it mean for the world if America was confident they developed a technology that would act as a fool prove deterrent from nuclear attacks what would that mean for the rest of the world?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I mean… for now. How long until drones with thrusters on their backs can land on a missle and redirect it wherever they want?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What would it mean for the world if America was confident they developed a technology that would act as a fool prove deterrent from nuclear attacks what would that mean for the rest of the world?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Sometimes we ask questions to gain knowledge we simply haven’t found yet.

  Other times we ask questions because some knowledge just won’t stick in our brains even when it’s given to us, and then we spend the thread fighting the answer for that same reason: it just won’t stick.

  Anti-ballistic missles are a technology.

  You asked what would happen. A treaty is a thing that can happen.

  Why don’t you tell us what you think would happen and be done, if that’s what this is really about.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Forced to lie on a questionnaire⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  No one will like hearing this answer but they may already underrated the issue of it being bad data and have a good reason not to care.

  Here’s the thing. When “none” or “skip” is there, people gravitate toward it. You end up getting 75% of people saying “none” for every question, and then your entire survey is meaningless. I hate surveys too. Everyone hates them. All the more reason to just mash “skip” or “none.” Because fuck you and fuck your survey.

  Meanwhile, what % of people don’t touch any of these social networks? Maybe we can’t say for sure, but it’s way less than 75%.

  So you’re choosing between two possible sources of bad data, and choosing the one you know to be of lower magnitude.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I guess we can reasonably disagree on this. Posthumous damnation of Limbaugh sounds less likely to me than letting him trade into obscurity. He was already damned to anyone who would care now.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Somehow Palpatine Rush Limbaugh returned.

  Oh, someone quoted him? Don’t even do that, y’all!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Pete Buttigieg is doing pretty fucking well, politically. It helps that he’s a medal-wearing veteran. I think that’s actually an important credential for most politicians but in the case of a gay man, perhaps moreso because it helps silence any slurs against his manhood.

  To be honest I think gay people are doing pretty fucking well these days versus when I grew up. There are still plenty of firsts left to happen, like President. But my whole childhood and young adulthood, gays were public enemies and the focus of conservative ire at every turn. They seem to have switched targets to trans people now, which is awful. But it has left gay people in an unusually quiet space. The marriage question is settled in all 50 states. With that, we seem to have moved on.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨When society completely transitions to cash-less, what happens when the power goes down? End of the world?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The existing currency pool is not the reason. Paper money has a pretty short durable life, and coins don’t have enough value to operate society on. It’s actually a fairly big task for a government to maintain the currency supply.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What do office workers actually do?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ll just give some examples.

  We know that construction workers build things, but many office workers are behind them. When you hear “office worker,” think “information worker” as that will help.

  What information?

  Someone has to pay the construction workers. This involves accounting and payroll tasks best done at a computer.

  Architects design the project being constructed and this is done in an office.

  There are permits, inspections, regulations, taxes, real estate licensing etc to clear the project and this is done through computers and telephones.

  Coordination of the different work crews must be planned - we don’t just ask concrete, civil engineers, plumbers, electrical, and landscaping to all show up on the same day and just figure things out. These things are scheduled out and arranged with many different companies / subcontractors and this is mapped out on a computer and agreed to over the phone.

  The new apartments being constructed will need tenants to rent them. Billboard space is going to be rented near the building. A graphic designer is designing the billboard on a computer in an office. Someone else is calling the billboard company to arrange the large scale printing of it and to purchase the time it will be displayed.

  I’ll stop. This is off the top of my head. If construction workers, with their obviously valuable and easy to understand work have this many office workers behind them, you can imagine how it’s even more complex for things like tech companies.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are popes always really old?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The amount of power is the same

  There is only one pope seat at a time which they can influence. But that’s not a complete measurement of all the power involved.

  Think of fit this way. Every time there’s an election, everyone comes out to kiss their ass and offer favors and so on to they themselves or “their guy” elected. If elections happen only every 20 years, then this ass-kiss-fest only happens every 20 years.

  They’d rather it happen every 5 years.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are popes always really old?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Mmm smart.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Here’s an idea⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The biggest problem I see is that people don’t always understand others’ jobs and how to judge if they are doing them well. I know this will be unpopular but managers are the key example here. Everyone thinks they know who the good and bad managers are but until you’ve been one, you dont understand their job to truly know more than who you like and who you don’t like. That’s no way to decide anyone’s pay.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Hottest Star Trek character?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Are you the kind of guy who hires a dominatrix to stand on his balls with high heels?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I'm a 6'1" man with size 3 feet which means every they measure my feet at a shoe store, the Brannock device gatekeeps my gender⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I guess weight is more important than height for that maybe. Tall often means heavier but not necessarily.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  If they also consume it over the border, sure.

  If they bring it back, they are importing it and that’s when you have to pay the tariff. If you’re thinking “just keep it in your trunk how will anyone know?” just consider how long smuggling has been a thing and ask yourself if you think border guards have thought of this. They have.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The inconsistent naming for insert row/columns in the German MS Office⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I develop software products and we put so much attention into how we design and arrange them, including the naming of things.

  Then we send everything off for batch translation by some service that probably doesn’t give a flying fuck because they’re just using AI anyway. And we have no way to check their work because we don’t speak all the languages.

  I wish we could have in-house people for this.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why do some drivers turn off the signal sound so quickly?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Of course signals are for inter-driver communication. It’s a signal “to” someone, right?

  We don’t need to discuss how to use your signal when no one’s around.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why do some drivers turn off the signal sound so quickly?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Physically moving into the other lane also tells them that you are moving. The sole purpose of having a blinker is to use it in advance.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Driving Upside Down in McMurtry Spéirling Electric Hypercar⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Thanks - that video was more explanatory. I honestly didn’t know what was looking at in the OP video. I know nothing about cars but I can imagine how this would be a game changer.