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garjones wrote:

I’m tempted to just wait for the Lord of the Rings show to complete on there and just binge what I want to watch in 30 days.

Yes…. That is consumer behavior.  It is standard logic now to take advantage of the free trial period to just binge watch the major shows. Just about everyone is doing it these days with Paramount Plus over the latest Star Trek show. now that the season is done.

Some consumer behavior is to be expected. Like taking advantage of all the free months of AOL when they were giving out those discs back in the day.

Years ago, some electronic stores would charge you a restocking fee if you returned an item because a lot of people were buying a camcorder on credit on a Friday, use it over the weekend for either a wedding, birthday party etc. and then go back to the store the following Monday saying “I don’t want it. I want my money back!”

As for sharing passwords on Netflix…How they will crack down on it, or even find out who are doing it…

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Yeah, there is still a fairly large group of people relying on it especially around the globe. Less developed nations though will obviously start with better infrastructure so it is interesting to think that these nations will leapfrog nations bogged down with obsolete infrastructure will have the chance to leapfrog with better tech,

Assuming that global energy production and supply chains don’t break down and put nations back into a neo-mercantilism (or neo-colonialism or neo-feudalism). For all we know, streaming services and electronic communications debates might be moot when people’s lives become so “interesting” that they won’t have any time or money or need of the distractions of Netflix and Disney+.

You haven’t spotted that black, tinted window SUV / van that hasn’t moved outside your place for days Al?

As to subs, it is about how you play them.  Audible makes its cash from impatience.  If you are patient? It can seriously pay you.

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[Al-x]

Ben wrote:

You haven’t spotted that black, tinted window SUV / van that hasn’t moved outside your place for days Al? As to subs, it is about how you play them. Audible makes its cash from impatience. If you are patient? It can seriously pay you.

Thought it was the Secret Service but I digress…

Hey… I go back to the MW days which had the rule of always keeping discussions like this above the table/legal.

 

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Al-x.

Ben wrote:

As to subs, it is about how you play them.

Yep. I’ve gone to cancel my subs to several streaming services recently, and each time I’ve immediately been offered a very substantial discount (most recently down to £1 a month for several months for NowTV). Because they’d rather have something than nothing, and the cost of each additional subscriber to them is negligible.

We all know this if we’ve ever tried to cancel a subscription or contract. But how often do we actively push through cancellations to get these discounts? Not as often as we should, probably, because it’s easier to be lazy and let them roll over and pay full price.

And really, these streaming services rely a lot on that laziness and that unthinking rolling over of monthly costs to make their money.

If consumers were smarter about it and hopped on for just a month per year to watch everything they want to watch, the streaming services would make a lot less money.

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Todd

Audible definitely tried all the tricks, still axed it.  Probably going to restart it in Aug as it’s a year later, there’s a few items out plus a Star Wars audio in Jan / Feb so feels like the right time to do so.

I found out that with the Charter cable company (which has Spectrum all over the US), you can “negotiate” a deal starting the second year of some subscription contract. I only stick with them because of the triple play package that covers 3 services fairly well.

Al-x wrote:

Hey… I go back to the MW days which had the rule of always keeping discussions like above the table/legal.

Nothing has changed there. Firstly nobody has discussed anything illegal, flipping subscriptions and sharing accounts are not against the law strictly speaking. An alternative to paying subscriptions is still torrenting it all which we haven’t mentioned but it’s ok to discuss that conceptually too, what was never allowed was linking to or promoting piracy sites.

And really, these streaming services rely a lot on that laziness and that unthinking rolling over of monthly costs to make their money.

Absolutely, it’s essentially the old ‘gym membership’ story, where people signed up in January, rarely went but didn’t cancel. To do it effectively takes some effort, you have to diarise when things are ending and keep on top of it. I remember I first signed up for Spotify Premium because they had an offer of RM3 a month for a year (which is around 50 pence only), I forgot that expired and I was paying a lot more.

garjones wrote:

Firstly nobody has discussed anything illegal

Illegal… where?

I’m fairly sure we must’ve had discussions that are illegal somewhere on the planet. What country’s laws takes precedence? I don’t give a fuck what laws say in USistan or UKistan when I say stuff here and in the same vein I wouldn’t presume any of you take in consideration the laws of Sweden when you’re posting.

Technically only the laws in Malaysia actually matter here as that’s where this site is hosted. You can say whatever you like about the US, UK or Sweden and they can’t take it down.

There probably have been discussions they wouldn’t be happy about but we’re too small-fry (and random, as per this thread) for anyone to bother about.

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Rocket, Todd, Ben

So what you’re saying is this is where we plan the heist, yeah?

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Todd, njerry, lorcan_nagle

Dave wrote:

So what you’re saying is this is where we plan the heist, yeah?

This is where we plan the revolution, товарищ.

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Rocket, lorcan_nagle, Dave

Anonymous wrote:

Dave wrote:

So what you’re saying is this is where we plan the heist, yeah?

This is where we plan the revolution, товарищ.

Right, right.

So we revolutionise the local bank tomorrow?

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Rocket, Todd, lorcan_nagle

I’ll bring the, um, cabbages.

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Rocket, Dave, Todd, lorcan_nagle

Anonymous wrote:

I’ll bring the, um, cabbages.

We will also need a getaway tractor.

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Dave

Anonymous wrote:

I’ll bring the, um, cabbages.

The sawn-off cabbages?

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Dave wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’ll bring the, um, cabbages.

The sawn-off cabbages?

And fully organic.

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Todd

I went to see a Spanish magician. At the end of his act he said “Now, on the count of three I will disappear! Uno, dos,” and then he vanished without a tres.

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Sean Robinson, Dave, Arjan Dirkse, Todd

Lady friend woke up and says “I dreamed I was in China!”

I replied; “I dreamed I was in bed with two women!”

“Was I one of them?” she asked.

“No, you were in China.”

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DavidM, Todd

I don't mean to alarm anyone, but someone is about to give birth to George Jetson. pic.twitter.com/Y7XjbeVz8i

— Brendan Kergin (@BKergin) July 28, 2022

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Rocket, DavidM, garjones, njerry, Dave, Todd, Arjan Dirkse

Meet the Exotic Dancer Who Went Undercover to Take Down Domestic Terrorists

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Martin Smith, Todd

Heh I didn’t know this, John Hinckley is out of jail and is active on twittar. He has all the correct opinions apparently.

 

John Hinckley on Twitter: “I believe in peace, love, equity, LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, animal rights, race mixing, assault weapon ban, sharing the wealth, Green New Deal, Black Lives Matter, Prison reform and good rock ‘n’ roll. Join the John Hinckley Community.” / Twitter

If all that doesn’t get Jodie Foster’s attention, nothing will!

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Al-x, Todd, JRCarter, njerry

Martin Smith wrote:

If all that doesn’t get Jodie Foster’s attention, nothing will!

Beyoncé is to re-record one of the songs on her new album, after facing criticism from disability campaigners.

The song Heated, which was released on Friday, contained a derogatory term that has often been used to demean people with spastic cerebral palsy.

The star’s publicist told the BBC the word, which can have different connotations in the US, was “not used intentionally in a harmful way”.

It “will be replaced in the lyrics”, they added, without giving a timescale.

The backlash came just a couple of weeks after US pop star Lizzo apologised for using the same word in her song GRRRLS.

This is an interesting aspect of what I have seen is a globalisation of language since the internet has connected us more.  While offence level is very different (the word is not even repeated in the BBC article) the word originates from the same place and I suspect the British standard will take over, as it has in the reverse direction in the past.

garjones wrote:

Beyoncé is to re-record one of the songs on her new album, after facing criticism from disability campaigners.

The song Heated, which was released on Friday, contained a derogatory term that has often been used to demean people with spastic cerebral palsy.

The star’s publicist told the BBC the word, which can have different connotations in the US, was “not used intentionally in a harmful way”.

It “will be replaced in the lyrics”, they added, without giving a timescale.

The backlash came just a couple of weeks after US pop star Lizzo apologised for using the same word in her song GRRRLS.

This is an interesting aspect of what I have seen is a globalisation of language since the internet has connected us more.  While offence level is very different (the word is not even repeated in the BBC article) the word originates from the same place and I suspect the British standard will take over, as it has in the reverse direction in the past.

So the country Niger is going to be forced to change its name?

garjones wrote:

the word is not even repeated in the BBC article

I’ve seen this approach commonly when reporting on stories like this and to be honest I find it a little strange, as it means you often have a long article about how offensive a certain term is without actually identifying the word that you’re talking about – which can be confusing at best and meaningless at worst (even if you can often make a good guess at the word due to the context).

If you want to educate and inform people about offensive language I don’t see it as being a problem to name the offending word, in a context that clearly identifies it as offensive language. The meaning (or casual lack of thought) behind using the word is where the offence comes from.

I don’t think anyone should be afraid to state clearly that the word “spaz” is offensive and unacceptable, but I get the impression that these publications are scared that someone might be offended that they’ve said the word at all.

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Todd, Martin Smith, DavidM

Dave wrote:

I’ve seen this approach commonly when reporting on stories like this and to be honest I find it a little strange, as it means you often have a long article about how offensive a certain term is without actually identifying the word that you’re talking about – which can be confusing at best and meaningless at worst (even if you can often make a good guess at the word due to the context).

What bothers me just as much is when TV news personnel refer to the gunman who killed ten people and injured others in a Buffalo NY supermarket as the “alleged” shooter, despite having physical and visual evidence proving that he was, in fact, the shooter who just massacred those people. Apparently, for legal reasons he cannot be called “the shooter” until he is found guilty of the crime, and any news channel that does so can be sued for libel or making false accusations. What a crazy fucking world we live in.

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Todd

It’s weird because these ableist slurs, retard and spazz, used to be completely innocent words to describe a medical condition.

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

It’s weird because these ableist slurs, retard and spazz, used to be completely innocent words to describe a medical condition.

Yes this is often the way with language and how it changes. The acceptable terminology shifts and becomes unacceptable. (“Coloured” in the UK is an example.)

It’s why I think we have to be careful not to overreact to the absolute language, but also examine the meaning and intent behind the use of it.

My mum worked for many years for a charity that helped children with special educational needs to be given the appropriate support in their schools, and I know that even when actively engaged in that sector it could be tricky to keep up with trends in language use, and which terminology had become outdated or offensive.

But part of that equation is also how you react when told that your language is offensive. If it’s an honest mistake and you then incorporate that knowledge into your future actions – like Beyonce re-recording this song with new lyrics or someone choosing different language next time they talk about a subject – then that’s a reasonable response. But if you stick to your guns and double down on using language that you know is going to upset people, you have to wonder why you’re doing that.

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lorcan_nagle, Todd

[DavidM]

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

It’s weird because these ableist slurs, retard and spazz, used to be completely innocent words to describe a medical condition.

There was a charity in the UK literally called The Spastics Society, which helped people with that condition. That shows how “mainstream” and acceptable the word was. But at the same time, I remember kids using the word “spastic” as a playground insult (I almost certainly used it myself). If people are using a word as an insult, it becomes a bad word whether it started that way or not*, and so about 20 years ago The Spastics Society renamed itself. (I think it’s now Scope, though that might be a completely different charity, I’m not sure — which suggests it’s a worse name, because I no longer know who they are helping, but oh well.)

 

. * Although, we also used “gay” as a playground insult, and yet that hasn’t become a banned word. So who knows?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by DavidM.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by DavidM.

What color is your name?
A Synesthesia Project by Bernadette Sheridan

https://synesthesia.me/

Here’s mine:

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Todd

DavidM wrote:

Although, we also used “gay” as a playground insult, and yet that hasn’t become a banned word. So who knows?

 

That is probably still the most used slur over here, you constantly hear kids calling each other “homo”.

DavidM wrote:

That shows how “mainstream” and acceptable the word was.

It does but I think it is more complex than that. The offending term in these songs was ‘spaz’ which was more a schoolyard abbreviation of the medical term ‘spastic cerebral palsy’ as the BBC story uses.

The history of why this became an issue in the UK would be familiar to people of our vintage in Britain. The Blue Peter TV show in the 1980s launched an appeal to raise money for converting housing for people with cerebral palsy and used a man called Joey Deacon to front it. ‘Spaz’ and ‘Joey’ became insults aimed at anyone clumsy or prone to slurring or physical tics. Which is not very nice as people with cerebral palsy are none of those things because of incompetence, their control of their bodies just fails them. It was after that usage that the Spastics Society renamed as Scope.

While the US usage of the term doesn’t have the same history essentially it is doing the same thing. Beyonce singing ‘I’m a spaz’ is about being unable to control your own body or speech, doing stupid involuntary things. I think it’s justified not to be comfortable with that usage.

You’ll find me in other places rail against language choices, I don’t like the escalation of sexist to misogynist, I think you can be sexist without hating women. Eradicating ‘spaz’ I find it hard to argue against.

In 1986 the American National Standards Institute issued a guidebook establishing design standards to provide accessibility “for physically handicapped people”; in 1987 the NYC Department of Buildings issued Local Law 58, called “The Handicapped Law”. Five years later, in July 1992 the US Department of Justice created the Federal “Americans with Disabilities Act” which incorporated the ANSI and similar standards into one comprehensive Federal Law. Importantly, they focused on the phrase “people with disabilities” rather than the term “handicapped”, since the latter was considered more offensive and derogatory.

Forty years later many people still use say “handicapped”. Correcting ignorance takes a while…

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Todd

garjones wrote:

Beyoncé is to re-record one of the songs on her new album, after facing criticism from disability campaigners.

There is a lot going on with Beyonce and it not good. Between the above, now Monica Lewinsky wants a lyric that has her name redone.

https://ew.com/music/monica-lewinsky-aks-beyonce-remove-her-name-partition-lyrics/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_entertainmentweekly&utm_content=manual&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=62e998cfc5f2d200019cca53&fbclid=IwAR1I3NU7fwHDlAyksmdpz5ZoSkqoGwserqPEZV2oWk8-Eg_XNuLniI2B64g

And… this artist Kelis (famous for that “Milkshake” song years ago) complaining about her material being sampled without her consent/permission.

It’s a mess right now…

I spoke to my cable company yesterday, and the lady over the phone was nice enough to give me some decent options. Apparently, when Charter Spectrum bought Time Warner Cable, my plan carried over. The lady said I could take it all down to some essential channels and then just one premium like an HBO. And I can use my old router and turn in the one the company gives me to rent from. I have to see how much I expect to save.  Now I understand the expression “cutting the cord” as some monthly cable bills can come out to almost $300/month

————————–

I was talking to these two maintenance guys up the block from me.  Their management is doing renovations of old buildings where they gut the inside of the apartment, rewire it, put in new plumbing, put in sheet-rock panels on the walls so it all looks modern and at the going rate, charge 3k/month rent.  Ok… but the apartments should be big enough for 2-3 roommates, as I don’t see that many who can or will come up with 3k by themselves just for rent in a walk up!

This is what was presented to me for ‘Youtube Shorts’ today, their attempt at targeting the Tik-Tok audience I assume. Before anyone gets smart about targeted material based on what you watch, I have never clicked on any Youtube Shorts video and most of what I watch on Youtube is rugby videos and nerdy history or factual stuff. I have quite a strong dislike of 50s rock and roll so no idea why Johnny B Goode would fit with my music tastes which are 80s and 90s electronica mostly.

So without any history input all 8 videos are attractive young women and 6 of them in their bras. It’s not good really, whatever AI they have behind this basically says whatever your content it doesn’t really matter because we want pretty girls, preferably not wearing much.

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Todd, DavidM, Al-x

In case this doesn’t auto-format, it’s Elizabeth Hurley in a bikini:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CguTuKEo2JF/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Looks like JR is running the Youtube Shorts recommendations. 😂

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Christian, Todd, DavidM, Bruce, Al-x

garjones wrote:

It’s not good really, whatever AI they have behind this basically says whatever your content it doesn’t really matter because we want pretty girls, preferably not wearing much.

Those videos all apparently have views in the millions, so I assume their sheer popularity is largely what’s driving them towards your recommendations (based on an account with a blank-slate history).

So rather than blaming the algorithm, maybe we just need to acknowledge that on a lowest-common-denominator level that kind of content is often what’s likely to find the broadest audience.

(Who knew that people liked to watch videos of sexy girls on the internet?)

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Rocket, Todd, DavidM, Al-x

It’s funny that there’s pornhub and worse on the web, but some people still watch youtube videos of ladies wearing short skirts or showing their bare belly to make a sexy explosion.

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DavidM

garjones wrote:

So without any history input all 8 videos are attractive young women and 6 of them in their bras. It’s not good really, whatever AI they have behind this basically says whatever your content it doesn’t really matter because we want pretty girls, preferably not wearing much.

Hmmm… how old is your son now, and does he have access to your internet account?

Interestingly when I Google the most watched Youtube Shorts (which have views of over 250m), none of the top 5 I scanned have a scantily clad woman in them.

The top one is a guy in a hoodie doing graffiti.

https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Most_viewed_YouTube_shorts

You forget, it’s not just looking at your YouTube history, through the magic of cross-site tracking cookies it has access to everything you’ve ever done.

It knows you come on here and look at Al’s posts

 

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Rocket, Todd, garjones, Dave

garjones wrote:

Interestingly when I Google the most watched Youtube Shorts (which have views of over 250m), none of the top 5 I scanned have a scantily clad woman in them.

The top one is a guy in a hoodie doing graffiti.

https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Most_viewed_YouTube_shorts

That seems to be aggregate all-time views, rather than the most popular videos at the moment, which I assume is what you were being pushed towards.

Maybe. There’s no indicator to say that so we can only assume , it seems unclear because Johnny B Goode is still there with the same number of views as yesterday but new one has appeared that  has just 490 views.

garjones wrote:

Maybe. There’s no indicator to say that so we can only assume , it seems unclear because Johnny B Goode is still there with the same number of views as yesterday but new one has appeared that  has just 490 views.

That’s because the algorithm obviously realised that you didn’t click on any of the popular ones.

I’m really going to piss that algorithm off by never clicking on any of them. 😂

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Dave

Keep it going and you’ll eventually get the most hipsterish under-viewed content imaginable. Enjoy the Polynesian nose-flute tutorials!

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Christian

Dave wrote:

Enjoy the Polynesian nose-flute tutorials!

Ooh, can you send me a link to that one?!

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Dave

Dave wrote:

Enjoy the Polynesian nose-flute tutorials!

Polynesian nose-flutes? How passé.

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Dave

[Al-x]

garjones wrote:

This is what was presented to me for ‘Youtube Shorts’ today, their attempt at targeting the Tik-Tok audience I assume. Before anyone gets smart about targeted material based on what you watch, I have never clicked on any Youtube Shorts video and most of what I watch on Youtube is rugby videos and nerdy history or factual stuff…. So without any history input all 8 videos are attractive young women and 6 of them in their bras. It’s not good really, whatever AI they have behind this basically says whatever your content it doesn’t really matter because we want pretty girls, preferably not wearing much.

All the other sites (Instagram, Facebook etc. ) are all following suit. From all this,  there are a LOT of more ways than before for a young girl to cash in on their looks than before. Some get a HUGE following and with that comes the sponsors asking them to plug their products to the ready made audience of 100M, national TV appearances, streaming TV deals, etc.

Who is to blame?

Truth is, there is only a small window of opportunities before either the looks start to fade or another “It” girl arrives. This one actress on “Euphoria” complained of all the percentages she has to pay for publicists, agent, stylist, and it all comes out to very little left over. She pretty much has no choice but to accept all these side gigs of plugging products, appearances, etc. She knows she is spreading herself thin, but as long as she is relevant…

 

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Al-x.

Perverts.

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Todd, Al-x, Arjan Dirkse

Al-x wrote:

All the other sites (Instagram, Facebook etc. ) are all following suit.

Instagram I don’t use, I disagree on Facebook.

While I don’t know if, for reasons I stated, Dave is 100% right with it just being the most popular of the moment, 490 views makes that unlikely, social media is usually set to your browsing and interest patterns. Cards on the table Al you have shared a few ‘booty’ pics as you used to like to describe them.

The reason I raised the Youtube Shorts stuff is it didn’t reflect my browsing patterns and for all the cheap jokes we can make here it’s not because I’m some chaste preacher who will turn his eye from all temptation and be offended by a bare piano leg. I sometimes want to view sexy content, as if we’re honest we all do, straight or gay, but it won’t be via social media. I live in a Muslim country with strong ISP level censorship so it’ll be behind and untraceable VPN and private browsing. Youtube is not where I’d go either way.

I keep Facebook, even though I find it annoying, to keep in touch with family and that’s largely what I see, family and friend posts. Since I don’t engage on politics on there I see very few political posts, I see almost no ‘cheesecake’ stuff at all and no increase in recent times.

I posted that screenshot originally not in some naive state that sexy stuff doesn’t sell, it does. My question was more why all I was being presented with was all young women in bras or bikinis, in music clips that have no relation to the music I listen to on Youtube. Also because it doesn’t reflect what other social media, including normal Youtube, is presenting to me.

It’s not a new idea people like seeing attractive people, you don’t see an overweight 60 year old in advertising much, my question was more with seemingly zero data input the videos were 100% just showing scantily clad girls, you get the chicken or the egg situation if I clicked, but I didn’t, which may eventually end in Polynesian nose flutes, we shall have to wait and see.

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garjones wrote:

which may eventually end in Polynesian nose flutes, we shall have to wait and see.

Is this the new “way of the western”?

It’ll all end in Polynesian nose flutes!

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[Al-x]

garjones wrote:

Instagram I don’t use, I disagree on Facebook. While I don’t know if, for reasons I stated, Dave is 100% right with it just being the most popular of the moment, 490 views makes that unlikely, social media is usually set to your browsing and interest patterns. Cards on the table Al you have shared a few ‘booty’ pics as you used to like to describe them.

I admit that I did share a few. That feed gets very repetitive tbh, but I digress…

Funny… I was once describing Instagram here about models in swimsuits and athletes, celebrities, billionaires, wanting to contact them, or “slide into their DMs” (used as a tryst site) and no one here got it! They all said that Instagram was mainly cat pictures. Either they are that much out of the loop or they act like they don’t know.

Years ago, a Pamela Anderson had to do Playboy to get her foot in the door. Then the guest TV spots, Baywatch, marrying Tommy Lee… Now there are more ways, like a social media following etc.

Truth be told, Facebook bought Instagram about 10 years ago. Now that they are seeing the success of TikTok and those cute girl video snippets, they are doing it themselves. Copycats.

Strange, though… The “algorithms” of these sites used to be about providing more in your feed of what you have previously seen. Now, with YouTube (which was purchased by Google in 2006) is just giving you these video snippets regardless of what they know you previously gravitated to.

 

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Al-x.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Al-x.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Al-x.

During the holiday season in the States, there are videos of ‘porch pirates”, people who will go to an unattended porch and just steal whatever gift package the couriers dropped off from Amazon or wherever.

Now it doesn’t have to be a porch. Several of my neighbors have complained about the courier leaving packages in the vestibule or lobby of the building and someone managing to get in and walk off with them.

It is getting to the point where now everyone is using some drop off site like some local store that has the space to keep the packages. Personally, I am getting my building to reinforce the inside doors and lobby.

When the farmer died, all his chickens were sold to the highest bidder. They would have preferred to stay on the farm, but auctions speak louder than birds.

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Al-x

Today I learned that the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were only really “a thing” for about 60 years. The Colossus of Rhodes was destroyed by an earthquake only 60-odd years after it was built. Plus, no-one’s even sure the Hanging Gardens Of Babylon were even real.

Also, the Temple of Artemis was burned down by a guy called Herostratus, who did it to solely to get famous. A law was passed to make him unnameable in writing or speech, but I guess that didn’t really work out too well.

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You have no idea how tempting it is to edit out the name in that post.

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Todd, njerry, DavidM, Dave, Martin Smith

Because banning mentioning someone’s name definitely isn’t going to make them infamous.

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Dave wrote:

Because banning mentioning someone’s name definitely isn’t going to make them infamous.

It worked well for the bear.

[Al-x]

This heatwave in NYC (today is supposed to be the last day)… Everyone got their AC on and the spike in the
utility bill for August…

——————————-

With the Labor Day weekend sale in a few weeks. I just might be tempted to get a smart tv with its USB ports as
that is apparently the way to go these days.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Al-x.

We’ve got a heatwave coming here but it won’t be superhot, 31 degrees max. Not 40 like we had a few weeks back.

 

But no airco.

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

We’ve got a heatwave coming here but it won’t be superhot, 31 degrees max. Not 40 like we had a few weeks back. But no airco.

I heard news about that huge heat wave in Europe last month. I have to say that more will invest in air conditioners in the years ahead. Now …. will those power grids handle the demand?

——————————

We must play chess again Arjan… I watched this GM Hikaru play this street chess player (pro vs. semi pro).
The GM knew all the setups, diagonals, etc. and in the first 30 seconds, had the guy’s queen pinned to the king!
No contest…

Al-x wrote:

I heard news about that huge heat wave in Europe last month. I have to say that more will invest in air conditioners in the years ahead.

A lot of people won’t because those heat levels are so unusual that you barely ever need it. Same with measures for the extreme cold. It’s why places like the UK with temperate climates are so badly set up to deal with extremes, the truth is that 99% of the time we don’t need to.

Yeah we got this heatwave coming and that will probably be it for this summer. It will be 4 days of 30 degrees or higher. In total I think that is about 7 days this summer of 30 + temperatures. You don’t buy an airco for that.

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Dave

Nor will some be able to afford to run them.  It’s been found running a fan in the UK is far cheaper than air con.  And that’s before adding in the fiasco of energy prices.

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Dave

It’s not cheap to run air conditioners in the US either, but it’s become a necessity in some climates/regions. Imagine living in Houston TX or Phoenix AZ, where temperatures routinely reach 100+ degrees Fahrenheit and NOT having AC?

I used to go through the annual routine of sticking AC units in the windows of each bedroom and our living room every June and removing them every September. Finally we just bit the bullet and had central AC installed throughout the house, which resulted in lower electrical bills since the central system uses much less power to maintain a constant comfortable temperature. With an unusually hot summer this year (we just completed our THIRD official heat wave of 2022, whereas the average is one) I’m glad to have it, regardless of cost.

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Ben, Todd

I find a ceiling fan makes an incredible difference and is much cheaper to install and maintain than aircon.

On a typical hot and humid day here I would start to feel sticky and a bit sweaty sitting in any room but with a ceiling fan it’s very comfortable. I do have AC but rarely switch it on, mainly when guests come round or a particularly muggy day.

Now admittedly homes here are built for warm weather as it’s all year round but there’s not that much difference between my place in the UK with windows open for ventilation to here. If I were back there and the hot days are getting a bit hotter for a bit longer the way to go is a ceiling fan, much better than standing fans as they cool the whole room rather than just what they are directly pointing at and much cheaper than AC which I think is overkill for short periods of high temps.

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Ben

njerry wrote:

It’s not cheap to run air conditioners in the US either, but it’s become a necessity in some climates/regions. Imagine living in Houston TX or Phoenix AZ, where temperatures routinely reach 100+ degrees Fahrenheit and NOT having AC?

I don’t know if it’s still true but British people working at the consulate received tropical pay when they were assigned to Houston.

The Houston area has always been a place where air conditioners are a necessity. It is not unuusal to have the AC on in December. One year, we had the heater on as it snowed on Christmas and then on New Year’s Day, we had the AC blowing. All houses are built with them. That’s just standard. In July 2019, my AC system died and I had to drop $12,000 for a new system, including new ducts. (The old system was about 20 years old and I think the ducts were about original to the house.) Even with all fans on high speed and windows and doors open, it was 90+F in the house. We spent the night in a hotel.

When Christel and/or I are at home, we usually have the temp about 74-75F. During the day when we are at the office, I will turn it up to 79F. That keeps the air circulating and doesn’t make the system have to work as hard to cool the house down when we drop the temp. I have an app on my phone to control the thermostat, and I will drop it down about 30-60 minutes before the first one of us gets home. My bill during the hot months is around $200+ per month.

This is just how it is living on the Gulf Coast.

Dave wrote:

A lot of people won’t because those heat levels are so unusual that you barely ever need it. Same with measures for the extreme cold. It’s why places like the UK with temperate climates are so badly set up to deal with extremes, the truth is that 99% of the time we don’t need to.

Provided that the heat wave you had was an outlier. A notion that is debatable these days.

—————————————-

Still thinking about cutting costs on cable package, selling old items, and clearing space. I got rid of comics, baseball cards, and donated them to local thrift stores. Peace of mind when you get things done.

Al-x wrote:

Provided that the heat wave you had was an outlier. A notion that is debatable these days.

It’s not really debatable, it was a freakishly high temperature for a very short period of time. I’m as concerned about climate change as anyone but it would take an incredible shift for 40-degree-plus temperatures to become the norm in the UK any time soon.

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Todd, Ben, garjones

Yup agreed, without looking to minimise the issues with climate change British weather is massively more mild on average than New York. It may change, and is slightly, but paying thousands for aircon or at the other extreme road gritters to counter snow that may not appear f0r 5 years is pissing money up the wall.

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Dave, Todd, Ben

Al-x wrote:

Provided that the heat wave you had was an outlier. A notion that is debatable these days.

Currently it is still an outlier but that may change in the future. With climate change though it seems the extremes are changing. Most days this summer were pretty cool, and then there was one day when the temperature shot up to 40 degrees. But that was just one day over here.

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

Currently it is still an outlier but that may change in the future.

That’s the point I wanted to get at…
I really don’t want to run off on a tangent on global warning.
While I can’t speak for everyone I will just say this and it stands to reason:
Should a similar heat wave happen again next year, and given that the past heat wave caught many off guard…
What will people most likely start to do then?

——————————

I just checked out a few NYC job listings online and Marvel Entertainment has a few openings?
I might be tempted… We had a few members on MW who worked in comic stores. Maybe not all fun and games
when you are in the business of it than a browser/consumer.

Al-x wrote:

Should a similar heat wave happen again next year, and given that the past heat wave caught many off guard…

They are forecasting at the moment a similar one every 5 years. Which is clearly global warming, the last summer with similar weather was 1976, but not long term high temperatures every summer.

I’ve expanded a bit above but I don’t think a move to installing aircon is good for a number of reasons. Firstly it just accelerates the problem by using more fossil fuel power to the mix and a proper ceiling fan which is very affordable and uses a fraction of the energy really eases a lot of the discomfort. Just spending your way to the most convenient and quick solution has not been a very sustainable approach.

Yeah it’s getting hotter but it’s a slow process. Most days are perfectly normal, and this place is not going to turn into the Sahara in the coming decades.

 

Really this summer has been one of the most pleasant for me weather-wise, except for that one super hot day. A lot of days with nice, cool summer weather.

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garjones

Here’s a puzzle for everyone.

Given these five clues…

1. Up
2. Down
3. You
4. Cry
5. Goodbye
6.

What is No. 6?

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[DavidM]

Around

I hate myself for knowing that

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by DavidM.

[DavidM]

DavidM wrote:

Around

I hate myself for knowing that

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by DavidM.

Incorrect.

You?

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Todd, Dave

Anonymous wrote:

You?

Yeah it’s this. The answers are here.

(Nice to be able to do that legitimately for once.)

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Todd

[DavidM]

Todd wrote:

DavidM wrote:

Around

I hate myself for knowing that

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by DavidM.

Incorrect.

Well, it depends on how you parse it. Not-Anders’ answer is not incorrect but I think mine is more correct :P

Anonymous wrote:

You?

CORRECT!!!

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AHHH no, I take it back, you’re right I’m wrong. I can’t count

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DavidM wrote:

I can’t count

It’s not a friggin math problem. I just sang the song to myself (although I wasn’t 100% sure about the lyrics, hence the question mark).

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garjones

Dave wrote:

(Nice to be able to do that legitimately for once.)

All rick rolls are legit.

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Todd

I am once again asking the youtube algorithm to stop fucking with me.

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Todd

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

I am once again asking the youtube algorithm to stop fucking with me.

Getting those Trump-in-Speedos videos again?

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Todd, Arjan Dirkse

njerry wrote:

Trump-in-Speedos

Did they deepfake (speedfake) the speedos over the diapers?

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Todd

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

I am once again asking the youtube algorithm to stop fucking with me.

The Twitter algorithm seems to have a very high opinion of me lately. Last week I started getting targeted ads for a Maserati and today it’s $1000 trainers from Versace.

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Todd, Arjan Dirkse

I got this stupid “funny” history animations channel where horrific historic events were narrated with funny noises and poop jokes. It sent me into a terrible rage.

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

It sent me into a terrible rage.

garjones wrote:

Arjan Dirkse wrote:

I am once again asking the youtube algorithm to stop fucking with me.

The Twitter algorithm seems to have a very high opinion of me lately. Last week I started getting targeted ads for a Maserati and today it’s $1000 trainers from Versace.

I’d consider that a very low opinion. Anyone spending a thousand bucks on a pair of trainers is a knob.

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DavidM, lorcan_nagle

But a rich knob, which is the best kind of knob when you’re Versace.

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Todd

The trainers looked awful anyway, horrific massive purple things I’d never wear.

Maybe I should amend it then to Twitter has a very opinion of my income.

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Christian

Wouldn’t be the Random thread of randomness if I didn’t post links to IG photos of a female celebrity in swimwear:

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChFfeDvJAKs/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

I mean, it would, but…

Christian wrote:

Versace

If your clothes are that expensive, I don’t care who you are, I fila-k you ain’t gucci-t to pe prada-f.

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Todd