I dunno if this is anyone else but me, but, in the US this weekend, I heard a radio advertisement on our local Clear Channel / CBS station that was just a guy without music, forcefully stating that “tariffs are a matter of national security.”

That was honestly so surreal that I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it.

Yay Canada

Honestly I am thankful all the time that people are able to find jobs that suit them best. I am a graphic designer by trade, and working from home has basically been the greatest creative boon I’ve ever had in my life, lol. The routine, access to nature, and just general lack of distractions has been incredible.

I mean I was referring to having a shop in your garage so you can build furniture, but you’re not wrong. Construction carpentry is one of the more intense trades I’ve seen.

My understanding is that he never actually paid out any of that money he promised to voters.

Go birds.

Sadly, the “concept of a plan” line was from last year. :/

I have to admit, if Trump changed opinions about him via destroying the economy, I have yet to see it. All the dipshits in my world are crowing about how they had been preparing for this for decades.

It’s never too late to enter carpentry. I know quite a few programmers who do carpentry as their main hobby. Something about the math and the amount of careful planning is highly transferrable, I guess.

Me, Local Fact Checker (who is also very tired and lazy): “seems fine”

Honestly, I know a lot of companies that would be absolutely fucked if Backblaze went under in a dramatic fashion.

I get it, I’m just poking fun a bit.

You got that right friend. 🤝

Going through that experience is what made me eventually buy a solar generator when I had the money in the right spot. I’ve felt really unsafe until I managed to get one figured out. Jumped on a Black Friday deal *during the pandemic and got a DJI Power 1000 and two solar panel sets for $500.

I’ve given it a fair shake at this point, and just with the light in my enclosed back yard, I am collecting almost 400W/h, which is more than enough to run the fridge for a few days by cycling the power so it runs for only a few hours total per day.

I really really recommend folks explore solar these days. Battery storage technology has really, really improved since the early 2000s. Solar panels aren’t meaningfully any more efficient, but the real advantage these days is that panels are dirt nasty cheap if you are willing to wait on freight times. You can even buy a $30 panel rated at 6W and connect it to a USB power bank and run your vapes, Flipper Zero, etc on solar!

I agree with you wholeheartedly, but it’s odd that you’d point to events from the 1960s when we have blackouts every summer in Texas now, lol.

I deeply respect anyone who chooses any alternative to monogamy, but y’all have no idea how stoked I am that I get to call my partner “wife.”

It’s totally fair to be as vanilla as an unsalted cracker if that’s what you feel! The ‘Q’ part of LGBTQIA is super duper important, as how can you be sure you’re straight without ever asking?

It’s nuts, but once I learned that it was just an LLM doing content moderation (and probably the appeals, too), things made a lot more sense.

Spez is the exact kind of guy who would believe that community moderation is an “unsolved problem” and not, y’know, perfectly solvable by the same ol’: ya hire people to do it.

the problem here is that nobody takes the time to think about how civics actually work in this country. the most important, qualitative elections people can participate in are municipal and state ones, but none of y’all ever turn up. guess who has been voting in municipal and state elections since the 80s? if you already guessed in your head, you’re probably already correct.

if you want living wages in your area, start by electing a mayor or city council that will actually do it. if you want police accountability, make your city or town do it. hate the entire political system that works in your area? you actually have the power to change that! they’re basically the last civil workers who actually have to be somewhat pragmatic and not operate entirely on polemic lines. nobody cares if you’re republican or democratic if the sewers aren’t running.

it’s not that hippy-dippy — the phrase “think globally, act locally” is basically the play from here until forever.

i mean, don’t get me wrong, i may not agree with China’s ethos, but it’s at least an ethos. Usonia is just basically collapsing under the weight of our own virulent individuality and greed right now.

Seriously, when are these bourgeoisie fucks gonna realize that any system designed to coerce or manipulate is inherently corrupting its own ability to be trustworthy, ethical or qualitative.

moreover, i think it’s just weird that everyone expects generative ai to be as open and useful and free as it has been. it’s all to get us to trust and use it unknowingly, then they’re gonna start jacking the prices up. we’ve seen it before with cable television, internet, consumer goods like shoes and computer parts, and more. open source efforts have gone a long way, but it’s still all a tinkerers’ hobby, not a viable alternative.