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BallsandBayonets

@BallsandBayonets@lemmy.world

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BallsandBayonets ,

That was when I wasn't working at any of the other jobs I listed.

BallsandBayonets ,

Even going by Dick would be a better option.

BallsandBayonets ,

The idea (or my opinion at least) is we start at the top, working our way down the high score list. After the first few, hopefully the rest come to their senses and voluntarily stop being scum.

BallsandBayonets ,

Fun sentiment but there's no way to exist without participating in capitalism. My smart phone may be made with slave labor but it's not like there are alternatives. Even if there were they'd be unaffordable.

If you can't see the massive difference between a handful of billionaires causing the suffering in the world to become richer, and the hundreds of millions of people who are just participating in capitalism because there's no other choice, then there's no point in talking to you.

BallsandBayonets ,

It's not a waste if you have unusuals, stranges, or the hallowed australium frying pan!

BallsandBayonets ,

Left for Firefox when they announced this update. I still have to use Chrome when I work in Google drive since basic functions like copy/paste don't work in non-chrome browsers, but even without this update the minute+ time it takes for chrome to open reminds me I made the right decision.

Fairbuds are Fairphone’s proof that we really could make better tiny gadgets (arstechnica.com)

But of course we all know that the big manufacturers don't do this not because they can't but because they don't want to. Planned obsolescence is still very much the name of the game, despite all the bullshit they spout about sustainability.

BallsandBayonets ,

Sadly in my experience the boots theory is no longer accurate as the $50 pair of boots fall apart as quickly as the $10 pair, especially when talking about electronics. There may be longer lasting devices out there but the price is so beyond my price range that it may as well not exist.

Updated for 2024, the boots theory would read something more like a $50 pair of boots lasts for one year and is mostly comfortable to wear, the $10 pair lasts for one year but is uncomfortable to wear, and the $2000 pair of boots is comfortable and will last many years but anyone who buys them will toss them after one year anyway when "the fashion" changes.

BallsandBayonets ,

That's the thing about capitalism, it doesn't have to be a conspiracy to be evil. Capitalism will optimize for the cheapest option to acquire the most profit, and generally the cheapest option is also the one that's the worst for the workers/environment/consumers.

BallsandBayonets ,

The challenge comes in being a scapegoat for when things go wrong (albeit a goat with a golden parachute) and a hype man for when things go right.

But as others have said AI won't replace executives because it's executives making the decisions to use AI, and no one with power will ever choose an option that reduces their own money.

BallsandBayonets ,

Only at first.

Then every version will be ad-supported.

BallsandBayonets ,

YouTube music only, unfortunately. Unfortunate not because it's the only expense of its type that I have, but because like so many Google products it's a worse version of something they used to offer for free. And there isn't a good alternative that I've found yet, and no music streaming service pays the artists anything worth mentioning.

BallsandBayonets ,

Pretty sure it comes down to do you think we can bandaid capitalism enough to suck not so hard, or do we need to amputate. The former is democratic socialism.

BallsandBayonets ,

No, they just create them and make them wildly successful so they have a backdoor in everyone's pocket.

BallsandBayonets ,

When I just used a browser ad blocker I made a point to unblock sites that I wanted to support and didn't use obnoxious ads. Unfortunately for them I now use a network ad blocker too and it's more of a hassle. One of these days I might make a list of domains to unblock but at the moment I'm more concerned with figuring out how to block YouTube ads at the domain level.

BallsandBayonets ,

I laughed at the meme, but I also bought branded merch from a brewery whose beer I don't even drink (unless I'm already drunk) because I was in their gift shop.

Roku explores taking over HDMI feeds with ads (www.lowpass.cc)

Roku is exploring ways to show consumers ads on its TVs even when they are not using its streaming platform: The company has been looking into injecting ads into the video feeds of third-party devices connected to its TVs, according to a recent patent filing.  ...

BallsandBayonets ,

I haven't had problems with my wireless mice but headsets seem to get worse the more money I spend (never above $200, granted).

BallsandBayonets ,

And yet in this very comment thread there's someone complaining about their union "protecting the old guard" who are "lazy".

I am fully in support of doing the bare minimum, as long as you're not making anyone else's job harder. The only time you "should" be doing more than the minimum is when it's your own personal company, or it's work that actually betters society beyond making money.

BallsandBayonets ,

The founder of the Pinkertons barely cheated death so many times that it all but proves time travel exists, and it's being used in the same way that every other groundbreaking technology is: to make the rich richer.

BallsandBayonets ,

The suburbanite's monologue definitely isn't internal.

BallsandBayonets ,

Because you probably do have at least two options for ISPs, it's just that one option is DSL and lawmakers still struggle with understanding color television.

BallsandBayonets ,

If only Reagan didn't defund asylums in order to "prove" they didn't work so that they could move the homeless to jail or on the street where they can be a scary story to keep us wage slaves in line.

BallsandBayonets ,

You have cars? I thought all cars are forcibly seized and replaced with bikes at the border.

BallsandBayonets ,

Sleeping at rest stops is literally stealing money from hardworking hotel owners! /s

BallsandBayonets ,

They better start leaving $20s between the cushions then because rent is outrageous.

BallsandBayonets ,

I disagree pretty strongly on especially the "don't shame someone for who is essentially a good person for sharing the same religion as a bad person."

Community is everything, and there's strength in names. If you say you are of the same religion as a bigot, you're telling the bigots that you agree with them, even if you don't. If you want to follow the teachings of the character known as Christ, you ironically have to call yourself something other than Christian, because that label is synonymous with all kinds of bigotry to a dangerous number of people. The bigotry isn't going to die out as long as they can claim to be a majority.

We're not talking about sports teams here. These labels matter, and have dangerous effects. I'd rather everyone drop religions labels entirely and just say how they claim to be a good person, because as it stands there are good people and bad people who share the same label, which makes the bad people stronger.

BallsandBayonets ,

You can't get another light until you're in the dark.

BallsandBayonets ,

Are we sure it won't create a paradox and destroy the universe?

BallsandBayonets ,

I'm absolutely a trans ally but what I don't understand about how science defines the sexes without reproduction. If those mushrooms have thousands of sexes, must they participate in gigantic fungal orgies every time they reproduce? Of course given that fungi are in an entirely different kingdom than mammals, I wouldn't be surprised if how sexes are defined is entirely different and irrelevant to how they're defined in animals.

My biology education ended at high school and unfortunately it was a high school that taught that the earth was 6000 years old so to say it was lacking would be an understatement.

BallsandBayonets ,

What I really need is a prescription for $$$$$, but it's a controlled substance and I don't meet the pre-existing conditions to be prescribed.

BallsandBayonets ,

Doesn't change anything. If I go to a sandwich shop that advertises sandwiches with meat, but I go during the lunch rush, they don't get to sell me two slices of plain bread just because it's busy. Even if their advertising includes in microscopic text the words "up to".

And the legality of these practices is irrelevant. We're making the argument that it's morally wrong and therefore should not be tolerated.

BallsandBayonets ,

Oh I completely understand the why. Get a golden parachute in your contract, hire MBAs to cannibalise the company for short-term gains, then leave the company obscenely rich before the dumpster fire you created bites anyone in the ass. Rinse and repeat until you have all the money.

For Boeing's execs, they just got caught before they could cut and run.

BallsandBayonets ,

Why wouldn't they have done that years ago before he had the chance to testify? He testified the previous week, so it's not like this prevented much...

Murder, and by extension getting away with it, costs money and even when it comes to covering up their mistakes corporations will not spend money until after it's absolutely necessary.

BallsandBayonets ,

Places that use the cheapest developers they can; which government websites seem to always do.

BallsandBayonets ,

The New York Times noted the burrito "could have been designed only by a food technologist or by someone who eats lunch without much thought to taste."

And years later, Soylent came on to the market being designed by the exact same type of person.

BallsandBayonets ,

Going off a cliff or going off a cliff but they'll put some nice tunes on the radio while we die.

BallsandBayonets ,

Fitbits that aren't the latest model have battery lives shorter than 12 hours (many users reporting 6 hours or less) after a firmware update. It's a well-reported issue on the fitbit community.

And not to be rude but have you used any electronics released in the past decade? Battery life always goes to crap almost exactly 2 years after purchase, and no one releases products with replaceable batteries. Appliances use plastic parts and come with a plethora of unnecessary features all on one circuit board so when one feature breaks the appliance is dead, with replacement parts being almost as costly as a new appliance. Inkjet printers refuse to work without all the colors being full, even to the point of not scanning when out of ink. There's even a story going around about a business-class HP printer that stopped working (full on ink) because the credit card attached to the ink subscription expired.

It's gone long past planned obsolescence at this point. Whether it's software or hardware, companies want you subscribed for life. Anything less and they break the devices that were able to dupe you into thinking you owned.

BallsandBayonets ,

a very small tax increase

That was likely painted as killing your children and causing hellfire to rain down on your home, if some political ads are to be believed. And that's the actual issue at the heart of everything: if a corporation can't make obscene amounts of profit doing it, it won't get done.

BallsandBayonets ,

The politicians who are owned by fossil fuel companies?

One person writing to their politician isn't worth the trash can space the letter will end up in. We need to have a majority of people supporting smart energy decisions, and that starts with telling people that their opinions on nuclear energy are 50 years out of date.

BallsandBayonets ,

YouTube shorts are my latest annoyance. They give you an x to hide it then says we'll try again in 30 days. Shorts were a dumb idea on vine, a dumber idea on tiktok, and just about the dumbest idea on YouTube. If I wanted a sub-30 second clip I'd watch a gif.

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