Maybe not “need”, but yes, a fully peer reviewed study confirming or rejecting seemingly obvious conclusions is an important part of the scientific method. It’s how we gain confidence in what we (think we) know.

In finding Comer liable to Bungie for those costs—as well as over $80,000 in legal fees and $25,000 in statutory damages—the court also laid out the basis for “a new common law tort” that paves the way for other companies to do the same. As Tewson describes it in her Twitter thread, “the Court has created a path for those with the resources to identify stochastic terrorists and hold them accountable to do exactly that and recover their costs in court.”

I am rarely on the corporation’s side, but in this case, the outcome is the right one. While there’s still a bar in that you need to be able to identify the person and have the resources to sue, this case sets a precedent that the behavior isn’t okay.

Here’s to hoping it stands on appeal, presuming the defendant bothers to appeal.

We tried separating the food and water.

The cat just went to where the water was and howled. We’d show her the new spot, shed drink, and do the same thing in 20 minutes.

Just moved it back, less howling and she still drinks.

Let’s put the edit history on the blockchain!

The first one I played was Zelda, on a gold cartridge, on the original NES.

The oldest system I played on was an Atari.

The oldest system I played games on was an Appie IIe, and it was Sticky Bear Basket Bounce. That game is like, my youth.

I’ll pile on with a “Yup!”

While I fell into a pattern where I intend to upgrade every 2 years maybe 5 or 6 years ago, I’ve noticed in that same time frame that both the cost of new devices has gone up significantly and the durability of those devices has dropped.

I’m very easy on my phones. They spend a vast majority of their time on my desk, or plugged into my car. I’m old and boring enough that “going out” involves sitting down at a table at a nice dinner with friends and then going home. That said, the battery life on my phones starts to degrade after about a year. Various flaws start to creep up in the device. I’ve already had to replace the screen on my Pixel 7 Pro once – though, to be fair, it took a tumble from the couch onto a hardwood floor, but even that, really, shouldn’t turn the screen non-functional.

It’s disappointing to see that planned obsolescence rearing its head.

I’m just glad the multiplayer in everything fad seems to be dying off.

The worst part was it wasn’t even good gay porn.

Fair warning: This only works if the other party, or the people watching the argument care. If the other party is just arguing in bad faith, don’t expect to have a productive conversation. If the people watching the argument don’t care and just want to see a spectacle, logic ain’t gonna work.

No, it’s not.

https://www.marcumllp.com/insights/no-social-security-is-not-going-bankrupt

While the current expenditures predict, without any action, one of the funding sources for social security, the trust fund, will deplete in 2032, payroll taxes still exist.

Although the Trust Fund is projected to be depleted in 2033, Social Security will not be insolvent or bankrupt. Although it may not be able to pay 100% of the program’s cost, as it stands now, Social Security estimates it will be able to cover approximately 76% of the program’s cost due to employee and employer payroll taxes.

A simple fix – remove the cap on the ssa taxable cap. Currently, only income under $160,200 (2023) is taxed for social security. Removing, or simply raising that cap opens up solvency for decades.

Negative. Zuckerberg is an actual human, not a quasi sentient conglomerate composed of experimental AI platforms developed by the US Air Force to explore alien worlds via the Stargate program.

It’s from an old (god, now I feel old) meme / joke video. Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2F-DItXtZs

There was a website / software called “xtra normal” that let you write an actual script and pick some avatars / actors and set up camera angles, etc. while it played out. Someone used it to mock the mongodb fucktards in the early 2000s.

Everyone knows relational databases don’t scale because they use joins.

In the short term, a series of collapses as we reach ever closer toward that singularity. There’s a great many constraints on our ability to grow while on Earth, and it’s proving difficult to get off the planet in any reasonable method with our current technology. I suspect we’ll need to fall down and rebuild a couple times before we can reliably spread to other planets, or even simply exist in orbit.

Once we get up there, though, and we’re no longer constrained by Earth’s resource limits, we’ll grow signficantly. I suspect we’ll move toward a machine-based society, both in automation and robotics, but also integrating technology into our bodies.

At some point, someone is going to figure out how to do that mind to machine transfer, and we’ll diverge as a species. The organic humans and the composite AI / machine-based humanity.

Knowing how stupid we are, though, we’ll probably end up becoming the Borg.

You should always merge at the choke point.

You should also let people in at the chokepoint.

Here’s a layman’s article on the topic:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/07/23/zipper-merge-merging-late-recommended-states-experts/1748026001/

To be clear, this is using the same frequencies WiFi uses, but customized hardware and software to accomplish the task. Those frequency bands can of course penetrate walls. It’s why we picked them for network connectivity.

It’s a long jump from yet another method to detect things using EM radiation to plugging an AI into your WiFi router to spy on people.

Thank you! Your hard work is truly appreciated.

This whole upgrade process reminded me to check the patreon donation stuff for y’all.

Of course, go ahead!

Control Ultimate Edition for $10

I picked this up for the xbox a while back. One of the most engaging games I’ve played in a long time.

If only I could be as cool as that Dave.