swordgeek
@swordgeek@lemmy.ca
- Comment on [NSQ Friday] Was Michael Jackson known to have been a fan of Shota hentai? 1 week ago:
No.
- Comment on Does the beginning of "Money for Nothing" remind you of "Shine on you crazy diamond?" 1 week ago:
Now that you mention it…
No, not really. It had never occurred to me before, and as I hear them in my head right now, they’re just not that similar.
But that’s me.
- Comment on Would it be a bad idea to show up at a protest outside a Tesla dealership with a sign that says "Deny Musk, Defund Doge, Depose Trump"? 1 week ago:
Sooner or later, all protests in the US will turn into this kind of protest. I suspect quite soon.
- Comment on Why are you gay? 2 weeks ago:
Why aren’t you?
Also, grow the fuck up.
- Comment on Is this true? Software companies had diversity quotas to meet, and realized it was easier to turn autistic men into women than it was to turn women into software engineers 2 weeks ago:
Fuck no.
- Comment on How likely is the US government going to identify and arrest every online user who have disagreed with the current administration? 2 weeks ago:
No kidding. I mean, this is finally the moment that Madison predicted two centuries ago! A fascist has seized control over the government, and is illegally detaining people. Rise up my US gun-lovers! Rise against the dictators and claim control of your country from…
Oh wait, you’re the ones who got him elected? Nevermind.
- Comment on How do I clean plaster dust from the floorboards? 2 weeks ago:
If all else fails, a Scotchbrite pad should do it safely.
- Comment on How much of a risk is it for naturalized US Citizens (or those with Derivative Citizenship) to protest against the US government, compared to the risks of natural-born US Citizens doing the same? 2 weeks ago:
Not American, so take with a grain of salt. However…
Frankly, if you’re a naturalized citizen at all, you should already be looking over your shoulder and feeling scared right now. They’re deporting legal residents because they don’t like the tattoos they have. They’re disappearing people for being 2SLGBTQ+.
So either you hide, you run, or you stand up. The only real difference is that standing up will make it easier to catch you - but the end result will be the same.
- Comment on [deleted] 3 weeks ago:
Gen-X guy with possibly too much interest in the subject.
Shaving it bald for women started to become normal about 15 years ago. Trimming it was more common then, and going back to end of the 1980s, shaving was a rare and weird fetish in the western world.
As for why, I’d say it’s because porn normalized it - and porn did it because as mainstream content became more explicit, shaved pubes were both easier to keep clean for the actresses, and (more importantly) showed more.
I find it funny that now that it’s become mainstream, hair is becoming a growing fetish.
As an aside, since pubic hair is a sign of sexual maturity, some of the generations that grew up with hair down there have a subconscious connection between bald and sexually immature, i.e. children.
- Comment on dear republicans, what's the point of alienating every single ally of the US? 3 weeks ago:
“What’s the point?” The point is to seize power and get rich.
They will destroy whatever they want or need in order to become rich and powerful.
- Comment on Why does it seem like many Americans have an arrogant personality trait? 4 weeks ago:
I actually has psyche written down, and changed it.
It’s not exactly the normal use of zeitgeist and maybe volksgeist would be a better term (except tthat we don’t use it in English), but I feel that this is a relatively new aspect to Americanism, starting in WWII. It’s still more of a growth on their psyche than a fundamental part of it.
It also has some parsllels with British exceptionalism up to the endnof the 19th century
- Comment on Why does it seem like many Americans have an arrogant personality trait? 4 weeks ago:
I’m a Canadian who has lived and worked in the US, so I’ve got some familiarity with it.
There is a pervading sense of exceptionalism buried deep in the American zeitgeist. It runs so deep that most people don’t even notice it - even on the outer edges.
Case in point: My closest friends down there were staunch leftists. In a land of gun owners and meat lovers, they were vegetarians and pacifists who marched in protests against the government. Most of the time they were quiet, charming, soft-spoken, but firm in their beliefs. Pretty much the polar opposite of the “loudmouth American tourist abroad” stereotype.
And yet if you asked them if the US was the greatest country on earth, they’d say “well yeah, which is why we have to fight for it.” An admirable sentiment, but the “well yeah” speaks volumes for how the country sees itself.
The protest singers who lived through McCarthy are the same. Woody Guthrie and his son Arlo would probably say that for all of its flaws and horror, the US is still the best nation we’ve got so far.
When you know deep in your soul that you’re the best, it’s hard not to let some subconscious arrogance show through.
- Comment on Why's everyone freaking out about Firefox Terms of Service? Isn't it Open Source? 4 weeks ago:
I know that software is a very different industry, but Mountain Equipment Co-Op went through this in Canada. The end result is that the new Mountain Equipment Company is a for-profit, US-owned reseller of overseas crap, just like everyone else.
The problem I see is that browsers are still evolving significantly, and I’m worried about what will happen if Mozilla goes T-U. Sure we have the code, but will it continue to be developed after that point?
- Comment on Why's everyone freaking out about Firefox Terms of Service? Isn't it Open Source? 4 weeks ago:
time will tell if they go further.
Having seen this FAR too often, I have a different view:
Capitalism and greed will determine when they go further.
There is no “if” about it. Mitchell Baker is in it to get rich by destroying the platform, and is sharing enough of the corpse’s leavings with others to make sure they protect her.
- Comment on Why's everyone freaking out about Firefox Terms of Service? Isn't it Open Source? 4 weeks ago:
Something else that needs to be understood about Mozilla: Money!
The Foundation was formed in 2003. Mitchell Baker, the first CEO, stepped aside in 2008 but stayed on as Chairperson of the foundation.
- In 2018, she got nearly $2.5million in compensation as foundation chair.
- In 2019 that rose to $3million
- In 2020, she returned as CEO and received over $3million in salary.
- In 2021 her salary was over $5.5million.
- In 2022 it reached nearly $7million.
- In 2023 it was $6million again.
Think about that for a second. Mozilla’s market share has been struggling, and their financials have been weak; but their lead person pulled in over $26 million dollars over a handful of years.
This entire activity has been a long game to extract ‘maximum shareholder value’ into Baker’s pockets.
- Comment on Why's everyone freaking out about Firefox Terms of Service? Isn't it Open Source? 4 weeks ago:
The rationalization they have given…
Anything you say after this point is irrelevant. (Nothing personal, though.)
As soon as a company has to rationalise their legal back-pedalling, it is explicit evidence that they are intending to do wrong.
This will not end well.
- Comment on Why's everyone freaking out about Firefox Terms of Service? Isn't it Open Source? 4 weeks ago:
They removed “We don’t sell your data and we never will” from their FAQ and they added “We may sell your data” to the ToS.
“Never” has a very clear and definite meaning. By undoing “never,” I feel like the Mozilla foundation is inviting a class-action lawsuit.
- Comment on Why's everyone freaking out about Firefox Terms of Service? Isn't it Open Source? 4 weeks ago:
I found it ironically frustrating that converting from Firefox to LibreWolf is harder than from literally any other browser, because there’s no import mechanism.
It wouldn’t be that hard to make a standalone tool to import bookmarks, passwords, and config settings, and would make LibreWolf a seamless transition for Firefox users. Instead, it’s a frustrating process in re-creating years of tweaks.
- Comment on Sooo, where did the blatant Nazism suddenly come from? 5 weeks ago:
Lots of discussion points here, but let me address two or three in particular:
blatant Nazism hurts their legitimacy in the eyes of the public
Nope. No, it really doesn’t. Trump was never a legitimate contender from his opponents’ perspective (due to dirty foreign money) and his true believers would stand buy him as he ate a live baby on TV.
Take a look at some approval polls that show he still has significant support from Americans. (Likewise with Musk, likewise with DOGE.)
Second point: It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t NEED legitimacy or approval any more. He’s in power, Musk is at his right hand, and the two of them are acting with complete impunity. Seriously, they should both be hauled off in chains and tried for treason, not to mention hate crimes and hundreds of less-sexy crimes. But they’re not, and so it just doesn’t fucking matter.
Thirdly, where did it come from? We’re discovering now that the Christian hard-right has been carefully staging this for HALF A CENTURY! Since not long after Roe v. Wade, they have been laying the groundwork for what Project 2025 is carrying out right now: A ruthless coup backed by religious extremists and foreign opponents. The Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973. PNAC was founded in 1997. And there are more.
Fundamentally, Trump’s first term was to see how much they could get away with. When they lost the 2020 election, the Nazis spent four years purging the party of unfaithful (i.e. people with either thoughts or morals, or maybe even both), then won last year, and were finally able to remove their veil: The government no longer needs the will of the people to execute their extremist plans.
- Comment on HP ditches 15-minute wait time policy due to 'feedback' 5 weeks ago:
The LaserJet 4 was the last bit of good from HP. They have been a shit company with the notoriously worst support in the industry for decades.
- Comment on Most people do not know how they died 1 month ago:
Nobody knows how they died, because they’re dead.
Many people know how they’re going to die, at least approximately. When you’re 93 and have cancer, you know.
- Comment on Thinking About Adopting a Dog? Here’s What You Need to Know 1 month ago:
Wrong group.
- Comment on Do most people still use computers, or do people only use a smartphone as their main/only device? 1 month ago:
I work with a number of developers who don’t know how to find and edit a file on their computer.
Literally.
- Comment on So, is the USA screwed? 1 month ago:
Yes.
The amount of harm already done to your country by Trump and Musk is immeasurable, and will take a generation or more to recover from.
The amount of harm done to your standing in the world is equally bad. The world was skeptical after Trump’s first term fucked over the rest of the world, but we were hopeful that maybe the US had learned their lesson?
Nope. They elected a fascist. They RE-elected a known fascist, felon, rapist, idiot-child, psychopath. Worse, they bolstered Musk to get into a seat of unauthorized and unimaginable power.
When Trump announced his idiotic tarrifs, Canada collectively said “that’s it - we’re divorcing.” When he pulled back on the idea for 30 days, Canada said “don’t care, still divorcing.”
Trump is following the exact model of HItler, and it’s only a matter of time until he actually invades either Greenland or Canada if he’s not stopped. The USA has to collapse into ruin and rebuild from scratch before anyone is going to trust them again.
- Comment on Why isn't free stuff (public domain/noncommercial) discussed as much as paid stuff? 1 month ago:
On review sites in particular, there are kickbacks involved - and free/OSS products can’t pay as much as for-profits.
- Comment on What would happen if USA invades Canada? 1 month ago:
Well for one thing, you’ll find out how many Canadians are willing to use a gun in defence of their country, despite very few being invested in the American gun culture.
Also, it would likely be the beginning of WWIII.
- Comment on Report: Unity continues mass layoffs with 'abrupt' communications and 5am emails 1 month ago:
The ad company that fucked developers over a few months ago?
So long losers!
- Comment on Does anyone actually know what MAGA all agree they are getting out of all this? 1 month ago:
“What MAGA all agree” is a fool’s errand, like most universal consensus questions.
But here are a few high points:
- Some genuinely believe the rhetoric about how Trans/brown/non-Christian/etc. people are destroying the American way of life, jobs, safety, sports, the economy, and whatever they get pointed to at any given moment.
- Some are outright racists, bullies, and fascists, and absolutely love what Trump is doing right now.
- Many are just frustrated with their lot in life, and are willing to try anything (except personal action) to improve things.
- Many more feel like they’re just a few paycheques or a small windfall away from living the rich life like Musk et al. As about 90% of lottery winners can attest, winning $10M or so doesn’t make you obscenely wealthy, and it’s still pretty easy to piss it all away. They have no concept of the difference between “rich enough to not work” and “rich enough to own multiple superyachts.”
Most importantly, a large subset of this last group overlaps with the others, and believe that they only way for them to get ahead is by climbing over the bodies of others.
- Comment on Google has dropped its promise not to use AI for weapons. It’s part of a troubling trend. 1 month ago:
What trend? Lying about being noble while trying to destroy everything im their way?
They’ve been doing that for 25 years now. It’s not a trend, it’s a business model.
- Comment on people who drink, how long do your hangovers last? 1 month ago:
Don’t drink quite so much.
Seriously, hangovers are a sign of excessive drinking. Last memorable one I had was 16 years ago.