ToastedRavioli

@ToastedRavioli@midwest.social

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Due to Federal Government Shutdown, SNAP Benefits Suspended Beginning November 1, 2025⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Colorado has the benefit of wiggle room stemming from the whole TABOR refund thing. Normally they refund several hundred dollars per year to all residents of the state in unspent tax money. This year those refunds are expected to only be around $20 per person, and then are expected to drop to nothing at all for the foreseeable future.

  So while Colorado can handle this type of thing once, it also means that we are blowing our safety net in a fairly permanent way. With little means to make up for it either, as the TABOR laws make it quite difficult for the state to raise taxes when necessary.

  Its a system that was fairly well designed in some ways, at least for a world where shit was stable. But in the new normal of ridiculousness it is probably going to bite the state in the ass pretty hard. Its just going to be a delayed effect

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Hundreds of public figures, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Virgin’s Richard Branson urge AI ‘superintelligence’ ban⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  The thing is that there is a snake eating its tail type of logic for why so many investors are dumping money into it. The more it is interacted with, the more it is trained, and then the better it allegedly will be. So these companies push shoehorning it into everything possible, even if it is borderline useless, on the assumption that it will become significantly more useful as a result. Then be more valuable for further implementation, making it worth more.

  So no one wants to blink, and theyve practically dumped every egg in that basket

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Western Executives Shaken After Visiting China⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Theres an argument to be made that we also dominated by creating manufacturing standards before there were international standards, so by the time the world was establishing international standards we were able to push for our standards to become ISO standards. Like screw threads being 45°, that kind of thing.

  But the world standards especially became our standards because we were the cheap production hub as you said, and because we were farther removed from conflict during WWII. Another aspect is that we had established a ton of military bases to move things around the world, which was a huge benefit as well. But overall, we certainly used to occupy that same spot that China occupies today

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Western Executives Shaken After Visiting China⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  That ship sailed when the US locked China out of being a customer for our chipsets and other advanced technology. We could have held that over them and made money selling to them, but instead we forced them to bolster their own technological development. And now they beat us in most every aspect of new technology time and again. We just pretend that they dont by not letting Americans be consumers of their products.

  Cheap and decent quality electric vehicles? They beat us. Advances in manufacturing? They beat us. Developments in nuclear fusion? Theyre beating us.

  And realistically, the rising tide is lifting a bunch of other boats but ours. People in other countries are happy to buy BYD cars and use Huawei cellphone technology. It makes perfect sense considering that manufacturing is hardly a relevant industry in most countries anymore, the US included. Less than 10% of American jobs are manufacturing jobs. We arent going to be catching up anytime soon, nor anytime at all. But half of American voters are obsessed with trying to revive a dead era of manufacturing despite it making no economic sense. So all we have are overpriced domestic productions, few real manufacturing jobs, and a cratering economy.

  Trying to compete with the people we crowned as the world’s manufacturing power is quite plainly a losing affair

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Executions in Florida and Missouri as 4 days of state-sanctioned killings begin⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The best argument against the death penalty, at least to give to people that dont see a moral issue with it, is that its vastly more expensive than putting people in prison for life. Its effectively a luxury we pay for the state to be able to kill people, so is it something worth paying ridiculous amounts of taxpayer money on?

  For one, we already pay to imprison them for decades of appeals, and foot the bill for the appeals process. If they still are going to be executed, then we have to pay for the extremely expensive drugs (made by only one company at this point IIRC). And then, if the drugs dont work right the person can sue. Or their family can sue if they still die, but not as intended. Then, if it turns out they were innocent it costs millions upon millions in a settlement. Is all of this worth it for us to be paying for, considering we could just lock them up for life? How many schools or hospitals or whatever could be built using the money we pay for the sake of revenge?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Sam Altman prepares ChatGPT for its AI-rotica debut⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I am Bender. Please insert girder

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Japanese Government Calls on Sora 2 Maker OpenAI to Refrain From Copyright Infringement, Says Characters From Manga and Anime Are 'Irreplaceable Treasures' That Japan Boasts to the World⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It sounds like it would be an analogue issue that is already similarly solved in other respects.

  For example, its not only illegal for someone to make and sell known illegal drugs, but its additionally illegal to make or sell anything that is not the specifically illegal drug but is analogous to it in terms of effect (and especially facets of chemical structure)

  So any process that produces an end result analogous to copyright infringement would be viewed as copyright infringement, even if it skirts the existing laws on a technical basis, is probably what the prevailing approach will be

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Holocaust survivor Agnes Kory: there's no end to Israel's atrocities for Gaza's children⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Why would that holocaust survivor be so antisemitic??

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is the AI Conveyor Belt of Capital About to Stop?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I could care less about the immediate “no” answer to the clickbait headline, but the real question posited by the article is “when is it going to stop, since it is clear that this is all hype and nothing more?”

  How does one short this clearly impending financial disaster? Assuming that realistically it cannot go on forever, and that when it crashes it doesnt take the entire world economy with it. Although that is surely possible as well, in which case shorting anything would be a waste of time. But seriously, I dont see how more and more on wall street arent taking aim at the biggest hype bubble the world has ever seen

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Miami-Dade PD just rolled out PUG, a fully autonomous AI-powered police cruiser. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Now let’s talk about the problems of institutional racism. I’ve been doing some reading. We’re on the wrong side of this issue.

  Well, why don’t they just get rid of the new system and put the old one back in?

  It’d be too expensive. Ted, this isn’t about race. It’s about money. It’s always about money.

  Money before people. That’s the company motto… engraved right there on the lobby floor. It just looks more heroic in Latin.

  It turned out Lem had also been thinking about the money issue. And he put together some interesting numbers to show us. And then we all went to speak to management in a language they could understand.

  Within a margin of error of plus or minus one percent. And so, if the company keeps hiring white people… to follow black people to follow white people to follow black people, by- Thursday, June 27, 2013- …every person on Earth will be working for us.

  And we don’t have the parking for that.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Software update bricks some Jeep 4xe hybrids over the weekend⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  In most push to start modern cars, it isnt really one central computer like how cars used to be. You still have an ECU, like the computer that is relevant to the drivetrain. But then you also have one or two others separate units that have to have authority over the ECU by nature because of other things they do. Like if the unit that communicates with your key to say “its okay to allow you to use the car” doesnt have authority over operating your powertrain, then it would be much easier to steal your car (i.e. kia and hyundai from a certain period of time). In many cars it also monitors engine performance and can make live adjustments to the operation of the engine, prevent some catastrophic failures, etc.

  So having some smarter computer aspect of your car rule your powertrain is a pretty good security and operational thing, even if it leads to the potential for inconveniences. Like if your electric key dies you could lose the ability to start your car, which would never happen with a physical key

  That said, I think all updates for cars should be done at dealerships, and not be an over the internet type of thing

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Open Printer is a fully open-source inkjet with DRM-free ink and no subscriptions⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The ink is DRM free, but proprietary paper rolls are available for the low low price of 3x the cost of a normal pack of A11

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨#freepenisman⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Penis Man isnt a hero. Hes an idea of the greater that lives in the hearts and minds of people everywhere

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Fooling a self-driving car with mirrors on traffic cones⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It is pretty disturbing that 99% of people driving havent been assessed in 10 years or more beyond “do you know what this yellow triangle is? Do you know what this red octagon is? Do you have at least one functioning eyeball?”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I wouldnt say Im even trying to boycott, but I could care less about literally everything under that umbrella except for Pixar, and I havent seen a new Pixar movie in probably 10 or more years.

  What the fuck does Winnie the Pooh Workbook even mean?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Get ready to see ads on your… Samsung refrigerator⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  If only there was some less ridiculous way of keeping a calendar on a fridge, like a white board or something. Its too bad in the history of fridges that there was no way to keep a calendar on it, its just impossible to

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨everyone talks about chip bags being 50% wasted space but no one talks about creamed corn cans being 50% wasted space⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  The first mistake is eating creamed corn

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Man, 53, marries AI-generated chatbot via matching app⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Imagine thinking youre cool by trying to bring back a letter that went out of style over 600 years ago

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What would stop you from switching to a flip phone (or dumbphone) in 2025?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I þþþþ cannot þþþþ understand þþþþ your þþþþ accent

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Marriage is FOMO⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Life is short, there are pretty affordable ways to get married if you arent attached to the idea of having a huge wedding, while still making it affordable. Another thing is that legally in many states, if you live with your partner and share finances long enough you are considered to be common law married. Usually its in the neighborhood of 3-4 years.

  But either way, some states (if youre in the US) allow you to self solemnize your wedding amongst yourselves. You dont even have to have a courthouse wedding. Honestly the norm of spending ungodly amounts of money to marry each other is overrated, IMO

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Marriage is FOMO⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I wouldnt say I married my wife because of FOMO on being married. I married my wife because I had FOMO of not spending the rest of my life with my wife in particular

  Anyone who is getting married for the sake of being married itself is getting married for the wrong reasons

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Trump's video on the shooting of Kirk appears to be AI⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  “Ol Charlie, like a son to me… like Charlie Tuna, you remember that one, right? Until the radical left lunatics killed him too. “Broke Tuna” they said, wanted an androgynous oyster instead. Oyster gender transitions, its a whole thing”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The perfect use for spoons in the "bad spoon" drawer⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Mans over here buying spoons made oht of aluminum foil apparently

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Teen girls are being used as hitwomen in Sweden's organized crime wars: "Young kids are thirsty for blood"⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  This article is fucking crazy, what the hell is wrong with Sweden now?

  Earlier in April, two people were killed in a suspected gang fight in Gothenburg, while a renowned rapper was shot dead in a gang battle in the city in December.

  Since when are there Swede rappers? That is weird enough in itself.

  I get that drugs are largely the issue, but these people live in a country with a laundry list of social welfare programs that most people could only dream of. Free healthcare, free education at all levels, and a boatload of economic support initiatives for people in poverty. They literally are living life on easy mode compared to the rest of the poor people in the world for the most part. Why do they turn to drugs in the first place? It clearly shouldnt be out of hopelessness for their situation…

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨where did we go wrong⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Its not remotely correct if you compare it to 1950 instead of 2025. In fact that outfit is closer to a 20s flapper outfit than anything, but then the flappers had short hair, not super-updos

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Let us celebrate our mutual experience of close proximity by touching our multi-fingered appendages to one another's - Person who invented the handshake, probably.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Its like Nathan Pyle if he never became successful and sounded like he had people locked in the basement

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨"Wait, was that shampoo? Yeah.. Welp, I guess we're washing our body with shampoo today."⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Generally speaking its fine to wash your body with shampoo, its just not good to wash your hair with body soap

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨if "you are what you eat", and you only eat vegans, you're both vegan and not at the same time⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Transitive af

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Inspiring. Innovating.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Kind of stupid to say its all about the Saudis when the US produces more oil and gas products than most every other country

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Writing was invented before reading.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Writing and reading had to have developed simultaneously, otherwise the person writing was just drawing. To be writing you have to be able to interpret what you are writing.

  Its a chicken and egg situation. The chicken has to come from the egg but the egg has to come from the chicken. In reality, both the chicken and the egg had to come from something that was neither recognizable as a chicken nor an egg. The proto chicken if you will