I grew up having to learn everything about network security at home, on a windows PC, in a family with no regard for the concept of internet security because basically the idea didn’t exist yet. I was the one who scrubbed the PC every week and removed the 1300 toolbars and spyware apps, I was the one who had to repair the registry every time a sibling downloaded a file sent to him by a “hot girl” claiming it was a picture of her boobs.

So it’s maddening now working in a company of adult humans who are so bad at safety and security that our workstations have even had their settings menus neutered because everyone is so bad at security. Yesterday someone asked how to install the file they received in email titled “security update, please install asap!” from “rnicrosoft. com.”

There are two types of churches out there in the US.

Tiny little congregations who meet up in an old gym or single-wide trailer and organize and connect community like humans have been doing for tens of thousands of years and have no goals beyond their faith and community.

And money-making grift operations who just want to fleece as many as possible by latching onto whatever controversial social issue can make people so inflamed and blinded with emotion that they hand over stacks of cash just to feel like they’re hurting the people that conservative media tells them they should hate. These churches come in all sizes and seem to vastly outnumber the other kind, because this tactic is so, so easy to pull off.

Your time and energy here is being misspent. I have nothing against challenging people and their group think and biases and do that quite a lot here, but after watching you a bit, you simply do not possess the rhetorical abilities to sound like more than a troll or bad-faith contributor. You fail at both challenging anyone, and you fail at even hurting anyone because of your lack of effort.

You are baiting a ban or someone lashing out at you at least, and with that the same kind of emotional validation/masturbation you likely despise seeing in others.

Either contribute something meaningful that actually makes someone else engaged and think about something, or find a nice, big patch of grass and start touching.

The fact that you care at all shows you’re not a MAGA monster.

It’s wild because I was raised conservative and was one until I left the family compound (let that one sink in) and it was reading, learning and experiencing human life that turned me around pretty fast. I saw science being ignored, I saw heartlessness, I saw them fabricate justification to start a war, and one particular night I saw FOX news play a live feed of a US humvee entering Baghdad shred a civilian truck to pieces with a grenade launcher for no reason, and they were playing patriotic music and had American flags all over the graphics and I got really sick and never watched FOX news again.

No, onions and mustard.

I’ve let myself watch just one short video of atrocities committed by Israel in the last couple years and I still think about it and choke up thinking about it daily. Just one of many like it.

I am not the strongest person emotionally despite a really tough exterior, I have seen a lot of death and been through some shit. So to think about what’s been happening there all day, every day, to families and children, it’s too much to process. I have to advocate in a completely detached frame or I will be unable to form a cognitive thought.

The backache and frustration with the number 67 for existing already did that, but thank you for reminding me that we had a good Windows OS once.

Shaka, when the walls fell!

Do not the space probe

Voyager’s mission parameters and expectations have only decreased since 1977, it will never be required to run newer software or investigate new objects. It is winding down and is just sending back enough data that we can use our more powerful Earth-based computers to detect the most subtle changes to the cosmic medium.

Meanwhile, we have a constantly accelerating global marketplace of new software and new ways of both working and playing games. If ya’ll were operating on a system designed to stay functional for 40+ years you would not like that system.

All that said, we do have a pretty bad problem with bloatware and software/hardware companies colluding to leverage consumers to buy and upgrade phones and computers more than necessary.

I just don’t think it’s a fair comparison if we were to get really pedantic and serious about a joke meme.

I could almost guarantee that countries like the US and China have drone warfare programs that would do literal circles around everything and anything deployed in Ukraine/Russia right now.

Set aside all the ethical dubiousness of making killing humans a game with points, since that is basically what war is, the proliferation and rapid evolution of all of this tech alongside the landslide of AI development should be what actually terrifies us. The trend going forward in all “politics by lethal force” is going to involve more and more smaller and smaller vehicles designed to kill specific targets, ideally without having to worry about signals that can be jammed or wires trailing behind it, so intelligent enough to operate on it’s own and make decisions and be able to operate independently for long periods of time. That should be spine-chilling to every human alive.

Wait 'til you learn what happens in war.

War. War never changes.

Wait a second…

I’m just teasing at this whole deep-dive into the background image of a meme, it’s very… stereotypical, but yeah if you have a personal connection it’s definitely more than a hobby interest in old power plants.

It’s a great big huge spectrum and there’s room for everyone on it!

So when did you get your diagnosis? I found out I was on the spectrum only last year.

Grok, is this true?

That’s great. I have had amazing success in my interpersonal life connecting with and then influencing conservatives. For a while, I had the most cinematically diverse gaming group you could think of, we had cowboy rednecks, a polycule of trans girls, ex-military intelligence officers, furries, communists, everything you can think of, and we all got along.

The key though was it took a lot of shepherding and listening. By giving everyone time to vent, talk, explain their feelings I was able to get everyone on common ground and we did great things together, and those positive feelings then went on to create change.

I don’t read nearly enough books anymore but I will check out your recommendations so far.

Thank you for that. And nah, I don’t think we’ll ever get the satisfaction of seeing the world’s elite face consequence, not unless it’s some broad-scale, massive collapse that impacts everyone, and even then they will hold out for a while in their bunkers. One thing that does give me some measure of hope is that despite being wealthy, they are not smarter than anyone else, and have the same overconfidence, the same vulnerabilities, the same biases and inabilities to see outside of their little spheres. The same mortality. They will make mistakes, as they have done in the past. Those mistakes will cost them power and wealth, it just won’t be a fairy-tale ending all at once, it’s just entropy perpetually leveling the playing field.

And yeah, I think our species’ fixation on narratives is giving everyone a false idea that stories “end” at some point. That Trump dies and everyone celebrates and credits roll.

We don’t get ending credits. We don’t even get a silly post-credits scene to imply a sequel. One issue just blends right in with the next, perpetually. The only real end-game goal or satisfaction any of us should focus on is each other and our communities. Individuals are the real star of every story, and there’s no such thing as background characters in the real world.

The entire administration is riding on the political capital that Trump has seized early on by courting the nation’s most stupid.

That turned into political capital because while this is a minority segment, this segment is beyond devoted, they would literally support Trump without exception or hesitation, and they’re armed, and they are united in their orcish rampage across politics. Jan 6th was Trump “weapon testing” to show that he could wield this devotion and fanaticism.

So right now, there are dozens or hundreds of Republicans jockeying for pole position after Trump dies, each one thinking they can wield this same power. But they absolutely do not get it. They try. They say unhinged and bold nonsense hoping it lands, but then end up talking and ruining it. Watch JD try to act tough and then spend 30 minutes talking like a politician as the viewers tune out. MAGAts hate that shit. They are loyal to trump because he’s genuine. (Not honest, there’s a difference) and Trump’s hatred for even being there oozes from his pores and his base loves it. It’s a weird formula that will lead to absolute chaos when Trump dies, and much of the GOP power will go with him.

But that is not even remotely saying things are going to be “better” in any way. A lot of very wealthy people feel empowered to completely cheat and break the law and game the system. Unless very strong dem leadership rises immediately, Trump’s death may well be more ruinous than when he was alive because it will splinter the country’s power blocs and lead to a breakdown in government.

still think people should be driving cars.

I am talking about what’s realistically feasible with current attitudes and infrastructure and lack thereof, I get how rail is the socialist utopia dream, but we’re about as far from light rail and walkable cities in the US as we are from motherfucking FOOD REPLICATORS.

Also:

It’s interesting that you

Just fuck right off with that internet chud language.