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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 18th, 2023

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  • Definitely sucks for the people who thought they were doing the right thing by going electric and ended up driving Swasticars.

    I know there’s an argument that those folks should have known what they were in for by the time the Cybertruck in 2023, but some people just don’t pay much attention to current events.

    I drive a Subaru and couldn’t tell you who the CEO is, although in retrospect perhaps I should have done more research before buying. But even without looking I can guess that it’s some shitty billionaire who donated heavily to both the GOP and DNC. Subaru itself has a history that involves… Being a Japanese manufacturer during WW2.

    You could also look at the Nazi Henry Ford and all of those gigantic pickup trucks clogging the US while also buying fossil fuels. It helps that Henry Ford is long dead, but are they really that much better than Cybertrucks?

    I mean morally. Objectively, Cybertrucks are just badly designed and manufactured vehicles but that’s separate from my point. Although if I may also rant- we already know that he used the Boring company to purposely sabotage high-speed rail projects in the US. We know that he bought Twitter not to make it profitable, but to gain power over social media. When you look at Tesla- the QC issues, the labor relations issues, the missed deadlines, the proprietary charging connector, the complete mess of a car the Cybertruck is, and how he is now very actively supporting a president who seems to be trying to destroy EV’s and prop up fossil fuels… Was Elon EVER actually trying to push EV’s, or was he actively trying to sabotage them? I know this is borderline conspiratorial thinking, but a lot of his madness seems to make a lot more sense in that context.




  • Did this place have bike racks?

    As someone who worked in a parking lot for years I can tell you 90% of the time the cars that park in these designated spots do not have anything hung from their mirror or on their license plates indicated they are allowed to do so. We couid have theoretically had the cars towed, but when there’s still several empty designated spaces it’s just not worth bothering with.

    I’m much more upset about minimum parking lot size requirements built into zoning codes than I am about an easily-movable bike being left in a space for a few minutes.


  • That’s easy for someone who can afford more expensive protein sources to say.

    Eggs used to be one of the best protein per dollar values available. You still have flour (and flour products), lentils, and pinto beans as options. Maybe oats and peanut butter, although that’s starting to transition from “protein per dollar” to “calories per dollar” to make sense. And those other sources will start to get more expensive as people move to them.

    It hasn’t gotten as much press, but the cost of chicken meat rises with the prices of eggs too. That has historically been the cheapest available meat, so I would expect people moving to alternatives to drive up the costs of pork, lentils and beans. Maybe beef and seafood too.

    It’s a significant blow, especially to people who do a lot of physical labor and need that protein. This isn’t just as simple as “don’t buy the videogame that’s overpriced” or “don’t watch the movie with the problematic actor” or “don’t buy the low-quality fast fashion products made by slave labor”. This is messing with people’s food. Go look up all of the long-term ramifications to populations after famines.

    Society is never more than a few hungry days from collapse. This could very well push America closer to that.




  • Do you honestly believe people from non-“Western” countries don’t complain about the weather?

    If they did, how would you know that they do?

    You also don’t know all of the battles that others are fighting. Just because you were born and live in a country that is relatively wealthy compared to other countries does not mean each individual is well-off. What might be “slightly cold” weather to you could cause debilitating joint pain for someone else. For people who live paycheck-to-paycheck, grocery prices are a huge deal. The fact that you consider them trivial speaks loudly to your privilege.


  • Wow the propaganda you’re consuming must be really, really effective. I can’t imagine believing that looking for ways to improve society is a “western” thing. Perhaps you need to look more closely at the news and media you are consuming and start asking yourself where potential biases or gaps in perspective could be.

    Do you not think the people if Gaza are complaining right now? Or the Hong Kongers fighting for their autonomy and what’s left of their democracy? Or for that matter pretty much every country to the south east of China who is having their sovereignty infringed upon? Or within China, the Uyghurs and Tibetans and other ethnicities are being brutally repressed. Does Argentina count as western? Bcause they are talking about impeaching their recently elected Libertarian president already. What about the migrants to Qatar that are effectively indentured servants? For that matter, is Ukraine far enough east to count? Or the various other countries where Russia has been infringing upon borders, like Georgia and Kazakhstan and Moldova. I haven’t even touched upon Africa yet, but there’s another genocide happening in Sudan. India is still trying to modernize itself and get rid of the caste system.

    I think this is a you problem.





    1. They’re way overpriced for what they are, similar to the Apple model. Just charging really high prices and trying to create an aura of “premiumness” to justify it. Not the most egregious offense, but annoying

    2. The app launch. The app now takes forever to open and I often have to retry opening it around 4-6 times anytime I want to do anything. Considering these are speakers, and that often means that I want to pause, play, change the track, or change the volume. Those are all usually functions where having to wait 60-300 seconds is an unbearably long time, especially when you need to lower the volume. Worst of all, I have my living room TV going into the Line In on one of the speakers, and the entire section of the app called “Sources” where I can select that just disappears entirely ~80% of the time. So if I go to watch TV or play videogames or whatever and my wife was listening to music earlier now I’ve got to wait several minutes of reloading the app to be able to just use the direct line-in.

    They also removed the feature to play audio files that were on the controlling device. Other users have complained of other features like alarms that got removed or broken, though I didn’t use those.

    The old version of the app was not particularly great, but the replacement was a clear downgrade and made previously purchased hardware worse.

    1. A bit ago they had another controversy where you could “retire” of devices you didn’t want anymore. What did this feature do? Why, it just bricked the device and turned it into e-waste no one can ever use again! What could go wrong?

    2. More of my complaint for my specific speakers because I don’t know if they’re whole lineup is like this, but really annoying that only 1 of my 2 speakers even has a line-in, and neither of them have Bluetooth options. I’ve got to just hope everything i want to listen to is on a specific supported service, or find a way to get the audio to play on the TV if that isn’t in use.

    They were gifts from my in-laws. I was kind of skeptical about it but they weren’t too bad until the app change. I was even considering maybe getting another speaker to fill out the house before all this. But now I’m looking to get out of the ecosystem- maybe just build my own home theater speaker system for the living room and get a plain old Bluetooth speaker for the bedroom.


  • So I’ll start by saying I may just be wired differently. I have friends who struggle with severe ADHD and chronic depression, and I can confidently say I have neither.

    There is definitely some component desire or temptation inherent to humanity. Every religion I can think of has at least sone sect that focuses on this. You could look at the snake tempting Eve in the garden of Eden or ascetic Buddhist monks that deny themselves the pleasures of the flesh. Often this is as much about people in power trying to control others as it is about anything else- a well-documented recent example would be the way the Islamic State used sexual denial to make their recruits more violent and less rational, using an afterlife of sexual reward as an incentive. It does not have to be religious, but when you dive into the history of most groups advocating for self-deprevation theres usually a strong religious component. Mormons don’t drink, Jews have Kosher restrictions, Muslims have Halal restrictions, and smaller groups like the Millerites, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, 7th Day Adventists (like Kellog), etc. Heck, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded with absolutely zero science or academia- it’s a 12 step program because Jesus has 12 apostles. And studies on its efficacy have had… Let’s say mixed results. You also see groups advocating for moderation and balance, although I’m struggling to think of many examples at the moment.

    On a personal note I have two approaches that have helped me. The first is to get in the habit of considering as much information as you reasonably can for your decision making. This is easier said than done, and decision-making fatigue is a very real thing. I’m an accountant, so for me it’s about fully understanding the transactions I make. If I want to grab a beer, I’m thinking about not just how it will taste and make me feel in that moment, but how much it cost me to buy and how I’m going to feel the next day- my sleep will be worse, I will have consumed more calories and carbs so I’ll be in worse shape, my eyes will probably be tired, my joints will be inflamed (look forward to aging lol). Plus opportunity costs- I have my own boundaries and rules that I follow for drinking (no driving, power tools, ladders, working, etc).

    And it’s not just drinking. If I get an ad for some neat gadget or doodad that I’m interested in, I’ll start to think about how many hours of work it takes to earn the money to buy it. Where is that item going to live in my house? Does it need charged, and where is the charger going to live? How long is this going to last?

    Which brings me to my second piece of advice: set yourself up for success. Proper sleep and nutrition are really important for fighting decision fatigue. That’s why it’s often a good idea to “sleep on it” before making decisions. Post-nut clarity is a bit of a meme but also has some validity. Don’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. If you’re freshly trying to stop or cut back on something like alcohol, drugs, or playing a videogame, maybe you need to take a break from hanging out with friends who are doing that. Or ask them to do something else instead. Block ads or stop going to websites that are bad about that.

    And also recognize that’s it’s okay to not be perfect. If you focus on the same of failure that can often lead to just a downward spiral. Moderation is often a lot healthier than cutting things out entirely. Just taking the time to think about your decisions is huge. Impulse buying and eating a chocolate bar when you’re on a diet or a budget is bad, but planning ahead and saying “this Friday I’m going to treat myself to this nice chocolate bar as a bit of a break, a bit of a reward” can be fine. It depends on who you are and what you’re dealing with: that may not be fine if you’re 600lbs.


  • In my experience the people who describe themselves as “sex addicts” are people who were caught hurting their loved ones and trying to excuse their behavior, either socially (cheaters) or legally (rapists).

    Somewhat adjacent, I have heard of people claiming “sex addiction” to pressure their partners into more sex than they would otherwise want. Apparently there’s a whole section of feminists who believe that “blue balls” is completely made up by men, because it’s really common for men to claim blue balls is a more serious issue than it is. I’ve had to explain to multiple women in my life that it is both real and just a minor inconvenience.

    You’re not wrong about the religious zealots, I just wanted to bring up that there’s a TON of sex disinformation being spread by different people for different goals. And “sex addiction” is particularly ripe for such disinformation.