Broadly speaking, use of the word "cringe" or "problematic" -- especially ad-hominem rather than against a position, action, or event -- is an indication that it's safe to stop reading or listening to the speaker, as nothing of significant use or meaning will follow.

Outside of the first world economy, lots of people buy a sim and have a pay-as-you-go account, for which they prepay in cash. They might go to a store and buy a prepaid card to load onto the account, they might buy credits from a broker or reseller and redeem them via sms, etc etc. Paying in crypto would be a trivial change from the way payments are made already. Things work rather differently over there.

What is .xyz?

Hype.

"So why this hype? Because the cryptocurrency space, at heart, is simply a giant ponzi scheme where the only way early participants make money is if there are further suckers entering the space. The only âoeutilityâ for a cryptocurrency (outside criminal transactions and financial frauds) is what someone else will pay for it and anything to pretend a possible real-word utility exists to help find new suckers."

https://www.usenix.org/publica...

Ah yes, the disgusting and false refuge of Chinese (and Russian) apologists and propagandists to the worst abuses of authoritarians: âoethe US does it too.â

These abuses are not âoeallegedâ; they are happening, and they are not based on dubious âoeresearchesâ [sic]:

https://www.propublica.org/art...

There is a genocide happening in Xinjiang; one that is erasing an entire culture, language, religion, and history of a people.

https://www.nytimes.com/intera...

https://www.nytimes.com/intera...

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

Use https://feedly.com/

When Google killed Reader, I did, and never looked back.

I bought $1000USD of Doge back when it took 12 of them to make a single penny just to have fun with on IRC. We set up a doge wallet bot and used tipping in Doge as a way to encourage productive/constructive comments and contributions to our little channel, as well as educating people about crypto. I ended up giving away at least half of the Doges to various channel dwellers just for the fun of it. (Using random soaks & tips of 100 doge here & there.)

Fast forward to now it's around .13c per doge and the coin I so liberally threw around like confetti actually has some value. It feels really good to have contributed in a positive way to crypto-currency awareness and to see those contributions actually have value.

I still have quite a bit of Doge left and it has oddly turned out to be one of the most entertaining & enjoyable successful investments I've made.

TO THE MOON!

I'm the prime market for expensive new vehicles...
And just NO. I don't want a goddamn touchscreen at 70mph, I want knobs I can turn without taking my eyes off the road and staring into something bright while driving at night. When I'm in the car I want to DRIVE, not fumble with somebody's shit entertainment system and repetitive childlike warnings. I have a fucking supercomputer in my pocket, and it gets directions on its own, reads them to me when necessary, and if I want to poke at a screen, I'll pull it out. There's no legit use case for duplicating all that on a dashboard with some other controls inconsistent with the mobile device. And don't even start with built-in obsolescence; my friend's 5yo mercedes is hopelessly outdated and doesn't work with her new phone, and another's decked-out Lexus has seven (!!) screens with two competing nav systems that never agree with each other, and were obsolete before they left the dealership. There's no reason these should exist at all; they should just be mirror/dumb terminals at most.

What worries me is the integration of essential car functions with the entertainment system. I bought a pickup a few years ago, and within a week I got a "renewal" bill from Siruis/XM mailed to my home(!). Apparently they got my personal information from constantly searching state licensing data for updates (device ID > VIN > title change > home address) and sent me a bill with no prior contact. When I didn't respond, they started calling, insisting they had a right to spam me because of a 'previous business relationship.' When I told them I'd ripped out their device and thrown it away, first they squawked that it was a licensed device I'd have to pay for, and then when I told them to send me any contract I'd signed with them, they responded by telling me it was still active and pinging them, and that by "using" it I had consented to being billed. Turns out I'd pulled the two parts of the head unit, but missed a third transponder hidden under the seat. So then I had to dig the SIM card out of the fucker and leave the rest or the bluetooth adapter wouldn't work. Jesus Habanjero Christ, all this for a fucking used pickup truck to haul junk to the dump and milkshakes to the yard. And if you pull the msft/goog entertainment/tracking/licensing system on a large number of slightly newer vehicles, it'll freak out that essential engine or safety features are missing and disable the vehicle. FML.

The demographic data indicates that I'm the prime market for a car between $80-120k, but they're just not listening. So fuck it, I'm off to buy a nice classic car and refurb it. If I really want blinky shit on the dash, I'll spend $200 for some standard double-din android infotainment system that isn't tied to the engine management, never presents me with a legal document while driving, never EVER phones home about my shit taste in music, mirrors or provides maps and nav only how it's permitted to, and the whole thing gets tossed when it's out of date. If the young'uns ever shake their heads and wonder why the grey-hairs buy a $5k beater and spend $25k transforming it into a pimpalicious ride, now you know it's actually a bargain for what's wanted: The unseen killer-feature in the comfy ride is that it does nothing when I want it to do absolutely fucking nothing.

I love how they so deftly demonstrate the MacBook having this miraculous technology called a HINGE, in contrast to the floppy mess that necessitates a kickstand sticking out the back... and they think this is an advantage? To be sure, I would choose neither of these. A pox on both your houses.

It pains me to say nice things about HP, but their X2 Chromebook Tablet/Laptop was some excellent engineering: all the portability of a true tablet with an excellent touchscreen, and a thin detachable keyboard with an excellent magnetic connection that supported a true hinge (making it usable on an actual lap!! -- unlike anything with a kickstand). It was sad to see them revert to the kickstand for the equivalent-level X2 Windows units; we would have bought a bunch of those for work.

Burner phone costs you, what, $10?

[Citation Needed]

After we turn socialist overnight what then?

The joke is that those who are afraid of "turning socialist" are completely ignorant of what socialism actually is, let alone characteristics of other political/socioeconomic philosophies. In their world of alternative facts, all they know is a cartoon beatbox version of socialism, where no one owns anything and the government takes away everyone's freedom to do whatever you want.

It is not possible to have a rational constructive discussion with folks who don't care about facts and who do not care to learn said facts. "Biden hates America" and "Obama was born in Kenya" are opinions that are neither based in reality nor serious.

"Trump said he was going to build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it. He didn't do either" is based upon facts and reality.

If you think Joe Biden is representative of the "extreme left", you have lost all perspective.

One of my younger siblings got it at work and infected their immediate family (spouse, kids). Our elderly mom (who suffers from a number of respiratory ailments) missed getting it by one day: she normally wouldve had dinner at their house the day after their symptoms manifested. It wouldve have most certainly killed her.

Having seen what they went through—COVID isnt “just a flu”; whoever says is lying or galactically stupid—I have zero empathy for anyone who isnt taking this seriously, whether through ignorance or willing delusion.

You want to go to CES or any other large gathering? Please proceed.

You want to ignore the threat because Fox “News” says it is overblown, a liberal plot, or a False Flag? Please proceed.

You want to “reopen the economy” because you want to be able to go to the bar for a pint? Please proceed.

I will not gloat if you get it. I will not have any sympathy, either.

From: Dr. Tara C. Smith

I've also seen this misrepresented already. "SARS-CoV-2 RNA was identified on a variety of surfaces in cabins of both symptomatic & asymptomatic infected passengers up to 17 days after cabins were vacated on the DP but before disinfection procedures had been conducted"

Say it with me: *viral RNA doesn't necessarily mean live virus was present.* Now you're going to see "coronavirus can live on surfaces for 17 days!" over and over, but we don't know that based on this study and for those using live virus, it's much shorter.

https://twitter.com/aetiology/...