And his last name is actually "Dracul", but don't say it out loud or he will hear and visit you at night.

At least the part about:

Is quite true I'm afraid. NVidia frequently releases "Game Ready" drivers tuned for a specific game. Usually for high-profile new game releases, such as the Witcher 3 most recently.

This most recent batch of new "Game Ready" drivers fucked up my and other users systems by frequently crashing, causing the driver and the display to reset, sometimes even on the desktop while browsing. Sometimes this happens multiple times within a minute, rendering some games unplayable. This is one of the threads on the latest clusterfuck on this issue: NVidia display driver stops responding.

Still no fix from NVidia.

Fair enough.

Then, let me rephrase that statement:

Calling that kind of government activity "babysitting" is what an ultra-capitalist greek corporate shill would do. :)

AC comment above wasn't me... I wouldn't personally insult you because of disagreeing with you. Especially not in that kind of language.

I expect my government to protect me so that I can focus on my life. I thought this was one of the reasons I pay taxes.
I would hope that keeping me safe from bullshit and invasive practices of corporations is part of that protection.

Calling that kind of government activity "babysitting" is what an ultra-capitalist american corporate shill would do.

Until you have the robots to maintain the robots...

It depends on the volcano. Short term the ash might cover up the sun. Mid and long term they are releasing a lot of CO2 to the atmosphere. Also, there are underwater volcanos that can release a lot of magma and hot steam into the sea. I think it's pretty obvious how that might warm up things in it's vicinity quite a bit.

As I said, I'm no expert, but there seems to be conclusive evidence that CO2 is a driver of climate change. And it goes without saying that we are indeed pumping incredible amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. It's good to keep an eye out for other causes, but one of the causes is right here in our hands to do something about.

Why not? Good thing about wind farms is not only that it doesn't pump CO2 into the atmosphere, but also that it doesn't require resources that we will run out of at some point. That's why we call them renewable energy sources. So not only are you helping the environment -if you believe it does- you are also researching and preparing for a future without cheap, abundant energy coming out of the ground. What's wrong with that?

Gaming on PC means Windows and DirectX. Windows and DirectX have been around for a long time.
If you are realistic about VR on the PC, teaming up with the guys who control your platform makes sense. Especially now that Sony and Valve are serious competitors for Occulus.

It also makes sense for Microsoft. Sony is an obvious competitor and Valve has been making strides into Linux. With Occulus MS gets a developed VR solution without having to develop their own. It's a natural partnership.

Robots and automation will put an end to it all long before that.

FTFY

Funny you ask that question. I think the consensus established by the scientific community and accepted all over the world, slowly but surely even in the U.S., is that humans are causing climate change and it isn't very good for us.

These scientists are much smarter than me and know the facts and important factors much better than me, and they are in the majority. If 80% of scientists say we are causing climate change and 20% say we are not, I trust what the 80% have to say. What else is the sensible thing to do?

These 80% also say consequences of inaction are disastrous. Even if they are wrong, would it be wise to ignore the warnings and take the risk? I think not.

Of course there are natural effects that can also cause drastic climate shifts within a short timeframe, such as volcanic activity under Greenland or large asteroid impact. This will certainly have occurred in the past to produce the kind of effects described in the link you provided.

That would not be good for us either and doesn't change the fact that we are actively causing one of these alarming shifts right now.

Basically your argument is like saying: "Yeah, fracking can cause earthquakes, but we have determined that earthquakes have happened naturally in the past, so it's perfectly normal and acceptable"

For sure it cannot be ruled out that a natural disaster like a supervolcano or large asteroid impact, which have certainly occurred in the past, will have drastic effects on temperature within a short timespan. This would be equally disastrous for us and in no way invalidates the argument that we are causing one of these disasters now by non-natural means.

Yes, but those transitions usually take place within thousands or tens of thousands of years. A timespan that makes it possible for plant and animal life to adapt.
We are provoking that kind of change within a century.

I disagree. It all starts with education.
I can be considered a living example of how a little help from society can make all the difference.

My parents are not wealthy, so they could provide almost no financial assistance to me at all. However by doing jobs on the side and especially thanks to the Bafoeg, (a state provided student loan without interest rate that you only have to repay 50% of once you finish studying), I was able to study and get a Masters degree in Computer Science. Today my income and the taxes I pay are well above the German average.

Sounds like a recipe for success to me.
Where would I be without the tax funded social benefits? I have no idea. But it's hard for me to imagine me doing better than now.