Yep, me and the other two guys were quite happy to be ignored by the hackers until now.
I'll use LibreWolf in the meantime. Oh, also, I do almost nothing with it. That helps.

touche.
There will be no next generation of true experts for the most part. The AI will contain our expertise. Only outlying savants will leverage it to benefit themselves.

*I'm already contradicting myself and being ironic as pointed out above*

There is no NEED for meatbags. We're splitting into pseudo religious factions. The Oligarchs will likely not train their kids to use it, then there will be hereditary leadership.. Like tribes and kings... Like Barron Trump, your new president for life. Like Larry Ellison and Rupert Murdock. Pass the torch to your bloodline. Techno Feudalism is upon us.

also very interesting comments... I don't disagree for the most part, but I strongly feel the pull of reality.. reality is the AI wave is washing over us because 1. powers that be are forcing it on us, and 2. people are embracing it in droves because people are lazy. That leads to what you are implying I think. Costs for the silicon brains is high, and being subsidized until all the expertise is sucked out of us and we are all 100% dependent on it, then BAM! Raise prices as high as possible. The market will however dictate to some extent where that price point is. I saw this last year when one of the Big Boys started using using persona terminology. Think of an AI agent like a person, like an employee. Then you can quantify the value, and charge accordingly. Want a receptionist? Pay $X. Want a PHD in Math? Pay $10X. Want Skynet? Pay me $billions... make that $trillions. We will be held hostage.

I've gone to the dark side on this. I will bet you a beer the oligarchs win this round. It's no longer about quality, or value to consumers. It's about value to Oligarchs. Value to Big Brains. Value to Authoritarians... Your doctor is already using it. Governments and business are retooling as fast as possible. You will use it whether it works or not, because all your service providers will use it, and therefore by the transitive property, you'll be using it too.

"Elongelicals" .. :-) brilliant!

very interesting to hear your comments.
Yeah, looks like we're headed to a world of only savants and drooling idiots, and all the expertise owned by Big Brains.
Open source like the ollama approach give me some hope that Big Brains doesn't own everything.
Here's more hope: will the savants disrupt Big Brains?

Sure. I get you.
Let's agree though that this is happening, regardless of any quality measures or value to the serfs.
I think we are entering Revelation Space territory. (and other science fiction scenarios)
We're back to the dark ages of Wizards and serfs and monks and Mad Rulers.

We are as a species are going to split into factions, religious rejectionists like Luddites, Robot-Human Hybrids, Evil Machines, etc.
Like in the middle ages, the vast majority of people will be unwashed masses, uneducated, but now with cellphones and "smart devices"... just staring into their screens playing video games, watching porn, gambling, just amusing themselves until they meet the grim reaper.

Then the "true experts" will be these one in a million genius types, the Issac Newtons, the Einsteins, etc. There's a kid from Indonesia I saw on TV. He's about 18 or 20 by now. When he was... 12 years old he could play jazz piano like Thelonius Monk or Oscar Peterson.. The kid was savant genius. He just popped out and played jazz. Or like in China.. when they do a big show for the world.. Some girl born without arms, but she can play pipe organ with her feet. Jesus fucking Christ. Why bother trying? Summer Mackintosh the Canadian swimmer... One day she show up and smashes the records for 100 meter butterfly by a huge margin. There is no competing against someone like that. They are just made better than you.

I think we're there now. Savant geniuses and unwashed masses. Nothing in between except all the AI that harvested today's expertise and then sells it back to you. Ugly, but a probable future, imho.

I'm going to throw in with you on this.
I started using gemini and found it's far better than my best employee ever was.
My best employee was very very good, but I'd have to wait a day to see results of the meeting.
One thing he (best employee) did that AI can't do is make good judgement calls. No question there.

However, when the AI spits out a half day's work in 10 seconds, it allows me the analyst/designer/project manager to rapidly analyze the output, and do another iteration of design ideas, immediately, or as fast as I can analyze process and respond.
So I can get dozens of turnarounds per day compared to even a good employee.

Working in small logical work units yields very good results. I haven't rolled up my sleeves and done any 12 hour days of deep concentration on code for years, and I don't need to. I have much knowledge and can review code but I don't need to double check syntax or look for typos, the grunt work.

I don't think that I'm losing anything, I do the architecture and design. I think I'm getting huge value and speed from gemini... the key to me is that I work at mid to high levels of abstraction, work in small logical units, review the output, and let the tool worry about the grunt work. I work as a product designer, it works as a coder. My designs are improving significantly from having the AI critique my designs and suggest various possible improvements or how to use tools that I did not know about. I don't need to code. Caveats are that I am not building mission critical or real time software. The reality is maintenance is a dead concept. As the coding agents/models improve, you can conceivably drop your whole codebase into the NEXT better model every time a better model comes out, and it will do the optimizations and grunt work.

Don't hate me. I can see the future and it is grim for people, coders, entry level people. But YOU WILL USE AI for coding is here for non mission critical applications. It's sad but true to say that "quality" is a quaint and outdated concept.. (like privacy).. good enough is today's "quality". Don't shoot the messenger, but barely working, is still working. if it don't work replace it, don't maintain it.

There will always be a need for true experts, good designers, but the writing is on the wall, AI IS REPLACING all junior functions at this time. If you are doing a web based database system, pfft, it barely matters if there is a bug.. I regret that statement but I feel it's today's reality.

I found that sometime during the pandemic, 3 or 4 years ago, a cold wind blew over open source. When I would suggest to people that such and such open source software would be a viable alternative to whatever Apple or Microsoft software they were using it was met with suspicion and categorically rejected. "I would ONLY use Apple software", "I only trust Apple" was the response. Open source seems to be now perceived as criminal. Ironic really, because some of those same people might buy bitcoin because they heard "line go up". So you trust bitcoin, but you wouldn't use open source software?

too bad this is at least 15 year late
We're in to the doom spiral of multi crises
dumb kids is just one of the results
dumb adults is another

anyone found to be using Starlink
(anyone that isn't "elite")

From google AI because I'm too lazy to explain further. Gamestop was essentially dead and Robinhood investors decided to use their masses to manipulate the stock price. Its worth studying what took place in 2001 actually. Much of it was discussed on the slashdots.

**GameStop (GME)** remains a premier "meme stock," characterized by high volatility driven by retail investor sentiment, social media, and periodic short squeezes. Following a massive 2021 surge, the stock experienced renewed surges in May 2024 sparked by the return of key influencer "Roaring Kitty". As of early 2026, the company has leveraged this volatility to improve its balance sheet.

---

**Current Status and Recent Developments (2026 Context)**

- **Financial Position:** GameStop utilized the high stock price to raise funds through share sales, enabling them to pay down debt and build a significant cash reserve, roughly $9 billion by early 2026.
- **Market Volatility:** The stock continues to see sharp, sudden price movements independent of traditional company valuation, often driven by social media activity.
- **Ongoing Interest:** Despite falling significantly from its 2021 peak, GME remains actively traded on the NYSE with high retail investor engagement.

**Key Aspects of the GameStop Saga**

- **The 2021 Short Squeeze:** Amateur investors, largely from Reddit's r/wallstreetbets, initiated a massive short squeeze against hedge funds, peaking at $483 a share in January 2021.
- **"Roaring Kitty" (Keith Gill):** A key figure in the initial rise, whose return to social media in 2024 spurred new waves of buying.
- **Meme Stock Dynamics:** Price movement is often driven by "meme" sentiment, with retail investors pushing back against institutional short sellers.

**Risks for Investors**

- **Extreme Volatility:** The stock is known for sudden, intense price fluctuations.
- **Fundamental Concerns:** The company's business model operates in a challenging market, often considered outdated, despite recent strategic changes.
- **High Risk:** Experts caution that the stock price is often driven by emotion and speculation rather than long-term financial health.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement. "The Division will not hesitate to sue companies who intentionally deter U.S. workers from applying to American jobs."

Apparently no Americans want to work at Trump properties, so many, many foreign workers are required.

The President’s family business requested at least 184 foreign workers for Mar-a-Lago, Virginia winery and two golf clubs. This happens every year since forever. The company has been convicted of fraud and banned from doing business in New York.

It was also the fifth time in 10 years that Trump had sought to bring in more than 100 overseas workers for seasonal jobs at Mar-a-Lago, according to data seen by the Palm Beach Post.."

Now I'm suing Bloomberg.

The www. The open web is finished. The www is for logged in services only now. The things you have to do, booking air tickets, banking, taxes.

Surely a large percentage of users are already delusional.
Come for the flattery, stay to feed your delusions.

Yeah, that's basically it. It's a drug, and it's potently addictive.. but it's so abstract, that people don't even know. So you can't talk about it, and you can't take it away from people or they exhibit all the stages of addiction withdrawl. Denial, evasion, anger when cornered, fake ignorance, lying. I'm shooting dopamine as fast as possible, because my tolerance is shot after the first three hits. Now we got peeps who lose motivation to think or do for themselves. Sure I'm preachy, but you deserve that. Who me? I'm not addicted. Blessed be the toolmakers for they shall pillage the herds of delicious sheep. If you're not a toolmaker, you're food for one.