You are going to have to help me. Are you saying measles can't kill someone?

With global travel and someone not displaying symptoms while carrying the virus, it is important that so-called safe countries like the U.S. not let down their defenses by getting lax on immunizing kids & everyone. Outbreaks in the U.S. have come from popular vacation spots like Disney World where large numbers of people mingle and viruses can prey on the non-vaccinated. Requirements for public school children to get vaccinated are there for not only their protection but for the rest of the school and community. Some can't get vaccinated due to immuno-compromising diseases so their protection is the rest of the community doing the right thing. Saving your kid's life against a known killer virus seems like a no-brainer. I just don't know how you drill that message home in the mind of someone who's an anti-vaxxer.

I mean, if you watch NOTHING but superhero movies and read NOTHING but comics, then yeah, you probably need some diversity in your adult life. But I'd imagine most adults consume superhero media along with other "more adult" sources. I watch films like The Lighthouse and other more serious or artsy fares and still watch the summer blockbuster too. Real-life is depressing with constant political fighting and bad news every evening. Enjoying some escapism for 120 minutes helps keep some of us sane.

It isn't really a warning in any real or scientific way, but a work of fiction, entertainment. It isn't meant to be anymore foretelling than REM's song about the "end of the world" or that Avatar is predicting a blue-alien future for us. Global poverty has actually declined ( https://www.worldbank.org/en/t... ) since Blade Runner's premiere and while we suck on environmentalism, we've made slow strides (increased renewable usage, electric vehicles, etc.).

I don't think that this development is relatively new. There have always been the summer blockbusters that excite the fans and draw in the fistfuls of cash. You to the theater to see them on the vivid big screens with dynamic sound and fancy reclining chairs. Cinema, as Martin defines it, doesn't need this grandiose experience and is focused on character development and quieter scenes versus exploding buildings and giant aliens. These flicks are fine to view in homes on small screens and thus bring in a lot less money. They are also much more niche and enjoyed like a fine wine rather than the beer-guzzling fest of superhero films. I enjoy both genres and feel they have their places and can co-exist.

From the title, I was expecting an article talking about how Germans hated grinding their wheat into flour and having to change millstones out.

The article was very brief and didn't cover what's next. Does the MS parent organization consider this a success, and are they going to repeat it in other countries or look at rolling out company-wide? It seems like it was a win-win from a business/employee perspective. Some metrics not mentioned that I would assume also trend in MS' favor would be increased employee retention and lowered HR/recruiting costs and lowered overhead costs on things like janitorial, lunchrooms, security (if they have a lower presence on weekends), etc. On the green side, it would be less gas & electricity for workers commuting one less day, and improve traffic, if only on a Friday. I would spring for 4 10-hour days in a heartbeat if so offered.

Agreed. This merger is a combination of mediocrity. FCA quality has been poor well before their merger and PSA is midling at best. Perhaps their best chance is to Frankenstein a car out of all their parts, taking the best and ditching the worst (like Chrysler transmissions).

This is all good, but an AI will never go mad when its told for the umpteenth time "You require more vespene gas!"

Maybe AI can teach IBM to design software UIs that don't look like they were created by people who've never used a computer before. Or have the gift of sight.

I agree with your concern about deplatforming trump from Twitter. I can't stand trump and hope the orangutang is defeated in the coming election but found Harris trying to rally candidates to her cause very disturbing. It establishes that if congress hates what the president is saying or doing they can essentially shutdown the avenues they are using to get their message out. Censoring the president is absurd, especially when there are constitutional avenues to reprimand & remove them.

And here we are still sitting with just one Moon like a bunch of chumps! Get it together, Earth!

While I think Blizzard really fucked up with banning and revoking the prize money from their HS winner, I wonder how many of these people boycotting Blizzard will keep it up as new games are released. Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, a new WoW expansion, etc. are all said to be on the horizon. I applaud anyone who sticks to their guns but will guess some players will break first before the company to not miss out on the new hotness.

Your narrow experience provides no argument against unions, but rather states the specific companies you've worked at have treated you fairly. That's great! Unions aren't a good fit at every company, and some companies do treat their employees fairly and listen to their voices. Others do not. Management can behave badly like forcing workers to work swing shifts with no rest period in between (moving from 3rd to 1st in a day) or retaliate against complaints or fail to address safety concerns, etc. If there isn't a backstop to prevent this abuse, workers suffer.

I'm of the mind that the more quality, freely available teaching information on any subject, programming included, the better. I could imagine this being of help to high school and college kids learning to program if they need something to supplement what their teacher has said.