Perhaps the real problem is that there is simply no reliable way to tell a real human's post from a generative AI's post anymore, since by the AIs are trained on the posts of real humans and are asymptotically becoming indistinguishable from them. You certainly can't simply go by post-quality, since the some of the smarter bots are better posters than some of the, err, less-well-informed humans.

Because of that, it's hard to feel good about putting any real effort into a social media conversation, because in the back of your mind you're always wondering: am I engaged in any kind of constructive activity here, or am I just unknowingly humping a rubber doll that Zuckerberg (or somebody) has provided for my amusement?

And the main one should be "Never expose your critical information on the internet, or to any computer connected to the internet.".

That's not sufficient, but it would eliminate most problems.

Actually, I think the federal government has accumulated too much control. I blame the direct election of Senators, but I'm not sure that's totally fair.

In the case of BitTorrent, even the fastest Internet connection won't get you a lot of successful peer connections if your ISP blocks all inbound TCP connections.

Such a new ecosystem already has grown, as I understand it. It's called getting Netflix, HBO Max, Paramount+, Disney+/Hulu, Peacock, Prime Video, or Apple TV to accept your pitch and fund it. These take the place of cable television channels in the pre-broadband economy. And there are still a lot more pilot screenplays than budget to produce all of them.

With the decline of third places, particularly since the pandemic and as online shopping has taken over the functions of malls, how do people usually meet people in 2026?

If only I could get my home ISP to add IPv6...

A decent point, but somehow this seems a case where Trump actually acted in (in his judgement) the country's best interests. ... And I'm not sure it wasn't in the country's best interests.

It also seems calculated to discriminate against handicapped folks that need mechanized assistance...but I may be wrong.

Sorry, but wrong. Currently AI is often blatantly wrong in ways that people would never be, but most of the time it does a narrowly specified job decently. It's just that when it doesn't, you may REALLY notice it.

No. Saying that the US and various US entities do it does not imply that China and Russia aren't also doing it, and perhaps at greater volume. (Though that last needs at least a bit of evidence.)

OTOH, it's quite plausible that the tactics are more effective in the US than in more tightly controlled environments.

That changed the number of practicing doctors.

Astroturfing is, but definition, and organized activity pretending to not be an organized activity. I've absolutely no reason to believe that various US organizations don't engage in it.

Astroturfing was invented in the US. To claim we don't do it is just silly. (But I would suspect that it might be more companies than the govt.)

I had a sister that lived in South Dakota for awhile. The wild lands were great, but she couldn't find decent friends. She left within a few years, even though she had bought a house because she thought she'd like it. It *wasn't* the climate that drove her away.

Read the post above for an alternative explanation.
It begins:

I *think* his point is that there's a multi-year time-lag. Which is true. And the problem is that by the time that lag-time has passed, the jobs required will be different.