This is so true, so true.

And it's not even US specific. In the wake of the Ukraine war, German parliament voted to give itself 100 billion of additional taxpayer money (i.e. debt) to spend on defense. Recently a report came out of all the money spent so far, 90% did not go towards the intended purpose.

Why any of the jokers in charge of our governments are still not in jail baffles me more and more every year. Oh yes, it's because they make the rules, sorry, my bad.

That's what campaign donations get you, if they are large enough.

This is why congress occasionally bullies the big tech companies. We all think they might want to have some regulation or to punish them. Oh sweetie... they're saying "nice company you have there... would be a shame if something happened to it..."

The best time to leave github was when the evil empire bought it. The second best time is now.

Seriously. Anyone who thought MS wouldn't fuck it up in the same way they fuck up everything they touch can't be helped. It's Microsoft for crying out loud.

Forgive me, but I'm going to rant some, because this is the only place I can do so.

I've started having to tell my friends to stop talking to me about AI.

Don't get me wrong. I use it. I find it helpful and saves time with stupid scripting tasks, throwing together modals, etc. There's a ton of ways that it helps me be more efficient with my human person job.

But actual work - architecture, design, thinking through a full process...that still requires a human.

What I'm starting to get really freaking irritated at is that everyone talks about AI like it's magic, and all I *hear* is "I couldn't do my job myself, but *now* I think I can!!".

Quit treating the fact that you spent money on Claude credits like some kind of proof of value. If you want to talk to me about something cool you're working on and a problem you had to solve - awesome. If you want to brag about how you spent all day crafting a prompt and then AI did all the work for you, then I kinda just want to punch you in your stupid face.

The one rather depressing bright spot I have is that the owner of the company discovered OpenClaw, and managed to set one up (even though he required me to do the really complicated stuff, like signing up for a Twilio account). His LinkedIn posts suddenly got way more articulate, added a ton of graphics, and is trying to sell people on his new agentic workflow that's running his company. Meanwhile, I know that nothing at all has changed, and that all he's managed to do is have the AI create a post and graphic and post it.

The "bright" point there is that it finally hit me that that's what literally all of the AI-spam is in my LinkedIn feed - a bunch of other people's bosses in the same boat - and that real people are still required to do anything of actual, legitimate value.

Shooting kids is the Number 1 reason kids die in the USA.... do those laws work ?

Oh please...this stat just is bogus.

They took the ages up past 19yrs old, I believe to 20yrs....

Legally you're adult at 18...so immediately that should be cut out of the mix, but also with ages 17-19...you're going to start counting heavily on the gang bangers who are criminals into drugs and drug wars...

Those are NOT children...they are criminal who more and more are being charged as adults.

If you took what most people consider to be actual children...1-10yrs or maybe even up to 12 yrs old....those "gun deaths" numbers plummet.

When those numbers are looked at...more kids die by car accidents.....

So please...get of the fucking high horse on children gun deaths...the REAL NUMBERS show a much different story...

And if you are not from here or don't live here....bully for you, you don't have to live with our "freedoms".....

But frankly I LOVE it here and love my country.

It seems strange to hear your rants while we still have people illegally risking death to get here.....

Look you don't have to like it. You don't have to live here in it.

And if that's your choice...fine. But otherwise it isn't your fucking business how we live here, now is it?

Why do you keep complaining about it if none of this is your problem much less none of your fucking business?

I had forgotten that Apple Card was even a thing because it's so fucking stupid.

Why do you think it is stupid?

I like it...I get cash back on purchases, it gives me on central place to readily check what I've charged each month (THIS is big for me, easy to track and manage budget)....and I get 3% off and 12 mos interest free on Apple purchases....

I pretty much only use one other card...my Costco Visa that gives me cash back on gas (5% at Costco pumps, 4% others )...and cash back on Costco purchases, which along with my Exec membership adds up quickly over the year....

What do you feel is stupid about it?

Or...easy solution, tried and true, age old.....don't use Facebook or any of those other social median apps.

We got along just fine before them....and I can tell you from experience....never being on them, hasn't harmed me a bit, in fact I think it overall has had a positive effect on my life....

Fuck it....

I'm gonna just go back to smoking real cigarettes....

It was MUCH more fun anyway...you got to carry a lighter all the time, play with fire....and flicking ashes at the bar while talking to a girl just felt....right.

Hell, maybe go back a bit further and buy loose tobacco and roll my own.

Pure analog pleasure.....geez I miss it.....

Don't care. If your shit shows me ads, it's not getting into my kitchen. Note to self: Don't buy appliances from Samsung anymore.

Yes, I am vocal in how much I hate ads. I believe the CEOs of advertising companies should get one hit with a stick for every time their ad bothered someone even in the slightest.

Exactly what I'm saying.

The fact that users and enterprise customers are not demanding better software from Microsoft with the same fervor their ancestors demanded that the witch be burnt speaks volumes.

And I'm specifically talking about operating systems here. Software can crash for all I care. I'm fine software quality being all over the place, the market can sort that out. But operating systems are natural monopolies and the foundation for everything else. We should not accept shoddy quality there.

Intellectual diversity makes for better teams.

Why would you presume *that* from what was written?

Users should never be able to do things that cause crashes in the same way that drivers should not ever be able to press any button or press any pedal that causes the engine to spontaneously burst into flames.

I'm also a Mac user, but let's not boast here, shall we?

My personal guess would have been at least 10x. Did Microsoft bribe the study authors?

Dude, are you living under a rock?

These bands are creating new music. But the money that allows them to do so comes from their old music. I have bands in my collection that have been making music for 30 years.

No they don't. They don't even make ok money. Tours are expensive and a lot of people, from road crew to venue security, take their cut before the musicians. The big guys, they make a killing on tours. But the small ones sometimes don't even break even.

In fact, a common wisdom in the industry is that touring is worth it not because the tour itself makes profits, but because it builds a fanbase and drives what is called "catalog discovery" - both old and new fans looking buying the albums with the songs they liked (and for the old fans, didn't know).

This study: https://www.giarts.org/article... says that 28% of income across all the musicians surveyed comes from tours. The share is larger for the rock/pop sector where it nears 40% but even that isn't easy money. And if you consider that only 20% of the rock/pop musicians make more than $50,000 a year, then it becomes a hollow statement.

Plus, it goes directly against your first statement - while on tour the band is not creating new music. So if you want to drive musicians more towards constantly creating (which most of them already do), then you can't make live performances the main income source.