If there were so many stars behind this object, shouldn't we have noticed it blocking stars as it moved?

If you gather data with any kind of connection to real people (not, say, an astronomical database), someone will find a way of using that data for unintended and questionable purposes, usually driven by emotions or just plain greed. I don't think we do enough to protect ourselves from our(other)selves.Databases with personal info should be restricted in scope, all access carefully vetted (both at user and network levels), the lifetime of the data should be strictly limited to the window of active usefulness (NOT 'just in case we need it'), and they should be verifiably deleted at the earliest opportunity.

It's called Privacy, and we need to protect it because those who violate it, be they individuals, governments, or institutions of any type, will abuse it for their own advantage in ways that everyone else will find abhorrent.

And now for a completely different viewpoint I give you my sig.

Most neuron mimicking AIs have their nodes arranged in sheets like mammalian brains, with an input layer, an output layer, and a few in between. Perhaps we should try bird brain architectures instead.

I never use windows, not a single install in my home. So I can't try this myself: What happens if you make Edge non-executable? Can you delete it even? Perhaps replace it with the chrome executable file?
Just curious and amused. It amazes me that people would install something that doesn't let them control their own PC.

Study the bad guys, get a job interacting with illegal activities, and you too can become corrupt.

Move to South America. The farms aren't depleted/fertilized and the genetic strains are less in-bred. The food tastes WAY better. Just plain chicken has a richer flavor than in the US or EU. The veggies & fruits have a full spectrum of nutrients and flavors that I just can't find north of Ecuador. Visit Peru and you will hunt for Peruvian restaurants when you come back, but the food doesn't have the depth of flavor it does when you are actually in Peru.

Major transit routes have radiation detectors specifically tuned to find bomb-level signatures; not just strength but particle composition, at what speeds, etc. Your truck would be surrounded by a lot more than just police before you could get anywhere impactful.

Even more capable than a pi5, with built-in battery, wifi, bluetooth, no need for cooling, etc, I think it would be more fun to make a cyberdeck that looks like it's built on an RPi but is really hiding an old cellphone inside.

When you put up a roadblock, teens will take it as a challenge to get around, even if they would otherwise never have pursued the goal of whatever is beyond the restriction. And teens are very creative; they will break these guardrails in so many ways. It'll be a black-hat/white-hat back and forth for awhile. We'll all learn something, I would hope, without too many casualties along the way.

May I suggest "Variable Star" by Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson. Heinlein's widow found an unfinished manuscript and chose Spider Robinson to finish it. The story does read as if Heinlein wrote it, especially once they leave Earth.

A good description is that they are amplifiers. They magnify everything in your sensorium to the point of distortion. Every thought, sound, emotion; all are pumped up to eleven. You don't have separate senses; they all blend into interacting feedback loops of synesthesia. Your thoughts become tangible, perceivable objects and sensations. It can get overwhelming and almost requires a light-hearted attitude.
It can be enlightening, fun as hell, or deeply terrifying, all depending on your attitude as you go into it.

If he did it alone this was a BIG mistake. Who you are with and in what circumstances is extremely critical for such an experience, even for those not struggling with issues. I suspect your friend didn't provide himself with a safe and comforting enough environment. Which is truly sad and my heart goes out to him.

I apologize. I was speaking from my own experience (my father was medically discharged from a career in the Marines), which is not as extensive as yours. I still maintain that I've heard far more negative than positive anecdotes about the VA and their medical care in particular, but there you have it: Anecdotes.

Psilocybin has great potential for treatment of many types of psychological distress. I would normally laud this development. However, the VA is staffed by health professionals who are there because they can't cut it in private practice. I suspect this particular trial will go sideways for many participants. I honestly think they'd have a higher success rate if they let the patients go camping with friends and dose themselves that way instead of including a "professional" who keeps them focused on their problems.

Had I mod points, you'd be getting an Insightful. Altho, if you statically linked an entire distro it would get pretty huge.