@ianRobinson โSteal five dollars and you're a common thief. Steal thousands and you're either the government or a hero.โ โ Terry Pratchett, Going Postal
@timo21@KamalaHarrisWin I voted this past Wednesday and it's wonderful. The political ads on the tellie just roll off my back. I was even able to quickly flip past the twisted nasty column by Cal Thomas in the paper this morning without batting an eyelash. Vote early if you possibly can!
@RickiTarr I think the octopus does it because it's just farting around. Cephalopod researchers have observed octopuses doing all kinds of stuff just for the hell of it: https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/octopuses-playful-choosy-and-smarter-than-you-think I'm sure there's an element (as mentioned in the article) of whether this creature or that object could be good to eat (hey, a fella has to survive!), but it looks to me like they sometimes are just messing around!
@RickiTarr My revelation was after my last annual checkup. My GP always puts her notes in my patient portal folder and her notes started out: "Pleasant ELDERLY patient presents as..."
@malwaretech I'm an American and I fervently wish the EU would go after Musk and his platform with everything it has. The US has tolerated his outrageous (and openly fascist) behavior for far too long. He's arrogantly tampering with the US election and no one does a thing about it here, so c'mon EU! C'mon UK! And anyone else who cares about the rampant flow of blatant disinformation!
@lednaBM An excellent concept, #WealthLine! I come to the discussion from the perspective of supporting my elderly dad in care. So, his #WealthLine needs to be sufficient to pay for his care. I suppose if he dies leaving enough of his wealth to leave me an inheritance, the #WealthLine as applied to me could then be discussed. I think I'd apply it to myself the same as to my dad, being sufficient to pay for my care in old age. This would be moot if the US provided an old age safety net.
I like Robert Reich's take on the 'What to do about TikTok' business. Another right-wing billionaire is trying to buy TikTok, similar to Elon Musk and Twitter, do we need another platform blasting out fascist disinformation? Why not treat social media like a public utility (think telephone company)?
@Teri_Kanefield I did a small experiment on myself recently. Mastodon is the only social media I follow and I wanted to get a taste of what 'corporate' centralized SM was like so I opened a Threads account. The contrast really opened my eyes; just a few minutes on Threads really does amplify that rage impulse, it's palpable. I assume this is probably true of the other platforms as well. It's obvious that it's healthier to simply avoid rage inducing platforms.
@Jain@stux I had a rude awakening the other day when I discovered that most new printers won't work unless you connect them to wifi. I will be keeping my old USB-only printer going for as long as I can. Epson (of course) has stopped selling the ink cartridges for it to force the consumer to update but I found a small business that makes compatible cartridges and have all appendages crossed that they never go out of business. I also got rid of my Fitbit when Google bought them out.
I'm an irritated academic who is increasingly dismayed by the general lack of critical thinking skills displayed by the general public in the United States.