Yes, this is for real. Whenever I’m fortunate enough to leave the US and visit basically any other country I’m jealous of two things: the price of food (groceries are cheap even if restaurants are not) and the quality of food (even non-organic produce is just more vibrant).

It’s been a thing for at least 10 years now that other countries have higher quality food for less money. It was probably true before that but in 2016 I was old enough to be living on my own and beginning to get invested in eating better food despite the damage it did to my budget. I might have to work my whole life and never retire but I am going to have my health as best as I can control it.

I went to Australia for a year the next year and was shocked by how affordable it was. Everyone told me it was ridiculously expensive, and yeah, eating out was easily $30 for a burger and fries or pizza but if I went to the grocery store or a market I could buy a week’s worth of food for the same price. I then needed to buy a new pair of ear buds down there and I found out that electronics are also very expensive, ~50% more after the exchange rate. But the food was cheap. I paid $150/week for rent. And there was public transportation.

Fucking “richest country in the world” my ass.

It’s going to get worse but at least they claim to be aware of enshittification. Them being aware means… Maybe it won’t be as bad as it could be? Definitely not staying the same though, they’re upfront about that.

Yes but something I remember from 20 years ago… Maybe 15, is trying to sign up to okay a Korean mmo. I had the whole thing downloaded and ready to go, but one problem, in order to make an account I needed to enter my SK ID number. I spent like 4 hours trying to get around this check but the rabbit hole that led me down eventually taught me that this is normal in SK. I could be wrong, I’m a USian and don’t speak or read Korean, but it sure seemed like they were being required to give their version of an SSN to access an mmo.

Not good imo, but if I understood correctly entering some form of government ID wouldn’t be a dramatic change from the norm.

Dog you’re a trash human, go touch grass and breathe some fresh air. Get out of the basement and do something enjoyable with another person. Play a boardgame, go for a walk, and learn how to see others as human again.

That’s my bet with my friends made about a year ago. I bet not one of the fuckers from rump’s cabinet or rump himself will face any consequences within 10 years…9 years now. I want to pay my friends money. Fuck.

It seems possible to have voter roles associated with driver’s licenses. I don’t know for sure but I feel like there has been lots of talk about having your voter registration tied to your driver’s license. If it hasn’t happened yet it’s definitely been floated as an idea.

What I do know is that there is a glaringly obvious trend towards authority figures wanting to control our lives to make sure we conform with their values and interests. It’s not happening exactly the same way everywhere but it is happening. I think it’d be foolish to believe that there isn’t interest in having a profile on every human in this country that is easily accessible by “law enforcement” or any other government agency.

And I can imagine the shit that would be put in such a profile, just listen to our political discourse for a day. Especially right wing discourse. They’ve decided who the enemies are, fortunately we don’t have to wear some kind of badge to announce it…yet.

It’s not just for citizens, it’s supposed to be a right that applies to everyone interacting with our government systems. You don’t have to say anything! But if you want to do anything requiring those services, like driver’s license, etc. then you have to give them some information.

I remember when our right wing wanted that information we give to be only available on a need to know basis! Why should the police need to know who I voted for or where I was born? But no more. Now these fuckwits want to suck on boot.

This still works in the US too but… And it’s a big BUT! …but it entirely depends on the cop, the mood they’re in, and how their sex life is going. I’ve had times where I’ve been high as a kite and been given a warning or been driving 20 mph over the speed limit and got a warning.

I’ve also been on a bike and nearly hit by an off-duty cop, the cop was angered by this and chased me down the highway at bike speed (<15mph, uphill) while the road is posted to be 50mph. I called the police, fearing for my life, and when police arrived I spoke with them and they said I had nothing to great from this engaged motorist because they were also a cop. Then I was given an indictment (a court date) for public disturbance because the cop lied and said I, a trans person, called him the F slur. It was dismissed in the end (first amendment rights and all that) but I was punished for riding my bike along the bike path by being legally ordered to go to court and explain that I was terrified and had shouted at the crazy out of control person chasing me: “If you follow me I’m calling the cops!” The cop had no repercussions!

Anyway, my point is, you can get lucky either way but when your luck turns they hold all the cards and your only rights become what they decide you get.

Now take a marble slight bigger than the end of a hose and hold it tightly

I don’t see how the heavy granite balls don’t do the same

The giant granite ball is not being held tightly. For your example just set the marble atop the opening of your hose. The water will continue to slowly overflow the end of the hose. Now if you exert additional force on the marble that’s on you.

You should do this yourself and take a video. Share it and speculate with us why the objects in your video behave the way they do.

I used to live in a very fire prone party of the Rockies, got any info on that book? It sounds fascinating.

See! I’m too young to even remember the right university!

Nah, they’re just young enough to have not heard of Ohio State.

The reason I’d live in Berlin is the food and culture. Why would I need to go anywhere? every big production visits Berlin. Some of the best food in the world, beer gardens and parks and I just ride the u-bahn everywhere?

Oh and the people are fucking incredible!

Good damn I’m selling myself on living there all over again. Berlin was my favorite city in the world a decade ago. I’d have stuffed myself in a shoebox to live there in my 20s. Now I’ll need a decent size flat but it’s still a nice dream.

For the record I now live in a city and it’s good but not the same level of dreaminess as basically any European city, even the smaller ones.

I think the down votes are because even though some points are salient it still gives off a vibe of “get off my lawn!” This isn’t helped by the comment above pointing out that all of our parents thought that we were vapid and shallow, without an understanding of the world, molded by television and heavy metal.

Like the points are valid but by casting out across an entire generation… Many members of which can vote and drive and are part of society… It really weakens the message. I want better for the generation that comes after mine. They are being brainwashed in much the same way I was and that should stop. But also I was brainwashed and the world hasn’t collapsed yet. Maybe it won’t collapse with the next generation, maybe not the one after and hopefully none of our worst fears come to pass.

I hope it’s enough that right now we are just a rumble beneath hearing that pushes the world towards a future where everyone is included in the benefits of our society.

I thought she was still alive because I got depression.

RIP Betty White she wasn’t dead then but she sure is now

If only someone had a graphic made comparing the statue of Liberty and the reflecting pool side by side then I’d truly understand the scale!

I’ve heard of Qobuz from a friend but haven’t used it. Having it not fit into my current system at home had made me reluctant to try switching to it.

I think I’m going to have to figure out a new system though because not being able to block Nazi music from auto playing on YT Music is a straw I can’t just let pass. Not to mention the other commentor talking about YouTube’s slop problem.

I feel like we’ve all been cursed by every time a character has said, “May you live in interesting times.” in any show or movie.

Actually had another issue with YouTube Music.

While listening to a Mix, YT’s version of a radio, it kept putting Kanye West music into the mix. Now I like a lot of Kanye’s old music but I’m not going to listen to it now since he’s a fucking Nazi piece of shit. I don’t want his fuckass getting my fraction of a fraction of a penny. Fuck Nazis…not like that.

There is also no way to completely block an artist. So I have to be every vigilant.

I also have to vigilant about at least once other artist, while listening to an awesome, trancy mix last year I stumbled across a song that was hypnotic and said something like, “To have a good party you need to do Marijuana.” Weird but not upsetting, I can enjoy the vibe. Then it swings around to, “To have a good time you need to do Heroin…heroin…heroin…heroin…”

I dunno who makes this shit but it’s definitely not my vibe and I want to be able to block shit that cruises in from left field to ruin my vibe. YouTube Music had no way to do this and I’m not sure what I want to do about it next.

I ran into a bunch of AI slop on Tidal. It kept being on artist pages that I really enjoy. For example Against Me! is one of my favorite bands but some AI sloptist named their slop band Against Me. Tidal has no way to separate these two names and everything shows up on one page. To make things worse there’s no way to report this except by emailing to the artist being ripped off and hoping they see your email.

I found it so frequently, roughly 6 or 7 times in 3 months, that I cancelled and moved on to the next service, YouTube Music. It’s not necessarily better or worse in my experience but they can differentiate between Against Me! and Against Me and I have yet to discover a fake song since I switched about 3 months ago.

I’m not sure about the support I’m giving to Google, I kind of fucking hate it, but I have very very few complaints about the service. My main complaint is there is no dedicated TV app, it goes through the default YouTube app and that is significantly worse at finding playlists or surfacing new music.

I just couldn’t do Tidal any longer with the slopfest. And I left Spotify behind when news broke they were showing ICE ads. I’ll be honest I’ve not heard that YouTube is showing ICE ads but it would not surprise me.

The giants are back and attacking hundreds of people!