We have several of those temporary neighbors here, too. I wish the one next to me was a renter. Or, maybe I don’t. I suppose having a new neighbor every year or so has it’s downsides, too. You never know what you’re going to get. Although, rent is so high now, renters pay more than most owners pay on their mortgages here. In my case, renting a house here is double what I pay in mortgage.
The poll is here and includes many questions beyond this one that grabbed headlines: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2026-10/ABC-Post-Ipsos Trend Topline 10.21.pdf
Including these two questions:
For now, I can avoid AI because it’s easy to spot. Even product website AI chatbots are poor imitations of people. (Honestly, the mental acrobatics people must go through to talk to one of these things as a trusted advisor baffles me. It’s a fucking machine, you’re talking to a box, a piece of software. Stop anthropomorphizing the damn things. But, maybe that’s just me.)
In the near future I expect for anything important to me (namely, doctors, lawyers, friends, advisors), I’ll only trust face to face conversations--but then, no more so than I ever have. Because, they won’t perfect androids in my lifetime.
The threat is that for paid positions, like doctors, etc., the option for face to face may become too expensive for anyone but the rich. Because, you know the rich won’t take digital advice. Hell, they’re trying to replace teachers in public schools with machines, right now. The rich never let their kids have phones when they’re young. Or, at least not the parents who give a fuck about their kids, which seems not many filthy rich do. Let alone will they let some machine teach them in school.
My best friend was a scout and my older brother was, too. I never joined, I’ve never been a joiner. I never heard a thing about any abuse.
I did learn a lot from my friend and brother, and I read parts of the BS handbook (or whatever it was called). Learned about navigating with a compass, building a lean-to, building fires, first-aid, etc. from that book. It was all interesting because we used to go camping for summer vacation.
I bought a plywood kayak kit from the scouts, and built it, as did my friend. We had fun paddling around a reservoir with them.
Glad I’ve never used it, or any other AI, not knowingly. I do my best to avoid AI wherever I see it.
I see AI summaries on product pages, that’s about it. I ignore them.
I think I used an AI chat on a service provider website because I had no choice, once.
Flexing his power to show off and remind… someone? Everyone? That he holds such power.
And, no one will notice, outside of the few paying attention. And, by “no one” I mean the vast majority of people with their heads buried in their phones scrolling TikTok.
I can only hope this is true. Most voters aren’t paying a bit of attention to where the money comes from.
They’re using AI. They think it’s wonderful, they’ve barely heard about the controversy around data centers, and think “data centers are where the internet it, yOU lIkE thE inTErNeT, Don’T yoU?”
The Top 10 AI Uses in 2025 (none of which it does very well):
If an apple makes it to the store shelf, it’s a good apple. I eat whichever one is cheapest. At the moment where I shop, that’s Gala. But, I also eat Red delicious and Granny Smith. I’m not paying two or three times as much for an apple that’s different. Different isn’t better, it’s just different. Higher price doesn’t mean better product, just better marketing, and maybe “new!”, which is just different again.
The fact that rankings of food are so contested and almost no one agrees, is proof positive that I’m right, here. One isn’t better than the other, just different. No one is wrong for liking what they like. Judging another’s taste harshly, especially in food is silly and wrong. But, also in music, and clothing, and any other aesthetic appeal.
(I know I can’t say “an apple is an apple and all apples are good” because of how apples are cultivated. But, if a variety has passed the taste test with growers to the point that they get produced in mass quantities, then it’s a good apple.)
I hope when he’s showing them off someday, the dogs attack and maul him. Bonus if it happens on stage with hundreds of cameras filming him and people laughing.
I walked to school with other kids starting in kindergarten, when I was five. But, I don’t think five years old is a “toddler”.
At the slightly busy road in front of the school there were swing out stop signs. I’ve never seen them anywhere else. Sixth graders manned the stop signs. They stood on the curb and pulled on a handle that would swing the overhead stop sign out over the road. A third kid walked out with a handheld stop sign after the cars stopped and then the kids crossed.
Something happened and that ended. They switched to an adult crossing guard. I’m guessing it was something bad.
What good thing could happen on Sunday?
The picture you find on a desk after the apocalypse.
I haven’t watched it in probably 20 years. Past time for a rewatch, which is good, because there’s nothing on TV ATM.
As Patrick explained in the Empire interview, the first time they filmed the run at the mall, before the semi-truck sequence, he closed the gap on Furlong entirely. His own words, included in the viral clip: “That’s me. First time I did the run, I caught the kid.
James Cameron confirms, BUT, he says it happened when the bike was pulled by the camera car:
I’d rather, and I do, donate to apps like Blender, LibreOffice, Wikipedia, and Lemmy, etc. Free to use for people who can’t afford to donate. I donate monthly to those because I use them a lot and I can afford it.
For only 300 searches, that’s 10 searches a day. I do probably 50 to 100 searches per day.
So, it’s really $10 a month.
I might pay $5 a month for unlimited but I’m not sure about that. Because, you know they’ll raise the price if they get successful enough. And, then it’s just a constant march to more enshittification.
I wash clothes when the hamper is full, about once every two weeks. Everything together (except whites) longest wash, hot water.
Whatever comes out the other side goes back in the closet for the next round.
People make a big deal about buying clothes, washing clothes, folding clothes, organizing closets, matching clothes, shoes, belts, accessories, brands, who wears what when, blah, blah, blah.
Weather and society permitting, I wouldn’t even wear clothes. Fuck clothes.