themeatbridge

Anything happining to my kids. Like, I’ve always been afraid of things. Heights, small spaces, diseases, global catastrophies, etc, but having kids flipped those fears around from “What would happen to me?” to “What would happen to them?” Even the things that could happen to me, like what if I fell from a height is now “What if my kids lost their dad because I fell from a height?”

And the worst part is I know bad things will happen to them in their lives. It’s not a matter of If I die, it’s when. They are going to have that experience some day, and the best I can do to prepare them for it is delay it as long as possible while raising them to be emotionally secure and rational adults.

That was fast.

My kids get their assignments, turn them in, and receive their grades on four different apps, plus there’s a version for the parents.

Where? Fuck you, that’s where. You want your kid to be on time for their activities? Surrender all privacy, because what are you going to do? Keep your kid out of sports and clubs?

Seems to have worked then.

On the contrary, I’d say it’s a smashing success. First, the author was deeply engaged with Facebook to write the article. Second, everyone who saw this article and discussed the findings was engaged with Facebook even if they didn’t have the app open. You and I are engaged with Facebook right now. And third, many many more people logged into their Facebook to test the findings either out of curiosity, to disprove the theory, or because they are horny goblins thirsting for smut.

They do have bike motors you can install on a standard bike. It’s not going to be as powerful as a moped or anything, and you risk having it stolen off your bike, but they exist.

The Facebook feed is an advanced algorithm that knows a shit ton about what to feed you to keep you engaged. It’s not just the cookies from sites you visit. They track what thumbnails get you to stop scrolling. They track the way a human eye moves and how far your thumb glides across the screen.

Point is, if it’s all scantily clad thirst traps, thats what gets your attention. If you see one, and you stop to take a screenshot for an article you’re writing about how it’s all thirst traps, then every third item will be another thirst trap.

Facebook doesn’t care if you want to see that content. Their goal is to keep your eyes on Facebook. If it makes you mad enough to comment, that’s engagement.

I didn’t read the whole article, so maybe the author addresses this, but what you see on Facebook is a funhouse reflection of your own interests.

I was hoping for a decentralized version of discord ever since they started requiring phone numbers.

It would be less expensive to simply trust everyone. Administering a numbering system and trying to prevent fraud costs more than the actual fraud it prevents, and does nothing to prevent the larger frauds.

It’s like having a chain on the pen at the bank, with a security guard watching the chain, and three managers making aure the secuirty guard is watching the chain all day, but the cash drawers are open and the three managers simply help themselves to as much cash as they like.

If you’re paying $1,000 a month for your car, you have money to burn, or you have a terrible driving record and your insurance is absurd. We have two cars, each with a monthly payment of less than $300, and our combined insurance is $450 and includes two life insurance policies.

There’s no way we could afford to move into the city. First, there are more jobs out here. Second, the public schools are so much better than in the city. Third, we have space for dogs, a garage with bikes, a fenced-in yard and a creek.

I lived in the city for 10 years, and I do miss it. I miss commuting on my bike. I miss being able to take the subway home after a night of drinking. I miss walking to the corner bodega for the best fucking potato salad anywhere.

But when we moved to the burbs, the rent was $1,600 a month for our two bedroom apartment. The exact same apartment is now $3,000 a month in rent, which is more than my mortgage payment for a 4 bed, 2.5 bath on 2 acres (bought in 2018, before rates went to absolute shit).

The point is, I can’t afford to move anywhere because the cost of living everywhere is too high. For us, it doesn’t make financial sense not to have a car.

Because that’s how they want it.

There are lots of reasons not to use ChatGPT (or any AI) but it’s silly to think the consumer subscribers cancelling their subscriptions will make a dent. The real money is in the enterprise contracts. They only have a paywall to set limits on the overhead.

Maybe you’re right, but I’d be more concerned with being hit by a car. The fact that it is “illegal” at a minimum means that cars won’t expect pedestrians, and I’m less concerned about having the right of way than I am about discovering the coefficient of friction for asphalt first-hand.

It could be made safe, but it isn’t currently safe (especially considering the shoulders are probably still snowbanks). More importantly, it is illegal because it isn’t safe and scraping up pedestrian smears off the highway is traumatic for the people thay have to do it. It was made illegal instead of being made safe.

I’ll also point out that this circuitous route is estimated to take an hour while in a car it takes 3 minutes. If they put in a sidewalk, a traffic light, and a crosswalk, you could walk from that hotel to the stadium and beat anyone driving because they still have to park. But that’s just that one hotel. I would bet money that if you made the area walkable, you would see more hotels and parking lots pop up.

They built the stadium surrounded by highways and off ramps without any sidewalks and hardly any traffic signals. It is encapsulated by unwalkable roads.

Here is what Google Maps suggests for walking.

I thought of this, too. My knee-jerk reaction was “you’re just learning this?” but then I remembered the 10,000. Thank you xkcd for making the world a better place, even if it’s only by helping me be a (slightly) better person.

You do that, and people will complain about the traffic.

The best way to reduce car crashes is to build public transit infrastructure.

But that’s about as likely as repaving all the roads to force drivers to slow down.

There are thick, uncrossable lines, and there are a lot of people who don’t mind crossing them. You cannot compromise with a bigot. You cannot find common ground with a person who would subjugate you, or someone who sees you as less than human.

We can have disagreements about many political issues, but when you are standing next to pedophiles, rapists, fascists, and bigots, you shouldn’t be surprised to be called a Nazi.

So the question becomes, what is the test of “purity”?

My parents took me to see doctors, who told them it was just growing pains and suggested I exercise more to lose weight. I saw three specialists and had a bunch of xrays before anyone noticed the shady spots on my cartilage. Osteochondritis Dissecans occurs in 15-30 people out of 100,000, and most of the primary care doctors I’ve had in my life had never heard of it.

I can’t blame my parents for that. I can blame them for a lot of things, but they did their best.

Knee pain. Everyone told me it was normal growing pains, until one little league coach notice I run weird. Queue years of doctors and specialists and tests and scans and surgeries, and now I’m a 40 something guy with advanced arthritis that could have been much much worse if left untreated.