TonyOstrich

Sure

Removed by mod

*than

I haven’t quite figured out how to put it into words but in my mind it seems like capitalism and Nazi Germany or the USSR share a core mechanism. A single death is a tragedy, but many deaths are a statistic. When a singular person does something bad they need to be punished. If a system does something bad, even if a singular person or group of people were directly responsible for setting up the system they do not receive the consequences.

It’s also the reason automated systems being used for making decisions that affect real human lives bother me so much right now. In a vacuum I don’t actually have a problem with them, but unless laws and regulations with teeth are put in place to hold those that implement them responsible for their mistakes then under our current system by definition they will only ever be used to maximize profits and minimize culpability.

Are you talking about ZeFrank? He is still putting that content out. Posted a video a couple of weeks ago.

Braveheart if we are talking the original season.

I genuinely wish I were an aro ace. I am generally able to draw a lot of satisfaction, enjoyment, and contentment from pursuing my hobbies and interests. Unfortunately I still have a very strong drive/desire for relations of all kinds with someone I find mentally and physically attractive. Unfortunately being on the spectrum makes things even more difficult than it already is for everyone in that regard. Such is life though, we all struggle with something.

I would add a caveat to your statement. It might not be just through a lawsuit but the threat of a lawsuit. A lawsuit will cost big money, but having a lawyer right the company a letter shouldn’t cost more than a couple of hundred bucks. Most people give up immediately and that’s what they are counting on. Worst case scenario is what? Tack a couple of hundred on to the thousands you will already owe? Basically a drop in a bucket.

Also, as scummy as the profession and some lawyers are, there are plenty who just want to do right by people. I have only paid a lawyer once, but I have talked to around half a dozen in my life time with questions about the law and some of the issues I was having. One or two probably spent at least a couple of hours on me over the course of a month or two when you factor in the initial 20-30 minute conversation, reading the documents I put together, and answering some of my follow up emails, and despite my insisting they charge me, they were insistent on not doing so.

(I suspect because in many of the situations what was happening to me was morally wrong, but legally more or less fine just barely grazing the gray area, and taking payment for their time could be construed as them acting as legal counsel as opposed to just answering some questions)

Some of these cases are so expensive. I am wanting a Super Micro CSE-836 style case to upgrade my NAS and I have an eBay alert I set a few years ago when I couldn’t quite justify spending the money. Turns out I should have because even used the prices are going up and up.

That’s easier said than done. I have a passport, but a lot of countries are still pretty hard to get a job in as a foreigner even with a skill set that is in demand. I have actually been looking for a while. It’s not easy.

How do I leave?

Living in the thick of it and that’s how I feel 😮‍💨.

Home Depot has trucks that can be rented for a similar price, lol.

Is… Is that a thing that actually happens?

More packaging waste though

That’s completely understandable.

I’m not sure if you are speaking generally, or to what I said specifically, but it may be worth adding a little bit more context for what I said originally. It is highly unlikely I would fall in love with an AI in the scenario I described above. It would more be about scratching an itch for certain kinds of interactions that I may not otherwise be able to have. I’m not sure it’s a perfect analogy, but it might be similar to the way I care about a character in a book or game, or maybe how I feel about a pet.

I think if we got to the point where an AI had human levels of general intelligence and emotion this conversation would be somewhat moot. The world would be so drastically different I don’t even know what kinds of assumptions to make about it to have a productive conversion about it.

I’m right there with you. I’m mildly on the spectrum, though functional enough that no one would assume it unless they really got to know me, and while I am capable of having a moderate amount of success in the initial stages of dating, compatibility and styles of communication always end up being the primary issue, and that’s not necessarily a failing on either party. The fact remains though that there does not seem to be many people out there that I am compatible with.

I am fortunate in that I am generally very content being alone and pursuing things that are of interest to me for very long periods of time (the only thing I really noticed during Covid lock downs was that my commute to work was faster, while my much more social partner at the time suffered a lot mental health wise). Despite that I am, unfortunately, still human and desire a certain amount of intimacy and connection with another person. I’m not sure if it will ever happen, but if you have seen the new Blade Runner movie, I could absolutely see myself with a “companion” like the holographic one the main character has in his apartment.

I’m based in the US and that’s where I used my Huawei phone until recently. OnePlus is among the manufacturers that still do IR blasters, and it looks like the OnePlus 12 has one and is easily purchased from their US store page.

As far as I can tell Samsung hasn’t released a phone with an IR blaster since 2015 either. Essentially, IR and Samsung hasn’t been a thing for a long time. If we are going by total volume then I would agree that the most common manufacturer in the US that has/had IR is Samsung. If we are going by new phones available today, then Samsung isn’t even in the conversation.

I’m not entirely sure what this comment is in relation to yours, I don’t think I disagree with you, I think I’m just adding some context or nuance.

IR blasters are very common on Chinese brand phones even today. It’s easily the feature I miss most from my Huawei.

Not just that, but they are actively hostile and hypocritical about it. Every 1-3 months they prevent RCS from working on rooted phones or phones running alternate ROMs. The fact that they spent so much time complaining that Apple wouldn’t comply with the “open” standard while limiting users’ options on their own platform is very frustrating.