Apparently you’re a modern horror story.

Yeah, good point. I can’t think of anything I had as a kid that would be drastically improved with modern batteries, but for sure cordless power tools are a big change. I have a cordless electric chainsaw - that wouldn’t have been feasible in the 70s.

Are batteries that much different? I was born in the early 60s, and the batteries my toys used seemed like the same AAA, AA, C, and D batteries we use mostly today. I think the key difference is that a lot of things take a lot less energy than they used to.

Not only do I not miss it, I’m relieved that it’s not here.

By “ravioli bowl,” do you mean it currently has ravioli in it? If so, put it in the microwave for increments of like 30 seconds.

Probably so

I’ve thought for many years that the first true cybernetics will be artificial eyes. If they can get self contained optic systems that fit into the eyeball space, it should be trivial to allow them to see a much wider spectrum, plus macro and telephoto. That would be cool. A computer interface for them would be awesome, but I’d have trust issues with that as well.

There’s a saying, something like “When you’re used to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” It’s the same with white folks who feel like it’s a big deal when there’s more than a token POC in something. It must be DEI, right?

I’m a straight, white, middle class male, but I’m fully aware that my life experience is much different from so many other peoples’. And I’ve never understood why some people feel like it takes away from them when someone else gets something, like the straight folks who feel like it takes away from straight marriage if gay folks can marry.

People are weird.

I always try to explain to people that the key is the last two letters: language model. An LLM is a model of what a conversation should look like. Ask it a question and it’s intended to give you a response that looks like the right kind of thing. So if you ask it for a mathematical proof, it will give you one, but unless the thing you’re asking has the same proof written the same way in lots of places online, what it gives you won’t be correct, and probably won’t actually make sense mathematically, but it will look like the right kind of thing.

So likewise, if you ask it for relationship advice, it’s going to give you something that looks legit, but you’re an idiot if you get your relationship advice from an LLM.

My first thought was “How is this a boomer thing, I see people of all ages doing this.”

Yes, because you’ll be too busy being infuriated by badly designed user interfaces that you realize could have so easily been better.

Heh, understandable. I’m one of the older Lemmy folks, I’d guess. I’m a software engineering manager for an aerospace company.

My wife and I moved into our first house together on Halloween, 1995, so that night we drank a bottle of champagne, watched Young Frankenstein, and handed out candy. Every year since then we’ve done the same thing to celebrate our anniversary of living together, though sometime a different movie. This year, we couldn’t find our DVD, so decided to stream it and found what you did. Apparently Disney bought it and for some reason decided not to make it available. Very frustrating.

That seems high, though I guess if they’re doing it in a state with high renewable energy, that’s what they’re using. It uses a crazy high amount of energy though.

I wonder what fraction of Bitcoin mining energy comes from renewable sources. I bet it’s teeny tiny.

This is a very cool and interesting list. Interesting enough to read from top to bottom, but in bite-sized chunks for people with limited time or short attention spans. Thanks for sharing!

The BBC and Reuters have both gone way, way downhill in recent years, but the concept is reasonably valid. AP and NPR are still good. Aljazeera is actually pretty decent for US news, though I’m not sure if that’s true for US news related to the middle east.

No, some whoppers end up with the inside not all whipped and crunchy, but a little chewy. They’re great.

Are you taking about those weird chewy ones? Because those are my favorites.

No one gives someone “a bunch” of gift cards - it seems like you’re racing to validate your dislike of them. And I’m going to feel weird if my sister invites me to get a massage with her, though I appreciated it when she gave me a prepaid one years ago.

Here’s another example. My brother barely makes ends meet, but he loves Starbucks. Of I give him $100 cash, is not going to move the needle for his cost of living, but it’s going to go to bills. Of I give him $100 on a Starbucks card, he’s going to treat himself a bunch of times to something he loves but can’t really afford.

The other thing about it is that cash usually gets interpreted as “I put no thought into what to get you,” while a gift card at least says you had something in mind.