Daily Tech News 10 May 2025

Top Story

A lithium deposit valued at $1.5 trillion has been discovered in Oregon. (Earth)

Well, that's Portland sorted out.

Tech News

Mexico has sued Google over naming the Gulf of America the Gulf of America on American maps after the American government voted to name it the Gulf of America. (The Guardian)

Yes, that's sure to work.
A Florida state bill requiring backdoors for minors' social media accounts has quietly died... But not before passing the state Senate. (Tech Crunch)
Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation called the bill "dangerous and dumb." Security professionals have long argued that it is impossible to create a secure backdoor that cannot also be maliciously abused, and encryption backdoors put user data at risk of data breaches.
State legislatures tend to be dangerous and dumb. Sometimes their worst instincts are restrained. Sometimes you get California.
What's new in Swift 6.2? (Hacking with Swift)

Things. I haven't really looked at Swift since I tested it against the PyPy Python compiler and found it about 0% faster.
AI use damages professional reputation. (Ars Technica)

As it should.

Musical Interlude

Song is Lone Digger by Caravan Palace. Anime is various.

Disclaimer: To be fair anime is usually various.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 w00t

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 04:30 AM (CQE5S)

2 The problem

Posted by: Ciampino - My protons are all new at May 10, 2025 04:31 AM (sPQoU)

3 Indeed.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at May 10, 2025 04:32 AM (BLOW1)

4 AI use damages professional reputation. (Ars Technica) ... As it should.

I haven't read the article yet, but if a writer uses AI like a writer uses a dictionary, say, there could be virtually (ha) no trace of its influence and all should be well.

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 04:34 AM (CQE5S)

5 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at May 10, 2025 04:35 AM (6PUpl)

6 4
Agreed but people are lazy and eventually it will be reduced to CTRL-C, CTRL-V.

Posted by: Ciampino - My protons are all newer at May 10, 2025 04:36 AM (sPQoU)

7 Song is Lone Digger by Caravan Palace. Anime is various.

Cool. (heh)

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 04:39 AM (CQE5S)

8 What about people who use google? Did they study what people thought of those who used google to help them fix a computer instead of just "knowing" the answer? The AI study is probably significant but like millions of other shitty stupid studies, only tells half a story.

Also people's perceptions are notoriously dumb so telling me what people think about something tells me practically less than nothing. So of course now it's perceived as "lazy" but in less than five years everyone who works near a computer will likely be required to use AI.

Posted by: ... at May 10, 2025 04:41 AM (E0p3T)

9 Mornin' Horde.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at May 10, 2025 04:42 AM (O7YUW)

10 8 What about people who use google? Did they study what people thought of those who used google to help them fix a computer instead of just "knowing" the answer? The AI study is probably significant but like millions of other shitty stupid studies, only tells half a story.

Also people's perceptions are notoriously dumb so telling me what people think about something tells me practically less than nothing. So of course now it's perceived as "lazy" but in less than five years everyone who works near a computer will likely be required to use AI.
Posted by: ... at May 10, 2025 04:41 AM (E0p3T)

Good morning, Sunshine!

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 04:43 AM (CQE5S)

11 "Last week Santa Cruz enacted a tax on sodas, ice teas and other beverages with added sugar. Voters approved the 2-cent-per-ounce tax in November."

Puritanical progressive sin tax.

Posted by: 13times at May 10, 2025 04:44 AM (GHi7c)

12 Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 04:43 AM (CQE5S)

Hey!!!

Posted by: ... at May 10, 2025 04:45 AM (E0p3T)

13 "A lithium deposit valued at $1.5 trillion has been discovered in Oregon." (Earth)

Oregonians outlawed mining. (lol)

Posted by: 13times at May 10, 2025 04:50 AM (GHi7c)

14 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2025 04:51 AM (ypFCm)

15 11 "Last week Santa Cruz enacted a tax on sodas, ice teas and other beverages with added sugar. Voters approved the 2-cent-per-ounce tax in November."

Puritanical progressive sin tax.

Posted by: 13times at May 10, 2025 04:44 AM (GHi7c)
----
For what is that tax money earmarked?

Posted by: Ciampino - My protons are all newest at May 10, 2025 04:52 AM (sPQoU)

16
For what is that tax money earmarked?
Posted by: Ciampino - My protons are all newest at May 10, 2025 04:52 AM (sPQoU)

Free needle exchange.

Posted by: 13times at May 10, 2025 04:54 AM (GHi7c)

17 Monday have to finish job was on last week but then Tuesday it's going to night work for two weeks

Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2025 04:55 AM (ypFCm)

18 Did you all see the launch a little while ago?
Here's one more for tonight:
\SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Starlink 6-83
SLC-40 - Cape Canaveral SFS - Space Affairs LiveLaunch
Date: May 11, 2025
Launch Time: 12:24 a.m. EDT, 0424 UTC, 06:24 CEST

https://www.youtube.com/live/bWdacZ2nDVM

Posted by: Ciampino - Spaceports are busy at May 10, 2025 04:55 AM (sPQoU)

19 "Their findings, presented in a paper titled "Evidence of a social evaluation penalty for using AI," reveal a consistent pattern of bias against those who receive help from AI. "

-

Now that would be interesting. By increasing DEI type hiring after banning criticism, this is likely a natural outlet to express the unspeakable.

This is extremely good news. It's already predictably destroying the absurdly low academic rigors and expectations involved in college education. We don't want or need real world applications of the same.

Imagine if all it takes to collapse a trillion dollars industry is coworkers smirking while shaking their heads.

Posted by: Boron Quidquid - Nose rings and tattoos show that her trauma is her personality at May 10, 2025 04:59 AM (EGr8c)

20 Gulf of America -or- Americn Gulf.
Whatever. Either makes more sense than Gulf of Mexico.
It is the biggest gulf in the Americas.

Throw in a carrot - that gulf over on the west coast... at Baja... Rename it the Gulf of Mexico.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at May 10, 2025 05:00 AM (/lPRQ)

21 The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, or the Vermilion Sea.

Posted by: 13times at May 10, 2025 05:09 AM (GHi7c)

22 Good morning, good people, from the Adirondacks where it is a raw, chilly, wet early spring day more suited to be spent in front of a fireplace than any place else.

So may all your efforts result in maximal benefit in all instances and corresponding heartburn for the leftwit fungal entities who befoul these environs.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at May 10, 2025 05:13 AM (hKoQL)

23
For what is that tax money earmarked?
Posted by: Ciampino - My protons are all newest at May 10, 2025 04:52 AM (sPQoU)

___________

The pockets of the administrators of the tax.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 05:26 AM (QnmlO)

24 from the Ars Technica article:

In the first experiment conducted by the team from Duke, participants imagined using either an AI tool or a dashboard creation tool at work.

*imagined*

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 05:30 AM (CQE5S)

25 this is kinda fun, though:

From Plato questioning whether writing would undermine wisdom, to modern debates about calculators in education, people have long worried that labor-saving tools might reflect poorly on users' abilities.

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 05:33 AM (CQE5S)

26 huh

AI may create 170 million new positions globally while eliminating 92 million jobs

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 05:35 AM (CQE5S)

27 Set aside that AI presently tends to be dumb, biased, and hallucinatory, its use is a kind of substitute for thinking. If you rely on the calculator on your phone to do simple math, you'll find your simple math skills deteriorate. Same principle with AI. If they ever manage to get AI to be less retarded than it is, we'll be retards.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 10, 2025 05:37 AM (xzkgE)

28 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 05:37 AM (AN2gy)

29 >>> AI may create 170 million new positions globally while eliminating 92 million jobs

10 million programmers and 160 million to clean up after AI

Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 05:39 AM (AN2gy)

30 Lovely song based on the "Our Father":

https://tinyurl.com/mty4xyzr

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 05:45 AM (Wlnrr)

31 Mine it all, all at once. Every last atom. Get top dollar for all of it. That'll fund the state government for... what? A year and a half?

And then you'll have a nice big hole in the ground.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at May 10, 2025 05:47 AM (yvnLa)

32 "Last week Santa Cruz enacted a tax on sodas, ice teas and other beverages with added sugar. Voters approved the 2-cent-per-ounce tax in November."

Convenience stores over the city line will thrive.

New England is physically small, so it is easy to drive to a nearby state. New Hampshire has several retail hubs near the Massachusetts state line, fed by people avoiding sales tax and paying lower tobacco and alcohol tax.

What I still can't fathom is that Massachusetts does this in reverse near Connecticut.

Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 05:47 AM (AN2gy)

33 Kind drivers allow women to stop traffic to save dog on freeway:

https://tinyurl.com/rbknsw6j

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 05:48 AM (Wlnrr)

34 >>> From Plato questioning whether writing would undermine wisdom

Recently I pondered the notion that writing was invented for people with poor memories.

Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 05:49 AM (AN2gy)

35 this is kinda fun, though:

From Plato questioning whether writing would undermine wisdom, to modern debates about calculators in education, people have long worried that labor-saving tools might reflect poorly on users' abilities.
-

I'd submit that 80% of the concerns have been correct and borne out.

Jokes about autocorrect and cashiers struggling to make change abouund here, and we're not a terribly low IQ hangout even if you allow me to post here.

(goes to get ChatGPT to rewrite this in order to improve the overall readability and formatting)

Posted by: Boron Quidquid - Nose rings and tattoos show that her trauma is her personality at May 10, 2025 05:52 AM (EGr8c)

36
I tried for the first time an AI function on my patent platform to generate some results around a query. Almost everything it gave me was junk. I could have generated much better focused junk myself.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 05:53 AM (QnmlO)

37 32 ... people avoiding sales tax and paying lower tobacco and alcohol tax
Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 05:47 AM (AN2gy)

"sin" tax

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 05:53 AM (CQE5S)

38 I just thought this was a wonderful story about a woman memorizing Scripture:

https://tinyurl.com/5n6z8wrn

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 05:53 AM (Wlnrr)

39 35 we're not a terribly low IQ hangout even if you allow me to post here

(goes to get ChatGPT to rewrite this in order to improve the overall readability and formatting)
Posted by: Boron Quidquid - Nose rings and tattoos show that her trauma is her personality at May 10, 2025 05:52 AM (EGr8c)

-->we're not a terribly low IQ hangout if you allow even me to post here

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 05:54 AM (CQE5S)

40 "sin" tax

Exactly. And yet, state governments are addicted to it.

Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 05:56 AM (AN2gy)

41 or maybe

-->we're not a terribly low IQ hangout (even if you allow me to post here)

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 05:57 AM (CQE5S)

42 AI is kind of like an assembly line robot for the laptop class.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at May 10, 2025 05:57 AM (yvnLa)

43 I think it must be AI designing these stupid roundabouts and AI is laughing behind our backs.

mornin yall

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 05:58 AM (vFG9F)

44 On yesterday's tech thread I mentioned a yellow oriole.

Mrs fluffy and I consulted the Peterson's Field Guide and decided that it is likely an immature orchard oriole.

Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 05:59 AM (AN2gy)

45 Man on crutches is helped out by kindness of teens:

https://tinyurl.com/bdy5nmcw

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 06:00 AM (Wlnrr)

46 Good morning morons

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:03 AM (RIvkX)

47 Didn't Philadelphia or does have a tax on soda. So you drive a few blocks outside of the city limit and pay nothing. Not great for business in the city, but for politicians, every dollar counts for their pockets.

Posted by: Coliin at May 10, 2025 06:03 AM (wlQdF)

48 Well I rented a sod cutter and a tiller to put in a new garden this weekend. And it rained the whole last week.

So either i'll have the underpinnings of a lovely new garden, or a brand new mud pit for the dog to wallow in.

Win-win.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at May 10, 2025 06:04 AM (yvnLa)

49 Orchard orioles are beautiful birds:

https://tinyurl.com/mpsv8vr6

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 06:04 AM (SzczT)

50 Evening and morning, insomaniacals, late toilers, and early risers! 'Tis Saturday at last. After a long day Friday of steady, soaking rain, it's 67 F. Amazin' for this time of year here.

Haircut today (all of them), and tonight Miss Linda is dragging me to a "Champagne Stroll" along an uptown shopping district. Many of the shops stay open late, and many offer libations and crackers & cheese, so it's a free snack session with a little exercise mixed in.

Today I'll stop at World Market and get her a nice candle, card, and bag of flavored coffee for Mother's Day. (She is my cats' de facto "mom," after all.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:05 AM (omVj0)

51 47 Didn't Philadelphia or does have a tax on soda. So you drive a few blocks outside of the city limit and pay nothing. Not great for business in the city, but for politicians, every dollar counts for their pockets.
Posted by: Coliin at May 10, 2025 06:03 AM (wlQdF)

They also have a five-finger discount city ordinance in effect, so it doesn't matter anyway.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at May 10, 2025 06:05 AM (yvnLa)

52
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at May 10, 2025 06:08 AM (tljrc)

53 I use ai pretty much all day now. Nobody gives a sh*t if you are using ai and getting the job done.

And getting the job done is all that matters.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2025 06:08 AM (XV/Pl)

54 53 I use ai pretty much all day now. Nobody gives a sh*t if you are using ai and getting the job done.

And getting the job done is all that matters.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2025 06:08 AM (XV/Pl)

Bingo.

It's just a robot. Make it do what you need it to do.

Automation is not autonomy.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at May 10, 2025 06:09 AM (yvnLa)

55 I got some bad news yesterday. The checks that were supposed to go into my mutual funds account got sent back (by US Mail!) because they did not have the proper account on them. Nobody informed me that there was a problem until yesterday. The company, TIAA, that held the funds originally never told me the checks *had* to be mailed -- I thought everybody in that world used direct deposit/wiring. I hope i've gotten it all straightened out . . . but now I won't see those funds and my first payment for another month.

I tried to get this retirement thing right the first and only time. Should have started working on it in February, I guess.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:10 AM (omVj0)

56 What I still can't fathom is that Massachusetts does this in reverse near Connecticut.
Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 05:47 AM (AN2gy)
====

When I lived in Syracuse I saw Canadians in the parking lot of the Carousel mall dressing in the new clothes they had just bought. They wore the clothes as they drove back over the border to avoid the import duty.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:11 AM (RIvkX)

57
I hope i've gotten it all straightened out . . . but now I won't see those funds and my first payment for another month.

*sends Wolfus some cat food*

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:13 AM (QnmlO)

58 We've had a "soda" tax here for years.

Genius leftwing social engineering gone awry

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:13 AM (RIvkX)

59 Soda is pretty much the bottom rung of the inner city food pyramid.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at May 10, 2025 06:14 AM (yvnLa)

60 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:05 AM (omVj0

That's very sweet!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 06:14 AM (42Vb+)

61 When I lived in Syracuse I saw Canadians in the parking lot of the Carousel mall dressing in the new clothes they had just bought. They wore the clothes as they drove back over the border to avoid the import duty.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025

***
Back when I was considering living in eastern S. Dakota, I found the state does not allow tobacco purchases to be mailed in. My plan: purchase a P.O. Box just over the line in MN and make a weekly drive to pick up my illicit mail.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:16 AM (omVj0)

62 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at May 10, 2025 06:17 AM (hoCmQ)

63 @54

>>It's just a robot. Make it do what you need it to do.

Pretty much, I even talk nice to it.

Although that’s frowned upon by the ai companies because wasted computing power on courtesies.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2025 06:18 AM (XV/Pl)

64 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at May 10, 2025 06:19 AM (dg+HA)

65 I hope i've gotten it all straightened out . . . but now I won't see those funds and my first payment for another month.

*sends Wolfus some cat food*
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025

***
Stirling and Dagny appreciate that! It's not that bad. Yesterday I did a rough calc of my usual expenses, and even without the extra payment I'd only be spending about 70% of my income in a month. Assuming I have no car, health, or cat emergencies, that is.

It does mean, I guess, that I have to put off my road trip and recon of IN and KY until June. Which I hate, as the weather is hotter and there will be more vacationers on the roads.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:19 AM (omVj0)

66 That’s true in a basic sense. AI is a tool created by humans, like a robot or a calculator. But dismissing it as just a robot overlooks how powerful and impactful it can be. AI is designed to analyze, learn, and assist in ways that can solve real problems, from diagnosing diseases faster to helping people communicate across languages. Like any tool, it depends on how it's used. The real question isn't whether it's 'just a robot,' but how responsibly and ethically we’re choosing to use it.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:19 AM (g7exq)

67 "wasted computing power on courtesies.
Posted by: Thomas Bender "

Being rude to AI saves electricity? I gotta try this.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:20 AM (vFG9F)

68 "AI is a tool created by humans, like a robot or a calculator."

I don't ever feel the need to cross check my calculator.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:21 AM (vFG9F)

69 56 When I lived in Syracuse I saw Canadians in the parking lot of the Carousel mall dressing in the new clothes they had just bought.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:11 AM (RIvkX)

I saw Canadians in the parking lot of the Carousel mall headlining at Caesar's Superdome in '75.

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 06:21 AM (CQE5S)

70
Now streaming the Symphony No. 5 of Bruckner, with Claudio Abbado conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.

That spot in my playlist had been occupied by the Karajan/BPO recording, but at 80 minutes it's too slow (though not as slow as Celibidache's 8

. So I thought I'd try something less monumental, though not as brisk as Neeme Järvi's (at 62 minutes). Ormandy, Poschner and Abbado all clock in at 71-72 minutes, and I chose the last.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:22 AM (QnmlO)

71 Anyway! Some coffee and a mild morning pipe, breakfast and a shave, and I'll have a brighter outlook. Here's hoping that your Saturdays will be as shining and bright.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:23 AM (omVj0)

72 68 "AI is a tool created by humans, like a robot or a calculator."

I don't ever feel the need to cross check my calculator.
Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:21 AM (vFG9F)

I do, but it's my entering of the numbers I'm doublechecking, not the calculator's processing of them.

Posted by: m at May 10, 2025 06:25 AM (CQE5S)

73 Little Dagny the Aloof is here with me on the couch. Not right next to me, but on the cushion to my right. Apparently the flea treatment and bombing of the place helped her. She's going to the shop for a checkup on Wednesday anyway -- she's been too withdrawn for the last month or so. Possibly because she felt poorly because of the fleas, or so I hope.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:26 AM (omVj0)

74 "I do, but it's my entering of the numbers I'm doublechecking, not the calculator's processing of them.
Posted by: m"

GIGO. It applies to so many things nowadays.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:27 AM (vFG9F)

75 2 cents per ounce is chump change.

They just want you to know that they got you by the balls.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at May 10, 2025 06:28 AM (ZmEVT)

76 Wow.

"Nicole Campau-Rocha was driving southbound in her SUV when she spotted a dog stranded in traffic. Without hesitation, she stopped in the fast lane and crossed all three lanes of the busy freeway to reach the frightened animal on the opposite side."

It would be interesting to know if there were any rear-endings, ambulances or law enforcement en route, children going to spend a few precious final minutes saying goodbye to a dying parent, etc. in the traffic.

We are witnessing the end result of so many things all at once. Yes it sucks for a dog to get hit by a car, but that's still just a dog and you, ma'am, slammed on the brakes in the fast lane of a six lane freeway. For a stray dog.

They're not fur babies. They're not children. They don't belong in the grocery store with you.

Not too long ago dogs were family pets. Now they're replacement families/children, common with single people and being kept in apartments.

We're watching broken (ahem) people reacting predictably to being taught that dogs are a half-step below children.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:29 AM (g7exq)

77 Experts have determined that humans are the cause of alligator attacks on humans.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:30 AM (vFG9F)

78 If I’m not mistaken the soda tax was invented in NYC during the Bloomberg administration in an effort to stop obesity.

That was close to a decade ago, so I’m assuming that the denizens of New York are the thinnest people in the country by now.

Yet, just the other day I see a photo of a new statue in Times Square of a 12 foot tall overweight black woman.

So apparently it’s ok to be chubby in NYC again, it you’re still going to pay extra for that 32 oz. Big Gulp.

About all that sin taxes accomplish is raising taxes on poor people.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 06:30 AM (6ydKt)

79 Being rude to AI saves electricity? I gotta try this.

-

I've mentioned it before but hey what's new?

There's a concerted effort to persistently "teach" AI that 2+2 = 5 in order to remove the ability for it to be trusted on calculations, and I love it.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:32 AM (g7exq)

80 77 Experts have determined that humans are the cause of alligator attacks on humans.
Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:30 AM (vFG9F)

Yes.

Posted by: expert who is totally not an alligator at May 10, 2025 06:32 AM (xzkgE)

81 We also pay a 5 cent tax on every container, so add thirty cents to your six-pack for that.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:33 AM (RIvkX)

82 . . . Yes it sucks for a dog to get hit by a car, but that's still just a dog and you, ma'am, slammed on the brakes in the fast lane of a six lane freeway. For a stray dog. . . .

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025

***
She couldn't have maneuvered over to the far right, parked on the shoulder, and run back for the dog? Of course, at 70 mph or more, you'd be two miles beyond the dog by the time you got to the shoulder. Still doesn't excuse the dead stop on a freeway. And she could have been killed running across, too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:34 AM (omVj0)

83 I take it Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan, guess we will see if he has any pull on the standings

Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2025 06:34 AM (ypFCm)

84
We also pay a 5 cent tax on every container, so add thirty cents to your six-pack for that.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:33 AM (RIvkX)

Well, I can understand my taxes going to roads, police and water. I pay so the government can do something for me. But what value add comes from slapping a tax on drinks?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:36 AM (QnmlO)

85 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:37 AM (u82oZ)

86 83 I take it Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan, guess we will see if he has any pull on the standings
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2025 06:34 AM (ypFCm)

You’d think with the pope as a fan the White Sox would have a chance to win the World Series sometime this century.

But I wouldn’t bet any real money on it.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 06:37 AM (6ydKt)

87 @67

>>Being rude to AI saves electricity? I gotta try this.

Being rude would actually use more computing because the ai is trained to be cordial and demur.

What they want is for you to say nothing.

Don't thank the AI, just go about your day.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at May 10, 2025 06:38 AM (XV/Pl)

88 Yesterday a story appeared stating that the new Pope has links to Noo Awlins. His Creole grandparents lived in da Seventh Ward (an area you don't want to go into even in daylight now). Their house was demolished in the early '60s for the I-10. They'd been long gone by then -- they moved to Chicago in 1912.

What got me: Our local media stated in the story that their last known address was "on South Peters in the French Quarter" -- a street that is NOT and never has been located in the Quarter. North Peters is -- on the edge, not legally in the Quarter -- but not South.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 06:39 AM (omVj0)

89 (ponders making a sock or choosing a day that all responses are ONLY generated by ChatGPT)

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:40 AM (g7exq)

90
You’d think with the pope as a fan the White Sox would have a chance to win the World Series sometime this century.

But I wouldn’t bet any real money on it.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 06:37 AM (6ydKt)

I think the White Sox had been trying but things fell apart. They're not like the Pittsburgh Pirates, which arrange things so they make a profit but don't even seek to be competitive because it might cost money.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:41 AM (QnmlO)

91 >>> Orchard orioles are beautiful birds:
https://tinyurl.com/mpsv8vr6

Fen, four clicks to the right looks like what we have been seeing.

Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 06:41 AM (AN2gy)

92 Well, I can understand my taxes going to roads, police and water. I pay so the government can do something for me. But what value add comes from slapping a tax on drinks?
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:36 AM (QnmlO)
=====

Here's how it works:
We buy soda in cans and bottles, pay 5 cent tax
Drink soda, throw can into recycle bin
Put recycle bin out for pickup
Gangsters come down the street and empty everyone's recycling bins the night before pickup
Gangsters collect 5 cent bounty per container
Recycling program goes bust
Profit!

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:41 AM (RIvkX)

93 I think everybody needs to contact the dog rescuer and chew her out. 😉

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 06:42 AM (Rnx7g)

94 Are the aspartame drinks taxed?

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 06:42 AM (OzWW4)

95 "Our local media stated in the story that their last known address was "on South Peters in the French Quarter"

If they can't get a simple thing like that right why should we believe anything they say?

Our local "newspaper" is infested with stuff like this. I think they must be using AS.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:42 AM (vFG9F)

96 Posted by: fluffy at May 10, 2025 06:41 AM (AN2gy

Lovely! Thanks

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 06:43 AM (Rnx7g)

97 83 I take it Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan, guess we will see if he has any pull on the standings
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2025 06:34 AM (ypFCm)

You’d think with the pope as a fan the White Sox would have a chance to win the World Series sometime this century.

But I wouldn’t bet any real money on it.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 06:37 AM (6ydKt)

I think the real issue is: Is God a White Sox fan? Evidence so far points to , no.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at May 10, 2025 06:43 AM (pJWtt)

98 I think everybody needs to contact the dog rescuer and chew her out.

-

Or better yet use it as a lesson to teach our sons and daughters the correct thing to do and what is appropriate in a functioning society. That is almost always the proper response.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:44 AM (g7exq)

99 But what value add comes from slapping a tax on drinks?
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:36 AM (QnmlO)

—

The value of taxes is always added bureaucracy and politicians.

Somebody has to pay for these people’s salaries and pensions.

Isn’t their benevolent guidance of us ignorant laymen value enough?

How would we survive without their constant shepherding of errant secular flocks?

Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 06:44 AM (6ydKt)

100 The Lone Digger video with the cats is better

Posted by: alex at May 10, 2025 06:44 AM (llzAX)

101
I think we've learned enough from the last couple of months to know now that the "humanitarianism" of the Left consists of taxing you a dollar, giving a nickel to the poor (or "poor") and keeping 95 cents for themselves.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:45 AM (QnmlO)

102 Wow- great musical interlude choice! So creative.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 10, 2025 06:45 AM (0aOmD)

103 >I think the real issue is: Is God a White Sox fan? Evidence so far points to , no.
---

God roots for the Angels

Posted by: Savage Henry at May 10, 2025 06:46 AM (AOsQT)

104 He seems to be a Yankees fan.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 06:47 AM (OzWW4)

105

I wish Jill would peg me more often, but she's usually too busy screaming at the maids who failed to call her 'doctor' or getting air tight with those 3 nice negro lawn jockeys to spend time with me...

Posted by: Joey Bidet, Crack SBD Pilot at May 10, 2025 06:48 AM (X2IJu)

106 In local news, Olympia Laster, 43, was charged with aggravated battery in the May 6 attack on her boyfriend at an extended-stay hotel after she threw a pot of hot chicken grease on him.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:48 AM (vFG9F)

107 Todays WSJ reports Big Rich Left fears the Trump administration will build on their efforts to make Harvard (and education generally) better by next attacking large Marxist "foundations" like Ford, Rockefeller, MacArthur etc.

Never in my life have I been so glad I voted for someone.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 10, 2025 06:49 AM (0aOmD)

108 Progress report.

A single official Death Certificate arrived yesterday. I need 4 more, which will arrive next week.

With this I can move a local bank account oof my wife's to my Navy Federal Credit Union account. Which has been hard hit paying the property tax due yesterday.

Question. If taxes never go down, is that government or a cancer?

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:49 AM (u82oZ)

109 Why are those genocidal Indians forcing the Pakis into an open-air prison??
-random Columbia student

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:49 AM (RIvkX)

110 Huck Follywood

I like this new good news. Huzzah!

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:49 AM (u82oZ)

111 God roots for the Angels
Posted by: Savage Henry at May 10, 2025 06:46 AM (AOsQT)
------
Ah! So he's the one!

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 10, 2025 06:50 AM (0aOmD)

112 after she threw a pot of hot chicken grease on him.

-

Oh man. I don't care who you are, that's a terrible thing to do to / to have happen to a human being.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:50 AM (g7exq)

113 Could they have the common courtesy to have a live feed for the H1B War?

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 06:51 AM (OzWW4)

114 fd

Who among us has a pot of hot chicken grease in an extended-stay kitchen? Not me.

Book her Danno. Attempted murder.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:51 AM (u82oZ)

115
Question. If taxes never go down, is that government or a cancer?
Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:49 AM (u82oZ)

Property taxes: proof that the government actually owns your land.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:52 AM (QnmlO)

116 "Oh man. I don't care who you are, that's a terrible thing to do to / to have happen to a human being.
Posted by: Boron Cobbie"

A fowl deed, indeed.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:53 AM (vFG9F)

117 Income sales inheritance. Just not much on capital gains.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 06:53 AM (OzWW4)

118 Salty I hope you're getting help dealing with all the paperwork, sounds like a pain.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:54 AM (RIvkX)

119 Hadrian the Seventh

I am somehow insufficiently cynical. I am going with cancer.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:54 AM (u82oZ)

120 Who among us has a pot of hot chicken grease in an extended-stay kitchen? Not me.

-

I've begun to accept that this is the difference between sub $120/night hotel rooms and $120+/night hotel rooms.

The sub ones often have permanent residents.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:54 AM (g7exq)

121 San Franpsycho

Dealing with AT&T is like trying to reason with one of your drug-addled homeless panhandlers.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:55 AM (u82oZ)

122
A fowl deed, indeed.
Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 06:53 AM (vFG9F)

He gave her lip and she gave him lipid.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 06:55 AM (QnmlO)

123 Here's how it works:
We buy soda in cans and bottles, pay 5 cent tax
Drink soda, throw can into recycle bin
Put recycle bin out for pickup
Gangsters come down the street and empty everyone's recycling bins the night before pickup
Gangsters collect 5 cent bounty per container
Recycling program goes bust
Profit!
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:41 AM (RIvkX)

—

And people used to complain about the 5 cents (10 cents in somewhere like Michigan, from what I heard?) per glass bottle as a deposit, in order to get people to bring back the empties.

That was all being phased out when I was a kid as things moved to aluminum cans and plastic bottles.

Even by then, nobody worried about the bottle deposit in the few places that still sold soda in glass bottles. I don’t think I ever returned one myself.

I still seem to recall that Coke tasted better coming out of glass, or maybe it’s because they weren’t using corn syrup as sweetener yet?

Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 06:56 AM (6ydKt)

124 Those extended stays often draw riffraff.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 06:56 AM (OzWW4)

125 Why are they pushing an obviously decrepit demented pervert out there?

He is their economic engine. Their money spigot. The cruel avarice of these people is boundless.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 06:56 AM (RIvkX)

126 Dealing with AT&T is like trying to reason with one of your drug-addled homeless panhandlers.
Posted by: NaCly Dog

-

"Sorry, we're short-staffed today, one of our staff apparently got in some trouble at her extended stay motel."

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:56 AM (g7exq)

127 (lays $100 on table)

I bet she claims domestic violence and she's the victim.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 06:57 AM (g7exq)

128 114
"Hooray, hooray for the 6th of May
Chicken fat canning begins today!"

Just an old Mad Magazine rhyme from 6+ decades ago I just remembered. Anniversaries, birthdays, due dates are sometimes a struggle, but this crap floats around in the head.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at May 10, 2025 06:58 AM (gm9Sb)

129 Question. If taxes never go down, is that government or a cancer?
Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:49 AM (u82oZ)

Nothing is certain but death and taxes.
- Ben Franklin

He should have added the word “increasing” after the “and”.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 06:58 AM (6ydKt)

130 He probably smoked the rest of the meth.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 06:59 AM (OzWW4)

131 San Franpsycho

Well, where could we put all your homeless?

I wrote a short story where all West Coast homeless were moved to Ukraine. They were marched at bayonet point to find out where the Russian front lines strongpoints were. So win-win.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 07:00 AM (u82oZ)

132 130 Patel will hold the key/towel/remote control deposit until they get that mess cleaned up.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at May 10, 2025 07:01 AM (gm9Sb)

133 Or she was late for her job at Frontier Airlines

https://tinyurl.com/3wnazyrf

Worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet. Never, ever fly Frontier or Spirit.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 07:03 AM (g7exq)

134 SpeakingOf

We could have a prosperous, inventive, business-forming, self-reliant population for a lot less in taxes. Note the Oxford Comma.

Higher taxes makes for a dependent, passive, slave society. Which is the plan.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 07:03 AM (u82oZ)

135 Pretty much all Pakistanis in the hospitality industry are named Patel.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:03 AM (OzWW4)

136 I take it Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan, guess we will see if he has any pull on the standings
Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2025 06:34

i don't know Skip, I've read where he's a Cubs fan.

Posted by: Farmer, with his own historical take at May 10, 2025 07:03 AM (55Qr6)

137 136 One would think the entire conclave would be St Louis fans.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at May 10, 2025 07:05 AM (gm9Sb)

138 Sometimes I want to run a moron contest.

On my morning walk today,
How many bodies did I step over?
How many piles of crap did I step over?
How many piles of trash did I walk by?

Price is Right rules apply of course.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 07:05 AM (RIvkX)

139 Skip

The Pope has no pull with the big guy if he supports any Chicago based team. Because they rarely win.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 07:05 AM (u82oZ)

140 FBI deep staters are whining to their newspaper reporter propaganda pets that they don't like Patel, because he won't sit still and listen to them.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 10, 2025 07:06 AM (RC2c3)

141 Huck Follywood

Now Patel knows who to transfer to Adak, Alaska.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 07:07 AM (u82oZ)

142 Dealing with AT&T is like trying to reason with one of your drug-addled homeless panhandlers.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 06:55 AM (u82oZ)

—

Tell me about it.
I’ve been trying to send back a WiFi extender I rented from AT&T at $10 a month because the extender I purchased outright from AT&T several years back would “no longer be compatible with my router after a planned software update in April” - the thing worked fine but was made to not work by their own software.

So I hooked up the new one and even though it’s three times the size of the old one it doesn’t work as well, weaker signal.

I decided just to buy a set of TP-Link extenders and do it myself instead of paying AT&T $10 extra a month for worse WIFi.

Trying to send theirs back is proving impossible because you have to call a number and get an authorization to take it to UPS Store so they can send it back.

Turns out that the four-digit security code I have saved with all the other AT&T info/passwords, etc. is wrong, and I can’t get past that point in the automated system over the phone or talk to a real person to find out how to get past it.

It’s maddening.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 07:08 AM (6ydKt)

143 Have a great day, everyone.

May you be surrounded by happy, productive people with a song in their heart.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 07:08 AM (u82oZ)

144 I don't know about his political views ( and that's not really my interest since I'm not RC) but I like what Pope Leo said in his first Mass as Pope;

"Even today there is no shortage of contexts in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind man of charismatic leader or Superman, and this is not only among non believers, but among many baptized people who end up living at this level, in a de facto atheism."

As a fellow Christian, I appreciate these words.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 07:09 AM (1cykI)

145 Back from Vegas....Now the bars charge you for siting on a bar stool and playing VP. Not really, but a charge for water is now 10 dollars, mixed drink, what ever the market will bare. Vegas has gotten so expensive that the local Indian casino looks like a real bargain. Even if your registered in a hotel/casino you still pay the parking fee which has gotten very expensive. I remember free parking....long gone.

Posted by: Coliin at May 10, 2025 07:09 AM (wlQdF)

146 Why do we tax drinks that contain added sugar?

Because we can.

Posted by: The Gubmint at May 10, 2025 07:10 AM (dg+HA)

147 AT&T is one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. It's been like that for 29+ years.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 07:11 AM (vFG9F)

148 The Pope has no pull with the big guy if he supports any Chicago based team. Because they rarely win.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 07:05 AM (u82oZ)
----------
"Rarely" is, sadly, different from "never"

Posted by: The 2016 Cleveland Indians at May 10, 2025 07:11 AM (RC2c3)

149 Salty that's my point, Chicago teams are bad but maybe they start getting a few breaks here and there. No suggesting the World Series but maybe move up a few places in the standings.

Posted by: Skip at May 10, 2025 07:11 AM (ypFCm)

150 145 I guess the .99 steak and egg breakfast is off the menu.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at May 10, 2025 07:11 AM (gm9Sb)

151 Now Patel knows who to transfer to Adak, Alaska.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 10, 2025 07:07 AM (u82oZ)
------------
Adak sounds like the right choice, wherever that is.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 10, 2025 07:13 AM (RC2c3)

152 >AT&T is one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. It's been like that for 29+ years.
----

"Pikers."

-Comcast

Posted by: Savage Henry at May 10, 2025 07:13 AM (AOsQT)

153 In a private revelation God told me that He is a White Sox fan. But in His infinite Wisdom, He never puts His thumb on the scale of athletic competitions.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at May 10, 2025 07:14 AM (ZmEVT)

154 I wouldn't want to live in Alaska. Ruskies all over the lawn.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:15 AM (OzWW4)

155 I've heard Comcast is bad but they are not in this area and I don't have to deal with them. I suspect all big telecom companies are the same though, they don't care if you are pissed or not. What are you going to do?

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 07:16 AM (vFG9F)

156 What do you do? You switch to a different ISP and find out they are just as bad as the others.

Posted by: fd at May 10, 2025 07:18 AM (vFG9F)

157 Comcast will do whatever it takes to avoid talking with the customer.

Posted by: Savage Henry at May 10, 2025 07:19 AM (AOsQT)

158 *what ever the market will bare*

$20. Same as in Reno.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 10, 2025 07:19 AM (dg+HA)

159 Bare is like nekkid.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:20 AM (OzWW4)

160 "Comcast will do whatever it takes to avoid talking with the customer."

While you are waiting, we can chat. How is your day going?

Posted by: AI Chatbot at May 10, 2025 07:20 AM (vFG9F)

161 Reno is sad and awful and bleak.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 07:21 AM (RIvkX)

162 Memes:

Powerline - https://tinyurl.com/4tvndccc+
Sarah Hoyt - https://accordingtohoyt.com/ (the first one is particularly excellent)

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at May 10, 2025 07:22 AM (ExV1e)

163 I wen't to Reno once. I had fun with the el cheapo blackjack on Tuesdays. Mostly craps. It's better if you don't like Metropolises.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:23 AM (OzWW4)

164 A Hawaiian judge in San Francisco overruled the President yesterday and said he may not fire federal workers because "history" shows he may not.

I vote judges now must end their opinions with the Looney Tunes song clip and the words "that's all, folks!"

Posted by: Huck Follywood at May 10, 2025 07:23 AM (9C7ml)

165 The kicker is that to get the new WiFi extender from AT&T you only havd to click two buttons on their website.

But if you want to return the same item you have to call a phone number and talk to someone, I assume for the sole purposes of making it a PITA and giving the AT&T rep the opportunity to tal you out of it.

And I can’t even do that because of a security code that is necessary because far too many crooks in the world are stealing smartphones by ordering them through other people’s accounts or something.

It’s amazing how much harder life has to be the days because so many criminals take advantage of the system.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 07:24 AM (6ydKt)

166 161 Laughlin. Come for the Keno, stay for the biker shoot outs.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at May 10, 2025 07:24 AM (gm9Sb)

167 I only paid like $30 a night to stay at the Sands.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:24 AM (OzWW4)

168 Morning peeps.

Many years ago we were in Reno, over Thanksgiving, for a cheerleading event for our daughter.

Saddest Thanksgiving ever. And the city is filthy.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at May 10, 2025 07:24 AM (Q4IgG)

169 Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 10, 2025 07:05 AM (RIvkX

How do you feel about Steve Hilton- former Brit- running for Republican Governor of California.? I heard him on the radio yesterday. He sounds very smart and energetic.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at May 10, 2025 07:26 AM (1cykI)

170 I drand about 36 Black Russians one evening.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:26 AM (OzWW4)

171 I believe a lot of the big companies use AI assistants and complicated phone menus in order to discourage customers from even contacting the company. The customer can't cancel or complain if he can't get someone on the phone.

Posted by: Savage Henry at May 10, 2025 07:27 AM (AOsQT)

172 FWIW my experience with Starlink has been an absolute pleasure. No significant problems since dragging the equipment out of the box (without written instructions, just Lego-like images so anyone could install it). No significant downtime outside of a few gaps in the satellites every few days. Like the pretend Apple psy-op, it truly does "just work"

Absolutely outstanding overall if the slow by modern speeds can be tolerated.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 07:28 AM (g7exq)

173 I only paid like $30 a night to stay at the Sands.
Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025

***
How was the show with the Rat Pack?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 10, 2025 07:28 AM (omVj0)

174
Saddest Thanksgiving ever. And the city is filthy.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at May 10, 2025 07:24 AM (Q4IgG)

"Just before you get to hell, you see Sparks."

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 07:29 AM (QnmlO)

175 Would you like to take a brief survey when this chat is complete?

Posted by: AI Chatbot at May 10, 2025 07:30 AM (vFG9F)

176 I believe a lot of the big companies use AI assistants and complicated phone menus in order to discourage customers from even contacting the company. The customer can't cancel or complain if he can't get someone on the phone.
Posted by: Savage Henry

-

I'm certain I had an AI chatbot in what was supposed to be a human chat the other day with Amazon. A quick search revealed that they had started incorporating it.

It was bizarre and frustrating, even more so than the normal interactions with Hassad and Raseek, and I'm certain it's where they're all headed.

The funniest part was it giving me an unmonitored Amazon email address at the end if I needed additional help.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 07:30 AM (g7exq)

177 It was 2005. Sunday through Thursdsy was $30. Friday and Saturday was more.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:31 AM (OzWW4)

178 If it will help, you may call me "Raj".

Posted by: AI Chatbot at May 10, 2025 07:31 AM (vFG9F)

179 I believe a lot of the big companies use AI assistants and complicated phone menus in order to discourage customers from even contacting the company. The customer can't cancel or complain if he can't get someone on the phone.
Posted by: Savage Henry at May 10, 2025 07:27 AM (AOsQT)

—

Cost savings is one part.

But I’m with you, and that the bigger added benefit is people say screw it and give up.

I get a good laugh every now and then listening to my 82 year old Dad telling the computer over the phone: “I want to talk to a live, breathing. human being, please” when he can’t get past the automation.

I’m like “Dad, you gotta say: Connect me to a representative. You’re using to many words and that’s why it keeps telling you it doesn’t understand”.

But he forgets so goes back to pleading with the thing before he gets frustrated and hangs up.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at May 10, 2025 07:32 AM (6ydKt)

180 Maybe it was $60. Memory is slipping.

Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:33 AM (OzWW4)

181 $20. Same as in Reno.

Posted by: AI Chatbot at May 10, 2025 07:33 AM (vFG9F)

182 @142/SpeakingOf: "Turns out that the four-digit security code I have saved with all the other AT&T info/passwords, etc. is wrong, and I can’t get past that point in the automated system over the phone or talk to a real person to find out how to get past it."

Divide and conquer. Call them up and tell them you have a PIN that's not working, and you'd like a reset. See if you can get them to do that much. If so, with new code in hand, try the automated cancellation process again. If it works, great. If it doesn't, document what you tried (including the reset and subsequent failure) and complain to your state's Attorney General, because it's obvious that they've designed their system to frustrate attempts to cancel services.

Getting the attention of a company's legal department is sometimes the only path to success. You want their lawyers to assess the situation and tell management, "This guy's going to cause bigger problems for us than we want, give him what he wants so he goes away."

It's not so much that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, it's that the guy throwing sand in the gears needs to be convinced to stop doing so.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at May 10, 2025 07:34 AM (O7YUW)

183 The Week In Pictures has a Comcast meme

perfect

Posted by: Savage Henry at May 10, 2025 07:35 AM (AOsQT)

184 But I’m with you, and that the bigger added benefit is people say screw it and give up.

--

Amazon is moving this way with their returns as well. I'm starting to get notifications about "you may not receive a refund, you may only receive a partial refund, etc." when I put in a return request for something that was received damaged or not working, or even just shoes that don't fit or the like.

They don't want people returning things and are hoping to scare them into keeping them. What it will actually do is make people go somewhere else to make the purchase.

Posted by: Boron Cobbie -Women, you're pretty in feminine dresses and men like seeing you dressed up at May 10, 2025 07:35 AM (g7exq)

185
Nud

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 10, 2025 07:38 AM (QnmlO)

186 Maybe it was $60. Memory is slipping.
Posted by: Boss Moss at May 10, 2025 07:33 AM (OzWW4)
-----
Narrator: "it was $600"

Posted by: Memory? What's that? at May 10, 2025 07:38 AM (nECtM)

187 *Reno is sad and awful and bleak.*

Supposedly they shoot people there.
Just to watch them die.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 10, 2025 07:45 AM (dg+HA)

188 "Hooray, hooray for the 6th of May
Chicken fat canning begins today!"

Just an old Mad Magazine rhyme from 6+ decades ago I just remembered. Anniversaries, birthdays, due dates are sometimes a struggle, but this crap floats around in the head.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at May 10, 2025 06:58 AM (gm9Sb)

I still have a few of my old Mad Magazines from 1961 ("The first upside down year since 1881!

and '62. I guess my sarcastic/satirical sense of humor comes from those days.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at May 10, 2025 08:31 AM (5xuJ/)

189 Greens will never give you a sniff of that lithium...

Posted by: Richard McEnroe at May 10, 2025 12:21 PM (hyD76)

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