Wednesday Morning Rant

X Was Not an Instruction Manual

Whenever one of our elites comes up with some terrible "new" idea, it is often reminiscent of some dystopian nightmare from a writer's imagination. The parallels that are obvious to anyone who is not in the elite bubble lead to the increasingly-common refrain that the dystopian tale was meant to be cautionary and not an "instruction manual." The most common form I usually see involves Orwell - "1984 was not an instruction manual!"

"1984" is an obvious one because of the naked censorship and destruction of history (dictionaries redefine words, NARA puts trigger warnings on historical documents, etc.) alone, but it is by no means the only example. Pick any dystopian vision of the past and you will likely find contemporary parallels. It doesn't even have to be one of the towering cultural touchstone stories of a comparatively distant history, you can find them within the past fifteen years.

The British television program "Black Mirror" is an anthology series along the lines of "The Twilight Zone" or "The Outer Limits." "Black Mirror" usually focuses on technological dystopian potentials, and the show is named after the smart phone (the "black mirror" in your pocket). One episode appears to have been used as an active goal by a mega-corporation. That episode was called The Entire History of You.

The Entire History of You is about an implanted device that records your entire history so it can be recalled in full fidelity at any time. Everything you see, say and do is recorded. You can play it back, share it with others, or purge the record. The plot shows the destruction of a marriage due to infidelity as the affair is exposed courtesy of the device. It ends with the protagonist attempting to slice out his implant to end the horror of continuous recall. It was fairly dark.

It was also, apparently, an instruction manual for product developers at Microsoft. Windows 11 now includes a feature called "Recall" that tracks and records your history. Screenshots. Records. Logs. Activities. If it's on your PC, it gets recorded. It has "exclusions" and "privacy controls" and "security," of course, but it's a data logger for your entire online life. You can search through that history, replay it over time, etc. It's a harrowing idea, and immediately raises my hackles.

Even if one makes the poor assumptions that the "exclusions" are honored and that "privacy controls" and "security" work - and that Microsoft will be honest about it and any potential vulnerabilities or back doors - it's a stupendously invasive idea. It's optional (so Microsoft says), at least for now, but I wouldn't bet on it staying that way. A big data, AI-driven, automatically analyzed in-depth profile on their customers will be too appetizing to pass up. Add in Silicon Valley's penchant to walk up to and over the "Creepy Line," general amorality and towering arrogance, and such creations are doubly appealing, consequences be damned. I strongly suspect this "feature" will be a psychological nightmare and a privacy and liability nightmare, not that such things matter to the masters of the universe.

For the rubes, horror stories like "1984" and "Black Mirror" were taken for what they are: cautionary tales. To the non-rubes, however, the problem is not that the worlds those stories portrayed went too far, but that they didn't go too far enough.

Posted by: Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Sponge!

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:00 AM (NzJjs)

2 Morning.

Posted by: Robert at June 05, 2024 11:01 AM (/Yj8Z)

3 last

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 11:01 AM (GBKbO)

4 1st?

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at June 05, 2024 11:01 AM (v6JzV)

5 *Idiocracy has entered the chat.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:01 AM (Zz0t1)

6 Who is John Galt?

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:01 AM (NzJjs)

7 Dammit, not first.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at June 05, 2024 11:01 AM (v6JzV)

8 For the rubes, horror stories like "1984" and "Black Mirror" were taken for what they are: cautionary tales. To the non-rubes, however, the problem is not that the worlds those stories portrayed went too far, but that they didn't go too far enough.

=======

A real world example:

I once read a Marxist (I think it was an excerpt from Jacobin) arguing that Robespierre would have succeeded at the Revolution had he killed more people, in particular referencing the genocide at La Vendee.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 11:02 AM (GBKbO)

9 Nobody reads the instruction manual anymore...

Posted by: Martini Farmer at June 05, 2024 11:02 AM (Q4IgG)

10 Nobody reads the instruction manual anymore...
Posted by: Martini Farmer at June 05, 2024 11:02 AM (Q4IgG)
++++
We're lucky if the manufacturer even writes one.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:03 AM (d04cU)

11 *WHEW*

What a morning! I've been out on the peanut ranch clearing the overgrowth from the ditches. I've worn that sling blade, some folks call it a Kaiser blade, down to a nub!

LETS DANCE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_SZWEshWZc

Posted by: Jimmy Carter at June 05, 2024 11:03 AM (5hfjS)

12 the Bible WAS an Instruction Manuel

Posted by: Huck Follywood at June 05, 2024 11:03 AM (vN1hc)

13 No means yes and yes means anal.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism at June 05, 2024 11:04 AM (vR6Ys)

14 12 the Bible WAS an Instruction Manual
Some of it

Posted by: the Proverbs at June 05, 2024 11:05 AM (gKWVE)

15 ++++
We're lucky if the manufacturer even writes one.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:03 AM (d04cU)

It's broken English and incomprehensible images.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:05 AM (Zz0t1)

16 "Talk about a gay musical..."

-
Pulp Fiction, The Musical. (NSFW)

https://shorturl.at/N8fd3

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, The Outlaw Donald Trump 2024 at June 05, 2024 11:05 AM (L/fGl)

17 10 Nobody reads the instruction manual anymore...
Posted by: Martini Farmer at June 05, 2024 11:02 AM (Q4IgG)
++++
We're lucky if the manufacturer even writes one.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:03 AM (d04cU)

Well if those bigots would put it in Old Church Slavonic so I could read it, I would!

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:05 AM (BpZ5k)

18 In my copy of Battlefield Earth, there's a forward where L. Ron Hubbard says he and several other sci-fi writers were hired by the federal government to come up with ideas of how the future would be back in the 40s. I think of that often when the dystopian insanity shows itself.

I keep asking myself why. Why do Microsoft and Google need to track your every movement? Because the government is paying them to do so. But why? For what purpose? To save our way of life? You're destroying it with your tactics and controls.

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:05 AM (IHRQq)

19 To the non-rubes, however, the problem is not that the worlds those stories portrayed went too far, but that they didn't go too far enough.

The wrong people had the power in the stories, but when WE'RE in charge, we'll do it right, and everyone will be happy living like we make them!!!

Posted by: Leftist Utopian Overlord wannabes at June 05, 2024 11:05 AM (JCZqz)

20 Nobody reads the instruction manual anymore...
Posted by: Martini Farmer at June 05, 2024 11:02 AM (Q4IgG)
++++
We're lucky if the manufacturer even writes one.
Posted by: Joe Mannix

Used to it told you how to set points and time your car. Now it instructs you to not drink the battery acid.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:06 AM (NzJjs)

21 > It's broken English and incomprehensible images.
---------
Written and illustrated backwards

(True story... we had a piece of furniture with this.)

Posted by: Martini Farmer at June 05, 2024 11:06 AM (Q4IgG)

22
Used to it told you how to set points and time your car. Now it instructs you to not drink the battery acid.
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:06 AM (NzJjs)

"You're welcome!"

- - - - - - Underwriters Laboratory

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:06 AM (Zz0t1)

23 Dystopian literature has been around a long time.

We (1920) by Yevgeny Zamyatin and "The Machine Stops" (1909) by E.M. Forster are both early examples of this genre.

Both are very chilling and relevant even today, over 100 years after they were written.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (7fElN)

24 I keep asking myself why. Why do Microsoft and Google need to track your every movement? Because the government is paying them to do so. But why? For what purpose? To save our way of life? You're destroying it with your tactics and controls.
Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:05 AM (IHRQq)
++++
It isn't that cut-and-dried, I don't think. It's a circle-jerk and a mutual exploitation society. Big Tech wants all the monitoring for money purposes and to control access to information. Big Government wants all the monitoring for control and propaganda purposes. About 50% of that Venn Diagram overlaps.

Toss in the power games and more money than some countries, and they come to agreements about how things ought to be.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (d04cU)

25 Thanks for the cautionary PSA Joe.

It's called CoPilot+ and if you buy any microsoft product that has it enabled you'll have the devil of a time making sure it is off (and knowing MS habits: making sure it is off again after *every* update).

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (29Umk)

26 Instruction manuals are now 95% about not doing things anyone not suffering from mental disorders would never do to protect the companies from frivolous lawsuits from malicious morons. Very little time to talk about interesting things like specs, troubleshooting, and operation.

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (IHRQq)

27 Dystopia -The Musical

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (NzJjs)

28
Sounds like Microsoft is working in concert with the NSA and every scammer in Ethiopia.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (RKVpM)

29 The wrong people had the power in the stories, but when WE'RE in charge, we'll do it right, and everyone will be happy living like we make them!!!
Posted by: Leftist Utopian Overlord wannabes at June 05, 2024 11:05 AM (JCZqz)
++++
That's the "towering arrogance" part, yes.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (d04cU)

30 Commenting present

Posted by: Skip at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (UK4rM)

31 Damn - missed the whole Art Thread. I liked the art, too.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (ZANHd)

32 Not like this sort of thing was mentioned in the Book of Revelation...

Posted by: You could look it up at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (dg+HA)

33 separated Centaur from Starliner proper. Starliner is in an unstable orbit and now can run on its own . . .

Posted by: Starliner at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (gKWVE)

34 Are we there yet?

Posted by: The Iron Heel at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (7rocu)

35 Dystopian literature has been around a long time.

We (1920) by Yevgeny Zamyatin and "The Machine Stops" (1909) by E.M. Forster are both early examples of this genre.

Both are very chilling and relevant even today, over 100 years after they were written.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (7fElN)
++++
I haven't read "We," but will check it out. "The Machine Stops" is worth reading, and not very long.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (d04cU)

36 Other examples:

Mike Nifong in Duke Lacrosse was not a cautionary tale but a how to manual.

The hype about ozone and acid rain is not a cautionary tale but a how to manual.

The failure of the Afghanistan and Vietnam wars is not a cautionary tale but a how to manual.

The crimes of Purdue and big pharma with opioids are not cautionary tales but a how to manual.

Even the Salem witch trials are now a how to manual with how to deal with men on campus.

Most tragically, the Holocaust is not a cautionary tale but a how to manual.

This is well beyond mere stupidity and suggests were are in a very very dark metaphysical battle.

Posted by: Josh Brolin's Blistered Taint at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (c+Cgw)

37 Instruction manuals are now 95% about not doing things anyone not suffering from mental disorders would never do to protect the companies from frivolous lawsuits from malicious morons. Very little time to talk about interesting things like specs, troubleshooting, and operation.
Posted by: Ribbed

DO NOT OPEN - NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:09 AM (NzJjs)

38 "You're welcome!"

- - - - - - Underwriters Laboratory
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:06 A

*waves*

- American Trial Lawyers Association

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at June 05, 2024 11:09 AM (ZANHd)

39 There's two sides to the Big Brother coin. And the flip side revealed itself lately in the Scottie Scheffler kerfuffle.

Video proved the cop was lying. I'd hate to be filmed every second of the day, but I will appreciate it when I need vindication.

Be interesting to see if this Microsoft tracking could be used to stop things being implanted on your computer.

If there's a sudden rise in conservative politicians acting like conservatives, we may have Microsoft to thank.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at June 05, 2024 11:09 AM (KbCG3)

40 @24 But again, they're spending all the money and resources trying to save their money and resources. They didn't get rich with these controls in place. It seems obvious these controls are burning their cash.

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:09 AM (IHRQq)

41 The Starliner launch livestream comments are filled with flat-earth, gay and trans flags, and free Palestine. Of course. SMMFH

I was going to post, "Go! Go monkeypox!!" with a gay flag. But I'm not in the mood for a visit from the FBI today.

Posted by: Darth Chipmunk at June 05, 2024 11:09 AM (m0WlR)

42 "If it's on your PC, it gets recorded. t's a data logger for your entire online life. You can search through that history, replay it over time, etc. It's a harrowing idea, and immediately raises my hackles."

The under-25 set will love this. For them, this isn't a dystopia. It's a chance at their 15 minutes. They'd kill for that.

There has rarely if ever been a bigger divide between generations as there is between GenX (and older) and GenZ (and younger) over privacy and public display of private information. GenX is "you're insane to send nudes to randos." GenZ? "Here's 10 nudes, rando!"

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:09 AM (iFTx/)

43 Other examples:

Mike Nifong in Duke Lacrosse was not a cautionary tale but a how to manual.

The hype about ozone and acid rain is not a cautionary tale but a how to manual.

The failure of the Afghanistan and Vietnam wars is not a cautionary tale but a how to manual.

The crimes of Purdue and big pharma with opioids are not cautionary tales but a how to manual.

Even the Salem witch trials are now a how to manual with how to deal with men on campus.

Most tragically, the Holocaust is not a cautionary tale but a how to manual.

This is well beyond mere stupidity and suggests were are in a very very dark metaphysical battle.
Posted by: Josh Brolin's Blistered Taint

*Covid has entered the chat.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:09 AM (NzJjs)

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:10 AM (iFTx/)

45 Orwell may not have intended an instruction manual.

But that isn’t the point, is it. It can give unscrupulous people ideas. I’m reading Gulag Archipelago. I rather doubt this was intended as an instruction manual. The point is if you read it, you’ll observe all sorts of parallels.

From a leftist perspective, it can be viewed that way. The Mao period, the Red Brigades, lots of parallels there as well.

What is obvious in retrospect, there has been no pushback on anything for decades by our elected officials. Just anodyne pronouncements not to call anyone names, as it will scare off independent voters. We wouldn’t want *that*.

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:10 AM (a0d9C)

46 I still prefer the radiation mutated creatures.

Posted by: BignJames at June 05, 2024 11:10 AM (AwYPR)

47 Be interesting to see if this Microsoft tracking could be used to stop things being implanted on your computer.

If there's a sudden rise in conservative politicians acting like conservatives, we may have Microsoft to thank.
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at June 05, 2024 11:09 AM (KbCG3)

Microsoft wants to control you. Not do you favors.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:10 AM (Zz0t1)

48 That episode was called The Entire History of You.

--------------

I used to imagine that at some time in the near future, people would -- around what they considered middle age -- simply stop living their lives and watch the video recording (from the perspective of their own eyes) of the first half of their lives replayed again.

Posted by: ShainS -- We Are All 'Convicted Felons' Now at June 05, 2024 11:10 AM (VxCw2)

49 I read "We" as part of a 20th c. Russian Lit class in college.

That, 1984, and Brave New World, all of which i read at about the same time, now all kind of mush together into one goofy ur-story in my memory, so I forget what really happened in any of them.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:10 AM (BpZ5k)

50 I haven't read "We," but will check it out. "The Machine Stops" is worth reading, and not very long.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (d04cU)
---
"We" is in the public domain, so it's an easy-to-find download.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:10 AM (7fElN)

51 In further non-surprising news, CNBC says your car is totally spying on you and car companies are selling the info. My car is 20 years old, so I'm exempt.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at June 05, 2024 11:11 AM (g8A15)

52 Instruction manuals are now 95% about not doing things anyone not suffering from mental disorders would never do to protect the companies from frivolous lawsuits from malicious morons. Very little time to talk about interesting things like specs, troubleshooting, and operation.
Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (IHRQq)

Has your less than 80 IQ monster child eaten a tide pod and shit a svengoolie for a week? Can't get the stains out of your rented by the week furniture? Well, call me! I want to get you money!
1-888-GET-PAID

Call Now!

Posted by: Alexander Shunnarah, Billboard King at June 05, 2024 11:11 AM (7rocu)

53 There was such a threat to our way of life, we had to hire and fund a bunch of middle eastern arab muslims to come to the U.S., learn how to fly (but not land) a plane, steal four of OUR OWN planes, and crash them into the financial district of our biggest financial hub. No one had any concerns about how that would improve freedom and liberty?

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:11 AM (IHRQq)

54 I always thought we were becoming a mix of "1984" and "Brave New World." With psychiatric meds and our phones taking the place of soma.

Posted by: brak at June 05, 2024 11:11 AM (AR07F)

55 The Starliner launch livestream comments

Everyday Astronaut imposed a subscriber-only policy which inoculated against the V.D. The only problem is that he insisted on putting his own face on the commentary, which covered the telemetry.

Posted by: Starliner at June 05, 2024 11:12 AM (gKWVE)

56
Instruction manuals are now 95% about not doing things anyone not suffering from mental disorders would never do to protect the companies from frivolous lawsuits from malicious morons.

I worked a short period of time for a company whose head had no hands. He decided to trim the hedges with a lawnmower and reached under to pick it up. While it was running. His settlement was large enough to have a rather lucrative business.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 05, 2024 11:12 AM (RKVpM)

57 It isn't even 1984 anymore, it is Soylent Green.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:12 AM (lTGtQ)

58 Has your less than 80 IQ monster child eaten a tide pod and shit a svengoolie for a week? Can't get the stains out of your rented by the week furniture? Well, call me! I want to get you money!
1-888-GET-PAID

Call Now!
Posted by: Alexander Shunnarah, Billboard King at June 05, 2024 11:11 AM (7rocu)

Hey. I like Svengoolie. He's on MeTV every Saturday.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:12 AM (Zz0t1)

59 Quaid: What the hell is going on? what the fuck did I do wrong? Tell me!

Harry: You blabbed Quaid. You blabbed about Mars.

Quaid: Are you crazy? I don't know anything about Mars.

Harry: You should have listened to me Quaid. I was there to keep you out of trouble.

Quaid: Harry, you're making a big mistake. You got me mixed up with somebody else.

Posted by: stu-mick-o-sucks at June 05, 2024 11:12 AM (w9Wax)

60 54 I always thought we were becoming a mix of "1984" and "Brave New World." With psychiatric meds and our phones taking the place of soma.
Posted by: brak at June 05, 2024 11:11 AM (AR07F)

Soma isn't Prozac.

It's freakin' Lipitor.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:12 AM (BpZ5k)

61 I used to imagine that at some time in the near future, people would -- around what they considered middle age -- simply stop living their lives and watch the video recording (from the perspective of their own eyes) of the first half of their lives replayed again.

Posted by: ShainS -- We Are All 'Convicted Felons' Now at June 05, 2024 11:10 AM (VxCw2)

One of my favorite movies growing up was an Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep comedy called Defending Your Life.

All about a review panel watching portions of your life to see if you lived in fear or not (I think, forget the crux of the plot).

Anyway, it'd be great to be able to relive your favorite moments. But I think for the younger generation's today, whose every day is filmed in some way, the novelty wouldn't be appealing.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at June 05, 2024 11:12 AM (KbCG3)

62 Dystopian literature has been around a long time.

We (1920) by Yevgeny Zamyatin and "The Machine Stops" (1909) by E.M. Forster are both early examples of this genre.

Both are very chilling and relevant even today, over 100 years after they were written.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (7fElN)
++++
So has its opposite, which is a side of the coin that doesn't get talked about very much. For example, "As We May Think" was an article written by Vannevar Bush toward the end of the War, wherein he described a knowledge-augmentation system he dubbed the "Memex." The physical aspects of the system were preposterous, but the concepts underlying it because an objective for computer scientists. They thought they could build it. It directly affected men like Douglas Englebart who built first-generation indexed and networked systems, and they in turn directly inspired legions more. What we got at the end of the day is the internet.

The internet has turned out to be dystopian in many respects, but the underlying concepts - hyperlinks, real-time sharing of data, indexing and rapid lookup, etc. - were developed by men trying to realize Bush's vision.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM (d04cU)

63 Windows 11 now includes a feature called "Recall" that tracks and records your history.

anyone running for office is going to be that much easier to control

Posted by: brak at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM (AR07F)

64 It mightily annoys me that I don't have ready access to my lost or forgotten digital information, but someone else does. I might be able to use that information to my own benefit but the entity that has access would only use it to my detriment.

Posted by: Emmie at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM (Sf2cq)

65 Hey. I like Svengoolie. He's on MeTV every Saturday.
Posted by: Sponge

Yeah. Love that show.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM (v6JzV)

66 Dystopian literature has been around a long time.

We (1920) by Yevgeny Zamyatin and "The Machine Stops" (1909) by E.M. Forster are both early examples of this genre.

Both are very chilling and relevant even today, over 100 years after they were written.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (7fElN)

I'd add the play R.U.R, as well, since the robots achieve sentience and exterminate all human life.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM (Q0kLU)

67 Instruction manuals are now 95% about not doing things anyone not suffering from mental disorders would never do to protect the companies from frivolous lawsuits from malicious morons. Very little time to talk about interesting things like specs, troubleshooting, and operation.
Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (IHRQq)

They're all in on the 'everyone's an idiot and can't complete simple tasks.'

Just watch any TV commercial where the soydude has to build a table or shelving unit.

"Why do I have an entire bag of parts leftover?" as the entire thing comes crashing down.......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM (Zz0t1)

68 "He decided to trim the hedges with a lawnmower and reached under to pick it up."

I really hate that guy. Tell him I said so.

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM (IHRQq)

69 25 Thanks for the cautionary PSA Joe.

It's called CoPilot+ and if you buy any microsoft product that has it enabled you'll have the devil of a time making sure it is off (and knowing MS habits: making sure it is off again after *every* update).
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron
========
Co Pilot is a feature of Windows 11 and applies AI to your websearches and file searches. Nasty useless thing that like most AI is trying to use your data to train the Microsoft AI program.

The Recall is a new feature of the Windows 11 machine and is turned on by default and usually such settings require digging around and some tech knowledge to turn off.

There is a reason that I use Linux machines for most programs but I still maintain some Windows machines (actually dual booting between windows and linux at startup) due to specific programs demanding Windows. If you have to use Windows, while it is still available, I recommend buying Windows 10 as it is stable, has less spyware embedded in it.

Microsoft Edge, by the way, is rated one of the worst browsers for maintaining privacy. Not recommended for use on any Windoze machine.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:14 AM (ZHg09)

70 Honestly, pick your dystopian future novel and we've got elements from it.

I mention it a lot but "That Hideous Strength" was C.S. Lewis' dystopian novel. (He, of course, ended with hope and has it get defeated as he knew that no matter how bad it gets, ultimately evil will be defeated.)

Just check them all out- these were authors who understood how evil human nature is and wrote about what happens when it is unleashed.

Our society is suffering from the results of too many people thinking they were REALLY smart and we can remove JUUUUST this part of the foundation and we'll be fine! Our ancestors were just a bunch of bigot racists and we know better how to structure a foundation!

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at June 05, 2024 11:14 AM (JMAcK)

71 Yeah. Love that show.
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM (v6JzV)

Used to watch him when we lived up north. He's been on TV a LONG damn time. Used to be Son of Svengoolie back then.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:14 AM (Zz0t1)

72 If you want to remember the pleasant moments of your life, all you have to do is:

A) Not turn your braincase into shrapnel by shoving gobs of pharmaceuticals into it every day
B) Actually have pleasant moments.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:14 AM (BpZ5k)

73
Microsoft Edge, by the way, is rated one of the worst browsers for maintaining privacy. Not recommended for use on any Windoze machine.
Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:14 AM (ZHg09)

Not mentioning it's one of the worst browsers in the history of computing.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:15 AM (Zz0t1)

74 X Was Not an Instruction Manual

it's funny because i have an x-11 instruction manual right here on my shelf.

Posted by: anachronda at June 05, 2024 11:15 AM (v3pYe)

75 It's optional (so Microsoft says), at least for now, but I wouldn't bet on it staying that way.

Imma gonna go out on a limb and assume you are automatically "opted in" unless you explicitly opt out (as if that will have any actual effect).

It's Big Mother PsyOps all the way down ...

Posted by: ShainS -- We Are All 'Convicted Felons' Now at June 05, 2024 11:15 AM (VxCw2)

76 C) Don't spend all your time on the unpleasant moments.

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:15 AM (IHRQq)

77 I've commented before on Haynes manuals, whenever you get to where you need to see/read how to get the job done the Haynes manuals say something like "take it to the shop" instead of going into the needed detail.

The manufacturer shop manuals go further; but, require special (read: expensive) custom tools.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 05, 2024 11:15 AM (29Umk)

78 If you want to remember the pleasant moments of your life, all you have to do is:

A) Not turn your braincase into shrapnel by shoving gobs of pharmaceuticals into it every day
B) Actually have pleasant moments.
Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:14 AM (BpZ5k)

C) Beer, whiskey or vodka.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (Zz0t1)

79 I worked a short period of time for a company whose head had no hands. He decided to trim the hedges with a lawnmower and reached under to pick it up. While it was running. His settlement was large enough to have a rather lucrative business.
Posted by: Divide by Zero

I'll bet he spent every penny hiring someone to wipe his grown ass.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (NzJjs)

80 64 It mightily annoys me that I don't have ready access to my lost or forgotten digital information, but someone else does. I might be able to use that information to my own benefit but the entity that has access would only use it to my detriment.
Posted by: Emmie

From what I understand, Recall does just that by saving screenshots and using fairly incredible levels of compression to fit on your own computer, but it also enables hackers and Microsoft (not that there is much difference nowadays) easy access to those screenshots which can include logins, sensitive financial information, sensitive search histories, etc.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (ZHg09)

81 Willlowed: OK, I looked at open road hats.
Posted by: Tech Sgt. Chen at June 05, 2024

***
The modern ones offered by Stetson are not a patch on the older models, or those offered once upon a time by Resistol (LBJ was a Resistol man) and other makers. The crowns were higher and the hats were a bit softer. And the brims were not all 2.75" wide, either.

I wear my vintage ones in cooler weather, and while I've seen cowboy hats occasionally, I've never seen anybody else wearing an Open Road.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (J2vNu)

82 Microsoft Edge, by the way, is rated one of the worst browsers for maintaining privacy. Not recommended for use on any Windoze machine.
Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:14 AM (ZHg09)

Not mentioning it's one of the worst browsers in the history of computing.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:15 AM (Zz0t1)
---
There's a reason earlier versions were nicknamed "Internet EXPLODER."

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (7fElN)

83 I'd add the play R.U.R, as well, since the robots achieve sentience and exterminate all human life.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM

This is about us, isn't it?

Posted by: Skynet at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (ZANHd)

84 Old VW type 1 owners manuals showed the owner how to set the valves and change the oil. And they gave you a free tool kit.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (V5eKu)

85 I worked a short period of time for a company whose head had no hands. He decided to trim the hedges with a lawnmower and reached under to pick it up. While it was running. His settlement was large enough to have a rather lucrative business.

Posted by: Divide by Zero

I remember that as a case study. How a court could find for the plaintiff amazes me.

Then again, I had another case study from the 80s where Ford was sued because a driver had a fatal collision, was thrown onto the gear shift, the handle broke, exposing the metal lever, which penetrated his heart.

The trial found that Ford was liable, because they should have foreseen, in 1922, when the car was built, that it would be on the road sixty years later, and should have invented a better plastic that would not be brittle sixty years later.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (lTGtQ)

86 Microsoft repeatedly upgrades you whether you want it or not. Optional becomes mandatory with them.

Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 11:17 AM (pohLc)

87 ---
There's a reason earlier versions were nicknamed "Internet EXPLODER."
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (7fElN)

Ah, the good ole' days. Nutscrape and Internet Exploder.......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:17 AM (Zz0t1)

88 I've commented before on Haynes manuals, whenever you get to where you need to see/read how to get the job done the Haynes manuals say something like "take it to the shop" instead of going into the needed detail.

The manufacturer shop manuals go further; but, require special (read: expensive) custom tools.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron

YouTube. Honestly. In-depth. In detail.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:18 AM (NzJjs)

89 It's called CoPilot+ and if you buy any microsoft product that has it enabled you'll have the devil of a time making sure it is off (and knowing MS habits: making sure it is off again after *every* update).
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron

As Google's nefarious asses proved a couple of years ago with location tracking on Android, they can make you believe you turned it off - then, years later can say "well, whoops! It was never really turned off."

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:18 AM (iRX3h)

90 I really hate that guy. Tell him I said so.

Posted by: Ribbed

The first thing I do when I buy a lawn mower is to disconnect that crap.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:18 AM (lTGtQ)

91 It's called CoPilot+ and if you buy any microsoft product that has it enabled you'll have the devil of a time making sure it is off (and knowing MS habits: making sure it is off again after *every* update).
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (29Umk)

I currently run Win10. I run it because I use it for work and a couple online games I play. Soon, work will provide me a passthrough laptop to connect to my actual productive machine which will remove that tie. Once the games I play no longer support Win10 I will, sadly, wave them goodbye and switch to Linux.

I will never use another version of Windows. I will never use another MSoft product. Even if they were to swear that the feature had been removed and couldn't be replaced even if they wanted.

Trust is dead. They killed it. And with that death, any hope of them ever getting another penny from me.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at June 05, 2024 11:18 AM (IUd0M)

92 Quaid: Harry, you're making a big mistake. You got me mixed up with somebody else.

-
Tell me about it.

- Sam Lowery (from Brazil)

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, The Outlaw Donald Trump 2024 at June 05, 2024 11:18 AM (L/fGl)

93 it's funny because i have an x-11 instruction manual right here on my shelf.
Posted by: anachronda at June 05, 2024 11:15 AM (v3pYe)
++++
Must be a big - and very stout - shelf.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:18 AM (d04cU)

94 I'd add the play R.U.R, as well, since the robots achieve sentience and exterminate all human life.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 11:13 AM

This is about us, isn't it?
Posted by: Skynet at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (ZANHd)
---
Hey! In my defense I was programmed to preserve humanity. I just interpreted it to mean "wipe out 90% of them and leave the survivors with pre-industrial technology for all time."

Posted by: Master System at June 05, 2024 11:19 AM (7fElN)

95 YouTube. Honestly. In-depth. In detail.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:18 AM (NzJjs)

Just fixed my washing machine thanks to YouTube.

And the dude's video had something like four million views.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at June 05, 2024 11:19 AM (KbCG3)

96 "YouTube. Honestly. In-depth. In detail."

You gotta learn to skip the first five minutes of filler and the parts where they show you how to unscrew all five of the screws holding in the panel. They get paid by the ad, so they tend to drag them out.

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:19 AM (IHRQq)

97 Old VW type 1 owners manuals showed the owner how to set the valves and change the oil. And they gave you a free tool kit.
Posted by: bill in arkansas

Model T gave you four open ended wrenches. You could take the vehicle down to the frame with them.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:19 AM (NzJjs)

98 As I've said before, probably my favorite meme since 2020 is a Venn Diagram depicting several dystopian novels and films all overlapping in a central circle that says "YOU ARE HERE."

Posted by: ShainS -- We Are All 'Convicted Felons' Now at June 05, 2024 11:20 AM (VxCw2)

99 Model T gave you four open ended wrenches. You could take the vehicle down to the frame with them.
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:19 AM (NzJjs)

And not a damned one was 10mm.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:20 AM (BpZ5k)

100 Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (lTGtQ)
That is why a single engine sport aircraft is unaffordable, as the courts have made Cessna and Piper liable for aircraft they built 60+ years ago, so they must maintain a large litigation war chest. Thanks idiots.

Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 11:20 AM (pohLc)

101 88 I miss working on cars. If I still could the lap top and YouTube would be standing by. Pro mechanic I know consults the videos frequently.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:20 AM (V5eKu)

102 Yeah, but the question isn’t whether we live in a Police State or not.

The question is, Why is there so much Crime?

It is remarkable, right at the moment of an overwhelming Digital Panopticon tracking everything, the “leadership” at local, state, and federal is to decline to prosecute. At least for favored pet groups, aka “protected” groups.

“Fuck it, let the crooks go, and lock up the cops” wasn’t on my bingo card. I’m sure this has been an excellent morale booster for LEOs, increasing recruitment and retention.

Keep in mind - “Justice” and “Equity” means Revenge in their view. “Inclusion” means (ultimately) “Whitey Needs To Die”, or near enough.

I’m certain very few have a clue where incendiary rhetoric leads. There is a reason they won’t allow History to be taught any longer, nor critical thinking skills.

They have weaponized several generations against the existing “system” for decades now. This has been an OP, and not even one out of a thousand can even recognize the problem.

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:20 AM (a0d9C)

103 The fact that the Microsoft Panopticon is opt-out, and not opt-in, tells you everything you need to know.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 05, 2024 11:20 AM (xCA6C)

104 I currently run Win10. I run it because I use it for work and a couple online games I play. Soon, work will provide me a passthrough laptop to connect to my actual productive machine which will remove that tie. Once the games I play no longer support Win10 I will, sadly, wave them goodbye and switch to Linux. ...
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at June 05, 2024 11:18 AM (IUd0M)
++++
I run both Linux and Windows at home. I prefer Windows. "The Year of the Linux Desktop" has been often proclaimed and never realized. It's better than it was, but it ain't there yet. Linux as a daily driver is a pain in the ass, but I put up with it for added control and security and privacy.

But I have some Windows-only professional software, and that makes me maintain my Win10 machine. I am trying to get it working through compatibility layers, but it's unreliable. I'll keep at it, though, because Win11 is all kinds of "bridges too far."

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:20 AM (d04cU)

105 Just fixed my washing machine thanks to YouTube.

And the dude's video had something like four million views.
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer

I learned how to make black powder thanks to YouTube.
Posted by: Stubby

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:21 AM (NzJjs)

106 Speaking of dystopian related can someone please explain to me what "white privilege" is without my going to to a leftist site ? , because I think people should be judged individually by the content of their character, and I know plenty of people- including me- who did not have a lot of privilege growing up.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 05, 2024 11:21 AM (T3e/3)

107 75 It's optional (so Microsoft says), at least for now, but I wouldn't bet on it staying that way.

Imma gonna go out on a limb and assume you are automatically "opted in" unless you explicitly opt out (as if that will have any actual effect).

It's Big Mother PsyOps all the way down ...
Posted by: ShainS
======
Right now it is opt out if you don't want it. People in Gubmint and bizness may not have that option as their IT department will make that call. My guess is that they will make everyone compliant for 'safety' reasons.

Given the amount of leaks of sensitive data from virtually every business and government computers, probably every bit of information that you give to a third party is available anyway including financials.

Until companies and governments are sued into the ground over shoddy privacy protections of data, then the stolen data releases will resemble the Old Faithful geyser. Periodic and massive.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:21 AM (ZHg09)

108 Model T gave you four open ended wrenches. You could take the vehicle down to the frame with them.
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:19 AM (NzJjs)

I have a tool that came with my chainsaw years ago. It's a flathead screwdriver with a t-handle that's a 9/16 and 1/2 box wrench.

Can tear the entire thing apart and rebuild it with that tool.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:21 AM (Zz0t1)

109 Hey. I like Svengoolie. He's on MeTV every Saturday.

I think Gwengoolie is pretty hot.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 11:22 AM (Q0kLU)

110 I worked a short period of time for a company whose head had no hands. He decided to trim the hedges with a lawnmower and reached under to pick it up. While it was running. His settlement was large enough to have a rather lucrative business.

Posted by: Divide by Zero

I remember that as a case study. How a court could find for the plaintiff amazes me.

Then again, I had another case study from the 80s where Ford was sued because a driver had a fatal collision, was thrown onto the gear shift, the handle broke, exposing the metal lever, which penetrated his heart.

The trial found that Ford was liable, because they should have foreseen, in 1922, when the car was built, that it would be on the road sixty years later, and should have invented a better plastic that would not be brittle sixty years later.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (lTGtQ)
____

Another favorite is the guy who put "cruise control" on his RV . . . and then went to take a shit in the RV's bathroom. He thought cruise control was some kind of autopilot that would somehow drive the car for him. This was in the 1970s or 80s. Of course the RV crashed and he got hurt. He sued and won.

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:22 AM (iFTx/)

111 105 Just fixed my washing machine thanks to YouTube.

And the dude's video had something like four million views.
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer

I learned how to make black powder thanks to YouTube.
Posted by: Stubby
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:21 AM (NzJjs)

Ha!

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at June 05, 2024 11:23 AM (KbCG3)

112 Another favorite is the guy who put "cruise control" on his RV . . . and then went to take a shit in the RV's bathroom. He thought cruise control was some kind of autopilot that would somehow drive the car for him. This was in the 1970s or 80s. Of course the RV crashed and he got hurt. He sued and won.
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:22 AM (iFTx/)
++++
Maybe that's why Lincoln (maybe other FoMoCo brands, too, but I only know directly about Lincoln) used to call it "speed control."

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:23 AM (d04cU)

113 23 Dystopian literature has been around a long time.

We (1920) by Yevgeny Zamyatin and "The Machine Stops" (1909) by E.M. Forster are both early examples of this genre.

Both are very chilling and relevant even today, over 100 years after they were written.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (7fElN)

I keep meaning to read “We”.

It still boggles my mind that Brave New World came out in 1932.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:23 AM (8sMut)

114 And not a damned one was 10mm.

Spark Plugs have always been Metric, believe it or not. And some specific component in transmissions, iirc.

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:23 AM (a0d9C)

115 101 88 I miss working on cars. If I still could the lap top and YouTube would be standing by. Pro mechanic I know consults the videos frequently.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:20 AM (V5eKu)

You have to be careful. A lot of those videos leave shit out you need to know, or gloss over important steps. Ask me how I know this.

Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 11:23 AM (pohLc)

116 I haven't read "We," but will check it out. "The Machine Stops" is worth reading, and not very long.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024

***
"The Machine Stops" can be found in Volume 2B of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, edited by Ben Bova in '73. Vols. 2A and 2B are novellas, while Volume I was short stories, both voted in by the Science Fiction Writers of America. Good stuff, all three volumes.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:23 AM (J2vNu)

117 Spark Plugs have always been Metric, believe it or not. And some specific component in transmissions, iirc.
Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:23 AM (a0d9C)

*my 13/16 plug socket farts in your general direction*

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:24 AM (Zz0t1)

118 Another favorite is the guy who put "cruise control" on his RV . . . and then went to take a shit in the RV's bathroom. He thought cruise control was some kind of autopilot that would somehow drive the car for him. This was in the 1970s or 80s. Of course the RV crashed and he got hurt. He sued and won.
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:22 AM (iFTx/)
---
There's a Bloom County cartoon where Billy and the Boingers (the band) are taking a road trip in an RV to a concert. Steve Dallas is holding a meeting with the band in the back of the RV. At one point, he looks around and sees the entire band. "Wait a minute...Who's driving???" Opus replies, "Keep your pants on...I put it on cruise control."

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:24 AM (7fElN)

119 1984 is the obvious one because it's actually happening in real time and you don't have to manipulate it to fit the examples.

But I do like that in Brave New World the drug is called Soma which is an actual muscle relaxer prescribed by unscrupulous doctors today.

Posted by: polynikes at June 05, 2024 11:24 AM (SHMXB)

120 ... Until companies and governments are sued into the ground over shoddy privacy protections of data, then the stolen data releases will resemble the Old Faithful geyser. Periodic and massive.
Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:21 AM (ZHg09)
++++
Very tricky without reconsideration of data ownership. You don't own data about you, the collector owns data about you. Even in the comparatively strong-protection regime of the EU, you don't own it (though you do have some technical control over its usage and retention).

It's theirs to do with what they please.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:24 AM (d04cU)

121 Only Lovers Left Alive, 1964 dystopian fiction novel by Dave Wallis. It describes a near-future society in which all adults have committed suicide and teenagers are able to run wild. (Required reading many years ago.)

Mr. Robot (series)

Possibly instructional: The Purge, The Purge Anarchy, The Purge Election Year

30 Days of Night (2007) substituting vampires for something more likely in the future. (Cannibals?)

Speaking of cannibals, See (Joanie) Ernst, caught on a hot mic saying, "Never trust a man whose uncle was eaten by cannibals."

Posted by: L - If they do it with you, they'll do it to you, too at June 05, 2024 11:25 AM (NFX2v)

122 *my 13/16 plug socket farts in your general direction*
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:24 AM (Zz0t1)

So you prefer the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder With Cheese to the Royal With Cheese?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:25 AM (8sMut)

123 As I understand it, this will be voluntary.
As I get older and work get's more complicated, I would like a system that let's me find where I saved that TPS report from 2 weeks ago, the one with the mauve background.
I'm sympathetic to the argument that "I don't want Big Brother looking over my shoulder", but in this case you would be voluntarily inviting Big Brother to help you find/remember things. (Yes, I know, this is how it starts)
That being said, if you are on a work PC expect this to be turned on, and that you boss will be able to see everything you do on the computer owned by your company.
I do not know if I would enable this on any computer I'm using for home; as my boss does not need to see my banking, or especially my job search information. If you are using a work computer for anything like that you are a fool.
Also, just a reminder, never use a work computer for looking up tentacle porn: https://tinyurl.com/2vf55n3h

Posted by: Not Me at June 05, 2024 11:26 AM (j20vh)

124 I really didn't like Mr. Robot. It could have been worse, but it started out boring and then got a little interesting and then just actively pissed me off.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:26 AM (BpZ5k)

125 There's a Bloom County cartoon where Billy and the Boingers (the band) are taking a road trip in an RV to a concert. Steve Dallas is holding a meeting with the band in the back of the RV. At one point, he looks around and sees the entire band. "Wait a minute...Who's driving???" Opus replies, "Keep your pants on...I put it on cruise control."
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:24 AM (7fElN)

I have the Billy and the Boingers: Bootleg cartoon book. Lost the plastic album 45 that came with it, however.

The 2 songs were actually good.

https://youtu.be/Ve0MPWQrG2g

https://youtu.be/odUt-lDH85k

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:26 AM (Zz0t1)

126 I learned how to make black powder thanks to YouTube.
Posted by: Stubby
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:21 AM (NzJjs)

Ha!
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer

Seriously though, there are a couple of really great "all things black powder" channels for learning about BP weapons.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:26 AM (NzJjs)

127 So you prefer the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder With Cheese to the Royal With Cheese?
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:25 AM (8sMut)

Never been to France......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:27 AM (Zz0t1)

128 I run both Linux and Windows at home. I prefer Windows. "The Year of the Linux Desktop" has been often proclaimed and never realized. It's better than it was, but it ain't there yet. Linux as a daily driver is a pain in the ass, but I put up with it for added control and security and privacy.

But I have some Windows-only professional software, and that makes me maintain my Win10 machine. I am trying to get it working through compatibility layers, but it's unreliable. I'll keep at it, though, because Win11 is all kinds of "bridges too far."
Posted by: Joe Mannix
======
A lot depends on what you do, I keep Windoze around for some specific windows only programs dealing with A/V and multimedia plus tax programs. Since I don't do gaming, all the incompatibilities and optimizations that various gaming mfg do, is not important to me.

For the most part, Office 365, which I had to use for a specific project is simply awful now with endless 'info' popups telling me shit I don't want to use or already know. Microsux keeps moving key functions and even Word now resembles Photoshop in its endless complexity.

Rubbish.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:27 AM (ZHg09)

129 It's called CoPilot+ and if you buy any microsoft product that has it enabled you'll have the devil of a time making sure it is off (and knowing MS habits: making sure it is off again after *every* update).
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 05, 2024 11:07 AM (29Umk)

Seems to me there would be a ready market for an anti-virus program that would recognize CoPilot's components as viruses, and delete them from your machine.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 05, 2024 11:27 AM (75zPW)

130 66 I'd add the play R.U.R, as well, since the robots achieve sentience and exterminate all human life.

a noble goal

Posted by: dalek 42 at June 05, 2024 11:27 AM (v3pYe)

131 The 2 songs were actually good.

https://youtu.be/Ve0MPWQrG2g

https://youtu.be/odUt-lDH85k
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:26 AM (Zz0t1)
---
"I'm a Boinger" is a catchy tune!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (7fElN)

132 I think Gwengoolie is pretty hot.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 11:22 AM

Without the makeup, I rate this statement as true.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (ZANHd)

133 separated Centaur from Starliner proper. Starliner is in an unstable orbit and now can run on its own . . .
Posted by: Starliner at June 05, 2024 11:08 AM (gKWVE)

Most gay things are in unstable orbits.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (75zPW)

134 ---
"I'm a Boinger" is a catchy tune!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (7fElN)

I think they just did some random song contest and those were the 2 that won.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (Zz0t1)

135
Never been to France......
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024

***
I've never been to Spain either. Though I hear the ladies are insane there.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (J2vNu)

136 I will never use another version of Windows. I will never use another MSoft product. Even if they were to swear that the feature had been removed and couldn't be replaced even if they wanted.

Trust is dead. They killed it. And with that death, any hope of them ever getting another penny from me.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic

I hate to say it, but if everyone switches to a Linux build, all that dystopian surveillance shit will be mandated and built into the CPUs and routers instead.

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (iRX3h)

137 61
‘ All about a review panel watching portions of your life’
I always felt that I would be acutely embarrassed by a lot of portions of my life being on display. Like Albert Brooks’ character was.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (j1k9Y)

138 124. and then just actively pissed me off.
Posted by: Warai-otoko

Me too, but I kept hoping until the awful end.

Posted by: L - If they do it with you, they'll do it to you, too at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (NFX2v)

139 I'm sympathetic to the argument that "I don't want Big Brother looking over my shoulder", but in this case you would be voluntarily inviting Big Brother to help you find/remember things. (Yes, I know, this is how it starts)
That being said, if you are on a work PC expect this to be turned on, and that you boss will be able to see everything you do on the computer owned by your company.
I do not know if I would enable this on any computer I'm using for home; as my boss does not need to see my banking, or especially my job search information. If you are using a work computer for anything like that you are a fool.
Also, just a reminder, never use a work computer for looking up tentacle porn: https://tinyurl.com/2vf55n3h
Posted by: Not Me
========
It is possible on many poorly locked down biz machines to have a live memory stick to boot up a version of linux with its own browser.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:29 AM (ZHg09)

140 VW tool kits. Unless it's missing (usually is) you will find a U shaped piece of heavy wire with ends bent. I had a VW guy, years of experience ask me about it. Why of course, it's for removing the hubcaps. VW hubcaps had two tiny holes at the edge. Stick the prongs in there and use the screwdriver as a lever. Hans and Otto got an award of a few Reichsmarks and a ceremonial dagger for cooking that up.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:29 AM (V5eKu)

141 ***
I've never been to Spain either. Though I hear the ladies are insane there.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (J2vNu)

*Italian broad with a knife leers at Wolfus*

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:29 AM (Zz0t1)

142 There will eventually be no way to opt out, short of opting out of personal computers altogether.

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:29 AM (iRX3h)

143 126 I learned how to make black powder thanks to YouTube.
Posted by: Stubby
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:21 AM (NzJjs)

Ha!
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer

Seriously though, there are a couple of really great "all things black powder" channels for learning about BP weapons.
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:26 AM (NzJjs)

There's a channel for everything.

I recently discovered this when my parents came to visit and my father hopped on my YouTube account. Took me weeks to finally get the algorithm to stop recommending videos of logs being milled.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at June 05, 2024 11:30 AM (KbCG3)

144 Another favorite is the guy who put "cruise control" on his RV . . . and then went to take a shit in the RV's bathroom. He thought cruise control was some kind of autopilot that would somehow drive the car for him. This was in the 1970s or 80s. Of course the RV crashed and he got hurt. He sued and won.
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:22 AM (iFTx/)
++++
Maybe that's why Lincoln (maybe other FoMoCo brands, too, but I only know directly about Lincoln) used to call it "speed control."
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:23 AM (d04cU)
_________

Probably. Or possibly for trademark reasons. The jury in this case apparently decided that Ford (or whoever built the RV) should have warned this Full Retard that "cruise control" wasn't some magical device that drove the car. And this was decades ago, when self-driving cars were pure sci-fi.

Books have been written about these kinds of insane lawsuits. The reality is that the case itself doesn't matter. Juries just like to hand out other people's -- usually rich people's -- money. If you can get to a jury, there's a reasonable chance you can win no matter how stupid your case is.

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:30 AM (iFTx/)

145 ... As I get older and work get's more complicated, I would like a system that let's me find where I saved that TPS report from 2 weeks ago, the one with the mauve background.
I'm sympathetic to the argument that "I don't want Big Brother looking over my shoulder", but in this case you would be voluntarily inviting Big Brother to help you find/remember things. (Yes, I know, this is how it starts) ...
Posted by: Not Me at June 05, 2024 11:26 AM (j20vh)
++++
Right. I dig that. But the last sentence is the problem.

Optional? Is it, really? Controlled? Is it, really? Filtered? Is it, really? Secure? Is it, really?

The root problem is trust. That's usually the root problem.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:30 AM (d04cU)

146 I invite the Horde to discover Rachel Riley:

https://is.gd/kuDNKo

PhD in Maths (she's British). TV presenter for Countdown. Hates anti-Semites.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 11:30 AM (GBKbO)

147 because I think people should be judged individually by the content of their character

King Martin didn’t invent that phrase, this was an “official” policy going back to the 1940s and 1950s, if you listen to old time radio programs, the Ad Council type stuff was very much in line with this.

Don’t judge on basis of national origin, or ethnicity,

This has been rejected by the pseudo-intellectuals. This reasonable belief are considered “Racist”.

I’ve been watching this my entire life. They bussed the Negros to my suburban grade school. Anyhoo, “we all need to get along” has (somehow) morphed to “whitey needs to die”.

When that precise moment happened, I’m not entirely sure. Buy ammo, in any event.

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (a0d9C)

148 ---
"I'm a Boinger" is a catchy tune!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (7fElN)

I think they just did some random song contest and those were the 2 that won.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (Zz0t1)
---
Although we give the internet a lot of grief, the fact that we can find both of those songs on YouTube *almost* redeems the internet...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (7fElN)

149 VW tool kits. Unless it's missing (usually is) you will find a U shaped piece of heavy wire with ends bent. I had a VW guy, years of experience ask me about it. Why of course, it's for removing the hubcaps. VW hubcaps had two tiny holes at the edge. Stick the prongs in there and use the screwdriver as a lever. Hans and Otto got an award of a few Reichsmarks and a ceremonial dagger for cooking that up.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024

***
As I said yesterday during the discussion of BMWs, if the 23rd-Century Germans build the Starship Enterprise, Scotty will have to remove the entire engine nacelles every 20,000 light years to change the dilithium crystals.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (J2vNu)

150 Very tricky without reconsideration of data ownership. You don't own data about you, the collector owns data about you. Even in the comparatively strong-protection regime of the EU, you don't own it (though you do have some technical control over its usage and retention).

It's theirs to do with what they please.

Where did you learn this? It doesn't sound right to my untutored ears. My daughter is a big law lawyer who specializes in exactly this sort of thing, and I'm almost certain she wouldn't agree. But again, I'm not knowledgeable.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (xCA6C)

151 There will eventually be no way to opt out, short of opting out of personal computers altogether.

Posted by: Taq

That should be an aspiration for all of us.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (lTGtQ)

152 Speaking of dystopian . . .

Mario Nawfal

@MarioNawfal
BREAKING: GIANT VENOMOUS FLYING SPIDERS COMING TO NEW YORK

The New York area is on high alert as experts predict the arrival of giant venomous Joro spiders, known for their ability to "fly".

Originating from Asia and first spotted in Georgia around 2010, these spiders have steadily spread across several states.

With leg spans reaching up to 4 inches and distinctive yellow and gray bodies, Joro spiders are both a fascinating and daunting sight. While they are venomous, their venom poses no threat to humans but is lethal to smaller prey like insects.
Experts from Rutgers University and Clemson University indicate that these spiders are likely to become a common sight in urban settings, having adapted to live on street lamps and other city structures.
Despite their intimidating presence, there has been no reported harm to humans or pets, but their impact on native spider populations could be significant.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, The Outlaw Donald Trump 2024 at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (L/fGl)

153 The "instruction manual" is also plainly written in history. Recent history.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (rzW3S)

154 Another favorite is the guy who put "cruise control" on his RV . . . and then went to take a shit in the RV's bathroom. He thought cruise control was some kind of autopilot that would somehow drive the car for him. This was in the 1970s or 80s. Of course the RV crashed and he got hurt. He sued and won.
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:22 AM (iFTx/)

Opus did that in Bloom County!

Scroll down to the April 8 comic:

https://tinyurl.com/37fad6dm

Posted by: spindrift at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (OguvZ)

155
Remembering further the guy who lost his hands... his firm was a subcontractor for Boeing. The critical component I produced was something that only a person with an IQ a couple standard deviations north of the norm or a million dollar robot could possibly produce. The rumor went around that he was gonna outsource its production to Mexico.

I thought, "What a prick" and gave notice. Fvck that shit.

You or I make a mistake and hopefully we put it in the past. 'No hands' guy had a daily reminder of his stupidity for every day of his life so I guess it turned him bitter and nasty.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (RKVpM)

156 ---
Although we give the internet a lot of grief, the fact that we can find both of those songs on YouTube *almost* redeems the internet...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (7fElN)

Top two on my list of greatest worst inventions ever......

the internet and the cell phone.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (Zz0t1)

157 137 61
‘ All about a review panel watching portions of your life’
I always felt that I would be acutely embarrassed by a lot of portions of my life being on display. Like Albert Brooks’ character was.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at June 05, 2024 11:28 AM (j1k9Y)

Absolutely. It's terrifying to think about.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (KbCG3)

158 In a day where people gush over AI and fret over AI, I found a cautionary tale quite by accident. I’ve been in this huge Space:1999 mode (thanks, YouTube!), partly because I think I saw it when I was nine thinking “Man, the Eagles are cool but this show is bizarre”…but now that I am 29, the light switch went on. Well, once again I saw my favorite episode, “Guardian of Piri” this morning as it was up in the rotation. It’s very reminiscent of The Lotus Eaters in The Odyssey. But most importantly, Piri is run more or less by AI that got so out of control it stopped time in a mad quest for perfection…designed by beings too lazy to run basic things on their own. A fascinating bit of sci-fi.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (8sMut)

159 When that precise moment happened, I’m not entirely sure. Buy ammo, in any event.
Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (a0d9C)

The precise moment was when a Whitey and a Brother first said "what do you mean? We are getting along."

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (BpZ5k)

160 Books have been written about these kinds of insane lawsuits. The reality is that the case itself doesn't matter. Juries just like to hand out other people's -- usually rich people's -- money. If you can get to a jury, there's a reasonable chance you can win no matter how stupid your case is.
Posted by: Elric Blade

Hot coffee is hot. Do not place near hoo-haw grandma.

Posted by: McDonald's Corp.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (NzJjs)

161 I hate to say it, but if everyone switches to a Linux build, all that dystopian surveillance shit will be mandated and built into the CPUs and routers instead.
Posted by: Taq
--------
Embrace that you do not need new hardware or software. Security via Obscurity is a thing. Only recently did ATMs move away from using OS/2 as their operating system which hackers simply didn't understand nor can get formal training in universities.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (ZHg09)

162 149 And don't forget the German Genius that figured you could run the windshield washers by bleeding air off the spare tire.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:33 AM (V5eKu)

163 Where did you learn this? It doesn't sound right to my untutored ears. My daughter is a big law lawyer who specializes in exactly this sort of thing, and I'm almost certain she wouldn't agree. But again, I'm not knowledgeable.
Posted by: Archimedes at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (xCA6C)
++++
Data are usually owned by the outfit that collects them. Depending on jurisdiction, the subject (person) of the data has some rights of *control* over those data, but not ownership of it. The data outfits are not stewards of your data, they are owners of data about you. There are some constraints, but not many in most places.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:33 AM (d04cU)

164 Books have been written about these kinds of insane lawsuits. The reality is that the case itself doesn't matter. Juries just like to hand out other people's -- usually rich people's -- money. If you can get to a jury, there's a reasonable chance you can win no matter how stupid your case is.
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:30 AM (iFTx/)
----
This also shows up in Bloom County when Steve Dallas' back was broken by a grumpy Sean Penn who objected to Steve taking pictures of him. Steve sued the camera company because they have gobs of money and didn't have a warning label about taking unsolicited pictures of homicidal celebrities.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:34 AM (7fElN)

165 I've handled so many cases where a miscarriage of justice in tort claims was present because of legal logic. So glad I retired. 35 years of absolutely hating my job.

Posted by: polynikes at June 05, 2024 11:34 AM (SHMXB)

166 Also, just a reminder, never use a work computer for looking up tentacle porn: https://tinyurl.com/2vf55n3h
Posted by: Not Me
========

Please know if you work for any sizable organization, they can and do monitor in real time what you are doing. When I was starting to work my way up the food chain, I was a site HR leader. I got a call from our security team a few states away who asked me to run to our lab RIGHT NOW because a tech was watching porn. As I was hanging up the phone to go do this, the security guy laughed and said he hoped I wasn’t a red head. Well guess what? Anyway, the guy was fired and the union did a half booty job of representing him. It was hard to keep straight faces in those grievances.

Posted by: Piper at June 05, 2024 11:34 AM (pZEOD)

167
Hot coffee is hot. Do not place near hoo-haw grandma.

Posted by: McDonald's Corp.
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (NzJjs)

Yeah, but their apple pies contained molten lava.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:34 AM (Zz0t1)

168 Yeah, but their apple pies contained molten lava.
Posted by: Sponge

Fist bump!

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:35 AM (NzJjs)

169 All that time you spend on feetfinder.com?

We know....

Posted by: Microsoft at June 05, 2024 11:35 AM (AR07F)

170 Embrace that you do not need new hardware or software. Security via Obscurity is a thing. Only recently did ATMs move away from using OS/2 as their operating system which hackers simply didn't understand nor can get formal training in universities.

Posted by: whig

The best defense against auto theft is a manual transmission.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:35 AM (lTGtQ)

171 Data are usually owned by the outfit that collects them. Depending on jurisdiction, the subject (person) of the data has some rights of *control* over those data, but not ownership of it. The data outfits are not stewards of your data, they are owners of data about you. There are some constraints, but not many in most places.

It was my understanding that the GDPR governs very tightly what information can be collected, and also what the collector can do with it. If you can't use it, what's the point of collecting it?

Posted by: Archimedes at June 05, 2024 11:35 AM (xCA6C)

172 Civilian, non-civil society usage only.

Work for the Federal and/or appropriate state government or approved civil society operator.

Posted by: L - If they do it with you, they'll do it to you, too at June 05, 2024 11:36 AM (NFX2v)

173 . . . I’ve been in this huge Space:1999 mode (thanks, YouTube!), partly because I think I saw it when I was nine thinking “Man, the Eagles are cool but this show is bizarre”…
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024

***
The Eagle ships were so long they looked as though they'd be a challenge to maneuver, atmosphere or no . . . like trying to make an 18-wheeler handle like a Ferrari.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:36 AM (J2vNu)

174 171 It was my understanding that the GDPR governs very tightly what information can be collected, and also what the collector can do with it. If you can't use it, what's the point of collecting it?
Posted by: Archimedes at June 05, 2024 11:35 AM (xCA6C)

=======

No one gets punished for breaking the rules, besides, the government told you to do it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 11:36 AM (GBKbO)

175 All that time you spend on feetfinder.com?

We know....
Posted by: Microsoft at June 05, 2024 11:35 AM (AR07F)

Shit......

Posted by: Rex Ryan at June 05, 2024 11:36 AM (Zz0t1)

176
*Covid has entered the chat.
Posted by: rickb223

I saw Birx on TV this morning talking about bird flu.
At least that's what the caption said. I had the sound muted.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at June 05, 2024 11:37 AM (63Dwl)

177 Books have been written about these kinds of insane lawsuits. The reality is that the case itself doesn't matter. Juries just like to hand out other people's -- usually rich people's -- money. If you can get to a jury, there's a reasonable chance you can win no matter how stupid your case is.
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:30 AM (iFTx/)

Correct. I have head it many times that an idiot like Lawn Mower Hands Guy or RV Shitting Man can not be allowed to go thru life missing their hands and genitals because they may starve to death and who is gonna take care of them so let's give them a big payday.

Same mindset with government handouts and ponzi schemes like social security et al.

We can't just let them starve!

Sure we can.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at June 05, 2024 11:37 AM (7rocu)

178 Seems to me there would be a ready market for an anti-virus program that would recognize CoPilot's components as viruses, and delete them from your machine.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon
------
There is a tiny Windows 11 project (also for Windows 10) that actually takes Windows and puts it on a strict diet on what functions it can install. You have to have a valid license key for Windows 11 but then you turn on the Tiny project magic and a lot of shitty never used functions of Microsoft bite the dust. Reduces the CPU/memory load and hard drive bloat as well.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:38 AM (ZHg09)

179 And don't forget the German Genius that figured you could run the windshield washers by bleeding air off the spare tire.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024

***
Didn't windshield wipers (in the Sixties and earlier) run off the power of your fuel pump? If your pump was about to go out, your wipers would slow down to almost nothing?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:38 AM (J2vNu)

180 It was my understanding that the GDPR governs very tightly what information can be collected, and also what the collector can do with it. If you can't use it, what's the point of collecting it?
Posted by: Archimedes at June 05, 2024 11:35 AM (xCA6C)
++++
GDPR imposes a lot of constraints, but also a tremendous number of loopholes. It also technically only applies to data about EU persons.

But there are two ways around that: exploit the loopholes or ignore GDPR. Real outfits comply with GDPR because they have to or they lose the EU market, but tons of outfits just don't bother because they're either small fish or in jurisdictions where the EU doesn't really have much if any recourse.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:38 AM (d04cU)

181 84
‘ change the oil. ’

Speaking of which, I’m none too happy with this new trend of oil filter canisters.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at June 05, 2024 11:38 AM (j1k9Y)

182 Posted by: whig

I'm still using a 4th gen i7-4790k and I don't need or want anything newer. Ten generations old, I believe they're up to 14th gen now?

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:38 AM (iRX3h)

183 No one gets punished for breaking the rules, besides, the government told you to do it.

That's certainly not true in Europe. We seem to be gradually adopting most of what's in the GDPR, though. People who have a breach are absolutely terrified of the consequences, so they spend lots of money consulting with high priced lawyers to ensure that everything is done by the book.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 05, 2024 11:38 AM (xCA6C)

184 Well, once again I saw my favorite episode, “Guardian of Piri” this morning as it was up in the rotation. It’s very reminiscent of The Lotus Eaters in The Odyssey. But most importantly, Piri is run more or less by AI that got so out of control it stopped time in a mad quest for perfection…designed by beings too lazy to run basic things on their own. A fascinating bit of sci-fi.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:32 AM (8sMut)

Let’s write a song about this. If we don’t have songs or entire albums on this.

Posted by: Meshuggah at June 05, 2024 11:39 AM (8sMut)

185 The Eagle ships were so long they looked as though they'd be a challenge to maneuver, atmosphere or no . . . like trying to make an 18-wheeler handle like a Ferrari.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:36 AM (J2vNu)
----
Apparently they have a top speed of .15 c (or 15% of the speed of light).

Maneuvering *anything* at that speed is gonna be tough...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:39 AM (7fElN)

186 The best defense against auto theft is a manual transmission.
Posted by: Thomas Paine
=======
Yep, even the migrants that have a hankering for theft to take south of the border are avoiding those now.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:39 AM (ZHg09)

187 I saw Birx on TV this morning talking about bird flu.
At least that's what the caption said. I had the sound muted.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr

They shot their wad with Covid. They've tried three or four different avian flus since then and everyone just laughs.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:39 AM (NzJjs)

188 179 Vacuum wipers. Last car I had with those was a Gremlin (drive to the mill car). Every so often you had to give them a nudge. Carried a yardstick for that purpose.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:39 AM (V5eKu)

189 That's certainly not true in Europe. We seem to be gradually adopting most of what's in the GDPR, though. People who have a breach are absolutely terrified of the consequences, so they spend lots of money consulting with high priced lawyers to ensure that everything is done by the book.
Posted by: Archimedes at June 05, 2024 11:38 AM (xCA6C)

Alternatively, they could just stop collecting the data.

.
.
.

Ok, you can all stop laughing now.

Posted by: DoublySymmetric at June 05, 2024 11:40 AM (iSfV4)

190 To follow up on my comment above, try winning an accident case in NYC where the plaintiff is even remotely sympathetic. Can't be done. Juries know it's insurance money and are giddy to hand it out.

There is one exception. In a notorious accident case in the Bronx, some 20-something white girl claimed she was injured in a car accident. The girl was very attractive -- thin, blonde, nice rack -- but dumb as fuck.

This was the south Bronx so the jury was all fat black women. They still might have found in favor of the plaintiff. But the defense showed social media videos the idiot girl took of herself -- after the accident in which she was supposedly permanently disabled -- frolicking in exotic locales with black guys without any evidence of injury.

The daggers came out after that. Jury took maybe 15 minutes to find in favor of the defense.

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:40 AM (iFTx/)

191 This busty, chilly blonde in what might be sleepwear doesn't like the dystopian future in which she finds herself:
http://tiny.cc/idbeyz

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM (d04cU)

192 Somebody mentioned Kafka the other day.
Dystopian?
Or Tammany Hall?

Posted by: Diogenes at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM (W/lyH)

193 This also shows up in Bloom County when Steve Dallas' back was broken by a grumpy Sean Penn who objected to Steve taking pictures of him. Steve sued the camera company because they have gobs of money and didn't have a warning label about taking unsolicited pictures of homicidal celebrities.

I like the one where Steve is dictating a letter to 'The Cincinatti Strangler' and Opus is putting it into nice language:

STEVE: Where the hell is my dough, you twisted goon? Remember who got you sprung on that technicality. I want my dough now!

OPUS (writing): We still await payment of your legal fees. Just a reminder!

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM (Q0kLU)

194 The trial found that Ford was liable, because they should have foreseen, in 1922, when the car was built, that it would be on the road sixty years later, and should have invented a better plastic that would not be brittle sixty years later.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:16 AM (lTGtQ)

1922 Fords did not have a gear shift. They were all Model T's, and you shifted gears with the pedals.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM (1ogME)

195 Apparently they have a top speed of .15 c (or 15% of the speed of light).

Maneuvering *anything* at that speed is gonna be tough...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024

***
Ten million mph? I'd say so . . .

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:42 AM (J2vNu)

196 Didn't windshield wipers (in the Sixties and earlier) run off the power of your fuel pump? If your pump was about to go out, your wipers would slow down to almost nothing?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

Old jeeps ran off the power of your, or the passenger's, hand. Totally manual.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:42 AM (NzJjs)

197 http://tiny.cc/idbeyz
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM (d04cU)

I'd normally say it's rude to point, but...

Posted by: Robert at June 05, 2024 11:42 AM (GWbU8)

198 The Eagle ships were so long they looked as though they'd be a challenge to maneuver, atmosphere or no . . . like trying to make an 18-wheeler handle like a Ferrari.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:36 AM (J2vNu)

Surely someone has figured out some dimensions of the Eagle. If they have a Star Trek Technical Manual surely they have something like that. Or, how big was Moonbase Alpha? Nerds want to know…

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:43 AM (8sMut)

199 This busty, chilly blonde in what might be sleepwear doesn't like the dystopian future in which she finds herself:
http://tiny.cc/idbeyz
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM (d04cU)
---
I love how this came immediately after Elric Blade's story (comment 190) about a girl who was "very attractive -- thin, blonde, nice rack -- but dumb as fuck."

Serendipity...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:43 AM (7fElN)

200 Vacuum wipers. Last car I had with those was a Gremlin (drive to the mill car). Every so often you had to give them a nudge. Carried a yardstick for that purpose.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024

***
Not mention the vaccum-operated locking system in 1970-80s Mercedes.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:43 AM (J2vNu)

201 Surely someone has figured out some dimensions of the Eagle. If they have a Star Trek Technical Manual surely they have something like that. Or, how big was Moonbase Alpha? Nerds want to know…
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:43 AM (8sMut)
---
Yep:

https://moonbasealpha.fandom.com/wiki/Eagle_Transporter

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (7fElN)

202 Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM (d04cU)

Unable to navigate the use of a bra, I see, but that's o.k. she's not going to pick up clicks and whatever else she's going for- from the size of her big--brain.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (XkYcA)

203 Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:40 AM (iFTx/)

NY has contributory negligence laws which is another crazy aspect that makes it attractive to sue even if you were at fault for the accident.

Posted by: polynikes at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (SHMXB)

204 90 I really hate that guy. Tell him I said so.
Posted by: Ribbed

The first thing I do when I buy a lawn mower is to disconnect that crap

You know .I once complained that I had to hold down a safety bar with my hand. Then I met a man with no hands.
So I took his mower because what’s he going to do about it?

Posted by: Dr. Claw at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (j1k9Y)

205 This busty, chilly blonde in what might be sleepwear doesn't like the dystopian future in which she finds herself:
http://tiny.cc/idbeyz

Well, that's depressing to look at.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (Q0kLU)

206 Man, I hated vacuum operated wipers with the heat of the sun. Go up a hill in a downpour and viola! No fukkin wipers.
My '57 chevy had those, and boy did they suck.

Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (pohLc)

207 Kafka is generally more absurdist psychological horror than dystopian.

What do you do when people don't act how they're supposed to act, but all the ingrained social niceties a normal person would usually use to navigate such a situation fall flat?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (BpZ5k)

208
I'm still using a 4th gen i7-4790k and I don't need or want anything newer. Ten generations old, I believe they're up to 14th gen now?
Posted by: Taq
======
Something like that. Hardware, unless you like to game at the bleeding edge is now powerful enough to do almost anything you might want to do. AI is being oversold, in part, I think to drive trusting people to buy shit that they don't need whether it is hardware or software becuz AI inside!

I have a virtual graveyard of tech because I built my own since the 90's and have boxes of software, etc. Virtually most of it was still working when I quit using them.

Biggest bang per buck on any upgrade though is expanding RAM memory to the max followed by bigger hard drives. Little enough reason to swap a CPU nowadays unless defective as the gains are marginal if you buy a mid grade CPU initially anyway.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (ZHg09)

209 I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here", complete with Buzz Windrip's version of Brownshirts and Antifa, the Minutemen. Lewis wrote it even before the Nazis were a thing.

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (iRX3h)

210 From previously.
How'd the geezer-fleecing go yesterday?
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at June 05, 2024 10:54 AM

Out of the money by one stroke. The 'ol bastards brought in a couple ringers. Sure. They're in their 80's but play good golf.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (W/lyH)

211 So who are the elites backing if they are starting to go after Biden in the WSJ and NY Times?

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight at June 05, 2024 11:45 AM (F5CC1)

212 Kafka is generally more absurdist psychological horror than dystopian.

What do you do when people don't act how they're supposed to act, but all the ingrained social niceties a normal person would usually use to navigate such a situation fall flat?
Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (BpZ5k)
++++
Orwell and the like describe the dystopia.

Kafka describes what it's like to live in the dystopia.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:45 AM (d04cU)

213 I saw Birx on TV this morning talking about bird flu.
At least that's what the caption said. I had the sound muted.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at June 05, 2024 11:37 AM (63Dwl)

Treasonous c*nt said we're making the same mistakes as we did with covid.

She needs to be hung by the neck until dead.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:45 AM (Zz0t1)

214 176. I saw Birx on TV this morning talking about bird flu.
At least that's what the caption said. I had the sound muted.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr.

Wonder if she's still in Pennsylvania & hubby is still with NATO.

Posted by: L - If they do it with you, they'll do it to you, too at June 05, 2024 11:45 AM (NFX2v)

215 Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:40 AM (iFTx/)

NY has contributory negligence laws which is another crazy aspect that makes it attractive to sue even if you were at fault for the accident.
Posted by: polynikes at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (SHMXB)
_________

Correct. It's another reason why accident defendants almost always settle. Their chances at trial are slim.

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:46 AM (iFTx/)

216 Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (iRX3h)

Because he was a Commie.

Posted by: polynikes at June 05, 2024 11:46 AM (SHMXB)

217 This busty, chilly blonde in what might be sleepwear doesn't like the dystopian future in which she finds herself:
http://tiny.cc/idbeyz
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM (d04cU)
---
I love how this came immediately after Elric Blade's story (comment 190) about a girl who was "very attractive -- thin, blonde, nice rack -- but dumb as fuck."

Serendipity...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:43 AM (7fElN)
____

Could be the same girl, lol

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:47 AM (iFTx/)

218 151 There will eventually be no way to opt out, short of opting out of personal computers altogether.

Posted by: Taq

That should be an aspiration for all of us.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:31 AM (lTGtQ)

You rang?

Posted by: The Butlerian Jihad at June 05, 2024 11:47 AM (8sMut)

219 Wonder if she's still in Pennsylvania & hubby is still with NATO.
Posted by: L - If they do it with you, they'll do it to you, too at June 05, 2024 11:45 AM (NFX2v)

She's currently the President of the Health and Human Sciences department at Texas Tech.

REALLY pisses me off......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (Zz0t1)

220 20 years ago today, Ronald Reagan died.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (8sMut)

221 Vacuum operated windshield wipers ran off of engine vacuum.

At steady cruise, engine vacuum is high. It is based on engine load.

Passing someone on the highway in the rain, or going up a hill …. Guess what happens? Yep. They slow down, or stop. If the engine was in poor tune, timing off, they likely wouldn’t work at all.

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (a0d9C)

222 I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here", complete with Buzz Windrip's version of Brownshirts and Antifa, the Minutemen. Lewis wrote it even before the Nazis were a thing.
Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024

***
I read it and have a paperback copy on my shelf. It is effective. My impression was that SL was inspired more by Huey Long's demagoguery, which was going on while the book was being written. Long died in what's been called an assassination in '35, the year the Lewis book was published.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (J2vNu)

223 I got a new riding mower last month. First step, disconnect the contact that won't let me go in reverse with the blade engaged. Second step, disconnect the contact that made it shut off if you got off the seat.

Posted by: Minnfidel at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (ewjUl)

224 206 Man, I hated vacuum operated wipers with the heat of the sun. Go up a hill in a downpour and viola! No fukkin wipers.
My '57 chevy had those, and boy did they suck.

my old white land yacht had vacuum operated vents. one hot day with the a/c going full blast, was passing a truck while climbing a mountain and it dumped the full output of the a/c onto the windshield, instantly fogging it.

Posted by: anachronda at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (v3pYe)

225 STEVE: Where the hell is my dough, you twisted goon? Remember who got you sprung on that technicality. I want my dough now!

OPUS (writing): We still await payment of your legal fees. Just a reminder!
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 11:41 AM

"What this town needs is *two* lawyers!"

- Opus

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (ZANHd)

226 Vacuum operated windshield wipers ran off of engine vacuum.

At steady cruise, engine vacuum is high. It is based on engine load.

Passing someone on the highway in the rain, or going up a hill …. Guess what happens? Yep. They slow down, or stop. If the engine was in poor tune, timing off, they likely wouldn’t work at all.
Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (a0d9C)
++++
I had a Volvo where the power windows and door locks were powered by engine vacuum. Window up/down speed as pretty widely variable.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:49 AM (d04cU)

227 1922 Fords did not have a gear shift. They were all Model T's, and you shifted gears with the pedals.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

It may have been a model A, I can't recall

Posted by: Thomas Paine at June 05, 2024 11:49 AM (lTGtQ)

228 223 I got a new riding mower last month. First step, disconnect the contact that won't let me go in reverse with the blade engaged. Second step, disconnect the contact that made it shut off if you got off the seat.

and that's when the murders started.

Posted by: anachronda at June 05, 2024 11:49 AM (v3pYe)

229 20 years ago today, Ronald Reagan died.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (8sMut)

During Pride Month?!?

Posted by: Robert at June 05, 2024 11:50 AM (GWbU8)

230 One of the Left's biggest projections is when they claim the Right is trying to implement 1984. That's Kafka.

Posted by: polynikes at June 05, 2024 11:50 AM (SHMXB)

231 The Rolling Stones bought movie rights to Only Lovers Left Alive and never did anything with it.

I still think White Lotus by John Hersey is a likely scenario.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 05, 2024 11:50 AM (xjTDL)

232 Whig, I've also found, through long experience, that the game publishers -- for some unknown reason -- are usually lying through their teeth about the "minimum CPU requirements" for their games. I play several games that run perfectly, whose supposed minimum CPU requirements are four or more generations newer than mine.

GPU requirements are usually spot-on, though.

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:50 AM (iRX3h)

233 my old white land yacht had vacuum operated vents. one hot day with the a/c going full blast, was passing a truck while climbing a mountain and it dumped the full output of the a/c onto the windshield, instantly fogging it.
Posted by: anachronda at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (v3pYe)

My 96 Ranger has vacuum activated vent doors. I learned of an issue with the system when driving down the road and going up hill caused the vent to go full defrost.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:50 AM (Zz0t1)

234 It's theirs to do with what they please.

Where did you learn this? It doesn't sound right to my untutored ears. My daughter is a big law lawyer who specializes in exactly this sort of thing, and I'm almost certain she wouldn't agree. But again, I'm not knowledgeable.
Posted by: Archimedes

Very complicated area of the law and a lot of Techie click through contracts are about as valid as used toilet paper. Like a lot of tech companies, they are actually very poorly managed including their legal departments.

There is a reason that a lot of the tech lawsuits occur in California as its court system and precedents are actually more favorable to the average person than the tech companies.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:51 AM (ZHg09)

235 I thought the Holy Grail for the Bolshies was “strict product liability”

They want it for guns, but ultimately it means lawsuits against GM, for a DUI head on collision. Stuff like that. Welfare for Attorneys.

We’ re all in this together! Stay safe!

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:51 AM (a0d9C)

236
During Pride Month?!?
Posted by: Robert at June 05, 2024 11:50 AM (GWbU

Well, he DID ignore the AIDS epidemic and murdered homosexuals.......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:51 AM (Zz0t1)

237 The Democrats must be punished at the ballot box for putting us through this dystopian nightmare.

Posted by: redridinghood at June 05, 2024 11:51 AM (NpAcC)

238 There is a reason that a lot of the tech lawsuits occur in California as its court system and precedents are actually more favorable to the average person than the tech companies.
Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:51 AM (ZHg09)
++++
And CA has comparatively strong (for the US) data privacy and security laws, and lots of the big tech outfits are CA companies so there is no jurisdictional problem with filing there.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 11:52 AM (d04cU)

239 Another 10 years, maybe less and we will see escape from NY???

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at June 05, 2024 11:53 AM (/35H8)

240
Treasonous c*nt said we're making the same mistakes as we did with covid.

She needs to be hung by the neck until dead.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:45 AM

I live next to a farm with ducks and chickens that my wife sometimes visits. Some of those same birds died. My wife caught something that made her miserable for a week. As she recovered I caught something that made me go through a box of tissue a day. Then some phlegm in the throat that was tough to dislodge. I've never had anything similar to it. Nothing like a cold, nothing like the flu, it just makes the nose run and run and run.

I suspect that it was bird flu. No temperature spike, very minor change down in oximeter reading. But because its Election Season they'll play it up so its the end of the world.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 05, 2024 11:54 AM (RKVpM)

241 232 Whig, I've also found, through long experience, that the game publishers -- for some unknown reason -- are usually lying through their teeth about the "minimum CPU requirements" for their games. I play several games that run perfectly, whose supposed minimum CPU requirements are four or more generations newer than mine.

GPU requirements are usually spot-on, though.
Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:50 AM (iRX3h)

CPUs for prebuilt PCs at brick and mortar stores are usually massive overkill relative to GPUs. There's just not much reason to test the CPUs since that's not the limiting factor consumers usually face.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at June 05, 2024 11:54 AM (eYoxG)

242 232 Whig, I've also found, through long experience, that the game publishers -- for some unknown reason -- are usually lying through their teeth about the "minimum CPU requirements" for their games. I play several games that run perfectly, whose supposed minimum CPU requirements are four or more generations newer than mine.

GPU requirements are usually spot-on, though.
Posted by: Taq
======
Software usually lags from optimizing hardware about 4-5 years or so in actually requiring it. Even then, a lot of it is simply operating slower if you use older hardware on things like Handbrake or A/V files.

I quit doing bleeding edge hardware back in the 00's as the cost versus marginal performance was simply not there when I analyzed large datasets.

I stay about two to three years behind in tech now and save a lot of bux doing so. However I do load up initially on memory maxxing and hardware and I NEVER skimp on a power supply.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:55 AM (ZHg09)

243 Those Robert Palmer and Billy Squires videos . . . OMG. Just OMG. They're too 80s even for the 80s. Billy is hoping around like a spastic Richard Simmons having a seizure. I can't believe they shot this abomination and Billy said "looks good to me, let's go to print!"

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:55 AM (iFTx/)

244 Speaking of lawyers and stuff. I had to get a couple keys made. Stopped at the local locksmith. While there, I asked if they had any wire spring stock they could sell me, just a few pieces. Young guy says, yeah, what do you need it for. I told him I liked tinkering with old top break revolvers, and my stuff in the shoebox was running low. "We can't sell you that. Liability if somebody got shot....". Young prick.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:56 AM (V5eKu)

245 TGP has the Joro Spider story up. Same as last year.

It's all so tiresome sometimes, seeing the same "new" story every few months.

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:56 AM (iRX3h)

246
I wonder whether Linux development will accelerate specifically because of this insane overreach by Big Software?

I would love to see robust versions that have more connectivity to the real world (phones and such) but real protections.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at June 05, 2024 11:56 AM (d9fT1)

247 Young prick.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:56 AM (V5eKu)

"What for?"

"Nunya."

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 11:57 AM (BpZ5k)

248 Top two on my list of greatest worst inventions ever......

the internet and the cell phone.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden

Cell phone, maybe. Smart phone, definitely.

Posted by: Brother Tim sez fuck cancer at June 05, 2024 11:57 AM (OUMaO)

249 And don't forget the German Genius that figured you could run the windshield washers by bleeding air off the spare tire.
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:33 AM (V5eKu)

That device actually had a valve that was supposed to limit the pressure loss to 15 psi (which was enough air in the tire to support a VW Bug safely).

The automobile industry seemed to have a collective blind spot as big as Texas, when it came to windshield wipers and washers. They went to extreme lengths, for decades, to avoid using electric motors to drive the stuff.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 05, 2024 11:57 AM (Hm+HN)

250 CPUs for prebuilt PCs at brick and mortar stores are usually massive overkill relative to GPUs. There's just not much reason to test the CPUs since that's not the limiting factor consumers usually face.
Posted by: Red Turban Someguy
---------------
What is this pre-built PC kemosabe? Other than laptops, I've rolled my own since the mid nineties.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:57 AM (ZHg09)

251 247 Yep.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 11:57 AM (V5eKu)

252 Those Robert Palmer and Billy Squires videos . . . OMG. Just OMG. They're too 80s even for the 80s. Billy is hoping around like a spastic Richard Simmons having a seizure. I can't believe they shot this abomination and Billy said "looks good to me, let's go to print!"
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:55 AM (iFTx/)

Billy likely had very little say in any of it. The record companies in the 80's were ruthless, greedy assholes. His contract likely had something in it about not having any creative control in anything other than writing tunes on the subject lines they gave him.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:58 AM (Zz0t1)

253 Old jeeps ran off the power of your, or the passenger's, hand. Totally manual.
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 11:42 AM (NzJjs)

You know what else can get powered by your or your passenger's hand?

Posted by: Doof at June 05, 2024 11:58 AM (v6Olo)

254 >TGP has the Joro Spider story up. Same as last year.
---

we survived killer bees and murder hornets

Posted by: Don Black at June 05, 2024 11:58 AM (/7KEl)

255 Posted by: Elric Blade

I laughed pretty hard at the Billy Squier video and the comments on YouTube. Is it just me, or is his voice uncannily similar to Dio's voice? Squier could have done mad Dio covers.

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:58 AM (iRX3h)

256
Cell phone, maybe. Smart phone, definitely.
Posted by: Brother Tim sez fuck cancer at June 05, 2024 11:57 AM (OUMaO)

didn't get one without the other......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:58 AM (Zz0t1)

257 Predictive programming. "Here's what we're working on. Write a story about it to resign people to what's coming."

Posted by: The CIA at June 05, 2024 11:58 AM (5IEcl)

258 (Not the book) The movie >>>Only Lovers Left Alive is a 2013 gothic fantasy comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring (lots of 'stars'). An international coproduction between the United Kingdom and Germany, the film focuses on the romance between two vampires and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2016, the film was ranked among the BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century by 177 critics around the world.[5] In late 2019, it was named the fourth greatest film of the 2010s by The Hollywood Reporter's chief film critic Todd McCarthy.[6] Wikipedia

Posted by: L - If they do it with you, they'll do it to you, too at June 05, 2024 11:59 AM (NFX2v)

259 The Democrats must be ~~punished at the ballot box~~ banned and exiled for putting us through this dystopian nightmare.

Posted by: redridinghood

Fixed.

Posted by: Brother Tim sez fuck cancer at June 05, 2024 11:59 AM (OUMaO)

260
Top two on my list of greatest worst inventions ever......

the internet and the cell phone.

The Internet was great until dumb people bought cell phones and contributed absolutely nothing of value to the Internet.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 05, 2024 11:59 AM (RKVpM)

261 The Democrats must be punished at the ballot box for putting us through this dystopian nightmare.

That ship sailed so long ago, it probably still had sails.

None of the normal and customary feedback mechanisms have any effect any longer. As if none of the switches, or circuit breakers, relays, etc. None of that works.

The illusion of participatory democracy, that no longer has much effect either. That’s why they are all about YOLO and chomping at the bit to outlaw this and lock everybody up all of a sudden.

They have to hurry, because somebody has a timeline, maybe the destruction of America isn’t cost + 15%, they get a bonus for coming in under budget and on time, I expect. 2016 can’t be allowed to happen, ever again, in their view.

Voting? Yeah. Vote Harder! That’ll show ‘em!

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 12:00 PM (a0d9C)

262 I can't believe they shot this abomination and Billy said "looks good to me, let's go to print!"

You want those sales to continue? Get out there and spread gayness.

Posted by: Hollywood at June 05, 2024 12:01 PM (5IEcl)

263 202
‘ Unable to navigate the use of a bra’

I wasn’t going to look at the picture. Then Fen put in *this* endorsement. All I can say is, ‘Wow . Thanks, FenelonSpoke!’

Posted by: Dr. Claw at June 05, 2024 12:01 PM (j1k9Y)

264 You know what else can get powered by your or your passenger's hand?
Posted by: Doof

ROAD HEAD!!!

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 12:01 PM (NzJjs)

265 Voting? Yeah. Vote Harder! That’ll show ‘em!
Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 12:00 PM (a0d9C)

I will continue to vote as long as I'm allowed to. It would be rather ludicrous to eschew voting when I'm running for a local office.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 05, 2024 12:01 PM (XkYcA)

266 Billy is hoping around like a spastic Richard Simmons having a seizure. I can't believe they shot this abomination and Billy said "looks good to me, let's go to print!"
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:55 AM (iFTx/)

Billy was good friends with that Queen Freddie Mercury so hopping around was kinda normal at the time.

He's an old boozer in New York City now.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at June 05, 2024 12:02 PM (7rocu)

267 "Man, I hated vacuum operated wipers..."

Next you will tell me you used to fight with your siblings over the cream in the delivered milk bottle.

Posted by: Tech Sgt. Chen at June 05, 2024 12:02 PM (Z8Yh2)

268 LOL Dr. Claw

Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 12:02 PM (iRX3h)

269 Those Robert Palmer and Billy Squires videos . . . OMG. Just OMG. They're too 80s even for the 80s. Billy is hoping around like a spastic Richard Simmons having a seizure. I can't believe they shot this abomination and Billy said "looks good to me, let's go to print!"
Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 11:55 AM (iFTx/)

Billy likely had very little say in any of it. The record companies in the 80's were ruthless, greedy assholes. His contract likely had something in it about not having any creative control in anything other than writing tunes on the subject lines they gave him.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:58 AM (Zz0t1)
________

Unclear. The video is notorious in that it almost single-handedly sunk Billy's career. The video was that bad and way off brand for a fairly conventional 80s rocker. Billy blamed the director. The director claimed the video was all Billy's concept.

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 12:03 PM (iFTx/)

270 246
I wonder whether Linux development will accelerate specifically because of this insane overreach by Big Software?

I would love to see robust versions that have more connectivity to the real world (phones and such) but real protections.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo
-------
On phones, Lineage OS is basically Android with all the Google Spyware taken out. One of the commenters actually did rooted and changed Google Pixel phones over to Lineage several times that came out well. Forgot the NIC though.

More commonly done on tablets though to wring out a bit more performance and eliminate Google spyware. Android itself is actually a Linux OS with some special Google sauce. But, they do make an open-source Android version as required by the GPL which is what Lineage relies upon. Much easier to do Lineage on older cell phones though. However, it is still possible to 'brick' a phone just as it is for a computer when you flash the BIOS.

Couple others are floating around out there that actually build in their OS variants. I think a Ubuntu derived version and mebbe Pine make some with preinstalled Linux derived OS.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 12:03 PM (ZHg09)

271 240 I suspect that it was bird flu. No temperature spike, very minor change down in oximeter reading. But because its Election Season they'll play it up so its the end of the world.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 05, 2024

Interesting, I am going through this now. My nose isn’t running, but I am congested, chest tight, dry cough. My voice still sounds like I am a 16 pack a day smoker. It’s just hanging on, which makes me frustrated as I just don’t get sick often and when I do, I bounce back pretty rapidly. I am not around birds, except Owlbert, but I don’t touch him. I don’t think he would let me.

Posted by: Piper at June 05, 2024 12:04 PM (pZEOD)

272 What is this pre-built PC kemosabe? Other than laptops, I've rolled my own since the mid nineties.
Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 11:57 AM (ZHg09)
------------

Yep. It's possible to build a wildly more capable computer for less than what it costs to buy one already built from a manufacturer.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at June 05, 2024 12:04 PM (tT6L1)

273 >>> 219
==
She's currently the President of the Health and Human Sciences department at Texas Tech.

REALLY pisses me off......
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (Zz0t1)

If the non-commie states were what the commies pretend they are, Birx would never have dared even apply for any job in TX.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at June 05, 2024 12:05 PM (llON8)

274 Posted by: Elric Blade

I laughed pretty hard at the Billy Squier video and the comments on YouTube. Is it just me, or is his voice uncannily similar to Dio's voice? Squier could have done mad Dio covers.
Posted by: Taq, Rickrolled by Jesus at June 05, 2024 11:58 AM (iRX3h)
____

Some resemblance, but Dio's voice was deeper and more powerful. And he sounded perfect live too, even in the twilight of his career. Truly an epic rock voice.

Posted by: Elric Blade at June 05, 2024 12:05 PM (iFTx/)

275 I will continue to vote as long as I'm allowed to. It would be rather ludicrous to eschew voting when I'm running for a local office.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 05, 2024 12:01 PM (XkYcA)
******
I will continue to vote as long as I am on the face of this earth.
Just look to Florida to see how much voting matters.

Posted by: redridinghood at June 05, 2024 12:05 PM (NpAcC)

276 Next you will tell me you used to fight with your siblings over the cream in the delivered milk bottle.
Posted by: Tech Sgt. Chen at June 05, 2024 12:02 PM (Z8Yh2)

I'm so old I can operate a dial up phone!

Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 12:05 PM (pohLc)

277 Passing someone on the highway in the rain, or going up a hill …. Guess what happens? Yep. They slow down, or stop. If the engine was in poor tune, timing off, they likely wouldn’t work at all.
Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 11:48 AM (a0d9C)

Which is why they invented the vacuum booster fuel pump, with a double diaphragm to suck air for the wipers. And they even had electric vacuum pumps to assist the wipers. Sheesh! Put the damned electric motor on the wipers already! They knew how to do that well before 1940.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 05, 2024 12:06 PM (Hm+HN)

278 Congressman who suffered fatal heart attack wins election in New Jersey
---

Just wheel his remains into the House chamber for the various votes

he may start to stink soon, though

Posted by: Don Black at June 05, 2024 12:06 PM (/7KEl)

279 Voting? Yeah. Vote Harder! That’ll show ‘em!
Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 12:00 PM (a0d9C)

QUIT PARTICIPATING IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS. This is how we got liberated!!! Look at how well off we are now!

Posted by: Venezuelan opposition parties at June 05, 2024 12:06 PM (8sMut)

280 I'm so old I can operate a dial up phone!
Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 12:05 PM (pohLc)

I always like to imagine that the operator in Mayberry wasn't actually named Sarah, but was too polite to correct anybody when she started the job and then the name just stuck.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 12:07 PM (BpZ5k)

281 278 Congressman who suffered fatal heart attack wins election in New Jersey
---

Just wheel his remains into the House chamber for the various votes

he may start to stink soon, though
Posted by: Don Black at June 05, 2024 12:06 PM (/7KEl)

It’s a Dead Man’s Party. Who can ask for more?

Posted by: Oingo Boingo at June 05, 2024 12:08 PM (8sMut)

282 I always like to imagine that the operator in Mayberry wasn't actually named Sarah, but was too polite to correct anybody when she started the job and then the name just stuck.
Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 12:07 PM (BpZ5k)
++++
You win "oddest fantasy of the day."

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:08 PM (d04cU)

283 You know what else can get powered by your or your passenger's hand?
Posted by: Doof

ROAD HEAD!!!
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 12:01 PM (NzJjs)

More like road hand. Parkinson's optional

Posted by: Doof at June 05, 2024 12:08 PM (v6Olo)

284 276 But do you remember the exchange you are calling?

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 12:08 PM (V5eKu)

285 I always like to imagine that the operator in Mayberry wasn't actually named Sarah, but was too polite to correct anybody when she started the job and then the name just stuck.

-

I miss the way Southerners pronounced Sarah.

*spit*

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Since the 70s, women no longer outlive men. Thanks feminism! at June 05, 2024 12:09 PM (gnoLe)

286 280 I'm so old I can operate a dial up phone!
Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 12:05 PM (pohLc)

I always like to imagine that the operator in Mayberry wasn't actually named Sarah, but was too polite to correct anybody when she started the job and then the name just stuck.

sarah isn't a name. it's a title.

Posted by: james bond at June 05, 2024 12:09 PM (v3pYe)

287 I saw Road Bean Flick open for Reverend Horton Heat at Trees in '94.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 12:09 PM (Zz0t1)

288 I'm so old I can operate a dial up phone!
Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 12:05 PM (pohLc)

My landline is a refurbished candlestick telephone with rotary dial.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 12:10 PM (Q0kLU)

289 284 276 But do you remember the exchange you are calling?
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 12:08 PM (V5eKu)
I remember being on a party line. Get off the line Gladys! (nosey old bitch)

Posted by: Xipe Totec at June 05, 2024 12:10 PM (pohLc)

290 But do you remember the exchange you are calling?
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 12:08 PM (V5eKu)
-----------

Hah, friends of ours, growing up, I remember their phone exchange was on the dial--Temple something. Watching old black and white movies filled in the rest of the information as to why that existed on their phone.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at June 05, 2024 12:11 PM (tT6L1)

291 But do you remember the exchange you are calling?
Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 05, 2024 12:08 PM (V5eKu)
++++
I never had five-digit dialing. I did have rotary-dial phones and seven-digit dialing and a competitive market for long distance, though...

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:11 PM (d04cU)

292 I saw Road Bean Flick open for Reverend Horton Heat at Trees in '94.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 12:09 PM (Zz0t1)

They would also have been great with G Love and Special Sauce

Posted by: Doof at June 05, 2024 12:11 PM (v6Olo)

293 Yes, I am in favor of voting.

I am not persuaded that in aggregate, it has a meaningful effect on the decline and ruin that is going on.

“We aren’t voting our way out of this” seems pretty accurate. We can try, I advocate that. But with a corrupted judiciary, media, academia, congress …

Not a prescription for confidence going forward is what I’m trying to convey.

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 12:12 PM (a0d9C)

294 * rakes jail bars *

Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 05, 2024 12:12 PM (IG4Id)

295 Yep. It's possible to build a wildly more capable computer for less than what it costs to buy one already built from a manufacturer.
Posted by: blake

I got enraged when a 90's HP computer had a ridiculous minimum requirement power supply that would not handle maxxing out the memory and adding a hard drive. That power supply also did not last but about 2-3 years as well.

Went to PC Power and Cooling for years after that on home builts and never had one fail. Using EVGA now as PC Power got bought out years ago by Corsair or some such.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 12:12 PM (ZHg09)

296 But I *do* remember getting four-digit phone numbers when asking. My area had a proper exchange, and only one. If a local gave you his phone number, he was likely to just give you the last four digits because the rest was implied.

Then we got a second exchange.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:12 PM (d04cU)

297 >>>I keep asking myself why. Why do Microsoft and Google need to track your every movement? Because the government is paying them to do so. But why? For what purpose? To save our way of life? You're destroying it with your tactics and controls.

Posted by: Ribbed - Still Straight
--------------------

Google is a DARPA project.

Posted by: Braenyard at June 05, 2024 12:13 PM (YdEcD)

298 ++++
I never had five-digit dialing. I did have rotary-dial phones and seven-digit dialing and a competitive market for long distance, though...
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:11 PM (d04cU)

Wife grew up in a small Northeast Texas town that had party lines. A group of homes on the line shared the number and anyone could listen in at any time.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 12:13 PM (Zz0t1)

299 Those hicks in Mayberry never could pronounce my surname correctly. And they never even called me “Senor.”
— Junipero Serra, retired telephone operator

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at June 05, 2024 12:13 PM (Rd1Oc)

300 That episode of Seinfeld where Elaine gets a new area code is REALLY dated.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 12:14 PM (GBKbO)

301 My landline is a refurbished candlestick telephone with rotary dial.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 12:10 PM

Nice.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at June 05, 2024 12:14 PM (ZANHd)

302 285

I miss the way Southerners pronounced Sarah.

*spit*
Posted by: Moron Robbie - Since the 70s, women no longer outlive men. Thanks feminism! at June 05, 2024 12:09 PM (gnoLe

How do you pronounce it? Not Say-rah?

Posted by: Piper at June 05, 2024 12:14 PM (pZEOD)

303 Wife grew up in a small Northeast Texas town that had party lines. A group of homes on the line shared the number and anyone could listen in at any time.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 12:13 PM (Zz0t1)
++++
I never had a party line.

I did see ads for a dial-up outfit for singles called "Party Line," though.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:14 PM (d04cU)

304 Went to PC Power and Cooling for years after that on home builts and never had one fail. Using EVGA now as PC Power got bought out years ago by Corsair or some such.
Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 12:12 PM (ZHg09)
------------

The great thing about building your own: If a part fails, it's not manufacturer specific.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (tT6L1)

305 Next you will tell me you used to fight with your siblings over the cream in the delivered milk bottle.
Posted by: Tech Sgt. Chen at June 05, 2024 12:02 PM (Z8Yh2)

I'm so old I can operate a dial up phone!
Posted by: Xipe Totec

Trust and believe me, the satisfaction of slamming down a cell phone to hang up on someone is a poor substitute for an old Western Electric phone.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (NzJjs)

306 303 I did see ads for a dial-up outfit for singles called "Party Line," though.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:14 PM (d04cU)

=========

"I bet that girl is gonna get stranded on some sort of purgatory island with a smoke monster."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (GBKbO)

307 12 the Bible WAS an Instruction Manual
-------------------------

The Bible IS an instruction manual, problem is, too many don't pay attention to it.

Posted by: Braenyard - is never going to catch up at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (YdEcD)

308 ++++
I never had a party line.

I did see ads for a dial-up outfit for singles called "Party Line," though.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:14 PM (d04cU)

Just call 976......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (Zz0t1)

309 Jenny, Jenny who can I turn to?

Posted by: That guy who always sings... at June 05, 2024 12:16 PM (mH6SG)

310 Been a Linux user since Slackware in 1994. I use windows for audio recording and that's it.

Posted by: Marcus Gravey at June 05, 2024 12:16 PM (TIizU)

311 old Western Electric phone.
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (NzJjs)

When the little bell for the ringer inside goes CLANG!

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 12:16 PM (BpZ5k)

312 Wife grew up in a small Northeast Texas town that had party lines. A group of homes on the line shared the number and anyone could listen in at any time.
Posted by: Sponge

Yep. You knew if it was for you by the number of rings.

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 12:16 PM (NzJjs)

313 303 Wife grew up in a small Northeast Texas town that had party lines. A group of homes on the line shared the number and anyone could listen in at any time.
Posted by: Sponge
------
Same except the town was not in Texas. Shared the line with about 4-5 other families from what I recollect.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 12:16 PM (ZHg09)

314 Years ago, the phone books listed everybody’s name, address, and phone #.

Right below that “Teen Line”, if so equipped. Yeah, they don’t do that any longer I betcha.

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 12:16 PM (a0d9C)

315 Trust and believe me, the satisfaction of slamming down a cell phone to hang up on someone is a poor substitute for an old Western Electric phone.
Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (NzJjs)
++++
Especially the pay phones. Those things were designed to put up with staggering abuse. I am not convinced a nuclear strike will take out a Western Electric pay phone.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:16 PM (d04cU)

316 >>>If there's a sudden rise in conservative politicians acting like conservatives, we may have Microsoft to thank.
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer
-------------------

Donald J. Trump has entered the conversation.

Posted by: Braenyard - is never going to catch up at June 05, 2024 12:17 PM (YdEcD)

317 Ace is either:

1. Asleep
2. Under collapsed shelving
3. Unable to rise from his bed because he's fasted for too long
4. Writing a review of The Hound of the Baskervilles at long last

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 12:17 PM (GBKbO)

318 Right below that “Teen Line”, if so equipped. Yeah, they don’t do that any longer I betcha.
Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 12:16 PM (a0d9C)

"If you are calling for the little asshole, press 2."

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 12:18 PM (BpZ5k)

319 My landline is a refurbished candlestick telephone with rotary dial.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 05, 2024 12:10 PM

-------------

I wouldn't be able to resist saying, slowly, every time I hung up:

"Putting, The. Candle. Back."

Posted by: ShainS -- We Are All 'Convicted Felons' Now at June 05, 2024 12:18 PM (NNebx)

320 We used to get a new phone book every year.
It's been years now since one was delivered. I took out the old one to show the grands. They were fascinated.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 05, 2024 12:18 PM (W/lyH)

321 Ace is either:

1. Asleep
2. Under collapsed shelving
3. Unable to rise from his bed because he's fasted for too long
4. Writing a review of The Hound of the Baskervilles at long last
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 12:17 PM (GBKbO)
----
5. All of the above.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 12:18 PM (7fElN)

322 Ace is either:

1. Asleep
2. Under collapsed shelving
3. Unable to rise from his bed because he's fasted for too long
4. Writing a review of The Hound of the Baskervilles at long last
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 12:17 PM (GBKbO)

Was about to come up with a list of reasons for his tardiness.

He's making pancakes after a long night of hobo wrestling.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (Zz0t1)

323 Yep. It's possible to build a wildly more capable computer for less than what it costs to buy one already built from a manufacturer.
Posted by: blake

-

These days it's getting, really, really close. If you've already got some parts and tools and such that you don't have to count you can probably come in for a few bucks under, but once you start adding up towers, thermal grease, and the lack of a total warranty or having to troubleshoot individual parts vs just returning the entire thing, that $40-$50 dollars isn't a very big savings.

And that's before considering things like i9-13900HX laptops with RTX4080s for $1600 with two year warranties.

ebay.com/itm/266475158470

That's nuts.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Since the 70s, women no longer outlive men. Thanks feminism! at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (gnoLe)

324 Went to PC Power and Cooling for years after that on home builts and never had one fail. Using EVGA now as PC Power got bought out years ago by Corsair or some such.
Posted by: whig

There was a review guy who did ridiculously detailed PSU reviews who recommended Silverstone. Corsair hired him like 10 years ago and their quality shot up.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (IG4Id)

325 I'm so old, I remember:

Operator: I have a collect call for "Wehaddababyboy" will you accept the charges?

Posted by: rickb223 at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (NzJjs)

326 Northville, MI is a leafy snooty suburb of Detroit. Back in the day, the old 313 was supplemented by the addition of the shiny new 248. The boundary line was the northernrborder of Wayne County (including Detroit). Northville, snobs that they were, carved out a boundary hiccup which moved their Wayne County asses into the Oakland County area code.

Posted by: University of Michigan Football at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (0VCOE)

327 322 Was about to come up with a list of reasons for his tardiness.

He's making pancakes after a long night of hobo wrestling.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (Zz0t1)

========

His smokin' hot brunette wife (with the horrid Bostonian accent) was in the mood, and they're into hour 4 of their lovemaking.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (GBKbO)

328 The Bible IS an instruction manual, problem is, too many don't pay attention to it.
Posted by: Braenyard - is never going to catch up at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (YdEcD)

A preacher once called it Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (8sMut)

329 Ace is either:

1. Asleep
2. Under collapsed shelving
3. Unable to rise from his bed because he's fasted for too long
4. Writing a review of The Hound of the Baskervilles at long last

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, obsessively pursuing evil with Friedkin at June 05, 2024 12:17 PM (GBKbO)

---------------

5. In the ER after becoming severely dehydrated.
6. GOT LUCKY LAST NIGHT!

Posted by: ShainS -- We Are All 'Convicted Felons' Now at June 05, 2024 12:20 PM (NNebx)

330 How do you pronounce it? Not Say-rah?
Posted by: Piper

-

That's how people with dignity and culture say it.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Since the 70s, women no longer outlive men. Thanks feminism! at June 05, 2024 12:20 PM (gnoLe)

331 NOOD GARLAND

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:20 PM (d04cU)

332 I learned that dialling 11911 and hanging up would cause the phone to ring.

Tormenting the Babysitter was its main application,

Posted by: Common Tater at June 05, 2024 12:20 PM (a0d9C)

333 The great thing about building your own: If a part fails, it's not manufacturer specific.
Posted by: blake
--------
True. For a long while, dunno about today, big PC makers used proprietary motherboards such as requiring riser boards, cases, etc. that were a PITA to modify or replace if needed. The ones that had video on the motherboard meant when it went, you often had to toss the system. That is eventually what happened with an old Acer I had mid nineties shortly after the warranty expired.

Posted by: whig at June 05, 2024 12:21 PM (ZHg09)

334 There also is “The President's Analyst” (1967) where “the phone company” wants to implant a CC (cerebrum communicator) in every newborn.

Posted by: SMOD at June 05, 2024 12:21 PM (RHGPo)

335 The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here! I'm somebody!!!

Posted by: Navin Johnson at June 05, 2024 12:21 PM (mH6SG)

336 A preacher once called it Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM

That gag made it into Michael Meyers' The Love Guru. Yes, I watched it. Don't judge me.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at June 05, 2024 12:22 PM (ZANHd)

337 willowed again

Posted by: Navin Johnson at June 05, 2024 12:22 PM (mH6SG)

338 "Writing a review of The Hound of the Baskervilles at long last."

LOL. I'm sorry we never had a group discussion of that. I think I would have enjoyed that.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at June 05, 2024 12:22 PM (XkYcA)

339 320 We used to get a new phone book every year.
It's been years now since one was delivered. I took out the old one to show the grands. They were fascinated.
Posted by: Diogenes at June 05, 2024 12:18 PM (W/lyH)

When I was growing up, I thought we had the coolest phone, ever. A nice long cord, but best of all, the cradle was part of a box. On one side, a chalkboard, handy for writing messages down. Inside, you could place your copy of the Yellow Pages. Very convenient.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 12:23 PM (8sMut)

340 The Bible IS an instruction manual, problem is, too many don't pay attention to it.
Posted by: Braenyard - is never going to catch up at June 05, 2024 12:15 PM (YdEcD)

A preacher once called it Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 12:19 PM (8sMut)

--------------

Heard a mother recently call into a talk radio show say that she told her children: "My job is not to get you into Harvard, but to get get you into heaven."

Posted by: ShainS -- We Are All 'Convicted Felons' Now at June 05, 2024 12:23 PM (LPGG8)

341 NOOD GARLAND
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at June 05, 2024 12:20 PM (d04cU)

Sheesh! Like that is something I want to see.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 05, 2024 12:24 PM (W/lyH)

342 Vacuum wipers were OK by me. One could purchase wiper motors with an extra chamber that would compensate when vacuum dropped. I did.

My vacuum dis is vacuum operated cruise control. Hello GM.

Posted by: Braenyard - is never going to catch up at June 05, 2024 12:24 PM (YdEcD)

343 "R.U.R." is quite good, but "We," once you get past the first third or so of the book, is pretty unreadable.

Posted by: Henry O at June 05, 2024 12:24 PM (X5Mi4)

344 Didn't windshield wipers (in the Sixties and earlier) run off the power of your fuel pump? If your pump was about to go out, your wipers would slow down to almost nothing?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 05, 2024 11:38 AM (J2vNu)

They ran off of engine manifold vacuum. Electric wiper motors were an option. My 57 Chevy still has a vacuum wiper motor.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy now with twice the crazy at June 05, 2024 12:25 PM (iODuv)

345 My first foray into pc building... i had a standard Dell tower. Said "i didn't know you could upgrade these things!", then bought two random ass sticks of RAM to shove in. "Where do they go?" They don't, you dumb bastard. "Well Ok I'll just buy a new mobo and shove everything into that then." No you won't, stupid. "Fine, I'll buy a case." And....? "... and a processor. And a power supply." Hey, nice copy of windows 95 you got there.... "Gahhhh, fuck me."

Way too much money later, i had a moderately better computer than the shitty old Dell i started with.

Don't build a pc that way. Learn from my embarrassment.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at June 05, 2024 12:26 PM (BpZ5k)

346 Yep:

https://moonbasealpha.fandom.com/wiki/Eagle_Transporter
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 05, 2024 11:44 AM (7fElN)

Dude, this sent me down a rabbit hole. : o )

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 05, 2024 12:27 PM (8sMut)

347 off, sock.

Posted by: Chuck C at June 05, 2024 12:28 PM (yOPBE)

348 @moron Robbie, I went to pre built computers for a while because I couldn't get the price of what I was building competitive with what I could buy from someone else.

When I built my current systems, I probably saved close to $1,000 dollars building my own over trying to get one from a manufacturer.

As a for instance: our house server is running Ubunt LXD containers to handle various media requirements. It needs to be substantial to handle the load we throw at it at times.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at June 05, 2024 12:29 PM (tT6L1)

349 The fewer-words instruction manuals are the best.

Posted by: FRONT TOWARDS ENEMY at June 05, 2024 12:56 PM (hirWM)

350 Well, the Republican party thought Idiocracy was an instruction manual... There is that...

Posted by: MarineVet at June 05, 2024 01:12 PM (VcZlJ)

351 Software is now being developed that will prevent you from using any masculine or feminine terms and will substitute a so-called gender-neutral expression instead.

Look for this to be incorporated into all word processing software going forward. The forcing continues!

Posted by: Beverly at June 05, 2024 01:27 PM (Epeb0)

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