Most propaganda is aimed at neurotypical wiring. We are out of tune with it, that gives us a measure of protection.

It’s one of the worries I have with AI. While I think we are more protected from propaganda than most (since we constantly want to poke at the crack in a story), we are not immune. It’s perfectly possible to shape it to effect us. They just haven’t bothered, since we are a small target. AI makes that a lot easier to do, so we will see more of it.

A lot of places train their police to de-escalate conflicts, as a default. This leads to far more reasonable encounters.

E.g. in the UK, we have some issues with racism and excessive racial profiling. I know quite a few people who dislike the police (of various ethnic groups). I know very few who fear the police (outside of them doing their job).

I also know a couple of people who work within the police (backroom). They are actively trying to deal with racism within the force. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a game of whack-a-mole, but at least they are trying.

America seems to be an exception. Just seeing your police out and about put me mentally on guard. They don’t radiate professionalism, but bully swagger.

I definitely agree with you.

At the same time. I can’t see how they could fit the awesomeness from the book into a reasonable length film.

The martian is the better book. It’s one of the best examples of “science applied to problems” I’ve read. Unfortunately the movie did it a dirty, and cut out a lot of the good parts.

Project hail Mary is an excellent book, but not quite to the level of The Martian (REALLY enjoyed it however!). The film is a better adaptation. It still cuts a lot of science out, but at least plays lip service to it having happened. It also captures the characters PERFECTLY.

This is the best answer.

It stops you feeling awkward. It’s gets a chuckle from everyone involved, and it makes you feel a lot more confident (fake it till you make it type effect).

Extra qudos if you finish by pointing your mock baton at the friend you know is going to go “hip hip”.

It’s on steam. The challenge levels are great for learning about weird moves and tactics.

Bishops are terrifying in that game. I’ve lost more than a few to a retrograde checkmate.

For those confused, bishops step through 2 dimensions at a time. In a normal chess game, that is X&Y, making them move diagonally. In 5D chess it can be X &T, letting it check a king in the past. Since a king in the past can’t move, it’s a checkmate.

A lot of vehicles have a beam dip adjuster in the cab. Mine pops out when I press the center of the light control selector.

Officially, they are to correct for a heavy load in the back. Unofficially, if you tweak them, you can flip between longer range, and polite as required.

If you watch your lights, there should be a fairly sharp cut-off at the top of their coverage. If that line ever hits a window or mirror, it will look like you are flashing them. If it’s too high, either fix it yourself (generally quite easy) or get it fixed.

I’ll just be happy when we phase out imperial and other weird thread types. Metric standardisation is a godsend over what came before.

The heads are a lost cause. They serve too many different purposes, with differing, competing, requirements.

Ironically the opposite is more likely.

I have ADHD and am (now) medicated for it. Interestingly, I’ve noticed it’s become less effective. Not because my meds work worse, but that my brain works better. It now knows what a focused flow state feels like. It’s become easier to recreate it, even without the support of medication.

I suspect depression meds would do the same. The medication supports you in a better mental state. Your own brain learns that state and that it feels better. Eventually, you might not need the meds to hold that state. If you do, however, that’s also fine. The goal is to be the best version of you.

The french we can handle. The Danes… they fall in the same category as the Canadians, or the Scots. You don’t pick a fight with them. If you must fight them, you run away throwing gold at them.

Starmer leads the UK center left party, while being as left wing as Margret Thatcher. Unfortunately, he doesn’t even have her spine or intelligence. It was the least worst option, which isn’t saying much. He’s a hypocritical sack of shit, but still better than the other options.

Labour are being overtaken by the green party FFS.

/Rant

Mice used to have a mechanical ball in the bottom. You needed to remove it periodically to clean out the gunk that formed on the rollers. When optical mice appeared, they steadily replaced the old style. It became an IT joke. Mice with balls were male. Optical mice were female.

I would call that a feature! It means we can use them as caltrops if the French ever invade!

/s

The UK plug is one of the best around. It’s only downside is that it’s chunky. By putting the fuse in the plug, the protection can be customised to what is attached.

It also is designed to be almost impossible to fall out of a wall socket. As well as mandating the pin connection order and safety shielding. The sockets are also gated, stopping children sticking stuff into them.

Even internally they are well designed. The live wire is the weakest link. If pulled, that will tend to fail first. It will, however be held internally by the neutral and earth wires. The earth will be the last to fail.

The side entry also means that the plug locks into place when the cable is pulled. If the plug or socket fails catastrophically, the earth pin will be the last to pull loose.

It was a mountain out of a molehill situation. Basically, brother toner cartridges can do an internal calibration to fix minor alignment issues. For off brand toner, it needs to be done manually. It had been that way for a while. The original author just got some particularly misaligned cartridges and “discovered” this.

Other than that, I’ve seen no signs of enshitifcation from Brother. I ended up buying a brother colour laser not long afterwards, and have been quite happy so far.

Old stock, or is someone still making them?

Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy had it right. The Galactic President did all the PR events, but had no actual powers. The real decisions were made by a guy, living in a shed, who didn’t believe the rest of the universe existed, when he couldn’t see it.

Computer mice is an area where females have completely displaced males.

I’ve not seen a male mouse at work in a long time.

I’m fine with 2D walking and jumping. It’s the 3rd dimension movement that messes me up.

Try it though. It’s awesome, in either normal or VR.