If H5N1 does turn into a full-blown outbreak, part of me expects it’ll rack up a heavier deathtoll than COVID.

If we came across very mentally disabled people or extremely early babies (perhaps in a world where we could extract fetuses from the womb after just a few weeks) that could feel pain but only had cognition as complex as shrimp, it would be bad if they were burned with a hot iron, so that they cried out. It’s not just because they’d be smart later, as their hurting would still be bad if the babies were terminally ill so that they wouldn’t be smart later, or, in the case of the cognitively enfeebled who’d be permanently mentally stunted.

wat

This entire fucking shrimp paragraph is what failing philosophy does to a mf

Character.AI Is Hosting Pedophile Chatbots That Groom Users Who Say They’re Underage

Three billion dollars and its going into Character AI AutoGroomer 4000s. Fuck this timeline.

Wired tried to put out a defence of tech and the result is incoherent drivel. See for yourself.

This is pure gut instinct, but I suspect Twitter’s probably gonna die sometime during Trump’s term - the banks which funded Musk’s takeover consider it their worst deal since the Great Recession, and the rapid exodus of users is gonna further cripple Twitter’s ability to attract advertising revenue.

Part of me suspects we’re gonna see Twitter getting banned somewhere during Trump’s term as well, a la Musk’s tangle with Brazil.

Dorsey jumping ship’s about as good a reason as any to jump to Bluesky, especially considering Twitter’s currently haemorrhaging users from the one-two-three punch of the AI training, the crippled blocking and THE ELECTION^tm.

By my guess, the AI training is probably doing the most damage - that one’s prompting artists to bolt for the exits, and if Tumblr’s NSFW ban taught me anything, its that if the artists start leaving, they’re gonna start taking their fans with them.

Got recommended a video from a friend, and its a damn good sneer at the state of YouTube sponsorships:

Why YouTube Sponsors Are (Almost) Always Terrible

Four Passengers Die in Burning Tesla After Electronic Doors Seemingly Won’t Open

I always had a hunch Teslas were death traps but Jesus Christ

Its gonna be the largest embezzlement scheme in US history, that much I’m certain. How much damage the pair will do to the federal gov I’m not sure, but I expect there won’t be much left of it once they’re done.

Elon Musk, Ramaswamy land Trump admin roles

President-elect Trump has tapped tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an advisory group focused on cutting federal spending and reducing the size of the government.

Trump announced Tuesday that Musk and Ramaswamy would lead his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), an initiative meant to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures” and restructure federal agencies.

We live in the dumbest timeline

Heads up, Zitron’s gonna drop

Misandry as a vague cultural meme about men being terrible and the friction that this causes, particularly for men struggling to find a healthy way to exist under patriarchal masculinity as discussed above?

Looking back, that’s definitely the kind of thing I was expecting to spike. I was just too deeply peeved about vaguely gestures at everything to see that clearly.

Should’ve probably posted this earlier, but fuck it: South Korea’s ‘4B’ Movement Goes Viral in US After Trump Elected

“4B” is shorthand for a South Korean movement in which women refuse to engage in heterosexual marriage, childbirth, dating, or sex with men. It comes from the words bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae, and bisekseu, all of which start with a Korean prefix for “no.” It originated in 2019 in response to a culture that women felt was patriarchal beyond repair, and has since gained some traction in other countries.

Also, fuck it, quick sidenote:

This is mostly gut instinct, like most of the Trump predictions I’ve made, but I’m expecting a spike in full-blown misandry over Trump’s term. Mainly because Trump managed to win over Gen Z men this election, and because the Trump administration is almost certainly going to town on abortion/women’s rights.

Starting off this Stubsack with a solid essay I ran across: Don’t expect the tech platforms to help us this time.

How do you all suppose the Great Bullshit Implosion is going to interact with our incoming US government? When it becomes clear that the money is running out, will OpenAI be able to talk the Trump government into bailing them out, or will the fash kick them when they’re down, since tech will be a nice fat scapegoat for the economy hitting the shitter?

Kicking them whilst they’re down would be an easy win when “the cruelty is the point” is your unofficial motto, and there’s plenty of anti-tech sentiment for Trump to work with. And, of course, they’re a piss-easy scapegoat - AFAIK tech’s managed to piss off both political wings here.

He’s probably gonna kick them whilst they’re down.

They can be, but they can also be a social and recreational space.

Your mum’s a social and recreational space, but I don’t see you going to bat for her despite being more useful

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Its times like these which make me happy I switched to Librewolf.

Fuck it, off-the-cuff prediction: I expect resistance to Silicon Valley is gonna turn violent during Trump’s term.

Recently read Brian Merchant’s latest piece on the upcoming election, and I felt like making a quick-and-dirty prediction:

If Harris wins, I expect there will be some pretty harsh regulation against Silicon Valley. Putting aside everything but simple political pragmatism:

1. Elon Musk’s election antics and Trump’s support from tech billoinaires have shown SV holds a significant amount of power over politics - power which will almost certainly prove a constant thorn in Harris’ side. As such, it’d be in her self interest to kneecap the Valley ASAP.

2. Public opinion of Silicon Valley has taken a pounding over the years for a variety of reasons, with the AI slop-nami just the latest and most serious grievance the public has against them. Any tech regulation a Harris presidency makes (especially against AI) is gonna enjoy significant public support from day one.