Mar 01

Despise

Reading that thread I linked below, I think I now actively and deeply hate everyone who shares their location.

What. The. Fuck.

Mar 01

Compress

This is quite well done. Only a few inaccuracies, which is amazing for a science video over 10 minutes long. Usually these get half the claims wrong or are so wildly off base that they might as well be wrong. Also, I noticed that the graduate student who speaks several times during the video has that completely new accent that seems to be developing among Gen Z and younger. I wondered when that was going to happen! Pretty cool.

But they skipped out on talking about the really interesting parts of compressed matter: neutron stars and what happens to matter (and the star itself) when it starts transitioning to that state.

Mar 01

IdCov

Empty cities during lockdown.

Clown-ass Covidians: There were no real lockdowns anywhere! It’s all lies!

Meanwhile, some people endured nearly a year of barely seeing another human being in places like the UK. The US lockdowns didn’t amount to much, truly, but that was for the better. Overall health matters too.

Mar 01

Previc

Worst Monthly Spike of “Core Services” PCE Inflation in 22 Years, and Not Just Housing: Powell’s Gonna Have Another Cow.

The “transitory” fucking idiots declared victory while being wrong in every possible way anyone can be wrong: they were wrong as to timing, they lied about what actually occurred, they were having triumphal celebrations while inflation was still elevated — and now, to top it all off, inflation is getting worse again.

But clowns rule us and alas most people believe the clowns.

Feb 29

The Inhuman

The 1990s really was a better world in a lot of ways. That McDonald’s video below got me thinking about it. And I don’t believe I feel that way just because I grew up then. No, my 1992 was not particularly great personally. I was getting beat up a lot and was roundly hated by nearly all of my peers and just about everyone else too.

Have you been in a McDonald’s lately, though? They obviously don’t want you in there. The seating is de minimis; the decor is brutalist grey; the front counter is abandoned and the entire environment is clinical. It’s designed to make you leave as hastily as possible and not want to come back. They want you to use their app and if you must, the drive through — they’d prefer you order delivery, however.

McDonald’s has become, like many parts of our civilization, an inhuman place, a territory optimized for the needs of technology and those serving it. If they could — and soon they probably will — they’d eliminate the dining area altogether.

I don’t like crowds, but even I preferred when McDonald’s had raucous birthday parties going on, people meeting up and having fun. And when it didn’t feel like a prison dining facility. What the fuck are we even doing with this shit?

The future, as I’ve said before, is terrible.

Feb 29

MD

McDonald’s in the 1990s.

This video is from 1992. I’d guess June or July of 1992 if I had to.

How I know: the dude wearing the band The Cure’s t-shirt. They didn’t start using that logo until 1992 so it had to be that year or after. And the logo on the fry container is the one used in the movie Batman Returns, which was released in the summer of 1992.

So, 1992 with 99.995% confidence, June-July of that year with 95% confidence.