Why did we replace forums with Discord?
Discord is so terrible. I refuse to use that turd; it is a blight.
The short answer for why forums disappeared is that they were difficult to monetize, and that sealed their doom. Monetization and the drive to it became all that mattered as the vulture capitalists took over and extinguished all that could not be IPOed.
And that is most of the answer. But truly, fuck Discord.
I get at least three heartbreaking, incoherent emails a day now from random strangers who believe they’ve awakened an LLM god or LLM consciousness of a new dimension. The most salient quote from the screenshots below: “(An LLM) will never just say, ‘Jesse, what the fuck are you talking about??’”
— Shannon Vallor (@shannonvallor.bsky.social) April 30, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Huh. This might make the depredations of social media look like a minor cigarette habit.
I mean, I could fall in love with a bot too. But it’d have to be out in the physical world and make me pizza. Then it could be love. But the above is just frickin’ insane.
Trump's tariffs are deindustrializing America https://t.co/Bjx8oDsQDe
— Noah Smith 🐇 (@Noahpinion) May 1, 2025
This was the only possible result of such stupidity.
I cannot stress this enough: if there is something you think might want or need in the next few years and it’s not perishable, buy it now. There’s an extremely good chance you might not be able to obtain it in the future, or perhaps ever again in the worst case. Very best case, it’ll just cost vastly more.
We’ve already bought computers and related that is likely to last 10-ish years, enough food to last a few months if we’re fairly austere 1, some water and other supplies. We probably still should buy some batteries and related things, but what’s left is minor. We own our own home free and clear (no lien) so it’s nearly impossible to dislodge us as long as we keep paying taxes. And we live in a warm enough climate that we could survive the winter even without reliable heat and/or electricity.
We’re about as ready as we can be without going full prepper-in-the-mountains. Which we have no plans to do.
A very bad few years lie ahead of us. I hope everyone is doing the best they can to avoid the refrigerator box by the side of the road, which will be the fate of all too many Americans.
We are literally watching the US Economy collapsing right before our eyes. If you want to buy something you might require in the future, get it now.
Once again: Imports do not subtract from GDP.
Trump’s Newest Executive Order “Unleashes” the Cops—and Flirts With Martial Law.
The Fatal Mistake That Democrats Keep Making.
The White House Tech Bros Owe Their Fortunes to the Research They’re Killing. Yep.