Year: 2025

L &S

Chill Clowns, Lying Liars

Indeed. Obama started this. That doesn’t make it right (or wrong). But it was a precedent. Pretending like this began with Trump is false and makes (as is typical lately) the liberal side look deranged. After all, they cheered like mad when their lord and savior Obama did exactly the same thing.

Chill Links

Why Tehran Is Running Out of Water.

The past was not that cute.

ACIP Decides More Newborns Do Need To Catch Hepatitis B.

US job cuts surged 183% in October to a record 153K. Is this the end of America's ‘no hire, no fire’ landscape?

Children with better musical skills may benefit from a prolonged window of brain plasticity.

Growing Fear of Nature: Study Reveals Causes of Rising Biophobia.

For small businesses hit by soaring costs, layoffs are painful and personal.

Leibniz’s Monads Are Weird Quarks.

America’s economy is at the mercy of crony capitalism.

Europe needs to stop its magical thinking and get ready for war with Russia.

Poof Water

Chill Clowns

Something I realized during the utterly-moronic AI water usage “debate” is that a lot of progressive degrowther types believe that when water is used somewhere, it literally disappears. Like, they think it poofs into hydrogen and oxygen or just evacuates the universe altogether.

And…dang. I have no words for whatever is going on there. But here’s some anyway: Water is nearly infinitely-renewable. No, this doesn’t solve the problems of cities like Tehran or a lot of India. Though those are in fact soluble (see what I did there) problems. Other than water that is de-molecularized in a few industrial processes and relatively-rare chemical reactions, there is as much fresh water on planet earth now as there was when humans evolved. Yes, of course, how we use it matters. And we could do a lot better at that.

However, when I realized that very many prog types believe that when water runs through a data center loop for 30 seconds it is somehow annihilated and vanishes from the universe forever, I was both disappointed and agog.

Usurp We Surp

Chill Gutter Philosophy

Do most people not realize they are now captured minds fully running the optimization algorithms of other people who care not a bit about them? It’s moved beyond propaganda into possession. We’ve summoned demons from the nether realm and allowed them to irrupt into our most sacred place and rampage with no control and no restraint.

What are we thinking? We aren’t; not any longer.

Chill Links

Google wants to give Chrome access to even more of your private data.

“The Crawlers”, 1877.

YouTube secretly tests AI video retouching without creators’ consent.

New England warming faster than most places on Earth, study finds.

The Supreme Court Is Poised to Revive a Key Feature of Nixon-Era Corruption.

Modi mocks Putin by speaking Ukrainian during two-day India visit.

There was recently a flurry of attention and dismay over Sarah Kendzior having been suspended from Bluesky by its moderation system.

Even modest strength training can counter age-related decline.

The last act of the feature film.

Trump’s Self-Imposed Economic Trap.

Exploding Suburban Silence.

A massive, Chinese-backed port could push the Amazon Rainforest over the edge.

Trump Tried to Brag About Black Friday. The Truth Is Far More Grim.

Health-care costs are about to spike in a way that Americans can’t afford.

As expected, Kate’s health insurance, purchased on the ACA marketplace, is going to be more expensive next year. In fact, her plan won’t even be available, so she was booted to an allegedly comparable one for…quadruple her current premium.

IT Shift

Chill Annoying, Rant

Does anyone else feel like the culture of IT has quietly shifted into something… completely different?

Definitely. It’s become professionalized and corporatized.

The truly exceptionally-skilled people who were not well-socialized have been pushed out, mostly. Thus, the average level of talent has decreased by a whole lot. Contributing to this is that those like me who grew up with real computers and excellent troubleshooting skills are starting to age out.

This means that the average skill level is a lot lower, and most managers are not as competent. Relatedly, there is vastly more attention paid to the appearance of things (not software or design, I mean socially). The put-up-with-no-bullshit greybeards and (more rarely) doyennes have nearly all departed — what’s left are gladhanders, ass-kissers, corporate social butterflies and sycophants of all stripes.

It was a lot better field 15-20 years ago is what I am saying. There is no nearly no one left at my level any longer. Which means there is no competition but it’s also very lonely. Those with actual impressive skills aren’t present anymore, and the juniors coming up can’t troubleshoot their way out of a wet paper bag.

It’s been sad to witness.