Video (other)

1989

Chill Culture, Video, Video (other)

What an awesome fucking time capsule. I remember that world; I was about the same age these kids were in 1989. It was so very different than now, in ways that are hard to describe unless you lived it. Younger people cannot believe a world like that truly existed:

But it did. In important ways, it was a lot freer — there was far less surveillance. Kids were allowed to roam, and have their own lives. There was no social media (except BBSes, which few used). I would not want to go back, but this is one of the few examples I’ve ever found of what it felt like to live in that time. I knew kids just like this dude and his friend who did things just like they are doing in the video.

Wave All the Meat

Chill Evil, Video, Video (other), War

Open-field disorganized assault with no vehicular support. Alrighty then. What a colossal waste of people and purpose.

Upgraded

Chill Video, Video (other)

This vid will piss a lot of people off and is half in “YouTube Voice” so it’s quite annoying, but it’s mostly true. Having done a similar upgrade myself, it has been odd and revealing to be treated as fully human by women now.

Women hug me randomly now in settings they never would’ve before. I had a woman at the DMV call and stay on hold for me with the DMV HQ for 20 minutes after I flirted with her and batted my eyelashes a little. She also waived all my fees. That never would’ve happened before my appearance changed. Not a freakin’ chance. When I am up to being charming and wear a tight shirt, there’s about a 98% chance I get what I want if there is a woman at the front desk or anywhere can she see me.

And it does also make me a little bitter.

Dated and Undated

Chill Video, Video (other)

2004 McDonalds Chicken Selects Commercials.

Wow, culture is very static compared to how frequently and drastically it used to change. These ads are twenty years old but they don’t feel all that dated. If the resolution were higher that could be be right now.

Imagine watching McDonald’s ads in 2004 from 1984 (same time separation). Back then, 1984 already seemed like a different world.

So for comparison, here are McDonald’s commercials from 1984-1985. Wow, that’s a whole different, weird universe there1.

Even I had kind of forgotten, though, how heavily McDonald’s ads were aimed at kids back then.

  1. And I was alive in both eras, so don’t even argue here.

Haunted

Chill Video (other), War

There are a lot of dead people in this video. If you can’t handle that, don’t watch it.

That said, if I were Israel and this had happened to my country I’d have been even less restrained than they are. Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations and they hide among civilians. Their goal is get their own people killed to whip up sympathy. Pretty fucking slimy. And it’s not that Israel has done everything right, but I understand the rage and the tactics they use. Given the opposition, their choices are narrow.

By the way, butchering civilians at a music festival is indeed a war crime.

Paragren

Chill Video, Video (other), War

Not to take away anything from her thinking this up herself, but paratroopers have been doing that for ages with the Mk 19. Indirect fire with that weapon to engage troops which are in defilade is just part of the game. Advance, shoot and scoot with the 19 is a pretty standard thing. But she’s right — it’s incredibly dangerous but also effective.

That tells me the Ukrainians don’t have as many advisors from NATO/US as they should if they have to cook these tactics up themselves.

Joust

Chill Video, Video (other)

Extreme close combat of a Ukranian Bradley vs Russian APC.

Jesus Christ, that is the craziest thing I have seen in this war. The Bradley definitely came out on top there, but damn.

And this is mentioned in the comments, but in the below video a Bradley destroys a T-90M. Very impressive. The Bradley and its main gun are formidable.

About the Bradley vs. BTR engagement, my assessment is that the Bradley was hit but survived, but the BTR was obviously a total loss (and more than a few Russians died in the process). So fucking glad I am not in that war.

Radii

Chill Video, Video (other)

360 Video: NASA Simulation Plunges Into a Black Hole.

Yes, I know this is from NASA, but unfortunately it is not accurate. Or at least highly, highly misleading. For one, the external universe would not disappear like that. Here is a more realistic view of what would occur. If even NASA can’t get this right, you know we’re fucked.

The below, though long, is also far more accurate.

The NASA simulation is likely botched because it did not properly account for the fact that relativity means that there is no real difference between the astronaut(s) inside and those outside the event horizon in practical terms except light can no longer escape. Most probably it attempted to simulate the view of the infalling astronaut for the perspective of the external universe…which is just wrong. And results in the misinformation seen in the NASA sim.

User Brain

Chill Video, Video (other)

Admin assuming IT have a crystal ball.

As the top-voted comment perfectly summarizes:

User’s email doesn’t work. User sends an email to log a ticket regarding their email problem. User waits, angrily, because no one responds.

When you first start out on help desk, you believe users must have some sort of thought process or logic, some way they navigate their days and their lives beyond just raw first-order sensations and childish wishes. Then after about six months of pain and witnessing the absolute nadir of humanity, you realize that, no, in fact they do not. You come to understand that this is typical user thought process and behavior, with rare exception:

In independent studies, it has been 28 years since a user has even been discovered to have a brain. Scientists are still searching, but not much hope remains.