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Samson's Wig

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by Samson's Wig

  1. I love love love this insanely heightened rhetoric.  Some are acting like something important is happening, when in reality it's just a shitty place that has largely been an echo chamber for left of center commentary and a slightly different way of consuming pornography and sports info than the rest of the Internet, becoming a slightly different kind of echo chamber that will still have all the porn and sports nonsense (and even the left of center commentary).  Watching the mouth-breathers delight in their favorite dumbasses returning to the platform is almost as delicious as watching the crying from others that their favorite way to completely waste time is changing.  The two main categories of interest for English speaking users on Twitter?  Crypto and porn.  Crypto and porn, and people are acting like the world is ending.  This is not something to take seriously unless you work for Twitter and are about to have to go find a job at another company that provides nothing of value.

    When McDonald's stopped using lard to make their shitty fries and started using vegetable oil to make even shittier fries, the world wasn't ending - many of us just stopped eating them.  Those who kept eating them got even fatter.  Twitter is of less significance to the world than McDonald's fries, but here we are acting like the world is ending.  And I enjoy left of center commentary, porn, and sports info as much as anyone, but all of it is still widely available all over the damn place (even right here!).  Twitter's only value to users was making it slightly easier to navigate.  Not much of a loss.  I get why many love the place since the orange one and his ilk were removed, it certainly became more enjoyable, but some of you are acting like humanity is at stake.  

    Twitter was in significant decline long before Musk came along, with its true active users (heavy tweeters) basically abandoning their accounts since at least the beginning of the pandemic. Musk's ownership may well be the final nail in the coffin, who knows?  But the one thing we all know is that no one has to use Twitter that doesn't want to.   You will not miss out on a single thing that can't be found elsewhere.  Twitter was, is, and always will be little more than a shiny paper bag to put on your ugly date before you fuck.  It's all still ugly underneath, but some have grown to love the mask as if it has substance of its own.  Now the mask is being ripped off and some are crying about having to fuck an ugly date, as if there are no other alternatives.

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  2. 7 hours ago, boilerhorn said:

    In Elon's post acquisition screed, one thing stood out:

     

    It's a well-known fact to those who are paying attention, but I am astonished that he was so transparent about it.  If something's free, you're the product.

    Free gmail and search can be useful, but there's a reason you get ads for "bags of dicks" soon after a google search for Bob Stoops or Brent Venables. 

    I'm sorry sir or madam, but visionaries here have made it clear that Twitter is home to the brightest minds in the world, where they trade barbs, learn from each other, and laugh at the remaining 96% of humanity that doesn't join them in their high minded ribaldry.  It is simply impossible that they are bunch of rubes who enjoy the sound of their own voice echoing back at them so much that they would sacrifice privacy and integrity for something as base as a capitalist endeavor.  

    Sarcasm aside, I continue to be amazed how many Twitter fanboys have their heads every bit as far up their own asses as Musk does.  Trying to justify a platform as something high-minded when it is largely utilized to disseminate porn (just like the rest of the Internet) is hilarious.  No one gives a fuck about anyone's tweet unless it drives eyeballs for advertisers.  That dopamine rush you get when you post something clever or think you've interacted with someone important is nothing more than the cheese luring a mouse to a trap.  What a fucking utopia of brilliant minds.

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  3. 40 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

    Hard disagree on the value of twitter, and the trite notion of social media bad.  The value is inherent in its activity.  It has a massive active community particularly where its use-case does not overlap with the other platforms.  If the Twitter were to be nuked from planet, another would take its place.  But as its stands today, the handwringing over Musk's taking over it it, demonstrates the value people ascribe to its importance.  (if not, why do they care so much?)

    Fast news is bad news.  What's the alternative?  AFP?  Reuters?  Lest we reinvoke the Ukraine thing again -- please god let this be the last time in this thread -- 80% of the content of the Surly Ukraine thread was built on Twitter updates. 

    You may not derive any personal value from Twitter and it could be 1000% true, and people everywhere have been boasting about deleting their FB profiles for 10 years, but in aggregate its the tools employed by pretty much the entire world to organize their social lives, share information, orchestrate events, etc. 

    This is the notion that Twitter fan boys have their heads so far up their collective asses about.  It is absolutely not the a tool employed by pretty much the entire world.  Not even remotely close.  Not even a 4th of Americans have a Twitter account, and among those who do maybe 10% of them are active.   This shit is nothing more than the modern equivalent of Saturday morning cartoons for kids in the 80's.  You're convinced you're being entertained but you're just being manipulated.   I understand it's the drug of choice for lots of folks with short attention spans and a penchant for arguing with others in an absolutely consequence free environment, but that doesn't make it substantive.  

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  4. Agree with most of that, except Tech should maintain independence in West Texas, in my opinion.  A different system there makes geographic and cultural sense.  Ultimately, I'd love to see aggie rolled back into the UT system where they belong (and forced the change their name for the lols), leaving Tech and UT as the two systems and dividing things up geographically.  Aggie has proven over and over again that they will do anything to undermine the success of anyone else.  Fuck them.  They should be brought to heal.  I could see Tech as a partner, but never aggie.  (I know none of this will ever happen, nor will merging any of the other systems with maybe one or two exceptions).

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  5. One thing both Elon and his haters have in common: they both overvalue the fuck out of Twitter.   - That's the entire point of this long post, so I recommend you stop reading there (it's certainly where I should have stopped typing).

     

    This thread is a shitload of drama over something that just isn't nearly as important as it desperately wants to be.  It's a platform for 25-35 year olds (mostly dudes and arguably the absolute dumbest subset of the human population) to jerk each other off, with only about 10% of the users generating any content at all (and who knows what percent of those are bots).  It isn't a public square (or whatever it was Musk said), it's not critical to the survival, function, or betterment of anyone or anything other than itself.  It's classic tech industry bullshit. Nothing of substance is available there, although there are links to substantive materials if you can sift through the nonsense and find them.  Twitter is aptly named, as it largely appeals to ADD addled twits.

    All twitter really does is make know-nothing jags feel like they are part of something important by allowing them to communicate with underpaid assistants posing as people of actual importance. It's a dopamine hit for morons.  Oh yeah, and it's a really fucking excellent resource for propaganda and other misuse (like all social media).  The common refrain from supporters is how great it is for breaking news.  The only problem with that is most breaking news is completely wrong, misses key elements, and provides absolutely zero substance or nuance.  What an excellent way to become a complete imbecile.  Even the sports stuff that breaks on Twitter is almost always completely fucking wrong.  Fast news isn't good news.

    I get it from an entertainment standpoint.  I'm as susceptible as anyone else and have to actively work to avoid being sucked in by bullshit like Twitter.  However, reading some of the posts about what is ultimately a giant advertisement machine is like dropping in on a fucking Scientology meeting.  I recommend putting Twitter away for a month and then taking stock of whether you actually missed out on anything.

     

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  6. 8 hours ago, YGIFS said:

    What a heartbreaking story with which to start the day with as I get my 3.5yo dressed for school picture day.

    Imma go out on a limb and assume she other had no real serious criminal history, but showed several signs of mental illness.  And what the fuck, just read the part about she did this at a kid's playground?  She just happened to have sharp objects and a plastic bag on her person?  Sounds premeditated.   

    Not saying it's direct causation, but there is absolutely correlation between frequent tragedies like this in Texas and the fact that every, single fucking year-we are in the bottom quintile for spending on mental health care.  She also had skirmishes with CPS before, but that department is run about effectively as the IRS . Blows we away that CPS has mental health professionals and counselors for the kids, as well they should.  But no resources at all for parents...the ones, you know...who can go crazy and actually hurt the vulnerable kids.  Wonderful system we have here my fellow Texans.  Thoughts and prayers and let's move on. 

    I know, I know...there's just evil in the world, we can't stop it.  Except for a $75/hour clinical evaluation, but ain't nobody got time for that! 

    Shit mental health resources.  Shit education system.  Abysmal healthcare for women.  Texas.   

    I sometimes try to remind myself why I'm still here, and I often land on taxes.  Unfortunately, that's a bunch of shit too as we're not actually that great for overall tax burden (18th maybe?).  Living in Austin will drop you into the bottom half of the country quickly.  Then I think, well at least real estate is affordable.  Not anymore.  Maybe it's the weather?  That must be it.  Fuck me.  That's not it.   Oh yeah, I remember now.  I feel stuck because my kids are settled in here and I don't want to uproot them.

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  7. 17 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    When I was a kid in the 70s and I rode with my parents between Houston and Austin, the windshield and front of the car would be encrusted with dead bugs.  Now I have a decent chance of having a spotless car on that same trip. Maybe 1-3 bugs on it.

    I'm not necessarily a fan of those bugs but I presume they were an important part of the ecosystem.

    That may just be improvements in aerodynamics.  I drove a Gladiator to Houston a couple of weeks ago (with it's near vertical windshield and no aerodynamics whatsoever) and the windshield was an inch thick in dead bugs from top to bottom.

  8. 9 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

    I'm pretty sure Ditch Diggers are the modern day version of ditch diggers. Lets not get completely insane here. 

    The point was that both have very specific functions and aren't capable of contributing much else.  The difference is that ditch diggers understand this, for the most part.

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  9. A solid dose of melatonin will lead to some crazy vivid dreams as well.  Melatonin combined with Delta 8 and you're either going to have a truly amazing or truly terrifying dream experience. 

  10. Most small animal vets are just dog lovers with about 10% more knowledge and access to controlled substances, and as far as I've seen don't know shit about animal behavior even if they're very good at treating illness and injury.  In Texas most of them are aggies.  Make of that what you will.  

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  11. 1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

    my sis managed. but she was sadly on all kinds of stuff. she was also poor, not a multi-billionaire. 

    this makes sense. 

    but i really think there's some drugs going on. he used to think less tactically and more strategically. he's lost all long term repercussions in his thinking. that's someone waiting for the next high.

    I agree that this aspect would indicate some type of substance issue.  Alcohol and weed both reduce ability to consider long term consequences as well, so it could be as banal as one of those two.

  12. Musk has been fairly straight forward about what makes him seem strange to most folks.  He's ASD Level 1.  I think there are likely some other things going on there, including and importantly the general eccentricity that would happen to anyone who gets that rich, but autism explains a lot of his behavior that many have trouble understanding.  It doesn't excuse anything at all, but as the father of an autistic son I can definitely see where Elon's neurological wiring can make him seem like a jerk when he's just genuinely responding as he sees things.   The more interesting thing to me is the neurotypical folks who hear some of his more autism-driven comments and nod their heads in agreement.

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