anon7725

Outside of specialized niches, toll booths exist due to network effects.

Most of the revenue for Adobe is not due to individuals who need a competent standalone tool. It’s for organizations that need all of the usual qualities:

1) continuity with prior work (my old projects open properly, last year’s training is still relevant)

2) being able to hire/train employees on the tool

3) collaborating externally

4) interoperability across work products (eg vector, raster, video, etc)

You are not getting any of that from someone’s vibe coded weekend project.

I would frame it like this: collectively, we have the resources to provide education, health care, housing and dignified work to all people. But on many if not all of those points we are regressing.

Techno-philistines are the worst kind of philistine.

The Orange House, not the House of Orange.

See also: Peoples’ Front of Judea vs Judean Peoples Front.

A small footnote regarding the intersection of this fascinating article and current(ish) events.

> That winter, with Roy as the principal investigator and Josh and me as co-directors, we applied for a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Museum_and_Librar... :

> The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mission to "advance, support, and empower America's museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development"

You can guess the next part, I’m sure:

> On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order virtually eliminating IMLS that directed that "the non-statutory components and functions ... shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law", along with minimizing several other agencies. The entire 70 person staff was put on leave on March 31, 2025.

> On May 1, 2025, a lawsuit brought by the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees resulted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granting a limited temporary restraining order to block any further actions to dissolve IMLS.

> What amount of brainwashing will it take to get all these rubes to kill eachother to make the 1% richer?

I suppose whatever the amount is we reached it a while ago, given the number of people who have died for oil prices or to distract from this or that domestic political situation.

Now do software engineers.

This site is becoming insufferable

Yeah except pandemics are not novel, unlike AI doom scenarios.

I use it because I like how it looks, it has sane defaults and is reliable. I am an "LTS to LTS" type person. My desktop pretty much looks like the default screenshots. Most of my customization comes through scripts and tools that I can install quickly after a reimage. Not a beginner.

“Local Globular Cluster” - just rolls off the tongue.

meanwhile for the other lim(n -> inf) times people tried this it mostly worked.

> It does about 12 miles of range per hour, you can easily get about 100 miles of range every night.

I wonder if the residential 230v standard in many parts of the world contributes to EV adoption. A standard household outlet can do up to 3.5kw on 230v whereas in North America a standard outlet is 15A at 120v which only gives you a max of 1.8kw (realistically more like 1.6kw). To get increased power you need a 240v circuit which is typically only for selected appliances like dryers, induction cooktops, heat pumps, etc.

I don’t think you get it - the realignment has started.

Countries cannot put their economic and physical security in the hands of a few thousand mouthbreathers in Pennsylvania or Wisconsin every 4 years.

Europe is rearming and talking about a continental nuclear shield. China is selling US Treasuries.

Middle powers like Canada that do not wish to become a U.S. protectorate are looking hard at what is needed to secure their futures.

A President Newsom, though a welcome change, does nothing to reverse these vectors now that they have been started.

The times to stop this were Nov 5, 2024 and Nov 8, 2016.

Are we talking UK or USA now?

> Nothing bad even happens when you have degrowth

In human history, when there has been a period of protracted degrowth something bad has very much happened - usually civilizational collapse or severe prolonged economic downturn.

> We don't need infinite economic growth, infinite population growth, or even continued quality of life growth

I agree on the first two, but I believe that an expectation of the third is foundational to the post-Enlightenment social order. It has waxed and waned, and there have obviously been incredibly dark periods, but we've usually returned to "things will be better in the future" as a setpoint.

I read "Degrowth" by Kohei Saito recently. I found it challenging (in that it challenged a lot of my preconceived notions), but also a fairly positive approach to implementing degrowth. Sadly, at least in the US, I think it is alien to the American mind and only has a hope of being implemented at the local level in sporadic places.

> so no Hilux

Isn't that just a Toyota Tacoma?

Oil is a consumable with both a use lifespan and a time lifespan. So it needs to be changed at the lesser of either of those intervals. Same with tires, which a lot of people don't realize.

Good luck selling degrowth to westerners - especially Americans.

"the economy" is not the only reason that we're alive or form bonds of association.

> But Maduro was a criminal, supported Russia

“The United States will never condone leadership by corrupt criminals who are supported by and support Russia”

"We have seen what happened with Venezuela, but at least Mexico and Canada can somewhat keep a lid on it. Which is above and beyond what they owe the rest of us since they did not create that problem. The United States government is ideological in a way that westerners don't really understand. Trump is too via his desires regarding Greenland and Canada but the American system isn't too alien to our own views - they play tennis and vacation in Europe and all that stuff. Their government is simply not interested in the things that you and I are interested in."

> The cars know where they are

not if they're in a tunnel or a highrise canyon, or there is weather-related interference, or the maps have not been updated to reflect reality, or there is a detour for construction, etc.

I think their broader point is that it's becoming common to reach for an AI chat to solve problems that should take a few seconds of thinking to solve. Notably this kind of thing is not a search problem, since you presumably already know the schedules for both busses and just need to come up with a reasonable allowance for schedules not lining up properly.

> the worst economic depression in history

You need to touch grass, friend. I am as concerned with the direction of things as anyone, but this is extreme hyperbole.

It seems like the pro-Canada side is letting Smith set the agenda, is not organizing much or being extremely present/vocal. Just hoping that polling is accurate and it’ll all blow over. It makes me very nervous in light of Brexit and the general unreliability of polls these days. I still think it’s a long shot, but why are they playing with fire here?

That doesn’t work. maga aren’t idealists, they are deeply cynical, atavistic reactionaries.

Bob and Van didn't make you aware of their political views within a few minutes of meeting them. They didn't put a sign in their front yard or a bumper sticker on their vehicle. They weren't wearing any particular apparel. You didn't notice them in the town's Facebook group making their opinions crystal clear. It's much different in a world where people make their political views their whole identity.

Perhaps some kind of camp where such people can be concentrated?

Don’t anthropomorphize it because that’s bad for you. It’s not human and not alive. It’s a pile of tensors.