That almost seems changing. TikTok seems to enforce some sense of monoculture now. I’m seeing 67 gestures from people aged 22 to 6.

I’m curious if the 2010s were the most social niche disjointed and we end up moving back to more monoculture (Yeezy slides, ice cream shorts, broccoli hair is a good 2020s representation that I just can’t think of for 2010s)

I feel like I understand most of the words and phrases and am still struggling to make sense of it

Yeah, but walking anywhere only feels good if you walk in shoes made from leather you have tanned from your own cow. Why even bother walking in mass produces fast fashion tennis shoes? Anyone can tan their own hide and make some shoes. It’s much more comfortable and a better fit than store bought.

Is that really true though? Like there’s no reason I could be president except for the massive amount of connections and funding is need that effectively means it is not possible for me to be effective. (Nussbaum or Sen would say this is not about actual capability.)

I certainly think we could grow a new internet, but there is so much culture and forces pushing against this, that it may not be actually possible with addressing the systemic forces first.

Not to say we should do nothing (similar to recycling — we should do what we can as individuals, but it’s somewhat moot as long as industrial processes continue as they are now). We should do what we can and work toward a better vision.

(Edit: I think I was responding to only the first part of your comment because when I re-read it, I think I’m actually saying something similar to you)

This is a pretty good article. Something I try to stress to my students. Technology is a major driver of culture and society, and understanding that complexity of relationships is important. It’s not developed in an isolated bubble, nor is any technology neutral or value-free.

I like that the article highlights community engagement. That is so very true. Otherwise some good-intended deployment can quickly become technological colonialism when the users might not be able to do system upkeep or it solves the wrong problem

Sucks you can’t charge it and have to instead go to a central bank to exchange minted coins for notes that you can exchange for the commodity that is the radio.

We noticed this when we went to a Texas Roadhouse. Their restaurant prices for steaks hadn’t gone up hardly at all and seemed very surprisingly reasonable, whole beef at the grocer is painful.

https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/final-fonsi-ea-2251-rivian-stanton-springs-north-2024-12.pdf#page26

Does mention it is passed to a treatment facility, some is treated on campus, and other is stored.

So according to epa report it was not expected to affect local groundwater.

I thought I found something earlier that alluded to it, but Lemmys on my phone and doing any real research is always annoying on it. I can try to find something. I know they do release very significant amounts of wastewater though. But whether that’s all back on public utilities or how it’s but back in the ground is unclear. I’ll see I can find anything specific.

But combine that with someone dumping thousands of gallons of wastewater into the ground basically across the street and weirder things are going to happen.

EDIT: Yeah, I don’t think they are dumping water into the ground. Scratch that out. These datacenters DO use lots of water, as in millions of gallons per day, the concern there is more about how the public utilities and incentives were structured. [Quote for millions comes from Kate Crawford’s Atlas of AI book, but the link was the the first data I could source, which looks less than that.]

I’m now thinking this article may be more about the person not liking the datacenter than it specifically affecting the well. Could construction cause some extra sediment to clog up the well intake? Seems likely.

In the south it’s also more common to either not have a garage at all or have a carport instead of an enclosed garage. It’s just easier to leave your car or vehicle (tractor) out anyway. Combine that with, I need to sell this or work on it at some point, you park it in your yard and will get around to it someday. Or maybe your cousin might need it one day so you’ll keep it. It’s a bit of an ingrained impoverished idea that you “might need it someday” attitude.

I’m also staying with family that are regularly using tractors pushing 60? 70? Years. I’m not even sure how old they are, but it takes a bunch of parts and pieces to keep these things running. Luckily here though the scraps are either off in a barn or not directly in between the house and the street.

Ha! Yeah, that’s too great to change :)

I’m not sure how common it is, but anyone can book a performer. They advertise their prices for private shoes quite openly usually.

I didn’t see the states listed. Just mentions Louisiana, Tennessee, and Florida. I’m assuming it’s the usual suspects (southern states and a few midwestern ones).

What were the products? Is this a delta 8 or other cannabinoid thing or a delta-9 by volume thing? I guess a blanket ban would eliminate CBD products and everything. Bummer. No surprise though. Kentucky leans very conservative and a bunch of counties are still dry (even though there’s huge bourbon producers there).

I’m enjoying thinking about it, but I just don’t understand the constraints you are interested in, or assuming. If all human labor is replaced, then I’m already envisioning what is in essence an entirely different planet. Resources would be gone, politics are reorganized around supporting and building this AI takeover, and then re-aligned again once there is free time. I’m thinking of what is the cost of that — are we spread out on multiple planets, and on earth no one works? Is it some dystopian earth with the humans left there having nothing to do? Is it a utopian future, where humans have all the free time in the world, and we had did figure out how to solve the resource problem. I’m not trying to deflect your question or not answer, I’m actually really trying to answer it and consider things but see an AI takeover completely tied up in a whole host of other issues. I’ll read through the other comments and see what others are thinking. Thanks for the thought-game for this Sunday though :)

I think a lot of this is kinda what I’m getting at too — it’s such a far fetched question, that it almost doesn’t matter. We are making so many assumptions (since this is not something remotely feasible at the moment) that it’s all completely up on the air.

I think maybe a different question might be: is there EVER a point where we are able to defend from an alien invasion. Which I’m not really sure what that answer would be. I think it’s not a technology question, but more of a political one since it would require a massive solidarity movement to unite.

Your question assumes a disconnect between labor and AI systems. AI is built on mounds of cheap labor already. It’s going to have to replace things like mines and miners and a TON of labor all the way up the chain (including data center upkeep). It we can do that and build this thing capable manufacturing the autonomous robots that replace human labor, then humans would be in a pretty good place technology wise to defend ourselves. We’re also talking like many many many years in the future when we could do this. We’re far more likely to run out of resources and be forced to be a multi planet species to seek out this dream.

Kodi and mythtv for me. I feel like I am the slowpoke meme.

https://preview.redd.it/therealreasonwhylinuxissaferthanotheros-v0-dwprcgitkejb1.png?auto=webp&s=2d0165184ffac435b7dec0c5b46c5e5b152b4870

Not sure how to actually post an image, but this I think is one.

Gripping the bitcoin wallet and paying $5 out of pity is my favorite part :)