That green ellipse is called a paragraph break. It denotes a shift in thought or conversational topic.

My example was poorly chosen in the context of the preceding paragraph. Mea culpa. But to address your request for more information on that admittedly poorly chosen example: that was at the start at the Russian invasion, so I don’t have the source readily available. It might have been Jacobin or a YT geopolitical analyst based in Europe. And bluntly, I am disinclined to dig through my histories in order to satisfy nitpicking pedantry.

Yeah, we’re definitely missing each other here. I own my role in communicating poorly here. And you are reading much more deeply into things that have not been said.

I feel like you are digging for an argument that doesn’t exist.

Okay, sure. Maybe that’s fair.

I come to Lemmy for conversations that are fun, funny, thought-provoking, and helpful. So, on that note, I’m out. Enjoy your day.

No luck stat? Because we all tend to underestimate how much luck plays into everything.

I envision issues with turbulent flow over surfaces that work best with laminar flow. It sounds like a turbine or pump system is used for these spheres.

That’s the exact point at which you departed from accuracy into fantasy-land, and what I was taking note of.

That was an example I presented of my disbelief regarding that war. You are welcome to hone in on that topic, but even I said “WAT,” i.e. my disbelief regarding conclusions at which some people outside the US arrived.

This is an impressive type of sophisticated negging whereby you criticize yourself as a way to implicitly criticize the reader, and tell them they’re an idiot.

If you choose to read it that way, you are welcome to that view. I do think US news consumers are propagandized. The more I learn, the more I realize I have been stumbling around blindfolded with regards to US actions, domestically and abroad. My ignorance is mine alone. I was aiming for light and humorous at the depth and breadth of my ignorance. If you would like more clarification or elaboration, rather than making assumptions, I’m happy to discuss.

I would really urge you to re-examine that leap you took from “most US readers are misinformed” to “most of the people in these comments are misinformed”

That’s quite the leap yourself. Would you care to elaborate on how I called commenters here misinformed?

I think we might be missing each other’s points, and I think we probably agree more than this topic/thread would indicate. I feel like you are digging for an argument that doesn’t exist. I would rather find where we agree; putting me down and making extrapolations I didn’t intend nor feel doesn’t help anything, except maybe our egos. But I suppose agreement doesn’t make for compelling Lemmy comments.

Lolwut

Exactly, hence, my “WAT.” Let’s set aside the veracity of the US manipulating geopolitics in the UA/RU war; that was an example, but not the point I’m trying to make. Can we all agree that the US has a long history of fuckery when it comes to stomping out anything it doesn’t like or isn’t in line with corporate interests? Bananas, oil, crack cocaine in US inner cities, and democratically elected South American socialists leap to mind.

When my non-US friends tell me some of this stuff from their perspective, it absolutely stuns me that it’s an angle almost completely unavailable in US media. Maybe it’s covered by niche independent journalists, but then there is a credibility gap. Even if the independent journalist were absolutely presenting the truth, it’s still feels like tinfoil hat shit because of how severely we’re inculcated by “trustworthy” news sources in the US.

I like to think I’m a teeny bit media- and news-savvy, but damn… most days I really feel like a blithering idiot.

Too bad we don’t yet have Steve Austin to save our butts from this. Reference for the young’uns: https://bionic.fandom.com/wiki/Death_Probe

When even the “more trustworthy” US news outlets (HAHAHAHAHA!) are manufacturing consent, it becomes very difficult for us to be anything other than idiots. Talking with my longtime acquaintances and friends in CA, DE, VN, and JP, the conversations invariably become “Did you hear about [current event causal factors]? This is super obvious, and here is [their reliable news sources].” Well, shit.

For example, the one that really blew me away was the US manipulating geopolitics with UA and RU so as to bring the EU to heel. WAT. “Oh yeah. I think US citizens are the only ones to whom that isn’t obvious. Y’all can’t stand having a true, strong democracy around. That’s why y’all are pushing the right-wing shit here too.”

I consider myself well-read (30+ non-fiction books per year, plus investigative journalism), but damn… some days I feel truly, completely out of the loop.

I find that I need to restart Firefox every few days in Linux Mint. It gets increasingly laggy and slow to the point where it will no longer play videos; clicks on even simple, local pages take a few seconds to register. Not a big deal for me, but I just need to remember to do it.

So, not sure if you and I are having even remotely the same problem, but there’s my two cents.

Each sphere has an estimated lifespan of between 50 and 60 years, with partial replacement of components every 20 years or so.

The concept is fascinating, but what I’m most curious about is how they achieve that longevity in seawater. Benthic life really loves to settle and build on hard surfaces.

Oh, derp. You’re right; I totally read that incorrectly.

How can I fix this???

Short of becoming a developer, I think the fix is participation in Linux communities. Participate in forums, create issues in relevant repos, and be the change you want to see in the world. I know that doesn’t get you printing now, but we all need to put in a little work now to build the world we want. And if we all pull together rather than flex our egos, things will improve.

I’m with you; cables all the way. My experience with electronic shifting is that it is objectively superlative to cables when it comes to more than 11 cogs in the cassette. As long as your derailleur and hanger are straight, the shifting will always work flawlessly.

Hell, even my 10-speed go-fast bike sometimes gets touchy, and that’s with Jagwire Link housing. But I stop for 30 seconds, tweak the barrel adjuster, and I’m good for another 500+ miles. More electronics in bikes gives me the heebie-jeebies, even when it’s a proven technology.

Downvoters, let the hate flow through you. The truth hurts, I know. And I love Linux. I try to convert everyone for whom it might be a good fit, but we need to come to grips with the usability issues.

Oddly, my Logitech mice are one of the things that just worked on my three Mint boxes. Did I just jinx myself?

Microwaves are the penultimate Norman Object (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Design_of_Everyday_Things). They could have a standardized UI (cue up obligatory XKCD “Standards”). Instead, every manufacturer does it differently and usually in obscure, unintuitive fashion, often differently from the same manufacturer. Do you enter the time or power setting first? Oh wait, pressing a number launches it straight into running. That part that looks like a door handle is not how one actually opens the door; press the door button first. So. Much. Hate.

Sure, this applies most of the time. My big rendering workstation and Asus laptop run Mint so flawlessly, I was kicking myself for not trying this sooner. My brand new Dell G16 7630 has been a special kind of hell with over two months of forum diving. The keyboard backlight is being a crackhead. The video drivers are a chaotic mess that I’m wary of updating lest my machine completely freezes/bricks for the ~20th time, necessitating a Timeshift.

So, yeah, Linux is great, but that is not everyone’s experience. For me, it’s only fully usable 66% of the time. I’m still going at it, but those are shitty numbers. We FOSS evangelists need to acknowledge that usability, end-user support, and compatibility are an utter shitshow for the average schmuck. Also, this meme is glowing radioactive evidence of the toxicity undermining the FOSS movement.

When we start taking ownership of all that AND fixing the experience, then we can finally have the Year of Linux on the Desktop. Or we can sit here, say “hurr durr, look at stupid end-user,” and wonder why normies refuse to switch to Linux.

why have war

As always, because a few douchebags want more than their fair share. This is always the fundamental reason.

That is not what happened when I clicked on that button.

Go for a saunter, even if it’s just out the front door.

Maybe you will, and I sincerely hope that is the case for you. However, there are many, many studies demonstrating that this is not the case for most humans.

1. It’s all about power and control; money is merely the scorekeeping system

2. When people start accruing some power, in money form or otherwise, brain structure changes

3. Exceptions to this are the rarity

4. This is why humanity is stuck in the boom-bust doom loop for the history of civilization: a few people think they figured out the recipe to get all the power. They do the same shit that has been tried in the past, but somehow THIS time is going to be different for them. But it’s not, and they end up in guillotines, whether literal or metaphorical. And the cycle starts all over again.

There are few exceptions to this doom loop, and the Salish Tribes leap to mind. They lived in balance with their lands and each other for at least 13500 years. Too bad they also got fuct by colonizers.

Example sources (but there are so many from which to choose):

• https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/11/people-who-focus-too-much-money-may-sacrifice-their-humanity
• Pretty good roll-up of conclusions across many studies: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10461512/

Agreed, he’s an absolutely controversial, problematic figure. But he did have a few cool, meaningful things to say. We can acknowledge that, right? Maybe share the high points with each other, along with the cautionary tale of Dawkins? I’m sure the stroke didn’t help things either.

Maybe things aren’t always black and white. And people can do both good and bad things, even at the same time. People such as John Lennon and Ghandi leap to mind.