Look upon my Trash, ye Mighty, and Despair

...no OneDrive, Copilot AI, or all of the other useless crapware cluttering up the Start menu? AND patches/support through 2032??

Don't threaten me with a good time, Microsoft.

For anyone who hasn't switched to Linux

the "people in real life: hey how's it going" meme is incredible because when it hits it hits so well and really strips down meaningless discourse that doesn't matter to the clown show it is but every now and then someone adds it to a real thing that people definitely are talking about in real life, so instead that person shows their whole ass in how much of a unaware bubble they live in (and the arrogance to assume anything that doesn't affect them personally doesn't exist) so even when it misses it hits. just hits the person who wields it.

Why did people use to make teen wolf supernatural crossovers. Sam and dean would have shot those high schoolers dead and then have a stilted conversation while driving off about how maybe they shouldn’t have killed high schoolers and then would have continued to kill high schoolers

sorry bro i lost focus and forgot where u begin and i end i hope nothing gay happened

i think its my sacred obligation to tell yall about animals so just letting you know that apparently (according to inaturalist) theres 321 species of squirrels in the world. Yes three hundred twenty one

Well here is the indochinese spotted giant flying squirrel

And here is the zanj sun squirrel

and heres the calabrian black squirrel

and heres the bornean mountain squirrel

And this is taiwanese red and white giant flying squirrel

And here is washington ground squirrel

This is just an arbitrary sampling of squirrels from inaturalist, feel free to explore the world of squirrel diversity on your own

As for mice and rats (Muroids) there are over a thousand.

Mice you could never fathom...rats you could never imagine

Squirrel Diversity or "Squiversity"

I looooove the shit that's like

"You have the power to possess me and take over my body but you don't because you respect me"

because it can lead to

"I'll let you possess me and take over my body when necessary because I trust you"

and then it can lead to "I actively want you to possess me and take over my body because it's fun and I trust you"

I miss tv in the 2010s every day. You could put anything on air and get a 22 episode order and a five season run. Once Upon a Time was on and it basically spit in your face and told you that Olaf the snowman was Emma's second great uncle twice removed and you just accepted it. Golden age of the silver screen

Honestly, my favorite part of being a Coastal Elite(TM) (aka someone raised in poverty on the West Coast) is when there's discourse about the size and grandeur of various land-locked bodies of water and how the coastal types just don't get it.

Anyway the body of water I grew up on

Twitter thread by Melissa Caruso about a labyrinthine magical bookstore in Syracuse, NY. Link to the first tweet in the thread; most pictures have image descriptions! Now here are the screenshots of that thread:

And then a hero of the labyrinthine magical bookstores of the world put all the bookstores that people listed in the replies on a map! (Google Maps link)

This place has the vibe of: I'm checking an empty suitcase on the flight I've booked to NY and I am coming home with nothing but books. If I don't make it back just tell them that I disappeared doing what I loved -- staring at thousands of books in awe, walking the labyrinth of knowledge with at least a stack of six books in my arms (why yes my wrists arent happy but shhh, books), and wondering if the owner would let me live there.

ranking the best things I have heard surgeons say mid-surgery:

1. "Five second rule!" while scrubbed, after dropping a sterile scalpel on the floor (no they did NOT pick it up again but I swear everyone's buttholes puckered)

2. (spoken during the closing of a particularly long and difficult case) "Nurse - my tunes." :heavy metal starts blasting:

3. Gently to a fretful patient, pre-anaesthesia: "It's going to be okay. I promise, I've dealt with worse." As soon as the patient is unconscious: "This is literally the worst thing I've ever seen."

4. [okay this one was a med student] "Wowwww, that's so gross!!" Reg: "Please remember that [patient] is awake for this procedure." Student to patient: "Oh my god. I am so sorry, that was really unprofessional - " Patient, cheerfully, also engrossed with what's happening inside them on the screen: "Nah - it's, like, super gross, right?"

5. [another procedure where the patient couldn't be put under GA] Patient: *starts singing country roads midway through the procedure* Surgeon: *shrugs and joins in with surprisingly good harmony*

The thing that I think really sets Murderbot apart from a lot of other robot media (particularly mainstream entries like the I, Robot movie) is that bots and constructs aren't a uniquely oppressed class, and humans aren't a uniquely privileged one. A lot of robot media rings a bit hollow because it portrays humans as all living a lavish, comfortable lifestyle, free from the burden of physical labor or control by their corporate overlords, and it's like. I think if the rise of generative AI has proven anything, it's that corporations and billionaires have absolutely no interest in making life easier for anybody, but will gleefully use new technology to make life infinitely worse if it means an extra buck in their pocket.

We are shown over and over again throughout the Murderbot Diaries that humans are mistreated just as badly as (or sometimes, in MB's own opinion, even worse than) bots and constructs. We see humans stripped of their rights, reduced to corporate assets to be bought and sold, sent into suicidal situations, abandoned and discarded as things. We see humans trapped in multigenerational labor contracts -- people born into an indentured servitude that requires them to pay back their food and lodging to the same company that will not let them leave.

None of these are hypothetical scenarios. These are all things that happen to real people in our world today.

And that is a huge part of why it resonates so much. The overarching theme of "capitalism is hell" actually means something because it isn't only applied to the fictional dynamic of bots vs humans. The theme is constantly reiterated through the humans themselves.

And that's also why it's so important that MB demonstrates empathy for and solidarity with humans who are themselves victims of the system. Because ultimately, that's one of the main things the series is about. It's about what it's like to be simultaneously a product, and victim, of a corporate hellscape.

That theme simply can't work if the humans aren't also forced to navigate that issue. If the story can't acknowledge that right now, in our own world, there are humans facing these same problems, and that these human rights matter quite a bit.

Dear video essay creators. A video analysis is when you analyze a piece of media. No no look at me. A summary, no matter how thorough, is not an analysis. An analysis requires you to draw conclusions about the media such as authorial intent, real-world parallels, discussion about themes/worldbuilding/character motivation, and so much more. You have to stop summarizing something and saying that’s analysis. The Gaylors are doing more critical analysis than you. Is that who you want to lose to? The gaylors?

bastard sounds great in an irish accent. if an irish person calls you a 'daft bastard' it just feels right

the welsh have the monopoly on things ending in hell. fuckin hell and bloody hell hit different in a welsh accent. its like music to my ears

the scots have piss and shite for sure. "its pishin it doon out there" "this is a load of shite" absolute poetry

if i may speak for the english i think we do penis related words very well. dickhead, knobhead, twat, etc.

and for all the shit we give them, you gotta admit that no one can deliver a 'goddamn' quite like an american. theres a certain weight to it that you just cant achieve in other accents. when an american says goddamn you know shit just got real

I don't know why people don't seem aware of this, but going out of your way to step in and say "this does not apply to me because I am not part of this conversation :)" does not contribute to the conversation. If you're aware that you have nothing to do with this subject, you are allowed to just skip it. It's always morally correct to not step into something that doesn't involve you just to announce that it doesn't involve you.

"I don't need this advice for how to avoid contaminated meat because I'm vegan :)" that's nice dear. This information has nothing to do with what we were talking about and brings nothing of value to the conversation.

"I don't need this advice for how to stay safe in these spaces because I don't go to those places :)" that's nice dear. This information has nothing to do with what we were talking about and brings nothing of value to the conversation.

"I don't need to pay attention to these culturally gendered red flags because I don't date that gender :)" that's nice dear. This information has nothing to do with what we were talking about and brings nothing of value to the conversation.

"I already avoided this fun but risky activity because I didn't like doing it in the first place :)" that's nice dear. This information has nothing to do with what we were talking about and brings nothing of value to the conversation.

You don't need to announce that some situation, post, or piece of advice doesn't apply to you. Your perspective on such matters is not valuable.

"i don't comment on ao3 because i don't wanna be annoying or weird" skill issue + you greatly underestimate the power dynamic here, writing multi paragraph comments is like feeding a bunch of deeply insane and possibly starved ducks at the park and watch them go completely mad over having received a piece of bread

my brother got covid because he's a college professor and there's not much he can do to mitigate exposure when he has 200+ students per lecture. he's got a baby at home, so he does his best, but.

the governmental website for covid information is now propaganda. not a joke, not hyperbole, not an exaggeration: it's genuinely the definition of propaganda. this is biased misinformation determined to push a political stance. it is being hosted on a government server. it looks like something you'd find in a "top 10 weird internet conspiracy stories (and their origins)" youtube video.

my brother called me when he saw it. he had me type it into google. for a second i legitimately thought that i had typed something wrong. we have both taught college: we have both said "a .gov site is usually a reliable resource." i just stared at my phone for a long, long time.

i thought about how when i was a kid, conspiracy theories were mostly fun and a little spooky. unserious. i remember reading some long, complicated website about how avril lavigne is dead. how bigfoot is real. it used to be funny-and-a-joke.

over seven million people (globally) have died from covid. america has the highest death rate with over 1.2 million people.

the thing is - every time a person dies from something like a mass shooting or poverty or treatable illness - we are told don't make it political. we are told it's just something that can happen. we are told it's sad but what can you do!

the president of the united states is using a government website to try to erase the very-real deaths that he personally caused due to a complete mismanagement of the pandemic. the president of the united states is using a government server to host propaganda, undermine science and medicine, and encourage distrust amongst his followers.

nothing is going to happen. nobody's gonna, like, do anything about it. it's a thursday today, and we are just going to move on from this like we have been moving on from everything else.

yesterday my brother was outside walking his dog, mask included. a guy in a truck pulls up and shouts something about covid and whatever the fuck else. my brother has a good sense of humor, described it to me as enthusiastic! i hadn't ever been catcalled before, this was new and therefore thrilling! i do see why you hate it, though. like. i have actual covid, does he want me to cough on him?

my brother doesn't get extra time off work anymore, because the cdc practically doesn't exist. my brother said i'm not exposing 200 students to covid. his boss shrugged and said: who cares? they're going to get it eventually anyway. like it isn't a pandemic.

like it's just a fucking thursday, and who cares about it.