FriendOfDeSoto

joined 2 years ago
[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You'd be surprised how many people don't take the time to read a long article like that but will have a quick glance at the comments.

[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 13 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Again, our proposal isn’t that we should cover all of this land in solar panels, or that it could easily power the world on its own. We don’t account for the fact that we’d need energy storage and other options to make sure that power is available where and when it’s needed (not just when the sun is shining).

This is a thought experiment more than a plan.

[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Would it be acceptable in a conversation to talk about the I.C.E ?

I don't see anybody getting thrown out of the house for daring to spell out an acronym that is usually pronounced as a word. What kind of people do you hang out with? It might cause confusion but context normally helps.

If you were speaking of I.C.E. to me I'd punch you in the face. Also if you referred to them as ICE. That's because I refer to them, correctly, as the SS.

To be fair to the lad, he didn't peddle his wares. He just says if there isn't a European strategy to develop their own models it is very likely that Europe would run on Chinese made ones that are more open source, whereas American ones become increasingly closed source and expensive to license. Now, that's his prediction and I don't really believe him. But this article at least doesn't make it seem he wrapped his doom and gloom prediction in a Gemini sales pitch.

First of all, they did not pick any language at founding. They refused to settle on one. And I don't think they ever changed that (although I wouldn't put it past the current administration to do something like that because 47 has the best words as we all know). English is de facto the language of the US like Bern is de facto the capital of Switzerland but it isn't set in stone.

German was briefly seriously discussed. That would have been funny.

I think the influence of the British Empire has done more to make English the lingua franca. But I think it is conceivable that we would be conducting a lot more diplomacy in French or Spanish if they had won out. But there are still huge chunks of Africa and Oceania that speak English. And Hockeyland. And big business hubs like Singapore or Hong Kong - the language of trade would still be English.

Why would Americans elect a serial bankruptcy business man, narcissst, and convicted sexual assault felon to appoint this loon?

Because there are no simple answers.

47 wants to disrupt and cause chaos in everything. The department of health is just another area for chaos, hence the appointment of this guy. I think it's fairly safe that most Americans - and that includes many nominal supporters of the current GOP cultish clowncar - do not take their health advise from worm brain. It's just unfortunate that he's in a position of power where he will cause harm that will prevail long after he's retired, or dead.

Define "Christian." If it's anybody who claims to be, probably quite high. If it's more value-driven (love thy neighbour and all that), this correlation falls off a cliff. Pedophile is probably within the statistical rounding error margin of the entire population.

The correlation of being ICE and loss of human decency is nearing two perfectly overlapping Venn diagram circles.

[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The trick with a space elevator is that the cable needs to be very thin. The material needs to be strong. That's just two reasons why we're still far from putting that to any real use.

I don't think having a small line through our atmosphere will slowly poison us. The extra radiation that would make it through is probably a rounding error. The material would have to be such that it doesn't attract radiation. And even if we discovered that this could be a problem, if we have become smart enough to build this space elevator, we'll probably be smart enough to figure out a way to filter it out.

[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 6 points 1 week ago (6 children)

You start your life by forgetting your past. All the times you fell over, were hungry or overtired, or shat your pants as a baby or toddler. You don't remember that time unless something happened that's traumatizing in the extreme. Somewhere between that age and when you start school you start retaining memories. Not all of them but enough to reminisce. You're growing still so every day is a new experience and not everything makes the cut. And then you age. Once you cross 40 you'll notice a lot more that you cannot remember why you went to the garage but you can remember all the teachers from your elementary school days. Most of your classmates too but that guy's name in Accounting who you talk to every other day is nowhere to be found. And when you reach an age where death is becoming likely every day, you reminisce and you remember lots of stuff from ages ago but not what you had for breakfast. Dementia fucks with you but they remember their moody teenage music tastes and react more to that than their own offspring.

Memory retention is not a linear thing.

[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm going to guess yes, the mass increases. I'm not sure about physical size because it may just be density. But I also feel like I should stop talking out of my ass now.

[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 18 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Trick question: it's until the heat death of the entire universe. You get turned into this long spaghetti that gets absorbed at an increasingly slowing rate. So your scalp or your feet never quite make it to the inside.

This may be less than accurate because I'm not an expert.

It's funny you picked Apple computers because they were in a legal fight with Apple records of Beatles fame who've been around longer and were only allowed to keep the name if they stayed out of the music business. Which went well until iTunes and then they found themselves back in the lawsuit.

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