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pusher_robot

PLEASE GO STAND BY THE STAIRS

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joined 2022 September 04 23:45:12 UTC 

				
User ID: 278


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
pusher_robot


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
PLEASE GO STAND BY THE STAIRS

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 04 23:45:12 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 278


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


We "won" in the same sense that we "won" in Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan. No one would argue those countries scored any kind of military or economic or political defeat against the US. And yet. Does anyone really think we "won" those conflicts? That we achieved our objectives and it was so worth it that we'd do it again if we had it to do over? That we couldn't have spent national treasure on better purposes?




Probably very few but that's precisely because we lost focus of the ends and the means.  Would the actual outcome we achieved in Vietnam be viewed as a success if our involvement involved airstrikes and bombardment for 30 days?  Would Afghanistan be viewed as a success if the outcome that was achieved didn't drag on with troops getting attacked on the ground for years on end?  I think it clearly would have!




So if we actually toppled their regime, or at least crushed them so thoroughly that they became a non-player in the region, and we will never, ever have to worry about an Iranian nuclear program again, I'd have considered it a questionable but at least definable victory.




In other words, if we achieved something literally impossible (guaranteeing something forever), in almost no time and with no cost, you might consider that a victory.  This attitude is the problem.  This extreme bias against any action, the absurd, over-the-top status quo bias, is going to kill our civilization.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for April 3, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
No, the only cost is a minuscule amount of electricity. I would probably join in, time permitting. I've tested the headless multi-player server in the past. It works well and has a nice feature that it auto-pauses when nobody is connected.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for April 3, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I have an always-on server with gig fiber (and own space age) if you need someone to host the multiplayer


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It's not obvious to me that this would be a worse outcome than them deploying nuclear ballistic missiles.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


So of course web-based SaaS became popular with software companies: it destroys the 2nd hand market you are otherwise competing against. If the customer wants to use the feature for the next ten years, he will need a subscription all the time, so you collect rents without having to innovate very hard.






Obviously for the user this is a terrible deal.




On the contrary, the move toward SaaS has been a mutual one between both software vendors and the customers (at least, where the customers are businesses).  SaaS converts a capital expense into an operational one, one that can easily and predictably be calculated by accounting, and can scale up and down with business needs.  This is actually a great deal for a huge number of businesses, especially ones that tend to be low on capital but reliably operate on cash flow.  It means you can grow a business with ~0 IT investment, and it means that you aren't stuck with a depreciating asset in the case the business contracts or goes defunct.  The best feature for businesses is that it's predictable - prices don't change much over time, and you can much more easily financially model a set monthly cost of business than you can major purchases and implementation costs of hardware and software that often have independent life cycles.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't understand your point.  A bunch of scaremongering about nuclear radiation and uranium and "dirty weapons" is a powerful rhetorical weapon to hand someone knowing they will use it against you.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Or are you saying that people would claim that using DU ammo is using "nuclear weapons"?




Yes, that is what he is saying


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 6, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If you are going to balance costs you have to also balance benefits, though it is too soon to do so.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 30, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Environmentalism is lib-coded in the US because libs are generally the ones worried about the commons and proposing trading off economic growth for QoL improvements




Liberals have also never satisfactorily rooted out the watermelons in the movement, nor the plainly misanthropic. Maybe now that Ehrlich is finally dead they can move on from their human culling fantasies.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 30, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I doubt there was ever much demand for computerized cars before the manufacturers began to make them, but I could be wrong of course.




I think you are wrong. Regardless of vibes, many customers have been and probably continue to be willing to pay more, sometimes a lot more, for smarter cars, for extra features, for added convenience and performance. People definitely do get extra value from the infotainment, from all the power options, from the different driving modes and driver profiles, from automatic functions and driver assist systems. Not everyone, but the customers who don't get value from any of those things are extremely niche, and probably so cheap they're not going to buy a new car anyways.