pandoc. Converts markdown to html, latex, pdf, and Word.

It serves as the backend behind basically every program that support some kind of rendering of markdown, e.g. quarto, ipython notebooks.

Pandoc - Pandoc User’s Guide - https://pandoc.org/MANUAL.html

The Gen Z stare is simply the rational response in dealing with customer facing situations where either 1. the customer is problematic, or 2. if the worker genuinely doesn’t know what what to do.

Responding or engaging to problematic customers (racist, homophobic, misogynistic) can only lead to conflict, reprimand, or lawsuits.

Responding with inaccurate information or simply saying leads to conflict, reprimand, or poor reviews.

Both have worsened as people have become more polarised, and management cuts funding and hours for training.

SmartTube

Unfortunately this is an increasingly unviable strategy, because even “good” creators have started using clickbaity titles and thumbnails, even if their content has remained the same. Some have even retroactively changed the titles/thumbnails of their older videos to this style.

Clickbait is engineered by behavioural scientists to be as addictive as possible, and has been proven to trigger similar neural pathways to other addictions, such as drug or gambling.

Basically every creator with a shred of self awareness has admitted that they hate creating clickbait thumbnails, titles, and phrases like smash that like button and subscribe; they end up doing it anyway because A/B testing with randomised thumbnails and titles clearly show that they work.

The live A/B testing in particular obscures whether a creator employs clickbait or not - you may be under the impression that a certain creator has remained principled, when in reality you were just allocated to the control group by chance.

I feel that it’s one of those situations where the game is rigged, and the only way to “win” is to change the rules yourself.

Look into DeArrow (by same creators of SponsorBlock), which offers crowdsourced “de-clickbaited” video titles and thumbnails.

Except that the Nordic model has been replicated across all the Nordic countries, of which only Norway has vast natural resources.

And even then, Norway, under the policies of the Nordic model, was already quite rich before it discovered oil.

If you see this when your eyes are open then it may be visual snow.

Visual snow syndrome - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_snow_syndrome

Thee following are more little/no dialogue for the purposes of Immersion, rather than subtitled

Tunica is an unapologetically difficult isometric action/puzzle game

Animal Well is a metroidvania with little/no dialogue

Other similar games are Fez, Hyper Light Drifter

If your online content is audio or video then you can replace the default subtitle track with nonsense. This is because AI scrapers generally only check the default subtitle track to understand audio or video.

The process would be more difficult with text or image content, but you can still apply the same principles.

Poisonining AI with “.ass” subtitles:

https://youtu.be/NEDFUjqA1s8

Someone (allegedly) fucked the principal’s dog

I don’t think the any interaction definition is too broad at all. Primitive forms of social media such as mailing lists and forum threads form are very similar in functionality to simply following hashtags, or I guess whatever the algorithms suggest.

The distinction using account based versus conversation/thread based is not too helpful, because the majority of users of modern social media don’t really use it to follow accounts, with the majority of their time is spent doomscrolling generic hashtags or algorithm recommendations.

The similarities are easier to see if you think of how people actually used these technologies in their daily lives. Pre Facebook, people would log in and refresh their Usenet, emails, and forums threads to keep in touch with friends and interests. Post Facebook, people would log in and refresh Facebook/Insta instead.

My pet peeve is people thinking they are being clever by complaining about the supposed incorrect usage of literally as figuratively.

People, including famous authors, have been literally (not hyperbole) using the word as an intensifier, and therefore, figuratively, since 1847, e.g. F Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens, and William Thackeray.

Did we change the definition of ‘literally’? | Merriam-Webster - https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/misuse-of-literally

Madison Cawthorn Says ‘Blackmail Won’t Win’ After Nude Thrusting Video Leaks | HuffPost Latest News - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/madison-cawthorn-leaked-nude-video_n_626d40a7e4b0bc48f57c0a83

Physical Vs chemical changes.

It was typically taught that physical changes are differentiated from chemical changes because they could be “undone” or that they had “no chemical reaction.” Which was very confusing, because you can’t uncut paper, and dissolving stuff in water clearly results in different chemicals being produced, yet both were examples of physical changes (actually the latter is sometimes taught as a chemical change). Furthermore, most chemical changes are actually reversible.

It has since been recognised that this classification is BS, and most changes actually exist on a continuum.

Shoshana Zuboff really was ahead of its time. So many people who were privacy conscious and therefore thought they were clever by simply thinking that Google makes money by only selling your data completely missed the scale of manipulation and control big tech has (myself included).

Google/big tech doesn’t sell your data. Google/big tech sells advertisers predictions of your behaviour, a highly refined, processed version of your data. Advertisers cannot purchase your data, only “impressions” or “views.” In an extra sinister twist, Google/big tech then uses it’s resources to manipulate you in ways such that their predictions become true.

This is why their predictions are the best, because after making them, they have a financial incentive to manipulate them into being true. It is why we naturally see more and more polarization, because after Google has sold the prediction that you will engage is a specific type of content (e.g. right ring rabbit holes), it is financially incentivised to make that a reality, and therefore further push you in that direction, to make their prediction true.

How to “improve” prediction using behavior modification - ScienceDirect - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169207022001066

Although by far the eco friendly option, natural (or direct) burials are still quite expensive, at around $2600. Most of this is related to the cost of the plot itself, and most of the savings come from using a cheaper/no casket.

Direct cremation is generally cheaper, being $800 - $3000, with most options averaging around $2000.

How Much Does A Green Burial Cost? - https://choicemutual.com/blog/green-burial-cost/

What is the average cost of a cremation? - US Funerals Online - https://www.us-funerals.com/what-is-the-average-cost-of-a-cremation/

No, consumption taxes (such as VAT) are generally considered to be regressive, because the rich spend less on consumption relative to their income.

In almost all countries, the top income decile was estimated to have paid a share of their income that is only 60% of what the bottom half pays in consumption taxes.

The inequality impact of consumption taxes: An international comparison - ScienceDirect - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272723000798

If it makes you feel better many green index funds aren’t green at all, and simply manipulate their holdings around audit and reporting times, in a phenomenon known as green window dressing.

Green Window Dressing by Gianpaolo Parise, Mirco Rubin :: SSRN - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4459352

To add even further confusion, in Australia some stores have eggs in the fridge, and some don’t

Power metal is more traditional metal but with clean vocals (no growls). Bands include DragonForce, Angra, Helloween, Stratovarius

There’s also progressive metal, where the emphasis is more on the intricate instrumentals, so some banda don’t do growls. It is usually less heavier than traditional metal. Bands include Dream Theatre, Liquid Tension Experiment, Symphony X, Tessaract, Haken, frost*, Porcupine Tree