Randomness thread, part two.

[OngBonga]

It's not all that clear what these countless Twitter employees actually do. Every day when I turn my computer on I expect Twitter to have gone offline due to being understaffed but it's still there.

Having Twitter on your CV (resume or whatever) is valuable in itself. Elon could fire everyone and he would be inundated with applications from people willing to work more hours for less money. This whole thing is hilarious because we have people suggesting Elon is starving his staff by withdrawing free lunches for people earning six figures. People hate Elon so much they're sympathising with highly successful people who have an impressive CV and will walk into their next high paid job.

"Hi, my name is Dave, I'm a coder and spent four years coding for Twitter. My salary is $125k. I expect a free lunch, dealbreaker"

"Ok, you're fucking hired mate, welcome aboard."

[oskar]

On the surface it shouldn't be more complicated than a message board, but I'm sure you run into some really special quirks when a site gets this large. So probably a good idea to keep the people around who know how to fix things? Just a couple of days ago they fired the guy who issues the door cards, and then locked themselves out of the offices and had to bring him back. That kind of thing will happen a lot under the surface after you fire 3/4 of your workfrorce based on intuition.

But the main reason it might actually go belly up is because advertisers are leaving and those servers cost money to run.

[oskar]

Started out trying to make twitter a free speech utopia... one week in he declares that everyone who posts anything "negative" gets shadow banned. :'D

[OngBonga]

You don't have free speech in the context your imaging here either oskar. You can call me a wanker and that's only going to get mojo asking you to be nicer, but there are definitely things you can post that will result in me deleting it. Yet I advocate free speech.

But the main reason it might actually go belly up is because advertisers are leaving and those servers cost money to run.

Businesses care more about profit than they do morals. The only reason they take political positions is because they think it will impact positively on their profit. The vast majority of businesses only care about that. So while some might threaten to pull advertising revenue, and while some might for a while, so long as hundreds of millions of people continue to regularly use Twitter, companies will advertise. And in the meantime, Elon's rather deep pockets can easily cover losses. He's a stubborn wanker, he'll cough up for at least a few years.

[OngBonga]

People are using Twitter to say that Twitter is dead. It's a trending hashtag.

Fucking hilarious.

[oskar]

I'm pointing out the hypocrisy. I'm not a free speech absolutist. Speech was already free on twitter by any sensible standard. They only handed out bans for outright hate speech, death threats or deliberate disinformation. What does it mean to bring free speech to a platform like that? Obviously it means hate speech, death threats and deliberate disinformation should fall under free speech.

When he took over there was a sizable uptick of hatespeech but then he said: no actually, that's still getting banned. Then he started banning parody accounts which was not bannable before. Almost like they had a well established system to identify real accounts. And most recently he says anything "negative" (by the standard of a right wing billionaire) will get shadow banned, which is effectively the same as an outright ban.

So we went from: no hate speech, no bots and no disinformation campaigns to: no pardody and "anything negative." Brought to you by someone setting out to create a "free speech" platform... and that's just, if nothing else: hilarious.
At least two accounts I follow were banned for parody. One of them with over 1M followers. Still banned.

[OngBonga]

They only handed out bans for outright hate speech, death threats or deliberate disinformation. What does it mean to bring free speech to a platform like that? Obviously it means hate speech, death threats and deliberate disinformation should fall under free speech.

This isn't entirely true though. People regularly get away with sending death threats and hate to JKR.

Then he started banning parody accounts which was not bannable before.

Well, the intention was to get rid of the scammers. If he's going to sell blue ticks, he needs to make sure people can't use the name of someone famous to exploit stupid people. But his methods were a bit agricultural. He's obviously bitten off more than he can chew, and he's blindly hacking his way through the dense forest rather than trying to figure out the best route. But he'll get there. He's just so stupidly wealthy and so stupidly stubborn. He'll keep Twitter going if it costs him half his capital, at least until he can credibly sell it for a loss in a few years. That's if he never gets in control of this. Chances are though that he'll learn how to adequately manage a massive social media site.

[oskar]

But he brought JBP back (who got banned for an embarrassing tirade about how Elliot Page is a woman, will always be a woman and he will never stop talking about it) and on his first day on the platform he's calling for people who use internet speak to be banned. The reason might shock you.

[oskar]

Well, the intention was to get rid of the scammers. If he's going to sell blue ticks, he needs to make sure people can't use the name of someone famous to exploit stupid people.

That was already implemented with blue checkmarks, which he decided to sell for $8. Obviously people are going to impersonate celebrities for $8. Why else would you pay for a blue checkmark?
And they didn't ban people just for scamming. They banned obvious parody accounts. It was a pretty fun day though, I give him that.

[oskar]

This isn't entirely true though. People regularly get away with sending death threats and hate to JKR.

good

If you can't even DM death threats to celebs you don't like, why even have that platform?

[OngBonga]

No idea who JBP is but he's clearly a dribbling moron. That's not Elon's fault.

Unless JBP is friends with Elon? Is Elon letting his buddies back so they can post utter nonsense like this? Or is Elon saying it's perfectly ok to post moronic statements like this (which I agree with)?

[OngBonga]

good

If you can't even DM death threats to celebs you don't like, why even have that platform?

If we're being serious, then I can respect the opinion that sending death threats is free speech, so long as that applies to everyone. So if someone pops up in your inbox with a detailed death threat, you're legally ok with that.

Personally though I do believe some speech should be illegal, primarily threats.

[oskar]

I strongly believe that whenever you send someone a death threat you should qualify it with "in a video game" to cover yourself legally.

[OngBonga]

I think adding a [parody] caveat should suffice.

[OngBonga]

Or maybe just the sarcasm potato.

I recently upset hundreds of Karens on Twitter because I didn't use the sarcasm potato.

[MadMojoMonkey]

He's a stubborn wanker

Please be nicer.

[OngBonga]

Please be nicer.

What, nicer about Elon?

He called a rescuer a "paedo" on Twitter because the rescuer didn't want to use Elon's child-saving invention. I think that is enough to qualify the word "wanker".

It's a mild insult by British standards. It literally means jerkoff. I can call Elon and any other public figure a jerk, right? So I can call him a wanker.

[OngBonga]

I mean we regularly use the word "idiot" to describe public figures without ruffling feathers. I'd be less offended being called a wanker than an idiot. To be called an idiot you have said or done something stupid, an act of shame. To be a wanker you just annoyed someone.

It's a swear word here in the UK but not a harsh insult by any means.

[MadMojoMonkey]

You don't have free speech in the context your imaging here either oskar. You can call me a wanker and that's only going to get mojo asking you to be nicer, but there are definitely things you can post that will result in me deleting it. Yet I advocate free speech.



Businesses care more about profit than they do morals. The only reason they take political positions is because they think it will impact positively on their profit. The vast majority of businesses only care about that. So while some might threaten to pull advertising revenue, and while some might for a while, so long as hundreds of millions of people continue to regularly use Twitter, companies will advertise. And in the meantime, Elon's rather deep pockets can easily cover losses. He's a stubborn wanker, he'll cough up for at least a few years.

bold added for em-PHA-sis

It was low-hanging fruit.

[OngBonga]

lol I'm so stupid, can't believe I actually took you seriously.

[MadMojoMonkey]

lol I'm so stupid, can't believe I actually took you seriously.

Got 'em.

[Poopadoop]

Her reaction is more entertaining than the song lol.

[OngBonga]

Is there anything better than Saudi Arabia beating Argentina in a World Cup game?

Yes, it turns out there is. Japan beating Germany in a World Cup game.

This is great so far. I'll enjoy this until England lose.

We play USA on Friday. I expect USA to put up more resistance than Iran but England should still be far too strong for them. I did expect Wales to beat USA though so maybe they're better than I realised. Or maybe Wales aren't as good as they were two years ago.

3-0 England is my prediction.

[OngBonga]

Her reaction is more entertaining than the song lol.

She's a bit annoying but mildly funny at times. I get he's a fucking nut and hilarious to watch but he's the best drummer in history and she's laughing at his silly faces instead of thinking holy shit what a great drummer.

I mean I didn't watch it all, maybe she sucks his drummer dick later on.

[Poopadoop]

he's the best drummer in history and she's laughing at his silly faces instead of thinking holy shit what a great drummer.

It's her naivete I find endearing.

As for Moon, his performance on this song was good, it wasn't great. He was well past his peak due to alcoholism and drug abuse by this time. Still a better-than-average drummer, but not the Moon of the late 60s/ early 70s. Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophrenia were his peak.

I mean I didn't watch it all, maybe she sucks his drummer dick later on.

She could suck mine all day every day if that would cheer you up.

[OngBonga]

Quadrophenia is all of the Who at their peak, just incredible. I agree with you, Moon obviously went downhill as his career progressed, but even then he was still world class at the end.

She could suck mine all day every day...

She's not my cup of tea but don't let that fool you into thinking I'd ask her to stop.

[Poopadoop]

Quadrophenia is all of the Who at their peak, just incredible.

True, but the songs were better on Who's Next and Who are You. Who's Next is easily their best album.

Insert "pointy elbows" meme here.

I mean her personality is goofy in a likeable way but her looks are A+. And that's from someone who doesn't normally go for black women.

[MadMojoMonkey]

We play USA on Friday. I expect USA to put up more resistance than Iran but England should still be far too strong for them.

The sad thing is that even if the US team won, there'd be like 12 people in the US that gave a shit.

[OngBonga]

True, but the songs were better on Who's Next and Who are You. Who's Next is easily their best album.

Disagree. Their two best songs for me are I've Had Enough and Love Reign O'er Me. I mean imo they're the two best rock songs of all time.

Who's Next and Who Are You are both fantastic though so I can tolerate your opinion on this matter.

I mean her personality is goofy in a likeable way but her looks are A+. And that's from someone who doesn't normally go for black women.

I'm the same, I'm not generally attracted to black women but those I do find hot are nearly always 10/10. But this girl isn't really doing it for me.

[OngBonga]

The sad thing is that even if the US team won, there'd be like 12 people in the US that gave a shit.

It surprises me that USA hasn't really adopted football as a national sport. I'd have expected the natural American instinct to dominate everyone else would have elevated football to an important status.

Nobody else in the world gives a fuck about American football. Or baseball. Or basketball. Or hockey. There's a very small group of nations who are competitive in these sports. Even cricket and rugby have greater global appeal. USA should give a shit about football because it's played the world over.

[Poopadoop]

"My son may be a mass murderer, but thank Jebus he's not gay."

https://twitter.com/NoLieWithBTC/sta...19454900805649

[OngBonga]

I think we might have found the source of the shooter's homophobia.

[Poopadoop]

I think we might have found the source of the shooter's homophobia.

He not only got the old man's crazy genes, he then got exposed to the crazy shit coming out of his mouth too.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have things in your lives that you're thankful for.

[OngBonga]

Happy that thing you celebrate.

[Vinland]

You too Mojo
Ours was in October. We ate lots of turkey and gravy

[OngBonga]

I had turkey and gravy yesterday but that was my staff Christmas meal.

[Vinland]

Not many things I like more than toast turkey and homemade gravy

i can’t eat much of it anymore bc I did gastric bypass surgery and my stomach is really small now

[Poopadoop]

Best. Alibi. Ever.

[OngBonga]

Not so sure. I mean she's not arguing he zipped himself up in the suitcase in a game of hide and seek. She's claiming they agreed it would be funny if he got in, and then taunted him when he was saying he couldn't breathe, saying "that's what you get when you cheat on me".

I don't think this is a viable defence in court. I could be wrong though.

[OngBonga]

England 0 USA 0

Dull game, USA were better and unlucky to not win. England need to avoid a 4-0 defeat against Wales to qualify, USA will qualify by beating Iran.

I want that two hours of my life back.

[oskar]

https://twitter.com/SimonRowntree1/s...qvcZp-fT1FKn8g

lmfao

[oskar]

England 0 USA 0

Dull game, USA were better and unlucky to not win. England need to avoid a 4-0 defeat against Wales to qualify, USA will qualify by beating Iran.

I want that two hours of my life back.

Wouldn't it be nice though if Iran knocked out the US?
Senegal knocked out Qatar... bought over 2 million slaves to build the arenas... forgot to buy football playing slaves. Pretty embarrassing.

[oskar]

Best. Alibi. Ever.

I'm really curious what the actual sentence will be. She's on second degree murder charges. There's no way they can prove premeditation. She'll probably get away with under a decade for what is a pretty horrific murder.

...she's 42 in the video. Stay off the booze kids! stay hydrated.

[OngBonga]

I'd like to see Iran beat USA to qualify. They looked a lot better against Wales than against England so they'll have some confidence. And this world cup has already showed us that it's not easy to predict outcomes.

At this point, I'd say the main contenders are France, Brazil and Spain. Given they are practically at home and they beat Argentina, I think you have to take Saudi Arabia somewhat seriously, though it would be sensational for them to even make the final. But they are used to the conditions. The humidity won't affect them like it will the Europeans.

[Poopadoop]

Needs to work on her poker face lol.

[Poopadoop]

No. Fucking. Way.

https://twitter.com/NoContextBrits/s...16769272381440

[oskar]

I would post this in the physics questions thread, but I'm afraid the answer is: no.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I would post this in the physics questions thread, but I'm afraid the answer is: no.

It is no.

It's not that this couldn't happen, but... the front of the car bounces off the top of the moving truck. The roof of a shipping truck isn't designed to support any weight, let alone bounce the heavy end of a car off them.

The top of the red bus looks pretty unscathed, too. Not that it's designed to hold any more weight, but you'd at least expect it to leave a mark, even if it was built to do a stunt like that.

[oskar]

Good points. Another possible giveaway is that it looks like it was animated in Powerpoint by a toddler.
The comments are suggesting that if you think this is real you probably think Toy Story was a documentary.
Which I think is a bit harsh.

[MadMojoMonkey]

The comments are suggesting that if you think this is real you probably think Toy Story was a documentary.

-.-

Toy Story *was* a documentary, though.

[OngBonga]

It doesn't even cause damage to the railings that the car initially goes over. It's obviously fake. How do this go viral?

[Poopadoop]

Sounds like SOME people are a little bit jealous of other's driving skills.

[OngBonga]

If I were jealous of other peoples' driving skills I'd be jealous of a lot of people because I don't drive.

Although I'm still a better driver than most the people on the roads.

[Poopadoop]

Cambridge produces the world's first woketionary.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/15/u...cec/index.html

[MadMojoMonkey]

A news update on the whole poker scandal from a couple months ago.

https://www.pokernews.com/news/2022/...ults-42706.htm

Obv. lack of conclusive evidence of guilt is not proof of innocence. But the standard is innocent until proven guilty.

[OngBonga]

Well that's fair, regardless of guilt.

Short of a confession or video evidence of cheating there's not much that can be done. I'll be the first to admit the standard of proof for a court or formal investigation has to be way above my standards for casual conversation.

But I'm still utterly convinced something was going on there. And I'm convinced it's widespread in poker, we're only seeing the bad cheaters.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Happy Festivus!

[OngBonga]

Merry Christmas!

I've got an Alexa for Christmas, I wonder how many times a day I will tell it to shut up.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Cool.
I got a nice shirt and a nice mid-weight jacket and loads of assorted Hawaiian snacks.

You might think that Hawaiian snacks are just regular snacks, but with pineapple added, and I wont blame you.
But really, Hawaiian snacks are just regular snacks, but with either Li Hing (powdered plum) or Kaki Mochi (savory hard crunchy bits).

So like - Hawaiian gummy bears are just normal gummy bears coated with Li Hing. Hawaiian popcorn is just normal popcorn, but with Kaki Mochi tossed in (prob some shredded seaweed, too, maybe some sesame seeds).

I particularly love dried mango tossed in Li Hing. Nutrient dense, sweet but not too sweet, tangy. Keeps forever in a sealed bag at room temp. My partner's parents sent me like a $30 bag of the stuff for Christmas.

Her mom also made me 3 batches of this dish called Prune Mui, so I'm set for a long time.
Prune Mui.jpg
Doesn't look like much, but its flavor is sharp, distinct, sweet, but punchy with tartness. Totally unique to me. My first impression of it is, "Whoa! That's too much. No, thanks." But then a moment later, I'm like... OK, I want to try it again. And that cycle continues. I find it's very good with a bit of vanilla ice cream.

[OngBonga]

Pineapple is definitely something we associate with Hawaii. We call a ham and pineapple pizza the "Hawaiian". Powdered plum, that's kinda strange. Can't imagine wanting to add that to anything.

idk what that image is, but it looks like it would break my teeth. I'm a chocolate and biscuit kind of guy, or perhaps some soft fudge, but I'm not very keen on hard candy.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Pineapple is definitely something we associate with Hawaii. We call a ham and pineapple pizza the "Hawaiian".

Ham and pineapple pizza is called Hawaiian pizza everywhere (AFAIK) - even in Hawaii.

Powdered plum, that's kinda strange. Can't imagine wanting to add that to anything.

My first thought was the same, but it's everywhere in Hawaii and trying to avoid it w/o even tasting it seemed rude.
It's good. It has a sweet-tart thing going on.

idk what that image is, but it looks like it would break my teeth. I'm a chocolate and biscuit kind of guy, or perhaps some soft fudge, but I'm not very keen on hard candy.

The image is Prune Mui - it's soft, not hard.
It's one of those cultural dishes that is almost exclusively available in someone's home, and not in restaurants. As such, recipes vary kinda widely from home to home as suits each family.

The ingredients are
Li Hing Mui (dried, salted, pitted prunes)
Other dried fruits (apricots primarily, but everyone has their own recipe)
Lemon juice
Brown sugar
Whiskey (not much, it doesn't generally taste of alcohol)
+ whatever else the maker decided was good - dried cranberries, anise, raisins, blueberries are common additions

Basically, you make a simple syrup with the brown sugar, lemon juice, and alcohol, then rehydrate the dried fruit with that by soaking it for a couple-few days.
IDK the specifics. Allison's mom is still protective of her secret recipe, and I had to google search to even get that much of a recipe.

[oskar]

Lost 15lb over the holidays. I know what you're asking: Was it diet? Was it exercise?
- One week of the worst case of the flu I've ever had followed by two weeks of travellers diarrhea. I guess that's the one trick doctor's don't want you to know about. Don't eat a salad in west africa, guys.
Next time I'm going to Hawaii. fml.

[OngBonga]

I don't think I'd eat anything in Africa unless it was burned to the point it's practically charcoal.

Where did you go? I came close to a trip to Gambia once, couldn't afford it in the end but my best mate decided to get married there like a complete wanker. Kinda glad it didn't happen for me because I was terrified of all the jabs I'd have to have to not die.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Lost 15lb over the holidays. I know what you're asking: Was it diet? Was it exercise?
- One week of the worst case of the flu I've ever had followed by two weeks of travellers diarrhea. I guess that's the one trick doctor's don't want you to know about. Don't eat a salad in west africa, guys.
Next time I'm going to Hawaii. fml.

Oh no! That sucks, man.

Hopefully you posted because you're feeling better, now.

Where in Africa? Work or vacation? Highlights (aside from the illness)?

[oskar]

I don't think I'd eat anything in Africa unless it was burned to the point it's practically charcoal.

Where did you go? I came close to a trip to Gambia once, couldn't afford it in the end but my best mate decided to get married there like a complete wanker. Kinda glad it didn't happen for me because I was terrified of all the jabs I'd have to have to not die.

Wow really close: Senegal. Gambia is completely surrounded by Senegal. Apparently the English shot their way into the french colony along the river Gambia and now it's a country. Gambia might have been a better idea because almost no one speaks english in Senegal, and my french is horrendous. We spent most of the time around Kedogou. Most people in the rural areas are subsistance farmers and they pretty much do what they've been doing for the past 10,000 years. Looks romantic at first, but they're actually fucked. Everything is shockingly inefficient. A major source for employment is people who carry water from the well to the village hundreds of times a day. Some villages have water pumps, but most don't.

And on the other side of it, there's an endless line of trucks going from the mainland to the harbors on some really excellent roads. All of them built recently by the chinese. Presumably in exchange for the ores they extract and bring from the mines to the harbor. This is what fuels the real death spiral for ex colonies like Senegal imo. They are still reliant on importing skilled labor, they don't have the ability or will to build the plants to process the raw materials, so they just sell the raw materials, mostly lining the pockets of the elite. I've heard from various sources that thinks are already a lot better than they were 10 years ago, but on the surface it's looking pretty bleak.

I think it's real neat that you can find just about every corner of the earth on street view now:
https://www.google.com/maps/@12.5570...7i16384!8i8192

[Poopadoop]

Meanwhile in Canada...polar bear gets a forklift ride to the vet.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...bear-1.6735280

[Poopadoop]

Jesus, look at the size of that thing.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Canadians have been hiding Sasquatch from us all this time.

[OngBonga]

Yeah animals always look bigger when they're flat. You should see how much surface area a badger takes when it's hit by a tractor.

[Poopadoop]

Its paw is the size of a person's head.

When I was doing my PhD we used to walk through Biology on our way to lunch. One day, a door was open and inside there was a polar bear hide on the wall that covered the entire wall. It was amazingly big. I sat there with my mouth open and said "hoolly fuck!" then realised there was a class going on inside. The prof just smiled.

[Poopadoop]

Yeah animals always look bigger when they're flat. You should see how much surface area a badger takes when it's hit by a tractor.

Badgers get my respect. They're one of those animals that doesn't give a shit how big you are, they're going to start a fight with you anyways. At least the ones in N. America are like that, not sure if they're the same here.

[Poopadoop]

Canadians have been hiding Sasquatch from us all this time.

Funny how there's a different word for "hairy big ape-man thing that lives in the wilderness" depending on where you live. In parts of N. America it's called Sasquatch, in other parts Bigfoot, and in parts of Asia it's called a Yeti.

[Poopadoop]

I think out of all of these the Skunk Ape would find it the hardest to stay hidden. I guess if you only smell it and don't see it, it doesn't really count as a sighting though.

https://exemplore.com/cryptids/Names...ound-the-World

[OngBonga]

Badgers get my respect. They're one of those animals that doesn't give a shit how big you are, they're going to start a fight with you anyways. At least the ones in N. America are like that, not sure if they're the same here.

Badgers are literally the most dangerous native wild animals we have here. Foxes can be nasty but they are utterly scared shitless of humans. Badgers will try to avoid human contact but if they feel threatened they don't run. A fox will.

Obviously any big cats on the loose would be potentially more dangerous, but even if we have any they will be extremely reclusive. There are occasionally sightings but you never know if it's a hoax, a mistake or the real thing. I've stumbled on the remains of a sheep that looked like it had met a big cat, but it could have been dogs or even humans. If they are out there, they're either escaped from captivity, or the descendants of such animals.

Nature here is tame as fuck. Badgers are king of the countryside.