In case anybody stumbles upon my comment later and is also looking for the answer: I had much better luck today calling their local offices (not the DC offices).

Oh, I just assumed that he still owed them more money since his assets needed to be liquidated. Either way, I hope he cannot get Infowar2 off the ground, though…

There are so many celebrities that turn out to be jerks in real life that I try not to put any on a pedestal (so if they turn out to be jerks later, I’m not disappointed).

Dolly Parton is one of the few celebrities that seem so genuine and cool that I can’t help but believe she’s truly a good person.

For H.R. 9495 I emailed my Representative because I was not feeling up to a phone call, but this morning I tried calling my Senators and neither picked up.

While I have no way of knowing if my email was ever read, if the call doesn’t connect, they will guaranteedly not get my message.

Does anyone have any tips on contacting your Congresspeople by phone (ie: best time to call, best office to call, etc)?

I was wondering about that. If he made Infowar2, wouldn’t the money from that just go back to the families from Sandy Hook? I would imagine they’ll be dogging his every step until the day he dies (maybe even after…)

I am absolutely tickled by the idea of The Onion buying an equally reputable news source out of what can only be read as contempt for Alex Jones.

I must also say the official announcement is quite funny as well.

If this falls through, though, I would be quite sad; as the implication is Alex Jones would get to stay on, then.

That is a great idea!

If your representatives are Republican, I’ve heard it’s a good idea to frame your complaint in the form of complaining about big government/ government overreach. I’m not sure if that would convince them, but I do think it’s the most likely way…

I posted about H.R. 9495 a couple of days ago and the danger it presented; and I thought it was important to share it got rejected too.

Going from almost unanimous support to 145 nays, is a pretty big swing. I would imagine a lot of it came from the fear of the next president abusing that power, but people contacting their Reps cannot be undersold here as well.

Over the next four years a lot of nasty bills are going to be floated, but please let this be a reminder that contacting your Congresspeople can help make a difference.

You can view the results of the vote here.

If your representative voted no, please contact them and let them know you appreciate it. I’ve heard that helps too.

If you aren’t sure who your representative is, you can find that here.

From my understanding, this was co-authored by a Democrat, so I’m not actually sure if it has other Democratic support. On its face, it sounds pretty staunchly authoritarian, so I would be surprised if it had widespread Democratic support. Having said that, I have no idea how enticing the hostage relief section is.

I would hope that this act would fail automatically, but as last week reminded us: you can’t count on rational decision-making. This is why I encourage everyone to contact their congressperson to make sure they know we expect a rational decision from them.

Right now things seem pretty bleak, and I know it can feel like we are powerless; but we can still do small things to make a difference. In this case, I highly encourage you to reach out to your Congressperson and let them know you do not support this act and that you, their constituent, want them to vote no.

There are nonprofits who will work every day to do harm reduction over the next four years, but they won’t be able to if this goes through.

If you aren’t sure who to contact, you can find out here.

I highly recommend it. I think it gets a specific negative geeky reputation associated with it, but I found that reputation to be unfounded.

For most Star Trek series, it is a very forward thinking show that deals with a wide array of morality topics. Even cinematography/ effects wise, pretty much all of them other than TOS feel very modern.

I don’t think I could recommend a good way to get into it, but I will say I started with Lower Decks, and the obvious love the writers had for the franchise encouraged me to look at the more traditional series as well.

I recently started watching Star Trek and have finished every series other than TOS (and Prodigy).

I had been putting TOS off since it initially seemed pretty cheesy so I had planned to skip it entirely. After finishing everything else, though, I decided to give it another try.

Now I’m about two thirds of the way through, and I’ve actually found it quite enjoyable. Also Bill Shatner is a better actor than I gave him credit for. I had always expected a very hammy performance based off the way people talk about him; but considering he was being watched on like a 12 inch screen, I would say his acting was actually rather subtle.

Also the practical effects look surprisingly good. It really goes to show how much better they can age. There are some shots of the ship('s model) that look comparable to modern CGI in my opinion.

I would not say TOS is my favorite Star Trek series so far, but I would put it in the top 5 for sure.

I understand your sentiment, and I’ve certainly gone to the library far less since becoming far more comfortable with the Internet.

Having said that, the Internet is a dangerous place to people who don’t know what they’re doing. Think about how many people don’t even use ad-blockers; and that is a bare-minimum from a safety perspective.

With that in mind, the library is a powerful resource to people who can’t navigate the shadier parts of the Internet.

It’s also worth noting some people have atrocious Internet speeds. For people with slow Internet, it could take an unfathomably long time to download/ stream something versus instantly being able to watch/ read/ play it as soon as you get home

Plus, as I said, it offers more than just books and TV/ movies. You can borrow equipment, have a place to work, have someone knowledgeable point you in the right direction. These are valuable services offered that I don’t think the Internet will ever be able to truly replace, and that’s not even getting into the value of building up your local community.

That’s heartbreaking to hear. It sucks they would be so cavalier with their accessibility.

Wow, I hadn’t even heard of a radon detector before. That’s pretty great that your library has them on hand!

The convenience of an audiobook cannot be beat.

Some of them have really good narrators, too. I just finished listening to The Color of Magic and I swear the narration/ voice acting was so good it felt like I was listening to a radio serial.

It’s also worth noting that most libraries offer digital goods to borrow also.

I don’t have a lot of time to read anymore, but I’ve been able to “read” maybe half a dozen books or so in the last year by borrowing audiobooks from my library directly on my phone and listening to them on my commute.

Even if you felt comfortable dismissing the environmental impacts of burning down a rainforest because you were too lazy to Google a picture of a factory fire, GenAI as a technology is morally indefensible at its core, since it is based entirely on theft.

I have seen scores of people defend the theft saying intellectual property is the true crime, etc. And while I agree IP laws are abused by massive conglomerations, GenAI isn’t just stealing from them. It’s stealing from every writer and artist on the planet. Anyone who has ever posted their art online to share with their community has had their art hoovered up by for-profit institutions who then sell it to the masses.

GenAI could only be a morally viable technology if: A) It didn’t consume an ungodly amount of energy to run it B) You run a model who’s training data was entirely sourced by you to only include sources that have given permission and are properly compensated (if necessary)

A does not seem likely in the foreseeable future; and while B is possible, the scale of data required for constructing a GenAI model, makes it basically infeasible for the average user.

With all of that said, I think it is valid to conclude the technology of GenAI is just as reprehensible as the morally bankrupt corporations that vend it.

While I do not think the users are inherently bad people did using GenAI, there are much more eco-friendly and less theft-based alternatives that are just as easy; and I think it’s questionable to throw those out the window for the rainforest-burning, plagiarism machine…

My partner and I went as Sheriff Truman and Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks.

I also saw a couple going as Judge Trudy and a dancing lobster, which I really appreciated; but I do not have any pictures of them.

Personally, I loved all the deep cut costumes; and I think this was a really good year for them.

This raises a more philosophical argument as to what signifies the fall of a body like the Federation.

The Federation is a union of other bodies who through the spirit of cooperation decide to work together. If the majority of the bodies that make it up decide to pull out, does that constitute the fall of the Federation?

If one body leaves, of course it has not fallen; and if they all leave, it no longer exists at all. How many planets still need to be in a union for the Federation to successfully exist?

The fact that Vulcan/Ni’Var and Earth both pulled out and are two of the Charter members is certainly notable (though it doesn’t prove the fall of the Federation).

If it felt like the Federation had been weakened but was slowly rebuilding, I would agree with your idea that the blow to the Federation was meant to show its resilience; but the fact the Federation was not picking up steam at all (and felt much more in decline), to me indicates that the writers intended for us to interpret this as the Federation in its death throws until the Discovery showed up.

Perhaps this speaks to my own mindset as opposed to how the writers intended it, but it’s certainly how it came across to me.

As an aside, it could be interesting to explore what a Federation not primarily influenced by human/Vulcan influence could look like, as well as explore the idea of what constitutes the Federation (for example, could you have a Federation with no planetary members made entirely of individuals who have left their planet in the name of galactic brotherhood?). I am not sure the Federation is still in a place where such concepts could be explored, but it could certainly be interesting…