Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[Kak]

 

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[Mathuin]

View attachment 43955

100k soon! rocket emoji rocket emoji

 

[Lex DeVille]

Random thing that's on my nerve this week... Companies that try to force you into taking X action with pop ups and no option not take X action.

Example 1: Siteground - On Wordpress if I optimize my site using Siteground's pre-installed plugin, a pop-up box asks me if I would like to share data from my website with them. So I click dismiss, but they keep popping up that pop up on EVERY item I click no matter how many times I click dismiss. There is no option to turn this off without disabling the plugin.

Example 2: Udemy - Udemy is trying to force me to schedule time to learn with a pop up screen. The options are "Schedule time now" or "Remind me later" and this popup shows up when I login and when I enter a course that I'm trying to watch and learn from... How about you leave me the F*ck alone... I'll learn when I want to learn. GFYS I'm trying to learn right now and you are blocking me from that!!!!!!

 

[Antifragile]

I went for a bike ride today in Fish Creek park. A beautiful park inside the city of Calgary. On a small trail I rode past the half eaten and stripped carcass of a deer, with its intestines and stomach torn out and thrown maybe 15 feet away from the rest of the body.

What the hell??? I've never seen anything like that in the city before. We have lots of coyotes, but I don't think one would do that to a deer, I think they stick to rabbits. There are signs up that there are cougars and lynx in the area, and lots of my neighbors post videos of lynx on their yards. Apparently there is a bear in the park as well which is very unusual.

Either way, it was pretty freaky to see in the park, I am in it 4 days a week from spring to fall, and have not seen that before. My wife says maybe it was "the upside down world".

This is wild.

 

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[Antifragile]

100 years ago... traffic was still a problem and different! Cool pics.

1900-1930: The years of driving dangerously

Before the stop sign was invented, many lives were lost, but Detroit led the way in bringing order from chaos

www.detroitnews.com

Hazardous traffic: The early years

www.detroitnews.com

 

[Xeon]

Web5 is here. Goodbye Web3? TBD.

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and Block, just launched 'Web5' with his company, TBD. Web5 is a decentralised web platform that puts users in control of their identity and data. So Web5, like Web3, aims to solve the problem of identity.

prototypr.io

 

[Antifragile]

Web5 is here. Goodbye Web3? TBD.

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and Block, just launched 'Web5' with his company, TBD. Web5 is a decentralised web platform that puts users in control of their identity and data. So Web5, like Web3, aims to solve the problem of identity.

prototypr.io

What, the dude can't F*cking count anymore? Web3 is followed by Web4, dumbass Jack.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Random thing that's on my nerve this week... Companies that try to force you into taking X action with pop ups and no option not take X action.

Example 1: Siteground - On Wordpress if I optimize my site using Siteground's pre-installed plugin, a pop-up box asks me if I would like to share data from my website with them. So I click dismiss, but they keep popping up that pop up on EVERY item I click no matter how many times I click dismiss. There is no option to turn this off without disabling the plugin.

Example 2: Udemy - Udemy is trying to force me to schedule time to learn with a pop up screen. The options are "Schedule time now" or "Remind me later" and this popup shows up when I login and when I enter a course that I'm trying to watch and learn from... How about you leave me the F*ck alone... I'll learn when I want to learn. GFYS I'm trying to learn right now and you are blocking me from that!!!!!!

Sounds like you aren't accepting cookies. The cookie tells the website that you already dismissed the pop-up. When disabled, it will recur.

 

[MTF]

 

[Itizn]

People keep referring to me as an engineer.

 

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[Kak]

View attachment 43963

They ruined it.

 

[GPM]

They ruined it.

You big baby. I couldn't tell you anything other than that there are four faces carved into the stone. It's absolutely bad a$$.

I visited while driving by in like 2005 or so, and it was freaking epic. I don't know what was more awesome, seeing that man carved a bunch of dudes faces into a literal mountain, or all the fat Americans openly weeping at 'Merica!! All in all it was an awesome time.

There was also apparently a place with Komodo dragons nearby that I also wanted to stop at, but I was young and broke and running out of time.

 

[Xeon]

 

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[Xeon]

Google Engineer On Leave After He Claims AI Program Has Gone Sentient

Artificially intelligent chatbot generator LaMDA wants “to be acknowledged as an employee of Google rather than as property," says engineer Blake Lemoine.

sg.news.yahoo.com

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Google Engineer On Leave After He Claims AI Program Has Gone Sentient

Artificially intelligent chatbot generator LaMDA wants “to be acknowledged as an employee of Google rather than as property," says engineer Blake Lemoine.

sg.news.yahoo.com

Sounds like a computer that has programmed to sound sentient. I think we're still a decade away or more before crossing that bridge.

 

[loop101]

Google Engineer On Leave After He Claims AI Program Has Gone Sentient

Artificially intelligent chatbot generator LaMDA wants “to be acknowledged as an employee of Google rather than as property," says engineer Blake Lemoine.

sg.news.yahoo.com

If we can't be certain that other people are sentient, I doubt we can be certain that machines are sentient.

 

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[Trevor Kuntz]

Americans Are Building Vacation-Home Empires With Easy-Money Loans

Selling risky mortgages based on volatile per-night Airbnb income could end badly for communities, borrowers, and investors.

www.bloomberg.com

29 year old grocery store managers getting multiple vacation rental mortgages based on proposed Airbnb income. The best part? Long-term tenant rental rates wouldn't cover the mortgage payment...

Good thing we learned from 2008!

Who's gonna Big Short these companies?

Visio Lending in Austin, which call itself the “nation’s leader in rental loans,” financed Jones’s mortgage. One of its rivals is HomeXpress Mortgage Corp., based in Santa Ana, Calif., and owned by New York hedge fund Seer Capital Management. HomeXpress is trawling for more brokers to sell this kind of loan. “No income verification, no job listed,” Christopher Berrey, one of its account executives, posted on his LinkedIn profile. “AirBNB and VRBO are ACCEPTABLE!!!” In an interview, Berrey says the loans’ simplicity makes them popular. “There’s less underwriting,” he says. “Less of pretty much everything.”

Another company, Hometown Equity Mortgage LLC, which does business as TheLender, is promoting its “Non Owner No Income,” or “NONI,” loans to mortgage brokers. Its acronym is also Italian slang for “grandmother.” A Facebook ad features a gray-haired woman in a red bathing suit, a straw hat, and red heart-shaped sunglasses who floats in a pool, a martini glass in hand: “Our NONI likes to Airbnb. The NONI program allows borrowers to use income from vacation rentals, like Airbnb and VRBO … Results without the B.S.”


Over the past year, Wall Street firms such asCredit Suisse Group AG and Barclays Plc have helped package and market hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities sold to institutional investors that included loans from these three companies. Some were rated investment grade; others, below. Credit Suisse and Barclays declined to comment. It’s unclear how many of the Airbnb-style loans are making their way into these offerings—or even how many have been sold overall—because no one has a full accounting. But reports from rating companies note that the securities include mortgages on properties either without leases or with those shorter than 90 days. HomeXpress, TheLender, and Visio, which all securitize their mortgages, say they each expect to do hundreds of millions in the rental-based loans this year. TheLender estimates that 60% will qualify because of income from short-term stays; Visio, half; and HomeExpress, 15%.

 

[jdm667]

Americans Are Building Vacation-Home Empires With Easy-Money Loans

Selling risky mortgages based on volatile per-night Airbnb income could end badly for communities, borrowers, and investors.

www.bloomberg.com

29 year old grocery store managers getting multiple vacation rental mortgages based on proposed Airbnb income. The best part? Long-term tenant rental rates wouldn't cover the mortgage payment...

Good thing we learned from 2008!

Many cities have banned people from renting out houses on AirBnB. In my town, it was banned after someone threw a house party with 100 people in a rented single family home in a quiet residential neighborhood.

Someone should tell this guy about CENTS - he has zero control over a city or town banning AirBnB rentals.

 

[GPM]

Many cities have banned people from renting out houses on AirBnB. In my town, it was banned after someone threw a house party with 100 people in a rented single family home in a quiet residential neighborhood.

Someone should tell this guy about CENTS - he has zero control over a city or town banning AirBnB rentals.

I hate that heavy handed government approach. Is there not noise bylaws or dwelling limits for fire concerns? If so, could those have handled the issue? Why do they need to ban something because "someone might do something that a dozen other laws would solve". We are a nation of rules and it drives me nuts.

 

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[MitchC]

I hate that heavy handed government approach. Is there not noise bylaws or dwelling limits for fire concerns? If so, could those have handled the issue? Why do they need to ban something because "someone might do something that a dozen other laws would solve". We are a nation of rules and it drives me nuts.

Due to the nature of the business property developers and local govt are usually well connected.

If you are developing hotels, banning your competition is probably a good idea when the first opportunity presents itself.

A bit like if you want to become a tyrant and the opportunity to ban guns presents itself. Makes no sense but serves your purpose.

 

[loop101]

Some one bought a house in Reno for for $330k in April, and relisted it for $560k a month later. After 2 weeks they dropped the price by $110k down to $450k. I hope they get their $330k back. It was listed for $250k back in 2020. I guess this is the real estate peak.

1750 Carlin St, Reno, NV 89503 | realtor.com®

View 19 photos of this 5 bed, 3 bath, 2552 sqft. single family home located at 1750 Carlin St, Reno, NV 89503 on sale now for $549000.

www.realtor.com

 

[YanC]

Many cities have banned people from renting out houses on AirBnB. In my town, it was banned after someone threw a house party with 100 people in a rented single family home in a quiet residential neighborhood.

Someone should tell this guy about CENTS - he has zero control over a city or town banning AirBnB rentals.

While I do agree with you to some extent, there are ways to mitigate this risk:

• Numbers should make sense in a long-term rental situation (ie: rent covers mortgage + expenses, don't overpay because you plan to do short term rental).
• Short term rental or not doesn't change the intrinsic value of the property, which fluctuates according to the market obviously.

Of course it would suck for one to lose his short term rental income, but at least it wouldn't put him in a dangerous spot.

Plus, sadly, governments have shown, especially lately, that they have no problem shutting down any kind of business (and I'm not just talking about the C stuff, look at the crypto-related industry).

 

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[Antifragile]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1379103204831551499

View: https://twitter.com/shaneaparrish/status/1379103204831551499?s=21&t=xDEfXuae4hzPwtNdvTBGYw

 

[WillHurtDontCare]

apparently YouTube offers a paid subscription for individual channels

one more way to monetize YouTube

 

[Xeon]

Shopify launches 'Audiences' to help combat Apple's privacy changes - Latest Retail Technology News From Across The Globe - Charged

Shopify is pushing into the advertising sector as part of a bid to help merchants combat Apple's new privacy changes.

www.chargedretail.co.uk

 

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[Sander]

What do you think about videos, where people help homeless persons? I see a lot of hate on those guys saying "you only did it for the video" and "why do you need to record that?".

I've mixed feelings. On one hand I actually feel good about watching the content, it makes me smile, and inspires me to do more good myself. On the other hand, I see the point - would these guys give away anything, if it wasn't for the online clout

 

[MTF]

What do you think about videos, where people help homeless persons? I see a lot of hate on those guys saying "you only did it for the video" and "why do you need to record that?".

I've mixed feelings. On one hand I actually feel good about watching the content, it makes me smile, and inspires me to do more good myself. On the other hand, I see the point - would these guys give away anything, if it wasn't for the online clout

Makes me think about this music video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpVfcZ0ZcFM


In the end, the guy gave a lot of money away. Yep, he made money because he did it but that only allowed him to (hopefully) do even more good in the future. So IMO it's a win-win.

 

[Mathuin]

If you are developing hotels, banning your competition is probably a good idea when the first opportunity presents itself.

Funny I just saw something similar to this today in my city.

The 5 Star Hotel is worried the new hotel's "noise and odour" might have an impact on their guests so they objected. It was passed anyway though.

New Belfast hotel approved despite objections from Merchant owners

The Merchant owners raised issues of height and overshadowing, and the impacts of noise and odour on their guests

www.belfastlive.co.uk

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

There’s a pretty epic story at my club…

Hotshot cringe guy walks into the bar mouthing off about having no one to bet with on the golf course. Implying that no one bets enough.

He goes on and on acting like a hotshot to the bar tender. Says the club is full of pussies. Wants to bet $10k and shit.

A quiet guy walks up to him and asks “sir, what is your net worth? House and all.” The hotshot proudly says “two million dollars!”

The quiet guy says, “ok, I’ll bet you that. On a coin flip, and I’m 100% serious. I’ll call my company lawyer and have him over here with a contract in 10 minutes.”

The hotshot shut up quick.

$2m was rounding error for the quiet guy.

Golf is humbling. It builds character. Particularly for hotshot douchebags.

This story is all about money - I was expecting it to be about golf skill!

Where’s the PGA pro who’s dirt broke and pretends to suck, goes 10x on this guy? Lol!

 

[eramart]

What do you think about videos, where people help homeless persons? I see a lot of hate on those guys saying "you only did it for the video" and "why do you need to record that?".

I've mixed feelings. On one hand I actually feel good about watching the content, it makes me smile, and inspires me to do more good myself. On the other hand, I see the point - would these guys give away anything, if it wasn't for the online clout

For some time now, when I see a piece of media that was obviously made to sway my emotions, I just say loudly to myself “DO NOT JUDGE”. If somebody in trouble earned some money - good. If not, and it was only a ruse - I shouldn’t care anyway.