Yeah, it was a pretty fun time, before the feeling that everything had to be owned by a mega corporation that would wring every drop off cash out of it.

Well, pre-WWW. There was internet, but you had to use telnet and remote into computers. Lots of bulletin board systems.

I was responding to the days of the picture. I started with computers in high school the late 70s, and got my CS degree in 85. I spent a lot of time on the Internet before there was a worldwide web.

Yeah, man, I was so full of hope and so excited about the possibilities.

Yes, but because it was completely pre-enshitification internet, with so much hope and promise to be something good for everyone.

I’m sure it’s just the demons talking.

People do pass out from pain. 74 lashes is kind of insane. Like back in the day on ships, wasn’t single digits most common?

Yes, I was playing around.

Are you sure you aren’t thinking of caning? I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how Singapore does it, but it’s a thin wooden rod, not a whip.

Oh, right, totally fine at 73

Seriously? Like they give her a couple lashes, let her go, then grab her off the street a week later and give her some more?

Isn’t 74 like a crazy number? Like no one can stay conscious through that kind of number?

Early in my career I was a sysadmin for a multiuser system, and I often had to go to people’s desks to troubleshoot problems they were having. That meant using whatever pointing device and keyboard they had. There were a crazy number of variations, including left handed setups of different types. It was actually an interesting part of the job. But yes, some left handed folks do that, as did some people who had issues with their right hand/arm.

Okay, thank you very much

Oh, good to hear someone say they enjoyed the whole series. I’ll likely add the other to my reading list (I read a pretty fair amount).

I had that same physics lesson. Young me was so excited bringing the end of the hose, covered by my hand, to the bottom of the pool. I was almost out of breath when I got down there because swimming down while covering the hose was hard, but I figured it wasn’t a problem because I was about to be able to breathe through it. I was pretty panicked when I quickly jammed the hose end into my mouth and it tried so suck the air out of me harder than I could suck it in.

I personally would probably tell the other person why I’m cancelling on the date, yes.

And while I broadly agree with your point, the fact of the matter is that we have become very polarized, to the point where often discussion is pointless. For instance, I’m just not going to bother explaining my views on trans rights or immigration to someone wearing a MAGA hat. That’s an emblem of someone who has become so entrenched in views that are the opposite of mine that is not worth discussing. Likewise, I don’t care to hear anything they have to say on the matter.

For me, I’m enough against the casual use of AI that someone who does what he did is like someone who has significantly different political views than me. AI data centers take obscene amounts of energy and water. I’m very much in favor of, for instance, machine learning applications being used to identify diseases in pathology slides. That’s something that can help humanity to an extent that it’s likely worth the resources. But to suggest plans for a date? That’s nauseating.

Projectionist is a forgotten job? That’s not only in my lifetime, my son was a projectionist. He ended up being the one to go to the various theaters training others to use digital projectors.

That’s why you never see cows jogging