That’s an odd stance bc at the time it was introduced clippy was almost universally reviled and seen as an example of microsoft taking something that was fine (office 95) and making it objectively worse (office 97 introduced product activation, the stupid paper clip assistant, an arguably dumb UI refresh, and the most hostile part: a new version of the proprietary doc format that wouldn’t render correctly in word 95, forcing people to upgrade)

enshittification wasn’t a concept back then but microsoft certainly lived up to it time and time again

If anything this comic doesn’t make sense because no shit, microsoft started selling your data the nanosecond it became viable to do so. They were always evil. Whereas google at one point literally had a motto of “don’t be evil” in their guidelines or whatever, which fooled a lot of people in the 90s. they famously had to remove because once data collection was becoming obvious it was kind of silly to keep that bit around I suppose

Yeah that’s exactly the problem. I don’t want to pay for access to a service portal to repair my appliance. I’m not a shop, I’m just some person with a busted washing machine. Just sell me the service manual as a pdf (or even better just give it to me since I already gave you a shitload of money for an appliance)

And realistically since 2010 basically all appliances have moved heavily towards digital controls. Microcontrollers everywhere. You can still get stuff without touch controls (for now, even though it’s objectively worse for the disabled it’s easier to clean, “in” with current design trends, and most importantly it’s cheaper to manufacture at scale)

Becoming increasingly rare and we are speaking on different things. You are talking about a manual that explains how to make your washing machine wash. That is important, yes, but I am talking about a manual that explains how an appliance works.

the days of a manual explaining anything like an error code are basically dead. Name one appliance manufacturer that lists anything beyond the most basic of troubleshooting (“turn it off and back on”)

Like go back and look at an appliance manual from the 70s/80s/maybe 90s and you will see a more robust explanation of what to do when things go wrong. The further back you go the more likely you will see parts numbers, circuit diagrams, or be able to order a service manual that has such information.

We expect this shit level of documentation because we live in a throwaway culture that has tolerated this pisspoor level of documentation for decades. “Oh the washer isn’t working? It’s showing an E-05 error? Guess we better just go buy a new washer” or pay the manufacturer $120 for a “service charge” to find out that code means the latch sensor died and it’s a $30 part that is a simple 5 minute job except you can’t get the part because they won’t sell it to you

Morality and ethical behavior are not defined by popularity

I mean this is true and yes but in an age where documentation is increasingly terrible, the idea of a service manual for something you bought is basically a foreign concept, and half the shit you buy doesn’t come with a meaningful manual does it really apply the same way?

Like sure, knowing the post error codes on my motherboard or linux stuff is possible because it’s documented. But the appliance example? That is increasingly false and those manuals are increasingly becoming 5 page idiot guides: “here is how to turn the system on and off, here is how to turn heat up/down, contact authorized vendor for issues” and if you don’t do that then you void your warranty. Any more robust documentation is locked to “authorized vendors” and costs $$$, if it even exists (and doesn’t just say “replace system when it stops working correctly)

I hope it’s a dove 🕊️ or some other fun magic trick

Oh, maybe it’s treats and candies

Whatever it is I’m sure it won’t give everyone in attendance ptsd nightmares.

If it makes you feel any better you’ll know when it happens, they increase by a lot. If they increase noticeably you should get it checked out but if it increases so substantially that you’re like man what the hell is going on then you need emergency care, basically, but also you can’t really miss it?

I have a lot of these because I’ve had numerous eye surgeries and they’re ultimately just gunk in the vitreous fluid of the eye. I wish there was a way that they could drain, filter, and replace your vitreous fluid when it gets like mine. Like an eyeball oil change. There’s not though, as far as I know.

A tip: if you suddenly see a ton more of these get it checked out asap, especially if you are very near sighted

99% of people that owned a graphic eq didn’t have a fucking clue what to do with it

It made me love small cars forever. Even now I am a fairly large person at 189cm but I drive a Smart Fortwo. They just are far more nimble and responsive, like a go kart. Whenever I drive a friend or family’s suv or truck it’s like “how do you do this? This is like piloting a boat”

My first car was a 1989 ford escort hatchback and I miss it terribly. They’re fairly difficult to find now thanks to the stupid cash for clunkers program that laundered hundreds millions into the auto industry and wasted tens of millions of perfectly fine cars so that people could get into consumer debt and waste a shitload of resources getting into a modern suv that is barely more efficient in most cases (1989 ford escort hatchback got 25mpg on average, in line with many modern boat cars, and doesn’t destroy pedestrians or take up 8 city blocks to park)

They were actually more unsafe because only the part across your torso was automated and you still had to manually buckle the lap belt. People generally didn’t do that and got injured badly, a standard 3 point plus airbag is much safer. Then add in the driver side door airbag and the system is doooooomed

Sources used were Gallup and pew which include audiobooks, ebooks, and traditional books. Audiobooks count, gotta include my became blind late in life homies and people who fit it in on the oppressive drive to work.

Interestingly (to me) physical books remain king in terms of popularity. I’m ebooks and an ereader all the way. No trips to library, no expensive hardbacks, no finding a place to store 800 extremely bulky and heavy books that I will honestly never read 90% of ever again, etc

Percentage. But the interesting part is the demographic shift. American demographics who used to be known for reading more (college educated, elderly, women) are simply reading less

I had to look this up because I was also very confused. I searched for 5 minutes so I could be wrong but loomer has made this exact comment in the past except far more explicitly and linked to her sex life. They clearly don’t get along and loomer has accused her of having multiple affairs. The roast beef comment is a (not very) thinly veiled slut shaming thing, basically, mocking her because her vagina must look unappealing because she had the audacity to have sex with 3 men (allegedly). The idea that your vagina changes appearance if you have more sexual partners is a myth of course

Basically infighting mixed with internalized misogyny

Tbf with many mandolins those things are utter garbage especially if you need to go fast, not waste 20% of your food, and aren’t into dulling the blades when you slam metal prongs into them which is 40% of why you never see professional chefs use the guard in videos (the other 60% being “I’m a super cool chef” bullshit which is why they also never wear the protective gloves either

“Fewer”

Basically no one was reading books in America aside from an extremely brief resurgence during Covid

Men basically read no fiction, women account for 80% of fiction sales. 46% of Americans haven’t read a book at all in the past year. 82% who do read read under 10 books a year

The entire industry is propped up by a shrinking population that inhales books/ebooks. You’ll occasionally see that the average American reads 12ish books a year but that’s because there’s some people pulling serious weight for all the deadbeats who can’t be bothered to read a single book ever

body shaming is pretty shitty behavior, maybe don’t sink to their level

if anything point out the hypocrisy of them endorsing gender affirming elective surgery but denying it to others based on arbitrary criteria usually based in religious and antiscientific beliefs

But being like “hurr look at how fucking ugly this plastic faced woman is” is just as misogynistic as when right wing media plasters a bunch of pictures of alt women and rag on their appearance or tears apart images of trans women.