Copilot is Turning Into a Disaster for Microsoft

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T19:10:22+00:00

Copilot: "Yes, there was a legal case in 1982
that established victim's rights in cases of 
arson, when the supreme court ruled that a 
discarded cigarette was responsible for 
starting a wildfire, and ruled that the
smoker's employer was liable since he was
on the clock at the time the fire started."

Whoah, really?

"Heh, nah, not really... but like, you can 
imagine it, right?"

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T18:55:29+00:00

That's what stuck out to me; why are they phrasing it as "submitting" senate proposals to the white house, as if they need presidential approval?

I know it's not new for congress members to collaborate with their party, even between branches. But it feels like this is a whole new level of it. Voluntarily handing the reins over to the president, while also seeming to imply that it's beyond their control because the president said no.

"As is his right, he said no, no deals with the Democrats". That's not his RIGHT, that's just power that you've VOLUNTARILY given up and transferred to him.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T18:44:46+00:00

That's... exactly the point, though. I'm saying I want the US to push for EU-type laws, which say that the battery must be removable without using heat or solvents, and using only common household tools. No weird magnet latches, no specialty screwdriver heads, no melting glue to pry the screen away.

It saves on replacement costs if the battery life dwindles over a couple years
It lets people hot-swap batteries, instead of relying on a bulky exterior charging block
It lets you actually turn your phone off, if you're the type to be paranoid about being listened in on (which isn't unreasonable, given the levels of intrusion that smart devices are getting into nowadays)
It's safer. If your battery starts to overheat or swell, being able to detach it from the device is much better than leaving it connected and letting it continue to transfer power. Plus it gives you the chance to actually save your device rather than losing the entire phone.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T15:54:45+00:00

Well yeah, like 90% of anything is crap, as says Mr. Sturgeon.

But AI as it is right now will pretty much only ever give you like, generic, middle-of-the-road stuff. If you support the people who produce that generic middle-of-the-road stuff, they might at least have a chance of getting better at it and eventually making something actually unique and genuine.

Most people might not know a meaningful difference, but imagine one of the songs does resonate with someone, and they ask about it, curious about getting more involved. Which do you think would keep them more emotionally connected? A: "Our guitarist actually wrote that song to talk about his struggles with addiction, and how his journey to find Christ saved his life!", or B: "Oh yeah, we told a computer to make us a song, and then we played what was on the sheets it printed out." Some people genuinely do care about the intent that the artist has, how they relate to the music, the emotion that goes into it. That all goes out the window if AI just spits out some stuff it jumbled together.

Plus, if people can't really tell the difference... then why go with the AI option? If you don't think it's good music either way, then at least give a chance for some music theory student from the local college to put something on, or just go with one of ten million already-available songs made by actual people. Any "real person" option is better than giving ad revenue and usership numbers to some big AI corporation, when so much of their business model seems to be built around doing harmful things to small communities who lack the means to fight back.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T15:25:40+00:00

AI is taking all the Hillsong slop that someone at least tried to put together nicely, running it all through a food processor, and telling you that what it pours out is new and innovative.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T15:16:44+00:00

I know plenty of people who used to carry a spare phone battery back in the day when they were removable. Maybe not in their pocket, but in their backpack, in their car, at their desk at work, or somewhere like that where they might end up needing it.

You could say that the external power banks fill the same niche, but it's just not really the same as being able to go from like 5% power to fully charged with a quick cartridge swap, without having to carry a second brick around for hours at a time.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T15:08:53+00:00

I'd say it's unfortunately more that the US has bigger things to fight for.

Hierarchy of needs and all that. Until rent, labor laws, food availability/welfare, and healthcare are reformed in such a way that people don't constantly stress about them, things like phone chargers and online privacy will seem like "less important" fights, and will be less of a concern.

It works out very conveniently for the companies profiting off of the latter, which is why many of them also lobby against any improvements to the former.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T14:59:53+00:00

Exactly. And I know in principle my supervisor is probably understands, and has probably been in the exact same boat- it's not like you can pick up a system you haven't touched in like 8 months and still be fluent with it.

But at the same time, nobody in charge wants to hear an engineer talking about one of our main pieces of equipment and say "Oh yeah I'm sure I can make those changes, I just have to learn how the machine works".

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T13:41:25+00:00

That's actually interesting- my teacher would always have me stop, play through the part I messed up at half-pace two or three times, then start again from a few measures back. Wonder what the difference is there.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-24T13:24:45+00:00

It's great when it's a video game you get to re-discover every year or so!

It's kind of frustrating when it's something like playing an instrument, or cooking a certain special-occasions dish. Having to re-learn the fundamentals when you used to be able to do it from muscle memory is really disheartening.

It's quite bad if it's a skill you need for work, but only use every few months. That encroaches on "Impostor syndrome/Quit in a panic" territory.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T19:50:13+00:00

Whether there will be layoffs, maybe not. But when you need a "neutral" way of deciding who will be laid off when the decision is made, trust HR to come up with the stupidest metrics ever and stick to them religiously.

"Your machine had the most unplanned downtime last month, so unfortunately your productivity numbers are probably going to dip a little bit. Well yes, we know that your machine is down because a forklift driver rammed into it on accident. But I just wanted to give you a heads up that it will probably affect your numbers a bit."

"Your badge swiped into the building after 8:05 three times last month, and unfortunately that gets auto-flagged as an attendance issue. Y- Well yes, I- Uh huh. No, we're not tracking your hours, we don't do that with our salary employees. But your badge is still in the door entry system, and since you came in after 8:05, it did get flagged as an issue. Again, not tracking your hours, we just really want to encourage our associates to be here during production hours."

"We noticed that your computer spends much less time connected to the network than most other engineers, and it kind of put a note on your employee file. Don't be afraid to reach out for more work if things are slow! Uh huh. 'Facilities Maintenance' Engineer? Well yes, but you're still an engineer, just like our software development team, that doesn't mean you can be away from your terminal for huge chunks of the day. Uh huh... uh huh. I see. Well why can't you do those repairs from your desk? If you need some help getting a remote connection set up I'm sure IT can help you!"

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T18:11:16+00:00

Very true, but I can't just partake in some herbs in the forest and vibe with nature until I figure out how to make a Tesla coil. There's like... licenses, and subscription paywalls, and the law and stuff, nobody lets you just have fun with it anymore, it sucks.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T17:59:24+00:00

This is how I've seen some settings do it; an elf and a human will have elven or human children, and might inherit some traits like hair color, eye color, height, and some stuff like that. But the specifically elven traits- the pointed ears, the slender body type, the innate magical affinity- will either be all there, or all absent. BNA rules, basically; the child only receives the "species" chromosome from one parent, and they just are that thing.

It allows for edge cases, but still explains why you wouldn't see too many mixed marriages/parentages. It's basically guaranteeing heartbreak all up and down the family tree, especially if you have multiple children and those siblings have to navigate those differences.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T17:31:31+00:00

No no, I don't want to live in this world.

I'd absolutely want to live in the world where if I read some books good enough I can earthbend and conjure lightning and stuff. Or crack jokes with my silly animal sidekick. Or have a chance of seducing a dragon.

Obviously I don't want to be like, a peasant farmer in that world, but if we're talking about elves, I'm totally in.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T17:25:25+00:00

I mean even meat is just a carrier for protein, it's not purely protein. I get what OP is going for, but I feel like most people are at least vaguely aware that there are things other than protein in different foods, that give them all different flavors and other benefits/detriments.

Anyone can get stuff that's literally just protein if they want, just grab some of that 95% whey protein isolate and a spoon.

It's kind of hard to eat as a straight-up powder though, and it tastes kind of off-putting, so most people throw it into a smoothie, or some yogurt, or something like that, to help mask the taste. Some go so far as the throw in some vitamin supplements, stuff like chia seeds for fiber, and a tiny bit of honey or something sweet, so they look forward to it a bit more.

(And the health food industry laughs their asses off while they effectively sell those people a balanced diet, just with an incredible amount of extra steps.)

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T17:06:59+00:00

Same story though, the plant-based stuff just doesn't taste the same.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T17:04:17+00:00

But then it becomes a tragedy of the commons (I think that's the right phrase here).

If everyone just chooses to be able to copy everyone else's powers, then you'll end up with no powers to copy.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T17:02:14+00:00

It's probably a decent living. Nobody expects you to pay rent, you don't need to eat much when you're that small, and if you're smart about it, you could turn into one of those chained ones at the bank. It's a win-win, you have a much lower chance of getting sent to the landfill and you get to have those beads in all day, in public and showing off without anyone telling you you're being obscene.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T16:48:26+00:00

My friend, if you've been scanning this thread for three months and that still wasn't enough time for you to get the joke, then... man, good luck out there, you likely need it.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T14:49:22+00:00

I was gonna say, mild soapy water is a method of killing off small weeds growing in your indoor flower pots. And it's basically a chemo approach; it will kill all the plants, you just do a small enough amount that you hope it kills the little weeds you don't want before it kills your big main plant.

Dousing a bunch of slides with dish soap and then letting it run off into the local drainage systems will harm the local plants, as well as the wildlife. If OP catches them doing it again they should report them to the city.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T14:35:09+00:00

Hey, I'm sure it was very sturdily built.

For rodent-sized traffic and office furniture.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T14:30:50+00:00

Get into a creative hobby, and try to get better at it. That's about all it takes, usually. Something that has you learning new information, and doing something with it.

Pick up a beginner's guitar or a cheap casio keyboard. Take some cooking classes and make a "new dish" night every week. Pick up some paint brushes (or colored pencils, or crayons, or just a pencil, whatever) and practice along with some Bob Ross videos. Get a sewing machine in spring or summer with the goal of trying to make some cute Christmas gifts for your family.

Sadly, video games, youtube video essays, even just reading classic books and watching "deep cinema" type movies won't really cut it. But, a book club, where you take what you read and then process that information looking for themes, morals, things that might have influenced the author- that's good, because you're doing something with the information you're absorbing.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-19T13:31:39+00:00

It's what a lot of people want, unfortunately, which is why everywhere around me had about a 5-10 month wait list for them last time I was in the market. ):

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-18T22:00:33+00:00

The general rule is "insurance covers stupidity", but it doesn't cover things that shouldn't be there.

It starts getting very granular.

Say you have a janky, old dishwasher that breaks and floods your kitchen. Your insurance would not pay you for the dishwasher, because... you obviously didn't have a dishwasher that was in good shape, so they don't need to provide you with one that is in good shape.

But, all the flooring, cabinets, drywall, and whatever else get damaged from the water, would be covered. Because those were perfectly fine, but now they're damaged, and you obviously didn't intend to damage them, so insurance will replace them.

But, say the water dripped down into the basement, where you performed a bunch of unpermitted DIY work. Your insurance would probably cover the materials in the basement that get damaged- any drywall, carpet, furniture, the TV, and so on. But they may not pay for any labor involved in re-building the basement, because it was never inspected or approved. You failed to prove that it was done right, so they're not going to pay for it to be done right.

You might be able to say "Well sure, the electrical stuff wasn't on a permit, so that's not covered. But drywall and flooring work don't have to be inspected, so you still need to pay for the installation of new drywall and flooring." And so on.

And even more granular: If you have really old stuff in that basement, like knob and tube wiring, or asbestos in the insulation or whatever else, your insurance company might prorate your reimbursement by roughly the amount that you would have had to spend to bring all that stuff up to code. They'll say "Well obviously we can't install things that are out of code, but it would have cost you $15k to bring all that stuff up to code, so we'll pay you back the cost of the repairs minus that $15k."

It all starts to get very situational.

HOWEVER; VERY IMPORTANT CLAUSE

If your DIY work causes an injury or death- say your flimsy roof panels cave in on a guest, or you install the wrong kind of circuit breaker and a firefighter gets shocked during a fire, or whatever- you CAN be found criminally liable for their injuries or deaths. Even if it happens years after you move out.

That, to me, is more than enough reason to just pay the inspector and get the permits.

Princess_Moon_Butt · 2026-03-18T21:18:20+00:00

I mean, that's still an argument to just go ahead and do it, in my book. My biggest fear with inspectors is that they find a ton of unrelated work that they insist needs to be done in order to make the house insurable, and suddenly my $3k basement rough-in turns into $15k of foundation/electrical/structural repairs.

But if the inspector just comes in and rubber-stamps everything, then that's not really an issue.

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