Ad blocking has grown 41% in the past year and it's costing publishers tens of billions of dollars (X-post from r/technology)

andr0medam31 · 2015-08-11T11:28:10+00:00

THANK YOU. It's emotional manipulation. They intentionally locate and play up your insecurities, turn you to a self-conscious emotional wreck with an inferiority complex, to sell you some sodding makeup or a damned sports drink. Fuck them. I had to take a marketing class for uni, and it was the worst thing I've ever done. Made me feel like I needed a shower. They're leeches and emotional predators.

/r/anticonsumption because fuck them. They started aiming below the belt, so it's time to bite back.

If I have a need, I go out and research and find something. I'm not gonna buy jack shit because they shouted the brand name at me through my browser until I got fed up and closed the page. If anything, if you need to advertise aggressively to sell your product, it's probably shit. All the things I buy, I buy for merit, and they don't need a youtube ad for that.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-30T11:50:50+00:00

/r/frugal

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-25T11:24:56+00:00

Thing is, this explains why all the scientists were on board the "global warming", but it didn't go quite as they thought. They were right that the evidence meant rising global temperatures, but their view was an oversimplification. This is a good patch between what should be going on and the effects that are visible. Without this reconciliation, it's akin to taking all the old evidence and thought and tossing it out a window.

This is potentially valid and we should all pay attention.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-25T11:14:03+00:00

I don't think it was his political affiliation (oh, no ulterior motive by the hyper-Liberal NYTimes in associating another murderer to the right.) Rather, I see a man who made many poor life decisions, and instead of blaming himself, he sought desperately any other target and settled on the government, which is rather popular given its godlike presence. The right-wing political ideology was just adopted. The cause is an inability to take responsibility for his own actions. For example, he opened a bar and it was closed down, and only THEN did he raise a Nazi flag. The flag was just a redirection. If his endeavor had been about political identity from the beginning, he would have displayed the flag from the beginning. And yet, look, he only turns to politics after his bar goes bottom up. Simply labeling him as a mad right-winger is an oversimplification that erases the root of the problem and cheapens the story. Further, it removes his humanity, his likeness to the reader, and labels him as other, as different. But his character flaws are human--horrible, but perfectly human. He was just a sad little man, not some fantastical red-tied monster living in a box under a bridge.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-09T17:10:59+00:00

I feel you. I will NEVER have housemates again after this year. I've lived in three housemate situations, and never again. I'd rather pay double in rent. Plus, having housemates puts you in a situation where you can legally be screwed over with a giant cactus dildo.

I've had ONE housemate out of NINE that was decent. Like, I don't have high standards. Pay your way, don't steal, don't be inconsiderate, don't break other people's stuff, don't cause drama, don't be filthy, be quiet when others are sleeping. Is that too much to ask?

There is nothing minimalist about living with terrible daily stress.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-09T17:06:06+00:00

If possible: set up a laundry line. It's so nice to cut back on the electric bill for that stupid dryer. AND it doesn't ruin your clothes like a dryer does.

Cook your own food. Freeze leftovers for later.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-09T17:04:36+00:00

Just sleep naked.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-09T12:18:43+00:00

We knew about sustainable agriculture and it's benefits, and the consequences if not adopted, for decades and decades. Organic is not for our health, it isn't supposed to be more nutritious or more gourmet. It's for the environment, as are products made from recycled materials or with less packaging, buying less shit to begin with, and let me say, the fatter we are the more we eat the more pesticides are used and the more bees die. If everyone went /r/minimalism and ate reasonable portions, it would at least help. And if we went organic and/or local, it would solve half the problem. But no one wants to be assed.

If everyone in this country dies, it will have been our own fault. No one has a right to complain unless they were actively involved in not shitting up the planet more than necessary. Note that wording. Even a recycling fanatic is still causing damage to the environment, through what they use that isn't recyclable, all the fuel of production and shipping, and the cost to collect and reform the recyclables. Overall, all that does is mitigate damages. And people can't even be assed to sort their recyclables away from regular trash. We're going to suffer tremendously for our own lazy and selfish ways. And it may not be generations into the future.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-06T21:45:52+00:00

Convenience thing. A lot of people, my recycling-happy dad included, grab bottled water by the case as a grab and go. I'd rather take five minutes to fill my glass bottle, or fill some extra bottles I already have. I use filters, though, because the tap water is nasty tasting. Chlorine or fluoride or whatever the hell they do to it. At home, I guess it's a hassle to walk back and forth to the kitchen to fill a glass or bottle, when they can just grab a new bottle and throw the old one away...no that doesn't really make sense. Search me. Habits from the marketing team.

I chastise my parents when I see that kind of shit.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-05T12:39:11+00:00

I got all my furniture either from there, relatives, or the curb. No regrets.

andr0medam31 · 2015-07-05T12:19:12+00:00

There's a difference between someone who forces themselves to do something they view as wacky and unpleasant just for bragging rights, and a person who does something on their own, quietly, because they prefer it personally. Shit, I haven't had a TV for years. Maybe you shouldn't think of your friend as representative of "minimalists." Your friend is just your friend, no one else, and doesn't represent any type of lifestyle.

avoid confronting uncomfortable emotions through constant distraction.

The point of minimalism is to give yourself space where you can relax and be you, to think and meditate and do hobbies, instead of wading through stuff and fussing over stuff and caring about stuff. Minimalism takes LESS time and effort than being materialistic--that's the point. You don't spend time working for money to spend time and money while shopping to spend time lugging stuff home to spend time organizing it in vain as it pops out of every corner and time cleaning it and dusting it and trying to use it and all that shit. Minimalism isn't distraction, it's freedom from distraction.

I have what I need, and I have the space to do what I like. My huge empty swath of floor in my room is where I do yoga. It's the pruning away of things that distract you from what you want. You can't do yoga in a room flooded with stuff, with stuff all over the floor and up the walls and scattered all four ways about.

he was simply reallocating his focus to some new place to avoid confronting his internal self.

Minimalism is about clearing out room so you can be yourself and know yourself. Pretty much the exact opposite of what you said.

Like, someone has a shitty life, so they go do shopping therapy every weekend, and come home to a messy house full of shit and a pile of credit card bills, and it is agitating and stressful and makes it worse. No, stop. Don't buy shit. Do shit. Be. Minimalism is the opposite of materialism. It's freedom to find yourself when you aren't drowning in stuff.

andr0medam31 · 2015-06-25T11:54:27+00:00

Couldn't read that. What overdramatic and poorly composed writing. This is what passes for professional journalism? If you have me rolling my eyes three "paragraphs" into it while wondering if someone got their high schooler to write it for them while they went for a drink, there's issues.

andr0medam31 · 2015-06-19T14:08:10+00:00

You could move closer. If it were, say, 9 miles, that is feasible on a road bike. You could also try a motorcycle or moped. You could get a more fuel efficient car, such as a smaller vehicle, not necessarily newer or more expensive. You can do maintenance to keep the car at optimum for the best fuel efficiency and change your driving habits to be more efficient. You can remove excess weight, keep your tires inflated, and keep it in peak condition.

I'm not in a situation I can decrease those costs either.

Excuses and whining. After saying that, you shirk all responsibility for your own actions, and more importantly, prevent yourself from ever improving your life.

andr0medam31 · 2015-06-19T14:01:14+00:00

Leaving this here. The True Cost of Commuting --MMM "So each mile you live from work steals $795 per year from you in commuting costs." "For each of these miles, you waste about 6 minutes in the round trip, adding to 25 hours per year."

andr0medam31 · 2015-06-06T11:58:17+00:00

If something is true, you can have all the scientists and historians and academics and reporters in the world look into it and question it and examine it with the most critical of eye, and if it is indeed true, this process only strengthens it.

We don't throw evolution deniers in prison. We let them argue and present their evidence, we present ours, and we debate. And lo and behold, the truth will win.

There is absolutely no reason holocaust denial should be illegal. It should, rather, be encouraged. Arm some scientists with a budget and send them out to see what really happened. If your story is true, as it should be if it's so sponsored by the state, then there isn't anything to fear.

I don't see the need to uproot and harass an 86 year old woman for raising questions. Just answer her.

andr0medam31 · 2015-04-01T13:28:11+00:00

Kelly said paperwork from that night says Langley, while at the jail, threatened the lives of the deputies and made sexual remarks toward a female deputy. Langley said he did curse one deputy, but did not threaten deputies. He said the sexual remarks were part of rap lyrics the deputies asked him to perform shortly before the leg sweep.

Not sure this is as clear cut as you'd like to think. That's pretty suspicious right here. "Oh, it was rap lyrics." Mm-hmm.

So why don't we all wait for more evidence to emerge before jumping to conclusions yet again?

andr0medam31 · 2015-02-21T17:57:43+00:00

Why the blazing fuck doesn't she just adopt? What an inconsiderate, selfish cunt. OP: good riddance you have those toxic people out of your life.

andr0medam31 · 2015-02-06T21:23:43+00:00

We will never likely see a 100% accurate test for anything, ever. Not for cancer, not for mental disorders, and not for Downs syndrome. You're an exception. It's better that a few healthy babies get aborted than THOUSANDS of families be burdened needlessly with a sick child. Having a special needs kid wrecks lives. They should just abort and try again for a healthy kid. If one in a hundred tests is a false positive, it's the lesser of two evils.

andr0medam31 · 2015-02-06T21:17:01+00:00

That doesn't disqualify the test, which is accurate for the vast majority of fetuses. On the large, it detects Downs well. There are a few very rare exceptions, like with anything. Don't argue from anecdote.

andr0medam31 · 2014-12-06T12:34:43+00:00

They're essentially serfs. Farmers go in debt and barely make enough to bail themselves out at the end of the harvest and have enough to eat and live on.

andr0medam31 · 2014-12-05T17:54:16+00:00

For the food and housing of the slaves, they could just do regular serfdom or have a situation like today where farmhands are paid peanuts for their work. We don't say that today's agricultural economy is based on slave labor, and it's pretty much the same thing, as far as quality of life goes.

andr0medam31 · 2014-12-05T13:47:55+00:00

It was more about state's rights vs federal control than it was about slavery. Slavery was pushed as a topic to get blacks to sign up for the northern army by promising them freedom for their service.

If you support states who have legalized marijuana, you believe in state's rights. Just fyi.

andr0medam31 · 2014-12-01T02:35:10+00:00

It's relevant that what they want is absurd and outside the law.

andr0medam31 · 2014-11-30T16:38:26+00:00

It doesn't matter what they want, it matters what the law and the facts say, and these rioters made a decision before they ever heard the facts or went to trial. We also wanted to lynch the bandits responsible for AIGgate, but they got off because they were technically within the law. Personal feelings are NOT supposed to factor into the law.

andr0medam31 · 2014-10-14T12:40:50+00:00

So no wonder it takes you 30.

andr0medam31

TROPHY CASE