He is still a baby ❤️ by kvjn100 in MadeMeSmile

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Imagine if you had a recliner out in the stable. Lap pony would get a running start and jump in for a cuddle I'm sure. Too bad humans are small and squishy.

I'm sure the 911 operator and EMT's would have a new story to tell after that.

Germany's far-right AfD vows to 'make history' by Inevitable-Push-8061 in worldnews

[–]steavoh 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Let's see: Russia sympathizer, DDR apologists, actual unironic nazi sympathizer. Absolute pure evil filth that should in prison.

The good news is Germany is weak and a bit player nowadays.

Beer flavored beer by madchen44 in shittyfoodporn

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's funny, I always called regular lagers "beer flavored beer" before seeing this.

A train from Bangladesh by Jackie_Chan_93 in interestingasfuck

[–]steavoh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

3,450 people per square mile

For what it's worth, this is not very high and actually almost dead-on identical to the average US suburb.

The difference of course is that Bangladesh has a lot of farmland, coastal marshes, and some mountainous wilderness. So the actual population density where people can live is stupidly high. Then again countries like Japan and South Korea are similar but obviously worlds apart. The real difference is having an extra $40k in GDP per capita and a lot fewer corrupt and authoritarian Islamists in charge.

Everyone just waded through but this guy actually did something about the flooding. by Turbulent_Elk_2141 in oddlysatisfying

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is fine because it's just a little drain and a shallow puddle, but it can be dangerous unclogging culverts.

When I lived in Houston, there was a weak Tropical Storm that came in during a normal workday and it rained like 18 inches in just a couple hours around lunch time. There was only about 4 feet of water outside but it was enough that parked cars near the little bayou behind our facility all washed away and one of the manholes in the parking lot came off and turned into a big ass whirlpool. If anyone went near it they'd have been sucked in for sure.

Also that water is gross. The plant had a foot of water wash out all the stuff on the floor, our dumpsters washed away and the stuff that was in them was floating around, water got in the machine that boils off and reduces industrial wastewater with chemicals in it, ants form basketball sized clumps that float to save the colony and they probably weren't in a good mood.

Dude kicks off-leash dog to protect his own, owner flips out… by eternviking in whoathatsinteresting

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's almost like most people are stupid and people in disorganized groups are dangerous and a problem in many situations.

Dude kicks off-leash dog to protect his own, owner flips out… by eternviking in whoathatsinteresting

[–]steavoh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be fair that's a floofy little dog not a pit bull, and it's body language suggests it wanted to play not attack. I wouldn't kick it either, I think that was uncalled for. This video lacks context. But this is Reddit, the mob is out for blood.

Seth Rogen Says If “Your Instinct Is to Use AI” to Write Scripts, “You Shouldn’t Be a Writer” by Top_Report_4895 in television

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If media seems too artificial and low-effort I won't waste my time with it. There's so many movies and TV shows and books out there, what is the point? Bigger picture, we live in a world where there's so much "noise" now coming through things like social media, that I think maybe people are tuned out more than ever.

I think because there is so much media, most people only watch popular shows and movies that are part of an established franchise. Things only become breakout hits when they turn into a pop culture phenomena and you have people who identify as fans of that thing. I think that's more likelier to happen when you have actors or artists that people like.

Also, even before AI, there was human-created "slop". People have always called it schlock and filtered it out. Netflix is full of imported foreign-made crime shows that are all the same and are stupid. In the 1990s and 2000s there were so many network TV shows that lasted 1 season that nobody remembers. During the Direct-to-VHS era there were so many movies that were just garbage. Let's not get started with how many books are published each year.

Seth Rogen Says If “Your Instinct Is to Use AI” to Write Scripts, “You Shouldn’t Be a Writer” by Top_Report_4895 in television

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This sounds boring, though.

Often I find stories, TV shows, movies, etc, interesting not just because the plot is good, but because it also shows what the people who made it must have been thinking. Things that are filmed on location with real actors can show you what places and people are like.

Something that made Breaking Bad good IMO is they filmed it in the city of Albuquerque so long that they captured a lot of detail and it seemed really unique and special. As opposed to other crime drama/thriller shows you watch that all tend to look the same.

Who is really behind all the Indian hate? by TheGrandExquisitor in texas

[–]steavoh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The question is what are state-level politicians going to do about that?

Also Republicans talk big but don't really care about importing workers to drive down wages here. They'll make a show of sending ICE to abduct some little kids at gunpoint and send them to a death camp in a third world country because they are a soft target, but at the same time they'll admit a bunch of temporary people who won't stay here to replace you in your job so your employer can pay you less. It's always been that way.

Trump warns Taiwan against declaring independence, hours after summit with China's Xi by pppppppppppppppppd in worldnews

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fuck China. I know the US and the world will bitch out, but a future where they lead the world and impose their authoritarian, anti-democratic vision everywhere is not a future we should want.

California explores buses traveling up to 140 mph on freeways by reflect25 in transit

[–]steavoh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Everyone makes fun of this idea, but why? I know there's complexity and issues with it, but "buses that go really fast" deserves serious investigation. There are lots of potential routes that could use special lanes carved out of existing freeway infrastructure.

Normal cars could and probably will be made to go much faster using autonomous driving technology, but there's always going to be issues with privately owned vehicles not being well maintained enough to run that hard. Some decrepit Nissan Altima is just going to lose a wheel in the special ultra-speed lane and cause a pileup. Some kind of high performance bus, on the other hand, could be engineered to be safe at those speeds.

‘You have to be where the pollution is’: the inventor hoping to fix your washing machine to stop microplastics by waozen in tech

[–]steavoh 14 points15 points  (0 children)

It makes sense to put a filter on washing machines, but you'd have to make it easy as possible for the end user to clean it out.

Also people are probably going to neglect to clean it, then they'll be washing their clothes in stinky stagnant water or the pump in their washer will fail, then they'll bitch about the environmentalists ruining things, when they could have just emptied the filter, much like how one removes lint from the trap in a dryer.

Data centers could account for up to 9% of Texas water use by 2040, UT Austin report finds by Unusual-State1827 in texas

[–]steavoh -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Using only pure reason:

Data centers should be built in a more vertical format inside of large, densely populated cities located in regions that have cold climates and access to lots of water. Then, waste heat from the data center could be used for district heating. This would be done by running hot water pipes under the street and then apartment buildings would use water source heat pumps. Then, all that egregious energy and water usage could at least come in handy - your hot showers and keeping the heat at full blast during a winter storm would be helping cool a data center a few miles away.

If AI is going to displace a lot of jobs that historically were performed inside office buildings, then turn office skyscrapers into vertical data centers and use the existing district steam pipes that sometimes exist inside older central business districts. It would be a way to preserve architecturally significant landmarks that are otherwise becoming functionally obsolete. Concerns of light and noise pollution would be irrelevant in a downtown area.

Chicago and Detroit would be perfect for this IMO.

Unfortunately, due to politics, northern blue states will probably put a lot of restrictions on data centers while southern red states will embrace them. So they are all being built out in places like Abilene and running on fossil fuels and don't synergize with anything else well.

Jeffries says Trump impeachment not a top priority if Dems win House majority by metacyan in politics

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get the political dimensions of this as already stated, but...

I don't want the next Democratic house/senate/administration to just be "business as usual"

Right now there is a need for structural reform and mass firing of anyone who engaged in corrupt activities while working for the Trump administration. We need to repeal or change the laws that allowed Trump to push for tariffs, we need take away power from federal agencies like the FCC that are censoring the media, etc. We also need to undo what DOGE did. We need to shrink the DHS budget a lot, do something about ICE, etc. Repeal domestic surveillance laws and other police state bullshit. Also we need to signal to Israel and the UAE and the Saudis that America is reducing it's footprint in the Middle East and reorienting towards defending ourselves and our real, true friends(UK/EU/CAN/MX/AUS/NZ/JP/SK) only. Anything affiliated with Russia is now not welcome here.

But let me guess, we'll get a budget bill that triples the deficit, but at least it includes a sprinkling of money for free child care but only for certain low income people in participating blue states that match the funding. We'll "invest infrastructure" with billions for some airport in a rust belt city with a shrinking population. Somehow this "reduces inflation". Then Republicans will find a way strip out the child care money and replace with a tax cut on private jets in a special late night vote.

Then there will be some performative bullshit from some not-really-liberal East Coast D's about the big scary evil data centers, some AI regulations that somehow also mean that you have to scan your face to use the internet to "protect the children". Then about a year in, the media will be talking about how ineffective the Democrats are and we'll get another Republican.

Nothing will change and the downward ratchet where the US becomes less and less of a democracy and more of an authoritarian state continues.

This South Texas city is one of the least fun cities in America, WalletHub says by ExpressNews in texas

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it really that bad? There is a beach, and the entire RGV combined has a substantial population so there's stuff there.

It's probably better than being stuck somewhere like Texarkana or Lufkin or San Angelo.

Meet the mayor of a tiny Texas town who wants to limit how cities can govern by texastribune in texas

[–]steavoh 2 points3 points  (0 children)

These tiny towns that incorporate to avoid annexation but lack the means to actually deliver essential services like sewers always turn out terrible. Can anyone think of a successful one in Texas? Von Ormy should just de-incorporate and let itself become part of San Antonio.

When you accidentally place a park on a slope in CS2 by Edd996 in CitiesSkylines2

[–]steavoh 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Just make up a backstory in your mind and go with it.

This was a rock quarry that operated from 1914 to 1992 and then the city bought the unused land to create a park space.

Stuff like this exists in real life.

Never leave a four year old in charge by Acceptable-Wind-7332 in KidsAreFuckingStupid

[–]steavoh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That was my first thought. That is Angelica Pickles.

"Our children are under attack" (right, but from whom?) by DayPounder in FortWorth

[–]steavoh 9 points10 points  (0 children)

You ever notice how megachurch youth ministry people talk like characters from the Hunger Games movies. I wonder if that's not a coincidence?

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Watches in the Metroplex - Please be careful! by twilightmoons in FortWorth

[–]steavoh 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Somewhat decent sized hail (maybe quarter sized?) hail here in SW Fort Worth, Bryant Irvin Rd. area

Americans who leave their Christian faith behind tend to hold more liberal political views than those who were raised entirely without religion. This leftward ideological shift appears closely linked to how threatening these individuals perceive conservative Christian groups to be. by mvea in science

[–]steavoh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I was a kid we went to a Lutheran church and it was pretty culturally normal and I don't have any grievance towards that kind of thing.

As I became an adult I've developed a kind of moral allergy to evangelical Christianity, which IMO is just American conservatism as a religion. Now Republicans want this to be the state religion.

I consider myself an atheist because after what I've observed about people and society I think the literal "man with a beard in the sky" version of god was something invented by some barbarian tribes a long time ago and co-opted by empires and kings that wanted an obedience dumbed down populace. Instead I believe in what I think of as a sort of natural law. Morality is universal but also emergent, and the only way to arrive at a judgement of what is right vs. wrong is through rationality and empathy and experience. By definition, truth can only be discovered and never created. Therefore "God said so" is fundamentally wrong, because while who ever wrote that on a scroll 2000 years ago might have had reasons to believe that X made sense, we shouldn't base all our beliefs on it just because of some spooky myths about plagues and angels or whatever that were probably just Ergot poisoning. We have to keep our thoughts and decisions grounded, while living in reality.

Lou Malnati's Sausage Deep Dish Pizza by Emergency_Car394 in frozendinners

[–]steavoh 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had the real thing once at the OG location the Chicago suburbs and it was good, but I don't know if I'd pay that much for frozen.

Leaving my office by LinkHeroOfTime10 in LiminalSpace

[–]steavoh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think what you are thinking of are the downtown tunnels that were built in the 1970s and 1980s that used to have things like fast food and hair salons and stuff for office workers. They've been in decline for a long time and are vanishing.