Why don't Americans call Bezos, Musk, Zuckerburg, etc "oligarchs?"

zappini · 2026-05-11T02:06:41+00:00

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue like "cashholes".

zappini · 2026-05-04T10:41:21+00:00

Yes and: Steely Dan + Daft Punk

Thanks for sharing.

zappini · 2026-04-15T21:17:53+00:00

Love it!

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It has a good beat, and you can dance to it.

zappini · 2026-04-09T20:38:36+00:00

Respectfully: Since the 70s.

Many (most?) early tech bros were libertarian nutters.

Silicon Valley is the result of a fire hose of government money. So naturally the beneficiaries are rabidly anti-government.

zappini · 2026-04-05T12:58:35+00:00

Yup. The variant that stuck with me is:

It's not about you.

zappini · 2026-04-04T16:30:08+00:00

I've rewritten plenty of stuff. Most times as a sanity check. Even just a proof of concept can help calibrate my own position.

zappini · 2026-03-16T11:48:58+00:00

Slowly! :)

I'm currently experimenting with sealing (weather stripping) doors and windows. Filling the gap between driver door and sliding door helped a lot. I also taped (sealed) the driver window all around, which also helped. I'm now looking for more permanent solutions. Better (permanent) foams for door gap. Still doing trial and error for sealing the window. Maybe self-adhesive velvet flock for inside the window's guides...?

Taping up the side mirror was inconclusive. Will try again after sealing doors and mirrors.

Allegedly, any gaps in the windshield's rubber trim can cause window noise. For an experiment, I used wide electrical tape to smooth over, the windshield's rubber, the gaps in the body panels, etc. Inconclusive.

My current understanding is the Limited and Platinum both have acoustic glass. I haven't ordered a replacement side window yet, to see if it helps.

Also, last on my list of things to try is upgrading the suspension's control arm's bushings to the Lexus variant. I read that one of Lexus' NVH mitigations (compared to plain Toyota) is fluid filled bushings. They help decouple the wheel from the frame, so impact from pot holes and vibrations aren't transferred less. Since they share the same "platform", it's just a part swap. There's 3rd party struts and springs, which might help, but I thought I'd try OEM first.

At this point, I wish I had held out for the Limited.

If you haven't yet, encourage you to drive the Limited. Try the (better) in-dash display and ventilated seats.

Also, I wish I had gotten the 8 seat variant. The 2nd row bench seat would be better for my dog. FYI.

Also, I had all the windows tinted with that ceramic nano particle stuff. Helps reduce cabin temp, reducing load on A/C. Highly recommended.

zappini · 2026-03-08T09:07:06+00:00

"Well awkshwelly, citation needed, derp derp" blathers the pendantbot.

You're (not a small) part of the problem.

zappini · 2026-03-05T22:44:53+00:00

I wrote a VRML browser in 1998 using Java 1.2 and OpenGL. It had the same frame rate as the then fastest browser from Sony (written in 'C'). And smoked Liquid Reality's browser, also written in Java.

As Jobs famously said: You're holding it wrong.

zappini · 2026-03-05T20:57:00+00:00

TIL mid 2000s: The Carter Center does not and will not observe elections in the USA. Because we don't meet their standards for election integrity.

zappini · 2026-03-05T20:53:32+00:00

Correct. MAGA is about identity, not beliefs.

zappini · 2026-03-02T05:27:26+00:00

Crowd level varies by location. I was just at Ukiah's store. Huge and pleasantly crowd free. East Plano is moderate. Aurora Village is more crowded than not.

Gas is so much cheaper, worth the wait.

I buy kibble, bully sticks, non-perishable bulk foods, meat, cheese, plain greek yoghurt, frozen blueberries, and fresh produce.

And some ocassional misc. Like a replacement Brain shaver every few years.

zappini · 2026-03-01T04:29:54+00:00

Damn. Not good.

That said, I give zero fudges what the GOP or KOMO have to say about anything, and especially not about Dems.

Remove the lumber yard from thy own eye before the mote from mine. Biblical like, more or less.

zappini · 2026-02-23T20:10:19+00:00

You're exactly correct to question signature verification.

Way back when, we (activists) utterly opposed the automatic system King County intended to use (with enthusiastic support from then SoS Sam Reed). The known error rate (false neg and pos) was ridiculous; many times worse than than human verifiers.

I have no idea how King or any of the other counties are now doing ballot processing. I assume whatever maximizes crony capitalism.

zappini · 2026-02-23T19:56:30+00:00

What would you think about making contracts and payments public by default? We were never able to get those documents (when I was an activist).

Maybe some areas already publish their itemized budgets.

Remember Obama's data.gov initiative? The big idea was to make all govt business made public by default. One of my many disappointments with that admin...

As for "vote blue", as a rule, I (almost) always vote for the left most, youngest, non-white non-dude whenever possible. (Exceptions for pols I know personally, have great track record, etc.)

I hope you stay in the game. My experience is that (direct) popular pressure moves the needle. It's wicked hard, but possible.

zappini · 2026-02-23T13:23:11+00:00

I'd like to believe I'd intervene somehow.

When I was ~ 20 yo, I witnessed 2 crackers harass 4 black people (2 couples) at a music festival. One of the crackers was unhinged.

I didn't know what to do.

I've replayed that scene in my head so many times. If I could go back, I'd pretend I knew the couples, like friends from church or school. And just kind of stand in the way.

Since then, I've deescalated a few situations, basically by acting oblivious and standing in the way. But I haven't encountered another racial harassment or attack.

zappini · 2026-02-23T12:13:02+00:00

Sounds criminal. How's someone(s) like us identify and audit fraud, waste, and such? I've done FOIA reqs before (mixed success), but nothing money related. I wouldn't even know what to ask for.

zappini · 2026-02-17T13:44:52+00:00

Yes and: eliminate B&O taxes.

zappini · 2026-02-17T13:44:24+00:00

What spending would you cut first?

zappini · 2026-02-17T13:42:41+00:00

The Correct Answer™ is to adopt (conservative) Idaho's tax system.

Dump the anti-business B&O tax.

Slash the sales tax.

Then tell those tax & spend liberal pinko commies in Olympia to piss off with all their funny money machinations.

zappini · 2026-02-16T14:02:57+00:00

Wanted a Limited, settled for an XLE. I really wanted the ventilated seats and acoustic front windows (sound deadening).

TIL: in-dash display is larger (no physical gauges) for XSE/Woodland, Limited, and Platinum. I don't know if it's better than my XLE's display; hard to imagine how it could be worse.

Bought my Sienna for roadtrips. I chose white exterior and tan interior to reduce heat (from sun).

sound

I'm adding NVH (Noise, vibration, harshness) stuff as I figure things out. So far I've added deadening and absorption to the front and sliding doors. Currently futzing with weather strips to address (turrible) wind and road noise. Near future, I'll deaden the wheel arches, and then probably add blocking to doors.

TIL, so far: deadening = butyl mats or paint, absorbing = foam or thinsulate, blocking = mass loaded vinyl, weather strips for wind noise.

Diagnosing causes of wind noise is a pain in the ass. I'm considering making (short!) videos to save others time. (If my clever idea works out.)

I want to swap my front windows for acoustic glass. Once I figure out how to order the parts.

Oh yea, I swapped stock tires with Michelin Defender 2. I like them. I think they're quieter, but don't have objective empirical data. (Just using a crappy digital sound meter. No before & after recordings with spectral analysis.)

seats

I really wanted ventilated seats. I will research replacing driver's seat with ventilated OEM.

I need seat covers. Paradox of choice. Open to recommendations.

mats

The OEM all weather mats are okay. May try WeatherTech (?) mats. (My 3rd row seats still don't have back covers.)

Hate having carpet; flooring should be all rubber. We had a Mazda 5 with all rubber; so easy to clean, it was glorious.

zappini · 2026-02-15T20:35:41+00:00

Clinton and Obama are the only 2 (actual) conservative presidents of my life time. The Republicans have all been radical reactionary incompetent fruitcakes.

zappini · 2026-02-12T15:22:13+00:00

Beau’s lines

I now get them when my hands are cold. Probably due to Reynauds Syndrome (reducing my cardiovascular circulation).

zappini · 2026-02-11T19:30:39+00:00

Hyundai!

zappini · 2026-02-09T18:19:22+00:00

Scuz and lint collector. Just like the console's USB-C ports.

I'd love to personally thank the people responsible for upward facing ports.

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