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Post by kungfuzu on Feb 2, 2022 15:41:31 GMT -8
Yesterday, a friend asked me if I had any idea about the developing phenomenon of virtual reality and Zuckerberg's Meta. He had come across the information that payment in these venues was to be in Bitcoin or similar "currency." I had to admit that I knew virtually nothing about this area. By coincidence, I ran across this piece today, which deals with a part of this new phenomenon. After reading it, I am not sure how much the wiser I am about the area, but I did learn enough to understand that those who take part in this thing appear to be geeks, social misfits, sheep and the usual grifters one encounters in all new endeavors. I am not sure how it is done, but getting people to pay for something like virtual clothing is marketing genius. It has been done before. What stands out about these people is how childlike/childish they are. When we were kids, we all played make-belief in one way or the other, but these are adults who don't seem to have developed beyond early childhood. Another outcome of the war against Christianity. “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Feb 12, 2022 10:09:35 GMT -8
The public's willingness to sit in front of a view screen of some type for ten hours a day or more is not in question.
Right now, even Zuckerberg has trouble defining just what the "metaverse" is. No one should too quickly pooh-pooh the idea of virtual reality becoming a bigger thing. But investors are nervous because Zuckerberg says this could be a project that takes ten years to come into fruition.
And that's all you need to know. "Meta/metaverse" is, in the short term, a distraction for Meta's/Facebook's other problems (thus the name change). Ten years in the world of technology is a lifetime. By the time you reach your goal in ten years, it's highly likely things will have already changed radically.
Gaming is a yuge industry and I can see VR become more central to it. Might someday a quadriplegic be able to take part in a virtual sort of full life thanks to "meta" or whatever it comes? Almost certainly. I think (again) it's worth viewing Bruce Willis' movie, Surrogates, to get an idea of the true goal of the metaverse. It is for humans to be, for all practical purposes, Superman. It is to be released from the limitations of our own bodies and minds.
And that, frankly, is part of what makes reading a good book so satisfying. But the sights of the metaverse are set quite high. Ultimately it means the eradication of human beings, per se, by absorbing them into technology.
Like I said, I can see this stuff taking off for entertainment purposes. But I'm not sure I'd want to live in the world where reality-reality is put on hold for most of human endeavors. We glimpse already through "wokeness" and all sorts of other Leftist nonsense the mean and destructive world so easily unleashed when the dreams and fantasies of the most needy or vicious are what guide us.
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Post by kungfuzu on Oct 14, 2023 14:21:13 GMT -8
I was having some problems with my Spectrum account page today and got into an exchange with something at Spectrum in order to figure out where I went wrong. This was one of those messaging type of exchanges when two parties type to one another.
Clearly, AI was on the other end. But even AI must take its personality from its creators. This is how it signed off.
I think that encapsulated most of what is wrong with our culture. Sickly sweet dishonesty and artificial praise meant to stroke the delicate egos of those insecure and silly consumers that might need emotional support. Maybe even unconsciously. To top it off, is the meaningless exhortation to have not just a nice day, but an "Amazing" day. Puke.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Oct 16, 2023 6:39:00 GMT -8
That would be in the Preamble if these flakes ever were able to re-draft the Constitution.
I called up a business last week for assistance on something. The receptionist was so full of the "sickly sweet" that I was put off. I mean, I guess trying to be nice is better than the New York attitude of just being an asshole. But maybe there can be a middle ground here. It was just so obviously phony that rather than "nice" it just seemed manipulative.
Have a so-so day, Mr. Flu.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2023 9:59:12 GMT -8
People are self-involved by nature. It's how we're built. So I suppose no one should apologize for it (and rarely does anyone do so).
The reason this subject comes up is because I was posting to an Atari retro programming forum lately (forums are sort of a "virtual reality" thing). Just sharing thoughts on old BASIC programming languages. And that stirred memories of the typical kinds of encounters online. So let me create this quick guide. None of you break these rules. Or if you do, it is so long in between infractions that it isn't worth mentioning.
And these people I'm interacting with are (generally) kind and helpful. But, Jesus H. Christ, you would think when talking to a programmer using the written word (and you know I am careful about such things) that you wouldn't run into so many misunderstandings.
So let me create this guide for the internet poster, whether posting about BASIC programs or cats:
1) You're not the center of the world, cupcake.
This is self-sufficient. There's little more to be said about it. The point is that most people are terrible listeners.
2) Read what I said. Don't read nefarious motives into things like a woman.
I was actually complimenting a feature of a certain program. And some other fellow comes in with "I never said I didn't like that program." Well, I never said that he didn't. Sheesh. People have a very difficult time getting past the bundled-up thoughts inside their own head.
3) No, really. Read what I said. Not what you think I said.
This bares repeating.
Maybe I'm simply interacting with failed wanna-be professional programmers (sort of like me, in a vague way). All the really good programmers are on some other forum and I'm just dealing with the frustrated minions. But I doubt it because…
4) Stop measuring penis lengths for five minutes and access the subject at hand and make a contribution.
Jesus H. Christ, again. Guys are competitive. That's not news. But on the internet, some of them just can't keep trying to one-up you. I would post things – quite innocuous things – and garner competitive responses and/or "No, read what I really said" responses. Often both.
But just like ChatKFZ, I've long given up the need to engage in pissing contests on the internet. When one actually is (most of the time) right, and most others are idiots, what is the point? That may sound arrogant, but, Jesus, there are men and there are women. There aren't 89 genders, etc. You're dealing with a whole lot of idiocy out there. There are too many leaks and not enough fingers to try to repair the broken dyke of foolhardiness.
So I smile. I grin. I turn the other cheek. I suppose that is part of growing up and maturing. But, really, sort of like ChatKFZ, I could clobber most of these guys rhetorically (but not programmatically, for sure). But why bother? As they say, Never Attempt To Teach a Pig To Sing; It Wastes Your Time and Annoys the Pig.
I just thought I'd mention this. If it sounds as if I have vast stores of patience, I do not. That's why I don't do Facebook, Instagram, and just about everything else. I can control my temper, for sure. But I'm aware enough of my lack of suffering fools gladly that I just try to minimize my contact with them these days.
But they are everywhere, even on old computer forums.
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Post by artraveler on Nov 6, 2023 10:52:56 GMT -8
People are self-involved by nature. It's how we're built. So I suppose no one should apologize for it (and rarely does anyone do so). it is interesting. I have been out of the education business since September 2010. Although, I did take continuing education classes until 2016. I rarely set foot on campus now. Too much walking for me and too many crazies whose parents shell out good money for a second rate education. The classes I taught, military history for ROTC, were the exception to the general rule. Most of the students were eager learners and soaked it up. And, getting to the point of self-involvement they were, as a group, motivated by the same ideals we hold and have defended for over 200 years. However, the typical ROTC class, freshmen to seniors, at the U of A is not large, company size about 125-150 students, on a campus that recently passed the 30,000 landmark. Making the military less than 1% of the total enrollment. This is in the South where military service is considered a mark of pride. It does reflect the national trend of 1% defending the other 99%. Kipling understood the problem You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees! |
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2023 11:34:34 GMT -8
I can't one-up Kipling (or Tommy) even if I wanted to get into a pissing contest.
Your 125-150 students out of 30,000 was truly an eye in the storm. How ironic that when the storm comes, it's Tommy who has to weather it, and willingly so.
It is estimated that the cells of the human immune system weigh 2 to 3 pounds. The 1%. Can't exist without it.
Reviews-and-Things. 1/1000 of 1% and proudly so. They've sort of ruined the word, "pride," but I'm going to use it all the same. It makes me feel gay. And if that word was good enough for Sinatra could to sing, it's good enough for me to speak. But that's a word hanging on by a bare thread to the original meaning.
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 6, 2023 17:42:15 GMT -8
I rarely comment on other sites, but a while back, I followed a young blogger who was very different from most others I have encountered. He was clearly clever, but also clearly had some sort of inferiority/superiority complex. He turned on people who had helped him expand his blog. He was also more vulgar and obnoxious than others I have read. He would even become obnoxious when I sometimes agreed with him.
I made a couple of comments about Taiwan, as it was clear he knew nothing about it. But at least one my posts did not come up. Some days late he came back talking about Taiwan as if he were an expert and of course he stressed some of what I had stressed.
What finally put me off of him was his demand that everyone send him money. He was Gene Scott on steroids with a filthy mouth. Originally, he said that retirees should not send him money. That changed and it got to the point where he no longer allowed comments from anyone who didn't send him min. $5 a month. I thought that was pretty rich. Demand those who often give as good, or better, content to your blog to pay for that privilege. I haven't gone back to the blog for three or four month now, and have no plans to in the future.
Never heard that before. I like it.
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Post by kungfuzu on Nov 6, 2023 17:44:48 GMT -8
I don't say someone is "gay." When I want to be polite, I say he is homosexual. I say queer or fagot if I want to be rude. I don't normally like to be rude, but sometimes believe it is necessary to make a point emphatically.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Nov 6, 2023 22:25:52 GMT -8
Mr. ChatKFZ: Please send me $5.00 if you want me to reply to your post. For $2.50 I will read it. For just $10.00 a month I will agree with you. We have annual plans as well. Our cheapest option is 50 cents to "Like" your post.
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