Photuris

Y’know, if America had a constitutional monarchy, it might actually work out just fine. Let Trump be the king, so he can rant, do ceremonial stuff, be in the news all the time, have his fans, cause controversies, &c.… meanwhile the real elected government would be quietly busy attending to the people’s business.

Bluesky is good.

But it will, inevitably, become enshittified, too.

Get your friends on Mastodon.

100%.

Fun fact: intentionally leaving pee on floors and toilet seats is a lesser-known but frequently-observed associated trait of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

I guess it’s some kind of primal lizard brained “territorial” thing, I dunno.

At home, absolutely.

Out and about, I ain’t sitting on that nasty seat, thank you very much.

No, but it constraining the labor market. AI is a hammer that employers are enthusiastically wielding to “discipline” labor, and to put developers “in their place” and accustomed to asking for and accepting less.

AI (and the threat of AI) is being used to end the days of developers enjoying high pay and strong market leverage. Investors and c-levels don’t care about the craft of software, they care about profit. Labor costs are an impediment to more profit.

If one senior level developer can be replaced with AI plus two or three entry level devs in India cranking out shit that barely works but still sells, at half the cost, then you know what will happen.

They do not care about you, your job, or your craft. You are seen as a tool in their designs, and you have had too much power for too long. They want to dispense with as many expensive, opinionated knowledge workers as quickly as possible. Even AI that half works is better than a competent but uppity expensive employee, from their POV.

Dvorak for over 25 years.

Wow, I didn’t wake up this morning thinking I’d be recruited onto team “Fuck Almonds,” but here we are.

Let’s fucking go.

They made this bed for all of us. Time to sleep in it. We’ve got rice ‘n beans. We can grow potatoes and raise chickens.

If they feel the pain, they may change their ways. If they’re kid-gloved away from the consequences of their own choices, they most certainly will not.

People don’t “want to work.” They want money. It’s just that working is the easiest way for most people to get that.

Well, thanks Captain Obvious. Statements like that are technically true, but how helpful are they for contributing to a conversation?

Some people want to rent (e.g., young people, people with mobile jobs, or people who just aren’t ready to be tied down to one place).

And I don’t have a problem with a small-time property owner renting out a house at a fair rate. In theory it’s a win-win: the renter gets a place to stay, the landlord builds equity in their property.

The issue we have is two-fold:

1. Companies buying up massive amounts of property (not just a house or two, but thousands) and turning entire neighborhoods into rent zones, driving out any competition and availability of housing to buy, thereby driving up prices.

2. Price collusion amongst these companies, driving up rent far above fair rates, using these software services that share going rates across markets. That reduces consumer choice.

Barring a really interesting solution, like a Land Value Tax or something, my proposal to remediate this housing problem is rather straight-forward and simple:

1. Prohibit these software companies from sharing rental rates info to customers. Landlords just need to figure it out in their own markets the old fashioned way.

2. Prohibit corporations from buying housing with the intention to rent it. Force these corporations to sell their housing and get out of the landlord business.

3. Allow individuals to hold property for renting out, but cap number of properties a person or household can own for the express intention of renting out to five at any given time. That allows a person to build up a nice little savings nest, and provide a rental property to someone who wants to rent, but doesn’t allow anyone to dominate a housing market. Look for those massive profits elsewhere - start a business that creates and provides value.

Anyway, one can dream, I guess.

And we don’t even use them effectively to protect our rights.

Do not obey in advance.