Tootfinder

I don't think I'm ever going to enjoy gifts.
I can get why people would give them to children. After all, children don't have their own budget. However, I'm talking about occasional gifts, not a new toy every second week, because "we must outcompete the other grandparents". But to adults?
Once I've heard that you should gift people with what they won't buy themselves. Well, that's won't work for me. I'm a minimalist. If I don't need something, I don't want to have it. Unnecessary junk is only emotional burden to me.
I can get why you'd enjoy something handmade. But something people bought? If I need something, I can buy it myself, when I need it. And I definitely don't need people to prove to me that they never cared to learn who I am, and just buy whatever they like or whatever is "fashionable"; which usually means exactly the opposite of what I'd prefer (i.e. something minimalistic). Or even worse, I don't need people manipulating me through gifts.
Sweets? Besides my diabetes, I don't really enjoy expensive shit that people generally buy because it's what's advertised. For the money they waste on it, I'd buy three times as much sweets I'd actually enjoy.
Gift cards? Oh yes, "you aren't supposed to give money, so let's just give the equivalent of money that's actually worth less than money". Actual money? And here we reach the true nonsense; we exchange the same amount of money, so it's just pointless gesture. Unless one of us gives less money…
What I'd really like, as a gift? Maybe that people would finally bother accepting me as who I am. The absolute minimum of caring that I hate consumerism, and not fueling it "for me".
#AntiCapitalism #minimalism #ActuallyAutistic

Popular media shows Santa's sleigh as red no matter which way it's flying, or even when it's standing still.
It's not. When it's parked, it's green. But most observers only see it flying away after making a delivery, hence the red shift.
And if you're lucky to see it inbound it's blue with a hint of UV-A. Wear sunglasses.

He creates a 3D-printed Lamborghini in his garden for just $20,000 and turns down a substantial offer: "it's the best feeling in the world" https://www.italpassion.fr/en/lamborghini/

The Islamic State Is Using AI to Resurrect Dead Leaders and Platforms Are Failing to Moderate It https://www.404media.co/the-islamic-state-is-using-ai-to-resurrect-dead-leaders-and-platforms-are-failing-to-moderate-it/

The price of silver smashed through the $90 mark Wednesday morning
for the first time in weeks
as the metal recoups gains it lost after a late January crash,
though the precious metal remains far from the record highs it previously hit above $120.
KEY FACTS
The price of silver is $90.68 as of 9:25 a.m. EST, up nearly 4% but down slightly from a high of $91.18 reached earlier in the morning.

Silver Breaks $90 Mark Again—Fueled By Tariff Uncertainty, Iran Tensions
Silver has recouped some of the losses that it suffered following a price crash in late January.

A lot of what I’m archiving has like 0 hits but I just know sometime, someone, maybe in a hundred years from now, will find it useful.
It’s a nice feeling to have contributed just a little to preserving our cultural artifacts.

Rams WR Davante Adams: 'It's tough to talk' after losing fifth career NFC Championship Game https://www.nfl.com/news/rams-wr-davante-adams-it-s-tough-to-talk-after-losing-fifth-career-nfc-championship-game

Like all the rest of the nerds, I did a bit of tech support on family computers.
They're all popping up windows from scam virus scanners lying that subscriptions need to be renewed or machines are unprotected. People don't know how to remove these things. Luckily they also don't really know how to pay the subscription.
Their phones are updating on them. Changing where buttons used to be. Removing options. Forcing people to register to use they things they have been doing for years.
They don't know how to register.
Things pop up asking for passwords and they have no idea who is asking or which password to use.
I tell them that I don't really understand why they keep using Windows now it is so shitty and awful. They say they don't know how to use anything else. The fact they don't really know how to use windows either doesn't seem to register.
The tech corporations have given up completely on being user friendly. They are all deliberately user hostile and exploitative now.
Corporate tech is terrible. The industry is failing it's users, abusing them. People don't even know there is any other way. They are just giving up on achieving their tasks until someone can fix the pop-ups and subscription boxes and passwords and 2fa for them.
Tech sucks now. Sucks hard.
#tech #christmasTechSupport

Apparently Timothy Doyle, a well known Marvel artist has been making some Anti-ICE art using The Punisher, Wolverine and Ghost Rider.
(h/t to https://bsky.app/profile/roterote.bsky.social)

Conservatives want schools to teach this strict life path they say avoids poverty
The steps are simple: Graduate from high school. Find a full-time job. Get married before having kids.

The three-pronged framework is currently taught in just a handful of classrooms.
But soon, students across the country may be told that following those steps could keep them out of poverty as adults.
The approach is getting a boost from conservatives seeking to bring it to America’s middl…

Conservatives want schools to teach this strict life path they say avoids poverty
Bills in at least seven GOP-led states would require lessons on the “success sequence.” Critics say it ignores systemic challenges and stigmatizes non-traditional families.