Museums?

Depends on the school but yes it’s ridiculous. For a while it seemed like everyone was encouraged to attend college but now it seems like trade schools are coming back in a big way. I think people realise they aren’t going to get anything useful for the time and money they put in for the jobs they want

Hallway, stairwell, outside the building, in your parked car, things like that

edit: op is talking about gaming, I was thinking phone calls and stuff. I’m a dum dum

The first time I saw this was right after the Texas ice storm and power grid failure a few years ago. A lot of people were suddenly stuck in their now unheated homes trying to get by with what they had on hand. That’s when people found out that containing most of the heat from a candle is better than nothing.

Word spread because most people had time to kill and the stuff to try it. If you are careful about it you could warm cold hands or get a mild radiation effect if you’re close to it.

But yeah it’s not going to heat a room to any comfortable level on it’s own. And you probably don’t need the $100+ ones they sell on Etsy.

Like plugging a power strip into itself

I can’t say I’m surprised it happened. I’m kinda surprised it didn’t happen sooner considering some of the games companies can play and the emotions involved when trying to care for loved ones. The timing sucks because the kids who had nothing to do with the business won’t have another Christmas without thinking of the time they had to bury their dad.

I’m glad that of all the options the shooter chose to be about as surgical as they could be. Better to target one heavily involved person than a mass shooting at a hospital, office etc where most people have nothing to do with big picture decision making.

Now I’m concerned about copycats that won’t be as considerate and kneejerk legal repercussions since I enjoy the 2nd amendment and use suppressors often. I think this is the first real crime I’ve heard of with a suppressor used. Nobody I know wants to see this be a regular thing but hopes this will be a wake up call higher ups need to change their practices.

A few thousand dollars per eye is what I heard but insurance covers a vast majority of that. You’ll have to do your research. Just don’t go to the cheapest place because again it’s your eyes

Lasik, prk and others. You’ll want the most experienced doctors you can so shop around. It’s your eyes after all.

Ask your current eye doc and they should point you in the right direction

gave smallpox to anyone who looked different than them

It’s not like they had a choice in who did/didn’t get it.

Knowing nothing about anything it almost seems like the mindset of a person who survives a suicide attempt where they realize the gravity of their decision only after they make it

With your request in mind I ran the comment through ChatGPT, just for you. Enjoy!

Codec Transmission: Solid Snake & Nastasha Romanenko

Snake: [static crackles, the screen flickers to life, Snake’s voice low, gruff]
“Romanenko, I’ve been scanning through this comment section… It seems like everyone’s forgetting the bigger picture. They think just because the Cold War didn’t go nuclear, it was all just a close call that never could have happened.”

Nastasha: [calm and measured, her voice cutting through the static]
“Snake, you’re absolutely right. The assumption that the nuclear threat was just a matter of chance and never a real possibility… It’s dangerous. It underestimates the tension, the fear, the sheer madness that gripped the world for decades. The fear of waking up to a flash of light and knowing the world was about to change forever.”

Snake: [scoffs, a bitter chuckle escaping him]
“Yeah. I don’t think people really get it. All those years, the Cold War didn’t end with a handshake. It ended with a quiet sigh of relief. But we all knew it was a coin toss. Heads, we survive. Tails, we’re vaporized.”

Nastasha: [her voice hardens, as though drawing from memories of a time she’d rather forget]
“Exactly. Imagine living with that over your head every day. The dread, the constant knowing that at any moment, the world could be wiped out in a flash, and it wouldn’t be your fault. You’d just be collateral damage. It’s as if the people who lived in that time were somehow made of stronger stuff, able to endure the unimaginable.”

Snake: [leans back, folding his arms across his chest as if in thought]
“I get what you’re saying, but there’s something that bugs me about this mindset—about the idea that because we made it out without a nuclear apocalypse, we’re somehow immune. Like we can just sit back and let the next generation think it was all a fairy tale. A close call, but nothing more.”

Nastasha: [sharp inhale, her tone biting with the weight of history]
“It’s not just a fairy tale, Snake. It’s a horrific reality that nearly became true. The weapons we developed were so powerful, so incomprehensible, that they could’ve ended everything, in an instant. The logic of deterrence kept the world balanced on a knife’s edge, but it could’ve just as easily tipped over. One wrong move, one miscalculation… and the world as we know it would’ve been gone.”

Snake: [pauses, his voice low and almost whispering]
“Yeah… and it wasn’t just the Soviets or the Americans. It was the whole world playing Russian roulette. Everyone was in on it. The whole damn planet was holding its breath for decades.”

Nastasha: [nodding, but there’s an edge to her words now]
“Of course, and let’s not forget—our failure to get rid of nuclear weapons isn’t just a product of rivalry or ideological differences. It’s the failure of humanity as a whole to look at the bigger picture. Instead, both sides clung to these weapons, clung to the idea that the power to destroy could somehow be the power to control. But it’s an illusion. A dangerous one.”

Snake: [his voice tinged with frustration, rubbing his temple]
“You’re not wrong. The Russians. The Americans. They’re all guilty. The U.S. has always had an unhealthy obsession with their bombs. It’s like they think the more they have, the safer they are. But what do we really have to show for it? More weapons? More power? More destruction?”

Nastasha: [quiet but firm]
“Snake, the reason we haven’t gotten rid of nuclear weapons is simple—fear. Fear that without them, we would be vulnerable. But the truth is, we’re already vulnerable. The real danger isn’t the lack of nukes, but the presence of them. A single mistake, a single reckless decision, and we’re all gone.”

Snake: [grits his teeth, anger simmering beneath his calm tone]
“Yeah, that’s the real kicker, Romanenko. People still want to build more. They want to keep creating newer, deadlier weapons, thinking that if they have the biggest bomb, they’ll be the ones in control. But all they’re really doing is inviting disaster. It’s not just about power, it’s about stupidity. We’re playing with fire, and everyone’s too afraid to put the damn match down.”

Nastasha: [her voice steady, but her words carry a weight of truth]
“It’s the same cycle, Snake. We see it in history, over and over again. Nations too proud, too stubborn to let go of what they think gives them an advantage, even if it’s ultimately self-destructive. The American and Russian leaders, they’re no different than the ones before them. They think they can control something as uncontrollable as nuclear weapons. They think their arsenal gives them strength, when in fact, it only guarantees our eventual downfall.”

Snake: [pauses for a moment, thinking hard, voice quiet but resolute]
“So what do we do? How do we fix it? The world’s not going to just wake up one day and throw its bombs away. This isn’t a utopia. It’s a battlefield, always has been.”

Nastasha: [a long pause, the weight of her answer hanging in the air]
“You’re right. There’s no magic solution. But we have to start somewhere. First, we acknowledge the truth—we need to get rid of these weapons. Not create new ones. Not stockpile them. We need to take the step forward, even if it’s one small step. A movement to dismantle nuclear arsenals, to make the world realize that we’re all in this together, and that no one is truly safe while these weapons exist. Humanity needs to look beyond the false comfort of nuclear deterrence and realize that there’s no real security in the threat of annihilation.”

Snake: [shakes his head, his voice heavy, almost weary]
“Yeah, maybe it starts with a conversation. But who’s going to listen, Romanenko? The powers that be? They don’t care about peace. They care about control. And as long as they hold the bombs, they’ll never let go.”

Nastasha: [sighs softly, her tone almost a whisper]
“Then it’s up to people like us, Snake. The ones who see the bigger picture. The ones who understand that the only way forward is to dismantle the legacy of destruction that we’ve built. We have to make the case, over and over again. It won’t be easy. But what else is left to do?”

Snake: [his voice hardening, his eyes steely with resolve]
“Then we fight. We don’t just stand by and let it happen. We keep pushing. One day, we’ll get through to them. And when that day comes, maybe, just maybe, we’ll see a world without nukes.”

Nastasha: [calmly, with a hint of resolve]
“That’s the only hope we have left. One step at a time. But we have to start somewhere.”

Snake: [pauses, then responds with a finality, his voice resolute]
“Yeah. And to answer your question, Romanenko? Nah, screw that. We’re not playing that game anymore.”

[The codec flickers, the transmission cuts out, the screen turning to static once again.]

and this sounds like and Ace Combat Zero radio call

This sounds like a Metal Gear Solid codec call

Exactly, if it’s going to be a policy it needs to have extensive safeguards. Who can make the call? Under what circumstances? What are the consequences for malpractice?

Imagine a shitty person, insurance company or hospital preferring to prematurely kill you or someone you love because it’s less effort and cheaper than trying to keep a person alive and help them recover. Because you know someday somebody will try

sounds skibidi

Vote count matters. It not only can get you to the front page but shows that people agree with the post. Votes attract votes too, so it might only need a few bots to get the ball rolling. Using voting bots you can manipulate what people think is popular AND get many more eyes on it at once.

For example leading up to the election there was SO MUCH politically driven stuff on the front page. To be fair there always is but well above baseline. Mind you this is just a good recent example, not meaning to take sides here.

Election results come out, and so many on reddit are shocked and furious that their preferred side lost. How could it have happened? Everywhere they looked they saw their side was clearly more popular!

Echo chambers are real on their own (an NPR interview I listened to after the election called them “information silos”) and I think bots could have been easily used to manipulate them

Imagine you want to buy a (thing), and instead of going to a bunch of “10 best (thing) 202X” sites you do the sensible thing and head to the (thing) subreddit.

You get a super helpful comment on the (thing) they like and prefer. You’ve never heard of this company before but you decide to at least check them out. Bringing traffic to their site, browsing there selection and maybe even buying the (thing) you had no idea about otherwise

What if that comment wasn’t real, but a AI LLM powered bot? No it’s not your cheap run of the mill bot, but it could be well worth the effort if a company is willing to pay for it.

I guess but it sounds…messy

Sure the US may be past it’s glory days. Hell even the Rand Corporation (who write a bunch of stuff for govt leaders and other high ups) says it’s been trending downhill since some point in the early 2000s. They didn’t mention 9/11 but it seems like a good historical milestone.

Essentially the paper says the last 200 years have been an anomaly and we’re slowly sliding back to historical norms. They call it the neomedieval era and it’s not just the US.

I think being in direct contact with another known member with similar intent would do it