Asklemmy

I haven't opened the email, I'm just looking at the preview that gmail provides and it contains the name of my email with the first character missing and most of my phone number, like I stated in the title of my post. How concerned, if at all, should I be and is there anything I should be doing?

First off, sorry if this is the wrong to community to post to - I'll move it somewhere else should it not fit the community.

My best friend quite often is a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian, I feel like. Discussing politics, veganism, the problems with using Amazon, what have you, with him is nigh impossible because he insists on his opinion and won't budge. I feel like he just feels superior to other people, or at least to me, in a way that he just won't change his mind, doesn't hear other sides, and argues for the sake of arguing.

Now, in a recent discussion, I asked him if he knew why images aren't displayed properly in my Firefox-fork browser (Mull). He gave an answer and asked why I would use a custom browser instead of Firefox itself to which I responded that it's more privacy-focused and that I didn't like Mozilla's implementation of AI in their browser.

Long story short, it devolved into a lengthy discussion about AI, how the fear of AI is based on ignorance and a lack of knowledge, that it's fine that AI is used for creative projects because in most cases it's an assisting tool that aids creativity, doesn't steal jobs etc. essentially that it's just a tool to be used like a hammer would be.

What pisses me off the most about all this is that he subtly implies that I don't know enough about the subject to have an opinion on it and that I don't have any sources to prove my points so they're essentially void.

How do I deal with this? Whatever facts I name he just shrugs off with "counter"-arguments. I've sent him articles that he doesn't accept as sources. This has been going on for a couple hours now and I don't know what to tell him. Do you guys have sources I could shove in his face? Any other facts I should throw his way?

Thank you in advance

Edit: A thing to add: I wasn't trying to convince him that AI itself is bad - there are useful usages of AI that I won't ignore. What I was concerned about is the way AI is used in any and all products nowadays that don't need AI to function at all, like some AI-powered light bulbs or whatever; that creative jobs and arts are actively harmed by people scraping data and art from artists to create derivative "art"; that it's used to influence politics (Trump, Gaza). These things. The way AI is used in its unmonitored way is just dangerous, I feel like

It often surprises me to see people with time, money, and knowledge settling for subpar experiences that have night and day differences to me. Even at my brokest (pretty darn broke), speakers, headphones, and glasses were always worth researching and some saving up, and the difference between what I'd end up with and the average always feels like it paid off tenfold.

I've got a surprising number of friends/acquaintances who just don't seem to care, though, and I am trying to understand if they just don't experience the difference similarly or if they don't mind. I know musicians who just continue using generation 1 airpods or the headphones included with their phone, birdwatchers who don't care about their binoculars, people who don't care if they could easily make their food taste better, and more examples of people who, in my opinion, could get 50% better results/experiences by putting in 1% more thought/effort.

When I've asked some friends about it, it sounds as much like they just don't care as they don't experience the difference as starkly as I do, but I have a hard time understanding that, as it's most often an objective sensory difference. Like I experience the difference between different pairs of binoculars and speakers dramatically, and graphical analysis backs up the differences, so how could they sound/look negligibly different to others? Is it just a matter of my priorities not being others' priorities, or do they actually experience the difference between various levels of quality as smaller than I seem to? What's your take on both major and, at the high end, diminishing returns on higher quality sensory experiences?

I occasionally see news stories of a robbery or burglary where the perpetrator cops some scratch tickets along with the other stuff.

with the lottery folks simply be able to void that batch of tickets? or, even more, use those tickets to catch him if he tries to cash in?

I started getting sad about climate change two years ago after seeing Planet Earth and many documentaries. I completely changed my lifestyle to reduce my part and put significant effort into it.

But seeing rich celebrities who use as much as a common man's lifetime resources in a week or two, and others who barely put in any effort to combat it, and corporations fucking the entire planet for quarterly profits, barely any efforts towards fighting it even though we had known about its consequences 30-40 years ago, I get this feeling that my efforts are even worth it.

Slowly, I told myself that evolution failed itself by giving a bit more individual selfishness over community/species survival. Just like human beings, Earth's time has started to end. Its death is inevitable. Everything should come to an end. Only if evolution had given a bit more thought to species survival, we would be in a much better place.

How do you all deal with this?

I’m on vacation in Türkiya and wonder: what happens when let’s say a pregnant woman goes on vacation and for whatever reason gives birth there.

How can she take the newborn back to her country? Need to prepare all the papers in the embassy or there’s some special procedure for such cases so the paper work can be done in a country she resides normally?

Greetings, I am looking for a epub/pdf reader similar to Marvin 3, that I can connect to my calibre server. It appears my Marvin was offloaded and it is no longer available. Would prefer free of course but don’t mind paying for a good app…no subscription. Foss would be great. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Since hypnotherapy can be effective for a percentage of the population for various treatments, why is it not offered as a standard therapy for everyone in terms of setting them up for health benefits at a younger age? For example, some people claim to have had successful results with hypnotherapy as a smoking cessation tool. If it’s effective, why is it not offered more widely as a smoking prevention tool, or healthy eating tool, or any other pro-healthy lifestyle aid before those bad habits are formed? Preventing smoking, or suggesting healthy food habits at a young age would save the NHS (or other public healthcare provider) billions long-term if it was effective. It seems like, if hypnotherapy is generally accepted as a mechanism to treat certain conditions (which it appears to be in various quarters of traditional medicine), why is it used more as a reactive treatment rather than a proactive one?

She had interviewed and met both remotely and in person, this guy was merely an HR drone confirming her documentation. I was a little bent when she told me he had asked her to remove her blur filter "to have a look at her working environment, make sure it's not cluttered" (something along those lines). No one else at this company requested such. Was he way out of line?

I should note, this is my PC in our living room and not where she will be working from. And this guy wants a look around our home?! Told my wife to bring this up once she's settled in, ask HR if this is policy. She started today!

She thinks it's a racism thing. I'm not so sure, but I don't have any other explanation.

I recently heard a man say, you should not focus on things that make you sad. There are certain things in life that are always gonna suck, there will always be certain things which you can't change, there is no use worrying about them or hating them.

Unfortunately, I am in a system that handicaps human growth, you don't/can't grow up to your full potential when you live in systems like these. I can't leave anytime soon, and the hyper-realization that had I been in a better system that fosters growth, I won't be as miserable (emphasis on the as here) as I am here. I am hyperaware of certain things. Small things, they steal my mental peace, it can be someone honking incessantly on the streets or anything loud or unnecessary at any time of the day. Reddit shows me some weird stuff when I enter it and that distrubs my peace of mind! I have become very sensitive to these things.

I am sorrounded by all things negative in life, I have all the reason in the world to br resentful and ill-tempered, but resentment is a very dangerous thing, I don't want to be resentful. If I can't he happy here, I just want to be in peace! How can I do this? Venting about my situation helps but it's temporary and it seems to be doing more damage than good.

P.S.: Please don't start with how the American system is bad, it probably is, but there are worse things. I will literally be willing to lose a leg to get there. Also, might take sometime to reply, but I deeply appreciate your responses.

What sort of martial arts do you practice in and why? Judo? Karate?

Educating yourself in self defence seems very useful especially if you live in parts of a country that might be rough.

I'd like to get into it myself but I can't hear well, I can lip read however. Did some boxing when I was very young but it was only practice on training bags : )

Kung Fu students and masters alike, let me know your wisdom!

I really want to just go put something under the wheels but I've never talked to these people.

Update edit: thank you for all the replies. I went over and knocked but no answer. It's definitely not chocked. If I see them come home I'll go back over. I'm worried as soon as the weight shifts loading it that it will just go down the hill.

I've heard this phrase used often by those on the right but every time I hear it I can't help but laugh because of what I picture in my head. But perhaps my image is wrong! I want to read everyone else's depictions.

So as to not influence the responses I will not be sharing what I imagine a "woke mob" looks like.

I would prefer to use Fedia in an app rather than the browser on my mobile device.

I just rinse it with water then with diluted dettol. And let it air dry after wash. Twice a day (morning & evening).

I was wondering whether I should apply any moisturizer after wash or not.

I haven't seen a thread on this in a while. I have been going with top day for a while, but it can be hit or miss. Other sorts don't seem to display as good in terms of balancing quality and quantity. What is your preferred sort for your main feed?

Edit: Realizing that the people who sort new commented before the hot/top/active people, haha

Please be kind with me! I always mean well and have good intentions. I'm just in a position where I've started a new career role (overwhelming in and of itself), while also trying to see what unfolds when it comes to relationships (I'm at an age where there's more pressure). Any help/advice is appreciated!

My guy friend (Bob) and I got a bit too friendly at a nightclub. It wasn't like anything drastic happened, however we did hug several times flirtatiously which he mostly initiated. I might've initiated the very first one but it was pretty mutual. I didn't know how to deflect his multiple hugs especially in front of our peers where we usually have to be so PC and professional. Somehow, we started chatting after leaving the club, and I'm not sure how the topic came up but it was likely when he stated that I looked uncomfortable. I mentioned I just wasn't expecting us to get so physically close in a short period of time, at a nightclub nonetheless, even if it was hugs. I explained I tend to be more conservative with intimacy and we also just started our professional roles.

Our chat got so awkward, and I found that he has manipulative tendencies. He has constantly given mixed signals, pretended not to remember basic details about me that we've talked about admitting that he likes to mess with people, got defensive stating he doesn't want to be friends as this will be weird, he wants to tell his best friend about all of this, drank a lot and said he drove so it seemed he wanted an excuse to hang out. The punchline was when he said he doesn't think we should date and then asked if he hurt my feelings as it apparently looked like I was going to cry. I was confused because nothing had even started between us, and I felt like he was being really presumptuous or wanted to upper hand. He wavered back and forth, said he liked being friends with me and the group we've formed with his best friend collectively, apologized a few times for potentially leading me on. After all of this, he also told me he had been wanting to kiss me, clearly wanting to drag out the one on one time so late at night. Ultimately, we agreed there's mutual attraction but not enough or proper that we should act on it. We agreed one of us has to be the stronger one and I walked away first.

The big problem now is his best friend. I caught some type of feelings for him right before all of this happened and was actually hoping to see him. I made sure that Bob knows how much I value my friendship with his friend, with himself, and us as a group. He said he won't tell him details like the hugs but he does want to bring up the awkward gray area moment. My stomach is unsettled because I believe Bob planned this all along, as soon as I had a great deep talk with his friend with him in earshot earlier that same day. I think he got jealous and may ruin my connection with his friend. He even said he thought I'd make a nice couple with his friend. I asked if we should just all 3 sit together after a meeting we're attending tomorrow, and he deflected it. I get that he'd want to have real talk with his friend, and I told him point blank I'm not trying to meddle, but I now feel like I really need to do something from my side.

Should I tell his friend when I see him in person today (Bob won't be there)? If so, what do I even say and I should text Bob a heads-up right? Or give Bob more time to tell his friend since he's busy this weekend? Stepping back, is there anything to even tell Bob's friend? Because of the hugs or mainly that it became a gray area between friendship and romance? How can I deflect hugs without making guys feel rejected, especially when others are watching and we need to be very professional in this group? Is Bob someone I should stay away from and what could I have done better? Any other advice or thoughts are welcome. Thank you!

I've had a game in development stalled for a month because I'm also writing a story, but the story is also half stalled because I'm replaying a game, and I'm already getting frustrated.

It's something that is starting to bothering me, it seems like I can't do something if I'm not completely immersed in it: If I want to watch movies or a series, I must do a marathon; if I want to play a game, I must pass it in less than a week; if I want to make a game, I must get into a Crunch because "reasons"; if I want to write, I must work on making it the best story I've ever written so far.

Is this normal? should I not worry so much? or how can I better manage the things I want and need to do?

Seen this in many houses, people upgrade their lighting setup and install a dimmer. Which works. But usually it also makes the lights flicker unintentionally, which is super annoying IMO.

Now, my understanding of electrical engineering is pretty rudimentary so I'd appreciate more something that explains the concept in a way that Cavewoman Mothra can understand rather than something technically accurate.

Thanks

Quick edit. I had no idea pod casts were so popular. Thank you all for posting. I have a lot of content to check out.

I ran into an old movie I had on VHS as a kid titled "MegaForce" (1982) (RT link). I hadn't seen the movie in decades and was worried looking at a rotten tomato score of 6% that if I watched it, I would be completely disappointed in the movie as an adult. Surprisingly, I didn't realize as a kid that it was actually more of a spoof comedy action movie like a knock-off "Hot Shots" or "Naked Gun" and just completely enjoyed watching it again because it felt like a whole new experience (definitely better than the new G.I. Joe's lol).

So what's your movie from your past that you'll always enjoy no matter how cheesy or horrible it may seem?