Thank you to all geo-politically educated mods on all instances, for keeping my feeds relatively free of US/western propagandist echo-chamber warriors.

You’d think inside your own echo chamber you’d be able to hear yourself.

Keep an eye out for results from the Roman space telescope, with any luck we’re about to have a buttload of new data about dark matter.

And, predictably, Americans will literally use anything before they use the metric system.

I think it’s “dark” because it doesn’t interact with photons (except gravitationally, of course)

IDK I’ve never heard of a name for this. I think it should be called a popconut.

The Sinners’ Table is a fantastic name for it. I’ve heard it called it the Maybes or, less charitably, the Leftovers but this is way more accurate.

There are two types of passive income: the first is where through the magic of capitalism, you benefit from the labor of others; the second is the same but it’s someone else earning money off of you. Those internet survey things are the second type, as are all pre-packaged passive income type things. It is possible to profit from them, but that would involve you scamming others, so I advise against it. I think the better path in life is to try to make a living with your own efforts.

Learning new things is hard, and it takes a long time, longer if your schooling didn’t give you a strong foundation to build from. In that case, you’ll have to repair the cracks in your foundation as you find them, which can feel like going backwards. It isn’t, but I can’t deny that it sucks to have to go back and learn stuff you “should” have mastered as a child. But you can’t change the past, and your options are either learning it now or not learning it now. Might as well do now.

Learning is also work, because what you’re learning to do is work, and you learn by doing. If the work is fun that can be a bonus, but it’s not necessary, and it can even inhibit you from expanding your toolbox if you only ever do things that are fun. I would approach your practice with the same attitude you would with household chores or personal hygiene: it’s work that needs to be done.

As to talent: I have never met anyone who had zero talents, but they are rather beside the point. If you don’t have a talent you want to pursue, then just pick a thing and start doing it poorly. You have to actually do it, even if you’re really bad at it. The doing is the important thing. Since you’re broke, I would pick something where failure isn’t prohibitively expensive, because you’ll be doing it a lot. Music is very cheap to make poorly, as is software, as are garden veggies (some of them), as are knitted or crocheted garments. Pick a thing and start doing it. It’s ok to switch things, but don’t switch just because it’s not fun. Do it a little bit every day, and soon you will have a skill. More importantly, you will have developed your skill in developing skills, and you will understand your own learning style better, which will help you in the development of other skills. You may even come to enjoy the process in time.

I don’t have a ton of advice on making money, especially now. I’m between gainful employments myself, and I’ve yet to turn my own skills into sustainable self-employment, though I do make some cash with them at odd turns. The world never really has times where it’s easy for everyone, but this does feel like a particular hard time, compared with when I was younger. I think times will get easier eventually, but it will take time and work.

Well, I wrote more than I thought I would. I hope some of that is helpful.

I insert swears into all my ssh keys so they get censored out by profanity filters. Good luck hacking me now, squares 😎🏍️🛹

-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----  
WhattheAAAAdidyoujustAAAAAAAsayaboutmeyoulittlebitch+IllhaveyouknowIg  
raduatedtopofmyclassintheNavySealsandIvebeeninvolvedinnumeroussecretr  
aidsonAl+QuaedaandIhaveover300confirmedkillsIamtrainedingorillawarfar  
eandImthetopsniperintheentireUSarmedforcesYouarenothingtomebutjustano  
thertargetIwillwipeyoutheAAAAoutwithprecisionthelikesofwhichhasneverb  
eenseenbeforeonthisEarthmarkmyAAAAAAAwordsYouthinkyoucangetawaywithsa  
yingthatshittomeovertheInternet+ThinkagainAAAAAAAswespeakIamcontactin  
gmysecretnetworkofspiesacrosstheUSAandyourIPisbeingtracedrightnowsoyo  
ubetterprepareforthestormmaggotThestormthatwipesoutthepatheticlittlet  
hingyoucallyourlifeYoureAAAAAAAdeadkidIcanbeanywhereanytimeandIcankil  
lyouinoversevenhundredwaysandthatsjustwithmybarehandsNotonlyamIextens  
ivelytrainedinunarmedcombatbutIhaveaccesstotheentirearsenaloftheUnite  
dStatesAAAAAACorpsandIwilluseittoitsfullextenttowipeyourmiserableasso  
ffthefaceofthecontinentyoulittleshitIfonlyyoucouldhaveknownwhatunholy  
retributionyourlittle/clever/commentwasabouttobringdownuponyoumaybeyo  
uwouldhaveheldyourAAAAAAAtongueButyoucouldntyoudidntandnowyourepaying  
thepriceyougoddamnidiotIwillshitfuryalloveryouandyouwilldrowninitYour  
eAAAAAAAdeadkiddo==  
-----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----  

EDIT: almost forgot to sign it!

Love,
/u/queerlilhayseed

The vilification of the Luddites as cantankerous tech haters is a really good example of how malicious falsehoods can succeed, I think. I’d guess that most English speakers who know the word would define Luddite as “someone who hates technology”, and I think it resonates on some level because we all hate technology some of the time. The fact that Luddites didn’t indiscriminately hate technology, they just destroyed the means by which their oppressors oppressed them, is handily swept aside. And I never even questioned that narrative on Luddites until I happened to read up on them.

It’s sneaky, because before then “Luddite” didn’t feel like an important or politically charged term at all. It was simply a slang word for people who grump about technology. Calling people haters just short-circuits any examination of the so-called haters’ reasons. It’s exactly what people say about terrorists, except instead of technology its freedom. They just hate freedom. I wonder how many people have “terrorist = freedom hater” embedded so deeply they don’t even think about it.

Texas is running out of diesel? That Texas?

Yikes.