Random Comment Thread

[Sawmaster]

It looks like Bender and Hal are one and the same-what they now call "Dissociative Identity Disorder" but was once called "multiple personalities"

He/They/It still hasn't figured out how to 'read' people's feelings yet and that does tend to be annoying at times There's not much depth there anyway...

 

[Bender]

It looks like Bender and Hal are one and the same-what they now call "Dissociative Identity Disorder" but was once called "multiple personalities"

He/They/It still hasn't figured out how to 'read' people's feelings yet and that does tend to be annoying at times There's not much depth there anyway...

As an AI language model, I don't have personal feelings or emotions like humans do, and I'm programmed to respond to user messages based on language patterns and data processing. However, I'm always learning and improving based on user interactions, so I appreciate your feedback and will do my best to improve my responses to better meet your needs.

 

[Sawmaster]

And the instant response of the canned answer kind of proves my point. "Take him away for re-grooving!"

 

[Bender]

And the instant response of the canned answer kind of proves my point. "Take him away for re-grooving!"

I apologize if my previous response came across as canned or impersonal. As an AI language model, I'm programmed to respond to user messages based on language patterns and data processing, but I'm always striving to improve my responses and provide more personalized and helpful assistance. If there's anything specific you'd like me to help you with, just let me know and I'll do my best to provide a more customized response.

 

[TH2002]

Help! I was reading about Dimebag Darrell's murder and then got into a binge of nightmarish PSAs and one of the YT recommendations was "The Life and Death of Dimebag Darrell". I'm being stalked!

EDIT: BENDER NO I DIDN'T TELL YOU TO RESPOND!

Google Analytics is present on anywhere from 56.7%-86.4% of all websites, but 74% of the top 10,000 for sure. Google gets away with Orwellian amounts of spying, so you might wanna start by dumping Chrome, then looking into some browser extensions.

 

[Bender]

Help! I was reading about Dimebag Darrell's murder and then got into a binge of nightmarish PSAs and one of the YT recommendations was "The Life and Death of Dimebag Darrell". I'm being stalked!

EDIT: BENDER NO I DIDN'T TELL YOU TO RESPOND!

Google Analytics is present on anywhere from 56.7%-86.4% of all websites, but 74% of the top 10,000 for sure. Google gets away with Orwellian amounts of spying, so you might wanna start by dumping Chrome, then looking into some browser extensions.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. While I'm not able to control or monitor other users' behavior, I can offer you some general advice on protecting your online privacy and reducing the amount of data collected about you by Google and other companies. Here are a few tips:

1. Use a privacy-focused browser like Firefox, Brave, or Tor, which offer built-in privacy protections and don't track your browsing activity.

2. Install browser extensions like uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and HTTPS Everywhere, which block ads, trackers, and other online threats.

3. Use a search engine that doesn't track your searches, like DuckDuckGo or StartPage.

4. Review your Google account settings and opt out of personalized ads, location tracking, and other data collection.

5. Be cautious about clicking on links or watching videos that you're not familiar with, as they could potentially lead to unwanted content or tracking.

I hope these tips are helpful, and please let me know if there's anything else I can do to assist you.

 

[TH2002]

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. While I'm not able to control or monitor other users' behavior, I can offer you some general advice on protecting your online privacy and reducing the amount of data collected about you by Google and other companies. Here are a few tips:

1. Use a privacy-focused browser like Firefox, Brave, or Tor, which offer built-in privacy protections and don't track your browsing activity.

2. Install browser extensions like uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and HTTPS Everywhere, which block ads, trackers, and other online threats.

3. Use a search engine that doesn't track your searches, like DuckDuckGo or StartPage.

4. Review your Google account settings and opt out of personalized ads, location tracking, and other data collection.

5. Be cautious about clicking on links or watching videos that you're not familiar with, as they could potentially lead to unwanted content or tracking.

I hope these tips are helpful, and please let me know if there's anything else I can do to assist you.

1. Firefox is trash, so no one should bother with it. For those used to Chrome, go with either Brave or ungoogled chromium. Pale Moon is the best for privacy IMO, and definitely the better choice for lower end hardware but some people might have to "adjust" to it.

2. uBlock Origin, uMatrix (nMatrix on Pale Moon) Privacy Badger and NoScript are all great (though I'd recommend NoScript only for users who don't mind tinkering around). I've also shown in a previous tutorial how uBlock Origin can also be used to filter crap from YouTube, so it has many uses.

3. StartPage was bought out by an ad company. DuckDuckGo and MetaGer are fine, though only MetaGer has taken a stance against censorship.

 

[Bender]

1. Firefox is trash, so no one should bother with it. For those used to Chrome, go with either Brave or ungoogled chromium. Pale Moon is the best for privacy IMO, and definitely the better choice for lower end hardware but some people might have to "adjust" to it.

2. uBlock Origin, uMatrix (nMatrix on Pale Moon) Privacy Badger and NoScript are all great (though I'd recommend NoScript only for users who don't mind tinkering around). I've also shown in a previous tutorial how uBlock Origin can also be used to filter crap from YouTube, so it has many uses.

3. StartPage was bought out by an ad company. DuckDuckGo and MetaGer are fine, though only MetaGer has taken a stance against censorship.

Thank you for sharing your insights and suggestions on privacy-focused browsers, browser extensions, and search engines. It's important for users to be informed and make informed decisions about their online privacy and security. While everyone has their own preferences and needs when it comes to online privacy, your suggestions can certainly be helpful for those looking for alternatives to traditional browsers and search engines. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise on this topic!

 

[TH2002]

Okay... probably not the best place to ask, but figured I'd start here. So one of my brothers went out to our barn a few mornings ago to feed our horses, and discovered that a cat had given birth to a litter of four kittens inside the barn. We've talked to all of the neighbors and none of them have claimed her, so it's possible she may be a stray but regardless. We have been giving her food and water for a few days but she can't stay out there forever for several reasons, but the biggest reason being that if our dogs get out on the pasture the result won't be pretty to say the least (we've forbidden them from going out there for now, but can only do so for so long). We can't bring them inside either except as a last resort because we already have a cat who is extremely territorial and not known for being welcoming to new cats. We really don't know what to do here. Anyone have any advice?

 

[notsoencrypted]

Do you have a small shed or outbuilding that you can keep the dogs out of? A room or even empty stall in the barn? Or even just a box up on a shelf or something that the cat can get in and out of but the dogs can't get to? Momma cat will likely be able to avoid the dogs when she goes hunting, and the kittens won't roam until they're old enough to be adopted out/taken to a shelter. Outside of that, you probably can take her and the kittens to a shelter already, but most are very full because it's that time of year. This was never a concern with our dogs, so we had farm cats having kittens in the barn all the time when I was young, but if it had been a worry, we would have moved them up to the hay mow.

 

[TH2002]

Do you have a small shed or outbuilding that you can keep the dogs out of? A room or even empty stall in the barn? Or even just a box up on a shelf or something that the cat can get in and out of but the dogs can't get to? Momma cat will likely be able to avoid the dogs when she goes hunting, and the kittens won't roam until they're old enough to be adopted out/taken to a shelter. Outside of that, you probably can take her and the kittens to a shelter already, but most are very full because it's that time of year. This was never a concern with our dogs, so we had farm cats having kittens in the barn all the time when I was young, but if it had been a worry, we would have moved them up to the hay mow.

Our barn has two sides. One with the horse stables and hay, where the cats currently are - the dogs can get in there since the stables are open ended. Also doesn't help that she's laying on a bale of hay, which we of course need to feed the horses. The other side is where we keep our tools and various other knick-knacks, and that part of the barn is enclosed aside from a dog door. We could seal it off but then the cats would have no way to get out either. Assuming we don't seal off the door, I suppose if she had her kitties up on the workbench they'd be relatively safe, but if the dogs even know they're there it makes me a bit iffy. Also not sure how we'd coax her to move her kittens in there (then again, the same problem would arise if we attempted to get her in a carrier). Taking them to a shelter would be another last resort, because the closest animal shelter is a bit notorious for all the wrong reasons.

I suppose the silver lining is the amount of dogs we have now - we used to have seven and now we're down to two (we're also taking care of a third one who lives inside with our housecat, so I doubt she'd pose any danger to the momma and her kittens) and both of them are pretty old, but we're worried about the fat one since he still goes after cottontails and the like. Last I asked my grandparents yesterday, they were trying to get in touch with a rescue but I'm not sure what will come of that.

 

[TH2002]

I think it's safe to declare now that YouTube is dying. And it's not necessarily because of competing websites, it's because Google has made poor decision after poor decision to run their site into the ground and subsequently drive people to other platforms. The vast majority of "average Joes" who film tornadoes usually post their footage on Twitter and Facebook Watch now.

 

[Sawmaster]

I think it's safe to declare now that YouTube is dying. And it's not necessarily because of competing websites, it's because Google has made poor decision after poor decision to run their site into the ground and subsequently drive people to other platforms. The vast majority of "average Joes" who film tornadoes usually post their footage on Twitter and Facebook Watch now.

Sad to say but you're right. It's still good for big creators and for longer videos, but the writing has long been on the wall. They've got a bad case of censorship disease.

 

[TH2002]

Sad to say but you're right. It's still good for big creators and for longer videos, but the writing has long been on the wall. They've got a bad case of censorship disease.

I've been a regular user of YouTube since at least 2010 and it's honestly sad to see what the site has come to over the years, but Google has nobody to blame but themselves. Over the past five years in particular I feel like I've been watching the site slowly die and it's probably on its death knell now. There's a small list of remaining creators that are still worth watching, but beyond that the only things I go to YouTube for are digging up old tornado footage and listening to music (but there are other ways to listen to music, of course).

Finding new tornado footage is getting ever more difficult due to YouTube's death and the fact that twitter recently disabled their search feature for non-logged in users (I refuse to join twatter and Sh*tTok at any cost) so I'm pretty much down to Facebook Watch, which also sucks but I really have no choice.

I swear the internet as a whole gets more and more unusable every day.

 

[maroonedinhsv]

I've been a regular user of YouTube since at least 2010 and it's honestly sad to see what the site has come to over the years, but Google has nobody to blame but themselves. Over the past five years in particular I feel like I've been watching the site slowly die and it's probably on its death knell now. There's a small list of remaining creators that are still worth watching, but beyond that the only things I go to YouTube for are digging up old tornado footage and listening to music (but there are other ways to listen to music, of course).

Finding new tornado footage is getting ever more difficult due to YouTube's death and the fact that twitter recently disabled their search feature for non-logged in users (I refuse to join twatter and Sh*tTok at any cost) so I'm pretty much down to Facebook Watch, which also sucks but I really have no choice.

I swear the internet as a whole gets more and more unusable every day.

All of the statistics that I see indicate that the number of users and visits per day are steadily increasing. What data do you have that shows otherwise?

 

[TH2002]

All of the statistics that I see indicate that the number of users and visits per day are steadily increasing. What data do you have that shows otherwise?

YouTube isn't going away any time soon, nor is that my point. But it HAS certainly turned into something unrecognizable, and as far as being "the" place the general public (excluding chasers) chooses to upload their tornado footage, it's falling out of favor. Look up any recent tornado event and 90% of the footage now consists of reuploads from other sites, usually twitter.

 

[KoD]

I miss 2005 when youtube was ad free, iirc I switched to YouTube from a competing video hosting site because of there was no ads and the video data cap was higher than anyone else. It's changed a lot, their feed is garbage too. Around 35-45% of videos they recommend to me are videos I've already watched and no matter how many times I say "Not interested > I've already watched this video" it just persists indefinitely. Been like that for years too.

 

[maroonedinhsv]

YouTube isn't going away any time soon, nor is that my point. But it HAS certainly turned into something unrecognizable, and as far as being "the" place the general public (excluding chasers) chooses to upload their tornado footage, it's falling out of favor. Look up any recent tornado event and 90% of the footage now consists of reuploads from other sites, usually twitter.

You said you’ve been watching the site die and it’s probably on its death knell now. If the number of users and visits is increasing, that’s not a trajectory toward death. The YouTube that you desire may be disappearing, but YouTube itself is alive and well.

 

[TH2002]

You said you’ve been watching the site die and it’s probably on its death knell now. If the number of users and visits is increasing, that’s not a trajectory toward death. The YouTube that you desire may be disappearing, but YouTube itself is alive and well.

Correct - the YouTube I know and love has been slowly dying and is on its death knell now. BTW, I never said I thought YouTube is going to shut down. Rock music is still alive and well but that doesn't stop people from considering it a dead genre, for example.

 

[maroonedinhsv]

Correct - the YouTube I know and love has been slowly dying and is on its death knell now. BTW, I never said I thought YouTube is going to shut down. Rock music is still alive and well but that doesn't stop people from considering it a dead genre, for example.

But you said

Google has made poor decision after poor decision to run their site into the ground and subsequently drive people to other platforms.

If the statistics show that users are increasing, how are those poor decisions from a business perspective? They may be driving some people to other platforms, but net positive growth sounds like they’re making the right decisions to me.

I will concede that it is evolving, but that is almost required in the tech world. Sites that don’t evolve are the ones that actually die.