The Random Crap Thread 2: It Hits the Fan.

IronBrig4

IronBrig4

My YouTube algorithm got all screwed up. It started with me looking at videos from the Paris Olympics. YouTube recommended a few videos from this travel guide showing how to spot scams in Paris. Apparently there are a lot of scammer gangs who run shell games on tourists. The scammers all exude an aura that just screams former Warsaw Pact. They remind me of the Tracksuit Mafia from Hawkeye ("WHAT you say, bro?"). Forty years ago, they would have had guaranteed employment patrolling the Berlin Wall. I actually want to visit France in a few years so those videos were helpful. The next recommendation was one of those police dashcam videos where idiots try to run insurance scams by backing into someone. Okay, that was a funny video and I had a good laugh when the scam artists realized they had tried to scam a cop. I went to bed.

I got up this morning and opened my YouTube. Now all my recommended videos are from those weird far-right influencers. Apparently everything they don't like is WOKE. Woke, woke, woke. Scammers are woke. Porch pirates are woke. Falcon as Captain America is woke. The thumbnails all had that harsh 4K lighting. The titles also got strange.

"WOKE Tesla driver tries to punch biker!"
"Watch this WOKE pro-Palestinian protester get DEMOLISHED by FACTS!"

I might infer that people who are worried about being the victim of a petty crime or scam are the same type who are worried about changing cultural norms. There is a great deal of palpable anger in those comment sections.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
IronBrig4 said:
My YouTube algorithm got all screwed up. It started with me looking at videos from the Paris Olympics. YouTube recommended a few videos from this travel guide showing how to spot scams in Paris. Apparently there are a lot of scammer gangs who run shell games on tourists. The scammers all exude an aura that just screams former Warsaw Pact. They remind me of the Tracksuit Mafia from Hawkeye ("WHAT you say, bro?"). Forty years ago, they would have had guaranteed employment patrolling the Berlin Wall. I actually want to visit France in a few years so those videos were helpful. The next recommendation was one of those police dashcam videos where idiots try to run insurance scams by backing into someone. Okay, that was a funny video and I had a good laugh when the scam artists realized they had tried to scam a cop. I went to bed.

I got up this morning and opened my YouTube. Now all my recommended videos are from those weird far-right influencers. Apparently everything they don't like is WOKE. Woke, woke, woke. Scammers are woke. Porch pirates are woke. Falcon as Captain America is woke. The thumbnails all had that harsh 4K lighting. The titles also got strange.

"WOKE Tesla driver tries to punch biker!"
"Watch this WOKE pro-Palestinian protester get DEMOLISHED by FACTS!"

I might infer that people who are worried about being the victim of a petty crime or scam are the same type who are worried about changing cultural norms. There is a great deal of palpable anger in those comment sections.
Click to expand...
Just putting this out there... did you leave yourself logged into youtube on any device accessible by anyone else? Smart TV? Tablet?
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

My work wife shares many characteristics with Yennifer from the Witcher series, chief among them being that they are both entirely imaginary and fictional.
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

My company had one summer intern 5+ years ago and that is the only woman we’ve ever had working for us (software company of < 10 people).
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Yeah, my GF asked me if I have a "work wife" now and I had to point out that there was literally only one woman working for my company - the accountant - and I've spoken to her maybe 3 times in the last 6 years. My boss used to be the second, but she just quit in a huff last month.... and frankly, there was a bigger age gap between us than I have with my father. That was more like... "work niece." At least until she turned into the division director's sock puppet.
 
Bubble181

Bubble181

I literally have no direct coworkers in the same country. No problems there.
Starting April first I'm working in a small local software development company. 35% women, and very surprisingly, three out of the four developers are women, and the C-suite is mainly female too. The men are in customer support, training, marketing. It's a weird reversal.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Went to a Valentine's Day singles thing tonight. Dunno why. Just decided to do something different this evening.

It was okay. The crowd skewed mostly younger (like 20s, MAYBE 30s). Chatted it up with gal close to my age, but nothing came of it.

It was mostly just not my scene. Too much loud music that I could barely hear anyone and I left after a few hours.

Still, it inspired me to maybe try some other dating events, like speed dating. There's an event for one later this month. I doubt it'll lead to anything, but it's not like online dating is doing anything for me these days.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

My wife: "Was today a holiday?"
Me: "Yes, Presidents' Day."
Roommate: "Is that the day they honor President Trump?"
Me: "I don't know. Was he the one who chopped up a cherry pie?"
Wife: "No, that was Warrant."

EDIT: Hey @Bubble181 , click here for an explanation, assuming it will play in your country.

--Patrick
 
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IronBrig4

IronBrig4

I've been reading through the old PVP strips from the Y2K era. That brought me to the old Gamespy archives where I went over their humor columns from 1999 and 2000. I think I miss that whole vibe. MMOs like Ultima Online, Everquest, and Asheron's Call were all the rage. Broadband Internet was cost-prohibitive for most people so gaming on a 56k modem was standard. LAN parties and cybercafes were great settings for people to game together.

And you bought a physical copy of the game. It came in a big box complete with jewel case and installation code number. The manual contained lots of artwork and lore that made it part of the experience. There were some trade-offs, of course. Lag made it really difficult to land accurate shots in multiplayer shooters. Griefers were pretty much allowed to ruin your experience with impunity. Your speakers would periodically send out static bursts like a frantic clerk was a telegraphing Morse Code on them, but that didn't matter. That's the way it was and we liked it!
 
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