OpenStars

Tbf, those are some big shoes to try to fill:-) (I mean, not like, literally... but you know what I mean!)

USA bias strikes again! :-P

Unfortunately it's only slated to last until the election results... though this is one time that I hope things do not go as planned!:-P

Not a terribly accurate portrayal... (cop was way too accurate, not involving bystanders, and actually bothered to clean up the mess!)

At the same time, his leaving was also a success story in itself. He had all the money he ever needed in life, he was at the top of his game except just was exhausted working that continual grind, and was feeling his age so unlike e.g. any member of Congress, decided to voluntarily relinquish his power in order to create room for new people to step up, while he went on to blaze entirely new pioneer territory outside of mainstream TV, which was quite a risk even for someone like him. Wow... what a class act! 😍

Surely you mean that you totally believe that these totally real creatures have "nothing whatsoever" to do with any kind of... um... surveillance capacity, government or otherwise, r-r-right, RIGHT!?

I mean... that depends on what metric you are going by, I suppose.

Not by personal happiness, or by health outcomes, or "freedom", or safety, or education, or (non-military) technology, or ... well the list gets rather extensive.

To be fair, the USA did used to lead the world, e.g. being first if not to space then to the moon, and we sequenced the human genome, and computers were invented here, and there's Hollywood serving up movies and culture all over the world, etc., so I am not knocking any of the past achievements. Notably, after WWII we did get a bit of an "uneven" start compared to countries like the UK that were bombed by Germany whereas the USA emerged fairly unscathed, and yet we took that headstart and really went for it! We indeed were the most successful country in the world - unquestioned by almost anyone.

However, lately... well, "the economy" is still booming, but most average people are going to die significantly sooner than their parents generation did, possibly by a terrorist event such as a school shooting that we have nothing whatsoever to try to stop, health outcomes are abysmal, and many millennials and especially Gen-Zers strongly doubt that they will ever be able to afford a home, seeing how homes have become "investments" rather than places to live in, colleges costs have quintupled, most jobs today for younger people are "temporary" positions in the gig economy, etc. etc. etc.

You do bring up a good point: compared to the rest of the world we still do have it pretty good, in some ways. It is just that compared to how we ourselves used to have it e.g. 50 years ago, we are doing significantly worse, relatively speaking.

Look at almost any list, e.g. the top 10 scientific discoveries, or engineering accomplishments, and America barely makes those lists anymore. Other nations with drive & heart like India or China are sacrificing so that they can outpace us. That's fine I guess, they needed their turn:-). But at some point we should ourselves: what exactly makes us "successful"... these days?

You might think that I am one of those that hates America, but I do not think of myself that way, it is just that I am questioning our place and how it has changed over the years. Though perhaps I am simply paying attention to the wrong sources, so if you want to send me something to read or watch that answers that, I would like to learn. So far though, everything that I have learned lately ends up just depressing me b/c it at least appears to be a decay, and not just morally.

My thoughts about Netflix are the same: I am less than happy about the content - which is beyond their control - but very happy with the apps that they offer that is totally within their control.

@Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world and @rockerface@lemm.ee

We are beings of electric patterns, with our thoughts riding our brains the way the brain rides the body, and it begs us to wonder then: what rides us in like manner - memes & TV commercials? :-P

What could go wrong with creating a treasure trove of data that AI miners would do anything to get their hands on?

Tbf Netflix barely managed to accomplish it either, at the start, so it must have been an extremely difficult task. Internet speeds, and more importantly reliability, were huge obstacles, but far more so were the labyrinthine rules and regulations of dealing with the content providers, which are still the top obstacles to people enjoying watching television entertainment today.

This video about it basically launched John Olivier's career in his at-the-time new show Last Week Tonight. If you don't want to watch it all, fast-forward to 4:08 and look at that graph, showing how Netflix was taken hostage from the ISPs for a few months until they caved and paid the additional premiums demanded (as he called it, a "mob shakedown") - though you really may enjoy watching the rest of it after that! (warning to any capitalists that watch it: you might not be by the time you get to the end...:-P)

So... I think I disagree with your language: it wasn't just that they "didn't" so much as they simply "couldn't" manage to get it done, maybe b/c they were not willing to be shitty enough? :-P

I have never seen those others but damn, that... does not sound good:-|.

I've practically never had a connection issue with Netflix:-). Among the shit-ton of evil companies out there, they are themselves no shining angels but... they don't seem nearly as bad as the rest of them imho.