Anyone else think this was the “taking a selfie using a silly object” meme at first?

What would be a compelling answer?

But you’re not. You’re disagreeing with the person while asking leading questions, then arguing against the answers to the questions you asked.

It’s almost like you’re intentionally wasting their effort and mental energy to deal with your gish-galloping.

I’m cynically viewing this as not a positive. I assume this is so they can make pages 2, 3 and so on as spammy as page 1.

Not at first, obviously. You don’t boil that frog on high heat.
You throw out a second page with a cute little text ad off to the side, then 1 or 2 at the top, then a mid-page ad. Maybe some suggested content.

Instead of having to scroll through a page’s worth of ads to get to semi-relevant results with a gem hidden in them, it’ll be a pages worth of ads for your semi-relevant results per page, and maybe what you were looking for 4 or 5 pages in.

Google used to be good. They ‘know’ what people are looking for. So they’ll probably hire someone familiar with gambling to figure out a minimum dispersion of relevant results on the pages, to keep people using the service and scrolling past ads. … I used to remember this. Variable-ratio reward schedule?

Oh.

_Shit.

Scary.

Oh, yeah. I just gave up on it. All my info got exposed in the recent AT&T hack, including my SS#, which is available as a data dump on the open web.

My credit is locked, I use a data removal service, and my fingers are crossed. As for the rest… Meh. I’m just gonna keep on swimming.

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Ugh. Yup.

I learned that after buying my house. My furnace is 3x what my house needs and is expected to be an expensive repair someday.

So you’re not describing the issue where internet connected EV chargers can be easily hacked, and potentially told to dump the charge of the connected vehicle’s battery on the grid en masse, causing overloads and transformer explosions.

But a slow moving issue like that sounds like a frequency or voltage issue - something goes under or over enough and isn’t detected via monitoring, causing premature equipment degradation, and potential system collapse. Definitely a lot of expensive damage, though.
(Basically, a stuxnet-style attack on the utility grid - and we’ve already seen evidence that SCADA/PLC’s can be hacked in the water supply system.)

A destabilizing push, rather than a hit with a hammer.

I got my oil changed a week and a half ago and they actually said - they couldn’t do certain things because of the cyberattack. As a result they couldn’t log it or print out paperwork or… something. For an oil change it wasn’t a big deal, but I didn’t even think about the rest of the dealership’s operations.

Fortunately, their payment system is isolated, but it gave me pause before I swiped my card.

I just realized that I contradicted myself. I said that I use this with folks I don’t like, and then that when I use it, if someone responds well, that I know they’re my kinda people.

I don’t exclusively use it with folks I don’t like! I also throw it out playfully. It’s validating when folks respond in-kind.

It me!

Which is also probably why I give this answer. Because it irks me to some degree that we just throwaway important questions like another human’s well-being.
If someone responds without being tripped up, I sorta know they’re my kind of person.

I often respond with: “Well, I’m still kicking and screaming.” I don’t know why. I think it got used a lot when I was growing up - someone getting dragged kicking and screaming.
Folks get tripped up by that.

For me, it means that despite the fight being hopeless, I’m still trying.

I always respond thoughtfully to people I don’t like. Then I ask how they are and watch them squirm.

If I’ve had a vasectomy, do I still get to participate?

I’m fine wearing a vest that says “Training Staff”.

^hehehehehe

In the U.S. (if you’re in the U.S.), one option is to get allergy shots. And likely other places, but I can’t speak to that.

They do an allergy panel to determine what you’re allergic to and approximately how badly you’re allergic to each thing , then give you injections (usually weekly) of very low, but increasing amounts of the allergens until they feel your reactivity has ceased or decreased to an acceptable level.

I’ve had them. They’re sort of miserable, but they are effective.
They’re miserable because you have to go to the allergist every week, and sit there after the shot until they feel comfortable that you’re not going to have an anaphylactic reaction. But you do have a reaction, and it varies. My average reaction was to spend the next day and a half feeling a bit like I had a cold - sniffles, headache, body aches, and lethargy.
It did, however, ease my allergies significantly.

I want to downvote you because like, I love dogs (and cats, too). But like, not being able to love on or get loved on by dogs and cats is way, way worse than any downvote. That’s just a tragic allergy.

He sexually assaulted an exotic dancer and chased her with the gun when she ran away. (Edit: Allegedly.)

This is from a subscription-only news source called Gongwer:

Posted at 12ish PM:

Rep. Neil Friske’s arrest this morning stems from allegations that he sexually assaulted an exotic dancer and then chased her with a firearm, a source familiar with the allegations says.

Lansing police have not released any information about what led to the arrest and jailing of Friske (R-Charlevoix). He remains in the city’s jail. Police have said he will not be arraigned until Friday or Saturday - if the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office authorizes charges.

Posted at 1ish PM:

Jordan Gulkis, spokesperson for Lansing Police, said around 2:45 a.m. on Thursday, officers were dispatched to the 2100 block of Forest Road for a report of a male with a gun and possible shots fired.

Gulkis said the accused was arrested for a felony-level offense but did not specify what.

Other news stories indicate he owns a home in the vicinity of the arrest.

Edit 2: But don’t take my word for it!
GOP Michigan rep and gun-rights supporter Neil Friske accused of chasing a stripper while firing a gun – NY Post
(Sorry it’s a garbage publication.)