Stereotypical? The only other time I can remember that the EU adopted something and it made any noticeable difference was GSM. It was a good five to six years after Europe that text messaging took off because the networks weren’t compatible; it felt like the stone ages.
I am making this question because I am trying to understand what exactly people mean when they say things. In this case, I'm trying to understand the full context of the phrase practicing gratitude.
A definition of the word "gratitude" I've found online is:
the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness
Which implies that someone has shown kindness to us, and we're feeling grateful for their kindness.
So when you say "I'm grateful for being alive", to whom exactly are you grateful? Who exactly has shown you kindness by letting you be alive? More generally, who exactly has shown you kindness by giving you everything good that you're grateful for?
The only entity that could possibly be responsible for everything is a hypothetical omnipotent entity - a god. So outside the religious frame of mind, the answer is "nobody", and the word "gratitude" here means something else than it usually means when used in everyday context. In that case, I'd like to know the exact meaning in this special case.
>I consider universe a random and chaotic place. In that worldview, there is nobody to be grateful/thankful to, so the practice of gratitude doesn't make sense.
Grateful for the outcome of the cosmic dice roll.
Or really just relief that things aren't a lot worse.
The dictionary definition isn't the only meaning of a word.
Can you speak a little more about your experiences in Miami? I'm reading this thread and the comments are abstract; I wonder if it does better in specific situations.
I tend to drive on 95 north, in Brickell, Downtown, Little Havana, on the 395 and 112, Miami Beach, north Miami (up to 100th), and to the airport. If it can handle these places it seems like it's something to consider.
For the most part it works fine in Brickell and downtown. I put a link to a street view of one tricky intersection above. It also struggles here when you're trying to go south on Miami Ave:https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7626232,-80.1929899,3a,75y,2... basically where the black car is going south it needs to follow the street in a 90deg curve to the right then immediate left at the stop sign. Sometimes it tries to just go straight there, i.e. to where the truck is.
Also, i do often need to "intervene" by pressing the accelerator since the car is a bit to passive for the typical lunatic miami drivers.
I actually find automated ticketing, such as speed cameras, less intrusive than police. But they have to be visible. I've only dealt with them in Europe where everyone knows where they are. And I find them effective.
Unlike always-on cameras I like that they're not recording unless you break the law, and I like that they're objective unlike a police officer might be.
I don't doubt that they like the notoriety. But I would call them artists before I would call them celebrities. Unique artists doing unique things from unique perspectives. Milo is a gay christian master troll leading a religious crusade in the modern world through trolling and shocking and mocking. He is effective because he knows his enemy inside and out. He's been on both sides of the aisle. It's delightful to watch. I find these people highly original and good at what they do. They are also all, in my opinion, intellectuals, knowing their opponents well. Milo didnt become the ultimate troll not reading the Bible and philosophy and culture and studying their intersectionality. Alex Jones didn't become who he is by not reading millions of pages of conspiracy documents and doing crazy outrageous journalist activisism (while having mental illness run in the family). Vox Day created a book publishing company that represents everything progressives hate and have tried to kill. He is on a one man mission to reinvigorate books in the classic tradition of archetypal storylines rather than new age race and gender and earth harmony/disaster storylines. Paul Sperry is just a wonderful reporter that pulls big stories at big times, though he is a little obscure.
I think this is one of his best scoops. He broke a lot of news in this one article and blew open the case for Vindman being the whistleblower.
That's why I'm interested in these people. Not because of some vapid celebrity, but because they stand out and in this sanitized narrated world where thoughts are highly fought over and controlled.
People who like celebrities have similar praises for them. Calling celebs artists or similar things is one of the most common occurrences.
This seems like you like these celebs like any one likes “vapid celebs” but because of the persistent push of these sort of folk to seem so intellectual (but not elite), things have to be spun like being called artists vs celebs to keep the narrative and celebrity going.
Seeing this on HN, the first thing I focus on is WhatsApp. But if you read the article, this is a story that could play out on many networks in 2021; it just so happens WhatsApp is the most popular.
In my town, in the US, WhatsApp also plays a large role in civic life, commerce, rumors, etc., for better or for worse. It does feel like the medium is the message, but all the alternatives seek to more or less replicate the medium.
There is something to be said about WhatsApp being so integral to this story, but if you read the article, that's not really the story.
Anywho, we have pretty good mangoes here either way.
If you had any international contacts, then WhatsApp was the no brainer when it came out because it was the best cross platform messaging solution at the time. The only people who did not use WhatsApp were people who did not have international contacts (or maybe used WeChat, but I am not familiar with those social circles).
There is no “international” calling distinction when using the internet. FaceTime audio, Google Duo/allo/whatever, Skype/Teams, WeChat, and I’m sure there are plenty of other apps that let people communicate via audio.
WhatsApp is the main method of communication in some countries.
Where I live my most recent experiences interacting with businesses after a short phone call is switching to WhatsApp. "Do you have WhatsApp in this number?".
I'm not surprised that mangos can be ordered via WhatsApp. Like a friend of mine works in a purchasing department in company, and the last two cars the company bought were negotiated via WhatsApp.
I don't completely disagree with what you're saying regarding the text, but as a person who loves the arts but doesn't work in it, I would appreciate speaking to a bona fide curator if I was asked to partake in an exhibition.
Sure, there is a chance of your so-called brainwashing (influence, in more generous terms), but an exhibition benefits from coherence and thought-out message.
This helps in that you don't connect directly to the image so it doesn't leak your IP and other info that would be available from the connection.
Marketing emails still send unique URLs for each recipient so they can associate your email address with opening any images and links. Google's proxy doesn't remedy this.
As far as I know, Gmail doesn't load the images until the first time the user opens the message, so it unfortunately doesn't make the tracking as useless as you could hope.
I fault David Remnick, the editor, for this. He really became obsessed with Trump during his presidency.
The thing is, it seems like Mr. Remnick has been a very good administrator of the magazine, guiding it through a very rough time for print media, so the chances that he will be replaced or step down anytime soon are slim.
That said, I am looking forward to a fresh perspective for the magazine in the future even if I still mostly enjoy it now.
