The “8 Track” in Voyager is not your standard 8 track, it’s a DTR and is arranged differently than the consumer tape cartridge for music. It was shut down about a decade ago, not because it was failing, but because of the power requirements.

FWIW, 8 tracks were pretty good sound for the time. Previously there was no portable music unless you brought a record player with you. They got passed up quickly by the cassette, though.

I would think not. They wouldn’t want anyone analyzing it and attempting to send code to the Voyager. Some asshole would break it for lols or politics.

I’d refine that slightly - tax loans on anything except those for a primary residence, and loans used to create businesses that employ less than 100 people, or any business in service of the loan recipient. I’m sure that could be refined quite a bit. The intent being that they can buy a primary residence like anyone else and not be taxed on it - restrictions would apply like they’d actually have to live there, not sell it for “x” years and not build another primary residence for “x” years or then be taxed on it. The businesses would have to be big enough to be useful, not a business of rich guy’s 2 buddies that would just use the “fake” business to throw venture capital back in the rich guy’s business, or the rich guy buy a yacht and the “business” be him paying his own crew through a shell company to drive him around in his own yacht.

Because…

as usual

It’s finally affecting them personally. Gas and diesel prices are rising. Wait until food starts to go higher again.

The issue is when people are so self-absorbed they treat everyone like idiots, so the “stare” becomes a default.

Just 3 down from this post in my feed.

Like the global economic recession looming thanks to trump’s war in Iran strangling energy sources all over the region and causing disruptions in everything from clothing to fertilizer manufacturing that will cause major and potentially disastrous ripple effects downstream the longer this goes on?

That kind of unexpected?

And the oil and energy shortage now thanks to trump’s war.

An argument could be made that the safety we’ve enjoyed has allowed stupid people to act like destructive assholes without fear of consequences. Things like being anti-vax, pro-theocratic, and anti-education come to mind.

The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.

– George Orwell

Small government meant, as usual, the other guys.

Their government can piss away as much money and get as big and invasive as they want.

What a surprise.

They don’t need to plan for that. The climate crisis will force societal regression and poverty, limiting job opportunities. They’re already anti-anthropogenic climate change so they’re doubling down on the (likely) inevitable.

Force consumers into US made, AI-laden, crappy hardware full of backdoors for the regime.

Do these clowns not understand that by wishing trump start their armageddon that it makes him the antichrist?

They are following and encouraging the antichrist?

So yeah, y’all talibangelicals going to your hell.

Or to put it another way, AI is making it faster and easier to do the wrong thing in the wrong way at scale.

…and absolve the operator of any responsibility, apparently.

Oh, that was the AI doing something wrong. shrugs and just keeps doing what they’re doing.

I can only imagine the legal stonewalling. Sue who? The company who hired the device? The manufacturer? Programmers? The leasing company? Everyone passing the legal buck around making it incredibly difficult and expensive for anyone to sue in an attempt to exhaust the victim or their family.

Anime stuff is crazy. What amounts to young girls with huge tits in a lot of cases. All kinds of products like bedding or pillows feature them, and of course there’s porn of it, and as far as I can tell it doesn’t get treated any different than a niche weird porn. Somehow these are fine, but sex dolls aren’t? I’m not advocating for one or the other, but it seems like if we call one “bad”, the other should be too.

“They’ll tell you”