Adventures in Greed (Megacorps vs Everyday people)

Infographic showing how Americans think wealth is distributed, how they think it should be distributed, versus how it's actually distributed.

Spoilers: The reality is much worse than people think.

I had a high school teacher bring up the wealthy disparity between the 1% and the rest of us in the 90s.  That guy was a prophet.  Called out the American political duopoly between the parties and the corporate ownership of the Democrats.  He ended up having a melt-down a couple years after and opened up a liquor store, which is what I assume most high school history teachers with his level of political awareness did at that time.

a thread from tumblr blags:
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i will never be against piracy ever but i also need physical media to
remain. the average blockbuster carried about 3x as many films than that
that are streaming on Netflix or any other streaming service, physical
media along with piracy is more important than ever.

I thought this wasn’t true, because how could it be true? How could
one small store have more movies than an online database? So I googled it.

I am surprised and depressed to learn it’s 100% true, according to
google. A Blockbuster store was required to have a minimum of 7000 titles,
but most averaged about 10,000. Netflix has 4000 movies. (And 1800 tv
shows if you want to count those, but even included, it’s still less)

Now I’m even more depressed about the collapse of physical rental
stores.

BONUS: They weren't beholden to Who Owns What IP Right Now. They got
videos from everyone. You didn't have to pay separately for the rights
to rent from the Disney Shelves and the WB Shelves and bler bler bler,
and they only STOPPED having those movies when the tapes broke or someone
never returned 'em.

friendly reminder that your local library will have lots of physical
media and if they don't have what you're looking for you can most
likely  ask them to purchase it or order it from another library through
interlibrary loan

RACHEL TIPPED FOR THIS POST

FIREFLY TIPPED 100 CORAL FOR THIS POST

Car manufacturers have started putting popup ads on the screens in people's cars while they're driving

https://techstory.in/stellantis-introduces-pop-up-ads-in-vehicles-sparking-outrage-among-owners/

https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/1iij34r/jeep_puts_an_ad_covering_my_entire_screen_and_it/

In a move that has left drivers both frustrated and bewildered, Stellantis (the parent company of Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and Ram) has introduced full-screen pop-up ads on its infotainment systems. Specifically, Jeep owners have reported being bombarded with advertisements for Mopar’s extended warranty service. The kicker? These ads appear every time the vehicle comes to a stop.

Hulu updated their customer terms of service to make things clearer.

Why would you go out to eat lunch when your office has a kitchen?

Private equity buys companies and runs them into the ground until they stop being profitable

Have you (or anyone) read the Left Hand of Darkness.  It's about a planet of intersex people, so it's kind of on brand for Wetfish.  (But wait there's more!)  Le Guin tells her story on a colder planet, with short summers and large polar regions.  From these two ideas, she's weaves a complex, tangible world, with unique cultures, history, and geo politics.  The story is told from the point of view of a human ambassador, which allows her to seamlessly integrate the kind of world building that has become a contemporary cliché, without bogging down the plot.  It does start out slow, which required me to restart it a few times, but I was singularly focused by the end. 5/5 stars

https://futurism.com/neoscope/paralyzed-man-exoskeleton-too-old

Quote

"After 371,091 steps my exoskeleton is being retired after 10 years of unbelievable physical therapy," Michael Straight posted on Facebook earlier this month. "The reasons why it has stopped is a pathetic excuse for a bad company to try and make more money."

According to Straight, the issue was caused by a piece of wiring that had come loose from the battery that powered a wristwatch used to control the exoskeleton. This would cost peanuts for Lifeward to fix up, but it refused to service anything more than five years old, Straight said.

"I find it very hard to believe after paying nearly $100,000 for the machine and training that a $20 battery for the watch is the reason I can't walk anymore?"

Of all the screen time devoted to body horror where a cybernetic component malfunctions, very little time has been spent examining the capitalist horror of your limb/drug/or treatment no longer being supported.  Is David Cronenberg still around?  Maybe he can make a movie called "Claim Denied".

If I leave my vizio tv idle, it plays calming nature video, calming music, and then loops a message from the trump admin telling illegal immigrants to gtfo over and over and over again. I left the tv idle while I went to the other room to play with my dog. After about a half an hour, I started hearing Kristi Noem praising Trump and telling immigrants to get out of America, over and over. I went in to check, and caught this video looping 3 more times before it went back to the nature clips.[/i]

And on the vizio product webpage, an explanation:

• Q: My TV started playing a video in full screen by itself. What happened? A: Your TV launched Scenic Mode, a FREE, new feature that displays relaxing, ambient content when your TV is idle for a period of time. Scenic Mode delivers an experience that adds to the environment of your home or office.
• Q: Why did I see an ad in Scenic Mode? A: After Scenic Mode launches to full screen, you may see ads. We offer free, scenic content by supporting it with ads. These ads allow VIZIO to offer enhanced, built-in Smart TV features, 300+ live channels, and 15,000+ movies and shows at no cost through WatchFree+ while also helping keep the price of our TVs accessible and competitive.
• Q: Can I turn Scenic Mode ads off? A: No, not at this time. These ads allow VIZIO to offer enhanced, built-in Smart TV features, 300+ live channels, and 15,000+ movies and shows at no cost through WatchFree+ while also helping keep the price of our TVs accessible and competitive.