prime_number_314159

I don't like Elon. I think he's not very smart, and I want him far from the government. I suspect he's cozying up to Trump to get funding for SpaceX, and electric vehicle subsidies, and he'll probably continue his underhanded battle against any kind of good public transit.

If you watch it as a video, he says "my heart goes out to you", puts his hand on his heart, then does a throwing motion, that ends with his hand up, and out to the side. Then he turns to a different part of the crowd, and does the same motion again.

It's not an accident, it's an awkward gesture, because he's an awkward person. A Nazi salute has the arm held up, and directly forward from the shoulder for some time. His arm is out to the side, and only there for a moment. Unfortunately, there are probably neonazis too stupid to know the differences.

Treating everything as Nazi symbolism means that more and more people won't hear alarm bells when you say there's Nazi imagery, so the media pushing hoaxes like this is bad for public discourse as a whole.

I'm generally in favor of gun ownership, and in favor of mandatory training. I wish the government would provide/pay for training, but I wish a lot of things.

Before buying a gun, please consider:

How will you safely store it? Are children Ever over at your house? Can you access it from storage in an emergency?

Where, and when can you practice using your gun in a safe location? Typically, this means going to a range. It's best if you know an existing gun owner/range member to help you the first time. If you buy a gun, you should safely operate it on at least two days, to build familiarity.

What kind of gun suits your needs? Rifles are better for hunting, and other situations where time is readily available. Handguns are easier to conceal, store, and use. Shotguns are better at hitting things with poor aim, but they hit a lot of other things, too. Most guns are designed to fire one shape of cartridge (generally specified as a diameter and a length), but can support multiple types of bullet (full metal jacket, hollow point, and green tip are fairly common for rifles and pistols. Bird shot, buck shot, and slugs are common for shotguns).

Not all cheap guns are bad, and not all expensive guns are good. Generally, more popular cartridges and guns are preferable, because it makes obtaining ammunition, maintaining the weapon, and knowing of any design issues easier.

Accessories (especially a flashlight, or sights suited to the expected use) can improve the usefulness of a gun significantly. You will also generally want eye and ear protections for range use, and at least cotton swabs, a lubricant, and a bore rope to clean and maintain your gun.

Do you know your rights? Do you know the laws applicable in your area? In some states, there are laws about which guns you can buy, how you can transport them, how you can carry them, how you can store them, and how you can use them. You should know the requirements for lawful self defense (Andrew Branca's five elements is my favorite explanation). In all 50 states, there are laws about who can buy guns, and some restrictions about where you can buy guns. There are restrictions on how you can modify guns that apply in all 50 states.

If you can afford training, look up the instructor you will have. The individual instructor makes a lot more difference than the facility or institution, IMO.

If you, or a loved one that will have access to your firearm are, or could be suicidal, be aware, and act accordingly, that easy access to a firearm is a risk factor for suicide.

If your gun fails to fire, or sounds weak when you pull the trigger, keep the barrel pointed in a safe direction. This can be a delayed ignition, or a squib. Both are extremely dangerous. After two minutes (longer if you don't have a clock, and are just counting it out), you can open the chamber, remove the cartridge, and ensure that the barrel is free of obstructions. Depending on the kind of gun, this may be by running a bore rope through, or by looking from the chamber end of the barrel through towards the muzzle. If the barrel is obstructed, take it to a professional without firing it again.. If this happens more than one time, throw out your ammo, find a new ammo supplier, and make sure that your ammo is exposed to minimal moisture in storage.

Finally, the axioms of gun safety:

Treat every gun as if it is loaded. Even when you have checked, continue to practice safe handling.

Never point a gun at something you are unwilling to destroy.

Know your target, and what is behind your target.

Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.

I can correctly compute that 12345678+87654321 is 99999999, and that 111111111*111111111 is 12345678987654321. Maybe I am a bot?

Well, no matter. I'm going to return to reading every Wikipedia article sorted lexicographically.

They're banned for being a ginger.

There is a movie called "The Godfather", which depicts a fictional war between mafia families in the US. In the film, there is an older generation that operates on a kind of respect system, and attempt to keep each other reasonably balanced, in both power and money terms. A drug dealer enters the picture, and attempts to murder Michael Carleone's father (who is the Godfather). In response, Michael plans to meet the drug dealer and a corrupt police captain, sneak a gun into the meeting, and shoot them both. That plan works.

Later, the Godfather dies, Michael takes over as the head of the Carleone family, and plans assassinations of all of the older generation of every other family in a coordinated attack, during his father's funeral. That plan works too, leaving him as the most powerful survivor.

An AI actually more intelligent than humans is probably not a huge threat, many of the mutual cooperation things that make humans work semi-well together apply to an AI. Likewise, an LLM is unlikely to cause any problems just by existing.

Instead, I think the big danger is something like an LLM that convinces people that its smarter than they are (probably by being able to recite more facts than they can, or offering copy/paste explanations of advance topics), and is then put into more and more places of trust.

Once it's there, we have the open possibility that something "weird" happens, and many many devices, controls, etc simultaneously react poorly to novel inputs. Depending on the type of systems, and how widespread an issue it is, that could cause extremely large problems. Military systems might be the worst possibility for this.

I love the idea (and it's definitely true) that there are irrational numbers which, when written in a suitable base, contain the sequence of characters, "This number is provably normal" and are simultaneously not normal.

You can instead put off buying the sticker for the three years of placement decision time, then frantically search for a sticker that used to be widely available, be unable to find it, and regret the decisions that lead you to this place.

The secret is that rats are committed Luddites. They chew through wires, but maintain and restore the elegant mechanisms of times long past.

You may expect that a few rats couldn't roll a 6 ton stone boulder back up a hill, but rats are also capable of growing to very different sizes depending on their environment.

Turn hard to the left while accelerating, then hard to the right while braking. That usually shakes it out.

I, too, am scared of clean spaces.

Do a whole lot of research, then take control of the president, and pardon people for a minute. As far as I'm aware, it takes effect as long as someone hears, or I write it down or something.