There is nothing quite as wonderful as money

Honestly, is there anything stopping a country from just “mirroring” US tariffs? US gives them X% tariffs, they give the US X% tariffs back. Is this feasible? Or is it a crappy idea?

How’s that gonna break NewPipe and the likes? Surely they don’t rely solely on the Trending page to get videos and such. I can see unpopular videos as well.

Sure, that could break their Trending pages. But they can then adapt by adopting the different Trending categories, innit? Make it a drop-down on the Trending page to select a category and avoid cluttering other parts of the interface with all the options

Zucc hates this one simple trick: switch to Signal and quit WhatsApp. I ain’t done so, but if I did, I sure would have way less messages. Not by a lot, given I barely maintain regular chats in WhatsApp. But the chances would be slimmer, given barely anyone’s on Signal

Indeed. These MFers coming in here posting shit with brand names on it. What is this, an ad consumption factory? “Yes, please, I’d like you to name the specific brand that is somehow relevant to your story with a supposedly funny twist that flips our expectations by going in a different direction than what we might have assumed.” Get outta here with this shit. White brands only. Next time, try saying “a hotel” instead. Otherwise, we’ll ensure you need generic, brand-less stuff to remediate the effeccs we gonna have on you. We ain’t gonna take ads in here. This is a brand-free zone. If it got a © or an ®, refrain from naming it. No trademarks either. No discussions of Intellectual Properties either.

This Mixtape is Fire TOO

The guy in the photo? American electronic music producer and DJ Dillon Francis

Well, I am sorta familiar with Tommy, to an extent. His 100 gecs remix with Hannah Diamond, his collab on an Umru track, he’s got songs with Charli xcx, Oliver Tree & Little Big, etc.

I’ve never been kinda sure if I like him. He’s got some bangers, that I know of (it’s mainly collabs that I know), but some of his lyrical themes are kinda… idk. Can rub ya off. Like linking one’s assumed inability to handle a stick by virtue of driving automatic to a supposed inability to handle certain private parts that one can take as similar to a stick in some ways; or comparing the easiness of death to the hardness of life (I can deal with that theme better, but I imagine it could trigger someone who might have depression, idk)

I can wholeheartedly agree on the last paragraph. I truly did a full 180. Was almost screaming at the TV in the middle of the night lmao.

I can also wholeheartedly agree on the first paragraph. Gabry Ponte’s Tutta L’Italia for San Marino was my favourite before I even watched anything, because I knew it and liked ir ahead of the final. Estonia’s Espresso Macchiato, by Tommy Cash. What a banger as well. Won me over quick. Was my pick for winning. Italy’s own song was also good, I quite liked it. More on the chill side. Interesting that this whole paragraph was about Italy, even though I’m talking three different entries by three different countries and groups of artists (Gabry Ponte, for San Marino, is Italian. Not Tommy, though, afaik)

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We’ll be right back, after a short break.

This thought is brought to you by Lightspeed Briefs. Style and comfort for the discriminating crotch.

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Well, best I get before the show is a Switched on Pop podcast episode about Eurovision. And I may or may not hear it before the show, depends on how much I care about going in unknowing to the finals. Portugal did definitely make a banger this year, and so did Italy. Viva l’Italia was one of my favourites ahead of the finals, and Espresso Macchiato won me over quickly. I wasn’t at first big into the eventual winner, but soon as they were the only one left for scores at the very end, I quickly changed my mind and needed them to win (I got kinda heated there…). Plus, the song isn’t bad either (though I wanted Espresso Macchiato higher up, and will deem it second place in my mind)

Your mom thinks your music taste is good? Dang. Mine just be like “wtf we listening to” (it’s Polish) or “Not German” skips. “We hearing Japanese, now?”. I did kinda get her somewhat into modern popular hispanic music, I think. Or at least helped in some way with that.

ESC?! Hell yeah! I only follow the finals, though. I generally go in without spoiling much for myself ahead of time, so it all ends up being a fresh listen (other than when I already heard the song elsewhere, like Viva l’Italia, which I’ve heard before knowing it was part of the ESC)

I don’t really watch the nationals either. I did once, for Spain (the finals). I was gonna do it another year, for Spain (not sure which year came first tbh), but the one song I knew ahead of time, by Rakky Ripper, did not make it onto the finals :(

Honestly, I wonder what the best way to enjoy ESC would be. Following semis? Nationals?? How much should I invest myself? But then I think it works as is, and would be too much work following everything. Plus, a lot more options to my already large pool of artists and music.

Well, sometimes if my mind is too active, I can have a hard time falling asleep. I end up thinking too much or too “hard” and my brain can’t rest. I sometimes just listen to music to fall asleep. As I focus on a song, my mind can drift asleep. Either that or I try and just not think, so my mind can rest. Sometimes I legit gotta go “welp, time to sleep. Silence, now” and just be quiet to try and sleep

Honestly, i’m not entirely sure what Flatpaks are all about. Not sure I could explain them. But I use them. I’ve used apt. I’ve even used Pacman and Yay in Manjaro for a few years. Now, I also Flatpak (no longer on Manjaro, though. I no longer boot to a blank screen every 6 months or so! Very nice!)

Wow, I too can silence my mind. I think. Since I often think consciously, I can just stop and enjoy nothingness, which surely is interesting. Sometimes the contrast between thinking a lot and just plain nothing is quite interesting. Can go badly, though, when someone expects me to say something and I don’t have anything to say. They must be on their own side just waiting, thinking I’m crafting something. Meanwhile, if anything, I’m on my side thinking of not thinking, or just plain empty, experiencing the akwardness. It’s been some of the most awkward situations, when I’m done speaking and they wait in silence, like I’m not done yet. Yeah, my answer wasn’t very long, and you may want more, but I’m just done on my side. Do I need to vocalise an End of Line character?

Ooh, Alpha channel. Forgot of that. That is a nice one. Love me some alpha channel.

So, what would you say is best? If someone wanted to save an image, which format would you recommend? I usually go with PNG. JPG if I want bad quality on purpose (drag quality slider to minimum for extra compression)

The Vengabus… is coming.

Wow, did not expect a match! I do also sometimes just flat out talk to myself, or say stuff aloud. Not sure that necessarily classifies into the topic of “thoughts”, but whatever.

The Rich Have Their Own Ethics: Effective Altruism & the Crypto Crash (ft. F1nn5ter)