BizarreByte
One has to wonder if the customs agent even knew what a floppy is, as there’s an ever increasing chance they’d never seen one before.
It's the income for me. This career was my only ticket out of poverty, it actually saved me from an otherwise horrible life. Now supposed to cheer that I might very well be replaced in the foreseeable future? It's the only line of work I'm skilled at or qualified to do and I honestly don't know what awaits me if I lose it.
The only people who wouldn't prefer that are ones who haven't endured true poverty.
I have little sympathy for those folks unhappy with their conventionally successful lives when that same kind of life allowed me to escape. When you grow up without basic needs being met they come off as having a severe lack of perspective.
I mean sure I hate my job, but I like having heat in the winter more than I hate my job.
Let's hope you never get unlucky, it only takes one border agent having a bad day after all. I've been to the US many, many times and as I said I no longer consider it safe, but we all have different risk tolerance levels.
> when it’s objectively far safer than visiting any all-inclusive hotspot in the Caribbean
I don't visit those places either.
Cry to someone else about how it's all media based fear while ignoring the very real changes in attitudes, policy, and atmosphere, but I personally see no reason to take the risk when I could...just stay in Canada and be safe.
Would you travel to a country where its leader is constantly making threats against your country, some as serious as repeatedly calling for your annexation? The current US administration has made it very clear how it feels about me and my countrymen.
I don't consider the US safe and I do not need someone to americansplain to me. You aren't exceptional, you're a threat.
For the foreseeable future I will not be travelling to the US for any reason. Canada is safe and there is nothing in the US worth risking my freedom for. I will remain here and I will continue to avoid travel to America as well as spending money on American goods/services.
There's no need for people to know my information because I happen to own a domain.
The goal was never to get rich as I realized early on that was improbable and I focused on other things.
Perhaps, but an interview is a fundamentally different environment than day to day work.
There's no way to solve the interview/interviewee problem though, the whole thing is impossibly fucked and is going to have false positives/negatives no matter what.
There's so many reasons why purpose should be found outside of work.
One day I made the mistake of leaning against the wall in a TTC subway station while in a white shirt. I didn't realize how much oil, brake dust, and other mechanical grime there was until that moment.
I had to go home and change.
Proof? Cigarette companies, Dupont, and others were happy to do that.
You have options other than Macbooks. The communist kid with a Macbook is a meme for a reason, they're out of touch. It's absurd to call oneself a communist or socialist while buying one of the most expensive options from one of the biggest companies.
What a different example? It's easier to take a communist/socialist who drives a basic Corolla seriously than one who drives a BMW.
This comes across as snark, but I will assume you are well meaning. I have put code, guides, and videos on the internet for other people to consume for free in the hope that those people find that stuff useful.
I did not put stuff on the internet for it to be hoovered up and frankly stolen by massive AI companies to enrich themselves. If they are going to use my things in their commercial product than yes, they should be compensating me for that.
> Is this because they are multi-billion dollar companies, or because they behave poorly
It's also both of these.
> It is very likely that voting, or voting with your wallet, or probably any kind of activism, would have more impact than withdrawing from the (online) public life.
The only true control I have is withdrawing. I don't give these companies money, I don't live in a country that can meaningfully legislate against them, and I would consider withdrawing a form of activism.
I refuse to support these AI companies in any way (as long as they continue to be bad actors) and I have taken down all Youtube videos I've created, my personal website, and I have moved all my code to a self hosted, private Git service in order to deny them my work.
How dare people have feelings right? A lot of contractors (like myself) are treated like employees who are easier to fire.
I understand the separation from a legal perspective, but at the same time I've developed relationships with the people I work with and enjoy working with them. Being entirely honest? It hurts being excluded from things and not everyone has the option to just "become an employee".
I always find it cute to see what Americans consider a long wait for any medical service.
For myself in Canada the very minimum time to see a GP is a month and a half and that's a best case scenario. Get a different GP? Impossible.