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Post by Icctrombone on Oct 18, 2023 9:40:47 GMT -5
That was the polar opposite of what I was gonna say.
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 18, 2023 9:48:56 GMT -5
Don't panda to your audience.
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Post by impulse on Oct 18, 2023 9:54:58 GMT -5
Are you trying to bamboozle me with your fancy word play?
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Post by tartanphantom on Oct 18, 2023 10:11:25 GMT -5
Don't panda to your audience.
Lest ye run the risk of dealing with this...
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2023 15:06:53 GMT -5
Don't panda to your audience.
Lest ye run the risk of dealing with this...
THE most dangerous bears of all......
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 18, 2023 20:25:39 GMT -5
Did they grow up to be this crowd?
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Post by driver1980 on Oct 19, 2023 8:51:34 GMT -5
Does anyone know where I can get a bank loan to buy postage stamps?
Eight stamps (first-class) are now £10. To think, I could get a graphic novel for that price, give or take. I don’t even know if you can buy stamps individually; some corner shops used to sell you one stamp, but someone told me you have to buy a book of stamps.
First-world problems, eh?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2023 9:08:25 GMT -5
Does anyone know where I can get a bank loan to buy postage stamps? Eight stamps (first-class) are now £10. To think, I could get a graphic novel for that price, give or take. I don’t even know if you can buy stamps individually; some corner shops used to sell you one stamp, but someone told me you have to buy a book of stamps. First-world problems, eh? Wow, that's well more than double what US first class stamps cost. Though everything is so pricey these days of course. I still end up paying more for stamps overall, my wife buys these regularly! www.discworldemporium.com/product-category/discworld-stamps/
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Post by impulse on Oct 19, 2023 9:14:09 GMT -5
On the other hand, it is wild to me that I can spend less than a dollar and have someone come to my mailbox, take a letter out, transport it thousands of mile and put it in someone else's mailbox right in front of their house.
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Post by driver1980 on Oct 19, 2023 11:52:31 GMT -5
On the other hand, it is wild to me that I can spend less than a dollar and have someone come to my mailbox, take a letter out, transport it thousands of mile and put it in someone else's mailbox right in front of their house. Good point. I mean, I suppose, if I’m posting a letter to a house 3/4 of a mile away, that postage stamp might seem over-priced, but if I’m posting a Christmas card to someone in a Scottish town, which could be 400 miles north of where I live, then that same stamp represents good value for money. I do commend Royal Mail for having a universal service. Some have stated that private couriers could also deliver ordinary letters, but some might not consider that to be a viable commercial thing to do. So I’m glad for public services. I don’t use buses, but we have similar debates here. Most bus companies aren’t interested in non-profitable routes, e.g. rural services of an evening, so it’s left to the likes of councils to subsidise the non-profitable routes.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,065
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Post by Confessor on Oct 20, 2023 8:43:56 GMT -5
I'm sort of thinking of having a break from social media or even digital media full stop. A neighbour of mine has recently gone full digital detox and says that it has improved his quality of life no end. I've always been a bit sceptical about such claims -- after all, I actually quite like social media for the most part and I've always felt that self-denial for its own sake was silly. But I think I've sort of been prompted to consider this by the fact that X (formerly Twitter) is just totally out of control now! With respect to the current Israeli-Hamas war alone, the platform is awash with misleading information presented as fact, fake videos and plenty of downright horrific images of carnage and barbarity that I just don't really want to see. Elon Musk's decision to remove almost any kind of moderation or fact checking oversight since he took over the company has turned the platform into a cesspit of disinformation and extreme views. Twitter used to be great for world news, but no longer. Plus, an awful lot of the celebrities/musicians who I followed on Twitter have abandoned the platform as a result of Musk's changes and/or his political opinions. I'm kinda left wondering why I'm even on there? The other social media platform I use a lot is Facebook, but over the past year or so my newsfeed has become crowded with promoted content and "suggested for you" stuff that is totally irrelevant to me. Trouble is, I actually use Facebook for my job as a musician on an almost daily basis. So, coming off of that completely is a definite no-no. I guess the question is how far should I go? Or should I do anything at all? I mean, I don't feel that social media is effecting my quality of life, but both Twitter and Facebook are not as enjoyable as they once were. And I am of course aware that interaction with these apps subtly changes the chemistry of your brain and is therefore quite addictive. Maybe I would feel better in myself if I was on them less? I think a complete digital detox is not realistic due to my job, if nothing else. I also love visiting the CCF, so that's not something I'd want to give up, even if I wasn't a moderator here. Likewise, I like to keep abreast of world news and politics, so I don't really want to stop watching the BBC news app or similar. YouTube too has lots of historical, educational and musical content that I wouldn't want to give up. But maybe that's what these apps and platforms have conditioned me to think? Maybe I would be much happier without them, even if I don't realise it now? It's hard to say without giving it a go. There's also a real possibility that I'll do nothing. But withdrawing from the likes of X or Facebook is definitely on my mind at the moment. Thoughts?
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Post by driver1980 on Oct 20, 2023 9:12:55 GMT -5
I left Twitter this morning (for 99% of the reasons you did), so one bit of advice, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. If you believe you need to quit, DO IT. Sooner rather than later.
There might be some “cold turkey” involved, I guess I’ll find out. But “promoted content” and “suggested for you” is irrelevant. On Twitter, and the like, none of it was relevant to me. The ads were mainly gambling, AI, life coach advice, cryptocurrency promotion, etc. Oddly, despite following a varied range of subjects, such as golf, ancient Egypt and the local fire brigade, I didn’t seem to get promoted tweets/ads for golf, ancient Egypt, or firefighting. Like YouTube, which annoyingly cuts into your videos as you enjoy a song, I guess it’s AI software, bookmakers, life coaches and cryptocurrency providers that are paying Musk the advertising dollars.
The advice I’d give is probably something you’ve already done, but it’s what I’d recommend to anyone. For news, find some sites you like, and subscribe to their newsletters, opting for a daily digest rather than, say, hourly updates or as it happens updates. In my case of golf news, I just subscribed to the Golf Channel’s e-mail newsletter. With newsletters, I’d rather read a digest of something before I head out to work for the night than hope I see good news links among all the crap, misinformation and promoted tweets on Twitter.
I did a “detox” of 24/7 news. Whenever I was at home, even if I was doing something important like my tax return, I’d have 24/7 news on (any channel, I tried them all). If I was eating before working, I’d have it on. It almost became a habit. Over breakfast at 7am, I’d put the news on. So when I did the “detox”, it felt odd. But it worked. Now I watch ONE news bulletin a day. I read one daily digest in my inbox. I don’t need 24/7 news on in the background, so some news presenter can spend 2-3 hours showing me the same images of something and offering his/her opinion.
So hopefully any “detox” you or others do will work. My main advice stands, I guess: make the decision now!
Good luck!
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Post by Batflunkie on Oct 20, 2023 12:48:05 GMT -5
I'm sort of thinking of having a break from social media or even digital media full stop. A neighbour of mine has recently gone full digital detox and says that it has improved his quality of life no end. I've always been a bit sceptical about such claims -- after all, I actually quite like social media for the most part and I've always felt that self-denial for its own sake was silly. But I think I've sort of been prompted to consider this by the fact that X (formerly Twitter) is just totally out of control now! With respect to the current Israeli-Hamas war alone, the platform is awash with misleading information presented as fact, fake videos and plenty of downright horrific images of carnage and barbarity that I just don't really want to see. Elon Musk's decision to remove almost any kind of moderation or fact checking oversight since he took over the company has turned the platform into a cesspit of disinformation and extreme views. Twitter used to be great for world news, but no longer. Plus, an awful lot of the celebrities/musicians who I followed on Twitter have abandoned the platform as a result of Musk's changes and/or his political opinions. I'm kinda left wondering why I'm even on there? The other social media platform I use a lot is Facebook, but over the past year or so my newsfeed has become crowded with promoted content and "suggested for you" stuff that is totally irrelevant to me. Trouble is, I actually use Facebook for my job as a musician on an almost daily basis. So, coming off of that completely is a definite no-no. I guess the question is how far should I go? Or should I do anything at all? I mean, I don't feel that social media is effecting my quality of life, but both Twitter and Facebook are not as enjoyable as they once were. And I am of course aware that interaction with these apps subtly changes the chemistry of your brain and is therefore quite addictive. Maybe I would feel better in myself if I was on them less? I think a complete digital detox is not realistic due to my job, if nothing else. I also love visiting the CCF, so that's not something I'd want to give up, even if I wasn't a moderator here. Likewise, I like to keep abreast of world news and politics, so I don't really want to stop watching the BBC news app or similar. YouTube too has lots of historical, educational and musical content that I wouldn't want to give up. But maybe that's what these apps and platforms have conditioned me to think? Maybe I would be much happier without them, even if I don't realise it now? It's hard to say without giving it a go. There's also a real possibility that I'll do nothing. But withdrawing from the likes of X or Facebook is definitely on my mind at the moment. Thoughts? I only really use Facebook and Youtube. I did Tumblr for about 10 years and kind of got bored with it trying in vain to figure out how to attract more people follow me. For a while, I was also a part of this social media dating site that in hindsight was a very bad idea because you had people posting about their day and then horndogs commenting (it makes me leery of joining Facebook Dating tbh), but it also had a nice little community of people that made all of that nonsense bearable I only really use Facebook for the groups and chatting with friends on messenger, I'm addicted to keeping up only in that context and Youtube is basically my television. Has been since we got pulled from out of the dark ages and finally got ethernet I had some mental issues a few years ago, and ever since I've had problems going to sleep if I work the next day when I'm on my laptop or phone past 8 (something to do with the Blue Light). So usually I'll play some video games, watch television, or read
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Post by tartanphantom on Oct 20, 2023 12:55:23 GMT -5
I've never had a Twitter, Facebook or Instagram account, and I've never missed them as a result. I've always had friends that strongly urged me to get a facebook account, and my reply is that I don't need the extra "noise" in my life. I get along just fine without it. Same goes for the other popular "social" media platforms. Good luck in your decisions, Confessor. Just the fact that you are thinking about exiting these types of social cesspools is proof enough that you can do without them as well.
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Post by Calidore on Oct 20, 2023 13:04:49 GMT -5
For me, I use Facebook to check on specific personal friends, and if I had a Twitter account, it would also be for updates from specific people. I would never just surf FB or Twitter (or Reddit, et al), because that's how you get splashed by the sewage.
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