Does anyone have a copy of Platinum Xpress/DOS? I have a friend looking for a copy and I haven't found it anywhere, so I'm not sure if it was ever even released back in the day. It's also no longer available semi-legitimately from Santronics, from what I've heard.
Does anyone have a copy of Platinum Xpress/DOS? I have a friend looking for a copy and I haven't found it anywhere, so I'm not sure if it was
ever even released back in the day. It's also no longer available semi-legitimately from Santronics, from what I've heard.
On the Platinum Xpress/Windows FAQ page, the phrasing suggests that Platinum Xpress/DOS was in use at some point in time: https://santronics.com/products/pxpress/pxfaq.php
"Q. What do you recommend in getting ready to switch to Wildcat! 5.0 and Platinum Xpress from my DOS setup?"
Just an update - I registered for an account on santronics.com / winserver.com and overnight I received an email saying "Temporary account activated". I can now login to the Santronics Online support center.
Eh, if my memory serves, Wildcat! was the DOS version, and Platinum
Xpress is specifically for WINServer, which I believe is for Windows
only.
I could definitely be wrong, though. I've never used any Santronics products. :)
I was looking around on santronics.com the other day, as I have been playing with Silver Xpress. At the time, winserver.com was down but I
see it is online today - whether that means there's some maintenance
being done, or whether it is just unstable because it's on autopilot I don't know. (I only checked on it earlier this week) I did also notice that the ordering and price list on santronics.com is broken.
While I remember Silver Xpress, I never used Platinum Xpress (or WINS),
so I'm a bit ignorant on the topic.
There are a lot of files listed on the ftp.santronics.com server. It seems to be focused on the Windows products. Also, trying to use wget
to mirror them, I'm unable to retrieve most of them because it only
allows like 8 files to be downloaded daily. Anyway, I don't see
Platinum Xpress/DOS listed in the files list, only Platinum Xpress/Win. (but now I do want an archive of ftp.santronics.com)
I could definitely be wrong, though. I've never used any Santronics
products. :)
You're wrong! :P
I'm pretty sure it's the latter, though they do still respond to phone calls and emails, I guess.
I believe Santronics has pretty much always regarded their DOS products as unsupported, though they will still begrudgingly sell you a copy of Wildcat! 4.20, oddly enough. Funny that they sell an old copy of Mustang's product, but not their own. :P
From what I recall, he/they has/have always been like that. Even used to scream (as much as you can actually scream, I guess) at people on
Fidonet, threatening to pull customers' licenses and send their money back, etc. if they so much as disagreed with him on certain things.
Quoting Accession to Jack Phlash <=-
Fidonet, threatening to pull customers' licenses and send their money back, etc. if they so much as disagreed with him on certain things.
They did that to me. :) I don't care though. I took the refund and
use the software (if i want to) because screw them. :)
I found that out when akacastor actually did the dirty work and went digging in the validated part of Santronics website. Granted, I've never
been a fan of either the software or the guy who created it, so I
probably shouldn't have said anything in the first place.
I just saw conversation on Zeronet, so joined in. :D
Of course. Any chance that dude could have to still charge someone for that software, he will do it. :)
From what I recall, he/they has/have always been like that. Even used to scream (as much as you can actually scream, I guess) at people on
Fidonet, threatening to pull customers' licenses and send their money back, etc. if they so much as disagreed with him on certain things.
I'm pretty sure it's the latter, though they do still respond to phon calls and emails, I guess.
Of course. Any chance that dude could have to still charge someone for that software, he will do it. :)
I just saw conversation on Zeronet, so joined in. :D
Indeed. A rare thing these days. I'm hoping I get a free day with the upcoming 3 day weekend to finally get all of my Zer0net changes ready. Wish me luck!
I've bitched about this on here more than once in the past, but yeah, their whole pricing structure with the "AUP" subscription model is ridiculous and their insistence on applying their draconian business policies to us hobbyists is insulting and, in my opinion, was shortsighted. (That is, if they'd been a bit more gentle with us,
Wildcat! could still be a fairly popular BBS software today, and they could still some make money from their products from hobbyists as a
result instead of what I'd imagine is only the rare purchase from our
end of things.)
Quoting Accession to Tiny <=-
So they sent you a refund, but they were unable to pull the license because it was just a plug in key file?
If so, that's awesome! :D
I just priced out a fully licensed WildCat! BBS that would run 2oFB with the same options (and some WC! extras) that my Mystic board has...
$4,XXX!
While I remember Silver Xpress, I never used Platinum Xpress (or WINS so I'm a bit ignorant on the topic.
Silver Xpress was just an offline mailreader, wasn't it?
I believe Santronics has pretty much always regarded their DOS products
as unsupported, though they will still begrudgingly sell you a copy of Wildcat! 4.20, oddly enough. Funny that they sell an old copy of
Mustang's product, but not their own. :P
I am really curious about Platinum Xpress now, I wonder if we will ever see a full version of it? I was able to download some updates from the Santronics FTP but no full installer for Platinum Xpress/DOS.
I am really curious about Platinum Xpress now, I wonder if we will ev see a full version of it? I was able to download some updates from Santronics FTP but no full installer for Platinum Xpress/DOS.
I have a licensed copy for Windows but there doesn't appear to be any support for the 16bit version. :/
I run a WC! 4.2 bbs and I have the "Test Drive" version of PX/DOS, but
it does me no good because I need a temporary license to be able to use it. I've contacted Santronics to see if they would sell me a copy of PX/DOS, and even tried to download the demo from the page that goes to nowhere. They won't sell it... they say it's "unavailable".
I believe the only way to get PX/DOS for WC! would be to get a copy from
a SysOp who runs it... and as I mentioned to JP, those guys don't like
to share because of how much cash they had to come out of pocket to
begin with. Even if it were possible to get a copy, Santronics would
want a "transfer" fee. I ran in to that with 2 ebay purchases several years back. I did one transfer and upgraded to 26 nodes, but didn't do the other, so I have another 16 node system if I want it.
I run a WC! 4.2 bbs and I have the "Test Drive" version of PX/DOS, but
it does me no good because I need a temporary license to be able to use it. I've contacted Santronics to see if they would sell me a copy of PX/DOS, and even tried to download the demo from the page that goes to nowhere. They won't sell it... they say it's "unavailable". I was, however, able to purchase Wildcat! 4.2 MP, which is nice - complete with the manuals. They love you if you're dropping cash, but not so much if it's not worth their time. Strange that they don't sell PX/DOS.
Hector, I believe, actually wrote the orginal software. Maybe it's because if it were available, nobody would want the WIN Server software.
I have that also, but could care less about the web portion of it.
I believe the only way to get PX/DOS for WC! would be to get a copy from
a SysOp who runs it... and as I mentioned to JP, those guys don't like
to share because of how much cash they had to come out of pocket to
begin with. Even if it were possible to get a copy, Santronics would
want a "transfer" fee. I ran in to that with 2 ebay purchases several years back. I did one transfer and upgraded to 26 nodes, but didn't do the other, so I have another 16 node system if I want it.
Wildcat! is cool software, and it's awesome if you have wcCODE/wcBASIC
and the Plus Pack to mod it. It just sucks that it costs so much to get into it. PX/DOS is the only piece of software I don't have legally now from Mustang/Santronics. It really sucks because I'd like to see how PX performs. There are other alternatives, but that's not the point. Hell, make it open source or freeware if you're not going to support it - but then I remember who I'm talking about, and I know that's never going to happen.
I was able to download a demo version of Platinum Xpress for Windows.
Do you know if the licensed copy is different from the demo, or if the demo can become a licensed version with a key? (I haven't even tried installing it to see what it looks like so I'm pretty ignorant)
I am just curious about preservation of Platinum Xpress, whether the demo version + keygen would be sufficient or if someone would have to leak a licensed copy.
Quoting Freshrich to Esc <=-
Wildcat! is cool software, and it's awesome if you have wcCODE/wcBASIC
and the Plus Pack to mod it. It just sucks that it costs so much to
Quoting Akacastor to Esc <=-
I am just curious about preservation of Platinum Xpress, whether the
demo version + keygen would be sufficient or if someone would have to
leak a licensed copy.
Quoting Esc to Akacastor <=-
I think leaking a licensed copy is tough because each person has their
own license number, but I could be wrong...
This doesn't surprise me, though thankfully I've not had (or even read) any such interactions with him other than the story I told here in the past of trying to register my old eBay copy of WINSERVER and having him attempt to bury me with fees along with implications that anything I did without being totally settled up with Santronics was a capital offense. :)
I just priced out a fully licensed WildCat! BBS that would run 2oFB with the same options (and some WC! extras) that my Mystic board has... $4,XXX!
Dayum, Johnson - its 2o24... let it goooooo, let it gooooooooo!
Yeah man. We're not the intended consumers, here. Santronics is trying to get corporate contracts. :/
No idea :P I'd assume the demo can become paid with a key or something, though.
I think leaking a licensed copy is tough because each person has their
own license number, but I could be wrong...
I am just curious about preservation of Platinum Xpress, whether the demo version + keygen would be sufficient or if someone would have to leak a licensed copy.
I'm getting all my BBS images back from my friend who hosted them for me for the last 15 years very soon. Soon as I have them back I'll get you
a copy of whatever I have. It's abandonware by now so whatever. ;) I'm hoping I get a nasty email from them if they see this. hahahaha
By ebay copy, I assume you didn't buy it directly from Santronics, and that's why he was freaking out on you?
On Sat, 25 May 2024 16:56:56 -0700, you wrote to paulie420:
Yeah man. We're not the intended consumers, here. Santronics is
tryin Ac> es> get corporate contracts. :/
That said, how many corporate contracts are they up to these days? Do any actual 'corporations' even look at this kind of software without
giggling in this day and age? :)
It was less that they were freaking out, and more that they were only speaking to me in very terse, black and white terms, usually involving me filling out some official looking form (in a Word doc) and faxing it back to them, along with paying some additional fees. I deal with this kind of thing fairly often in my day job, and don't have a ton of patience with it there, so I didn't really appreciate the tone.
development they'd done on it since my Mustang version was released. I think that was about the point I stopped engaging with them. :P
I'm guessing they (and/or Mustang) got their feet in the door at some big businesses quite early when WINServer was actually still somewhat novel, and then did everything they could to hang onto as many of those customers as they could for dear life. While some might have held out for way longer than they should have, I'd be surprised if there are still any of them using it at this point.
Honestly, that was just as true 15 years ago, which was one of the
reasons I was so put off by dealing with them. I mean, I get that they primarily want to cater to business customers, but can't you at least recognize the interest the software has to hobbyists and try to serve it as well? It's great they have a "Community Edition" but a two node version of WINS for $200 bucks hasn't been a fair price for a long time now, IMHO.
When I ran WINServer I got the plus pack (didn't pay for it) and every aspect of the BBS was modified. I even changed the editor to make it
work correctly. LOL
I will say wcbasic is one of the best BBS languages. The entire wins bbs is coded in it.
I'm getting all my BBS images back from my friend who hosted them for me for the last 15 years very soon. Soon as I have them back I'll get you
a copy of whatever I have. It's abandonware by now so whatever. ;) I'm hoping I get a nasty email from them if they see this. hahahaha
That said, how many corporate contracts are they up to these days? Do any actual 'corporations' even look at this kind of software without
giggling in this day and age? :)
I'm guessing they (and/or Mustang) got their feet in the door at some big businesses quite early when WINServer was actually still somewhat novel, and then did everything they could to hang onto as many of those
customers as they could for dear life. While some might have held out
for way longer than they should have, I'd be surprised if there are
still any of them using it at this point.
Honestly, that was just as true 15 years ago, which was one of the
reasons I was so put off by dealing with them. I mean, I get that they primarily want to cater to business customers, but can't you at least recognize the interest the software has to hobbyists and try to serve it as well? It's great they have a "Community Edition" but a two node
version of WINS for $200 bucks hasn't been a fair price for a long time now, IMHO.
Quoting Esc to Tiny <=-
Do you still have any of this old code? Would love to have a look at
it as I haven't done anything in wcbasic yet but have paid for it lol
Quoting Esc to Tiny <=-
PS - unrelated but I used to download from your http all the time,
bummer it's gone :(
Quoting Akacastor to Tiny <=-
only value in this software is historical. Even if the author has
Agreed, there is zero value in anything BBS based now, especially something like offline mail or a tosser for outdated tech like FTN.
The value lies with us. We want to see it and remember.
The telnet stuff is not the focal point for Winserver for corporate
stuff, it's all the http stuff :/
Does anyone have a copy of Platinum Xpress/DOS? I have a friend looking for a copy and I haven't found it anywhere, so I'm not sure if it was
ever even released back in the day. It's also no longer available
There are far better (and cheaper) alternatives nowadays, with probably much less resources used as well.
At what point to you start being thankful, and possibly even cordial,
that hobbiests are still even looking at your software? :)
How long ago was this? I guess maybe if long enough ago they were still hanging on to those commercial accounts for dear life? Still, customer service is a huge attraction point.
Kind of what I figured, as well. There's entirely too much *way* better stuff out there these days.
Unless the site is basically on autopilot, and he's just hoping for someone to get excited and try to buy something. Seems to me the "Community Edition" should probably have been updated a long time ago (like after the dialup days). Who runs two nodes any more? Eh, to be honest, I think BBBS does something similar, but it's more like $80-100 for that hobby/community version, I think. I haven't looked in awhile,
but seems about right.
There are email lists which are used for support and there's actually
some traffic, which leads me to believe that there are some corporate customers. Probably people using it as CMS that have no means to transition to something else. I mean, it offers nothing at this point
that you really need to pay for, opensource tools are even better lol.
Agreed, there is zero value in anything BBS based now, especially something like offline mail or a tosser for outdated tech like FTN.
The value lies with us. We want to see it and remember.
Apologies for necro'ing this old thread. I know you guys have moved on
to BBBS... ;) but I've been AFK for over a week. I had family staying
with me, and then the left me with a nice case of COVID which has had my stuck in bed for a few days. Even now I'm sitting here sweating my balls off, rocking a fever... :/
How long ago was this? I guess maybe if long enough ago they were still
hanging on to those commercial accounts for dear life? Still, customer
service is a huge attraction point.
Yeah, 2006! I still have the emails. :P Long enough ago that they likely still had a few dinosaurs sysadmins running their stuff.
Yep. I'm thinking make the community edition 4 or 8 nodes and drop the price to $100 bucks and they might pick up some new hobbyist interest. Also, add some less "secure" features like door32 into the community edition while they're at it. That said, the site is in bad shape right
now and there hasn't been an update to WINS in a while now, so I suspect it's pretty much dead, or very close to it now. :/
I'm not sure I'd say "zero". Esc and I watched in horror as a boxed copy of MajorBBS 6.2 sold for something like $900 on eBay a few weeks ago.
Why? Who knows... :P
Apologies for necro'ing this old thread. I know you guys have moved on to BBBS... ;) but I've been AFK for over a week. I had family staying with me, and then the left me with a nice case of COVID which has had my
stuck in bed for a few days. Even now I'm sitting here sweating my balls off, rocking a fever... :/
How long ago was this? I guess maybe if long enough ago they were sti hanging on to those commercial accounts for dear life? Still, custome service is a huge attraction point.
Yeah, 2006! I still have the emails. :P Long enough ago that they likely still had a few dinosaurs sysadmins running their stuff.
Agreed, there is zero value in anything BBS based now, especially something like offline mail or a tosser for outdated tech like FTN.
The value lies with us. We want to see it and remember.
I'm not sure I'd say "zero". Esc and I watched in horror as a boxed copy of MajorBBS 6.2 sold for something like $900 on eBay a few weeks ago.
Why? Who knows... :P
Necro'ing old shit? Pfft. Jason Scott, BBS documentary, Metallica, and Lars is a shitbag! :)
That said, let's just call it the flu, and you'll be back on your feet
in no time. haha
I'd imagine his email inbox is pretty dusty these days. Maybe it's time
to give it another shot? You could even throw in the possibility of open sourcing it so it can be preserved forever!
That's about what BBBS is at the moment. I think you can round up a 7
node license for $80-100. But still, you have to actually like the way
the software works/runs if you're at all, in the least bit, willing to
pay that amount. Especially when there's other, better, FREE, software
out there.
But real sad to hear that you've been hit so hard with covid, I hope
it's out of your system soon! It's always a real kick in the nuts too
to be stuck at home sick but not in any condition to enjoy some computer time - the worst of the worst. Best wishes!
I get the impression everything now is exactly the same it was in 2006, frozen in time yet somehow not entirely forgotten either. It fascinates me. :)
The MajorBBS people are insane! haha
I never actually called a MajorBBS system but it's been interesting to
see that there are a bunch of people REALLY into MajorBBS and some of
them have invested thousands of dollars into buying up IP rights.
I've called a ton of Worldgroup systems since they were pretty prominent in the early telnet BBS scene, but the only dial-up MajorBBS system I
ever remember calling was Seth Robinson's BBS when I registered my copy
of LoRD. :P
Ahh, I feel the same way, but would appreciate it more if half the links didn't die sometime in the last few years. :/
The MajorBBS people are insane! haha (I mean that in a 'fun' way.) I recently joined a MajorBBS discord (maybe you're aware, Esc is on it
also) and it's been fascinating to learn a bit about MajorBBS and the current status.
In the 2000s, someone actually bought the IP rights for MajorBBS from
the bank that had foreclosed on the company. They've also bought rights for a bunch of the addons that were sold for MajorBBS. There is a
project to update MajorBBS, they discuss it publicly on the Discord server, but it is not open source (due to licensing). Did I mention licensing? It's very important here. :)
There is also MBBSEmu, the MajorBBS emulator which exists to allow the addon games for MajorBBS to be run locally on a computer without having
to setup an entire MajorBBS system. MBBSEmu is separate people from the MajorBBS (licensed) project.
I never actually called a MajorBBS system but it's been interesting to
see that there are a bunch of people REALLY into MajorBBS and some of
them have invested thousands of dollars into buying up IP rights.
Anyway because I just worked on this and want to share, below is L408_AKA.TXT, a writeup of how I was too lazy to write a keygen so just pulled valid keys using the DOSBox-X debugger. :)
I think we could get another account to grab files if there's anything interesting there? I'm not certain if the temporary account will necessarily have access to all files either.
Quoting Jack Phlash to Tiny <=-
I'm not sure I'd say "zero". Esc and I watched in horror as a boxed
copy of MajorBBS 6.2 sold for something like $900 on eBay a few weeks
ago. Why? Who knows... :P
Wow. That seller must have been happy! I sure as hell can't figure out why anyone would pay that.
I was about to say that I registered for an account on santronics.com
and then was able to find access to a bunch of files (probably still not everything you want of course). But now I realize it was a temporary account and has been deactived already. :( That said, I just filled in the form to request an account and got the temporary account the next
day so maybe it's easy to get another account.
There's an ftp server at ftp.santronics.com that will accept anonymous logins but won't allow anonymous users to access most files. In /public/Public_Announcement_files/ is allfiles.zip that is supposed to have the complete files list.
I think we could get another account to grab files if there's anything interesting there? I'm not certain if the temporary account will necessarily have access to all files either.
Wow. That seller must have been happy! I sure as hell can't figure out why anyone would pay that.
Fortunately getting licenses is free and pretty straightforward. I have all the modules registered and working as expected. Well, except for Galactic Empire, which won't start :P
I love the concept of MBBSEmu, but it's really written for folks to just fire up and play an old MUD or something solo. It's not really designed for real usage, uptime, etc. And module compatibility is not 100%.
That said, I much prefer using it and would love if the problems could be solved so that I could have a transparent game launcher from my actual BBS.
Anyway because I just worked on this and want to share, below is L408_AKA.TXT, a writeup of how I was too lazy to write a keygen so ju pulled valid keys using the DOSBox-X debugger. :)
This is amazing. I've been wanting to get into cracking old DOS programs (particularly BBS related stuff) but don't know really where to begin. I appreciate the writeup!
I mean, if you wanted to, I'd totally encourage you to do some lessons on YouTube...just sayin'... ;)
I'm sure you realize that they're not putting their registered/full versions of their software (AKA the stuff we actually care about) on a semi-public FTP site, right? I might have been bashing them a bit here, but I don't think they're THAT dumb. :P That said, there is probably
some value to those files since I doubt they've been disseminated very widely at all. Likely only dedicated WINS supporters have them, if that, so by all means, keep up the great work with your digging!
Speaking of licenses, for Major BBS 6.25 / Worldgroup 2.0 there is this neat site:
https://majorbbs.lol
I am not familiar enough with Major BBS to know how relevant those versions, or modules, are. But I love the idea of the website. :)
enumsbaum is still looking for those bug reports! haha :) I have
never tried MBBSEmu so I have no idea about its stability, but it's good to see that it's actively developed. I've chatted a bit with enumsbaum and he seems pretty clever.
I have thought a little bit about trying to do some videos but am not
sure about some of the details like topics and production (editing) etc.
I was actually thinking that maybe doing a demo of the technique in L408_AKA.TXT could be a place to start.
I've considered trying to stream while I work on a crack/keygen but it's so hard to know if I'm going to make progress quickly and be done in an hour, or if it's going to take multiple 6 hour sessions where I spend a lot of time going the wrong direction. So I think maybe a recap after-the-fact might be more useful.
Solutions to +HCU Strainer 1999, where there were a set of challenges for people to crack and write up how they did it. At the above link you'll find links to comments and solutions from various participants. I actually took Spath's solution and assembled it and used it. :) The writeups are great!
Below I will include T5KEGEN.TXT from T5KEYGEN.ZIP, an assembled version of Spath's Terminate 5.0 keygen, it's available on Another Millennium BBS (another.tel) if you're interested in the assembled version.
On Wed Jun 12 11:15:00 2024, jack phlash wrote to Tiny <=-
Yeah, I collect old big box software (mostly games) and thought it would be cool to have a >boxed copy for ~$50 bucks or something tops, but I shot the link to Esc since he's way more >into MBBS than me, but I don't think either of us expected that. Wacky.
Quoting Esc to Akacastor <=-
of Spath's Terminate 5.0 keygen, it's available on Another Millennium BBS
Sweet deal. Also, I never called that BBS, will call shortly.
I called another millennium once "just to see". Now I'm addicted and
it's a daily call. :)
We can call it the flu if it makes you happy, but it doesn't make it
suck any less for me. Also seemingly contagious as fuck, as everyone in
my house got it last week... I was just unlucky enough to be last to succumb. :P I think I'm on the bounce back though, as today is the first day I've been able to accomplish anything other than sleeping and barely being able to watch TV. Woot! Back to work tomorrow... yay! Oh wait...
Ha! You're just trying to get me to incite a violent response, aren't you? :P
Glad to hear you're feeling better!
Glad to hear you're feeling better!
Thanks! I mean, well, that's relative. One of the shittiest things about it (so far) is that it WILL NOT go away. I still have congestion, a
nasty cough, and part of my taste blocked. Oh, and I've been running out of energy by like 2pm every day which makes working fun. Blech.
At some point in your life, by 2pm you'll need a nap every day. That
might just be a part of getting old. Good luck ever getting said nap, though. Welcome to my world. :)
Nah, but I had some (and kinda still have) respiratory shit going on for the past few weeks. Coughing up phlegm and whatnot. Seems like it's starting to clear up, though (slowly).
Thanks! I mean, well, that's relative. One of the shittiest things about it (so far) is that it WILL NOT go away. I still have congestion, a
nasty cough, and part of my taste blocked. Oh, and I've been running out of energy by like 2pm every day which makes working fun. Blech.
At some point in your life, by 2pm you'll need a nap every day. That
might just be a part of getting old. Good luck ever getting said nap, though. Welcome to my world. :)
Hey, at least I don't have kids. My afternoon nap success rate is like, 30-35% as a result. :P
Nah, but I had some (and kinda still have) respiratory shit going
on for the past few weeks. Coughing up phlegm and whatnot. Seems
like it's starting to clear up, though (slowly).
Man, I just want to feel normal again so I can let my mental health and other, more mundane physical problems be the only things depressing me. ;)
At some point in your life, by 2pm you'll need a nap every day. That
might just be a part of getting old. Good luck ever getting said nap,
though. Welcome to my world. :)
Dude! I literally need a nap every. single. day. It's gratuitous :P
That said I have to take a lot of SSRIs and they kind of wear me down. Nevertheless I nap a lot hehe
We _really_ need some new blood in *ALL* of politics. 35 year old
minimum age, yet they present us with, and we vote in these 70+ year old decrepit fuckers that are falling over and talking out of their asses (only one has fallen multiple times, but they both do the latter).
As one that can't nap due to absolutely no time, like ever, yet crashes once every couple months (might fall asleep on the couch at like 6pm and sleep through the night), I'm beginning to despise the two of you. :D
Well that's just god punishing you for gay people getting married.
DAMN YOUUUUUUUUU! :)
This might just be the new "normal". You can probably expect another
huge round of it, too, if Trump's ratings become significantly better
than Biden's, or even if he were to somehow get elected again.
We _really_ need some new blood in *ALL* of politics. 35 year old
minimum age, yet they present us with, and we vote in these 70+ year old decrepit fuckers that are falling over and talking out of their asses (only one has fallen multiple times, but they both do the latter).
Maybe this is actually the beginning of the zombie apocalypse everyone's been talking about, bue we are the zombies. :(
Ha! What? I had to do a doubletake and make sure Jas Hud hadn't made his long awaited return to Zer0net. ;)
Ha! What? I had to do a doubletake and make sure Jas Hud hadn't made his long awaited return to Zer0net. ;)
This is the only generation where the outgoing generation is wealthier
than the incoming one. Who is gonna protect these boomers' investments
if not 80 year old politicians?
I'll never have kids because I can't give up my afternoon naps. It's a serious conflict of interests.
It's funny how we can't talk about COVID without it instantly becoming political. I wonder if there's ever been another medical epidemic in the past so heavily linked to controversy, conspiracy theories, divisive opinions, etc. The only thing coming to mind right now is AIDS.
Seriously! BraaaaAAaaaAIiiiinnnsssssssss!
Are you one of the few left out there the truly believes COVID _wasn't_ political in any way, shape, or form?
Ugh, with all the people walking around staring at their phones, it's definitely starting to seem that way. Even on construction jobsites, as soon as a worker has a free second, it's out of their pocket. Then you have to yell to get their attention again. :(
But, but, but... I didn't need a nap when I was 27 and having kids. Now
I do!
~5 more years till I can maybe take a nap. The youngest is 13. :)
Are you one of the few left out there the truly believes COVID _wasn't_ political in any way, shape, or form?
It depends on what you mean by it being "political". If you're implying that it was engineered and released by the Democrats, the Chinese, or whoever, to hurt Trump's otherwise amazing presidency, which seems like what you were implying in your original post, then no, I don't....
it's not that I don't think it's possible, it's more like it seems incredibly unlikely compared to much more mundane explanations, and I'm
a skeptical which gives me a natural immunity (heh) to wacky conspiracy theories. That said, since I don't dig into extreme politics and the
weird conspiracy theories they tend to be associated with (on either
side of the fence) I'm not too educated in whatever the latest "facts"
are around the original spread of SARS-CoV-2.
If you mean political as in, there's a lot of politics wrapped up in the spread of it, the reactions by governments and public to it, the
discourse around it, etc. etc. (which is how I meant it in the post your replying to) then yes, of course it is. You'd have to be living under a rock to claim otherwise. Mean recognizing it as highly political is exactly why I asked the question I asked - if there were ever another medical issue, disease, whatever so wrapped up in politics. HIV/AIDS is the closest I can think of, but even as extreme as that got at times in the 80s and 90s, it feels like it pales in comparison.
I see so many people looking at their phones while driving these days. It's kind of insane, though perhaps not as insane as main character "influencer" culture. I want to throw up just typing that. :P
My sister takes a nap and tells her daughter to wake her up so they can clean the house. My niece tiptoes around like a fieldmouse on a bed of cotton :P
I really don't think someone would unleash a worldwide pandemic killing millions to score political points, I'm more of an occam's razor kind of person and the fact that we have these types of flus happen a lot (avian flu, swine flu, etc) and this is just a variation of that.
Plus there's no way this would be able to stay under wraps if it was
done by a group of political operatives. Things don't work like that. *shrug*
I'm not really implying anything, to be honest. But I can't possibly believe it was released by "accident" in any situation. It was entirely too coincidental that all the stars and planets aligned at the exact
same time, so to speak.
I can't accept mundane explanations, or excuses, either, though.
Same. I don't dig into anything surrounding that subject, as it seems
like facts (or rumors) and opinions from both sides are skewed quite a bit.
To be honest, my very own first personal opinion on the entire matter
was based within the first week when they made the very first list of 'essential' businesses that absolutely had to stay open, and liquor
stores were on that list. It was then and there that my original fear turned into more of a "wtf is going on here" attitude towards it all. After that, I questioned everything.
There was nowhere near as much media presence, and absolutely NO social media at the time. So just about anything from back then is going to
pale in comparison.
I mean, you can even take the Russia/Ukraine shit into consideration. Do you remember getting the latest news 24/7, how much money was being sent over there, the death tolls, etc. when the Russia/Crimea shit was going down years ago? This is even comparing shit that only happened like 8 years ago - compared to now. About the same activity, 1000x more money getting shoved at it.. and WAY more media coverage now.
Fuck sakes, Justin Timberlake got a DUI in New York. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT SHIT?! :)
((( Quick side note: Only on Zeronet can we go from Russia to Justin Timberlake in the same conversation. I didn't mean to do that, it was
just examples of how powerful the media is and the wide range they
cover. Then I realized that I did it, and decided no take backs. :) )))
That's an entirely new subject, and your last sentence basically covers
it all. :)
Are you one of the few left out there the truly believes COVID _wasn' political in any way, shape, or form?
I really don't think someone would unleash a worldwide pandemic killing millions to score political points, I'm more of an occam's razor kind of person and the fact that we have these types of flus happen a lot (avian flu, swine flu, etc) and this is just a variation of that.
That said, the economy was the best it had ever been, right before that shit happened. We could only ride that high for so long, though. Someone had to put us in our places, back to reality, with a couple years or
more of depression on top of it.
I can't accept mundane explanations, or excuses, either, though. Once
the gov't was basically busted/outed/caught in a lot of their lies regarding the subject, where has Fauci been? They probably have that fucker locked up in a bunker somewhere so he doesn't get assassinated.
Honestly, I do believe it's very possible. Definitely not "someone" pertaining to one person, but a large enough, corrupt, very rich, group
of people definitely could if they needed/wanted to. And unfortunately, our government (in any aspect, or either side, or all together for that matter) fits that description, perfectly.
I'm unsure as to what has stayed "under wraps", really. As far as I can tell, this entire ordeal has been kinda flipped upside down and inside out.
As far as things not working like that, take a look into what Navy Seal teams do on a daily basis. Oh wait, we can't look most of that shit up because it's highly classified information. I'm not sure why you need
any convincing (if I remember right, you were military?), but I think things work like that more than we can possibly imagine..
If you believe in most of the science around things like the origins of life, around evolution, etc. practically everything that makes up our reality is based on incredibly unlikely coincidence built on top of
other incredibly unlikely occurrences. I suppose thats why I'm
(somewhat) comfortable with that idea.
I can't accept mundane explanations, or excuses, either, though. Once the gov't was basically busted/outed/caught in a lot of their lies regarding the subject, where has Fauci been? They probably have that fucker locked up in a bunker somewhere so he doesn't get assassinated
Plus I'm not tracking what you're talking about re: Fauci, not looking to es> start an argument but I think he was a scapegoat from a political es> perspective perpetuated by a specific group, but I digress. Poor guy was es> just trying to do his best.
It's true, but I do believe that bizarre coincidences and other
incredibly unlikely things *do* sometimes just happen. Not every odd
thing that happens needs to be explained by a conspiracy or supernatural event or something else wild. I know to a certain kind of person (and
I'm not saying YOU here) that just probably sounds incredibly naive, but
I also think its similarly incredibly small minded to believe that everything crazy that happens has to have an equally crazy explanation. Sometimes weird shit happens for mundane reasons. *shrug*
If you believe in most of the science around things like the origins of life, around evolution, etc. practically everything that makes up our reality is based on incredibly unlikely coincidence built on top of
other incredibly unlikely occurrences. I suppose thats why I'm
(somewhat) comfortable with that idea.
They do, though to be honest, at least in my own bubble, I don't hear a lot of left leaning everyday middle-aged types (AKA my coworkers, etc.) talking about conspiracies around COVID *at all.* They mostly take it on face value, or, regardless of how they think it happened, focus on how
it impacts them - keeping themselves and their families safe and
provided for, you know?
Ha! Yes, all of the "essential workers" shit was absurd, though I personally think that says a lot about modern Western society - our priorities, how comfortable and shielded we our from grim reality, etc.
On one hand each citizen should do their part to help stem the spread of the pandemic, to help keep the number of deaths minimized. On the other hand, I need a damn latte and I need it now!
One of my big takeaways from that time was finding out that one of the companies I used to work for, who, no doubt, were not ESSENTIAL in any way, shape, or form, stayed open the entire time through the pandemic
and never let their office workers work remotely, despite all of them being able to do their work remotely if they needed to. It was like we were on two different planets.
That's true. Social media is a giant variable there. I'm sure there were discussions, newspaper and magazine editorials, newsletters and zines, etc. in the fledging social media and other media we did have back then, though. There were definitely gay community BBSes in some bigger cities, for instance. Those were little niches though - they definitely didn't have the reach and influence social media has today.
That's actually quite a good example. It was somewhat covered by mainstream American media, but only loosely, and we had at much more distant perspective of it than we do today, and therefore it was not as politically relevant.
It is, but I can't help but link those two topics together. When I think of things that depress me in our current, always online society, that
one is unavoidable. :P
I'm pretty sure Accession just misses the days that he and I used to
have flame wars over silly shit on Zer0net all of the time, and was
trying to goad me into a unavoidably spicy discussion around politics. :P
This reminds me of growing up when my mom would always yell at me "It's always gotta be something with you, doesn't it!" :P
tracking what you're talking about re: Fauci, not looking to start an argument but I think he was a scapegoat from a political perspective perpetuated by a specific group, but I digress. Poor guy was just trying
to do his best.
Like I said before, I was involved in a lot of government stuff. People always thought we were up to shady shit even in the things I would touch and it was always wild speculation that was very unrealistic.
Honestly the only person I met in the government who was a conspiracist
or whack job was Michael Flynn. That was the most bizarre meeting of my entire life. Dude had a complete screw loose. Don't even get me started
on what he wanted to do.
Things they do are far more boring than any salacious thing people
think. They go on raids, they shoot pirates, they take down terrorists. They aren't sneaking around doing nefarious shit like in the movies. I
know tons of these guys and still work with them on various things.
They're just normal dudes like you and me, and they don't carry around
an agenda or work for some shadowy government people doing sketchy things.
Anyway, not looking to argue about stuff, we can both have our own perspectives on everything. I just don't personally believe there was
any intention behind COVID - there have been multiple cases of things
that could have been COVID-like but were fortunately contained. This
time, it wasn't, despite our best efforts.
In fact, I was at SOCPAC (Special Operations Command - Pacific) when
this first started, and we had to find where every team was in the
Pacific AOR in case we needed to recall people due to the virus. It was pretty intense, and nobody really knew how bad it could get. We had to figure out where every boat and every person was. It was a nightmare.
Where has Fauci been? He stepped down from his position and went back
into the private sector in 2022. No mysterious conspiracy there. In
fact, the timing of that comment is a little off since he just released
a new book which the media is talking all about. :P This is another one
of those, as you say, Occam's Razor kind of things that just makes my
head reel. So many people want to believe he was some kind of powerful puppet master or something and the more likely truth is just waaaaay
less sexy.
Look, I'm going to say something incredibly controversial, and I won't expand on it much due to potentially offending a lot of people reading this, but I think most conspiracy theories are a lot like religious myth
- people want easy answers to difficult or even impossible to explain questions, they want something to believe in, someone or something to point the finger at, etc. especially if it aligns with their existing worldview.
It's incredibly unsatisfying to think that sometimes bad shit *just happens*. Viruses can mutate into much more virulent strains, turning
an easy to contain cold into a deadly pandemic, with zero human involvement. Similarly, sometimes the guy who brings an AR-15 into a grocery store and starts shooting people indiscriminately is just some poor bastard with a screw loose who listened to the right kind of
hateful propaganda. We want to believe there's more behind these things but sometimes the world just sucks.
Sure, they do sometimes happen. But if you're pushing yourself to
believe that covid itself was a bizarre coincidence after all the conspiracies, and then facts started to come out, and Fauci backtracking on half the shit he said, but consistantly pushing masks and staying anti-social afterwards.. I can't regard any of that as mundane.
Now we get into subjects like the pyramids. Do you really think Egyptians carried 100,000lb blocks of concrete across the desert and climbed what they already had in place to put these pieces in place?
Conspiracies about the Ice Age and how it may have completely wiped out better technology than we have now? It's craaaaaaaaaazy.
I totally get the fact of keeping family safe and provide for. That's
what everyone should do. And yes, I can agree with you on the fact that the left leaning don't question anything. Maybe they're the zombies, though? Do you ever try to look at it from every perspective? There's plenty of times I'm just like "WOW" I never would have thought of that, but it's very possible.
It's not western society - western society seems to be the only place actually questioning it at all. It's all over the world. In Europe, they basically believed everything their government told them. Even worse in communist areas abroad where everyone is basically told what to think
and do. It seems as though most of the world is brainwashed when it
comes to that kind of stuff. Most can't think for themselves any more.
Nah, not at all, bruh. I've grown up quite a bit since those days. I respect the people that are here a lot more than most places, and would actually enjoy a political conversation where both sides can give points that the other side can accept or reject respectfully, and no flame war needs to happen because of it.
By all means, I'm not reflecting on myself. Look at the suicide rates since 2020. Depression and hatred has gotten much worse since then. 2020-2022 was a terrible time, and I don't wish it on anyone. When
before have people been basically forced to stay at home, indoors, and
not even able to see/visit family? No matter what pandemics have
happened in the past, the answer is "never."
To be honest, I agree with you there. I also think he was a scapegoat,
and probably not by choice. He just happened to be in the position the government needed people to believe.
Right, and I get it. I'm sure it's way more wild than even I think it could be. However, I'm willing to bet some of the wild speculation actually came to fruition, also.
Imagine how many others there might be, that you haven't met.
Actually, I thought one of the better depictions was a series called
"Seal Team" with the dude from Bones (David Boreanaz). They had their boring times, then had some action, etc. And of course, they had their
own personal drama at the same time. I understand it wasn't truth, or based on a true story, but it was probably one of the better renditions
of real life, anyway. Either way, there was a lot of shooting pirates,
and taking down terrorists. However, there were some mentions of their higher ups doing nefarious shit. :)
I'm not looking to argue either. Honestly, between the three of us, this is probably the best and most respecful conversation I've ever had regarding this shit on the interwebs. I appreciate that. I'd love to
talk about it, but when some whack job gets out of line, I'd rather just bow out and let them do all the talking.
I bet. You mention "in case you needed to recall people". So you didn't have to? Were they considered 'essential'? I think that's where I was originally going with that whole essential thing.. Who is to decide what is essential during a pandemic? Was it based on the people that need to keep the government paid (well, besides liquor stores, anyway)?
Why did he step down? Was he used as a puppet? Was he embarrassed by his performance on the grand stage? I don't at all believe he was any kind of puppet master, although I can definitely believe that he was indeed a puppet.
Conspiracy theories about things aren't evidence of anything nefarious. They're just evidence of conspiracy theories. :)
The thing is, these ancient people were no stupider than we are. They
had their scholars and engineers. Simply because we don't know how they
did it is not evidence of some grand conspiracy. There is iron in Iran
that doesn't rust (can't remember exactly where) and Roman concrete that doesn't degrade over time...lots of examples of things that we don't exactly know the answer to. That's no reason to invoke some conspiracy
to explain it, though.
I don't think there's any real clear evidence of that being the case,
just some conspiracy theories. Which, again, are just evidence of conspiracy theories. Someone can posit whatever they want and use circumstantial crap to try to justify their position but if what they claimed had any teeth, it would change our science and history books.
I think there's a big difference between being open minded and being susceptible to misinformation and disinformation. Our parents'
generation really struggle with this, believing every random thing they read on Facebook or see on YouTube. I again defer to Occam's Razor on
much of this.
Having traveled a ton and interacted with people in various parts of the globe, I don't really see this as the case at all. We're no different
from people anywhere else. *shrug*
Hey you shut your whore mouth!!! ;)
Just keep in mind this happened globally! We also haven't had a pandemic happen when each city was a global center interconnected with airports
and fast moving transit. The entire situation was unprecedented.
I think the dude did his best. He really just parrotted what the WHO was advising, similar to a whole bunch of other countries. Some countries
went a bit more intense, others more lax. We (Americans) aren't unique
in any of this. I feel bad for the dude having gotten death threats to
him and his family all predicated by conspiracy theories, sort of like Pizzagate getting people killed :(
I'm here to tell you it is very not-wild. It's actually super boring.
The basic stuff that you think happens is basically what happens,
nothing salacious or sexy or exciting.
The higher ups don't have time for doing nefarious shit I assure you!
It's all just mission planning, protecting us from terrorists. Boring shit.
Hey you stop being such a jerk! hehe
The 'essential' thing for people abroad was really what people we needed doing whatever job they were doing to continue doing so or if it was a better idea to have them come home. It wasn't a conversation about who could earn more money or who needed to go bag groceries.
there, dude just did the job that was asked of him, his countrymen spit
in his face for it, so he stopped.
Sure, they do sometimes happen. But if you're pushing yourself to
believe that covid itself was a bizarre coincidence after all the conspiracies, and then facts started to come out, and Fauci backtracking on half the shit he said, but consistantly pushing masks and staying anti-social afterwards.. I can't regard any of that as mundane.
I totally get the fact of keeping family safe and provide for. That's
what everyone should do. And yes, I can agree with you on the fact that the left leaning don't question anything. Maybe they're the zombies, though? Do you ever try to look at it from every perspective? There's plenty of times I'm just like "WOW" I never would have thought of that, but it's very possible.
Am I wrong, or was FIDO created by a gay guy, exactly for this kind of reason (as an outlet for their own). Obviously, others got involved and brought it to everyone else, but..
I can't believe 'influencers' can make millions a year. That is
definitely a depressant, after thinking I did good going into the trades.
As for people driving while on their phone, if I see that, I lay on my horn for like 30 seconds, while staying right next to them on purpose. Fuck you if you're going to veer into my lane and not be aware of it.
Nah, not at all, bruh. I've grown up quite a bit since those days. I respect the people that are here a lot more than most places, and would actually enjoy a political conversation where both sides can give points that the other side can accept or reject respectfully, and no flame war needs to happen because of it.
By all means, I'm no scholar of the subject, and most of the time I
don't care and don't want to argue about it. But, there's some freaky
shit going on in the world today. We're either going to bend over and accept it, or try to figure out what's actually right and wrong.
<3
To be honest, I agree with you there. I also think he was a scapegoat,
and probably not by choice. He just happened to be in the position the government needed people to believe.
Why did he step down? Was he used as a puppet? Was he embarrassed by his performance on the grand stage? I don't at all believe he was any kind of puppet master, although I can definitely believe that he was indeed a puppet.
No offense taken, whatsoever. There's a lot of conspiracy theories out there. This is just one that rubbed me the wrong way. Well, that, and
the pyramids. :)
Shit, bad things happen more often than good things. But, when you say zero human involvement - who actually opened the vault/case/whatever containing covid, and when that was done, why weren't the most strict measures taken to contain it within said building?
According to what you say above, a school shooting can be done by a
single person with a screw loose. What is to say that releasing a
disease like the covid-flu couldn't be done by the same kind of person?
Hey you shut your whore mouth!!! ;)
The problem is, nobody knows what are actual conspiracy theories or not. Anything is possible.
Sure, but labeling anything that's not what the government tells you a conspiracy is also not a great idea.
Agreed, but who is to say what is truth or disinformation? Was Occam's Razor invented as the modern day "meh"? May as well just use the
simplest answer to anything questionable, so we can forget (or never
know) about what may have really happened.
My dad is going to kick your dad's ass! :)
There's just so many unknown variables. For a lengthy period during that time, there were absolutely no flu statistics. It ultimately changed to covid only. It seemed as though nobody could tell the difference between the two, so they just summed it up all in the one category they needed
to in order for hospitals to get the funding they needed. Reports of doctors/nurses stating that any patients, or even dead ones, that were diagnosed with covid gave the hospital a good chunk of money. Again,
it's hard to determine what the actual conspiracy theories are, and what aren't.
Death threats are wrong in any case. However, I can definitley see why
the people are divided on this guy and the people he represented. Many people lost their jobs and livelihood when *choosing* not to take the forced vaccine. There are live testimonies out there stating there was absolutely no data supporting masks and social distancing, which, in the end probably hurt more than it helped. There was definite attempt at taking away the freedoms of the American people, which probably plays a good part in support for our government and heath organisations being at an all time low.
Aww. Don't ruin it for the rest of us, peasants. :)
I didn't mean the direct higher ups, I more meant the suits way up there that probably just make phone calls. :)
I think, at the time, I was just pooling that comment into what was considered 'essential' here at home. I had so many questions at the time as to why certain things were considered essential, and other things
were not.
Asked? Or told.. The world may never know.
seemingly only getting worse. I sometimes think I just have nostalgia glasses on, like the stereotypical "back in my day..." old timers, but
at other times, I'm really not so sure it isn't true.
Ha! It's funny to think about it from a different perspective here - imagine you're in his position. You have a cushy job, you're well respected in professional circles, you have this extremely rare,
dignified position in the government, yet you're relatively unknown to
the general public. Life is good. Next thing you know you're having to
get on TV and make statements about a constantly evolving situation you know very little about, while the whole world, not just the nation, watches your every move. Both your detractors and your supports criticizing your every word. No matter what you think of him, it's an unenviable situation. Haha! :P
I mean, there's probably at least like a dozen well documented
conspiracy theories for literally anything you can think of, no matter
how outlandish, these days. :P
COVID didn't *have to* be contained anywhere though, that was my point.
It could have literally mutated into existence in the wild. Sure, it
could have been engineered or otherwise held in a lab, for research for much more nefarious purposes too, no doubt, and it could have even been released on purpose, but again, that's a sexier answer to what could
also be a much more mundane scenario.
Sure, it could have been! But that's similarly also a less appealing
story than a vast deep state conspiracy and/or a foreign nation
attempting to manipulate our government from afar. :)
There has to be a limit though, no? I mean, you can't believe anything
any person throws out there, right?
I don't think that's how I'd characterize it. I'm disinclined to believe claims by people that aren't the consensus agreed upon by fields of experts. I dunno.
My dad is going to kick your dad's ass! :)
Haha my Dad is actually sitting across from me at the moment, I'm gonna tell him you said this!
This wasn't unique to us or our country. This was done worldwide. And it wasn't about funding...hospitals were literally overflowing with
patients and the doctors were unable to treat all of the people. If
there was a global effort to get hospital funding all of a sudden by fudging the line between a deadly pandemic and a flu, I'd be very surprised. Sounds like a movie plot ;)
Agree to disagree on all of this. I am pro vaccine, pro mask (which data continues to support, fyi).
I think support for our health organizations being at an all time low is also primarily from a very specific demographic. I'll leave it at that ;)
Ha! Ok ok, everything we've ever been told is a lie, don't worry hehe
Someone can claim without evidence that he was a puppet with someone
else pulling the strings. However, until someone provides some sort of evidence of such a claim, I have no reason to believe it and start
doubting the Fauci narrative. Personally for me I have zero belief in
any corrupt Fauci narrative, it just makes zero sense for me whatsoever, but even still, someone basically making a claim that there's more than meets the eye is something I disbelieve until there's some sort of evidence.
Aren't the 80 year old politicians the ones threatening to take away Medicare/Medicaid after our generation has paid into it all of our lives?
I thought the whole original blame was on the Chinese lab in Wuhan? It looks like they were still pointing fingers and really had no idea whatsoever even as late as 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57268111
I remember hearing about the lab in China, possibly bats transferring it to some other animal that was in contact with humans, etc. But damn,
China tried blaming us at one point, even. :D
That's ok. My dad is dead, so your dad wins by default. :)
Black Ops 6 is going to reveal the honest to god truth. Just you wait
and see. :)
I'm very concerned about the future. Over the past couple of generations there has been a steep decline in opportunity and wealth potential. Wealth accumulation by the few is out of control. Sure, there were wealthly magnates 100 years ago; oil, railroad, steel barrons, but the common person could also own property and strike out on their own.
These days the sense of ownership is long gone. Everything is subscription based; from the roof over your head (rent) to the textbook your read. Miss a payment and you are out. Coporations want to own everything and squeeze you like no tomorrow with monthly fees.
Throw AI into the fold and I'm not sure what the world will look like in 50 years.
Yep, those were two of the original stories, though China isn't going to admit shit, so who knows if we'll ever really know the truth. If I recall the person eating bats thing was debunked eventually, but from just randomly spot checking a bunch of articles just now, there is definitely still some major suspicion that it spread from bats one way or another. Fun stuff.
*sniff* damn dude now I feel bad! Sorry man.
Oh man these games stress me out so much, I can't even play them for like more than a minute. Plus am I the only one that gets motion sickness?
China isn't going to admin shit, just as much as the US isn't going to admit shit. It will probably always be a stalemate.
I remember hearing about the bat eating story. But no, I was referring
to the suspicion that it was spread from bats to animals, which
eventually came in contact with humans. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's some crazy muhfuggas out there doing some dumb shit like eating bats and whatnot, but probably not in this specific case. :)
I remember hearing about the bat eating story. But no, I was referring
to the suspicion that it was spread from bats to animals, which
eventually came in contact with humans. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's some crazy muhfuggas out there doing some dumb shit like eating bats and whatnot, but probably not in this specific case. :)
If I did buy it, I probably wouldn't do the sweaty multiplayer stuff any more. But the campaign looks good, and is finally from our generation (fairly certain Bush and Clinton are in it - obviously played by someone else). Pretty sure every other COD has been WW2 or earlier, or way into the future.
And no, no motion sickness. Do you get that shit when sitting in the
back seat of a car and not looking out a window, too? I know people that get that, but I've never had a problem with it.
Yep - you do remember those bat eating rumors though, right? They were everywhere in the early days of COVID. I guess it was just conjecture because there's a giant, infamous wet market in Wuhan. *shrug* Crazier things have happened.
Bats are actually effective vectors for viruses that can impact humans. We don't need to eat them, either...it could be a bite, coming in contact with bat guano, etc. Ebola is an example of this which lives in bats in the Kitum cave in Africa.
Yeah, I remember. I believe that some of the original ideas were that the testing or research that was going on in Wuhan was being done with bats. However, I have no idea how it got to the point of someone eating one. :)
Yeah, I remember. I believe that some of the original ideas were that the testing or research that was going on in Wuhan was being done with bats. However, I have no idea how it got to the point of someone eating one. :)
Yeah, I remember. I believe that some of the original ideas were that testing or research that was going on in Wuhan was being done with ba However, I have no idea how it got to the point of someone eating one
Yeah, I was going to mention that - I think the SARS-2 variations they were studying there were from bats. That rumor might have literally started because of someone knowing about the wet market combined with
the rumor that COVID-19 came from bats. Another fine example of possible correlation (probably) not equaling causation!
There was no wet market; there were U.S. funded labs that let these last three years out - but..; paulie steps back slowly...
I dislike a zer0 that is political - there are too many views from every different side.
I'd rather sit with everyone and compromise for our future - we can do this.
I mean I don't know about you but what else would you do if you found a bat?
Yeah, I was going to mention that - I think the SARS-2 variations they were studying there were from bats. That rumor might have literally started because of someone knowing about the wet market combined with the rumor that COVID-19 came from bats. Another fine example of possible correlation (probably) not equaling causation!
not, but I'd take it in a heartbeat). The only problem is, once you sell for 300k, now you're looking at 500-600k houses on average. Is it worth starting completely over at 43 years old? I don't think so. This house
I don't even know what to think about all that. I've disabled any and every AI thing on my phones and computers, but it's only a matter of time until it's forced. Flashbacks of the Terminator movies keep going through my head. :(
I regret not being smarter in my younger years and buying a house. My now wife did it when she was young and it was a super smart move. We live in that house now. In her late 20s she was paying the same for a mortgage as I was for rent. fast forward 15 years and she owned a house why I was still paying rent.
I think rent is a trap. Sure its more "care free" but you are building zero equity for yourself.
I have no problem using AI, my concern is more along the lines of it take peoples jobs. Unless universal income becomes a thing, we are all in trouble.
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