Could not gisagree more. Nobody can harm me much by knowing my ITIN. But government surely can torture me in prison by depriving me of my favorite ice cream brand. I have a right to keep it private!
Famous last words. https://t.me/kcpn2014/3890
The [Russian] Analytical Center of KCPN has conducted a large-scale study of the [Ukrainian] hidden military infrastructure, which provides Ukrainian forces with stable communications along the entire line of contact. The focus is on the “BakhmutTelecom” project — a military mobile network operator (3G and 4G) that was deployed practically under our noses back in 2023. We often attribute many of the enemy’s successes to Starlink, although in reality these are the result of organizational, not technological, advantages.
The civilian cover for “BakhmutTelecom” is J&Y LLC, which in fact serves as infrastructure for purely military tasks. The network comprises around 2,500 towers, 36 or 50 meters tall, arranged in three tiers. They are interconnected via underground fiber-optic cables and microwave relay links.
It’s entirely possible that creating a brain capable of controlling itself is more costly (in an evolutionary sense, measured by the number of generations needed to achieve this goal) than equipping a brain with the ability to check itself by communicating with others.
Nevertheless, some brains lack even that ability, gravitating instead toward echo chambers where everyone shares the same views, so no mutual checks are possible.
I see around 80% of videos on X (Twitter) to be from TikTok originally. Probably because TikTok allows you to save - and so to spread - videos you like but X doesn’t.
I simply clarified the current state of affairs without saying a single negative word about it. Still, you rushed to defend it. It appears (just my guess) that you recognize flaws in the situation and feel compelled to justify it to yourself, don’t you?
As an engineer, I see both the advantages and drawbacks in what I described. The benefit is greater comfort and improved socialization for those who need it. The downside—and perhaps a critical one—is that a country neglecting its brightest students with no state support risks falling behind globally. That might not matter if we had no international rivals. But do we truly lack them?
> teachers are overworked to squeeze out performance for the 90%, and cases like hers are the ones that fall through the cracks.
However, the opposite is true, at least in California. Special needs students receive exceptional attention, often double that given to others. Each has a tailored written plan, unique to their needs, along with a detailed report reviewed by a team of specialists at the end of every trimester, significantly adding to the workload.
Meanwhile, exceptionally bright students receive no extra focus whatsoever.
Oh, the shipping! Now, from the customer’s point of view.
My youngest worked in a furniture chain over the summer. And they got sent a big, heavy furniture set from the central warehouse, which the store actually didn't want. So, they sent it back. The problem was that the system didn't allow them to say: please, don't send this again. And the non-natural intelligence at the central base decided to send this set again. When my youngest started working - they were loading this set back for the seventh time.
Why 'loading'? Because no one could find a way in the program to send this ill-fated set back on the same truck that brought it. No one, except my youngest, that is. He managed to find the combination of keys and checkboxes that allowed them not to unload the unwanted set and ship it back on the same truck - and he immediately got a raise.
I suspect the set is still traveling. But now they only load-unload it at the central warehouse.
When we presented our pediatrician with our third child who could urinate in a sink on verbal command at just six months old, she remarked, "We should write an article for a medical journal!" We explained that such an article would never get published because it's not new information; most of Europe begins potty-training at around six months. Delaying this valuable skill until the age of 3-4 years is an enormous waste of resources - but still the whole country was insisting on doing it, don’t know about now.
> I already predicted that changing the number would prove to be either impossible, or have all sorts of cascading effects, ultimately terminating in official records no longer recognizing that the car is mine.
Oh my, I can feel that pain. Here’s what happened last week, caused by a change in… SSN? no - in our home address.
My wife earned some unemployment benefits three years ago, which were put on a plastic card issued by The Bank. She finally found time to access the funds (she’s a middle school teacher), but when she went to The Bank, they said they didn’t have the money anymore—they’d sent it back to California. So, she called California. They were like, “No problem, we’ll send you a check. Oh, you have a new address? Let’s change it. Wait, what is happening… oh, now your account is locked, it says: potential fraud”… They needed a supervisor to unlock it, which took 20 minutes. The supervisor unlocked the account, but because it was marked as potential fraud, they couldn’t mail a check anymore. Instead, they linked the account back to The Bank (20 more minutes), and she had to go there in person with her ID to get it checked.
So, she went to The Bank. But you can’t just walk in The Bank and show your ID to get it checked; you need an appointment. And to get an appointment, you need an account with The Bank. But her California benefits account? Oh, it is marked as potential fraud - it didn’t count. So, they spent 20 minutes to open a new account for her. She got an appointment for later that day, in 4 hours, went back to The Bank, and had her ID checked (yes, the second time in one day - they need to check your ID to open an account too).
Did she get the money then? Of course not—the account is still flagged as potential fraud. No cash possible. Call California again. California agreed to mail the check to the new address, probably by some oversight.
So my question is: do these “potential fraud” flags in databases ever die a natural death?
With some hope, sincerely, a
Husband of a Potential Fraudster.