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HamsterHookah

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Posts posted by HamsterHookah

  1. 40 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

    The Tom and Shiv scenes were pretty funny. It feels like the ear flick was ad lib. 

    Greg’s briefing on Matsson was another great Disgusting Bros moment. 
     

    The Roman-Matsson showdown was terrific. 

    I agree, I’ve felt a lot of things for Roman, mostly pity and disgust, but I think it was the first time I respected him.

  2. 1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

    we were cracking up at her "i can give you pr consult on the side if you need it".  "ok, step one, stop doing it", which is step one of every single piece of pr advice in history.

    i did like the juxtaposition of what mattison thinks her role/sway/juice currently is with her brothers/waystar vs what it actually is since the announcement.  if they take 192, she's going to become beyond irrelevant and hopefully gets back into political mischief right before the election.  she fucking hates mencken who is definitely going to lose and call it rigged.

    There is no 192. That’s an obvious set up and head fake before the next big conflict. I thought you were a writer, how can you not see so obviously there is 0.00% chance the 192 happens, to be entertaining hypotheticals if it does?

  3. 1 hour ago, Celery Man said:

    Opening scene was Ken on his way into work on what was supposed to be his Inauguration Day, iirc. Definitely referring back to that. Curious if there’s any analysis of who he is listening to from people who know more about hip hop. I assumed Jay Z last night because I heard “hov”.

    Said Jay-Z on the closed captions 

  4. 3 hours ago, 52-80 said:

    I found it nauseating. 

    When I was going through grade school, higher education was promoted as the great societal equalizer. It's been just that for many people, immigrants especially.  Now this article thinly suggests those people are still unequal on the woolly basis of academic sophistication?  Because their "pecuniary" approach is tantamount to "selling out" to McKinsey, which represents an "abstract pall"? 

    I can smell the condescension from here.  Thanks Aden Barton '24, good luck with your blog.

    (And if I misread the tenor of his article, it's because I'm just one of those cavemen prole)

    Also because you take the utilitarian bend as a recent-enough immigrant to not have the privilege of the truly upper class America (as most of us here lack as well, or else we would be posting on YalieBulldog.com instead of having slummed it up at UT).

    Liberal Arts is increasingly the bastion of the lucky and the privileged, is my takeaway. And I’m not sure how generative AI will help.

    But I also thought the article read like a college student wrote it and it was Try-Hardy.

  5. On 3/20/2023 at 2:28 PM, 52-80 said:

    You’re leapfrogging a few steps on the hierarchy of societal needs aren’t you. 

    All those things are great and all, but the pressing issue in America isn’t a lack of relevant tastemakers promoting intersectional native american lesbian art, it’s a generation of graduates saddled with debt and lacking marketable skills. 

    I wish I learned more of the liberal arts during school. I really do.  But my primacy was learning something to ensure a comfortable future living, which I’d rather have, than to be able to comfortably discuss Hegel with a customer….from behind a hotel bar. Fine with me if all the rich kids have that to themselves. 

    Quote

     

    In a 1966 booklet called “College Admissions and the Public Interest,” B. Alden Thresher, the first ever director of admissions at MIT, laid out two approaches to higher education: the “poetic” and the “utilitarian.” While “utilitarian” students were “impelled by practical considerations,” their “poetic” counterparts took “innate pleasure” in learning.

    Well, Harvard poets are now few and far between: As of 2022, more than forty percent of working seniors go into either consulting or finance. That number jumps to 58 percent when you add in the technology sector. By comparison, employment in the nonprofit or public service sector sits below four percent.

     

    Read this and thought it was interesting: https://api.thecrimson.com/article/2023/4/21/barton-harvard-graduate-consulting-finance/

  6. 5 hours ago, TexasMan said:

     

    Agreed-- I think Bill Hader will be an Oscar winner (actor and/or director) in the short-to-midterm.

    Also, I haven't finished this episode, but the way the camera zoomed out and having the same actor as Sy Abelman, I thought to myself "wow this looks exactly like that scene in A Serious Man (one of my favorite movies) when he wrecks and dies", and not 2 seconds later he wrecks.

  7. On 4/20/2023 at 10:30 PM, berlinerbaer said:

    My brain isn't making sense of what my eyeballs are seeing. Dictators shouldn't lose elections.

     

     

    As a man of many perspectives myself, I always enjoy seeing the different takes on issues like presented below, three tweets, from three different perspectives, about the same issue:

    Global_Perspectives__38_.jpg

  8. 16 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

    That scene with Tom and Greg with Mattson at the table was so embarrassing I couldn’t even watch lol.

    And I absolutely loved the addition of a hip-hop riff to the theme song here.
     

     


    I’m going to miss this show so much.

     

    Also reminded me of one of the early episodes where he was listening to rap on the way to do the Vaulter deal in the back seat of his black car, where the Vaulter guy calls him a nobody and daddy's boy, etc. which ended up being the same reception from Mattson. Not sure if it was meant to be a call-back or not.

  9. 17 hours ago, LonghornSean said:

    Hugo was cooking this episode.

     

    Man I love this show

    Was he? He had the worst lines

    "We are snakes on a plane"

    "I metabolize fast because I'm dynamic."

    "That's almost huge, those darn 10th's of a second"

     

     

  10. 13 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

    Not gonna lie.. I’d rank fantasmic pretty low on the nighttime show displays.

    Lame fireworks, kept getting wet from the constant misting fountains(our own fault for sitting close). Some cool stuff like the dragon but I could live with not seeing it again but that probably won’t happen. The temporary Epcot show sucks btw

    Agreed fantasmic was garbage.

    How did you rate Swan/Dolphin? 

    I have stayed at both the last two disney trips with the family (bonvoy points = free) and while the location is cool and the pools are cool for the kids, the food is absolute dog crap. Outside of the Shula's steakhouse which isn't exactly kid friendly and the sushi/fish restaurant that's impossible to get in, it's a food nightmare. And not just the cost and taste, but actually obtaining it because few options and huge crowds.

  11. 48 minutes ago, ztejas said:

    Yeah I keep giving them a chance and they keep sucking. It's depressing, honestly. 

    Their burgers used to be all melted together and dripping in juice and piping hot. I haven't had a sandwich like that from them in years now. The Texas toast is always dry and not buttery enough and the meat and cheese is just kind of... there. Like I'm eating a burger from Sonic or something. 

    Cest la vie I guess. 

    Same, same. I don't begrudge the family for cashing out and living on a warm beach somewhere surrounded by piles of money, but it's a shame.

    • Like 1
  12. 12 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

    I mean, I guess hallucinated them then.  When I expressed my surprise to my dad, he explained the Klan history in that part of the country, which was also explained to you above.  So, he wasn't as surprised to see them as I was.  But you probably know more about Ohio than my 80-year-old dad who's lived there most of his life.

    Look, if you really believe that rural Ohio isn't one of the biggest cesspools of racism in this country, every bit as bad as anywhere else in the Deep South or Midwest, or if you believe that rural Texas is worse than rural Ohio, then there's just no talking to you.  It's like trying to have a math conversation with someone who believes that 2 + 2 = 5.  It's time to just pat you on your helmet and tell you to have a good day.

    We all have anecdotes. The most racist place, bar none, I've ever been to was driving all over East Tennessee when I went to Bristol one year. 

  13. India better put on some shades or risk being blinded by the spotlight. It’s due to surpass China as the most populous country on the planet this year, according to a UN report released this week. And word on the pundit street is that it’s poised to get bigger in another way—by rivaling China and the US as a major economic superpower.

    India has already eclipsed its former colonizer, the United Kingdom, as the world’s fifth-largest economy, and it’s projected to nick Germany’s No. 4 spot by 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects India’s GDP to grow by 5.9% this year, more than any of the other 30 largest economies.

    India’s domination of the global economy is far from guaranteed. Let’s explore why India’s future looks bright, and some of the obstacles on its path to international economic stardom.

    The India “buy” case

    India has a lot going for it, including a massive labor force. There are 900 million(!) working-age people in India. And that number is increasing—unlike in most major economies, where an aging population is sapping economic growth.

    At the same time, India’s government has shoveled cash into infrastructure improvements and nixed some burdensome regulations to lure foreign investment. It’s paying off: Companies looking to diversify their supply chains away from China have embraced India as an alternative manufacturing hub. Apple recently began assembling its new iPhone in the country, and Volvo signaled it might start building EVs there.

    But India also has plenty of homegrown success stories.

    Over 100 unicorn startups call India home, and its $24 billion in venture capital investments last year put it in fourth place globally, ahead of Germany and Israel.

    A long list of Indian-born business talents has achieved great heights internationally, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

    Meanwhile, its growing middle class is a gold mine for multinationals searching for the next big untapped consumer market. The first Apple Stores opened in the country this week, and in March, Dior went all out with a Bollywood-star-studded fashion show in Mumbai.

    What’s holding India back?

    Simply having a lot of people doesn’t mean that the workforce will be vibrant: India’s education system struggles to prepare job candidates for successful careers and strains the country’s social fabric. According to NPR, the unemployment rate in India for college grads is 20%.

    A big rift between the rich and poor, still-deficient infrastructure, corruption, and waste management woes could give companies second thoughts about doing business in India.

    Tough tariffs and messy politics might also act like a foreign investment repellant. Critics are sounding the alarm about the authoritarian tendencies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and warn that his heavy-handed tactics in dealing with political opponents are a red flag for businesses.

    Nobel Prize-winning economist Abhijit Banerjee thinks India should look inward before it projects its economic ambitions abroad. He says tackling runaway inflation and focusing on societal health will go a long way in wooing international investors.

    Zoom out: The UN says that India’s population could start declining in 2047. Its current window to become a world economic power is wide open, but won’t be for long.

  14. 1 hour ago, Brothahorn said:

    Outside of the Warriors-Kings series, the playoffs so far have been very boring. At least to me anyway. Too many guys hurt.

    This. Last year felt a lot more dramatic.

  15. Biden may announce reelection bid tomorrow. The US president will reportedly debut his reelection campaign in a video message as soon as Tuesday. If elected to another four-year term, Biden would be 86 at the end of his White House tenure, older than any other president in history by far.

    • Fuck You 2
  16. On 4/23/2023 at 9:01 AM, Horn Dogg said:

    I can’t figure out what sucks more - listening to Kid Rock or drinking Bud Light.  Two variations of my own personal hell.

    The VP of Marketing who concocted this idea and the CMO were put on leave-- the company tried to make it sound like they voluntarily took a leave of absence, but reports from WSJ make it sound like they are being quietly fired.

    Probably because "The boycott appears to be having some effect on business. According to Beer Business Daily, Bud Light sales fell 10.7% the week ended April 8, while shares in rival Molson Coors appear to have gotten at least a short-term lift."

    Quote

     

    “Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence which we support,” an Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman said in an email. “Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence.”

    The decision to take a leave wasn’t voluntary, according to people familiar with the matter. AB InBev named another executive to replace Ms. Heinerscheid.

     

    I can see it from both sides here from a business perspective:

    • It's a declining brand and so you are attempting to broaden your demographics and buying personas and think you increase your total addressable market by appealing to young people, progressives, etc. who have never or rarely been your paying customers.
    • On the other hand, you are a lifestyle brand with an entrenched and passionate core identity of lower-middle-class/poor people and your billion dollar marketing machine should have enough data and analytics to show you that this would be a horrible, horrible idea.

    At the end of the day to grow and transform, you have to take business risks. People rise and fall everyday in corporations taking risks, this is just a really visible one. In fact, if it weren't so visible and political, I'd argue these folks would probably get a raise and promotion for taking the risk and failing rather then being pushed out, but alas.

  17. I read this today and thought it was interesting commentary on the psyche and personalities of people and generally aligns to the unhappiness and bitterness seen in people online and IRL who are anti-theists:

    Quote

     

    What do very happy people have in common? The Wall Street Journal followed up with the 12% of respondents in a WSJ-NORC survey who called themselves “very happy”  and asked them what they were all about. Here are the traits they share.

    Companionship: 67% of the happiest people said that marriage was very important to them, compared to 43% of overall respondents.

    Religion: Two-thirds of very happy people characterized themselves as moderately or very religious. The overall share: less than half.

    Closer to death: People 60 and over accounted for 44% of the happiest group, but represented 30% of total survey respondents.

    Gym rats: Fitness was a common interest among very happy people.

    What doesn’t seem to matter to being very happy? Political party affiliation or avoiding following politics.

     

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/happiest-people-america-poll-ef7c854c?st=cutgv2qdpi7pk67&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

    Work out your own happiness with fear and trembling, I guess.

  18. 34 minutes ago, NoName said:

    tell me you haven't used Artifact without telling me you haven't used it ever or know anything about it. it's much closer to TikTok than Twitter. they just added account profiles recently and it's pretty much a ghost town on comments. it's an AI-driven text-based news app. i use it daily. it ain't twitter.

    Substack Notes is like twitter. Post.News is like twitter. Mastadon and the fediverse is like twitter. Nostr is like twitter. Bluesky is kind of like twitter.

    Artifact is literally nothing like twitter. here is what it looks like:

    https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/6nW882jOKYTiJ4yyHiySfA--~B/Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTU3NDt3PTg3NTthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com/creatr-uploaded-images/2023-02/0c0c0cb0-b2e3-11ed-9f2f-8b7353214f61.cf.jpg

    Así es Artifact, un TikTok de noticias para acabar con las 'fake news' y  sustituir a Twitter

    You are right, I don't use it (or ever intend to). I am anti-social media except Surly, which is why I think the downfall of Twitter is hilarious and good and (chaotic good).

    I was referencing the April 11th release, of which Tech Crunch outlined it was an update to add functionality and compete with Twitter:

    Quote

    The feature’s addition makes Artifact more of a social network around news, rather than just the personalized news reading experience it offered at launch. It also makes Artifact more competitive with other places where people share news and information, including larger platforms like Facebook, Instagram and even Twitter

    (article here:https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/11/artifact-the-news-aggregator-from-instagrams-co-founders-adds-a-social-discussions-feature/)

  19. 11 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

    There are major players that would get noticed in a heartbeat if/when they make a run at it - Facebook/Meta with Instagram or WhatsApp, SnapChat, Pinterest, Discord, Amazon with Twitch, Google with YouTube.  Even Reddit.  Microsoft and Apple would be the wildcards, although maybe not Microsoft so much.

    We know Meta is playing around with it and they have the resources and they can piggyback off of Facebook proper for the world's largest user base, and have Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram that they can tap into for developers and features.  They have a ready-to-go advertising platform. They can host it themselves.

    We know Google has tried the social media thing in the past (and they are technically in second place for social media platforms with YouTube) and they have a built-in ready-to-go userbase that they can tap into through YouTube, Gmail and all of their Meet, Play, Voice, Chrome, and a whole shitload of other apps.  They have a ready-to-go advertising platform as well (the whole company is a fucking advertising platform).  They can host it themselves.

    Amazon has been building up their social media profile with the gamers through Twitch and Prime Gaming, and they've got a social media platform with devoted/addicted users that's dedicated to their original core business of books - GoodReads and they've done things elsewhere to expand their reach (buying the largest ecommerce platform in the Middle East).  For them, it's an easy monetization since they'd literally be using it to sell their own stuff and hosting it themselves.  They also have hardware to push it on.  And they could model it on TenCent - one of the biggest video game developers in the world, plus one of the largest retailers in China, and if you added up their user bases of their various social media platforms, possibly bigger than Facebook.

    Microsoft may not be that much of a wildcard - they own Linked-In with its 900 million users, services like Teams, Skype, Mojang (Minecraft), and they own an advertising platform (Quantative?) and more importantly, besides Mojang, they own two of the larger video game companies (or will) - ZeniMax/Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, both of which have portals of a sort and a presence on all major hardware platforms as well as social media platforms.  They'd be hosting it themselves.

    Apple has the money to burn, the hardware platform that seems to be everywhere whether it's a phone, tablet, or computer, the services, a massive pool of developers, but social media is messy as fuck and is not about selling hardware, (something that's important to them based on their acquisitions and product launches).

    SnapChat, Pinterest, Discord, and Reddit could tap into their existing user and developer bases, they have existing advertising infrastructure, but they don't have the money the ones above do, and a fuckup could impact them more than those companies above (any number of past Google or Microsoft failures could have sunk those last four companies).  Their user bases are extremely niche as well (maybe not as much with Reddit, but if Reddit wanted to dabble in the short-form social media platform, they could have bought tumblr a few years back).

    You missed the two obvious ones that are closer to Twitter than anything you mentioned:

    Substack with their newest release has a curated feed sort of thing (hence the Twitter war on substack) and the two Instagram founders launched their thing with curated news feed functionality like two weeks ago. I think it’s called Artifact.

  20. 2 hours ago, 83Horn said:

    So, it's been a week since the first two episodes aired, and no comments on this?  Is anybody watching, or watched and were underwhelmed.  I finally got around to watching yesterday, and thought the first two were a much better start than last year.  They look to be setting up story lines exploring unexpected consequences.  Not great, but solid episodes, and I look forward to seeing how the season plays out.

    I had the same thought; I think the concept is probably a bit too experimental of a blend to keep focus and eyeballs. 

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