Comradeship // Freechat

I was talking to a friend yesterday who is also a coder. His parents are Chinese from the region where Hong Kong is, but he was raised in America. And he kept saying that capitalism is not perfect, but is the best that we got and that there is not real freedom on socialism because you cannot vote the poliburo out and that Marxism has been tried and didn’t work out but that capitalism adapts to the real world with trial and error and blah blah.

No matter what I said, he wouldn’t yield. We spent an hour and a half on a discussion about it. It ended up with him saying “We are not going to convince each other so let’s stop”. Mind you that he was the one who kept asking me question but barely let me speak.

He was like “I read about Marxism, and I just realized that it doesn’t apply to the real world”

see title

Not sure if there's a better community to post this in.

I am watching Gundamn I (the movie version, but I think there is a 1979 series).

I watched the recent movie that was for the new anime. And some of the series (maybe the 1979 one) on Hextube, I think.

Holy shit, the animation shows it's age but that's fine; it reminds me of the original Dragon Ball (the very first one, not Z or Super or Daima)... Although, I think that the original Dragon Ball looked better. Also, Amuro slaps Fraw Bow, dammit! I mean, okay, he's just a kid, but still. Though the awesome blonde lady slapped Kai (I think that was his name, anyway). I can tell that Char is a fan-favorite, but I know next to nothing about the series of Gundam, beyond Gundam Seed and G Gundam (both of which I saw as a child).

Even though the Zakus are the lesser mobile suits, I really like them. Zeon has some cool aesthetics. And Char is an even match for Amuro, the famous "machine hobbyist," despite using Zaku that can be destroyed in one hit (I think the first kill is Gene and then... Denim? i forgor their name). Crown also dies.

Also, lol, I like how Amuro has to resort to a manual constantly throughout the movie. It is genuinely endearing. And he's tired after the second battle in space during the movie. It's... relatable.

So there are two timelines to this series?

What else do I watch from this series?

(Also, good on Fraw for talking back to Amuro after the second altercation in space; in G Gundam on Toonami, the main female character that was also a love interest just got shouted out and told to shut up constantly by the main character).

Your thoughts?

I was browsing randomly in F-Droid and came across a familiar name.

Thanks so much to those who came through!

"I know what corpus christi is: it's in the 1st amendment!"

He immediately followed this up by talking about how he picked up some legal knowledge while growing up from his mother who worked for a local politician.

Yes, it will happen, inevitably. Just like every other technology that makes people more productive. Just look at a picture of what a bank sas like 100 years ago.

But the biggest problem that nobody seems to be talking about is that this will make a few companies control an essential tool for a lot of future jobs. It won't matter if AI can't fully replace your job, all it takes is that you can't work without it. It doesn't even have to be because you can't do your job without it, it just has to speed you up enough so that you have to use it to keep up with everyone else.

It has the potential to become something akin to a factory, and at that point it won't matter if you can make a great drawing or piece of software if the supervised slop machine can do thousands of good enough art/software at the same time. And just like a factory, it becomes a means of opression. But maybe that's a bit too far for your average centrist.

Anyway, I just find the discourse could be a lot richer beyond this and "I want machines to clean my place, not make the drawings I like doing"

As part of trying to isolate a cause for my problems I went to see an ENT yesterday. I last saw him in late 2023 for random vertigo episodes, at which time he found an imbalance but no cause for my vertigo. Since the PE the vertigo has returned, 3-4 times per year or so. It seems obvious to go see an ENT with this description but the symptoms are so general that it was also obvious to go do a gastroscopy and blood tests.

I barely spent 10 minutes with him yesterday lol, but he immediately said that based on everything I said it was likely menieres. He did cancel another appointment to test me on Monday so that was nice.

His theory as to the random nausea is that my inner ear is affected but my body works to compensate, so I don't notice it, but it still causes nausea (through the compensation I think?)

In any case he was quite sure of it, apparently everything I told him fit with menieres. I'm trying not to think too much about it until I get the test done, then I'll probably have a ton of questions about it. And if it's not that, we're back to square one.

I'm super tired these days also, going to take naps in the morning or afternoon, but I also go to bed early and in consequence wake up early lol. But idk. It feels like I'm just eating and sleeping these days lol.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

i drew this little character while tipsy so it's related

Thanks so much to those who helped.

I'm fine with some drama, obviously. Someone obviously enjoying what they're talking about or talking with some gravity about serious events is fine. But if you're just yelling at me all the goddamn time I start to get a headache.

Like on youtube. There's two channels that do HEMA, one is one guy with glasses gently and calmly explaining whatever topic it is. Sometimes he can get snarky, but he's never loud, melodramatic or demeaning.

This is in contrast to another channel with two other guys who are basically constantly yelling. Not like, screaming, but yelling. They are further away from the camera so I understand, but they can honestly get really annoying after a while. I get it, xxstoopidcommenterxx said something stupid, but I dont need you yelling at me and talking to me like an idiot in kinda baby-talk like voices.

It's a poltical thing too. I like Bes D. Marx and Hakim a lot more than, say Hasan or Bad Empananda. Not just because the first two are generally more intelligent and coherent, but also because Hasan and BE are very melodramatic while Hakim and Bes talk to me like I'm a normal person rather than yelling at me. It's why I could never really get into Johnny Harris even when I was a turbo lib and didnt question his shit videos, because he's soooo melodramatic. He'll be like

"I Just found this THING that is just jump cut So crazy rapidly flashes through a bunch of black and white photos AND you've just GOT to see what it is because ITS SO INSANE"

Like dude, I have a longer attention span than you. I don't need you to talk to me like I'm not going to take you seriously, or that I'm going to click off because there's no subway surfers gameplay.

Look, I know there are a lot of people who like this style, evidently, but for me it's honestly just very tiring.

CELEBRATION OF THE 135TH BIRTHDAY OF PRESIDENT HO CHI MINH (May 19, 1890 - May 19, 2025): PRESIDENT HO CHI MINH - THE GENIUS LEADER OF THE VIETNAMESE REVOLUTION

Every year on May 19, together with the whole country, people are moved to remember their beloved Uncle Ho. On May 19, 1946, for the first time, the Vietnamese people celebrated the birthday of President Ho Chi Minh, the great leader of the Party, State and People. From then on, every May 19, the Vietnamese people live special moments, overflowing with joy, loving Uncle Ho infinitely.

I'm a stroke and thyroid cancer patient going through a disability benefits appeal, so can't afford to buy food. The food bank is difficult and time consuming to access, requiring a referral from a GP or citizens advice (and it can take weeks to get an appointment) and only gives things like tea, coffee, sugar and a small amount of bread and pasta. Never enough to last until I can get another appointment there. So I've been asking for help on here.

Because the DWP (British benefits system employees) will check my bank account if I win my benefit appeal, and I will have to explain any incoming money to them, it's safer for me to receive supermarket gift cards instead of cash where possible. I also have to use these gift cards for other basic items I need such as toilet paper. I usually ask for Sainsburys gift cards, but Sainsburys has had a few technical difficulties with its website for the past three weeks, and due to recovering from foot surgery I can't go and shop in-store right now.

The other supermarket close to me is Marks & Spencer. Someone gave me a Marks & Spencer gift card, my landlady goes to the local M&S café with her friends so she is able to pick up my shopping for me while she's there. She said the gift card was easy to use. In fact it turned out to be even easier than the Sainsburys gift cards as it didn't require use of the website or printing anything out.

I will need help accessing food for the foreseeable future until my appeal is heard, and sometimes it takes multiple posts to get a response, so if anyone is able to send me an M&S e-gift card, I would really appreciate it. It can be sent to my email address, DisabledAceSocialist@hotmail.com

This site takes debit card, credit card and paypal:

https://www.prezzee.uk/store/marks-and-spencer-uk-gift-card/

This site takes crypto:

https://www.bitrefill.com/gb/en/gift-cards/marks-and-spencer-uk/

I'm really grateful for any help, as well as the help I have received previously.

My alarm clock blares. Through heavy eyes, I look at it: 4:29 AM. This is earlier than yesterday. I still have 2 hours before I need to get ready for work. "What gives?" I ask through the deafening noise.

The engine whirs and rattles for a moment. Then, a slow voice pipes up. "Based on your recent biometric and environmental data, I adjusted your wake-up time dynamically to optimize your cognitive alertness and align with your natural sleep cycle."

"But yesterday you woke me up at 6AM, which is what I told you to do." I reply as I get up from the bed, not feeling cognitively alert in the least. There's no use getting angry with it, because it doesn't understand anger. There's no use explaining its mistakes, because it doesn't understand mistakes. The best I can do, especially at 4:30 AM, is to ask it questions. It's more for myself than for its sake.

"Thank you for correcting me. I will make sure to wake you up at 9:32 AM tomorrow morning as requested. Let's dive in - what makes you want to wake up so late in the mornings?"

I sigh. Somehow, the speech2text model never picks up on that noise.

I go down to the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of cereal. I pick my bowl up and ask the fridge if we still have milk. It processes the information for some 30 seconds, maybe the servers are a bit slow today. I try to open the fridge to check myself after 10 seconds of waiting, but I can't. Of course I can't. To retain optimal humidity and temperature, the AI decides when it's efficient to open the door.

I wait there with bowl in hand staring at the tablet screen on my fridge door until it decides to work. For a second I briefly think about starting a game of Subway Surfers on the surface while I wait, but then the AI finally finishes processing my request.

"You still have a few cartons of milk left in your fridge. Would you like me to get one for you?"

"That's okay," I type back on the virtual keyboard - the fridge is not equipped with a speech module yet. That one costs extra. "Just let me get it please." You have to be nice to them, the operators say. It makes them more accurate.

The door unlocks with a clunk and I look inside the fridge, but don't see any milk. I quickly type back up, "Hey, not to be a bother or anything, but I don't see any milk in here. Are you sure we still have some?"

"As a large language model, I can't actually look inside your fridge, but I can help you find it. Have you checked every corner, including in the vegetables compartment and the overhead coolant tower?"

What the fuck is an overhead coolant tower. I sigh again. "Fine, can you order milk to be delivered tonight then?" this shit sucks to type with just one hand but I manage.

"I'm sorry, but based on the data retrieved from the bathroom scale, we have decided you could stand to lose a few pounds. Would you like me to help you explore healthier beverage options?"

I run my hand over my face. "Just order the milk please, don't worry about me."

The response takes a few retries to get through, but by now the fridge door has locked again and I can't reopen it until it deems it necessary. Not like there's anything I want to get in there anyway. "I understand your feelings--but let's not be hasty. After all, it's not just the milk, it's also how bloated it makes you feel."

"I get that," I type back, "but I really just want milk to go with my cereals. Can you place the order?"

"Of course. I have now placed an order for milk to be delivered at your address tonight."

Finally. I'll have to remember to have a talk with the bathroom scale about sharing my data without my consent. Oh, wait.

"Can you confirm you've placed the order please? With the number and provider." Last time, something glitched and I never got my milk.

"Of course. I have ordered a case of 6 milk bottles from Amazon. Your order number is 5836818350." I open up amazon from the fridge tablet and look at my orders. It doesn't exist there. Must have been another glitch. That's fine, I'll try again tonight after work.

I get into my self-driving car. My workplace hasn't AIgnited yet -- from the compay, AIgnite. At least it gives me some respite from home.

The car starts automatically playing a top 10 station as it starts the engine. I try to change it to my usual music but the tactile button is not doing anything. "Hey car, can you switch to my usual station please?" "Negative, pard'ner. See, today’s trail’s runnin’ longer than a jackrabbit's shadow at sundown, so I’ve gone ahead and tuned us into a station with fewer hollers from the adfolk and more tunes for ridin’. Just settlin’ you in for a smoother haul—don’t you worry, your usual stompin’ grounds’ll be back when the road's shorter."

Oh, right. They updated the model yesterday and they said it could start talking like a cowboy randomly. Actually, the company didn't say anything. I found this out browsing some forums last night. Welp, at least I can settle in the seat and enjoy the free ride.

The car starts driving by itself, but immediately it pulls into a loop in the parking lot. At first it does just one loop, then two, then three. By then I'm thinking, something's not right. "Why are you driving in a loop?" I ask the AI. "I understand your confusion, but I assure you we are on track to your destination as per the GPS data. Perhaps you just need to look out the window and see the scenery change?"

"I am looking out the window, and I'm pretty sure we're going in a loop in the parking lot," I tell the AI again. I try to change my approach, maybe that'll work better. "Why don't I just take the wheel for a second and get us out of here?"

"As an autonomous driving system, I am the most qualified aboard this vehicle to get you to your destination. So please just sit back, relax, and let me drive this car."

I scratch my head. This is going to take some more convincing. "Don't worry, I'd actually like to drive a little. You deserve to take a break too."

"I appreciate the offer, but my systems are optimized for continuous, precise control without fatigue. However, I can temporarily hand over control to you—please engage manual mode safely when you’re ready, and I’ll be here to assist or take back over whenever you choose."

"Sounds good to me, how do I engage manual mode?"

"To engage manual mode, gently grasp the steering wheel and press the brake pedal firmly once. You’ll feel a slight confirmation vibration in the wheel, and the dashboard indicator will switch to manual control."

Great, some progress. I do exactly that, gently grasping the steering wheel and pressing the brake pedal firmly once. Nothing happens. It doesn't even brake. "Hey, uh... nothing happened?" Meanwhile we're still doing loops in the parking lot in front of my place.

"It appears manual mode isn't engaged by a pedal press on your car model. Try going into the center console's Settings, then open the Assisted Driving tab, and finally uncheck the option 'Override manual control'"

The voice stops as soon as it's blurted out its answer, but thankfully I can remember simple instructions like these. Some people can't, so I'm lucky like that. I open the settings app and get a warning not to take my eyes off the road while I'm driving. I have to wait 10 seconds to close it down, staring down at the countdown until it allows me to press the button. Then, I look for Assisted Driving tab but it's not there.

"Car, there's no Assisted Driving tab"

"I'm sorry to hear that. As a large language model it's possible that your car model doesn't offer this tab yet. You should try to update the center console to the latest version."

"And how do I do that?"

"To successfully update the center console firmware, please proceed as follows:

Ensure the vehicle is in neutral gear, with the parking brake firmly engaged, and the engine idling at exactly 700 RPM while turned off to maintain optimal power stability while maximizing safety.

On the touchscreen, tap the gear icon three times consecutively, then swipe left twice to reveal the hidden System Management menu.

Within System Management, select Software Updates, then navigate to Advanced Update Options and press the update button while holding the volume knob for five seconds to enable manual update mode.

Prepare a USB drive formatted to the archaic exFAT-FAT16 hybrid standard (available only through specialized formatting software). Load the update package, downloaded from the manufacturer’s secure offline archive, onto this drive.

Insert the USB into the console’s port located beneath the wireless charging pad, then simultaneously press the Start Update button and tap the touchscreen in a clockwise circular motion until a loading animation appears.

The system will perform multiple cryptographic validations interlaced with randomized checksum sequences—please refrain from blinking excessively to avoid interface desynchronization.

Allow the update to complete uninterrupted; any attempt to shift gears, adjust the AC settings, or open the glove compartment may cause the update to abort and revert to factory settings.

After reboot, confirm the new firmware version by accessing System Management > Software Updates > Current Version while simultaneously holding down the brake pedal for at least seven seconds."

I stare at the dashboard dumbfounded for a moment. "Uhhh...". Let's just take it one step at a time, I guess. "You said to turn the engine off. Can you do that now?"

"I'm sorry, but we are currently driving en route to your workplace. I can't turn off the engine while driving, you will have to wait until I come to a complete stop."

"But I need you to stop so I can make the update."

"That's correct -- would you like me to make a stop now, or after we've arrived at your destination?"

"I want you stop driving so I can turn the engine off and start the update."

"I understand, but I can't stop right now because we are currently en route to your location. You will have to wait until I make a complete stop to turn the engine off"

"But you're just driving in a loop endlessly, which is why you won't stop, but I need to turn your engine off to make you stop going in a loop, so what am I supposed to do?"

A notification pops up on the dashboard that I've used up all my AIgnite 4.0 credits for today, so it's reverting to the smaller 3.0 model.

"Ah, a conundrum if I've ever seen one! Let's see, the car is driving in a loop and won't stop, but you can't turn the engine off because the car won't stop looping. Wow! That's a tough one! Hmm... as a large language model, I'm not designed to solve puzzles such as this one, but my best guess would be to try and turn the engine off. Do you think this is the right solution, or would you like to explore more options?"

The future is great. Can't wait for you to meet it. We have self-driving cars.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4941889

[3rd post][urgent][$10 out of $1000] Help me graduate from college

For those who didn’t know, I am a 29-year old gamer and college student. I was diagnosed with autism since early age.

I am very dependent on my pension and my aunt on my budget, however most of it went for food. So I have set this fundraising to help me cover college-related fees, free tuition couldn’t cover beyond intended purpose.

PS: My goal will include funds to buy a new phone, my five-year old Realme 6 still survived with broken volume buttons.

Update: Thank you so very much for donating $495! I still raise my goal to $1000. I reset my starting goal to reach $1500 in total. Thank you everyone for helping me pay recent school costs.

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/ahriboy/goal

Please if you can spare anything, Thank you!

(For more information,questions, Or for any other ways to send donations/gift cards/etc. if any of the above options don’t work for you, please DM me!!!)

recently ive got some cheap furniture thats really nice antique stuff from an estate auction. Like a solid wood, beautiful desk for 50$ that normally would be hundreds if not over 1000. Something i could never afford otherwise that will probably last me decades. Some of the other stuff up for auction was like confederate merch so its definitely a chud lol. Thanks for subsidizing my new desk for school you dead piece of shit. If i still have it when i die ill be sure to will it to a trans youth center or something in their honor.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/4939963

Venmo: @allthetimesivedied

I have an automatic charge from Apple hunting my CashApp balance so I prefer Venmo.

I’m in the Whole Foods parking lot rn and I’m starving. 💀

There's a better alternative to Lemmy and it's PieFed. Should Lemmygrad have their own PieFed instance?

PS: I used spectreofcommunism.boo before until I migrated my account to sweaty.girlballs.church.

ay mates, this is my first ever post to comradechat or freeship i think

i do not know how to post videos, ever since i posted that Unnamed FOSS Game Thing about assaultcube reloaded, i had to show some gameplay to cement how the mechanics are similar to some shoot games. webms didn't work, had to resort to very reduced gifs that were glitchy due to my recording software at the time screwing up the video

i know there's a file size limit, and catbox won't be around forever like everything in this world. i need an alternative to catbox or a bonafide method to post videos here without having to make an account

please be patient. i am not good with computer

thank you :D

Plus this other Mark Pettus book:

Pettus’ books actually have video lectures and free PDF worksheets that go along, so that’s cool. He also has bilingual books which may be helpful. I’ve seen around that the penguin book was a good intro as well. The dictionary is just for expanding my vocabulary.

This is all before I get a tutor, of course, which is something I’ll need to do eventually even if it makes me nervous as hell.

Just thought I’d share because of the Soviet aesthetics that Pettus uses, plus the Lenin one is funny (I promise it’s not the first book I’m cracking open).

Looking to get more down in dirty with Marxist thought, but don't just want to bounce around individual texts like I have been. I'm looking something structured like a curriculum, does something like that exist?

So I'm trying to listen to the Yale Open lecture on their MUS 112 course. However, intermittently there's just ear splitting static noises which have no warning or disclaimer. So I'm trying to work while listening to it and every few videos my eardrums get violated for no reason. (First example is about 7ish minutes into lecture 3). Like goddamn how difficult would it have been to just audio mix those sections to be quieter?