I lie here in my room, unable to exercise, unsure of when I will be well enough to sit upright for more than an hour and I seethe. I am one of countless victims of long covid, a chronic and sometimes permanent after-effect of a disease that you know well - a disease that most likely began in bats, then found its way to humans via racoon dogs or civets in a Chinese wet market. A zoonotic disease.

As of 2026 Officially reported covid deaths number over 7 million but based on elevated yearly expectations it's estimated as many as 18 million actually died. 18 million! That's the entire population of the Netherlands. DEAD. Billions suffered, countless millions more are still suffering and for what? Because some stupid selfish fucks couldn't resist pleasing their delicate tastebuds (or probably in this case indulging their idiotic folk 'medicine').

It's a story that has played out repeatedly. Animal agriculture, especially factory farming, is squarely responsible for: Swine flu, Bird flu, Hepatitis and Antibiotic resistant bacteria. Going further back you find the all time greats: Measles, Tuberculosis even Influenza!

Meat eaters are responsible for this. At best They allow it because they are ignorant, at worst because they are selfish and weak. Factor in all the other moral and environmental atrocities and I believe that one day we will discuss meat consumption in the same breath as slavery. Our great grandchildren will stare in horror and ask us 'How could you?'

/rant

I watch a lot of STEAM videos on YouTube. In the past I loved supporting new creators but some time last year I stopped trying new channels that don't have human presenter, there's just so much slop. Now I've noticed that there are channels where even the presenter is AI. I can spot a few tells (presenter is never on screen for very long, voice pacing doesn't vary, no ums and ahs, etc) but it's getting harder and I wish I knew more clues.

One thing that seems to help is checking the channel history (does the presenter age, have they only started making content very recently etc)

Can someone recommend a good, recent guide to spotting AI videos?

I was thinking about the phrase 'The pot calling the kettle black'. It comes from a time where cooking was done over open fires and cookware would become visibly ashy. (Fun fact: It first appears and was perhaps coined by Cervantes in Don Quixote!)

What are some other idioms that have lost their literal connection to time? What would be a good modern replacement?

Language is always changing. At one point 'an apron' was 'a napron' while words like 'literally' are no longer literally literal. What are some language battles that have been lost in living memory and what are some others you predict will soon occur?

Edit: Non-english examples very welcome!

There's a style of 'animation' that has become widely used on YouTube where they take a still image of a character then make them sway back and forth repetitively. I guess it's cheap to make but I find it distracting and weird, even a bit patronising, as if they think we need moving pictures to keep us interested. I think it started with Veritassium and spread to other edutainment YouTube channels and now I just flat out avoid channels which use it.

Anyone else find it annoying?

I can just barely read standard musical notation but it's far from fluent. I'm wondering if, with enough practice you can look at sheet music that you have never heard or seen before and sound it out in your head before ever touching your instrument?