My kids had full internet use with only porn and advertising blocking, except for "homework time", as well as no restrictions on video games (except for fucking Roblox). They recently graduated high-school at the top of their class and continue doing great in university.

They grew up to be nice, well-rounded young men who make friends easily, aren't assholes, aren't glued to their cell phones (which they had since they were little), don't mindlessly watch TV, can easily switch tasks and "buckle down" when they have to, and have a great work ethic. They grew up with the attitude that internet/cell phones are tools, not rewards or distractions. Once they hit high-school I found I no longer needed to monitor them (and it was starting to feel creepy and invasive). When they had to study they studied, on their own without prompting or timers.

I had no worries because I know how to read papers, and there was (and still is) ABSOLUTELY ZERO evidence that doing so would be harming, but in fact the reverse is true.

Kids grow up to be like their parents. Don't want them to be assholes? Then don't be an asshole. Want them to grow up with a reading habit? Then read for yourself. It's that easy.

It's interesting to see that their friends who had strict internet/gaming rules ended up turning into complete shitheads they no longer associate with.

I remember when Canada used to prosecute and jail fascists. Now it coddles them.

In the eighties when cell phones started being installed in cars, some people posted their phone numbers on their back or side window. That didn't last long.

Right? All it needs to do is carry a stack of 4x8 plywood and a bunch of 2x4s, or the entire contents of a two-room apartment -- something a 1980's "mini" pickup like the Ford Ranger or Chevy S10 could easily handle.

They're not "speed enforcement cameras" they're part of a mass surveillance system with the feature that records speed and adds that data along with all the other data it collects and associates with your plate number and any beacons your cell phone is transmitting.

If it was about speeding or safety they'd design the road better or have police patrolling more often.

Just take a look at how these systems are abused by the government in the UK and US. Does this still make you feel safe?

I've always assumed this (and assumed that other people assumed this), because if you talk to homophobes they'll eventually say something like "it's a choice!" because it's a choice for them. It's not a choice for me because gay porn doesn't turn me on -- and if it did I wouldn't care anyway because that's how I was raised. But it DOES turns them on, AND they were raised in an environment where this is THE WORST THING EVER, so it upsets them and they get all irrational and punchy (lesson learned: DO NOT discuss this theory with a homophobe.)

TLDR; IMHO Homophobes who think orientation is a choice are closeted gays because logic.

It would be nice to see a better study. Interesting if one hasn't been done in all this time...

The best time to fire the entire board of directors and executive management was 15 years ago. The second best time is now.

IMHO they're purposely driving Mozilla into the ground for Google. Google just needs Firefox to prevent Chrome from being separated from Google, it doesn't need Firefox to be a good browser.

It's likely your phone, specifically Apple, Google, or Facebook location services. A bluetooth beacon in the vending machine gets the identity anyone standing near (and everyone walking by!) directly from any number of advertising vendors, including the big three scumbags mentioned. Even if the identity code is "anonymous", the machine knows it's you because it's the same "anonymous" code as last time -- so not really anonymous and easily demasked with enough datapoints.

Could be facial recognition too, but the above method has been used for more than a decade now and is everywhere since it's built in to all ecommerce platforms.

If it is facial recognition then it probably just stores datapoints like the distance between your eyes (etc...) and doesn't know who "you" are until you pay with a card.

I think all of the marketing and advertising industry is bullshit. It's manipulation and propaganda made to appear normal and proper. If it all suddenly went away nothing would happen other than a mad scramble for jobs and alternate revenue sources.

Many Americans are fine with what's going on. After all, they have Jesus to help them through the tough times.

The rest have been brainwashed to think they need to kill people or do useless violent shit that just gets them shot or imprisoned. Otherwise all they can do is march around or vent.

Instead forget about the government (they don't care), and go after the true cause: Billionaires and their corporations, propagandists, fascists, and their supporters. Just quietly take away their assets. Make fascism too expensive for them, financially and personally -- because that's the real problem: there's no punishment for bad behavior if you're wealthy or connected. They only care about money, so take it and the remove their ability to make it. Hit them where it hurts them.

Be non-confrontational and asymmetrical.

I find it astounding that Americans STILL think there's democracy in America.

It's gone and it's not coming back for a long, long time.

Yeah, that last protest -- the biggest ever in the US wasn't it? -- did so much.

Protesting is what got you here. And they want you to keep protesting uselessly while they continue to take apart America.

I don't think this has anything to do with autism, ADHD, or neurodivergence.

Intelligent people are curious. That's what makes them intelligent.

IMHO neurodivergent people don't have a trait for "curiousity" -- they're just more intelligent (if their neurodivergence isn't too severe) and so are interested in things. That's why there's so many in technical and engineering fields, mathematics, science -- the really hard stuff (hard for most people.)

Yeah, it's still not easy because there's so much other stuff going on inside the mind, but all that other stuff is going to lead to some pretty cool thoughts that could turn into a paper, project, business, thesis, etc. (if you manage to remember them long enough to write them down!) Over years this builds brain matter and this is where the intelligence comes from (again assuming the neurodivergence isn't severe.)

By "intelligence" I mean the raw ability to process information and gain understanding from it. Not IQ.