This Again?
We are once again in a “Claudia Gets Accused of Cheating” phase on the Garmin Connect app. So to reiterate it one more time:
I do not fake my walking/running data. Every step, every mile, every route is 100% real and done by me. I’m not on Garmin Connect to compete with anyone (I do join challenges, but I truly do not care where I place in them; I sign up for the badges but that’s usually the last thought I give them). I’m on there because it records my data in case I lose my other backups. I have literally no reason to fake my data.
Also (and I’ve mentioned this before as well): do you know how hard it would be to fake this? Not only would I have to find somebody or something I could attach my Garmin to to get the miles done for me, but they’d have to be somebody/something that did this consistently and consistently enough for it to look “real” AND they’d have to have been doing it since like 2018 (or whenever I got my first Garmin, I can’t remember). They’d also have to travel to Moscow when I’m in Moscow in order to show up at the right location, haha.
It’s to the point where faking the data would be as much (or more) work than just doing the distance.
AND ANOTHER THING: my Garmin isn’t the only thing I use to track this stuff. I use the iTreadmill app on my iPod, too.
The only person I would be cheating if I were to do so is myself, and I want to continue to proudly say that all my mileage is 100% real and 100% mine.
This is the only thing in this universe that I’m good at. SO SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET ME HAVE THIS.
Can we all just agree that the end is nigh?
I am slowly losing my ability to comprehend how so many people can be in denial that the climate is changing. Not even just being in denial that there’s a human-caused component to it – just the fact that the climate is changing.
Why are people so quick to shun this idea? Why are people so quick to criticize it? Why are people so…in denial about this?
Can’t they see?
Can’t they feel?
Can’t they remember that things were not this dramatic climate- and weather-wise even just like 10 years ago?
Every time someone posts something about the extreme wet bulb temps in Dubai or the unprecedented cold in Texas or the heat dome that brutalized the Pacific Northwest in 2021 or the forest fire rampage in BC and Alberta or the fact that Sunday was the hottest day ever recorded on the planet, you get idiots going “duhhhh summer is always hot” or “wildfires have always happened” or “Dubai is in the desert” or “if Texas is so cold, that means that there’s no global WARMING, right?”
Just…
WHY
IS
EVERYONE
SO
FREAKING
DELUSIONAL
It’s like we’re the frogs sitting in the pan of room temperature water where that water is slowly being brought to a boil. THE WATER IS BOILING, FROG PEOPLE, IT’S TIME TO PAY ATTENTION.
And all those people who are like “heehee I have air conditioning, I’ll be fine” or “heehee I’ll just move to a better place” or “heehee I don’t live where the problems are so I don’t care,” guess what: your money can let you live in a bubble of comfort, but only for so long.
Don’t get used to it.
Ugh. PEOPLE.
Regarding the water main break: the number of comments I’ve seen from people who are like “THIS IS ALL A GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY, I’M GOING TO TAKE A FIVE HOUR SHOWER AND WATER MY LAWN FOR A DAY AND A HALF JUST OUT OF SPITE” is absolutely disgusting.
Like, even if this whole thing was a government conspiracy, that doesn’t change the fact that the city will run out of potable water if we don’t conserve it for the next week or so. And how angry will you “government conspiracy” idiots be when you turn on the tap and nothing comes out? Believe whatever dumbass theory you want, but don’t allow your belief to make this worse for the rest of us.
I don’t know if it’s my imagination or not, but it seems like people’s ability to have empathy and compassion for others (or even just making a small sacrifice to help out others) has greatly decreased as of late. It’s pretty distressing. Anyone else notice that?
Edit: somewhat related. Where is the responsibility? Where is the common sense? Y’all go to a concert where everyone is screaming their lungs out for three hours and then go all “surprised Pikachu face” when you get COVID? UGH.
Edit 2: people laughed at my “water hoarding” in my office, but WHO’S LAUGHING NOW????
The Depressing Reality of DeviantArt (and everything else)
So I absolutely despise AI.
I hate how everyone seems to be fine with blindly feeding it information and data and then blindly using other peoples’ information, data, and creations without their consent.
I hate how “just use ChatGPT” is a thing.
I hate how “that sounds like a ChatGPT generated comment” is a thing.
And I really hate how it has infiltrated art (and creative endeavors in general).
FOR EXAMPLE.
I logged onto DeviantArt the other night – which I do on occasion, because I still post my garbage art there – and noticed that a lot of the posts on the main page looked…artificial.
I dug around a bit and found discovered that there is now a button you can press to indicate if some or all of a submission is AI-generated.
So I did a little experiment. I considered 30 random submissions on the main (most recent) pages of DeviantArt. Out of those 30 submissions, guess how many indicated at least some use of AI?
SEVENTEEN.
OUT OF THIRTY.
That’s disgusting.
What on earth are these people contributing to the art community other than theft?
Why are these people trying to pass this garbage off as art?
The worst part of it is that half of these idiots are probably the type to say “digital art isn’t art lololololol”
Chicken Ran
I hate how much nostalgia bait is being used for my generation. I hate how everyone from musicians to filmmakers to…well, every corporation, basically…has decided to use nostalgia to get money from Millennials.
I know we’re not uniquely targeted by this tactic, but the tail end of Gen X and us Millennials seem to be the ones who are most highly targeted by the “hey, remember [insert thing here] from your childhood? Well, it’s back! NOW GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY!” ploy.
And I hate even more how so many people seem oblivious to it and blindly play into the manipulative game.
I mean, it’s like all those damn Disney remakes. “Hey, you! Yes, you in that generation that’s either got young kids or is in the process of crapping out spawn! Remember The Lion King? Remember how much you loved that as a child? Well, here it is again, except with all the CGI and none of the emotion or heart! You’d better buy $60 movie tickets for the family so that your spawn can have the same warm fuzzies that you associate with the original!”
And so many people shell out for it without giving it a critical thought!
Sequels are just as bad, too. We did not need Toy Story 4. WE CERTAINLY DO NOT NEED TOY STORY 5.
UGH. Stop feeding the nostalgia-baiters money, you fools!
Anyway.
This whole rant was inspired by this:
Chicken Run is a fantastic movie. Does it need a sequel TWENTY YEARS LATER? I don’t think so. Though I have more faith in Aardman than I do in, say, Disney when it comes to quality control.
But still.
Complacency? STUPIDITY
Why are people so okay with getting (AND SPREADING) COVID?
The comments are the worst. This is absolutely maddening. Mask, you fart-for-brains.
This makes me even more hesitant for the Coldplay concert, and I am already nervous about it (mostly because of COVID). I’ll be wearing an N-99 mask, at least.
To Bean or Not To Bean (Don’t Bean)
Ugh, Pixar, please don’t do the “bean mouth” thing. Please.
I’m not for hating on the CalArts style because it’s apparently cool to do so. That style works in some cases (see: Steven Universe), even if it is overdone.
But with Pixar’s ridiculous animation quality and realism? To suddenly see a freaking BEAN MOUTH in the middle of it?
It’s distracting. I don’t like it.
End rant.
All You Have To Do Is Stream? ?? ?? ? ?
YES. Yes yes yes.
So there’s a YouTuber that I used to watch fairly regularly who would always vlog herself at various stores (Walmart, Target, other big-box stores in the southeast US). She got a lot of criticism for many of the things she did, but one thing that seemed to particularly irk people was the fact that she bought DVDs.
No, they weren’t irked at how many she bought.
No, they weren’t irked at what type of movies/shows she bought.
They were just irked that she “still bought DVDs” in a time when you can stream pretty much anything you’d want to watch.
And in one sense, they’re right. You can stream pretty much anything nowadays.
But in another sense, this argument is actually quite stupid, because streaming services can, without notice, remove ANYTHING from their platforms, rendering you unable to watch [insert favorite show] or [insert favorite movie] AT ANY TIME.
Like…are we all just blind to how ridiculous that is? We pay for, say, Netflix, but we don’t own anything on it. So if [insert show here] is the whole reason you’re using Netflix and they suddenly remove it, what was the point of giving Netflix all of that money? It’s like renting instead of buying.
Which I guess some people are cool with.
But if I have a piece of media that I really like, I’m going to make damn sure I have my own physical (or downloadable/saveable digital) copy of it so that no streaming service can take it away from me.
This happened with Hulu and Chicago Hope. Hulu was the ONLY PLACE you could watch Chicago Hope, so I used to watch it religiously. Then, one day, they just removed it.
It hasn’t been back since and you CANNOT find it anywhere else.
This happens constantly on Netflix, too. You get invested in a show/movie and then suddenly you can’t watch it anymore because you just paid for the streaming, not the item itself. You don’t own it. It’s not yours.
Isn’t that…frustrating?
That’s why I don’t use streaming services for my music. If there’s a song I like, I’m not leaving my ability to listen to said song whenever/wherever up to chance. I’m getting a physical (digital) copy OF MY OWN. Spotify can eat dicks; I want to own my songs, not my ability to stream what it makes available to me.
UGH.
Sorry, that Tumblr post just stated basically all my same opinions about streaming services that no one else seems to take issue with.
UGH AGAIN.
The Dreaded Sankey Diagram
When they are used unnecessarily, I hate Sankey diagrams.
And because I’m a member of r/dataisbeautiful, I see them used ALL THE TIME
They are, in my opinion, a really distracting way to present information in a lot of cases because they’re just so bulky. Usually the “thread” of interest ends up being so small it’s like…why did we need all this other information?
I get that they’re supposed to show some sort of flow, but like with all other graphs, ya gotta do it right, bro. It’s so easy to make them way too cluttered.
(Source)
Or way too…weird.
(Source)
We can do better, yo.
WHAM! I hate it.
I like Wham!. I like Christmas songs. But the intersection of Wham! and Christmas songs?
Oh dear.
I present to you Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” one of the most grating Christmas songs I’ve ever heard. Why? The chorus, dear child. The chorus.
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away (you gave it away)
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special (special)
The shit is this rhyming scheme? Why u no rhyme in an intuitive way? All the other bars have a rhyming scheme: A A B B.
Once bitten and twice shy
I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye
Tell me, baby, do you recognize me?
Well, it’s been a year, it doesn’t surprise me
But this?
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This bothers me SO MUCH. Why don’t they rhyme? Why make the chorus a messy set of lines when everything else has the A A B B form?
Like…
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you tore it apart
How hard is that?
And…
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you tore it apart
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone whose love is real
It’s not like they’re hard lines to rhyme. But no, they went with something unpredictable and just downright weird in the context of the rest of the song.
I honestly don’t get it. Am I missing something? ‘Cause I get irrationally angry whenever I hear this song and it’d be great if I’m just not catching on to something about the chorus.
UGH.
Don’t Take Me Home, Country Roads (another West Virginia rant, sorry)
I don’t know why I’m so damn triggered by this state’s shape, but it provokes in me a deep, primal rage that no other state’s shape even comes close to provoking.
Like…what the hell even is this thing?
It’s like someone took twenty other states, threw them into a pile, and then just traced the outline of the pile and said “LOOK IT’S A WEST VIRGINIA LOL”
Or it’s a square-butted frog.
Yes, the rational part of my brain is aware of the fact that West Virginia is shaped the way it is because its borders follow natural features like rivers and the like.
But the irrational, West-Virginia-hating, “there are only 49 states and they all have aesthetically pleasing shapes” part of my brain refuses to be pacified by this knowledge and flies into an UNBRIDLED RAGE whenever I see this freaking state and then vehemently denies its existence.
Ugh.
Good lord, people, can’t you just WAIT?
Yes, there are COVD vaccines out now. Yes, people are getting vaccinated (at least in the US).
But there are a lot of people who aren’t vaccinated just yet and there are a lot of variant cases as well.
So please, please, please just keep waiting.
Keep waiting to get back to “normal.” I know we all want “normal,” especially now that it’s somewhat in reach, but now is not the time to jump the gun and pretend everything is fine just yet.
‘Cause it’s not.
You may be one of the people who has gotten your first vaccine. Hell, you might be one of the people that’s fully vaccinated.
But again, most people aren’t in either of those groups yet. And again, there are a lot of variant cases as well.
If you’re vaccinated, you can still catch COVID. And what’s possibly worse is that YOU CAN STILL SPREAD IT TO OTHERS. The chances are a lot lower, but it’s still possible.
You know those people who aren’t vaccinated yet? You could infect them. You could maybe kill them.
So chill the fuck out.
You do not need to get that pedicure right now. You do not need to hang out at the mall right now. You do not need to throw that party right now. You do not need to travel right now.
Your selfishness is going to make this last even longer than it already has. You’re going to hurt people just because you think you’re protected. You’re going to make people wait even longer than they already have to be able to safely see their families.
Just wait. Be patient.
It sucks, but it’ll suck a lot more for a lot more people if you don’t just wait.
So
Just
Wait.
HEY YOU!
YES, YOU!
Are you thinking of traveling to see people this Christmas? Are you thinking of driving or flying or taking a bus somewhere?
If so, I have a tip for you:
DON’T
DO
IT
You are not immune to catching COVID, and you are especially not immune to spreading it to others, even if you don’t have symptoms.
The rules apply to you, just like they apply to everyone else. Do. Not. Travel.
Stay home.
Please.
Does it suck? Hell yeah it does. I haven’t seen my mom since the beginning of January, whereas in a normal year I would have seen her at least once over the summer and would probably be visiting her right now.
But it’s worth it to know that I’m choosing to actively try to prevent the spread of COVID by staying home. It’s worth it to know that I’m not going to inadvertently give my mom COVID and possibly cause harm to her or anyone else due to my inability to suck it up and not travel.
Is your family worth it? Are your friends worth it? Of course they are. But if you’re planning on traveling to visit them, you’re not treating them like they’re worth it.
So please.
Stay.
Home.
Hey Alberta: Get it together, man
So remember a few months ago when Alberta was still doing quite well pandemic-wise? New daily cases were in the 100-200 range, hospitals weren’t overwhelmed, and people were generally still following the “don’t be a moron” way of life as far as dealing with COVID?
Yeah, no, that’s not happening anymore.
New daily cases jumped into the 300s; nothing was done. New daily cases jumped into the 500s; nothing was done. Now they’re regularly above 1,000, closer to 2,000 (in fact, Alberta holds the daily new case record for Canada). And guess what? Very little is being done.
We are the only province without a province-wide mask mandate.
Only recently have those in charge shifted from “educate people about COVID safety” to “enforce the rules with fines” – something I thinks should have happened from the start of all this.
People are gathering in big groups indoors and out.
There are anti-mask rallies being held in Calgary.
Space in hospitals is running out rapidly.
It’s quite frightening.
Is it a coincidence that the most conservative province is having the biggest issue with COVID right now? No, I don’t think so. Kenney is more concerned about “tHe EcOnOmY hUrTiNg” than saving peoples’ lives. Guess what? It’s not people going into grocery stores/small businesses/etc. that’s causing the main source of spread. It’s morons gathering indoors without masks. Surely that can be better monitored without damaging the economy.
It’s so damn frustrating. Those of us who are being cautious and following the rules are continuously getting screwed over by the idiots. Not to mention, I don’t know, all the people dying or having long-term effects from the virus.
Is this what it feels like in the States?
Eigenblogger 