ML-bubble? You mean the one in the 1960's? I prefer to call this the GenAI bubble, since other forms of AI are still everywhere, and have improved a lot of things invisibly for decades. (So, yes. What you said.)

AI winter is a recurring theme in my field. Mostly from people not understanding what AI is. There have been Artificial Narrow Intelligence that beat humans in various forms of reasonings for ages.

AGI still seems like a couple AI winters out of having a basic implementation, but we have really useful AI that can tell you if you have cancer more reliably and years earlier than humans (based on current long term cancer datasets). These systems can get better with time, and the ability to learn from them is still active research but is getting better. Heck, with decent patching, a good ANI can give you updates through ChatGPT for stuff like scene understanding to help blind people. There's no money in that, but it's still neat to people who actually care about AI instead of cash.

This needs to be higher. The US has the most rail in the world, at over ~~224,000 miles~~ 257,000 km according to Wikipedia or 149,000 according to Statistica. ~~Europe, by comparison, has 94,000 miles.~~ the European Union, by comparison, has around 200,000 km recently according to Statistica. ~~That's one country having more rail than the total of a whole continent.~~ The original numbers came from Florida, which automatically makes them suspicious, but these ones are still pretty impressive.

The map down in the meme appears to only be Amtrak.

Be crime Do gay

Yeah. You're right. And their recounting of what they invested in makes no sense. I caught that later. So there's definitely poor choices somewhere they aren't mentioning.

We don't even get this memo. I thought it was still 15, 18, and 20. And I'm wholey against mandatory tipping, but always do so because I don't want the underpaid staff to starve. I have enough friends in food service who can barely pay their rent with multiple roommates.

I don't believe I've read either. I'll put those on my list. I'd love to be proven wrong. Usually I'm more into light hearted things, which doesn't necessarily seem to be Steinbeck's wheelhouse (I can be sad in real life, after all), but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy more down to earth or down right depressing works.

You know what. I haven't read him in a very long time. I'll get back to you. Do you have a favorite? (I'm vetoing The Red Pony.)

Edit: Guessing The Grapes of Wrath. I remember not liking it as a kid. But at least it wasn't The Red Pony.

I still hate Steinbeck as an author. Don't think that would have changed if I had read any of his works later in life.

There are games I want to make. I caught long COVID and barely had energy for my job. I decided now that I got laid off for having an invisible disability, I can learn how to make games while I can't get a new one, but I'm having issues thinking long enough to learn... I've almost started my game and that's where I'm stuck.

I can tell you haven't dealt with drama before. If I'm wrong, please forgive me. Everyone has to deal with it differently, please be a little more patient. Maybe they could have worded it more carefully, but I don't think they deserved this escalation.

This is a problem we need to deal with in society. You acknowledged that yourself. This almost comes across as victim blaming, but definitely comes across as straw manning.

This is tip culture standard. The company is only required to pay enough such that tips plus pay meet minimum wage. CEO's should have to work for tips given by their employees in order to earn over minimum wage, change my mind.

Most boomers I know still can't use a mouse. Millennials and gen X fill most of the old Internet in my mind, but the original '91 Internet was a lot of tech focused boomers, but also was significantly Gen X. '95-'99 seemed to pick up more traction with my generation.