Why do cows wear bells?

Because their horns don’t work

Hmmm, not necessarily all that bizarre. The title on the Lenny link states that 15% of ALL Reddit content is corporate trolls trying to sway public opinion - now that this gentleperson has kindly provided the link to a non-paywall version, I can see that this is 2 studies, one from 2018 and one from 2020, one of which states that 15% of the top 100 subreddits may have experienced corporate trolls and/or bots posting content at some point, but they don’t say how much.

Huge difference between the title and the substance of the article, they buried the lede in a somewhat clever way. Chances are the author (and editor) are well aware that most of their audience doesn’t have an account, and aren’t going to create an account - therefore, by posting a misleading title (or letting others exaggerate the claims in the title through links on other platforms) they can reach a far larger audience, and sway public opinion more effectively, by burying the actual context behind the paywall.

I mean, I don’t know that that is what’s happening, but it makes a lot of sense and kind of rhymes with the whole point of the article, so yeah - I don’t trust their motives either, and I can definitely see the logic behind distrusting paywalls on principle.

Mooneys Bay, Ottawa ON

Holy forking shirtballs great tip OP, thanks for the heads up. Thought it might not be visible within the city lights but turned out to be a fantastic show down by the Rideau River at Mooneys Bay. I went full double rainbow, started laughing and crying at the same time, it was awesome.

“Can I be frank with you?”

“Sure! You be Frank and I’ll be Ernest”

And where else are we going to go? This country is just three monopolies in a trench coat masquerading as a fair and competitive market. We don’t have any choice. Galen knows this.

From Loblaw’s website:

We serve local communities with stores from coast to coast. Our family includes: Atlantic SuperstoreTM, Dominion®, Loblaws®, Maxi®, No Frills®, Provigo Le Marché®, Valu-MartTM, Real Canadian Superstore®, Wholesale ClubTM, Your Independent GrocerTM and ZehrsTM.

From Shopper’s Drug Mart website:

2014

Loblaw Companies Limited acquires Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation for $12.4 billion in cash and stock, bringing together two iconic Canadian brands

Far right column, fourth one down from the top. I like that it’s a visual pun on the Japanese flag; the little red dot on a white field inside the larger dot effectively depicts a little Japan inside the larger nation, a microcosm of the nation itself.

It’s a very effective vexillological distinction of a part within a whole, while still maintaining the effect of the original flag design.

I also find it funny that it seems to be a flex on all the other prefectures, this flag subtextually implies, “We’re the most Japanese prefecture that has ever been, we are the essential core of this nation and our absence would leave a blank empty void. Don’t fuck with us.”

My lock screen image is cropped from a collection of James Webb Space Telescope pictures of the month. I love the surreal orange-y photonegative effect, the hexagonal focus lines, and the black circles where the stars overloaded the sensors. If you’re looking for backgrounds, that currently my main resource for beautiful and mind-bending images.

One that particularly stands out in my mind is the image they released highlighting one single galaxy cluster that appears in 3 different spots, because its light got deflected by a couple of massive gravitational sources along the way - the 3 different spots vary by about 1000 years in the time elapsed since emission, it’s wild

On my eggs, of course

Fell asleep on the TTC (Toronto subway) one time while we were travelling along a particularly old part of the tunnels.

I was dozing and staying kind of peripherally aware of my surroundings. Late at night, old model of subway car. One or two people at the other end of the car, in one of the cars far down the line away from the driver, second or third from the rear car.

Going through a section of tunnel, in the dark between one light and the next, I suddenly felt… surrounded. My eyes were closed, and for a second or two I distinctly felt the sensation of hands. All over my body, like I was passing through a crowd of people all grabbing at my arms, my legs, my hair. Cold, like holding your hands in your armpits on a winter day when you forget your gloves. Reaching, grasping like pickpockets. Desperate somehow, like the eyes of a scared animal.

The sensation fled as swiftly as it arrived, either a result of passing beyond an area of influence, or a symptom of leaving a particular state of mind. I opened my eyes, and it was gone.

I don’t know how many lost souls search for answers along those tracks, hoping for relief, warmth, company, safety. I’ve seen many homeless folk that catch a few minutes of sleep on those cars late at night; I wonder how many others travel unseen.

I never fell asleep on the subway again.

One of the trickiest things about Reddit (and social media in general) for me is the homogenization of tone. Each comment is an individual person, a unique voice & perspective, accents from around the world, but the medium of text, combined with the listing of comments leading to consumption of dozens/hundreds/thousands of viewpoints, leads to a blurring and obscuring of the uniqueness of each commenter.

These comments, they feel like a consistent person - I think that’s part of what people are talking about when they refer to the “hive mind”. These highly upvoted expert opinions, they begin to slot into the “trusted authoritative voice” in your mental categorization, regardless of whether they’re actually experts or not. The wisdom of the crowd, the inclination to trust the source of those upvotes, it’s pernicious.

I didn’t think I could last without Reddit after July 1st, but the truth is I’m fucking thriving. I really only ever lurked on Reddit, wasn’t much of an active commenter, and the continual absorption of fairly minor amounts of toxicity and negativity was exhausting. Relying on my own voice, my own perspective, it’s important. When the power goes out and your phone dies, when the world turns mad around you, when all seems hopeless, there you are. No matter where you go, there you are. Yes, it might be true that everyone on Reddit seems to be miserable. That’s their choice, it doesn’t have to be yours