War, what is it good for?

[Octavious]

For clarity regarding an earlier comment, Gaza hasn't left the news completely. But on the televised news programs it is nowhere near as front and centre as it used to be.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Jesus, did the BBC used to mail you a floppy disc with the news on it?

[Octavious]

Does the internet look different in Canada?

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Hmm haha I'm trying to figure out if you're reading the news on a Bloomberg terminal or something?

[Octavious]

That is what text based information looked like on tv in the 80s. You'd turn on your telly, press the teletext button, and you'd get a proto version of the BBC website. It was quite nifty at the time. News, sport, a few games... that sort of thing.

I know the Yanks didn't have really have a version of it, but I assumed most places did. It carries on in the UK powered by a sense of nostalgia

[Octavious]

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Apparently some limited version of this existed briefly in Canada, but was short-lived and not especially popular.

I like the look of it. I'm surprised they continue to run that service.

[learnedSloth]

It's more accessible than the Internet.

[Octavious]

I like the look of it. I'm surprised they continue to run that service

They don't really. The original signal was turned off when we went digital. It's kept alive by enthusiasts on a website , but the BBC provides the data feed

[Jamiet99uk]

For clarity regarding an earlier comment, Gaza hasn't left the news completely. But on the televised news programs it is nowhere near as front and centre as it used to be.

Screenshot_20250515_191122_com_android_chrome_ChromeTabbedActivity.jpg

The bombing of a hospital in Gaza by Israel was one of the top BBC news stories last night.

Sick genocidal fucks.

[Octavious]

Was it really? That's reassuring to some extent. Would you agree that coverage is generally far less than what it was, though?

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I like the look of it. I'm surprised they continue to run that service

They don't really. The original signal was turned off when we went digital. It's kept alive by enthusiasts on a website , but the BBC provides the data feed

Oct the anachronist wants teletext service and thinks Newfoundland and Labrador should still be part of the UK. For a while I thought you must be like 80 years old - now I'm wondering if maybe you're middle aged, but were raised by your grandparents?

[Octavious]

You have no fondness for the old fashioned, Berti? Mechanical watches, record players, steam engines, cars with starter handles?

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I think the first ~9 seasons of The Simpsons were the only good ones and I've been reluctant to adopt Tik Tok. Otherwise, I try to live in this century despite its many pitfalls. Sometime in the next 10 years I'll probably ossify and young bucks will no doubt wonder why I'm clinging to old fashioned things like liberal democracy and going outside.

[Octavious]

All of these things are alive and well in this century. An appreciation of what's good from the past doesn't deny what's going in the present. One of my neighbours has a 14th century dungeon in their house, but it doesn't stop them from having a smartphone

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Many of these things are alive but not especially well. Watch ownership of any kind is in the doldrums - they're basically luxury jewelry at this point. Records have indeed revived, but are more likely to be collectors' items on a shelf than a go-to solution for listening to music. No one with a full head of hair has a car with a starter handle lol.

If our time, energy, and money is limited, the past can indeed conflict with the present. One day I may need to decide between a new gaming console and a steam engine. Your neighbour's dungeon could be a man cave, though that's probably old fashioned by this point too :)

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I thoroughly regret not making the joke "Steam Deck or steam engine" in the above post

[CaptainFritz28]

I think the first ~9 seasons of The Simpsons were the only good ones and I've been reluctant to adopt Tik Tok. Otherwise, I try to live in this century despite its many pitfalls. Sometime in the next 10 years I'll probably ossify and young bucks will no doubt wonder why I'm clinging to old fashioned things like liberal democracy and going outside.

Perhaps I'm just an oddity amongst my fellow Gen-Zers, but I'm highly reluctant to adopt TikTok. Or Instagram, or Snapchat... ok, really I just don't find any good in participating in modern day social media platforms.

[CaptainFritz28]

Many of these things are alive but not especially well. Watch ownership of any kind is in the doldrums - they're basically luxury jewelry at this point.

Now there's a phenomenon which I do lament - watches are useful. I wear a digital watch, so I know it's not quite the same, but still I find it freeing to have access to know what time it is without being dependent upon my phone. Admittedly, the reason I wear a watch all the time is due to my sailing coach having mandated that we needed to have one at all times on the water (for start line sequence timing), but it is a habit which I'm glad to have developed. Maybe it's just a matter of not enough people being sailors...

And another thing. No one wears nice hats anymore. I rarely see even a flat cap, and almost never a fedora, where those used to be (as in, a century ago) a common part of a gentleman's outfit. Since no one wear hats, no one observes proper hat-wearing etiquette. I try to look for guys taking off their hat when sitting to eat or when talking to a girl, but almost never see it.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I think the first ~9 seasons of The Simpsons were the only good ones and I've been reluctant to adopt Tik Tok. Otherwise, I try to live in this century despite its many pitfalls. Sometime in the next 10 years I'll probably ossify and young bucks will no doubt wonder why I'm clinging to old fashioned things like liberal democracy and going outside.

Perhaps I'm just an oddity amongst my fellow Gen-Zers, but I'm highly reluctant to adopt TikTok. Or Instagram, or Snapchat... ok, really I just don't find any good in participating in modern day social media platforms.

You may in fact be missing out. Instagram can be a toxic, performative, time-wasting sink hole. But it is also the staging ground for an absolute explosion in creativity.

Instagram reduced the barriers for content creation. That has allowed for a ton of experimental and extraordinarily niche content that otherwise would never exist.

It's deeply flawed, but Instagram was the source of some of the funniest and most creative things I've ever seen/heard and none of this content have ever reached me (nor even been made) on TV, streaming, magazines, etc. The algorithm it employs is surprisingly good at intuiting what I'm interested in—which is sometimes to my own detriment.

Tik Tok is much the same, maybe better. But I found its approach to content suggestion was a little too aggressive and I don't want to train an algorithm with my interests for a service I might lose access to when China invades Taiwan lol.