Silicon Valley Techno-Utopianism

maybe it only happened on twitter

the article's a bit vague about it, but I think those Soros theory articles were fed to conservative news sites (e.g., Breitbart)

it wasn't just one conspiracy theory angle, is the deal

it sounds like it was almost all seeded to right-wing sites like beetbort, but the point in that type of campaign isn't to create a compelling single narrative as to why facebook is a net good. it's to cast doubt on facebook critics from as many angles as possible so there's no consensus or allied front that would push for a boycott or punitive legislation. you just want to make anyone who criticizes facebook seem like a crackpot

it sounds like it was almost all seeded to right-wing sites like beetbort, but the point in that type of campaign isn't to create a compelling single narrative as to why facebook is a net good. it's to cast doubt on facebook critics from as many angles as possible so there's no consensus or allied front that would push for a boycott or punitive legislation. you just want to make anyone who criticizes facebook seem like a crackpot

― mh

i'm not sure they're doing a very good job of this tbh

the big problem is that there are still a lot of people using facebook and _none of them like it_

or maybe _some of them don't like it_

_NONE_

even suckerberg seems to have lost his joie de vivre

with his dumbass posts about his stupid wonderful discoveries of life or whatever

never see those anymore

facebook is a self-maintaining birthday calendar that allows me to be as lazy as possible about stupid shit like birthdays. for this, i am eternally grateful.

At some point approx a decade ago I somehow exported the birthdays in FB to my computer's calendar, and I've had it activated ever since. Every now and then I drop someone with whom I have only fairly tenuous attachment a little birthday note - VIA EMAIL - and cackle to myself

they must think you are a birthday genius. i do.

man even Facebook is running ads to say "let's all go back to the time when Facebook was fun"

don't really see companies that have to run ads like that having long term success

domino's is certainly almost bankrupt after using a similar marketing maneuver

coming soon: commercials where people on the street are asked to try a social network, they report that it's really fun and fresh, and then are shocked and amazed to be told they've been using facebook!!

the Dominos thing was "we've always sucked" which is a bit different though similar I must admit

when I sign on to facebook, I want to see a little ticker that says "craig is preparing your facebook feed" below a progress bar.

facebook finally gave me the motivation i needed to start actively ignoring the birthdays of everybody i know, i guess i'm grateful to it for that

or maybe _some of them don't like it_

― for i, sock in enumerate (Sufjan Grafton)

sure, i'm sure there are people who think comcast is the bee's knees, too. are we really heading for a world where no lazy overgeneralizations are permissible at all? i guess i can't complain too much about that.

facebook should produce a movie that is "A Christmas Carol" but for birthdays

or they should acquire some of the most valuable birthdays out there. turn around facebook by turning around birthdays.

jesus fucking christ

When signage for Doggy Style began popping up in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood last month, it was accompanied with the usual grumbling and eye-rolling about the city’s nouveau riche.

After all, a private members-only doggy daycare offering an “innovative dog experience” for up to $1,500 a month in a city in the midst of a humanitarian crisis over homelessness smacks of a well-groomed French bulldog yipping: “Let them eat kibble.”

Noe Valley SF, a hyperlocal blog, decried the Doggy Style co-owner Rachel Swann for “bringing ridicule” to the neighborhood, while comments on an SFGate article about the business ranged from scoffing at “people with too much time and money” to the vaguely threatening: “When the Bolsheviks are looking for the first people to shoot, club members will be at the top of the list.”

While critics were quick to lambast Doggy Style’s prices as exorbitant, its pricing is actually in line with other doggy daycare in San Francisco. High-end daytime dog care is a thriving and competitive market in a city fueled by tech wealth and disposable income.

When Doggy Style launches this month, it will be one of at least a dozen businesses that specifically offer “playcare” during work hours within the city’s 47 square miles.

Mr Muggles, located in the Mission District, offers monthly passes for unlimited daycare, Monday through Friday, for $600. A half-mile north, a monthly unlimited membership costs $630 at Wag Hotel, but with an added monthly valet service, the price can go up to $929 a month. At Tefani and So Dogcare in the South of Market neighborhood, an unlimited monthly pass costs $849, while at Bark Avenue Doggy Daycare in Mission Bay, a rate of $80 a day can bring costs up to $1,600 a month.

And at those prices, Fido is not just getting left outside in a doghouse. Some daycares have webcams set up for their owners to check in on their pups. Others provide daily photos and report cards, as well as neighborhood group walks on top of all-day play. K9 Playtime, located in the South of Market and South Beach neighborhoods, has “waterfalls and ponds” installed in its doggy play areas “with re-circulating filtered drinking water so your dog is well hydrated throughout their day with fresh, clean water”.

(...)

“We just struggled for years to balance the work life and the dog lifestyle,” Silva said.

Opening Doggy Style “is solving our own problem”, he said.

The high cost of dog care was another of the reasons motivating Silva and Swann to open Doggy Style, they say. Between the two of them, they have seven dogs.

“I was previously paying $75 to $85 a day,” Silva said. “People don’t realize how expensive it is to have a dog in this city.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/08/dog-daycare-san-francisco-doggy-style

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

meh. coming to you live from the bay area imho this isn't even close to all caps jfc

i can't stop turning the phrase 'innovative dog experience' over and over in my mind

a city in the midst of a humanitarian crisis over homelessness
“I’m sure the dogs don’t complain and that’s the most important thing.”
a city in the midst of a humanitarian crisis over homelessness
“I’m sure the dogs don’t complain and that’s the most important thing.”

if this is the same company called doggy style in philly they're just a conventional pet store supply place with normal prices the worst thing about them is their name

not gonna google variations on the phrase 'doggy style' to find out while i'm at work, that's for sure

acc to their website they have locations in philly, deleware and san diego

dela

looks like a different company: https://www.doggystylesf.com/

I'm sure they'd be willing to sell you dog food too

amazing that not one but two pet related companies would have the terrible idea of calling themselves doggy style

It looks like there are many.

This fancy San Francisco company had the same terrible name idea as dozens of local groomers.

Noe Valley is a ridiculous neighborhood so this sounds about right

I think that place is right by the "concierge" healthcare provider.

not sure of the specifics of that one, but concierge healthcare is pretty normal these days. I pay a small annual fee to belong to One Medical which gives me better support and services than any prior primary care physicians I've ever had.

what does that mean, concierge, like you call them and they go out and get you a kidney

presumably from a poor person

harvested fresh and 100% hand-cut organic artisinal organs

concierge medical normally means something like a subscription service to a GP and you can call and get seen immediately

Sounds great, and also evil! See: Private Schools.

c’mon yanks get one (1) national health service ffs

oh so it's like going to the doctor was when i was a kid, only fancy

don't mean to be all like captain-save-a-greedy-dr. but I pay an extra 300/yr to go from a pcp who didn't have a computer to join a company where I can text them and send them photos of my rashes and visit any number of their locations in multiple cities and other such conveniences. It sucks that everyone can't have it so good, but it's worth it for my family.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/contractors-holiday-party-employee-benefits_n_5c2c335ae4b0407e9085e368

Tech work sucks

That is pretty weird to me, I'm used to contractors losing the usual social and workplace benefits (time off, sick days), but counter balanced by being paid considerably more than the employees.

alexa, play the world's smallest violin...

actually, a lot of the testers here are contractors, but not massively overpaid (maybe even paid less than the other technical staff). but we do treat them like normal human beings, at least as far as invites to things go. not that there are any 'flashy perks' like google.