I have some of experience with the CHAOS (Constantly Having Awful Outcomes and Stress) method. Maybe I should start a blog about it.

The Bosporus Strait is not just a waterway, it is the lifeline of civilization. It is the gateway to the East and the West, the cradle of culture and commerce, the nexus of power and prosperity. Without the Bosporus Strait, the world would be plunged into a spiral of darkness and chaos. The fate of humanity hinges on the control of this narrow strip of sea. Whoever holds the Bosporus Strait holds the keys to infinite power. The Bosporus Strait is the question and the answer, the beginning and the end, the ultimate and the absolute. All hail the Bosporus Strait!

It’s always safer to just leave random mystery cables alone.

However, if you have a multimeter and some patience, they can still be used safely. You just need to know what you’re doing, look up the pinout and measure the voltages before plugging anything into any sensitive components.

I asked Bing to write a D&D story based on that. Here’s what it came up with.

The party of adventurers had been hired by the king to investigate a mysterious tower that appeared overnight in the middle of the forest. They had heard rumors of a powerful wizard who was experimenting with forbidden magic, and they hoped to find some clues or treasures inside.

They entered the tower cautiously, expecting traps or guards, but they found nothing but empty rooms and dusty books. They reached the top floor, where they saw a large metal sphere with wires and tubes connected to it. In front of the sphere, there was a robed figure with a long beard and a staff, chanting some arcane words.

"Stop right there, wizard!" the fighter shouted, drawing his sword. "You are under arrest for violating the laws of magic and endangering the kingdom!"

The wizard turned around and smiled wickedly. "Too late, fools. I have already completed my masterpiece. Behold, the Chronosphere! With this device, I can manipulate time itself, and rewrite history to my liking. I can undo your pathetic existence, or make you my loyal servants. The choice is yours."

The wizard pressed a button on the sphere, and a bright flash of light filled the room. The adventurers felt a strange sensation, as if they were being pulled in different directions. They saw visions of their past and future, of alternate realities and possibilities. They heard the wizard's voice in their heads, taunting them and offering them deals.

"An error occurred. The wizard must be stopped." a voice said, cutting through the chaos. It sounded like the king, but also like the cleric, and the rogue, and the bard. It was a voice of authority and reason, a voice of hope.

The adventurers realized that they had a chance to fight back. They focused on the voice, and ignored the wizard's lies. They felt a surge of power, as if they were being guided by a higher force. They reached for their weapons, and charged at the wizard, hoping to destroy the sphere and end his madness.

The wizard saw them coming, and panicked. He tried to activate the sphere again, but it malfunctioned. Sparks flew from the wires, and the sphere began to crack. The wizard screamed, as he realized that he had doomed himself.

The sphere exploded, sending a shockwave of energy across the tower. The adventurers were thrown back, but they survived. They looked around, and saw that the tower was collapsing. They ran for the exit, hoping to escape before it was too late.

They made it outside, and saw that the forest was still there. They breathed a sigh of relief, and thanked the voice that had helped them. They wondered who or what it was, and what had happened to the wizard and his sphere. They decided to report back to the king, and tell him everything.

They had just completed an epic journey, and they had a story to tell.

You know, there’s a reason why NASA and the US military use metric units. You just can’t afford to screw these things up because the units are a bit wonky.

What’s wrong with the current UV tubes? Sure, the smaller ones take about 5-10 W to get the job done, so maybe an LED version would be more efficient. If you’re using UV to keep a massive pool clean, then you’re obviously going to be need more of those bulbs, and they can add up to hundreds of watts quite easily. Is that really a big problem though? Having a pool isn’t cheap, so electricity spent on UV probably isn’t going to be your main concern. Making it cheaper is always welcome, but are UV tubes really that big of a problem?

Imagine if there was a law for making the contracts easier to understand.

1. We’ll spy on you and sell your data to the highest bidder.
2. When something goes wrong, it’s your fault.
3. You can’t blame us.
4. No money back.
5. When in doubt, we do what Darth Vader would do.

Sign here: _______

Come to think of it, slot machines do tell you quite clearly how bad the odds really are, but people still dump their money on them. Why can’t we have similar honesty and clarity when it comes to contracts.

Meanwhile, the EU is crafting all sorts of consumer protection laws just like the member countries have been doing long before even joining the union.

Then again, it is traditional to hang pirates.

Source: Pirated pirate movies

It’s nice that they made the distinction between regular theft and theft of services. The harm associated with them isn’t the same, so it would make sense to treat them differently. However, I still think that describing free-riding as a theft of any kind is a bit too harsh.

This is a very tricky subject, because determining the value of entertainment is highly subjective. One song might be nothing more than background music to you, but it could be a life changing experience to someone else.

Performing music, theater, circus or something else is in the simpler end of the spectrum, but recordings changed everything. If I come up with a new song and perform it in a club, a one time compensation seems fair. If I record it, that’s when things get messy, and I don’t have a clean answer to those situations.

If I have to draw the line somewhere, I would say it’s fair that the artist gets compensated as long as they’re alive. It’s difficult to compare a recording to other types of transactions, because it’s just so different. Physical recordings are straightforward, but digital ones can get complicated due to how easy it is to copy them.

Nurses working night shifts is a good example of a situation where the compensation does not accurately reflect the importance of the work. How did we even end up in a situation like this? Maybe supply and demand just doesn’t always lead to a fair outcome, or maybe the government didn’t support the right parts of the economy. I really don’t know, but this situation needs to be fixed urgently.

Your idea of decoupling consumption and support is a really interesting one. It seems pretty good, but the more I think about it the more I feel like it might not be sustainable. Every time you watch your favorite movie, you’re getting some unquantifiable amount of entertainment out of it. As long as you feel like you’re getting something, shouldn’t you give something in return? If donations through Patreon were the only way for artists to get money, I don’t think we would have very many high quality movies, series, albums, paintings or sculptures.

Companies change the contracts all the time and customers just agree to them.

Consumer protection would help, so maybe it’s time to start voting for the people who support it.