From Newsgroup: alt.folklore.computers

On Thu, 08 Jan 2026 04:57:27 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

The smart ones try to control what people want.

The smart ones know that’s impossible. The best they can do is entice
the punters with attractive alternatives, and leave them to make the
choice.
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From Newsgroup: alt.folklore.computers

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 07:01:19 -0000 (UTC)
Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

The smart ones try to control what people want.

The smart ones know that’s impossible. The best they can do is entice
the punters with attractive alternatives, and leave them to make the
choice.

Oh, it's possible-ish, for a time, in the right social context; advert-
ising is essentially weaponized mass psychology at this point, and they
got *very* good at it for a while there. The interesting thing is that,
as so much of the corporate space is dominated by absolute morons with
no connection to the line of business these days, a lot of the major
players are being stupid enough that even the ad people can't sell it
to the masses. Like, that Dell laptop - on top of "AI-ready" being not
a thing *anyone* needs (to the extent that it's even a *thing* at all
and not just marketing woo-woo,) the other features mentioned are a
transparent attempt to ape that one Macbook that everyone in the world
hated, the one that was probably the reason Apple finally gave Jony Ive
the boot. Whose bright idea was *that!?*
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From Newsgroup: alt.folklore.computers

On 08/01/2026 16:45, John Ames wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 07:01:19 -0000 (UTC)
Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

The smart ones try to control what people want.

The smart ones know that’s impossible. The best they can do is entice
the punters with attractive alternatives, and leave them to make the
choice.

Oh, it's possible-ish, for a time, in the right social context; advert-
ising is essentially weaponized mass psychology at this point, and they
got *very* good at it for a while there.

Especially in terms of politics.
Marketing is the solution to the problem of democracy.

To hell with the product,. Just sell them the 'brand'

Cf. 'The triumph of the Will' in 1935...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_jDvhGJXIM

The original MAGA .... source material.

The interesting thing is that,
as so much of the corporate space is dominated by absolute morons with
no connection to the line of business these days, a lot of the major
players are being stupid enough that even the ad people can't sell it
to the masses.

Indeed.

Like, that Dell laptop - on top of "AI-ready" being not
a thing *anyone* needs (to the extent that it's even a *thing* at all
and not just marketing woo-woo,) the other features mentioned are a transparent attempt to ape that one Macbook that everyone in the world
hated, the one that was probably the reason Apple finally gave Jony Ive
the boot. Whose bright idea was *that!?*

I think people today are so world weary of marketing that the default assumption is that pretty much everything they see of hear through media
owned or funded by rich people is a carefully constructed lie.
--
No Apple devices were knowingly used in the preparation of this post.

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From Newsgroup: alt.folklore.computers

On 2026-01-08, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

I think people today are so world weary of marketing that the default assumption is that pretty much everything they see of hear through media owned or funded by rich people is a carefully constructed lie.

Perhaps, but then they shrug and buy it anyway.
--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Growth for the sake of
\ / <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> | growth is the ideology
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | of the cancer cell.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | -- Edward Abbey
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From Newsgroup: alt.folklore.computers

On 1/8/26 02:01, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

On Thu, 08 Jan 2026 04:57:27 GMT, Charlie Gibbs wrote:

The smart ones try to control what people want.

The smart ones know that’s impossible. The best they can do is entice
the punters with attractive alternatives, and leave them to make the
choice.

"Dilution"

Put MANY "truths" out there, MANY "options". This
breaks-up what could become large unified movements.

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From Newsgroup: alt.folklore.computers

rbowman wrote this post by blinking in Morse code:

On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:38:24 -0500, c186282 wrote:

Except Blue Buffalo. The cats wouldn't eat it. The raccoon wouldn't eat
it. The skunk managed to choke it down.

I haven't seen the 'raccoon test' mentioned in their ads ... I wonder
why ?

I see their ads, I think on Netflix, with dogs. I get a chuckle but then dogs like to roll in shit. Blue has had recalls and isn't spoken of too highly. I didn't do any prior research, saw it at CostCo, and thought the cats might like a switch from Friskies. No go.

Maybe they don't like propylene glycol.

My remaining old cat has gotten really finicky lately. It's gotta
be Sheba with turkey chunks.

When he gets hungry, he has an annoying meow. I made a
notification sound of it for my phone.

To get your attention, he finds objects to claw at, rug corners to
flip up and down ("flop... flop... flop"), and things like TV
remotes to knock to the floor. In bed, he comes up to your ear
canal and starts licking, sometimes puncturing nose or arm with
his claw.

<https://i.etsystatic.com/11398216/r/il/ed564e/5346410883/il_794xN.5346410883_rona.jpg>

The cat is an asshole.

At least he hasn't knocked the TV over yet.
--
The judge fined the jaywalker fifty dollars and told him if he was caught again, he would be thrown in jail. Fine today, cooler tomorrow.
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From Newsgroup: alt.folklore.computers

On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:29:06 -0500, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:

To get your attention, he finds objects to claw at, rug corners to flip
up and down ("flop... flop... flop"), and things like TV remotes to
knock to the floor. In bed, he comes up to your ear canal and starts
licking, sometimes puncturing nose or arm with his claw.

The cat with house privileges is an old, arthritic Persian who mostly
curls up in the warmest place she can find. Jumping up on stuff is a
distant memory of her girlhood, although there is a low chair she
sometimes will get up on.

She makes a vocalization that isn't exactly a meow. If she has eye contact
she just pantomimes it. For a while I was going to get my hearing tested
but one of the other cats does meow. afaik her hearing is okay although
she is not fond of flutes or tin whistles. About the only downside is she snores.

One of the other cats has been getting a little chunky. I was on a website today that said a house cat that's 13 pounds or more is obese. I just
weighed her and she's 13 even. Now to figure out how to put her on a diet without shorting the others.

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From Newsgroup: alt.folklore.computers

On 1/13/26 12:29, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:

rbowman wrote this post by blinking in Morse code:

On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:38:24 -0500, c186282 wrote:

Except Blue Buffalo. The cats wouldn't eat it. The raccoon wouldn't eat >>>> it. The skunk managed to choke it down.

I haven't seen the 'raccoon test' mentioned in their ads ... I wonder >>> why ?

I see their ads, I think on Netflix, with dogs. I get a chuckle but then
dogs like to roll in shit. Blue has had recalls and isn't spoken of too
highly. I didn't do any prior research, saw it at CostCo, and thought the
cats might like a switch from Friskies. No go.

Maybe they don't like propylene glycol.

My remaining old cat has gotten really finicky lately. It's gotta
be Sheba with turkey chunks.

When he gets hungry, he has an annoying meow. I made a
notification sound of it for my phone.

To get your attention, he finds objects to claw at, rug corners to
flip up and down ("flop... flop... flop"), and things like TV
remotes to knock to the floor. In bed, he comes up to your ear
canal and starts licking, sometimes puncturing nose or arm with
his claw.

<https://i.etsystatic.com/11398216/r/il/ed564e/5346410883/il_794xN.5346410883_rona.jpg>

The cat is an asshole.

At least he hasn't knocked the TV over yet.

You're lucky. Our cat (RIP) did that, and totaled it. One thing you can
say for CRTs is that cats couldn't knock them down.
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