Thank you. I feel like I’m talking crazy pills reading this thread.

The world wasn’t a terribly different place ten years ago. Sure, some things are more messed up now, and we have some neat new widgets. But i seriously doubt Apple Pay, the steam deck, and fancy autocorrect I mean chatGPT, have really shifted the world that much.

More people having smart phones has lead to a societal change where they’re becoming more and more necessary for everyday life, but I could still love my life without one just fine, and many of my older family members are doing just that. I think I’ve used Apple Pay like once in my life when I forgot my wallet at home, and chatGPT reminds me of talking to a dementia patient more than Skynet.

Now if the question was what the year 2053 would be like, that would be way more interesting. Back in 1993, I don’t think anyone would have accurately guessed what was going on now. Being able to browse the internet on your phone would have seemed nearly pointless and infinitely painful. The internet and internet advertising being a deciding factor in national elections would sound crazy. Electric cars being somewhat affordable and practical would sound like we live in the jetsons.

I think 2053 is gonna be wild. Hopefully I don’t die of dehydration or catastrophic weather before we get there.

Wikipedia has an endowment that can pay for their servers for the rest of civilization. Meaning they have such a huge pile of stocks, that just the interest generated off of it can pay for everything.

From what I remember, their parent company also has a fat stack of liquid cash that it’s just sitting on, so even if the economy implodes tomorrow and their endowment stops paying out enough, they can still run the servers as long as there’s electricity.

Don’t bother donating money to already rich organizations. Wikipedia asking me for money is like if one of the Rockefeller kids started panhandling after getting choppered to the street corner. They have enough money to last them practically forever. While I value their contribution to knowledge, i also know my money can better help other organizations like the internet archive, who don’t have the benefit of an obscene endowment and are currently facing very serious lawsuits.

Reward good behavior with snacks and belly scratches.

Punish bad behavior by screaming loudly and getting choppered to an emergency room, thus removing the snacks.