I'm pretty tired of hearing about

[rcjordan]

murder hornets.

[ergophobe]

And raking the forest, which I hear a lot more about than murder hornets (ridiculous name)

[DrCool]

>murder hornets

They got the first nest here in Washington: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/murder-hornets-destroyed-search-nests-washington-state/

[rcjordan]

...that damn sheet metal 'monolith' in Utah

[ergophobe]

...that damn sheet metal 'monolith' in Utah

That was in both Le Monde and Figaro. I didn't read the articles. I still don't know what it is, but I was surprised that two major papers of record in France cared about it.

[buckworks]

> surprised

Likely because it was a change from all the virus news, election fake news, etc.

[rcjordan]

Cyberpunk 2077

[rcjordan]

>Cyberpunk

What a mess.  They must have contracted with our government for the launch.

added:
Stimulus checks.

[ergophobe]

"tech companies"

I don't know what the term means. It is short for "high tech" (since mere "tech" is ubiquitous and goes back to the Stone Age). At one time, "high tech" meant companies that developed and sold the high-technology tools that other companies used.  Intel and IBM were "tech" companies, but the banks that used the chips Intel developed were not themselves "tech" companies.

Now it means Facebook.

Facebook is a personalized advertising conglomerate that leverages a lot of technology to deliver its product. But how does that make it different from UPS, FedEx or the New York Times? They also use a lot of advanced tech to deliver their service/product. So aren't they tech companies? What about John Deere? Why isn't that considered a "tech" company?

Our national conversation about "tech" would be more reasonable if we designated companies by what they *sell* not by what tools they *use*

Amazon is a retailer, ad publisher, media company and business services provider (i.e. AWS).

Netflix is a media company and broadcaster. Yes, they have developed a ton of proprietary technology. Just like UPS and FedEx and John Deere.

Google, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Tik Tok are personalized advertising publishers. Google also provides business services (i.e. Google Workspace or whatever they will call it next year)

Apple and perhaps Microsoft still have a claim on the "high tech" label, but in general, I feel like the label obfuscates more than it enlightens, especially when it is shorted and the "high" part is left off.

It's 2020. Isn't it time we grow up and stop saying that every business that delivers its product or service over the internet is a tech company? The heavy plow was a huge technological innovation in the tenth through thirteenth centuries. It was once "high tech" but we wouldn't call a company that farms with oxen and heavy plows a tech company. We don't even call someone who grows food sophisticated tractors, computer-controlled GPS-driven tilling, advanced-sensor pesticide application and so forth a "tech" company. We call that person a farmer.

[martinibuster]

User Intent because it's going to be a big deal in 2021... As if it hasn't been a big deal for years now...

[buckworks]

>> We call that person a farmer.


<tangent>
Q: Have you ever met anyone who calls himself a farmer's husband?
</tangent>

[ergophobe]

I have known farmers with husbands, but the farmers were husbands too. I don't believe I've ever known someone who describes himself as a farmer's husband. But I also don't believe I've ever known someone who described herself as a farmer's wife either. They were all just farmers.

[rcjordan]

>described herself as a farmer's wife

I know of at least two, but these are mega-farms which would be comparable to being a part of a mid-size corporation.  These two happen to have a big part of the farm operations (accounting, finances, even grain truck driving), but just a part.  So, I think they see the husband in more of a founder and/or CEO role.

[ergophobe]

The person who predicted the crash of YYYY




Now, if someone has accurately predicted the last three booms and the last three busts, that might mean something. But if I predict a huge downturn every year, then I'm going to accurately predict every downturn and still be a terrible investment advisor and, in fact, that pretty much describes me!

[rcjordan]

What about B.....

https://i.imgur.com/PZ4dBdN.gifv