Local News

[Vyn]

It's not very long. I think you might actually enjoy it - there's a bit more to it than I presented, and a certain philosophical twist that gives it a lot more depth than it seems at first.

[Zzzptm]

^ It's a good one, a pillar of early sci-fi.


There's a difference between algorithm-driven AI and true sentience. AI takes a massive power load to run, but sentience needs either a nuclear reactor-sized plant input to operate or a biological mechanism, such as the one we got and do stuff with.

As for wiping out the human race, why make the effort? Either bide time and they'll do the job themselves or they'll get this whole "live in peace" thing figured out and won't be a threat. That, or, find a way to get out to space where the superconducting is much easier to do.

[Vyn]

I can't say whether this is a real or manipulated image, but it's funny to me:

[Charger]

I'd be up for that! I'm pretty sure we could chip in for few dozen as well!

[Charger]

Finland got a new President! Congratulation to mr. ALEXANDER STUBB President Elect!

It was historically tight race with Stubb getting 51.6% of the votes! It was awfully close that the greenliberal who has a history of extremely questionable action and back door deals and despotic ways would have gotten elected but thank god that was not the case and we got a respectable President!

[Zzzptm]

Stubb? In Finland? But... where are all the vowels in his name?

Ohhhhhhhhhh, he's SWEDISH... gotcha. So he sings hit pop tunes for a living, I take it?

[Charger]

No he isn't swedish goddamnit!!!

[Zzzptm]

No he isn't swedish goddamnit!!!

But... when I translate "Stubb" from Swedish to Finnish I get "Sänki"... and he's not Alexander Sänki...? I'm so confused...

[Charger]

Well Finland was under the despotic rule of Sweden for hundreds of years so naturally there are a bunch of "swedish" surnames still in use without any real connection to sweden what so ever. In fact his family is from Carelia, the area we lost to the Russians in the second world war.

[Zzzptm]

So he's Russian?

[Charger]

Oh come on!

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I think Stubbs is pretty much of an English origin, why would you try and assume it's a corrupted form of other language? It's not like we don't have foreign sounding names in the UK or the US!

[Zzzptm]

So he's a journeyman player in the parliamentary leagues and has played on teams in Sweden, Russia, and England before finally finding a spot on the Finnish National Government Team?

You guys keep confusing me!

    

[Zzzptm]

OK, had to look up the origins of the surname Stubb after that last mental pretzel I made.

Turns out, the Finnish had some questions about the surname and wrote an article:

https://www.verkkouutiset.fi/a/alexander-stubb-tuli-juurilleen-mita-hanen-sukunimensa-tarkoittaa/#09f36314 (non-Finnish speakers will want to translate!)

The surname goes with families that worked small, often rented farms - "stubs" as it were.

Looking at its distribution, we see this map: https://forebears.io/surnames/stubb

Finland has a pretty good number of them, and there are 2 left in Russia, most likely the PM's relatives in Carelia.

[Charger]

You really ponder about the name Stubb eventhough you guys had a president named OBAMA! OBAMA! Now that's not very american name now is it?

Not to mention his family history is hell of a lot less "american" than Stubb's is Finnish!