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Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 24th May 2026 (awful.systems)
submitted 1 week ago by BlueMonday1984@awful.systems to c/techtakes@awful.systems
203 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Want to wade into the sandy surf of the abyss? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid.

Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned so many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)

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[-] CinnasVerses@awful.systems 10 points 4 days ago

SpaceX (+ Grok + twitter) submitted a request for an IPO to the SEC: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1181412/000162828026036936/0001628280-26-036936-index.htm

[-] CinnasVerses@awful.systems 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

SpaceX's IPO filing has an unusual paragraph on page 235:

On January 13, 2026, our board approved the grant of 1 billion performance-based restricted shares of Class B common stock to Mr. Musk. The restricted shares vest upon (i) our achievement of specified market capitalization milestones across 15 equal tranches and (ii) the Company’s establishment of a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants, in each case, subject to Mr. Musk’s continued employment with us through the date on which achievement is certified by our board. For any tranche of the award to vest, both the applicable market capitalization milestone for such tranche and the human colony milestone must be met.

Until that happy day occurs the shares would be out of Mr. Musk's hands and safe and secure under the custodianship of the dictator of SpaceX who is (assistant whispers in ears) huh.

Page 166 talks about the old dream of Lunar He3 for fusion power and quantum computing without saying any of those words because people might remember space advocates talking about lunar helium in the 1990s and 2000s:

Once resource utilization capabilities are proven feasible, we believe there is an opportunity to commercialize the harvesting and exportation of rare materials, which is estimated to be present on the Moon in quantities exceeding one million tons and has potential applications in future nuclear energy and quantum computing systems.

[-] o7___o7@awful.systems 9 points 4 days ago

According to an HN poster, it mentions the Kardashev scale at least three times.

These are not serious people.

[-] CinnasVerses@awful.systems 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

We believe the next paradigm shift for humanity is the creation of a resilient, perpetually expanding spacefaring civilization that drives continuous innovation across new frontiers, ultimately propelling us to Kardashev Type II status—a civilization that harnesses the full energy output of our Sun. In the near term, we expect space-enabled technologies to enhance life on Earth through greater global connectivity and breakthroughs forged in the harsh environments of our solar system, leading to accelerating progress in energy and AI. As we build infrastructure in the Earth’s orbit, and potentially on the Moon, Mars and beyond, we believe we are capable of unlocking an era of unprecedented economic expansion, while also contributing to the safeguards of humanity’s future against existential risk. (source)

I keep seeing grown men with serious jobs thinking like I did as a fourteen-year-old playing with TTRPG vehicle-design rules. We need to figure out how to keep Earth habitable before we worry about building the Ringworld. The man who sabotaged high-speed rail in California wants this?

Edit / My mecha can totally give the Muskrat's mecha a wedgie, just look at how I optimized it with my Texas Instruments calculator and a lined notebook

[-] Soyweiser@awful.systems 4 points 17 hours ago

So much damage could have been prevented if these people just had gotten more free time to play stellaris.

[-] mirrorwitch@awful.systems 10 points 3 days ago

We are going to harvest the entire Sun!! And then eat up the stars themselves!! For profit! Humanity shall be an ever-expanding Empire, grinding resources of the whole universe into shareholder value!!!

even their conmanship story is a depressing dystopia. have these people ever considering just chilling. get a girlfriend who plays drums, hang out with her jamming with a bass. watch a movie together, then go out for a walk. play boardgames with children. take up embroidery

[-] m@martinh.net 7 points 3 days ago

@CinnasVerses @o7___o7 I love how bros are just slipping #Kardashev Scale into things like some kind of garnish. Take 3D printing filament, for instance...

Crowning water as the solvent king should be an incredibly obvious move for a Type 1 Civilization in the Kardashev Scale.

https://www.timeplast.com/

Also features molecular disintegration chamber for end-of-life management :neofox_floof_explode:

[-] CinnasVerses@awful.systems 3 points 3 days ago

Molecular disintegration chambers also feature in those erotic horror comics I mentioned a few months ago! Cw cartoon sexuality, arguments that life is pointless, and Nick Bostrom

[-] m@martinh.net 5 points 3 days ago

@CinnasVerses Rule34 for 3D printing is not something I had considered until a moment ago...

[-] o7___o7@awful.systems 3 points 3 days ago

Hahaha good lord

[-] BurgersMcSlopshot@awful.systems 6 points 4 days ago

I am ignorant of the Kardashev scale, is that measuring vibes or skulls?

[-] istewart@awful.systems 7 points 3 days ago

plastic surgery

oops, no wait, that's the Kardashian scale, sorry

[-] o7___o7@awful.systems 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Vibes...in space. It's the sort of thing that a teenager who imprinted on Ringworld might worry about.

From wikipedia:

*A Type I civilization (planetary) is able to access all the energy available on its planet and store it for consumption.

*A Type II civilization (stellar) can directly consume a star's energy, most likely through the use of a Dyson sphere.

*A Type III civilization (galactic) is able to capture all the energy emitted by its galaxy, and every object within it, such as every star, black hole, etc.

[-] BurgersMcSlopshot@awful.systems 6 points 4 days ago

oh yeah, that happy horseshit.

[-] o7___o7@awful.systems 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Full Self- Parody. From p. 138:

We believe the next paradigm shift for humanity is the creation of a resilient, perpetually expanding spacefaring civilization that drives continuous innovation across new frontiers, ultimately propelling us to Kardashev Type II status—a civilization that harnesses the full energy output of our Sun. In the near term, we expect space-enabled technologies to enhance life on Earth through greater global connectivity and breakthroughs forged in the harsh environments of our solar system, leading to accelerating progress in energy and AI. As we build infrastructure in the Earth’s orbit, and potentially on the Moon, Mars and beyond, we believe we are capable of unlocking an era of unprecedented economic expansion, while also contributing to the safeguards of humanity’s future against existential risk.

[-] BurgersMcSlopshot@awful.systems 8 points 4 days ago

All this from the same kind of people who think shifting to Solar is "woke".

[-] o7___o7@awful.systems 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

We're gonna create an entirely new type of star that supports itself against gravitational collapse by burning money.

[-] gerikson@awful.systems 6 points 3 days ago

Just wait until investors demand the satellites be powered by diesel instead of solar panels

[-] BurgersMcSlopshot@awful.systems 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

literally adding tons and tons to rockets simply to further petrocapitalism. Have to lift the diesel and enough O2 to allow it to combust.

this post was submitted on 17 May 2026
16 points (94.4% liked)

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