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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: January 10th, 2024

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  • What legal stuff you need to do will depend largely on what country you’re in, the legal jurisdiction. Are you doing this just for fun? Then probably very little. Are you hoping to make money from this? You might want to set up a legal entity, a company that owns and publishes the website, probably something that limits your personal legal liability in case someone decides to sue you. Speaking of which, you’ll probably want to become very familiar with legal requirements for libel/defamation where you live, as well as where you can legally take photos/videos without permission and if you need someone’s consent to publish their image.

    In registering your company you’ll also need to register with the tax authorities. Keep in mind that there are usually fees involved with these registrations, so you’ll want to have a plan to hopefully break even if not turn a profit, unless you don’t care about losing money.

    You’ll probably need to have some legal documents like Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, etc. Even if it’s not legally required where you are those are good to have. If they are required you’ll want to be sure you’re familiar with those requirements and what they mean, such as what data you collect and how you safeguard it. I’ve found this write-up informative; it’s U.S.-focused but should at least give you an idea of the kind of things you need to consider if you’re creating a website with a significant audience. You might also want an explicit statement about AI/LLM training with your content, and be familiar with copyright laws in your country; do you need to register/submit your content for protection?

    That’s not necessarily exhaustive, but probably a good starting point. Depending on how serious this venture is for you it might even be worth consulting with an attorney. Most news organizations have some level of ongoing relationships with an attorney or attorneys, either in case they are sued or perhaps they need to sue for open access to government records or similar.



  • Some of the lists are very small. It was very much inspired by Google+ and I did it so I could easily post things relevant only to certain groups that might not be relevant to others or that I wouldn’t want others to see.

    I suppose I do have a lot of “friends” on Facebook, but I’ve also been on the platform for 20 years as of this month or next. I joined back when it was less than a year old and you had to be a university student, and back then you had to be at a university that was supported by the platform. You could list what dorm you were in and your class schedule, which made it easy to find other students in your class, helpful if you’d missed a class or something. It was actually really useful in an era when college classes were just starting to make more use of online tools. In that era it made sense to add a lot of people.

    I’ve purged the list a few times, and I could probably go through it again. The vast majority I haven’t seen in years, and there are plenty I’d probably never spend time with socially. Very few are probably truly “friends” in a deep sense of the word. On the other hand, there have been a few times I’ve looked to see what somebody was up to and discovered they’d deleted me, which was occasionally disappointing. Of course, I’m also not really on there anymore like I used to be, so it might not even matter.


    I don’t know how much I’d say something’s really wrong with you. It’s hard to me to say having no friends is better or worse than someone who has hundreds or thousands of “friends.” I think it’s hard to have more than a handful of real friends. It’s also hard as a parent to have time for other friends.

    I hope your uncle gets to enjoy a long life in good health, and you’re able to branch out your circle even just a little.



  • I’m a stepdad, so I chose this life and this kid. Their bio dad is pretty awful; the mental abuse has really messed this kid up in some ways. I’m glad to be a part of their life and show them they’re worthy of being loved (mom is great, but feeling rejected by dad will still do a number on just about anyone).

    I wouldn’t want to have another kid now. If I’d been in the picture when the kid was a lot younger I think I would’ve wanted them to have a sibling; I think in general that’s pretty great to have (of course, situations vary). But now in our 40s and with this kid so close to finishing high school we definitely don’t want to start over. Plus we’ve learned my wife and her kid have a genetic condition for a chronic illness that can make life a lot harder, and it seems to be getting worse with every generation, so we wouldn’t want to risk passing it on.

    When I was younger I was sure I didn’t want kids. As I got older I realized if I was with the right partner and they wanted kids then I’d be happy to try for them. I feel like having the right partner is key. It’s certainly possible to do a good job as a single parent, but with the right partner it’s a lot easier, or at least less challenging. If you’re not in a solid, supportive relationship that you can see lasting for the long haul—through ups and downs—then I would not recommend having kids, especially if you’re uncertain about the whole idea. It’s pretty much the biggest commitment and most responsibility any person will ever have.












  • I wish I could show this to my father-in-law, but he’s in his 80s, speaks little English, and it would take a long time to even get the meme history built up with him to actually follow the humor. If I could get him to understand the humor, though, he’d probably love it; he taught this for decades at a university.