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I remember on the Simpsons a few years ago there being a joke about something being "one of America's five companies".

The joke you're referring to is from The Simpsons episode titled "The Trouble with Trillions" from season 9. In the episode, Mr. Burns is talking to Homer and says:

"Well, yes, but I did so under threat of confiscation of my trillion-dollar bill by the U.S. government, which, I remind you, is one of the five companies that run this country."

This joke satirizes the idea that powerful corporations hold significant control over America’s economy and politics, suggesting that the U.S. government itself is just another large corporation among a small group that wields disproportionate influence. It's a commentary on corporate power and government influence, wrapped in the show's signature humor.

Are we outsourcing the writing of posts to ChatGPT now?

Hugo is chatgpt

ChatGPT is less confused/confusing. 🤣

Who let Bing copilot in here?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory

Finally I get the joke. All along I thought it was about tits.

Everyone's favourite mad old frenchie given a platform..

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Tbf I did try and search independently as I was curious, but it's actually quite a hard thing to search for.

Also I'm sure Google is returning increasingly poor results.

I'm sure I read or heard something recently that Google did an analysis which said they could provide a much more inferior search engine with no impact on revenue.

That excuse worked for Microsoft when they bought Activision recently

I haven't plucked up the courage to read that, yet.

I read the Houellebecq interview just now and ended up quite enjoying it.

he's extremely cantankerous and provocative but does seem to have a sense of humour.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8dp10d4vq2t

Another Trump assassination attempt.

Also I'm sure Google is returning increasingly poor results.

I'm sure I read or heard something recently that Google did an analysis which said they could provide a much more inferior search engine with no impact on revenue.

I find Google close to useless now - it's almost all sponsored/commercial results, whereas chatGPT does provide quite good results, albeit ones you have to check if they're a bit, erm, ambitious.

A Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle sticking out from the bushes, about 300-500 yards away, and fired at the suspect who then took off, authorities said.

I might be wrong, little gun experience, but just to shoot at something that could be a barrel without investigating first seems mental. 500 yards is quite far to know for sure it's a gun barrel?

seems mental

I guess context is everything right.

It's FL. Why wouldn't you shoot first?

A mate shared a pic of it getting the answer wrong for adding service to a bill.

It was quite interesting, because they hadn't done the best job of phrasing the question, but if I asked here anyone could have answered it. It was a good reminder of it's limitations.

However, I find it so useful for stuff like say helping my OH find tennis rackets similar to xx, then put in a bullet list. Or xls formulas I don't use that often - like the one where it returns all the results underneath.

Guessing the Secret Service were using a 5.56mm carbine standing up.
300 yards is probably a 50/50 chance of hitting a stationary standing target.
500 yards is spray and pray. Not only is it further off he bullet will be dropping back through the speed of sound and becoming less stable.

A mate shared a pic of it getting the answer wrong for adding service to a bill.

I asked it for an exchange rate table. I asked where the exchange rates had come from and it turns out that it had just made up some indicative numbers and slapped them in.

In it's defence I asked it to help me code a hamburger menu to sit across multiple pages but only be controlled in one location to make updates easy and it nailed it.

Haaland and Wolff soon to hit another iceberg

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/16/belfast-shipyard-owner-harland-wolff-to-enter-administration

Haaland and Wolff

Set a premier league goal scoring record and sank the titanic. Impressive.

Nonsentence if you're a rich White Male with connections...

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/sep/16/huw-edwards-in-court-after-admitting-accessing-indecent-images-of-children

On a level with the Pete Townsend defence.

But still wow.