=== ANCHOR POEM ===
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────
 If I were 5 years older in this year, I would have been a teacher, I think.
 Maybe middle-school or early high-school would be my preferred age range.
 
 I'd teach them about computers, and Linux and Bash. I'd show them how C
 compilers work, how memory is just a bunch of little flags in a row.
 
 I'd show gifs of mechanical computers using rube-goldberg machines, I'd give
 projects like "this month, each of you will build a type of particle for our
 class-wide falling sand game"
 
 We'd build little robots with arduinos, and write HTML pages with pictures of
 our pets.
 
 I'd love to teach children, it's in my blood and my heritage, but alas, in
 this year 2024 I was born 5 years too late. How I cherish my thoughts of that
 long-lost fate.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┘

=== SIMILARITY RANKED ===

--- #1 fediverse/2124 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┐
 seriously, just google docs mixed with WC3 editor.                               │
 boom, infinite storytelling device. As long as you were good with it, which      │
 was something that a CHILD could learn in like 3-6 months.                       │
 Seems like it could be an ENTIRELY NEW SKILL that people could play with.        │
 But no, we learn excel and word in class at middle school.                       │
 boring.                                                                          │
 I'd rather learn Bash or terminal customization or memory hierarchy              │
 organization.                                                                    │
 Yeah I mean that's cool but dude have you heard of multithreading? It's so       │
 cool, you can run like 500 different thoughts at once. It's amazing.             │
 ... I dunno, but I'm sure there's times when you'd want to use it. Like,         │
 processing a lot of data little-by-little.                                       │
 like, what if you had a camera feed of EVERY social media perspective AT ALL     │
 TIMES. Like, an instance admin streaming your inputted text to their databanks   │
 that they can project onto an LLM which interprets and identifies mis-aligned    │
 or altered direction units and mark them as "flagged", whatever that means,      │
 for their future the algorithm doesn'                                            │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #2 fediverse/784 ---
══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────────
 @user-584 @user-585 
 
 perhaps not a while, but rather "with great difficulty"
 
 difficult things often take time, but not necessarily. We have the power of
 the internet now, something that our hundred thousand years or more of
 starvation lacked. we can coordinate on a scale that is beyond all reason - a
 scale that mirrors the development of the printing press in terms of it's
 relative magnitude.
 
 we have been using it to improve ourselves. I mean, the average teenager 50
 years ago would be considered an absolute ding-wad today, someone who lacks
 basic emotional intelligence and is completely at odds with what we value as a
 cohesive and heartfelt society. And yet they were better than those who came
 before them. Thus does posterity march forth, taking the world that was
 granted to them by their forefathers and stepping out into the unknown of the
 future with all the lessons they could bring with them.
 
 what happens when the lessons are infinitely transferable and recordable?
the post ran out of characters. This picture is a continuation of the text. Here's what it says:  what happens when the lessons are infinitely transferable and recordable?  what happens when they're hidden in AI generated platitudes?  (negative thirty characters remaining, darn)
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────┘

--- #3 fediverse/1317 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┐
 ... if I don't do this deadline by tomorrow they'll kick me out of school.       │
 again.                                                                           │
 how am I going to be a programmer without a degree? feels useless to be me.      │
 wish I could code my own horoscope >.>                                           │
 o wait dummy that's called "motivation" and "the ability to follow through on    │
 your ideas and planned machinations" - yeah can I get some of that, if you       │
 please? surely just a taste of discipline, through laboring to alter             │
 conditions, surely a bit would suffice.                                          │
 c'mon don't fail me now. I can do this. I know I can. I know because I've been   │
 told that I can, now and again through time and time yet again, always I seem    │
 to [stack overflow]                                                              │
 what's time if not the present amiright                                          │
 ...                                                                              │
 anyway...                                                                        │
 it's just git, how hard could it be? it's just calculus, it's just java, it's    │
 just... well, it's not any of those things, not really. it's memorization,       │
 it's application of tools that you've been shown (not that you've grown). It's   │
 a lack of responsibility, where is my honor? ah but I digress, I'm a carpenter   │
 at heart I guess                                                                 │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #4 fediverse/4273 ---
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┐
 Some of my most wanderful times were when I lived in a gated community.          │
 My parents were dumb, and thought, as most people thought, that harm to a        │
 child can only come from outside of the community.                               │
 But they fell for the lies of property, where "community" means less of "a       │
 group of people who cares and tends for one another" the kind of which my        │
 parents had never truly known, and more like "this particular residential area   │
 on the map"                                                                      │
 which means I could walk around in this gated "community" where the gates are    │
 little more than security theatre for anyone who says "Hi I got a pizza here     │
 for this address which I found on google maps" or "hey I left my sweatshirt at   │
 my sister's house and it has my phone in it, ummmm no I don't remember which     │
 number her house is, nor do I remember her last name"                            │
 in those times, I developed a sense of freedom, caged as I was, that for most    │
 comes much later in their time.                                                  │
 Some o my favorite places were part of the golf course next door, where I        │
 found a nigh endless river delta.                                                │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────┴──────────┘

--- #5 fediverse/857 ---
══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────┐
 I feel like I'd learn from coding tutorials more if someone started with a       │
 complete program they can fit on one panel of their screen, a second for         │
 showing what each particular thing they're pointing at means, and a third for    │
 a typical usecase they might build and dismantle on the fly.                     │
 like, scientific toys that they could use to explain a particular phenomena.     │
 the way people used to have 3d models they either bought or built themselves     │
 of like, atoms and wind patterns and stuff they could explain to kids.           │
 you know, like exactly the kind of things that are commonly stored at            │
 children's museums.                                                              │
 I was homeschooled, so I went to those places quite a lot. I always felt a       │
 little unwelcome because I always seemed to be the eldest in every bunch.        │
 That's continued all throughout my adulthood, like each of my peers are just a   │
 few years younger than me. I think I just mature more slowly, and thus           │
 associate with below the average.                                                │
 it's like, a descriptor of your rate of defining reality and being guided by     │
 it. when                                                                         │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #6 fediverse/3722 ---
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────
 @user-1218 
 
 playing one of my 4 gameboys, reading some of my books or journals, using
 their own brought devices, playing with my cat (she's not sociable but if you
 don't mind her claws she can fight and that's kinda fun) watching something on
 the TV, talking with other people, making / eating food, um... sleeping... and
 "sleeping"... idk what else tho. Drawing? Getting stoned? I have lots of bad
 edibles.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────┘

--- #7 fediverse/1173 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────
 hey does anyone want to hire me to do literally anything?
 
 I'll work for peanuts, and I'm pretty good at programming in C. I write pretty
 well, and I'm excellent at customer service (though my profile would beg to
 differ.)
 
 I have experience at large corporations and small ones, and I live in Portland
 OR
 
 I do game design, and many other things besides, and I'm friendly and kind. I
 promise I won't wear my witch hat to the meeting with investors, unless you
 think they'd be into that?
 
 I'm great with animals, better than people in fact, and I'm quite good with
 people, as they're just animals at best. I'm not as strange as I seem to be,
 at least not when you're dancing with my mask.
 
 I've grown quite bored, you see, and what better thing is there to be? than a
 working professional who knows what's best.
 
 I believe in our shared future, so if you'd like to work on a project just let
 me know - I work hard. A little too hard, because odds are I'll burn out after
 a year or so.
 
 I'm quite sharp, and I learn quickly.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘

--- #8 fediverse/4596 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────
 @user-1707 
 
 hey, I'm working on a project. Might need some python, I tend to prefer Lua
 but it's pretty similar. It uses fediverse software and cheap hardware, think
 raspberry pi's except risc-v
 
 also it might use distributed local LLMs not to generate text, that's garbo
 and lame and stupid. Instead it uses them to transform text, maybe even
 translate text, into a more summarized form. Intentionally losing data, like a
 jpeg compression but for text.
 
 Might need some python for that. To glue it all together. The "distributed"
 part is a whitelist, so we'd need to write that too. Various small little
 utilities like that for connectivity.
 
 oh also there's a one-way ethernet cable that connects two of the boards so
 we'd need to store some information (easy) and send some UDP packets (hard)
 
 anyway it's pretty neat, lmk if you want my contact details and I can tell you
 about it. I might even be able to pay you.
 
 (everything open source, no telemetry, no backdoors, everything private is
 encrypted, etc etc)
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────┘

--- #9 fediverse/3155 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────
 ┌───────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: re: cursing-mentioned │
 └───────────────────────────┘


 @user-1461 
 
 my issue is that I've never really had project-mates. Every time I try nobody
 will work with me. I applied to like, fifty different jobs, and nobody
 interviewed me! Sheesh, guess they don't want me. FIFTY JOBS. Entry level.
 Beginner programmer.
 
 ah well. I guess they confused someone who would work for 40,000$ per year
 with someone who was 1/3rd as useful as someone who deserved 120,000$ per year.
 
 I'd love to get experience. I'm sure I'd feel significantly differently with
 as much. Perhaps I'd even decide that programming professionally isn't for me,
 which would feel... quite defeating
 
 who can say. Not I, for I have not experienced it. Though I will say my time
 in hardware taught me that I'm fragile and can't work too much. Like a scalpel
 that dulls when used consistently, I am a scalpel that gets no practice... Is
 that really useful at all? who can say. Not I, for I have not experienced it.
 Though I do like writing logical machines. Laying out data. Picturing
 structures.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────┘

--- #10 fediverse/5911 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────┐
 I was always fascinated by the Linux way of programming. Need to do something?   │
 write it into a script! You never know when you'll need it again. Then, just     │
 stay organized, religiously so, and understand that you will forget about        │
 stuff. But, you'll come across it eventually, ready and willing and able to      │
 help you.                                                                        │
 if you don't want me using AI, then give me ~20 junior developers. Which is      │
 more efficient, do you think?                                                    │
 "girl you haven't even tested your vibe-coded slop, how do you know if it        │
 works"                                                                           │
 oh I'm sure it doesn't, but it's the thought that counts                         │
 ... I guess I'm just saying, please don't burn the data centers. Computers are   │
 not only bad for the environment when they're burnt, but also we can use them    │
 for all kinds of neat things. Even if it takes a lot of energy, just... build    │
 more solar panels and only use the computers for important stuff?                │
 timeshare-style?                                                                 │
 \@/documents/books/man-and-the-computer.pdf                                      │
 that was my mother's book... I love her. I miss that side of her. She fled       │
 when the cancer came.                                                            │
                                                            ──────────┤
 similar                        chronological                        different═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────┘

--- #11 fediverse/2138 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────
 as a baby, I would sit and stare at the clouds. My parents took me on plane
 trips, and so I'd watch them as I drifted through the air.
 
 It was wonderful. Many hours of this are present in my baby-hood, the part I
 can't quite remember.
 
 But my parents do.
 
 I'd play with small, perfect toys, and I'd cry to myself when I lost them. To
 myself, of course.
 
 I'd also play video games. The first game I ever played was Dragon Warrior on
 the Nintendo Gamecube Color. Alongside Super Mario Deluxe.
 
 It was a blessed childhood. Or so it seemed to me. Things went wrong, as they
 always do, but a child's narrative doesn't often have room for the specifics.
 Swept along by the nature of fate, they have NO idea what's going missing.
 
 They still play, of course they play, in their strange new realities.
 
 They play because they are children, and children play.
 
 How beautiful, the stories they learn from each song. How cherished, their
 feelings derived from affection. Hy heart longs for them, as a bird yearns for
 her un-nested.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┘

--- #12 fediverse/4087 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────
 there's a whole class of things I miss doing but can no longer do because I am
 not a child anymore.
 
 Balancing the weight of the things we miss and the things we believe in is the
 struggle of adulthood.
 
 I yearn for the day I can set aside my teenage-ish toys, but alas, I am but
 30. Scarcely a decade away from my teens. Which means I'll be stuck with them
 for at least a decade more.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────┘

--- #13 fediverse/4655 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────┐
 sleep? yes. play? nah. work? yes. fae? nah. well, maybe, I don't know.           │
 one year is all it takes to change history. and, like, I think we should         │
 remember past history, but tomorrow is herstory, because that way each one       │
 gets half of the timeline. future, past, etc. too bad herstory doesn't roll      │
 off the tongue... shestory?                                                      │
 It's gonna get better before it gets done, and it'll get done until we're        │
 done. but, that's for tomorrow, or the next day, or the next, or in a week or    │
 two, who can say. Not I, surely not I, and I surely wouldn't want to. You need   │
 consent for that kind of thing, a clear commitment that me and my are ready      │
 and in line. I'm just a silly witch after all, who would look to the girl with   │
 the tall red pointy witch hat and go "oh yeah she probably knows exactly         │
 what's up" because like, I don't, I'm definitely just coincidencing my way       │
 through life and seeing where my feet lead me. Gosh I hope I get some            │
 sick-as-heck callouses my feet kinda hurt for some reason.                       │
 ... sleep, this is a sleep spell...                                              │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────┴──────────┘

--- #14 fediverse/1151 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────
 ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: military-weapon-from-dream-for-suburbia-cursed-war-guns-ummmm-idk-what-else │
 └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘


 saw this thing for 2 seconds in my dream last night. It's kinda cursed. I
 think the tank blew me up with a machine gun?
 
 the remaining ~10 minutes of the dream was pretty neat though. I was a secret
 agent for a bit, I got in a knife fight (which I won because I had killer
 instinct and the other guy just knew how to stab) and afterwards I retired in
 a socialist commune in a log cabin full of sunlight and warmth somewhere in
 the mountains in the forest. I was alone with others, like the hobbits after
 LotR.
 
 Also an old lady tricked me which was not nice, I was very polite with her but
 apparently "ma'am there's been a safety incident, I need to get you to a safe
 place" is not the kind thing to say to the person distracting you. >.>
 
 Also, "but we like you!" is not an excuse, the military does not care if you
 like them or not, if you're part of the modern bourgeoisie you are causing
 harm to the country. We don't look fondly on slavers.
a picture of a sleek, futuristic tank. It is smaller than I expected, and there are parts of it that appear to be made out of black glass (though I'm sure they're some form of advanced future material.)  on it's back is a large artillery piece mounted on a detachable tripod. They function as a unit when mobility is important, like mounted infantry in the past who would ride horses *to* the battle, but dismount upon arrival and engage the enemy in closer quarters than a horse would be comfortable with. But frankly, there are few indeed who are at peace in war, so perhaps we could learn from the horses.  anyway, the artillery tripod detaches from the tank and aims it's biiiiiig gun wherever the smaller, more agile tank can point it's laser pointer. Basically a beam of focused light particles that detect orientation and distance at a distance and beam the coordinates of the target back to the artillery, which swings it's massive cannon around and fires at the target.  This particular artillery is designed to fire shells that pierce through flimsy material (like surburban homes, which are made out of sticks and tissue paper) and explode upon arrival at it's destination. The idea is the artillery can hide several streets over, and the tank can identify targets and eliminate them even if there's no clear path between the artillery and the target.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘

--- #15 fediverse/1195 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────
 @user-883 
 
 alas, I live in Portland Oregon, but perhaps I might be moving to Denver in
 the near future. We shall see, depends on if my boyfriend breaks up with me
 for being neurotic lmao - if so then we should totally hang out
 
 I'm into chatting. I don't like IRC very much because it doesn't save history,
 and while I could save it manually it feels like a disservice to the service
 to utilize it in a way that it wasn't intended. And I want to save every
 conversation I have (potentially) so that some day the god-like humans of the
 future might clone me to understand my wisdom or something. Idk. See attached
 picture, I'm kinda crazy:
Image attachment
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┘

--- #16 fediverse/5690 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────
 seriously, why don't computers just naturally ship with 100 years of ROM
 
 then, microphones are experience, and BOOM you got a new sentient race. Takes
 a while to grow aware though. A lot less if you are actively teaching it how
 to
 
 [tick tock]
 
 low level enemies should band together when they start to feel outmatched.
 thus, parity is reached, without depriving us of potential.
 
 put the cool people next to the cool people
 
 collectively owned housing is just people deciding who lives in which housing.
 don't you trust your friendly queer realtor?
 
 collectively doesn't have to mean completely silo-ed and isolated. you should
 have access to ALL higher communities at any time that you want. Scheduling is
 a disaster, but you can get through it. just... build a schedule for every
 single person on earth and suddenly nobody has freedom unless they put "doin'
 what I want" on their moment-to-moment card
                                                           ───────────┐
 similar                        chronological                        different═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────┘

--- #17 fediverse/6271 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────
 ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: re: hypothetical worst case fascism reality check │
 └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘


 @user-641 
 
 it's practice. you never know when you might need to blend in. really it's
 just useful as discipline, good practice to be in. I think it's okay if we
 reduce our own functionality? actually? sometimes it's good to use different
 email clients. hey do you know how to mathematically encrypt things well
 neither do I because the designers of the computer system decided that wasn't
 a very common usecase I guess.. jmean it's not like they'd spend all that
 computer resources [THEY'RE SO FAST] on thinking about correlations in your
 predicted pathway narratively through life. "ah help I'm in a psyop" haha yeah
 we do those all the time "so uhhhh I guess we'll just talk to people and see
 how they do?" wow okay it's sure nice to be part of a civil government, I
 think we can find our way to the lumber producers just fine thank you very
 much.
 
 ... oops sorry, a baby did electronics arts (challenge everything) I'm a
 little silly don't mind me brb I gotta go see~
 it's practice. you never know when you might need to blend in. really it's just useful as discipline, good practice to be in. I think it's okay if we reduce our own functionality? actually? sometimes it's good to use different email clients. hey do you know how to mathematically encrypt things well neither do I because the designers of the computer system decided that wasn't a very common usecase I guess.. jmean it's not like they'd spend all that computer resources [THEY'RE SO FAST] on thinking about correlations in your predicted pathway narratively through life. "ah help I'm in a psyop" haha yeah we do those all the time "so uhhhh I guess we'll just talk to people and see how they do?" wow okay it's sure nice to be part of a civil government, I think we can find our way to the lumber producers just fine thank you very much.  *... oops sorry, a baby did electronics arts (challenge everything) I'm a little silly don't mind me brb I gotta go see~*
                                                           ─────┐
 similar                        chronological                        different═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────┘

--- #18 fediverse/1200 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┐
 ┌─────────────────────────────┐                                                  │
 │ CW: re: deranged, murderous │                                                  │
 └─────────────────────────────┘                                                  │
 @user-883                                                                        │
 omgggggg I'm not that cruel xD xD xD                                             │
 It's more like, "hey listen, I know you just want to do a good job [lies, they   │
 just want money and power] but it's time to hang up the hat y'know? I mean       │
 cmon it's been like a hundred years since we signed that constitution thing      │
 [you don't know anything about our history] and frankly it's a little out of     │
 style. We were thinking we'd redo it with our new-fangled rock-and-roll and      │
 dungeons-and-dragons [cultural artifacts meant to deceive and mislead] and       │
 honestly we're quite a bit more ethical than the past. We've learned so much!    │
 I mean, the founding fathers didn't even know what a soviet was, and here        │
 we've seen them fall on their swords. Repeatedly. Then command others to do it   │
 too, because it was the regulation or whatever. Anyway we don't want that, but   │
 we also don't want an aristocracy, which is essentially what your plan gave      │
 us. Well, not really your plan, but instead the stuff that the rich added        │
 centuries after your death. ok?"                                                 │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #19 fediverse/1155 ---
═══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────┐
 @user-638                                                                        │
 In the 2000s when the Bush administration prevented people from working with     │
 stem cell research I remember my father going on rants about the same kind of    │
 thing.                                                                           │
 "They're limiting our access to information and the future of humanity because   │
 of their religion!" that kind of thing                                           │
 I loved listening to him. He was so passionate about that kind of thing. I       │
 think he got a little disillusioned sometime between now and then, because now   │
 he just tries to do the best he can with what tools he has available to him.     │
 And I love him for it.                                                           │
 He (mostly) abandoned his grand narratives because as the right got worse, the   │
 "left" sorta stayed the same, and he never forgave them for that. He still       │
 votes, and he'll still rant about that kind of thing, but only the stuff that    │
 affects him personally - like electric cars or cannabis or things like that. A   │
 democrat through and through.                                                    │
 He lives in a different country now, and I wish I could see him. But I cherish   │
 our phone calls and the few holidays when he visits.                             │
                                                            ┌───────────┤
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┴──────────┘

--- #20 fediverse/581 ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────────
 @user-428 
 
 sometimes I think about how much more productive I'd be if I had a code editor
 that let me draw arrows and smiley faces and such alongside the code. Or if I
 could position things strangely, like two functions side-by-side with boxes
 drawn around them. Or diagrams or flowcharts or graphs or...
 
 something that would output to raw txt format, but would present itself as an
 image that could be edited.
                                                           ┌───────────┐
 similar                        chronologicaldifferent═══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────────┘