Ah, spring in Atlantic Canada. As I look out my window, there are
still islands of snow on the ground, but it's just above freezing,
and of course it's raining. We had some drought and wildfires last
summer, let's hope we don't get a repeat of that this year.

It's been hard finding creative energy lately, the world seems more
fucked up than I can ever remember and it definitely dampens one's
mood. A lot of this comes from the Agent of Chaos in the US, but
let's face it, he is the symptom of a sick society, not a cause.
When he dies or is otherwise replaced, there will be much rejoicing
from most of the world, but will anything change?

I have had fleeting thoughts lately that the Iran war and the
resulting oil shortage would drive renewable energy adoption, then
I remember thinking that the pandemic would improve things for
everyone [0]. I was very wrong then, and it makes me think that
attitudes won't change now. And _that_ is a scary thought, given how
dependent the world is on oil.

Generative AI also throws a wrench in the workings of, well,
everything. No one in the tech sector is hiring right now, most are
shedding workers and if you're lucky, your company is just standing
firm, not hiring but not laying off either. Sensible CEOs see the
AI hype machine for what it is, but they are still scared of the
economic outlook. If you replace all the workers, who the hell will
have money to buy your products or services?

I read from Sean Conner that the AI bots have begun to infiltrate
usenet and gopher [1], hopefully this is just someone's experiment
and not a portent of things to come. The smolnet is a refuge
from the greater web, let's hope it stays under the radar of the
tech-bros and bot swarms.

[0]: gopher://republic.circumlunar.space/0/%7eslugmax/phlog/2020-07-03-return-to-cynicism
[1]: gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog%3a2026/03/20.2