this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2025
1478 points (99.3% liked)

A Boring Dystopia

13285 readers
1462 users here now

Pictures, Videos, Articles showing just how boring it is to live in a dystopic society, or with signs of a dystopic society.

Rules (Subject to Change)

--Be a Decent Human Being

--Posting news articles: include the source name and exact title from article in your post title

--If a picture is just a screenshot of an article, link the article

--If a video's content isn't clear from title, write a short summary so people know what it's about.

--Posts must have something to do with the topic

--Zero tolerance for Racism/Sexism/Ableism/etc.

--No NSFW content

--Abide by the rules of lemmy.world

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Sorry, but a vibe coder just told Chat GPT to fully implement their code. Now you can't shower. Suck it!

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 4 points 7 hours ago

LOL! The Red Run Deregulated Texas Oblast does not surprise me with this kind of shit. If it dries up, the fucking red voters can stay and find the fuck out.

[–] Hikuro93@lemmy.world 9 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Well, I mean...Not for nothing, but Texas being one of the reddest states there is, and even being willing to double it down by heavily gerrymandering themselves for Trump worship, means that they did vote to serve their deep state and oligarch overlords. Which is quite ironic for the small government party. And that's coming from me, who believes in the potential of AI for humanity in the long-term, but only if used responsibly and not at the cost of people's quality of life to satisfy the corrupt elite.

But then again, irony is in their DNA, starting with all their preaching about "keeping kids safe". Speaking of which, Trump files where? I need to check if Epstein's name comes up in those.

[–] MissJinx@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago

don't be selfishn, Microsoft AI will be used by the whole world and only few people will need this water to shower.

S/ hahahha

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 7 points 9 hours ago

Imagine not having obese AI fart videos because you want a shower?

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 8 points 15 hours ago

Nice to see humanity has its priorities straight as usual... :)

[–] FosterMolasses@leminal.space 6 points 20 hours ago

Hilarious, hilarious. Hilarious.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 27 points 1 day ago

its funny how these AI centers are mostly if not all in red states only, simply because they know the legislation wont do anything, and encourage them anyways, plus the resident that leans right are less likely to make a big fuss over it.

[–] Freefall@lemmy.world 40 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Yes, Texas did vote for that. Haha, Red states suffering is funny.

[–] ours@lemmy.world 10 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

They owned the ~~libs~~ themselves..

[–] CaptnNMorgan@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago

They owned the themselves

[–] caboose2006@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Whether or not they did we all exist under the same atmosphere.

[–] bluelander@lemmy.ml 41 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Texan here: we barely get to vote on shit at all. And they're gerrymandering to make it even harder.

I'd call Texas a clown car but it's too big to qualify.

[–] minkymunkey_7_7@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago

After Civil War 2, Texas and parts of Mexico would end it with a treaty as a single independent country with their own shit stains to live with.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The estimate of the majority Democrats would need to retake the Senate is something like 70/30, based on the degree of gerrymandering.

And the math just gets worse every time maps are redrawn.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 62 points 1 day ago (7 children)

During the 1986-1992 California drought, we were informed in the San Francisco Bay Area region that water service prices were going to go up unless we conserved strictly.

They said this to a bunch of California hippies, on account that we were in California.

So we way got on board. We stopped flushing. Any water that was rendered non-potable we'd repurpose for watering plants or filter it for second use. Japanese naval baths (weird tiny bowl seats and a sponge, used in the Imperial Navy, WWII) got popular so people were keeping clean via a tenth of normal water usage.

We conserved too much according to the water department and they raised prices anyway.

This sparked some investigations (by journalists, since investigative journalism was still a thing then) and found that agriculture got water for much cheaper, and was still using it once before flushing it (now laced with pesticides) out into the sea. Needless to say, we conservationist hippies were livid.

It's still a problem, as the utility companies routinely lobby our congress and governor (and Newsom may know how to be a California liberal, but he's still a Dianne-Feinstein-style ( / Nancy-Pelosi style) money-grubbing neoliberal. He just has game, especially when opposed to far right idiots. The setup in Monster's Inc (power crisis in a city where scream is the principal power source) was inspired by the Enron fraud affair leading to rolling blackouts and Texas siphoning off California's general fund. And our governments from Schwarzenegger (who I will never forgive) to Newsom are in the pocket of PG&E. (I'm on SMUD now and my bill is conspicuously less.)

Also, according to Climate Town, the Sauds own a lot of California farmland, where they grow alfalfa to import to the mid-east to feed their cows. Alfalfa crops are one of the most water hungry, and is one of the big ways beef is driving the climate crisis (and towards a massive food shortage and global famine!) and the water tables, to which they have access and first-tap rights, gets lower every year. 🕙

So I suspect that the Texas AI centers are getting water at a cheaper rate than private homes. Maybe it's something to get active about.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 83 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This but just the Microsoft logo lol

[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago

"Since Microsoft dropped its DEI initiatives, it's good actually!"

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world 32 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Why the fuck do they alway pick the driest places to use the most water. Fucking morons

[–] baltakatei@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Industrial cooling is all about evaporating some liquid into gas. For evaporative coolers, that liquid is water and works best if the air is dry and water is plentiful (the absurd part). If you don't have water or the air is so humid that evaporation is difficult, the liquid is expensive refrigerant which must recycle back into liquid in a closed loop with a gas compressor that pumps the waste heat into the air through forced convection heat exchangers (big fans blowing air past hot refrigerant-filled pipes), all of which consumes a lot of energy.

Ideally, we'd live in a post scarcity society in which huge arrays of solar panels would provide electricity to run closed-loop refrigerant plants that would consume zero water to cool our data centers.

[–] UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

Vapor chamber with the river.

[–] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I always rant about tech moving to Austin.

They need low heat, reliable power, cheap / fast internet, and an abundance of water.

Texas is literally none of those things.

[–] Soapbox@lemmy.zip 25 points 1 day ago

We have low regulations though. Which is why they do it.

[–] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There's only one obvious answer to that question in a capitalism world. Because it's cheaper than other places. Why is it cheaper for the corporations in the driest places where common people need to stop using showers is also obvious.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] sugarfoot00@lemmy.ca 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Stoopid Texans. You've got the guns, start using the things. If they need cooling, maybe aerate a few blocks of servers for them.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] turdburglar@sh.itjust.works 49 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

elon is currrently using the aquifer drinking water under memphis to cool grok. he’s also powering it with generators and smogging out the city.

please do not use grok.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] SpeedRunner@europe.pub 167 points 2 days ago (17 children)

Actually yes. They did vote for this.

load more comments (17 replies)
[–] Zacryon@feddit.org 77 points 1 day ago (6 children)

It's always a good idea to put computer centers in areas with water scarcity. /s

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 63 points 1 day ago (3 children)

In hot areas with water scarcity.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] xia@lemmy.sdf.org 37 points 1 day ago (5 children)

I don't understand why AI data centers would CONSUME water. Once they fill up their chiller loops, then... that's it, right?

It's hard for me to imagine them relying on the temperature of the incoming water, and dumping all the warm water as discharge.

[–] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago (3 children)

They're probably using cooling towers, which cool through evaporation. They should be using reclaimed though.

[–] SL3wvmnas@discuss.tchncs.de 24 points 1 day ago

As long as it is cheaper to buy water, then evaporate it, big firms will continue to do so.

With a COP of around 15 and up it is difficult to argue with the economy of this.

Local regulation would be required, but that would need politicians who don't suck.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Forfaden@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

From what I've seen it's "not worth the effort or expense" to reuse the water. Some of them literally just send tap water through the cooling loops and then into the sewer drains

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So not only are Corporations... People

Now they are more important people than regular citizens?

[–] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago

Under capitalism they always were. Just take a close look at exactly who the "Founding Fathers" were.

[–] Laser@feddit.org 95 points 2 days ago (6 children)

People should be angry and upset about this. Similar to the story some weeks ago where residents of a small Texan town (seemingly rightfully at first) complained about the noise pollution of a Bitcoin mining farm. Turns out they all voted Republican. It's always "we'll deregulate and bring business" just that the modern businesses they bring are a net negative for the area except for the politicians and the companies. Is almost like these regulations were there for a reason.

Both Bitcoin and AI are stupid VC money that only matters in a very small bubble, and they're not business in a traditional sense. They just leech resources at their compute centers to make the people who own them and live far away rich. I pity all this who didn't vote for this kind of bullshit. The rest, enjoy your shorter showers and everything else! But remember, it's the Dems who want to dictate stuff like water usage. Not in my free country! Oh, the water is gone because a greedy Corp stole it? That's fine, one day it's my turn to be rich.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] haloduder@thelemmy.club 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Seems like the real problem is that companies aren't being charged enough for their excessive water usage.

It's no surprise this is happening in the Land of Useful Idiots and Dipshits, texas.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

less regulation, plus gop/republicans arnt going to protest over something that is pollution/environmental damage, at least not in large numbers.

[–] excral@feddit.org 33 points 1 day ago (4 children)

The priorities are completly screwd up. If they found a way to power the AI datacenters with humans, Matrix style, would they ask Texans to sacrifice their first borns to do so?

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] brachiosaurus@mander.xyz 19 points 1 day ago

You should complain whenever million gallons of water are wasted by corporations seeking profits or by governments for their shady operations. Not just when it's about AI.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center

[–] WalterLego@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 day ago

They deregulated shower heads just in time.

[–] maniajack@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›