this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.

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Want to wade into the sandy surf of the abyss? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)

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[–] rook@awful.systems 16 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (3 children)

In today’s torment nexus development news… you know how various cyberpunky type games let you hack into an enemy’s augmentations and blow them up? Perhaps you thought this was stupid and unrealistic, and you’d be right.

Maybe that’s the wrong example. How about a cursed evil ring that when you put it on, you couldn’t take it off and it wracks you with pain? Who hasn’t wanted one of those?

Happily, hard working torment nexus engineers have brought that dream one step closer, by having “smart rings”, powered by lithium polymer batteries. Y’know, the things that can go bad, and swell up and catch fire? And that you shouldn’t puncture, because that’s a fire risk too, meaning cutting the ring off is somewhat dangerous? Fun times abound!

https://bsky.app/profile/emily.gorcen.ski/post/3m25263bs3c2g

image descriptionA pair of tweets, containing the text

Daniel aka ZONEofTECH on x.com: “Ahhh…this is…not good. My Samsung Galaxy Ring’s battery started swelling. While it’s on my finger 😬. And while I’m about to board a flight 😬 Now I cannot take it off and this thing hurts. Any quick suggestions

Update:

  • I was denied boarding due to this (been travelling for ~47h straight so this is really nice 🙃). Need to pay for a hotel for the night now and get back home tomorrow👌
  • was sent to the hospital, as an emergency
  • ring got removed

You can see the battery all swollen. Won’t be wearing a smart ring ever again.

[–] saucerwizard@awful.systems 8 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

At least it wasn’t a cock ring.

[–] rook@awful.systems 4 points 2 hours ago

There were some issues with an internet-connected chastity device not that long ago, but they were conventional “we can’t be bothered to secure our web service, even when everyone is telling us it is terrible” issues, rather than “knob gets crushed and catches fire”. Still, there’s plenty of scope for someone to make one of those in future… OTA BMS firmware updates are very much a thing, and the market for alarming sex toys is practically unlimited.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/your-cock-is-mine-now-hacker-locks-internet-connected-chastity-cage-demands-ransom/

(now I think about it, I suspect there’s a market for very poorly secured internet-connected sex toys. someone got off to that headline, I’m pretty certain)

[–] blakestacey@awful.systems 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Let's be honest: These are exactly the sort of people who will stick their dicks into the Torment Nexus.

[–] BigMuffN69@awful.systems 6 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

It almost surely has been done, but dare I ask where one can find trashy romance a la “pegged by the basilisk”

[–] BurgersMcSlopshot@awful.systems 10 points 14 hours ago

"Pegged in the ass by a physical manifestation of an online forum thought exercise gone horribly wrong" should be a Tingler if it isn't already one.

[–] blakestacey@awful.systems 9 points 16 hours ago

Is your ring even swole, bro

[–] swlabr@awful.systems 4 points 16 hours ago