There are a few different edits, but my fave is the M4 Book Edit. It only follows what was covered in the book and cuts out all the additions like the Kili/Tauriel love story (and Tauriel is cut out completely along with Azog until the end), the Dol Guldur stuff, and Gandalf's escapades outside the party. It cuts the trilogy down to 4hr18min. Aside from a few unavoidably janky transitions, it's great.
I absolutely adore it for 2 reasons: One, I really dislike the trilogy as a whole, but that's because of the bloat, which M4 gets rid of. Two, the older I get the harder it is to go through LOTR as often as I like. I usually do an LOTR rewatch once a year, and tried to add in the Hobbit, but usually stopped after the first. It's just too much time for not enough payoff. With the M4 edit, I'll get stoned and watch it 5 or 6 times a year.
For as much flack as Jackson gets the for The Hobbit movies, he did a phenomenal job where it counts. There really is a wonderful, true-to-source Hobbit adventure scattered throughout the 8hr52min bloat that is the trilogy.
For funsies, if you like the other bits there's another fan edit called Durin's Folk and the Hill of Sorcery that's 1hr8min that covers Gandalf's adventure after he fucks off from the party at Mirkwood.
Yeah most comments sections are cesspools that only feed the negative wolf inside us. It's interesting that now that I've cut out most comment sections, I realize how absolutely tiring it is being a part of them, or just reading them.
Lemmy is pretty good overall, but I really am starting to love just a basic RSS feed. Looks like what I'm used to (Lemmy/Reddit) but only links to articles, no comments at all.
This brings up an excellent point about addiction. A quicklonger than I'd planned anecdote: over the last few years I've nearly completely dumped all social media (and big tech in general). Facebook, Insta, Twitter, all gone. The only social for the last few years I've had left was Reddit, and I dumped that a couple months ago (all social media is toxic, I learned).
I swapped Reddit for Lemmy a few months ago and noticed a huge difference, not just the fewer toxic people, but in the lack of posts overall by comparison. I found myself scrolling through the same Lemmy posts throughout the day, my brain trying to repeat the cycle from Reddit, but stayed strong and didn't go back to Reddit haha.
Anyway, there's still toxicity on Lemmy, and I realized how much it affects me without the cloud of all the other socials bogging it down. Not a lot, but enough. So I made a decision and went back to my old nerd days. I didn't want to miss out on legit articles I was interested in from social media so I set up an rss reader. I started checking out Lemmy in the morning, and my rss throughout the day, which doesn't update often.
What I found at first was I was re-checking lemmy, re-loading rss, and thinking about what else I can put on my phone to scratch that itch. I was (am) still addicted to the dopamine hit of forever-feeds of useless garbage. So instead, I picked up a book. It's been a long time, and it's a slow adjustment, but wow is it ever so much better. Aside from some small interaction on Lemmy in the morning like this, I don't see comments anymore, I read the info I'm interested in reading and make my own judgments without comments trying to sway me, and use my former doom-scrolling time to read a book.
To sum up, you're absolutely right. Addiction is a bitch and the average person doesn't even realize they're addicted.
That's the thing though, let them. They won't get 177k signatures and the petition will fail. Instead, now there's a good chance that this one will get more than 177k, which means the separatists get their referendum. Whether voting yes means leave or yes means stay, leaving is still up for a vote with either petition.
Just don't sign it, we've already won so why risk losing it when we don't have to? This new language is just baiting Albertans to get a referendum on something that wouldn't pass the petition stage to begin with.
Literally, all Albertans have to do is just not sign the damn thing and there won't even be a referendum.
It's not about which one passes though, they both lead to the same place. It doesn't matter what choice of words is used for the question to go on the ballot, we don't want it to be an option at all. The real question both petitions ask is "do you want to have a vote to stay or leave?" If the petition (either one) doesn't get enough signatures, it won't be on the ballot at all, and there's no vote at all.
Look at it this way: separatists want to vote to leave, so they want a referendum. This new guy says "I flipped it on em, get enough signatures now and the question won't be do you want to leave? It'll be do you want to stay?" They both have the same result, it's on the ballot for referendum with the same question worded differently. The separatists get what they want, a referendum.
That's assuming more Albertans bother voting at all than separatists. The best outcome is separation isn't even a question on the ballot. Just don't sign the petition at all and it won't be.
But we don't want a referendum. If no one signs, it doesn't pass to get on the ballot. Whether the ballot says "do you want to stay?" Or "do you want to leave?" it's the same question. Both petitions lead to the same place - a referendum.
The question right now isn't whether or not you want to separate, it's whether or not you want a referendum to put it up for a vote. If you want AB to stay, just don't sign the petition. An actual referendum would be the worst thing AB can have, regardless of how the question is worded.
But AB is already a part of Canada. If no one signs it, it stays that way. If enough sign it, it triggers a referendum and thus, a risk.
Regardless of which petition got in, the real question for either is "sign if you want a referendum". If you don't want AB to leave, just don't sign.
Unfortunately I suspect the damage is already done and a lot of Albertans are under the impression they should to sign the "stay" petition to save AB, which just gives the separatists exactly what they want - a referendum.
I also know that chatgpt can be better than an asinine conversation with people I work with.
I think that's the point op is trying to make. AI may have some legit uses, but it simply can't replace conversation and human connection, and it really is strange when a person uses it to replace human interaction. It's like only eating junk food. Sure, you feel full, but you're not getting what you need.
I'm not saying I think it's wrong to be introverted and not want to engage with others, just that using AI to bridge the gap between yourself and others when you do engage can come across as weird, thoughtless, and potentially flat out insulting.
Common Side Effects was wonderful. Assuming "releases of 2025" refers to new shows this year, I'm also enjoying Murderbot and thought Dope Thief was pretty good.
Socializing is more than only talking about what you want to talk about. Also, especially in a work setting with people of different tastes and backgrounds, sometimes something as seemingly asinine as this topic is the only thing a handful of people can find common ground with. Small talk is called small talk for a reason, Conan and Dave never engaged in small talk.
There are a few different edits, but my fave is the M4 Book Edit. It only follows what was covered in the book and cuts out all the additions like the Kili/Tauriel love story (and Tauriel is cut out completely along with Azog until the end), the Dol Guldur stuff, and Gandalf's escapades outside the party. It cuts the trilogy down to 4hr18min. Aside from a few unavoidably janky transitions, it's great.
I absolutely adore it for 2 reasons: One, I really dislike the trilogy as a whole, but that's because of the bloat, which M4 gets rid of. Two, the older I get the harder it is to go through LOTR as often as I like. I usually do an LOTR rewatch once a year, and tried to add in the Hobbit, but usually stopped after the first. It's just too much time for not enough payoff. With the M4 edit, I'll get stoned and watch it 5 or 6 times a year.
For as much flack as Jackson gets the for The Hobbit movies, he did a phenomenal job where it counts. There really is a wonderful, true-to-source Hobbit adventure scattered throughout the 8hr52min bloat that is the trilogy.
For funsies, if you like the other bits there's another fan edit called Durin's Folk and the Hill of Sorcery that's 1hr8min that covers Gandalf's adventure after he fucks off from the party at Mirkwood.