Pretty sure that's the joke (the friend is the wife)

not associated with any one religion

Celtic pagans beg to differ I imagine

Beltalowda!

I think I might be out of the loop. What's happening...?

That's.... really weird.

On the surface the reasoning behind it makes sense, but there is also something about it (that I can't quite point out yet) that rubs me the wrong way.

Veggie burger is the issue there. You always get extra wait with veggie options unfortunately.

I have no idea if things are real or satire anymore...

I don't think it works too good because these days people just are this stupid.

If Android does lock down, then i guess mobile Linux is the last hope. I bought an older phone to test stuff out and it is usable but the lack of apps is noticable. You can run desktop apps, but that does have its drawbacks.

if I ever see a bag of Doritos I can crush a whole value pack in two sittings

This confirms your decent amount of self-control.

When Christianity becomes a tool of power

When? We are far beyond that point...

this analysis happens securely with the privacy protections you expect from Google

At least they are sort of honest...

These AI features won’t come cheaply, with Windows 12 set to debut a new hardware requirement just as its predecessor did with the TPM 2.0 requirement. This time around, a dedicated NPU would be required, a specialized processor designed to handle AI tasks.

This is so dumb if true. First they force HW upgrades because of TPM 2.0 and now, on the very next product they force yet another one for many due to NPU?

You can see they have long term vision...

Billy has a much better chance of survival due to his skin color.

Idk man, given recent events this might not be true anymore.

"...but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

Perhaps asking which languages you don't speak woulf work better in your case, holly shit.

Well yeah. Since Skyrim there was also Skyrim and Skyrim.

I remember this being an established meme already when I was still on reddit, so it predates that

For me I jumped the ship because ever since I got introduced to Lemmy, the knowledge of who the main Lemmy devs are left a really sour aftertaste to everything.

Piefed doesn't have this baggage and as you say - Lemmy and Piefed can federate so I can still keep connected in the communities. And you can export your Lemmy profile and import to Piefed so the switch is really easy (though saved posts don't get imported, but oh well).

This is definitely a scam, though I'm also confused by your dad traveling, usually that's other way around (and that's where "complications" happen where money is "needed").

Try to tell your dad what you expect coming - there will be complications and she will ask for money. Likely only a little at first, but the number will be rising.

Also, since they are impersonating (or acting like) a public figure, try searchig for the name online. Your dad is likely not the first (or last) that fell for this particular scam. Other people might be sharing stories with this person. There might be messages shared that people exchanged with the scammer - these will likely match those sent to your dad (the scammers usually have multiple people going at the same time). Use that - if your dad reads on the internet the exact message he got from his love interest, that hopefuly will ring some alarm bells. Though in the age of AI this might not be the case anymore, it's worth a shot.

Talk with your dad, ask how things are going and try to be vigilant for money being asked for. Try to poke holes in the stories but be gentle so your dad doesn't shut you out - he will likely not be that willing to listen. One way or another he will get hurt - you can just minimize the financial damage - or limit it to emotional only.

Good luck.