this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
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Assume that the future can change based on your actions, so any historical information that you bring along with you from the intervening 25 years may quickly drift out of the new realities history.

Edit: also assume that you can be given a healthy 21-year-old body if you want or take your previous self's place.

Further, identification will be provided for you if you were not born at that time.

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[–] drolex@sopuli.xyz 49 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I come with scientific evidence of the impeding doom that will be brought by climate change and urge the world's powers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while there is still time! Surely everybody will listen to my proofs and act to protect the world!

[–] boatswain@infosec.pub 28 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] Slinky5737@infosec.pub 5 points 11 months ago

[Monkey's paw curls]

[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 19 points 11 months ago (1 children)

An entire offline copy of Wikipedia up to Jan 1 2024 on a tablet. Having all the world events up to that date available to consult at my fingertips, I could use it in so many ways.

[–] DeepFriedDresden@kbin.social 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Don't forget a charger, otherwise you'll be screwed for awhile

[–] akatsukilevi@kbin.social 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

USB 1.1 was already around in 1999, USB 2.0 being released in 2001 with Mini-A/AB/B being available in 2001, and the standard Type-A as early as 1996.
Take one of those USB Type-A to USB-C and you're good enough until circa-2008 when USB-C starts to get around

[–] DeepFriedDresden@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

USB-C wasn't designed until 2014. So yeah you'll need a charging cable regardless

[–] akatsukilevi@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

Even nowadays USB-C devices aren't the de-facto yet(specially true in 3rd world countries like mine), Mini-B and Micro-C are still fairly common(tho really limited compared to USB-C), so depending on the devices being taken, it might not be that much of a trouble

[–] JakenVeina@lemm.ee 14 points 11 months ago

Grays Sports Almanac

[–] val@infosec.pub 13 points 11 months ago

I've got no motivation to take over the world, nor am I sure it's really possible in a life time. I don't really have a non-boring answer to this hypothetical.

If the ticket is available anyway I'd happily take it, I'm single at the moment with no dependents and being younger and healthier would be huge. There are lots of ways to make money with the knowledge of future history, even if it'll change when you start impacting it, and any one of them could make me wealthy enough to never have to work again in my life and do so wherever I please.

I've never really understood the need of the rich to continually amass wealth or how they spend it.

[–] peter@feddit.uk 13 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Invent Apple Google and Amazon all at once. Yes, I know they all existed at that time but I would just do their best ideas before them.

[–] veroxii@aussie.zone 8 points 11 months ago

New Pied Piper

[–] Nath@aussie.zone 4 points 11 months ago

Why not go with original ideas like Facebook, Uber, Bitcoin, YouTube and ~~Reddit~~ Lemmy?

[–] gandalf_der_12te@feddit.de 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] detalferous@lemm.ee 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Bitcoin has outperformed stocks by about 100,000-fold. All you need is a fiver to invest at the beginning.

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago

Note that that return is only for the early investors. If you are incredibly lucky and we have a very flush couple of years you might triple an investment in by 2030 now. But you are also very likely to just lose it All

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 10 points 11 months ago

A current download of Wikipedia.

[–] xia@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

All the FLOSS software i could put my hands on (with source code), a couple awesome smartphones, wikipedia dump, sports almanac, and a stable-diffusion rig.

[–] theUnlikely@sopuli.xyz 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm curious how stable diffusion plays into taking over the world.

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago

I don't know about stable diffusion but I know deep fakes would be handy. Being able to release videos to the public while retaining my privacy would be invaluable.

And if the CIA or the KGB decided to assassinate my alter ego they would have a hell of a time even finding the fucker and if they did find somebody that looked just like them and executed them that wouldn't have killed me.

[–] lloydsmart@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)
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[–] eluvatar@programming.dev 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Probably a backpack full of smart phones, go sell them and retire.

Then cry that it'll be a long time until I can use USB C again.

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago (3 children)

That's a good idea but I wonder if anyone would buy them? Obviously the technology inside of it would be a quantum leap for any tech company that could get their hands on it. AT&t or ma Bell or Motorola would all easily fall over themselves to hand you several million dollars for it just so that they could have their top researchers reverse analyze the equipment.

The downside to that issue though is that it would be very difficult to get in contact with the right people to sell these devices at the right price.

[–] LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch 7 points 11 months ago

Any current smartphone would be the best digital camera that exists by a mile, even if they didn't have Internet access.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 5 points 11 months ago

That kind of technology is hard to get any value from. Nothing in modern phones is innovative, and most of it would be an obvious evolutionary step to any specialist in their field.

Mostly, though, the phones would be useless. Cellular networks were in their infacy, and none of the standards or technology existed to charge them. Reverse engineering anything in them would be hugely expensive, for little return.

Smart phones would be interesting, but far less interesting than the existance of a person who has access to future technology. I think op would dissappear into a government facility not long after trying to pawn their goods.

[–] eluvatar@programming.dev 2 points 11 months ago

I mean I could always post photos on Twitter and... Oh wait.

[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@lemmy.cafe 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

A computer with lists of winning lottery numbers, stock prices by day of all major companies, archived copies of webpages or, preferably, scanned in newspaper articles of all world events from 1999 until now, and lists of every politician and individual with net worths over $300 million.

Also patents for LCD screens, the microchips in use in the 10's and now, the efficient solar panels China cranks out if I can get a hold of that information, modern efficient wind turbines, etc. Also important scientific papers written between then and now, especially for Ozempic and Wegovy.

Also, this might be the one practical use for dumb shit like Chat GPT and its ilk, so we're bringing along a couple of GPUs and copies of each major open source AI I can scramble up.

I use this information to:

  1. Hopefully prevent 9/11

  2. Become filthy fucking rich

  3. Infiltrate the elite and start bumping off motherfuckers one by one Count of Monte Cristo style

  4. Distribute my ill gotten gains to the masses and use the rest to stop climate collapse

#EatTheRich

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Please don’t get rid of 9/11, without it we wouldn’t have WKUK

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

They are so talented they did not need 9/11 to have a hilarious TV show

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 2 points 11 months ago (3 children)

9/11 was happening so they ran into a dorm room that could see the towers from the window

That room ended up being Timmy’s

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[–] lntl@lemmy.ml 8 points 11 months ago

A Lenovo P series with deepfacelab. I would work public perception of Dubya (and Jeb) to avoid the decades of war crimes.

[–] peanuts4life 8 points 11 months ago

To take over the world? I'd take the records of every international technology and medical patent. And, a cell phone. I'd get the local news interested in my new handheld PC, find the least scrupulous tech company which reached out to me, and hatch a plan to create a trillion dollar tech empire.

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

A modern desktop PC full with top of the line deep learning graphics cards.

I will flood the internet with helpful comments, exploits, anything that will take down the banking grid. I will sway online and print media discourse towards progressive politics. I will take down Murdoch media and ensure that he never again makes a cent spreading his rhetoric.

I will start a consulting company using my AI models as my employees and make unspeakable amount of money, whilst ensuring that large contracting firms never take off.

I will buy up large linear strips of country, and build railroads and rail stations everywhere, whilst building free accommodation above and below the tracks to ensure that the homeless always have somewhere to sleep, and to ensure that buy-to-let landlords can never return much on their investment.

I will crash weapon trading stock markets, exploit the emails of corrupt politicians and their billionaire donors. I will wage financial war on the 1% until the world gini index reaches 0.5

[–] FunkyMonk@kbin.social 5 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Pingy Putty and Reaganism would all still be in heavy effect, I can't think of a way any one person is going to bring down 3 nuclear super-war-states. We don't have any anti nuke tech eminence in shadow but nice writing prompt for potential suffering trying.

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Pingy putty? I've never heard of this before.

[–] FunkyMonk@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

Putin and Xi Ping would still be serious threats to trying to take over the world even from 1999 perspective.

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

Also, nothing comes up when I search it on DuckDuckGo or start page

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[–] livus@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I'm squashing my partner into a very large backpack and taking them with me.

I don't think I could take over the world so I choose love. But I can't resist the new body part which is why I'm not just staying here.

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Don't worry, they can get a ticket and a new body too, but between the two of you you can still only take one backpack.

[–] livus@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

@Bizarroland thanks, that's great!! I think we'll probably put a couple of reasonably modern computers, components, and drives containing information into it, and paper printout backups of the things I need most, and whatever pharmaceuticals I can get my hands on for retroengineering.

A 24 year jump on scientific and tech research might not help me take over but it could at least make the world a better place. ART for HIV in developing nations for starters.

I'm guessing the butterfly effect probably applies to lottery numbers, but the stock market's likely still good to go, and that can fund me (along with a few non essential drugs I can sell to pharma) so I can be more influential.

I was already an adult in 1999 so I will know my way around just fine.

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I read this as 'new part of the body' and was wondering what new part you'd get (like is it also an optional gender switch? Or perhaps you're an amputee?) but then I figured out oh, okay, you mean the part about the new body.

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[–] TheGalacticVoid@lemm.ee 4 points 11 months ago

My phone, laptop, charging cables, ethernet cables, tons of SSDs to use with said laptop, Kali, and a bunch of cyber-sec resources.

Having a $2000 2023 gaming/workstation laptop would be an insane amount of computing power in 1999. Being able to use modern-day exploits and discoveries in 1999 would probably allow me to gather as much intel as I needed from my targets while not being discovered. If something gets patched by a Windows XP service pack, I'll still have an endless list of exploits that work. Hell, I'd even have access to something like Spectre and Meltdown, and that's something that still must develop organically.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I assume I get ID for a person born in '78 if I choose the adult body? I was born, but very young.

Hard drives of data compatible with old computers, and a few modern laptops for good measure. Maybe some electronics equipment too in case I really need to interface with something obsolete or proprietary. Some period-appropriate cash to live on before my first "job". The 2000's won't know what hit them.

I'm not going to be able to take over the world (shit, even taking over Afghanistan proved to be too hard), but I sure as hell can be a shadowy hacker figure that steers the course of history. I'll probably avert 9/11 assuming I can get up and running fast enough, and try to steer China towards reform and detente with the West. Russia's probably intractable. I wonder if I could tip the Florida election towards Gore, in order to get global warming taken care of faster. Giving a bump to renewables research could also help things along.

Edit: So, there would be a lot of phases to this, as I gradually shift from being anonymous to a hot item. Once I reach some point at or after present day, I'll publish my archives so the world can decide for itself, and I'll leave proof early on that it's genuine, for example as hashes of data in things like newspapers that are well archived. Then I'll dismantle my cabal and retire.

[–] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago

Reflecting on my own actions and the folks I met on the way, taking a better attitude would help a lot. I was young and had good conversations with different types of people but did nothing with that for close to another 15 years.

We had much of the information then, IMO. And I remember talking with much older folks who were willing to listen to teens/young adults about a variety of topics. I just wasn't willing to say anything. Even to my peers.

I would take a better attitude.

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Can I fill it with whatever I can think of or only things I actually have right now?

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Anything you can acquire, legally or not, and have in your possession on Jan 1, 2024.

If you end up incarcerated or dead between now and then, the ticket is null and void.

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[–] SnipingNinja@slrpnk.net 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Like the other person mentioned their family, I would say that about my friends and other relations. I don't think it's possible for me to redo my life in a way that my decade old friendships would be the same (or even better) than what they became. I don't even know if I will feel the same about my friends if I decide to relive my life as memory is a precarious thing and I can't rely on how I feel about them to last until I meet them again and live life interacting with them while trying to change the world.

I could consider a 21yo body but as a millennial I would end up overaged for the people who were important in my life to have any meaningful relation with them.

I have considered the scenario of reliving my life, correcting my mistakes and maybe making some massive changes along the way, if I could somehow guarantee keeping the things that matter to me the same.


I forgot to write what things I would do, so here are some ideas:

  • Investing is an obvious one which everyone else has also mentioned.
  • I would download all the open source stuff, all leaked files, maybe even scour the dark web for stuff
  • Buy NeXt to hire jobs as the CEO of my tech company (also any other corporations that I could buy back then, like Google)
  • I'll create a note with ideas that were killed too soon or didn't last due to tampering by big corps, and products which got enshittified and implement them when there's no competition or wait for when I have enough money to not worry about people getting in my way.
  • I'll create a note with mention of all the important events (multiple notes, encrypted, to prevent someone from using that information)
  • Put an offline LLM and other AI on my phone (along with very reliable chargers and replacement batteries).
  • (Kind of a sub point of above, but it got big) I'll try to take a phone with replaceable batteries and sturdy design. It would be great if it could fit in that time, I'll disable the touch screen to that effect and only use a stylus, and other changes to make it seem worse or maybe take a "bad" phone from the start. I'll also claim it's an experimental product if someone asks me about it.
  • A list of my favourite recipes, so that I can be a food trailblazer
  • Start my own music company and invest in artists which I know will be big in the future, give them better terms than my competition and use that roster to prepare for streaming. I'll already have Jobs and Ive to design iPod and take over that period.
  • With RISC-V as my chip, I'll buy one of the fabs which went under back then and use it to establish myself as a chip manufacturer and once I have built up enough lead in the fab business with knowledge gathered before going back I'll open source RISC-V as an act of benevolence according to the world (I'll discuss the future fab knowledge with the researchers I will acqui-hire with the fab, they should be able to create something in a few years with whatever knowledge I can provide, I'll just have to act as a layman with more knowledge and if I go with my age they'll think I'm a smart kid)
  • I didn't mention crypto because that might change with the chip info I bring back, so I'll see if that happens again and invest early and secretly to have enough of it to have a hand in that too.
  • I'll also try to keep my identity hidden so that I can live the important parts of my life again as they were, and once I have lived those I'll consider if I need to be known to the world.
  • I'll prepare media organizations to fight disinformation
  • I'll bring back innovations in renewables that I'll slowly release into the world.
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[–] Froyn@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] squiblet@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

That's true, a big sack of super dank 30% seeds would go a long way. Funny thing is we'd be just as happy with some of those old strains, so you could win again by freezing seeds from true NL5, Skunk #1 and so on in 1999.

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