UltraMagnus

joined 6 months ago
[–] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 3 points 14 hours ago

Yes, it's disingenuous for him to bring up all the time used for humans to evolve as well. If we're going to go that far, we also ought to include the energy/time used by the engineers who created ChatGPT, and all the energy used by plants/animals in the evolution leading to those engineers. Not to mention all the time/energy/training of all the people who created the training data over the past few centuries.

Frankly, at that point, any human artist is more "efficient" than AI - they're able to master their field in mere decades.

[–] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 2 points 15 hours ago

I think it's true that folks increasingly want progressive candidates, but I'm not sure a focus group of 13 people is really a definitive look at public opinion. Focus groups are good at getting at underlying reasons for why people might prefer A over B, but they aren't good for determining the number of people who prefer A over B.

But the headline did get me to click and read more, so there's that.

[–] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 11 points 4 days ago (2 children)

The fact that the negligent discharges often involve experienced officers should be a wake up call that ICEs recent behavior isn't new or just because of Trump - the incompetence is baked in.

Ah, adverse possession is also an excellent tactic! Of course, that's also something that takes time, but definitely not a bad idea

Is there a lemmydrama like subredditdrama? Maybe a fedidrama community would work. I don't know if one exists yet

[–] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I don't really think it's up to DinoCon to solve crimes. Obviously symbolic gestures aren't justice, but I don't really see what else DinoCon is supposed to do. Are you honestly asking DinoCon to spin up a crack team of legal experts to manage the epstein case? Maybe we should have GenCon start tracking down serial killers while we're at it.

[–] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Not every action has to solve every issue immediately. Things take time. Long term, tenants' unions are ideal, best coupled with legislation to break up these property management companies and private equity firms that have a stranglehold on shelter.

A mass rent strike is an excellent demonstration of people power and a good first step in that kind of long term operation. If you have a better idea on an action that both mobilizes a large number of people and has an immediate impact, you should certainly share it. There are plenty of avenues of attack here.

[–] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 4 points 5 days ago (3 children)

I think it's fair to expect students to use computers in a programming class. I don't know if there's a need for students to be using computers for the entire school day

Yep - I've already been bugging my grandma to get a passport so that she will be able to vote if SAVE act passes (she changed her name when she married, but doesn't have a passport since she's never left the country). Gotta avoid doomerism and make the fascists fight for every inch we can.

I'm torn on this - Christianity (particularly evangelical christianity) has had an extremely negative effect on democracy in our country and has caused physical harm to others.

However, I think most people with a conscience subscribe to some form of philosophy or religion (even if atheists aren't "loyal" to any particular perspective and may not even use titles/categories to describe their value system) and I think it's fine for your morals/conscience to influence decision making. Even a purely scientific decision making process could be considered a form of philosophy.

That being said, most organized religion is about obedience to the tenets of said religion, not a method of asking questions about the world to try to find the most just way to proceed.

Did anyone in this thread read the article?

According to the Montana Standard, after his name surfaced in the released files, Horner posted, and later deleted, a social media statement calling his decision to pursue Epstein’s support an extremely poor judgment. He said that while he knew Epstein had been convicted of soliciting prostitution, he was unaware of Epstein’s broader sex trafficking operation until years later.

Horner wrote that his visit involved only Epstein, staff, and several women introduced as college students. He said Epstein donated $10,000 toward a 2012 DinoChicken conference but otherwise declined to fund his research. “There was nothing weird, inappropriate, or out of the ordinary,” Horner said in the statement.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology released a notice to members last week, cautioning that inclusion in the Epstein files does not alone imply misconduct.

Those are sketchy circumstances, I think a ban from events is more than fair under the circumstances. Normally I would expect a ban like this to be lifted once feds completed their investigation (assuming no wrongdoing occurred), but obviously the feds aren't interested in investigating, so we may not get the chance to know whether or not there's more to this.

I think it's fair to expect the justice system to pursue "innocent before proven guilty", but private organizations ban and/or suspend members all the time due to credible accusations, even if they haven't been convicted in a court of law.

[–] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 11 points 5 days ago (4 children)

This is a fair take, and I greatly prefer an "innocent before proven guilty" justice system. I think it's also fair for you to read the article before commenting.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology released a notice to members last week, cautioning that inclusion in the Epstein files does not alone imply misconduct.

 

In times like this, it's good to know that what protestors are doing on the ground is having an effect on ICE. In particular:

The Twin Cities Model: Don’t Copy It, Learn from It

What sets apart the Twin Cities rapid response network and its surrounding ecosystem is not strict adherence to a particular structure. It is a clear analysis of their conditions, a willingness to adapt, and the courage to fight back as the violence increases.

I think this article is also useful - setting off car alarms, whistling, filming, and yelling at ICE does have an effect, especially when protesters outnumber ICE. In particular:

In Minneapolis, we’re already seeing the success of ICE Watch. There are countless videos from ICE Watch observers that show agents leaving without detaining anyone after they encounter resistance. There are currently about 3,000 ICE agents in Minnesota, but the Department of Homeland Security claims they have only arrested 2,400 people — less than one person per agent.

 

I'm thinking 2015 - Witcher 3, Undertale, and Kerbal Space Program are all classics. Fallout 4, Arkham Knight, and Cities Skylines were all excellent too, though fallout 4 and Arkham knight aren't necessarily the best games in their respective series.

 

I've been enjoying Dispatch so far, and the sales numbers seem well deserved. I know a few people waiting for all the episodes to be outbefore they buy it, though (final episode is out Nov 12).

If you liked the telltale games you will like dispatch.

 

I learned about it from the unforgotten realms forums, around 2012ish

 

ICNC has a lot of good resources on nonviolence - I like this one since it's very practical/to-the-point. Really liking the section talking about "pulling out" the pillars of support rather than "pushing into" the pillars.

 

One of the shorter presentations at FediCon, but definitely interesting, especially since lemmy instances are very much driven by the user base (whereas Linux doesn't really change based on how many users there are). Also interesting since the speaker, Janet Vertesi, is one of the people working on the "Europa Clipper" project (the one where we're flying a satellite through Europa's geysers to get water samples, since landing and drilling under the ice is impractical. This has nothing to do with the presentation, I'm just excited about it).

Video Highlights:

2:00 - The current dominance of a few social media companies was predicted. Although there are lots of neat tools for opting out of Microsoft/Google/etc., but it's the community of these tools that matters

7:30 - Difficulties with how entangled folks are with mainstream tools (maps, calendars, clubs, etc.) - and how to overcome these obstacles. Interesting bit about how all the privacy toggles on Facebook, etc. give a false sense of security and discourage users from making bigger, more effective change. Additionally, behavior change happens at the group level, not the individual level.

12:00 - Building a network of "Tech Reclaimers" to help others make the change. Teaching social and technical skills (e.g., moderation - people are used to the technology doing everything for them on "traditional" social media), taking small steps, etc.

17:30 - Ongoing events

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