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specialist

10,797 karmajoined vor 16 Jahren
I almost never downvote. If I disagree, I'll simply ignore you. If I strongly disagree, I reply, rhetorically defeating you with my crushing grip of reason. I also appreciate it when people correct/factcheck me; I hate being wrong.

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specialist
·vor 21 Stunden·discuss
What's the received wisdom for the USA to (re)build it's own chip supply chain? I dimly recall $500b, 30 years, invest in domestic educational pipeline.

I'm 100% on board with federal industrial policy, public-private partnership, etc. So while I favor the idea of CHIPS act, I have no idea what's realistic.

(And it kinda pisses me off that Intel shunts taxpayer money to their investors. Seems like they don't even want to succeed.)
specialist
·vor 3 Tagen·discuss
> invasion of Iraq which they were disastrously wrong about

They did publish a correction. Some pithy blurb like "Blah blah blah, we regret the error."

To their credit, most warmongers didn't have the stones to do a mea culpa.

Regardless, I unsubscribed and never looked back. (Ditto The Atlantic, for the same reason. Impotently, I didn't have a NY Times sub to cancel in protest.)

During the run up to Bush's Folly, one of their wizened writers related how The Economist regarded the Vietnam War, noting the similarities, noting The Economist's moral failings, wondering if they'd repeat the same mistake.
specialist
·vor 3 Tagen·discuss
Campaigns, for sure, are more marketing than discourse. Their infinitesimal silver lining is they serve as a veneer of social proof, their outcomes represent (to some) a form of legitimacy.

From monarchs to pure direct democracy, decisions have to be made. But how?

I see "government" as a kind of consensus algorithm. Policy work, adjudicating, record keeping, legislating, appropriations, etc. It's all just one big data processing machine, trying to discern signal from noise (information), hopefully learning stuff (knowledge), and occasionally acting.

For all our history, we've experimented with strategies for reducing transaction costs. Building trust, predictability, and stability.

How do you think we've done so far?

IMHO: Government, and especially bureaucracy, ain't great. But the alternative of no government isn't acceptable.
specialist
·vor 4 Tagen·discuss
For me, autocomplete is an unbearable distraction. I never took to pair programming either.

I've bounced off Claude Code (et al) multiple times.

But very recently I've had some successes. With some bulk bug fixes, it felt the same as scripting data quality fix ups. With proof of concepts in mind, tried 3 very different ideas.

Two quickly flamed out, revealing that I needed to chew on those ideas (a lot) more. If we're measuring how to "fail faster", I'd score these as useful efforts.

But one has been a very unexpected delight to work on. Almost addictive, like coding feels when you're in the flow.

Any way. The current mania for coding harnesses is total insanity. Mario of Pi.dev fame is spot on and far more insightful and articulate than me.
specialist
·vor 4 Tagen·discuss
As you know, law lags behind. Even when defendants are found not guilty, these cases are (apparently) necessary precedent for future remedies. Not least of which is creating social stigma.

I'm thinking of how organized crime ('60s - '80s) were untouchable, and how prosecutors learned how to use then new RICO laws to bring (some) of them down.
specialist
·vor 4 Tagen·discuss
Yes and: Given social media's scope and impact, felony seems inadequate. Something "crimes against humanity" scale is more appropriate. With real consequences.

As with tobacco, social media target all children. Not just these plantiffs in MS.

The tobacco settlements in the USA didn't protect the rest of the world. Further, the purveyors just pivoted.
specialist
·vor 5 Tagen·discuss
We shape the tools that in turn shape us.
specialist
·vor 5 Tagen·discuss
The repetition I learned (and try to practice) is counting 1 - 10, then repeat. Try to focus on the counting, not follow distractions. Its okay to restart at 1, to pull your focus back.

Worked great for me, when other techniques haven't. Just a good fit.

Much gratitude to you and u/phyzix5761. Sadly, I lost touch with that meditation group and I have been looking for something similar. Now I have your pointers.
specialist
·vor 7 Tagen·discuss
+1 coconut cream

Before switching to daily steel cut oats, I made "oat milk" for my daily smoothie.

Rolled oats, water, and an enzyme (banana, honey, yogurt), quick frappé, let it sit in the fridge overnight. Add the rest of smoothie ingredients in the morning.

(I love almonds, but they don't love me.)
specialist
·vor 10 Tagen·discuss
Agree with all. Very well written. Author learned these truths much faster than me. Esp "profit fron difference".

One minor "yes and"...

Quote

> You’re challenging their sense of self.

More specifically, you're challenging their identity.

Further, people have identities, not beliefs.

Which is why persuassion (marketing, propganda, fads, fashion) works where agrument does not.

TBH I've struggled to accept all this squishy stuff. But it has made some things a lot easier to handle, so there is an upside.
specialist
·vor 10 Tagen·discuss
FWIW, I experienced the same, and worse, with corporate managed Macs.
specialist
·vor 14 Tagen·discuss
I've been binging Sarah Longwell's (of The Bulwark) Focus Group episodes. She shares quotes from participants. Typical average low information, low engagement voters.

So depressing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA_iob2pnFk&list=PLJNKzTkCZE...

I've long grudgingly accepted premise of Democracy for Realists. Yet my expectations remained stubbornly, inappropriately too optimistic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_theory_of_democracy

https://archive.org/details/democracyforreal0000ache

--

The silver lining may be that "hopelessly confused voters" is better than hyperpartisanship. Longwell uses the term "heterodoxy".
specialist
·vor 22 Tagen·discuss
I appreciate any and all support for (independent) journalism. Craig Newmark Philanthropies has been very generous in that regard.

Were I king, I'd (also):

  - Create endowments for journalistic orgs. Sufficient that they can maintain financial, and therefore editorial, independence.

  - Award lots of grants to independent journalists, to simply do their thing, no strings attached. This ensures plenty of content for those independent orgs.
A keen observer may notice my proposal mirrors the right-wing ecosystem built up over the last 50 years.

Currently, investments by non-right-wing donors to non-right-wing orgs are contingent. Metrics, strategy, ideology, blah blah blah. Whereas the right-wing ecosystem doesn't get bogged down by the money chase, endless self-justification, navel gazing, consensus building, etc.
specialist
·vor 27 Tagen·discuss
Huh. Thank you! I had no idea. Prior to your share, I would have lumped all that stuff into "culture formation".
specialist
·vor 27 Tagen·discuss
Not voting is much more insulting, by far.

Edit: "civic religion" aha. Sorry, I should have guessed you were trolling. Can't wait to see what kind of revolution you cook up.
specialist
·vor 27 Tagen·discuss
The worse things get, the better they do. It's an insidious, vicious cycle.
specialist
·letzten Monat·discuss
> huge incentive to deceive each other

Disagree.

Iterated prisoner's dilemma leads to cooperation.
specialist
·letzten Monat·discuss
Social media (et al) already know each user's age.

They could "protect the children" at will. They simply choose not to.

Why this kabuki?

  "Yes, please, regulate us" while making any formal regulation moot?

  Directing attention away from the bot plague?

  Pushing age verification to protect their algorithmic hate machines?

  Monkey motion to avoid talking about true privacy? (Specifically, all data encrypted *at rest* using translucent database strategies.)
In conclusion, I can't treat these age verification proposals as good faith efforts while the core rot of the social medias remain unmitigated.
specialist
·letzten Monat·discuss
Appreciate this share.

Whenever I hear about this new fangled AT protocol all the kids are jazzed about, I get all wistful for the BBS era.

FidoNet & PC-Relay were pretty fanfastic. For the time, obv.

Source: Was sysadmin for a hub.
specialist
·letzten Monat·discuss
Sure, some fraction of humanity will survive. Terrific.