NoblePath's recent activity
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Comment on What are some non-science-fiction books that are deep, insane, mind-bending, etc? in ~books
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Comment on A Reddit-led boycott of Loblaws, one of Canadas largest grocers, begins today in ~finance
NoblePath LinkWe open on a long stretch of road on a Sasketchewan prairie. The sun shines hot and direct on a rapeflower field, making waves in a breeze. Suddenly, the waves become more turbulent, as a three...We open on a long stretch of road on a Sasketchewan prairie. The sun shines hot and direct on a rapeflower field, making waves in a breeze. Suddenly, the waves become more turbulent, as a three trailered tractor blasts by. Written on the side of the trailers, Loblaws! The bestest foods!
Camera follows the trailer for a small piece, then picks up a disturbence in the field, something quickly devouring and lowering the plants. Camera tracks toward the disturbance. Is a 1962 Chevy c3100 lifted with over size towers, shiny chrome stacks, and a bunch of heavy duty hardware and chains in the bed. Inside, a ripped Rick Moranis scowls and twists and stalk of flower in his mouth. Next to him sits Penelope Cruz. Her gaze drifts toward Moranis and she gives a half knowing smile to the camera.
Cut to another disturbance on the other side of the road. Camera moves in. This time it's a modified jaguar xke with a supercharger towering over the hood. Camera tracks in to Sam Jones sitting in the passenger seat, cradling a .50 cal chain fed machine gun and stupid grin plastered all across his face. Driving the car is Matt Frewer, dressed in leather and chains, with chrome mirrored aviators.
The xke bursts on to the road fishtailing in front of the big rig which blows its horns but doesn't slow down. Frewer picks up a walkie talkie and says "Ok Bluto, we're in position." Camera cuts back to the c3100, which jumps over a ditch, does a 180 in the air, and lands driving high speed in reverse right behind the rig. Penelope Cruz jumps out of the cab, climbs over the bed and jumps onto the back door of the rig while Moranis smiles and nods. Some freshly welded cnc hardware marvel extends from the rear of the truck, Cruz straddles, gently sticks out her tongue, gives a wiggle and it attaches to the axles under the trailer. She looks back at Jones and winks.
Moranis hollers into the walkietalkie "Go Time!" Jones punches the roof of the XKE which flies off and camera cuts to cruz and Moranis watching it fly away. Jones gets up, and aim thes .50 cal at the rear of the semi cab and starts blasting away. The cab and trailer separate, and cab somersaults off into the field. Camera jockeys to Moranis and cruz shifting gears and hooting and hollering. Jones shoots the gun in the air.
Cut to a unhoused encampment in Toronot. Moranix, Cruz, Jones and Frewer are all distributing frozen chickens to dirty families dressed in rags . . .
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Comment on I made a mistake, I started using Reddit again in ~talk
NoblePath Link ParentI also miss the old days, but things got weird and mean then too. "Flame Wars" predate the web and IRC. BBS operators and other server mods would kick users. In the old days, nerds were far more...I also miss the old days, but things got weird and mean then too. "Flame Wars" predate the web and IRC. BBS operators and other server mods would kick users. In the old days, nerds were far more marginalized, and I think more dysfunctional on or off the network. Or, perhaps more truthfully, the nerds that were online were the more dysfunctional of our number.
That said, there was certainly a purity of spirit that has become diluted. This is true in other areas of my life as well. Outdoor activity has become more popular, and trails which used to be much less travelled have become well-worn. I think this is probably a good thing overall, but I still grieve the personal experiences I can no-longer re-create in the woods.
Every forum needs moderation. Full self moderation leads to 4chan, no bueno. What makes Tildes awesome as far as I can see is that the moderation is limited and thoughtful, but more importantly, consistent. This takes dedication, skill, and talent, sadly lacking among much of reddit's moderators.
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Comment on Clothes shopping as a short & fat (trans) guy with narrow shoulders in ~life.style
NoblePath LinkI’m not quite the size round you are, also I’m on the taller side. But I do have a gut and narrow shoulders. Hickey Freeman’s budget label fits me well. If I had plenty of dough i’d go for the...I’m not quite the size round you are, also I’m on the taller side. But I do have a gut and narrow shoulders. Hickey Freeman’s budget label fits me well. If I had plenty of dough i’d go for the gianluca line of isaiah for suiting. Prana jeans also fit well Not sure if these are in germany although Isaiah is global surely.
Guyaberas and Katin for casual wear.
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Comment on All the good email clients go to hell in ~tech
NoblePath LinkThere have been a couple runs at good alternatives. There was a pretty awesome app that got bought by google, can’t remember the name. It went the way of dejanews. There was another, edison maybe?...There have been a couple runs at good alternatives. There was a pretty awesome app that got bought by google, can’t remember the name. It went the way of dejanews.
There was another, edison maybe? That hinted at promise.
I agree with her wholeheartedly, RIP eudora. Also ya-newswatcher and soundjam.
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Comment on All the good email clients go to hell in ~tech
NoblePath Link ParentTheir functionality certainly has room to grow. True also for their vpn app. Apple mail caches their mail on desktop, amd spotlight is pretty good for that. Still, protonmail is good as a service,...Their functionality certainly has room to grow. True also for their vpn app. Apple mail caches their mail on desktop, amd spotlight is pretty good for that.
Still, protonmail is good as a service, and with drive and the vpn it’s an awesome deal.
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Comment on All the good email clients go to hell in ~tech
NoblePath Link ParentIf you’re a paid protonmail customer, on the mac (and presumably other desktops) there’s protonmail bridge. On mobile, you gotta use the protonmail app.If you’re a paid protonmail customer, on the mac (and presumably other desktops) there’s protonmail bridge. On mobile, you gotta use the protonmail app.
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Comment on The internet used to be ✨fun✨ in ~tech
NoblePath LinkI have been wanting to respond to this post for a minute, but haven't both been in front of my computer and remembered to at the same time :-/ I'm old. I've been on networks since...- Exemplary
I have been wanting to respond to this post for a minute, but haven't both been in front of my computer and remembered to at the same time :-/
I'm old. I've been on networks since arpa/fido/gopher/bbs days. I wasn't super informed in those days, so I couldn't tell you which network I was using (bbs were obviously over the phone), but I was on some kind of network that linked universities, govt, some businesses (including old services like compuserve and The Source, which would become AOL, and also probably The Well), and some really weird cats. I can tell you that was fun, a lot of fun. But when the web hit in the early 90s, it was a new game. It was a way new kind of fun. I was on some kind of WYSE terminal connected to I don't know what at the backend learning everything I could about HTML (using lynx as a browser), and then there was NCSA Mosaic and the next decade were a blur of drugs, cyberpunk, being way overpaid for tickling a few network tricks, rock and roll, women, The Grateful Dead, and The Matrix.
Part of the fun was my age, carefree salad days spent excessively and recklessly. But there was something really cool in the air, the web was something truly new and different. TV was the same probably in the early 60's (Arthur C. Clarke), VCRs/PCs in the 80s (Dick), Radio in the 10s (Lovecraft), but we had Gibson at we were fixing to really leave the planet by going inside. Websites were not just informational, they were art. People pushed the limits. My favorite example was a site called superpants.
Like @ewintr pointed out above, experience a library for the first time is not repeatable, until you find a museum, a chemistry lab, a computer lab (ahem). The internet has matured, and sadly, become infected with capitalisms worst traits. But some of its early charms persist, Tildes is a good as any bbs forum, better than a lot of newsgroups. It's not all nostalgia, though, those early times were filled with exuberance and hope, that somehow this new medium and sets of tools could really advance the needle on civilization. And it has, and does. Wikipedia has proven exceptionally useful in the dissemination of information that entrenched players would love to keep quiet. When decoupled from corporate controlled backbones, the nature of the internet allows for very robust networked communications. It's not as glamorous now, though, maybe kindofa shame, but also not nearly as elite, (or l33t), which is good progress. Regular folks can now benefit. My conceit has been that once empowered, regular folks would suddenly become elevated and effete and pursue with us the highest ideals of aesthetics and goodwill. Instead, they just want to get through the day, be reasonably well fed, and feel like their kids are safe. And good on them, the more I emulate that lifestyle, the more at peace I am. A few, however, mostly in places far worse than I have ever even visited (and I've been to East St. Louis), have taken these mundane applications and put them in the service of real change for better, the nobility of which is practically a fairy tale to me.
The early internet is gone, and so are my 20s (which I extended well into my 30s). I have realized my many limitations, and the extent which I was living in a fantasy life. There is no blame, much like Mr. Robot, my rich dissociative denial and imagination kept me alive through horrible circumstances. But when the circumstance abated, I did not release the defense mechanisms, and here we are. But in my 20s, and during the internet's early days, I could more easily ignore my limitations and focus on the fanstastical places I was going to go.
I still have utopian leanings, however. The technology is there to alleviate so much suffering, we just have to find some way to create a collective will. The old ways, unions and 20s progressivism, will not work today. There are too many disparities, too much focus on individualism. Some of that may need to be rolled back, but the variegations will persist and deserve celebration and inclusion. Democracy will not work, and manufactured persuasion (aka Public Relations, Marketing, and Advertising) cannot unite enough of us on enough stuff. No, there must be a new, simultaneous, spontaneous, and widespread recognition of commonalities, trust through desperation or exhaustion or surrender, release of the fear of insecurity, humility and cooperation. The ideal truism from the old days is still useful, repeat it wherever you can: from each, according to their ability, to each, according to their need.
I did not mean exactly to turn this into a mildly revolutionary manifesto, except maybe I did. This kind of random, unifying, perhaps too glittering meandering is exactly the kind of spirit that seemed to flow over the deep in the first seven days of the World Wide Web. Maybe there's nothing wrong with naivety, excitement, and nerdery, and that absence is what's most missing from those days to this.
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Comment on The internet used to be ✨fun✨ in ~tech
NoblePath Link ParentOf course if you were, ah, "enterprising," you could have these sorts of things for a reduced rate.Of course if you were, ah, "enterprising," you could have these sorts of things for a reduced rate.
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Comment on Residents in southern Illinois county to vote on non-binding referendum to separate state from Cook County in ~misc
NoblePath LinkI wonder if ADM would be pro or ‘gin? I think it would be an interesting experiment if noone could get hurt. Lots of folks around u-c would be upset. I’m also curious how the collar counties would...I wonder if ADM would be pro or ‘gin?
I think it would be an interesting experiment if noone could get hurt. Lots of folks around u-c would be upset.
I’m also curious how the collar counties would come down on this.
Still, the real bottom line as @updawg intimated, is there are real polarizations and real feelings connected to them. Somehow things have got to start flowing again.
This is nothing new though. I ran across this mid century gem the other day.
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Comment on Man sets himself on fire near courthouse where Donald Trump is on trial (gifted link) in ~news
NoblePath Link ParentI mean, he’s not wrong in a general way. His mistake is to think he is the first to discover these truths, and to think they are absolute. Another mistake is to think this is the only game in...I mean, he’s not wrong in a general way.
His mistake is to think he is the first to discover these truths, and to think they are absolute. Another mistake is to think this is the only game in town.
But I get it. People can be awful, and the only mechanism of justice in the world is …more people. Who can be awful. Despair is not irrational.
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Comment on Quentin Tarantino drops ‘The Movie Critic’ as his final film in ~movies
NoblePath LinkToo bad it wasn’t a movie based on the 90’s animated series with Jon Lovitz.Too bad it wasn’t a movie based on the 90’s animated series with Jon Lovitz.
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Comment on NPR suspends veteran editor as it grapples with his public criticism in ~news
NoblePath Link ParentIt’s at least possible that that’s because their perspectives are outmoded and need to pass in history. The thing about progress is that it requires folks to be progressive. The folks in the...There's not really a place for them in the current republican party, and the left doesn't seem to want them either
It’s at least possible that that’s because their perspectives are outmoded and need to pass in history.
The thing about progress is that it requires folks to be progressive.
The folks in the middle meed to get more progressive, and the folks at the far right margin need to be seen and heard, soothed, and then shown why progress is better.
To relate it to tfa, this editor should be heard, and a realignment perhaps at nor to help those dragging to be heard, but their views don’t deserve equal weight becaus their approaches are leading us to a second dark ages filled with environmental calamity and economic and political disparity.
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Comment on NPR suspends veteran editor as it grapples with his public criticism in ~news
NoblePath Link ParentThe problem with this approach is that bias is at least partly subjective and emotional, maybe even spiritual. It’s also dynamic and contextual. As such it’s hard to do any kind of meaningful and...The problem with this approach is that bias is at least partly subjective and emotional, maybe even spiritual. It’s also dynamic and contextual.
As such it’s hard to do any kind of meaningful and generalized statistical analysis that applies to more than the analysts own biases (at best).
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Comment on As I get older, I get more and more disillusioned with "activism", and I'm fine with this in ~talk
NoblePath LinkI used to have this sticker on my bus: Inner peace, world peace, with a silhouette of a meditator in zazen.I used to have this sticker on my bus:
Inner peace, world peace, with a silhouette of a meditator in zazen.
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Comment on As I get older, I get more and more disillusioned with "activism", and I'm fine with this in ~talk
NoblePath Link ParentFrom personal experience: masons and elks vary a lot by location. Elks began life as a drinking club and hasn’t progressed in many places. Rotary are more about business development, but can...From personal experience: masons and elks vary a lot by location. Elks began life as a drinking club and hasn’t progressed in many places. Rotary are more about business development, but can dongood. Kiwanis is usually awesome, but suffer old folks syndrome like you describe. Masons vary a lot. Many southern masons are basically kkk. Northern are better.
But you are very right at your basic. It’s these institutions, plus better churches, that will populate better governments and make for better societies.
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Comment on Is climate change driving the global rise in populism? If so ... how? If not ... what is? in ~enviro
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Comment on Is climate change driving the global rise in populism? If so ... how? If not ... what is? in ~enviro
NoblePath Link ParentI don’t know enough to say. Based on what I do know, yes, and…more. Like Hugo Chavez.I don’t know enough to say. Based on what I do know, yes, and…more. Like Hugo Chavez.
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Comment on Is climate change driving the global rise in populism? If so ... how? If not ... what is? in ~enviro
NoblePath LinkI’m having trouble with the label “populism.” In my mind, populism is what drives small-d democracy, the kind of grass roots self-organization that reclaims power from the exploitive elites and...I’m having trouble with the label “populism.” In my mind, populism is what drives small-d democracy, the kind of grass roots self-organization that reclaims power from the exploitive elites and distributes it to the populace (hence the name). Bernie Sanders was a populist, and a rational concern about climate change amd its consequences certainly drove his national rise <shakes fist at dnc>.
What you seem to be referring to is nationalism or maybe even tribalism. In the case of Trump amd maybe others, the nationalism wears a populist parka, and Trump may even believe he is returning power to regular folks on some level. Bit his rhetoricand the actions of his more ardent supporters are much more about our tribe, lords and serfs alike, vs their tribe.
To your greater thesis, yes climate change’s consequences are certainly contributing. The non-gouging drivers behind food price inflation include higher production costs due to climate changes, and many folks blame “them” and organize into “us” as a response.
Thanks for paying attention!
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Comment on Researcher calls out misuse of research in book on American white rural rage - suggests resentment over rage in ~misc
NoblePath Link ParentI know this a simple typo, but like so many things in life, the best come by serendipity. As such, I have made it today a life goal to sew division as an antidote to those who sow division. It’s...sewing division
I know this a simple typo, but like so many things in life, the best come by serendipity.
As such, I have made it today a life goal to sew division as an antidote to those who sow division.
It’s apropos this discussion, too, because it evokes a kind of rural adaptibility that’s in line with progressive ideal, mending instead of replacing.
Alice in wonderland?
Roald Dahl stuff. Stuff by Umberto Eco or Samuel Taylor Coleridge, maybe Tom Robbins. Ken Kesey, also The Electric KoolAid Acid Test. The Naked Lunch.