gpl's recent activity

  1. Comment on Some observations about some of the conversations here in ~tildes

    gpl
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    No there's not. It's been like that forever, and that's good.

    1. No there's not.

    2. It's been like that forever, and that's good.

    6 votes

  2. Comment on The disinformation machine: How susceptible are we to AI propaganda? in ~tech

    gpl
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    I think one reasonable interpretation is "if the creator of the AI wants it to". There are some safeguards which can be somewhat effective, but if some programmer does not want them there, they...

    I think one reasonable interpretation is "if the creator of the AI wants it to". There are some safeguards which can be somewhat effective, but if some programmer does not want them there, they won't be. Dangerous AI is a design choice.

    5 votes

  4. Comment on RIP 'Red vs. Blue.' Machinima is gone—but its legacy is everywhere in ~tv

    gpl
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    I remember the first Machinima I ever saw was a single called Anathema, and it was a CoD 4 machinima based on the Gillies in the Mist level. Absolutely blew my mind at the time and I was briefly...

    I remember the first Machinima I ever saw was a single called Anathema, and it was a CoD 4 machinima based on the Gillies in the Mist level. Absolutely blew my mind at the time and I was briefly obsessed with trying to make my own. Good times.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (May 2024) in ~health.mental

    gpl
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    Not screaming into the void, because others are reading it! Just know that there is at least one person out there rooting for you.

    Not screaming into the void, because others are reading it! Just know that there is at least one person out there rooting for you.

    5 votes

  6. Comment on The youth need your help in ~life

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Student protestors are pretty universally demanding things that could actually be accomplished — their universities divesting from companies that help supply arms to Israel, or which operate in...

    Student protestors are pretty universally demanding things that could actually be accomplished — their universities divesting from companies that help supply arms to Israel, or which operate in occupied Palestinian territories. This is very much within the realm of possibilty: it has been done before in the 80s in the context of South African apartheid, and done more recently for fossil fuel companies. Some universities have already begun to do so, for example Brown recently committed to a binding vote on divestment after dialogue with protestors. Sure, maybe at the end of the day this divestment will negligibly move the needle, but it's not nothing. Furthermore, such visible protests like this do a lot to a) signal to others who may quietly support the cause that they are not alone and b) also signal to Palestinians that not everyone in the US is for this war. Both of those are moral victories.

    13 votes

  8. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    gpl
    Link Parent
    I'm just about 1/3 in so hoping it clicks! I'm definitely invested enough to finish as is.

    I'm just about 1/3 in so hoping it clicks! I'm definitely invested enough to finish as is.

  9. Comment on At least thirty protesters arrested during pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin in ~news

    gpl
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    Yeah I definitely agree it's complicated. And I agree that both sides sometimes default to using the actions of the worst people on the other side to justify a dismissal. That being said, I do...

    Yeah I definitely agree it's complicated. And I agree that both sides sometimes default to using the actions of the worst people on the other side to justify a dismissal. That being said, I do think it's a bit different when, for example, one side's stated purpose to protest what they perceive as genocide, vs when it's to protest like, mask mandates. To use an example. But that's not an issue of the outliers, but rather disagreeing with the central point of the protests, so I suppose it's not very relevant to the point.

    Re: @Minori's point. Nazi bar situations are bad and should be avoided, I agree. My understanding, based on the reporting I have read, is that in the majority of these protests, with some exceptions, there has actually not been very much hateful language (especially if you do not include ambiguous phrases like "from the river to the sea" which I personally do not think should be counted). The biggest exception was early at the Columbia, but even then the hateful language was coming from people who were not students, and have since been excluded from the encampment there. I guess it doesn't really matter whether they were students or not as long as they were included in the protest, which is the point of the Nazi bar analogy, but nonetheless I just have not seen much evidence of violent or antisemitic language at the vast majority of these protests, and I think I have been following relatively closely.

    Any such examples and language should obviously be condemned and if the student protestors are wise, the people using such language should be excised from the movement. From what I have seen at least this is generally been the case.

    7 votes

  10. Comment on Happy 6th Birthday, Tildes! in ~tildes

    gpl
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    Moreso than anywhere else I've found, this place reminds me of the forums of my youth. All that's missing is an IRC channel ;)

    Moreso than anywhere else I've found, this place reminds me of the forums of my youth. All that's missing is an IRC channel ;)

    36 votes

  11. Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Thank you! I definitely don't mean to be misleading or anything, I had interpreted my quoted statistic as reflecting the total number who get rejected, not just the ones who get rejected AND have...

    Thank you! I definitely don't mean to be misleading or anything, I had interpreted my quoted statistic as reflecting the total number who get rejected, not just the ones who get rejected AND have already been reported. I didn't recognize the distinction. In any case, this would mean 65%-75% (depending on how the point in your last paragraph is understood) of asylum cases get approved. Not quite as overwhelming of a majority as my original comment implies, but a strong majority nonetheless.

    6 votes

  12. Comment on Towers of silence in ~humanities.history

    gpl
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    I don't even really view it as "wrong", per se, given that the point is made multiple times in the episode that the content of these tracts are really problematic and hateful. This is kind of...

    I don't even really view it as "wrong", per se, given that the point is made multiple times in the episode that the content of these tracts are really problematic and hateful. This is kind of like, in my mind, when people say Nazis were well dressed by Hugo Boss. It's not wrong, and if in the context of a design or aesthetic oriented discussion (with appropriate acknowledgements of, you know, Nazis), not an issue. Just my two cents.

    4 votes

  13. Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news

    gpl
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    Ah I somehow missed this update as an outside observer. Pretty ridiculous, I agree, but better than outright ignoring the court I suppose.

    Ah I somehow missed this update as an outside observer. Pretty ridiculous, I agree, but better than outright ignoring the court I suppose.

    4 votes

  14. Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Ok, but this is a question which can actually be answered. Even this BBC article has some stats: between 2018 and 2023, only 2% of arrivals by boat were returned to their home country after their...

    Ok, but this is a question which can actually be answered. Even this BBC article has some stats: between 2018 and 2023, only 2% of arrivals by boat were returned to their home country after their case had been processed. Therefore, the vast majority (98%) seemingly have valid asylum claims under UK law. You call it "border jumping", but seeking asylum is very much a real thing that is not illegal.

    Which is not to say everything here is above board. The UK Supreme Court has found this Rwanda plan to be unlawful, but the Tories are going ahead with it anyway.

    28 votes

  15. Comment on Remembering May 4 (Kent State massacre) - An interview with Devo's Jerry Casale in ~humanities.history

    gpl
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    I hope it can be avoided too. It is extremely disheartening to see elected politicians basically lusting after the potential of deploying the National Guard on these protests.

    I hope it can be avoided too. It is extremely disheartening to see elected politicians basically lusting after the potential of deploying the National Guard on these protests.

    5 votes

  16. Comment on At least thirty protesters arrested during pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin in ~news

  17. Comment on At least thirty protesters arrested during pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin in ~news

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Yeah I agree. Re: protestor behavior, I'll just add that if you judge any protest movement by its worst actors, then one would be compelled to condemn them all. There is always a small minority...

    Yeah I agree. Re: protestor behavior, I'll just add that if you judge any protest movement by its worst actors, then one would be compelled to condemn them all. There is always a small minority that takes it too far. But from what I have seen, these protests have been peaceful (although disruptive – which is the point) until cops show up. They have also been diverse, I've seen plenty of Jewish students taking part as well.

    Obviously the actors who do take things too far should be condemned. But calling in the police, or the state guard, or the national guard (which has not happened, yet) is an insane overreaction.

    22 votes

  18. Comment on At least thirty protesters arrested during pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin in ~news

    gpl
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    I was thinking of making a megathread for these protests. I am in academia and the whole situation so far has left me incredibly bitter with regards to both universities as institutions and our...

    I was thinking of making a megathread for these protests. I am in academia and the whole situation so far has left me incredibly bitter with regards to both universities as institutions and our state governments. A lot of the harsh response so far feels to me, in a weird way, like an attempt to avoid another 2020 protest situation. The powers that be seem to have learned a lesson from that summer and are working hard to make up for it now. It is absolutely sickening that there are a large fraction of fellow Americans who would love nothing more than to see some young people be harmed for protesting. Elected politicians even. I posted a relevant retrospective on Kent State in a separate thread that was prompted by reading about the news today.

    46 votes

  19. Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech

    gpl
    Link Parent
    There are two separate concerns here. One is US customers' data being controlled and accessible by "foreign adversaries", to use the bill's language, and the other is China having a way to reach a...

    There are two separate concerns here. One is US customers' data being controlled and accessible by "foreign adversaries", to use the bill's language, and the other is China having a way to reach a large number of Americans and the potential use of that reach for propaganda purposes in the event of a hot war between China and Taiwan (and/or the US). The former concern is very much addressable by regulation that has not even really been attempted yet, let alone attempted and failed. The latter is not relevant until a hot war actually occurs.

    Put another way, TikTok can be regulated all you want up until there's a China-Taiwan showdown and then it can be flipped to spewing propaganda. What then, and how did regulations between now and that future help?

    Ban it then. I completely disagree the backlash would only grow until then. A large majority of Americans support Taiwan and would be completely opposed to a Chinese takeover. In the event that happens, I suspect there would be almost no backlash to banning the app then. There is of course no way of knowing for sure, but history shows us that Americans are very much inclined towards "rally around the flag" type reactions to global conflicts. Even a bill in which a ban is triggered by the outbreak of hostilities I think would have very little opposition.

    Anyway, I remember when the "Great Firewall of China" was a thing people talked about, or China banning Facebook as you mentioned, and there the reasons were also concerns about foreign information (or propaganda). The logic here is exactly the same, and it doesn't sit well with me.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech

    gpl
    Link Parent
    You definitely present good points. One thing I definitely believe is that finding the answers to these questions (i.e. to what degree does TikTok censor political content unfavorable to China) is...

    You definitely present good points. One thing I definitely believe is that finding the answers to these questions (i.e. to what degree does TikTok censor political content unfavorable to China) is difficult, and that is by design, which is already quite concerning.

    3 votes