Arshan's recent activity

  1. Comment on I am angry at Google and wanted to share (rant) in ~tech

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    I've used Fastmail for years at this point and I've never had a problem. $5 dollars a month (US pricing) isn't cheap cheap, but its not terrible for a solid service.

    I've used Fastmail for years at this point and I've never had a problem. $5 dollars a month (US pricing) isn't cheap cheap, but its not terrible for a solid service.

    4 votes

  2. Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    Yes, Roman became an ethnic group in the Eastern half eventually. My main counterpoints are firstly that the shift to Roman as ethnicity vs Roman as citizenship/cultural-symbol quite far into the...

    Yes, Roman became an ethnic group in the Eastern half eventually. My main counterpoints are firstly that the shift to Roman as ethnicity vs Roman as citizenship/cultural-symbol quite far into the split. Second, Roman continued to be a fairly inclusive to new groups relative to there cultures. There were Armenians and Georgians who did become ethnic Romans, in a way that didn't happen in many other contemporary cultures. Also, the Roman ethnicity was created from a multi-ethnic Roman citizenship body.

  3. Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    Oh yeah, the "Byzantines" were as Roman as you could be, but I disagree that Roman was ever an ethnic group. I also agree with all the stuff after roughly 1000CE. Roman was always a multi-ethnic...

    Oh yeah, the "Byzantines" were as Roman as you could be, but I disagree that Roman was ever an ethnic group. I also agree with all the stuff after roughly 1000CE. Roman was always a multi-ethnic concept, especially by late antiquity. Most Gauls had been Roman for centuries. There were ethnically Frankish Roman Emperors; a lot of Roman Emperors weren't even from Italy let alone Rome itself. I just get grumpy when people act like all of Roman culture and peoples was deleted from Europe after the "Fall" of the Western Roman Empire.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    I think its wild how many distinct groups of people tried to cosplay as "Romans". There's Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Emperors explicitly have popes crown them as Roman Emperors. Both Kaiser,...

    I think its wild how many distinct groups of people tried to cosplay as "Romans". There's Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Emperors explicitly have popes crown them as Roman Emperors. Both Kaiser, from the German/Prussian Empire, and Czar, from the Russian Empire, are based of the term Caesar. Even modern posh British people still learn Latin, or more specifically memorize particular Latin phrases. to play on this trope. Hell, I took 4 years of Latin in high school, but that's just because my parents are hyper-conservative Catholics. Anyway, I think that Carthage must be destroyed.

    5 votes

  5. Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium; there's a direct line of continuity. For a modern example, Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janerio to Brasilia in 1960 and it...

    Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium; there's a direct line of continuity. For a modern example, Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janerio to Brasilia in 1960 and it clearly stayed the same country.

    6 votes

  6. Comment on I tried to protect my kids from the internet. Here’s what happened. in ~tech

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    I agree that we can do more then where currently doing and that it could involve government regulation, but I'd say its a capital H Hard problem. Obviously the current version of just ask if your...

    I agree that we can do more then where currently doing and that it could involve government regulation, but I'd say its a capital H Hard problem. Obviously the current version of just ask if your 18 is literally nothing, but getting to something that is a meaningful constraint is a massive jump up. If its based of government IDs, well kids can steal their parent's IDs and use them; fake ids have also existed forever. The technical expertise to run a more robust system is also outside of the ability of most governments; a lot of governments have already been out-sourcing their digital infrastructure to Big Tech. Any technical solution can only increase the difficulty and maybe that's enough or maybe its not.

    Personally, I think the only long-term solution requires kids' to actually trust their caregivers, so that if/when something sketchy starts happening the kid feels safe checking with them. I get that's hard, especially given how much time most parents have, but I don't see any technical solutions being more then a moderate improvement.

    4 votes

  7. Comment on My experience suddenly being very pretty in ~lgbt

    Arshan
    Link
    I really feel like pretty privilege is a good indicator for the messiness of all privileges. Clearly being considered attractive provides benefits with the most obviously being romantic...

    I really feel like pretty privilege is a good indicator for the messiness of all privileges. Clearly being considered attractive provides benefits with the most obviously being romantic opportunities, but also just general social life. But its not only benefits, its also an impossible standard to maintain forever, preferably "effortlessly", and it changes how people perceive you in often inscrutable ways. Oh, you happen to seen as unapproachable, so I hope you have a lot of social confidence; oh your seen as approachable, I hope you are comfortable rejecting people. Do the benefits outweigh the negatives? Sometimes, sure, but a lot of the time its just different. Is it better to be hit on when you don't want to be or to never be hit on? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    4 votes

  8. Comment on The evidence that AI is destroying jobs for young people just got stronger in ~tech

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    I don't disagree with anything you've written. My hope is that the workers themselves, especially tech workers, get more class consciousness, not that executive's learn common sense.

    I don't disagree with anything you've written. My hope is that the workers themselves, especially tech workers, get more class consciousness, not that executive's learn common sense.

    5 votes

  9. Comment on The evidence that AI is destroying jobs for young people just got stronger in ~tech

    Arshan
    Link
    I agree with the text of the argument, but not the conclusion. I imagine many companies are hiring less and/or laying off employees because they either believe LLMs can replace them or that's just...

    I agree with the text of the argument, but not the conclusion. I imagine many companies are hiring less and/or laying off employees because they either believe LLMs can replace them or that's just a good cover. However, that doesn't mean the LLM is actually capable of replacing that role, it simply means some executive BELIEVES that it can be. I'm extremely skeptical that people at the level who make these decisions have the ability or even desire to properly vet if LLMs can replace those roles or not. And even if LLMs can truly do the entry-level job, how do you get experienced workers? Just hope that they have personal projects that are big enough to cover it? The shortsightedness will only increase the class power of experienced workers, though entry-level workers are still fucked and people today are still fucked. And LLMs are still heavily subsidized so they could very well not be cheap enough to be worth it.

    41 votes

  10. Comment on You need to be bored in ~life

    Arshan
    Link
    Whenever I hear the term 'boredom' used in this way of simply not doing something in particular, it kinda confuses me. Boredom is a very specific feeling for me; its the browsing...

    Whenever I hear the term 'boredom' used in this way of simply not doing something in particular, it kinda confuses me. Boredom is a very specific feeling for me; its the browsing YouTube/Netflix/Your Fridge for forever and not picking anything, or trying 10 things for 5 seconds and continually switching. Its used here to mean closer to 'avoidance through stimulation', which won't be solved by just not taking your phone to the gym. I'm also not bored when I'm letting my mind wander; it might be a negative experience, like ruminating on some thing I've ruminated on for maybe actually hundreds of times, but that's not boredom. I'm not against using your phone or the internet less, but I feel like the particulars of that are so person-dependent.

    30 votes

  11. Comment on Question about Marginalia Search in ~tech

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    I don't really understand the hypocritical argument, being Anti-AI Bot doesn't mean your anti-LLM/Generative AI. It just means you don't want your server constantly scraped top to bottom. As to...

    I don't really understand the hypocritical argument, being Anti-AI Bot doesn't mean your anti-LLM/Generative AI. It just means you don't want your server constantly scraped top to bottom.

    As to paying to remove the anime girl image, it seems fine? Its not actually a feature, its purely aesthetics. If you're making meaningful money off of open-source code, you should be paying the project anyway.

    11 votes

  12. Comment on Andor discussion thread in ~tv

    Arshan
    Link
    I have a lot of thoughts about Andor s02. Overall, I'd give it an 8.5/10, but man do I have a lot thoughts about it. The show doesn't quite feel rushed to me, but I kept thinking I'd like a bit...

    I have a lot of thoughts about Andor s02. Overall, I'd give it an 8.5/10, but man do I have a lot thoughts about it.

    The show doesn't quite feel rushed to me, but I kept thinking I'd like a bit more of pretty much everything. A bit more in each arc, a bit more between the characters, just a bit more. The cast are all phenomenal. Mon Mothma and Kleya become such nuanced and interesting characters from being mostly side characters in s01. The lack of any blood/gore feels weird for such a grim show. A lot of the sets have less of a sense of place then s01 to me; all the main arcs in s01 feel meaningfully connected to a place, but I didn't feel the same here.

    A lot of spoiler stuff in no particular order!
    • Andor with the chucklefuck brigade should never have been in the show or should have been 10 minutes long.
      So much time was wasted on truly nothing.
    • The time skips are only kinda jarring, but still break up the flow a bit.
    • Cyril and Andor just missing each a bunch of times felt very contrived and took away from my favorite episode.
    • Having blasters ragdoll people in the Ghorman massacre made it feel way more visceral, especially with zero gore.
      Man, its weird to have a literally bloodless massacre scene.
    • I kinda forgot about the Death Star being a thing until they mention it.
      It just feels so cartoony next to the mundane brutality of the show.
    • Mon Mothma's speech fell flat to me, and maybe that's the point, but I'm not sure.
      The whole objective truth is the most important thing feels very vapid liberal to me.
      But again that's kinda what Mon Mothma is, especially up to that point in the show.
    • This season doesn't have an Andy Serkis character
      I fucking adore the prison arc of S01 and S02 just doesn't have anything that hits quite like it.
    • Ending the show literally right before Rogue One starts is pretty funny, but I have to imagine its to prevent any possible third season or any other Disney shenanigans.
    5 votes

  13. Comment on A newly surfaced document reveals the US beef industry’s secret climate plan in ~enviro

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    Yeah, vegetarianism is one of those things I have a hard time being convinced of pushing the last 10% of. I already rarely have meat twice a day and I've gone vegetarian for years at a time, but...

    Yeah, vegetarianism is one of those things I have a hard time being convinced of pushing the last 10% of. I already rarely have meat twice a day and I've gone vegetarian for years at a time, but it would make my life objectively worse if I never had salmon or steak again. And having meat a few times a year is not meaningfully different from eating no meat a year.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on A newly surfaced document reveals the US beef industry’s secret climate plan in ~enviro

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    I mean you can also just significantly reduce your meat consumption; it doesn't need to be all or nothing. I imagine there's a lot more people who would could easily cut meat consumption by...

    I mean you can also just significantly reduce your meat consumption; it doesn't need to be all or nothing. I imagine there's a lot more people who would could easily cut meat consumption by 50-75%, but not drop it to zero. More people reducing their meat consumption is good, but framing the only meaningful level as 0 is unhelpful in my opinion.

    30 votes

  15. Comment on Going Mouseless, Or Using The Computer Without a Physical Mouse in ~comp

    Arshan
    Link
    Another mouseless convert. I switched when my mouse broke, and I had been having RSI issues in my mouse hand. Honestly, I thought I'd give up after a few weeks, but its been 2 and a half years...

    Another mouseless convert. I switched when my mouse broke, and I had been having RSI issues in my mouse hand. Honestly, I thought I'd give up after a few weeks, but its been 2 and a half years with no complaints. With the right software, it really isn't that obtrusive and those RSI issues vanished.

    We generally seem to have a similar setup, but I've marked the few differences.

    • Instead of Vimium, I use Surfingkeys. I don't have a particular reason, it just seemed good when I started.
    • I use a Steam Controller as the fallback. With SC Controller, it works surprisingly well. Its probably my best $5 purchase.
    1 vote

  16. Comment on Are you tech-savvy enough? in ~tech

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    It didn't cross my mind that they could have meant it like that, but that's a fair reading. I have always kept my installs pretty up to date, so that could play into it.

    It didn't cross my mind that they could have meant it like that, but that's a fair reading. I have always kept my installs pretty up to date, so that could play into it.

  17. Comment on Are you tech-savvy enough? in ~tech

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    No? I don't care what OS a random person uses, but I do care about bad-faith representations of a thing I like and this post felt bad-faith to me. It claims that Linux breaks frequently after...

    No? I don't care what OS a random person uses, but I do care about bad-faith representations of a thing I like and this post felt bad-faith to me. It claims that Linux breaks frequently after updates, which is a factual argument I disagree with. Personally, the conflation with Desktop Linux and Android is what convinced me that they weren't writing in good faith, because they have close to nothing in common for the end-user.

    15 votes

  18. Comment on Are you tech-savvy enough? in ~tech

    Arshan
    Link
    Is this marketing for Apple, or Linux-nerd rage-bait? Because it feels like it could be either. Feels like a literal marketing line. Its also comparing Android with desktop Linux, which while...

    Is this marketing for Apple, or Linux-nerd rage-bait? Because it feels like it could be either.

    It’s great that Linux and Android exist, but I would never run them on my main devices that I use for actual work.

    Feels like a literal marketing line. Its also comparing Android with desktop Linux, which while sharing a kernel, functionally have nothing else in common. Its fine to try Linux and realize you don't like it, but no every update is not Russian Roulette, like what do you mean? I've had an update "break" my Linux install once over 10 years (it was Arch adding systemd-homed).

    23 votes

  19. Comment on Best "complete" anime you'd recommend? in ~anime

    Arshan
    Link
    Two of my favorite less popular anime fit into this category. Astra Lost in Space Sound of the Sky

    Two of my favorite less popular anime fit into this category.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on Why aren't we talking about the real reason male college enrollment is dropping? in ~life.men

    Arshan
    Link Parent
    Ah, I misinterpreted that then! I don't really have a general answer, because I think it heavily depends on all the particulars of the situation, but I'll try. I think the most likely person to...

    I'm actually really comfortable with my strategies and boundaries regarding learning from and potentially changing minds of people in general, thank you!

    Ah, I misinterpreted that then!

    How would you discuss toxic masculinity without 1) being so long winded as to tune people out, 2) being confusing, 3) upsetting people who would be upset by the phrase "toxic masculinity" or 4) just using the phrase?

    I don't really have a general answer, because I think it heavily depends on all the particulars of the situation, but I'll try. I think the most likely person to fit the venn diagram of significantly bothered by the term 'Toxic Masculinity' and similar progressive jargon but are open to an actual conversation about the root issues would be centrists who consume some right-wing media. If they are more of the academic type, I would talk about the etymology of the term, i.e. it comes from the mythopoetic men's movement from the 1980s that was explicitly centered on the harm this socialization caused men themselves not other people. If they are just parroting talking points, I would try and bring up something that is rooted in Toxic Masculinity but isn't in the popular right-wing zeitgeist; personally I'd talk about conscription in the Ukraine. I guess my point is that you try and have a conversation about the effects of Toxic Masculinity, not simply the term itself.

    7 votes