AugustusFerdinand's recent activity
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Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk
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Comment on Climate hero or villain? As it rapidly adopts clean technologies while drilling furiously for oil and gas, Norway is a paradox. in ~enviro
AugustusFerdinand (edited )LinkSaid before, I'll say again: I'm trying to figure out how the use of a country's resources, resources that are a worldwide necessity, in order to ensure the wellbeing of that country's citizens...Said before, I'll say again: I'm trying to figure out how the use of a country's resources, resources that are a worldwide necessity, in order to ensure the wellbeing of that country's citizens via a fund that puts to good use the proceeds from the resource is unethical. Since time immemorial fuel has been required for human survival and development. All fuel, be it wood, coal, fossil, or nuclear, pollutes. All of it. If Norway never pumped a drop of oil it wouldn't have made a difference, it wouldn't have magically created cold fusion reactors to power every ship and vehicle, it wouldn't have stopped climate change, all it would have done is make Norway poorer and its citizens less secure in their lives. The mere act of living creates pollution, if polluting is what makes something unethical, then life itself is unethical.
Instead Norway used their resources to secure the future of their citizens and now that their fund has grown to the point that it is over a trillion dollars it can use that huge influence to require the companies it invests in to clean up their act.
“As the climate crisis has developed, the fund has been thinking more and more about what it should do as a financial investor,” said Carine Smith Ihenacho, the chief compliance officer at Norges Bank Investment Management, which owns the fund. It lobbies companies in its portfolio to set net zero targets and argues the business case for developing credible transition plans – divesting from “climate laggards” who refuse to engage. “For us, climate risk is financial risk,” said Ihenacho.
As is stated in the article even if Norway stopped pumping oil, others would just take up the slack. The demand for the oil doesn't change, the infrastructure needed to make every country carbon neutral doesn't exist yet. Despite what some people state, the presence of oil isn't stopping any country from moving toward carbon neutrality as fast as possible and cutting off the taps (even if done worldwide) isn't going to make it all happen with a snap of the fingers.
It's all hypocritical nonsense. They'd be complaining about Norway being poor and having none of the green tech they have now if they didn't drill for oil and now that they have a huge fund and can't comprehend the amount of money involved they want to complain about how it was funded. I don't see any of these hypocrites chomping at the bit to move to a country without all of their oil-funded creature comforts.
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Comment on California Forever pulls measure to build Bay Area city in ~design
AugustusFerdinand LinkPrevious discussions. -
Comment on Inside the two-year fight to bring charges against school librarians in Granbury, Texas in ~books
AugustusFerdinand LinkThe law enforcement officer spent months methodically gathering evidence. He leafed through thousands of pages and highlighted key passages amid reams and reams of paper. He wore his body camera to record his interactions with witnesses and suspects. And he photographed what he saw as instruments of the alleged crime:
Books.
The targets of the investigation? Three school librarians in Granbury, Texas. The allegation? They had allowed children to access literature — such as “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison — that the officer, Scott London, a chief deputy constable, had deemed obscene.
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Inside the two-year fight to bring charges against school librarians in Granbury, Texas
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Comment on The deadliest of all dead ends in the 3D printing industry in ~tech
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentWhile it's not really "CAD" in the traditional sense, 90% of people that have/want a 3D printer can design just about everything they could need with TinkerCAD. Is it a more limited tool? Yes. Is...While it's not really "CAD" in the traditional sense, 90% of people that have/want a 3D printer can design just about everything they could need with TinkerCAD.
Is it a more limited tool? Yes.
Is it still more than capable without the huge learning curve of more traditional CAD? Yes.
Will I just be limited to lego bricks? No, but it does have a lego brick creator build in.
Are there tutorials and gurus that have turned out incredible things despite the seemingly limited capabilities? Absolutely. -
Comment on US President Joe Biden announces that he will not run for re-election in ~news
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentDid a bit of digging and you're right. They seem to be able to predict pop culture things like the color of a dress at a movie premiere or box office opening weekend ranges or whether or not Kanye...But to say they simply don't predict anything is just... plain wrong, my man.
Did a bit of digging and you're right. They seem to be able to predict pop culture things like the color of a dress at a movie premiere or box office opening weekend ranges or whether or not Kanye West will do something stupid during a particular month.
But it seems like every source I'm finding says they don't seem to have any reliable ability to predict political subjects. -
Comment on US President Joe Biden announces that he will not run for re-election in ~news
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentProp bets don't predict anything. They're just a non-traditional form of gambling. There are prop bet sites for the number of tweets Muskrat will spit out in a week, entire subsections of prop bet...Prop bets don't predict anything. They're just a non-traditional form of gambling. There are prop bet sites for the number of tweets Muskrat will spit out in a week, entire subsections of prop bet sites just about Taylor Swift.
It's been a topic of conversation for Biden to step aside and the current VP is the obvious endorsement. That's it. -
Comment on US President Joe Biden announces that he will not run for re-election in ~news
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentIt's too early for any polls to mean anything at the moment. News of this isn't even a day old. My response was more in comparison to what is essentially a prop bets website being used as a source...It's too early for any polls to mean anything at the moment. News of this isn't even a day old. My response was more in comparison to what is essentially a prop bets website being used as a source for such info.
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Comment on US President Joe Biden announces that he will not run for re-election in ~news
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentSome actual polling from earlier in July when the conversation of Biden stepping aside came to a head showed Harris about as likely to beat Trump as Biden.It's really hard to see Kamala Harris as the next president as well.
Some actual polling from earlier in July when the conversation of Biden stepping aside came to a head showed Harris about as likely to beat Trump as Biden.
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Comment on Let's build a playlist! in ~music
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentCake is the name of the song, the artist is Slow RooseveltCake is the name of the song, the artist is Slow Roosevelt
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Comment on Let's build a playlist! in ~music
AugustusFerdinand LinkSecret of Boris - Room 101 (I love Secret of Boris and everything they've put out, this isn't my favorite song of theirs, but is the most popular at the moment so giving it the nod here.) Sir...Secret of Boris - Room 101 (I love Secret of Boris and everything they've put out, this isn't my favorite song of theirs, but is the most popular at the moment so giving it the nod here.)
Sir Curse - Rabbit Holes
Slow Roosevelt - Cake
Dinosaur Pile-Up - Back Foot
Cleopatrick - 2008 -
Comment on CrowdStrike code update bricking Windows machines around the world in ~tech
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentSaw that and found it humorous. Gotta have something to balance out some of the horrors that are happening. Hearing from some of my old healthcare worker friends that things like their medication...Saw that and found it humorous.
Gotta have something to balance out some of the horrors that are happening. Hearing from some of my old healthcare worker friends that things like their medication systems are locked out, can't get patient charts to know what anyone should be getting anyway ...oh... and the in-room panic buttons and heart monitors that alert staff when a patient codes (flatlines) are all linked to the same system and don't work. So unless someone is literally within earshot of a patient's room and hears the monitor start to scream... -
Comment on CrowdStrike code update bricking Windows machines around the world in ~tech
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentThere's a reply in that thread that the files being sent to the poster are all different, so that's a good theory.There's a reply in that thread that the files being sent to the poster are all different, so that's a good theory.
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Comment on CrowdStrike code update bricking Windows machines around the world in ~tech
AugustusFerdinand Link Parent[insert that's a big list meme here] 911 services of eleven (so far) different states, American, United and Delta flights grounded along with dozens of others across the world plus several major...Edit: Still coaching support teams on what to do. I did find that somebody has already started a wikipedia page for this :D - https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2024_CrowdStrike_incident&useskin=vector
[insert that's a big list meme here]
911 services of eleven (so far) different states, American, United and Delta flights grounded along with dozens of others across the world plus several major airports grounding all flights, US DOJ, DC and NYC mass transit systems, Oracle, Nokia, broadcasting stations, banks, railways, Singapore's stock exchange, Paris Olympics, entire supermarket chains, hospitals cancelling procedures, Mercedes, McLaren, Aston Martin, and Williams F1 teams, universities, law firms, pharmacies, casinos, train networks, petrol stations, stadiums, fire alarm systems...
emphasis mine on some of the more interesting/frightening examples
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Comment on CrowdStrike code update bricking Windows machines around the world in ~tech
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentAt least they'd still be up by doing so.At least they'd still be up by doing so.
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Comment on You don’t need a pickup truck, you need a cowboy costume in ~transport
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentThe perception of safety then leads to people paying less attention while they're driving. A lot of people drive like outright assholes now because if their actions result in a crash they don't...The perception of safety then leads to people paying less attention while they're driving. A lot of people drive like outright assholes now because if their actions result in a crash they don't die/horrifically injured.
I prefer vintage cars, I am aware that my 2,100lb car is a tin can compared to even a modern compact and as a result of that I drive it like I ride a motorcycle, by being hyper aware of others and my surroundings.
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Comment on You don’t need a pickup truck, you need a cowboy costume in ~transport
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentYeah, I was trying to figure out how motorcycles of all things (buses I can understand since bus stops = pedestrians) killed more people than trucks.Yeah, I was trying to figure out how motorcycles of all things (buses I can understand since bus stops = pedestrians) killed more people than trucks.
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Comment on You don’t need a pickup truck, you need a cowboy costume in ~transport
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentIncorrect or disingenuous reading of the statistic. Buses and motorcycles account for more pedestrian deaths per mile being that there are fewer of them/driven less, with buses causing 74 deaths,...Buses (which we can't do much about) and motorcycles (equally useless as pickups), account for more pedestrian deaths that pickup trucks, yet the internet isn't crusading against the motorcycles.
Incorrect or disingenuous reading of the statistic. Buses and motorcycles account for more pedestrian deaths per mile being that there are fewer of them/driven less, with buses causing 74 deaths, motorcycles causing 25. Light trucks caused 1,904.
That data is also 22 years old when trucks were much smaller.2021 data - PDF warning - from the NHTSA shows light trucks account for 2,521.
2022 data from the GHSA shows that number to be in the 2,900 range.
IIHS studies show pickups are 45% deadlier to pedestrians than shorter vehicles. -
Bob Newhart, comedy icon, dies at 94
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So this actually happened last weekend, but I've been busy as hell with packing and preparing to move out of Texas.
Had the, likely once in a lifetime, opportunity to watch a swordmaking demonstration from third generation master Japanese swordsmith Masaya Yoshida. Considered in the top 10 master swordsmiths in Japan (currently ranked 7th of about 150), his family has been making swords for over 900 years, he belongs to the longest unbroken lineage swordsmithing group in Japan (others have technically existed for longer, but had periods where they didn't make swords/have any swordsmiths). He and his apprentices make everything, from planting their own forest for later generations to make their own charcoal (and harvesting the previous generations' trees to make the charcoal they use), to making their own tamahagane steel from iron sand, to the swords, and scabbards and all things in between.
He and his father (now passed away) both have swords that are considered by the Japanese government to be cultural property that cannot be exported out of the country. His father has swords that still protect shinto shrines and buildings all over the country; typically a swordsmith's works are returned upon his death, but many of his remain in place as he was so revered that people kinda-sorta ignoring that he has passed. His magnum opus katana sold for closer-than-not $1M. During COVID he forged and auctioned a katana to fund PPE for a local hospital that went for about $350k.
All to say his father was a very big deal and Masaya Yoshida is already a big deal and likely to continue the upward trajectory, he has a son that is too young to be interested in continuing the tradition at the moment, but does have an older daughter that is extremely interested in doing so and likely will once she reaches adulthood unless she changes her mind before then.
Album dump of videos and photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Mx1XxfEZRscMTVzX9