Boaty_McBoatyson's recent activity
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Comment on Choosing hosting and DNS outside US and EU jurisdictions, hedging against repression in ~tech
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Comment on Choosing hosting and DNS outside US and EU jurisdictions, hedging against repression in ~tech
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentHe might be hiding something, for sure. But you know what -- we're never going to find out because he was sanctioned using extra-judicial measures! Now if only there was a way for a society to...I would generally agree. My assumption is that Dogru is not being honest when he implies that that's the only connection.
He might be hiding something, for sure. But you know what -- we're never going to find out because he was sanctioned using extra-judicial measures!
Now if only there was a way for a society to develop some kind of institution that systematically and impartially researches and decides who is guilty and who is not ... .welll wait,, I just got a crazy idea! I'll call it 'a justice system' ... <cynical hilarity ad infinitum> ....
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Comment on Choosing hosting and DNS outside US and EU jurisdictions, hedging against repression in ~tech
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentThanks for your well-written and thoughtful response. This is how I feel about, to mention just one example, my friends' Netflix subscriptions. From the length and level of consideration in your...Thanks for your well-written and thoughtful response.
As such, calling it a proxy war by the US is doing a massive disservice* to the fallen civilians and defenders of a sovereign country. Which is why I again implore you to reconsider investing in Russia.
This is how I feel about, to mention just one example, my friends' Netflix subscriptions. From the length and level of consideration in your response, I'm gonna assume it not neccesary to write out a list of US-initiated atrocities worldwide; the toppling of democratically elected governments, instigating conflict in the Middle East for decades, the "free trade" racket backed up by the threat of US military force (okay sorry, I started to write the list ... will stop now).
I don't know how the general US population feel about US aggresion worldwide. Even if we did, I'm pretty would it would not be an accurate reflection on the ethics and moral fibre of its citizens, their dreams for the future.
This is my understanding of the connections you draw; let me know if I am misreading you.
I get the impression we might be discussing from two slightly different positions: you seem to want to find a way to rank the various global oppressors, to be able to go with the lesser evil. In some situations that can make sense, if you trust yourself to be impartial and knowledgeable enough to make it a useful evaluation (which I find pretty unlikely -- at least for myself, I wouldn't in a million years trust myself to be able to do that!). Also, it's an exercise I don't have much interest in personally.
My personal interest in the topic boils down to "FUCK ALL OPPRESORS AND THEIR WARS" and then proceed to agitate against those I estimate I can have the most impact on, which is currently the willfull idiocy and warmongering I am exposed to daily in connection to the Ukraine-Russia war. Clearly there is an attempt on the ruling class and the media (at least where I live) to get young people to go war and attempt to kill some Russians, so their lives and the lives of their families can be completely wrecked (counting all humans on all sides of the conflict, excluding psychopatic career-military people).
It seems rather like almost all civilians worldwide share the same problem: their leaders. Your claim that I'm doing 'fallen civilians and defenders of a sovereign country' a massive disservice is not a conclusion I recognize at all. Sounds like the old "support our troops" saw. Fuck that. I don't think anybody should to be killed in war, and I'm sceptical of the rhetorical move in employing the victims of war to limit which kinds of criticisms I can make. You are making a powerful moral statement that implies that I am dishonoring the dead. I could just as easily make the argument you are reducing the dead to mere tokens of the country they were (probably forced) to die defending. A shitty move all around. I know it's a common move and you didn't invent it, but nothing useful lies in that direction. I fucking hate those bumper stickers and their murderous heroics.
If I put a different kind of context in the same type of argument it could look like this: the soul of the Bangladeshi sweatshop worker killed in a collapsing factory while sewing fast-fashion apparal for a US corporation implores you to not invest the US economy. You are doing a massive disservice by... (and so on).
The US and the EU are bystanders to one perpetrated by a country currently losing all international favour, mostly because of existing alliance structures they intend to honour***.
The US and the EU are continuing to send armaments to Israel. They are complicit. Not passive bystanders.
Canada, Switzerland, Norway, South America.
I should have added this detail in my initial question, but all of those countries you mention are in the '14 Eyes' countries which means they have an automated surveillance dragnet on all internet traffic. My assumption that I would be practical to use geopolitical tensions by chosing hosting outside of these countries turns out to be wrong, since the site would anyway be DNS unresolvable in the case of targeted government repression. Instead we have this involved discussion which I hope we might be getting something out of. -
Comment on Choosing hosting and DNS outside US and EU jurisdictions, hedging against repression in ~tech
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentSome great tips and ideas, thanks. How do you evaluate the actions of NATO expanding all the way up to Russia's borders? It is my understanding that the end of the cold war was brought about by...The best thing to do is you are worried about hosting is to choose censorship resistant methods. Unfortunately DNS which is at the bottom of having control of your online presence is very much not designed with this in mind so you have to go niche and restrict your audience (i.e. tor hidden service / handshake / namecoin whatever), or at least federate your content across multiple domains (I.e. top level domains across multiple non-aligned jurisdictions).
Some great tips and ideas, thanks.
Aside: the war in Ukraine is not a proxy war. It's one country invading another to take their land and kill / rape / torture their people.
How do you evaluate the actions of NATO expanding all the way up to Russia's borders? It is my understanding that the end of the cold war was brought about by the agreement that NATO would not expand further eastward.
To shed some light on my perspective: it is hard to imagine a situation where the US would emphasize strongly the sovereign right of say, Mexico or Canada, to enter into a military alliance with China or Russia. Cuban missile crisis comes to mind. So what are the rules here exactly? The rules are great power politics, and have been for a long time.
Empires for good reason demand a buffer-zone of non-aligned countries around them, and the Russians, also for good reason saw it as belligerent of NATO to keep expanding east. US ambassador to Russia warned of exactly this in diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks:
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08MOSCOW265_a.htmlCIA played a large part in the orange revolution in Ukraine, bringing Zelenskyy to power.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/cia-ukraine-russia/
Why is this not considered aggresion?I know I'm not exactly bringing about world news here. But we don't have to pretend there is some easy good guy/bad guy explanation. To me that mindset is the scourge of nationalism and imperialism. I hate all of this, but I refuse to be black and white about it.
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Comment on Choosing hosting and DNS outside US and EU jurisdictions, hedging against repression in ~tech
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentKey insight, thanks.The real robustness for political action is a strong network of trusted people who are willing to publish and share your content through multiple different established platforms like Youtube, TikTok, the press, etc. Then, if you are ever actively censored, that network can help you / platform you. Wholly independent actors rarely create that much change, and so probably won’t be targeted by state censorship.
Key insight, thanks.
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Comment on Choosing hosting and DNS outside US and EU jurisdictions, hedging against repression in ~tech
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentThank you for taking the time to engage with my question. I'm curious about where you draw the line and for which reasons. Would it in your estimation be unethical to place orders also with US...Thank you for taking the time to engage with my question. I'm curious about where you draw the line and for which reasons. Would it in your estimation be unethical to place orders also with US businesses?
Personally, I don't find many great options these days, if you are willingly to take an honest look at what empires and nation-state actors are perpetrating these days: EU-US backing Israels genocide in Gaza, (used to be) US-backed proxy war in Ukraine, the absence of political rights in China, the abhorrent Russian regime, and so on...
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Comment on Choosing hosting and DNS outside US and EU jurisdictions, hedging against repression in ~tech
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentYou are right, I did to a degree conflate the two in my description of the situation. The European country in which I reside has had a lot of well-known athletes hosting shows on Russia Today...You are right, I did to a degree conflate the two in my description of the situation.
The European country in which I reside has had a lot of well-known athletes hosting shows on Russia Today (RT). I have yet to hear of any of them being sanctioned. So it can't be the economic connection alone.
I don't think someone having worked with Russian state media a long time ago is sufficient grounds for sanctioning them. In light of this I find the by now common EU propaganda the streets proclaiming 'free speech' and 'freedom of the press' pathetic.
From the quoted transcript you might also note the loaded language "anti-Israel rioters", leaving out context and the violence perpetrated by Israel, the repression by the German police of pro-Palestine protests.
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Choosing hosting and DNS outside US and EU jurisdictions, hedging against repression
It appears obvious by now that freedom of the press and freedom of speech is under attack in the EU and the US both. In the EU, critics of Israels genocide in Gaza are being met with sanctions,...
It appears obvious by now that freedom of the press and freedom of speech is under attack in the EU and the US both.
In the EU, critics of Israels genocide in Gaza are being met with sanctions, closing bank accounts and imposing extra-legal status of civil death, under the odd pretext of this criticism of Israel is weakening the EU's war efforts in Ukraine. Blatant repression of political expression.
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/weaponizing-civil-death-to-crushIn the US, well we got Orange Man and with Microsoft willing to close the accounts of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, account and data safety is beholden to state and corporate interests:
https://apnews.com/article/icc-trump-sanctions-karim-khan-court-a4b4c02751ab84c09718b1b95cbd5db3These developments have me considering a contingency plan for my email and webhosting needs. I was wondering what would be the least fragile, long-term choice of DNS and hosting outside EU and US. For a website with political content critical of the EU-US, Russia would be an obvious hedge against political repression. Any recommendations/experiences for providers in Russia? Other locations to consider?
Recent website closures appear to have been targeting DNS resolvers, to make website unavailable. How to protect against this?
The one semi-viable option I know of - that would still be beholden to EU sanctions, I think - is 1984.is based in Iceland. They have a history of fighting spurious take-down claims. https://litigation.1984.hosting
It might sound like I'm some sort of hosting wizard. I'm not. Please consider this if giving a technical response. Thanks for any input and thoughts.
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Comment on A deep sense of ease – what the Danes call ‘tryg’ – is a collective responsibility that allows individuals to flourish in ~health.mental
Boaty_McBoatyson LinkSheesh it seems you can always wring out another tired article by equivocating on those words that have no direct translation into English. "Tryg" means comfortable and/or safe. All cultures have...Sheesh it seems you can always wring out another tired article by equivocating on those words that have no direct translation into English. "Tryg" means comfortable and/or safe. All cultures have this. The attempt to lift it into some realm of being uniquely Danish is embarassing. Next week it will be the Danish word "Hygge" which means comfortable-cozy. All cultures have this also.
For the writer the trick works because the majority of the readers have no first-hand insight into how unremarkable Danish culture is. "Oooohhh wow unique cultural concept, please tell me more ... !??!? "
Yeah sorry for my bitter tone, but this article is airport bookstore level of dumb banality.
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Comment on The new Firefox is so snappy, even with uBlock Origin enabled! in ~comp
Boaty_McBoatyson (edited )LinkHate to spoil the enthusiasms over the new version. But: Firefox was until recently an anti-trust insurance policy that Google no longer needs since Orange Man took office. For this reason Mozilla...Hate to spoil the enthusiasms over the new version.
But: Firefox was until recently an anti-trust insurance policy that Google no longer needs since Orange Man took office. For this reason Mozilla is now an adtech surveillance company.
Note the elegant double-meaning of 'securing user data' in the following quote from Mozilla CEO. First rate public relations work.
In parallel to our existing consumer products, we have the opportunity to build a better infrastructure for the online advertising industry as a whole. Advertising at large cannot be improved unless the tech it's built upon prioritizes securing user data. This is precisely why we acquired Anonym.
Anonym is building technology that can provide more privacy-preserving infrastructure for data sharing between advertisers and publishers.- Laura Chambers, CEO, Mozilla Corporation
Quote source: https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/improving-online-advertising/
More nerds mourning the future of Firefox: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2024/10/mozillas-ceo-doubles-down-on-them-being-an-advertising-company-now/edit: typos.
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Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentJust saw this know. This runs along my current best pet theory about media coverage: it is not neccesary to lie when you control which sides (sources) have access to the narrative. I wish there...Just saw this know.
This runs along my current best pet theory about media coverage: it is not neccesary to lie when you control which sides (sources) have access to the narrative. I wish there was a shorthand way of explaining this to those among my friends who passively imbibe mainstream media. And a way of referring to the media that didn't make me sound like a conspiracy nut (saying "mainstream media").
Suggestions much appreciated. Even just psychologically surviving the constant skewing of reality, perpetuation of empire by media. Sheesh.
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Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentI would be curious to hear if you could share some insights or specific modes of inquiry that help you not fall for the rhetoric. Often I feel either like being completely swamped by falsehoods,...I would be curious to hear if you could share some insights or specific modes of inquiry that help you not fall for the rhetoric. Often I feel either like being completely swamped by falsehoods, and if I manage to look past the rhetoric, the result is a strong feeling of alienation or living in a ghostly unreal reality (since so much of public discourse is misleading/rhetoric).
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Comment on In noisy surroundings, your techniques to learn to center attention and ignore distraction? in ~life
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentSounds like you have a pretty challenging work environment. Listening to already familiar podcast material I can definitely see the point of. Regretably, I would be not be able to distance myself...Sounds like you have a pretty challenging work environment. Listening to already familiar podcast material I can definitely see the point of.
Regretably, I would be not be able to distance myself from the situation by wearing headphones. Your response will be useful to me in a different environment.
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Comment on In noisy surroundings, your techniques to learn to center attention and ignore distraction? in ~life
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentSounds to me like you know more or less exactly the type of situation I am trying to learn to navigate. Your response is very useful to me. Thanks. Do you mean this in a literal sense (like for...Sounds to me like you know more or less exactly the type of situation I am trying to learn to navigate. Your response is very useful to me. Thanks.
... reasonable to learn to unfocus my hearing to and there definitely is a way to push around air to make a fuzzy noise that somewhat blocks other noises out.
Do you mean this in a literal sense (like for instance creating internal head sound by moving the jaw/tongue) or is it a matter of imagining to be moving air around, to de-focus?
Maybe that's my biggest recommendation: become a parent! ;)
I am slowly start to understand (I think) the combined state of boredom and alertness, that my friends who are parents seem to inhabit.
Ok, I'll say something about the job too. Depending on the situation you might be able to take up some light knitting, colouring books, etc
Excellent recommendation. Makes me ponder how non-digital handiwork is obvious and relateable, where device-twiddling is always (for better or worse) about leaving the physical situation you're in.
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Comment on In noisy surroundings, your techniques to learn to center attention and ignore distraction? in ~life
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentEar plug recommendation taken, for another noisy setting. I should have been more clear in my original post that it would rightfully be considered socially unacceptable for wearing earplugs.Ear plug recommendation taken, for another noisy setting. I should have been more clear in my original post that it would rightfully be considered socially unacceptable for wearing earplugs.
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Comment on In noisy surroundings, your techniques to learn to center attention and ignore distraction? in ~life
Boaty_McBoatyson Link ParentThese are some very useful observations. Thanks for responding to my question! Thinking out loud to myself, as you suggest, is a good one. I do it unintentionally in a small-scale when I take part...These are some very useful observations. Thanks for responding to my question!
Thinking out loud to myself, as you suggest, is a good one. I do it unintentionally in a small-scale when I take part in conversation with the residents. These conversations are quite one-sided and I try keep an engaged appearance by silently ruminating on the psychological backdrop and personal history of the person I'm talking to.
Generally I love talking to people, but this is an care type professional setting where I am not supposed to bring my full personality, hence the one-sided conversation.
Will try bombastic internal narrative voice-over next time. This runs the hazard of occasionally very misplaced laughter.
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In noisy surroundings, your techniques to learn to center attention and ignore distraction?
TL;DR: I just need your help to erect some kind of mental deep sea bunker in my soul :-) Context: My job brings me into private homes with lots of permanently switched-on large televisions and...
TL;DR: I just need your help to erect some kind of mental deep sea bunker in my soul :-)
Context: My job brings me into private homes with lots of permanently switched-on large televisions and with lots of super-talktative and socially starved human beings ambiently living around these screens.
The job is personal assistance: to remain emotionally present and relateable for hours on end. Quite an effort, not only because I get easily distracted by television sounds and screens (war-footage + sports = random mainstream deluge of endless pixel poison). I did not grow up with television and my audio-visual filtering capability is very poor. I get fixated by any stream of noise and trapped within it. This job makes me want to get better at filtering.
Thus I would much appreciate if anybody who knows this type of problem, would share techniques to filter and/or ignore external stimuli. More useful answers would take into account that being rude or flippant is not an option, and it would not be socially acceptable for me to regulate the televisions.
What would be some terms that I could use to find books about the topic? Any experiences you can share with me? Thanks <3
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Comment on What is the framework being used for these types of websites (fmhy.pages.dev)? in ~comp
Boaty_McBoatyson LinkOh apologies, I poked around the source code and found out the name of it is VitePress https://vitepress.dev/Oh apologies, I poked around the source code and found out the name of it is VitePress
https://vitepress.dev/ -
Comment on What is the framework being used for these types of websites (fmhy.pages.dev)? in ~comp
Boaty_McBoatyson LinkI am redesigning a rather large website I'm in charge of, and is looking for inspiration on how to organize and display large amounts of posts, in a way that is not terrible on mobile. Lately I've...I am redesigning a rather large website I'm in charge of, and is looking for inspiration on how to organize and display large amounts of posts, in a way that is not terrible on mobile.
Lately I've been noticing a few sites converging on the same type of structure, that I think might be useful for my purpose:
https://fmhy.pages.dev/
https://dan.valeena.dev/
https://www.debian.club/en/Is there some similar 'framework' behind these sites? Something I might just be able to install on my webhost and start populating the site?
My current site is Wordpress but would like to leave it for Classicpress or another longterm-minded CMS system that doesn't jeopardise stability (AI, crypto) and generally shove unwanted features down my throat.
Your pointers and suggestions are much appreciated!
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What is the framework being used for these types of websites (fmhy.pages.dev)?
15 votes
I'm surprised how many of the commenters in this thread are preoccupied with deciding who is the bigger oppressor: Russia or NATO. It's not a question that interests me much.
Since I am trying to decide on webhosting, and I live in a NATO country, I am mostly preoccupied with finding misuses of power within the territory I reside in. So it might put up a decent fight against the disinformation I'm faced with daily, and preserve base levels of critical thinking skills and sanity.
I see my Cuban missile crisis example was misleading in its details. Thanks for pointing that out.
Thought exercise... imagine Mexico being invited into a defensive-only alliance by, say, China. Imagine the US responding: "OK. You are a sovereign nation. No problem."
Personally I find that pretty hard to imagine.
A lot of the arguments being made boil down to which overall theory of global power politics you ascribe to.
Two such positions are summarized nicely in this video debate between:
https://archive.org/details/ytdown-you-tube-copy-of-munk-debate-on-foreign-wars-may-media-zfag-srcz-seg-001-1080p
Video is a bit long, can skip to the last 20 mins for an ending summary that capture the base positions well.
Victoria Nulands wikipedia page is worth a read too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Nuland#Leaked_phone_call_and_Maidan_involvement
Working to incite a revolution, as the US have been doing in Ukraine, is not exactly honoring Ukraine's sovereignty. Yes, Russia is absolutely doing the same in all of their sphere of influence, including Ukraine.
It falls upon us, the (un)informed citizenry of all (un)free nations, to perform the bullshit triangulation neccesary. Propaganda can be true. It being spread with the explicit intention to weaken a geopolitical enemy doesn't make it any less true. Probably some details are wrong or misleading. But as I said: bullshit triangulation. Why are we not encouraged to deal with our "opponents" propaganda as we would valid criticism? Instead we are compelled by the media (at least where I live) to be insanely naive about how global power politics work. Us and them. Patriotism. Nationalism. Good guys, bad guys. It's an affront to everything I was taught about democracy in primary school.
The big news being: all empires and geopolitical blocks are constantly engaged in espionage and meddling. There are no good guys. I hope this doesn't come of as patronizing. It's not easy finding the proper balance discussing this matter with strangers online.