Brock_Knifemann's recent activity
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Comment on What happened in 2023 that will have an impact on the rest of the decade? in ~talk
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Comment on Pat Robertson, broadcaster who helped make religion central to GOP politics, dies at 93 in ~news
Brock_Knifemann LinkLet us welcome him to the Void that awaits to consume his soul.Let us welcome him to the Void that awaits to consume his soul.
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Comment on How does Tildes enable you to express yourself in contrast to reddit/other? in ~tildes
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentI love that one!I love that one!
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Comment on How does Tildes enable you to express yourself in contrast to reddit/other? in ~tildes
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentInteresting, thank you!Interesting, thank you!
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Comment on How does Tildes enable you to express yourself in contrast to reddit/other? in ~tildes
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentI've been away for a few months. What's a Tilderino? Sounds like a fundamental subatomic particle.Tilderinos
I've been away for a few months. What's a Tilderino? Sounds like a fundamental subatomic particle.
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Comment on Technology has been promising the dream of a cocooned future, and our pandemic isolation is giving us the rare opportunity to see where this road leads in ~tech
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentI think you're missing the point that author is making. What they're saying (as I understand it) is that these escape cocoons are isolating us away from the world and the humans that make all...I think you're missing the point that author is making.
What they're saying (as I understand it) is that these escape cocoons are isolating us away from the world and the humans that make all these conveniences possible.
If one doesn't have to interact with real humans here in meatspace, then you are removing yourself from humanity - theirs and yours. Why would one care about working conditions in Amazon warehouses if you never see a warehouse employee? If you don't have to leave your house, do you see the literal thousands of homeless women, men and children on the streets of their own city? If algorithms only show you what you want, will you see the ravages of climate change on our world? Will you see the shitbag things governments do to their own people?
I think the ultimate point is that the promises of the tech future, as exists now, are great but come at a tremendous cost. We need to decide what this future ought to look like, and not just accept the Zuck/Musk/Cook/Page vision. It's not about feeling guilty for buying an occulus or an xbox or whatever, it's about making careful and thoughtful decisions about tech and understanding their implications.
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Comment on With Canada and Mexico borders closed, Americans are trapped in their own health care system in ~health
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentBorder proximity matters for sure, and the calculus that folks have to do to weigh their options isn't easy nor cut and dry.Border proximity matters for sure, and the calculus that folks have to do to weigh their options isn't easy nor cut and dry.
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Comment on With Canada and Mexico borders closed, Americans are trapped in their own health care system in ~health
Brock_Knifemann Link"...Americans are trapped in their own health care system." I think this is a bit of a misleading title. For a vast amount of Americans, traveling to CA/MX/EU for healthcare wasn't an affordable..."...Americans are trapped in their own health care system."
I think this is a bit of a misleading title. For a vast amount of Americans, traveling to CA/MX/EU for healthcare wasn't an affordable option to begin with; they've long been trapped in this system, it's just now that middle class (if that actually exists still) and more well-to-do Americans are waking up to the reality that tens of millions of our fellow citizens live with.
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Comment on A tildes thread for toki pona, the minimalist conlang in ~humanities.languages
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentThanks, Fiachara! I'm definitely more of a grammar type person - I learned French that way, and I'm an English/writing tutor. Grammar rules = ❤️ I'll check out your suggestions, thanks again!Thanks, Fiachara!
I'm definitely more of a grammar type person - I learned French that way, and I'm an English/writing tutor. Grammar rules = ❤️
I'll check out your suggestions, thanks again!
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
Brock_Knifemann LinkIt's kinda old, but for some reason I've been really digging Pras's Ghetto Superstar. I guess that nostalgia is my jam these days.It's kinda old, but for some reason I've been really digging Pras's Ghetto Superstar. I guess that nostalgia is my jam these days.
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Comment on A tildes thread for toki pona, the minimalist conlang in ~humanities.languages
Brock_Knifemann LinkI learned about Toki Pona a few years ago, and I've been wanting to learn it. I'm not super-motivated these days, and it's been an on-and-off again level of desire. I think it would be really cool...I learned about Toki Pona a few years ago, and I've been wanting to learn it. I'm not super-motivated these days, and it's been an on-and-off again level of desire. I think it would be really cool to have 3 languages under my belt.
This could be a lot of fun! I'll check out your youtube channel!
Do you have any suggestions for good learning material? I found the "official" site not particularly great. -
Comment on Reddit announces "power-ups", their plan to have individual subreddits unlock features through members paying for a monthly subscription in ~tech
Brock_Knifemann LinkWhen Reddit just had gold and ads, I was ok with it (despite my dislike of ads). Like, yeah they have to make $ somehow to pay for all that electricity, server time and human employees, but do we...When Reddit just had gold and ads, I was ok with it (despite my dislike of ads). Like, yeah they have to make $ somehow to pay for all that electricity, server time and human employees, but do we really need the social media equivalent of loot boxes and cosmetics?
TBH, I don't think Reddit's management has a plan or a vision beyond finding novel ways to make more $.
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Comment on The Real Class War in ~humanities
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentTo be fair, most people don't really get all that interested into economics and politics until they're in their 30s and beyond. You can see a reflection of that in voter turn out by age bracket....I find not nearly enough of my peers show major concern for the decay of our socioeconomic landscape
To be fair, most people don't really get all that interested into economics and politics until they're in their 30s and beyond. You can see a reflection of that in voter turn out by age bracket. It's also really important to remember that a great many Americans are so busy working that they do not have ample spare mental "bandwidth" to think/worry about it. When I worked rotating twelves in manufacturing, I barely had enough bandwidth to decide between wheat or white bread, much less the broader situation in the economy. This is not a blanket excuse, but it's worth remembering just how hard most if us have to hustle just have a roof over our heads.
Which segues back to just how f'd up our economy is. It absolutely should not take multiple jobs just to barely hang above homelessness. There should not be homeless camps on every corner in the shadows of gleaming skyscrapers.
The current situation is absolutely not sustainable. I can't predict what will happen, though, as our past examples came about before our silicon age:1) We can't rely on people rising up. When we did that 100 years ago for the right to unionize, the gov't and businesses were happy to kill and maim. Not to mention that many of us have precarious employment and missing just 1 shift might mean termination or missing rent. Those folks aren't going to go protest, even if they wanted to.
2) We can't rely on an FDR/LBJ style society-first legislative agenda. One party is busy on the defense and isn't as progressive as we need; the other party is literally compromised and trying to undermine the system for their billionaire masters.
3) We can't rely our numbers and general strikes for much longer. With the ever-increasing pace of automation, the capitalists won't need us for much longer. AI is already getting better at cancer detection than experienced radiologists, cashiers are replaced by the self-scan, even fast food workers are at risk from automated ordering kiosks.I have no idea where this road will take us, except that it'll get a lot worse for the 99% before it gets better.
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Comment on I'd like to talk about the world these days, care to join in? in ~talk
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentWe're definitely not designed to deal with change at the rate that is currently happening. Barring "surprise events" like war and plagues, people's lives usually didn't change a whole lot from...We're definitely not designed to deal with change at the rate that is currently happening. Barring "surprise events" like war and plagues, people's lives usually didn't change a whole lot from generation to generation for the bulk of human history. If you were a farmer in ancient Egypt 4000 years ago, there was little reason to expect that your great-great grandchildren's lives would be any different than yours or your great-great grandparent's. It's not at all like that anymore, and it is frankly both scary and exhausting to even try and stay comfortably behind.
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Comment on I'd like to talk about the world these days, care to join in? in ~talk
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentThat was insightful and helpful, thank you. It seems that basically, you can't individually do much but if you do the best that you can, then that's enough.That was insightful and helpful, thank you.
It seems that basically, you can't individually do much but if you do the best that you can, then that's enough.
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I'd like to talk about the world these days, care to join in?
Hey, friends. I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to talk and converse. Please, feel free to join in. I'm not trying to make any points or whatnot, but I need to get this out of my head....
Hey, friends. I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to talk and converse. Please, feel free to join in. I'm not trying to make any points or whatnot, but I need to get this out of my head.
It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to see that there is a lot going on these days. I know that there's always a lot going on, but it just seems to be on my mind a lot more than it used to. I'm unsure if it's because things out there actually are heating up, if the current news cycle is finally paying some attention, if I'm just more interested/aware as I get older, or if it's some combination of these. Regardless, it just seems like there's so much to think about.
To begin, there's the domestic stuff. We have an inevitable recession coming our way sooner than later (recessions being a feature of our application of Capitalism, after all), and, of course, the mess in the other Washington. I'm doing my best to keep up with the impeachment, while not letting it really "get to me". As I get older, I find that I care more and more about the wellbeing of my country, and the utter shame that is this current administration makes me genuinely concerned for the health of our nation and the people in it. I cannot help but think to myself that I am watching the arguably most significant political crisis since Watergate unfolding before me - live, in real-time. It's wild, as you know that you live through history in the making, but you never really think that you're going to live through something of this caliber.
While I'm hopeful that our own brush with populism will turn out OK (our 3 branch government is remarkably robust), I still worry about us and the other countries that are dealing with it now too. We have Bolsonaro and Duerte, Brexit and Trump. We have the mess in Bolivia, and frankly I still don't exactly have my head wrapped fully around what the hell is actually going on there. We have the trickery of Putin and his loyal cronies. Even populism aside, we have the unrest and violence in Lebanon, Syria, Chile and Iran. And of course, let's not forget our friends in Hong Kong.
I look at the HK situation and feel extra helpless. I was 7 when Tiananmen Square happened, and I kinda remember it. I certainly remember tank man on the news, but that was about it. I see what's going on in Hong Kong and I cannot get past the feeling that they're literally fighting a losing battle for their lives. I can't imagine how they'll survive this without getting steamrolled, unless a foreign power steps in. You know that'll alter the course of the 21st century. I mean, hell. Even if things turn out rosy, this is still probably one of the most significant events of this century. And here I am, watching it in real-time again.
This isn't even touching on the literal concentration camps that China is running for the Uighur Muslims. Shit, even my own country is running camps for children right now. How TF does this even happen? By the time half of us even find out, these camps have already been up and running for a good while. What can you even do?
Then there is a the ever-looming specter that haunts us and feels inescapable: global warming. I don't think I need to elaborate on this one, just a quick peek at the fires and floods, droughts and melting glaciers says it all. Again, we're along for this ride in an enormous mechanism that individually we are wholly powerless against. I sincerely hope that we do manage to engineer our way out of the worst of climate change, but I am honestly not hopeful that we will limit our emissions enough to keep us under the 4° warming that we're seemingly on the trajectory for. I sure won't be alive in 2100, but my youngest nibblings just might - or at least their kids will be. What kind of world are we leaving for them?
How will these things affect and feed off each other? Will we look at the period between WWII and the early 21st century as one of unusual peace and prosperity?
This stuff keeps me up at night, and sometimes it feels like doing your best is just a vain exercise in futility. I know it's not, in that everyone doing their best would make huge changes, and that no matter what happens, I can go to my grave in good conscience knowing that I did what I could. Still, some days it all feels like too much, you know?
Anyway, thank you for listening to me, and letting me talk. There's a few people in my life that share the same concerns, but it's hard to find anyone to talk to about the breadth of all this shit that there is to worry about.
So, anonymous strangers on the internet, how are you feeling about the world situation these days?
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Comment on Tell me about your smartphone! in ~tech
Brock_Knifemann LinkI have had an LG G7 ThinQ for just over a year now. I didn't really want to get a new phone, but I was on my 4^th warranty replacement for my old V-10. So. Many. Bootloops. Anyway, the G7 isn't a...I have had an LG G7 ThinQ for just over a year now. I didn't really want to get a new phone, but I was on my 4^th warranty replacement for my old V-10. So. Many. Bootloops.
Anyway, the G7 isn't a bad phone at all, but it took all of a few weeks for me to crack the glass back... Kind of a terrible design choice, and I'll be certain to never get another phone with a glass back.
To be honest, if I wasn't forced by school to use Duo for 2FA, I would have already ditched a smartphone for a flip phone. Maybe that'll be a graduation present to myself.
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Comment on Introducing the Gulfstream G700 in ~finance
Brock_Knifemann LinkIf this is an ad, you've got the wrong demographic here.If this is an ad, you've got the wrong demographic here.
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Comment on A site to randomly stumble on to new and unique webpages - stumblingon in ~tech
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentAlso, holy shit this is great. I've come across all kinds of interesting political philosophy. Which, ironically, is keeping me from my political philosophy homework.Also, holy shit this is great. I've come across all kinds of interesting political philosophy.
Which, ironically, is keeping me from my political philosophy homework.
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Comment on A site to randomly stumble on to new and unique webpages - stumblingon in ~tech
Brock_Knifemann Link ParentI am pretty sure (but not certain) that people you followed influenced what stumbles you got. If I followed you, for example, things you liked would show up in my stumbles. I think. It's been a...I am pretty sure (but not certain) that people you followed influenced what stumbles you got. If I followed you, for example, things you liked would show up in my stumbles.
I think. It's been a while :-\
The unprecedented startling and continuing increase in ocean temperature this year. This is probably the most impactful event of our lifetimes (thus far).
Oh man, the rest of the decade and thereafter is so f'd.