CptBluebear's recent activity

  1. Comment on Canada agrees to cut tariff on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products in ~transport

  2. Comment on Twenty-five years of Wikipedia - an interactive retrospective ~fifteen minute read in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    How that became the default answer for teachers worldwide remains a mystery. I received the same dreck as a response to Wikipedia. It just made me go to the links in the footnotes instead and...

    How that became the default answer for teachers worldwide remains a mystery. I received the same dreck as a response to Wikipedia. It just made me go to the links in the footnotes instead and copy source from there.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on US to stop processing visa applications from seventy-five nations in ~society

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Bosnia and Albania are Muslim countries, and Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, are too Russia aligned.

    Bosnia and Albania are Muslim countries, and Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, are too Russia aligned.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Is it possible to live without WhatsApp? in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Understandable, I'd love to ditch the last meta bastion on my phone. It doesn't help WhatsApp became ubiquitous before Meta attached their toxic name to it. The fact Telegram and Signal exist in...

    Understandable, I'd love to ditch the last meta bastion on my phone. It doesn't help WhatsApp became ubiquitous before Meta attached their toxic name to it. The fact Telegram and Signal exist in the Netherlands at all is because Meta bought WhatsApp.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime

    CptBluebear
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Generally not what shonen anime are known for of course, but supposedly the current airing season is the one where they delve deeper into their personalities and coming to grips with the...

    Generally not what shonen anime are known for of course, but supposedly the current airing season is the one where they delve deeper into their personalities and coming to grips with the difficulties of where the world is going. Probably still shallower than you'd like but hey, it's something. Nowadays they're at least lampshading more depth to characters than wanting to be nothing more than "the next hokage" as the pinnacle of ambition and personality.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on Is it possible to live without WhatsApp? in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    To the point governmental bodies use it. It's probably a bit hard to fathom if you haven't experienced it, but WhatsApp is genuinely the default messaging platform. My local municipality, friends,...

    that whatsapp has managed to become the standard messaging app elsewhere.

    To the point governmental bodies use it. It's probably a bit hard to fathom if you haven't experienced it, but WhatsApp is genuinely the default messaging platform. My local municipality, friends, family, employers, everyone.

    It's not just "largest market share" big, it's "so big other players might as well not exist" big.

    8 votes

  7. Comment on Is it possible to live without WhatsApp? in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    For the drug dealers? They're on WhatsApp where I'm at. I can message them right now on WhatsApp and have someone on my doorstep in an hour. If anything it at least sorta proves my government...

    I should probably get Signal then :-)

    For the drug dealers? They're on WhatsApp where I'm at. I can message them right now on WhatsApp and have someone on my doorstep in an hour. If anything it at least sorta proves my government isn't reading along without a warrant.

    For the IT nerds? They probably have both. I have a couple of friends that migrated to Signal and still can't fully leave WhatsApp because the friend group generally meets through WhatsApp anyway.

    4 votes

  8. Comment on Why the renovation of US Federal Reserve headquarters costs $2.5 billion in ~finance

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Her voice is very calming. There's some real teeth to this conspiracy lmao She's in deep. As with all conspiracies, I'll see it when I see it, but it's interesting nonetheless. People have a...

    1. Her voice is very calming.

    2. There's some real teeth to this conspiracy lmao

    3. She's in deep.

    As with all conspiracies, I'll see it when I see it, but it's interesting nonetheless. People have a tendency to yap about these things. Even so, I'll be reading that substack just to amuse myself with the what-if.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Is it possible to live without WhatsApp? in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    They all are. They're sites or programs used to socialize. They have a more anonymous slant, but they're still media we use to socialize.

    They all are. They're sites or programs used to socialize. They have a more anonymous slant, but they're still media we use to socialize.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on Is there a way to donate or give unused ADHD medication to people in need? in ~health.mental

    CptBluebear
    (edited )
    Link
    I have given singular pills or occasionally strips to friends when they forgot theirs, but I know they have the same prescription. Otherwise it's legal hot water. Not that I care too much about...

    I have given singular pills or occasionally strips to friends when they forgot theirs, but I know they have the same prescription. Otherwise it's legal hot water. Not that I care too much about the legality other than it's something to make sure doesn't bite you.

    You'd be better served to stash it for a later date and/or give it to a friend in need and/or return it to the pharmacy. What I wouldn't do is sell it, under any circumstance.

    Edit: Clarification.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Why the renovation of US Federal Reserve headquarters costs $2.5 billion in ~finance

  12. Comment on Iran’s supreme leader signals harsher crackdown as protest movement swells in ~society

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Significantly too. The crackdown they announced seems to have been a shoot to kill crackdown. It's likely very rough out there and will be for a while. Besides the physical danger they're in,...

    Significantly too. The crackdown they announced seems to have been a shoot to kill crackdown. It's likely very rough out there and will be for a while. Besides the physical danger they're in, they're also still very much out of water.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on ‘Sell America’ returns to Wall Street after Donald Trump ups the ante against Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve in ~society

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    High inflation tends to inflate the market too. Venezuela in 2016 had one of the largest market growths worldwide... Because their currency cratered in value. Notably, that was also shortly after...

    High inflation tends to inflate the market too. Venezuela in 2016 had one of the largest market growths worldwide... Because their currency cratered in value. Notably, that was also shortly after Maduro stripped their federal bank of their independence.

    3 votes

  14. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Thanks for the ping! I hope Spiritfall is enjoyable enough to warrant some more practice, though don't feel the need to keep going on my account haha. It certainly looked interesting.

    Thanks for the ping! I hope Spiritfall is enjoyable enough to warrant some more practice, though don't feel the need to keep going on my account haha. It certainly looked interesting.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on US households using Ozempic spend less on groceries in ~health

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Unfortunate you would feel the need to preempt and assert a position for me. I would prefer you didn't. You'll find me far more reasonable if you had just asked. It's clear this topic puts you on...

    Unfortunate you would feel the need to preempt and assert a position for me. I would prefer you didn't. You'll find me far more reasonable if you had just asked.

    It's clear this topic puts you on defense and, as we would say in the Netherlands, I can't sail this land with you. So I'll drop it and refrain from broaching this topic with you.

    20 votes

  16. Comment on US households using Ozempic spend less on groceries in ~health

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Not my intention to speak about you directly, and it slightly irks me you thought I did. Even so, I apologise for making you feel targeted. Fact of the matter is that this drug saves lives and...

    Not my intention to speak about you directly, and it slightly irks me you thought I did. Even so, I apologise for making you feel targeted.

    Fact of the matter is that this drug saves lives and reduces the risk of obesity related diseases such as, but certainly not limited to, a significantly elevated risk of heart failure at 40 and up.

    There is clearly more nuance behind the statement of my previous post and I thought the short post sufficed but your personal judgement clouded the intent. That is not a slight, but on me for not realising I could unintentionally elicit such response by being needlessly taciturn.

    21 votes

  17. Comment on US households using Ozempic spend less on groceries in ~health

    CptBluebear
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I can imagine it sucks, it blunts part of what humans can feel. Though for most that's likely better than dying at 40 due to heart disease.

    I can imagine it sucks, it blunts part of what humans can feel.
    Though for most that's likely better than dying at 40 due to heart disease.

    18 votes

  18. Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    I wondered the same thing. So far, Carol has been a bit dumb in general, which I think is fine as we're rife with Sherlocks in every other series, but that one puzzles me too. Perhaps she doesn't...

    I wondered the same thing.

    So far, Carol has been a bit dumb in general, which I think is fine as we're rife with Sherlocks in every other series, but that one puzzles me too. Perhaps she doesn't want to risk them? Yet. I don't know, we'll see in season 2.

    4 votes

  19. Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv

    CptBluebear
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Emotion is a lot more nebulous when shared with 7 billion people. It almost can't be very explicit because that would affect the hivemind. If a single individual got scared, it would infect the...

    Emotion is a lot more nebulous when shared with 7 billion people. It almost can't be very explicit because that would affect the hivemind.
    If a single individual got scared, it would infect the entire hivemind and interfere with their ability to function.

    It has seemingly discarded most feelings, anger, hatred, envy, arousal, angst, disgust. And blunted the rest like happiness, excitement, and love. The only strong feeling they seem to have is the biological imperative to "procreate".

    What seems to happen when they're disrupted(?), the negativity experienced overwhelms their collective capacity to feel anything stronger than a light smile.

    It's still unclear what they're actually capable of though.

    5 votes

  20. Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    It seems like they've become incapable of understanding emotion when it's displayed in front of them. I'm sure they can apply the theoretical when any of the humans explicitly mentions their...

    It seems like they've become incapable of understanding emotion when it's displayed in front of them. I'm sure they can apply the theoretical when any of the humans explicitly mentions their emotion, but they've lost the ability to read it at an individual level. It's not even that they don't address her grief, they flat out disrespect it by using Helen's memories before being told to stop. They're very self serving.

    So much so that they also display they are indeed capable of using feelings in the episode named "Charm Offensive" to get what they want. This indicates, to me, they do possess skills to manipulate emotions even if they find it difficult to read in the moment. They do not understand why Carol ends up leaving the situation.
    On the other hand, they explicitly can no longer create. There is zero individualism, which probably means there's zero skill left required to read an individual.

    I find it fun to pontificate because truthfully, I agree with you. It needs an explicit suspension of disbelief in certain areas to make the show even work. The Others would be too effective otherwise because they should be able to do everything any human ever could.

    2 votes