DefinitelyNotAFae's recent activity
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentIt is electric (and thus I believe solar), you're right! I just forgot!It is electric (and thus I believe solar), you're right! I just forgot!
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Comment on The Don Hertzfeldt Collection is now on Dropout in ~tv
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentOh I didn't know that was a separate OS just assumed it was Android's app! Thanks!Oh I didn't know that was a separate OS just assumed it was Android's app! Thanks!
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Comment on The Don Hertzfeldt Collection is now on Dropout in ~tv
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentI don't really have issues with the mobile app, what problems do you have? It's not top tier but it's worked fine for meI don't really have issues with the mobile app, what problems do you have? It's not top tier but it's worked fine for me
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Comment on Moist Towelette Online Museum in ~design
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentIt's always either feminine hygiene or a breath mint/gum. Usually not an issue of confusing the two given any context though.It's always either feminine hygiene or a breath mint/gum. Usually not an issue of confusing the two given any context though.
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Comment on Don't take the black pill (text adaptation) in ~humanities
DefinitelyNotAFae LinkI am hopeful this felt more coherent as a talk than it does in this format, especially if he's having to define these terms here but wouldn't have had to do so in a tech based space? I may try...I am hopeful this felt more coherent as a talk than it does in this format, especially if he's having to define these terms here but wouldn't have had to do so in a tech based space?
I may try again later.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentI understand that perspective and I disagree that we shouldn't make a fuss because it's not that bad. Not only do there appear to be actual actions they're taking that take advantage of this...I understand that perspective and I disagree that we shouldn't make a fuss because it's not that bad. Not only do there appear to be actual actions they're taking that take advantage of this change and/or will be eased by this change, but also people said the exact same thing about trans women in sports in the US. And any number of other things I've been told not to care so much about.
I'm not from Aoteoroa/NZ, though I knew how to spell it without looking it up, so I'm not going to tell them not to care or how to fight their right wing coalition government. So ultimately none of this matters. But my opinion in general is that you don't go without calling out their actions, even ones we think are stupid. The response I've seen from NZ seems to be the best one they could do given their current government.
I'm always going to call out the white supremacists doing a thing, because there's usually a reason they're wanting to do that thing. And by doing so I will avoid falling into the trap outlined by Hemingway
But are there not many fascists in your country?"
"There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find it out when the times comes.”We can't destroy it but we can recognize it and teach others to by calling it out. Even the trolling and the dogwhistles.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae (edited )Link ParentI was not thinking about Anarres but you did make me think of Butler's Xenogenesis series where humanity is saved from the fallout of nuclear war by the Alien Ooankali. Much is made about how...I was not thinking about Anarres but you did make me think of Butler's Xenogenesis series where humanity is saved from the fallout of nuclear war by the Alien Ooankali. Much is made about how hierarchial humanity is compared to the more collaborative Ooankali who have 3 sexes, with the ooloi third sex being where all the DNA mixing and matching occurs in reproduction. And that nature of ours will lead us to destroying ourselves again.
Much is made about whether the Ooankali 's need to swap DNA and create children with both species genes is infringing on the "rights"of the rescued humans (and the species) to remain as we are. To them, they're saving us. To us, they're destroying us. But first we tried to destroy ourselves... So are they right?
There's a lot about colonization and collaboration and it's not a utopia, whether one could exist or not, but that theme of hierarchical humans runs throughout.
So your thought process brought me to a different one. But I'm going to go back to the Dispossessed now
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentI'm assuming a very good set of gears!I'm assuming a very good set of gears!
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Comment on Italy reimposes border controls on Spain after Ceuta migrant surge in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae LinkThe Far Right Is Distorting CeutaThe Far Right Is Distorting Ceuta
These were lies. The Moroccans who swam to Ceuta were never going to make it to Britain, Germany, or anywhere else in Europe. Once again: Access to Ceuta does not give anyone automatic access to the rest of Europe. More to the point, nearly all of those who swam over the border had returned to Morocco by Sunday morning. The Spanish government negotiated their return with the Moroccan government. Moroccan police resumed blocking the border. Spanish police, according to El Pais and the Financial Times, were checking documents in Ceuta to find any Moroccans who illegally remained.
Instead, far-right and MAGA politicians, influencers, and podcasters will immediately use the most divisive language possible in order to make voters as angry as possible, as fast as possible, regardless of what actually happened. Almost everyone else will be intimidated by their fury. As it turns out, it’s harder to stop the wave of anger than it is to stop the migrants themselves.
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Comment on California goat grazing faces crisis after wage change in ~enviro
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentThey're legally required to provide room and board for their employees because they're on those specific visas. It's not a kindness thing. My former job also had to provide me room and board and...They're legally required to provide room and board for their employees because they're on those specific visas. It's not a kindness thing. My former job also had to provide me room and board and not consider it compensation because I was required to live there and respond.
The goat herders were interviewed in said 93 page report.
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Comment on California goat grazing faces crisis after wage change in ~enviro
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentThere is a 93 page report that contains at least some of the answers to the questions you ask. It was interesting to skim through. I found it via Google very easily! And your second question is...There is a 93 page report that contains at least some of the answers to the questions you ask. It was interesting to skim through. I found it via Google very easily!
And your second question is context dependent and nonsensical when comparing modern commercial herding to "centuries" of herding but answered as asked, of course.
The answer would be "of course" to any group of employees over the course of centuries. Because you're not asking if all of them were abused, nor are you delineating the herders who worked for themselves or families vs for private commercial business, or who were immigrants vs in their home country.
But yeah, of course herders have been abused for centuries.
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Comment on California goat grazing faces crisis after wage change in ~enviro
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentAnd the point made by @vord stands. Maybe they don't need 24 hour goatherds, maybe they need a pen with some livestock guard dogs. But if they do need them, they need 3-4 shifts of them, to cover...And the point made by @vord stands.
Maybe they don't need 24 hour goatherds, maybe they need a pen with some livestock guard dogs. But if they do need them, they need 3-4 shifts of them, to cover weekends.
But I could as easily ask why not let them cut their costs in half and not pay their workers as much as they are? Why not let them abuse their employees more?
(Because generally we don't want employers to abuse their employees)
Plus they have literally not tried it. Might as well, since it's the law and see how it goes. They can "claim" what they want, whatever they actually think. Lets see.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentRight up there with I feel you a lot. I want to do more things than I can. That's ok. I'm still just ok to exist. I don't need to find my purpose. That purpose is to be.Right up there with
What's the purpose of a robot, Sibling Dex?" Mosscap tapped its chest; the sound echoed lightly. "What's the purpose of me?"
"You're here to learn about people."
"That's something I'm doing. That's not my reason for being. When I am done with this, I will do other things. I do not have a purpose any more than a mouse or a slug or a thornbush does. Why do you have to have one in order to feel content?
I feel you a lot. I want to do more things than I can. That's ok. I'm still just ok to exist. I don't need to find my purpose. That purpose is to be.
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Comment on No data centers in my backyard in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae (edited )LinkAh yes the daily issues of the common human. Well you could make it green space and give it back to the community. If only everything didn't have to have commercial value. Or let the concrete sit...- Exemplary
or the more workaday concern of your startup running out of cash.
Ah yes the daily issues of the common human.
maybe this is a choice between a hyperscale data center and a concrete slab. And Alyssa, Cathy, and Kaycee would rather pick the slab.
Well you could make it green space and give it back to the community. If only everything didn't have to have commercial value. Or let the concrete sit another 30 years and the plants will do it on their own I suppose.
Foxconn taught many residents to never believe a tech company’s—or their local government’s—sweet-talking ever again.
That's probably right.
But not everyone is losing out from the data center boom. Just ask any of the earthmovers, HVAC engineers, electricians, or crane operators earning six-figure salaries working on data centers.
Which isn't sustainable income for the community. Jobs building the thing aren't jobs that stay in the community, especially if your contractors aren't local.
It’s not as much permanent employment as a factory, but a far cry from the “jobs myth” that opponents assert.
It's not permanent employment at all though. It's "number go up" logic.
Even from her footnotes:
They were all grateful for the work—but nobody knew how long it’d last.
Yeah because it's not any permanent employment.
Most workers in America today, and most who are vulnerable to AI displacement, don’t have organized representation. In an age of accelerating disruptions, it sure would be nice to have a guy like Terry on your side.
Yeah the AI companies really should support unions!
Every day people will be flying in from literally around the world to go to that data center. They will be in our hotels, they will be at our restaurants, they will hopefully fall in love with our community and move here,” Ted proclaimed.
That's... An interesting argument but where's that evidence? Even the reporter didn't claim tourism money just construction money.
“I don’t know that Teddy Roosevelt would have been able to do what he did if he was worried about what was said to him on Facebook,” he said.
Ah, humility
DTE and Consumers Energy have assured us that your rates will not rise,’ which nobody trusts, because they’ve experienced DTE and Consumers raise rates repeatedly,”
From a PR lens this is the strongest case from opponents. Your rates will never fall anyway so the promise that they'll rise is believable and will be fulfilled and thus attested to the next town interested in fighting it. Plus people already hate getting asked to conserve electricity on power grids, doing so while the data center doesn't slow down? The grids failing because the power company didn't invest in infrastructure but still raised your rates? Winning case every time.
Especially when
The 1.4 GW data center is a 25 percent increase on top of DTE’s total demand—likely requiring new generators and gas plants to supply it.
Yeah. Why here? Because you can bully the town? (They did)
the audience booed even louder at the name Elon Musk.
Well he just said we'll get rid of source code and the AI will write directly into binary, and that Grok would make a better Odyssey with more white people, so guess that'll show them.
In San Francisco we see how desperate the industry is for compute—
And how the average person is worried about their startup! I'm sorry that line is just so out of touch.
And they have no data centers in SF apparently. Yeah it feels like they want to outsource their construction/land/noise/etc because they do.
being “pro-growth” in the generic has lost its sheen.
Because number doesn't only go up. When number goes down, these towns lose out, again.
A backroom data center deal, then, is the negation of thymos. It is corrosive not because it is uneconomical or will make residents worse off in every case, but because it suggests that the demos’s buy-in was never important at all.
What is perhaps the most frustrating thing is that this was apparently inconceivable until they went to Wisconsin. Is still inconceivable to the AI companies in SF. How deeply out of touch. Not just from the industry but from the journalists. It's great they did this, this should be the standard though and if we hadn't gutted local journalism out of a similar lack of value for thymos, we might get it more often.
Idk the journalist outside of this so it may just be how she comes off in the article. Maybe she's a vocal critic. Skimming her work she tries for some balance but seems fairly pro-industry
Someone else who shared her work was explaining patiently that there isn't "9/9/6" culture in Wisconsin. No there isn't because that's awful, please get a union! Like for real. That's half your life at work. Like that's literally illegal in better places. You'd make less money in WI but the cheese is better and the cost of living is lower and you won't have to worry about your start up because you can just like, work a job and live your life.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentYou are allowed to just live. You don't need to justify that or earn it.You’re an animal, Sibling Dex. You are not separate or other. You’re an animal. And animals have no purpose. Nothing has a purpose. The world simply is. If you want to do things that are meaningful to others, fine! Good! So do I! But if I wanted to crawl into a cave and watch stalagmites with Frostfrog for the remainder of my days, that would also be both fine and good. You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.
You are allowed to just live. You don't need to justify that or earn it.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentAbsolutely felt this way during my first attempts at being a therapist, and I went to school for it! You make so many missteps when you're learning. I think Dex could have gotten more guidance but...Absolutely felt this way during my first attempts at being a therapist, and I went to school for it! You make so many missteps when you're learning. I think Dex could have gotten more guidance but was being stubborn in choosing not to. Been there too.
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Comment on End of Series - Tildes Book Club discussion - July 2026 - A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers in ~books
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentWhile it's also called a solar punk story, it's also called hopepunk. And the story fills me with hope. I think we need aspirational stories of humanity as much as we need grounded stories of how...While it's also called a solar punk story, it's also called hopepunk. And the story fills me with hope. I think we need aspirational stories of humanity as much as we need grounded stories of how to fight to make things better.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae (edited )Link ParentI am not missing the point. I disagree with you. I am telling you that an "official language" means different things in different countries. It's not "twisting" anything to tell you that you're...I am not missing the point. I disagree with you.
I am telling you that an "official language" means different things in different countries. It's not "twisting" anything to tell you that you're wrong when you state all business must occur in Māori. Wales similarly has de facto English and de jure Welsh recognition and they haven't fallen apart any time recently.
That is just how "official language" - something many countries don't have and some are "officially multilingual" instead of having one or many "official languages" works as a term in various countries in various legal systems. Never mind when "official language" is only a translation.
You are arguing with the professor because you're contradicting his precise point. I don't know why as you've cited no sources, just insisted that your interpretation is correct and that the way other countries use it is "twisting" the term. That's not even an argument.
That's independent of you caring, or not, about what NZ does, a thing irrelevant to the unsourced, inaccurate claims you keep making. If you would like to cite sources that say I'm wrong about my interpretation of NZ law and this process, I'm open to learning. I'm using Wikipedia and while I'm acknowledging that there is certainly more complexity than I can glean just from there, it's pretty clear about official languages varying worldwide.
But this:
Normally I'd say "who cares if the languages have the 'incorrect' status? Just be reasonable." But I mean...it's the government. If they want to make sure the rule of law is upheld, they should be following the law.
Is false. Not only was the government upholding the law from the 80s to the present, but nothing was incorrect previously.
So no, I'm not missing your point, I don't agree with your point, or your premises. I also don't agree with the conclusion that one shouldn't fight the thing the "fascists" do (your word) because you think it's silly. You said similar about other topics and we fundamentally disagree that giving ground is productive.
New Zealand coalition votes to make English an official language as critics decry ‘cynical’ bill | New Zealand politics | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/04/new-zealand-english-official-language-bill
Languages of New Zealand - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_New_Zealand
English Language Bill - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Language_Bill
Official language - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_language
National language - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_language
Languages of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_Kingdom
Languages of Australia - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Australia
Officials warned English-first logo change could harm Crown–Māori ties
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/officials-warned-english-first-logo-change-could-harm-crownmaori-ties/6N2GHTVCLVAHVJ2H24FP4LQTKM/A prior briefing to then-Public Service Minister Judith Collins in early April stated Collins had previously instructed the Public Service Commission to reverse the ordering of te reo Māori and English names in its branding “quickly and at minimal cost”.
The Public Service Commission advised that the changes could be viewed negatively by some, given a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry on the use of te reo in the public sector.
“Given the tribunal’s findings, the proposed changes are likely to be seen as inherently detrimental and a de-prioritisation of the promotion of te reo Māori (as the language in need of revitalisation in order to survive), and as diminishing Crown efforts to meet its duties of active protection and partnership, thus doing material harm to the Crown-Māori relationship,” officials said.
Why does it matter? (Emphasis mine)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nzs-official-languages-what-you-need-to-know/YJDVQ6SKLBDLZCMBITR75V53UY/“It doesn’t make much sense on the face of it that English is so widely used [but isn’t an official language like Māori and NZSL],” says Dr Julia de Bres, a sociolinguist and senior lecturer at Massey University.
“If it was just about tidying the legislation, I wouldn’t have a problem with the proposal,” she says. But in the context of the Government’s promised changes to Te Tiriti o Waitangi relations and co-governance, “I don’t think that’s what it’s about”.
If it isn’t needed for practical reasons, we can infer it’s being done for symbolic or other reasons, she adds.
“Dominant social groups work to maintain their power. And it’s possible some people feel if more Māori is being used, that means English is losing its power. So it’s a move to maintain the linguistic status quo.
“It can be framed as a tidying up exercise, but if English is named as ‘official’, that’ll be used by people to impose English in places where otherwise te reo Māori might have had a chance.”
And a dozen more news articles and links I clicked through.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
DefinitelyNotAFae Link ParentI linked a professor making the point of why te reo and NZSL were made official - to provide protections not otherwise granted in a de facto English system - that English doesn't need because it's...I linked a professor making the point of why te reo and NZSL were made official - to provide protections not otherwise granted in a de facto English system - that English doesn't need because it's the de facto English system.
Official language doesn't mean the same thing in each country and recognizing minority languages to protect them doesn't mean you have to recognize English out of some odd "fairness" or something unless you assume that the languages exist in opposition to each other.
As noted by someone else that they really wanted to control some other aspects of language in the government by requiring it to be in English instead of Māori which again suggests this is not a "neutral" act done to even things up.
Which is why the "who" is doing it and their intentions matter in the first place.
Yes the law says that, and the government and specifically the far right part of the coalition, are already wanting to make additional changes/are making additional changes that this law only facilitates. Which is what I said. I didn't say that this law includes other things.
I've read the law ages ago, I mean, I believe I linked it for you. I also went back and read articles from each of its readings in Parliament and with academics and linked other things for you too.
We had a whole other conversation thread. I don't know why you're explaining things you have to know I'm well aware of. If you want to continue our conversation in the thread where I did a ton of labor, that'd be more productive.
Otherwise, I just disagree with you, firmly and entirely. I'm not misunderstanding you, to the best of my ability to check, and I'm not missing the point you're making; I just do not agree with you, like I firmly and entirely disagreed with you about how banning trans women from sports might end up being "beneficial for trans rights in the long run."
In both cases you're advocating for "strategic reallocation of resources" by not defending something on principle, because you find it disadvantageous politically. I do not and will not agree with that position.