Drewbahr's recent activity

  1. Comment on US President Donald Trump directs Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security to prepare migrant housing at Guantánamo Bay in ~society

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    Given this country's history with race and racism, you may be underestimating just how many "proud Americans" would support genocide. The country is, after all, founded on it, and continues to...

    Given this country's history with race and racism, you may be underestimating just how many "proud Americans" would support genocide. The country is, after all, founded on it, and continues to enact it to this day.

    12 votes
  2. Comment on I was Kamala Harris' videographer. I wish I could show you what I've seen. She empowered and encouraged many, including me. in ~society

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I did read the story. It was moving and wonderful! I've also seen some of Kamala's videos, although being someone who isn't on social media apart from here and Bluesky, who also doesn't have cable...

    I did read the story. It was moving and wonderful! I've also seen some of Kamala's videos, although being someone who isn't on social media apart from here and Bluesky, who also doesn't have cable TV ... I do miss out on a lot of stuff that gets put out into the world.

    And yes, while my initial post was largely in response to the preface - it still stands to wonder why, if there was all of this incredible stuff that we never got - and will never get - to see ... why is that? Because again, the videographer posted that statement - and in so doing, it acknowledges that there was a lot that we did see! They even state as much throughout the article.

    4 votes
  3. Comment on I was Kamala Harris' videographer. I wish I could show you what I've seen. She empowered and encouraged many, including me. in ~society

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I'm not trying to state that anyone "failed" here. We are where we are for a wide, wide variety of reasons, and a videographer is definitely not one of them. However, the article is literally...

    I'm not trying to state that anyone "failed" here. We are where we are for a wide, wide variety of reasons, and a videographer is definitely not one of them.

    However, the article is literally prefaced with

    I Was Kamala Harris’ Videographer. I Wish I Could Show You What I’ve Seen.

    The videographer, it seems to me, is literally the person who gets to decide what they get to show; so when they say "I wish I could show you this", it makes me wonder why they didn't - when it was in their capacity to do so in the first place.

    4 votes
  4. Comment on I was Kamala Harris' videographer. I wish I could show you what I've seen. She empowered and encouraged many, including me. in ~society

    Drewbahr
    Link
    So, why didn't they?

    So, why didn't they?

    3 votes
  5. Comment on Supreme Court seems ready to back Texas law limiting access to pornography (gifted link) in ~tech

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I'm sure you know this, but the current SCOTUS has already been overturning other Supreme Court rulings to fit their own personal agendas - and women and folks requiring OB/GYN care, abortion...

    I'm sure you know this, but the current SCOTUS has already been overturning other Supreme Court rulings to fit their own personal agendas - and women and folks requiring OB/GYN care, abortion access, and the like are dying because of it.

    21 votes
  6. Comment on After almost a century, the bike valve is finally getting an update in ~engineering

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    But it's not a source. That's my issue with it. It's spewing what is hopefully accurate information based on actual sources.

    But it's not a source. That's my issue with it.

    It's spewing what is hopefully accurate information based on actual sources.

    6 votes
  7. Comment on Nintendo Switch release reactions in ~games

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    The Switch can have multiple profiles, but one Switch cannot have more than one island for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. You can have at least four different players on the same island, but...

    The Switch can have multiple profiles, but one Switch cannot have more than one island for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

    You can have at least four different players on the same island, but that's it - it's the same island, the same village, the same villagers, etc.

    12 votes
  8. Comment on It's time to abandon the cargo cult metaphor in ~science

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I'm not ignoring anything, thanks. But I'm bowing out of this conversation.

    I'm not ignoring anything, thanks. But I'm bowing out of this conversation.

    5 votes
  9. Comment on It's time to abandon the cargo cult metaphor in ~science

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    People are capable of addressing multiple issues at once. It's not a zero sum game. I'm not sure that claiming efforts to modify how we think of our fellow people is just "a cool thing to do". I...

    People are capable of addressing multiple issues at once. It's not a zero sum game.

    I'm not sure that claiming efforts to modify how we think of our fellow people is just "a cool thing to do". I feel that stating as much does damage to the efforts to change our society.

    Changing language in coding isn't going to move the needle as much as, say, a world-wide anti-racism protest... But it does have its place in the mix. It is important, in my opinion.

    5 votes
  10. Comment on It's time to abandon the cargo cult metaphor in ~science

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    Changing the ways we talk about people and how we interact with them is part of the real work, though. As I said in response elsewhere, I'm not saying we dispose of all instances of the word...

    Given all the real work that needs to be done, in coding and in improving society, I find crusades like this utterly pointless and a waste of everyone's time.

    Changing the ways we talk about people and how we interact with them is part of the real work, though. As I said in response elsewhere, I'm not saying we dispose of all instances of the word "master" - only that, perhaps, thought ought to be given to how we use language and in what context. The master/slave dichotomy is one obvious example of this.

    To you, a change in nomenclature may mean wasted billable hours with no tangible benefits. To others, it may mean a recognition of their humanity. I don't know your complexion, your history, or where you live, but I'd simply ask that you consider those factors for others.

    I may not be a coder, but I work in an industry that is similarly made up primarily of white men, and one part of changing my workplace to be more inclusive of everyone involves changing the way we talk. I think that's true of most places.

    8 votes
  11. Comment on It's time to abandon the cargo cult metaphor in ~science

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I'm not saying that terminology is the reason that the industry is mostly made up of white (and now Asian) men. I'm saying it is likely a contributing factor, insofar as it is a relic of the...

    The terminology is not why computer science and software engineering is a White, Asian, and male dominated field. You have to remember the original computer programmers were mostly women. Some of the most important programmers at NASA were even black women.

    I'm not saying that terminology is the reason that the industry is mostly made up of white (and now Asian) men. I'm saying it is likely a contributing factor, insofar as it is a relic of the industry being so steeped in white patriarchy.

    I'm not even suggesting that the term "master" needs to be thrown out! Just that in certain contexts it comes with different meanings, with the master/slave dichotomy being the most notable.

    5 votes
  12. Comment on It's time to abandon the cargo cult metaphor in ~science

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I'm not a coder, so take my opinion with the sufficient amount of salt - But perhaps part of the problem is in word choices to begin with. Language use says a lot about the people working within...

    I'm not a coder, so take my opinion with the sufficient amount of salt -

    But perhaps part of the problem is in word choices to begin with. Language use says a lot about the people working within an industry, and language also informs how we think about the world. There's a lot of intersectionality between sexism, racism, classism, and all other sorts of -isms; while you may view sexism as the prevailing MAJOR issue that needs to be addressed, there may be others that disagree - perhaps they think another -ism is more important.

    Or, more importantly (imo), it needs to be recognized that the racist connotation between slave and master isn't separate from the sexism, classism, or other -isms within the industry. They're all important/MAJOR, and they all ought to be addressed.

    A change in terminology hardly seems like the hardest thing in the universe - but again, I'm no coder and I don't know how difficult it would be to change master/slave terminology within one's coding projects. At any rate, while a change in the actual coding may not be simple, a change in how we use the language outside of it certainly seems doable.

    4 votes
  13. Comment on As wildfires rage, private firefighters join the fight for the fortunate few in ~enviro

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    Not just drawing from fiction either. Marcus Crassus employed private firefighters in ancient Rome.

    Not just drawing from fiction either. Marcus Crassus employed private firefighters in ancient Rome.

    11 votes
  14. Comment on Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms in ~tech

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I don't think you "stick it to the man" by being part of the problem.

    I don't think you "stick it to the man" by being part of the problem.

    3 votes
  15. Comment on Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal: See the thousands of apps hijacked to spy on your location in ~tech

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I agree wholeheartedly with Pihole+PiVPN. Setting up a Pihole only requires as much money as you wish to throw at it, along with a certain degree of know-how. I opted to buy an actual Raspberry Pi...

    I agree wholeheartedly with Pihole+PiVPN.

    Setting up a Pihole only requires as much money as you wish to throw at it, along with a certain degree of know-how. I opted to buy an actual Raspberry Pi and set it up on its own hardware, but you can just as easily run an instance of it off of a home PC, old laptop, whatever. It does not demand much in the way of resources.

    I know my way around building a desktop PC well enough, but I'm not terribly tech-savvy beyond that. I know nothing about programming or Linux in general. Even then, I'm able to get around well enough to keep my Pihole maintained, updated, and in working shape.

    https://pi-hole.net/

    https://discourse.pi-hole.net/

    https://www.pivpn.io/

    The Discourse channel is full of very knowledgeable and helpful people; there's also a dedicated subreddit if you run into any issues with Discourse for whatever reason.

    4 votes
  16. Comment on Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms in ~tech

    Drewbahr
    Link
    Some additional context: https://theintercept.com/2025/01/09/facebook-instagram-meta-hate-speech-content-moderation/ Read the article. It's damning.

    Some additional context:

    https://theintercept.com/2025/01/09/facebook-instagram-meta-hate-speech-content-moderation/

    Examples of newly permissible speech on Facebook and Instagram highlighted in the training materials include:

    “Immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit.”

    “Gays are freaks.”

    “Look at that tranny (beneath photo of 17 year old girl).”

    Read the article. It's damning.

    18 votes
  17. Comment on Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms in ~tech

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    More rate-limiting ... Assuming that you truly don't understand the meaning, "virtue signaling" has become a buzzword to the right-wingers in the United States, as a way of downplaying the...

    More rate-limiting ...

    Assuming that you truly don't understand the meaning, "virtue signaling" has become a buzzword to the right-wingers in the United States, as a way of downplaying the intentions behind someone's actions. In this case, Zuckerberg is trying to imply that people aren't quitting Meta's services because of honest-to-goodness belief that Meta is doing wrong - he's claiming that they are doing so as a way of proving to others how good they are, without actual moral or ethical belief behind it.

    https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Virtue%20Signal

    Look to what the right-wing in the USA has done with other words and phrases - "critical theory", "politically correct", "woke", "DEI", the list goes on and on. The actual meaning of the words/phrases gets twisted by the right-wing until it no longer means what it was originally used for. So while the words "virtue signal" may literally mean one thing, the implication of its use by someone like Mark Zuckerberg indicates that their meaning lies elsewhere.

    See also: https://bsky.app/profile/trungles.com/post/3lfdnnajp3c2h
    in the event the link dies, it is a person named Trung Le Nguyen saying:

    The popular usage of the term “virtue signaling” is predicated on the idea that people can’t possibly be sincere about their values, even when they are making actual material sacrifices to align with their values. It’s maddening.

    So yes, Mark Zuckerberg is "wrong". There may be some people that are quitting his services in an effort to "virtue signal" in the fashion he implies, but I think that most people that are quitting are doing so because Facebook is actively harmful in a lot of different ways, and the recent changes to their moderation practices are simply the last straw for a lot of folks.

    This ties into the "written truth" versus "whole truth" view of things that I have, where if you only read the words as-written without having the context of who wrote them, and where and why they were written ... then you end up missing a lot of the important details. It is very easy to write a set of rules to abide by, only to not follow them based on various interpretations and meanings.

    13 votes
  18. Comment on Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms in ~tech

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    I phrased my response of "Why do you feel the need to defend it?" specifically because Adys said "Why do I have to defend this inane crap?" It was a direct reference to the words chosen by the...

    And I suppose my main point is that Adys was not "defending Facebook", they were searching for the truth.

    I phrased my response of "Why do you feel the need to defend it?" specifically because Adys said "Why do I have to defend this inane crap?" It was a direct reference to the words chosen by the person to whom I was responding, using their own language as a sort of rhetorical flourish. Adys themselves stated that they were put into a position where they felt the need to "defend Facebook".

    I won't continue to reiterate on what I feel "truth" means, suffice it to say I do agree that nuance matters - which is why I'm stressing the importance of not just reading the written words, but also understanding who wrote them and why, given the context of everything going on right now.

    My personal view is not that "[Facebook] is bad; you should never say anything good about [Facebook]". Rather, my view is "[Facebook], like most social media, is bad; you should consider why they are making the changes they are making and whether they are intended to actually help people."

    11 votes
  19. Comment on Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms in ~tech

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    Apologies for the late reply ... I've been rate-limited. Calling Hitler a cannibal Satanist is not reality, and it's provably not reality. Calling an interpretation of the change in moderation...

    Apologies for the late reply ... I've been rate-limited.

    Calling Hitler a cannibal Satanist is not reality, and it's provably not reality. Calling an interpretation of the change in moderation rules by a company with a spotty track record towards enforcing them "wrong" seems off-base to me. "The written truth" here is only what is explicitly written into the rules themselves, which explicitly allows people to insult others based on their gender identity and "perceived" mental illness. From https://transparency.meta.com/en-gb/policies/community-standards/hateful-conduct/ (emphasis mine):

    Do not post:
    [...]
    Tier 2

    Content targeting a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) (in written or visual form) with:
    [...]

    • Insults, including those about:
      • Character, including but not limited to allegations of cowardice, dishonesty, basic criminality, and sexual promiscuity or other sexual immorality.
      • Mental characteristics, including but not limited to allegations of stupidity, intellectual capacity, and mental illness, and unsupported comparisons between PC groups on the basis of inherent intellectual capacity. We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like “weird.”

    This, combined with Zuckerberg's right-wing tilting and claiming that people leaving his platforms are only "virtue signaling", suggests to me that these rule changes do not have anyone's best interests in mind - and an interpretation of such, while valid, is misguided in my opinion.

    There is "the written truth", and there is "the (whole) truth". "The truth" does matter, and it must in many cases be allowed to extend beyond just the written word. It has to consider who's saying it, what their motivations are, and other factors. Just reiterating the rules doesn't tell the full extent of the truth of the matter; what is and is not possible matters, who is making the changes matters, who is affected by the rules changes matters.

    One similar example I've seen was someone on Bluesky explaining how the recent rule changes could be of benefit to sex workers. Which is probably true! However, that's probably not the intended consequence of the rule changes, and should Facebook/Threads/Instagram start looking more and more pro-sex worker ... do you think that'll last? Or do you think the rules will be further adjusted to eliminate their presences?

    11 votes
  20. Comment on Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms in ~tech

    Drewbahr
    Link Parent
    Apologies for the late reply ... I got rate-limited. I agree, but Facebook is not a news institution (although that is debatable, as they could be considered a publisher ... but that's a whole can...

    Apologies for the late reply ... I got rate-limited.

    quality, unbiased news institutions matter, and we're losing them everywhere left and right [edit: pun not intended].

    I agree, but Facebook is not a news institution (although that is debatable, as they could be considered a publisher ... but that's a whole can of worms).

    An the people willingly or unwillingly falling for the clickbait and feeding the rage-inductive algorithms are part of the problem.

    The people you're arguing with - myself included - aren't falling for clickbait though. We've read the changes and are positing interpretations of the consequences of those changes. Even the original journalist has posited what they feel the changes may mean.

    Please understand, falling for clickbait is definitely a problem, but there needs to be an understanding that "an interpretation of what changes to moderation policies means" is not the same as "clickbait". The title of the article is "Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms", with the subheadline "Meta’s rewritten policies mean different things may be allowed to pass on Facebook, Instagram and Threads". None of that is clickbait.

    We need to be careful when we start claiming that interpretation of anything is "clickbait", or "biased" as though a bias is inherently a negative thing. I'll let you know that my view is that there is no unbiased journalism, and there never has been. Everyone - every person, every journalist, every editor, every publisher - has biases at work in everything they do; it's impossible not to! Those biases find their way, one way or another, into everything we do. Often, when we ask for something to be "unbiased", what we're really asking for (in my opinion) is that something be unoffensive, "diplomatic", and "fair to both sides".

    But sometimes, there are no "both sides". When the written policy of Facebook states, per the article:

    • A specific injunction against calling transgender or non-binary people “it” has been deleted. A new section has been added making clear that “we do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation”. It said this was a reflection of “political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird’”. It also says the policies are designed to allow room for types of speech including people calling “for exclusion or [using] insulting language in the context of discussing political or religious topics, such as when discussing transgender rights, immigration or homosexuality”.

    ... it's hard not to see that as Facebook explicitly allowing (and by extension, encouraging) mis-gendering people.

    In addition, we now have Mark Zuckerberg saying, on Threads, that people leaving his platforms over the rule change are "virtue signaling".

    So yes, policies may be written to be "unbiased" - but look at the people drafting them. They are not unbiased.

    9 votes