Fiachra's recent activity
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Comment on Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after ‘brief and sudden illness’ in ~society
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Comment on US Federal Communications Commission approves test of space mirror to light night sky despite outcry in ~space
Fiachra LinkIt's kind of amazing when they greenlight stuff like this despite the fact that it's kind of obvious it won't work as described. Like, as much as it feels like you should be able to pull some...It's kind of amazing when they greenlight stuff like this despite the fact that it's kind of obvious it won't work as described. Like, as much as it feels like you should be able to pull some magic with angles and placement, you're simply limited by how much light shines on the mirror. To illuminate city streets or power solar panels you would need a completely impossible number of satellites. Maybe you could illuminate some rescue efforts but... torches and spotlights are a superior solution. I assume they're just pulling a kickstarter-style scam on their investors.
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Comment on Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after ‘brief and sudden illness’ in ~society
Fiachra LinkSomewhere out there is a democrat voter with a magic lamp who's saving their last wish for trump.Somewhere out there is a democrat voter with a magic lamp who's saving their last wish for trump.
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Comment on US Federal Communications Commission approves test of space mirror to light night sky despite outcry in ~space
Fiachra Link ParentThey haven't read them. Most of them probably haven't seen the movies in years, with the exception of short form video edits.They haven't read them. Most of them probably haven't seen the movies in years, with the exception of short form video edits.
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Comment on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson finally explains his decision to bid $3.2B for parking meters before walking away in ~transport
Fiachra LinkThe last decade of worldwide political shenanigans have made me much less tolerant of the old "oh shucks, guess there's nothing we can do" attitude. People elect mayors to run their city. If...The last decade of worldwide political shenanigans have made me much less tolerant of the old "oh shucks, guess there's nothing we can do" attitude. People elect mayors to run their city. If parking meters or anything else are run badly they leverage their vote to pressure leaders to do better. Now one guy signs it away and it's tough shit to the public for 75 years? Unacceptable.
Frankly I would like to see them at a high level just not allow cities to sell off public infrastructure. Any existing deals voided. This corp has already made more than their money back so I'm sure they'll take it well /s.
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Comment on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson finally explains his decision to bid $3.2B for parking meters before walking away in ~transport
Fiachra Link ParentYet another illustrious win for privatisation.Yet another illustrious win for privatisation.
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Comment on The end of reading is here in ~books
Fiachra Link ParentI've recently arrived at the conclusion that a huge number of people are literal screen addicts and will desperately rationalise the state of affairs in any way they can. Not necessarily any...I've recently arrived at the conclusion that a huge number of people are literal screen addicts and will desperately rationalise the state of affairs in any way they can. Not necessarily any different than an alcoholic or a cocaine user insisting they actually function better with the right amount of buzz.
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Comment on Sports entertainment makes me angry in ~talk
Fiachra Link ParentI did actually find your post insulting in places: Implying parody is easy and appeals to people who think (usually wrongly) that they're clever. Implying this post didn't require much thought and...I did actually find your post insulting in places:
Parodies are commonly shared on social media because it's easy and people think it's clever. Sometimes it actually is clever!
Implying parody is easy and appeals to people who think (usually wrongly) that they're clever.
With a bit more thought, it might be possible to figure out something meaningful to say
Implying this post didn't require much thought and didn't say anything meaningful, which I found quite audacious when you were replying to (but ignoring) my explanation of why it was effective parody.
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Comment on Sports entertainment makes me angry in ~talk
Fiachra Link ParentActually, no. The thrust of the parody is that, for the initial second that you believe it's genuine, you experience the knee jerk feeling of "eye roll someone is angry that sports exist" before...And that couldn’t have been done in the comments?
Actually, no. The thrust of the parody is that, for the initial second that you believe it's genuine, you experience the knee jerk feeling of "eye roll someone is angry that sports exist" before you realise that it's related to the other post and that it therefore might have a similar level of merit. If it was posted in the thread your guard would be up, so it wouldn't illicit a genuine reaction and wouldn't have made its point.
which explicitly calls out the OP?
Unless the post has been edited since posting it doesn't appear to explicitly mention OP at all.
This is basic bullying
I genuinely don't see how you came to this conclusion. It responds (validly) to the argument of the original post, doesn't mention the original poster at all, doesn't link to the original post, doesn't personally insult the OP, in fact the only people it personally insults are athletes and only in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
I personally found the original post far meaner because it does earnestly engage in personal attacks: calling anyone creating modern art a scammer and (implicitly) anyone enjoying modern art as a scammee. That means it most definitely did directly personally insult Tildes users who read it.
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Comment on Sports entertainment makes me angry in ~talk
Fiachra Link ParentLike how this post implied some sports are better than others? Face it,you are the second parody.Like how this post implied some sports are better than others?
Or swimming. Come on. That's just plain lazy and disrespectful to even call this a sport and put it on the same level as soccer or tennis
Face it,you are the second parody.
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Comment on Sports entertainment makes me angry in ~talk
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Comment on Sports entertainment makes me angry in ~talk
Fiachra Link ParentHilariously you're engaging in similar logic as both posts. You fail to see the subjective value in parody and so you react with annoyance to what you see as simple low-brow meanness, when in fact...Hilariously you're engaging in similar logic as both posts. You fail to see the subjective value in parody and so you react with annoyance to what you see as simple low-brow meanness, when in fact there's far more there if you're willing to engage with it.
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Comment on Sports entertainment makes me angry in ~talk
Fiachra Link ParentI'm reminded of the Onion's description of parody in their famous amicus brief I think the post is an effective use of parody to demonstrate the point. By posting it in a way that the reader...I'm reminded of the Onion's description of parody in their famous amicus brief
tricking readers into believing that they’re seeing a serious rendering of some specific form [...] and then allowing them to laugh at their own gullibility
I think the post is an effective use of parody to demonstrate the point. By posting it in a way that the reader initially takes it as genuine, it lets us fully feel the absurdity of getting angry at a thing just because you don't see why other people like it.
That's right, I just cited the US supreme court's website in an argument about whether reductio ad absurdum counts as online bullying
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Comment on Sports entertainment makes me angry in ~talk
Fiachra LinkYou've summed up the spirit of the comment I typed out on the last thread and then decided not to post.You've summed up the spirit of the comment I typed out on the last thread and then decided not to post.
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Comment on Give me your culture clash stories in ~travel
Fiachra Link ParentI was at an actual drive-thru-only cocktail bar. The legal loophole is that they give you your drinks in sealed plastic bags.I was at an actual drive-thru-only cocktail bar. The legal loophole is that they give you your drinks in sealed plastic bags.
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Comment on Give me your culture clash stories in ~travel
Fiachra LinkI once tried to walk 100 metres to the nearest shop... while staying in Texas.I once tried to walk 100 metres to the nearest shop... while staying in Texas.
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Comment on Fines doubled as teens outsmart Australia's world-first social media ban in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentSocial media has been a topic of discussion for years because of issues around addiction, misinformation and polarisation. It seems to have hit a breaking point when the widespread complaints...Social media has been a topic of discussion for years because of issues around addiction, misinformation and polarisation. It seems to have hit a breaking point when the widespread complaints about alarming cognitive delays in young schoolchildren hit the mainstream. Whether rightly or wrongly, this is being blamed on social media.
Personally I think this approach will obviously fail and is obviously just the least impactful thing a government could do while appearing to be doing something. And a privacy nightmare as well.
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Comment on Cambria, California banned fireworks. Then came the dogs. in ~society
Fiachra LinkSuch a huge opportunity for a business offering a dog hotel/human hotel package deal, perhaps one where you can recline on a balcony sipping a cocktail while your pet enjoys a park below.Such a huge opportunity for a business offering a dog hotel/human hotel package deal, perhaps one where you can recline on a balcony sipping a cocktail while your pet enjoys a park below.
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
Fiachra (edited )LinkI made a water flask out of a coconut shell, a simple idea with a surprisingly long history for me. I originally came up with the idea, ("bottle gourd but use a coconut instead") in late...I made a water flask out of a coconut shell, a simple idea with a surprisingly long history for me.
I originally came up with the idea, ("bottle gourd but use a coconut instead") in late 2013/early 2014, and came back to it every few years to attempt it again and fail. The problem is I wanted to use a single unbroken coconut shell, which means somehow getting all the flesh out of the interior through the single tiny eye hole. Naturally, any tool small enough to fit through the hole and then reach every inside surface is too puny to shift the tough coconut meat, so I looked for ways to soften, liquify, or crumble the flesh instead. I've tried letting it dry out, I've tried gentle heat, I've tried not-so-gentle heat, I've tried household acids and household bases, I once tried leaving it outside for flies to eat (aborted immediately due to smell), I of course stuck some pebbles in there and gave it a good shake. My research into the parts of the world where coconuts grow didn't turn up any evidence of intact coconuts being used traditionally to store liquid - everyone seemed to cut it in half to remove the meat and sometimes would reattach them, now no longer waterproof.
A week ago, having long exhausted what I can get from search engines, I decided to try asking an AI. It said many world cultures make drinking vessels like this and they accomplish it by repeatedly freezing and thawing until the meat detatches from the shell. I replied asking which cultures, which caused the AI to confess it had "overstated" the case and had no concrete examples whatsoever, except for one which I'll explain later. But I didn't recall ever giving freezing a go so I grabbed the first/only coconut I saw in the supermarket, and stumbled into the solution. This entire time I had been buying the ripe, brown, de-husked coconuts with the hairy shells open to the air. What I actually needed was to go earlier in the life cycle, the fresh green coconuts they sell for the coconut water. The kind that come with a straw and far too much packaging. For the first time I was working with a coconut with only a thin layer of soft flesh that could be scraped off with a puny little steel wire tool. I did a few freeze/thaw cycles, some scraping, finished off with some pebbles&shake and after 12 years(!) of intermittent trying I had a clean, meatless shell to use.
I waterproofed the whole thing with molten beeswax inside and out, which was easy because coconut shell absorbs oils and waxes like a sponge. Finally added a rubber cork and some rope netting for grip and voilá! It holds water perfectly, the only 'taste' it imparts is the beeswax which is mild, and most importantly the vibes are immaculate. The shell is still a shade of beige patchily turning brown with time, I assume that'll continue until it's a typical coconut colour.
PS: the one historical example the AI could find was called a "bugbear flask", european sailors in the pacific in the 17/1800s would take green coconuts on voyages for entertainment, to carve into these decorative gunpowder flasks while they were at sea (and they definitely weren't freezing them to get the flesh out). I'm yet to find anyone in history who used whole coconuts as a flask to carry water.
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Comment on ‘Supergirl’ fall to earth with $68m worldwide opening in ~movies
Fiachra Link ParentI'm pretty ignorant of the kind of storylines superman tends to be put in but there are many genres in fiction where characters are at no risk of physical harm but still manage to have stakes:...I'm pretty ignorant of the kind of storylines superman tends to be put in but there are many genres in fiction where characters are at no risk of physical harm but still manage to have stakes: relationship stakes, moral stakes, reputational, etc. . Obviously the superhero genre creates an expectation that it'll come down to two people punching each other, but for example if an all-powerful superhero is presented with a moral dilemma then you get an interesting conflict: what is the right thing to do in this situation? Or if you can act, do you have a right to?
Mob psycho is an example I'm familiar with, it's about an invincibly powerful psychic who has realised that just being powerful doesn't make you happy, so he spends his time going to after school clubs, awkwardly meeting kids his age and struggling through sports he's not good at to become a well-rounded person. Periodically he encounters psychics who haven't made that effort and they're always miserable anti-social weirdos.
The book Catch-22 does something similar in both directions. There's The Dead Man in Yossarian's Tent who is actually killed in war but considered alive on paper due to an admin error, so one bed and locker must be kept vacant for him. Then later there's a soldier who is declared KIA despite being alive, who winds up living on the outskirts of the base like a wild animal because the quartermaster won't issue him rations, and when he succeeds in contacting his wife everyone assures her he's an opportunistic impersonator. Very funny book.