Fiachra's recent activity
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Comment on Confused, uncool, and nowhere to scroll: The internet has become hostile for millennials like me in ~tech
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Comment on IRC for tildes? in ~tildes
Fiachra Link ParentThe final stage of a subreddit's life cycle is always the hate sub. Some take longer than others, but eventually, they all get there.The final stage of a subreddit's life cycle is always the hate sub. Some take longer than others, but eventually, they all get there.
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Comment on Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland filed for bankruptcy in wake of hundreds of sex abuse lawsuits in ~humanities
Fiachra Link ParentThe Vatican still owns plenty of assets that could be used to pay restitution to victims. Hard to see why the consequences shouldn't fall higher up the chain when they have both the means and the...The Vatican still owns plenty of assets that could be used to pay restitution to victims. Hard to see why the consequences shouldn't fall higher up the chain when they have both the means and the responsibility for what happened.
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Comment on What was Twitter, anyway? in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentThe difference between a Usenet and a Twitter as I see it, is that we now have an attention economy, which creates a financial incentive for platforms to be able to demonstrate as much activity on...The difference between a Usenet and a Twitter as I see it, is that we now have an attention economy, which creates a financial incentive for platforms to be able to demonstrate as much activity on their site as possible. So they serve recommended tweets chosen to get as much attention as possible from you, and whether that involves juicy gossip or blinding indignant rage, the algorithm doesn't know or care. Simply put, conflict is a good way to get their metrics up, so it happens more. Suppressing certain bad behaviours, like brigading via quote tweets, is not good for business, so it doesn't happen. Network effects will amplify gossip no matter where you are, but an algorithm full of recommended content is another beast entirely, one that can serve you infuriating takes that aren't even getting attention yet, simply because they're similar to previous tweets that caused three days of bitter arguing.
To use your analogy, in a normal city a small percentage of people react to incentives in their environment and are driven to pickpocket. The city takes action to prevent and discourage this, but no solution is perfect and so some pickpocketing happens. Can't fault them for that, they're putting in as much effort as as could be expected.
If instead of that the mayor profits from a high pickpocketing rate (he owns a private prison nearby), doesn't suppress it and in fact has had policy in place for years that every worker gets paid in cash each week, making them easy targets, then I would say the pickpocketing rate is artificially heightened - the environment that people adapt their behaviour to has been shaped by someone who profits from pickpocketing. That means preventable pickpocketing is happening, and people are driven to pickpocketing who wouldn't have even tried under a more reasonable set of policies.
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Comment on What was Twitter, anyway? in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentI see this sentiment a lot and really feel like I need to push back against it when I can. Social media is engineered to alter how you act to get as much engagement out of you as possible, and...a bit terrified that with much of today’s social media, we just look into a social mirror and that’s just the true nature of people
I see this sentiment a lot and really feel like I need to push back against it when I can. Social media is engineered to alter how you act to get as much engagement out of you as possible, and conflict is the most reliable way to engage people. It amplifies juicy rumours, it amplifies the worst opinions that are easiest to get mad at. YouTube amplifies conspiracy theories because it's built to maximise viewing metrics and nobody watches more YouTube than someone who's into five different conspiracy theories.
I would compare people's behaviour on social media to behaviour on alcohol or drugs. Some get more combative than normal, some are just goofy and less inhibited, and a small percentage of people are either predisposed to severe addiction or just vulnerable due to circumstances and frequently show very antisocial behaviour.
Honestly I think if a not-for-profit platform like Mastodon had the tech to scale to the size of Twitter, you wouldn't see anywhere near the same level of antisocial behaviour.
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Comment on What was Twitter, anyway? in ~tech
Fiachra LinkLast year I read a fantastic book called Digital Minimalism, which spelled out a lot of the ill effects social media has on us and advises how to cut your personal usage down to healthy but...Last year I read a fantastic book called Digital Minimalism, which spelled out a lot of the ill effects social media has on us and advises how to cut your personal usage down to healthy but non-luddite levels. I never liked Twitter to begin with but the book brought me to the conclusion that Twitter needed to die for the good of society. Musk bought it like two months later, which gave me a lot of hope I would get my wish. So far I think it's going nicely.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Fiachra LinkI just installed Fear and Hunger after watching this very entertaining description of it by Super Eyepatch Wolf on YouTube. The video contains spoilers, but basically it really sells the game as a...I just installed Fear and Hunger after watching this very entertaining description of it by Super Eyepatch Wolf on YouTube. The video contains spoilers, but basically it really sells the game as a very punishing survival horror roguelike game that forces you to recontextualise how you approach its game mechanics several times over the course of the story.
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Comment on Bluesky is Jack Dorsey’s attempt at a Twitter redo and it’s already growing fast in ~tech
Fiachra Link ParentHonestly I think people are just jumping at the chance to hasten Twitter's decline.Honestly I think people are just jumping at the chance to hasten Twitter's decline.
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Comment on Belgian authorities destroyed 2,352 cans of American beer advertised as 'The Champagne of Beers' because it is not, in fact, Champagne in ~food
Fiachra Link ParentIt's clear to a fluent English speaker that it's an analogy. A strict regulator importing a product into the EU common market might be concerned about people buying it based on the one or two...It's clear to a fluent English speaker that it's an analogy. A strict regulator importing a product into the EU common market might be concerned about people buying it based on the one or two keywords they understand.
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Comment on The Witch Trials of JK Rowling in ~lgbt
Fiachra Link ParentApparently it all started when one particular episode of the IT Crowd saw online backlash. Then he doubled down, tripled down, moralised his position, refused to ever let it go and just dug his...Apparently it all started when one particular episode of the IT Crowd saw online backlash. Then he doubled down, tripled down, moralised his position, refused to ever let it go and just dug his way to absolute bedrock.
Honestly for me his story really drove home the importance of reassessing yourself during a conflict. A new perspective could have done him a lot of good but instead he spent hours per day on Twitter, must have been in a constant state of defensiveness for years.
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Comment on Super-rich abandoning Norway at record rate as wealth tax rises slightly – flood moving abroad has come as a shock and is costing tens of millions in lost tax receipts in ~finance
Fiachra Link ParentHarmonise tax rates in large political blocs that the rich can't feasibly avoid. If the big economic powers can cooperate on that one point, they all see their tax revenue go up. A race to the...Harmonise tax rates in large political blocs that the rich can't feasibly avoid. If the big economic powers can cooperate on that one point, they all see their tax revenue go up. A race to the bottom competing for rich person tax money isn't going to be good for anyone long term.
Seems like one of those things that will have to happen eventually and the longer we wait the harder it'll be: look at the leverage they exercise now because of the wealth they've accumulated, and as do they can push their own taxes downward, accumulating even more wealth.
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Comment on Shaka, When the Walls Fell - ChatGPT tries to speak a contextual minimalist conlang in ~humanities
Fiachra LinkIn this video I analyze ChatGPT's attempts at speaking Toki Pona, the constructed language with the famously minimalist 130 word vocabulary. Does the highly contextual nature of Toki Pona...In this video I analyze ChatGPT's attempts at speaking Toki Pona, the constructed language with the famously minimalist 130 word vocabulary. Does the highly contextual nature of Toki Pona completely confound the algorithm? Or does the vague nature of the words allow it to stumble onto sensible statements more often than not?
Since I'm not one for cliffhangers: it does alright with basic sentences and responds appropriately to basic questions, but as soon it has to stray outside the basics or communicate a sentence that doesn't map neatly onto English syntax, it descends into utter gibberish.
For anyone interested in Toki Pona, some of the examples in this video might be good illustrations of how the language works in practice.
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Shaka, When the Walls Fell - ChatGPT tries to speak a contextual minimalist conlang
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Comment on Making iron bacteria cement (water insoluble, no firing required) in ~hobbies
Fiachra Link ParentHis closed captions are just descriptions of what he's doing and why.His closed captions are just descriptions of what he's doing and why.
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
Fiachra (edited )LinkThis year I've revived my YouTube channel from a few years ago centred on the constructed language Toki Pona, that minimalist language with only 130 words. Basically, every Friday I upload a...This year I've revived my YouTube channel from a few years ago centred on the constructed language Toki Pona, that minimalist language with only 130 words. Basically, every Friday I upload a translation of three news stories, narrated by me. It's intended as listening comprehension practice.
But now I've found that the online community has written a few hundred books in toki pona, between translations of existing literature and original works, so soon I'll be pivoting to narrating an excerpt of a book every week instead.
Besides the weekly video, I sometimes upload more free form ones. This week I released a description of my 'toki pona library' project archiving every book I can find in a database (I'm sure some linguist will thank me for it one day), and next week it'll be a video exploring if ChatGPT can speak Toki Pona (the answer is not really, but it does its best to bluff).
It's currently standing at 925 subscribers, so maybe I can finally reach 1,000 in the next few months.
EDIT: Forgot to drop a link!
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Comment on The Flash | Official trailer in ~movies
Fiachra LinkMaking a movie about a multiverse is ironically a lot like time travel. It might work out okay, but every time you do it you risk creating the biggest shitshow you've ever seen in your life....Making a movie about a multiverse is ironically a lot like time travel. It might work out okay, but every time you do it you risk creating the biggest shitshow you've ever seen in your life.
Spiderman? Fine
Everything Everywhere all at Once? Fine
Doctor Strange? Omega-level shitshow
Leaning hard into 1992 Michael Keaton Batman nostalgia is not a fantastic sign.
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Comment on Church of England considers gender neutral pronouns for God in ~humanities
Fiachra Link ParentYeah I can't see them debating this with a theologian, in the way they have debated musicologists in the past over whether rap is real music. They'll probably disregard the theological point...Yeah I can't see them debating this with a theologian, in the way they have debated musicologists in the past over whether rap is real music.
They'll probably disregard the theological point entirely and spin this as 'woke branding' being forced onto religion through an imaginary online pressure campaign. My prediction is that the 'church of England' detail will be forgotten quickly and americans will be all over twitter convinced that Biden (or whoever) is mandating that all churches teach that god uses they/them pronouns.
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Comment on Church of England considers gender neutral pronouns for God in ~humanities
Fiachra Link ParentI'm constantly struck by foolish optimism, so personally I think the moral panic headlines are so incredibly repetitive that people will just lose interest eventually, except for a (relatively)...I'm constantly struck by foolish optimism, so personally I think the moral panic headlines are so incredibly repetitive that people will just lose interest eventually, except for a (relatively) small group of ultra-intense adherents who'll coalesce into a terrorist group and live in the woods under covert surveillance for the rest of their lives.
Like how many times can they run this cookie-cutter "[WHATEVER THING] is queer now, the woke mob is invading this thing with its ideology and kids might see it and if you even have an opinion about it they're gonna cancel you" without everyone getting bored? And even if they can keep going more and more extreme to hold their interest, once that pot's at a boil you're not going to coax any more frogs in there.
The only novelty in it at this point is in how they manage to twist and stretch the actual news to fit into the template. The 'Mr. Potato Head is nonbinary' one for example, that was a creative enough lie.
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Comment on Church of England considers gender neutral pronouns for God in ~humanities
Fiachra LinkThe reactionary media circuit are going to have a field day with this one.The reactionary media circuit are going to have a field day with this one.
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Comment on r/antiwork seems to be back (was it really gone?) in ~tech
Fiachra LinkFrom what I remember it was almost unanimously agreed that the interviewee did a terrible job, and the community was very unhappy that someone was chosen to represent them without any input from...From what I remember it was almost unanimously agreed that the interviewee did a terrible job, and the community was very unhappy that someone was chosen to represent them without any input from the subreddit at large, especially since many of them (with the benefit of hindsight, to be fair) said they would have been staunchly against sending anyone at all, especially someone with no media training. Because of the amount of brigading they were getting from outside, the mods probably didn't have the resources to be very nuanced in how they handled the internal drama, so they just banned comments criticising the interview and announced that all of it would be treated as bad faith abuse. This was obviously controversial and just caused even more negative comments. It escalated until they locked the sub.
Meanwhile, members got embarassed by the bad publicity and sick of the infighting and started jumping ship to r/WorkReform, which many people felt was a more marketable slogan that better reflected their views. WorkReform to my knowledge has never achieved the same level of public awareness as NoWork had at its height, probably because of lockdown easing.
You know, the whole Web 2.0 social media user-generated content thing was good while it lasted and we all have good memories of it, but it had some serious flaws and it's probably good in the long run for it to have run its course and come to an end.