Ganymede's recent activity

  1. Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society

    Ganymede
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    Or impeachment! But yes, what I mean to say by "extreme" is "outside of established norms."

    Or impeachment! But yes, what I mean to say by "extreme" is "outside of established norms."

    8 votes

  2. Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society

    Ganymede
    Link Parent
    Voting on emotion doesn't make you stupid. It's human nature to look out for yourself and your family. To the extent that voters are unplugged from politics and are uninformed/misinformed, yes,...
    • Exemplary

    Voting on emotion doesn't make you stupid. It's human nature to look out for yourself and your family. To the extent that voters are unplugged from politics and are uninformed/misinformed, yes, true, and they've been conditioned into this state by the very people we're talking about trying to defeat. If government was doing as much as it could be for people they'd be far less likely to fall into the radicalization funnels that the right has so skillfully created. We don't need every voter to exercise critical thinking on every issue. We need is leadership that can appeal to their emotions in a similar way that the right is now, and then use that attention to win elections and enact policies that truly help them.

    Also, regardless of how you may personally feel about it, I would encourage you to consider how much of this mess has been exacerbated by us supposedly "smart" folk disrespecting our fellow Americans and calling them stupid etc. There is a significant portion of them that are racist and misogynistic and do not deserve our respect, but not every person who voted for Trump holds those views and we NEED those people to come around to our side eventually. We need to hear them, try to understand them, and befriend them. The chickens WILL come home to roost and people are going to be in even more pain and hurt, ALL of us are. When those people see that Trump doesn't give a fuck about them and will not be helping them, they're going to be adrift and that is when we extend a hand and say, "yes, this is all so fucked up, what can we do about it together?"

    Trump and his goons are far more organized this time, but they all have a critical flaw: they're only in it for themselves and they're greedy as hell. There's going to be infighting amongst them that hamstrings a lot of their agendas and it's going to be painfully obvious how self-interested they are when things start to fall apart for the average person, and meanwhile Trump and his buds are laughing and lining their pockets. Make no mistake, we're in serious trouble. They're going to gut our country from the inside, and when take it back (we WILL) it's going to be in tatters. But we will take it back. Then the real work begins.

    Problem Challenge 1: Democratic donors are wealthy and in control and are a part of the problem. When I say the defining mode of our politics is class warfare I am talking outside of party. D or R, if you're a moneyed interest you're part of the problem and we want you out. Money in politics is going to keep corrupting the whole system until we can fix it. Our vehicle to do so is easiest through the Democrats because of how ingrained the laws to enforce a two party system are, and yes that will be a real challenge. I don't know what this will look like. We either pull the Democrats forward or we abandon them. (Also, it's possible the "brand" Democrat is irrevocably tarnished anyway.)

    Problem Challenge 2. The Republicans own the Supreme Court, yes, until we expand the size of the court. Sound extreme? Yes it is. So is Project 2025. So is stripping naturalized citizens of their citizenship. So is preventing women from controlling their bodies. So is giving tax cuts to billionaires and corporations. Two can play at this game. We play and we play with morals and with the good of the people in mind. To your last point about election integrity, yes, a serious challenge and I don't have a playbook for you. I'm personally comforted by our elections being controlled at the state level and being very difficult to really "rig" meaningfully.

    To sum all of this up: what's the alternative here? We give up? We lay down and take it? I refuse, and so should you. This is an opportunity to take our country and transform it for the better. DO NOT GIVE UP.

    33 votes

  3. Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society

    Ganymede
    Link
    I think it's a failing of the Democratic party to go far enough supporting the working class, and the social issues are not the problem. The Democrats have failed spectacularly at resisting the...
    • Exemplary

    I think it's a failing of the Democratic party to go far enough supporting the working class, and the social issues are not the problem. The Democrats have failed spectacularly at resisting the Republican's efforts to paint them as the party of social issues. They should have been ignoring the attacks about trans rights and been screaming from the hilltops about Lina Khan's FTC, the CHIPS act, the Inflation Reduction Act, the investments in infrastructure and manufacturing, the IRS going after corporations cheating on their taxes, etc.

    The defining characteristic of our politics is class warfare, and the Democrats need to wake the fuck up and stop letting themselves get bogged down with identity politics. Yes, trans rights and gay rights (I'm a gay man myself) and women's rights and minority rights are CRITICALLY important. But none of those things are going to happen if we can't win elections, and we can't win elections if we let the Democrats keep being milquetoast on supporting the working class and being loud about it.

    Federal workers program to build houses -- build 3 million new houses, with union workers, cost capped to the ability of the person to afford it. Break up big big tech, tax the rich, tax the corporations, use that money to ACTUALLY IMPROVE THE LIVES OF WORKING PEOPLE!

    It is not a surprise Trump won. People are hurting. They aren't stupid, but they are tired and they are worn down and that is BY DESIGN. The billionaires and the corporations are winning and we need to get our shit together to fight back, or we're all fucked.

    87 votes

  4. Comment on Any recommendations for books, novellas and short story collections? in ~books

    Ganymede
    Link Parent
    I love Greg Egan so much. <3 His stuff is just a little less accessible than Ted Chiang's.

    I love Greg Egan so much. <3 His stuff is just a little less accessible than Ted Chiang's.

    3 votes

  5. Comment on Any recommendations for books, novellas and short story collections? in ~books

    Ganymede
    Link
    If you haven't read any of Ted Chiang, he has two great collections of short stories and is a brilliant writer. Scifi.

    If you haven't read any of Ted Chiang, he has two great collections of short stories and is a brilliant writer. Scifi.

    6 votes

  6. Comment on Playdate Stereo Dock shelved in ~games

    Ganymede
    Link Parent
    Most consumers want cheap and are willing to sacrifice quality. They'd rather have the money to buy 10 cheap things that are all pretty crappy but are "good enough" than 1 or 2 really high quality...

    Most consumers want cheap and are willing to sacrifice quality. They'd rather have the money to buy 10 cheap things that are all pretty crappy but are "good enough" than 1 or 2 really high quality things that do a great job.

    We're lucky there are companies like Panic that still want to make quality products for the small subset of consumers who want (and can afford) high-quality things.

    10 votes

  7. Comment on Everything I built with Claude Artifacts this week in ~comp

    Ganymede
    Link
    There's a difference of degree here that should be highlighted. These are all examples of micro-apps. Tiny things that do one thing for you in a one-off fashion. Time will tell if these AI tools...

    There's a difference of degree here that should be highlighted. These are all examples of micro-apps. Tiny things that do one thing for you in a one-off fashion. Time will tell if these AI tools can operate on larger app scale, which is the majority of software.

    9 votes

  8. Comment on Japan was the future but it's stuck in the past in ~life

    Ganymede
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    I'd take life in Japan over life in any western country personally.

    I'd take life in Japan over life in any western country personally.

    11 votes

  9. Comment on Metaphor: ReFantazio reviews in ~games

    Ganymede
    Link
    I'm so stoked for this. I've been wanting a Persona/SMT-like game to escape the highschool tropes for so long.

    I'm so stoked for this. I've been wanting a Persona/SMT-like game to escape the highschool tropes for so long.

    6 votes

  10. Comment on Choosing a TTRPG system in ~games.tabletop

    Ganymede
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    My advice is that getting too bogged down in this decision too early will mean you're less likely to actually play. For someone new to (or returning after a long time away from) TTRPG and...

    My advice is that getting too bogged down in this decision too early will mean you're less likely to actually play. For someone new to (or returning after a long time away from) TTRPG and especially to get friends into it, I think the best choice is just to pick up D&D 5th edition and some pre-made modules. They just released a new core rulebook and it is compatible with previous 5e content.

    If you find/build a crew that loves playing then there will be plenty of time to try new systems or build your own content in the future. For now just getting started asap will be the most beneficial because there are so many other things that make it challenging to start (scheduling, finding a compatible social group, etc.)

    D&D is flexible enough to support whatever balance you want of storytelling/mechanics, premade content, homebrew content, etc., and it has far and away the most resources available online for new players who want to look things up and get help.

    15 votes

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

    Ganymede
    Link Parent
    DS3 is the only one I haven't finished. I got bored of it about 50% through, but I keep meaning to go back. I love the other two and couldn't put them down, same with From's other games...

    DS3 is the only one I haven't finished. I got bored of it about 50% through, but I keep meaning to go back. I love the other two and couldn't put them down, same with From's other games (especially Sekiro).

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Syntax highlighting in hand-coded websites in ~tech

    Ganymede
    Link Parent
    Hot take! Why do you feel this way?

    It obviously doesn't work at all if the useragent disables web fonts (as, frankly, all clients should).

    Hot take! Why do you feel this way?

    8 votes

  13. Comment on Google’s greenhouse gas emissions jump 48% in five years in ~enviro

    Ganymede
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    Can't wait to see how quickly they renege on their carbon zero commitments now that their newest way of screwing people over takes so much energy.

    Can't wait to see how quickly they renege on their carbon zero commitments now that their newest way of screwing people over takes so much energy.

    32 votes

  14. Comment on It’s up to us in ~society

    Ganymede
    Link
    The election will come down to a few thousand votes in a small handful of states. Most of us genuinely can't do anything.

    The election will come down to a few thousand votes in a small handful of states. Most of us genuinely can't do anything.

    12 votes

  15. Comment on What's our thoughts on Perplexity.ai for search? in ~tech

  16. Comment on Canadian public servants uneasy as government 'spy' robot prowls federal offices in ~society

    Ganymede
    Link Parent
    Web analytics are a privacy nightmare. Google Analytics is a primary mechanism for siphoning up user data.

    Web analytics are a privacy nightmare. Google Analytics is a primary mechanism for siphoning up user data.

    8 votes

  17. Comment on We need to talk about Trader Joe's in ~food

  18. Comment on Seems like all socials are being scraped for AI and personal/aggregate data. Is Tildes? in ~tildes

    Ganymede
    Link Parent
    Which means none of them.

    Which means none of them.

    3 votes

  19. Comment on What are your values? in ~life

    Ganymede
    Link
    Curiosity, creativity, and compassion.

    Curiosity, creativity, and compassion.

    14 votes

  20. Comment on The more I use Linux, the more I hate every distro in ~tech

    Ganymede
    Link
    When you say Arch breaks, how do you mean? I've been itching to move my gaming rig to Linux and have held off for HDR support, which is imminent with Plasma 6. I was planning on using Arch to...

    When you say Arch breaks, how do you mean? I've been itching to move my gaming rig to Linux and have held off for HDR support, which is imminent with Plasma 6. I was planning on using Arch to benefit from Valve's investments for the Deck.

    2 votes