HeroesJourneyMadness's recent activity
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Comment on 2 January is National Science Fiction Day (in the US)! What are some sci-fi films you feel are particularly memorable or that you return to regularly? in ~movies
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Comment on 2 January is National Science Fiction Day (in the US)! What are some sci-fi films you feel are particularly memorable or that you return to regularly? in ~movies
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentWhoa! Just casually toss out that hot take on Dune 2?! Harsh! I sure hope the worm isn’t turning on Denis’ opus. (😜) I hope he does part 3, but ONLY if everybody is fully on board, with a...Whoa! Just casually toss out that hot take on Dune 2?! Harsh! I sure hope the worm isn’t turning on Denis’ opus. (😜)
I hope he does part 3, but ONLY if everybody is fully on board, with a mind-blowing script and enthusiasm… and every single person involved in Dune Prophesy is blacklisted from involvement in any way, shape, or form.
I wrote for a sec about Rebel Moon, but it doesn’t deserve keystrokes.
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Comment on 2 January is National Science Fiction Day (in the US)! What are some sci-fi films you feel are particularly memorable or that you return to regularly? in ~movies
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentOnce again Tildes has my people. Primer is a nugget of low budget genius gold.Once again Tildes has my people. Primer is a nugget of low budget genius gold.
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Comment on US appeals court rejects net neutrality: The internet cannot be treated as a utility in ~tech
HeroesJourneyMadness Link Parent…and I guard against that line of reasoning for a couple of reasons: Because culture is a choice (to what extent is debatable). I’m sure there are are lots of long thinky pieces better versed in...…and I guard against that line of reasoning for a couple of reasons:
- Because culture is a choice (to what extent is debatable). I’m sure there are are lots of long thinky pieces better versed in this with citations and whatnot, but IMO culture seems like in some part influenced by morals and values. What is okay and not okay CAN be more influenced by peers and individual choice than by “noise”. We can and should and do build your own belief systems. Culture is an extension of that. We are only victims of circumstance to some vague limited extent.
I’m not denying what a friend described as “the water we swim in” but rather saying we think and read and can learn what water is. (I think that might be an Infinite Jest or David Foster Wallace reference? I dunno, never read him, but said friend was a fan.)
- And more importantly, fascists use the “cultural ship has sailed” argument to keep people passive. So long as the bulk of the culture stays quiet, their power grab can continue. History has shown this.
…and while it might seem hyperbolic to allude to Nazi Germany in talking about current events in this country, IMO the parallels and historical context is so definitively there that it’s mind boggling to me that this isn’t a daily topic of discussion and analysis on mainstream media. There is a (I think hugely) popular podcast called “It Could Happen Here” with (I think) DAILY news and analysis of how it’s happening currently in real time. I can’t really listen to it very often or my mental health takes a nosedive.
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Comment on US appeals court rejects net neutrality: The internet cannot be treated as a utility in ~tech
HeroesJourneyMadness (edited )Link ParentEdit: okay, sorry, I agree with much of what you said, but I maintain what’s written below. I just leapt to a conclusion without reading the whole thing. The conclusion being that you were headed...Edit: okay, sorry, I agree with much of what you said, but I maintain what’s written below. I just leapt to a conclusion without reading the whole thing. The conclusion being that you were headed toward an argument of “there’s nothing can we do!” But you stopped short of that.
No. Capitalism is one way of powering a system using money. It’s the unmitigated disrespect for anything NOT money that’s the issue. Capitalism is just fine. It works. It can even work great within greater systems. The bottle deposit that started in the 1970’s has a capitalistic component and literally kickstarted the recycling industry.
The issue is greed and corruption. It’s a refusal to acknowledge the immorality of sabotaging things for money. It’s injuring your mental health trying to rationalize what has to be done for a paycheck. It’s not speaking up.
Capitalism is the scapegoat for a diseased culture of amoral greed.
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Comment on US appeals court rejects net neutrality: The internet cannot be treated as a utility in ~tech
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentA fundamental shift in the American psyche away from that of an Oklahoma Sooner out to grab as much as they can to a populace that gives a shit about their fellow citizen. That’s what. Sorry. I’m...A fundamental shift in the American psyche away from that of an Oklahoma Sooner out to grab as much as they can to a populace that gives a shit about their fellow citizen. That’s what.
Sorry. I’m in a mood this morning. Acknowledging that’s not a helpful statement. Just saying that the cult of what’s considered “success” in this country is anathema to building a person with the moral fiber to pursue any kind of public good.
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Comment on US appeals court rejects net neutrality: The internet cannot be treated as a utility in ~tech
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentI can’t tell if that take is another one of those “Well, Aktshully… “ invented silver linings the right likes to toss out to try and obfuscate and excuse their actions or if there’s actual merit...I can’t tell if that take is another one of those “Well, Aktshully… “ invented silver linings the right likes to toss out to try and obfuscate and excuse their actions or if there’s actual merit to it and there’s a systemic improvement because of it. I suspect it’s just another ouroboros.
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Comment on US appeals court rejects net neutrality: The internet cannot be treated as a utility in ~tech
HeroesJourneyMadness LinkUnfortunately with recent court rulings I can’t say I’m terribly surprised. This is an area I have a bit of knowledge in, having traveled and worked in the open internet, digital divide, Creative...Unfortunately with recent court rulings I can’t say I’m terribly surprised. This is an area I have a bit of knowledge in, having traveled and worked in the open internet, digital divide, Creative Commons and FOSS/OSS circles at one point. (And just being “of a certain age” in tech”.)
IMO access to information (the internet) is THE existential threat to most, if not all, entrenched power structures. In the long term information freedom cannot be allowed to continue uncontrolled and what we are witnessing with most of our current US political turmoil, social and traditional media publishing turmoil, and kind of pretty much all the issues on this side of the hemisphere (Americas) is related to this in one way or another.
I’ve watched a book about this by a friend get astroturfed and buried by Amazon, nonprofits get funding pulled, indie ISPs get sabotaged by backbone providers, activists get murdered, secret spy empires built quietly in the wilds of Utah, and municipal ISPs get outlawed… almost every kind of corrupt power play you can imagine in this space over the last 25 years. And those are only the ones I have had direct experience with or that can be looked into with a quick google search.
Obviously, my personal Overton window on this topic is way over on the left. My question is if it’s just me and my experience in this space, or is the naked corruption and power grabbing this obvious to everyone?
It’s really hard to continue to believe in certain fundamental freedoms and watch them be stripped away within an onslaught of frightening chaos year after year.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (January 2025) in ~health.mental
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentThank you. I appreciate it and may even take you up on it at some point.Thank you. I appreciate it and may even take you up on it at some point.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (January 2025) in ~health.mental
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentYou reminded me that real progress for me is just taking to tops off those highs and the bottoms off those lows. If I can even out that internal roller coaster just a bit, that’s winning. Focusing...You reminded me that real progress for me is just taking to tops off those highs and the bottoms off those lows. If I can even out that internal roller coaster just a bit, that’s winning.
Focusing on stuff other than the coaster itself helps me do that. That’s just a reminder for me.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (January 2025) in ~health.mental
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentI’m here with you. I got through these holidays. I successfully didn’t cause harm to others and limited my sh to isolation and depression. I’m the heaviest I’ve been in probably 20 years though,...I’m here with you. I got through these holidays. I successfully didn’t cause harm to others and limited my sh to isolation and depression. I’m the heaviest I’ve been in probably 20 years though, and am really disliking how out of shape I am. A flight of stairs is increasing my heart rate.
April 2023 I quit vaping and finally got off all nicotine since I was 15… but the night eating is out of hand.
My real issue is one of employment though. I’ve avoided talking about this despite it being a massive problem I’m not dealing with. My ego and work and money and authority and existential and self destructive issues have issues. This is my core thing. It’s why I got sober so many years ago, and I’ve never fully dealt with it, so it’s gotten worse. The last job I had ended in panic attacks and being fired again. I’ve been afraid of employment since even more so, and its been years and an eviction since. It’s destroying me and my relations with everyone around me.
A several years ago I made a go at a newer 12-step splinter organization (off of Debtors Anonymous) called Underearners Anonymous. It’s really what I need to do, but haven’t.
In short, I’m not great and haven’t been for a very long time and am completely dug in on the idea that I won’t be. That just being okay is something not in the cards for me and it’s just damage control while refusing to try anymore.
There. I might delete this later, but I needed to say it somewhere I guess. Posting before I don’t.
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Comment on Is it just me or has advertising lost the plot entirely? in ~life
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentI’m stealing this! Folks in Advertising (and Marketing) - at least the ones who still have a soul - know all too well how much damage it does. I had a few friends in it in the 90s and 00s who had...Advertising is the orc of creativity.
I’m stealing this!
Folks in Advertising (and Marketing) - at least the ones who still have a soul - know all too well how much damage it does. I had a few friends in it in the 90s and 00s who had the largest repertoire of existential and gallows humor. It was more than a little illuminating.I’m very anti-ad too. Billboards are a blight. Cable and broadcast TV are intolerable.
When I am subjected to commercials, I use it as an opportunity to observe exactly who is spending the money on ad buys. It’s kind of telling. It seems like ads come from some interesting places… current lucrative grifts like gambling and insurance… or very often someone who has or is about to have a very bad PR issue. It can be useful for getting unintentional peeks behind the curtain.
That MyPillow jackass (sorry not sorry) was all over the elderly’s news network I have been forced to observe… and now he’s in the news for being in over his head with loan sharks. That kind of thing. Just ask “why are they advertising?” When you see a change. It can be interesting.
That said- there are good firms and good ways marketing can and should be done. Market research especially. The “click it or ticket” campaign is one of my favorite examples. Historically my home state would take out ad buys to promote wearing your seatbelt… and these were all about safely. Saving lives. One year they contracted a local marketing company who did a phone survey and found out nobody gives a crap about safety. So they switched to making it about money. The “Click it or Ticket” campaign was born. There was a huge improvement in seatbelt use. And in the following years I believe other states adopted it.
So, sometimes messaging is useful. I just think we are in a time where the worst money is the loudest and nobody is even trying to stem it because it’s one of the largest, if not THE largest industry in the US. Late stage capitalism.
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Comment on What are your favourite comfort re-reads? in ~books
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentAm also basic! Adams and Pratchett are my warm fuzzy blanket, with Hitchhiker’s especially having helped get me through the darkest parts of my 20’s. Gallows humor is underrated.Am also basic! Adams and Pratchett are my warm fuzzy blanket, with Hitchhiker’s especially having helped get me through the darkest parts of my 20’s.
Gallows humor is underrated.
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Comment on Pornhub to block access in thirteen states as age-verification laws expand across US in ~tech
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentSure. I get it. FWIW, yeah it might be a bit much to expect parents to scroll through network logs. Communication is everything. It just occurred to me that it might be interesting to look at the...Sure. I get it. FWIW, yeah it might be a bit much to expect parents to scroll through network logs. Communication is everything.
It just occurred to me that it might be interesting to look at the parallels between healthy eating and commercialized food production to like porn and sex? As canning and refinement took off, there wasn’t a lot of info about or interest in food content and nutrients. Only later did we begin to talk about “empty calories”.
Similarly with sex and porn maybe?
Okay, I’m on a parenting nostalgia kick lately, so here’s another trip down memory lane:
There is a story I heard once and repeated to my teenager (to her shock and embarrassment and my amusement) on a walk one day. The topic turned to consent. Something my particular teen female feminist at the time felt pretty strongly about and a bit smugly well versed in.
So she was alarmed when I told her I wasn’t a big fan of talking about consent.
The story was from an article I read once about a college that stirred up a bunch of noise from incoming freshmen parents because at least some of their orientation students began saying this: “At ____ University, we’re not big fans of consent. We think that bar is too low. We aim more for “Begging for it”.
I could hear my daughter’s internal freak out in her silence. I’d made it wonderfully and suddenly uncomfortably “Too Real” as she would later describe it.
I wrapped up by saying “That’s why I think sex is like reading Harry Potter. Remember how we started the books when you were the same age as Harry and we initially said we would read one a year so we matched his age? I was trying to optimize your Harry Potter experience. We didn’t make it, and that’s okay… but I think when it comes to sex it’s important that you like yourself enough to aim for the best experience possible.”
I don’t have many inspired moments, but I think that was one. Made up that analogy on the spot.
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Comment on "The Telepathy Tapes" is taking America by storm. But it has its roots in old autism controversies. in ~misc
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentThank you guys for hijacking the thread to a fun topic.Thank you guys for hijacking the thread to a fun topic.
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Comment on Pornhub to block access in thirteen states as age-verification laws expand across US in ~tech
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentOh my gosh nobody in this country is rug-sweeping conversations about “what is healthy sexual development”. In no small part because porn became so accessible. It’s created issues and it’s created...Oh my gosh nobody in this country is rug-sweeping conversations about “what is healthy sexual development”. In no small part because porn became so accessible.
It’s created issues and it’s created whole new and growing tool sets and support communities to address those issues.
As others have said- there are tools and ways for parents to manage this. Hell, if my niece hasn’t don’t the dishes, the first move my sister makes is remotely flipping off her wifi and data to her phone. Dishes get done quick.
On a more personal level, I would keep network logs and flip through the domains my kid was hitting with her devices. One summer there was a weird spike in time spent in google docs. It turned out she and her friends had a secret shared collaborative series of smutty short stories they were writing together.
I know, it’s pretty benign and my wife and I were very entertained… we dealt with it. The reason I’m telling this story is that 1. Kids will always be curious and find ways and that’s just life, and 2. I demonstrably proved to my kid that there’s no such thing as privacy online. It was important for her to know experience that and know that her parents were looking out for her even when she didn’t know.
Just last night she was bragging about how clean her digital footprint is after I was filling her in on other family who still is embarrassingly messy on social media.
Okay, I’ll stop bragging about my kid now.
The point is, for those of us with some experience and success on this topic, we know without a shadow of a doubt, that this is a ploy for harvesting sensitive personal information AND a step forward for shadowy unknown entities to increase the ways to control access to information. That’s ALL this is. It doesn’t work and it actively makes this worse by pretending it could.
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Comment on Pornhub to block access in thirteen states as age-verification laws expand across US in ~tech
HeroesJourneyMadness (edited )Link ParentI feel a bit bad piling on after all the other replies- but here’s another reason: bad parents. I raised a kid (she’s going to be 20 before long) with the open internet. It’s important and not...I feel a bit bad piling on after all the other replies- but here’s another reason: bad parents. I raised a kid (she’s going to be 20 before long) with the open internet. It’s important and not that hard to stay on top of your kids’ online activity. Be a fucking engaged parent.
(Pardon my language, my parents were anything but engaged, so I’m a bit aggro about bad parents.)
Don’t give parents a false sense of security and an excuse to disengage. That’s how I see this. How many parents in these states are just going to abandon the really really important conversations about what’s online, how to behave online, and what doesn’t belong online because of this and because it’s not comfortable.
We are not a nation of children. Our government can’t, won’t, and shouldn’t try to hide/control/moralize the parts of the world we don’t like. That’s each adult’s personal responsibility.
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Comment on What are some words or usage that became more prominent in 2024, either in your life or in general? in ~talk
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentIt’s glorious. I’ve made my daughter’s friends cringe so hard it silenced the room and shrank them 2 sizes at the same time. I pretended not to notice and left. The room erupted behind me in...It’s glorious. I’ve made my daughter’s friends cringe so hard it silenced the room and shrank them 2 sizes at the same time. I pretended not to notice and left. The room erupted behind me in indignant teenagers thoroughly vexed. All by casually calling something “cooked” like it had always been that way.
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Comment on What are some words or usage that became more prominent in 2024, either in your life or in general? in ~talk
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentLol. Raw Dog. I forgot about that one, and I adore Jamie Loftus (she wrote that book about Hotdogs I have yet to read).Lol. Raw Dog. I forgot about that one, and I adore Jamie Loftus (she wrote that book about Hotdogs I have yet to read).
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Comment on What are some words or usage that became more prominent in 2024, either in your life or in general? in ~talk
HeroesJourneyMadness Link ParentActual lol. Thank you. I will now NOT go try and confirm some vague suspicions about some of these words. Sometimes enough is enough.Actual lol. Thank you. I will now NOT go try and confirm some vague suspicions about some of these words.
Sometimes enough is enough.
Not a very good movie, but in a perfect world some renegade the-next-Christopher-Nolan could take the forever-in-development-hell remake of Logan’s Run out, dust it off, and make a subversive art film out of it, I’d be fully on board.