Interesting's recent activity
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Comment on Happy 6th Birthday, Tildes! in ~tildes
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Comment on Happy 6th Birthday, Tildes! in ~tildes
Interesting Link ParentYour work is greatly appreciated, so thank you for the sacrifice! I've been meaning to ask you -- is there a way to donate to Three Cheers without going through the Play Store? I imagine you would...Your work is greatly appreciated, so thank you for the sacrifice!
I've been meaning to ask you -- is there a way to donate to Three Cheers without going through the Play Store? I imagine you would prefer Google didn't take a 30% cut.
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Comment on Cartoons such as Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, or Avatar? in ~tv
Interesting LinkIf 3d animation is OK, I highly recommend Star Trek: Prodigy. Frankly, it was the most like the 90's Star Trek of any of the new Star Trek shows. It does an great job developing the crew, the...If 3d animation is OK, I highly recommend Star Trek: Prodigy. Frankly, it was the most like the 90's Star Trek of any of the new Star Trek shows. It does an great job developing the crew, the backgrounds are beautifully animated, and overall it's just fun to watch.
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Comment on Digital books are costing local libraries a ton in ~books
Interesting LinkI've been seeing a lot of "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing" recently, and frankly, it resonates. I've hit the point with books where if I want to read it, I download it off Library...I've been seeing a lot of "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing" recently, and frankly, it resonates. I've hit the point with books where if I want to read it, I download it off Library Genesis. If I find I'm reading a lot of an author (say, a long series, or multiple different works), I'll order a copy of their next book, or in one case sent money to an author's Kickstarter. The author cut for non-self published books is pathetically small anyway.
I find that I'm reading much more books this way, and I'm much more likely to bother to pick up a series. Funny enough I'm pretty sure I've generated a few book purchases by other people via recommendations. The alternative (say, if Library Genesis disappeared) would probably be me just reading more fanfiction online and almost no actual novels, rather than me actually purchasing ebooks.
Perhaps I would be more inclined to purchase ebooks if purchased ebooks weren't such a nuisance. If I purchase an ebook, I can't sell it, lend it to someone else to read. I likely have to deal with DRM that insists I only read it on certain devices, there have been cases where books have been removed from people's devices, and need to keep my device logged in to whatever service. Meanwhile, if I download something from Library Genesis, I search the title, hit download, and can put it on anything with an EPUB reader, I don't need a login to access it, can send a copy to someone else via email or WhatsApp... It's honestly a better experience after the first 30 seconds.
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Comment on Iran launches dozens of drones toward Israel in ~news
Interesting Link ParentI mean, it's not like Iran hasn't done the same thing and worse against Israel through its proxies. The most well known attack directly on an embassy:...I mean, it's not like Iran hasn't done the same thing and worse against Israel through its proxies. The most well known attack directly on an embassy:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Buenos_Aires_Israeli_embassy_bombing -
Comment on If we can't block users can we at least filter out topics posted by those users? in ~tildes
Interesting Link ParentWith Firefox mobile on Android, you can use extensions. I highly recommend it!With Firefox mobile on Android, you can use extensions. I highly recommend it!
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Comment on Looking for non-political content in ~life
Interesting LinkFor YouTube channels: Linus Tech Tips, though the WAN show (their weekly podcast) sometimes skirts the edge of politics (somewhat abated even then, because it's often Canadian politics)....For YouTube channels:
Linus Tech Tips, though the WAN show (their weekly podcast) sometimes skirts the edge of politics (somewhat abated even then, because it's often Canadian politics).
Technology Connections for more than you will ever need to know about appliances
Tom Scott's back catalogue if you didn't keep up with it
Townsends for historical food and cooking.
The next thing I would probably recommend would be getting into a long running old TV show. Star Trek is my easiest example. Even if you skip the really campy TOS epsiodes, that's still 3 shows with seven 26 epsiode seasons, and then Enterprise, and then the modern shows.
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Comment on Stardew Valley 1.6 update released on PC in ~games
Interesting Link ParentThere is a bit of a trick to it - - you can do it one level at a time by sleeping to save every time you complete a level without dying. If you die, just exit without saving and try again.There is a bit of a trick to it - - you can do it one level at a time by sleeping to save every time you complete a level without dying. If you die, just exit without saving and try again.
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Comment on Introducing Steam Families in ~games
Interesting LinkThis seems much more controlling than the existing family sharing, which is frustrating.This seems much more controlling than the existing family sharing, which is frustrating.
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Comment on Teaching coding to an eight year old with Scratch? in ~tech
Interesting (edited )LinkI think Scratch is great when kids want to code but their reading, typing, and spelling skills aren't quite there yet. It's a great introduction to the sort of logical thinking skills you need to...I think Scratch is great when kids want to code but their reading, typing, and spelling skills aren't quite there yet. It's a great introduction to the sort of logical thinking skills you need to become a programmer.
That said, I think it is quite important to plan to move off of Scratch at some point. Get them working on a typing program (Nitro Type is fun practice), and make sure they're keeping up in ELA at school and reading regularly.
Some signs a kid can move on from Scratch is when they can type at at least 20-30 wpm with good accuracy. They can spell the sort of words they might use in a program consistently. Their independent reading is fluent, and even if they can't decode a word, they can still learn the meaning from context, or look it up. They get the idea that programming is sequential and can follow the logic of a basic program and "run it in their head"
A good, free, child-friendly next step is Khan Academy's Javascript drawing and animation courses, not just for the course itself, but because they've written some decent child-friendly documentation, and using it still doesn't require much in the way of environment troubleshooting skills. You may need to provide some support with the coordinate plane for children on the younger side. Scratch uses a Cartesian plane with the origin in the center, and Processing.js uses a canvas with the origin at the top left corner, which is a big change.
Once they're comfortable with that content they should be capable of moving on to more adult resources like Free Code Camp, though they may need some direction and help learning concepts like the file system, using a command line interface, and using whatever text editor or IDE they pick.
Signs they're ready to move to adult tools would be that they can write a game that's 100-200 lines of logic that follows good programming practice.
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Comment on Brighter Shores is a new MMORPG by the creator of Runescape in ~games
Interesting LinkBefore I get to the fun comments: the title here is misleading - - I thought it meant Jagex, the company Andrew founded, but sold 15 or so years ago. It's really neat to see Andrew Gower put out a...Before I get to the fun comments: the title here is misleading - - I thought it meant Jagex, the company Andrew founded, but sold 15 or so years ago.
It's really neat to see Andrew Gower put out a new game. A new game like Runescape, I don't thinking could start today - - it's unique to the time period where folks mostly socialized online with a strangers instead of people they knew in person, and ways to coordinate were a lot more rudimentary (forums and maybe something like MSN or AIM). The hours of chopping a virtual tree moved much faster, while you chatted with your Runescape clan chat =)
Back then, people had much, much lower expectations for graphics (because their computers couldn't run anything else), so developers could put out much larger amounts of story content that was low cost. Runescape's defining trait up through the early '10s was the immense amount of story content it had, along with its British sense of humor. The story content (at least for me) provided an incentive to do the incredible amount of grinding the game requires, with quest level requirements being very common.
But yeah, it's much less acceptable to make a game that looks kind of shitty now, and people aren't quite as tolerating of tens of thousands of hours of grinding en-masse for a new property anymore.
So I'm definitely wondering how Gower's new game will balance the needs of modern audiences with being an MMO, and I'm definitely interested in checking it out.
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Comment on US literary magazine retracts Israeli writer’s coexistence essay amid mass resignations in ~books
Interesting (edited )LinkThis was really difficult for me to read. These two responses quoted in the article stuck out to me: What this woman wrote is her grappling with her own emotional havoc from what for her country...This was really difficult for me to read. These two responses quoted in the article stuck out to me:
Emily Fox Kaplan, a Jewish writer who had shared the essay before it was retracted, wrote that she saw the criticism of Chen’s essay as part of a much wider dynamic.
“The problem, when it really comes down to it, is that it presents an Israeli as human,” she tweeted. “The people who are losing their minds about this want to believe that there are no civilians in Israel. They want a simple good guys/bad guys binary, and this creates cognitive dissonance.”
Some non-Jewish writers also lamented the piece’s retraction.
“Anyone who wants to seriously grapple with war had better be prepared for far more shocking opinions than are found in this thoughtful essay by a translator and writer living in Israel,” tweeted Phil Klay, a US military veteran whose writing draws on his war experiences. “Shame on @GuernicaMag for pulling it down
What this woman wrote is her grappling with her own emotional havoc from what for her country was worse than 9/11 (proportionally) and then reasserting her empathy. If what she feels isn't OK, isn't allowed... The only words I could use to describe here is absolute purism. With purism, there is no ability for finding middle grounds, problem solving, compromises. No recognition of mutual humanity, with all of its flaws. Chen opinion isn't valid, isn't allowed to be said out loud unless she suppresses her own lived experience and struggles in reaching it.
I have a group of Jewish friends, ranging from secular to orthodox, several of whom are LGBTQ+. We've all had difficult discussions in what had previously been safe spaces over the last few months. Sometimes as much as asking for a dialogue with a friend over what reads as anti-semetism, or even just asking to temporarily drop a difficult topic in a group chat has lead to hostility, anger, or even public denuciations. It can make you feel like there is no space in the world for you. Space to grieve, space to be worry about the very real hatred that has been stoked, space to be afraid for your loved ones...
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Comment on Etsy sellers are turning free fanfiction into printed and bound physical books [against the wishes of the authors], and listing them for sale for more than $100 per book in ~books
Interesting Link ParentSo, having read the fanfictions in question, and spent time in the corresponding community, making a profit off a fanfiction inspires a particularly visceral hate in large parts of the community....So, having read the fanfictions in question, and spent time in the corresponding community, making a profit off a fanfiction inspires a particularly visceral hate in large parts of the community.
Folks know that creating fanworks are legally on fairly gray and shakey ground, and nobody wants to be a community that causes a firm legal precedent against them. One of the defenses there is to avoid commercialization as much as possible -- rights owners are much more likely to sue when money is involved.
An additional complicated factor in the community is that, despite this shaky legal ground, just like regular authors, many fanfiction authors are quite protective of their works. I've actually seen people claim that people should ask permission before creating fanfictions of their fanfiction. Others in the community sometimes push back on this, but it's not an unususal point of view.
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Comment on Stardew Valley 1.6 release date announced: March 19th in ~games
Interesting Link ParentHonestly, at this point, I kind of wish he did release them as DLC. I've put 300+ hours into a game that cost me $15, Eric honestly deserves more than he's gotten so far. I mean, he built...Honestly, at this point, I kind of wish he did release them as DLC. I've put 300+ hours into a game that cost me $15, Eric honestly deserves more than he's gotten so far.
I mean, he built something great exactly as he wanted it, and then got lucky that it attracted the right attention and exceeded sales and fame beyond what anyone could have imagine for an indie farming game. Clearly, at this point, he's doing it for the love of what he does, and given he's gone far and above what anyone should expect for maintenence from any developer, barring a live support payment formula.
If any DLC is acceptable to a person, I think releasing this update at DLC should be.
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Comment on I’m worried that the Israel-Palestine conflict is tearing Tildes apart in ~tildes
Interesting LinkI'm sorry if I'm one of the people who have contributed to your distress by being contrary on the topic. It's been a rough couple of months, and this is actually one of the few safe-ish places I...I'm sorry if I'm one of the people who have contributed to your distress by being contrary on the topic. It's been a rough couple of months, and this is actually one of the few safe-ish places I can have these sort of discussions that's neither typically malicious and hostile,nor an echo chamber-- I find people I can have a dialogue with while safely behind my computer (letting me take a few deep breaths before composing a reply). I haven't had Deimos yell at me yet, so I think I've been doing OK but I hope I'd be told if I've been getting close to any lines -- I do know my comments have lead to a few spirals that have gotten threads locked.
As a side note, I do owe @rosco a response for their thoughtful reply from my last thread, but my life's been a bit of a mess (close friend has a death in his family...) for the last week and I haven't been able to scrounge up the energy. I always debate with necro-ing an older thread for a thorough reply or not and this is making me feel like it may be a bad idea.
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Comment on What is India's "uniform civil code" and why does it anger Muslims? in ~humanities
Interesting LinkIt's been my opinion for ages that governments need to get out of the marriage business -- marriage is a concept defined by religions individually. Replace it with a civil partnership. You can be...It's been my opinion for ages that governments need to get out of the marriage business -- marriage is a concept defined by religions individually.
Replace it with a civil partnership. You can be married to however many people you please in whatever combination you can get someone to do, but you have a legal, secular civil partnership with tax benefits and legal unity with one other adult human being of your choosing.
Some things would need to be adjusted, like hospitals would likely still need to recognize wedded spouses in some way (perhaps with the civil partner taking precedence in a disagreement?), but overall I think this would end nonsense like children being married to adults (who then become their guardians, making it illegal to divorce...), or civil clerks who believe marriage is between a man and a woman and protest marriage between anyone else.
And the insanity of requiring people cohabitating to register with the government...
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Comment on California's push for mandatory ethnic studies classes runs into the Israel-Palestine conflict in designing a curriculum in ~humanities
Interesting Link ParentI agree that it was a jump, but it resulted from a response to the adage "Antizionism isn't antisemitism", which I challenged by using the definition that Jewish groups are often using when they...I agree that it was a jump, but it resulted from a response to the adage "Antizionism isn't antisemitism", which I challenged by using the definition that Jewish groups are often using when they protest statements.
I agree with you that it is likely not the case here for most people, but unfortunately, many people on the wider internet do actually call for for Israel to cease to exist as a Jewish nation state. I suspect that's the case a minority people I have spoken to here as well. I'll try to be better here about not jumping to that conclusion here though.
For what it's worth -- I am also in full agreement that settlements have got to stop. The worst of them need to be bulldozed, and the few that are close to the border and politically infeasible to bulldoze need to be land swapped fairly (unfortunately, a Palestinian state in the WB and Gaza with a Jewish minority, which would be the best and simplest solution, just like Israel has an Arab minority, is... unlikely, given the slaughter and hatred).
That said, off topic! What did you think of the article? Do you think it's worthwhile to persue an ethnic studies course that is politically feasible even if it strays from the orthodoxy of the academics for the field? Or is Ethnic studies in high school a bad idea?
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Comment on California's push for mandatory ethnic studies classes runs into the Israel-Palestine conflict in designing a curriculum in ~humanities
Interesting Link ParentSince you actually did want a response from me, I read through the article, and while I likely disagree with many of the author's other opinions, our approach towards debate and convincing other...Since you actually did want a response from me, I read through the article, and while I likely disagree with many of the author's other opinions, our approach towards debate and convincing other people is very similar
I don't know the answer to the question you posed directly, but I think you are right that it is one of the questions at the core of the Israel/Palestine conflict. Obviously, at some point, we decide that a wrong is no longer worth chasing after -- you don't often see people advocating for Australia's ethnic British population to be expelled, nor (per your article) many people who believe the entire United States should be turned over to the remains of its native population.
I could say more, but this thread is more intended to discuss the requirements of an ethnic studies course than the details of the conflict itself.
I guess my ideal here is if they can't find a way to teach it in the allotted scope in a way that makes everyone happy (or at least similarly angry), then the conflict is too new and painful to be studied before college, where students have more flexibility in their courses, and where they have chosen the school they attend.
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Comment on California's push for mandatory ethnic studies classes runs into the Israel-Palestine conflict in designing a curriculum in ~humanities
Interesting Link ParentDid you intend to reply to @Soggy instead of me?Did you intend to reply to @Soggy instead of me?
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Comment on California's push for mandatory ethnic studies classes runs into the Israel-Palestine conflict in designing a curriculum in ~humanities
Interesting Link ParentI suspect that won't be as simple as you think. This is a conflict where the year you choose to start has a great impact on the conclusions you come to. Do you start In 1948 (declaration of...Teach them how it came to be
I suspect that won't be as simple as you think. This is a conflict where the year you choose to start has a great impact on the conclusions you come to. Do you start In 1948 (declaration of Israeli independence)? 1933 (Jews from Germany begin to flee to Mandatory Palestine)? 1917 (The Balfour declaration)? 1839 (The beginning of the modern Zionist political movement)? 1492 (when Sephardi Jews began to immigrate after being expelled from Spain and Portugal)? 1324(when the first synagogue was established under Ottoman rule)? 636 ( the establishment of the Ottoman Empire over an area with 30 Jewish existing communities in Haifa, Sh’chem, Hebron, Ramleh, Gaza, Jerusalem and other cities)?
There are literally thousands of years of Jewish history in the region, though obviously smaller than the groups who emigrated after 1948. I don't think the choice of the first year to cover as the beginning is obvious.
edit: You edited your comment while I was composing mine. On your last point, I agree with you that that would be a reasonable outcome.
OK, thanks. I don't keep a credit card hooked up to my Google account to prevent impulse spending (I use Opinon Rewards money to buy what I need), but in that case, I'll pick up a gift card or something.