Johz's recent activity
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Comment on What the hell are we doing with hierarchical tags? in ~tildes
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Comment on I watched stand-up in Saudi Arabia in ~society
Johz Link ParentShe's one of the hosts of the Page 94 podcast, but this is the first time I've come across her work as a columnist. I was surprised by how recognisable her tone is - I didn't see the author...She's one of the hosts of the Page 94 podcast, but this is the first time I've come across her work as a columnist. I was surprised by how recognisable her tone is - I didn't see the author originally and partway through was thinking "this sounds a lot like that woman from the Eye".
The whole podcast has a similar cynical humour, although it's mostly about British political news and the state of the UK media landscape, so the appeal may be somewhat limited!
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I watched stand-up in Saudi Arabia
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Comment on Bluesky melts down over Jesse Singal in ~tech
Johz Link ParentSure, that's why I'm saying that an algorithm could do the sorting for you, and figure out which posts from a person you want to see, and which posts you don't, without them having to tag them in...Sure, that's why I'm saying that an algorithm could do the sorting for you, and figure out which posts from a person you want to see, and which posts you don't, without them having to tag them in any way.
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Comment on Bluesky melts down over Jesse Singal in ~tech
Johz Link ParentIn theory, if one person is posting on two different topics, you'd expect those posts to be appreciated by different groups in different ways. So for someone with a large enough number of posts...In theory, if one person is posting on two different topics, you'd expect those posts to be appreciated by different groups in different ways. So for someone with a large enough number of posts and distinct enough groups of readers, you could automatically divide their posts up based on how many likes they get and who likes them. I assume YouTube does this to a certain extent, because there are certain channels where I only see the half of their output that I'm interested in, and the rest doesn't get shown to me at all.
But like I say, that's something you can only do with a recommendation algorithm, and part of what I like about the Following feed is that there is no complicated algorithm.
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Comment on Bluesky melts down over Jesse Singal in ~tech
Johz Link ParentThere are multiple feeds and the "Discover" one uses a Twitter-style algorithm, but the "Following" one is just a straight chronological timeline of people you follow. I mainly use that, and then...There are multiple feeds and the "Discover" one uses a Twitter-style algorithm, but the "Following" one is just a straight chronological timeline of people you follow. I mainly use that, and then add people to it if I've seen an interesting post from them or prune them out if there's too much noise that I don't want to see. That works very well for me - I get a bit of US politics because it's just painfully difficult to completely shut that out these days, but most of what I see is interesting tech articles with a mix of board game and RPG news.
There are other third-party feeds that you can subscribe to, each with their own algorithms, but I've not had much success with those.
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Comment on Bluesky melts down over Jesse Singal in ~tech
Johz Link ParentIt's a bit irritating that there's no easy way to say "I'm interested in this person's X posts, but not their Y posts". I followed a board game designer for a while, and it was interesting seeing...It's a bit irritating that there's no easy way to say "I'm interested in this person's X posts, but not their Y posts". I followed a board game designer for a while, and it was interesting seeing what she was working on and thinking about, except that she was also constantly posting about her sex life and I'm far too prudish and British to read about that.
I am quite impressed that YouTube can figure out which kind of videos I'm interested in if a channel produces multiple different series or kinds of content, but I guess that's back to algorithmically driven feeds again.
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Comment on Bluesky melts down over Jesse Singal in ~tech
Johz Link ParentI think it's similar to that. I have a list of people I follow, and those are the only posts I see on Bluesky. I normally find new people by them being reposted by someone I follow, and if someone...I think it's similar to that. I have a list of people I follow, and those are the only posts I see on Bluesky. I normally find new people by them being reposted by someone I follow, and if someone I follow is making too much noise I unfollow them again. My resulting feed has a bit of noise, but it's mostly stuff I'm interested in.
I know there's also the discover feed, but that's been pretty rubbish in my experience. There are some alternative feeds that you can subscribe to, but I find they're also a bit hit-and-miss, so I mostly stick to the people I've specifically chosen to follow.
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Comment on JK Rowling dismisses Emma Watson as 'ignorant' over trans rights row in ~lgbt
Johz LinkI ended up looking up a person I used to know who came out as trans and has since made quite a name for herself as a trans anti-trans activist. I knew her vaguely through those early years of her...I ended up looking up a person I used to know who came out as trans and has since made quite a name for herself as a trans anti-trans activist. I knew her vaguely through those early years of her transition, and I wanted to see what she was up to now.
Quite high up in the search results are two articles, both with titles along the lines of "why I disagree with Xyz". The first is from a trans woman saying basically "you can speak for yourself, but you can't speak for all trans people, many of us have very different experiences to you". The other is from shortly after my acquaintance wrote an article saying "JK Rowling, I get it and agree with you, but woah, you can calm down a bit on the rhetoric", and the tone of this response is roughly "see, look at this creepy MAN, we all knew he was WEIRD but now he's clearly a ULTRATRANS ACTIVIST, let's all BURN HIM AT THE STAKE".
The difference between the two responses really strikes home that this basically feels like a way of legitimising hate for so many of the TERF activists. You see the same thing in this article from Rowling - there's no sense of "we don't agree, but that's okay", it's just pure antagonism from start to finish. It isn't about protecting women's spaces or about protecting children from harm or whatever, it's just a kind of twisted, gleeful hate.
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Comment on How many valid JSON strings are there? in ~comp
Johz Link ParentI would think of a JSON document as being a document (i.e. file) in JSON format, in which case anything goes according to the spec, but you make a good point about document stores typically having...I would think of a JSON document as being a document (i.e. file) in JSON format, in which case anything goes according to the spec, but you make a good point about document stores typically having more restrictions on what's allowed.
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Comment on How many valid JSON strings are there? in ~comp
Johz Link ParentI think some parsers only accept objects or arrays (because 99% of the time that's what you want), and some formats like Toml that are essentially based on the JSON data structure might only allow...I think some parsers only accept objects or arrays (because 99% of the time that's what you want), and some formats like Toml that are essentially based on the JSON data structure might only allow objects at the top level, but spec JSON is very flexible.
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Comment on How many valid JSON strings are there? in ~comp
Johz Link ParentI'm not sure that's true. According to the spec, a JSON document is an element, which is a value surrounded by optional whitespace, and value can be a primitive, an array, or an object. Unless you...I'm not sure that's true. According to the spec, a JSON document is an
element, which is avaluesurrounded by optional whitespace, andvaluecan be a primitive, an array, or an object.Unless you are using "JSON document" in a very specific way here, but I've not come across it before like that.
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Comment on Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-through after man orders 18,000 waters in ~food
Johz Link ParentFuzzing is about putting a big variety of different inputs into a system and identifying the inputs that produce weird or unexpected outputs. In theory, it's really good at finding bugs of the...Fuzzing is about putting a big variety of different inputs into a system and identifying the inputs that produce weird or unexpected outputs. In theory, it's really good at finding bugs of the "wall jumping" kind, where one particular unexpected input at the wrong moment produces bad results.
The difficulty is figuring out how to hook up the output of the fuzzer (basically a stream of random bytes) to the inputs of the system you're trying to test. Fuzzers mostly work best when the subject under test has a clear, reproducible "input -> output" structure, whereas games have a more complex "input + state + time -> output". But for complex software like compilers or databases, fuzzers are great at finding the sorts of bugs that a QA team might occasionally stumble onto.
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Comment on What are your favorite and least favorite airports? in ~transport
Johz LinkI've been enjoying flying from BER recently. There's a train station directly in the airport that's very accessible, and they've got the new scanners that make security very comfortable and...I've been enjoying flying from BER recently. There's a train station directly in the airport that's very accessible, and they've got the new scanners that make security very comfortable and relaxed. There are drinking fountains (never enough, but I know where they are now), and it's fairly easy to find your gate and fairly comfortable once you're there. It gets the basics right, and I think that should be more appreciated, because I've been through a lot of airports that can't even manage that...
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Comment on What are your favorite and least favorite airports? in ~transport
Johz Link ParentManchester Airports Group - they own Manchester and Stansted (and I thought Birmingham was well, but apparently only East Midlands), and they are all awful. I used to have to fly through a...Manchester Airports Group - they own Manchester and Stansted (and I thought Birmingham was well, but apparently only East Midlands), and they are all awful. I used to have to fly through a Manchester a lot, and Terminal 3 there is basically like you describe at Stansted, but without even the shopping mall - just high security labyrinths where you hope a plane will appear at some point.
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Comment on What are your favorite and least favorite airports? in ~transport
Johz Link ParentTegel was like this for a long time as well, until it got replaced by the new airport. Each gate had its own waiting area and security setup. In some ways it was more convenient because you only...Tegel was like this for a long time as well, until it got replaced by the new airport. Each gate had its own waiting area and security setup. In some ways it was more convenient because you only need to go through security for your gate, which means fewer people, but also each gate was much less efficient and the costs were surely enormous to staff each gate separately like that.
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Comment on What are your favorite and least favorite airports? in ~transport
Johz Link ParentThem's fighting words! Every time I've come through Frankfurt, I've got lost getting in or out of the building, or wandering between locations. The last time, I was looking for a particular...FRA
Them's fighting words!
Every time I've come through Frankfurt, I've got lost getting in or out of the building, or wandering between locations. The last time, I was looking for a particular station, and I, along with multiple other, independent groups of people, ended up missing it because we needed to go through a closed, unmarked service door to get to the right place.
The rest of the airport is fine - I'm not a fan of the food, but for airport food it isn't the worst, and like you say, you get some good views of the planes - but I just don't understand their complete inability to put basic signage up to show you where you're going!
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Comment on Forums are still alive, active, and a treasure trove of information in ~tech
Johz Link ParentThe forums I used to use often had strict rules about signatures, where images were completely disabled and there was a max height of four lines. This gave you enough space to create a unique...The forums I used to use often had strict rules about signatures, where images were completely disabled and there was a max height of four lines. This gave you enough space to create a unique identity out of the signature, but still avoided too much chaos.
That said, I can't imagine signatures really working in a threaded environment, partly because the width of the message changes so much, and partly because threaded discussions are often compressed into much smaller space than flat discussions.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~music
Johz LinkTry looking in second hand shops or charity shops, perhaps? When I was a kid (~30 years ago), my parents had a record player with various children's records that I'm told we used to listen to (as...Try looking in second hand shops or charity shops, perhaps? When I was a kid (~30 years ago), my parents had a record player with various children's records that I'm told we used to listen to (as well as other records as well). Most of those have ended up in various charity shops, or possibly online.
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Comment on How social media shortens your life in ~tech
Johz Link ParentI was also a voracious reader as a kid, and much like YouTube videos, I feel like there's both the edifying kind and the unedifying ones that just eat away your time without adding anything of...I was also a voracious reader as a kid, and much like YouTube videos, I feel like there's both the edifying kind and the unedifying ones that just eat away your time without adding anything of value. I do think it is harder to read books than it is to watch a YouTube video, which means that I'm less likely to get trapped in a "book hole" like I might get trapped in a YouTube hole, but I think in both cases what's needed is discernment.
For YouTube, I simply blocked YouTube Shorts entirely (I think via a ublock query I found somewhere). The edifying/draining ratio is just too low that I do not want to see those videos ever. For the rest of YouTube, I try and notice how I feel after having watched a video. If I'm not really making it to the end, or at the end of it I just feel a bit dull, then I know not to watch more of those sorts of videos. In some cases I've unsubscribed from channels or even blocked them on YouTube to keep my feed a bit cleaner with videos I'm actually enjoying.
I'm intrigued how people actually use these tags. For me, they're mostly just noise that I blend out, and if I needed to do some sort of filtering, I'd probably just filter by group rather than think about tags. But presumably there are people using them - what sort of tagging structure works best for you guys? Or is this just a write-only feature?