Johz's recent activity
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Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news
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Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news
Johz Link ParentAh, thanks for clarifying that. Yes, I think there are very limited routes for claiming asylum in the UK from outside the UK. The key point here, though, is that there are other refugee schemes...Ah, thanks for clarifying that. Yes, I think there are very limited routes for claiming asylum in the UK from outside the UK. The key point here, though, is that there are other refugee schemes that the UK does (or at least did) take part in, and that these account for a significant proportion of the total number of refugees who end up in the UK each year. To talk solely in terms of asylum is to miss the larger picture here.
(To be clear, the UK could and should be doing a lot more, but I think it's reasonable to ask whether the asylum process is the best way for that to happen.)
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Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news
Johz Link ParentInterestingly, looking solely at UNHCR resettlement schemes (this doesn't include e.g. the Ukrainian resettlement scheme and some Afghan resettlement schemes), the UK is up near the top for...Interestingly, looking solely at UNHCR resettlement schemes (this doesn't include e.g. the Ukrainian resettlement scheme and some Afghan resettlement schemes), the UK is up near the top for countries resettling individuals. This has changed a lot since the pandemic, and more recently the UK has focused mainly on the non-UNHCR schemes, so I agree that the situation could be improved, but it's one of the things we should be proud of.
In particular, in 2023, the UK took in more people via safe and legal routes than via asylum. In fairness, this was mainly due to the large number of Ukrainian refugees, but it was a surprising statistic for me.
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Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news
Johz Link ParentThat's not quite the same statistic, and in fairness, this is a place where it's often quite difficult to get a good measure of what's going on because the system is complicated. 2% is the number...That's not quite the same statistic, and in fairness, this is a place where it's often quite difficult to get a good measure of what's going on because the system is complicated.
2% is the number of people who originally crossed via small boats to the UK and have been returned to their home countries. But around 33% of people have their asylum application denied - the other ~30% have not been deported yet. (This is typically for various reasons — it takes time to deport people, and asylum seekers also have the ability to appeal their decisions, which means that someone can have their application denied, but still be in a pending state.)
According to the Parliament briefing on asylum statistics, three quarters of people appeal after their application has been denied, and a third of those who appeal succeed. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how this factors into the 33% statistic (i.e. whether that's "denied at any point" or "denied in the first round of decision"). It should be noted, though, that appeals often succeed on technicalities — the immigration system and the courts are both completely swamped, leading to plenty of process errors that render the initial decisions invalid.
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Comment on Rooftop solar panels are flooding California’s grid. That’s a problem. in ~enviro
Johz Link ParentStoring electricity is hard. There are various ways to do it, but they tend to be expensive, and often location-dependent (for example, a hydro battery that stores energy by using it to pump water...Storing electricity is hard. There are various ways to do it, but they tend to be expensive, and often location-dependent (for example, a hydro battery that stores energy by using it to pump water into a high place, and provides energy by letting that water fall back down again).
There are lots of improvements in this area happening right now, so hopefully in the future it'll be easier to say "oh, just put it in a battery", but right now that's not really feasible, at least not in the sort of bulk that is useful to large-scale national grids.
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Comment on You can now translate sign language automatically with these amazing Raspberry Pi glasses in ~tech
Johz LinkThis is a cool project, it's one that a lot of people seem to do as a uni project with various focuses. It's a cool idea and it's interesting to see how different people approach this idea. I like...This is a cool project, it's one that a lot of people seem to do as a uni project with various focuses. It's a cool idea and it's interesting to see how different people approach this idea. I like the idea of using a Pi to get this to work in a relatively affordable way.
That said, it's not really feasible that any of these "recognise individual symbols" approaches will produce good or useful results, because that's not really how sign languages work. It's like trying to translate English to Chinese by converting each word individually and expecting the result to make sense.
My guess is that a big blocker here is the relative lack of written sign language. There are some written forms of different sign languages, but I don't believe they're widely used. A lot of translation tools use public domain documents written in multiple languages to train on, for example EU legal documents which are often translated into all official languages within the EU. But that corpus of data doesn't exist for written forms of sign languages, so the training data for converting whole sentences from one form to another just isn't there.
A better approach might be to take sign-translated, subtitled TV broadcasts and use those as the two sides of the training data. But I suspect those would be fairly complex to analyse and train on. And at that point, you'd probably start running into the limitations of computer vision for quick, complex movements. But I suspect it's a more viable path in general to translating semantic meaning, rather than just letter-for-letter or word-for-word translation.
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Comment on DEADLETTER - Mere Mortal (2024) in ~music
Johz LinkI'll need to listen to this a bit more to warm up to it, I think — my problem with DEADLETTER is that Binge was such a good track that I'm always a bit disappointed when I hear other songs by...I'll need to listen to this a bit more to warm up to it, I think — my problem with DEADLETTER is that Binge was such a good track that I'm always a bit disappointed when I hear other songs by them. But it looks like their first album will come out in September, so there's something to look forward to!
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Comment on Is Tildes failing to thrive? in ~tildes
Johz Link ParentTo provide the counter argument: I want to see people's comments here, and I think the culture of people self-policing their comments hurts that. I'm part of a number of forums where this sort of...To provide the counter argument: I want to see people's comments here, and I think the culture of people self-policing their comments hurts that. I'm part of a number of forums where this sort of thing happens, and usually what ends up is that the same people post every time and become the high profile "power users" who will, in fairness, put a lot of effort into their posts, but those posts are usually very similar and repetitive because they're all coming from the same people.
I'd much rather read a bunch of less useful comments from a wide range of commenters than the same set of comments from a handful of names that comment on every single post. So even if you don't think your comment is valuable, I would still sincerely appreciate it!
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Comment on ‘We are full’: the rebirth of Europe’s sleeper trains in ~transport
Johz Link ParentYour experience seems quite different to mine. In my experience, flying around Europe, it's usually possible to get from the airport to the nearest city centre in about half an hour, and it rarely...Your experience seems quite different to mine. In my experience, flying around Europe, it's usually possible to get from the airport to the nearest city centre in about half an hour, and it rarely costs that much extra. In fairness, often the city where I'm landing isn't where I actually want to be, and I need to get on a train for another few hours, but this has also been my experience with night trains as well: if the train doesn't exactly link up the cities you're interested in, then you'll have to add in extra travel time to accommodate getting between those cities and where the train goes.
I also disagree with your assessment that (a) a night train costs the same as a night in a hotel room (at least, not the sort of hotels I stay at, maybe I don't treat myself enough), and (b) that one ends up well-rested as a result. Like, it's not a bad night's sleep, but it's loud and the seats aren't particularly comfortable. If you're in a shared compartment, it's very hit and miss. It's probably a lot better if you get a proper sleeping compartment, but those are expensive - now we're way beyond the hotel room comparison!
I'm sorry if this is coming across as overly negative - I'm a big fan of travelling by train, and I regularly gush about the night trains I've been on to friends and colleagues - but there's something about this comment that rubs me the wrong way. There's enough great about rail travel that we can sell it on what it's good at, not try and sell it as something else that it isn't.
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Comment on The internet used to be ✨fun✨ in ~tech
Johz Link ParentThat's something pretty recent, as I understand it, I think it's connected to the last big event they were running. I'm sure NationStates will be back. But I don't want to just go back and relive...That's something pretty recent, as I understand it, I think it's connected to the last big event they were running. I'm sure NationStates will be back.
But I don't want to just go back and relive part of a time in my life that is over - the people there will be different, I'll be different, the things we'd do will be different. I could go back and create a new era in my life, but I don't really feel the need to do that - I've got plenty going on right now, I don't feel the need to add NationStates to that. But nostalgically, of course I want to go back, because I remember all the happy times from back then without any of the negative aspects.
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Comment on ‘We are full’: the rebirth of Europe’s sleeper trains in ~transport
Johz LinkMy partner and I have been getting into sleeper trains (and rail transport in general) a lot more recently. We've specifically been using European Sleeper to get from where we live to the UK (or...My partner and I have been getting into sleeper trains (and rail transport in general) a lot more recently. We've specifically been using European Sleeper to get from where we live to the UK (or at least to Brussels and the Eurostar).
The actual sleeper train is quite nice - we've not been in a bed compartment yet, but the couchettes are nice, and you can rent out a whole sitting compartment for two people and then it works mostly the same as a couchette. It's loud and not the most comfortable night in the world, but it's very convenient to turn up at one station in the evening and be in another country by morning ready to start the day.
Unfortunately in our case, the next day is usually a second day of travelling. The big problem here is that you've got to plan delays in, which means having big 2-3 hour buffers between each leg of the journey. These buffers often eat as much time up as the train routes themselves - and, especially for the sleeper train, are often necessary, as you'll get a short-notice email that the train will be running an hour late, and you'd better hope you've packed in enough time to eat and get your bags and passports scanned at the station.
The difficulty is comparing this to flying, which takes much less time, and is significantly cheaper. There are some benefits to the train - you don't need to have decided what bags you want to take several months in advance, and security is a breeze compared to airport security - but it's very clearly a luxury choice that we're making here. We want to visit a different country, we want to take the train, and so we pay for these privileges.
The cost makes sense - laying down the infrastructure for trains is so much more expensive than slapping a new airport down in the middle of nowhere*, and it's very clear that the current amount of money being spent on infrastructure is not enough (or at least, it isn't being spent efficiently enough). But it's still expensive, and I can't imagine that changing any time soon - if anything, it seems more likely that taxes on airlines will make travelling abroad more expensive for everyone.
* Berlin excepted
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Comment on The internet used to be ✨fun✨ in ~tech
Johz LinkI'm really sceptical of this idea that the internet was better in the good old days. For me at least, most of the change seems to have come as much from myself as from the internet. If I tried to...I'm really sceptical of this idea that the internet was better in the good old days. For me at least, most of the change seems to have come as much from myself as from the internet. If I tried to go back to the "good old days", I'd just end up disappointed - indeed I have tried it a couple of times.
When I was a teenager, my internet hub was NationStates, which is an online political simulation game created by the author Max Barry to promote a book he'd written. The core gameplay is pretty light - you get 1-2 decisions to make each real-time day, then you choose a response and your nation has its stats updated to reflect the decision you made. But on top of that there was a lively community that built all sorts of minigames on top of that idea, mostly different forms of roleplaying, but also there was a guild mechanic that allowed "raiders" to invade other guilds and overthrow their leaders; a UN-like concept where you could write resolutions that affected everyone's nations; and an active off-topic forum.
The point is, there was a lot to do, and between the ages of about 15-20, I spent a lot of time there. Particularly when I went to University, I was involved a lot of the "defending" minigame, which involved a lot of hanging around on IRC at very specific times of the day, waiting for things to happen then pressing buttons very quickly when they did. And by hanging around on IRC, chatting with people in the off-topic forums, and occasionally, very badly, roleplaying, I had a bit of a community - people who knew my name, and whose names I knew (and still know). I really appreciated that time, and for me that was the heart of the old internet, at least as I knew it.
Then I moved on, I ended up mainly browsing Reddit, and at some point I just stopped interacting with NationStates. (I think part of that was scrambling my password at one point to prevent myself from logging on while I was revising for exams?) And moving on was sad and I miss a lot of the people there, but it was also around the right time where I was doing other things. NationStates still exists - they've just had a big event where everyone crashed the servers, so it sounds like nothing much has changed! - but I don't know that I want to go back. I don't want the community aspect that I had before, because I've got new communities, mostly offline, and I don't feel the need to rebuild that on NationStates.
Ultimately, I've moved on - not necessarily "grown out" of NationStates, but I'm just not in that exact state in my life any more. And going back would just be trying to resurrect the old feelings that I had, which seems like a futile exercise in itself.
I feel like a lot of these "new old internet" projects - Tildes included - aren't necessary rebuilding that particular period of the internet for me, they're instead starting new smaller communities. And sure, the internet used to be made of smaller communities, but I think this is a weak link to the past. In a lot of other ways - the things we talk about, the people we are, the time people are willing to spend on these sites, etc - these new sites are completely different. That's not necessarily a bad thing - there's no point debating the merits of Ron Paul 2012 over a decade after that happened! - but it also means that trying to bring back those older communities feels like a fool's errand.
Sorry, this is a bit long. I think I really just miss NationStates...
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Comment on Is there interest in a board game-focused Discord server? in ~games.tabletop
Johz LinkI'd be interested in that sort of thing — there's all sorts of games that I'd like to try out more, but don't really have the group for.I'd be interested in that sort of thing — there's all sorts of games that I'd like to try out more, but don't really have the group for.
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Comment on Are we watching the internet die? in ~tech
Johz Link ParentI think "often" here is doing a lot of legwork. Outside of software specifically created by academia, for academia, I am really struggling to think of anything that is built and funded by...Universities are still producing best-in-class software (see Incommon tooling for identity management) that often outpaces commercial offerings.
I think "often" here is doing a lot of legwork. Outside of software specifically created by academia, for academia, I am really struggling to think of anything that is built and funded by universities, that is better than a commercial alternative. I think what makes that particularly difficult is that most things that do well in academic circles tends to get spun off into a separate company and operate commercially anyway.
You mention Incommon, which in fairness I hadn't heard of, but it feels like the exception that proves the rule here.
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Comment on An opinion on current technological trends in ~tech
Johz Link ParentI commented somewhere else, but I don't hate Discord overall, I find it very useful and it's where my friends are, so I use it. I just hate that one message, and the UX decisions behind it.I commented somewhere else, but I don't hate Discord overall, I find it very useful and it's where my friends are, so I use it. I just hate that one message, and the UX decisions behind it.
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Comment on An opinion on current technological trends in ~tech
Johz Link ParentIt's not the update themself — I agree that that's cool. It's that when I get an update (ironically, I just got one now), I'm usually opening Discord to chat with a friend, and instead I have to...It's not the update themself — I agree that that's cool. It's that when I get an update (ironically, I just got one now), I'm usually opening Discord to chat with a friend, and instead I have to open my browser, download the update, wait for the download to finish, apply the update, wait for the update to be applied, restart Discord, wait for Discord to do its own updating mechanism, etc.
In other words, when I get the "it's your lucky day" message, it is not my lucky day — I am being prevented from doing the thing I want to do right now. And that is completely incongruent with the message, which is cheery and positive, and telling me I should be happy, even as its presenting an obstruction to my path.
To be clear, I completely understand the technical side of this. I am not generally opposed to them forcing me to apply an update every so often before I can start Discord. (It would be nice if they let me apply updates in my own time, but I understand that this makes things technically more complex, particularly for an application like Discord that is fundamentally connected to other servers and users.) If the message was purely informative ("you need to install a new update to continue", or even "we're sorry, but you need to install this update first") I would still be put out by having to do the update, but understanding of the situation.
But instead, a chore that I have to perform to do the thing I want to do is presented as a positive thing, and I find that UX decision particularly irritating and abrasive.
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Comment on An opinion on current technological trends in ~tech
Johz Link ParentI truly hate the "it's your lucky day" message I get every time I try and open Discord and find out there's a new necessary update to install, that I will need to manually download and install. I...I truly hate the "it's your lucky day" message I get every time I try and open Discord and find out there's a new necessary update to install, that I will need to manually download and install.
I get the need to update regularly, and that's not in of itself a problem, but the "it's your lucky day" message feels so snide and unwelcome. It is not my lucky day, my day is not somehow magically improved by you releasing a new version, especially when you only send me that message to let me know that I need to do work and wait around for the thing to be installed in the first place.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
Johz LinkI've heard so much about the Culture books, and now I've started reading them. I started with the first one (I later read that's not recommended, and I can really understand why). Now I'm reading...I've heard so much about the Culture books, and now I've started reading them. I started with the first one (I later read that's not recommended, and I can really understand why). Now I'm reading Player of Games.
I'm still fairly ambivalent towards them at the moment. On the one hand, there's some really interesting ideas in there, and I love the characterisation of the machines. On the other hand, the writing style feels really stilted, and I keep on waiting for the interesting stuff to start in the stories. I'm going to finish this book, but right now I'm not sure if I really want to keep on going with this series.
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Comment on Join me on the path to Twilightenment in ~books
Johz Link ParentWhat did you find particularly good about it?What did you find particularly good about it?
No worries, it's presented in a confusing way there! Yeah, I didn't quote the 75% number because I couldn't tell exactly where was percentage was coming from, and I didn't want to include overlapping groups there, but certainly the majority of cases in the UK will get approved.