Jordan117's recent activity

  1. Comment on A Nazi tattoo exposes US Democrats’ greatest weakness in ~society

    Jordan117
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    The terminally-online more-progressive-than-thou types calling him a Nazi tick me off so much. For one thing, the rise of the far-right around the world shows that branding somebody a "Nazi" (even...

    The terminally-online more-progressive-than-thou types calling him a Nazi tick me off so much. For one thing, the rise of the far-right around the world shows that branding somebody a "Nazi" (even accurately!) is not the rhetorical killshot it should be. But more to the point, we have over a dozen years of his pre-politics internet comments to trawl through for evidence of his beliefs. And while I see a lot of edgy ex-military banter and disappointing but fairly normie levels of sexism/racism/homophobia, I do not see evidence of hateful bigotry or extremist white nationalism. If anything, he very clearly denounces Nazis, genocide, Trumpism, etc., while embracing more left-wing/anti-fascist philosophy. The idea of him being a dumb drunk twentysomething jarhead who got the tattoo because it looked cool and then either never realized the symbolism or (more likely) did but felt un-implicated because that's not why he got it feels far more likely given that history.

    Now, that doesn't mean he has great judgment, is electable against Collins, or would make a good senator versus his primary opponents. But he's obviously not a Nazi, and insisting he is (and that anyone who doesn't automatically reject him is a Nazi, too) is self-defeatingly stupid when he has a double-digit lead among Maine Democrats right now.

    7 votes

  2. Comment on Halo: Campaign Evolved | The Silent Cartographer – Thirteen minute gameplay demo in ~games

    Jordan117
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    I am honored to give this post its se7enth upvote.

    I am honored to give this post its se7enth upvote.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on At least twenty-five US states plan to cut off food aid benefits in November in ~society

    Jordan117
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    I don't understand articles like this. Why would they do the journalistic legwork to contact so many states agencies, put the number of confirmed no's in the headline, and then just... not share...

    I don't understand articles like this. Why would they do the journalistic legwork to contact so many states agencies, put the number of confirmed no's in the headline, and then just... not share the list of states? Even if it's likely they're all a no and only 25 responded in time, that's not necessarily something every reader will know about.

    It's like doing a radio announcement about local school closures and just saying the number that are closing.

    28 votes

  4. Comment on Updated 2025 fall vaccine guide in ~health

    Jordan117
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    I thought the "new and improved" guidelines limited COVID shots for under-65 adults to those with specific health conditions. Did that change?

    I thought the "new and improved" guidelines limited COVID shots for under-65 adults to those with specific health conditions. Did that change?

    1 vote

  5. Comment on The Oatmeal: A cartoonist's review of AI art in ~comics

    Jordan117
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    I'm talking about the entire middle section where he calls "middle managers, executives, or marketers" who think that AI tools give them a way to express creative ideas "shitbirds" and "talentless...

    I'm talking about the entire middle section where he calls "middle managers, executives, or marketers" who think that AI tools give them a way to express creative ideas "shitbirds" and "talentless fucking losers." That people with jobs like "Chief Brand Ambassador" ("or whatever the fuck their job title is") cannot possibly be "storytellers" because they "work in tech". It's of a piece with the sort of thinking you see from AI critics all the time that assumes that people interested in AI (or in the industry broadly) do not have -- or cannot possibly have -- any creative spark, and that any claim to it is worthy of ridicule. It's a really ugly, exclusionary sentiment.

    It's also telling that he excuses his own use of AI for "administrative" stuff like backgrounds that he finds dull and unrewarding. Well guess what guy: not everybody enjoys the grind of practice or investing in physical supplies, and some see the actual process of drawing/painting/sculpting to be as tedious as syncing lip movements in animation or cross-hatching a dark background for the 10,000th time. They like AI because it gives them a way to immediately translate the vision they have in their head to something real, and just because it's a shortcut or not entirely under their control doesn't mean it has zero worth.

    I do wonder how people will react if and when we get to the point that generative AI can directly capture the visual images we have in our heads, perhaps through some kind of brain-computer interface. Imagine being able to record memories or dreams to video with the fidelity of Veo or Sora. It would be the purest route from thought to expression in the history of art, and yet I bet there would still be people saying it's tainted or that pure imagination is lazy and doesn't count.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on The Oatmeal: A cartoonist's review of AI art in ~comics

    Jordan117
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    Disappointing take. For one thing, it indulges a bit too much in the gross "ugh, now the worthless talentless PLEBES will be sullying Art with pretensions of sophistication" gatekeeping, which...
    • Exemplary

    Disappointing take. For one thing, it indulges a bit too much in the gross "ugh, now the worthless talentless PLEBES will be sullying Art with pretensions of sophistication" gatekeeping, which kind of undermines his later point about any effort, even scribbles, being worthwhile.

    But it also completely overlooks the fact that not all use of AI in art is of the format "insert prompt, receive finished product." For one thing, many artists have already begun experimenting with models fine tuned on their own work, so every output is by definition a reflection of their own artistry. See "A Love Letter to LA," for instance, which took the art of Paul Flores, trained a LORA on his portfolio, and used a different model to extrapolate the resulting assets into 3D (something which Adobe's new Turntable tool makes available publicly). Also, advanced AI tools like ComfyUI let artists endlessly iterate, curate, selectively edit, and recombine AI-generated elements in highly intentional ways, which clearly puts a human stamp on the result.

    Ultimately, the creative possibilities of these tools outweigh the downsides (which are a problem of capitalism, not technology). And people who insist on focusing on strawmen like "it's lazy" or "oh no, now Bob in HR thinks he's an artist" remind me of similar pushback against digital art from traditional artists. Or AutoTune. Or modern art. Or photography. Etc.

    22 votes

  7. Comment on A better way to watch YouTube in ~tech

    Jordan117
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    I do the opposite of this and my experience has always been pretty great, to the point that I wonder what everyone else is doing wrong. My "process": Have a YouTube account since '06 (avoids...

    I do the opposite of this and my experience has always been pretty great, to the point that I wonder what everyone else is doing wrong.

    My "process":

    1. Have a YouTube account since '06 (avoids spurious age checks)
    2. Leave history on to help build a recommendation profile and make finding old videos easier
    3. Like/add to Favorites playlist often (but only stuff I both actually like and want to see more of)
    4. For stuff I definitely want to see, subscribe to the channel with the "notify for all" setting
    5. On the rare occasion I get a bad recommendation, use the "not interested -> I don't like this" feedback, or block the channel for extreme offenders
    6. If I ever watch a video I don't want "infecting" my algo, make sure to do it in incognito or manually remove it from my watch history

    My homepage ends up being a good mix of content I'm likely to enjoy, with short-term interests occasionally taking over maybe half the slots before burning out on their own. It's even good about recognizing context -- for ex, my iPhone app pushes short-form videos, while my TV leans more toward 10-20+ minute content.

    Ofc, the biggest QoL improvement is to either pay for YouTube Premium Lite or use an adblocker or modded client like YTLitePlus (iOS) or SmartTube (TV).

    17 votes

  8. Comment on Why does this happen? in ~tech

  9. Comment on Tildes, I need your advice. Looking for Nintendo Switch 1 and NS2 games. in ~games

    Jordan117
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    Katamari Damacy! :D A cult classic Japanese puzzle game where you have to roll a magical sticky ball around cluttered environments, gradually rolling up larger and larger objects from pencils and...

    Katamari Damacy! :D

    A cult classic Japanese puzzle game where you have to roll a magical sticky ball around cluttered environments, gradually rolling up larger and larger objects from pencils and thumbtacks all the way up to skyscrapers and mountains.

    The original is a timeless classic -- the simplified blocky graphics and oddly surreal, fever-dream vibe have aged really well, and the core tactile gameplay remains unique, intuitive, and fun. Plus it's got one of the greatest, most joyful soundtracks of all time. It's one of very few video games in the permanent collection of the MoMA (along with other design masterpieces like Tetris, Portal, and SimCity 2000) and it absolutely deserves it.

    For the Switch, there are three titles available:

    It's probably my favorite game of all time, a thing of beauty to play, watch, or listen. Highly recommended.

    9 votes

  10. Comment on Jimmy Kimmel pulled “indefinitely” by ABC after Charlie Kirk comments in ~tv

    Jordan117
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    Sinclair owns a bunch of local ABC affiliate stations (they were the ones responsible for mandating that creepy "This is extremely dangerous to our democracy" script on dozens of local news channels).

    Sinclair owns a bunch of local ABC affiliate stations (they were the ones responsible for mandating that creepy "This is extremely dangerous to our democracy" script on dozens of local news channels).

    18 votes

  11. Comment on Which directors have a flawless filmography? in ~movies

    Jordan117
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    Really? I thought his character was portrayed rather refreshingly, clearly there for national security reasons but willing to hear out the experts and follow their lead (which is why that one...

    Really? I thought his character was portrayed rather refreshingly, clearly there for national security reasons but willing to hear out the experts and follow their lead (which is why that one conspiracy-addled soldier cracked). The CIA/NSA-type guy and the Chinese general were shown as much more aggressive and hostile (though even the general came around in the end).

    1 vote

  12. Comment on MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing in ~tech

    Jordan117
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    As wild as the pro-AI hype is, there's an equally committed skeptic side that can be just as misleading, and this headline is a great example of it. Read the source article, or better yet the MIT...

    As wild as the pro-AI hype is, there's an equally committed skeptic side that can be just as misleading, and this headline is a great example of it. Read the source article, or better yet the MIT study it's based on, and the sentiment is much different -- basically, there's widespread use of general AI tools at the individual level, and they've significantly boosted productivity and in some cases saved millions in costs, but enterprise-level pilots that impose some sort of integration from the top-down are brittle, fail often, and rarely translate into measurable savings. Which makes sense, given ChatGPT itself is less than three years old and most CEOs are casting about for flashy customer-facing implementations without fully understanding how to get the most out of it internally.

    IMHO, the more troubling thing is that the most effective/flexible approach (personal use of general AI tools in the workplace) requires handing sensitive internal material to a third party.

    25 votes

  13. Comment on Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it's shutting down after Donald Trump-led cancellation of US federal funding in ~society

    Jordan117
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    The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced that it’s shutting down after nearly six decades.

    The move to wind down by CPB — which has provided funding to PBS and NPR — comes after President Trump led a successful effort to defund public media. In mid-July, Congress approved Trump’s rescission package, which cut $1.1 billion in funding for CPB over the next two years that had previously been approved.

    14 votes

  15. Comment on Eight Billion Genies - Issue 1 in ~comics

    Jordan117
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    Great series. The ending really reminds me of the final lines of Roadside Picnic: [spoilers] The protagonist, after a harrowing journey through a dangerous alien landscape, finally finds the...

    Great series. The ending really reminds me of the final lines of Roadside Picnic:

    [spoilers] The protagonist, after a harrowing journey through a dangerous alien landscape, finally finds the wish-granting Golden Sphere. After dwelling on dark feelings of revenge against his enemies, he approaches it and pleads:

    “I am an animal, you see that. I don't have the words, they didn't teach me the words. I don't know how to think, the bastards didn't let me learn how to think. But if you really are… all-powerful… all-knowing… then you figure it out! Look into my heart. I know that everything you need is in there. It has to be. I never sold my soul to anyone! It's mine, it's human! You take from me what it is I want… it just can't be that I would want something bad! Damn it all, I can't think of anything, except those words of his… HAPPINESS FOR EVERYONE, FREELY, AND LET NO ONE BE LEFT BEHIND!

    There's something really beautiful about a person at the end of everything facing God, or a djinn, or some other limitless power, and just begging for something so artless and selfless.

    5 votes

  16. Comment on The America Party in ~society

  17. Comment on US Senate passes Donald Trump’s megabill after pulling all-nighter in ~society

    Jordan117
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    Dems don't have the votes to stop bills, lack the right's vast propaganda apparatus, and don't control any branch of government; they're only the Uvalde cops if they're also disarmed. I disagree...

    Dems don't have the votes to stop bills, lack the right's vast propaganda apparatus, and don't control any branch of government; they're only the Uvalde cops if they're also disarmed. I disagree with what (a handful of) centrists have said about the mayor's race, but they're doing it because they fear what's popular in NYC won't play well in their districts. (Billionaire donations go to campaigns, btw, not the candidate's wallet.)

    Also, that political compass test is pseudoscientific horseshit designed to support self-defeating "both sides are the same" apathy. For example, compare their 2020 "analysis" with their archived version from 2008. They purport Biden '20 was significantly more auth/right than 2008 (putting him alongside fundamentalist Mike Huckabee and nativist Tom Tancredo) despite his 2020 campaign being objectively more progressive on every front. Yet they have the much more centrist Biden '08 primary campaign halfway between Harris and Warren. There's a reason they make these comparisons hard to find and refuse to explain their so-called methodology.

    9 votes

  18. Comment on Disney and Universal vs. Midjourney: A landmark copyright fight over genAI in ~tech

    Jordan117
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    If Disney wins this, it won't destroy AI image generation as a whole, only models like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion trained on the entire web, limiting access to companies large enough to own...

    If Disney wins this, it won't destroy AI image generation as a whole, only models like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion trained on the entire web, limiting access to companies large enough to own or license their own training data. So all the downsides of AI media, but with bonus mandatory corporate gatekeeping and rent-seeking.

    AI isn't going away, so the best outcome is distributing its power as widely as possible instead of concentrating power even further. IMHO, that means ruling that any AI media is, by definition, public domain. From the Commons it comes, and to the Commons it must return.

    23 votes

  19. Comment on Cybernews research team has uncovered over sixteen billion leaked records since the start of 2025 in ~tech

    Jordan117
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    Pretty unlikely; they have among the most hardened security in the world and I don't think either of them have ever suffered a mass data breach. Credentials have been exposed, ofc, but only...

    Pretty unlikely; they have among the most hardened security in the world and I don't think either of them have ever suffered a mass data breach. Credentials have been exposed, ofc, but only through user-facing phishing, malware, etc.

    3 votes

  20. Comment on Cybernews research team has uncovered over sixteen billion leaked records since the start of 2025 in ~tech

    Jordan117
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    That's generally pretty safe, but there is the possibility of your machine getting infected by malware or more often the website itself suffering a data beach.

    That's generally pretty safe, but there is the possibility of your machine getting infected by malware or more often the website itself suffering a data beach.

    2 votes