LukeZaz's recent activity
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Comment on D6 TTRPG suggestions in ~games.tabletop
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Comment on Browser fingerprinting demonstration in ~comp
LukeZaz LinkThe page got a whole lot of things wrong about my machine, but that tends to happen when you have every possible fingerprinting prevention technique turned on in Firefox, including the...The page got a whole lot of things wrong about my machine, but that tends to happen when you have every possible fingerprinting prevention technique turned on in Firefox, including the experimental ones.
I'm not gonna be worried about this though. The only thing this reveals is that if someone really, really wants to track you, they can. Obscurity only works when there's sufficient disinterest, and that's not news. If we want greater privacy today, I don't think it'll happen by improving anti-fingerprinting tech — doing that without changing the incentives will probably just result in new fingerprinting techniques being developed.
(I also take little stock in this page because it was developed by someone who appears significantly too bought-in on AI, and I trust their work very little as a result. But that's secondary to the above.)
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentNobody needs a reason to oppose it – though as has been explained to you, they absolutely do and have given them – precisely because this is "symbolic." When talking about things we know to have...Nobody needs a reason to oppose it – though as has been explained to you, they absolutely do and have given them – precisely because this is "symbolic." When talking about things we know to have little to no benefit, opinion and emotion become what you weigh the decision on. Asking people to justify their opinion on such a thing is ridiculous at its face. You're asking people to justify why they like apples.
This is also serving to position neutrality as though it's in favor of the measure in question, as if to say "This doesn't make sense to fight over, so it should pass." That's not how neutrality works.
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Comment on Italy reimposes border controls on Spain after Ceuta migrant surge in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentThat's a fantastic change, yeah! I was trying to think of a closer analogy, but Florida was the best I got, and just kinda went with what I had.That's a fantastic change, yeah! I was trying to think of a closer analogy, but Florida was the best I got, and just kinda went with what I had.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentDoes it matter? A lot of people don't want it. If meaningful benefit isn't found, that should be enough.Does it matter? A lot of people don't want it. If meaningful benefit isn't found, that should be enough.
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Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentThat's the trap with these sorts of things. What they push for here may not be itself problematic, but it begs questions of why they're doing it. Why does New Zealand actually need to enshrine...That's the trap with these sorts of things. What they push for here may not be itself problematic, but it begs questions of why they're doing it. Why does New Zealand actually need to enshrine English as an official language if everyone's already using it? Are there actually laws that require "official languages" to be written down before certain things can happen? Would official documents not appear in English if it weren't marked "official"?
I suspect the answer to those latter two questions is usually "no," which means the reason for this law becomes suspiciously likely to be "I want to enshrine things I associate with white people into law, so as to subtly entangle the country's laws with my racism." So when you look into the person pushing for it, well... Go figure.
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Comment on Italy reimposes border controls on Spain after Ceuta migrant surge in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentI'm not accusing stu2b50 of believing this. I'm responding to their argument that this was a reasonable course of action, which involves addressing the reasoning implied by relevant governments,...I'm not accusing stu2b50 of believing this. I'm responding to their argument that this was a reasonable course of action, which involves addressing the reasoning implied by relevant governments, which in this case seems at least partially driven by racism.
But also, it's not as orthogonal as you'd think. 50,000 people is nothing when spread out across Spain alone, let alone three entire countries. How am I supposed to believe there would be any meaningful chaos beyond Ceuta? All the ideas I can come up with require a belief that the wave consisted primarily of people massively predisposed to violence. And that's just racism again.
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Comment on Italy reimposes border controls on Spain after Ceuta migrant surge in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentSure. It was also largely over by the time the restrictions were imposed. It should also be noted that Ceuta is across the Strait of Gibraltar, meaning you can't exactly walk to the rest of Spain...it's very much an exceptional event.
Sure. It was also largely over by the time the restrictions were imposed.
The move came after Spain said it had largely reversed the rush of migrants into Ceuta, with most of the more than 50,000 people who had crossed into the enclave returning voluntarily to Morocco.
It should also be noted that Ceuta is across the Strait of Gibraltar, meaning you can't exactly walk to the rest of Spain from there. That rather slows travel that otherwise might've happened.
Fundamentally though, it doesn't matter, as migrants are not evil. Failing to do a border check for them, even a lot of them, isn't going to cause anyone's country to combust,1 much less neighbors of the country that was actually affected. Much much less neighbors of those neighbors.
Most importantly, this is not a decision made by people having reasonable concerns. It's made by people known for hating immigration. There is a pattern here. I would find it incredibly hard to believe that this move is being done for any reason other than for appealing to racists.
1. Mass waves are rough since handling crowds is tough even in good circumstances, which is why this was absolutely a problem for Ceuta specifically. Absolutely none of that is relevant for France or Italy however, and I doubt even the rest of Spain will have to care.
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Comment on Italy reimposes border controls on Spain after Ceuta migrant surge in ~society
LukeZaz Link ParentAccording to the article, apparently they can, if only temporarily: It doesn't help that apparently France's interior minister is agreeing and has also restricted the French border with Spain: I...According to the article, apparently they can, if only temporarily:
The Schengen Area allows passport-free travel across 29 European countries, although member states can temporarily reintroduce border controls on security or public-order grounds.
It doesn't help that apparently France's interior minister is agreeing and has also restricted the French border with Spain:
Earlier on Friday, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced he had ordered increased controls at the border with Spain.
In a post on X, Nuñez wrote that local police and military units would be mobilized for the checks, and he commented in an interview with radio station RTL that he was in contact with Spanish authorities. “We have a mobile unit that is on duty around the clock,” he said.
French center-right presidential candidate Édouard Philippe also called for a “European response” to the crisis, but stressed that his country “must immediately strengthen control of our border with Spain. Not a single migrant must be allowed to enter national territory illegally.”
I cannot imagine hating other people this much, all just because they were born somewhere else.
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Comment on Italy reimposes border controls on Spain after Ceuta migrant surge in ~society
LukeZaz (edited )LinkFrom the article: [...] Edit: For reference, Ceuta is across the Strait of Gibraltar, and has no land connection with the rest of Spain. I don't know much local context, but this sounds absolutely...From the article:
ROME, July 31 (Reuters) - Italy said on Friday it was suspending the European Union's border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain for one month in response to a mass influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco.
However, the government said the measure would not affect Spanish or other EU citizens travelling to Italy and would instead involve targeted checks on non-EU nationals arriving from Spain by air or sea.
[...]
The move came after Spain said it had largely reversed the rush of migrants into Ceuta, with most of the more than 50,000 people who had crossed into the enclave returning voluntarily to Morocco.
Critics of Meloni's right-wing government dismissed the new border checks as largely symbolic, saying there was no indication that migrants arriving in Ceuta had any desire to travel onwards to Italy.
Meloni's coalition, which came to power in 2022 promising to reduce illegal immigration, has faced strong pressure from a new far-right party led by former army general Roberto Vannacci, whose anti-migrant rhetoric has resonated with some voters.
Edit: For reference, Ceuta is across the Strait of Gibraltar, and has no land connection with the rest of Spain.
I don't know much local context, but this sounds absolutely insane to me as an American. It feels like if I read news saying Arkansas suddenly started checking papers at interstate roadstops because of a wave of immigration three states over in Florida.
And I get the feeling that the "targeted checks" won't be so careful as they claim.
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Italy reimposes border controls on Spain after Ceuta migrant surge
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Comment on Game Pass was supposed to save Xbox – instead, it’s killing the company in ~games
LukeZaz Link ParentIt doesn't have to be simplistic at all to happen. I'm certain that the kind of situations that lead to bad math like that would have plenty of complexity to occur; it'd just be found more in the...It doesn't have to be simplistic at all to happen. I'm certain that the kind of situations that lead to bad math like that would have plenty of complexity to occur; it'd just be found more in the incentives and social structures more than the math itself.
Just one idea: The math is complicated and good, but the process of getting the resulting data to who needs to hear it gets that data ruined in the process. People play games of telephone, lose track of things, get interfered with by Goodhart's Law, etc. By the time the math gets to a decision-maker – much less us – it's been boiled down/tampered with to the point of near-uselessness.
It's worth noting that this analysis would apply more the larger a company is, too, as the data would have more hands in it and "farther to travel," so to speak.
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Comment on Critics slam Tim Hortons Harry Potter promotion as un-Canadian, anti-trans in ~food
LukeZaz Link ParentHuzzah! A vacation with their cat to the Alps it is :)This story idea is released into public domain, for anyone to use for any purpose.
Huzzah! A vacation with their cat to the Alps it is :)
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Comment on GOG confirm they are working towards GOG Galaxy on Linux in ~games
LukeZaz (edited )Link ParentI've gotta be honest here: This is a really bad response. Given what happened and their initial responses to it, and how those responses only worsened what happened and the context behind it, I...I've gotta be honest here: This is a really bad response. Given what happened and their initial responses to it, and how those responses only worsened what happened and the context behind it, I just don't buy this. Especially considering this is how it starts out:
Those symbols should not have been used in a GOG email. Whatever the intention was, and whatever the internal explanation is, the final result was wrong.
Emphasis mine. The founder is trying to phrase this like what happened was a mystery they haven't solved. Which would be bad; a month has passed, so if they still haven't figured out how something this nasty happened, that's not a good look, and it would make me wonder if they're taking it seriously!
But I don't think that's the case. Rather, we got at least one answer from GOG the same day this incident occurred. Hours later, we got a second one. So unless the owner is blind to what's happening in his own company, this just reads like trying to imply confusion and mystery where there is none. That's weasel behavior.
We also get a weird couple paragraphs that feel the need to spend a bunch of time on "any other destructive 'ism." Normally, I'd like this, as at its face it rejects awful ideologies and bigotries as a whole. But in this context, where we're looking at a very specific action that looks to be in support of the worst ideology yet seen, it feels like meandering waffle that serves only to muddy the waters and distract the conversation from what happened. It's not about just any "authoritarianism." It's about the Nazis, and the runes of theirs that GOG put in an email, knowingly, and still sent. If you want to make a good apology, you stay focused on what you're apologizing for.
But jumping from “GOG made a hurtful and stupid mistake” to “the people at GOG support fascism” is something else. That can hurt real people too, especially when the full context is missing.
When you do something this bad, and then when pressed, your official account tells everyone that you knew what you were doing but continued regardless, it becomes reasonable to conclude that you liked what you did. Framing this as though people were somehow "jumping" to conclusions is adding another layer of disingenuous behavior to an already dismal display.
The only thing I can grant to GOG is that it is still theoretically possible for all of this to happen and have it be accidental. But the more they've said on the matter, the harder it has been to believe that was what happened. If this was meant to ease my concerns, it has done the opposite. This is not what an apology looks like.
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentI actually agree with you here. Computers themselves have practically become an overapplied technology at this point. Usually in service of privacy invasion, no less. When I mention vital...I actually agree with you here. Computers themselves have practically become an overapplied technology at this point. Usually in service of privacy invasion, no less.
When I mention vital software, I'm thinking of things like cybersecurity, medical software, or heavy machinery operation — the kind of stuff that causes severe issues when it breaks, and I only bring that up as an example. The actual point is that mentally or morally checking out of your job is a great way to end up doing something negligent-at-best without realizing it, and as such you should never just give up and say "well, what can I do?"
It's not even necessarily a case of making a mistake, either. Some companies do awful shit, and folks who shrug their shoulders at it serve only to make that all the worse.
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentI appreciate the sentiment,1 but: From the article: As I stated in my original post in this thread, choosing to use AI contributes to usage metrics, which in turn is used to justify further...I appreciate the sentiment,1 but:
I would argue AI at the job you describe isn't the thing making the “world worse” in the context of that job.
From the article:
[...] Generative AI tools, powered by data centers which consume vast amounts of water and pollute our environment, are built on the collective theft of the works of millions of artists, developers, authors, and other creatives, supercharge the spread of disinformation and fascism, have repeatedly provoked psychosis and suicide, and concentrate wealth in fewer hands while providing cover for widespread layoffs.
As I stated in my original post in this thread, choosing to use AI contributes to usage metrics, which in turn is used to justify further overexpansion, risk, and community harm. And when the individual impacts of deskilling, psychosis, or just plain being confidently wrong are thrown into the mix, I think it is very much fair to say that AI use writ large makes the world worse.
With the sole exception of researching the tech's impact on people, I don't think responsible AI usage can exist while the hype bubble's still going. It's just not possible to opt out of the economy like that.
1. Although I'm wondering a bit if you've confused me for the article's author?
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentI don't think it's generally a good idea to dismiss issues by applying a binary thinking to them of "did it exist before, yes or no?" It ignores the degree to which these issues existed in the...I don't think it's generally a good idea to dismiss issues by applying a binary thinking to them of "did it exist before, yes or no?" It ignores the degree to which these issues existed in the past versus now, and in doing so leaves a blindness to the problem, both in terms of how it's worsening and in terms of the new forms of harm it's now causing. Both of those factors are too important to leave behind.
You somewhat mention this in passing when you describe how AI has accelerated these problems, but the point-by-point teardown that follows rather sweeps that under the rug pretty thoroughly. It ends up reading like reckless optimism that nothing is truly wrong because similar problems existed before. I very strongly disagree with that, because the magnitude of these issues today is so massive that it ceases to be comparable.
This doesn't necessarily mean some of your solutions wouldn't work, but many of them require a company with the good sense and good culture to implement them — and good luck with that, because those companies are few and far between. The AI hype is virtually everywhere, and that's the biggest problem of them all.
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentTildes alone has countless horror stories of behavior exactly like that described in this article. Friends of mine in tech have described the same. While exceptions do exist, I think it's safe to...Tildes alone has countless horror stories of behavior exactly like that described in this article. Friends of mine in tech have described the same. While exceptions do exist, I think it's safe to say that a great many tech companies are like this.
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentThere's something to be said for "I don't care about my job because I can't afford that luxury." It's a very understandable position. But I do also get the feeling that your conclusion has...There's something to be said for "I don't care about my job because I can't afford that luxury." It's a very understandable position. But I do also get the feeling that your conclusion has somewhat trapped you there. There's a real risk of that position becoming "I don't care about my job and I've stopped trying to find one that lets me."
This can happen from defeatism, or it can happen from carelessness, but it's bad either way. If you accept a bad environment like that for too long, it'll change you for the worse. Sometimes this just results in low quality output for unimportant work — but sometimes it also results in negligence on vital software, and someone gets hurt. Jobs impact more than just paychecks, after all.
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
LukeZaz Link ParentLooking at it objectively – insofar as one can even do that – doesn't make things better. We're not just talking about the tech industry being less fun to work in. We're also talking about it...Looking at it objectively – insofar as one can even do that – doesn't make things better. We're not just talking about the tech industry being less fun to work in. We're also talking about it being immoral to an ever-greater degree, and the article explains this by highlighting several ways AI is damaging both us as individuals and society at large.
In that context, I don't really care that the pay's good. I don't want to help make the world worse.
Wish I'd seen this thread sooner, because a friend of mine recently introduced me to Public Access, and if you like analog horror/Twilight Zone/the SCP wiki, it's absolutely perfect for this.
It does depend a lot though on if you do like those things though, because it's not a setting-agnostic game. It's got a fixed setting (Deep Lake), and a fixed genre (analog horror). There are no combat mechanics (though if you want, you could still try), and there's no "Strength" stat. Still, if you do like that setting as I do, it'll do a way better job of it in exchange. Games that pick a niche and stick to it tend to be able to focus a lot better for it, and here, it shows.
I'm not sure how well it would or wouldn't do as a matter of being flexible across TTRPG experience, truth be told. Everyone at our table had done TTRPGs before, but Deep Lake was different enough that it took a moment to understand things anyway, so I'd imagine a brand-new player might have a similar experience. Character creation is probably more geared toward easy though, as there aren't a huge swath of build options. Rolling is always easy: Always 2d6, maybe one modifier, maybe roll a third d6 and drop lowest/highest for advantage/disadvantage. Nothing else. Most of our time was spent learning the game phases and when we could do what things.
I think my favorite part though is how collaborative the narrative is. D&D leaves everything that isn't a PC to the DM, which overloads them with work. Other games, like Daggerheart, encourage more participation by the PCs but don't explicitly request it — that helps, but doesn't solve it. Deep Lake will have the Keeper directly ask players to fill in blanks from time to time though. Occasionally even regarding other player characters! Not only do I love this for distributing the work and making it easier for everyone, I love it for character creation, since it's a lot easier to get a character started if everyone else at the table has to chip in one small detail. It gives me more material to work with going forward, and it means the other players are directly interacting with my character and developing more of a stake in them.
Can't say too much about how the game ends per se, as we haven't gotten that far at our table yet, but what I've seen up 'til now has been damn impressive. So thus far, I'm very happy, and can't recommend it enough. Easily my favorite TTRPG I've played yet.