MetArtScroll's recent activity

  1. Comment on Quote staircase in ~test

  2. Comment on D&D and Racism 4: Arguments in ~games.tabletop

    MetArtScroll
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    From Part 2, the emphasis is mine: I have to disagree here. D&D is inherently a game of combat/violence and looting, but it is NOT inherently a game of racism. Thus, even though the violence...

    From Part 2, the emphasis is mine:

    Since D&D is inherently a game of combat and looting, it would be absurd to remove these elements. This would be analogous to removing cars from NASCAR or removing skating from ice hockey. Since the violence argument is reduced to absurdity, the diversity argument is absurd as well. D&D should remain unchanged: killing, looting and no diversity changes.

    I have to disagree here. D&D is inherently a game of combat/violence and looting, but it is NOT inherently a game of racism. Thus, even though the violence argument can be reduced to absurdity, this does not apply to the diversity argument.

    As for Part 4 and the general story, I have somehow never perceived character races as actual races. While the Wikipedia article states that a character race may encompass several notions, I would say that the best term for D&D and inspired games (which includes many Roguelikes) would be species.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on Apple, Elon Musk, Kanye West, and other accounts are tweeting a bitcoin scam in giant Twitter hack in ~tech

    MetArtScroll
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    As noted in this earlier comment here, the attackers most probably gained access to an internal Twitter tool. Sometimes, it is really tempting to create a tool available to “those who know the...

    As noted in this earlier comment here, the attackers most probably gained access to an internal Twitter tool.

    Sometimes, it is really tempting to create a tool available to “those who know the link” with which one could perform admin tasks without the “fuss” of authenticating, using a verified/vetted device, etc. Just as some other corporations suffered leaks of sensitive data as the data were stored in unencrypted files on publicly accessible hostings—it was just necessary to know the link.

    Security via obscurity is rarely a good idea.

    3 votes

  5. Comment on D&D and Racism 3: Arguing in Good Faith in ~games.tabletop

  6. Comment on The Football Association of Iceland released its new crest – to describe it as the most metal thing you've ever seen does it an injustice in ~sports

    MetArtScroll
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    The crest combines stylised images of the four mythical protectors of Iceland, which also appear on the country's coat of arms.

    The crest combines stylised images of the four mythical protectors of Iceland, which also appear on the country's coat of arms.

    3 votes

  7. Comment on We should be able to edit the auto-scraped data on link posts in ~tildes

    MetArtScroll
    Link Parent
    I would add that sometimes an option to just refresh the metadata (accessible to the topic starter and to those with the rights to modify titles/tags) would be helpful. An example is here, or any...

    I would add that sometimes an option to just refresh the metadata (accessible to the topic starter and to those with the rights to modify titles/tags) would be helpful.

    An example is here, or any topic linking to a live commentary on an ongoing event (sports, elections, demonstrations, disasters, space launches, award presentations, etc.).

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Top-tier international cricket resumes after the COVID-19 hiatus with an England vs West Indies test at Southampton in ~sports

    MetArtScroll
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    Before the start, the players, the support staff, and the match officials took a knee in support of the BLM.

    Before the start, the players, the support staff, and the match officials took a knee in support of the BLM.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Top-tier international cricket resumes after the COVID-19 hiatus with an England vs West Indies test at Southampton in ~sports

    MetArtScroll
    (edited )
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    The start was delayed by three hours due to rain and wet outfield. This is the first test in the three-test series. The next two tests are to be played at Manchester. These two venues (Southampton...

    The start was delayed by three hours due to rain and wet outfield.

    This is the first test in the three-test series. The next two tests are to be played at Manchester.

    These two venues (Southampton and Manchester) were selected as they both feature on-site hotels where ALL match participants (players, umpires, staff, journalists) are lodged to avoid COVID-19 problems. In other words, the matches are not just closed-door but locked-door.

    Other changes caused by COVID-19 is that players are no longer allowed to use saliva to polish the ball (though sweat remains permitted), and that the number of reviews (when a team challenges an umpire's decision; the review is not lost unless completely unsuccessful) per innings was increased from two to three.

    Edit: the link leads to the live commentary provided by ESPNcricinfo. After the match ends on July 12, the full commentary as well as other coverage will be accessible there.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Test topic in ~test

  12. Comment on Terrible, dangerous EARN IT act set to move forward in the senate; attack on both encryption and free speech online in ~tech

    MetArtScroll
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    This comment by an anonymous user on TechDirt was voted as the “first word” there (the bold emphasis at the end is the original comment author's, the italic emphasis is mine):

    This comment by an anonymous user on TechDirt was voted as the “first word” there (the bold emphasis at the end is the original comment author's, the italic emphasis is mine):

    FAR WORSE THAN JUST AN ATTACK ON ENCRYPTION

    Most of the criticism of the EARN IT bill has been focused on the fact that it can be used as a way to compel internet companies to get rid of encryption. This to me is a disservice to those who fight for internet freedom, as encryption is just the tip the iceberg of the possible problems this bill could cause.

    In a nutshell, what the EARN IT bill would do is launch a process by congress and various "expert organizations" to create a new government agency which would decide on what "best practices" websites would have to comply with to keep their section 230 immunity. Sure, one of those practices could be disallowing the use of encryption. But that's far from the only horrible policy which could come out of this. Some examples I can think of:

    • Possibly requiring data retention of logs of site activity for each user for a minimum amount of time.
    • Mandating the use of filtration technologies. (And we all know how unreliable that garbage is.)
    • Requiring submission of personal information to use site services. (Hackers would love this one.)
    • Possibly real name policies.
    • Mandated reporting of suspicious activity. (Combine that with filters, imagine the kind of legal hell that could spawn.)
    • Mandated tracking of IP addresses known to have been used by sex offenders. (Because we all know how reliable an IP by itself is, right.)

    Let your imagination run wild on all the horrible proposals this bill could spawn should it become law. And don't forget that it's not just websites that benefit from section 230, but also ISPs, online services and protocols, and basically everything connected online.

    The EARN IT Act is not merely an "attack on encryption". It is a blank check for the U.S. Government to fuck with the internet in any manner of their choosing, tucked inside a trojan horse of "protecting children".

    15 votes

  15. Comment on Copyright blocks interview of protesters because Marvin Gaye's 'Let's get it on' was playing in the background in ~tech

    MetArtScroll
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    And so you have an end result where important historical documentation of huge and important protests, focused on police brutality against black Americans, is being blocked and erased from history, due to the copyright on music created by black musicians.

    That cannot and should not be the point of copyright. And yet, it is what we have today.

    Unicorn Riot (understandably) is complaining that Facebook and YouTube have "algorithmically interfered" with their reporting, but the reality is that it's copyright to blame here. And we should not confuse the two.

    12 votes

  17. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech

    MetArtScroll
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    This is the main problem I have with paywalls (emphasis mine): From the steps the author suggests, the following are extremely relevant to Tildes: preferentially link non-paywalled sites inform...

    This is the main problem I have with paywalls (emphasis mine):

    Newspapers publish articles – factual and opinionated – intending them to enter the public square as a topic of discussion. But if the discussions in the public square have an entry fee, the public square becomes smaller and less diverse.

    From the steps the author suggests, the following are extremely relevant to Tildes:

    • preferentially link non-paywalled sites
    • inform users that the link is paywalled (e.g. via Tildes tags)
    7 votes

  18. Comment on Four major US publishers sue Internet Archive for copyright infringement, alleging that it has illegally offered more than a million scanned works to the public in ~books

    MetArtScroll
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    The formal problem here, as many have already noted, is whether removing the “one loan per copy” restriction during an emergency is fair use. However, IMHO this is yet another manifestation of...

    The formal problem here, as many have already noted, is whether removing the “one loan per copy” restriction during an emergency is fair use.

    However, IMHO this is yet another manifestation of ridiculously long copyright terms (and there are attempts to use the pandemic as a leverage to make copyright eternal).

    It would be much less logical to use this fair use reasoning were it not for the fact that anything published in 1925 or later is still copyrighted in the US.

    2 votes

  19. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~test

    MetArtScroll
    Link
    which is probably the default behaviour: in the standard HTML, <a href="example">text</a> leads to <the current URL>/example

    which is probably the default behaviour: in the standard HTML,

    <a href="example">text</a>

    leads to <the current URL>/example

    3 votes