Promonk's recent activity
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Comment on Does anyone use Ground News? in ~talk
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Comment on Without looking, do you have a vague idea of your coordinates? in ~talk
Promonk (edited )Link+0.84° off latitudinally, -18.0° off longitudinally. You might say I cheated a bit, as there's a big road sign marking the 45th northern parallel not far from my house. I was rather closer on...+0.84° off latitudinally, -18.0° off longitudinally.
You might say I cheated a bit, as there's a big road sign marking the 45th northern parallel not far from my house. I was rather closer on longitude than I would've bet, though.
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Comment on A post on X claiming that Denmark has introduced an IQ threshold of at least 85 for sperm donors has sparked confusion, debate and memes, but ultimately is misleading in ~health
Promonk Link ParentI was under the impression that IQ tests are scaled specifically so that 100 falls on the mean. It's not just that the average happens to be 100, it's that 100 is the average by definition.I was under the impression that IQ tests are scaled specifically so that 100 falls on the mean. It's not just that the average happens to be 100, it's that 100 is the average by definition.
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Comment on r/art subreddit under new management after an artist was banned for mentioning their art prints in ~arts
Promonk Link Parent/u/preggit, the former /r/art mod who commented in the SubredditDrama thread regarding the reasoning behind the sub's blanket peddling ban, suggests in his replies in that thread that...I heard from a Youtube video that this problem moderator was also behind a controversy a while back where an artist was first banned with accusations of using AI, and told to change their art style.
/u/preggit, the former /r/art mod who commented in the SubredditDrama thread regarding the reasoning behind the sub's blanket peddling ban, suggests in his replies in that thread that /u/neodiogenes was the mod behind the AI ban fiasco. He never says outright that "yes, it was the same guy," but he does say that neodiogenes had his mod privileges reduced because of that, but that they were reinstated at some point in the intervening months.
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Comment on Meet the group breaking people out of AI delusions in ~health.mental
Promonk LinkI read accounts like these and have a hard time recognizing the ChatGPT I've fiddled with in them. The sycophancy and utter lack of pushback sounds familiar, but the engaging and persuasive...I read accounts like these and have a hard time recognizing the ChatGPT I've fiddled with in them. The sycophancy and utter lack of pushback sounds familiar, but the engaging and persuasive conversationalist they describe seems like something else entirely. I get that it's a slow process to go from rubber-ducking a kooky idea with the mobile app to full-blown delusion, but Jesus! How do they tolerate jabbering at it long enough for the thing to do its magic?
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Comment on Alton Brown is back! Alton Brown Cooks Food | Episode 1: The Big Bird in ~food
Promonk Link ParentI think brining poultry at home probably owes a lot of its current popularity to Alton himself. He was one of the first cooking personalities I can remember who endorsed the practice. He was one...I think brining poultry at home probably owes a lot of its current popularity to Alton himself. He was one of the first cooking personalities I can remember who endorsed the practice.
He was one of the first cooking personalities I recall who made a serious attempt to adapt certain commercial cooking techniques for home chefs, so even if he wasn't responsible for the rise in its popularity, his approach to home cookery definitely inspired the generation of food influencers who were. Folks like Adam Ragusea, whom I would definitely place firmly in the Alton Brown school of food media.
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Comment on Why humanity needs a Lunar seed vault in ~space
Promonk Link ParentTruly, malapropism is the highest form of Art.Truly, malapropism is the highest form of Art.
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Comment on Farms and data centers contribute to a water pollution crisis in Eastern Oregon in ~enviro
Promonk Link ParentI think that only explains things if simply drawing water from the aquifer increases the concentration. Say, if for some reason the medium in which the water is stored selectively retains the...I think that only explains things if simply drawing water from the aquifer increases the concentration. Say, if for some reason the medium in which the water is stored selectively retains the contaminants whenever water is removed. In that case the data centers themselves are pretty much irrelevant to the problem aside from their high usage (bad enough in its way). The worst that can be said about the data centers then is that they may be expediting a process that was going to happen anyway.
The thought had occurred to me that Amazon might just be a politically convenient scapegoat upon which to shift blame away from the actual polluters, which would be the agricultural businesses that are the economic backbone and primary employers for the region. Better for the feels all around if you blame the giant megacorp that people already distrust and don't really understand, and which uses massive amounts of water without employing a commensurate number of the region's inhabitants, rather than the industry that's employed most of the folks in the county for generations and is the acknowledged source of the pollutants themselves.
I'm not entirely comfortable arguing a point that's in any way in Amazon's favor, as it seems to me that there are plenty of people to go to bat for them on issues for which they're more unambiguously culpable. But if the problem boils down to "your presence is expediting a problem we thought we had decades to ignore before addressing," then fingerpointing at Amazon, loathsome as they are, is just political smoke and mirrors.
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Comment on Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world in ~health
Promonk Link ParentI took the hyperbole to be a symptom of frustration regarding a subject so little discussed that we haven't even bothered to formulate a proper taboo against mentioning it. I also don't think it's...I took the hyperbole to be a symptom of frustration regarding a subject so little discussed that we haven't even bothered to formulate a proper taboo against mentioning it. I also don't think it's accurate to imply that the Federal government is continuing to punish the former Confederate states specifically for the rebellion. Again, the world and country are sufficiently complex that you don't need to resort to assigning retributive agency to "the government."
But as I read @snake_case's argument, the thesis is that a large chunk (at least) of the former Confederate states are locked in a political and economic vicious cycle fueled in part by racial resentments and a tradition of defiance to Federal action just on principle. I judge that to be accurate, more or less, and agree that we'd all be much better off if we could somehow process all that history in some kind of nation-state analogue of therapy.
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Comment on Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world in ~health
Promonk Link ParentThe abandonment of Reconstruction is the greatest failure in the history of the United States, and probably like its fourth greatest shame (we've got some doozies in that category). I got no...The abandonment of Reconstruction is the greatest failure in the history of the United States, and probably like its fourth greatest shame (we've got some doozies in that category).
I got no answers here either, but I hear you, and you aren't wrong.
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Comment on Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world in ~health
Promonk (edited )Link ParentI think it's important to acknowledge that you don't even need outright corruption and incompetence to explain a lot of this sort of issue. The fact that the world and society are complex and...I think it's important to acknowledge that you don't even need outright corruption and incompetence to explain a lot of this sort of issue. The fact that the world and society are complex and somewhat chaotic is sufficient to explain a great many things.
Above-ground nuclear testing is one such example: the military, political and scientific men who made that call were trying to balance the health and well-being of the citizenry against geopolitical strategy and the dangers presented by the inexorable march of scientific "progress." I don't believe that anyone involved in making those decisions was a Captain Planet villain who just wanted to salt the Mojave with strontium for the thrill of the thing–they were fallible, finite individuals tasked with making decisions on behalf of an enormous nation, and, in their minds at least, for the protection of the world.
That's not to absolve them of their bad decisions. It's vital to scrutinize the motives and reasoning behind every big, earth-moving decision, especially when outcomes turn out as deleterious and Pyrrhic as those from the nuclear arms race. However, we should take the effort to remind ourselves that this impulse to oversimplify and flatten out the world doesn't just reside in those people who've adopted absurd ideologies, or trashed the joint in pursuit of questionable goals, it exists in all of us. It lurks as much behind the cynicism regarding capitalism among disaffected progressives as it does the cynicism regarding medical science from the crunchy granola and neo-fascist crowds.
I reckon that urge to flatten out motivations and assign unrealistic agency to individuals is of a kind with that of the science deniers and fascie fanatics; the main difference and virtue of the progressive sort is that it tends toward greater nuance and consideration, and as a consequence probably hits a little closer to the mark.
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Comment on Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world in ~health
Promonk Link ParentI see the confusion of "natural" for "healthy" all over the damn place, not just in anti-vaxx MAGA-y circles. It's been a marketing buzzword for decades, because it works. When it comes to the...- Exemplary
I see the confusion of "natural" for "healthy" all over the damn place, not just in anti-vaxx MAGA-y circles. It's been a marketing buzzword for decades, because it works.
When it comes to the reactionaries I spoke of in my last paragraph, I think your propaganda notion comes close, but is incomplete. Propaganda alone doesn't convince people that everything they've ever been told is a lie; you or I could probably watch a ton of Nazi or Stalinist propaganda and not come away as ardent supporters of Der Führer or the Man of Steel.
Propaganda needs the right soil to take root, and in our culture, that soil was tilled by decades of worsening wealth consolidation, regulatory inaction (or the downright sabotage of regulatory power), and social institutions that prop up belief as being superior to investigation and inquiry. Of course, the pressures that've led us here are multi-faceted, intricate and contingent, and are beyond the capability of any individual to fully understand, much less control. It shouldn't surprise us that some people find worldviews that offer to reduce the complexities of the world into pat generalities appealing, even if those generalities are so oversimplified as to trip into delusion. Fascism makes these people an offer: hand over your agency to us, and we'll simplify the world, flatten it out into a nice neat plane so you always know where you stand.
It's a lie, of course, but there's a small grain of truth to the deal in that it does give its adherents a sort of power: not over the dangerous complexities of the world, but over other people who insist on acknowledging those complexities. That's why trolling and rhetorical dirty pool are so central to their programme: that's the real tangible reward for the True Believers. Sure, their problems won't ever get solved, but at least they get the consolation prize of driving those of us who recognize the contingent complexities of the world into conniptions by dumbly refusing to acknowledge them.
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Comment on This week's local elections in Denmark are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they're making a mistake in ~society
Promonk LinkEven this seems to miss the mark a little, to my thinking. The lesson shouldn't be "stop chasing far-right voters," it should be "stop being the sort of politician who chases voters instead of...Even this seems to miss the mark a little, to my thinking. The lesson shouldn't be "stop chasing far-right voters," it should be "stop being the sort of politician who chases voters instead of outcomes."
If the electorate sees a party profess progressive ideologies in one cycle, then shift to reactionary stances in the next, that doesn't signal to anyone that the party has actually changed what they want to achieve, it signals that they don't really believe in anything and instead think that merely incanting the proper spells will bring electoral success. You'd have to be extremely charitable or deeply invested to read that as anything but the pursuit of electoral success as an end in itself, rather than a means to effect the social changes necessary for good governance.
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Comment on Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world in ~health
Promonk (edited )Link ParentIt's perpetually perplexing to me that so many people still fall into the "natural == good or harmless" trap. My go-to counter to it is "hemlock tea is all-natural, too; ask Socrates how well his...It's perpetually perplexing to me that so many people still fall into the "natural == good or harmless" trap. My go-to counter to it is "hemlock tea is all-natural, too; ask Socrates how well his dose treated him."
I reckon it comes from the deep-seated fear many people have for any form of complexity. It's no surprise to me that things like young earth creationism, flat eartherism and anti-vaxx have found each other such agreeable bedfellows; all of them are reactionary responses to an ever-complexifying world.
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Comment on Development of the Paradox Interactive-owned IP Cities: Skylines will shift from Colossal Order to Iceflake Studios in ~games
Promonk LinkLGR recently did a C:S2 two-year update review that goes over some of the issues that have persisted in the game since launch. It's worth checking out, if like me you haven't been following the...LGR recently did a C:S2 two-year update review that goes over some of the issues that have persisted in the game since launch. It's worth checking out, if like me you haven't been following the title very closely. Clint always does a good job of keeping his criticisms of his darlings fair and even-handed.
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Comment on Development of the Paradox Interactive-owned IP Cities: Skylines will shift from Colossal Order to Iceflake Studios in ~games
Promonk Link ParentPossibly Planet Coaster counts. Frontier pretty much dethroned Rollercoaster Tycoon for amusement park management sims (though honestly Atari kinda abdicated by shoveling out low-quality dreck for...Possibly Planet Coaster counts. Frontier pretty much dethroned Rollercoaster Tycoon for amusement park management sims (though honestly Atari kinda abdicated by shoveling out low-quality dreck for mobile for years). Now, Planet Coaster 2 is having some struggles in much the same way as C:S2.
Actually, the two series are quite alike in their stories and struggles. The initial entries of both garnered active and opinionated playerbases, and had extensive DLC libraries prior to the launch of their sequels–to the extent that it was a hard sell to get people to start the treadmill over again. The pitches for both sequels included promises of better performance that haven't materialized, at least not enough to justify the purchase price and relative lack of content compared to their predecessors.
I'm not clued-in to insider info for either, but the feeling I get for both is that the publishing side of things was the main driver of the sequel being launched. Frontier is both developer and publisher for Planet Coaster, and as stated in the linked piece, Paradox is the publisher for C:S and also owns the IP. Both publishers have long track records of shall we say "aggressive" DLC strategies that have been their bread and butter, but also have bitten them in the ass when sequel time rolls around.
I have both C:S1 and PC1 in my library and have enjoyed both, but neither sequel has yet offered enough to justify the price tag. Looking at Steam reviews alone, it seems I'm in good company on that.
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Comment on Original Mac calculator design came from letting Steve Jobs play with menus for ten minutes in ~design
Promonk Link ParentOn top of just the way he behaved, he had notoriously bad personal hygiene as well. So he was not only getting up in Espinosa's shit and micromanaging, he likely did it through a cloud of Jobs Fug...On top of just the way he behaved, he had notoriously bad personal hygiene as well. So he was not only getting up in Espinosa's shit and micromanaging, he likely did it through a cloud of Jobs Fug too.
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Comment on Tilderinos in ~talk
Promonk Link Parent"Bill" being a nickname for "William" touches on a favorite piece of linguistic history of mine. There was a trend for rhyming nicknames in the Middle Ages that gave us a lot of this sort of..."Bill" being a nickname for "William" touches on a favorite piece of linguistic history of mine.
There was a trend for rhyming nicknames in the Middle Ages that gave us a lot of this sort of weirdness. Usually a name would be abbreviated first, then substituted with a rhyming construction. So, "Margaret" would be shortened to "Mag" or "Meg," then substituted with the rhyme "Peg." "William" was shortened to "Will," thence to "Bill." "Robert" became "Rob," then "Hob" or "Bob." "Ted" remains a popular nickname for "Theodore," but it was also once a popular nickname for "Edward" by the same process (that's how Edward Kennedy came to be called "Ted"). Then to further complicate things, they often extended out the rhymed names with diminutive suffixes, so "Peg" into "Peggy," "Bob" into "Bobby," "Ted" into "Teddy," and so on.
I don't know exactly why this phenomenon tickles me as much as it does. I get a kick out of linguistic things that kind of truck along by cultural inertia long after the initial impetus for them is forgotten.
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Comment on US Supreme Court denies Kim Davis' petition to revisit same-sex marriage ruling in ~lgbt
Promonk LinkThis is truly bonkers reasoning considering the red letters have a fair bit to say about divorce, but pretty much nothing to say about homosexuality. You'd think they'd fixate on the element of...In June, the Southern Baptist Convention -- the nation's largest Protestant Christian denomination -- overwhelmingly voted to make "overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God's design for marriage and family" a top priority.
This is truly bonkers reasoning considering the red letters have a fair bit to say about divorce, but pretty much nothing to say about homosexuality. You'd think they'd fixate on the element of marriage law their God actually directly addressed–if this was really about theological reasoning rather than personal ick and vainly flailing to reassert their authority in moral matters.
I know certain segments of the fundamentalist crowd would love to see divorce binned alongside same-sex marriage, but they're also much more circumspect about spreading that fact around. I assume that's because as oblivious as they are, they can at least read the room well enough to realize what a futile effort that would be. But in the words of the philosopher, "some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill."
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Comment on US Supreme Court denies Kim Davis' petition to revisit same-sex marriage ruling in ~lgbt
Promonk Link ParentAt first I thought you'd made a typo or were autocorrected for "outrage," but then I remembered which timeline this is and had a small mental weeping session.At first I thought you'd made a typo or were autocorrected for "outrage," but then I remembered which timeline this is and had a small mental weeping session.
Fox News is worth checking out only if you want advance warning of which tack the right-wing spin machine is attempting for a given topic, but for actual reporting? Nah, I'm good.