Scratchy's recent activity
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Comment on Nostalgic for Empire and other early daily turn based games in ~games
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Comment on Does the language you speak change how you think? in ~humanities.languages
Scratchy Link ParentAgreed, I had a similar thought while watching the video. At a minimum, thinking about more abstract concepts and expanding on them further is made more difficult by not having the vocabulary to...Agreed, I had a similar thought while watching the video. At a minimum, thinking about more abstract concepts and expanding on them further is made more difficult by not having the vocabulary to describe them.
Considering how much effect language can have on the persuasiveness of an argument (see and good public speaker), it seems to be that restricting language must have some effect on the range of opinions held by the populations who speak it.
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Comment on Denmark aims a wrecking ball at ‘non-Western’ neighborhoods in ~life
Scratchy Link ParentWe don't have nearly enough social housing in Canada for that to be true.Vancouver and Toronto would be wiped off the map if this was a Canadian policy.
We don't have nearly enough social housing in Canada for that to be true.
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Comment on Some small towns in America are disbanding police forces, citing hiring woes in ~life
Scratchy Link ParentLooks like it won't let me edit and I missed writing the next sentence.Looks like it won't let me edit and I missed writing the next sentence.
In the past two years, at least 12 small towns have dissolved their departments.
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Comment on Some small towns in America are disbanding police forces, citing hiring woes in ~life
Scratchy LinkSo if you do the math, that's an average of 11.6 towns closing down their police force between 1972 and 2017, versus 6 towns per year now. Seem to me that police departments are more stable than ever.At least 521 U.S. towns and cities with populations of 1,000 to 200,000 disbanded policing between 1972 and 2017, according to a peer-reviewed 2022 paper by Rice University Professor of Economics Richard T. Boylan.
So if you do the math, that's an average of 11.6 towns closing down their police force between 1972 and 2017, versus 6 towns per year now. Seem to me that police departments are more stable than ever.
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Comment on Do advanced civilizations know we're here? in ~space
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this month? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Scratchy LinkDoes the live action One Piece count? I'm about 6 episodes in now and really enjoying it.Does the live action One Piece count? I'm about 6 episodes in now and really enjoying it.
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Comment on Los Angeles is exploring banning cashless businesses, following the example of New York City, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, Colorado, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington, DC in ~finance
Scratchy Link ParentAs a Canadian, that was not horrific, and they were not just protestors. Freezing the bank accounts of people funding the Illegal occupation of downtown Ottawa by people who spent their time...As a Canadian, that was not horrific, and they were not just protestors. Freezing the bank accounts of people funding the Illegal occupation of downtown Ottawa by people who spent their time purposefully harassing local residents to the point that they didn't feel safe in their own homes and couldn't sleep at night due to the noise was completely justified.
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Comment on Here's the plan - a video to the audience from LTT in ~tech
Scratchy Link ParentTo be fair, considering that video sparked this recent scandal, delisting it would be equally problematic. If they had had it delisted I'm sure that people would start claiming that they were...To be fair, considering that video sparked this recent scandal, delisting it would be equally problematic. If they had had it delisted I'm sure that people would start claiming that they were trying to hide it or cover up their mistakes.
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Comment on Madison Reeve explains why she quit Linus Tech Tips (CW: self harm, slurs, sexual harassment) in ~tech
Scratchy Link ParentDidn't they originally tell LMG that they could keep it? I'm not completely up to date on this drama, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that Billet said they could keep it thinking...Didn't they originally tell LMG that they could keep it? I'm not completely up to date on this drama, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that Billet said they could keep it thinking that they might want to use it again but then asked for it back when they learned LMG didn't want to keep it. If that was the original intention, then it's importance as a one of a kind prototype send it but lessened to me.
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Comment on New acoustic attack steals data from keystrokes with 95% accuracy in ~comp
Scratchy Link ParentI wouldn't be so sure about that. Record audio for long enough, assign each unique keystroke sound a random letter, and then it becomes a relatively simple 1 to 1 cypher that you could be solved...This would take a very, very targeted attack against your specific keyboard and maybe your specific typing style so I don't have any real concern with it.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. Record audio for long enough, assign each unique keystroke sound a random letter, and then it becomes a relatively simple 1 to 1 cypher that you could be solved fairly easily.
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Comment on Do you always finish games you started? I am overwhelmed with the amount of available games. in ~games
Scratchy Link ParentI use the same move ticket baseline sometimes, although, in my mind nice tickets still cost $10, even though these days it's more like $15 or more depending on the theater. If a videogame costs me...I use the same move ticket baseline sometimes, although, in my mind nice tickets still cost $10, even though these days it's more like $15 or more depending on the theater. If a videogame costs me less than $5 per hour and I enjoyed myself, then I feel like it was a good buy.
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Comment on Any fans of the CFL on here? in ~sports.american_football
Scratchy (edited )Link ParentYeah, we knew who he was. It was pretty awesome. He met us before the game and took us down the back way through some service elevators to get down to field level before hanging out for a bit. We...Yeah, we knew who he was. It was pretty awesome. He met us before the game and took us down the back way through some service elevators to get down to field level before hanging out for a bit. We got to meet Mike Clemons before the game briefly too. That guy had so much energy, even off the field, you could tell the knickname pinball wasn't just a football reference.
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Comment on Any fans of the CFL on here? in ~sports.american_football
Scratchy LinkYeah, I'm a CFL fan. I don't watch a ton of football, but whenever I do it's almost always the CFL. The only time I ever really watch American football is the superbowl. I don't really have a...Yeah, I'm a CFL fan. I don't watch a ton of football, but whenever I do it's almost always the CFL. The only time I ever really watch American football is the superbowl.
I don't really have a favorite team, but I did get to meet Doug Flutie and go on field before a game back when I was a kid and the Argos played at Skydome. (A family friends girlfriend knew him from college, so they took me, my brother and a couple other kids to see a game).
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Comment on Group updates for July 2023 in ~tildes.official
Scratchy Link ParentThat does favor American football over Canadian football though. Although I understand no one outside of Canada really cares about that.That does favor American football over Canadian football though. Although I understand no one outside of Canada really cares about that.
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Comment on Group updates for July 2023 in ~tildes.official
Scratchy Link ParentAs someone who watches the Canadian Football League, but doesn't really care about the NFL or US college football, calling the sport American football has always felt wrong to me. I can see why...As someone who watches the Canadian Football League, but doesn't really care about the NFL or US college football, calling the sport American football has always felt wrong to me. I can see why people do it, there's 10x the number of people in the US, so most people think of America when they think of the sport, but it's not just an American sport.
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Comment on Group updates for July 2023 in ~tildes.official
Scratchy Link ParentI'd say joined in with American and Canadian football since they're all closer to Rugby than soccerI'd say joined in with American and Canadian football since they're all closer to Rugby than soccer
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Comment on Group updates for July 2023 in ~tildes.official
Scratchy Link ParentPlus, Canadian football is also a thing, and it's essentially the same sport as American football with only a few rule differences.Plus, Canadian football is also a thing, and it's essentially the same sport as American football with only a few rule differences.
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Comment on Group updates for July 2023 in ~tildes.official
Scratchy Link ParentFootball in Canada also refers to gridiron style footbal. When you consider English speaking countries, is really only the UK and Ireland where football refers to association football. With that...about history. Most fans of the sport around the world use either "footb
Football in Canada also refers to gridiron style footbal. When you consider English speaking countries, is really only the UK and Ireland where football refers to association football.
With that in mind, I think it makes sense to use football to refer to the North American and Australian varieties (and any other Rugby derived variants that I'm not aware of), considering the vast majority of people who speak English as a first language use it that way. If this site was primarily discussion job French, Spanish it some other language, then I think it would make more sense to use their names for the sports.
I played a lot of Earth: 2025 back in the late 90s. It was basically a turn based strategy mmo where you would simulator building a country while competing with everyone else playing. They had a couple different servers, including one where you could join alliances with other players. People would spend time building up their countries, and then eventually different alliances would declare war on each other and run coordinated offensives while hanging out in IRC.
The original company and servers no longer exist, but there's a fan made remake that looks like it still has hundreds of active players at https://www.earthempires.com/.
It was a lot fun back when I was in high school. I haven't tried the remake, but from what I can see it looks basically like a direct copy.