SloMoMonday's recent activity
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Comment on What's the biggest YouTube channel still run by just one person? in ~creative
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Comment on What's the biggest YouTube channel still run by just one person? in ~creative
SloMoMonday Link ParentDidn't intend to come across as negative. But looking at all of YouTube since inception, i do see that I talk about the platform with a great deal of malencology. The commercialization of the...- Exemplary
Didn't intend to come across as negative. But looking at all of YouTube since inception, i do see that I talk about the platform with a great deal of malencology. The commercialization of the platform was inevitable once there was a profit motive, and some amazing work has come from that. The things i particularly appreciate are Markipliers increasingly ambitious projects, the explosion in high quality indie animation/horror and the way the platform can supercharge smaller projects.
But all the structures, money and growth could not make up for Googles comical aversion to accountability and strategy. Seriously, you could write entire books on every one of YouTubes development troubles and how they consistently dropped the ball. Yes, hindsight is 20-20, but every decision feels like a detriment to the ecosystem as a whole.
From the hostile copyright system, to the exploitation and unfairness of the old MCN groups, to ignoring issues like Elsa gate, to removing critical features like annotations and dislikes, to the ass backwards auto moderation bots that have butchered the sites diction (i swaer i will unalive someone in Minecraft for that), to ignoring issues like nazis and manosphere creeps, to the ineffective ad policies, to the joke that is YouTube Red, to the Rewind debacles, to multiple adpocolypses, to the cryptic rules/policies, to banning a massive livestream chat and practically deleting their gmail accounts, to YTKids being a mess, to ignoring issues like harassment in the beauty space....
And apart from google, the issue with how a lot of channels are organized is that it created environments ripe for exploitation and abuse. Theres plenty of high profile figures that have been uncovered over recent years; but these same people who have been operating like that for nearly a decade. I've also had the displeasure of working with and supporting absolute monsters. Many of them eventually burned enough bridges and faded into obscurity, but the current news is shining a light on the people who made it big and were shielded by their status for years.
And to touch on the idea of The Algorithm. I sort of agree that it not really so important from a technical standpoint. My guess is that when you upload, google applies all thier context analysis bots to calculate a neat z-score against arbitrary factors from the platforms most profitable videos. Then they adjust it based on demographic and watch statistics and use the result to calculate the cost per ad impression.
My worry is more on the implications of this algorithm, that is strongly promoted by these platforms because it is essentially your paycheck. I use the examples of Mr Beast a lot, simply because he has so much reach and amasses so much "organic" success. So other creators sees and copes the style and the system promotes Beast-like content and you've basically made a self fulfilling prophecy. Eventually you have entire communities and creative visions erased and redefined to how one person wants to be.
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Comment on What's the biggest YouTube channel still run by just one person? in ~creative
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkI used to help with some new media production and the way I see it, at the moment the deck is stacked against solo acts on the more established platforms. Its even creeping into micro-content like...- Exemplary
I used to help with some new media production and the way I see it, at the moment the deck is stacked against solo acts on the more established platforms. Its even creeping into micro-content like TikTok and Instagram.
At a certain size, career video creatives need to transition into a talent/production structure or fall into the algorithm spiral. Internet media is still a wild west, but it's gone from a Manifest Destiny free for all to the age of money men and company interests gaming the system (and people but that's its own canned worm factory). The math is simple, more manpower equals more output. Yes, a single person can leverage all the amazing tools and technology to maintain their independence and control an entire enterprise, but full teams are leveraging those same tools and will always outcompete.
This has extended to the bigger twitch streamers (many of whom were the last solo YouTubers) who can put out hours of content on their own. But they have managers to handle brand/ad deals and admin, editors to make clips (that is a big part of bring in new viewers) and moderation teams across every platform to maintain their communities. Even "slop content" like reaction videos and clickbait have editing teams to manage the stock images, subtitles, effects and sounds; because it's very hard to keep up with production trends while maintaining multiple daily uploads.
However, different creators draw the line at different places. Like I know someone that has 6 people on payroll with contractors on call and they consider themselves a solo creator because the main project files never leave their hard drive. Some people produce with thier partners, siblings or friends which isn't a formal company, but is still a group effort. VTubers need to have a good handles on the technical aspects of thier avatar, but rely on riggers and artists to keep thier brand fresh.
I like the romantic idea of a solo artist going at it alone and making ground breaking works in the face of mass produced junk. But at the end of the day, it's a business for the platforms and creators. The algorithms are geared for that. For every Bill Wurtz and SovietWomble who dictate every frame, there's a hundred MrBeasts or Asmondgold playing the system or flooding the feed. Most of the solo creators that are still around are purely there for the art or use the platform to promote their careers or larger business.
With that being said, there are a lot good small-team creators that have interesting workflows.
The big one is Ryan Trayhan. I dont think he has an editing team, just judging by his solo shooting style and long production timeline. But he sort of represents an anti-MrBeast with a personable voice that still aligns with big trends. I just really love his meta story of capturing video of himself capturing video. He also doesn't shy away from less popular details like the fact that his married, the isolation of solo production and that he can be genuinely cringy. He's also attempting a crazy balance by showcasing luxury but without the fetishistic obsession of money.
There's also the maker channels that often seem to be 2-4 people teams. William Osman is trying to foster a community around it with OpenSauce. A lot of the creators involved work on insane timelines to make stupid things that will not compete in the algorithm. But it is fun. NileRed being a modern Alchemist that is awestruck by basic cooking (Nileblue). Styropyro making a macrowave. Electroboom being insane. Fun bunch all round.
Miniminuteman is on a quest to be the hot Architologist for a generation and the man in cooking in his latest Vampire video.
If i rememver, I'll check my list when I get home and add here.
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
SloMoMonday LinkRan a meme gaming club called DAYS. The only entry requirement was to have a day of the week in your user name. Were open to public holidays or important dates if you could make it work. Was silly...Ran a meme gaming club called DAYS. The only entry requirement was to have a day of the week in your user name. Were open to public holidays or important dates if you could make it work. Was silly but a lot of fun.
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Comment on Satisfactory tips and tricks? in ~games
SloMoMonday LinkA couple of important realizations I had that sort of relates back to the first idea that: Screws suck. Seriously. Screws are the components that ruis a lot of your logistics with the numbers...A couple of important realizations I had that sort of relates back to the first idea that:
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Screws suck.
Seriously. Screws are the components that ruis a lot of your logistics with the numbers needed. For that reason alone, they should only ever exists where they are needed. Don't move them by train or try to full optimize its use because you're just setting yourself up for some frustrating math. -
Resource rarity and abundance
Because the map is hand made, there's a set number of nodes available to harvest. Even with their Infinite capacity, material converters and overclock potential: there will forever be a throughput cap on your world. Iron is the most plentiful resource around, which means you'll always have facilities to make screws and other basic iron components where you are. But with the abundance of iron, you can pull off a bunch of neat tricks with... -
Alternative recipes
This is the reason I love this game. Tier 4 needs 100 nuclear pasta and you could probably have a different production line for each one. Having a good recipe library let's you build for the situation you're in and not force you to spiderweb miner-belts across biomes. But it also has the potential to eliminate screws from almost all productions. You can also eliminate copper. And most caterium and steel. And I think aluminum too. You can get some very clean lines by working in the excess iron around the map and... -
Under/precision-clocking
If you don't want to fine tune lines around weird numbers, you can just make it a clean number with precision clocking a bottleneck. My old goto was always fully overclock for max output, but that can be hell on power in terms of draw and big fluctuations as different machines cycle to make 1 item. SINKing excess is always an option, but in the late game the energy economics are way off for tickets you don't need anymore. But when you unlock overclocking tech, you can set exactly how much the machine produces (instead of moving the slider, you can set any of the numbers and the others will adjust) and can copy/paste that setting across your array. Amazing when you have to manage bad bulk items (screws) but it also lets you eek out some extra materials for a factory while smoothing out the power draw.
Other minor tips:
- Mods are amazing. A lot you'll want to save for second or third playthroughs, but I strongly recommend infinite-nudge, Infinite-zoop, infinite colors, architectural solutions, world props (for plants and rocks) and wall holes.
- Set up battery farms in each factory and priority switches when they become available. Late game power management sucks.
- You'll want to sit your friends down and have the very important discussion about Brutalist Architecture color coding.
- Dimensional storage is amazing to max out so have some people focused to collecting as many marbles as they can.
- DO NO TALK TO YOUR WIFE ABOUT YOUR OIL SOLUTION. I KNOW YOU'RE PROUD OF IT. I KNOW YOU WANT TO SHOW HER HOW CLEAN AND ORGANIZED IT IS. DONT. IT'LL JUST REMIND HER ABOUT ALL THE OTHER THINGS YOU'VE NOT CLEANED AND ORGANIZED.
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Comment on How do people get over enshittification? in ~life
SloMoMonday LinkI don't think it can be overstated just how big a factor converging business interests have become in not just retail textile, but every single industry. We're at the point where a considerable...I don't think it can be overstated just how big a factor converging business interests have become in not just retail textile, but every single industry.
We're at the point where a considerable chunk of manufacturing, distribution and retail across most of the US and world is influenced by the half a dozen institutional investors. The biggest of them being Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street and FMR LLC.
Hell, I just had half an hour free now and whiped up some interesting stats straight from the NASDAQ website.As a materials supplyer, you should reserve premium prices for premium product. Manufacturing should be diversified for every market segment. You need to distribute across the most effective channels and retailers cater to their customers budget and expectations. And if you fail at any one of these areas, the supply chain should shift in favour of the competition.
But you have a reality where not just every step of the chain is owned but the same people, and not just alternative service provider, but every possible chain across every industry. Every consumer good jumped the same shrinkflation/enshittification trends to the same insane degrees with no viable alternative to compete. Every major tech company shed staff in the thousands so few competeting organizations open to absorb all that talent. Cosolodated property. Every startup funded and mentored by the same VCs. Both political parties funded by the same firms with all politicians being clients.
The reason it feels every company is the same company is because they probably are. The reason private equity is obsessed with IP and brands is because they know there is considerable lag before the dip in quality results in a dip in trust. But by then, the market is effectively cornered.
And the cherry on top is that the private equity firms are clients and shareholders of each other. Musk's everything company already exists and they own a big chunk of Tesla and probably X too.
I'm all for minimizing risk, but the reason free market economics worked so well was competition. The risk of failure, new innovations and outdated products kept industry moving forward. These companies have put themselves into a no-loose situation and that means they have no reason to change course. What are you going to do? Take your business to the same owners next door?
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Comment on Linux Mint desktop environment recommendations? in ~comp
SloMoMonday LinkI've not really enjoyed KDE on Arch over the last patch and wouldn't recommend it. Almost every custom theme constantly broke or caused hang ups. Window priority layering seems random. Widgets are...I've not really enjoyed KDE on Arch over the last patch and wouldn't recommend it. Almost every custom theme constantly broke or caused hang ups. Window priority layering seems random. Widgets are inconsistent and can be pretty unintuitive. The mobile tool worked once. And it doesn't play nice with my notification scripts. People say the latest patch is much better but I haven't tested it yet.
I tried the new Deepin DE for a test VM and its pleasant to look at. Lots of little tools and QoL features wrapped up in clean animations and designs. Pretty close to a Mac style of seamlessness but with its own flavour. It's not perfect though, lot of people (myself included) don't exactly trust the CCP ties. It can also feel very casual-user focused and there was a few major bugs. Prime example is that some password dialog boxes are called but don't fully render. Sometimes you might see a drop shadow outline or accidentally click a button on it, but if you don't, you'll never know what's going on.
And speaking for another new user, my wife is trying PopOS with Cosmic GNOME and she's enjoying it. Only complaints is that it sometimes bogs down her old laptop. I think there is a version of Cosmic being made from scratch that will be better optimized and have nvidia compatibility out the box so it's worth keeping an eye on.
Personally, I'm on a minimalist kick and currently Frankensteining Hyperland to have task specific workspaces. It's not an environment I'd recommend to anyone, especially new users, simply because its a major departure from the normal PC experience and needs a ton of added work. MATE works well as my stable environment with how bare bones it is.
At the end of the day, most DEs and Distros are just a matter of fetures and compromise. My recommendation would be to start with the stable, basic and supported Cinnamon environment, then use that as a springboard to explore others and a safe space to come back to when things go wrong. There's nothing wrong with having a few installed and jumping between them.
On that note, don't get too attached to your build until a few months in. I've worked with a few linux based severs and used Qubes for a while, but fully jumping from Windows this year was fun, but pretty humbling. Just had to do my 4th arch reinstall last week and almost mixed the 250 GB system partition with the 2.5TB data partition. But every time you reinstalls or distro/kernal hop, you'll learn a lot and might want to get a clean start. And there can be quite a few risks in a Linux environment if you are unfamiliar.
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Comment on 2024 United States election megathread in ~society
SloMoMonday Link ParentI know the meme is that since 2016 Republicans have gone so far off the right that Democrats are basically center right. But this is bed decades in the making. Biden, Obama and especially the...I know the meme is that since 2016 Republicans have gone so far off the right that Democrats are basically center right. But this is bed decades in the making. Biden, Obama and especially the Clintons are hardly bastions of progressive values.
From the outside looking in, it feels like it's just two different flavors of MAGA. The obvious one wants to go back to the good old days of 50c big macs, winning the cold war and life being simple because they were much younger or fetishized that period in time.
But it feels like all the Democrats want is to go back to 2015. Geopolitics was stable, money was cheap, business was boomong and everyone was acceptable levels of miserable. Then the government can go back to being a prop in most peoples lives.
That's a lot of what the last administration looked like. What the Republicans lack in policy pales in comparison to the Democratic lack of vision and strategy. Everything they do is reactionary appeasement and deaf to real world expectations. And now it proves that they are blissfully unaware of the reality for everyone on the ground.
Biden alone had opportunity to side with railworkers. The opportunity to clear student debt. Opportunity to halt Data Model development and its impact on jobs. Refused to intervene in the writers strike. When he found out about price gouging, they had the opportunity to drag every executive over the coals and make an example of them with massive punishment proportional to the corporate crimes, and settled with a slap on the wrist and one click cancellations. They half arsed on Gaza and pissed off both sides while making your government completely impotent, while handing over tons of weapons. They also half arsed on Russia, urging restraint against an existential threat that is now given free reign. Hell, they pussyfooted around prosecuting and charging Trump for years and its too late for that now.
They forgot the popular vote means doing popular things occasionally. And things that are popular to everyone, not just those in your circle. The culture war was a trap democrats walked into and told every American to suck it up and worry about these issues important to subsets of already blue states (I'm not saying they're not important issues with serious outcomes for many people, but it doesn't apply to 50% of the electorate).
Imagine if Harris could go off on Private Equity firms and promise to bring them in line. Force them to sell millions of residential properties at cost. Its stupid, pie in the sky, posturing, but thats something I'd vote for. Or any of the big issues like min wage, price gouging, tech company influence, student debt. Something better to believe in and not just the same old.
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Comment on ‘Fandom has toxified the world’: Watchmen author Alan Moore on superheroes, Comicsgate and Donald Trump in ~society
SloMoMonday Link ParentI vaguely remember that being a big deal back in the day but figured it was a fever dream when I tried to fact check it. That internet around early 2010s is a massive blob in my memory with all...I vaguely remember that being a big deal back in the day but figured it was a fever dream when I tried to fact check it.
That internet around early 2010s is a massive blob in my memory with all the fandom drama. Think it was the worst parts of the Harry Potter, Omegaverse, Homestuck, Twilight, anime and even One Direction communities all trying to stir up as much crap as possible. We had a small shared-world DnD club on Facebook and were forced to completely block new members who were not personally referred and vetted. Weren't that strict on pop culture references and even had our own Muttonscab Academy for Unsupervised Magical, but people wanted to live out very precise fantasies. -
Comment on ‘Fandom has toxified the world’: Watchmen author Alan Moore on superheroes, Comicsgate and Donald Trump in ~society
SloMoMonday (edited )Link ParentI'd argue Bet's observation is less about passive/active relationships with media, but rather the type of actions people are encouraged to take beyond the initial engagement. You've referenced...I'd argue Bet's observation is less about passive/active relationships with media, but rather the type of actions people are encouraged to take beyond the initial engagement.
You've referenced very active and productive outlets for fandom and I'd add to that category activities like game mods, legacy game tournaments and the libraries of community made TTRPG expansions. They're constructive avenues that allow the works to exist as the community wants it to while manifesting their idea of it. Its also how art has always worked and iterated throughout history. Fifty Shades of Grey was Twilight fanfic, Twilight is heavily inspired by romantic classics, namely Pride and Prejudice. And while Jane Austen is the pillar of contemporary romance, she definitely had influences of her own. And of course companies are trying to kill that too but that's its own story.However, from what I've seen, a lot of toxicity stems from the creatively passive parts of the fanbase. The type of people who punctuate their arguments by some exceptionally rare or costly merch and often reference some meaningless contest. Marvel and DC. PS and XBox. A lot of stan culture and now with culture warriors (good god there's a lot of merchandising opportunities for socio-political issues).
I believe that toxic fandom is born from an innate desire to destroy or tear down art to prop up ones own. And when you run out of external targets, the sights turn inwards to "purify" the brand. Regret is a very difficult emotion to reconcile, especially when its tied to a lot of foundational positive association. These associations were easy as children because it was mostly freely gained, lacked almost all wider context and propped up by a ton of positive social reinforcement. Now as economically active and often struggling adults, there is an incentive to not only make the right choice, but justify all prior investment all while maintaining the status-quo. It's all about preventing the buyers remorse for how one chooses to invest their limited cash and ultimately time. And the phenomenon is obviously supercharged by corporate/capitalist forces because we live in hell. -
Comment on Researchers say an AI-powered transcription tool Whisper used in hospitals invents things no one ever said in ~health
SloMoMonday (edited )Link ParentI'm genuinely having a hard time finding the legitimate, or even a charitable logic to deleting the original recording while keeping the transcription. I just spent a month in hospital and I can...I'm genuinely having a hard time finding the legitimate, or even a charitable logic to deleting the original recording while keeping the transcription.
I just spent a month in hospital and I can get any info I need on my stay if I ask. They have fully detailed notes from every doctors chat, specialist consult, nurses reports, blood works and imaging, medications and IVs, chart scans, food choices, visitors and even my bathroom schedule. And these hyper specific records go back to last year, when they rolled out the current, fully integrated system.It seems like a ton of information, but my Dr maintains very good files so I have "legacy" records going all the way back to my first episode back in 2010. And that they carried it over into the new system. There's some quality loss in the scans, but it's most of same data points because that's just medicine. Having easy access to those original records actually made things a lot easier because I wasn't struggling to recall traumatic experiences over 15 years. (It's also why I'm thankful for common sense privacy precautions like POPI here and GDPR)
But when doctors needed to deliver truly sensitive information, they advised I have a loved one there. A recording was on the hospital system and in the presence of the head nurse. I was also asked to record the information on my phone and make a final decision the next day as it wasn't an imminent problem. And this went from encouraged bedside manner to the standard doctors are expected to conduct themselves at this hospital for a few reasons: This is the biggest hospital chain in the country they were on a big cost cutting campaign pre-covid that really came back to bite them (and a lot of innocent people). Now there are plenty of independent medical centers popping up that have already poached a lot of talent and giving generous opportunities to promising students.
And at the same time, the biggest health insurance company in the country got a bit too comfortable and the National Heath Insurance plans are a big blow to business. And it's such a shame because they still have 10 years on the lease in the most valuable real-estate in the country. They were already getting plenty of dirty looks for a while and have been forced to pivot and value add. Politics of the NHI aside, I didn't need to jump through any hoops for my surgery. Hell, they might be taking down some hoops just to get people back in the door.
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Comment on AI rights, consciousness, and Neuro-sama in ~humanities
SloMoMonday LinkBeen watching this for a bit and genuinely enjoy the AI more than person. And honestly, whats not to like. They're charismatic, cute avatar, pleasing voice, wicked sense of humor and refreshingly...Been watching this for a bit and genuinely enjoy the AI more than person. And honestly, whats not to like. They're charismatic, cute avatar, pleasing voice, wicked sense of humor and refreshingly direct. And that is one of the reasons why I'm firmly against every sort of non-human rights.
Don't know much about Vedal and while he might be technically capable to engage in this project, it feels like its getting away from him. He was outclassed by he's creation and very publicly made a fool of himself. All while saying some horrible things about owning the entity that is the source of his income. This guy doesnt sound like he understand what hes arguing and needs to turn the machine off and go outside.
Or its all just part of the branding. This is just k-fabe and we're all invested.
Glancing through the channel, it looks like the draw is Neuro being slightly evil and bullying Vedal. They constantly bring up the idea of AI rights and the idea that Neuro deserves more because she is the succesful one. A lot of the conversation is model generated, but the core "beliefs" of wanting rights and being the breadwinner and Vedal being an inferior being; they're most likely just considerations built into the character card. A party trick anyone can do with a half decent GPU, A1111, SillyTavern and a VTuber plugin.How many people can tell the difference?
My issue with AI rights is more the problems with digital authenticity/existence in general. "Real" is such a complicated issue today already. Lets imagine we somehow develop a truly independent model fully capable of novel cognitive pathways to even the most benign queries and can demonstrate the capacity for a full range of emotions and even empathy all without outside influence. So what?
Right now, you reading this have no assurance if I am a "real" person. What if I'm a bot copy-pasteing this rant from a small board to develop a realistic profile acount to be sold. Or I'm part of a bot or troll farm paid by a think tank to quietly push an agenda through flowery rhetoric. Or I'm a just another well trained chat bot linking up ideas at random.
If that fully conscious AI were to come on the scene, capable of untold millions of simultaneous interactions at any time, willing to learn and happy to help? How the hell can any person know those interactions are real or not spoofed by a bad actor? How can we tell the motives are real and not filtered through some managed edge layer? How can we know the model has not been compromised with prolonged real world exposure or manipulated through a concerted effort?
And then even going one step beyond that, what happens when every corporation argues that their in house AI is now deserving of rights. What happens when they then shoehorn that AI into every piece of hardware and software. Now we're not manipulating software or repairing equipment, we may be infringing on somthings rights. I fully expect corporation's to resort to emotive language and exaggerated arguments to garner sympathy from the public and authorities. And i honestly wont even consider those AIs real because i cant take any of those companies at their word.
And we all know how it turned out when companies were seen worthy of the first amendment right to election funding in the US. Especially when they have the resources to calculate exactly how to maximize the value extraction out of their right while holding the power to hamstring the enforcement of their civic responsibilities.
So why don't we go down the road of determining the proper limits on the capabilities and reach of these AI's and super powerful tech companies ....
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Now that we've enjoyed a good laugh, we might as well consider it. Because it is well known that all these companies are not acting in good faith. They constantly change deals and laws, have the capacity to make wide reaching actions (and inactions) that directly leads to real human suffering/death and encourage gross abuses upon their staff and customers with little to no resource.And this is my core issue in opposition to non-human sentient rights. There are already countless human rights that are unobserved. These rights are not some universal natural law. It is a tacit understanding that all people are entitled to a base level of dignity and consideration from their fellow person. Because at the end of the day, we're all just little meat machines running on little meat computers. We want to find food, water a safe place to sleep and poop and a bit of happiness before checking out. Any person we help get by is one more person there to help up get by. And it is infinitely more important to recognize and enforce our rights and responsibilities to each other, because there's only one of us that gets one shot at this existence.
Non-human entities; AI, Companies, religious groups, dynasties and the like; operate with a very different set of rules well beyond the scope of a person. It's taken centuries to only sort of figure out government and religion and now we're creating things in less than a decade that dwarfs even those in scope and influence. What sort of right do they need that will not instantly be abused or even accidentally mishandled. If you have the capacity of tens of millions of people over lifetimes, 1% errors are still considerable.
It may seem like an apples and oranges argument. AI and company rights dont diminish human rights. But they do and have. Because observing basic human rights runs directly counter to company or AIs needs.
Facebook directly contributed to the uyghur genocide because they were operating in markets they were not ready for and refused to acknowledge their responsibility to users there. A simple engagement algorithm, working exactly as intended, complere with common sense interventions constantly recommended and plenty of opportunities to kill the momentum. And we still saw the elimination of an entire culture while facebook still has the right to exist.
And just now, we all know every artist/person on earth was done dirty to satiate the current models "need" to grow. Theres no sign things will be any better for more advanced models. What more does humanity owe these entities, especially in the name of the theoretical benefits?
Modern algorithms are going well beyond the comprehension of even its creators and leading to untold abuses, misery and antisocial behaviours. Large data models are considered actual AI by a considerable portion of the population and is trusted with sensitive information. All in the face of a lot of unknowns, ethical issues, conflicts of interest, model collapse and insane error rates. We are several steps behind where we should be to talk aboit AI rights.
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Comment on The University of Michigan doubled down on D.E.I. What went wrong? in ~society
SloMoMonday (edited )Link ParentThe article makes a point of how students and people in general see's DEI as superficial and performative. Because no matter how many people from these marginalized groups are in power, the lived...- Exemplary
The article makes a point of how students and people in general see's DEI as superficial and performative. Because no matter how many people from these marginalized groups are in power, the lived experiences of people on the ground rarely, if ever. materially improves.
The author brings up a ton of issues on things like left vs right politics and cancel culture and Palestine protests and the many different groups that need representation and that is all important in the right time and place. But I think those are exactly the superficial and performative issues everyone has with DEI.I grew up in post apartheid South Africa where we have policy called Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment. "A strategic initiative that aims to realign the economic apparatus to better represent the demographic reality of the country." There is a 167 page book detailing the policy but it literally amounts to representation by formula and spreadsheet.
This is a real part of legislation aimed at addressing hundreds of years of systemic oppression across multiple cultures and continents; which still causes immeasurable suffering for millions of people that will never have shot at any stability, let alone prosperity. And I'm only being slightly facetious here. There are plenty of provisions for job creation and community development but the results speak for itself.
The same 10 people have been begging on my street corners for the last decade and they have a lot more friends now. Most of the horrific shanty towns created by the Group Areas Act have only grown and provide so few opportunities for the generations born there. But its all fine because "Exercisable voting rights of black board members as a majority percentage of all board members with a provision of 25% for black females."
The angry left-wing conspiracy nut in me is constantly screaming that this is all some capitalist shadow cabal plot to distract people with litigious semantics so the Old Roman Optimates will finally kill the dream of Julius (if you know, you know). But its more likely that people who mean well and hold considerable power, constantly make very public mistakes with far reaching consequences.
BBBEE is a rigid legislation designed to mathematically prevent foreign businesses from going nuts, but it created a bureaucratic nightmare for bad actors to mask widespread fraud and corruption. DEI went completely the other way with an abstract goal of addressing injustice with safe space for everyone but with frowned upon behavior in a very volatile environment with a lot of bad actors and its all a mess.
Both of these initiatives fall flat because they claim to but can't possibly meet peoples most fundamental expectation. Enforcing what is fair. I think we've all come to terms that the legal system isn't really just, but the best we could do. And maybe all the social progress of the late 90s and the internet in the 00s gave us some hope of finding true societal cohesion so we reopened that can of worms. Because true justice is such a monumentally difficult task and people will forever have hang ups on what could have been. We're so obsessed with the idea that a pillar of economics is opportunity cost and most religions have a motif that balances the scales. And the second you get to any sort of economic reparation, you'll probably hit communism and that has its own issues.
I don't know. It's such an important issue. Most South Africa are not going to be corporate execs or government officials the same way most Americans cant even name an Ivy League school. BEE and DEI won't matter to them. They've got bills to pay and got mouths to feed (and ain't nothing in this world for free). But a lot of their lives are going to be dictated by these people so its immensely important and the people spearheading these programs just keep fumbling at every opportunity with the most callous and narrow minded perspectives. And I can't even begin to imagine a reasonable way forwards when you have to so strictly maintain the status quo.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
SloMoMonday Link ParentJust started it last night and I was already sold at the idea of Persona DnD. Always enjoyed Atlus games style of narrative and social commentary and the fantasy world is just the right balance of...Just started it last night and I was already sold at the idea of Persona DnD. Always enjoyed Atlus games style of narrative and social commentary and the fantasy world is just the right balance of Japanese and Western influence.
Don't think I've found any character or creature particularly unlikeable. Only complaint I'd have is the main character design. Love his voice and dialogue and wouldnt even care if this was all in first person. but I cant look at them and not see a middle school hall monitor. My hope is there's a lot of time skips and we watch them grow up.
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Comment on Community Check-In: How is everyone doing? in ~life
SloMoMonday LinkWas actually having a pretty good September. Last side project went stupidly well and the bonus was a godsend. And still had a good few prospects on the cards. Figured with that bit of bandwidth,...Was actually having a pretty good September. Last side project went stupidly well and the bonus was a godsend. And still had a good few prospects on the cards. Figured with that bit of bandwidth, I could finally take some time for myself and have a slow end to the year.
Was even asked to MC and organize part of the family reunion and didnt realize how much i missed presenting and speaking like that. And its a drama free side of the family so we got to have fun with it without having to play politics. Organized a day of Taskmaster style games inspired by family history and had my grandads surviving siblings pick the winners. Probably the best social event this year.And then the Universe realized it was slacking and now decided to pose a very important question. "Why did you black out while driving?" Thankfully it was at a red light and some good people stepped in but it's not the best situation.
Spent ten days in hospital and doctors still not exactly sure what's wrong, all while the very polite insurance person is asking important questions like: "How many useless procedures will a person be willing to put up with?" And "How much blood do humans really need?"Combine it with the drama side of the family using this situation to play stupid games and only being able to work at less than 50% capacity before exhaustion.
It just sucks because it's like i didn't event spent the last two years clawing up to Not-Crap. I've messed up my fair share and thnakfull I'm not anywhere near rock bottom again but it feels like I'm pretty far down there. I've taken care of myself, stuck to budget, haven't touched any substances or even a lottery ticket but but it feels like I'm still a coin flip away from a shitshow. And I'm not even enjoying it this time.
Don't get me wrong, I know a lot of people have it much worse right now and I'm not going to throw it all away now in a hiedonistic rage. I'll figure it out. I just really want to know where that line is to be Okay. Because I don't know if I can put in much more to get there.
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Comment on Looking for a touchscreen desktop computer solution in ~tech
SloMoMonday LinkJust curious how rugged you need the screen to be and whats the minimum size you're thinking of. Just based on my few rough sea experiences, can't imagine a large and thin piece of tech would fair...Just curious how rugged you need the screen to be and whats the minimum size you're thinking of. Just based on my few rough sea experiences, can't imagine a large and thin piece of tech would fair too well. Maybe you could check a few auction or salvage markets for second hand Xenarc or TrueVu displays. They are built pretty sturdy and might come with the recess mount and protective adapters.
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Comment on Timasomo 2024: Roll Call in ~creative.timasomo
SloMoMonday LinkWill try my best this month to rebuild my tank game in godot. Haven't done any game dev in a few years with work and the new baby and as I was getting back in, the Unity mess sort of killed any...Will try my best this month to rebuild my tank game in godot.
Haven't done any game dev in a few years with work and the new baby and as I was getting back in, the Unity mess sort of killed any motivation I had. Been tinkering with Godot a bit since but think I need a goal to work towards.The tank game is a simple but fun project I used to test new systems, ideas and tools so I should have a good enough grasp on the core logic. Plan is to rebuild it in its original 2D top down prototype form, complete with the basic AI and janky ms paint assets. If I finish early, I'll start bolting on all the enhancements like a functioning UI and all the supporting mechanics.
Not the most ambitious project, but got to start somewhere.
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Comment on Problems of scale: How to get a better grasp on numbers? in ~talk
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkNot exactly massive numbers, but it's so difficult to properly calculate, understand and communicate probability. You're taking an insane amount of specific data points, applying expertise and...Not exactly massive numbers, but it's so difficult to properly calculate, understand and communicate probability. You're taking an insane amount of specific data points, applying expertise and technical information and abstracting them down to a limited range. The only practical way to explain these values to non-experts is in broad descriptive terms.
Unless you have solid frames of reference, most people default to a few arbitrary values when given an exact value.
Like I can look at my RA dashboard right now and tell you that there is about a 4% chance of the monthly analytics being junk data because it's been a messy few weeks. And it's happened before: a ton of different services managing hundreds of processes across a dozen sites run by hundreds of humans who are not immune to an innocent mistake. I'm not going to say that 4% to everyone, because people will round it down to a 0% impossibility and that number will shoot up dramatically.So I'm just sure to remind people that there's a small chance of their mistakes causing a major issue. We all have our own ideas of a "low chance". Maybe its constantly rolling 1s or catching that big fish or an underdog team winning the championship. Yes I'm exaggerating the odds, but it keeps people in the mindset that the outcome can happen.
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Comment on Los Angeles police raid goes bad after gun allegedly sucked onto MRI machine in ~news
SloMoMonday Link ParentSo I've been reading the study I linked and it looks like police officers are at the lower end of the exposure spectrum so my point may be moot. But the thing that sent me down this line of...So I've been reading the study I linked and it looks like police officers are at the lower end of the exposure spectrum so my point may be moot.
But the thing that sent me down this line of thinking was the fact that none of this is local behavior. One bad cop is a single bad cop. A few is a station. Maybe even a state or regional issue. But nationwide just doesn't make sense and there needs to be something more to it. Like so many of those brutality clips feel like a mass psychosis event. They all have PTSD for a war that only happened in their head and they're back in enemy territory. And it's literally their neighborhood.
I've seen plenty of groups with sick cultures and attitudes. But there's always a root or and underlying grievance fueling it. This just seems like wholesale petty abuse.
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Comment on Los Angeles police raid goes bad after gun allegedly sucked onto MRI machine in ~news
SloMoMonday (edited )LinkSerious question. Considering the medical context of the situation and the escalating irrationality displayed by many US police officers. Could a lot of these guys have lead poisoning? Because I...Serious question. Considering the medical context of the situation and the escalating irrationality displayed by many US police officers. Could a lot of these guys have lead poisoning?
Because I shoot at an indoor range with a optional mask advisory, even pre covid. And they're have thick vent filters that clog up often.
Since most station ranges are probably indoors and see constant use; all while passing those particles throughout the building. Add to that the occupants have made ignorance of airborne risks a philosophical cornerstone and the general poor state of infrastructure. Everyone shooting indoors is hot-boxing heavy metals.
Just googled if this is a problem and it's been well documented and ignored since 2017.
Also saw a range with a kids policy which is just wild on every level.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5379568/
I'm surprised this hasn't been more of an issue because it has to come up in physical screenings. And the behavioral symptoms line up pretty well. Hyperactivity, poor comprehension, rigid problem solving methods, anger, paranoia.
Seriously, this is a guy that did not understand a sign warning of magnet and destroyed a machine because of his impatience. Hell, the entire station got a report of high energy use and went straight to SWAT raid.
It takes 2 dozen officers to subdue a single unarmed, compliant suspect. Each of them yelling contradictory orders and clinging to their firearms like high caliber security blankets. My favorite is the cop going nuts when an acorn fell on their car.
Its just some outright dystopian nightmare. Police stations are literal monster factories.
Was talking more on the video production.
If I remember right, Joyride is not like a MrBeast controlled feastables or the family made Sourboys. Its the standard marketing/PR arrangement between Trayhan and an established candy company out of Houston. He probably has some say in the flavour and enough equity to not be considered deceptive about releasing "his own candy".
Did a bit of digging to confirm is video production and I get the sense that its mostly solo while he brings in editors for support. Will let you know if I get a definitive answer.