TheMediumJon's recent activity

  1. Comment on Chechnya 'bans music that is too fast or too slow' in ~music

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    Alternatively, Chechnya now plays it at higher speeds? But (under a different leader) I suppose it also wouldn't be out of character for Chechnya to reject Russia

    Alternatively, Chechnya now plays it at higher speeds?

    But (under a different leader) I suppose it also wouldn't be out of character for Chechnya to reject Russia

    6 votes

  2. Comment on Jet Lag | Season 9 trailer : Hide and Seek across Switzerland in ~hobbies

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    Ovomaltine cocoa is ok, but the ovomaltine chocolate (both as tables and bars) is always amazing.

    Ovomaltine cocoa is ok, but the ovomaltine chocolate (both as tables and bars) is always amazing.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Reddit is letting power users in on its IPO in ~tech

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    I mean, they are free in the sense as opposed to something like ESPP they are being granted to you for no direct cost. They might be contractually obligated to do so as part of your general...

    I mean, they are free in the sense as opposed to something like ESPP they are being granted to you for no direct cost.

    They might be contractually obligated to do so as part of your general compensation, but they could also have just offered you the ability to purchase stock for a given price or reduction thereof.

    1 vote

  4. Comment on Abolishing inheritance tax sent Stockholm's startup ecosystem soaring – tax cut could revive Britain's flagging economy in ~finance

    TheMediumJon
    Link
    The hack of an author relies on this here article, by the way. A nice snippet from there: Oh my. That article also relies on a review by Credit Suisse. What neither author here mentions is that...

    The hack of an author relies on this here article, by the way.

    A nice snippet from there:

    Likewise, many families were forced to sell family homes and holiday cottages.

    Oh my.

    That article also relies on a review by Credit Suisse.

    What neither author here mentions is that the chunk of the economy held by the lower 90% of the swedish sank by nine percentage points from two years before the inheritance tax reduction to three years after it.

    The share of the upper ten, five, and one percent rose respectively by nine (big surprise in the arithmetic), eight, and six percentage points.

    11 votes

  5. Comment on Side projects that were actually good? in ~music

    TheMediumJon
    Link
    I've enjoyed Demons & Wizards, a collab of two artists from a pair of different bands that I like (Iced Earth and Blind Guardian). I'm not sure it can really be considered a side-project, but...

    I've enjoyed Demons & Wizards, a collab of two artists from a pair of different bands that I like (Iced Earth and Blind Guardian).

    I'm not sure it can really be considered a side-project, but Ronnie James Dio's eponymous project Dio, after his roles in Rainbow and Black Sabbath, is also something I like.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare | Official trailer in ~movies

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    Oh damn, I entirely missed that. I shouldn't've just ignored the British vs Americans instead of just assuming it's Sabaton taking some creative liberties or something.

    Oh damn, I entirely missed that.

    I shouldn't've just ignored the British vs Americans instead of just assuming it's Sabaton taking some creative liberties or something.

  7. Comment on The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare | Official trailer in ~movies

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    As for your second paragraph, it might also be known to some people from the Sabaton song The Last Battle.

    As for your second paragraph, it might also be known to some people from the Sabaton song The Last Battle.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on Tom Scott: After ten years, it's time to stop making videos in ~tech

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    There's also TechDiff which the two of them do with an additional two friends, which is just an entirely different Tom, bantering around.

    There's also TechDiff which the two of them do with an additional two friends, which is just an entirely different Tom, bantering around.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing in ~tech

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    I mean, the prices are also brought up regardless and the impact of theft is overstated, so ymmv, but I'd consider it likely negligible.

    I mean, the prices are also brought up regardless and the impact of theft is overstated, so ymmv, but I'd consider it likely negligible.

    10 votes

  10. Comment on Weekly megathread for news/updates/discussion of Russian invasion of Ukraine - November 2 in ~news

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    Does a Corvette classify as a "major Russian warship"? Fwiw, the Wikipedia article on Corvette starts out as (Obviously not putting any blame with that on you for just forwarding the source, just...

    Does a Corvette classify as a "major Russian warship"?

    Fwiw, the Wikipedia article on Corvette starts out as

    A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or "rated") warship.

    (Obviously not putting any blame with that on you for just forwarding the source, just for the record).

    4 votes

  11. Comment on The bizarre story behind Shinzo Abe’s assassination in ~humanities

  12. Comment on Hamas using Gaza hospitals as military positions, Israel claims as it presents new evidence in ~news

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    I was writing a rather (needlessly) wordy response echoing that very sentiment, that sometimes semantics do matter. Thanks for saving me that.

    I was writing a rather (needlessly) wordy response echoing that very sentiment, that sometimes semantics do matter.

    Thanks for saving me that.

    4 votes

  13. Comment on The bizarre story behind Shinzo Abe’s assassination in ~humanities

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    So your thought is that it was linking something with potential for viability on its own (pipebomb on YouTube) with a current topic (Abe assassination) just for views?

    It was clearly a mix of riding the trending topic and doing something he knew would go instantly viral (setting off a pipe bomb on YouTube). And it did go viral to some degree.

    So your thought is that it was linking something with potential for viability on its own (pipebomb on YouTube) with a current topic (Abe assassination) just for views?

    1 vote

  14. Comment on The bizarre story behind Shinzo Abe’s assassination in ~humanities

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    I guess... I mean, that worst case one makes sense to me (y'know, given a starting intent of wanting (people) to commit terrorism or whatever). But that best case scenario, just... There's enough...

    I guess...

    I mean, that worst case one makes sense to me (y'know, given a starting intent of wanting (people) to commit terrorism or whatever).

    But that best case scenario, just... There's enough videos both of firing guns on YouTube and of people of various reasons setting off explosions, trying to force one into the other... I really just don't know.

  15. Comment on The bizarre story behind Shinzo Abe’s assassination in ~humanities

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    Hmm, maybe. My initial thought was that he'd have described his deviation, seeing as he went ahead and took cover before igniting it, but I suppose that easily could've been described in the video...

    Hmm, maybe.

    My initial thought was that he'd have described his deviation, seeing as he went ahead and took cover before igniting it, but I suppose that easily could've been described in the video as merely a general safety precaution, rather than the "this won't be a gun, it'll be a bomb, so obviously I'm not firing it manually" that at first assumed.

  16. Comment on The bizarre story behind Shinzo Abe’s assassination in ~humanities

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    Why, though? I mean, making a video on a home-made shotgun that was used to assassinate a political figure I can understand on some level. The "let's make it brokenly so it'd explode in my hands"...

    Only Brandon purposely made his recreation wrong in such a way that it would violently detonate like a pipe bomb. Which it did. He knew it was going to explode so he was hiding behind a barrel, but it would have killed him if he held it

    Why, though?

    I mean, making a video on a home-made shotgun that was used to assassinate a political figure I can understand on some level. The "let's make it brokenly so it'd explode in my hands" part that weirds me out.

    Or was all of that just cover for doing a pipe bomb video?

    9 votes

  17. Comment on Swedish ports threaten to block Teslas from entering the country – strike that started with mechanics is beginning to spread in ~transport

    TheMediumJon
    Link
    Good, may they get their deserved victory swiftly. And let's hope this inspires others such as the workers in the German "Gigafactory" mentioned.

    Good, may they get their deserved victory swiftly.

    And let's hope this inspires others such as the workers in the German "Gigafactory" mentioned.

    3 votes

  18. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    I'm not the above commenter and I'm not sure I'd say I find it funny as much as I certainly don't mind it and on some occasion might make use of colorful language myself. As to the why on that,...

    I'm not the above commenter and I'm not sure I'd say I find it funny as much as I certainly don't mind it and on some occasion might make use of colorful language myself.

    As to the why on that, then. There's a means for emphasis, definitely. If it's something beyond a generic standard "fucking", "fucker" et Al, the creativity can oftentimes be amusing. And the occasional contra to the subject is something that'd I'd consider more of an invitation (in the same way other socio-cultural actions might give certain reactions) than a reason to stop it either for myself or others.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on The Shadow over Innsmouth in ~books

    TheMediumJon
    Link Parent
    I'll drift off a bit, but I have actually seen similar reactions with movies which in the same sense could establish what eventually turned into expectable tropes and thus don't quite pack the...

    I'll drift off a bit, but I have actually seen similar reactions with movies which in the same sense could establish what eventually turned into expectable tropes and thus don't quite pack the same punch in a modern context.

    1 vote

  20. Comment on Do our moral beliefs need to be consistent? in ~humanities

    TheMediumJon
    Link
    This absolute silliness on the part of the author. For many people all of these latter example are indeed examples of inconsistency that ought to be rectified. Okay, so there are practical...

    There are times when our attempts to justify an apparent inconsistency in our judgements or practices look suspiciously like disingenuous rationalizations of ways of thinking or acting that we have become comfortable with, or that it would be problematic to abandon, or that we think carry significant practical benefits, or to which we can't think of a decent alternative. Consider, for instance, the laws regarding alcohol compared to other recreational drugs, or US foreign policy regarding various undemocratic countries, or court rulings that rest on dubious appeals to precedent or questionable interpretations of the constitution.

    This absolute silliness on the part of the author. For many people all of these latter example are indeed examples of inconsistency that ought to be rectified.

    But an alternative approach is to cut the Gordian knot by not worrying about that and simply asking instead: what are the likely consequences of allowing or prohibiting abortion? If prohibiting it is likely to produce more dangerous backstreet abortions, more unwanted children growing up in deprived circumstances, more single mothers mired in poverty, and so on, then these are reasons for ensuring that it be legal and available. If, on the other hand, its ready availability tends to put a heavy economic burden on the health care system, diminish our respect for human life, and foster less careful attitudes to sex which in turn increases the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, then these are reasons for banning abortion.

    Okay, so there are practical arguments both for and against legalization of abortion. This just puts us back at step one of having to weight those against each other. And unless someone can enlighten me, I don't know of a formula for converting "diminish[ed] respect for human life" to/against "more dangerous backstreet abortions".

    So in the end we will have to conduct a determination based on ethics of which of the above outweighs the others.

    3 votes