V17's recent activity
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Comment on Iran’s supreme leader signals harsher crackdown as protest movement swells in ~society
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Comment on What private companies are you happy doing business with? in ~talk
V17 Link ParentAlright, lessons learned! The thing with Appstore curation definitely used to be true, but obviously isn't anymore, too bad. With regards to Android phone performance, I've only ever used one...Alright, lessons learned! The thing with Appstore curation definitely used to be true, but obviously isn't anymore, too bad.
With regards to Android phone performance, I've only ever used one flagship phone and since then I've been happy with "low end of the midrange", phones that cost half of what iPhones cost. They're fast enough to not annoy me in any way and the only difference I mind is that flagship phones always get much better tuned camera software, which dictates photo quality no matter which one has better hardware. With regards to long term support, perhaps this is the most ignorant or naive thing I'll say here, but I've never had a security problem with any phone ever. I'm using a phone released in 2021 with no issues, previous one was a similar situation.
I disagree with Macs being good value before the switch to ARM, but yeah, I agree that their switch to ARM has been really cool and I hope we get some competitors in time. The downside is that software needs more work to fully utilize the different platform, but that is improving all the time. IIRC the really bad serviceability is still an issue in the laptops though.
Unfortunately at least half of the software I use does not run on a Mac, plus I tend to use old specialized software (and also old games) and Mac OS's backwards compatibility is by far the worst of all desktop platforms, which makes it unusable for me.
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Comment on What private companies are you happy doing business with? in ~talk
V17 Link ParentAre they really? I'm not saying they're bad, clearly they're good, but after experiencing how franky completely okay many low-end Android phones have been in the recent years at least, around here...iPhones come out every year with decent improvements and are a fantastic value, especially when you consider the support length.
Are they really? I'm not saying they're bad, clearly they're good, but after experiencing how franky completely okay many low-end Android phones have been in the recent years at least, around here (Europe, so apple stuff may be more expensive) sold for less than 1/3 of the price of the cheapest iPhone model, fantastic value is not something I'd use.
The lower priced Macintoshes are some of the best computers you can buy.
Again, they're good, but aren't Macbooks quite overpriced for their hardware and designed to be very difficult to repair? Or has that changed recently, or are we talking about desktops?
But for things like services, in particular the App Store 30% fee, Apple’s incentives are the opposite of what is good for the consumer.
I hate to "well akchually" on this in particular because I despise walled gardens (it's one of the main reasons why I don't own any Apple products, no idea what I'll do if Google succeeds in moving in that direction as well), but Appstore's big advantage for the consumer is tighter control and more curation. It has way less bullshit adware or straight up malicious nonsense than Goole Play store.
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Comment on Iran’s supreme leader signals harsher crackdown as protest movement swells in ~society
V17 Link ParentI've seen at least one video with shots of protesting crowds where the original audio was clearly changed to crowds shouting Pahlavi's name. So expect propaganda. Some of his support surely is...But the user pointed out -- or at least western media seems to be repeating -- that Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah, being closer to the center of these protests. The few articles I've seen keep do referencing Pahlavi and crowds chanting in support of and calling for the crown prince.
I've seen at least one video with shots of protesting crowds where the original audio was clearly changed to crowds shouting Pahlavi's name. So expect propaganda. Some of his support surely is legitimate, but I think that at this moment it is impossible to say how much.
Take the following with a grain of salt: From a bit by a local journalist with some knowledge of Iranian society (though it is not his main specialization) it sounds like a large portion of people is fed up with the totalitarian regime, but their ideas on what work would have to be done to build a democracy are often naive or non-existent and there's no real opposition or dissent ready to do the work, so some are turning towards monarchy simply because it's an option that exists and seems better than the current one.
A bit of a sidenote, I don't think that the situation in some eastern european countries during the fall of communism was much better with regards to being naive and not having plans and they all turned out better than before, so the above may not be as bad as it sounds.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
V17 Link ParentI'm only reacting with things I don't fully agree with, and I'm commenting with the luxury of not living in a country with a similar history of slavery or colonialism that would implement similar...I'm only reacting with things I don't fully agree with, and I'm commenting with the luxury of not living in a country with a similar history of slavery or colonialism that would implement similar policies. I'm not on the opposite side though, I don't nearly disagree with everything and in the spirit of the this thread I rarely have a problem with the goals, I just often have a problem with the implementations.
Affirmative Action sought to correct some of those imbalances - not by giving benefits to Black or Asian people only, at the expense of white people; but rather, by raising up non-white people so that they can be on the same footing. Culturally, it has the added benefit of putting people of color into positions that they, historically, have been kept out of - meaning, those "good ol' boys clubs" where you only see white people, now have a spattering of Black, Asian, and other ethnicities. Given a long enough timeline, it would mean that it's no longer unusual to see them there. It goes from "they're a DEI hire" to "they're a hire", because it's no longer unexpected to see people of color in those roles.
The issue I have here is - how do you evaluate those goals? When is it enough? Or how do you avoid a situation in which affirmative action doesn't work that well to achieve its goals or works really well in one aspect but causes issues in other aspects, and its proponents say "well we just need to wait longer until it works" while advantages plateau but problems deepen? These issues don't seem to be defined or debated openly on either side.
You say that it goes from "they're a DEI hire" to "they're a hire", but from here it seems like in the last 20 years we've seen the opposite development. And you can't really blame it only on right wing populism, because they only exploited opinions that already existed - especially working class tends to be socially conservative pretty much across cultures regardless of current political leadership, and the groups that opposed progressive policies that seem clearly unfair from some point of view seemed to be wider than just working class in the US, that's a generator for backlash.
Non-white people throughout American history have been held back from being able to acquire generational wealth. [...]
Right. But when we go back to the example of working class people in Appalachia, sizeable groups lived in company towns and were economically exploited before proper worker protections emerged, so they have similar issues in this area. I'm not discounting the other problems you mention, but similarly to poor Asians these people are going to rightfully feel it's unfair.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
V17 Link ParentJust as an anecdote, I live in Czechia, which is a very safe country, so cops have much less to worry about with regards to their safety, and also their training is much more focused on...I kinda love that you picked a drug-fueled psychosis episode as your example for policing here.
For me personally, I think “armed forces responsible for law enforcement” is about the last person I would want to deal with that situation, especially in the US where they seem to have a horrible reputation for escalation and murder.
Give me paramedics, or a nurse, or a social worker, or a firefighter, or even a gentle giant gym bro passerby to talk to the person and defuse the situation and bring them to professional help before you send a cop that way. Maybe a cop on standby in case things get violent, but not as the first point of contact.
Just as an anecdote, I live in Czechia, which is a very safe country, so cops have much less to worry about with regards to their safety, and also their training is much more focused on de-escalation. And in a situation with a screaming person in drug fueled psychosis the standard solution is always to call the police and ambulance (and one will call the other if you don't). While empathy towards the person is necessary, situations like this are not entirely predictable and safety of the first responders is just as necessary. So the police is trained to help detain the person if necessary without using excessive force, and keep the medical workers safe as they do their job.
I'm not saying that this is the only way to do it, I just want to say that having cops with reasonably good training is possible, it works somewhere, and calling them in situations where physical safety may be problematic is the obvious first choice then.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
V17 Link ParentIsn't that the whole issue with affirmative action though? Is it a good idea to base this policy solely on ethnicity then? Surely an educated black person in California is much more privileged...Isn't that the whole issue with affirmative action though? Is it a good idea to base this policy solely on ethnicity then? Surely an educated black person in California is much more privileged than a poor working class white person somewhere in Appalachia. And what about a poor working class black person in Appalachia? Well, if educated black people in California aren't underperforming, so aren't those just normal economic problems?
Note that my point is not "institutional racism doesn't exist", but it seems like there's an inherent unfairness in similar policies that should not be thrown out so lightly.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
V17 Link ParentI agree, this is terrible and incredibly moronic. I like the US and value it as a partner and ally (or did until recently), so watching all this has been painful even from afar. I get similar...I agree, this is terrible and incredibly moronic. I like the US and value it as a partner and ally (or did until recently), so watching all this has been painful even from afar. I get similar vibes from all the new ICE recruits as well, which is scary on top of ridiculous.
However
Ideological purity testing is becoming way more of a right wing activity than a left wing one, at least here in the US.
Yes, probably, because unfortunately the extreme right won, so they (try to) steamroll over everything they don't like and they do everything with very little sophistication because they're plain stupid. But in the medium term this has definitely been primarily a left wing issue and I think it's important to say it openly because it's a big footgun by which leftists seem to be doing quite a bit of harm to themselves, and unless they admit it and fix it, it's going to be very difficult to overcome whatever the ultrapopulist right throws next.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
V17 Link ParentUnfortunately I cannot go into much more detail as the pond is not that big and I don't want to provide too much identifying information. I agree with some of what you say but disagree...- Exemplary
Unfortunately I cannot go into much more detail as the pond is not that big and I don't want to provide too much identifying information. I agree with some of what you say but disagree wholeheartedly with your conclusions.
While there was a high level of bureaucracy, it was never more than when we worked with the National Science Foundation, The Department of Defense, or The National Park Service.
We're not Americans and I'm not sure how many other US institutions he's worked for - some, but it may not have been any of the ones listed and it was a relatively small minority of his work, so I cannot make this comparison, so I'm going to assume you're right, but I don't think it changes anything.
I do want to validate there were many, many stupid boxes you needed to check to meet the requirements to receive funds; one of which was sensitivity training.
Yes, I agree. Some seemed dumber than others and the amount got bloated over the years, the focus on things like sensitivity training was more recent than others and more reflected in the attitutes of new people employed by USAID, which was also in conflict with the culture in some of the countries USAID operated in and that created friction, therefore it was more visible.
That this training was a bridge too far for your friend, and not any of the other, feels telling. Not that he was a harasser or anything, but that this is "woke" ideology because it focuses on what is acceptable behavior. My dad often says "he's oldschool because he is old" and I think this applies here. The training is annoying, but to say this is "the antithesis to the very core of his motivation to do this line of work" is..odd?
I simply disagree here. Data security is a problem that is much easier to define and create measures for that are objectively backed and functional (although often quite annoying) and their functionality can be somewhat objectively evaluated. Policies like sensitivity training are based on vibes and culture shifts more than they are based on science-like approaches, formed on falsifiable hypotheses. Their subject is also much more personal - it doesn't feel like an annoying expert is telling you how handle xxx technology he's an expert on, it feels like an annoying activist is telling you how to behave. This, together with the fact that nobody (around the areas and projects he worked on) seems to like them or believe that they work but everyone feels like it's necessary to keep their head down and pretend they're fine, is what is quite triggering. I empathize with that despite being much younger and growing up after communism.
Also, the description of the younger cohort of USAid folks seems ungenerous at best. Many of those positions are not particularly well paying, and they often require passion to make up the gap. Sometimes that feels like "progressive activist types", but often it's who will accept working 60-70 hours a week for $60k a year. Someone where impact of work matters more than paycheck.
None of this is related in any way to whether they actually do a good job or not.
Their project also tended to have longer sustained impact than similar ones we'd do in partnership with big corporates (Google, Adobe, Trimble) or NGOs. I'm talking a decade of impact vs a year. And all of that got dismantled because it was painted as woke and wasteful.
I agree that from what I know USAID development programs worked really well despite my complaints and what happened to USAID is a tragedy for both the US and the recipients and it's absolutely idiotic how it happened.
It's hard not to read the heavy slant that you've wrote this with. That I'm supposed to be sympathetic to his lived experience (life under dysfunctional communism) but then not to the lived experience of the people he worked with. To read the context of his issues and see "no-bullshit" as anything other than cantankerous and hard to work with. His experience is really subjective. I hear he had a bad time by the end of his career, when his beliefs were no longer mainstream, and that's a bummer. But to use that as an example of how "progressivism has gone too far" and just skewer the younger generations that work at USAid, I couldn't disagree more.
This would warrant a detailed response, but sadly I don't have the time. He's not cantakerous and hard to work with, you can't be that in a job where about 50% of your work is dependent on communicating with other people, whether it's learning how to help them, getting data from surveys and interviews, teaching them or building local networks, and simultaneously be successful at the top of your field for over two decades.
I agree that simply "disapproving where mainstream culture has shifted" on its own is very subjective and doesn't mean that the culture shift is wrong, though I think I provided more reasoning than just that. But the opposite is just as subjective - new is not better, not even when it has a progressive label. Things get worse all the time, even with good intentions. Also do realize that this development of mainstream culture is a bubble that's been recently happening in a portion of American and western European society, but not really elsewhere, it's not a universal thing. And generally when you try to build relations and project soft power over someone, it's a good idea to realize and respect this.
Also of note, I received a private message from someone confirming they've seen a similar experience to my friend's.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
V17 Link ParentMotte and bailey tactic, whether used knowingly or unknowingly, is something you start to see quite often once you learn about it. It's very popular for defending extreme views of all kinds. Part...The original pitch; abolish police departments entirely, was obviously unworkable. It was then the target of a widespread sanewashing campaign where the message was "No no no, we don't want to get RID of police departments, we just want to redirect some of their funding to social work!"
Motte and bailey tactic, whether used knowingly or unknowingly, is something you start to see quite often once you learn about it. It's very popular for defending extreme views of all kinds.
I think a lot of people on the left have the problem of pretending that the world would be a perfect place if only X policy were different. There's this idea that if only we had good social services, good jobs, good housing, we would no longer have a crime problem. The problem is that solving those problems is very very hard, and the whole premise isn't even true to begin with.
Part of it is also the "We must do something!" mindset, believing that immediate action is necessary and its results cannot be worse than doing nothing. In combination with the above it leads to shitty policies with shitty side effects - which I guess is the whole point of this thread.
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Comment on US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country in ~society
V17 Link ParentI agree with this as well, I wish the US returned to respecting checks and balances and due process, but (as a non-american) I don't think it's the only thing that matters here. Though as for your...I agree with this as well, I wish the US returned to respecting checks and balances and due process, but (as a non-american) I don't think it's the only thing that matters here.
Though as for your analogy, Trump's USA is not equivalent to Maduro's Venezuela and assassination is not equivalent to kidnapping and having him face trial.
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Comment on US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country in ~society
V17 LinkGarry Kasparov on X: I agree with this.Maduro is a dictator who stayed in power by force after losing an election. No one who believes in democracy should mourn his fall. Trump's pretexts and potential geopolitical deals especially w Russia deserve scrutiny, but the Venezuelan people deserve a chance at freedom.
As with everything Trump does, his motivations will be about personal power and enrichment. This does not contradict that Maduro was an illegitimate thug allied with others like him. However his removal was arranged (deal?) it shakes the global forces of dictatorship.
Condemning a nation's people to authoritarianism and repression because of potential bad outcomes after the fall of their dictator is a free world observer's luxury. Democracy and prosperity can never be guaranteed, but the opportunities for them should be promoted.
If Trump thinks he can "run" Venezuela by installing a friendly dictatorship, and without its democratic forces and people, it won't last long, as happened to Putin's puppet in Ukraine. Free people and free markets would be mutually profitable, but Trump doesn’t trust them.
I agree with this.
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Comment on Reddit overtakes TikTok in UK thanks to search algorithms and gen Z in ~tech
V17 Link ParentSure, I agree with that as well. I think both are signs. I do think that reddit being apparently immensely popular for skin care and snark subreddits (not mentioned here but also majority women)...You could have made the point that Reddit is now for Normies by using another quote such as "Premier League subreddit has grown by more than a billion views in the last year"
Sure, I agree with that as well. I think both are signs. I do think that reddit being apparently immensely popular for skin care and snark subreddits (not mentioned here but also majority women) is a sign of it being used by the mainstream and not by some specific group as it used to be. This was already largely the case in 2020 or 2019.
The shortcut that seems like it's implied by my not exactly well worded comment is "more women = shitty content", what I mean in reality is something like "in the case of reddit specifically, more women and the specific things they use reddit for is clearly one of the signs of reddit completely shifting towards mainstream users, and a shift towards mainstream users always means shitty content". I don't care about gender especially on a pseudonymous website where you don't see it unless the user wants to disclose it, but I do think that on reddit specifically the above does apply.
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Comment on What are some stories of progressivism gone wrong in implementation? in ~society
V17 (edited )LinkGlobally there are so many little things, but I don't save any references and links and mostly try to forget them. A particularly funny and emblematic recent one: Germany has been having serious...- Exemplary
Globally there are so many little things, but I don't save any references and links and mostly try to forget them. A particularly funny and emblematic recent one: Germany has been having serious issues with sexual assault in public pools, most often done by immigrant men from north Africa and the middle east, and it has been going on for a decade now.
Obviously the right solution here is to spare no expense, carefully consider all the options and... do a poster campaign (specifically in Cologne, mentioned in the link above). However, to not be offensive we have to make it really subtle and avoid the topic at hand as much as possible, because theoretically anyone can assault anyone. So most of the drawings in the campaign depict white people assaulting minorities, including an overweight white woman groping a black amputee teenager in the pool (sorry, couldn't be arsed to find better quality). To check all the woke stereotype boxes, the artist is an obese white woman with neon dyed hair.
Now a personal one. A friend of mine is an economic consultant focusing on regional development (so basically teaching in less developed countries on how to support small businesses, develop important infrastructure, practically use foreign aid etc.), now in his early 60s, who spent a few decades working on USAID projects, among other things. I have to give you his personal background here for this to make sense:
He and his colleagues grew up under communism, where the whole society functioned on the basis of "keep your head down, don't complain and pretend to agree with and support the regime". If you did anything else, you were punished: moved to an undesirable job, moved to an undesirable place, your kids were prohibited from attending higher education or even a decent high school etc. Being competent and having opinions was almost comparable to being a political dissident if it was in a field in any way related to politics and society.
They were lucky to study and get their degrees in departments that functioned really well despite the above problems. Thanks to that they managed to get opportunities to study further abroad after communism fell and were later picked up by a western businessman who started a company with them and taught them further.
They moved to the opposite of what communism did, to something they were all seeking: no bullshit business with high demands on competence and knowledge work and not a lot of ideology, it brought real results, helped gradually chip away at some of the bullshit in post-communist societies, and was also rewarded accordingly. This was the dream, despite the fact that obviously it was also quite hard. Their political and social opinions are heavily formed by their experience with ridding our country of a dysfunctional regime and successfully transitioning to what is effectively a social democracy and capitalism that brought fast growth and freedom.
USAID development programs work really well in general, but gradually over the last 25 years or so they became infested with progressive activist types. People in their 20s who are the opposite of "no-bullshit", they know very little about the actual work being done by the (US-based and local) professionals hired by USAID and see their position not as a supporting one but as a controlling one.
Now imagine you're a 60 years old guy with this type of background, focus on competence, no bullshit, hatred for anything that reminds him of soviet style communism, pretense, ideology etc., you have an impeccable record in the quality of your work over the last 25+ years and zero issues with your behavior ever, work with people of different backgrounds... And suddenly a bunch of 20 something bureaucrats who have achieved nothing of significance in their life are telling you that if you want to enter a tender for any more USAID jobs ever, you have to complete a long mandatory sensitivity training, something that almost nobody around who's doing actual work believes in, there's little evidence that it helps anything, but also most people don't dare speak out and instead pretend that it's normal. These people seem to think that their job is just as important as those doing the actual things that USAID was made for and in fact make relations with the developing countries worse.
This all felt to him like 1st of May marches with signs celebrating the communist regime - mandatory ideological pretense competely devoid of actual meaning or sense. I have never seen him so righteously angry as when this happened, I was mildly worried he was going to have a heart attack. This may sound like "boomer angry he has to read about how to not harrass women for a few hours", but realize that this whole thing is the antithesis to the very core of his motivation to do this line of work.
It ended well, they refused to do any sensitivity trainings so vehemently and with such a good track record that they got an exception. But the long term and pervasive development that led to this really soured their opinion on the US as a whole.
And then it ended badly, USAID was dismantled, but that's not a story of wokeness, because despite my dislike of wokeness and its pervasiveness USAID as a whole was undoubtedly a positive force very advantageous for the US.
edit: a small funny one I just remembered. My friend plays in a swing band that references king kong in its name, because you know, he swings around on one hand and is big and they're a big band that plays swing and the name sounds fun. They were booked to play on an international festival some place else in EU and provide music for some lindy hop (dance) teachers from the US. The teachers demanded they change the name of their band because anything referencing apes or monkeys is clearly talking about black people and is therefore incredibly racist.
I know that there are sadly still some racist football hooligans in Europe who make monkey sounds on black footbal players, and I also know that the "actually Americans are the real racists!" sometimes said by le enlightened europeans is not exactly standing on firm legs... But not a single person around here would see the name of their band and think "oh, they must be talking about black people!" and in this case, yes, them automatically thinking about black people when they see king kong does seem quite racist.
Fortunately in the end the festival couldn't afford my friend's band, so the dilemma was sorted.
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Comment on Reddit overtakes TikTok in UK thanks to search algorithms and gen Z in ~tech
V17 Link ParentAt the same time this is another definitive sign that any community associated with old reddit is either entirely gone or just a tiny minority, and reddit succeeded to instead attract the...It's would be hard to believe that Reddit would ever get to the point of having a 50/50 gender split. I felt like it had a reputation as one of the sweaty male social medias at one point.
At the same time this is another definitive sign that any community associated with old reddit is either entirely gone or just a tiny minority, and reddit succeeded to instead attract the mainstream "normie" population. This is great for financial success but terrible for the quality of content, which I suspect is why many of us are here instead.
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Comment on US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country in ~society
V17 Link ParentThe only thing that stops China and Russia from doing those things is being assured that it's not worth it or that they will not succeed. They may claim that this event had relevance, but that's...This risks destabilizing the world. What is to stop China invading Taiwan? What is to stop Russia expanding into Europe?
The only thing that stops China and Russia from doing those things is being assured that it's not worth it or that they will not succeed. They may claim that this event had relevance, but that's just post hoc reasoning, they care about justification much less than US does. Both Russia and China will attack if they perceive the west as weak or preoccupied with something else, so this attack likely changes absolutely nothing.
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Comment on US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country in ~society
V17 LinkWithout wanting to defend Trump or anyone around him, I think the possibility of outcomes that are not entirely terrible exists. I don't dare guess what the probability is. Maduro is a dictator...Without wanting to defend Trump or anyone around him, I think the possibility of outcomes that are not entirely terrible exists. I don't dare guess what the probability is.
Maduro is a dictator who's pretty clearly morally bad and there's a lot of dissent against him, so regime decapitation is not entirely unrealistic. We have historical examples of this process both failing and working - it worked in Panama for example, where the international community also protested against the US invasion, but the results were positive. Venezuela is a country that has been functional in the past, they have something to return to.
I understand how negatively US meddling in other countries' business in any way is generally viewed, but being from a country that was under a totalitarian regime as well, my view is much less strict.
Of course, Trump et al don't care about the freedom of Venezuelans, but some of the goals probably match even if the motivation is different.
Geopolitically this could mean removing an ally of China and Russia with influence in the area and, of course, a fuckton of oil, which would be a good thing and is surely part of the reason why this was done - not just the oil itself.
Of all the indefensible things Trump has done this doesn't seem nearly like the worst one and this first stage was seemingly done really well with as little collateral damage as possible, we'll see how bad the consequences will be.
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Comment on Jon Stewart is our only hope in ~society
V17 Link ParentNot disagreeing here, but I think the point is that sadly this was a factor in some leftists not voting at all, which is not as bad as switching to Trump, but it is a problem.I can’t put myself in the mind of a person who voted for Trump because they thought he would be good for Gaza.
Not disagreeing here, but I think the point is that sadly this was a factor in some leftists not voting at all, which is not as bad as switching to Trump, but it is a problem.
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Comment on YouTube is awful. Please use YouTube, though. in ~tech
V17 Link ParentGlomble? GLOMBLE??? Seriously sounds like a joke name. All I can think of.Glomble? GLOMBLE???
Seriously sounds like a joke name. All I can think of.
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Comment on This life gives you nothing - Your attention is all you have. Wasting it is annihilating in ~life
V17 Link ParentYeah, those are really nice as well. Standard even in my cheapest PocketBook these days, in case anybody reading this is considering one. And what's also great is that the backlight can go much...Yeah, those are really nice as well. Standard even in my cheapest PocketBook these days, in case anybody reading this is considering one. And what's also great is that the backlight can go much lower than on any phone I used - on a phone I always add special darkening apps on top of the hardware setting, whereas with the e-reader I don't even set the backlight to the minimum setting in complete darkness.
This is mostly speculation because not enough information is coming out now:
The protests are not nearly as big as twitter may make them seem, if you look at serious reports, they're don't seem to be getting larger, and unfortunately part of them were night time riots, which most of the population is not happy about and the regime of course used that.
Many of the videos on twitter are either repeated videos from a few days ago with changed audio, or protests from a different country altogether.
The apparent support to Pahlavi seems to be coming from outside and from twitter more than from the bottom in Iran itself. Not implying that monarchy would be good, but there aren't really any alternatives willing to take responsibility either so far.
There is a lot of vocal outside support online, but Iranians living abroad are out of touch with the society and as for foreign interventions, ordinary Iranians may hate the regime, but they are often also quite nationalistic and against any forms of foreign intervention.
So at this moment I don't see a regime change happening.