V17's recent activity
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Comment on Thoughts on a Democratic postmortem in ~society
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Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society
V17 Link ParentThis feels a bit like OP says "it doesn't matter how right we are if we lose all power" and you reply "well but we're right!". One of the problems of the dems is that it feels like they're...This feels a bit like OP says "it doesn't matter how right we are if we lose all power" and you reply "well but we're right!".
One of the problems of the dems is that it feels like they're entirely out of touch with the working class. And a big part of that problem is that working class people tend to care about cultural topics quite a bit, and they're usually not socially progressive. I see a lot of complaining that blue collar workers vote against their interests, but not a lot of will to change that. Obviously telling them they're wrong has not worked.
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Comment on What moderate countries are left to emigrate to? in ~travel
V17 Link ParentNot exactly globally. The cheaper the country the less bad it is. It only came to Czechia this last year afaik and it's not like there's no jobs available still. But you'll get paid considerably...the tech industry globally is in a big slump. Basically no jobs available.
Not exactly globally. The cheaper the country the less bad it is. It only came to Czechia this last year afaik and it's not like there's no jobs available still. But you'll get paid considerably less than in Sweden.
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Comment on Thoughts on a Democratic postmortem in ~society
V17 LinkI think these two are heavily connected. I'm watching US politics from a distance, and from here it seems like there's a large gap in opinions of a strongly progressive portion of elites and the...3 Social policy can only go so far. Its salience can be quite limited compared to the economy. Negatives can be very negative, white positives may be “meh”.
9 Many folks view Democrats as being the “mom” or “Karen from HR” party. That is not the kind of reputation that wins elections.I think these two are heavily connected.
I'm watching US politics from a distance, and from here it seems like there's a large gap in opinions of a strongly progressive portion of elites and the rest of the population, has been since Obama basically. The elites so far have been unwilling to compromise and the mainstream population goes through shifts where various groups of people move between reluctantly accepting it and pushing back (and a minority that is too small to win happily accepting it). This situation does not seem to be sustainable because the pushback is something that people like Trump can endlessly use for their benefit.
The other issue that you don't mention is that even when democrats decide to partially change their opinion on controversial progressive topics, like on immigration, they do so quietly and reluctantly. I think that part of the "clean house" point also has to be very explicitly saying "our predecessors used to do xxxx, we're here because we believe it was a wrong decision and we're not going to do it". There has to be something like an openly explicit move from "wokeness doesn't exist, it's just something that MAGAs and incels complain about" to "wokeness had its faults and we're moving away from it" even though the core of their policies obviously has to stay progressive, in order to solve the cited points 3. and 9. above.
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Comment on Elon Musk now says it's 'pointless' to build a $25,000 Tesla for human drivers in ~transport
V17 Link ParentI agree that Tesla seems to have fallen way behind, but isn't Waymo doing pretty well and much better than most people expected based on the Tesla experience, so far? There is some speculation...Self driving, even when done right, is so so far from being the future, still
I agree that Tesla seems to have fallen way behind, but isn't Waymo doing pretty well and much better than most people expected based on the Tesla experience, so far? There is some speculation that technologies like Waymo and Cruise are being rolled out very slowly on purpose to avoid public backlash and minimize the number of accidents before some public trust is built, because even if they manage to squeeze the per mile number of accidents much lower than with real drivers, every one of them is going to be disproportionately more scrutinized.
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Comment on Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid in ~health
V17 Link ParentDo you have a source for that (I did try a quick google first)? As far as I know, specifically glues are not normally used anywhere in the process of depositing teflon onto a pan, and the issue...Do you have a source for that (I did try a quick google first)? As far as I know, specifically glues are not normally used anywhere in the process of depositing teflon onto a pan, and the issue with toxic binding agents was PFOA, which is not used anymore.
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Comment on Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid in ~health
V17 Link ParentWhy is that a problem? Teflon itself is pretty much inert, so I assume it's residual PFAS from manufacture, but wouldn't that leech into your food even without flaking?When it gets scratched, it will flake off into your food.
Why is that a problem? Teflon itself is pretty much inert, so I assume it's residual PFAS from manufacture, but wouldn't that leech into your food even without flaking?
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Comment on Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid in ~health
V17 Link ParentChecked what my IKEA black plastic utensils are made of and it's polyamide (if they're telling the truth), which is supposedly safe. I don't use them much because there's no need to add even more...Checked what my IKEA black plastic utensils are made of and it's polyamide (if they're telling the truth), which is supposedly safe. I don't use them much because there's no need to add even more microplastics to my store bought microplastics, but apparently no need to throw them out.
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Comment on Weekly Middle East war megathread - week of October 21 in ~news
V17 Link ParentI think you terribly underestimate the importance of having working and well-stocked air defense. Even now, this second round of missiles broke through in places because Israel couldn't cover...I think you terribly underestimate the importance of having working and well-stocked air defense. Even now, this second round of missiles broke through in places because Israel couldn't cover everything and had to prioritize, so it caused damage. So far only to military installations iirc, but it would be much worse next time.
Regarding escalation and de-escalation, "escalate to de-escalate" is a pretty famous Russian tactic and (unfortunately) it works pretty well in many situations. When your army is not as overwhelmingly strong as the US military and you cannot use just the wide knowledge of this as a deterrent, it is sometimes a good decision (within a bad situation) to aggressively project your power and demonstrate clear superiority and determination to act.
Especially in a situation where your enemy has motivation to be hostile in the long term, which is not the case with say Lebanon, but absolutely is with Iran. Iran is the one regional power that's intent on breaking the new status quo that was gradually emerging before last year.
This attack also had the upside of destroying a factory producing drones that are being sold to Russia and used in Ukraine, so it will most certainly save lives on that front.
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Comment on Sony closes Concord studio and permanently shuts down the game in ~games
V17 Link ParentNevertheless the group of people who find the characters weirdly unattractive is likely not small, since it was reflected even in some mainstream gaming media. But let's not get stuck on the...Nevertheless the group of people who find the characters weirdly unattractive is likely not small, since it was reflected even in some mainstream gaming media. But let's not get stuck on the specifics of that, I think it's likely to only lead to frustration.
I also spent some time looking it up and there's a game developer who does character design and decided to do two whole videos about what's bad with Concord character designs, one trying to break down everything and one comparing them to Overwatch designs, which also contains a mildly funny part where he's doing an analogy on himself and his own clothes and accessories.
They're long as hell, so I just clicked through some bits, but the tl;dr seems to be that everything is wrong from the artistic craft standpoint, down to not understanding the proper usage of colors, how to use shapes and symmetry to guide the eye etc.
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Comment on Sony closes Concord studio and permanently shuts down the game in ~games
V17 Link ParentI tend to be overly critical in this aspect, so take it with a grain of salt: It's uninteresting and the slightly cartoony colorful characters feel like they're supposed to be badass, but it's...I tend to be overly critical in this aspect, so take it with a grain of salt:
It's uninteresting and the slightly cartoony colorful characters feel like they're supposed to be badass, but it's PG13 badass that's lacking any hint of edge, and the dramatic background commentary in the trailer doesn't match the feel of the actual gameplay for me. All of that makes it feel like stereotypical design by committee AAA slop.
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Comment on Sony closes Concord studio and permanently shuts down the game in ~games
V17 Link ParentSome of them would be, for sure. But I'd say that many people (me included to be honest, at least during first impressions) have different beauty standards in media, just like most Hollywood...I don't think they're ugly! A lot of those people would be considered attractive in real life.
Some of them would be, for sure. But I'd say that many people (me included to be honest, at least during first impressions) have different beauty standards in media, just like most Hollywood actors who play "ugly people" in movies are in fact street attractive and at worst "LA ugly". Most of these characters are certainly "LA ugly".
Plus, as said above, this was done on purpose and people noticed.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of October 28 in ~news
V17 Link ParentAs an outsider it's still crazy to me how normalized and here obviously even demanded it is for US media to endorse their candidates. Where I'm from this is viewed as unacceptable, journalists are...As an outsider it's still crazy to me how normalized and here obviously even demanded it is for US media to endorse their candidates.
Where I'm from this is viewed as unacceptable, journalists are expected to officially at least pretend to be impartial and comment, not explicitly endorse. The closest we got to open endorsement was in the last presidential election, when the biggest tabloid paper decided to sell a full frontpage (envelope) advert to the team of one of the candidates (who ultimately won), probably for a low price in a secret deal, but it was still explicitly a purchased ad space not officially endorsed by the owners for plausible deniability. It was unprecedented and possibly only done because the other candidate is a populist oligarch who owned several newspapers and has been using them for "covert" political advertisement, Orbán style, for years.
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Comment on Weekly Middle East war megathread - week of October 21 in ~news
V17 Link ParentThis is not a reasonable description of the situation. Every country is, most of all, interested in its own safety. Iran exhausted Israeli air defense to a large degree in the two huge rocket...fire back over a desire for chest-thumping revenge
This is not a reasonable description of the situation. Every country is, most of all, interested in its own safety. Iran exhausted Israeli air defense to a large degree in the two huge rocket attacks just months apart, leaving it much more vulnerable to any future attack of a similar type, and this also gave Israel a legitimate reason to strike back at military targets and reduce Iranian capabilities to do so. And Iran knew very well that this was a possible outcome.
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Comment on Copyright Office exemption makes McDonald’s ice cream machines repairable in ~food
V17 Link ParentFor contrast, here in Czechia there are special "technical control stations" that are privately ran but heavily regulated down to the point that checking a car takes xx amount of minutes and there...For contrast, here in Czechia there are special "technical control stations" that are privately ran but heavily regulated down to the point that checking a car takes xx amount of minutes and there is a timetable for things that a mechanic is checking at minutes yy - zz, specifically what types of devices he is using to do that, he has to take photos of everything, the car cannot leave the garage before the time has ran out etc. And there are random checks from state inspectors seeing if this is indeed all happening.
This process was gradually made more strict and it has finally led to almost entirely stopping people from cheating, which I think was happening mostly with regards to emissions, but not exclusively, and the biggest problem was when it was truck companies doing it. It's a bit of a pain to go through this every two years and it feels like unreasonable government overreach when you're the one who never cheats and take care of your car, but unfortunately it seemed like it was necessary.
From this point of view replacing the whole frontend of a car's control center, even if it's not a Tesla where literally everything is done that way, seems like a big ordeal in the context of standardization.
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Comment on Copyright Office exemption makes McDonald’s ice cream machines repairable in ~food
V17 Link ParentOkay, but those brake calipers have to go through a process of getting approved as being made in accordance to regulation, do they not? At least that's how it's done where I live (a much more...You can take out your original brake calipers from your car and install completely new aftermarket thing (basically modifying the car) and it's ok.
Okay, but those brake calipers have to go through a process of getting approved as being made in accordance to regulation, do they not? At least that's how it's done where I live (a much more heavily regulated country, so it may differ). I imagine that properly defining functionality and reliability regulation for a completely different control center would be much more difficult than for a relatively simple mechanical part.
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Comment on Star Trek: Section 31 | Teaser trailer in ~movies
V17 Link ParentOkay, one last hopefully non-irritating thing, because this may be the core of the disagreement. I think this is the core of the disagreement. Personally I don't care if Star Trek shows or films...Okay, one last hopefully non-irritating thing, because this may be the core of the disagreement.
Even if all of Discovery was written like that, and it's not, if it speaks to folks today, cool, Trek lives
I think this is the core of the disagreement. Personally I don't care if Star Trek shows or films keep being made at all. I care about the messages that they're saying. And the problem I have here is that Trek shows from TOS to Enterprise mostly sent the same messages and they were mostly well-written. Whereas current creators either do not understand those messages or don't care about them or they're unable to express them in a meaningful way (or more of those things at once).
In fact I believe this dilutes the overall message and it would be stronger if nothing after ENT was created at all. I don't care how many people like it, I care about its quality, its message and what the brand represents. Those things are not related to popularity.
This "bought the brand, handed it off to someone else who believes they're as capable as the original authors or more and decides to do their own reimagining" annoys me in all contexts. It is commonly done with movies and video games, but imagine how absurd it would be if Kanye West at the peak of his popularity bought the Pink Floyd brand for 2 billion dollars, declared that his music is now Pink Floyd music and the sheer number of his fans completely outnumbered the online presence of the fans of actual Pink Floyd music, so his statement gradually became the de facto reality.
That is an extreme hypothetical, what happened with Kurtzman Trek is not close to that, but it is broadly the same in principle. The 90s Trek situation was different because there was always some continuity in the handoffs, which were more gradual.
I think the disingenuous use of the clip you shared out of the context I sought out myself has soured me on the conversation.
The clip is not disingenuous, it's a pretty good representation of the writing quality in Discovery and Picard regardless of its source, and it is still bad in context. It's a shortcut since you don't want to watch anything longer (which I very much understand, though why debate the quality of NuTrek at all then) and this was on hand.
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Comment on Star Trek: Section 31 | Teaser trailer in ~movies
V17 Link ParentNo arguments from me here. It just has nothing to do with the quality of the show and I don't really care what the mainstream audience thinks. The criticisms of Voyager and Enterprise were also...Discovery will be some folks favorite Trek and they won't think it's all trash.
No arguments from me here. It just has nothing to do with the quality of the show and I don't really care what the mainstream audience thinks.
The criticisms of Voyager and Enterprise were also legitimate. Voyager is pretty weak in places compared to previous Treks in terms of both story and characters despite having a couple characters that are well written and cast, and Enterprise also was a step down in quality in the beginning. It just wasn't as bad as now, and both shows somewhat redeemed themselves around the middle, which hasn't happened here yet either. DS9 was also kind of unfocused in the beginning and while it features probably the best writing in all of Trek, some people disliked the shift in tone, which I respect as a complaint about a real thing (even though I personally don't mind, just like here my problem is not that the show is different but that it's badly written).
If you don't see a bigger or smaller decline in quality in all of those cases, then congratulations, you can still enjoy Star Trek. I, unfortunately, have to look elsewhere.
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Comment on Star Trek: Section 31 | Teaser trailer in ~movies
V17 Link ParentI don't think either of those are in a similar category as the Discovery scene, in or out of context. This may be true, I just don't see a reason to think this signifies anything about the quality...Kirk out of context is weird too. If I cut that with Benjamin Sisko being serious during Past Tense airing about 27 years apart, that wouldn't really tell you anything about either show.
I don't think either of those are in a similar category as the Discovery scene, in or out of context.
I see the same for SNW. People love it, other people decry it as the downfall of Star Trek. It will repeat again in the future.
This may be true, I just don't see a reason to think this signifies anything about the quality of the shows actually being good or bad. As with say Fallout, those things are mostly unrelated.
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Comment on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Season 3 NYCC exclusive clip in ~tv
V17 Link ParentAs a SNW hater, I probably wouldn't be a hater if they did that. The memberberries work the opposite way on me.As a SNW hater, I probably wouldn't be a hater if they did that. The memberberries work the opposite way on me.
I don't think this is an accurate description of reality. It's not that they keep trying to reach across the aisle, it's that they have been losing the working class vote for the last 20 years and any attempts to get it back have been sort of half-assed. And it seems like that's simply not enough to win anymore.