cfabbro's recent activity

  1. Comment on Military flees Bolivia government palace after coup attempt fails, general taken into custody in ~news

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Is also rather interesting, if true. I doubt it, but you never know. With how quickly and easily the coup attempt seems to have ended, it's more believable than I would normally give credence to....

    Hours later, the Bolivian general who appeared to be behind the rebellion, Juan José Zúñiga, was arrested after the attorney general opened an investigation. It wasn’t immediately clear what the charges were against him.

    However, in a twist, Zúñiga claimed in comments to journalists before his arrest that Arce himself told the general to storm the palace in a political move. “The president told me: ‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity’,” Zúñiga quoted the Bolivian leader as saying.

    Zúñiga sajd [sic] he asked Arce if he should “take out the armored vehicles?” and Arce replied, “Take them out.”

    There was no immediate response from Arce to the allegations, and the Ministry of the Presidency did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

    Is also rather interesting, if true. I doubt it, but you never know. With how quickly and easily the coup attempt seems to have ended, it's more believable than I would normally give credence to. But also if true, you would think the General would have been smart enough to keep evidence of such an order though. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  2. Comment on Military flees Bolivia government palace after coup attempt fails, general taken into custody in ~news

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    Updated the Topic title since the article title was updated too, after the coup attempt failed. /offtopic

    Updated the Topic title since the article title was updated too, after the coup attempt failed.

    /offtopic

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I'm pretty sure his reaction was just due to him having a panic attack. And as someone with panic disorder, who has totally random panic attacks daily, I can tell you from experience that the...

    I'm pretty sure his reaction was just due to him having a panic attack. And as someone with panic disorder, who has totally random panic attacks daily, I can tell you from experience that the giant adrenaline dump they trigger makes your lizard brain take over. So while you're having one, you can't usually think very clearly, and are instead operating in purely instinctual fight or flight mode.

    Had Stratt simply given Grace some time to calm down, he probably would have eventually come around to the same logical conclusions you did, and agreed to go on the mission.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Jet Lag: AU$TRALIA | Trailer in ~hobbies

    cfabbro
    Link
    Discussion Thread for Season 10 Episode 6 (Nebula Link | YouTube Link).

    Discussion Thread for Season 10 Episode 6 (Nebula Link | YouTube Link).

    2 votes

  5. Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Agreed. He was definitely being way too harsh on himself. But I can see how his actions with Stratt made him think the worst about himself though, since he did literally get dragged away kicking...

    Agreed. He was definitely being way too harsh on himself. But I can see how his actions with Stratt made him think the worst about himself though, since he did literally get dragged away kicking and screaming. And especially after assuming for so long that he had volunteered himself, I imagine he was in a bit of shock upon realizing that wasn't the case. Nobody wants to believe they would behave like that when asked to sacrifice themselves to save so many others.

    IMO, that extremely panicked response was entirely Stratt's fault though. If she had just given him a bit of time to sit down and truly consider things, I think he would have eventually come back and agreed to go. But she was just so used to getting her own way, immediately and without question, that she forced the issue, insulted him, and made him panic as a result.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I personally wouldn't use that label either. What they were asking him to do would be a tall order for anyone, especially with all of humanity relying on you succeeding. But in the end, he...

    Yeah, I personally wouldn't use that label either. What they were asking him to do would be a tall order for anyone, especially with all of humanity relying on you succeeding. But in the end, he did succeed (so was Stratt justified in the kidnapping?). And despite all the danger and setbacks, he showed courage multiple times throughout by never giving up, and even being willing to sacrifice himself to save Rocky.

    However, Stratt did call him a coward, and he even calls himself that after the flashback as well (which is what I was referring to):

    "Dr. Grace. You're a coward and you're full of shit." I winced. "If you really cared so much about the children, you'd get on that ship without hesitation."

    Oh. Okay. I see how it is.

    I'm not some intrepid explorer who nobly sacrificed his life to save Earth. I'm a terrified man who had to be literally dragged kicking and screaming onto the mission.

    I'm a coward.

    All that came to me in a flash. I sit on the stool and stare at the lab table. I went from nearly hysterical to... this. This is worse. I'm numb.

    I'm a coward.

    I've known for a while that I'm not the best hope for saving mankind. I'm just a guy with the genes to survive a coma. I made peace with that a while ago.

    But I didn't know I was a coward.

  7. Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Yeah, it being an external threat would probably change things. And I could certainly see a lot of money being thrown at the problem. But even with a solar system ending external threat, I simply...

    Yeah, it being an external threat would probably change things. And I could certainly see a lot of money being thrown at the problem. But even with a solar system ending external threat, I simply can't see all our governments ceding that much control to anyone, or being that unified in working towards the same solution. Optimistically, I suspect we would see the NATO bloc doing its own thing, and China's sphere of influence doing their own as well. Likely sharing data with each other, but probably not their resources, and certainly not giving up their control to anyone else, especially a singular person.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Amnesia is a bit cliche as a story device, but I actually really liked how it was justified and used in this book. It made me feel like I could relate to Grace even more, since I was just as...

    Amnesia is a bit cliche as a story device, but I actually really liked how it was justified and used in this book. It made me feel like I could relate to Grace even more, since I was just as clueless to start as he was. The revelatory flashbacks added some lovely twists and turns to the story too, that otherwise wouldn't have been possible. And the flashback where he realized he was a coward, tried to run away, and was sent on the mission against his will was a clever and emotionally devastating one that I did not see coming.

    5 votes

  9. Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I don't think her personality was all that unbelievable. Pretty much every Dictator in history has done way worse for far less noble ends. What I did find unbelievable was how every major world...

    I thought her Machiavellian hardness was pretty unbelievable

    I don't think her personality was all that unbelievable. Pretty much every Dictator in history has done way worse for far less noble ends. What I did find unbelievable was how every major world government agreed to cede that much control to her in time to even give us a chance of surviving. But maybe that's just the pessimist in me talking. I personally think global warming is probably going to wipe most of us out, especially at the rate things are already getting worse (see India right now). So I have serious doubts that the world's politicians would be willing or able to do what was necessary to save us if an astrophage showed up.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Anyone metal detect? in ~hobbies

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    LOL, yeah that's more than a tad sketchy. Did he even give you an excuse for why he was in your driveway? Regardless, I'm pretty confrontational though, so I probably would have told him my...

    LOL, yeah that's more than a tad sketchy. Did he even give you an excuse for why he was in your driveway? Regardless, I'm pretty confrontational though, so I probably would have told him my driveway is not a parking lot so he needed to get lost. :P

    I don't have the guts to tell them I'm not in AA anymore and even drink sometime

    TBH, their total abstinence policy is one of the things I really dislike about AA (besides the forced religious shit). Sober means different things to different people, and cold turkey based total abstinence may work and be necessary for some people to get over their alcohol addiction, but it doesn't work and isn't necessary for everyone. So IMO they end up excluding a lot of people they could be helping by taking such a hard-line, black & white stance. Not to mention the shame and stigma associated with "falling off the wagon" they have fostered, which makes recovery even harder. It's why I don't recommend AA to anyone, and always point people towards SMART Recovery these days instead.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Squarepusher - Dostrotime (Full Album) (2024) in ~music

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    Squarepusher. Now there is a name I haven't heard in a long time. I'm surprised (and delighted) to learn he is still making music. I was never the hugest fan of his more experimental and ambient...

    Squarepusher. Now there is a name I haven't heard in a long time. I'm surprised (and delighted) to learn he is still making music. I was never the hugest fan of his more experimental and ambient stuff, but his ultra-high BPM, glitchy, DnB stuff always slapped.

    Listening to this album, I'm actually kind of surprised how little his music seems to have changed over the years. I haven't listened to anything new from him in well over a decade, and maybe some of his other new album are vastly different, but this latest one felt like exactly what I was expecting to hear from Squarepusher... which is actually a good thing since it's good shit, and made me super nostalgic. ;) Thanks for sharing, @drannex!

    3 votes

  12. Comment on Red One | Official trailer in ~movies

    cfabbro
    Link Parent
    True. If only Disney had been as generous with Touchstone. :(

    True. If only Disney had been as generous with Touchstone. :(

    2 votes

  13. Comment on Red One | Official trailer in ~movies

    cfabbro
    Link
    Budget - $250 million Yeesh. Amazon has way too much money. That said, I will still probably watch this with my nephew come Christmas time. It looks so dumb that it might actually be fun. And even...

    Budget - $250 million

    Yeesh. Amazon has way too much money. That said, I will still probably watch this with my nephew come Christmas time. It looks so dumb that it might actually be fun. And even if it's crap by my standards, he'll probably still enjoy it.

    6 votes

  14. Comment on Game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect ‘immediately’ terminating relationship with the streamer in ~games

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    It's not some special, end-to-end encrypted, totally private, chat system. Whispers are just the standard /w [username] command you can use to send other users a "private" (AKA not seen in public...

    Twitch found out because they were looking at Whispers, in a way they should not have been able to (I don't know the exact TOS)

    It's not some special, end-to-end encrypted, totally private, chat system. Whispers are just the standard /w [username] command you can use to send other users a "private" (AKA not seen in public chat) message via the standard public chat window. So whispers are still just plaintext messages, and have always been visible to Twitch staff, AFAIK. As evidenced by the fact that you can report Whispers to Twitch when the message you've been sent violates Twitch policy... which I have done countless times over the years since they are often used by spammers.

    And as for their TOS, it specifically mentions Whispers being included, and has this particularly relevant section on Youth Safety (which Dr D clearly violated):

    https://safety.twitch.tv/s/article/Community-Guidelines?language=en_US

    Youth Safety

    Twitch prohibits any content or activity that endangers youth. This includes content that features or promotes child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and the sexual exploitation, sexual misconduct or grooming of youth (which is defined by this policy as minors under 18). We report all illegal content or activity to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which works with global law enforcement agencies around the world, and the consequence for engaging in such activity or with such content is immediate and indefinite suspension.

    For example, you may not show, promote, or engage in [content warning]:

    • Content that constitutes or facilitates inappropriate interactions with youth, including grooming, purposefully exposing youth to sexually explicit language or sexual material, and engaging in sexual conversations in messages with youth
    12 votes

  15. Comment on Game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect ‘immediately’ terminating relationship with the streamer in ~games

    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    https://x.com/DrDisrespect/status/1805668256088572089 He didn't exactly admit to sexting a minor, merely to having "conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being...

    https://x.com/DrDisrespect/status/1805668256088572089

    He didn't exactly admit to sexting a minor, merely to having "conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate"... but yeah. Not a good look. No wonder he was perma-banned despite the multi-million dollar contract he had with them. :/

    17 votes

  16. Comment on Game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect ‘immediately’ terminating relationship with the streamer in ~games

    cfabbro
    Link Parent
    That's not the TL;DR I would have gone with. Mine would have been: "The termination came shortly after it was alleged by former Twitch staff members that Dr Disrespect was permanently banned by...

    That's not the TL;DR I would have gone with. Mine would have been:
    "The termination came shortly after it was alleged by former Twitch staff members that Dr Disrespect was permanently banned by Twitch for sexting a minor on the Twitch platform"

    56 votes

  18. Comment on Idaho Pride celebration goes on despite protests (gifted link) in ~lgbt

    cfabbro
    Link Parent
    That full link works. I'm still blocked by an account creation requirement nag screen, but it's better than nothing, I suppose. I think I'll still personally stick to archive mirrors though. ;)

    That full link works. I'm still blocked by an account creation requirement nag screen, but it's better than nothing, I suppose. I think I'll still personally stick to archive mirrors though. ;)

    2 votes

  19. Comment on Idaho Pride celebration goes on despite protests (gifted link) in ~lgbt

    cfabbro
    Link Parent
    Weirdly, https://wapo.st/3VZMX3R doesn't work for me at all. The original https://wapo.st/3VD3wlN one does, but as I said below it has an account nag screen blocking it. WTF?

    Weirdly, https://wapo.st/3VZMX3R doesn't work for me at all. The original https://wapo.st/3VD3wlN one does, but as I said below it has an account nag screen blocking it. WTF?

    1 vote

  20. Comment on Idaho Pride celebration goes on despite protests (gifted link) in ~lgbt

    cfabbro
    Link Parent
    The original gifted link actually does work. It does get past the paywall... but unfortunately WaPo seems to have changed their article sharing policies, and now in order for anyone to read the...

    The original gifted link actually does work. It does get past the paywall... but unfortunately WaPo seems to have changed their article sharing policies, and now in order for anyone to read the "gifted" article they need to create or log into an account first to view it. That's what the nag screen blocking the article is for:

    A Post subscriber gave you free access to this article.
    Create an account | Free | ✔️ Access this article

    I don't know when WaPo started doing that, but that is super annoying. :/

    cc: @DefinitelyNotAFae

    3 votes