danjac's recent activity
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Comment on Linguists found the weirdest languages – and English is one of them in ~humanities
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Comment on Brexit: UK and EU agree Brexit delay to 31 October in ~news
danjac Link ParentApril Fool Brexit to Halloween Brexit. I suppose that's progress of a kind...April Fool Brexit to Halloween Brexit. I suppose that's progress of a kind...
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Comment on What programming language do you use for work and what's your favorite language? in ~comp
danjac LinkPython, Javascript and SQL are the daily drivers, plus Elixir and Go out of interest. A lot of languages I used to use but since forgotten (I can understand them well enough but don't make me code...Python, Javascript and SQL are the daily drivers, plus Elixir and Go out of interest. A lot of languages I used to use but since forgotten (I can understand them well enough but don't make me code in them): C/C++, Java, PHP, various forms of Basic, Pascal, Clojure.
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Comment on Tildes folks, are you learning another language or multilingual? in ~humanities
danjac LinkNative language English, second language Finnish - I took the YKI (general language test) a couple years ago as a citizenship requirement and would consider myself fluent if not bilingual. Third...Native language English, second language Finnish - I took the YKI (general language test) a couple years ago as a citizenship requirement and would consider myself fluent if not bilingual. Third language Russian - studied at university and I live near the Finnish/Russian border so I use it fairly often, although it's a bit rusty these days. I also have a smattering of very rusty Swedish, German and Spanish from travelling.
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Comment on Is Hacker News suppressing leftist articles? Or just a conspiracy of poor point scoring? in ~tech
danjac Link ParentThere are cases when politics and tech merge, e.g. Net Neutrality or GDPR. The article in question is not that, and as someone who does not have libertarian views it's nice to have places...There are cases when politics and tech merge, e.g. Net Neutrality or GDPR. The article in question is not that, and as someone who does not have libertarian views it's nice to have places generally free of politics.
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Comment on James Gunn fired as director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' franchise over offensive tweets in ~movies
danjac Link ParentI wonder why any celebrity uses Twitter at all, other than a PR-vetted account for announcing tour dates and the like. Someone once called it a "140 character resignation letter service".I wonder why any celebrity uses Twitter at all, other than a PR-vetted account for announcing tour dates and the like. Someone once called it a "140 character resignation letter service".
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Comment on The Tildes code is now open-sourced in ~tildes.official
danjac Link ParentUnfortunately many startups use students/novices at the beginning because they're cheap/naive, and they build exactly the kind of code that leads to these long-term maintenance issues that are a...Unfortunately many startups use students/novices at the beginning because they're cheap/naive, and they build exactly the kind of code that leads to these long-term maintenance issues that are a nightmare for later employees to deal with (and rewriting/refactoring always takes a back seat to the "feature customer needs yesterday").
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Comment on The Tildes code is now open-sourced in ~tildes.official
danjac LinkThis is fantastic - great use of typed Python throughout. Going to spend a few days going through the code. Thank you.This is fantastic - great use of typed Python throughout. Going to spend a few days going through the code. Thank you.
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Comment on Reddit suspends user for posting CEO’s position on hate speech in ~tech
danjac Link ParentListened to a podcast interview with her the other day (forget which one unfortunately). She seemed a very calm and reasonable individual given the shit she had to put up with. It was all part of...Listened to a podcast interview with her the other day (forget which one unfortunately). She seemed a very calm and reasonable individual given the shit she had to put up with. It was all part of the whole Gamergate controversy. It seems in retrospect that the toxic sludge pouring out of a thousand basements overran the sewers and now we're all knee-deep in it.
And yeah, just shut down T_D already. They've always got Voat.
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Comment on Boris Johnson resigns in major Brexit blow to UK PM Theresa May in ~news
danjac Link ParentMaybe you need to filter out "comedy", "tragedy" and "farce" as well.Maybe you need to filter out "comedy", "tragedy" and "farce" as well.
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Comment on We are all public figures now in ~tech
danjac Link ParentAnd then you happen to touch hands with a stranger on an airplane. It's one thing for narcissists to knowingly splash their private lives online, it's another for non-celebrities to just go about...And then you happen to touch hands with a stranger on an airplane. It's one thing for narcissists to knowingly splash their private lives online, it's another for non-celebrities to just go about their business without living in an inescapable Truman Show. One wrong move - yell at your kid in public, trip on a (real or metaphorical) banana skin, and you're now a meme and permanent subject of hatred or ridicule. Celebrities have always had this but they knew the bargain they were getting into and at least had their private mansions and bodyguards and island retreats.
Maybe the only answer is to go after Twitter, Instagram, and all these other centralized sites and shut them down outright or slap them with gag laws that prevent the sharing of images and video of private individuals without the express concent of those involved. A lot of baby would be thrown out with the dirty bathwater, but perhaps that might be better for society as a whole.
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Comment on The similarities between Soviet Union and Silicon Valley in ~talk
danjac Link ParentIt's satire, so I don't think "burden of proof" is needed. Satire is meant to poke fun at the powerful and to get you thinking. Is Silicon Valley (by which the OP obviously means "modern tech...It's satire, so I don't think "burden of proof" is needed. Satire is meant to poke fun at the powerful and to get you thinking. Is Silicon Valley (by which the OP obviously means "modern tech culture", as opposed to the Bay Area specifically) the modern day equivalent of the USSR? Of course not. But the prevailing groupthink - and hypocrisy - is a valid target for satire. Whether you find it funny or offensive is another matter.
Another example: some years ago the British investigative/satirical magazine Private Eye had a regular column depicting the then-Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, as Joseph Stalin. Now Brown may have been many things, but a mass murderer of peasants and Party members he was not. The column just exaggerated some of his mildly authoritarian characteristics and clumsy political speeches for humorous effect.
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Comment on What is the best way to add a growth mechanic to Dungeons and Dragons? in ~games.tabletop
danjac Link ParentCould be worse, could be classic Traveller - you basically had to acquire all your skills before "retirement" at the end of character generation, and there was no other means of advancement than...Could be worse, could be classic Traveller - you basically had to acquire all your skills before "retirement" at the end of character generation, and there was no other means of advancement than earning money (later editions IIRC added skill improvement mechanics).
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Comment on Stylish browser extension snatches your browsing history---the open source Stylus is recommended instead in ~comp
danjac Link ParentIIRC the DownloadThemAll developer said he had no intention of supporting FF post-Quantum. Still to find a good replacement - probably the new API just doesn't support this kind of functionality...(and still DownThemAll developer/s haven't converted.)
IIRC the DownloadThemAll developer said he had no intention of supporting FF post-Quantum. Still to find a good replacement - probably the new API just doesn't support this kind of functionality very well.
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Comment on It Is Happening Here, Trump Is Already Early-Stage Mussolini in ~news
danjac Link ParentI'd compare Trump not to Hitler, but to an earlier German leader - Kaiser Wilhelm II. "Kaiser Bill" was spoiled, impetuous and (in the words of his cousin, King Edward), a bully. More to the...I'd compare Trump not to Hitler, but to an earlier German leader - Kaiser Wilhelm II.
"Kaiser Bill" was spoiled, impetuous and (in the words of his cousin, King Edward), a bully. More to the point, he was dumb as a sack of rocks and deep down knew he could never match up to his father, who along with Bismarck founded the German Empire. He fired Bismarck and started pissing off every potential rival power in Europe, drawing Britain into an alliance with Russia and France through madcap naval building schemes and gunboat diplomacy (the Agadir crisis). We all know where this ended (with the help of a Balkan crisis, as predicted by Bismarck).
Trump is similar in temperament to the Kaiser. He has an inferiority complex and is a bully by temperament. He has fired - or pushed out - any smart State Department and other officials who don't offer him fealty. Just as the Kaiser tore up Bismarck's carefully designed web of alliances and balances in Europe, he wants to tear down the carefully constructed web of treaties and alliances underlying the global balance of power such as NATO, the EU and NAFTA. Likewise he has a zero-sum view of the world of winners and losers, where if Canada or Germany are winning, it's at the expense of America.
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Comment on So apparently there's an ongoing controversy about Battlefield V allowing you to play as a female character in ~games
danjac Link ParentI recall from one of Max Hastings' books on WW2 (don't recall which one) of a German soldier being treated after surrendering at Stalingrad by a female Soviet medic who had a prosthetic hand. Of...I recall from one of Max Hastings' books on WW2 (don't recall which one) of a German soldier being treated after surrendering at Stalingrad by a female Soviet medic who had a prosthetic hand.
Of course this game might well have zero historical accuracy and just wants to sell loot boxes and customizations, but it was a very big war with millions of combatants, some very out of the ordinary.
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Comment on Linux distro of choice? in ~comp
danjac LinkDistro-hopped for a while, settled with Fedora+Gnome. Pretty much just works, dnf is fine, perfect for daily driver/workstation. I'm less inclined to ricing and tweaking as in the past as I don't...Distro-hopped for a while, settled with Fedora+Gnome. Pretty much just works, dnf is fine, perfect for daily driver/workstation. I'm less inclined to ricing and tweaking as in the past as I don't have the time so not too concerned with an opinionated DE.
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Comment on Dune (1984) review in ~movies
danjac Link ParentThere was a TV series around 2000. Not half bad with a decent cast (I think it was a US/German/Czech production) which covered the first 3 books. Special effects were TV budget CGI quality of the...There was a TV series around 2000. Not half bad with a decent cast (I think it was a US/German/Czech production) which covered the first 3 books. Special effects were TV budget CGI quality of the time but IIRC they followed the books fairly well.
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Comment on Dune (1984) review in ~movies
danjac Link ParentOh - that was unexpected :-) If it is who I think it is then yes. Seems a very long time ago now. Hope all is well with you.Oh - that was unexpected :-) If it is who I think it is then yes. Seems a very long time ago now. Hope all is well with you.
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Comment on Dune (1984) review in ~movies
danjac Link ParentThere's an alternative universe out there where George Lucas didn't get to make Star Wars and Jodorowsky's Dune was the biggest sci-fi movie blockbuster of the 1970s.Alejandro Jodorowsky's version of the story, starring Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles & Mick Jagger, music by Pink Floyd, design by Moebius AND Giger (a lot of Giger's design work made it into Lynch's version)
There's an alternative universe out there where George Lucas didn't get to make Star Wars and Jodorowsky's Dune was the biggest sci-fi movie blockbuster of the 1970s.
Most interesting points: Basque is "normal", Mandarin is one of the most weird and Cantonese least weird; and one of the least weird languages - in terms of unique features - is Hindi.