firedoll's recent activity
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Comment on Replicating Reddit's best feature on other forums in ~tech
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Comment on US President Donald Trump says he will impose fifty percent tariffs on Canadian goods in thirty days in ~society
firedoll Link ParentOkay, fair enough. Maybe I'm emotionally riled up, I want to step away. Again, I understand there are many people who literally are not in a position to do anything. But, I get the sense there are...Okay, fair enough. Maybe I'm emotionally riled up, I want to step away.
Again, I understand there are many people who literally are not in a position to do anything. But, I get the sense there are people willing to push, and others who are quick to leave them hanging out to dry. Maybe that's the source of my frustration. I am sympathetic towards people in the U.S. and can see where the original commenter is coming from, but while the world is directly on the receiving end of the U.S.'s actions the word "hostages" here feels like a bad analogy and... gross.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump says he will impose fifty percent tariffs on Canadian goods in thirty days in ~society
firedoll Link ParentI hope that you're right and that they the election thing works out. But, it's not "suicide" to push on your political representatives, to organize or show up at protests, etc. I suspect many...I hope that you're right and that they the election thing works out. But, it's not "suicide" to push on your political representatives, to organize or show up at protests, etc. I suspect many people in this community are the type to actively do these sort of things.
There are already Americans actively pushing pushing back who aren't being killed. To say that it's "suicide" comes across as defeatist and a little bit callous. The world needs people saying things like that to know that they are not powerless.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump says he will impose fifty percent tariffs on Canadian goods in thirty days in ~society
firedoll Link ParentIf you're trying to make a difference, then good on you. Obviously these policies will also hurt Americans. But, in part because of how people like you have been calling attention to this all...If you're trying to make a difference, then good on you.
Obviously these policies will also hurt Americans. But, in part because of how people like you have been calling attention to this all along, I take issue with how quick some others seem throw their hands up and claim they're just a victim... there are victims of what your country is doing.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump says he will impose fifty percent tariffs on Canadian goods in thirty days in ~society
firedoll Link ParentNo, it's not constructive to absolve yourself of responsibility. You have way more control than the people you've hurt, and many seem to choose to just sit on the sidelines. I understand that...No, it's not constructive to absolve yourself of responsibility. You have way more control than the people you've hurt, and many seem to choose to just sit on the sidelines.
I understand that you're systematically disenfranchised, but your country is out fighting wars around the world, mistreating citizens of other countries, and actively undermining allies. From the outside, it is a striking mischaracterization to call yourself hostages.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump says he will impose fifty percent tariffs on Canadian goods in thirty days in ~society
firedoll Link ParentY'all aren't the hostages, you're holding the gun. [Maybe you're like, the second robber who isn't ready to actually shoot somebody, or the getaway driver, or something.]Y'all aren't the hostages, you're holding the gun.
[Maybe you're like, the second robber who isn't ready to actually shoot somebody, or the getaway driver, or something.]
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Comment on Woman covertly filmed for 'humiliating' social media content - then told to pay for removal in ~tech
firedoll Link ParentPersonally I follow that logic farther. Content creators are generally people trying to make a living off their content. Many even have their own companies. Money introduces perverse incentives...Personally I follow that logic farther. Content creators are generally people trying to make a living off their content. Many even have their own companies. Money introduces perverse incentives and the algorithms they're focusing on tend to promote controversial behavior. They can easily and maliciously manipulate public perception of you through editing. If you let them off the hook, I think it will inevitably lead to all kinds of problems like harassment. While some are fine, at this point we've seen them cause lots of problems the world over.
I don't know about the laws in the U.K., but it's feels inherently contradictory to me that the woman in the story would have to pay to have her video removed, as it implies there's some kind of for-profit venture.
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Comment on Woman covertly filmed for 'humiliating' social media content - then told to pay for removal in ~tech
firedoll Link ParentThere are even protections in many parts of the U.S. The right of publicity gives people control over their unauthorized commercial use of their likeness. If the photo or video is for commercial...There are even protections in many parts of the U.S.
The right of publicity gives people control over their unauthorized commercial use of their likeness. If the photo or video is for commercial purposes and people are recognizable and/or speaking on camera, you potentially need a release document for their appearance/voice. That's part of why you see blurred faces on T.V.
And, iirc the right to privacy is diminished in public, but not totally gone. It's more of a scale and courts may weigh if you're actively shielding papers or a phone screen, if you're changing clothes in a semi-private area, off in a secluded corner, etc.
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Comment on US government UFO document release in ~society
firedoll Link ParentI wonder what fun ways they could theme a site like this for the Epstein files.I wonder what fun ways they could theme a site like this for the Epstein files.
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Comment on Competence is lonely. Nobody talks about why. in ~health.mental
firedoll Link ParentThat's a fair warning and something I do consider. There are lots of businesses that seem to trap owners, not quite failing, but not succeeding enough to relieve the owner of the of that squeezing...be as attentive to how many hours you are putting in as you were when you were working for someone else... your cup is not endless.
That's a fair warning and something I do consider.
There are lots of businesses that seem to trap owners, not quite failing, but not succeeding enough to relieve the owner of the of that squeezing feeling, exhausting them. They can require more money or time than just taking a job would, meaning they aren't always most optimal or "meta" approach to using ones time or even surviving.
So, it has it's own risks and stressors (especially right now... what if we can't make payroll for people, is this law about to change, etc), but for me the stuff that came before did too.
Personally, I had to at least try, or I'd always be wondering if I'm putting my energy and focus into the right places. I frame it here as an exploration because I 100% do not want to indicate that it's some kind of silver bullet, just another outlook or path.
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Comment on Competence is lonely. Nobody talks about why. in ~health.mental
firedoll Link ParentI can't say that I've been entirely successful, but I'm currently testing the idea: "what if I pour all my workcohol into something I own. If I can't stop behaving like this, why would I give it...I can't say that I've been entirely successful, but I'm currently testing the idea: "what if I pour all my workcohol into something I own. If I can't stop behaving like this, why would I give it so freely to somebody else instead of potentially also receiving the benefits."
That's not a perfect way to look at the situation, there are probably many paths to success, etc, etc. But, I'll see how this goes.
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Comment on US Pentagon declares Anthropic a threat to national security in ~society
firedoll Link ParentThe Pentagon just declared Anthropic a threat to national security and the government is being ordered to stop using it. OpenAI just agreed with Dept. of Defense to deploy models in their...They're going to have to do that to some extent with what they're doing now, because Claude is currently the only approved service now, and they can't just easily switch overnight.
The Pentagon just declared Anthropic a threat to national security and the government is being ordered to stop using it. OpenAI just agreed with Dept. of Defense to deploy models in their classified network. It does seem like they in fact can just easily switch overnight. Will that be chaotic? When isn't it.
And yeah, they could have done it a different way, but it's the sense of urgency and absolute nature of it that makes me assume it's coming from... maybe a more personally motivated place. That and it seems like maybe these deals aren't going to be that different.
I don't think they'll ever skip an excuse to try and show off, threaten people, or bang the drum about how great they are, regardless of the motive.
Several of these things can be true at once.
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Comment on US Pentagon declares Anthropic a threat to national security in ~society
firedoll Link ParentNot having dove into this too deep, my pet conspiracy is that it's favoritism and not necessarily about what's on the tin--that somebody wants to bring in Grok or OpenAI and that means finding a...Insiders in the world of defense technology argue ...Anthropic appears to be more philosophical than technical, and that the administration had already soured on the AI company
Not having dove into this too deep, my pet conspiracy is that it's favoritism and not necessarily about what's on the tin--that somebody wants to bring in Grok or OpenAI and that means finding a reason to get rid of Anthropic. Obviously, I don't know exactly what the motivations for the favoritism are, but it could be something like campaign contributions or the stuff that plays out in the business world (E.g. Some new person comes in and wants to leave a mark, wants to bring in buddies, can't figure out how to use the software, etc.)
That's just speculation though and it feels like there's several reasons this could be playing out. I haven't seen anybody else voicing this idea, though.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
firedoll Link ParentYou say "the worst part," but I quietly use this particular idiosyncrasy to try and glean information about who (or what) wrote something. Personally, I prefer the space-less version prescribed by...You say "the worst part," but I quietly use this particular idiosyncrasy to try and glean information about who (or what) wrote something. Personally, I prefer the space-less version prescribed by guides like The Chicago Manual of Style.
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Comment on Let's talk orchestrated objective reduction! in ~science
firedoll Link ParentI've DM'd Paranoia on several occasions, but I don't really play many TTRPGs, so I haven't. Dropping the orchestrated objective reduction stuff, the world world would likely fit it with Paranoia,...As a continuation, had you considered how these concepts may play out in a TTRPG setting? Having physical processes be expressed in game rules could be a more instructive approach?
I've DM'd Paranoia on several occasions, but I don't really play many TTRPGs, so I haven't. Dropping the orchestrated objective reduction stuff, the world world would likely fit it with Paranoia, but that's because Paranoia served as one of many inspirations. Again, maybe this is my own lack of creativity or focus, but it seems like it would be hard to layer OOR into such an already chaotic setting while not confusing players too much.
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Comment on Let's talk orchestrated objective reduction! in ~science
firedoll LinkI don't have a lot to add, but was working on sci-fi concept for little bit which ran with the premise: "what if orchestrated objective reduction is real and the key to strong AI?" I found it...Anyone else been thinking about this kind of stuff?
I don't have a lot to add, but was working on sci-fi concept for little bit which ran with the premise: "what if orchestrated objective reduction is real and the key to strong AI?" I found it difficult to communicate the ideas clearly and things just ended up reduced down to a MacGuffin anyways. (That all probably says more about my ability than anything else, though.) The exact mechanics likely don't for storytelling purposes, but that's what makes it easy to easy to be a little handwavy and entertain the idea.
I would still like to go back to that concept and world at some point. The more recent headlines keep it somewhat front of mind.
While the theory can sound like a series of logical steps, overall I tend to lean toward determinism and am still very skeptical about it.
I would meme on it if anybody I know would get the joke.
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Comment on The 2025 Steam Awards in ~games
firedoll (edited )LinkI didn't set aside time to play much of anything in 2025, so I haven't played Silent Hill F. It does look like it drips with atmosphere. But, I'm just disappointed enough by the fact that ENA...I didn't set aside time to play much of anything in 2025, so I haven't played Silent Hill F. It does look like it drips with atmosphere. But, I'm just disappointed enough by the fact that ENA Dream BBQ didn't take home the prize that I came to comment on a 6 day old post.
I had seen the previous animations by Joel G, but was unaware there would be a game until the trailer for Dream BBQ dropped.
These things tend to be popularity contests and this is a very subjective category. BBQ is probably not going to be everyone's jam. My point is just: if you haven't seen it before, ENA Dream BBQ [Chapter One] is free. You should try it. [Apparently the rest will be paid on release. ] Maybe watch some of the videos (first?) too.
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Comment on I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla in ~tech
firedoll LinkIf the models are running locally, I'm fine with it for certain utilities like accessibility and translation. But, I often find myself in situations where I have to make sense of content from...If the models are running locally, I'm fine with it for certain utilities like accessibility and translation. But, I often find myself in situations where I have to make sense of content from certain languages that traditional approaches butcher. (Being able to run content through AI and spot check with something like google translate is super useful for navigating those situations.)
I don't need or want an AI assistant in my sidebar. Having used them, I think they tend to be awful productivity tools that potentially waste huge amounts of my time. Workflows that I have that involve them are often hit and miss. I never feel confident about what is still inside the context and what it's just "guessing" at, almost no matter the level of "context engineering."
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Comment on Need pixel art software recommendations (it can be free or paid) in ~games
firedoll (edited )Link ParentI'm not exactly a professional, but I'm wrapping a project where I had made some environmental sprites and about 150 different equipment sprites/icons with RGB masks for recoloring. I also used...I'm not exactly a professional, but I'm wrapping a project where I had made some environmental sprites and about 150 different equipment sprites/icons with RGB masks for recoloring. I also used Affinity Designer in a similar way to create vectors for several pieces. I wanted to throw another voice behind the idea that it's nice to have some assets in vector if you:
- Don't know exactly how they'll fit in yet and want flexibility in the composition.
- Need a lot of clones of something with slight variations.
- Need to target multiple image resolutions. (I'm targeting web, so I needed higher pixel density versions.)
- Are working on bigger shapes.
- Want nice, higher color gradients.
- Want to trace something complex (I was working with some of my own photography. I didn't need automatic tracing, and Affinity doesn't have it. But, Inkscape does if you need that, and you can bring the traced vector in.)
That said, often for really small resolutions, I would touch up sprites saved from the vectors for clarity. And, vector isn't always the answer, sometimes it's way faster to just do something in raster (purely with pixels.) There were also some things like complex RGB maps width gradients between the channels that were created or fine tuned in Affinity Photo. (Keep in mind, Affinity just combined all their tools into one app now.)
To be clear, I wouldn't recommend my workflow in it's entirety. It seems silly, but I haven't quite figured out the pixel art workflow in Affinity apps and kind of hated the feel of using them for laying down individual pixels, so I also ended up using Paint.net (Windows) for a lot of art as well, sometimes moving the art between apps. I also used Python to create the basis for some seamless animations. Also kind of silly: I used ezgif.com a good bit while working on animations, as I was outputting to webp. I meant to compile Aseprite, but never found the time.
I'm just offering this last bit of context to illustrate that you may touch multiple tools for slightly different jobs.
[Edit: importantly, I didn't care about fine-grain control over my color palettes for this project.]
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Comment on I want to learn to draw on my iPad in ~creative
firedoll (edited )LinkThere used to be a subreddit called ArtFundimentals that was pretty active, and the creator eventually created a site for the exercises. It had been closed due to disagreements with the...There used to be a subreddit called ArtFundimentals that was pretty active, and the creator eventually created a site for the exercises. It had been closed due to disagreements with the management, but I guess they literally just opened the sub back up because the owner is worried that otherwise reddit would step in to take it away.
TL;DR: Don't be afraid of a pencil or wasting paper. There are lots of ways to start, but check out Drawbox. [I think are at least several free lessons there, and they come with video if that's more your style.]
In general, I think there are lots of exercises to get you familiar with shape and form; familiar with breaking things down into simple shapes; to build muscle memory; etc. Depending on what you want to be able to draw, you may want to look into specific things like figure drawing and anatomy.
For me, names online kind of all run together without that stuff.
Using the Reddit Enhancement Suite browser addon gives you the a slightly more powerful version, adding custom tags on users. It also shows how many times you've up/downvoted a person. You can go back to the post where you tagged them when you forget why, and even if they've deleted their comment, it's obvious from context.
Those features may be considered good or bad depending on the site and community goals. I'm sure there are pros and cons. I always try and keep an open mind, so it wasn't shocking that occasionally I pegged some people wrong on the first interaction or two.
But, it was always really nice to see somebody that I tagged for contributing to an open source project, or because they're a member of the local transit authority, or whatever. It also helped me recognize the regulars or most constructive members in a given community. Misinformation also became more obvious and I think it allowed for building a little bit of actual trust.
Because I did a lot of tagging, it was also genuinely insightful. Even after the site allowed people to "hide" their history, I still had my local tags. It was also interesting to...
/aww,/funny, or whatever the current shitposting was./conservativeshow up on a local city board at once./popularand see the same names associated with several.It's such a simple tool that becomes really powerful when you play it out to it's ends. I've run (non-Reddit) communities myself and it's scary to imagine what Reddit or other social media sites must see and know, especially with even more sophisticated means to track the individuals, groups, and bots interacting with their networks. I imagine even the simple version could be really revealing. (Edit: maybe it's not as necessary if your aren't as nameblind, though.)
(Edit edit: I did notice even though the header says "best", the first line "most underrated.")