Grzmot's recent activity
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Comment on Dark patterns killed my wife's Windows 11 installation in ~tech
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Comment on My guess and opinion on the common blockers to Linux adoption in ~tech
Grzmot (edited )Link ParentA large segment of users just "don't want to deal with it". They don't care about computers and do not want to learn because they are just not interested. There's a reason Youtube took so long to...I have a hard time understanding how an otherwise highly intelligent person can be so resistant to understanding a system that they use daily, how someone would not want to be able to control their experience instead of passively accepting frustrations daily--but that seems to be the choice many make.
A large segment of users just "don't want to deal with it". They don't care about computers and do not want to learn because they are just not interested. There's a reason Youtube took so long to start dealing with adblockers: Few people are using them, even though everyone really should.
But what hammered the point really home to me was the when the Youtuber Tantacrul, who has previously worked at Microsoft and designed the Paint3D UI, mentioned how app usage statistics showed that the Undo button (CTRL+Z) in Paint3D was the most clicked on button in the app. I confirmed this in person when I helped a zoomer friend of mine out with a computer and showed her CTRL+Z. She had gone through all of school with a heavy emphasis on PC usage, including the actual covid pandemic and made it all the way onto university before she meet a computer science person (me) that showed her what CTRL+Z is, you know, the most basic bitch shortcut there is.
Most people just do not care. I could tell my dad all day about how'd actually spend less time at the computer entering in data (a necessary task he hates) if he knew how to properly type. But I don't do that, because it's pointless. There's a reason Windows got so damn popular in the 90s. Graphical interfaces are just what the "dumb" user prefers.
Most geeks have a total blindspot about the fact that if you even are a person who's writing a comment on Tildes or reddit or ycombinator, you are already an incredible power user just by the virtue of writing a comment on those places.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
Grzmot Link ParentAs someone unfamiliar with the various splinter groups of MAGA (aside of MAHA), it would be lovely to get some links to your research!As someone unfamiliar with the various splinter groups of MAGA (aside of MAHA), it would be lovely to get some links to your research!
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
Grzmot Link ParentI think it became recently much more popular because it was heavily featured in the Spanish tv series La Casa de Papel (Money Heist). I even heard a club remix of it recently.I think it became recently much more popular because it was heavily featured in the Spanish tv series La Casa de Papel (Money Heist). I even heard a club remix of it recently.
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Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society
Grzmot Link ParentThe "with permits" has to be restricted even further. In my country, it is theoretically possible to apply for a permit to carry a gun in public, but you need to have a very good reason for being...The "with permits" has to be restricted even further. In my country, it is theoretically possible to apply for a permit to carry a gun in public, but you need to have a very good reason for being granted such a license, and generally the only valid one is "I need it for my job", which is why the only people granted the license are generally cops and specialized security guards, if even. So basically, it's illegal.
This is separate from the license to own a firearm, mind you. That one is easier to get.
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Comment on The day return became enter in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentIt's a very artistic book with lots of images, not very well suited for an e-reader. I suspect that's the reason for there not being an eBook.It's a very artistic book with lots of images, not very well suited for an e-reader. I suspect that's the reason for there not being an eBook.
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Comment on The day return became enter in ~tech
Grzmot (edited )Link ParentWhat a great and terrible thing to discover so long after the initial print run, with no new prints planned. I would love to own this. :(What a great and terrible thing to discover so long after the initial print run, with no new prints planned.
I would love to own this. :(
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Comment on My favorite mouse costs less than USD 10 in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentFair warning, these sites usually just grade the product the highest that gives them the best affliate deal. But yeah, buying appliances sucks.Usually you can go to a few recommendation sites and find a brand/model pattern
Fair warning, these sites usually just grade the product the highest that gives them the best affliate deal.
But yeah, buying appliances sucks.
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Comment on Why are there so many rationalist cults? in ~life
Grzmot Link ParentThe problem, as with everything, is that "not trusting the government" is is a very broad range, going all the way from "people shouldn't need driver's licenses to drive a car" type libertianism...The problem, as with everything, is that "not trusting the government" is is a very broad range, going all the way from "people shouldn't need driver's licenses to drive a car" type libertianism towards "maybe we don't need 15 regulations and expensive certifications every 5 years for mundane screws".
At the risk of sounding like an elightened centrist:tm:, a lot of the sauce is finding the sensible out of all of these opinions and ideologies and slapping them together into something that works for you. Of course, centrists then also falls for the trap of extremists where they think that harmful opinions are okay as long as they're expressed nicely.
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Comment on Why are there so many rationalist cults? in ~life
Grzmot Link ParentSmarter than ≥95% of the population is a pretty bold statement, given that in western nations, ca. 10 to 20% of the populace is university educated.Smarter than ≥95% of the population is a pretty bold statement, given that in western nations, ca. 10 to 20% of the populace is university educated.
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Comment on Why are there so many rationalist cults? in ~life
Grzmot Link ParentHonestly, I don't think Taylor's take on this is exclusive to rationalists. I think this is something that came up with the internet, and was later super-charged by social media's recommendation...Honestly, I don't think Taylor's take on this is exclusive to rationalists. I think this is something that came up with the internet, and was later super-charged by social media's recommendation algorithms: it gave people the ability to build their own global echo chambers, because finding like-minded people has become so damn easy.
While this has also lead to a lot of good, the bad side of it is that people automatically become less trusting of institutions, because they spend so much time on their phones, getting pushed sometimes borderline propaganda which entrenches them further in their beliefs.
People are inherently lazy, like all animals. It is rare for us to seek out material that challenges us all the time. It is much easier for us to accept a new fact that fits in with our own mental model of the world. Recommendation algorithms coupled with the fact that our attention has been monetized means that there is a ton of money being made by people sliding down the extremist pipeline. There is simply a lot of people who are not smart enough to understand that the only reason they accept some fact given by a stranger on the internet is that they already agree with it.
Like with all things, governments were way too slow to react and education has lost multiple generations to this, and the problem is that public education is an institution, which is going to have a hard time reviving the idea of trusting in institutions among those who don't trust in them.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~music
Grzmot LinkVinyls are an enthusiast niche, so I think you'll be very hard pressed to find stuff that is made specifically for kids. I would instead recommend to broaden your search and just focus on music...Vinyls are an enthusiast niche, so I think you'll be very hard pressed to find stuff that is made specifically for kids.
I would instead recommend to broaden your search and just focus on music that is child-safe according to what you want. That being said, that can be a wild range. My brother is raising his 2 year old daughter on Slipknot lol, but her primary language also isn't English, so the explicit language is not a problem.
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Comment on Nihilistic online networks groom minors to commit harm. Her son was one of them. in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentInteresting! For me it's the opposite, those internet friends are what got me through dark times. I'm fairly certain I would not be here if I didn't have them back then and we've even met up IRL a...Interesting! For me it's the opposite, those internet friends are what got me through dark times. I'm fairly certain I would not be here if I didn't have them back then and we've even met up IRL a couple times now. I crossed an ocean to attend a wedding, for example.
Overall I do agree it's healthier to live your life with a healthy present in your real, actual life.
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Comment on Nihilistic online networks groom minors to commit harm. Her son was one of them. in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentAt risk of repeating myself, because I've told this story before on Tildes; I went through something similar. I was a bullied kid and teenager for a good portion of my time in school, and it...At risk of repeating myself, because I've told this story before on Tildes; I went through something similar. I was a bullied kid and teenager for a good portion of my time in school, and it resulted in me finding online friends and turning video games into my main hobby. Years of my teenage life consisted of coming home from school, responding to my mom asking "How was school?" with "Good." and vanishing into my room to play video games.
When Gamergate got big from 2014 onwards, I got into it through reddit, and spent a lot of time keeping up to date and having opinion on a culture war developing on a different continent. In retrospect, a huge waste of time. In retrospect, I also realised how easy it is to develop opinions on things that fit "the group's" opinion because they are "your people". I still have the same reddit account, and if you go back far enough, you'll find my comment somewhere arguing that "The USA does not have a gun problem, but a mental health problem." aka the classic NRA dogwhistle trying to avoid blaming guns for America's gun problem. I don't even live on the American continent by the way.
Incidentally, getting out of that environment is both simpler than you think and more difficult. To me it was a combination of factors: The intense bullying phase of my school career ultimately lasted for only like 4 years, and the last 4 years of school in mostly a different class were fine. Not great, I didn't make friends, but I was left alone at least. In the last years of school I also got my first girlfriend, got outside, touched grass, that sort of thing. It made me realise how profoundly unimportant all that nonsense was, and how much of it I just believed because I was fed lies and I just wanted to belong. At the same time I was exiting Gamergate, which had rapidly turned into an alt-right radicalization pipeline, it also turned up the heat when Trump joined the playing field in 2016. The most radical break was when I left school and got into uni in a different town, which finally allowed me to make actual friends that don't live in other countries. By then I had abandoned keeping up with drama reddit threads for years because I just didn't have time.
Notably, at no point in this pipeline was I actually ever challenged about my beliefs in a direct fashion, which afaik is not a thing you're supposed to do anyhow when deprogramming folks. It's not that people were actively avoiding challenging me, I think a lot of this stuff was just contained in my internet persona and rarely bled through into real life. I basically challenged myself years down the line in university when I realised more and more how completely fucked everything had been and that the only reason I was ever in there and said and believed those things because I was desperately trying to belong, which is a common thing in radical groups.
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Comment on The web could be so much more beautiful in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentThis is one of the most hilarious videos I've seen in a long time. Thank you very much for sharing!This is one of the most hilarious videos I've seen in a long time. Thank you very much for sharing!
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Comment on Life and death aboard a B-17, 1944 in ~humanities.history
Grzmot Link ParentI completely agree. It felt like they really wanted to show off the Tuskegee Airmen but didn't really have an idea of how to do it? If they wanted to establish them more as characters, then they...I completely agree. It felt like they really wanted to show off the Tuskegee Airmen but didn't really have an idea of how to do it? If they wanted to establish them more as characters, then they should have gotten the first pilot cast locked up in a POW camp sooner. I think that's the consequence of wanting to do too much. No character really had time to shine.
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Comment on The web could be so much more beautiful in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentThe typographic rivers which are part of this explanation are avoided due to hyphenation. Mind you, it's not perfect. If you try it out on this page, you'll see that the first line of the second...The typographic rivers which are part of this explanation are avoided due to hyphenation. Mind you, it's not perfect. If you try it out on this page, you'll see that the first line of the second paragraph in the post has very large white spaces, which happens because the monospace code segments are not broken up over multiple lines.
But to me the occasional appearance of such a line trumps having to stare at every line being ugly.
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Comment on NASA won't publish key climate change report online, citing 'no legal obligation' to do so in ~enviro
Grzmot LinkEither Trump got to them or someone doesn't want to lose their job, considering what happened to the bureau of labor statistic head.Either Trump got to them or someone doesn't want to lose their job, considering what happened to the bureau of labor statistic head.
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Comment on Life and death aboard a B-17, 1944 in ~humanities.history
Grzmot Link ParentPlanes are really just a combination of moving forward at high speed and looking up at a certain angle. Because weight slows you down, you have to make them as light as possible, which means they...Planes are really just a combination of moving forward at high speed and looking up at a certain angle. Because weight slows you down, you have to make them as light as possible, which means they largely end up being fragile tubes with engines and wings attached. It doesn't take much to take them out of the sky.
I think I know what show you're referring to: Masters of the Air. It was a decent watch, but very very Hollywood. Also it felt like they had no idea what to do with the plot fairly early onwards.
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Comment on The web could be so much more beautiful in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentYay! I picked up the extension "Stylus" and put exactly that p tag in there so it gets applied to all websites automatically now. This is great.Yay!
I picked up the extension "Stylus" and put exactly that p tag in there so it gets applied to all websites automatically now.
This is great.
I know the "every year is the year of the linux desktop" people are annoying, but I did also recently switch after my boot drive blew up. Since I was planning to switch away from Win 10 once M$ ended support for it, I figured I might as well jump ship now, when I was reinstalling anyway.
I switched to Fedora and it's been fantastic. I've only needed to do cryptic command line shit twice, once when installing nvidia graphics drivers, and then when installing HEVC video codecs. Granted, the latter did send me on a bit of a wild goose chase because h265 encoded video was still playing, albeit with audio only, and I had just completed a remux of my entire media library to h265 to save storage space.
I'm also a programmer, but genuinely, the things I did was all copypasting commands into terminal, and needed to happen just twice after installing. Never again since. Steam runs flawlessly and the game I play the most right now, Helldivers 2, a graphically intense Windows only game, runs very well through Proton emulation, all of which works seamlessly and without needing to do anything more than check a box in the Steam settings.
It depends on your usecases, but the majority of people browse the web and write documents, and libreoffice is serviceable and for browsing it works great.