h3x's recent activity

  1. Comment on Remain | Official teaser in ~movies

    h3x
    Link
    Oh cool, a documentary the other side of the Brexit refere— WAIT A SECOND

    Oh cool, a documentary the other side of the Brexit refere— WAIT A SECOND

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Are there any witches on Tildes? in ~hobbies

    h3x
    Link Parent
    I'm still mulling how I feel about Wicca. Having read up on it and read parts of the Rede, there are definitely things that I truck with and that resonate with me. But on the flip side there are...

    I'm still mulling how I feel about Wicca. Having read up on it and read parts of the Rede, there are definitely things that I truck with and that resonate with me. But on the flip side there are aspects that feel deliberately hokey, and I struggle to get past that. The bits of the Rede that I looked at reminded me of the extracts from The Book of the People in Artemis Fowl. That said, a huge amount of that is likely to be my overall aversion to organised religion (being raised Catholic has a lot to answer for), even something as loosely structured as Wicca.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Are there any witches on Tildes? in ~hobbies

    h3x
    Link Parent
    Thanks very much :) It feels quite daunting right at the minute, but also rife with possibility!

    Thanks very much :) It feels quite daunting right at the minute, but also rife with possibility!

    1 vote

  4. Comment on My year undercover in Reform UK in ~society

    h3x
    Link Parent
    Yup, and you can bet the party apparatus are desperately digging for dirt on Burnham to try and both sides this one as well.

    Yup, and you can bet the party apparatus are desperately digging for dirt on Burnham to try and both sides this one as well.

    3 votes

  5. Comment on My year undercover in Reform UK in ~society

    h3x
    Link Parent
    Exactly. It's baked in for a lot of REFUK supporters. Short of actual legal action going ahead, I can't see this doing anything but emboldening the anti-establishment brand Farage has managed to...

    Exactly. It's baked in for a lot of REFUK supporters. Short of actual legal action going ahead, I can't see this doing anything but emboldening the anti-establishment brand Farage has managed to adopt.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on My year undercover in Reform UK in ~society

    h3x
    Link Parent
    I'm not convinced that a huge amount will come from it, but that would be the hope! I think Farage has enough plausible deniability to squirm his way out of this unfortunately, and enough of his...

    I'm not convinced that a huge amount will come from it, but that would be the hope! I think Farage has enough plausible deniability to squirm his way out of this unfortunately, and enough of his supporters take the "well they're all corrupt, aren't they?" line that I don't imagine it'll harm his popularity all that much.

    4 votes

  7. Comment on My year undercover in Reform UK in ~society

    h3x
    Link
    A British journalist posed as a dodgy American donor to Reform UK (Britain’s far-right political party) for over a year and uncovered evidence of corruption at the top levels of the party’s...

    A British journalist posed as a dodgy American donor to Reform UK (Britain’s far-right political party) for over a year and uncovered evidence of corruption at the top levels of the party’s governance. The documentary is a pretty damning watch, and shows that Reform have a learned and structural approach to taking illegal donations. Well worth a watch, particularly on the day of their party conference.

    10 votes

  9. Comment on What are your "how on earth did I not learn this sooner" tech moments? in ~tech

    h3x
    Link Parent
    tldr is legit incredible. It's now on all the boxes in my homelab, and I'm making a play to put it on work machines as well.

    tldr is legit incredible. It's now on all the boxes in my homelab, and I'm making a play to put it on work machines as well.

    7 votes

  10. Comment on Are there any witches on Tildes? in ~hobbies

    h3x
    Link Parent
    I learned a new word!

    atronym

    I learned a new word!

    4 votes

  11. Are there any witches on Tildes?

    ~hobbies Ask (advice)
    I was gifted a set of tarot cards last year, and found myself quite stunned at how well they seemed to work. The cards led me slowly toward witchcraft as a broader area of investigation and study,...

    I was gifted a set of tarot cards last year, and found myself quite stunned at how well they seemed to work. The cards led me slowly toward witchcraft as a broader area of investigation and study, and I find myself quite keen to take on the mantle of “witch.”

    That said, I have no earthly idea where to begin practising. There are no covens (that I am aware of) in my area to learn from, so I guess that means it’s books and online resources for me!

    Are any of my fellow Tilderen witches? How did you get started, and what do you recommend I do as a complete beginner?

    36 votes

  12. Comment on What are your current pain points with Linux? in ~tech

    h3x
    Link Parent
    I’ve had terrible joy with Alien, but I think that’s because it interfered so heavily with my existing Debian environment, and I was trying to install a whole new DE that isn’t packaged.

    I’ve had terrible joy with Alien, but I think that’s because it interfered so heavily with my existing Debian environment, and I was trying to install a whole new DE that isn’t packaged.

  13. Comment on What are your current pain points with Linux? in ~tech

    h3x
    Link Parent
    Thirding this. I’m by no means a professional musician, but I dabble with recording on occasion. Whenever I’ve wanted to do a recording session under Linux, I always lost about a day trying to get...

    Thirding this. I’m by no means a professional musician, but I dabble with recording on occasion. Whenever I’ve wanted to do a recording session under Linux, I always lost about a day trying to get the damn thing set up and working properly. Heinous experience. I tried with my Macbook a couple of months ago, and the difference was night and day; up and running within minutes. I would live to go back to all linux all the time, but it’s just an absolute mess to do audio work on.

    3 votes

  14. Comment on Are others finding themselves spending less and less time online? in ~tech

    h3x
    Link Parent
    These generational crises are definitely happening closer and closer together than I think anyone is comfortable with. But I try to hold in mind that many and varied crises will still have been...

    These generational crises are definitely happening closer and closer together than I think anyone is comfortable with. But I try to hold in mind that many and varied crises will still have been happening 100 years ago, but the average person was far more insulated from the news of them, if not the results.

    Today we're bombarded with the news of why everything is so shit the world over, and why everything needs your attention and regard. I don't pay any mind to the news proper, and my presence on the Internet is entirely responsible for the fact that I even know what a super El Niño or the Strait of Hormuz even is! I don't think I've articulated my thoughts on this very well for myself, and probably need to spend more time considering them. But I think it boils down to something akin to "ignorance is bliss." I'm not sure I need to know why it's more expensive to fill up my car than it was earlier this year. I just need to adapt to that change appropriately. Ditto the heatwaves this year. I cannot do anything to prevent the war in Iran, or the climate from changing, or slow the AI revolution. Does knowing intimate details about the state of the war in Ukraine help me in my daily life? I don't believe it does. Does existing on the Internet with a constant drip feed of apparently catastrophic news make it feel like it's vitally important to know what's going on everywhere bad stuff is happening? You bet it does, the system thrives on the fear that engenders.

    There's no doubt that we have experienced a substantial number of major upheavals in the last 25 years, and we are likely to experience a heap more. And perhaps sticking my fingers in my ears and shouting "can't hear you!" to them is not a mature response. But I do think it's ultimately healthier (for me at the bare minimum) to massively limit the amount of fearmongering input, which I find more paralysing than the outcomes themselves.

    2 votes

  15. Comment on How to find a new calling in life? in ~life

    h3x
    Link Parent
    My hobbies, education, and career cover all three of those areas. I'm looking to pivot to something outside of IT, but I'm feeling marginally fucked (:

    My hobbies, education, and career cover all three of those areas. I'm looking to pivot to something outside of IT, but I'm feeling marginally fucked (:

    5 votes

  16. Comment on Are others finding themselves spending less and less time online? in ~tech

    h3x
    Link Parent
    Oh amazing! Time to fire up the ol' Patreon sub then :D

    Oh amazing! Time to fire up the ol' Patreon sub then :D

    1 vote

  17. Comment on Are others finding themselves spending less and less time online? in ~tech

    h3x
    Link Parent
    Oh cool! Could I get a ping when you do it please and thank you? :)

    Oh cool! Could I get a ping when you do it please and thank you? :)

    2 votes

  18. Comment on Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003) in ~movies

    h3x
    Link
    This film is actually really good, I had a great time with it when I saw it a few years ago. Unfortunately it competed against Pirates of the Caribbean and the romp won out, killing the chance of...

    This film is actually really good, I had a great time with it when I saw it a few years ago. Unfortunately it competed against Pirates of the Caribbean and the romp won out, killing the chance of any sequels being made. Which is a shame, because it's really very well realised and has a very distinct sort of feeling to it, which is not born out solely from the era that the story is set in. There's this kind of optimism, even in places when the film is dark and drab and sad. A bit of a "jolly hockey sticks" tone to the way the crew interact with the captain. There's one line where a member of the crew (after seeing the captain pull off some particularly audacious manoeuvre) looks up starry eyed and says "BY GOD THAT'S SEAMANSHIP." It delights me every time.

    Anyway, go watch it!

    12 votes

  19. Comment on Are others finding themselves spending less and less time online? in ~tech

    h3x
    Link
    I feel in a similar boat. For a long time I wondered if it was external forces reducing the amount of time I could reasonably spend online, and that may partially be it (it's hard to just zone out...
    • Exemplary

    I feel in a similar boat. For a long time I wondered if it was external forces reducing the amount of time I could reasonably spend online, and that may partially be it (it's hard to just zone out to an Internet browse when three kids are charging about). But I think the main reason is a strong sense that the Internet just isn't for me any more.

    Reddit forces more and more changes that prioritise engagement with the platform, and not communities (I hate the default sort by Best). Instagram and YouTube push reels and shorts hard to keep you sucked in for longer. But also the creators whose content I enjoy seem to be moving on to other things. CGP Grey has all but disappeared from the Internet. Abigail Thorn is doing more acting and less philosophy. The Film Reroll seems to be losing steam. Tom Nicholas is doing nigh-daily news content over his typical video essays. Bingeing with Babish seems to have run out of interesting recipes and has been putting out longer and longer videos. There are still creators that put things out, but it all seems like an endless content mill. Maximise eyeball time with more digestible content, sack off the higher-quality, harder to produce stuff.

    I don't subscribe to Dead Internet Theory; I think it's a convenient excuse for people to dehumanise their fellow Sapiens to claim that the commenters and posters are bots. I'm sure there is a lot of that around, but I think it's far less than the Theory would imply. I think the issue is that the business model is collapsing in a totally saturated set of industries. There is simply too much content, and too many people vying for not enough pie. The tech beasts continue to increase their cut, leaving creatives with fractions of pennies on the pound. They have to diversify; here's my Patreon, here's my Discord, here's my merch, here's a sponsorship. It is no longer possible to make a living solely out of revenue from these platforms unless you are mega mega big.

    And so, in a climate where the cost of living is absolutely skyrocketing, the creatives are forced to diversify, appeal to a broader audience, or simply stop and do something else. I don't know a single person who isn't struggling with money, the cost of food, fuel, housing, and so on. I know zero people who make their living through content creation, but I do know that those who do are more like me than we sometimes think. There's this perception that influencers and content creators are rolling in wealth, but the vast, vast majority are just... normal people like us. And so it becomes this endless feedback loop. YouTube needs to keep posting higher and higher profits, so they tweak their algorithm and increase their percentage cut. This affects the creators who need to adapt their content to stay relevant, and diversify into other revenue streams.

    And in the end, it just serves to turn the Internet into a big shopping mall. It used to feel curious, exciting, fresh, and like a refuge from the drudgery of real life, but it's increasingly a shiny marketplace for people to try and sell their wares. Everyone and everything is yelling for you to "buy now!" or "subscribe! or "pay to browse without ads!" and it's exhausting. I don't have the capacity any more to filter that stuff out, and I can't unsee just how much the whole thing is a rickety scaffold for companies to extract value while barely creating anything themselves. I don't blame the creators, they're doing their best in an environment that feels increasingly hostile to their successes. But I no longer want to be in another place where everything has a price.

    37 votes

  20. Comment on Any significant changes to Tildes are extremely unlikely in ~tildes.official

    h3x
    Link Parent
    You and I haven't interacted all that much on here, save on a couple of topics in ~lgbt, but you've been such an active presence on so many threads that I came to recognise your voice before your...

    You and I haven't interacted all that much on here, save on a couple of topics in ~lgbt, but you've been such an active presence on so many threads that I came to recognise your voice before your username! l will be sincerely sorry to lose a fellow trans person from the site, but I understand why you're going. Take care, and stay safe <3

    6 votes