hobbes64's recent activity
-
Comment on Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix 2026 - Race Weekend Discussion in ~sports.motorsports
-
Comment on US Federal Communications Commission's Brendan Carr warns broadcasters on Iran reporting in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentI think we're mostly in agreement but are just debating the terminology. The problem with Trumpism is that it requires support from a lot of people who are either evil or easily manipulated. When...I think we're mostly in agreement but are just debating the terminology.
The problem with Trumpism is that it requires support from a lot of people who are either evil or easily manipulated. When Trump goes away this isn't going to suddenly end.
Basically the entire Republican party at a federal level has decided that Trump is above the law and the constitution. We are in a situation where a person who openly tried to overturn an election and fomented an insurrection was put back in power by a party that should have never allowed him to run under their banner the first time.
It should be clear to everyone that all the things we used to think about American culture and democracy are just empty words and window dressing to a pretty large portion of the general population and elected officials.As David Frum famously said:
"If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy." I think that's been proven just by the fact that Trump isn't in jail. -
Comment on US Federal Communications Commission's Brendan Carr warns broadcasters on Iran reporting in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentI will appeal to authority with this recent article from The Atlantic which lays out how yes this actually is fascism. And this was written before the attack on Iran and the conviction of...I will appeal to authority with this recent article from The Atlantic which lays out how yes this actually is fascism. And this was written before the attack on Iran and the conviction of protestors as "Antifa terrorists"
Yes It's Fascism - The Atlantic Jan 25 2026
Until recently, I resisted using the F-word to describe President Trump. For one thing, there were too many elements of classical fascism that didn’t seem to fit. For another, the term has been overused to the point of meaninglessness, especially by left-leaning types who call you a fascist if you oppose abortion or affirmative action. For yet another, the term is hazily defined, even by its adherents. From the beginning, fascism has been an incoherent doctrine, and even today scholars can’t agree on its definition. Italy’s original version differed from Germany’s, which differed from Spain’s, which differed from Japan’s.
When the facts change, I change my mind. Recent events have brought Trump’s governing style into sharper focus. Fascist best describes it, and reluctance to use the term has now become perverse. That is not because of any one or two things he and his administration have done but because of the totality. Fascism is not a territory with clearly marked boundaries but a constellation of characteristics. When you view the stars together, the constellation plainly appears.
...
Over Trump’s past year, what originally looked like an effort to make the government his personal plaything has drifted distinctly toward doctrinal and operational fascism. Trump’s appetite for lebensraum, his claim of unlimited power, his support for the global far right, his politicization of the justice system, his deployment of performative brutality, his ostentatious violation of rights, his creation of a national paramilitary police—all of those developments bespeak something more purposeful and sinister than run-of-the-mill greed or gangsterism.
The article then gives details on these many facets of fascism which are happening in Trump's second term:
- Glorification of violence
- Might is right
- Politicized law enforcement
- Dehumanization
- Police-state tactics
- Undermining elections
- What’s private is public
- Attacks on news media
- Territorial and military aggression
- Transnational reach
- Blood-and-soil nationalism
- White and Christian nationalism
- Mobs and street thugs
- Leader aggrandizement
- Alternative facts
- Politics as war
- Governing as revolution
-
Comment on US Federal Communications Commission's Brendan Carr warns broadcasters on Iran reporting in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentThe fascists aren’t hiding the fascism at all but we still get arguments from people who say it’s not fascism.The fascists aren’t hiding the fascism at all but we still get arguments from people who say it’s not fascism.
-
Comment on In the world of tech, people constantly ask “Could chatbots ever be conscious?” but I feel like asking “Are you?” Take the test! in ~tech
hobbes64 LinkWell I totally failed the test. Maybe I’m a replicant and all the memories I think I have were copied from a real person.Well I totally failed the test.
Maybe I’m a replicant and all the memories I think I have were copied from a real person.
-
Comment on Hackers expose the massive surveillance stack hiding inside your “age verification” check in ~tech
hobbes64 Link ParentDigg.com is shutting down (for a while), supposedly because of bots. Maybe it's harder than you think to solve the problem, or maybe they aren't telling the truth about why they are shutting down....Digg.com is shutting down (for a while), supposedly because of bots.
Maybe it's harder than you think to solve the problem, or maybe they aren't telling the truth about why they are shutting down.
We faced an unprecedented bot problem
When the Digg beta launched, we immediately noticed posts from SEO spammers noting that Digg still carried meaningful Google link authority. Within hours, we got a taste of what we'd only heard rumors about. The internet is now populated, in meaningful part, by sophisticated AI agents and automated accounts. We knew bots were part of the landscape, but we didn't appreciate the scale, sophistication, or speed at which they'd find us. We banned tens of thousands of accounts. We deployed internal tooling and industry-standard external vendors. None of it was enough. When you can't trust that the votes, the comments, and the engagement you're seeing are real, you've lost the foundation a community platform is built on.
This isn't just a Digg problem. It's an internet problem. But it hit us harder because trust is the product.
Here is a Tildes post about it
-
Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
hobbes64 LinkJust finished watching Murderbot on Apple TV. It was quite good. Here is the synopsis of the show if you haven't heard of it: It's pretty funny without being hilarious. It's mostly not a lot of...Just finished watching Murderbot on Apple TV.
It was quite good.Here is the synopsis of the show if you haven't heard of it:
A security android struggles with emotions and free will while balancing dangerous missions and desire for isolation, evading detection of its self-hacking as it finds its place.
It's pretty funny without being hilarious. It's mostly not a lot of action but sometimes it is a little gory. It starts out kind of slowly but the second half has many interesting plot developments.
This season follows a specific book from an 8 part series. I heard there will be a second season.
-
Comment on Hackers expose the massive surveillance stack hiding inside your “age verification” check in ~tech
hobbes64 Link ParentI saw a comment about this topic on reddit that was something like "If we're so worried about protecting children then we should first arrest the known predators that were exposed in the Epstein...I saw a comment about this topic on reddit that was something like "If we're so worried about protecting children then we should first arrest the known predators that were exposed in the Epstein scandal".
-
Comment on Prime Video’s ad free subscription becomes Prime Video Ultra for $4.99 a month in ~tv
hobbes64 LinkI just started using this for $3 a month last month. I saw this price increase and just cancelled by subscription. They added a bunch of features that I don't care about to "justify" the price...I just started using this for $3 a month last month.
I saw this price increase and just cancelled by subscription.
They added a bunch of features that I don't care about to "justify" the price increase. -
Hackers expose the massive surveillance stack hiding inside your “age verification” check
51 votes -
Comment on Does anyone have any Nebula recommendations? I've just signed up! in ~tv
hobbes64 LinkHere are some of the channels I follow. Most of these are probably also on YouTube but no commercials here. Angela Collier - Science Downie Live - Travel Joe Scott Life where I’m from - Culture...Here are some of the channels I follow. Most of these are probably also on YouTube but no commercials here.
-
Comment on What is your top, unknown, non fiction recommendation ? in ~books
hobbes64 Link ParentYup. I used this book years ago to get an office at a time when most of us were in cubes. Since then it appears most places have gone to open office format and people long for cubes.Yup. I used this book years ago to get an office at a time when most of us were in cubes.
Since then it appears most places have gone to open office format and people long for cubes. -
Comment on The future of AI in ~tech
hobbes64 LinkI think this article properly identifies the problem is ethics more than technology. AI is a tool that is being misused and will continue to be misused, just like all tools. From the end of the...I think this article properly identifies the problem is ethics more than technology. AI is a tool that is being misused and will continue to be misused, just like all tools.
From the end of the article:
That is why I keep coming back to the same conclusion. Maybe the most important investment right now isn’t in bigger models or faster chips. Maybe it’s in us. A fraction of those billions going into AI could fund the kind of work that actually prepares humanity for what’s coming – critical thinking, ethics, psychology, the boring, unglamorous stuff that doesn’t make headlines but might be the difference between a future we thrive in and one we merely survive. (Hence my slide about needing another step in human evolution above).
We don’t need another breakthrough in artificial intelligence. We need a breakthrough in human wisdom. Yesterday.Sure. I don't think we know how to make this happen because global society is structured so that a few sociopaths/psychopaths hoard wealth and power and then wield it against the majority of people who mostly just want to live a modest life. Sometimes it seems that there has been progress made and society gets better, but then you start to realize that there are people in the shadows that have an insatiable greed, and even worse, a large number of people are authoritarian followers who facilitate it. I'm thinking about the decades of battles in the US to create laws that promote worker safety and reduce pollution, and then a huge amount of this progress is gutted in a single year because people were tricked by propaganda and racism to elect a mentally ill criminal to lead them.
-
Comment on The ethics of buying, playing military, war or games inspired by them? in ~games
hobbes64 LinkI know this isn't the point of this question at all, but why the fuck should Lockheed or Boeing or any other military contractor be able to make money off licensing vehicles or weapons that are...I know this isn't the point of this question at all, but why the fuck should Lockheed or Boeing or any other military contractor be able to make money off licensing vehicles or weapons that are made to spec by a military contract? If anything, I should get the licensing fee as a taxpayer.
I remember seeing this topic when discussing plastic model kits and how Boeing was getting money from kitmakers for the B17 which was designed in the 1930s.
-
Comment on Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2026 - Race Weekend Discussion in ~sports.motorsports
hobbes64 LinkQualifying was interesting. Mercedes seems dominant. Ferrari not terrible. Glad to see a Red Bull 2nd driver who didn't qualify midfield. Is Max's hand injured from his crash? I like the livery of...Qualifying was interesting.
Mercedes seems dominant.
Ferrari not terrible.
Glad to see a Red Bull 2nd driver who didn't qualify midfield.
Is Max's hand injured from his crash?
I like the livery of the Audi
-
Comment on Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2026 - Race Weekend Discussion in ~sports.motorsports
hobbes64 LinkSince this is the first race of the year, here is a little meta discussion of how you can (legally) watch a race in the US. This year you have to pay for Apple TV+ to watch F1. If you have an...Since this is the first race of the year, here is a little meta discussion of how you can (legally) watch a race in the US.
This year you have to pay for Apple TV+ to watch F1. If you have an Apple TV device, you have two choices: You can continue to use the F1 app, or you can use the Apple TV app.
I tried the Apple TV app for F1 and it has a few advantages before you start watching the race. The advantages are that it's much clearer exactly when the events happen, it shows exactly when practice or qualifying or races will start, and in your local time. These things were sort of available in the F1 app but somehow not as clearly presented.During the race, the Apple TV app has similar features where you can watch multiple streams at once, such as specific drivers or data or the International feed vs the F1 TV feed (what's called International on the Apple app is called Sky TV on the Apple App). The UI for this is quite different in the Apple app, and I found it a little more confusing, especially if you accidentally try to show more than two feeds it's hard to reduce the number you are watching.
Anyway, I will only be using the F1 app because the Apple app has ads. Ads are the bane of my existence and I simply try to avoid them at all times. While Apple is showing an ad for aws or whatever, the F1 app is just showing some scenes from around the track or having a little extra commentary.
Upon first use of the F1 app you have to link it to apple by logging in once. After that it's not a problem as far as I can tell.I realized that the entire experience of watching F1 is seeing ads and logos on the tracks and on the cars and on the uniforms. But those are just background images which don't bother me as much as a full video of a talking gecko selling me insurance.
-
Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of March 2 in ~society
hobbes64 LinkFrom The Atlantic (mild paywall1) I find this article interesting, or maybe encouraging, because like many people I have been concerned that Vance would be even worse than Trump and there is a...From The Atlantic (mild paywall1)
I find this article interesting, or maybe encouraging, because like many people I have been concerned that Vance would be even worse than Trump and there is a high chance that Trump won't finish his term. But this shows that at least on the topic of war, Vance is more reasonable than Trump, but also very weakened by his association with Trump.
The Humiliation of J. D. Vance
If J. D. Vance promised one thing during the 2024 presidential campaign, it was that America would not enter into a war with Iran of the kind that is currently raging. “America doesn’t have to constantly police every region of the world,” Vance told the comedian Tim Dillon on his podcast. He continued: “Our interest, I think very much, is in not going to war with Iran. It would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country.” In another podcast interview, with Shawn Ryan, in September 2024, Vance even said that a war between Israel and Iran was in fact “the most likely and most dangerous scenario” for provoking World War III.
These arguments look farcical now that President Trump has chosen—months after bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities and pronouncing its enrichment efforts “completely and totally obliterated”—to join Israel in launching a war on the Islamic Republic. The ensuing conflagration now involves a dozen countries in the Middle East. Trump says that he will do “whatever it takes” militarily and that “wars can be fought ‘forever.’” Vance’s X account, normally hyperactive, went silent in the days after bombs began falling on Saturday morning. The vice president was not at Mar-a-Lago with Trump as he oversaw the attack. The administration instead released a photo of him running a secondary meeting at the White House, flanked by a can of Diet Mountain Dew and a sullen-looking Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence.
...
Vance came to public attention as a resounding critic of Trump who could nonetheless explain his appeal among heartland Americans to coastal elites. Before his Senate campaign in Ohio in 2022, he emerged as the personification of national conservatism—the new populism-inflected strain of thought that was becoming dominant in America and Europe. He angrily rejected the so-called forever wars of the George W. Bush administration—disillusioned from his experience as a young marine deployed to fight them. Reinvention is obviously possible for a man who has reinvented himself before. But if he seeks the Republican nomination for president in 2028, he may find himself bound to an unpopular series of policies that the 2024 version of Vance would oppose.
1by mild paywall, I mean it can be defeated by using noscript or similar javascript blocker
-
Comment on Documents reveal a web of financial ties between Donald Trump officials and the US industries they help regulate in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentThe level of corruption is actually stunning. I can hardly remember a day in the last 10 years where there wasn't a story of something evil or corrupt or criminal associated with him. Trump...The level of corruption is actually stunning. I can hardly remember a day in the last 10 years where there wasn't a story of something evil or corrupt or criminal associated with him.
Trump appears to be a lazy person who isn't very smart.
But somehow he's one of the most successful criminals of all time. That sounds like a lot of work to have a scandal in the news 200 days a year and yet apparently most of his day is watching TV or tweeting. Obviously there is an endless stream of other greedy and corrupt people in his orbit that make this all possible.
There was a comedian years ago who talked about how overweight people should probably occasionally say no to having extra nuts on an ice cream sundae. (Maybe this was Seinfeld. I'm not sure). Anyway, I wonder if Trump EVER says no when asked if he wants to partake in a crime. Apparently not.
-
Comment on US support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement reaches 50% in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentI think there is a similar disconnect between the Republican Party and it's members. The republican party just has a better propaganda machine that distracts the people by focusing on wedge...I think there is a similar disconnect between the Republican Party and it's members. The republican party just has a better propaganda machine that distracts the people by focusing on wedge issues. It's highly unlikely that your racist uncle really wants Trump to become a trillionaire while taking away his healthcare and social security. Meanwhile the uncle thinks immigrants are a bigger threat than outsourcing or AI because he doesn't hear about that every day on fox or talk radio.
-
Comment on Why we struck Iran in ~society
hobbes64 Link ParentOther people on this thread have replied how this is different. Here is a whole article about that from The Atlantic today: Trump Opens the Pandora’s Box of Assassination Killing anyone without a...Other people on this thread have replied how this is different. Here is a whole article about that from The Atlantic today:
Trump Opens the Pandora’s Box of Assassination
Killing anyone without a trial, let alone a foreign leader, involves a moral choice.If tasked with a similar assignment in 2026, the intelligence community and the military would likely have the tools to target any political leader on the face of the planet. This is an enormously consequential shift in the foreign-policy tools available to a president. Killing anyone, let alone a dangerous foreign leader, without a trial involves a moral choice. Killing a foreign leader involves a strategic calculation with questionable odds. A regime isn’t a chicken; decapitating it doesn’t necessarily bring about its death after a short dance. Indeed, in the modern age, no police state has died by assassination alone.
As killing foreign leaders gets easier for us, harming our leaders also presumably gets easier for others. The international taboo against foreign political assassination has arguably had a stabilizing effect, despite those states—Russia, for example—that have flouted it. To put a fine point on it, however tempting it may be to eliminate troublesome foreign leaders, no policy maker in a democracy wants to spark acts of retaliation that cost the lives of our own leaders in turn.
So what exactly is wrong with Aston Martin? I guess it’s mostly Honda’s fault?
Has Aston Martin's F1 super-team turned into a disaster team?
Also notable is the relatively good performance of Haas this year.