imperialismus's recent activity
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Comment on Non-American, English language news sources in ~news
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Comment on Started watching Adolescence in ~tv
imperialismus Link ParentI don't think switching attention is comparable to standard film cuts, where you may suddenly be in a completely different time and location, or rapidly switching between points of view of the...I don't think switching attention is comparable to standard film cuts, where you may suddenly be in a completely different time and location, or rapidly switching between points of view of the same situation which you couldn't possibly achieve in that time frame in real life. I don't mean that a long continuous shot with a slowly moving camera is necessarily "more realistic", but I certainly don't think it's objectively less like our standard everyday experience either. I've only watched the first episode of Adolescence, but for example the shots where the camera is following someone between different offices do feel, to me, very much like following along behind a person walking around in real life. Of course real life isn't choreographed the way a tv show is.
All of this just to emphasize that immersion is a subjective thing. It really is the sensation of being "in" the story, not some kind of objective measure of how much "like real life" that piece of media is. A novel can be immersive even if you have to imagine everything in your mind's eye, which is definitely not the same thing as seeing and hearing and smelling it in real life. I think different people will react differently to, for lack of a better word, fancy cinematography.
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Comment on Started watching Adolescence in ~tv
imperialismus Link ParentDoing an entire hour in a single seemingly continous shot is definitely a show-off. But long takes that aren't absurdly long can definitely be effective. I really like the first-person intro...Doing an entire hour in a single seemingly continous shot is definitely a show-off. But long takes that aren't absurdly long can definitely be effective. I really like the first-person intro sequence of Enter the Void, for example. The film as a whole I can't recommend, it basically looks really cool but has no actual substance to it, but I haven't really seen anything quite like the first minutes of that film. I say this as a stills photographer who really likes static shots in movies (because they scratch that photographer's itch).
There's also the issue of pacing. With no apparent cuts and moving locations, you run the risk of a lot of dead time. But you can use that to deliberately slow the pace down to make the more dramatic moments more impactful and let them breathe, which I think was at least the intention in 1917.
Immersion is really subjective. There aren't any cuts or edits in real life. I suspect that the more you know and care about filmmaking, the more immersion breaking these "show-off" techniques are. Because you're more aware of the editor and director basically executing a kind of cinematic magic trick on the audience.
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Comment on Race against the regime: The 1936 Olympics, and the Nazi rise to power in ~sports
imperialismus Link ParentI normally don't comment on a post if I'm not going to read/watch the original link, so I don't mean to imply that you personally made any demands of my time by posting it. I actually find the...I normally don't comment on a post if I'm not going to read/watch the original link, so I don't mean to imply that you personally made any demands of my time by posting it. I actually find the Berlin Olympics a great case study of what people today call sportswashing and it's a bit disappointing that it seems the angle they're taking on it is, to my mind, a bit strange.
Maybe it's just historical distance making it seem that way, but it seems like in the past 100 years, the usage of sports for propaganda purposes has become a lot more subtle and less on the nose. You have countries like Saudi Arabia investing a bunch into sports, and they're doing events in Saudi, but they're also buying up foreign sports clubs and even trying to buy up whole sports (like golf), so that even events that aren't happening in Saudi Arabia and have no overt messaging from them seem to be tainted by it.
There are clearly parallels to today. In 2018, four years after Russia invaded Eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, most of the world gathered in Russia for the FIFA World Cup. And four years later, Russia launched their full-scale invasion. It was the most expensive world cup ever until it was surpassed four years later by... Qatar.
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Comment on Race against the regime: The 1936 Olympics, and the Nazi rise to power in ~sports
imperialismus Link ParentThat's not a provocative question, that's like... a completely absurd question. Doesn't exactly sell that this video is worth 35 minutes of time, I'm afraid.That's not a provocative question, that's like... a completely absurd question. Doesn't exactly sell that this video is worth 35 minutes of time, I'm afraid.
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Europe's undeciphered prehistoric tablets
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of March 2 in ~games
imperialismus Link ParentI don't play many visual novels, but you just reminded me to check if the sequel to VA-11 Hall-A, which was in development years ago, has come out... Apparently it's not coming out anytime soon,...I don't play many visual novels, but you just reminded me to check if the sequel to VA-11 Hall-A, which was in development years ago, has come out... Apparently it's not coming out anytime soon, and probably abandonware at this point. Sad. I do recommend the original game though, I enjoyed it a lot and it appears to be 33% off (at least in my region).
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Comment on A Vermont border agent’s death was the latest violence linked to the cultlike Zizian group in ~news
imperialismus LinkIs MIRI still selling the narrative of the AI apocalypse, how they're the only ones who can stop it, and therefore you should give them lots and lots of money? I can't tell if it's pure grift or...Is MIRI still selling the narrative of the AI apocalypse, how they're the only ones who can stop it, and therefore you should give them lots and lots of money? I can't tell if it's pure grift or genuine belief, but it's manipulative in the same way Scientology is. I've heard of people literally tithing to them like a church.
I used to read some of the rationalist forums and blogs out of curiosity, but I've always had a distate for the combination of arrogance and silliness. They have a weird obsession with Bayesian statistics, but don't seem to realize it's a BS in BS out kind of idea, and operate with priors that can't be reasonably estimated as if, just because you ran your completely unsupported guesstimation through a formula, that makes it rational. They freak out over a hypothetical future demon AI. It's all very bizarre. If you have to repeatedly, and seriously, state that you are not a cult, maybe it's time for some self reflection.
There's a long way between "donating money to an AI research organization due to emotional manipulation" and straight up murder, of course. But I'm not surprised that some more unhinged individuals would be attracted to that kind of scene. It appeals to outsiderness and gives people a sense of intellectual and moral superiority, because anything that violates their beliefs isn't just wrong, it's wrong in a way that reflects deeply negatively on the individual.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~music
imperialismus Link ParentReminds me of this neologism by Michael Crichton:Per your last thought, I’ve taken to calling it the “Stuff You Should Know Experience."
Reminds me of this neologism by Michael Crichton:
Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them.
In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~music
imperialismus Link ParentJust for context, as someone who knows next to nothing about jazz or its subculture, when I watched the movie, my first instinct was "this is dysfunctional af and probably not representative." I...Just for context, as someone who knows next to nothing about jazz or its subculture, when I watched the movie, my first instinct was "this is dysfunctional af and probably not representative." I get it though. I have the same feeling when I see pop culture/mainstream media depictions of something niche that I have a personal connection to and I can't relate to it.
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Comment on Norway on the verge of abolishing Video Assistant Referee from domestic football league after clubs in the country's top two divisions recommended formally that it should be discontinued in ~sports.football
imperialismus Link ParentThis isn't the case. It's true that VAR continuously monitors the state of play, but not that it will respond to any small offense. The rules aren't that dense, at least not the basic gist of it....This means it's continuously monitoring the state of play and will respond any time any small offense has been made.
This isn't the case. It's true that VAR continuously monitors the state of play, but not that it will respond to any small offense. The rules aren't that dense, at least not the basic gist of it. It's at the top:
A video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official, with independent access to match footage, who may assist the referee only in the event of a ‘clear and obvious error’ or ‘serious missed incident’ in relation to:
a. Goal/no goal
b. Penalty/no penalty
c. Direct red card (not second yellow card/caution)
d. Mistaken identity (when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player of the offending team)
This means there's an array of minor offenses and referee calls VAR isn't allowed to weigh in on, unless they have a direct bearing on a goal scored. And only in cases of "clear and obvious error."
Of course, that's the principle, not always the practice. But that's not a core issue with any and all forms of VAR, it's an issue with the current implementation of it. It shouldn't and doesn't microanalyze every single thing that happens, by design. And that's a good thing.
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Comment on Norway on the verge of abolishing Video Assistant Referee from domestic football league after clubs in the country's top two divisions recommended formally that it should be discontinued in ~sports.football
imperialismus Link ParentI'm not anti VAR, but there are some legit complaints. The most cited reason is that it kills spontaneous joy for fans. Sometimes a goal check takes minutes, during which time fans have to temper...I'm not anti VAR, but there are some legit complaints. The most cited reason is that it kills spontaneous joy for fans. Sometimes a goal check takes minutes, during which time fans have to temper their celebrations, and supporters physically present in the stadium generally get very poor communication. TV watchers at least get to see what the video referees are looking at, usually. There's also concerns about it affecting referees on the pitch, making them overly hesitant to go with their instincts on calls that aren't super obvious, relying instead on VAR as a crutch.
Of course, there's also the fact that it's still a system of technology-aided human judgment, rather than an unerring machine. Which means there will still be human error, but tolerance for it on the part of fans is much lower since the video refs have so much technology to help them make the right call. Some top leagues use goal-line technology, which is an automated system that only determines if the ball has been over the line (a goal can still be disallowed due to a foul, which is a human judgment call, but with goal line tech, the question of whether the ball actually was over the goal line or not is automated). This system has worked very well. I think in the English Premier League, there's only been a single instance where the technology clearly made the wrong call. It's much less controversial because it's so damn reliable.
I believe the most commonly used goal line tech is, as you say, "AI processing the feeds" - it's called Hawk-Eye and is also used in other sports like tennis. But the scope of it is much more limited and much more objective. Whether something is a punishable foul or an allowable incident in a contact sport is much broader and more subjective than "did the ball pass fully over the goal line within the posts".
On top of all that, this article is specifically about the Norwegian league, and VAR as implemented in Norway has been particularly bad. Small countries and smaller leagues struggle to recruit enough competent referees in general. And doubly so with a new technology - people are learning on the job, and that causes additional frustration. That plus the technical side of things hasn't been perfect either. Even the clubs that are pro VAR in general agree that the current implementation needs to be improved going forward.
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Comment on Bluesky advertises itself as an open network, they say people won't lose followers or their identity, they advertise themselves as a protocol ("atproto"). These three claims are false. in ~tech
imperialismus Link ParentYou just reminded me of the endless discussions about Linux on the desktop in the early 2000s. Every year was predicted to be the year when finally Linux on the desktop breaks through into the...People don't care about your tech, they care how it feels to use it, and unfortunately UX isn't often a FOSS developer strength. Usually the process relies on someone else coming along and wrapping the FOSS project in an accessible UX. Without that step mastodon never had a chance.
You just reminded me of the endless discussions about Linux on the desktop in the early 2000s. Every year was predicted to be the year when finally Linux on the desktop breaks through into the mainstream. What happened instead was something nobody really predicted back in like 2003: Linux did become the most popular consumer OS, but in the form of Android. Beause Android doesn't feel like Linux and only 0.1% of users -- that's probably a generous estimate -- even care that it's based on Linux under the hood.
And that initiative didn't come from the FOSS world, it came from one of the world's largest tech companies.
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Comment on Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud in ~health
imperialismus Link ParentI suggest using PMs next time. It's a bit uncomfortable to sit there wondering if people are mocking you in a cryptic way.I suggest using PMs next time. It's a bit uncomfortable to sit there wondering if people are mocking you in a cryptic way.
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Comment on Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud in ~health
imperialismus Link ParentWhat's that supposed to mean?What's that supposed to mean?
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Comment on Finnish state should invest in a new nuclear power plant, according to Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Kai Mykkänen – electricity needs are expected to double over the next decade in ~enviro
imperialismus Link ParentSeems to be a game of telephone. After diving just a little bit into the rabbit hole, it appears that: Vaantan Energia is a Finnish renewable energy company that at least based on 15 minutes of...Seems to be a game of telephone. After diving just a little bit into the rabbit hole, it appears that:
- Vaantan Energia is a Finnish renewable energy company that at least based on 15 minutes of Googling appears to be real. They have both a pilot geothermal plant already running, which produces about 2,600 mWh/year, and are planning an underground storage project that will store heat in the form of pressurized water, but the latter hasn't been built yet
- Separately, they mention a somewhat fantastical and definitely speculative plan supposedly proposed by a French company, CGG. This plan is to exploit thermal energy from hydrothermal vents under the North Sea. They say that this (supposedly) could provide energy for 20 million years, and also, vaguely, that the conditions under the North Sea resemble those in Finland
- This has then morphed from "vague comparisons between the geological conditions of Finland and the bottom of the North Sea" via "fantastical plan to exploit undersea thermal vents for energy" to "a 20-million-year source of energy has been discovered in Finland"
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Comment on Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud in ~health
imperialismus LinkWhen people get to be 100 years old, 105, 110... They often get interviewed by local (and sometimes even national) media as a human interest story, and they're always asked the question: what's...When people get to be 100 years old, 105, 110... They often get interviewed by local (and sometimes even national) media as a human interest story, and they're always asked the question: what's the secret to your longevity? Over the years I must've read dozens of interviews with people aged 90+ who were asked that question, and there's no pattern to their answers. Most of them have a theory, but none of the theories line up! Some are basic common sense, some are old fashioned "salt of the earth" type morals, some is random dietary advice, much of which doesn't line up with modern science based nutritional advice... I don't recall ever reading about anyone who said "honestly I just got lucky" or "I don't know."
Obviously, a single individual's life story can't possibly be enough evidence to uncover the secret of how to live a long life. But it strikes me that this paper might just have uncovered that kind of thinking writ large. I've seen a lot of speculation about why certain places tend to produce such long-lived individuals, but if it turns out the reason was just clerical error or plain fraud, maybe it's not so different from asking any random centenarian the question of why they think they're so old.
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Comment on What significant dates from fiction have we reached? in ~books
imperialismus LinkSurely one of the most prominent ones has to be 2001: A Space Odyssey.Surely one of the most prominent ones has to be 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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Comment on Exit Generation Alpha, enter Generation Beta in ~life
imperialismus Link ParentI think there's plenty of millennials who will have children in the next few years that still remember a time before the internet was a part of their daily lives, even if it technically existed....As a generation, stories of a pre-internet time (especially in Western countries) will be relegated to their grandparents
I think there's plenty of millennials who will have children in the next few years that still remember a time before the internet was a part of their daily lives, even if it technically existed. After all, the trend is people becoming parents later in life, and plenty of people born in the 1980s and early 90s could still have children. I found a US Census survey from 2000 that said only 30% of children aged 3-17 used the internet at home at the time. And the US was one of the earliest adopters of private internet access. The internet has only been available to the general public since around 1990, and didn't really become an everyday fixture of most children and young adults' lives until the early 2000s. Even in highly developed countries.
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Comment on All main Disney animated canon films are going to be destroyed and you can save five, which five do you pick? in ~movies
imperialismus Link ParentI think so too. I suspect there's basically two periods when you're primed to really connect with Disney movies: when you're a child, somewhere between kindergarten and the start of puberty (old...Also, I feel like you can dial in on exactly how old a person is by what movies they pick.
I think so too. I suspect there's basically two periods when you're primed to really connect with Disney movies: when you're a child, somewhere between kindergarten and the start of puberty (old enough to fully appreciate the narrative but not so old as to be embarrassed or watching it ironically), and whenever your own children are that age.
I don't have a definite list, but it would be a mix of older titles I watched as a kid in the nineties and the ones that were actually released in the nineties. I pretty much stopped watching Disney movies once I hit my teens, initially because I thought it was embarrassing to watch children's movies at that age. As a grown ass adult I'm not embarrassed, I just haven't kept up with them as they released, and I suspect I'll never be able to capture that magical feeling I had watching those movies when I was, like, eight years old. Maybe if I was watching it with a child, or on certain drugs...
I haven't been a regular reader in quite some years, so I don't know if it's still the case, but at least back in the day, The Economist was excellent for global news. They cover a lot of stuff that you would never find in any other English language media if you weren't specifically searching for it. For example, reporting on issues in Africa that aren't the same ~5 ongoing conflicts or poverty, which don't get me wrong are important, but it's a whole ass continent that you rarely hear anything about except the same handful of stories about human misery. And they're also good with smaller countries in Europe and Asia that rarely get much attention in US media.
Their editorial stance is very much in favor of free trade and economic liberalism, but not really right-leaning on social issues, and most independent sources regard them as being reputable and not very biased.