jeff's recent activity

  1. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~health

    jeff
    Link Parent
    Seriously. Hasn't had a good night's sleep in over a decade. Doesn't feel like going to see a doctor. Spends time on the Internet asking random people for help. WTF? My wife is a nurse and tells...

    Seriously. Hasn't had a good night's sleep in over a decade. Doesn't feel like going to see a doctor. Spends time on the Internet asking random people for help. WTF?

    My wife is a nurse and tells me how often she sees people who are suffering from some chronic but treatable illness, but don't bother to take simple steps to improve their health. Baffles my mind.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech

    jeff
    Link
    Sure, if you were try to recreate the whole thing all at once, probably a lot of work. But realistically, what's going to happen? Maybe at some point you'll be in the mood to watch a movie. The...

    Everything I have, I could pretty easily get again (as things stand right now). But it would be a lot of work.

    Sure, if you were try to recreate the whole thing all at once, probably a lot of work. But realistically, what's going to happen? Maybe at some point you'll be in the mood to watch a movie. The effort to find a new source for that one movie when you want to watch it will be minimal. Or you'll want to listen to an album. But you'll have some easily accessible streaming service available that you can use instead. And the cost for those random replacement media sources is probably going to be less than what you'd spend on a "solution" now. Digital entertainment is the most easily accessible product in the world right now.

    After this, I could move into an RV and travel, maybe move overseas and live out of a backpack, maybe build a tiny house.

    I feel like you're resisting dropping this one bit of baggage out of some sort of emotional attachment, while you've otherwise been very successful at downsizing. And at some point you're going to need to let it go anyway if you continue down this path. Just get rid of it. Or give it to someone to hang on to for a while, and prove to yourself that you don't miss it after 6 months have passed, and then get rid of it.

  3. Comment on Elon Musk criticized for trying to help. Accused of selfish PR stunt. in ~tech

    jeff
    Link Parent
    But think of it this way...does helping in a headline-grabbing way set a very public example and encourage others to participate in philanthropic endeavors in the future? Is he leading by example...

    But think of it this way...does helping in a headline-grabbing way set a very public example and encourage others to participate in philanthropic endeavors in the future? Is he leading by example to genuinely try to make the world a better place? Maybe others with the means to direct some of their expertise and money toward a good cause the in future will be motivated because they saw Musk do it. I'd sure hate for them to be discouraged from doing so because they saw Musk get criticized for it, instead of praised.

    5 votes

  5. Comment on Department of Homeland Security publishes memo with several Nazi/white supremacist dogwhistles in ~misc

    jeff
    Link Parent
    I found this...14 house democrats...8 committee chairmen...headline of 8 words...1488!...also mentions "Homeland", another nod to the Nazis...definitely a dog whistle to white supremacists!...oh,...

    I found this...14 house democrats...8 committee chairmen...headline of 8 words...1488!...also mentions "Homeland", another nod to the Nazis...definitely a dog whistle to white supremacists!...oh, wait...it's from Democrats challenging the border wall...hmmm...

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/07/AR2008040702361.html?noredirect=on

    Democrats to Challenge Plans to Finish Border Fence
    Tuesday, April 8, 2008
    Fourteen House Democrats, including eight committee chairmen, said yesterday that they will file a brief supporting a legal challenge to the Bush administration's plans to finish building 470 miles of fencing and other barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of the year.

    Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) led the group, which includes the heads of the energy and commerce, transportation, intelligence, education, rules, and veteran affairs panels.

    Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club asked the Supreme Court last month to review whether the administration's decision to waive environmental laws to finish the fence is constitutional. That waiver was approved by the Republican-led Congress in 2005.

    "Our responsibility to be stewards of the earth cannot be thrown aside for the sake of an ill-conceived border fence," said Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.).

    1 vote

  6. Comment on How come seven people (the supreme court) can have so much power? in ~talk

  7. Comment on Shooting reported at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis in ~news

    jeff
    Link Parent
    Phil Davis @PhilDavis_CG 30m30 minutes ago More Ok, I was not tweeting from under my desk. I was already safe when I started tweeting

    Phil Davis
    @PhilDavis_CG
    30m30 minutes ago
    More
    Ok, I was not tweeting from under my desk. I was already safe when I started tweeting

    4 votes

  8. Comment on How come seven people (the supreme court) can have so much power? in ~talk

    jeff
    Link Parent
    Keep in mind that the average life expectancy when the United States Supreme Court was established was quite a bit shorter than it is today. This source says only 36 years:...

    Keep in mind that the average life expectancy when the United States Supreme Court was established was quite a bit shorter than it is today. This source says only 36 years:

    http://www.legacy.com/life-and-death/the-liberty-era.html

  9. Comment on We hired a man and a "girl" in ~tech

    jeff
    Link Parent
    But isn't it uncomfortable simply because it's not idiomatic to use "boy" (in the contexts you suggest) in a non-derogatory manner, whereas it is idiomatic to use "girl" in a non-derogatory...

    But isn't it uncomfortable simply because it's not idiomatic to use "boy" (in the contexts you suggest) in a non-derogatory manner, whereas it is idiomatic to use "girl" in a non-derogatory manner? And since you mention context...

    I believe that "girl" has two very common meanings, one being "female" and the other being "female child", and it simply (like many other words) requires one to consider the context in which the word was used to be clear about its intended meaning. One should not simply assume the use was intended to mean "female child", and ignore the context. And I think to do so, and claim some harm or offense, is disingenuous.

  10. Comment on Daily Tildes discussion - how to handle account deletion in ~tildes.official

  11. Comment on We hired a man and a "girl" in ~tech

    jeff
    Link Parent
    You're telling me that if you and a couple of other male coworkers were having a conversation in the break room at work, and a female coworker walked up and said "What do you boys have planned for...

    I wouldn't let them get away with calling me a boy!

    You're telling me that if you and a couple of other male coworkers were having a conversation in the break room at work, and a female coworker walked up and said "What do you boys have planned for the weekend?", you'd take offense at that?

    Or you and a male coworker are at your desk working through some problem, and a female coworker walked up and said, "What are you boys so engrossed in?", that would be an issue?

    I wouldn't think twice about it, other than it might possibly register in my brain that the speaker was being casual and friendly.

    How do other males in this thread feel about that?

    3 votes

  12. Comment on We hired a man and a "girl" in ~tech

    jeff
    Link Parent
    I think I agree with you. My point wasn't that it's offensive to mention someone's gender. It's that some people needlessly take offense at some of the specific words used when mentioning...

    I think I agree with you. My point wasn't that it's offensive to mention someone's gender. It's that some people needlessly take offense at some of the specific words used when mentioning someone's gender. Even though, as you say, "new girl" is idiomatic and not derogatory.

  13. Comment on We hired a man and a "girl" in ~tech

    jeff
    Link Parent
    I agree. But it should also be okay for the speaker to let their audience know the gender of the person they're speaking of, without having to go through a bunch of mental contortions trying to...

    I agree. But it should also be okay for the speaker to let their audience know the gender of the person they're speaking of, without having to go through a bunch of mental contortions trying to figure out how not to offend anyone over the innocent use of one of any number of gender-identifying nouns, pretty much all of which could be claimed by someone to have some implicit bias.

    People use wording around me that I could find offensive if I wanted to. But I can also choose to consider the context of the conversation, the intent of the message, and the character of the person speaking, before coming to the conclusion that any offense should be taken or that any harmful bias exists.

    We talk a lot these days about the responsibility that people have when speaking, but there should be an equal responsibility on the part of listeners to be thoughtful and reasonable, and not presumptive and reactive.

  14. Comment on We hired a man and a "girl" in ~tech

    jeff
    Link Parent
    I have difficulty with the concept that the use of the term "girl" automatically indicates unintentional bias. For many native English speakers, men and women alike, there is absolutely no...

    I have difficulty with the concept that the use of the term "girl" automatically indicates unintentional bias. For many native English speakers, men and women alike, there is absolutely no negative connotation to that term. It is functionally equivalent to "woman", "gal", or "lady". It is quite often simply used as a descriptive term for no other reason than to make it possible to continue the conversation about the person, since English relies heavily on gender-specific pronouns. If you say "we've hired a new person", then people don't know whether to ask "when does HE start?" or "when does SHE start?" I'd even suggest that more often than not, the bias is being assumed by the listener, and not believed in the least by the speaker, and bias is going to be assumed even if the speaker says "we've hired a new woman" or "we've hired a new lady".

    2 votes

  15. Comment on In major privacy win, US Supreme Court rules police need warrant to track your cellphone in ~tech

    jeff
    Link Parent
    Hopefully it sets a precedent to support future decisions on that topic. I’m honestly quite surprised, but thrilled, by this decision. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to go that way. It’s...

    Hopefully it sets a precedent to support future decisions on that topic. I’m honestly quite surprised, but thrilled, by this decision. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to go that way. It’s refreshing to see the disparity between the current state of technology now vs when our constitution was written, taken into serious consideration in court rulings.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tildes

    jeff
    Link
    I don't think Tildes will be a viable replacement/alternative until the user base grows substantially and users are allowed to create groups/subgroups. There's simply too little focus and...

    I don't think Tildes will be a viable replacement/alternative until the user base grows substantially and users are allowed to create groups/subgroups. There's simply too little focus and specialization on Tildes right now, meaning that anything but the broadest categories of interests are completely under served.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Chasing the American dream has got me jaded in ~talk

    jeff
    Link
    What changed in your life from when you were spending so much time enjoying it, to now when you have to spend most of your time working?

    What changed in your life from when you were spending so much time enjoying it, to now when you have to spend most of your time working?

  18. Comment on Good mobile games in ~games

    jeff
    Link Parent
    I listed a bunch of games elsewhere in this thread, but one of them is free to try and I think it's an excellent game... Outwitters

    I listed a bunch of games elsewhere in this thread, but one of them is free to try and I think it's an excellent game...

    Outwitters

    2 votes

  19. Comment on Good mobile games in ~games

    jeff
    Link Parent
    I also enjoyed Rebuild 3 and played it quite a lot. Well worth the price.

    I also enjoyed Rebuild 3 and played it quite a lot. Well worth the price.

    2 votes

  20. Comment on Good mobile games in ~games