kollkana's recent activity

  1. Comment on HPV vaccination: How the world can eliminate cervical cancer in ~health

    kollkana
    Link
    I'm part of that '90-'93 cohort. At the time it didn't feel nearly as radical as "this could end cervical cancer", because the messaging I got was: HPV can cause cervical cancer There are...

    I'm part of that '90-'93 cohort. At the time it didn't feel nearly as radical as "this could end cervical cancer", because the messaging I got was:

    • HPV can cause cervical cancer
    • There are thousands of HPV strains
    • Having two sexual partners is statistically enough to catch one
    • This vaccine only covers four strains

    I only took it because I'll take any free vaccine, but that chart is incredible.

    9 votes
  2. Comment on Make it ephemeral: Software should decay and lose data in ~tech

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    That depends heavily on the data in question. If something like my opt-out from the public electoral roll automatically expires that frees up my name and address to be listed online by any...

    That depends heavily on the data in question. If something like my opt-out from the public electoral roll automatically expires that frees up my name and address to be listed online by any business that buys the list. If files on my own computer expire that means I need more physical backups of important documents or have less security that e.g. I can make an insurance claim, prove my employment history, prove medical diagnoses etc.

    4 votes
  3. Comment on Make it ephemeral: Software should decay and lose data in ~tech

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    Why do you think the default should be expiring data?

    Why do you think the default should be expiring data?

    8 votes
  4. Comment on Make it ephemeral: Software should decay and lose data in ~tech

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    There are already tools to do that sort of thing anywhere it would be useful. Email clients allow for filtering rules and auto-deletion within folders etc. That's what I find strange about this...

    There are already tools to do that sort of thing anywhere it would be useful. Email clients allow for filtering rules and auto-deletion within folders etc. That's what I find strange about this opinion piece, it seems to be talking about ignoring existing tools (because that requires setup and effort, I guess) in favour of software systems deleting stuff based on vague criteria that the end user doesn't need to set.

    19 votes
  5. Comment on Make it ephemeral: Software should decay and lose data in ~tech

    kollkana
    Link
    This is a really weird take. Only the final paragraph makes any kind of sense. "I don't want to make my own deletion schedule or change how I organise my files/systems, so make all software delete...

    This is a really weird take. Only the final paragraph makes any kind of sense.

    I will forget to delete, and I'm lazy and given the tools available I rarely clean up. Yet many of the things I create I already know I really only need for a week or [two]. So give me a button I can press to schedule deletion. Then I don't have to remember to clean up after myself a few months later, but I can make that call already today when I create my thing.

    "I don't want to make my own deletion schedule or change how I organise my files/systems, so make all software delete stuff automatically"

    42 votes
  6. Comment on Touchscreens are out, and tactile controls are back. Rachel Plotnick's "re-buttonization" expertise is in demand. in ~design

    kollkana
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    It's all very reminiscent of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, where radio buttons are replaced with touch controls, and touch controls are replaced with "wav[ing] your hand in the general...

    It's all very reminiscent of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, where radio buttons are replaced with touch controls, and touch controls are replaced with "wav[ing] your hand in the general direction of the components and hop[ing]" so once you find a programme you actually want to listen to you must sit very still.

    6 votes
  7. Comment on ‘I grew up with it’: readers on the enduring appeal of Microsoft Excel in ~tech

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    For that specific example it's not how it displays, it's that in Excel the table is itself an object with useful properties like acting as a dynamic named range and auto-populating formulas and...

    For that specific example it's not how it displays, it's that in Excel the table is itself an object with useful properties like acting as a dynamic named range and auto-populating formulas and formatting for new rows. I've not found any kind of equivalent to that in LibreOffice Calc.

  8. Comment on ‘I grew up with it’: readers on the enduring appeal of Microsoft Excel in ~tech

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    I disagree that LibreOffice is a drop-in replacement. It's what I use at home, and it's fine for most stuff, but I still find myself missing Excel features I use heavily at work (like today,...

    I disagree that LibreOffice is a drop-in replacement. It's what I use at home, and it's fine for most stuff, but I still find myself missing Excel features I use heavily at work (like today, "format as table").

    4 votes
  9. Comment on Carbon myopia is concealing a deeper problem: our insatiable appetite for materials in ~enviro

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    Repairs can easily cost more than buying new, too, at least as a non-company individual. Like the time I bought a £6 spring to repair the clasp on a £5 bag strap, or the £95 quote to fix a bag I...

    Repairs can easily cost more than buying new, too, at least as a non-company individual. Like the time I bought a £6 spring to repair the clasp on a £5 bag strap, or the £95 quote to fix a bag I paid roughly that for a decade ago.

    10 votes
  10. Comment on Thoughts on the friendzone in ~life

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    If you're entering a friendship with the intent of turning it romantic, that could be seen as trying to leverage the person's existing emotional investment in you as a friend to improve the odds...

    If you're entering a friendship with the intent of turning it romantic, that could be seen as trying to leverage the person's existing emotional investment in you as a friend to improve the odds of them agreeing to explore the potential for romance. Basically relying on the sunk cost fallacy rather than being direct in your interest and taking the raw odds.

    But that is a specific scenario, not applicable to e.g. people who only develop romantic interest after getting to deeply know someone as a friend.

    4 votes
  11. Comment on Thoughts on the friendzone in ~life

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    For people who ask out strangers, dating is getting to know them well. Asking someone out isn't proposing commitment, it's only proposing spending some time together one-on-one.

    For people who ask out strangers, dating is getting to know them well. Asking someone out isn't proposing commitment, it's only proposing spending some time together one-on-one.

    8 votes
  12. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    Buses are so much better than cycling or trains for local travel, so I'm totally on board with pothole fixing.

    Buses are so much better than cycling or trains for local travel, so I'm totally on board with pothole fixing.

  13. Comment on The painful secret many people live with: The fatal flaw -- A deep-seated, entrenched feeling/belief that you are somehow different from other people; that something is wrong with you in ~health.mental

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    I meant more in the context of the "deep-seated belief that something is wrong with me" sense. To reference the steps this linked article suggests to heal, the flaw is a real symptom and there is...

    I meant more in the context of the "deep-seated belief that something is wrong with me" sense. To reference the steps this linked article suggests to heal, the flaw is a real symptom and there is no evidence to contradict it.

    It's one thing to wear sunglasses and earplugs more widely, it's quite another to attempt to redefine boundaries and relationships with everyone in your life only to end up reinforcing several of the items in "The Flaw" side of that table.

    4 votes
  14. Comment on The painful secret many people live with: The fatal flaw -- A deep-seated, entrenched feeling/belief that you are somehow different from other people; that something is wrong with you in ~health.mental

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    Isn't the whole point of CBT that it isn't concerned with what the underlying cause is because it's purely focused on addressing things in the present? It was utterly useless to me too, but not...

    Isn't the whole point of CBT that it isn't concerned with what the underlying cause is because it's purely focused on addressing things in the present? It was utterly useless to me too, but not because of any implied search for childhood trauma.

    10 votes
  15. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    I also recently 100%-ed Astro Bot! There was a lot of "hey, it's that character!" but it also turns out that I don't know a significant chunk of apparently big-deal Playstation games. Fortunately...

    I also recently 100%-ed Astro Bot! There was a lot of "hey, it's that character!" but it also turns out that I don't know a significant chunk of apparently big-deal Playstation games. Fortunately aside from the character cameos it was still a delightful time, clearly given a lot of polish.

    2 votes
  16. Comment on The painful secret many people live with: The fatal flaw -- A deep-seated, entrenched feeling/belief that you are somehow different from other people; that something is wrong with you in ~health.mental

    kollkana
    Link
    My Fatal Flaw(s) turned out to be undiagnosed autism. I still don't know what to do with that information.

    My Fatal Flaw(s) turned out to be undiagnosed autism. I still don't know what to do with that information.

    25 votes
  17. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    Pretty much just major cities (Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima), but that there were enough English-speakers around in cities is part of my point. London may have some...

    Pretty much just major cities (Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima), but that there were enough English-speakers around in cities is part of my point. London may have some Japanese-speaking help available, but would Oxford, Bath, Edinburgh, Cardiff? Feels unlikely.

    6 votes
  18. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    Perhaps French is the better pick after all! I didn't know Arabic dialects varied that much. The advice to use French perfectly illustrates how my ideal solution would work, at least.

    Perhaps French is the better pick after all! I didn't know Arabic dialects varied that much. The advice to use French perfectly illustrates how my ideal solution would work, at least.

    4 votes
  19. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    kollkana
    Link Parent
    87th globally in English speaking ability is still enough that when I visited recently I could get by for three weeks having memorised the phrases "I don't speak Japanese" and "do you speak...

    87th globally in English speaking ability is still enough that when I visited recently I could get by for three weeks having memorised the phrases "I don't speak Japanese" and "do you speak English", along with "excuse me", "sorry", and "thank you". A Japanese person visiting the UK with that little English would have a significantly harder time finding someone who spoke even a little of their language if they e.g. couldn't work out how to buy the right kind of train ticket.

    Maybe true fluency is too lofty a goal, but even just parity with the education efforts that this linked article mentions would be a substantial improvement. When I went to school foreign languages weren't even introduced in the curriculum until age 11.

    10 votes
  20. Comment on English still rules the world, but that’s not necessarily OK. Is it time to curb its power? in ~humanities.languages

    kollkana
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    It's a travesty that "everyone learns English" turned into "so if we speak English already we needn't teach foreign languages". My personal solution would be that everyone in the world should be...

    It's a travesty that "everyone learns English" turned into "so if we speak English already we needn't teach foreign languages".

    My personal solution would be that everyone in the world should be taught (at least) one foreign language to fluency of the most widespread. At a guess that's probably English, Spanish, and maybe French? I'm sure some Chinese dialects win in pure number of speakers, but I feel number of countries should weigh more heavily than number of individuals if the idea is to promote global communication.

    Edit: looking at the wikipedia page for languages by speakers, Arabic would probably be a better pick than French - not "official" in quite as many countries, but more often a primary language. And an added bonus of it not using the latin alphabet.

    13 votes