LumaBop's recent activity
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Comment on UK: Social media ban for under-16s to be introduced in 2027 in ~society
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Comment on UK: Social media ban for under-16s to be introduced in 2027 in ~society
LumaBop Link@NaraVara mentioned this as well, it really is such a missed opportunity for several reasons. This was a huge chance to legislate against predatory, hyper-personalised content; algorithms designed...@NaraVara mentioned this as well, it really is such a missed opportunity for several reasons. This was a huge chance to legislate against predatory, hyper-personalised content; algorithms designed to maximise rage; addictive, infinite content feeds and more. Age gating does nothing to stop the way that social media companies prey upon the time, attention and emotions of adults. Worse, legislation which mandates these companies do better for all users could have made circumventing these restrictions much harder. One can only assume that it will become extremely common for under-16s to circumvent this ban.
And of course it fails to recognise the important educational content available on platforms like YouTube and Reddit in particular. Not to say that those platforms don’t have their dark sides, just that a blanket ban seems way too coarse here.
Rushed and poorly thought through. Isn’t that the way with this government though? Any good ideas take forever and get suffocated (assisted dying, nationalising public services, building housing), while poorly thought out bills get rushed through / have dramatic last minute u-turns (welfare cuts, winter fuel payments, Online Safety Act, social media ban).
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Comment on UK: Social media ban for under-16s to be introduced in 2027 in ~society
LumaBop Link ParentA full list isn’t available yet, but considering that it will be an explicit list rather than “all platforms with X feature are banned”, I can’t imagine Tildes will be on the government’s radar.A full list isn’t available yet, but considering that it will be an explicit list rather than “all platforms with X feature are banned”, I can’t imagine Tildes will be on the government’s radar.
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Comment on Smartphones arrived just before the US fertility rate plunged. One study says it’s a direct cause. in ~health
LumaBop Link ParentHard disagree. While we aren’t yet noticing signifiant consequences, we need to start addressing the issue very soon, which makes it a problem right now. This is like saying that a couple decades...It could be a future issue but it’s not currently
Hard disagree. While we aren’t yet noticing signifiant consequences, we need to start addressing the issue very soon, which makes it a problem right now. This is like saying that a couple decades ago when we knew about man-made climate change but were not yet experiencing widespread climate collapse (as we are today), that climate change was only a “future issue”. Note: I don’t mean to claim that climate change and population decline are problems on the same scale, but both exhibit the effect of needing action before the consequences of the problem really hit.
If we wait until population decline becomes a problem, we will be stuck with those problems for at least a full generation - even if the issue can be addressed immediately to start increasing birth rates / immigration rates, it will take time to see the effects of those.
I agree that “fertility rate” is an unclear term and “birth rate” would be less ambiguous, but for some reason the prior seems to be the standard term in the literature.
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Comment on Smartphones arrived just before the US fertility rate plunged. One study says it’s a direct cause. in ~health
LumaBop Link ParentAgreed - it’s less about the smartphones themselves as opposed to people (mostly women) having far better access to the information they need to make informed decisions about their relationships...Agreed - it’s less about the smartphones themselves as opposed to people (mostly women) having far better access to the information they need to make informed decisions about their relationships and parenthood, as well as recent progress in giving them the tools they need to make those decisions (I.e. birth control).
The social impact of ubiquitous smartphone/internet access wasn’t visible in the late 00s and early 10s. We are only really beginning to grasp that reality now.
If we actually want to address the decline in fertility rates which is seen almost everywhere across the globe (but most markedly in developed economies) then we need to recognise the multi-faceted nature of this problem. We also really need to get rid of the very strange people who seem to think it’s in anyway acceptable to suggest that forcing people who don’t want children to have them is an approach we could even consider.
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Comment on Smartphones arrived just before the US fertility rate plunged. One study says it’s a direct cause. in ~health
LumaBop Link ParentWhilst population decline is a very real issue, it’s quite perverse that the people who seem to be making the biggest deal about it seem to also be opposed to the most obvious solutions:...Whilst population decline is a very real issue, it’s quite perverse that the people who seem to be making the biggest deal about it seem to also be opposed to the most obvious solutions: encouraging immigration and making it easier for those who want to to raise children.
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Comment on Does generative AI have a natural limit without a major innovation? in ~comp
LumaBop LinkIn the general case, it seems likely. However I think there are some domains where it’s possible LLMs/agents will be able to improve indefinitely. By the way, this is informed speculation, not an...In the general case, it seems likely. However I think there are some domains where it’s possible LLMs/agents will be able to improve indefinitely. By the way, this is informed speculation, not an evidence-backed claim (and in general I’m an LLM sceptic).
There are certain domains and types of problems where constructing a solution is hard, but verifying a solution to once found is relatively simple. To give a concrete example: solving integrals is hard in general, but verifying a solution involves a relatively easier differentiation process; contrast this with a problem such as finding the shortest tour of a large number of locations (e.g. ”find the shortest route, starting at Paris, which visits every European capital exactly once and returns to Paris”) - even if I told you a route, it’s not trivial to confirm that it is indeed the shortest.
For domains concerned with problems in the “hard to solve, easy to check” category, it seems at least in principle possible that, if agents are paired with a suitable “checking” (verification) tool, they could always have a good learning signal to continuously improve (since all agent output can be accurately labelled as “good” or “bad”). So, hypothetically, recursively training models on prior model output would allow continuous improvement in problem solving abilities. That’s the opposite of what it is understood happens in the general case where LLMs are trained on their own output, which is model collapse.
Certainly several sub-fields of maths and computer science are “hard to solve, easy to check”, so I wonder if LLM ability may not hit a ceiling in those domains.
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Comment on GameHub for Mac is publicly available in ~games
LumaBop Link ParentWhat are the privacy concerns? Just general issues with giving third parties access to steam accounts?What are the privacy concerns? Just general issues with giving third parties access to steam accounts?
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Comment on Tildes Survey #7: What is your gender identity? (Results) in ~talk
LumaBop Link ParentCan I ask, why is this? For transparency, I did not include cisgender in my response to this survey, although it would be correct to describe me as cisgender. I did so because the survey asked...I generally prefer it when cis people are self-aware enough to include "cis" as a descriptor.
Can I ask, why is this? For transparency, I did not include cisgender in my response to this survey, although it would be correct to describe me as cisgender. I did so because the survey asked about gender identity - cisgender does not form part of my gender identity. For me, the only use of cisgender is to contrast against transgender, but I don’t have any particular desire, as part of my identity, to draw a line between myself and a transgender person.
As an aside, my understanding of cisgender/transgender was that these are not gender identities, but rather words to describe how a person’s gender identity relates to their biological gender. However this thread has led me to question whether or not my understanding of this is correct.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #6: Vote for the next four surveys we do! (Results) in ~talk
LumaBop Link ParentPlease add me to the notification list. Thank you!Please add me to the notification list. Thank you!
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Comment on When did your preferred fighting game franchises peak? in ~games
LumaBop LinkMy favourite fighting game “series” is Rivals of Aether, which is a platform fighter (AKA Super Smash Bros-like game). IMO, Rivals 1 was peak, and Rivals 2 was/is comparatively less good. The...My favourite fighting game “series” is Rivals of Aether, which is a platform fighter (AKA Super Smash Bros-like game). IMO, Rivals 1 was peak, and Rivals 2 was/is comparatively less good.
The reason why I think the original Rivals of Aether was so good is that it had several limitations that in my opinion made it more interesting as a game. It lacked ledges and grabs (in general, though some moves acted as command grabs), and featured a parry system instead of a shield. The lack of shields made the game fast and aggressive in a way that I thought was really fun, and the lack of ledges actually made recovery/edge guarding much more interesting. It also had extremely fluid combos that I haven’t found in any other fighting game including its sequel.
By comparison, Rivals 2 is lacking in a few ways:
- the addition of certain mechanics, particularly shields, grabs and ledges, makes the game feel comparatively clunkier (IMO) but objectively speaking more similar to the SSB games
- the combo system is stiffer, more like SSB Melee
- the graphics are simply worse, in my opinion. I always thought the pixel art in Rivals 1 was one of its strengths, Rivals 2 has 3D models that look relatively plastic-y and have stiff animations, again my opinion
It’s also a shame that Rivals 2 didn’t manage to retain a good player base. One possible reason for this is that it launched as a fully featured competitive game, but without many important features for casual players (in particular no tutorial!) A lack of a large enough, healthy player base is terrible for a fighting game because if you are new to the game and you go online, you can basically only be matched with players who are much more skilled than you.
PS: sorry for going on a rant about a pretty niche platform fighter if you were only looking for discussion of regular fighting games.
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Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop Link ParentAccording to the Home Office: I agree that from what I know they can’t ignore the fact that you are British if you tell them, but sounds like if you just pretend not to be British you can get away...The intention of the ETA scheme is not to penalise people who unwittingly travel without
the correct permission, or with a permission to which they are not legally entitled. It is
about securing the UK border. In terms of specific ‘penalties’ for British dual nationals, I am sure you are aware that s.24A (1) of the Immigration Act 1971 disapplies the offence of
obtaining an ETA by deception to British nationals.I agree that from what I know they can’t ignore the fact that you are British if you tell them, but sounds like if you just pretend not to be British you can get away with it.
Regarding the story you mentioned: the original article, and the other stories I’ve seen, are all about people being denied boarding their flights/travel, not denied at the border. It seems that it is explicitly policy that in any weird edge case, as long as you actually are a British citizen, you will be allowed through the border (probably with delays as they figure it out), the big issue is currently people being prevented from boarding their flights because the airlines believe they are not entitled to travel (and have been asked by the UK government to check this).
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Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop Link ParentAlmost certainly because she declared it. Theoretically this shouldn’t happen as airlines should be checking ETAs before allowing passengers to board, but clearly enforcement varies. If the woman...Why would the airline know that she’s a British citizen?
Almost certainly because she declared it.
One of my friends flew to the UK and literally got to just before customs before realizing they didn’t have an ETA
Theoretically this shouldn’t happen as airlines should be checking ETAs before allowing passengers to board, but clearly enforcement varies.
If the woman in the article didn’t declare her British citizenship to her airline, in theory it should have checked that she had an ETA, and in theory she should not be able to obtain an ETA, but in my reply to @Greg I speculate that she might have been able to obtain an ETA depending on details of her situation which we don’t know.
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Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop Link ParentThat’s fair! My approach has always been to pass through the border of either of my home countries using the local passport. So when travelling between the two I would carry both. Sounds like...That’s fair! My approach has always been to pass through the border of either of my home countries using the local passport. So when travelling between the two I would carry both. Sounds like maybe the US doesn’t like that for some reason?
It seems that the way this ought to be have been communicated is really when people are booking their flights. Since airlines ask for your nationalities, the UK government should have required them to display a notice to all people registering as dual nationals about the changes.
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Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop (edited )Link ParentAFAIK, assuming she can indeed board the flight, this approach would work perfectly fine - indeed I understand that it is explicit border control policy to permit entry in this case. The issue is...It’d perhaps be a better idea for her to board the plane on her Spanish documents and then explain the situation at the UK border
AFAIK, assuming she can indeed board the flight, this approach would work perfectly fine - indeed I understand that it is explicit border control policy to permit entry in this case.
The issue is more likely that she will be denied boarding. The airline will ask for your travel documents, and if you’re travelling on a Spanish passport they will check if you have an ETA. The ETA is obtained from the UK Home Office. I don’t know the exact process, but I assume it involves them asking for your nationality. So your options would be:
a) declare British citizenship, in which case you will automatically be prevented from applying for an ETA.
b) don’t declare your British citizenship. One would guess that the Home Office might be able to automatically detect if this is wrong, but it would depend on what they know about you. Since the woman in the article doesn’t have a passport or (from the sounds of it) any formal proof of citizenship, it may well be that be that the Home Office would not notice a problem and allow her to obtain an ETA.(Of course if you can sneakily obtain an ETA by not declaring British citizenship, who knows if you will later face problems where the HO thinks you have overstayed, and you struggle to prove your right to remain in the UK). [Edit: see bottom]
We don’t know whether she tried to obtain an ETA or not, or whether or not she declared British citizenship to the airline or Home Office. If you tell the HO that you are British, but you/they can’t verify it, I think it’s only natural that you would not be granted entry.
So, I think as far as what @stu2b50 suggested, I fully agree that if HO can automatically verify your British citizenship you should just be allowed entry. As I say above, I suspect the problems come when what you declare doesn’t match up with what can be automatically verified.
Edit: I found this Home Office document which states at the bottom of section 4:
The intention of the ETA scheme is not to penalise people who unwittingly travel without
the correct permission, or with a permission to which they are not legally entitled. It is
about securing the UK border. In terms of specific ‘penalties’ for British dual nationals, I am
sure you are aware that s.24A (1) of the Immigration Act 1971 disapplies the offence of
obtaining an ETA by deception to British nationals.This seems to state that if you are able to obtain an ETA by lying to HO about your British citizenship, you cannot face any legal consequences.
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Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop Link ParentI’m sorry that’s your experience. I think it’s very true that the UK still has a lot to learn from European countries, and I’m glad to see developments towards mending our relationship across the...I’m sorry that’s your experience. I think it’s very true that the UK still has a lot to learn from European countries, and I’m glad to see developments towards mending our relationship across the channel. I hope to see free movement restored one day.
My only other comment is that I strongly suspect the digital certificate is priced that way to encourage you to get a British passport. It’s obviously the preferred document, and to be fair they are relatively cheap (I recently had to renew my foreign passport at a cost of almost three times the price of a British passport).
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Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop Link ParentMy understanding of the situation is that, in practice, if she arrived at the British border, she would be allowed through (although there might be some faff since she doesn’t have the right...My understanding of the situation is that, in practice, if she arrived at the British border, she would be allowed through (although there might be some faff since she doesn’t have the right documents).
The bigger issue is that no airline or other transport provider (ferry, Eurostar etc.) will allow her to board without the right documents.
I found this parliamentary briefing on the matter to be clarifying, particularly the section What will happen if someone arrives without the appropriate documents:
The Home Office has told groups representing British dual nationals that “the intention of the ETA scheme is not to penalise people who unwittingly travel without the correct permission, or with a permission to which they are not legally entitled”.
The government says UK Border Force staff will take “a compassionate and pragmatic approach to travellers who experience genuine difficulty while this process settles”. Mike Tapp, Minister for Migration and Citizenship, has given assurances that enforcement of the ETA requirement will not result in dual citizens who arrive with incorrect documentation being detained or families being separated at the border. -
Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop Link ParentI assume such systems exist, and I would speculate that they would rely on connecting to a valid document proving British citizenship. So perhaps we could say that, so long as you have a British...I assume such systems exist, and I would speculate that they would rely on connecting to a valid document proving British citizenship. So perhaps we could say that, so long as you have a British passport (or certificate proving right to abode), the UK government could connect your foreign passport to that document so when you pass through the border with your foreign passport, they can easily look it up and check that you have the right to enter as a British citizen.
I had a look, and this is in fact how the digital certificate of right to abode works - great! I guess with the British passport, they could do this, but equally why not just carry the passport with you (since you would need to own the passport in any case, else they could not connect it in the system).
Maybe there are some reasons why linking a passport is less trivial than a digital certificate? I tend to think, surely, if it were practical to do so, it would have been done. But that might be naive.
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Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop Link ParentIt could be pragmatic to effectively overlook their British citizenship and allow them to travel as if they were a tourist. One barrier is that the UK government is legally obligated to allow...It could be pragmatic to effectively overlook their British citizenship and allow them to travel as if they were a tourist. One barrier is that the UK government is legally obligated to allow citizens to pass through the border, so you can’t require a British citizen to obtain an ETA. If the rules were that you could either enter on British passport or on a foreign passport but with an ETA, it could quite likely be subject to a legal challenge. However, simply requiring that proof of British citizenship is provided is entirely legal.
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Comment on Dual national Londoner stranded in Spain by new border rule in ~travel
LumaBop LinkThere have been a few of these stories floating around since the new policy came into force in February. While the people involved are clearly stuck in a tricky situation, I find it hard to give...There have been a few of these stories floating around since the new policy came into force in February. While the people involved are clearly stuck in a tricky situation, I find it hard to give them much sympathy as the changes have been widely publicised over the last couple of years, and particularly in the couple of months prior to them coming into force in February. Indeed, the more time passes the less sympathy I feel for those involved!
To be very clear, prior to 25/02/2026, it was permitted for British dual nationals to travel in and out of the UK on their foreign passport, with no proof of their UK citizenship status. Basically you could just show up at the border and be waved through. This policy doesn’t work very well with the modern border, which as far as possible operates automatically and digitally, which is a great thing! E-gates, e-visas, pre-travel authorisations and the like make travel much easier and more convenient - ideal because we want to encourage people to travel to the UK - without compromising border security. In fact it’s better for security because we can check if you have the right to enter the UK before you get on a flight/train/ferry to the country.
So, as of 25/02/2026, there is a very simple requirement: if you are a British national travelling to the UK, you must carry proof of British citizenship (in the form of a British passport or certificate). There is no valid way for you to enter the country if you don’t have such a document in your possession - how could there be? You can’t be admitted via the foreign visitor entry system, because you aren’t relying on any sort of travel visa for your entry; you are entering as a British citizen, so it only makes sense that you would need proof that you are, in fact, a British citizen.
I’ll add, as relevant context, that I’m a British dual national living in the UK, I was aware of the changed well in advance of the changes, but I didn’t have to change how I travel because I already always passed through the British border using my British passport. I guess it just always seemed like the most sensible thing to do?
Indeed. Very apt metaphor!