MimicSquid's recent activity

  1. Comment on What private companies are you happy doing business with? in ~talk

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    They also have an incredibly extensive list of ingredient volume to weight conversions if you run into recipes that haven't already had the ingredient weights listed. It's saved my butt more than...

    They also have an incredibly extensive list of ingredient volume to weight conversions if you run into recipes that haven't already had the ingredient weights listed. It's saved my butt more than once.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on One regulation E, two very different regimes in ~finance

    MimicSquid
    Link
    That's very cool. I knew banks were protecting consumers, but I didn't realize how broad and consumer-friendly it was.

    That's very cool. I knew banks were protecting consumers, but I didn't realize how broad and consumer-friendly it was.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 5 in ~society

  4. Comment on Hundreds of mysterious Victorian-era shoes are washing up on a beach in Wales in ~humanities.history

    MimicSquid
    Link
    This is a cool reminder of the history all around us. That said, they aren't "washing up", they've been there for years enough for people to have been making art installations about them in years...

    This is a cool reminder of the history all around us. That said, they aren't "washing up", they've been there for years enough for people to have been making art installations about them in years past. Sometimes sands move and more of them are revealed, but they washed up long ago, and they aren't mysterious, as they have a good idea of the specific ship that was carrying them.

    14 votes

  5. Comment on US Border agents shoot, wound two people in Portland in ~society

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    Funny how much "weaponizing a vehicle" is suddenly a thing when ICE agents want to shoot someone, and nothing like that is happening when peaceful protesters are the ones being hit by drivers.

    Funny how much "weaponizing a vehicle" is suddenly a thing when ICE agents want to shoot someone, and nothing like that is happening when peaceful protesters are the ones being hit by drivers.

    24 votes

  6. Comment on US withdraws from sixty-six international organisations in ~society

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    How do you ensure that the open-source wiki-like platform is truly representative of the citizens of the country and not whatever organizations have the most power and influence within the arena...

    How do you ensure that the open-source wiki-like platform is truly representative of the citizens of the country and not whatever organizations have the most power and influence within the arena that platform exists within, i.e. the internet at large? It would have to be tied directly to each citizen's real identity, with all the problems that brings, and would still be administered by someone, who would be where the buck stops when it comes to determining a new constitution. If you think those people running the open source project are incorruptible, I admire your optimism, but I believe that they'd have millions or billions in dollars and threats against everything they loved thrown at them within minutes if it meant that there could be influence over the process.

    Practically, there's still significant reasons to do these things in person. Broadcast it to the world, make it all visible, sure, but having it be in any significant way decided online would introduce incredible vulnerabilities. Or do we want Constitution McConstitutionface as our new guiding document?

    9 votes

  7. Comment on Flu cases are surging and rates will likely get worse, new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows in ~health

    MimicSquid
    Link
    This is one of those situations where if there's local wastewater testing you can get better data than looking at the CDC numbers. It's focused on your area, it's more up to date, and there's less...

    This is one of those situations where if there's local wastewater testing you can get better data than looking at the CDC numbers. It's focused on your area, it's more up to date, and there's less space for politics getting in the way of the data saying what it says.

    10 votes

  8. Comment on Moving out soon. Think out loud with me regarding saving money vs. quality of life. in ~life

    MimicSquid
    Link
    If I were in your situation, I would take the less expensive option of having housemates for a combination of social and economic reasons. If you're in the process of breaking up, having other...

    If I were in your situation, I would take the less expensive option of having housemates for a combination of social and economic reasons.

    • If you're in the process of breaking up, having other people around isn't the worst thing. They're a reason to stay on top of your household shit, they're opportunities to be low-effort social around the house, you won't be going from a situation where you've got other people around to a situation where you're all alone in your space. Maybe you're the sort of person who would like to be alone in your living space? If so, this is less relevant, but I find an empty house to be too quiet for my tastes.

    • Saving $1k a month is significant. If you can put that into investments consistently, in 30 years you'll have more than $1.2 million. Having the savings will help throughout your life. You can invest it in something that invests broadly across the world to avoid being too vulnerable to any one economy's insanity, but I'm not an investment advisor, especially not at this chaotic moment.

    • Even if you just keep saving without investing, you'll be almost doubling your takehome pay going for the place with housemates. That feels significant.

    • Laundry is a huge amount of time. The house with built-in laundry will save you 2-4 hours a week of sitting in a laundromat.

    • I feel like that flexibility will serve you better. If it isn't working you can always trade up, but having something less expensive to start with and trading up if you've got just huge piles of cash on hand and want something nicer is much nicer than finding that the more expensive place isn't going to work for you and needing to trade down.

    Whichever way you choose to go, I hope this change brings with it good things, and that your next living situation is happy, stable, and secure.

    28 votes

  9. Comment on Grok AI generates images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’ in ~tech

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    In the abstract it knows what a child looks like with clothes on, and it knows what a naked person looks like. It doesn't have to be trained specifically on CSAM to be able to generate it. You...

    In the abstract it knows what a child looks like with clothes on, and it knows what a naked person looks like. It doesn't have to be trained specifically on CSAM to be able to generate it. You might as well say "If an AI can effectively generate lifelike images of aliens, WHAT was it trained on?" It can generate images of things outside of the specific images in its dataset because it has some ability to generalize, and both naked adults and clothed children are common in the images.

    8 votes

  10. Comment on Grok AI generates images of ‘minors in minimal clothing’ in ~tech

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    Do you think that movies showing fake murders lead to an increased demand for movies showing real murders? Do "incest" themed adult movies lead to more actual incest?

    Do you think that movies showing fake murders lead to an increased demand for movies showing real murders? Do "incest" themed adult movies lead to more actual incest?

    7 votes

  11. Comment on Luxury apartments reduced rent in some big US cities in ~finance

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    And they're planning on pulling back on building more housing anywhere the cost of housing decreased use to increased supply. In general a large corporation would like to make more money rather...

    And they're planning on pulling back on building more housing anywhere the cost of housing decreased use to increased supply. In general a large corporation would like to make more money rather than less. Since they could spend their money to build a new apartment building anywhere in the nation or anywhere in the world, why would they put the time and attention into somewhere where the margins are slightly worse? Without any assumption of ill will on their part, market consolidation (in part due to the pure technical expertise needed for larger construction products) has led a few corporations to make construction choices on a scale very detached from the lives of the people who are going to live in their structures. What skin off their nose if housing affordability keeps getting worse? They can build wherever they want, and choose whatever market is most profitable this year. An optimal choice for them, but I can't help but feel like the systems of the world are optimizing for some set of effects that are best only for a group of people who are unanchored to any location. Anyone with ties to a given area will be left behind when the uncaring systems optimize for something that is of no local use.

    This isn't new. When the corporations were smaller and only spanned a single county or state, some areas had the economic demand to spur more construction, and others didn't. Smaller cities faded or were absorbed by their larger neighbors. Rural areas got only enough development to support their agricultural or resource extraction efforts. It's just now zoomed out even further. Many states are no longer larger than the corporations they theoretically manage. Many countries, too. So we're left in a position where whatever subsidies a county or state might provide to a major homebuilder has to beat out potential sheer profit anywhere in the nation, maybe anywhere in the world. Can it happen? Maybe. Will it be what's good for the locals? Absolutely not.

    8 votes

  12. Comment on Two visions for the future of AR smart glasses in ~tech

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    I'd wear a high-tech pince nez that magnetically clips to my nose. That sounds silly and entertaining.

    I'd wear a high-tech pince nez that magnetically clips to my nose. That sounds silly and entertaining.

    2 votes

  13. Comment on Looking for Backroom games with something to do in them other than walking in ~games

    MimicSquid
    Link
    Play Control. The environmental design plays around with those feelings while still having an actual game.

    Play Control. The environmental design plays around with those feelings while still having an actual game.

    14 votes

  14. Comment on Mystic Symbolic Generator in ~design

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    This is definitely a weakness of the URL format. There's no way I can easily visually identify them as distinct. Let me give this another go.

    This is definitely a weakness of the URL format. There's no way I can easily visually identify them as distinct. Let me give this another go.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Mystic Symbolic Generator in ~design

  16. Comment on Mystic Symbolic Generator in ~design

    MimicSquid
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    I think it's a great way to get out of your own mindset when making secret societies or groups like that for narrative purposes. Is the group dreaming of ascension or wanderers purifying a...

    I think it's a great way to get out of your own mindset when making secret societies or groups like that for narrative purposes. Is the group dreaming of ascension or wanderers purifying a religion or seeking insight through smoking the remains of the honored dead?

    Each random set of symbols is in some ways a story seed of its own.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Two visions for the future of AR smart glasses in ~tech

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    And then we can all stare off into the distance with better neck ergonomics than our current hunched smartphone viewing posture.

    And then we can all stare off into the distance with better neck ergonomics than our current hunched smartphone viewing posture.

    5 votes

  18. Comment on USPS announces changes to the postmark date system in ~society

    MimicSquid
    Link Parent
    You are technically correct, as this particular rule isn't the one that's causing the problem: So, yes, there's an increased disconnect between mailing date and postmarked date, and it's an...

    You are technically correct, as this particular rule isn't the one that's causing the problem:

    As noted in the Proposed Rule, RTO increases the likelihood that a postmark applied at originating processing facilities—the locations where postmarks are typically applied—will contain a date that does not align with the date on which the Postal Service first accepted possession of the mailpiece. RTO was the subject of an earlier rulemaking (90 FR 10857) and separate proceedings before the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC Docket No. N2024-1)

    So, yes, there's an increased disconnect between mailing date and postmarked date, and it's an intentional change, but it's not this change, so you're technically correct.

    8 votes

  19. Comment on Israel's population growth drops below 1% for the first time in ~society

    MimicSquid
    Link
    I think this is it the notable bit. Outside of the Haredi Jews, Jewish population growth in Israel is already lower than Arab population growth in Israel. While the Jewish population is 75% of the...

    The study mentions that there will be a significant decrease in fertility rates by 2030, with secular Jewish women projected to have 1.7 children by then.

    Among religious women, including traditional-religious women, fertility is projected to decline to about 2.3 children per woman, and among Haredi women, it is projected to decline to 4.3 children per woman, up to the year 2040.

    In the Arab Israeli society, there is an expected parallel trend that projects a decline to 2.7 among religious women and to 2.0 among non-religious women by the next decade.

    I think this is it the notable bit. Outside of the Haredi Jews, Jewish population growth in Israel is already lower than Arab population growth in Israel. While the Jewish population is 75% of the total, that's a percentage that's going to decrease over time. It also means that Haredi Jews as a percentage of all Israeli Jews is growing, and they will be the majority of all Israeli Jews by 2060 at current rates. I imagine we'll see more and more big moves from Israel as they try to change the situation. I imagine that for a lot of Israeli Jews, the thought of being in the minority in Israel feels like an existential threat.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on USPS announces changes to the postmark date system in ~society

    MimicSquid
    Link
    Fundamentally, this is a change from a certain to an indeterminate date for paperwork filing. You can know what date you mailed something, but you will never know when they postmark your outgoing...

    Fundamentally, this is a change from a certain to an indeterminate date for paperwork filing. You can know what date you mailed something, but you will never know when they postmark your outgoing mail. This makes the mail worse. Other people have spoken to why it's an issue for political reasons, but it's also just plain worse service.

    16 votes