norb's recent activity
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Comment on Is Flowers for Algernon sci-fi? in ~books
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Comment on What are your memorable airport stories? in ~transport
norb Link ParentAs far as airport experiences, the worst was a return flight from Oslo to NYC in early January. We were stuck in Oslo and left late due to snowstorms there. Then when we landed in JFK airport a...As far as airport experiences, the worst was a return flight from Oslo to NYC in early January. We were stuck in Oslo and left late due to snowstorms there. Then when we landed in JFK airport a few hours later, they had also had a snowstorm over night. Our plane was the first one to land in something like 24 hours. The airport did not have any baggage handlers available due to the storm, and since it was an international flight that we had to go through customs after, we could not leave the baggage claim area.
We stayed in that baggage claim for 6 or 7 hours as more and more flights landed and people got off but couldn't get their bags. Baggage claim is one of those classic liminal spaces - there aren't really places to comfortable wait. You're meant to move through "quickly." Anyway, people were posting up everywhere they could. Sitting on the baggage carousels. People were lining up at every available outlet to plug in their phones. The bathrooms were disgusting after a few hours.
We did finally get our bags but by then we had missed our connecting flight. We were put on a new flight the next day at like 6am. By the time we made it to the hotel (which the airline provided, thankfully) we had enough time to shower and nap for like an hour then we had to go back to the airport. Probably the worst travel experience of my life.
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Comment on What are your memorable airport stories? in ~transport
norb LinkCan I post a bus station/Greyhound story? Cause I'm going to. Back in college I dated a girl in a city about 3 hours from where I lived. For the first year of college I did not have a car on...Can I post a bus station/Greyhound story? Cause I'm going to.
Back in college I dated a girl in a city about 3 hours from where I lived. For the first year of college I did not have a car on campus, so I would take the Greyhound bus to her city. For those that aren't in the US, Greyhound is/was about the cheapest way you could travel and it's notoriously "bad." For the record, I never had what I could consider a terrible experience. Mostly you're just traveling with people that can't afford to travel any other way. Most of them just want to get where they're going like you do.
Anyways, I rode the bus from my city to hers without incident. I got off the bus and went to wait for my girlfriend to come pick me up in the bus station lobby. As I'm standing there minding my own business, a very large woman comes out of the women's restroom and proceeds to pull her dress off over her head. She's wearing nothing underneath. She then squatted right there in the middle of the lobby in front of I don't know how many people and starts pissing all over the floor. After she's finished, she sprinted out of the building (rather quickly for a woman her size).
Near me there are two security guards standing there, all of us with the same OMFG jaw dropped face. One of them looks at the other and says "Well, are you chasing her or am I?" The other guy started running and said over his shoulder "I guess you have to get the mop out, sucker!" I followed the guard outside to see what would happen and I saw the woman sprinting down the street, buck naked. Everyone she passed just stopping in their tracks and making the same "OMFG" face. The guard gave up after 20 or so yards and just turned around and walked back into the station.
My girlfriend came up just then and said "What the hell was that?" and all I could say was "A piss and run incident."
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Comment on PBR and Grillo's Pickles are releasing a limited-edition pickle beer in ~food
norb Link ParentI have had this pickle beer from Urban Artifact numerous times and it is very good (of course, you have to like Gose in the first place)I have had this pickle beer from Urban Artifact numerous times and it is very good (of course, you have to like Gose in the first place)
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Comment on The center has a bias in ~tech
norb Link ParentI don't know if it's the case that people now are less supportive or if those that never supported it in the first place feel emboldened to be openly racist just in general. I think enough people...The backslide of civil rights seems to contradict this, but it definitely feels worth exploring.
I don't know if it's the case that people now are less supportive or if those that never supported it in the first place feel emboldened to be openly racist just in general. I think enough people realized "Hey, I can just be racist and there's no consequences" so they are.
I think the only real truth to it is that once you have kids, you're much less likely to throw yourself into danger for their sake.
Yes this for sure. Until people can't feed their families, then I think it swings hard the other way. But in our society as it is today, if you are comfortable enough and have enough to live on, it's hard to push to potentially make your family's situation worse.
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Comment on The center has a bias in ~tech
norb Link ParentKind of off topic, but there's an old-ish movie called SLC Punk! (Matthew Lillard at his best, IMHO) that your comment made me think of. At one point, the main character's father says "I didn't...20 year old occupy wallstreet protestor me would be appalled
Kind of off topic, but there's an old-ish movie called SLC Punk! (Matthew Lillard at his best, IMHO) that your comment made me think of. At one point, the main character's father says "I didn't sell out, Son, I bought in. Keep that in mind." and as I get older the more I can relate to that.
I think that relates to the old adage that as you get older you get more conservative. While I've always felt that at a certain point you kind of get stuck in your ways, and what was once progressive is soon seen as conservative (just by the nature of things always moving and changing - not that at some point you go "You know what, minority rights weren't as important as I thought when I was younger!" or whatever).
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Comment on Finishing the toy that Nintendo abandoned -- breathing new life into Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit in ~games
norb Link ParentThis is really cool! Have you ever worked with Child's Play to get this kind of setup in other hospitals? I know it might be hard since these are no longer in production, but it sounds like you...This is really cool! Have you ever worked with Child's Play to get this kind of setup in other hospitals? I know it might be hard since these are no longer in production, but it sounds like you have some expertise others could take advantage of.
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Comment on I turned my Kindle into my own personal newspaper in ~tech
norb Link ParentKobo recently put in Instapaper support, which might be something you could semi-automate and utilize as well.Kobo recently put in Instapaper support, which might be something you could semi-automate and utilize as well.
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Comment on Why the US Navy won't open Hormuz in ~society
norb Link ParentI would think that past administrations would have had an actual reason for beginning an operation like this and would have garnered international support BEFORE doing military excursions that...Even if we hadn't been bombarded by idiocy for the past year, even in the best of times, why would these allies absorb casualties for the US as a shield? It seems like that would be the kind of operation that would be super unpopular at home even when things are friendly.
I would think that past administrations would have had an actual reason for beginning
a waran operation like this and would have garnered international support BEFORE doingwarmilitary excursions that caused a major shipping lane for the entire world to be closed down almost completely. I would think the economic aspects alone would've made the case for international cooperation.Therefor the international help would've been warranted and supported, instead of whatever the fuck is going on now since it most likely would've been initiated by something the Iranians did or some other tangible issue that needed a kinetic response as the last option.
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Comment on Pam Bondi ousted as US attorney general in ~society
norb Link ParentExcept when the bad things are intensified due to the disarray...The more disarray this administration throws itself into, the less bad things they can achieve.
Except when the bad things are intensified due to the disarray...
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Comment on The Treasury just declared the US insolvent. The media missed it. in ~society
norb Link ParentDOGE might've been successful if the GOP also didn't slash taxes again while also increasing spending by some obscene amount. Do not take this as a statement in support of DOGE, as I think the...DOGE might've been successful if the GOP also didn't slash taxes again while also increasing spending by some obscene amount.
Do not take this as a statement in support of DOGE, as I think the entire thing was founded on racism and smash and grab for citizen's data. But I think the unfortunate truth is we need both higher taxes and a decrease in areas of spending. I think it could be done almost wholly by addressing the DOD and DHS budgets tied with tax increases on the most wealthy, but I don't see any of that happening with our current political climate. It's going to take some huge crash for things to get fixed.
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Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books
norb Link ParentMalazan fans can't help outing themselves as Malazan fans every time!Malazan fans can't help outing themselves as Malazan fans every time!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
norb Link ParentSo true! I have 225+ hours topside (started a week after it came out). I can't wait to get back in each night. I'm curious what kind of lobbies you get? I'm pretty much PvE only with the...So true! I have 225+ hours topside (started a week after it came out). I can't wait to get back in each night.
I'm curious what kind of lobbies you get? I'm pretty much PvE only with the occasional PvP battle when someone shoots me first. I mostly find the PvP gameplay to be subpar, and being a console player I'm at a huge disadvantage against the PC players. I leave crossplay on though, because there's something about having to pay attention to what other players are doing and their cues to see how they might behave.
I think the entire game is a really interesting social experiment/sandbox. Just last night me and two friends were in a raid, and one of my teammates made an offhand comment about "doing the raider shuffle" (the funny little dance you can get your character to do by wiggling your joystick) and within 20 seconds another person not in our group was blasting the Electric Slide and 6 of us were doing it in game. Interactions like that really just make the game something special. Even getting shot in the back every now and then is fun!
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Comment on How well can you predict the state of the world in 2041? in ~life
norb LinkAsking for an email at the end got me to thinking if Gmail will still be around in 16 years! I decided to give my bespoke, personal email that I can move around as needed instead. Fun little...Asking for an email at the end got me to thinking if Gmail will still be around in 16 years! I decided to give my bespoke, personal email that I can move around as needed instead.
Fun little project. Thanks for sharing!
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Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society
norb Link ParentBingo! They have always and only been for guns for themselves. “Others” do not qualify and they have no empathy for the current moment nor ability to see this coming for them someday. One thing I...But the 2A crowd are the ones who seemingly wanted this. My fear is that they'll just say 'ha another lib' as opposed to seeing him as a person like they are.
Bingo! They have always and only been for guns for themselves. “Others” do not qualify and they have no empathy for the current moment nor ability to see this coming for them someday.
One thing I have seen over and over is that a lot of conservatives cannot understand something without experiencing it firsthand. You can look at farmers not wanting bailouts for others until it hurts them personally then they do. There is always a reason they deserve the same something others shouldn’t get. Again, complete lack of empathy.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~society
norb Link ParentThese kids probably think they are being/thinking that way, it just doesn't align with what you expect. I am not defending or supporting their point of view at all, but at the end of the day there...Young people are supposed to be idealistic, seeing past the bullshit and expecting the world to be better.
These kids probably think they are being/thinking that way, it just doesn't align with what you expect.
I am not defending or supporting their point of view at all, but at the end of the day there are reasons driving young people to the right. I tend to think it all boils down to economics, and that people that are comfortable in their lives tend to not to have to perform "othering" to get ahead, but as it is, in this country and maybe across the "developed" world, middle class people are losing out economically. There are examples of this far right attitude taking hold in a lot of places.
These are also kids that had economic and environmental collapse put in front of them since they were young. They've seen nothing change from the top down for their entire lives. Now they think "Ok, clearly the democratic/liberal world order cannot fix this" and then turn to strongmen and racists to give them order and someone or thing to blame.
On top of all of that, I think "social media" has taught them to react with their gut or first impressions and not to look too deeply past that. Charlie Kirk was a master at this... "I'm just asking questions bro" - without people realizing that the questions themselves are not in good faith and framed in such a way as to not allow the other person to "win." Charlie never went into those things to change his own mind, he went into them to clown the other side and make them look stupid. Then young people ate it up and they thought that was what winning looked like. Instead of trying to bring people to your side, you instead galvanize the people already inclined to agree with you by making fools of the opposition.
I think overall, young people are always the same. They think they know best but their life experience isn't developed enough to understand the true outcomes they push for. Older generations have been harnessing this naivety probably since the beginning of time. I think about the studies that show most people age out of crime, they age out of bullying, they age out of a lot of negative mindsets as they gain more experience. A lot of these kids will regret their stances as they get older as I'm sure a lot of us do too (I was once a pretty big supporter of libertarianism... ew). Of course, there are always people that lack introspection or empathy and will stick to their guns until their dying breath, but I think those types are generally outliers. Unfortunately, I also think those types are the most vocal (because they have to be to defend their own thoughts and behaviors) so the rest of us think that is the majority.
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Comment on How Europe is gearing up to follow Australia's teen social media ban in ~tech
norb Link ParentSo this is where I struggle on these issues. On the one hand, I think there is a lot of harm that comes out of social media - constant, pervasive bullying, FOMO, sexting/sextortion and recently AI...So this is where I struggle on these issues. On the one hand, I think there is a lot of harm that comes out of social media - constant, pervasive bullying, FOMO, sexting/sextortion and recently AI enabled fake nudes using real people, child predators, and probably a lot more I'm not aware of or can't conceive of myself.
But on the other hand, people like yourself find communities and groups to feel included in, feel not so alone, or feel like they have people that do understand them.
So which takes precedence? I think the human reaction is to focus on the negative and not the positive. Maybe that's because we avoid negative consequences so it's easier to "quantify" those and ban things than it is to see the positive outcomes as those are mostly below the surface or harder to see.
On the other hand I'm hardly a model for good mental health so lol
In your instance, are you better off (even with your self described mental state) having had that space online or would you be in a much worse space today without them? (This is a question I ask knowing nothing about you and please don't take it the wrong way.)
At the end of the day I think that the only thing that helps kids is trusted adults teaching them how to navigate our society, how to build resilience against the negatives of these platforms, and managing access based on the needs/maturity of any given child. Blanket banning things from the top feels like the wrong approach to me, but I can understand the desire for people to feel like they're doing something.
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Comment on Finally making the jump to a custom router so I can have all my outgoing traffic over mullvad but that brings with it two questions for me in ~tech
norb Link ParentThis is absolutely doable with a (professional/enterprise level) next-gen firewall. What they do is decrypt the original packet, inspect it, and then re-encrypt it with their own certificate. That...No firewall really exists (or can exist) to man-in-the-middle that handshake without breaking a lot of things (like certificates), it would also be pretty computationally expensive to do.
This is absolutely doable with a (professional/enterprise level) next-gen firewall. What they do is decrypt the original packet, inspect it, and then re-encrypt it with their own certificate. That certificate needs to be trusted on the endpoints, but to the end user it is seamless and basically unnoticeable. Of course, an end user can inspect the certificate and see that it doesn't match the source, however if the firewall's certificate is trusted the user won't see anything in the browser to indicate it's been tampered with (like a missing lock icon).
In my experience managing one of these devices, the vendor also supplies certain groupings for sites so that you can choose to decrypt only certain sites' traffic and not others, so for example you can say "do not decrypt known banking sites, shopping sites, or medical sites." This will allow for some level of user privacy for certain things, but allow the system to check encrypted traffic for other sites.
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Comment on White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt now has a family connection to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest in ~society
norb Link ParentNone of the above. She's her brother's ex. Speculation is that the family turned her in.None of the above. She's her brother's ex. Speculation is that the family turned her in.
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Comment on US Senate suddenly passes the Jeffrey Epstein bill just hours after it cleared the House in ~society
norb Link ParentThe bill itself has some ways that they can weasel out of doing much of anything. There's a good write up here on how they can get around releasing much of anything. A relevant quote from that...The bill itself has some ways that they can weasel out of doing much of anything.
There's a good write up here on how they can get around releasing much of anything.
A relevant quote from that article:
The bill, after demanding that “No record shall be withheld, delayed or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,” goes on to undermine all of that.
The bill says that if the Attorney General “makes a determination that covered information may not be declassified and made available in a manner that protects the national security of the United States, including methods or sources related to national security, the Attorney General shall release an unclassified summary for each of the redacted or withheld classified information.” As in, the Attorney General would get to decide what to release and how to characterize it.
So I think there's a certain amount of political cynicism going on here amongst GOP leadership. They can let Congress vote on passing this thing, then let Trump and Bondi take all the heat for what happens next. I'm guessing a lot of the GOP is fine with this as they know Trump is a sinking ship and they need to survive in the post-Trump world. They also know the unshakable portion of their base won't fight against whatever it is Trump does. For people that do not like Trump, they're already primed to assume Trump is all over this thing and it being released won't change their opinion either. IMHO, none of this really changes much of anything in the near term. Longer term it might be harder to tell the impact, but midterms are a year away and most people will have forgotten this by then as Trump and co. drum up other things to distract people with.
Huh... I've never really thought about a genre to encompass both sci-fi and fantasy. I'm always just arguing that one is a subset of the other (generally I think sci-fi is a subset of fantasy). But having a way to kind of group both but not require the strictures of one affect the other is a good idea.