oHeyThere's recent activity
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
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Comment on 'Barbie' review: Sometimes corporate propaganda can be fun as hell in ~movies
oHeyThere LinkI gotta say that the self-aware Mattel influence didn’t bother me nearly as much as the totally out of place Chevy ads. The chase scene in the office was funny and creative, but the car chase...I gotta say that the self-aware Mattel influence didn’t bother me nearly as much as the totally out of place Chevy ads. The chase scene in the office was funny and creative, but the car chase loaded with close ups of all the car’s features just took me so far out of what was an otherwise great movie.
Was it really necessary for a movie that’s already branded to force in a car sponsorship as well?
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
oHeyThere LinkJust booked our tickets for Boppenheimer (Oppenheimer -> Barbie) this Sunday. It's a goofy trend / name but I love that the juxtaposition of the two has led to a massive social media movement to...Just booked our tickets for Boppenheimer (Oppenheimer -> Barbie) this Sunday. It's a goofy trend / name but I love that the juxtaposition of the two has led to a massive social media movement to see both, and it could lead to exposure of 2 very different film genres to audiences that don't normally overlap. With both films receiving good initial reviews, not being sequels, and not being tied into a cinematic universe I'm hoping their strong performances could spark a bit more risk taking and originality in the coming years.
So far 2023 has given us plenty of great reasons to get to the theater with Across the Spiderverse, Suzume, Astroid City, Barbie / Oppenheimer, and the upcoming Dune Part 2.
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Comment on New era of rail: Amtrak improves Northeast Corridor tracks between Boston and Washington DC (north-eastern USA) in ~transport
oHeyThere LinkThis kind of large scale improvement is sorely needed to get ridership numbers up. As someone living in WNY most of the investment won’t be targeted towards my lines, but there’s 3 big reasons I...This kind of large scale improvement is sorely needed to get ridership numbers up. As someone living in WNY most of the investment won’t be targeted towards my lines, but there’s 3 big reasons I chose driving over taking Amtrak to visit Syracuse, NYC, and Boston.
- Speed: According to google maps, it would currently take me 2 less hours to drive to NYC than it would to take Amtrak. My current approach is to drive in and catch a park and ride from north of the city if I’m headed down for the weekend. Higher speed rail would likely entice many more riders if the trip was at least equivalent speeds.
- Reliability: Due to being a lower ridership line, we’re likely not receiving the most attention from Amtrak in terms of upgrades or reliability improvements. I don’t have hard data on this, but anecdotally a friend attempted to take Amtrak from Niagara to Syracuse last weekend and after 3 hours of delays got in their car and drove. One experience like this can lead to someone choosing to drive in the future, and gives the line a bad reputation.
- Dog Friendly: I recognize this one is unrealistic, but having no option to travel with a mid-size dog prevents the majority of the trips myself, friends, and family take from being on Amtrak. We all have well-behaved ~50-lb dogs that are continuing to be better accommodated by all facets of travel (hotels, BnBs, restaurants) except the transit. Accommodating dogs through some kind of screening / certification program and designated cars / cabins would be a game changer and differentiate Amtrak as an alternative to flight for those with dogs.
I would love to utilize Amtrak for my regular weekend travel within the NorthEast, but because of the above it remains more of a “novelty” option for when we can afford the extra time, risk of delay, and arrange dog boarding.
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Comment on Downtown Recovery Rankings in ~science
oHeyThere Link ParentI think the issue is that the raw amount of foot traffic is an imperfect metric to measure “recovery”, where recovery may be more appropriately measured by performance of various business sectors...I think the issue is that the raw amount of foot traffic is an imperfect metric to measure “recovery”, where recovery may be more appropriately measured by performance of various business sectors downtown, “voluntary” foot traffic downtown, etc (no one metric is perfect).
Let’s take 2 downtowns for example: one has a downtown dominated by offices of corporations that have forced full return to office, and has seen office / commuter traffic return to normal. Another has a downtown dominated by offices of tech corporations that have leaned in to remote work (SF is a decent example), where very little office / commuter traffic has returned.
Yes the foot traffic has returned for the first city due to workers being forced downtown, but long-term is that a purely good thing? That downtown traffic will be driven by commuting traffic / people filing in and out of offices, maybe grabbing a lunch, while the second city may develop a downtown that has lower traffic overall but draws in a crowd that spends more at local businesses and comes in for voluntary reasons.
I agree with the point the prior comment was making, a high-foot traffic downtown has little relation to one that I’d visit and spent time and money in. I think the article paints “recovery” in a light that doesn't capture it’s complexity, and I’ve seen it sighted in articles framing these cities that lost a large tech sector as “failures”when the problem is beyond short-term fixed by the local government and “success” may be hard to measure.
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Comment on San Francisco’s downtown becomes a wake-up call for other cities in the US in ~finance
oHeyThere LinkIt feels like there’s a commonality between failing downtowns (remote work - less office and hotel traffic) and malls (online shopping, non-brick and motor brand popularity). Previously these...It feels like there’s a commonality between failing downtowns (remote work - less office and hotel traffic) and malls (online shopping, non-brick and motor brand popularity). Previously these areas succeeded because of a captive audience - you want a mattress and jeans go to the mall, you have an office job you’re headed downtown. These areas are now having a reconning of drawing people in not because they have to go, but because they want to go.
You know what gets people downtown in my mid-size city? Art installations and galleries, farmers markets, world class music, beautiful and unique parks, great restaurants, easy and accessible alternatives to driving and parking.
This article focuses so much on the lost traffic to offices and waves of major retailers closing, and obviously because the city was built around this type of traffic it’s going to be a major initial hit. But this was a failure of design, companies acted like their office real estate investment was a golden goose perpetually and that dinosaur retailers like Old Navy and Macy’s would never be upset by more fashionable or eco-friendly competitors.
I fully expect San Francisco to bounce back eventually, likely not anywhere close to the level of foot traffic previously recorded, but to an area forced to allow for more affordable spaces and housing to rebuild the culture and community that helped create it’s popularity before the tech boom.
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Comment on Guys, anyone interested in movie box office discussion on Tildes? in ~movies
oHeyThere LinkJust judging by the size of the current Tildes userbase / amount of activity per post, id see a weekly post where there could be a top level comment for each major movie release that week (Title,...Just judging by the size of the current Tildes userbase / amount of activity per post, id see a weekly post where there could be a top level comment for each major movie release that week (Title, Studio, box office numbers, a couple review aggregator scores) as a good starting point. under those top level comments there could be discussion of any aspect of that movie (Boxoffice, performance, review, discussion, …). From there, if that becomes a massive post with too much content, I think it could be split off in to separate posts per movie (I made one for Nimona that had a decent amount of discussion), where users could talk about review, plot, boxoffice performance, etc.
The reason I think keeping posts higher level / more broad right now is because many users who read a comment about the plot may also see a comment about box-office performance and add to that thread in a meaningful way (and vice versa). That would lead to more engagement on all topics.
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Comment on /r/IAmA mods to stop hosting celebrity AMAs, verifying identities, and more in ~tech
oHeyThere Link ParentI’m curious if the cost of having to replace free moderators with paid Reddit staff to keep the doors to some of these communities open will ever be worth the expected income they’re looking to...I’m curious if the cost of having to replace free moderators with paid Reddit staff to keep the doors to some of these communities open will ever be worth the expected income they’re looking to gain by 1. Cutting the small cost of API access for third parties and 2. Increasing ad revenue in their site / official app.
These numbers are a very rough cut but API change maybe saves them a generous estimate of $1M per year on serving third-party apps and I’d suspect ad revenue is up a bit, but there’s also been an exodus of users from their services so I’d be surprised if the number forced onto the official app offsets that fully.
Now, looking at the state of reddit, what they gave up to achieve these savings and revenue increases is a bounty of passionate free labor. New, paid moderators are going to need a salary and healthcare, and the biggest factor is they most likely will not be as effective as the moderators lost. As with any job, you can’t just fire your 5-10 year senior talent managing key products / subreddits and expect to not have shit hit the fan everywhere.
To summarize, I don’t think there was a chance this was ever a good decision, even from the purely greed / business aspect.
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Comment on Reviews and discussion: Nimona in ~movies
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Comment on Reviews and discussion: Nimona in ~movies
oHeyThere (edited )LinkOverall Rating: 4/5 The Good Nimona was overall a fun action-packed / comedy story that made excellent use of the medium of animation to show over the top expressiveness, action, and settings. The...Overall Rating: 4/5
The Good
Nimona was overall a fun action-packed / comedy story that made excellent use of the medium of animation to show over the top expressiveness, action, and settings. The action sequences were fantastic and creative through the entire film. The art design was amazing, I loved the futuristic-medieval setting an characters. The main characters had a good amount of depth to them, and the portrayal of relationships / internal conflict were refreshingly well done. The comedy was hilarious and packed in throughout the entire runtime, probably the funniest non-comedy specific movie I’ve seen in a long time. Definitely a movie that both kids and parents could have a good time watching.
The Bad
I’d say the weakest points to me we’re some plot holes that took away from the overall strength of the movie and could have been avoided
Spoiler
Specifically the way the big recording reveal was flipped against the protagonist just felt… unexplained? Wouldn’t the recording show 2 people in the room fighting? Is the director claiming the monster impersonated her and the victim?
The plot overall was pretty predictable with villain reveals, betrayals, and sacrifices / redemption. There were a couple points where the comedy felt a bit “off” / jokes didn’t land as well.
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Comment on Reviews and discussion: Nimona in ~movies
oHeyThere LinkI’m aiming to create review / discussion threads for some new movies as they’re released for general discussion. Spoilers will be present, but i’ve attached a Rotten Tomatoes link upfront incase...I’m aiming to create review / discussion threads for some new movies as they’re released for general discussion. Spoilers will be present, but i’ve attached a Rotten Tomatoes link upfront incase anyone hasn’t seen the film yet but wants to gauge its critical / audience reception.
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Reviews and discussion: Nimona
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Comment on Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg | Epic Rap Battles Of History in ~music
oHeyThere LinkI just read an article (linked below) detailing the potential for a cage fight between Elon and Zuckerberg. As much as I hate being interested in this happening, I love seeing Elon called out on...I just read an article (linked below) detailing the potential for a cage fight between Elon and Zuckerberg. As much as I hate being interested in this happening, I love seeing Elon called out on his BS. I think he's accustomed to being able to spend himself out of problems, but no amount of spending is going to win him a fight against an actual Ju-Jitsu / MMA fighter. Mark Zuckerberg represents so much wrong with society, but he's got passion and dedication to combat sports.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/21/23769263/mark-zuckerberg-elon-musk-fight-cage-match-worldstar
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Comment on Spotify’s podcast plan is going off the rails in ~tech
oHeyThere LinkSpotify was my one stop shop for music and podcasts until they merged the 2 interfaces. I will never understand why you would ever put these 2 drastically different forms of media, with totally...Spotify was my one stop shop for music and podcasts until they merged the 2 interfaces. I will never understand why you would ever put these 2 drastically different forms of media, with totally unique filters, sorting, and management, into a single giant playlist when there were 2 perfectly fine interfaces before. Who pulls out their phone and wants to browse through Podcasts and Music simultaneously? Does anyone really mix multiple long-form audio narratives with a couple tracks off an artist’s new hit album?
I just felt like I was losing my mind when they trashed the interface, mixed all their media together, and I immediately had to jump to PocketCasts just to have a decent podcast management interface. A monumental step backwards, which was apparently an omen of their total lack of understand of the Podcast audience and market.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~music
oHeyThere Link ParentCaught them at Soldiers Field last year, absolutely unreal and they played ~3 hours straight. I was halfway back in the stadium and thought I might lose my eyebrows to a flamethrower. Another cool...Caught them at Soldiers Field last year, absolutely unreal and they played ~3 hours straight. I was halfway back in the stadium and thought I might lose my eyebrows to a flamethrower. Another cool touch was they had a duo of pianists playing their music as opener and did a song with them mid-way, such a cool experience
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Comment on US rent going up? One company’s algorithm could be why. in ~finance
oHeyThere LinkSome people will argue they’re just pricing at what the free market allows them to charge, while that supposedly “free” market is substantially constrained by zoning laws. So we end up with a...Some people will argue they’re just pricing at what the free market allows them to charge, while that supposedly “free” market is substantially constrained by zoning laws. So we end up with a market where demand is increasing in many areas while supply is artificially capped and prices run wild.
Most of these zoning laws remain in place because of neighborhoods 1. being scared of “the type of people” apartments / cheaper housing bring in, 2. saying they’re “full” and traffic will become unbearable, while insisting on driving a nearly empty car everywhere and voting against public transit, again to keep out “the wrong kind of people”, and 3. Not wanting their insanely high housing prices to drop, essentially pushing the problem off onto other neighborhoods while clearly stating that artificially inflating their wealth is more important than providing housing to others. Zoning laws on what type of residential builds can occur need to be overhauled so the market can catch up to demand, specifically in areas like Seattle and CA where the markets been allowed to rise to unsustainable levels.
I’m glad to live in a rust belt city where these laws never took hold to that degree, and I get to watch new multi-unit housing pop up left and right while single family housing remains abundant for those who need it. Our city isn’t perfect but making rent or buying a home aren’t a major obstacle for those around me.
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Comment on Rising rents and diminishing aid fuel a sharp increase in evictions in US cities in ~life
oHeyThere LinkI’ve come to think of this issue differently after learning more about the relationship between homelessness and unemployment. Without a job, you can’t afford a home, and without a home, you have...I’ve come to think of this issue differently after learning more about the relationship between homelessness and unemployment. Without a job, you can’t afford a home, and without a home, you have no stable address to use in applications, for tax purposes, or to receive necessary information about employment (let alone the multitude of services you’d need to receive). A PO Box can work but uncertainty around how close and accessable this PO Box will remain if you are forced to change housing creates risk. This has made me start considering minimal housing (not a shared bunk room, but a small room / access to washroom facilities and a stable address) something that should be a basic human right to allow individuals to lift themselves out of poverty. It’s a complicated issue, but an important one.
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Rising rents and diminishing aid fuel a sharp increase in evictions in US cities
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Comment on US teens with severe obesity are turning to surgery and new weight loss drugs, despite controversy in ~health
oHeyThere LinkThis article feels eyeopening in that it highlights how some people may truly suffer biological or mental health issues that perpetuate or worsen obesity - things like uncontrolled food cravings...This article feels eyeopening in that it highlights how some people may truly suffer biological or mental health issues that perpetuate or worsen obesity - things like uncontrolled food cravings or a lack of the natural triggers that lead most people to feel "full". In those cases, hopefully these treatments can help get the problem under control, since carrying so much extra weight quickly causes life-altering consequences.
Myself, and many people, have been guilty of pinning the obesity problem in America entirely on lack of discipline / self-control, but these types of studies help highlight how it's more complex than that and a solution may include a mix of treatment (when appropriate), and education or assistance where possible. Just saying "I'm a normal weight and don't overeat, just do that!" won't solve it, and at the rate we're going (10% increase in obesity rate from 2000 - 2020) this issue needs more attention.
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Comment on Doomsday prep for the super-rich in ~design
oHeyThere (edited )LinkReading about swaths of inconceivably wealthy people, who most likely already have enough money to cover every want or need they could possibly have 10x over for the rest of their lives, dumping...Reading about swaths of inconceivably wealthy people, who most likely already have enough money to cover every want or need they could possibly have 10x over for the rest of their lives, dumping money into these fortifications and backup plans rather than spending it trying to make the actual world we live in any better feels so dystopian. It’s like they’ve preemptively decided that the billions of people less fortunate than them matter so little that they’d rather spend millions ensuring those people can’t reach them or touch their hoarded resources rather than, I dunno, donate, start a foundation, or lobby for political change that could stop the environmental and societal disasters they’re all so scared of. And I know doomsday prep and philanthropy aren’t mutually exclusive, but the truth is spending $5M to build a concrete bunker and a weapons cache is $5M dollars that could have pulled many individuals out of poverty or debt and changed lives.
This stuff is amusing to a point, more so when it’s a guy hand digging a bunker with jarred goods to have as backup, but the cases is this article just feel depressing. These are life changing levels of wealth for millions of people living in a reality that already feels like the end of the world, struggling to live, feed their families, pay for medicine, and these people are just blowing it in the hopes they can lock the needy out some day and play king.
Just rewatched "Silence of the Lambs" over the weekend and got a lot more out of it than last time. The way many scenes are shot to show Clarice as small / vulnerable with men leering at her stood out, especially as she gets further into the case and transitions from confident to pleading with Hannibal to reveal the killer. The dialog as Hannibal twists their conversations further and further to reveal her vulnerability and break her down is riveting. My biggest complaint is the climax leaning on the "I'm going in solo" cop trope at the end, but the scene of Buffalo Bill creeping after Clarice in night-vision is gut-wrenching. Overall just a fascinating, disturbing watch.