p4t44's recent activity

  1. Comment on Hezbollah is hit by a wave of exploding pagers that killed at least nine people and injured thousands in ~news

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    The October 7th Hamas attack was on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

    The October 7th Hamas attack was on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

    20 votes

  2. Comment on Montreal becomes largest North American city to eliminate mandatory minimum parking spots in ~transport

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    Not having a minimum doesn't mean carparks will stop existing. But it allows a store to reduce carparks and cater to foot traffic if it is more economical to do so. The true cost of driving will...

    Not having a minimum doesn't mean carparks will stop existing. But it allows a store to reduce carparks and cater to foot traffic if it is more economical to do so. The true cost of driving will be reflected in the premium paid for a store with a carpark vs one without.

    8 votes

  3. Comment on Generation Z is unprecedentedly rich in ~finance

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    I really don't think this has been written by a PR firm. It's not completely coincidental that so many articles about gen z are posted at the same time, I saw one posted here and decided to post...

    I really don't think this has been written by a PR firm. It's not completely coincidental that so many articles about gen z are posted at the same time, I saw one posted here and decided to post another that made a counter point that I thought would generate some interesting discussion.

    5 votes

  4. Comment on Reasons to be cheerful about Generation Z in ~life

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    There is good evidence that, at least historically, people have become more conservative with age. This is necessarily because of taxes, but wealth accumulation is surely a factor. I've read that...

    There is good evidence that, at least historically, people have become more conservative with age. This is necessarily because of taxes, but wealth accumulation is surely a factor.

    I've read that millennials have been bucking this trend, not sure I can remember where.

    7 votes

  6. Comment on Chechnya 'bans music that is too fast or too slow' in ~music

    p4t44
    Link
    "Reportedly"--a word that often precedes lies. But I'll be damned, this seems to be true. The primary source (I think) https://www.grozny-inform.ru/news/culture/159912/ Actually people this...

    "Reportedly"--a word that often precedes lies. But I'll be damned, this seems to be true.

    The primary source (I think) https://www.grozny-inform.ru/news/culture/159912/

    "Today under the leadership of Musa Dadayev held an extended meeting with the heads of creative state and municipal collectives of the Chechen Republic, during which he voiced the final decision, agreed with the Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, that from now on all musical, vocal and choreographic works must comply with the tempo of 80 to 116 beats per minute," - said in the Ministry of Culture of the Chechen Republic.

    Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

    Actually people this insanely stupid.

    22 votes

  7. Comment on I got paid $0.33 for confirming with Google that I got a haircut where I did and paid with a card in ~tech

    p4t44
    Link
    They probably aren't making 33c off you from that information. Ads pay very little. Presumably, matching your phone records helps Google with their AI to track everybody else who doesn't use...

    They probably aren't making 33c off you from that information. Ads pay very little. Presumably, matching your phone records helps Google with their AI to track everybody else who doesn't use Google Rewards.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Substack turns on its ‘Nazis Welcome!’ sign in ~tech

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    I quite strongly disagree that shifting Nazis to another website is the right decision given some amount of not Nazi content being banned as well.

    I quite strongly disagree that shifting Nazis to another website is the right decision given some amount of not Nazi content being banned as well.

  9. Comment on Substack turns on its ‘Nazis Welcome!’ sign in ~tech

    p4t44
    Link
    I want to make a defense of substack. I've read this article, Popehat's piece and the open letter from Substack writers and I am not convinced. Substack is not a "Nazi Bar". Voat, Parler, Truth...
    • Exemplary

    I want to make a defense of substack. I've read this article, Popehat's piece and the open letter from Substack writers and I am not convinced.

    1. Substack is not a "Nazi Bar". Voat, Parler, Truth Social and so many other sites which claim "free speech" are Nazi bars. But Substack genuinely has a wide range of interesting non-Nazi voices to read, and generally (in my experience) provided an outlet for quality discourse.
    2. Substack doesn't provide a platform that isn't already available to Nazis. Unless you believe that core internet infrastructure providers should censor certain views--and I do not--Nazi websites will always exist. Unlike Musk's Twitter Substack doesn't force, or even suggest, any Nazi content onto users. Nazis have no more presence or reach then if Substack were to ban them.
    3. Nazis will always be on Substack. You can't ban Nazis, it isn't possible. You can ban Nazi content but short of mind reading you cannot ban an anonymous user for views they hold. If Nazi content is banned, Nazis will dance just within the lines of what is allowed, suggesting ideas but never saying them. This is perhaps even more dangerous than explicit Nazism as it can serve to radicalise.
    4. Effective moderation at scale will always cause collateral. If you want to root out Nazism, legitimate ideas will end up being censored. When Facebook banned Covid misinformation, allegations of a lab leak were censored alongside 5g conspiracies. Now the lab leak allegations are taken more plausibly, the question "if they censored this what else are they hiding" becomes a gateway into deep conspiracies. Today pro-Palestine content being caught up with attempts to filter antisemitism.
    57 votes

  10. Comment on Thoughts on anti-Zionism? in ~talk

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    Couldn't you say much the same for most of the surrounding Islamic countries?

    Couldn't you say much the same for most of the surrounding Islamic countries?

    18 votes

  11. Comment on Introducing Beeper Mini - get blue bubbles on Android in ~tech

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    Beeper looks great and I'd like to give it a try, any chance I could get a referral code to access it?

    Beeper looks great and I'd like to give it a try, any chance I could get a referral code to access it?

    3 votes

  12. Comment on Christopher Luxon sworn in as New Zealand prime minister, says priority is to improve economy in ~news

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    Promoting vaping to smokers has long been policy in New Zealand, he's just saying it will continue.

    Promoting vaping to smokers has long been policy in New Zealand, he's just saying it will continue.

    8 votes

  13. Comment on How to find out which extension opened an advertising tab? in ~tech

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    Any adblocker can remotely have filter lists adjusted to inject any javascript into any website. If the creator of an adblocker is nefarious, it could be remotely changed to steal all passwords,...

    Any adblocker can remotely have filter lists adjusted to inject any javascript into any website. If the creator of an adblocker is nefarious, it could be remotely changed to steal all passwords, history and browsing data. The little review processes there are could never catch such an attack.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on How to find out which extension opened an advertising tab? in ~tech

    p4t44
    Link
    If you tell easily, you have too many extensions. Delete everything that you can't be very sure is honest. Opening a advertising tab is the least of your concerns, any extension could be taking...

    If you tell easily, you have too many extensions. Delete everything that you can't be very sure is honest. Opening a advertising tab is the least of your concerns, any extension could be taking all of your browsing history, data and logins.

    8 votes

  15. Comment on Peace, a forgotten word, renews its claim in the Holy Land in ~misc

    p4t44
    Link
    There's one line in this article that made me double take: I've tried my best to track down the authenticity of this quote, it was reported in Mida, a Hebrew magazine, in 2019 (the oldest source I...

    There's one line in this article that made me double take:

    All means were good to undo the notion of Palestinian statehood. In 2019, Mr. Netanyahu told a meeting of his center-right Likud party: “Those who want to thwart the possibility of a Palestinian state should support the strengthening of Hamas and the transfer of money to Hamas. This is part of our strategy.”

    I've tried my best to track down the authenticity of this quote, it was reported in Mida, a Hebrew magazine, in 2019 (the oldest source I can find) and more recently in Hareetz. Apparently it was denied in a quickly deleted tweet by Likud.

    14 votes

  17. Comment on Why is Elon Musk attacking Wikipedia? Because its very existence offends him. in ~tech

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    I chose to cite The Signpost as it is written by editors of Wikipedia--people who support Wikipedia and want to see it succeed. The serious claims are not that Jimmy Wales is operating a slush...

    I chose to cite The Signpost as it is written by editors of Wikipedia--people who support Wikipedia and want to see it succeed. The serious claims are not that Jimmy Wales is operating a slush fund but that Wikipedia is not in need of money and is not spending donations on the upkeep of Wikipedia (as they used to claim). Some more sources from outside of Wikipedia: Slate, The Washington Post, The Daily Dot

    It is very valid to disagree with these opinions are believe that Wikimedia is spending appropiately but to consider scrutiny as an "attack on freedom of information" is absurd.

    38 votes

  18. Comment on Why is Elon Musk attacking Wikipedia? Because its very existence offends him. in ~tech

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    There are many great criticisms of the Wikimedia Foundation growing too big, dishonestly raising money and spending wastefully and it is correct to scrutinise them. Elon, of course, isn't making...

    There are many great criticisms of the Wikimedia Foundation growing too big, dishonestly raising money and spending wastefully and it is correct to scrutinise them. Elon, of course, isn't making any of them. Personally I switched my donation from Wikimedia to the Internet Archive (where I understand it is more needed).

    41 votes

  19. Comment on New Zealand elects its most conservative government in decades in ~society

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    The rate of increase did increase under Labour. I don't mean to say that this is necessary caused by the government, but they addressed it with too little too late

    The rate of increase did increase under Labour. I don't mean to say that this is necessary caused by the government, but they addressed it with too little too late

    2 votes

  20. Comment on New Zealand elects its most conservative government in decades in ~society

    p4t44
    Link Parent
    Although Natioanl doesn't have an overwhelming mandata, given NZ First campaigned on changing the government, I think it is fair to say that Labour had an overwhelming rejection.

    Although Natioanl doesn't have an overwhelming mandata, given NZ First campaigned on changing the government, I think it is fair to say that Labour had an overwhelming rejection.

    1 vote