pallas's recent activity
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Comment on 'Banal and hollow': Why the quaint paintings of Thomas Kinkade divided the US in ~arts
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Comment on 'Banal and hollow': Why the quaint paintings of Thomas Kinkade divided the US in ~arts
pallas (edited )Link ParentHe was pretty well known for his behavior. It's a bit odd that this article references it so obliquely.Some of it was adultery related, maybe some abuse, I can't really remember.
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Comment on Air Canada CEO will retire this year after his English-only crash message was criticized in ~transport
pallas (edited )Link ParentTo agree with you here: I think Americans may not realize that, perhaps because they don't have an official national language, the US, and particularly the US government, is often quite a bit more...The disconnect may be that you are not familiar with what it's like to live in a country with national languages, and unequal enforcement of language rights (apologies if I'm incorrect).
To agree with you here: I think Americans may not realize that, perhaps because they don't have an official national language, the US, and particularly the US government, is often quite a bit more accommodating of other languages than many countries, and that in turn may make people less offended by cases like these, or less likely see them as part of a wider discrimination against their language or promotion of another. That's likely even more the case when compared to countries that, as you point out, say they have multiple national languages, sometimes quite vocally, but in practice treat them very unequally.
All those government forms available in multiple languages in the US, for example? In many countries, including many progressive European ones, they often don't exist. Sometimes, they don't exist in languages that are legally official, and that they are supposedly required to exist in. The ability to deal with the government in other languages? Yes, it's not always available or great in the US, but in other countries, it may be legally prohibited. Can you refer to a government agency by its official name, in a nominally officially language, in a professional context, and not be laughed out of the room and told to refer to it by its name in the right language? That's not guaranteed.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
pallas (edited )Link ParentI would enjoy it if there could be spaces online for the sort of discussion you hope for, but I don't see how Tildes can be one of those spaces. Look at what became of this person's attempt at...I see Tildes as a place that does foster discussion and empathetic and considerate communication, refreshingly so, and I think we should try and continue that whether or not the topic is heavy or divisive.
I would enjoy it if there could be spaces online for the sort of discussion you hope for, but I don't see how Tildes can be one of those spaces. Look at what became of this person's attempt at discussion, or what remains of it, with them presumably banned, their identity and words gone, while responses to them remain.
I've actually often in those spaces in person, even recently, but there is perhaps a wider question as to whether they can exist publicly online. Talking with people directly, in person, perhaps creates a certain empathy, as does the ability to curate the people who are in the discussion, and the confidence that what is said is heard only there.
Tildes is ultimately a space for discussion within a narrow American and Western European progressive capitalist viewpoint, sometimes masquerading as something other than capitalist but ultimately intolerant of views to the left as much as to the right, aggressively enforced by a handful of regulars whose names show up again and again, and backed by moderating actions. There's nothing wrong with it being that space, but it would perhaps be better if the community were more open and honest with itself about what Tildes is.
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Comment on Thinking of getting Proton and using it as my day-to-day email, but I have concerns in ~tech
pallas Link ParentFastmail has the problem that it is not only not targeted to the security conscious, but is Australian. Australia's laws are particularly bad for privacy and security; there was a significant...Fastmail has the problem that it is not only not targeted to the security conscious, but is Australian. Australia's laws are particularly bad for privacy and security; there was a significant discussion of this around the Assistance and Access bill a few years ago.
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Comment on Thinking of getting Proton and using it as my day-to-day email, but I have concerns in ~tech
pallas Link ParentUnless something has changed recently, this isn't really the case. Proton, unlike Tutanota, does use standard PGP, and they are interoperable with PGP generally. They make it a bit annoying, but...But, this also brings me back to proton having their own flavor of encryption.
Unless something has changed recently, this isn't really the case. Proton, unlike Tutanota, does use standard PGP, and they are interoperable with PGP generally. They make it a bit annoying, but you can send and receive PGP-encrypted emails with correspondents who are not using Proton: the annoyance is that if I recall, you need to pretty much add each public key manually to contacts in your address book under "advanced PGP settings". Also annoyingly, they don't really have any way of accessing emails with the encryption still there: their bridge decrypts and encrypts automatically. However, you can export both your public and private PGP keys, and could put your key up on a keyserver for others. In principle, if you're using your own domain, you could migrate off of Proton entirely, while keeping the same keys.
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Comment on Seth MacFarlane teases new life for ‘The Orville’: “Season 4 is written” in ~tv
pallas (edited )Link ParentI feel like Orville was a show where the writing, directing, and acting wasn't great, but was being done by people who fundamentally understood and appreciated some of the core ideas and...I think it's crazy that they wrote an episode about an alien kid (de)transitioning well enough that I don't recall any culture war drama about it, for example. I definitely agree that as a whole it's closer to Voyager than to the holy trinity, but I'm entirely content with that.
I feel like Orville was a show where the writing, directing, and acting wasn't great, but was being done by people who fundamentally understood and appreciated some of the core ideas and approaches of Star Trek and that sort of science fiction more generally, especially when it comes to social and political commentary. The strength of that sort of science fiction is that it comments on issues in our society by presenting hypothetical issues that are not in our society, often building situations specifically to make generic responses and arguments difficult.
That episode felt like a good example of what Orville was, if I recall. It wasn't very well acted, and the script wasn't great, but it managed to take a topic, as you point out, could have blown up, and recast it in a way that entirely turned around standard arguments, making it such that a sex-at-birth anti-trans person would, if being consistent, need to support the kid transitioning.
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Comment on Lyme disease vaccine shows 70 percent efficacy, Pfizer says in ~health
pallas Link ParentThis doesn't appear to be a matter of 'so far': it appears the announcement was of the study being finished. Pfizer is just going to try to submit it for approval with these results.This doesn't appear to be a matter of 'so far': it appears the announcement was of the study being finished. Pfizer is just going to try to submit it for approval with these results.
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Comment on Lyme disease vaccine shows 70 percent efficacy, Pfizer says in ~health
pallas (edited )LinkA Lyme disease vaccine would be wonderful, and perhaps wider knowledge of the disease and its implications now might make it more popular. But I do have to wonder a bit at this article's tone, as...A Lyme disease vaccine would be wonderful, and perhaps wider knowledge of the disease and its implications now might make it more popular.
But I do have to wonder a bit at this article's tone, as the implication seems to be that the clinical trial failed?
Edit:
Yes, looking into this more, this is not the news the Washington Post is reporting it as being. Even Pfizer's own press release is clearer about the failure, and this article points out that the announcement brought a ~40% crash in the associated smaller company's stock. That 73% efficacy headline comes with a 95% confidence interval that goes down to 16%. The second pre-registered analysis did succeed, but with a lower bound of 22%.
Yes, it's likely that was a problem with the incidence of the disease in the study, but the study is done. Pfizer's statement is that they plan to submit it for approval in the US and EU despite the first analysis failure. Given the current state of US regulators, I would worry about the chances for a vaccine with good results; the EU is perhaps a better prospect, though on the other hand, being in areas with ticks in both the US and the EU, the disease seems to be taken much more seriously in the US.
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Comment on Nicholas Brendon, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ star, dies at 54 in ~tv
pallas Link ParentThat’s very strange, sorry: somehow, I completely missed that at the beginning of the article, and it is in fact that statement, which I read elsewhere, that I was referring to when I mentioned...That’s very strange, sorry: somehow, I completely missed that at the beginning of the article, and it is in fact that statement, which I read elsewhere, that I was referring to when I mentioned other sources. I’m not sure how I missed that, considering it is rather prominent when I look now.
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Comment on Nicholas Brendon, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ star, dies at 54 in ~tv
pallas LinkSince this article feels written in the circumspect way articles about deaths are written when the authors have decided that their readers should not be allowed to read directly that it was a...Since this article feels written in the circumspect way articles about deaths are written when the authors have decided that their readers should not be allowed to read directly that it was a death from suicide, I'd point out that this article in fact is an example of a problem with that approach: given the article, I assumed it was a suicide, but other sources directly point out that he died in his sleep.
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Comment on Quentin Tarantino and Sylvester Stallone are teaming for a 1930s-set series filming in black and white with “1930s cameras” in ~tv
pallas LinkTo avoid anyone else wasting their time: this is a scroll-down-to-surprise-paywall article.To avoid anyone else wasting their time: this is a scroll-down-to-surprise-paywall article.
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Comment on All the Eurovision songs are out. Let's talk about them! in ~music
pallas (edited )Link ParentThe real question I think, is why Russia is banned, Ukraine has been allowed to have overtly political songs, performances, and videos (recall that they had a video that was clips of idealized...If they let a genocidal warmongering country who cheats at everything in, why not just let in the US? /s
The real question I think, is why Russia is banned, Ukraine has been allowed to have overtly political songs, performances, and videos (recall that they had a video that was clips of idealized Ukrainian soldiers in war zones), audience support for Ukrainian political choices has not been censored, and performers have not been punished for criticizing Russia. These choices seem completely hypocritical.
I'm not saying that Russia should be allowed, but rather that the completely different treatment of Russia and Israel has been quite dismaying. Either allow both, taking the stance that being apolitical is more important than opposing genocide, or ban both.
(Yes, Russia nominally can't participate now because they are no longer active EBU members, but they suspended their EBU memberships after being banned from Eurovision 2022. The statement arguably makes the current situation even worse, in that it establishes that the EBU will ban countries whose participation "would bring the competition into disrepute". That would seem to suggest that the EBU feels Israel's participation does not.)
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Comment on Reuters reveals Banksy's identity in a long investigation in ~arts
pallas Link ParentI also initially thought it might be that, but the statements suggest otherwise. They directly refer to records, include what appear to be searches over long timescales (eg, there was no record of...I'm also sure that if you're a reporter working locally it's totally plausible to have a conversation like "Hey, Anton, your cousin works at the border post, right? Can you ask him if he saw [notable celebrity] a few weeks ago? I got a tip that he might've visited...".
I also initially thought it might be that, but the statements suggest otherwise. They directly refer to records, include what appear to be searches over long timescales (eg, there was no record of someone with a particular name ever entering the country), and include records of passport information based on name searches.
- "Much pointed to Del Naja and reinforced our theory that Banksy was Del Naja, who immigration sources told us was in Ukraine when the murals appeared."
- "Sources told us there was no record that Gunningham ever entered Ukraine. "
- "Sources confirmed there was no evidence that Gunningham had entered Ukraine."
- "On October 28, 2022, the day Duley and Del Naja entered Ukraine, a “David Jones” also crossed the border at the same location, according to a source familiar with immigration procedures. The source also told us the date of birth listed on Jones’ passport. It was the same as Robin Gunningham’s birthday."
- "According to the source, records also indicate Jones left Ukraine on November 2, 2022, the same day Del Naja departed."
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Comment on Reuters reveals Banksy's identity in a long investigation in ~arts
pallas LinkPerhaps I’m just not “familiar with Ukrainian immigration procedures”, but are Ukrainian immigration records public data? Or is this term a euphemism for Reuters bribing Ukrainian immigration...Perhaps I’m just not “familiar with Ukrainian immigration procedures”, but are Ukrainian immigration records public data? Or is this term a euphemism for Reuters bribing Ukrainian immigration officials to illegally reveal data?
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Comment on open_slate: private and powerful 2-in-1 tablet in ~tech
pallas LinkI haven't heard of the company/person behind this before, and tend to be skeptical of indiegogo/kickstarter projects. Doing a forum-focused search for them, there was a strong contingent...I haven't heard of the company/person behind this before, and tend to be skeptical of indiegogo/kickstarter projects. Doing a forum-focused search for them, there was a strong contingent throughout almost every discussion of people either outright calling them scammers, or describing the products as terrible. They appear to have made a number of phones previously. There were accusations of GPL violations, bad and overpromised hardware, ages-outdated Android versions, major security failures and fundamental architectural problems, and so on.
Does anyone here have any experience with them?
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Comment on Meet the UK's Eurovision entrant: 'The BBC is taking a risk on me' in ~music
pallas (edited )Link ParentThe feeling of the contest has changed to the extent that I'm surprised to see it mentioned on Tildes at all. In an environment where they were forced to make some political decisions, the...A few countries dropped out and it just felt like a lot of the heart went, it became a more bitter, conflicted thing
The feeling of the contest has changed to the extent that I'm surprised to see it mentioned on Tildes at all. In an environment where they were forced to make some political decisions, the organizers chose to firmly support one side of a disagreement, and in doing so, seem to have put themselves at odds with a significant portion of the European public, and certainly with creative and intellectual circles.
In a few years Eurovision has gone from something that came up frequently in social conversation for me around that time of year to something that most social circles I'm in seem to see as completely inappropriate to discuss, watch, or support. All of the fans I knew have stopped watching in the last two years, or at least would not socially admit to watching it. The casual mentions of it at my university are gone. Some people I know with strong views on the matter would likely say that any artist still participating is expressing their support for genocide; one of those people was an ardent Eurovision fan until two years ago.
I've watched in previous years, but the lack of any social conversation around it makes it far less enjoyable, and watching it now does feel morally wrong.
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Comment on UK supermarket chain Iceland has abandoned its decade-long trademark battle with Iceland and instead promised a “rapprochement discount” for shoppers in the country in ~finance
pallas Link ParentIt isn't even that it is 'preferred', as far as I understand, but that 'Czech Republic' is the official 'long name' and 'Czechia' is the official 'short name', matching the long and short name...Czech Republic is still out because it's still a official name of Czechia, just not the preferred name anymore.
It isn't even that it is 'preferred', as far as I understand, but that 'Czech Republic' is the official 'long name' and 'Czechia' is the official 'short name', matching the long and short name distinction in Czech.
And whenever I've been there, for example, for an academic conference hosted by a Czech university last year, absolutely no one referred to the country in English as Czechia; everyone referred to it as the Czech Republic.
I have to wonder whether it is like some other government attempts at cultural change for whatever reasons that are widely ignored by people (eg, Erdogan's insistence that English speakers should be forced to use non-English characters and sounds, Trump's numerous renamings, Japan's attempt to stop people from walking on escalators); at least Czechia (and Česko in Czech) seems motivated by Czech Republic being awkward as the only way to refer to the country: other countries with similar names are referred to by unofficial names or acronyms (US, UK, USSR), or have had their names become single combined words (Netherlands). It just has problems with no name being without political connotations, eg, that Česko arguably ends up excluding parts of the country, a bit like a less extreme version of if the UK decided that its official short name was 'England'.
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Comment on Is higher education still valuable? in ~life
pallas (edited )Link ParentFor the purpose of 'going to' or 'being at', college and university are somewhat interchangeable terms in the US referring to being at a university-level institition, though university tends to be...For the purpose of 'going to' or 'being at', college and university are somewhat interchangeable terms in the US referring to being at a university-level institition, though university tends to be used for larger institutions and college tends to be for smaller ones. Being 'in/at college' is probably more common than 'in/at university' colloquially in general however, even when referring to students at places called universities. There are some specific cases where one term is preferred, for example, universities following the 'liberal arts college model' of small size, small classes, and a focus on discussion and liberal arts are more consistently referred to as colleges.
Within US academia, 'college' tends to have similar varied uses to what it has in traditional UK academia, which is also not what college means generally in UK outside of academia: colleges are constituent parts of universities, in some cases specifically between university and department level in a hierarchy (where other universities might use 'school' or 'faculty'), in some cases simply different parts with different requirements/traditions/membership/etc (eg, like Oxford or Cambridge). And then of course there are the universities that simply refer to themselves as colleges, even internally, either for the liberal arts model or historical or technical reasons, though in UK academia this is more often the historical/technical side of things, usually institutions that were or are constituent parts of a university, but a university that was either a rather loose association (for UCL, for example) or simply only had one college that mattered or was formed (UCD, TCD), and with the notable exception of TCD, I think essentially always have "University College" in their name now to make the distinction clear.
I did my undergraduate at a university in the US with the different-parts definition, and so went to a college that was at a university, but in practice no one outside of academia in the US would understand or care about the college in that situation.
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Comment on ‘Andor’ creator Tony Gilroy gives the interview he couldn’t during its release in ~tv
pallas (edited )Link ParentI might add: as someone who doesn't generally like Star Wars, I enjoyed Andor. If anything, it made me like the rest of Star Wars less. Andor is a realistic political/intrigue story in a...It is, hands down, my favorite piece from the Star Wars universe,
I might add: as someone who doesn't generally like Star Wars, I enjoyed Andor. If anything, it made me like the rest of Star Wars less. Andor is a realistic political/intrigue story in a particular science fiction setting, the way an opera or a Shakespeare production might choose to change the setting. Star Wars is much more an action-adventure fantasy, and always has been, before the contemporary trend of forcing every science fiction story to be that (Star Trek, Foundation!, ...); while I have nothing against the genre, I just don't particularly enjoy it.
To compare it to the view that you could take the original Star Wars and put it in a sword-and-sorcerer setting without too many changes, I expect you could take Andor's script and put it in the common 'unnamed European country' setting (at least, 1930s onward) by just changing some setting-specific words. Yet I don't think you could put Andor in a sword-and-sorceror setting: the way the Empire works, the way politics and insurgency work, in Andor are fundamentally modern in a way that would seem anachronistic in a setting that felt like it was meant to be 'before' the 1930s.
That's what happens when I'm trying to write in different formats in different windows...