patience_limited's recent activity
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Comment on The tech baron seeking to “ethnically cleanse” San Francisco in ~life
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Comment on The tech baron seeking to “ethnically cleanse” San Francisco in ~life
patience_limited Link ParentBecause freedom is difficult, beset with myriad challenges and anxieties? I can think of any number of psychological safety needs that being a member of the Greys might satisfy. There are...Because freedom is difficult, beset with myriad challenges and anxieties? I can think of any number of psychological safety needs that being a member of the Greys might satisfy. There are certainly folks who think that a successful person must be worth following in the hopes that it will rub off (or at least leave crumbs worth consuming). There are people who will gang with a bully so that the bully and gang won't turn on them. There are people who cherish order that seems to be arranged on their behalf.
And being a "Blue" simply means that one most cherishes a different subset of needs, like self-expression, egalitarianism, human rights, and the like.
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Comment on The tech baron seeking to “ethnically cleanse” San Francisco in ~life
patience_limited LinkCan we please, please, return to progressive taxation with a 90% top bracket? I am so tired of these feudal overlord-wannabes, who want everyone to tug forelocks and bow to them. Anything to...Can we please, please, return to progressive taxation with a 90% top bracket? I am so tired of these feudal overlord-wannabes, who want everyone to tug forelocks and bow to them. Anything to mitigate the tech bro delusion that extreme wealth is the product of genius and omni-competence, or should confer infinite power over ordinary mortals.
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Comment on Satirical news website ‘The Onion’ sold to Global Tetrahedron in ~news
patience_limited Link ParentWaiting for an actual "Global Tetrahedron Pictures" studio to take on this effort...Waiting for an actual "Global Tetrahedron Pictures" studio to take on this effort...
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Comment on Satirical news website ‘The Onion’ sold to Global Tetrahedron in ~news
patience_limited LinkThis looks like good news! Further details from the New York Times archive link. I'm delighted that The Onion will be kept alive by a group that's likely to respect the site and the people who...This looks like good news!
“We have been undergoing an extensive review of our portfolio with the intention of coring down to our leading sites in terms of audience and revenues,” CEO Jim Spanfeller wrote to staffers in a memo, which was obtained by The Daily Beast. “Today we announced great traffic gains for Quartz but also, as part of efforts to sharpen our focus, we are announcing that G/O Media has sold The Onion to a new Chicago based firm called Global Tetrahedron.”
The New York Times first reported the news of the purchase, later revealing that the buying group was formed by former NBC News reporter (and Daily Beast editor) Ben Collins along with Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson. The Daily Beast reported last month that G/O Media was actively looking for a buyer.
“My friends and I now own and run The Onion,” Collins tweeted on Thursday night. “I’ll be the CEO. We’re keeping the entire staff, bringing back The Onion News Network, and share the wealth with staff. Basically, we’re going to let them do whatever they want. Get excited.”
Their ownership group, which shares a name with a company featured in a 1999 satirical book written by former Onion editors, is comprised of four people who hold “a profound love for The Onion and comedy based content,” Spanfeller wrote. He said the buyers had experience with digital media, though he did not name them or break down their resumes. The group plans to retain The Onion’s entire staff and maintain its operations in Chicago.
Further details from the New York Times archive link.
I'm delighted that The Onion will be kept alive by a group that's likely to respect the site and the people who create it. The Onion has consistently produced the sharpest, most necessary political and media criticism inside a hysterically funny wrapper.
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Satirical news website ‘The Onion’ sold to Global Tetrahedron
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Comment on Happy 6th Birthday, Tildes! in ~tildes
patience_limited LinkMy deepest gratitude to @Deimos, @cfabbro, and all the others who've built my social home on the Internet for all these years. You've been so kind, thoughtful, diligent, and vigilant in protecting...My deepest gratitude to @Deimos, @cfabbro, and all the others who've built my social home on the Internet for all these years. You've been so kind, thoughtful, diligent, and vigilant in protecting everyone here, I can't thank you enough.
Tildes has been one of a very few refuges for our better natures online, a community where there's no reward or encouragement for ill behavior as a spectator sport. It's gotten me through some of the worst times in my life, not least the pandemic lockdowns. The past 6 years have gone so quickly, but I'm not totally surprised that this site has lasted. There's a permanent need as long as generous maintainers and builders can fulfill it.
Good wishes to all here, and long may we remain!
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Comment on On surveys in ~science
patience_limited Link ParentI'd love to do that, but spam-labeling sometimes resulted in things like confirmations and cancellations getting binned and missed. That's part of the enshittification process - you can't engage...I'd love to do that, but spam-labeling sometimes resulted in things like confirmations and cancellations getting binned and missed. That's part of the enshittification process - you can't engage in a legitimate business transaction without having extra time or data stolen, lest your services be further impaired.
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Comment on On surveys in ~science
patience_limited (edited )LinkAs it happens, I just this morning deleted yet another "customer satisfaction" survey e-mail from a hotel that I stayed at last week. I've been receiving (and deleting) them daily for the past 5...As it happens, I just this morning deleted yet another "customer satisfaction" survey e-mail from a hotel that I stayed at last week. I've been receiving (and deleting) them daily for the past 5 days, and was about to hit "unsubscribe". Customer surveys like this just feel like a solicitation for unpaid labor. Then a part of me hesitated - what if I really want to complain?
And then it struck me, yet again, that like all rating systems, you'll get a bimodal distribution of results - people exceptionally pleased with the service or item, and people extravagantly unhappy. I suppose there's utility to a business in understanding outlier results. But it mainly feels like a performative exercise, as the author of this article suggests.
Since I'm not an insider to this process, I'm curious whether survey response rate is measured, how the data is used, and so on. How do businesses decide what's actionable (is it just costs, or is there a measure of "satisfaction" per dollar spent)? If I've complained about crappy pillows on every hotel stay and that doesn't change, why would I bother filling out surveys - and does that impact the validity of results from increasing the number who didn't respond?
Do I praise the exceptionally helpful and friendly front desk staff and cleanliness of faculties, or curse the dreadful climate control system in the room? Do I say I'd stay again as a "7" on a scale of 1 to 10, when I don't have much choice in allowable travel accommodations? It's all a nonsense of synthesizing something that can be reduced to a KPI and safely ignored until a competitor eats the business.
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Comment on Clothes shopping as a short & fat (trans) guy with narrow shoulders in ~life.style
patience_limited Link ParentI feel your pain - I've fought with masculine muscle mass and feminine body fat distribution all my life, so it's a giant PITA to find clothes that fit well and present as mostly non-binary but...I feel your pain - I've fought with masculine muscle mass and feminine body fat distribution all my life, so it's a giant PITA to find clothes that fit well and present as mostly non-binary but professional, etc. Womenswear jeans and work pants usually include some elastane for better waist/hip fit, but menswear excludes it for better durability.
Carhartt is a work wear manufacturer that's started to include more flexible fabrics for men, and they've even got a made-to-order line now that might be of interest.
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Comment on Clothes shopping as a short & fat (trans) guy with narrow shoulders in ~life.style
patience_limited (edited )LinkThis isn't a short-term answer to clothing fit... As a hormonally intersex AFAB, I've found that my shoulders have gained about 8 - 10 cm breadth at the deltoids from disciplined weight-lifting....This isn't a short-term answer to clothing fit...
As a hormonally intersex AFAB, I've found that my shoulders have gained about 8 - 10 cm breadth at the deltoids from disciplined weight-lifting. After a couple of years of effort, men's L shirts are getting snug at the shoulders. I started with wide shoulders for my height (165 cm) and proportions, so I can't say for certain that increased deltoid and trapezius mass will produce a more distinctly masculine silhouette if your shoulders are narrow. But extra upper body muscle will definitely help fill out the standard proportions for menswear.
Hopefully, once you've had a chance to recover, weightlifting might be an option.
As far as pants are concerned, Big Bud Press has size-inclusive carpenter jeans and other pants that are cut for wider hips without declaring a gender. They're expensive, but I haven't managed to destroy their Work Pants yet.
One of the thriftiest tools I've found for online shopping is Gem.app. You can find secondhand clothing by size, style, gender, seller's country, decade, and more. You should be able to locate Levi's 541's in your size much more cheaply. EU source coverage isn't great, but you might find sellers willing to ship to Germany.
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Comment on For those involved / interested in Web3, what do you make of the near and long term future for it? in ~tech
patience_limited Link ParentYou don't de facto own anything on the chain because there's little or no de jure to enforce ownership except the consensus among parties. The various chains are so fragile, both in terms of...You don't de facto own anything on the chain because there's little or no de jure to enforce ownership except the consensus among parties. The various chains are so fragile, both in terms of software architecture and governance, that everyone's stake can evaporate or be stolen at any time, without recourse.
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Comment on Artisan roastery based in the Finnish capital has introduced a coffee blend that has been developed by artificial intelligence in ~food
patience_limited LinkThere's nothing surprising these days in using a neural network to solve an optimization problem. What's more interesting is that waving the magic "AI" wand overcame human psychological barriers...There's nothing surprising these days in using a neural network to solve an optimization problem. What's more interesting is that waving the magic "AI" wand overcame human psychological barriers to playing with and accepting more complex coffee blends.
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Comment on Inflation in times of overlapping emergencies: Systemically significant prices from an input–output perspective in ~finance
patience_limited (edited )LinkThis is a moderately technical economics paper describing a new method for modeling inflationary impacts of price shocks in various sectors of the economy. The results are interesting because they...This is a moderately technical economics paper describing a new method for modeling inflationary impacts of price shocks in various sectors of the economy.
The results are interesting because they refute many of the political assumptions in the news about managing inflation through monetary policy (interest rates, currency supply, etc.) and controlling government debt.
Abstract:
In the overlapping global emergencies of the pandemic, climate change and geopolitical confrontations, supply shocks have become frequent and inflation has returned. This raises the question of how sector-specific shocks are related to overall price stability. This paper simulates price shocks in an input–output model to identify sectors which present systemic vulnerabilities for monetary stability in the United States. We call these prices systemically significant. We find that in our simulations the pre-pandemic average price volatilities and the price shocks in the COVID-19 and Ukraine war inflation yield an almost identical set of systemically significant prices. The sectors with systemically significant prices fall into four groups: energy, basic production inputs other than energy, basic necessities, and commercial infrastructure. Specifically, they are “Petroleum and coal products,” “Oil and gas extraction,” “Utilities,” “Chemical products,” “Farms,” “Food and beverage and tobacco products,” “Housing,” and “Wholesale trade.” We argue that in times of overlapping emergencies, economic stabilization needs to go beyond monetary policy and requires institutions and policies that can target these systemically significant sectors.
Tl;dr: The most significant sectoral variables for overall inflation are energy (energy costs propagate to all other sectors), housing, and food. To control inflation, it's more effective to target supply and demand in the relevant price-shock sectors than to apply financial repression throughout the economy with attendant unemployment.
Personal opinion from a very amateur economics spectator:
I love renewables, but the hard truth is that the developed nations are still 50 - 90+% reliant on fossil fuels for multiple economic sectors, including agriculture, transport, manufacturing, etc. After the post-pandemic economic restart and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. suffered less overall inflation than Europe and many other countries. It's nearly self-sufficient in fossil fuels and food. But we're still seeing the impacts of multiple price shocks and shortages, and it's not going to get better any time soon.
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and rising natural gas production buffered some of the Russia-Ukraine price shock. The SPR is currently only half full because there's been no governmental demand to make U.S. producers take the less-lucrative job of refilling it. Prepare for OPEC+ to play politics by cutting oil supply further this year, ostensibly as a way to protest U.S. involvement in Israel's Gaza bloodbath. It's also interesting that the U.S. has intervened in Ukraine's war strategy to preserve Russia's ability to supply world markets with oil and gas.
Housing costs represent at least half of current U.S. inflation. They're very sticky in the absence of direct government intervention. Market-rate housing has been in chronic and worsening shortage for decades. The mobility of labor demand means some cities experience sudden in- and out-migrations, worsening market pressures. Lower-cost, higher speed construction techniques are only now being adopted. Further government action against rental real estate cartels would be nice.
U.S. current CPI food costs for the past 12 months show stabilization at a desirable 2.2% inflation rate, but this doesn't reflect the known impending price shocks. Food prices are vulnerable to climate change, war, and other catastrophes. There's less reserve capacity in wheat production due to the devastation in Ukraine. Bird 'flu will raise poultry and egg (and maybe beef/dairy) prices this year. Cocoa price is spiking due to droughts, and coffee price is also rising from climate and disease.
Other material inputs for manufacturing are in short supply or increasingly subject to protectionist tariffs - steel, copper, rare earth metals, nickel... Again, expect upward price pressures on cars, construction materials, household goods, and other items.
U.S. government debt would be very manageable with even a moderate rise in taxation. Is this politically possible? I'm not holding my breath.
I don't think we're going to see a decade of 1970's-style stagflation, but interest rates aren't coming down any time soon. Despite rising unionization, there isn't enough coordinated labor power for a wage/price spiral. Less human labor is required for manufacturing than during that era. I'd hope that the current interest rates don't suppress the hoped-for recapitalization of U.S. manufacturing and housing. Fortunately, the marginally accurately named Inflation Reduction Act will provide some anti-recessionary employment support. High CoL regions like California and New York may see a little relaxation in costs with ongoing layoffs in the tech and banking sectors.
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Inflation in times of overlapping emergencies: Systemically significant prices from an input–output perspective
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Comment on Zilog discontinues production of original Z80 processor after 48 years in ~tech
patience_limited LinkOur first family desktop computer was this. It had a CP/M OS. I think I was around 10 years old, and I learned typing in WordStar, database entry in DBase, spreadsheets in SuperCalc, fooled around...Our first family desktop computer was this. It had a CP/M OS. I think I was around 10 years old, and I learned typing in WordStar, database entry in DBase, spreadsheets in SuperCalc, fooled around with BASIC and Pascal, and played Rogue. I remember typing in the odd program from Dr. Dobb's Journal. I've still got daisywheel-printed copies of my mother's recipes from that time.
I didn't really learn to love computers until the Apples showed up at school, but the Z80 chip and the architecture surrounding it still deserve places in history as foundational to mass market desktop computing.
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Comment on The internet used to be ✨fun✨ in ~tech
patience_limited Link ParentThis sounds very much like the Dave Sim situation with the Cerebus the Aardvark comics. Hot take: Egocentric creators work out their post-breakup issues as political expressions in their artwork,...This sounds very much like the Dave Sim situation with the Cerebus the Aardvark comics.
Hot take: Egocentric creators work out their post-breakup issues as political expressions in their artwork, alienating the fans who preferred the artist's original ideology.
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Comment on Women Who Code shutting down in ~comp
patience_limited LinkThis is deeply disappointing - the organization had a big impact even with little money. For those interested, here's financial information. I don't know whether the funding shortfall is...This is deeply disappointing - the organization had a big impact even with little money. For those interested, here's financial information. I don't know whether the funding shortfall is attributable to financial distress among the donors, the current wave of misogynistic politics, or other factors. Women Who Code didn't have a foundation bequest or other pool of safe revenue, just intermittent grants.
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Comment on Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets in ~life.pets
patience_limited LinkSo of course the pale cat is attracted to rolling in dirt on his leash walks. Dash is also insatiably curious about human activities and happy to lend a hand with household projects. Lily is not...So of course the pale cat is attracted to rolling in dirt on his leash walks.
Dash is also insatiably curious about human activities and happy to lend a hand with household projects. Lily is not amused.
I'm traveling and find I can't sleep without Miscreant 1 and Miscreant 2 rearranging me throughout the night.
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Comment on Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets in ~life.pets
patience_limited Link ParentIt's natural that you'd feel depressed and even guilty when Quincy's life has been in your care. A dog is a dependent family member, even as an independent adult animal. When I was in med school,...- Exemplary
It's natural that you'd feel depressed and even guilty when Quincy's life has been in your care. A dog is a dependent family member, even as an independent adult animal.
When I was in med school, I knew I'd never become a pediatrician. You'd have to hurt children, who can't consent or even understand what's happening to them. As a doctor, you can't stop causing suffering to cure or extend life, even past the point of hope.
I've felt the same awful guilt and horror with every pet I've had to care for through chronic and terminal illness, worst being a cat with cancer that I was told was treatable. I imagine you're in a similar situation, where your reasons for hope have gradually diminished to the point where all's that's left is more pain.
I don't know if there are any words to make this easier, and it might not be a good thing for choosing a death to be easy under any circumstances. But you are making an ethical and kind choice for Quincy, and owe yourself some kindness as well for all the years you've cared for him to the best of your ability.
There's this weird bottomless insecurity to it all, though. It's like admitting you don't know something is equivalent to saying, "I'm stupid".
I've met (and possibly been...) so many over-specialized, over-opinionated people in all kinds of fields - engineering, medicine, sciences, law, who suffer from ultracrepidarianism.
It's as though they've spent their entire lives with only one lens through which to view reality, and anything that's unfocused isn't real or consequential. That purblind focus means that they can opine on any problem, without any idea of the complexities that someone familiar with the subject might spot. Which is why William Shockley thought he understood genetics well enough to justify his preference for racism, or Jordan Peterson's strange synthesis of psychology, sociobiology, and religion, or me writing here (I don't propose to run the government for anyone, and I'm not a billionaire, so peace out).