spctrvl's recent activity
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Comment on My life without a smartphone is getting harder and harder in ~tech
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Comment on My life without a smartphone is getting harder and harder in ~tech
spctrvl Link ParentHell, ever since Google added root detection features, arbitrary apps will simply refuse to run on a rooted phone. It's nearly enough to make me want to switch to iOS because what's the fucking...Hell, ever since Google added root detection features, arbitrary apps will simply refuse to run on a rooted phone. It's nearly enough to make me want to switch to iOS because what's the fucking point anymore, if I'm going to be forced into a walled garden no matter what platform I'm on?
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Comment on Liberal hypocrisy is fueling American inequality. Here’s how. | NYT Opinion in ~humanities
spctrvl Link ParentI think I more or less agree with you. I'm not a utopian by any means, I don't believe society is perfectable or anything, I just think there's a clear direction that we should be moving in, and...I think I more or less agree with you. I'm not a utopian by any means, I don't believe society is perfectable or anything, I just think there's a clear direction that we should be moving in, and that's away from violence and hierarchy, and towards peace and equality.
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Comment on What is transhumanism? in ~humanities
spctrvl Link ParentGranted that it isn't particularly heavy handed outside maybe Player of Games or Surface Detail, and the novels are plenty entertaining anyway, but they pretty explicitly embrace and promote a far...Granted that it isn't particularly heavy handed outside maybe Player of Games or Surface Detail, and the novels are plenty entertaining anyway, but they pretty explicitly embrace and promote a far left, broadly anarcho-communist worldview. With regard to Musk, he embraces the aesthetic without realizing he'd be a villain in the setting, and would fight tooth and nail against something like the Culture coming about.
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Comment on Liberal hypocrisy is fueling American inequality. Here’s how. | NYT Opinion in ~humanities
spctrvl (edited )Link ParentBroadly speaking, I'd just point out that there's ways of coercion not backed in violence. I'm not sure whether you're talking about a Napoleon or just a regular murderer in your example, but...Broadly speaking, I'd just point out that there's ways of coercion not backed in violence. I'm not sure whether you're talking about a Napoleon or just a regular murderer in your example, but preconditioning access to community resources with entrance into a mental health focused rehabilitative justice system seems like it'd be a reasonably effective option. Frankly with motivators of survival and property crime rendered obsolete, I don't think you'd get much violence in an anarchist society besides crimes of passion.
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Comment on What is transhumanism? in ~humanities
spctrvl Link ParentThere are definitely some weirdo right wing libertarian types and worse in the transhumanist community already, and prominent ones at that. For everyone that read the Culture novels and got them,...There are definitely some weirdo right wing libertarian types and worse in the transhumanist community already, and prominent ones at that. For everyone that read the Culture novels and got them, there's an Elon Musk that clapped and laughed at the funny ships with the funny names while absorbing approximately 0% of the politics, and then you've got actual fascists like Peter Thiel.
Don't get me wrong, there's definitely an anarchist undercurrent to transhumanism, and it's something that could vastly transform and improve the human condition, but the exact same things could've been said even fifteen years ago about social media, and we all know how that's turned out so far. While I would still call myself a transhumanist as well, I frankly think there's a much more compelling case for pessimism than optimism.
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Comment on Liberal hypocrisy is fueling American inequality. Here’s how. | NYT Opinion in ~humanities
spctrvl Link ParentCan you make any arguments against it that don't? That's really the point I was trying to make here. For the record, most of the arguments in favor of anarchism that I'm aware of are fundamentally...Can you make any arguments against it that don't? That's really the point I was trying to make here. For the record, most of the arguments in favor of anarchism that I'm aware of are fundamentally rooted in the idea that organizing society along non-hierarchical and non-violent lines is more just, and preferable to the status quo, regardless of whether it's more natural or not, if there's appeals to human nature they're secondary to that, and that's more or less my personal view. Whereas literally all of the arguments against anarchism that I'm aware of are rooted in some vague idea of it being against human nature.
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Comment on Liberal hypocrisy is fueling American inequality. Here’s how. | NYT Opinion in ~humanities
spctrvl Link ParentThe "because human nature" argument is kind of a stopper on debate, since it seems to just mean whatever the speaker finds most convenient for their argument at the time. I could equally make the...The "because human nature" argument is kind of a stopper on debate, since it seems to just mean whatever the speaker finds most convenient for their argument at the time. I could equally make the case that violent coercive states are contrary to human nature, and survive only because on a day-to-day level people still organize their lives around a network of personal social connections that the state only rarely enters into directly. I'm sure 300 years ago, you could easily have made the argument that authoritarian monarchy was human nature, since that was pretty much all there was in terms of government structures. But at the end of the day, I doubt either argument will carry much water since human nature is just too nebulous and ill defined to be of much use to political science discussions.
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Comment on Liberal hypocrisy is fueling American inequality. Here’s how. | NYT Opinion in ~humanities
spctrvl Link ParentI think there's a disagreement between the popular and technical definitions of the term. In the political science sense, anarchism doesn't mean absence of governance or social organization, it...I think there's a disagreement between the popular and technical definitions of the term. In the political science sense, anarchism doesn't mean absence of governance or social organization, it means the absence of domination, violent coercion and hierarchy, and the reorganization of society based on the principles of mutual aid.
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Comment on Liberal hypocrisy is fueling American inequality. Here’s how. | NYT Opinion in ~humanities
spctrvl Link ParentYou probably have social democracy rather than democratic socialism. The former is indeed compatible with capitalism, whereas the latter is not.You probably have social democracy rather than democratic socialism. The former is indeed compatible with capitalism, whereas the latter is not.
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Comment on High-speed laser writing method could pack 500 terabytes of data into CD-sized glass disc in ~science
spctrvl Link ParentYup. The sad thing is that the perpetually overhyped news articles overshadow the real progress being made in those fields, and the perpetual disappointment and unrealistically high expectations...Yup. The sad thing is that the perpetually overhyped news articles overshadow the real progress being made in those fields, and the perpetual disappointment and unrealistically high expectations hurts enthusiasm and possibly funding.
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Comment on High-speed laser writing method could pack 500 terabytes of data into CD-sized glass disc in ~science
spctrvl Link ParentSame with batteries, usually because there's some massive deal breaker floating under the surface of the impressive claims. And there it is! Ouch. Really feel for the person tasked to make 230kb/s...Same with batteries, usually because there's some massive deal breaker floating under the surface of the impressive claims.
The new approach can write at speeds of 1,000,000 voxels per second, which is equivalent to recording about 230 kilobytes of data (more than 100 pages of text) per second.
And there it is! Ouch. Really feel for the person tasked to make 230kb/s sound impressive. It would take 68 years to fill that 500tb disc at those speeds, interestingly almost exactly a 32-bit Unix epoch.
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Comment on Congress passes $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, delivering an important part of Biden's congressional agenda to Americans in ~news
spctrvl Link ParentI mean, if progressives are just going to vote yes on any half and quarter measures palatable to moderates, there's no incentive to ever make legislation more progressive. And by making it known...- Exemplary
I mean, if progressives are just going to vote yes on any half and quarter measures palatable to moderates, there's no incentive to ever make legislation more progressive. And by making it known that such cut down legislation is passable, you incentivize centrists to burn time and political capital eviscerating legislation on behalf of their corporate backers. But somehow, it's never on centrists to just accept not getting the bill they want, they're the group that needs to be catered to.
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Comment on Automated vehicles will make our streets worse in ~tech
spctrvl Link ParentNowadays probably, because they don't need to, but considering streets used to be primarily the remit of pedestrians before being invaded and occupied by the car, you could consider most city...Nowadays probably, because they don't need to, but considering streets used to be primarily the remit of pedestrians before being invaded and occupied by the car, you could consider most city driving as analogous to driving on sidewalks. Today's sidewalks are like a rump state after 90% of their territory was ceded to outside powers.
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Comment on Automated vehicles will make our streets worse in ~tech
spctrvl Link ParentI think other commenters in this thread covered most of what I'd want to, but I did want to bring up that the idea of jaywalking was basically created and pushed by early auto clubs and companies...I think other commenters in this thread covered most of what I'd want to, but I did want to bring up that the idea of jaywalking was basically created and pushed by early auto clubs and companies in order to shift the onus on to pedestrians for how dangerous cars are.
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Comment on OpenMW 0.47.0 release announcement in ~games
spctrvl Link ParentIsh. It's pretty clunky and rough around the edges from an engine perspective, but if you can work your way through that, it's still an excellent game, the peak of elder scrolls when it comes to...Ish. It's pretty clunky and rough around the edges from an engine perspective, but if you can work your way through that, it's still an excellent game, the peak of elder scrolls when it comes to writing, depth, player freedom and so much more.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
spctrvl Link ParentI read that on release! It's quite good, and prompted me to reread the rest of the series with the recut versions of the first trilogy Stross did a few years ago. I'm already up to empire games.I read that on release! It's quite good, and prompted me to reread the rest of the series with the recut versions of the first trilogy Stross did a few years ago. I'm already up to empire games.
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Comment on Automated vehicles will make our streets worse in ~tech
spctrvl Link ParentThat's not the fix, that's the exact problem the author was writing about: self driving cars further ejecting pedestrians and other non-car traffic from streets already massively hostile to their...That's not the fix, that's the exact problem the author was writing about: self driving cars further ejecting pedestrians and other non-car traffic from streets already massively hostile to their existence, when it's become clear we need to go in the opposite direction for the health of our cities and our planet.
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Comment on Timasomo 2021 Thread #1: Roll Call and Beginning! in ~creative
spctrvl Link ParentOh I'd definitely recommend the bltouch. You can get a clone for like $10, installation takes a few minutes and then you get perfect first layers forever.Oh I'd definitely recommend the bltouch. You can get a clone for like $10, installation takes a few minutes and then you get perfect first layers forever.
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Comment on Timasomo 2021 Thread #1: Roll Call and Beginning! in ~creative
spctrvl Link ParentI am stealing some components and concepts from other designs, but for the pulley and motor mounts I wasn't able to find anything workable with my frame and rail layout. Those are going to be very...I am stealing some components and concepts from other designs, but for the pulley and motor mounts I wasn't able to find anything workable with my frame and rail layout. Those are going to be very simple parts in any event, so I didn't look too hard. Also, designing my own printer was intended as a creative project from the start, I don't want to just build something to someone else's specifications, even if it does work better.
I'm not though, there's software that requires root that I'm no longer free to install if I want a fully functional device. It's not the same as classic walled gardens like iOS, but I think it still qualifies. It's just replacing overt barriers with subtle ones.