JasSmith

@JasSmith@sh.itjust.works

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Reddit tracking upvotes for mod actions⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  The operative word there is “entirely.” We have philosophy going back thousands of years playing with the subjective nature of reality. There is some truth to this. However most of society has been an exercise in “might makes right,” and truth was whatever the person with the biggest club said it was. Then the Enlightenment happened and it was suddenly considered virtuous to observe, document, and publish objective reality. See the early days of the conflicts with the Church to understand how uncomfortable it can make those who enjoy subjective reality suddenly being confronted with the concept of objective reality.

  It’s only relatively recently (post Enlightenment) that large portions of society decided it was a good idea to disregard objective reality in journalism, science, and politics, in favour of subjective or “lived” realities. We can in part thank postmodernism for escaping academic containment, but I think that’s only part of the slide. Whatever the cause, I think it behooves all of us to attempt to steer into objectivism as frequently and clearly as possible. Depending on the metric, Western society has arguably never been this polarised. If we can’t agree on the definition of words, we aren’t even speaking the same language anymore. Our North Star needs to be shared language so at the very least we can have valid arguments with each other. That is how we progress.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Reddit tracking upvotes for mod actions⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ll preface this by saying I am/was a Reddit user since its first year operating in 2005/2006.

  The notion that reality is entirely subjective is relatively new and I believe has led to a myriad of consequences across society from social media to journalism to politics. Even if we will never arrive at a future in which we can all acknowledge what a spade is, we should absolutely continue to strive for that. Common understanding is the bedrock of liberal societies. We need it for science and democracy to function.

  The “Redditquette” the user above explained was the notion that disagreement isn’t invalid. By this I am referring to the philosophical distinction between valid and invalid arguments. For example:

  1. Every dog is a reptile.
  2. Every reptile is cold-blooded.
  3. Therefore, every dog is cold-blooded.

  This argument is silly and easily disproved, but valid. Flat Earthers often make valid but easily disproved arguments, and there is much to gain in the world by people having valid discussions with one another. Especially from a curious and open position.

  On the other hand, invalid arguments are those in whose conclusion is not proven by its premises. That is, even if all the premises are true, the conclusion could still be false. For example:

  1. Being friendly is the easiest way to make friends quickly.
  2. Alana has a lot of friends.
  3. Therefore, Alana must be very friendly.

  The argument tells us that being friendly is one way to make friends, but is that the only way? And does having a lot of friends necessarily mean that you are very friendly? Although Alana might be very friendly, the author hasn’t proven that she is. There is nothing to gain by engaging with this, other than to potentially educate someone about valid and invalid arguments. However this rarely works out well over the internet. This is an opinion masquerading as reason or fact. Trolling uses some variation of this.

  Reddiquette was intended to encourage healthy discussion without immediately devolving into insults and death threats. It actually worked really fucking well, for many years. In the early days, the administrators would enforce Rediquette, as crazy as that sounds. They would give out warnings for people downvoting earnest comments and submissions. Some of the better moderated subreddits still maintain a shadow of this, but they don’t have the tools to see who is up/downvoting what.

  Unfortunately there is some game theory in this. If the rules are “downvote what you don’t like,” then both sides of any debate must use this rule, or their comments will be permanently hidden, and their ideas will never propagate. The evidence is that this rule is quite devastating for online discourse, and I miss old Reddit.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Make your complaints heard about bad games, says Dragon Age veteran Mark Darrah, but "your $70 doesn't buy you cruelty"⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Skill Up’s review perfectly summarised all the criticisms. One of the most damning indictments was the feeling that HR was always in the room. He brings receipts for all his complaints. Some of the most unbelievably stupid, juvenile, and ham-fisted writing I’ve ever seen in any video game. This would be a failure if it came from any other studio, but to see BioWare fall this far is really difficult to see.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Something like Sonarr but for Youtube?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I agree. I am forced to use dockers with Unraid and I really don’t like them. For me, the benefits are very limited compared to the extra hassle.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Bad UX is keeping the majority of people away from Lemmy⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Especially because most users respond to this with “good.”

  good.

  Your comedic timing is impeccable.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Bad UX is keeping the majority of people away from Lemmy⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  IMHO, the UX is bad, but the user base is also repellant. It’s further left than Reddit so most people who jump in bounce right off. That’s going to be difficult to change organically. Especially because most users respond to this with “good.” So there’s definitely no appetite to appeal to a wider audience. I predict Lemmy will become increasingly ideologically partisan and isolated.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Nvidia loses $500 bn in value as Chinese AI firm jolts tech shares⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This assumes some kind of eureka innovation, right? A 96% reduction in compute demands per “token” is revolutionary. I haven’t seen anyone yet explain what that innovation is, exactly. There is also mixed reporting on how “open source” DeekSeek is, with many claiming it’s only “open weight,” meaning people are having difficulty reproducing the creation of the model. It wouldn’t be the first time that a claim out of China were false, and I think it wise to reproduce any such claims before running around with our arms in the air.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Nvidia loses $500 bn in value as Chinese AI firm jolts tech shares⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Because the parent comment by Womble is about using the Chinese hosted DeepSeek app, not hosting the model themselves. The user above who responded either didn’t read the original comment carefully enough, or provided a very snarky response. Neither is particularly endearing.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Nvidia loses $500 bn in value as Chinese AI firm jolts tech shares⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Okay but one is about puritanical Western cultural standards about sex, and one is about government censorship to maintain totalitarian power. One of these things is not like the other.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Neuralink's first in-human brain implant has experienced a problem, company says⁩ ⁨⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s not like the technology is a con. Brain implants have been iterated upon for decades. This is just the latest incarnation - after extensive animal testing. I don’t think we have a right to tell a quadriplegic they may not meaningfully improve their lives because we feel the risk is too high. They’re locked in a living prison.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why I Lost Faith in Kagi⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t find any of this damning or compelling. I remain a happy subscriber.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Lemmy is growing and they are coming⁩ ⁨⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  100% of people who have one of those stupid anime avatars are insane.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why Charging Your Gadgets Over 80% Is Such a Bad Idea | iFixit News⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  While true, I consider it a reasonable trade. I so rarely need the 100% charge.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Fair trading laws are broad and complex and vary widely by place to place. There are many restrictions on trading practises which mislead customers. Amazon employs a myriad of practises designed to do exactly that. Some of them detailed in the article. I’m sure they think they’re skirting the law to the legal side, but experts are going to determine that now.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨UK inflation remains unchanged at 4%⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Almost all OECD nations are also struggling with the last couple percent on the path back to 2%. It looks like it’s the stickiest, and it might require higher reserve rates to tame. Governments spent unimaginably amounts of stimulus money during covid and the economy is still swimming in cash. Inflation won’t be tamed until those reserves are spent.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨UK inflation remains unchanged at 4%⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Food prices are not forecast to drop. They’re forecast to rise, and I believe in excess of average inflation.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m much more optimistic. I think battery technology will progress quickly, and as it improves, more and more people will buy EVs. I think the path forward is not to try to convince people to live worse lives. That’s a losing proposition. We should instead make our lives better and cleaner through technology.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨‘Boycott Tesla’ ads to air during Super Bowl — “Tesla dances away from liability in Autopilot crashes by pointing to a note buried deep in the owner’s manual, that says Autopilot is only safe on fr...⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  These instances of errors are obviously alarming, but all the evidence we have is that they’re still safer than human drivers. They will make mistakes - and sometimes those mistakes will cost lives - but they will make fewer mistakes than humans. Given this, as visceral as it feels when we hear of these stories, I think our ire is misplaced. Automated driving will never be perfect. If that’s the bar we’re aiming for we should just give up and go home. The goal is better than humans, and in many conditions, it’s already there.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  So… if the technology isn’t improving your life you continue to use the one that’s making everyone else’s life worse?

  It depends on the cost/benefit analysis. It was part of my decision to buy a Tesla but I am deeply disappointed with the experience. It’s so bad that I want to sell it and buy another ICE. Most people aren’t willing to pay more for a significant downgrade. That’s just reality.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Diagon Lemmy - A Queer-friendly, Harry Potter-themed Lemmy Server is now live (before you block me instantly, please hear me out)⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Rowling is an hell of a woman. She’s donated more money than we will ever earn and doesn’t dodge her taxes.

  She lost her billionaire status a few years ago after donating between 160 to 200 million quid!

  Say what you want about her views on gender, but she has done more good for the world than most.

  Introduced an entire generation to reading. Millions of kids who weren’t big readers picked up lifetime habits!

  Started or donated to many charities. Including the Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, The Maggie’s Centres for Cancer Care, Doctors Without Borders, and more. She founded the Children’s High Level Group, known as Lumos, which works to “end the systematic institutionalization of children across Europe and help them find safer, more caring places to live.” She has also contributed to various other charitable causes through her philanthropic trust, Volant.

  Helped save female Afghani lawyers from the taliban.

  Funded the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology clinic in Edinburgh.

  And rather more contentiously, has stuck to her guns about the areas where she believes sex should take precedence over gender identity in the face of abuse, rape and death threats.

  And now employment tribunals are ruling again and again that gender critical views are perfectly reasonable to hold and in fact are legally protected.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Could you recommend a good rental company? Maybe I’ve been picking the wrong ones.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨‘Enshittification’ is coming for absolutely everything⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I really think this is overblown. Almost all the services encompassed by the term are luxury. We don’t need Netflix. Just stop paying for it. Businesses all follow a similar trajectory: concept -> growth -> monetisation -> decline. If you’re over 30 you’ve seen many companies rise and fall. They all fail eventually, and from their ashes rise new companies. If you’re ambitious, you’ll capitalise on the opportunity and your company will fill that gap.

  Embrace change.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s not a good solution. Renting is a terrible experience too. This is what I would have to do:

  • Book a rental in advance or pay horrendous rates.

  • Take an overpriced taxi to the rental place on the day. Uber is banned in my country.

  • Wait in line, then stand through the strong arm sales tactics to get me to buy the overpriced insurance. I politely decline.

  • Take a hundred pictures of the exterior to prove I’m delivering it in the same conditions I picked it up because I’ve been scammed too many times.

  • Drive back to my house, then do all the usual packing.

  • Gingerly drive this strange car for 12 hours there and back and pray I don’t scratch it because that’s thousands of dollars in extortionate fees.

  • On return, unpack the car, then give it a clean (or more fees).

  • Drive it back to the rental agency and argue about the level of gas in the tank and the scratches I didn’t make and the level of general cleanliness inside and out.

  • Take another overprice taxi back home.

  I’ve rented a lot of cars in my life and they’re all bloodsucking leeches. This is not only a much worse experience than simply owning a car which suits our needs, but it’s more expensive.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  As I explained, the rated time is in perfect conditions. I have never experienced perfect conditions and I don’t know anyone who has. I have a colleague who has a 2023 Ioniq 5 who claims to average 30 mins for 10-80. This will only get longer as the battery ages.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Sorry, but if your argument is “here’s a shit product. It’s also more expensive, but you should still buy it because it’s marginally better for the planet,” it’s going to fail to achieve mass adoption. I care very much about environmental sustainability, but I’ve been around the sun enough times to know that the way to achieve that is with better and cheaper products. We should use technology to reduce environmental impact and improve our lives. It’s not one or the other.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The White House wants to 'cryptographically verify' videos of Joe Biden so viewers don't mistake them for AI deepfakes⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Then this exercise is a waste of time. All the hard hitting journalism which presses the President and elicits a negative response will be unsigned, and will be distributed across social media as it is today: without authentication. All the videos for which the White House is concerned about authenticity will continue to circulate without any cause for contention.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The White House wants to 'cryptographically verify' videos of Joe Biden so viewers don't mistake them for AI deepfakes⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Great points and I agree. I also think the signature needs to be built into the stream in a continuous fashion so that snippets can still be authenticated.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s not 1000km. You lose 30-40% range in the cold. And charging cadence is typically 10-70%, not 0-100%, so you lose another 30% on road trips. Now your 1000km EV does 420-490km between chargers. That’s around three hours on the Autobahn at a rather leisurely 150kph, with a 25-40 min stop. I agree with the user above. Affordable 1000km range is minimum before I’ll be buying another EV.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  You’re not the only one. Most people try to make as much distance as possible between stops.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Gel and lithium-ion tech could enable 1000-mile EV range on one charge⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I own a 2022 Model Y and I’ve never had a 15m charging stop. It’s always longer. 15m is theoretical. In the real world everything from temperature to the type of charger to how many people are charging at the station to the age of the battery impact speed. You’re looking at 25-40 mins on average to 80%. Double that to charge to 100%. I’m not sure why people feel the need to gaslight non-EV owners. The technology is what it is.