Ilandar
@Ilandar@lemmy.today
- Comment on The secret deal behind the teenage social media ban 1 day ago:
That quote you pulled is exactly what I’m talking about. Lots of pearl clutching about low-hanging fruit like violent imagery and drugs, no mention of the longer-term impacts of being exposed to services that are literally designed to be addictive or the way our privacy has been eroded by companies like Meta and Google monopolising our lives. No one wants to go beyond the most absolutely basic, surface level examination. Of course these people fucked the solution when they never fully understood the problem in the first place.
- Comment on The secret deal behind the teenage social media ban 1 day ago:
Just that they went and decided on this nebulous age verification instead of actual privacy protection we’re sorely lacking in this country (online)
As much as I do support the basic premise of a social media ban for children, this was always my big concern about the way the debate unfolded in Australia. Everyone was so preoccupied with these hysterical child safety arguments around sex predators and violent imagery. The much larger and more important issues around privacy and childhood development (i.e. influence of addictive technology on developing brains and broader impacts on society of these problems becoming normalised and resolved within our culture) were often just background noise.
- Comment on Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steam's new censorship rules in victory against 'porn sick brain rotted pedo gamer fetishists', and things only get weirder from there 3 days ago:
Of course it will have an effect. My point was that they have straight up admitted it won’t affect the “porn sick brain rotted pedo gamer fetishists” they are trying to claim this is a win over, because this group can just access the games elsewhere.
- Comment on Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steam's new censorship rules in victory against 'porn sick brain rotted pedo gamer fetishists', and things only get weirder from there 4 days ago:
“All these porn sick brain rotted pedo gamer fetishists so desperate to get their hands on rape-my-little-sister incest games they’re now exchanging clues on how to find them so that they don’t all die overnight,” Collective Shout co-founder Melinda Tankard Reist tweeted on July 18th.
…so you admit your strategy was completely ineffectual?
- Comment on Carolina Wilga search triggers uncomfortable questions for families of missing Indigenous men 1 week ago:
I’m not sure the comparison with a missing tourist is the right one to make in this case. The German backpacker scenario appeals more to us because we feel like we have a responsibility as locals to look after this person who has come to our country as a guest and has run into trouble. I hope that people in other countries feel similarly about Australians in their countries too.
But I definitely agree that there is obvious negative bias against Indigenous and non-white men if we are comparing the way their cases are handled and covered (or not) compared to those of other missing Australians here.
- Comment on Misogyny is thriving in our schools. Why aren’t we doing more? 1 week ago:
Victim blaming? What are you, a misogynist?
- Submitted 1 week ago to australia@aussie.zone | 3 comments
- Comment on Misogyny is thriving in our schools. Why aren’t we doing more? 1 week ago:
Err, these boys aren’t being taught Misogyny 101 in the classroom…the female teachers are often the victims here. Asking them to solve this problem is delusional.
- Comment on Misogyny is thriving in our schools. Why aren’t we doing more? 1 week ago:
a school teacher needs 4-6 years worth of higher education to be eligible to teach meaning a school teacher is more likely to come from a wealthier, more conservative background
Most Australian university students have their study 100% funded upfront by the Australian government and only pay it back over time if they earn above a minimum threshold, so the connection between socioeconomic background and university education isn’t as strong as in the US (though it definitely still exists).
- Comment on Australians, especially men, are reading less than ever before 1 week ago:
I know it’s almost exclusively negative experiences here, but I do think it depends heavily on the student and their teachers as to whether that type of coursework is appealing. Personally I devoured English throughout high school, it was my favourite subject by far and the only one in Year 12 where I felt empowered, confident and challenged myself. It really established my ability to think deeply about complex issues and articulate my arguments with more clarity (and listen to and engage with those of others), which are some of the most widely applicable and useful life skills I learned in school.
- Comment on Australians, especially men, are reading less than ever before 1 week ago:
What happened to Gen X men? That gap is massive, their numbers are nearly as low Gen Z men.
- Comment on The mane attraction: how many lions are in Australia and how well are they regulated? 1 week ago:
I know there’s definitely no lions at Adelaide Zoo, because it chose to kill its last one after his mate died.
- Comment on Fear of 'being cringe' blamed for lack of dancing on nightclub dance floors 2 weeks ago:
Big Room is slower than 90s Trance, usually more around the 126 - 130 BPM mark (old school Trance is more in the mid-to-high 130s, sometimes up to 142 BPM). In Big Room there are usually other elements tied directly to the kick as well, like snares, claps, hats or the bass which gives it a “jumpy” kind of feel. If you were to compare it to an older genre, it’s a lot closer to something like Hands Up or Jumpstyle which are also a big jumping genres (also think classic Eurodance like Basshunter). Designed for festivals and raves or anywhere you have tons of people packed in a tight area where they can only move vertically.
Aside from generally being faster, Trance also has a lot more complexity which means there is a lot more variety in how you can dance to it. There are extended breakdowns and slower build-ups, which is where the name comes from (people feel like they’re in a trance). Swaying, hand movements like gloving, and Tecktonik are some of the other common ways people dance to Trance subgenres. Trance and its subgenres are much more underground and niche than House and its subgenres though, which I suspect is due to the complexity and tempo making it more challenging and individualistic to dance to (some people feel more self-conscious to dance in their own unique way). Stuff like Big Room is super accessible because the structure is short and basic and it’s built around very friendly “drops” after which everyone can just jump up and down together, which I think is another reason why it has that Saturday night mainstream club popularity.
There is of course overlap between House and Trance since they are both four-on-the-floor genres and they both have tons of subgenres, some of which blend elements of both. For example, Progressive Trance is a similar tempo to House but retains the complexity and melodic structuring of Trance. In the 2010s there was also this subgenre called “Progressive House”, which had nothing to do with the more traditional Progressive House and was more like a predecessor to Big Room. “Progressive House” had some more Trance elements like atmospheric (but shorter) breakdowns and big uplifting synth leads, but it was still very much a House subgenre.
Anyway, subgenres of electronic dance music can get quite messy and there is often a lot of blending and overlap which means it’s often up to the individual how they want to define a particular track. In the case of Big Room and 90s Trance, however, there are so many major differences that they live quite firmly in their own distinct categories.
- Comment on Fear of 'being cringe' blamed for lack of dancing on nightclub dance floors 2 weeks ago:
I only go to raves and specific artist/label events these days, so I’m not too sure what’s happening in mainstream clubs on a Saturday night. In my experience, the dance floor is always full later in the night and people are enjoying the music and having fun. Interesting to note that one guy quoted in the article complained about people “just jumping” instead of dancing - that’s the result of genre trends in electronic music, not social media or smartphones changing our behaviour. The more popular mainstream club genres for at least the last decade have been house sub-genres like Big Room that are festival-friendly and designed to be jumped to.
- Comment on Australians could cut power bills by 90% if they made their homes more energy efficient, report finds 2 weeks ago:
From the report:
Despite the financial attractiveness of household energy upgrades, many households including renters or those on low incomes have no ability to undertake upgrades. Furthermore, even consumers who can invest in household energy upgrades are subject to “bounded rationality” – a barrier that is often overlooked by energy efficiency policies.
Increasing minimum energy performance standards to encourage a shift from gas or inefficient electric appliances to efficient electric alternatives is a compelling solution. New legislation to phase out gas hot water systems in Victoria presents one example of an approach to achieve this, and there is an opportunity to reinvigorate the federal Equipment Energy Efficiency programme.
In the near term, financial incentives play a critical role to reduce the upfront cost hurdle for consumers and scale up the industry capacity to deliver upgrades. However, the current approach to incentives is piecemeal.
Victoria and New South Wales have implemented broad-based incentives for household energy upgrades, but there is a case for more comprehensive national versions of these schemes to be rolled out, which could be complemented with specific state government schemes where they would bring further benefits.
Pricing reform is not the sole solution, but it is nonetheless critical to ensure consumers have access to fair electricity plans that reward their contributions to the grid, without imposing unrealistic expectations on consumers to become energy traders.
- Comment on South Australia Government considers requiring developers to build bigger garages. The cost will be paid by home buyers. Whether they have a car or not. 2 weeks ago:
If your car is 2x the size of a normal car then that should mean you suffer 2x the pain. Not everybody else.
Everyone else does suffer the pain, though, because these people park on the street and effectively remove the left lane for several hundred metres at all times.
- Comment on South Australia Government considers requiring developers to build bigger garages. The cost will be paid by home buyers. Whether they have a car or not. 2 weeks ago:
I live in an area with a lot of new developments and this is definitely a planning problem that needs to be looked at. Many roads constantly have rows of cars parked along the side because none of the owners use their garage (either because their oversized car doesn’t fit or because the development is too tight to get in and out of comfortably).
- Comment on Cancer rates in Australians under 50 are rising at a pace that's alarming doctors and scientists 2 weeks ago:
Cycling is somewhat understandable, but I completely agree with running and walking. It always baffles me when I see these people around my area going for walks or runs along a main road, breathing in all the traffic fumes, when they could do it on quiet suburban streets, around a lake or along the beach.
- Comment on Erin Patterson found guilty of three counts of murder 2 weeks ago:
I’m not sure if I’d blanket recommend it to everyone. Whether you get something out of it probably depends on if you have an angle of interest going in. Like for me, I didn’t know much about the way a jury in Australia (NSW) works so it was interesting to see a semi-real version of something I’ve only ever seen depicted in fictional films and TV series.
However, the producers obviously picked a few people based on their backgrounds/belief systems and that made it quite annoying as well. Like there were true crime fans in there who were obsessed with this idea that they had to “solve” the crime, even though they were repeatedly told that was not their role at all. Then there were people with very black and white ideas about crime or strong religious beliefs that meant they just completely ignored all evidence and insisted on pushing a narrative/verdict that they had basically arrived at from day one. It was so frustrating at times to witness the mental gymnastics these absolute morons would go through to defend an indefensible position, and even more frustrating knowing that there could actually be people as stupid as this out there impacting the lives of real people and that such a process could be called “justice”.
So yeah, if that second paragraph doesn’t put you off then maybe it’s worth checking out. But you’ve been warned!
- Comment on Erin Patterson found guilty of three counts of murder 2 weeks ago:
I thought she probably did it, but I don’t think I could have returned a verdict of guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Have you watched the SBS reality TV series ‘The Jury: Death on the Staircase’? It was a frustrating insight into how difficult it is for some people to understand the difference between these two things.
- Comment on Cancer rates in Australians under 50 are rising at a pace that's alarming doctors and scientists 2 weeks ago:
Diet might not be the only factor. We are also more sedentary at home and in the work place, and sitting for long periods of time is very bad for our health.
- Comment on Erin Patterson found guilty of three counts of murder 2 weeks ago:
Pretty disappointed with the way this entire saga was hyped up by the Australian media. I guess you expect it from the commercial networks, but even the ABC was gleefully announcing a daily podcast two years in advance of the trial. I’m not sure if Media Watch has run an episode on this, but it should.
- Comment on Wild kangaroo harvests are labelled ‘needlessly cruel’ by US lawmakers – but backed by Australian conservationists 3 weeks ago:
I’m not sure what’s more amusing out of the American hypocrisy or all these football boot manufacturers pretending they are ethical for returning to cow leather.
- Comment on I'm not sure what's worse, driving on the road to work assuming that you're surrounded by idiots, or knowing about it. 3 weeks ago:
SAPOL introduced something similar last year, specifically to target people who use their phones while driving. They issued 64,454 letters in the first three months lol
- Comment on Australians will soon need their age checked to log into online search tools – here’s why 3 weeks ago:
Most people a) have a Google and/or Microsoft account b) use Google or Bing to search the web and c) don’t clear their cookies at the end of a session. So by default, most would be signed into their search engine (though perhaps without even knowing).
Some search engines like Kagi also require their users to login (because it is a paid service).
- Comment on Woolworths payment change as popular system [Scan&Go] gets axed: 'Devastated' 3 weeks ago:
Yeah it was reasonable with a larger shop, though it was an absolute pain having to wait for someone to check and scan 4 items (happened numerous times to me, including during peak hours where there was no staff member instantly available so we had to stand around waiting). My biggest problem was just that it wasn’t compatible with gift cards. As soon as I switched to those, I Scan&Go became about spending more to save a small amount of time and that wasn’t worth it to me. It was the equivalent of paying an $8 - $12 fee to use Scan&Go on a big shop.
- Comment on Woolworths payment change as popular system [Scan&Go] gets axed: 'Devastated' 3 weeks ago:
Also, semi-related, the Everyday Rewards membership no longer grants a monthly 10% discount at BIG W.
- Comment on Woolworths payment change as popular system [Scan&Go] gets axed: 'Devastated' 3 weeks ago:
Same in Adelaide, almost all self checkouts now.
- Comment on Woolworths payment change as popular system [Scan&Go] gets axed: 'Devastated' 3 weeks ago:
Aldi has almost fully converted to self checkout, in Adelaide. Not sure what it’s like in other cities but maybe worth checking again if you haven’t been for a while.
- Comment on Woolworths payment change as popular system [Scan&Go] gets axed: 'Devastated' 3 weeks ago:
No one ever used this in my area. I never saw anyone at the gate, and on the few occasions I used it myself it always said “1 shopper in store” (me). I haven’t used Scan&Go for quite some time because I have been paying with discounted gift cards for several years now to save as much as I can.
However, Scan&Go did have one genuinely good use case that cannot be replicated with the trolleys and that was allowing you to grab your one or two items during peak hour (maybe a drink or snacks) and skip all the queues in store. It was super fast, but having to rely on the trolleys will slow that down and make it far more cumbersome.