Echinoderm

@Echinoderm@aussie.zone

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Australian woman discovers fake Instagram wedding was real⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  …“the groom did not respond to our request for comment.” It makes it clear that you tried and he was not interested in explaining himself.

  For context, it’s standard practice in proceedings under the Family Law Act to use pseudonyms, so it’s not really possible to track this guy down and ask for his comment.

  It must not be overlooked that I am not required to accept evidence, even uncontroverted evidence, if that evidence is contrary to the way events are likely to have occurred

  Tell that to the High Court in Pell…

  My reading of the Pell appeal was that is more or less what the High Court decided, albeit while applying the more stringent criminal burden of beyond reasonable doubt in relation to a jury trial. The Court fundamentally concluded that while the complainant’s evidence was credible, the compounding effect of unchallenged evidence from multiple other witnesses meant that there was “a significant possibility” Pell was not guilty of the charges.

  I should mention that I’m not a Pell apologist; it does appear from the Royal Commission on institutional abuse that he was complicit in covering up historical sexual assaults, and that is unforgivable. But for anyone that hasn’t read the full text of the appeal (www7.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/…/12.html), I thoroughly recommend it. I am not ashamed to say that I think the Court makes a convincing case for him not being guilty of those particular charges.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Australian woman discovers fake Instagram wedding was real⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Here’s the link to the case should you be interested: www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/…/674.html

  To be fair to the BBC, most of the questions you raise don’t have good answers. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of the other side of the story to report. The judge mentions at several points that the purported groom gave only vague and incomplete evidence, and that he failed to provide details about key issues.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What games did you complete in 2024?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  My most notable one was Subnautica.

  I enjoyed it enough that I completed it 3 times: firstly in normal mode, then in hardcore mode, then with the Deathrun mod.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tiny pp⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Ah yes, nature’s ghillie suit.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Get good.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It really depends on the kid and the complexity of the message. Young kids are still learning the intricacies of the language and building a vocabulary. Not talking down to them helps build those skills up. But at the end of the day, if the message is not getting across, it’s the fault of the communicator.

  Plus it’s an annoying flex to say “see how amazing my kid is? It’s all because of me!” Some kids just pick up language easier, some kids sleep all the way through the night earlier, some kids toilet train easier, etc. Usually it’s better for parents to quietly take the little victory rather than treat it as a reflection of their amazing parenting skills.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Quick Chat⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  “Thank you, but we follow Martian facts here, we aren’t interested in your Venusian ways.”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Jack Karlson, who shot to fame after ‘succulent Chinese meal’ arrest, dies aged 82⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I vote the 7 August should hereafter be declared “Succulent Chinese Meal Day” in tribute.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Bananas⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The bananas won’t be fooled, because everyone knows that bananas are straight until they get picked and the banana bender puts the bend in them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Have rock⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Including humans. I’m not going near the person launching pinecones at my head from their yard.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Older patient gamers: what is your preferred gaming platform?⁩ ⁨⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Why so often? I just updated my almost 10 year old PC that had one gpu upgrade in its life, and was still happily playing the 10 year old games I wanted to play.

  Then I got the new PC with decent specs and decided to push its limits with some Stardew Valley.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why didn't anyone warn me!?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Have you also been forgetting to covert votes to metric before you send them?

  For reference: 1 upvote = 2.2 nah yeahs 1 downvote = 2.2 yeah nahs

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The logic is absolutely without flaw⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  It charges up during the day like one of those glow in the dark stickers, obviously.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Star Wars: The Old Republic getting Australian servers⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  They had Australian servers about 10 years ago. I quit when they closed them down, forcing people to transfer their characters to servers with that where considerably more laggy.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Decision to allow wider truck bodies paves way for electrification of big rigs in Australia⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I think it’s far more likely that any lobbying to stymie rail expansion is coming from toll road operators like Transurban.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Decision to allow wider truck bodies paves way for electrification of big rigs in Australia⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t know about that. When I used to ride a bike to work near a busy truck route, I felt like the truck drivers were the most courteous and conscious of keeping a safe distance. Normal car drivers were a mixed bag: usually not a problem, but not reliable enough to trust. But bus drivers… it felt like bus drivers were actively pissed off by the existence of cyclists.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Daniel Andrews resigns as premier of Victoria⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Time for him to get on the beers.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Any Excel users know of a formula to generate a list of dN numbers?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  This is basically what I do as well.

  One thing I find useful is to list your party’s Perception modifiers, use the formula above for a random d20 result for each PC, then add them together (for example, =B2+C2). Then when they walk into a room, hit F9 for an instant whole-party secret Perception roll.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Melbourne driver Alisha Fagan, who killed grandfather then blamed crash on 'African men', jailed⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  On June 9, 2022, Fagan had been drinking when she drove erratically…

  Fagan, who gave birth last month

  That’s either a very poor life choice, or a very deliberate life choice for someone facing prison time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why are so many boys and men feeling alone and in the cold?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Out of interest, what are some masculine traits that you feel are being rejected by society?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The Uluru Statement from the Heart is one page long, not 26⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Even if the Uluru Statement was 200 pages long and called for white slavery, it would still be misleading for Sky News to imply it has any relevance to what is actually being voted on in the Voice referendum. The wording of the proposed constitutional amendment is only about 4 paragraphs long, and has already been set by Parliament.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Foreign interference through social media is an active threat. Here's what Australia can do⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  People won’t stop just using social media.

  We are discussing whether we should stop using social media via social media.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Coalition attacks rooftop solar inverters in new scare campaign against renewables⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  is virulent anti-renewables and, like many of his Coalition partners, pro nuclear

  I’m guessing that the consequences of one of those being subjected to a cyber attack/sabotage is not on par with the other.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Labor to give casuals new rights to full-time employment in move to improve job security⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  The 25% casual loading is calculated to take in notice of termination and redundancy pay too. Lots of people resign and fewer are made redundant, so wouldn’t get notice or redundancy pay anyway. That means in most circumstances, employees are better off in a pure money sense as casuals.

  The big downside is if things are quiet at work you aren’t guaranteed any hours. As you mention, that also creates a hurdle when applying for loans.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Labor to give casuals new rights to full-time employment in move to improve job security⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Unfortunately the reference to full-time is sloppy reporting from the Guardian. The quotes from the Minister only mention converting to ‘permanent’ work

  Currently casuals working regular part-time hours are supposed to be offered permanent part-time work. I doubt they’ll be changing that.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Big W removes sex education book from shelves after staff members abused⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  What would you expect the union to do? One of the union’s roles is to protect the health and safety of its members. If taking the books off the shelves stops the abuse, I suspect they would support the move.