John BS @johnabs@social.cleverlibre.org

I finally installed Graphene OS on a new phone. It is absolutely amazing, and I love it. It ships with 6 apps, and I can verify anything I install from FDroid is free of trackers/malware, and same thing with anonymous APKs from the Aurora Store (anonymized Play Store).

100% recommend if you have a Pixel phone with an unlockable boot-loader.

@freemo Here's my easter spider! She does funny poses like this a lot

@freemo Well, I'll have you know the following [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgbRsHJ34dY) exists, and all of the alternatives are preferable to the ones presented here 😝

(btw, it should be "titties")

@freemo What if my preferred answer(s) aren't on the list?

@jmw150 (I really enjoyed the video thanks for sharing! 😁 and yeah, if those scholars kept getting offended, they wouldn't get too far before throwing out the texts lmao)

I think the evolution of language is natural, but when it's driven by an ideology which is self-contradictory and actively harmful to people who adopt it is when I take issue.

I have many friends and family members who are minorities in some way or another, yet they really hate being treated as anything other than just another person. I've been a minority in a few cases, and all I ever wanted was equal treatment, which I recognized when I got and greatly appreciated.

I don't think pandering to people who have a facet of their identity which would place them in a minority group, particularly by changing completely innocent and unintentional language, is doing anything other than further isolating and "othering" them. I really want unity over division, and I don't think controlling speech gets us there.

So let language change naturally; sure, and let people choose how they want to speak. Don't try to police ideas/words you don't like with the idea that you're helping people. You might just be making it worse, and making people feel like they'll never belong. I.e. by sacrificing everything in the name of inclucivity, you may end up being exclusive instead.

@jmw150 Let me know what you think if you don't mind. This really rubbed me the wrong way. I think the guidelines are just more extreme, etymologically ignorant propaganda by the far left wing tankies at google.

They claim that the term "blacklist", which literally originated in the 1600s to refer to individuals who were troublesome to hire (typically due to union involvement), is now "socially charged". How?! Is it because the word has the term "black" in it, which means it's clearly referring to black people? Can we just change the colors to red/green lists? Is that offensive to colorblind people like me now? Or do we just remove the word black entirely from the lexicon as a whole, lest we risk offending someone? If so, there goes the following words and more: blacksmithing, blackmailing, blacktop, blackjack, etc. It's asinine.

They also advocate for the removal of the "master/slave" naming structure. I absolutely hate slavery; however, I don't think that they understand that there is still literal slavery going on in the world, and protecting the delicate sensibilities of programmers who have to read their documentation will do nothing to solve those problems or create a more inclusive environment for ethnic minorities in the slightest. It just seems like slactivism, where they want to "do something", but not so much that they actually accomplish anything other than signalling to others how "moral" they are.

Do I think offensive language can be a barrier to entry for certain groups, especially if it's *intentional*? Absolutely, but the offense taken by a listener to the unintentional expressions of a speaker are more of a problem with the listener. In other words, intent clearly matters during communication, and clarification should be sought when necessary.

To end, here's a short paragraph using a bunch of their banned words, without any offensive intent. Can you spot the "issues" without reading their guidelines?

"To cripple the expressiveness of our language by blacklisting certain words is insanity; it is necessary to fight back against this thought-policing nonsense to protect the intellectual freedom of mankind."

John's spicy take of the day:

The words "educate yourself" do not constitute an argument, and claiming that "it's not your responsibility" to teach someone only further perpetuates their ignorance from your perspective.

If it's nobody's responsibility to teach this person what you think they should know, they will never learn it, especially if they disagree with the arguments being made for reasons beyond the surface. Addressing axioms is key for finding common ground, and this tactic shuts down the conversation well before this can occur.

It seems like it is only used by people who are incapable of adequately articulating their own views; specifically with the intention of rejecting other viewpoints with the presupposition that they are correct and the other person is ignorant. This precludes actual discussion and the possibility that you hear new perspectives and potentially consider your opposition as rational actors, rather than fools.

(Haven't seen this on qoto, but my sister started using this rhetoric so I thought I'd talk about it)

@freemo When it comes to cooking eel you need to be careful, because their blood is actually poisonous. As for mackerel, if you can find a Korean store nearby, you can pickup some pre-salted, deboned mackerel that's ready to go and would make an excellent addition to the sauce. But if you want eel, you can actually find it pre-cooked and vacuum sealed where you just need to bake it to heat it up (look for kabayaki eel).

If you're going to wing it, I'd suggest soy sauce, peeled grated ginger, sesame seeds, along with a splash sesame oil and if you want a kick, add some gochujang paste. If you don't want any heat, replace it with some mirin and oyster sauce and you've got something really general that goes well with most things.

(And just in case you missed it, I left a link in the previous post to an eel sauce recipe 😀 )

@freemo Have you tried unagi sauce with freshwater eel? Here's a decent recipe, it goes with multiple types of fish, but is the best with eel.

https://www.justonecookbook.com/unagi-sauce-2/

I'd be careful with the sugar, and add it to taste, because it tends to be a bit too sweet IMO.

(I'm not asian, but my uncle is a chef from southern China, so I was spoiled as a child and never looked back lmao)

@RustyCrab @lucifargundam Well, considering inflation (which is likely going to occur once the money makes its rounds through various markets) we're paying it back alright, just not in absolute dollars, but in the relative decrease in value of our existing dollars. I'm hoping it will be more stable than I expect, but I'm legitimately concerned about this possibility. Thoughts?

I know I'm probably weird, but does anybody else love the look of "retro" PCBs? I know things have gotten more efficient and modular and just better over time, but the aesthetic of late 80s/early 90s (particularly Nintendo) PCBs just seems so *comfy*.

For context, I've fallen down the rabbit hole of console modding, and it just hits different compared to the more modern stuff IMO.

@jmw150 I think I agree with the general statement, but I'm not sure the distrust *necessarily* comes from an increase in complexity of the operation of large entities, or the increasing ability of these large entities to exert influence on individuals. While I think complexity (especially when combined with furtive motives) breeds some level of distrust, I don't think most people care so long as their lives aren't (at risk of) being impinged upon by these entities.

(examples ahead)
A few good examples from the U.S. are Monsanto's impact on farmers, and the Supreme Court's "qualified immunity" doctrine. Monsanto has been suing small farmers for years (and never losing) over "GMO crop contamination" which occurs if their plants somehow (air, rain, insects, etc.) manage to pollinate yours. At that point, if >1% of the farmer's crops contain the "patented gene" then they get their pants sued off for patent infringement, despite a clear lack of intent.

As for qualified immunity, this is used to give nearly absolute immunity to governmental agents who violate the rights of individuals that haven't been "clearly established". Unfortunately, this means lower courts will simply claim qualified immunity on behalf of "their team", and absolve these various entities (including police officers, federal agents, etc.) from all wrongdoing and consequences, if even an iota of the case is different from that of preceding rulings. Worse yet is that they have no obligation to make a new ruling, which often means appeals and escalation, often up to the Supreme Court. This costs increasing amounts of money, much of which is never seen by the plaintiffs, but is only used to add to the "list of things we can't do" rather than the clear constitutional limitation of "enumerated powers".

In conclusion, I think complexity may be a contributing factor, but I think potential influence/restriction of freedom is more so a contributor in most cases. (Sorry these always end up so long, but I want to make sure I'm addressing your points clearly and providing sufficient evidence to support my own positions, and hopefully more for you to chew on 😁 )

@jmw150 I think this is an interesting take; however, I have a slight addition to it. I distrust corporations because their objective function is out of balance with the rest of reality: i.e. the maximization of profit at all cost. This is their fiduciary responsibility to their stake holders, and any deviation of that leaves them liable to legal action. This is very similar to the idea of creating an AI to make paperclips which can ultimately lead to the universe being made entirely of paperclips, if left unchecked.

E.g. if Pepsi wants to reduce the amount of sugar in the drinks, but Coke doesn't do the same, Pepsi will lose market share. Therefore, any action that these companies could/should take to help reduce obesity (particularly in the US) is nullified by the potential reduction of their market-share.

Before you comment "but muh freedom to consume what I want" you should consider the work on "rational addiction" which was performed on people addicted to sugar. While it states that addiction is a subset of rational behavior when considering the warped reward function of addicts, the fact is this warped reward function is actively harming consumers, and is perpetuated by the corporations providing the addictive substance.

At this point, only the government can control these entities, which leads to a form of fascistic capitalism/cronyism, with little to no regard for the workers/consumers welfare.

Additionally, corporations are designed to reduce the risk that any individual within the corporation feels as a result of mistakes/malpractice, but they still have similar legal rights as individuals. This makes no sense: there should be tradeoffs for the advantages you receive by incorporating. This would allow smaller, unincorporated business owners to try to compete against long-standing incumbents without as much of a significant overhead requirement, despite the relatively higher personal risk.

Long story short, I like capitalism, but we've allowed it to move from serving the consumer to controlling the consumer, which is leading to some negative outcomes that I think need to be addressed. I think the primary way to address it, is through adjusting the incentive structures that keep corporations operating solely in a profit driven way.

@freemo I figured as much, but I wanted it here for anyone who was curious 😂

@freemo *small adjustment* since liters can also be represented by cubic lengths, it should be 1.005x10^10 femptoparsecs/cubic femptoparsec of fuel (or if we want to be cheeky and ignore the clear units of distance/volume of fuel, 1.005x10^10/femptoparsecs^2)

@tbis I figured, but I wanted to make sure . I get a little paranoid about conversations when I'm tired, especially when people could use a boost, since I don't want to accidentally make things worse XD
But I hope you feel better soon, and if you'd like to chat, I'd be happy to after I get some much needed sleep

@tbis I realize my toot may have had some ambiguity... I meant "I hope you feel better soon" not "here's your virtual hug, now feel better" 🤣

@tbis Feel better