JasSmith

While I agree, as long as Ukraine lacks a navy, they’d never be able to hold it. Not unless they can get a small fleet of those drone subs I am hearing about. If Russia can’t get anywhere near Crimea by sea, their sea superiority is moot.

Wikipedia is a good example but they actually employ designers and developers. I think the secret sauce is paying people to build great software. So a non-profit with donations could absolutely work.

Open license software will never beat paid software in the consumer space. I know that’s a controversial opinion, but it’s been proven a thousand times. There’s no way to beat the user experience of Reddit when they have a hundred experienced UX designers doing nothing but optimising for engagement. We think the overall experience is worse, which is why we’re here, but we are the minority. Lemmy still hasn’t figured out basic problems like what happens to the user experience when an instance defederates from another. The user had no control over that, but suddenly their subscribed communities have disappeared without notice or explanation. Now they have to find another instance to subscribe to, and they lose their entire Lemmy identity.

My expectation on this is that this conflict won’t end with Ukraine getting all of their land back, but will cripple Russia for a generation. This is a net positive for the world. I’m glad that Ukraine is receiving so much aid.

I sympathise and relate. Perhaps our school systems need to teach kids these values. It may be too late by the time they hit school. I also wonder if it would be permitted in our highly polarised political climates.

As someone from a similar background as you, I think this matters, but it’s not nearly as important as you believe. All it takes is a few days in the office to understand 80% of the required cultural norms. Most of them are plainly explained in the onboarding documentation.

The cultural delta between an international migrant and a local is FAR larger than between any classes. I know this from experience as I have lived in six countries now. In the case of these European countries, which are still relatively culturally homogenous, these cultural differences matter even less.

They study this, and certain behaviour (which can be taught) is important for career success. The good news is that these behaviours and values can and do transcend class and culture.

Altogether, results suggest that goal-directed performance is fundamental to [conscientiousness] and that motivational engagement, behavioral restraint, and environmental predictability influence its optimal occupational expression.

I think the differences we see in this research is related to structural economic and social policies. The Danish job market is excellent, for example, with lots of opportunities for people of all abilities, and high wages. They have a very strong economy. When coupled with free education for everyone, it means anyone in the bottom 10% can achieve median income quickly. Usually within one generation.

I’m sure they really believe their opinions but I don’t subscribe to the conspiracy theory that cycling is a panacea of awesome and everyone who opposes it is an oil shill. There are many real obstacles. Proponents often argue, “well just restructure society!”, as though that’s achievable or even desirable to many citizens.

That said, there are many ways to improve eco-friendly transport in cities. It just requires convincing locals that it’s better than driving. Selling this vision has been a catastrophic failure for activists. They need to stop arguing for a nebulous benefit which might benefit some future generation. They need to argue for why cycling is better today. If they can confidently prove it’s better, voters will support these measures.

After a lot of research I’ve come to the conclusion the only viable solution is bike lanes with a curb separating them and roads. As a mode of transport, bikes are as different from cars as they are from pedestrians. All three need their own lanes. Bikes make city traversal much more viable without a car.

Of course there are some caveats here. Not every city is well planned for cycling. Cities in the Netherlands have much higher density than places like Austin. If it takes 10km to get from your home to the grocery store, bicycle lanes are just less useful. Geography also matters. Holland is flat as a pancake. Many other places are not, and like it or not, hills suck for cycling unless you have an e-bike. Most people do not. Finally, weather matters. People in cold climates can dress warmer. People in hot climates cannot dress any cooler than shorts and t-shirt. If the temperature is hot for much of the year, or months at a time, people cannot rely on it for their commutes or errands. This makes cycling unviable for some hot cities.

Car free zones are great, but only when the public transport infrastructure can support it. If most people who come to the city live far away because of low density, public transport becomes very expensive to implement and maintain. People don’t want to jack up their taxes 10-20% to pay for that. Longer term planning should permit and encourage higher density, but there is a cultural component here. Some people really like having a house with a backyard. Apartments don’t offer this.

I don’t use Spotify, but no one forces artists to list their music on Spotify. They can choose list on any platform they like. FYI Spotify does in fact pay artists. Just less than Bandcamp. Streaming is why I don’t pirate anymore. If I had to go back to paying $30 for an album I’d be a pirate again. So artists can take some of my money, or none of it.

I don’t pirate music or games because there are reasonable platforms and pricing models which make pirating more hassle than it’s worth. Shows and movies, on the other hand, are an absolute shitshow to purchase legally.

• Outrageous pricing.

• Declining quality. Especially writing. See Rings of Power, Wheel of Time, and Foundation.

• Content is often unavailable to purchase. See Disney vault.

• Competing streaming services. I’d have to subscribe to six services to access the shows I like.

• Content disappears from services with little notice.

• Studios and platforms have been removing and modifying older content for political reasons.

It’s like they’re trying to make the experience as bad as possible. So fuck ‘em. Thank you Sonarr and Radarr.

Most people agree with censoring hate speech and death threats. The problem is they expanded well beyond that, all while people cheered. The chants of, “it’s a private company!” were deafening. So now they can lie in the bed they made.

Using a siren to silence me is just another form of censorship.

You’re confusing the U.S. Constitution with free speech. The Constitution only protects some kinds of speech, and only for American citizens. I’m not American. Most people are not American. Surely you realise there are many others countries out there, and other kinds of speech?

You say “harmful” speech has no place in the public square. Who adjudicates that? Right now it’s Elon Musk. Are you really happy with that?

I must say it is amusing watching the same people who cheered Twitter censorship the last few years suddenly realise why giving companies the power to sensor is a bad idea. Eventually the gun gets turned on you. Always resist censorship. Especially speech you disagree with. Free speech is useless unless you can say things which people disagree with.

At 18 we let people vote on the direction of the entire nation. We let them buy houses and go into debt for life. We let them die in war for their country. Most places in the world let them drink and get married. Of all of these rights, the absolute least of them is the right to fuck whichever other adult they choose. I cannot understand the utter insanity of thinking one is responsible enough to vote but not have sex. If you don’t think they’re responsible enough to have sex then they’re sure as shit not responsible enough to everything else.

18 year olds are adults. It’s time we stop infantilising them. People used to get married much younger than even that. If they want to fuck an older person, more power to them.

I think this is the biggest risk. 19 year olds often change a lot before they’re ready to settle down. If OP is looking for a long term relationship it’s more risky.

I fully agree. I’m here so that I can avoid the political echo chambers like Reddit and Facebook. It’s been bizarre seeing the calls to turn Lemmy into Facebook.

I, too, enjoy my safe echo chambers. Just like Facebook!

With all due respect, I strongly disagree. I admit my views are coloured by my love of Asimov’s work, and their radical re-write has left a bad taste in my mouth. But when I analyse this show objectively I am left bewildered that anyone could call it “excellent fucking science fiction.”

Most of the actors are TERRIBLE. It was like watching wooden planks act. Instead of developing the story in any meaningful way, the directors chose to focus on disparate and dream-like sequences which appear to have little connection to each other. Bizarre pacing. They took the expansive time gaps and somehow made them confusing and meaningless. The dialogue is atrocious. The CGI is laughable. The accents are ridiculous. This is science fiction of the worst kind.

Lee Pace is the only reason I finished season one. Despite the horrific writing, he somehow pulls it off. The Expanse set the bar very high for sci-fi, but it showed us it can be done well. Foundation is fantasy in space. It’s Wheel of Time and Rings of Power in space bad.

I agree. I grew up reading Asimov. It ignited my passion for reading and sci fi. To see how badly they’ve butchered this material is devastating. It bears almost no resemblance. Like so many Hollywood projects, the only thing it has in common with the material is some character names. Everything else is creative writing. Because of course modern writers think they’re better than Isaac Asimov.