Boxbot
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5 months ago
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on: The Culture novels as a dystopia
the gsv sleeper service had an entire other ship/Mind basically acting in this role (a rotating assignment/volunteer position), complete with human crew/residents
the grey area/meat fucker was a small, uncrewed, and demilitarized(?) ship/Mind that, while morally repugnant to the culture's sensibilities (or at least most other Minds'), no one considered significant/dangerous enough to give the same treatment
Boxbot
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5 months ago
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on: The Culture novels as a dystopia
the culture Minds are intentionally designed with personalities (for lack of a better term) suited for their intended functions that keep them interested in/involved with base reality and their responsibilities there. there was a bit about how "perfect" Minds created without such proclivities will basically fuck off to a higher plane of existence asap. of course the culture Minds know this, they're the ones designing and building new Minds after all, and some decide that they'd like to see what's on the other side of the veil themself and that's allowed, but most are content running their ships and orbitals and whatnot
Boxbot
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5 years ago
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on: I overslept because iOS 14 disabled my alarm
same. i had multiple days of confusion 'cause i thought i was sleeping thru the alarm / half-consciously dismissing it (something i've had trouble with before)
i'll never trust apple to provide a simple alarm clock again for anything important
Boxbot
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5 years ago
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on: I overslept because iOS 14 disabled my alarm
i can't remember which ios update it was but one of them removed the ability to set custom wake-up alarm sound (separate from the generic alarms).
did it pop up a warning? no
did it default to a built-in alarm sound? no
did it just stop sounding the alarm, but still show it as active and selected in the config screen? yes
Boxbot
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5 years ago
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on: Not all the facts fit the anti-colonialist narrative
pretty sure the british also saw to the irish as subhuman, which also enabled their exploitation
Boxbot
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5 years ago
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on: Unidentified Federal Law Enforcement Detaining Protestors Without Explanation
there's a kid in texas who got a beanbag round embedded in his skull so i'd say helmets are probably a good idea when you've got cops firing less-lethal munitions into crowds
Boxbot
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5 years ago
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on: Attention without awareness in blindsight (1999) [pdf]
your original takeaway was correct too =). there were multiple experiments covered by the paper, the earlier ones involving cues that the subject was aware of directing attention into the blind spot, and the later ones dealing with cues and targets both in the blind spot.
Boxbot
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5 years ago
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on: Attention without awareness in blindsight (1999) [pdf]
"attention" in this case being an unconscious phenomenon that can but not necessarily lead to conscious awareness.
in the study both the visual cues (possibly misleading) and targets were purportedly presented within the subject's "blind spot". the subject did better than chance at correctly signaling whether a target was presented or not and, additionally, was faster at signaling when the cue was helpful than when it was misleading indicating that attention was being directed to the probable location of the target subconsciously.
in short, it appears that some neurological mechanisms were processing visual cues and directing attention accordingly without any (reported) conscious awareness of the the cues or the targets.
Boxbot
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5 years ago
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on: In 2020, Words Are 'Violence,' Arson Is Not
> Slavery (including the enslavement of whites) is not legal, at least not in the US
when you get this fundamental assertion wrong why would anyone bother reading anything else you have to say on the subject?
i recommend reading the 13th amendment again.
Boxbot
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5 years ago
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on: What ‘less lethal’ weapons do
maybe you should be proposing hypothetical solutions to address the issues of income inequality and oppression instead of how hypothetically you would like to see masses of people gunned down in the streets
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure
The United States of America
now (more) americans get to experience to misery, terror, and death that the u.s. has exported to to rest of the world in order to fuel its economic "growth"
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: America Is a Sham
"What kind of ghoul would argue that we shouldn’t vaccinate everyone against a pandemic threatening the health of our nation? The same kind of ghoul, perhaps, who thinks that cancer treatment, or insulin, should only be available for those lucky enough to be able to pay for them."
probably the same ghouls upvoting the "price gouging is actually good" story and flagging this one, hiding their sociopathy behind shitty economics 101 scenarios and loudly advocating for the free market while the government pumps over a trillion dollars into it in an effort to keep it from imploding under its own contradictions.
america is a sham, and an exogenous shock like covid-19 is likely to lay it all bare. the only question is how we respond to the ugly truths revealed; do we acknowledge and strive to fix the issues facing the country, or do we avert our eyes and hope all this just blows over.
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: US House bill exempts employers with 500 employees from sick day requirement
it also exempts smaller employers. effectively only covering a fifth of the employee population in the u.s.
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: ‘We feel really terrible,’ says chief executive whose app roiled the Iowa caucus
the dnc and associated state organizations are not government organizations and there are no rules or regulations on whatever processes they use to select a candidate for the presidential election. they can literally do whatever the hell they want.
for that matter there is no (federal level) law or regulation requiring a public vote for the president at all. the constitution establishes the electoral college but the methods by which electors are chosen and vote are left to the state themselves.
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: U.S. threatens to freeze Iraq's account at NY Fed if troops told to leave
The U.S. troops are in Iraq because they killed just about everyone who tried to stop them from being in Iraq. What's a little more economic warfare to throw on the pile of atrocities?
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: U.S. threatens to freeze Iraq's account at NY Fed if troops told to leave
“in times of war, the law falls silent.”
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: Texas Is Latest State to Attack Surprise Medical Bills
I think you'll find that a running your healthcare expenses and approvals thru labyrinth of private, corporate bureaucracies, each siphoning off a portion of of the available money and incentivized to increase that amount however possible while offloading all expenses possible onto you, is in fact the ultimate expression of freedom. Please report to your local consumer reeducation camp for programming.
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: Open offices have driven Panasonic to make horse blinders for humans
cheaper than paying for the sq. footage for you to sit in
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
they're not being taught to read a piece of literature, identify literary techniques, or think critically; they're being taught how to choose one "correct" answer from a selection of garbage. whether they can justify that choice or not never enters the picture, this is a standardized test and there is only one acceptable answer.
Boxbot
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6 years ago
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on: Claims of Shoddy Production Draw Scrutiny to a Second Boeing Jet
Reminder that Boeing went to SC for massive government subsidies and a cheaper, non-unionized work force. But don't worry, I'm sure they're not being penny wise, pound foolish anywhere else!
(This behavior is by no means unique to Boeing or unusual at all).
the grey area/meat fucker was a small, uncrewed, and demilitarized(?) ship/Mind that, while morally repugnant to the culture's sensibilities (or at least most other Minds'), no one considered significant/dangerous enough to give the same treatment