[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 days ago

Okay, thank you.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 days ago

I'm confused. What's this a blooper reel for?

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 44 points 4 days ago

'Your honor, we urge you to allow this company to continue breaking the law because our business is insolvent without the revenue we earn from crimes.'

I like Firefox, but if enforcing antitrust collapses Mozilla than so be it. How long has this car been going on? Have they not established any plans for what they'd do if this happened? They derive 75% of their whole company revenue from one source that was likely to be found illegal? They really thought that was a good idea? That's a hell of a business model. It's not a judge's job to save them from that.

28

My brother pointed out to me that in last week's episode of his podcast, Ezra Klein namechecked solarpunk in a blink-and-you-miss it mention:

“One common argument I heard on the left - Lina Khan made this point actually in our pages - was that this proved our whole paradigm of AI development was wrong. That we were seeing that we did not need all this compute, we did not need these giant companies, that this was showing a way towards a decentralized, almost solarpunk version of AI development, and in a sense the American system and imagination had been captured by, like, these three big companies.”

The context isn't as interesting as the quote. He was talking about different approaches to developing strong AI. It's only interesting because he used the term "solarpunk" in such a casual manner in a discussion that wasn't about solarpunk or even fiction. It reveals that it's in his vocabulary, and that he's ingesting this in his media diet. For those who don't know Klein, he's a very popular writer and journalist whose politics roughly resemble a quieter version of Elizabeth Warren's.

After hearing this, the thought occurred to me that what I'm witnessing is an idea spreading from a fringe group into a mainstream concept. Eventually, if it gets big enough with mainstream progressive liberals like Klein, I bet it'll one day get discovered and made into a boogieman on the right.

I wonder how long that will take? When is the first time I'll hear a clip of like, I dunno, Ben Shapiro shouting, 'Have you heard about this new thing they call SOLARPUNK???!? It's crazy! It's like... imagine a cyberpunk dystopia: but they want THAT with like, vines and TRANS PEOPLE everywhere! Some ruthless Soviet dictatorship but without even the cool cars or wonderful corporate innovation! It's just TRAINS and GARDENS instead! Ulgh!! [eyes bugging out for the thumbnail image]'

That might be interesting. I think that this idea has a viral quality, so perhaps I can look forward to that in 2025 or 2026. What do you folks think?

573
submitted 2 months ago by andrewrgross@slrpnk.net to c/memes@lemmy.ml
536
submitted 2 months ago by andrewrgross@slrpnk.net to c/memes@lemmy.ml
196
submitted 2 months ago by andrewrgross@slrpnk.net to c/memes@lemmy.ml
374
submitted 2 months ago by andrewrgross@slrpnk.net to c/memes@slrpnk.net
296
A simple mnemonic (slrpnk.net)
submitted 3 months ago by andrewrgross@slrpnk.net to c/memes@lemmy.ml
26

A poll on Mastodon: what's the overlap between fans of Star Trek and fans of the sci fi genre of solarpunk?

313
Plz stop :( (slrpnk.net)
submitted 4 months ago by andrewrgross@slrpnk.net to c/memes@lemmy.ml

Tbf sometimes I see really bad lefty memes on here, so when I saw a good I felt like I had to provide a demonstration.

(It's gotta fit the format, people.)

314
submitted 4 months ago by andrewrgross@slrpnk.net to c/memes@lemmy.ml
26

It's got little instructive explainers worked into the story. Good art, too.

12

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/16130943

My mom was complaining that the city has limits on how many leaves that they'll pick up, and she's got bags and bags of leaves stuffed into black garbage bags. This seems like a problem that should have some kind of backyard solution.

I've done a cursory search, and see that leaves are very compostable. They can also apparently be turned into "mold", though I don't fully understand what this means.

But I also see that there is a lot of variety in compost bins, and they're quite expensive. So I'm wondering: what's the best strategy for making leaves go away? She's not specifically interested in the product of the leaves, she just wants to find somewhere to put them after she rakes them up. Any ideas?

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 145 points 6 months ago

I don't know if this is a hot take, but I think allowing straight and cis people to identify as such is appropriate, because the alternative assumes that we live in a state of default heteronormativity.

If anything, I want to live in a world where homophobes get mad that if they want to be assumed to be straight online they have to identify like anyone else. No one gets assumed to be straight any more. That's better imo.

27

I gotta say that I feel weird reading this examination of Octavia Butler's notes.

I'm reading Parable of the Talents right now, and I had to stop. It's gotten too fucking dark. It's about the fascist takeover of America by Christian Nationalists, and a major character just died, and there is sexual exploitation of children... I really like Butler and Parable of the Sower, but this just got so dark I decided to read the summary and find out if I wanted to read more, and I don't think I can read this, at least not right now.

Reading about the unpublished sequels feels even worse. It seems like Butler had a head full of so much darkness and cynicism, and her published works were just the processed output after she managed to find the least brutal version of her thoughts. These books were her at her most hopeful! YIKES.

I like her and these books, but I just had to vent about some of this.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 196 points 6 months ago

There is a lot about this that is nuts, but one thing that really jumps out at me.

It seems like Netanyahu is planning an October surprise to shank Harris. And it seems like he is doing it in broad daylight. It certainly seems like a massive offensive strike on Iran one or two weeks before the election is a straightforward way to throw a close election to Trump.

But with this I have to ask: are Biden and Harris assisting with a plan that is clearly intended to cost Harris the election?

I want to say that they surely must've told Israel not to launch anything before election day. But based in their actions so far, it doesn't seem like they're imposing a "no election interference against us personally" requirement as a condition of their assistance.

I guess we'll see.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 126 points 7 months ago

I see Teslas in the bay area with bumper stickers that say things like "I didn't know he was nuts when I bought this"

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 105 points 9 months ago

This is modestly interesting. My brother worked here before they had layoffs about two years ago, and had a generally favorable opinion of the company and leadership.

Fundamentally, while I think RJ seems like a sound businessman and technologist, and I like the company's taste a bit, I will never be able to reconcile his views with mine. He very openly views cars as computers and software and services that happen to move you around, and I would like it to be a machine over which I have as minimal a relationship as possible with the manufacturer after I acquire the product.

Still, I wish them luck.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 104 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I'd like to go a bit deeper.

I don't think people invented socially controlling practices because they found religion, I think they found religion to frame the invention of socially controlling practices.

Masturbation is a gratifying act that relives pressure to settle into a rigid domestic arrangement that serves to make more workers and soldiers, and create dependents that need fed, and whose well-being would be threatened if a parent became defiant and provoked the ire of elites.

Masturbation is good for the individual at the expense of the nation and its rulers. So it's inevitable that priests would decry it as an affront against god, as that's historically been their purpose.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 181 points 1 year ago

That's awesome. Man, fuck that company. Bricking a train? Outrageous.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 153 points 2 years ago

The phrase "it's official" sits right alongside "literally" for most frequently misused statements.

I was wondering if the article was about a credit rating change or something, but I'm halfway through and there is no specific event mentioned. Just generalized analysis and forecasting.

Ugh, learn to data. Maybe the analysis is spot on, but "trust me bro" is not a valid citation.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 167 points 2 years ago

Oof. I just want to say as a Jew that is constantly trying to dispel the myth of Jewish media conspiracies, Zuck really isn't doing us any favors here.

[-] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 209 points 2 years ago

This is so backwards. I had to read this a few times to try to make sense of the memo. Apparently, the reasoning is that instead of telling employees that they didn't get a raise because of company-wide cuts, try to convince them that they just did a bad job?

That's stupid. That would obviously have the opposite effect of softening the disappointment. Whoever wrote this memo is an idiot who has no idea what employees do or what they think.

view more: next ›

andrewrgross

joined 2 years ago