[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 3 points 18 hours ago

Is there a lemmydrama like subredditdrama? Maybe a fedidrama community would work. I don't know if one exists yet

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 4 points 18 hours ago

I don't really think it's up to DinoCon to solve crimes. Obviously symbolic gestures aren't justice, but I don't really see what else DinoCon is supposed to do. Are you honestly asking DinoCon to spin up a crack team of legal experts to manage the epstein case? Maybe we should have GenCon start tracking down serial killers while we're at it.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 4 points 22 hours ago

Did anyone in this thread read the article?

According to the Montana Standard, after his name surfaced in the released files, Horner posted, and later deleted, a social media statement calling his decision to pursue Epstein’s support an extremely poor judgment. He said that while he knew Epstein had been convicted of soliciting prostitution, he was unaware of Epstein’s broader sex trafficking operation until years later.

Horner wrote that his visit involved only Epstein, staff, and several women introduced as college students. He said Epstein donated $10,000 toward a 2012 DinoChicken conference but otherwise declined to fund his research. “There was nothing weird, inappropriate, or out of the ordinary,” Horner said in the statement.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology released a notice to members last week, cautioning that inclusion in the Epstein files does not alone imply misconduct.

Those are sketchy circumstances, I think a ban from events is more than fair under the circumstances. Normally I would expect a ban like this to be lifted once feds completed their investigation (assuming no wrongdoing occurred), but obviously the feds aren't interested in investigating, so we may not get the chance to know whether or not there's more to this.

I think it's fair to expect the justice system to pursue "innocent before proven guilty", but private organizations ban and/or suspend members all the time due to credible accusations, even if they haven't been convicted in a court of law.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 14 points 22 hours ago

This is a fair take, and I greatly prefer an "innocent before proven guilty" justice system. I think it's also fair for you to read the article before commenting.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology released a notice to members last week, cautioning that inclusion in the Epstein files does not alone imply misconduct.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 10 points 3 weeks ago

I find solace in doing things that will help others and maybe improve the world. Local food pantries and shelters need help now more than ever. Mutual aid groups can also be quite effective if nonprofits in your area are sparse or otherwise ineffectual.

Perhaps the actions of a few individuals won't change much, but I prefer it to sitting around and waiting for the world to burn to a crisp.

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submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by UltraMagnus@startrek.website to c/politics@lemmy.world

In times like this, it's good to know that what protestors are doing on the ground is having an effect on ICE. In particular:

The Twin Cities Model: Don’t Copy It, Learn from It

What sets apart the Twin Cities rapid response network and its surrounding ecosystem is not strict adherence to a particular structure. It is a clear analysis of their conditions, a willingness to adapt, and the courage to fight back as the violence increases.

I think this article is also useful - setting off car alarms, whistling, filming, and yelling at ICE does have an effect, especially when protesters outnumber ICE. In particular:

In Minneapolis, we’re already seeing the success of ICE Watch. There are countless videos from ICE Watch observers that show agents leaving without detaining anyone after they encounter resistance. There are currently about 3,000 ICE agents in Minnesota, but the Department of Homeland Security claims they have only arrested 2,400 people — less than one person per agent.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I'm not going to fault you for that - but do you think you should receive an award for the work you didn't do? Even if you only use the car on the "easy" parts of the race that nobody cares about?

In the case of this particular game, perhaps the bulk of the creative work was done by humans. But if the GOTY committee isn't confident with drawing a line between what work is OK to offload onto an AI and what work isn't, then I think it's fair for then to say this year that any generative AI use is a disqualifier.

You and I can say with ease that an implementation of a basic swap function (c=a, a=b, b=c) doesn't require any creative work and has been done to death, so there's no shame in copypasteing something from stackoverflow or chatgpt into your own code to save time.

But it's harder to gauge that for more complex things. Especially with art - where would you draw the line? Reference material? Concept art? Background textures or 3d models of basic props (random objects in the scene like chairs, trees, etc)?

I don't think there's a clear answer for that. You might have an answer you think is correct, and I might have one as well, but I think it will be difficult and time consuming to achieve consensus in the game development community.

So, the most efficient answer for now is to have any generative AI be a disqualifier.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 3 points 1 month ago

I have an old car so I burn CDs all the time. After streaming music on shuffle for awhile, I find it refreshing to listen to an album all the way through.

The last CD I burned happened to be legally obtained music off of Bandcamp (a mix of some Trocadero songs).

Though of course a lot of the time, the songs I burn come from other sources.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 5 points 1 month ago

I'm not going to fault someone for driving to work in a car, but I certainly wouldn't call them the winner of a marathon even if they only drove for a few minutes of that marathon.

There's a difference between something that runs the race for you (LLM AI) and something that simply helps you do what you are already doing (I suppose photoshop is the equivalent of drinking gatorade).

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 2 points 2 months ago

Ken Klippenstein strikes again. Man is hard carrying journalism

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 2 points 3 months ago

I think it's important to consider other points of view thoughtfully, and question your base assumptions. Sometimes, constructive and argumentative discussion can help with that, assuming both parties are informed and respectful.

Now, how often have you seen a disagreement in the comments section where both parties are informed, respectful, and working constructively to really understand the underlying issues?

Sometimes, it's best to just walk away, and blocklists are an excellent way to do so.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

OpenDesk seems more aimed at municipalities and larger orgs, whereas cryptpad is better for smaller orgs - the 1000 user "large" edition may be too small for ICC. I'm assuming they aren't selfhosting the community edition of open desk and wanted the support.

Or maybe open desk just gave them a better deal. Who knows

4
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by UltraMagnus@startrek.website to c/games@lemmy.world

I'm thinking 2015 - Witcher 3, Undertale, and Kerbal Space Program are all classics. Fallout 4, Arkham Knight, and Cities Skylines were all excellent too, though fallout 4 and Arkham knight aren't necessarily the best games in their respective series.

7

I've been enjoying Dispatch so far, and the sales numbers seem well deserved. I know a few people waiting for all the episodes to be outbefore they buy it, though (final episode is out Nov 12).

If you liked the telltale games you will like dispatch.

[-] UltraMagnus@startrek.website 14 points 6 months ago

One of the factors in whether a nonviolent resistance movement can succeed or not is whether any state forces end up shifting loyalty. "Appealing to the moral sense of the people oppressing them" may be false if you're just talking about whoever's at the top, but it absolutely is a factor for the day-to-day bureaucrats and security forces. Nonviolent campaigns are more likely to cause these sorts of changes (particularly when violent crackdowns against nonviolent resistance backfires).

Consider the success of the following movements:

  • Peoples Power Revolution (First one in 1986) - several military leaders defected from the Marcos regime
  • Velvet Revolution (1989) - had several government officials defect
  • Malagasy Political Crisis (2002) - Defense minister resigned, generals and military officers were split on who to support (source for this one, since the article is hard to find). In fairness, although this one would largely be classified as nonviolent, at the time, it was hard to say whether or not there would be any armed conflict (aside from some incidents with police attacking protesters early in the movement)

There's several other cases of this happening over the past century, but I hope you get my point - nobody's appealing to the guy on the throne, they're appealing to all the other cogs in the machine.

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UltraMagnus

joined 6 months ago