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[2022-12-16 20:32:58] - a: "search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the internet, typically with malicious intent." I think it's fair to call this close-to-doxxing or even doxxing. It's not just a one-off "Hey, I saw this guy!", it was tracking every move of his jet. What purpose would somebody have to know that info for the world's richest person (maybe not anymore) other than malicious intent? -Paul
[2022-12-16 20:22:01] - "no, private companies can't make these kinds of decisions!" did you trump's * other * video yesterday? it's so full of similar things. ~a
[2022-12-16 20:09:58] - paul: and if you thought even for a second it was ever an issue you should change you mind on because of a stalker threatening your children. no it was always just a troll. ~a
[2022-12-16 20:06:58] - paul: when your chickens come home to roost or whatever ~a
[2022-12-16 20:04:29] - paul: "close-to-doxxers" these gymnastics you do. "close-to-doxxers"? you can't be *close* to a doxxer if the FIRST guy isn't a doxxer: this is all public information (and always has been). "hey i just saw mitch mcconnell, the fucking us senator from kentucky, at the airport at DCA this morning" is this doxxing? ~a
[2022-12-16 20:01:26] - a: It's not just children, but the idea of putting somebody else at risk too. Criticizing Musk for this feels a bit like defending the Nazi's right to march in Skokie to me. It's the right thing to do to be consistent and principled, but I don't particularly like siding with Nazi's and close-to-doxxers. -Paul
[2022-12-16 20:00:38] - yeah i don't know ted lieuwell or jason kint. i agree with you, of course. congress is the worst place to resolve this problem. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:58:23] - https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1603635197559218176 Also, I just randomly saw this. Not the biggest Ted Lieu fan, but I appreciate the consistency here when so many other are now lurching back to "no, private companies can't make these kinds of decisions!" -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:56:15] - i just googled brian stelter, i recognize his face, but i don't think i remember ever hearing him say anything useful. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:55:28] - yes, rachel maddow is opinion. she's just as bad as tucker carlson (who i watch orders of magnitude more often btw). i have no idea who brian stelter is. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:54:40] - twitter is blocking links to mastodon ~a
[2022-12-16 19:54:16] - paul: won't please someone think of the children? ~a
[2022-12-16 19:54:04] - a: Is Rachel Maddow opinion? Brian Stelter? -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:53:34] - a: I stand by that it's not a good look and a bad decision and am not trying to defend Musk, but I also don't want to revel in this. I can imagine fewer things changing my mind faster on an issue than a stalker threatening one of my children. -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:51:32] - paul: opinion pieces and opinion segments sure. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:51:28] - a: "it had tweeted ABOUT the jet tracking account" Yeah, and Twitter had previously suspended the acting White House Press Secretary's account for sharing a news story: https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/kayleigh-mcenany-locked-out-of-twitter-for-sharing-posts-hunter-biden-story/ -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:49:11] - a: You don't think there were a ton of CNN / MSNBC / WaPo news segments and stories speculating about what dirt Putin has on Trump and how he's a Russian asset? -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:45:53] - paul: can i please link this again? i know you love to say that you hate musk's newest decisions, but i want to revel in this concept a bit more. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:44:14] - paul: "Maybe?" maybe not. "it had tweeted about the jet tracking account" it had tweeted ABOUT the jet tracking account. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:43:38] - a: I mean, there's probably a huge overlap, right? The people who hate Musk and want to criticize him probably were big proponents of pointing out the Elon Jet account and hypocrisy around it. -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:42:52] - paul: "countless nights of various journalists" unless you're talking about opinion pieces, or opinion shows, or late night comedy shows, i'm not sure i agree. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:42:28] - a: "can you be more specific?" Retweeted the ElonJet account? Maybe? News looks vague and sparse on it. Apparently the mastadon account was suspended because of that: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2022/12/15/elon-musk-twitter-suspends-journalists/10907094002/ -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:41:26] - a: "we did?" ...Yes? Again, there were countless nights of various journalists talking about theories that Trump was a Russian asset and despite all the horrible things about Trump, it seems pretty safe to say that was mostly false. -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:36:32] - paul: what the reporters had in common were they were critical of the ceo of twitter, elon musk. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:33:15] - paul: "done something" can you be more specific? "apparently they DID break the rules on 'doxxing'" no. they ahve not. i have not seen any evidence of this. most (or many) of the reporters have denied this. ~a
[2022-12-16 19:31:23] - paul: "if your point is that the article was released prematurely" yes. that. "we just finished four years of rampant media speculation with far less evidence about corruption and tax fraud and foreign interference with the Trump admin" we did? ~a
[2022-12-16 19:14:22] - Also, apparently the reporters who got suspended had all done something with tracking Musk's jet? So apparently they DID break the rules on "doxxing" (if you want to stretch the meaning some and ignore Musk's previously noted points on it). Doesn't hugely change my mind about how arbitrary Twitter moderation has been, but it does go to your point about them not having broken any rules. -Paul
[2022-12-16 19:12:53] - a: But you can't know if it's real or fake until you investigate it. Now, if your point is that the article was released prematurely, then that could be a good point. I'm not aware of if the NY Post knew it was true or not when they published it. But again, we just finished four years of rampant media speculation with far less evidence about corruption and tax fraud and foreign interference with the Trump admin. -Paul
[2022-12-16 18:36:13] - mig: yes, of course. if the steel dossier (parts of which were false) was released right before an election (it was not) and twitter had a policy against it (they did not) then i think it would make sense to me to temporarily or permanently ban news reporters that reported on the false story. ~a
[2022-12-16 18:25:57] - https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-china-email-source-verifies and there was partial verification of some of the laptop’s contents even back then. saying the ny post was reporting on something false is not accurate. - mig
[2022-12-16 18:20:32] - https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/18/politics/steele-dossier-reckoning/index.html do you feel the same way about steele dossier. Its details were widely reported and completely unverified (trump engaging in water sports with hookers!) and later pretty much discredited. - mig
[2022-12-16 17:49:22] - paul: season 2 of newsroom is pretty interesting. you'd probably hate the show, but season 2 revolves around a fake news story, promoted by mostly liberal people, and why it happened, and how it happened, and what people did about it. you can't just try out a story on for size, they have to be true. ~a
[2022-12-16 17:44:58] - "this caution only ever seems to go a certain direction" i feel the same way . . . sort of.
~a[2022-12-16 17:44:22] - paul: "Even if it was fake, isn't that the point of journalism?" strictly no. maybe that's the point of bad journalism, journalism is about real things only. stick to the sourced and attributed facts: it isn't a marketplace of things that could possibly be true. ~a
[2022-12-16 17:41:34] - But this caution only ever seems to go a certain direction. -Paul
[2022-12-16 17:41:30] - a: Except it wasn't fake. It was accurate. What was fake was all the hysteria over Donald Trump being a Russian asset. Even if it was fake, isn't that the point of journalism? To investigate stories to see if there is anything to them? Man, I wish all these people were as on top of preventing the spread of fake stories as they were with Covington Catholic or Pulse Nightclub or Jussie Smollet. -Paul
[2022-12-16 17:19:58] - more metro service near density, yes please (density map) ~a
[2022-12-16 17:15:13] - paul: that's not a fair depiction either: the post was doing more than just "reporting on it": "data used by the New York Post in the initial reporting could not be verified". they were running a fake news story right before an election about one of the people running in it. there is a punishment for doing something like that and it often runs along the lines of losing your twitter account (for a period of time, or indefinitely). ~a
[2022-12-16 17:11:11] - a: Is that relevant? Was it illegal for Trump to say Mexico wasn't sending their best? Still reported on. How many thousands of hours of airtime did the media spend speculating that Trump was a Russian plant only for it to turn into a nothingburger? People should be allowed to investigate things that aren't immediately bad and to report on things that aren't illegal. -Paul
[2022-12-16 17:08:43] - lol, that's not like me. i reversed the thing in the wikiquote (the text was the url and the url was the text!). that broken link is supposed to read wikipedia (quoting politifact) ~a
[2022-12-16 17:07:02] - paul: was there evidence of illegal or unethical activity by the bidens? i'm pretty sure there was zero evidence of illegal or unethical activity by the bidens, am i wrong here? Hunter Biden laptop controversy literally said "[n]othing from the laptop has revealed illegal or unethical behavior by Joe Biden as vice president with regard to his son's tenure as a director for Burisma" ~a
[2022-12-16 17:02:43] - a: Which part? Because Hunter Biden is a family member of Biden, who was a candidate, and the story was all about some sketchy stuff Hunter was doing and how it involved his dad. -Paul
[2022-12-16 17:02:06] - i think you probably are allowed to do those four things, but also i don't work for twitter (before or after the musk takeover) so i can't be so sure. ~a
[2022-12-16 17:01:07] - "You may not use Twitter’s services for the purpose of manipulating [...] elections" So can I not tell people to vote? Or not vote? Or who to vote for? Or why one candidate is bad? -Paul
[2022-12-16 17:00:51] - i'm not sure that's an accurate depiction of what happened. ~a
[2022-12-16 17:00:12] - a: So, reporting on the discovery of incriminating dirt for a candidate's family member which might reflect poorly on the candidate is not allowed? Then I feel pretty confident saying those reporters likely violated those rules at some point too. -Paul
[2022-12-16 16:47:38] - paul: "censorship (ie, moderation) is bad and private companies shouldn't be allowed to decide who they allow on their platforms" nah, my opinions on that haven't changed. the world's ruling class is totally allowed to do all this super shitty stuff it is doing. ~a
[2022-12-16 16:43:46] - paul: "Neither did the NY Post" you know that's wrong, dude. we've talked about that one already: i'm a bit surprised this url even still exists, but here is an archived version from 2021 in case the content has changed ~a
[2022-12-16 16:41:17] - a: Neither did the NY Post? To be clear, I am disappointed in these moves, but I also wonder if we're back to censorship (ie, moderation) is bad and private companies shouldn't be allowed to decide who they allow on their platforms.
-Paul[2022-12-16 16:24:02] - mig: i'll be your classic pearl clutcher then: it's me clutching the pearls. those situations feel a bit different. a lot of people who had their accounts frozen this time didn't break any of twitter's rules. ~a
[2022-12-16 16:20:49] - a: the hunter biden article from a year’s back that old twitter suspended the ny post’s account over. - mig
[2022-12-16 16:19:08] - ok i'll bite. what happened to the ny post? ~a
[2022-12-16 16:11:49] - The moves are worth the criticims but seeing some of these same people clutching their pearls while they were cheering what happened to the ny post is pretty (-_-)ゞ - mig
[2022-12-16 15:55:35] - *effect. ~a
[2022-12-16 15:55:21] - "trolling to get subscriber numbers up" i noticed this affect too. it probably works sadly. "All these actions might even make Mastadon a thing" well the *best* i can hope for is a hybrid of a bunch of websites for this kind of communication. i don't think i expect mastadon to ever be #1. (but also i'm sometimes pleasantly surprised: see android an open source operating system, and signal e2e encryption, and bitcoin, and tor, etc) ~a
[2022-12-16 14:21:09] - a: All these actions might even make Mastadon a thing
-Paul[2022-12-16 14:20:53] - a: I was hoping he would take over, clean house, set a new standard for moderation which was more consistent and less arbitrary, and then let things go. Instead, he seems to have gotten himself intimately involved in random specific instances of account bannings and seems to have decided trolling to get subscriber numbers up is the best path forward. -Paul
[2022-12-16 14:19:19] - a: Yeah, I came here this morning to post about the suspended reporters' accounts. Looks pretty bad considering no justification has been given. I think it's fair to say Elon management of twitter has been a disappointment to me so far. -Paul
[2022-12-16 14:14:12] - a: I don't have much to say about this one aside from it's pretty suspect. If they were doing what he claims they were, he should make public the tweets that were the problem. - mig
[2022-12-16 04:46:31] - i'm testing out ip6 here . . . it's only taken me 20 years to finally figure out ip6. i found what i was doing wrong with my router configuration! https://ip6.aporter.org/msg/ (eventually i will likely include ip6 info at the main url, and someday maybe remove the ip4 info) ~a
[2022-12-16 02:09:39] - paul/mig: are you going to claim these guys have a "bot-like name" or trying to impersonate someone as well? i'm sure joinmastodon was spamming, and totally not leaching from twitter's bottom line ~a
[2022-12-15 19:18:46] - leave it to me to somehow make our tax law more complicated. ~a
[2022-12-15 19:14:38] - maybe in the fine print they use something about how it literally has to be a different "lot" or "specific identification", but i don't see anything like that in the summary you linked. ~a
[2022-12-15 19:10:57] - exactly, yeah. right? do you agree with me now? ~a
[2022-12-15 18:10:26] - a: Oh, is this the "before or after" part? You are saying the first buy counts as the purchasing of something substantially similar? -Paul
[2022-12-15 17:55:31] - you added the word "back" it doesn't show up on your link. ~a
[2022-12-15 17:54:04] - a: https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/wash-sales Not sure what wording you are seeing, but this one indicates you need the "buying back" step to trigger the wash sale rule. -Paul
[2022-12-15 17:52:29] - "Wait, did I mess a step? Buying a share and then selling 15 minutes later doesn't trigger anything until / unless you buy it back" you did not miss a step, no. I agree with you in spirit but read the rule again? You only need a loss sale within 30 days of a purchase (of the same equity). I'll admit it sounds like I'm missing something, and I probably am, but I'm not so sure either way. ~a
[2022-12-15 17:47:42] - a: Yeah, looks like he was probably responsible. Not a great look, A little understandable if you think the account is putting your kid in danger, though. -Paul
[2022-12-15 17:42:50] - a: Wait, did I mess a step? Buying a share and then selling 15 minutes later doesn't trigger anything until / unless you buy it back. -Paul
[2022-12-15 16:22:42] - paul: ok, so probably at least * indirectly * responsible ~a
[2022-12-15 16:01:15] - yeah, here's the version i played in the 90s: version 3. i actually think i played version 4, but imo this screenshot doesn't depict how different it really was to today. ~a
[2022-12-15 15:59:38] - a: Flight Simulator? Yeah, it's absolutely amazing. -- Xpovos
[2022-12-15 15:54:47] - apparently this is an in-game screenshot ~a
[2022-12-15 15:48:30] - paul/daniel: wash-sale rule question. so i understand the rule, i think: you sell at a loss, and you buy within 30 days (before or after). welllllll, what about the *simplest* loss example: i buy 1 share on january 1st, and sell at a loss on january 15th. is that a wash-sale? i mean, i DID buy less than 30 days before. i've looked at some definitions and they didn't seem to preclude the "replacement stock" being the only stock. ~a
[2022-12-14 22:27:54] - mig: i'm not sure if doxing public figures is a thing disallowed anywhere. obviously there are lines, but "omg, some senator just landed at dca" is not it. ~a
[2022-12-14 20:56:25] - leaving elon’s remarks aside the location tracking accounts are basically doxing people? - mig
[2022-12-14 16:39:04] - paul: he is, yes. i imagine this is a simple fuck-up? but, there are also those weird leaked messages about VFing this account, as described in my link. ~a
[2022-12-14 16:36:18] - a: I wonder if Elon was directly responsible for the suspension or if somebody else did it. He IS just one Twitter employee (and has just a few other interests as well), so it seems odd he would be involved in every suspension decision. -Paul
[2022-12-14 15:51:05] - new zealand? i'm . . . i don't know. i mean if we weren't all paying gobs of money to help all of these people out in the hospitals, it'd be a bit more cut and dry. i like a nice cigar every year or so, but i know most people aren't like me: one is never enough. ~a
[2022-12-14 15:49:26] - a: Interesting decision. Are we thinking pro- or anti-? -- Xpovos
[2022-12-14 15:49:06] - so let me get this straight, you literally went out of your way to tweet "my commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk" then . . . did the exact opposite? ~a
[2022-12-14 15:36:28] - Sorry I didn't get back to you about the DC Council thing. I guess I don't know nearly enough about DC politics to play.
-Paul[2022-12-13 19:51:25] - "legislation passed by [new zealand] parliament on tuesday means that anyone born after 2008 will never be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products." link ~a
[2022-12-13 14:07:23] - i wonder why they deleted his account. seems like a weird coincidence. ~a
[2022-12-13 12:56:42] - a: they were allowed back on if their *prior* offenses did not involve breaking laws or blatant spamming. Twitter still has rules and people as far as I know are still expected to abide by them. - mig
[2022-12-12 23:30:04] - "I think that's always been a no-no on twitter so ... whatever" mmmm. it was a no-no on twitter until musk said that people would be allowed back if they didn't break any laws or participate in blatant spamming. ~a
[2022-12-12 21:45:17] - The video of Musk being booed is being shared without hindrance on twitter. If the goal was to suppress the video, I'd think there'd be more activity on that front than purging some no name twitter account. - mig
[2022-12-12 21:42:08] - griffin was suspended for trying to impersonate Musk on twitter. I think that's always been a no-no on twitter so ... whatever. - mig
[2022-12-12 19:53:44] - a: As you no doubt can guess, I am far more interested in Bari Weiss tweet thread about Twitter's decision to ban Trump. -Paul
[2022-12-12 19:53:03] - a: I won't deny he can have thin skin. Didn't he suspend Kathy Griffin for something silly? He's also been far more mixed on the whole "free speech" thing, so I fully grant those points. This particular story, though, seems like a #NothingBurger.
-Paul[2022-12-12 19:27:00] - ok good point, most of the other articles i could find left out the deletion aspect of the story. ~a
[2022-12-12 18:57:00] - a: The "story" seems like it could be summed up in one sentence: "A twitter account with a bot-like name that posted an unflattering video of Musk got deleted for some reason, and a few people are joking that Musk deleted the account out of spite despite the video being freely available elsewhere on Twitter". -Paul
[2022-12-12 18:46:46] - The username is: CleoPat48937885, which is probably the most bot-like name I can think of. I can't imagine any other possible explanation for them having their account deleted. -Paul
[2022-12-12 18:45:08] - It doesn't even sound like Newsweek wants to go so far as to speculate, and instead is just like: "Some people on twitter are joking about...." -Paul
[2022-12-12 18:44:27] - a: Thoughts? It seems like it's not worthy of a news story. A single account that shared the video got deleted and random people on twitter are joking that Elon removed the account while the video is not only available elsewhere on Twitter but Musk has directly commented on the video? -Paul
[2022-12-12 17:42:53] - paul: thoughts? i know you've been free to admit that musk has his missteps, but this seems more overtly biased and hypocritical. "free speech absolutist" always seemed like a problematic depiction of his own views, but it's becoming a total joke as time goes on. ~a
[2022-12-12 15:31:24] - paul: https://ggwash.org/view/87617/fantasy-dc-council-committee-maker ~a
[2022-12-12 15:29:14] - a: My break even for my solar panels are still a ways off too.
-Paul[2022-12-12 15:24:35] - ha, probably not. cnn burys the truth, of course though, this technology is still a ways off. ~a
[2022-12-12 15:22:27] - https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/12/politics/nuclear-fusion-energy-us-scientists-climate/index.html Ah, crap. My solar panels are looking like a worse investment now.
-Paul[2022-12-08 17:07:13] - does the mormon church have a PR department? yikes. ~a
[2022-12-07 22:53:28] - i just noticed that reddit also won't allow my hate of pregnant people ~a
[2022-12-07 22:39:11] - paul: problems: 1. "such as" are *very* dangerous words here. 2. pregnancy? seriously? fuck pregnant people. 3. "unpopular opinions voiced respectfully is fine" strongly suggests that either respect is required 4. or that unpopular opinions are only allowed if they are voiced respectfully. fuck respect. 5. ffs, they haven't even tried to define "respect" ~a
[2022-12-07 22:38:37] - paul: i just read a definition of hate speech that you'd absolutely hate. hell *i* hate it too: "speech that nefariously expresses a form of prejudice or threatens a people of a protected characteristic (such as age, disability, ethnicity, gender, pregnancy, religion, sex or sexuality - unpopular opinions voiced respectfully is fine)." (cont) ~a
[2022-12-07 21:44:51] - paul: go vanguard? for what it's worth, all of my long-term-health-of-the-earth investments are non-vanguard. ~a
[2022-12-07 21:43:37] - paul: the story was that it was evidence of illegal or unethical activity by the bidens. changing it to donald trump jr doesn't change my opinion of the story: the laptop has to have something illegal or unethical on it. i guess if you change it to donald trump jr, there WOULD be something illegal or unethical on it? ~a
[2022-12-07 20:17:24] - a: What exactly isn't true about the story? That it shows some sort of corruption of Biden or collusion with Russia? In that case, sure. Obviously impactful is in the eye of the beholder, but I don't think it needs to have swayed an election to be impactful. Again, if the exact same laptop was found but instead belonged to Donald Trump Jr instead of Hunter Biden, would everybody be saying it was a big no factor? -Paul
[2022-12-07 20:14:46] - a: I guess it depends on what you mean by "true"? The argument against it was that it was Russian disinformation and/or obtained by hacking. Neither of those ended up being true, right? It was actually what was claimed from the start: a random laptop dropped off at a repair center that was never picked up. -Paul
[2022-12-07 19:49:49] - paul: it SOUNDS like you and miguel really like the idea of a decentralized marketplace of ideas. maybe . . . email? or . . . signal? or some other sort of decentralized communication, i forget what it's called. ~a
[2022-12-07 19:48:30] - paul: i'll still be on "your side" and argue that the companies shouldn't collude and shouldn't be centralized, but that's where our shared thoughts end. ~a
[2022-12-07 19:47:50] - paul: "But the story ended up being true and (in my mind) fairly impactful" hold the phone. neither of those are right. it was neither true (see wikipedia source) nor impactful (see miguel's own source about how it wouldn't have changed anything). "no evidence of illegal or unethical activity by the Bidens has surfaced" ~a
[2022-12-07 19:47:44] - https://www.motortrend.com/features/truth-about-electric-cars-ad-why-you-are-being-lied-to/ I post this mostly about the "But What If You Burn Coal To Power EVs?" I had no idea "ICE vehicles only send between 16 to 25 percent of the energy created from burning gasoline to the wheels" and "Electric vehicles (eventually) send 87 to 91 percent of the energy in the battery to the wheels" -Paul
[2022-12-07 17:08:08] - Not to mention the coordination between the government and these big tech companies on what info should be allowed to be shared and which aren't. And now we're seeing tie-ups between FBI lawyers and Twitter lawyers and vetting of documents as well? This is some really uncomfortable collusion in my opinion. -Paul
[2022-12-07 17:05:48] - Imagine if the roles were reversed and right before the election there was a report of how Donald Trump Junior was involved in nefarious stuff with Russian influence and Facebook and Twitter decided to outright ban sharing it on their social media platforms? Even if the story was false or not a big deal that would seem to be a huge overreach. But the story ended up being true and (in my mind) fairly impactful. -Paul
[2022-12-07 17:03:38] - This is an example of not only one tech monopoly, but a whole bunch of them acting in concert to suppress a news story involving a presidential candidate during the heat of an election! -Paul
[2022-12-07 17:02:34] - I get why many on the left want to downplay this and call it a nothing burger or whatever, but if people were principled to ideals and not just political parties I don't see how they aren't SUPER concerned about this. Why are we supposed to be worried about big tech monopolies ? Because they have oversize control over the discourse. -Paul
[2022-12-06 23:01:25] - yah gotcha, makes sense. i guess i don't use it too often, but if i did it might bother me more. im rarely ever doing chemistry . . . my job is with radiation and chemistry sometimes comes up, and i try to avoid it.
~a[2022-12-06 19:54:35] - a: I guess because of two things. 1) Avogadro's number itself is unitless. 2) It's well-defined in literature and fairly easy to memorize. Maybe I'm biased, but I use it and e (Euler's number) a lot. I have Avogadro's number memorized, I'm constantly having to look up e. ---- But your point is accurate it's all about the gram. -- Xpovos
[2022-12-06 18:58:22] - mig: yes, it wasn't terribly interesting. if you want to be mad at the washington post, that's fine, i agree with that take too. especially if it was completely fabricated, which i doubt they would do without some sort of source. regardless, news also should probably be decentralized, at least closer to like it was in the 80s. ~a
[2022-12-06 17:23:54] - If you want to make the argument that the story wasn’t terribly interesting that’s a reasonable take (one i also agree with). But the whole “it was Russian disinformation” nonsense and this handwaving by wapo that “well biden would’ve won anyways” was pretty bothersome. - mig
[2022-12-06 17:21:52] - mig: ok. i think we probably agree, then, that we shouldn't have centralized moderation? if you have only one person deciding what counts as "hate speech" or "meddling in an election", then you're just going to be more wrong on a much bigger scale? ~a
[2022-12-06 17:17:11] - it was alleged without any evidence by a lot of former intel gov people that the ny post story was “russian disinformation” or “hacked contents” and a lot of outlets and twitter ran with that. - mig
[2022-12-06 17:14:21] - a: I’m less concerned about the contents than more so the actions of a lot of actors attempting to kill the discussion around the story. - mig
[2022-12-06 16:51:21] - mig: "her emails" "his laptop", i feel like the october surprise for the gop always boils down into a chant. "Despite extensive scrutiny of the laptop contents by multiple parties, no evidence of illegal or unethical activity by the Bidens has surfaced". is this summary still true? ~a
[2022-12-06 15:44:32] - https://twitter.com/pbump/status/1599826317922517011?s=46&t=6i-Q_wwt-wH6RSZfNx2E0w “biden would have won anyways” almost certainly true, but that’s kind of beside the point with this situation isn’t it? - mig
[2022-12-06 15:43:57] - xpovos, you're my official chemistry expert. avogadro's number seems to be cgs. like, the old way? grams? why don't we have a new avogadro's number that's in mks? one that uses kilograms? like . . . SI? i feel like my related confusion is that the mole unit is SI (redefined in 2019!), but also the mole still seems related to grams (and cgs) sorta, which is weird. tldr, i think the kilogram-mole/kilomole should be the SI? ~a
[2022-12-06 15:17:50] - yes we probably agree. i don't think it's surprising that he thinks these things, and at this point it's hardly surprising when he says these things, and it shouldn't surprise me that people still support him. but the last one does still surprise me. ~a
[2022-12-06 15:13:25] - a: I guess I feel like we agree here? Is this an escalation of previous things he has said / done? Sure, I guess. It's the least subtle expression of his disdain for the constitution yet. But I have thought he had these opinions for years now and it doesn't surprise me in the least that he think the constitution should be suspended for his benefit. -Paul
[2022-12-05 16:02:01] - "He rants and raves against the judicial system whenever he doesn't get his way" everybody does this. or, at least, most people do this. ~a
[2022-12-05 16:01:05] - paul: anti-constitution is fine, i'm using them as synonyms: i'm not sure how a democracy can last on the long-run without a constitution. so, no examples? how about i give my best i can think of. the conversation with georgia "All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have". because i can ** imagine ** what trump MEANS in both quotes, not his words, i think the new quote is worse. ~a
[2022-12-05 15:58:56] - Which I guess isn't really anti-democratic as much as anti-constitution. -Paul
[2022-12-05 15:58:42] - a: He refuses to accept the results of an election. He has tried to whip up his side to either protest (at best) or riot (at worst) in response to losing an election. He rants and raves against the judicial system whenever he doesn't get his way. -Paul
[2022-12-05 15:56:54] - a: Eh, maybe that was a bit of hyperbole, but I still don't think this is surprising at all. Anti-democratic? Hasn't the whole story around Trump for the past 2+ years been that he has been trying to overturn a legitimate democratic election? -Paul
[2022-12-05 15:54:56] - paul: "Least surprising thing Trump has said in awhile" i do not agree. at all. *least* surprising thing he's said in awhile? it's maybe not the most surprising thing he's said ever, but even then, i'm having a hard time thinking of something he has said that is as anti-democratic. do you have any examples of recent things he has said that are at least this surprising? ~a
[2022-12-05 15:31:14] - a: "uuuh, what?" Honestly? Least surprising thing Trump has said in awhile. Already pretty clear he was an authoritarian who only cares about himself. I'm only surprised it took him this long to suggest discarding the constitution for his own benefit. -Paul
[2022-12-05 12:19:45] - a: I thought your quote was re: french air travel, and was very confused for a bit. -- Xpovos
[2022-12-05 06:49:44] - "a massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the constitution" uuuh, what? ~a
[2022-12-05 06:06:39] - france bans short distance flights in favor of train travel ~a
[2022-12-05 03:48:05] - wtf that password is crazy. ~a
[2022-12-05 03:47:10] - fuck me i did get the email. nm, i'm an idiot. ~a
[2022-12-04 17:19:11] - a: I sent you an email. I think it should have gone through, but if you didn't get it, let me know. -- Xpovos
[2022-12-03 03:29:46] - It seems like it should be something even defenders of the action should be able to agree on that social media companies definitely suppressed (to the level of outright banning) the story. -Paul
[2022-12-03 03:29:10] - https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-releases-details-twitter-suppression-hunter-biden-story-2022-12 I find it really bizarre how Insider keeps using "suppression" (in quotes) as if it's some made up thing. -Paul
[2022-12-02 20:13:53] - daniel: you'll also have my respect and admiration. ~a
[2022-12-02 19:21:41] - I don't know that its tarnished but certainly not ideal, lol -Daniel
[2022-12-02 19:01:52] - Daniel: Congrats! Does it tarnish the win at all that it comes during the worst investing year in like a decade plus?
-Paul[2022-12-02 18:40:47] - Oh yeah I fine not being part of the bet - mostly just drawing attention to my potential first "win". -Daniel
[2022-12-02 18:09:14] - daniel: "daniel and andrew are exempt from terms and can't win" ~a
[2022-12-02 18:07:23] - daniel: we've always specified that the wager is "between paul and adrian", or even "only paul and adrian can win money", or similar, to avoid this eventuality. if you want to play, you have to specify that in january, not december
~a[2022-12-02 17:47:08] - Daniel: My respect and admiration?
I think Adrian and I usually put like $20 on the outcome but not sure you have participated in the past. -Paul[2022-12-02 17:25:36] - Do I get any prizes if I hold on and "win" the stock challenge? I think it will be the first time for me (assuming I hold on). -Daniel
[2022-12-02 17:09:12] - I think a lot of criticisms of Elon and Twitter are off-base, but there's no doubt the twitter bannings are just as erratic and not seemingly following any set standards as before, if not more so. I am still hopeful they will get to a better place, but it seems like one set of vague and inconsistently applied standards has just been replaced by a different one. -Paul
[2022-12-02 16:49:07] - apparently Kayne got kicked off Twitter so even Elon has limits somewhere too. -Daniel
[2022-12-02 16:48:26] - a: Yeah I'm with paul - 'use' is a tricky word there. I can imagine 17% somehow own some. I would find it harder to believe that 17% of people paid for non crypto goods and services with crypto in the last few years. -Daniel
[2022-12-02 15:27:22] - paul: that's right. i'm like 90% sure that is statutory rape. he probably also violated federal sex trafficking laws. ~a
[2022-12-02 15:24:54] - https://adventofcode.com/ if you want to do some fun programming problems. the first few days are crazy easy, you should at least try day one and day two. if you end up doing any problems *PLEASE* create a private room and send me the code! ~a
[2022-12-02 15:16:14] - a: Okay, but regardless of formally or not. Tell me the worst case for him in your opinion. That he paid a 17 year old for sex and used his political influence to dodge prosecution? -Paul
[2022-12-02 14:58:53] - is incitement of violence allowed on twitter or not? it seems to be a bit inconsistent to say the least. ~a
[2022-12-02 14:50:58] - paul: not formally. he probably won't get any formal charges, that's my guess, at least. but he definitely did it, there's gobs of evidence. it's prosecutorial misconduct in my opinion. ~a
[2022-12-02 14:49:50] - a: I would be interested in what is meant by "use". Own in some way? I can believe. -Paul
[2022-12-02 14:49:15] - a: I haven't been following this at all. Gaetz is accused of having paid a 17 year old for sex? -Paul
[2022-12-02 14:48:40] - daniel/paul: apparently 17% of americans use bitcoin? i didn't realize it was that high, but i guess it makes sense. ~a
[2022-12-02 05:21:28] - so this finally happened. "assisted in investigations of 24 people, including eight for sex crimes. Defense attorney Fritz Scheller said that Greenberg’s cooperation has led to four federal indictments, and that he believed additional ones were expected in the coming month." do tell. ~a
[2022-12-01 13:08:10] - paul: nah they're both bullying. ~a
[2022-12-01 04:31:52] - Often calling them Nazis or Fascists or saying that Shopify is supporting mass murderers or other fairly ridiculous claims. That seems far more bullying than a single reference to a person's previous gender. -Paul
[2022-12-01 04:30:37] - a: I mean, where does activism cross over to bullying? Tobi Lutke is the CEO of Shopify. I follow him on Twitter to get info about Shopify as a company. Recently, whenever he tweets anything, the replies are littered with people asking why they still let LibsOfTikTok use Shopify... -Paul
[2022-12-01 04:27:18] - a: The bullying thing is weird to me. It's hard for me to see the Babylon Bee referencing a trans-person's previously identified gender as bullying while seeing things like what happens to JK Rowling as being perfectly acceptable. -Paul
[2022-12-01 03:35:18] - mig: i don't blame twitter for banning the babylon bee when they did. it wasn't a threat to humanity, of course, but most social networks won't let you bully other people. ~a
[2022-12-01 01:58:15] - What I'm still perplexed is why people are losing their shit so intensely over all this twitter nonsense. Is letting the Babylon Bee spew a few tasteless jokes really such a grave threat to humanity? - mig
[2022-11-30 23:09:15] - Unless, of course, you don't believe Elon. -Paul
[2022-11-30 23:08:58] - https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598090996281413638 Sounds like Twitter getting pulled from iPhones is off (or was never a thing). -Paul
[2022-11-30 20:20:45] - a: Uh, well, that's another level of extrapolation, right? Would the real test be to try to guess the fed rate? I'll play along, though. What do I get if I am within 20%? I'll say 69! -Paul
[2022-11-30 20:00:22] - paul: if you could predict future bond prices i'd love that. can you give me your prediction for BND today vs 2023-11-30? (please tell me you foresaw the ~12% drop in BND YTD. i wish you had mentioned it in january) ~a
[2022-11-30 19:57:15] - a: "like predicting a quarterly earnings report?" I don't think so. I think most attentive people could predict fed actions over the next 6 months better than they could predict a company's earnings report. Good point about international bonds, though. -Paul
[2022-11-30 19:56:03] - 1. the output of the fed's decisions affect bond prices less than a quarterly earnings report. 2. the us fed's decisions don't have a huge affect on international bonds. i like to have less than 50% of my bonds to be domestic. i'm not sure what the recommendation for that is, though. ~a
[2022-11-30 19:54:13] - paul: like predicting a quarterly earnings report? ~a
[2022-11-30 19:51:53] - a: "right. just like the stock market has reached it's peak?" Yeah, definitely glossing over the obvious fact that timing bonds is probably almost as hard as timing the market. But in theory bond rates should follow fed rates pretty closely and fed movements might be able to be somewhat predicted. -Paul
[2022-11-30 19:50:35] - a: "it'll *never* come close to reaching parity" Historically, sure, but in theory it should be even, right? At least for any industry that uses workers at all. I suppose automation can shift things, but every rail worker striking would grind things to a halt just as much as every rail company shutting down. -Paul
[2022-11-30 19:50:28] - . . . those words in graph form. ~a
[2022-11-30 19:48:30] - paul/daniel: so another thing to notice about with bonds: don't overthink it. bonds historically have gotten ~1% over inflation (probably closer to ~1.5% over inflation). so, when interest rates go up and when interest rates go down, you're still beating inflation in the long-term. ~a
[2022-11-30 19:40:45] - "rates are going down soon" right. just like the stock market has reached it's peak?
time to sell all my stocks, it's all downhill from here. ~a[2022-11-30 19:39:56] - "It's interesting we worry about monopolies when it comes to companies but not when it comes to labor" companys' ability to organize far outpace individuals' ability to organize. it'll *never* come close to reaching parity. ~a
[2022-11-30 19:39:30] - a: "when rates are going DOWN, it's a neutral to good time to be heavily invested in bonds" Right, I think that's what I am saying. If I think we're at the "top" (ie, rates are going down soon) then it's a good time to buy bonds, right? I guess what I worry about is that maybe other people will be selling bonds to buy stocks or other stuff. -Paul
[2022-11-30 19:38:05] - Daniel: I tend to dismiss that argument as a way to take away a person's right to negotiate, but it is kind of an interesting thought experiment. What if all doctors went on strike? It's interesting we worry about monopolies when it comes to companies but not when it comes to labor. -Paul
[2022-11-30 19:37:09] - paul: HA it always seemed backwards to me at first too. but now i totally get it. when rates are going UP, it's a neutral to bad time to be heavily invested in bonds, when rates are going DOWN, it's a neutral to good time to be heavily invested in bonds. when you sit and think about it a lot it makes sense. new bonds are being issued every day! ~a
[2022-11-30 19:34:48] - a: Now I am worried I have it reversed. Wouldn't I want to buy bonds when rates are high? In other words: assuming I thought the fed was going to start reducing rates in 2023 and the rates now are likely to be the highest we see in ~5 years or so... wouldn't now be a good time to buy bonds since they are likely to hold their value better versus newly issued bonds? Or maybe not, because people sell bonds to buy stocks? -Paul
[2022-11-30 19:31:35] - paul: Yeah people are worried a rail strike would mess up the economy at large. -Daniel
[2022-11-30 19:26:32] - paul: yes stocks have earnings, book, dividends, etc. and all of them have a last price. yes bonds have an interest that affects the price. and stocks have earnings and dividends and other things that affect the price. buying into an overvalued stock market is basically the same as buying into an overvalued bond market. the latter is less volatile. your complaint is real, but MUCH smaller of a problem than in the stock market. ~a
[2022-11-30 19:26:02] - Daniel: Is there a reason the Federal government has to be involved and it can't just be the workers negotiating with the employers? I guess because a strike could be a national security issue or something? -Paul
[2022-11-30 19:25:16] - Daniel: I know next to nothing about the rail strike news except that it is happening. With the caveat that I know nothing about it, my biggest worry is that Biden (being a democrat who I assume tends to side with unions) is going to force a resolution that gives the workers way too much. -Paul
[2022-11-30 19:23:46] - aDaniel: But unlike stocks (well, maybe not totally for dividend stocks), bonds pay interest, right? And doesn't the rate of that interest tend to vary with the current macro conditions? Or am I completely misunderstanding bonds?
-Paul[2022-11-30 19:11:18] - paul: i'm with daniel, 1. what daniel said. 2. i'm pretty sure you're confusing the primary bond market with the secondary market. the secondary market works more like a stock market, with bids and asks, and really it prices itself like stocks do (or doesn't just like when stocks don't?). ~a
[2022-11-30 19:10:25] - a: There isn't one but there is a lot of worry about a potential one as soon as like next week or the week after. -Daniel
[2022-11-30 19:10:02] - Also I'm not sure I get how congress can stop a strike? How are people compelled to work? I'm confused on the details there. -Daniel
[2022-11-30 19:09:18] - daniel: there's a rail strike? one of the bad things about using public transportation to get to work is i am not (forced into) listening to NPR as much anymore. ~a
[2022-11-30 19:08:44] - If I were Biden I'd be all about supporting the striking workers and calling out the companies for not figuring out a way to have workers with paid sick time. -Daniel
[2022-11-30 19:08:01] - Have any of you been paying attention to the rail strike stuff? NPR has done a few stories on it and I'm pretty peeved that I think congress (dems) might push through a resolution to head off a strike that doesn't get the workers what they want. I'm not down for that. I get not wanting a strike but if they want 4 sick days (up from 0) they should be able to fight for that. -Daniel
[2022-11-30 19:07:29] - paul: lol, i guess i didn't mind the date. ~a
[2022-11-30 19:06:53] - paul: Is that like asking what the current overall market rate is before deciding how much should be in stocks? -Daniel
[2022-11-30 18:30:26] - aDaniel: Stupid question about bonds: When considering what percentage of your portfolio should be in bonds, shouldn't the current rate offered by bonds matter just as much (if not maybe more) than how close you are to retirement? -Paul
[2022-11-30 14:52:05] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E62cCGUiJOY I thought this video on voting myths had some good info, even if I disagree with their main takeaway of "your vote matters". -Paul
[2022-11-30 14:39:02] - a: "mind the date. it's before the then-president blew past the 1st amendment at 120kph" Not sure what you mean? The date is from the Biden presidency. Is he the "then-president"? What instance of blowing past the 1st amendment? -Paul
[2022-11-30 03:52:03] - cnn's website has always had a major click bait problem. ~a
[2022-11-30 03:51:58] - mind the date. it's before the then-president blew past the 1st amendment at 120kph. ~a
[2022-11-30 03:24:41] - paul: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FirevYXVEAAsKAq?format=png ~a
[2022-11-30 01:24:58] - With all the stuff currently going on in Iran and China and Ukraine... it just seems like there's a lot of gap in coverage. Maybe one of those are stories feels worthy of a headline, unless you want to use excited Biden as a proxy for the US winning. -Paul
[2022-11-30 01:22:06] - "Watch: An excited Biden returns to the podium to announce World Cup win", "Walmart employee where 6 were killed sues company for $50 million". I'm curious how many of those people here think are super important news stories. -Paul
[2022-11-30 01:21:21] - Current big font headlines on CNN.com: "Two Oath Keepers leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy", "Senate passes bill to protect same-sex and interracial marriage in landmark vote", "Supertall skyscraper is coming to an unexpected US city"... -Paul
[2022-11-30 01:18:56] - Unless the point is the Musk is inconsistent, which I would grant. He does appear to be a bit erratic (no surprise there) when it comes to his thoughts on free speech. -Paul
[2022-11-30 01:18:04] - a: I don't know much about Musk's opinions about TikTok. It would surprise me a bit if he was in favor of banning it, though, considering he is often accused of being in the bag for China. Also, not entirely sure how it's relevant? -Paul
[2022-11-29 22:27:09] - I still in the “banning tiktok is bad” camp but it came out of quasi legit concerns as opposed to “I’m mad twitter is letting people on the platform I don’t like” - mig
[2022-11-29 22:25:21] - a: the <a href=“https://www.npr.org/2022/11/17/1137155540/fbi-tiktok-national-security-concerns-china”>circumstances around tiktok</a> were a little different. - mig
[2022-11-29 22:15:49] - paul: from the comments in your link, it sounds like musk didn't give two shits when trump was banning tiktok from the whole united states. not *AN* app store. not *both* app stores. not all app stores. but the whole fucking country. musk was like "oh well". ~a
[2022-11-29 20:00:10] - Xpovos: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597300125243944961 -Paul
[2022-11-29 18:50:51] - Paul: The only "official" statements I've seen was Elon tweeting that Apple was pro-censorship because they were reducing advertising on Twitter. Because it was a tweet, the lack of details is intense. I assumed this meant that Apple corporate was advertising its own products (iPhone, iPad, etc.) on Twitter less. -- Xpovos
[2022-11-29 17:44:44] - Xpovos: As far as I can tell, nobody knows the stated reason because this is all just speculation. Maybe it's the same reckless speculating that Twitter was going to cease to exist because Elon fired too many people. Or maybe there HAVE been some discussions but nobody is willing to go on the record right now (except, I guess, maybe Elon?) -Paul
[2022-11-29 17:31:56] - Paul: If Twitter is removed from the App Store, is the stated reason because "it has hate speech?" If so, I'll agree that's BS. If it's because Apple just doesn't want it there anymore... that seems totally fine. Arbitrary, perhaps, but within reason. -- Xpovos
[2022-11-29 17:19:19] - Xpovos: And the mention of Safari just makes the argument of "but Twitter has hate speech!" even more ridiculous, because plenty of hate speech could be found using Safari too. -Paul
[2022-11-29 17:16:23] - Xpovos: Abuse of monopoly power would be the argument. Lots of tech companies have argued that from various angles (the most recent being the deprecation of AAID for anybody else but Apple) and this would be one more argument for that. -Paul
[2022-11-29 16:59:13] - Paul: Please expand on how removing the Twitter app affects anti-trust. Is Safari refusing to load the webpage? -- Xpovos
[2022-11-29 15:12:49] - a: A part of me would love to see Apple remove Twitter from the app store just to see how other services respond and how it complicates anti-trust concerns with Apple already. -Paul
[2022-11-29 15:11:48] - a: Has Musk made a huge mistake? Why do you say so? Because of the threats of being removed from various app stores? -Paul
[2022-11-28 22:42:08] - he thought he'd roll the dice. as miguel said ymmv, and musk is maybe going to see the terrible end of that mileage. ~a
[2022-11-28 22:41:19] - paul/mig: musk made a huge mistake allowing everybody back on who didn't break the law. was he not able to foresee this eventuality? did he have a dozen executives in his own company begging him not to do this? or two dozen? ~a
[2022-11-28 21:35:44] - "slower speeds might also make road travel less efficient / convenient". i guess we probably need to do a cost-benefit analysis. ~a
[2022-11-28 20:18:10] - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63762276 I strangely am not sure if the person would want this spread widely, but I know the woman in the middle of the top photo in this news story. -Paul
[2022-11-28 19:47:00] - https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1597315292136640512 The new hot story circulating twitter? That Apple and/or Google are going to remove them from their respective app stores. I'm having a hard time telling where conspiracy theories end and reasonable fears begin. -Paul
[2022-11-28 19:22:55] - a: Is the argument that slower speeds means less road deaths? That doesn't seem counter intuitive at all. But I would guess slower speeds might also make road travel less efficient / convenient. -Paul
[2022-11-28 18:15:31] - before you mention this is spend-happy liberals, we should consider that they will actually spend *less* money even in the short run (more sources) ~a
[2022-11-28 17:36:54] - paul: no i don't think that's what he said. but what he did say is that it's more common (and maaaybe without actual data) in places where the roads are straighter and without complexities and with wider lanes. and imo he's probably right. people drive slower in the other situations because they have to, and they also kill fewer people and actually kill themselves less frequently. it seems very counter-intuitive. ~a
[2022-11-28 16:33:44] - a: Is it much rarer in whatever place he is versus the US? I'm sure. Probably. I don't know. But I find the whole initial framing to be weird. He's acting as if every day you can see a car careening into a building in the US. -Paul
[2022-11-28 16:33:04] - ah ok. ~a
[2022-11-28 16:32:47] - a: I'm just going by literally the first line spoken: "I hadn't seen a car crash into a building yet". And that's over the space of a year and a half. And then he admits it does happen, and you can find articles about it. I dunno. I find that to be a strange intro. I've easily gone more than a year and a half here without having seen or heard of a car crashing into a building. -Paul
[2022-11-28 16:03:51] - paul: "seen any cars" i thought his thesis was he hadn't "heard" about any cars running into buildings. it's his job to watch the news on this kind of thing. ~a
[2022-11-28 14:45:09] - a: Maybe it has something to do with how surprised the narrator seemed to be that he hadn't seen any cars running into buildings? I've been driving for around two decades and never seen a car drive into a building (in person, I've seen videos). I've seen the aftermath of it. And I've heard about it. Yeah, it happens, but it's also not like going on left and right. -Paul
[2022-11-28 13:23:15] - paul: i had posted this. and you replied irl, so i guess i don't remember exactly what you said, but it wasn't positive. ~a
[2022-11-25 14:37:24] - musk amnesty. accounts suspened/banned will be reinstated provided the account’s tweets didn’t break the law or engage in egregious spam. I approve but ymmv. - mig
[2022-11-23 22:09:34] - a: "weren't you you telling me that this wasn't a thing?" I did? I don't recall that. I know for a fact cars sometimes drive into stores like that. It happened near our old TKD studio. Heck, I almost got out of my car while it was still in drive a few days ago. -Paul
[2022-11-23 21:58:33] - paul: three cars have driven into buildings 10 miles from your house in the past three years. this image is the most recent one. weren't you you telling me that this wasn't a thing? ~a
[2022-11-23 21:27:29] - a: "that moderation shouldn't happen in one place" Agreed. decentralized moderation is the lesser of two evils. That's part of what has really concerned me about recent disinformation moderation: It seems to be coordinated between government and big tech. -Paul
[2022-11-23 19:27:38] - the board of supervisors for san francisco? "robots shall not be used as a use of force against any person". the police department "no". ~a
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