middlemuddle

joined 2 years ago
[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 16 points 1 year ago

The criticism of this news is needlessly toxic. Maybe Hamas won't accept the offer, but that doesn't mean it's not a genuine attempt to save some children's lives.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nope, but they did make it so I get suggested streaming providers before my own bloody media.

You can disable this entirely.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago

If I had a friend I knew for decades that was convicted of some awful shit like this, I'd find it pretty easy to just not write a letter about their good character. Maybe I never saw even a hint of the monster that was convicted, but it'd be pretty messed up for me to just ignore the reality of the present and talk about how good they were to me in the past. Attesting to someone's character has a limit. They could have very easily just kept their mouths shut on this topic not supported a convicted rapist. My hypothetical friend can go deal with the consequences of their own actions themselves while I try to internally come to terms with the fact that my friend betrayed me by lying to my face for so long.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The US has limits on free speech in the name of public health and safety. There's no assumption of limitless free speech in the US. People who cry "free speech" typically have no understanding of its actual legal definition in the country and just want an excuse to be a bigoted asshole without consequences.

Twitter, not being part of the government, gets to decide what content they allow and doesn't need to worry too much about the legal definition of free speech. But, despite Musk's claims, Twitter is not actually a space of limitless free speech. They've taken plenty of actions since he took over that limit the speech of individuals he disagrees with. Twitter is just interesting in giving a platform to hate. There's certainly money to be made in monetizing hate (see Trump), but hopefully it doesn't work out well in the end for Twitter or Musk.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 3 points 2 years ago

That seems like a pretty solid approach. It still rewards the asshole, but calls them out on it without being rude and commits to not letting it be repeated. I don't think screaming at someone over a missed fast food order is ever warranted, but I think it's reasonable to be extremely charitable and give the person a chance to recognize and learn from their behavior.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 12 points 2 years ago (3 children)

The managers don’t want a fight so they’ll just give them what they want so they leave.

Unfortunately, this contributes to the problem. It's a reward for being an asshole. I don't blame managers or staffers for giving in just to get rid of the asshole because it's not worth getting screamed at. But it's like the "customer is always right" approach devolved into "being an asshole gets you free shit". I wish corporate culture was "treat our employees well and we'll treat you like a king, be an asshole and you're banned for life" or something along those lines.

Also, your money recommendations are on point and OP should definitely do some smart saving while they have the extra cash. It'll help them out a lot later in life.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

My argument is that it's not surprising that someone would choose to pay $20/mo for 1 service with all the things they want versus paying $100/mo to deal with 4 services.

The fact that Netflix et al pay their creators squat is a separate component. I was just pointing out that saying you want to pay content creators for their work doesn't really equate to paying for a Netflix subscription. If someone wants to ensure they're paying creators for their content, there are much better ways to do so. You can pay the $20/mo to pirate stuff, then donate to the Entertainment Community Fund, or buy something directly from a writer's website with the $80/mo you've saved.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 7 points 2 years ago (3 children)

what’s the point?

Simplicity and overall cost. Pirating is cheaper and allows you to get everything in one place versus 5 different streaming platforms. I see the draw.

And it's hard to make the case that paying streamers equates to paying the content creators with the strikes highlighting how little the actual creators get out of the deal. I'm in favor of paying for content, but you can't say paying Netflix their continually increasing, and more restrictive, subscription fees is actually contributing to supporting creators who make good content.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 19 points 2 years ago

Please don't give their statement any credibility without adding the important context. Based in some truth may be technically accurate, but when compared to all the other possible causes of bird death it's basically inconsequential.

https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/threats-birds

If there's a solution, such as painting one blade a different color, then great. We can leave it up to the turbine engineers and wildlife agencies to address it, it doesn't need to be part of any news cycle. Giving their outlandish claim any air at all lends it far too much weight.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 4 points 2 years ago

I knew I wasn't going crazy! That press any key habit is so ingrained because it's been around since I played my first game on a 286 PC, probably longer.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 10 points 2 years ago

I'm not experiencing that issue either and I have half the amount of RAM that you do. I've noticed an unnecessary autorefresh only after closing out of the browser for a long time, never in the middle of switching between apps. But, that does sound like annoying behavior.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 3 points 2 years ago

Yep, I wish I could disable voicemail, but there are important ones that come through from time to time that I don't want to worry about missing. Not every profession has comfortably transitioned to texting/email and I can't force them to.

 

I'm mostly asking this question for smartphones, but I'm also just generally curious how others approach this.

My parents are both 75+ and live across the country. One has a smartphone and a chromebook and the other has a dumbphone and has a Windows laptop. They're capable, but learning new things is pretty hard, and if anything goes a bit wrong they're very unlikely to figure out how to get past it themselves.

The Windows laptop is easiest to manage because I can remote in and fix things pretty quick, and browser extensions prevent the ads which might lead to signing up for new services. I gave up on trying to figure out how to remote into the chromebook.

The smartphone is the most problematic since browser extensions are limited and don't apply to the Google News app, where my dad spends a lot of his time. He's managed to install a bunch of random apps that he doesn't remember ever using, so now I have Google FamilyLink installed which should prevent that. But he also inadvertently long-presses on the home screen and moves icons around, removes them, adds new ones, etc.

I'm just looking for any tips people might have on this general topic. We're all our family's tech support in some way, it's just getting more difficult for me as they get older.

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