Interesting Links for 21-09-2021

[andrewducker]

Watch the Russian election being stolen, in real-time!

(tags:russia corruption elections )

Apparently liberals tricked Republicans into not getting vaccinated.

I...I think we might be living in the stupidest timeline.
(tags:politics vaccination USA OhForFucksSake viaSwampers )

A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it - possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom

(tags:prehistory asteroids middle_east )

The nerds making money online from the things they love

(tags:nerd geeks money comics videos roleplaying )

Amazon's AI Cameras Are Punishing Drivers for Mistakes They Didn't Make

(tags:amazon ai driving OhForFucksSake )

Kena: Bridge Of Spirits review: a beautiful action-adventure full of joy and wonder (I rather fancy this)

(tags:games review )

We Think We've Changed More In The Past Than We Will Change In The Future — And Americans Seem Particularly Susceptible To This Illusion

(tags:change psychology )

Comments

[danieldwilliam]

Is Howard Stern on the left?

[andrewducker]

He voted Biden.

But he's more of a floating voter, except when things get pretty extreme, as far as I can tell.

From a Trumpist point of view he's almost certainly a bleeding-heart liberal.

[danieldwilliam]

I'd always pictured him as a libertarian.

[andrewducker]

I believe he identifies as one. But events seem to have pushed him that way:
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/494847-howard-stern-i-am-all-in-on-joe-biden

https://deadline.com/2020/05/howard-stern-donald-trump-despises-maga-supporters-1202933838/

[danieldwilliam]

I suppose it is not logically inconsistent to desire a very small government but to think that, if you are going to have a large government it should be run properly.

[andrewducker]

I believe in the smallest-possible government that maximises happiness.

I just think that this is a lot bigger than libertarians think it is.

[snippy]

+1

[dewline]

1. That's pretty much what's happened in Russia, isn't it?

2. That continued belief is distressing to watch.

3. And this is a reminder of one of the many reasons why we are trying to build infrastructure outside the atmosphere.

4. I'm still terrified of the consequences of choosing badly, job-search-wise. I keep looking at "conventional" work, even now. I think I've got conditioning to overcome.

5. Horrible.

[andrewducker]

Conventional is fine, if it fulfils your objectives.

But it's worth trying for other things, bearing in mind that the vast majority of people making YT videos aren't making enough money to go full time.

Since We're Focusing On Item 4:

[dewline]

No, those semi-pro YouTubers are definitely not all living the life of the Point-One-Percent.

[danieldwilliam]

Assuming one did not wish Trump supporters to die of Coronavirus how on earth would one persuade them to have a vaccination?

[andrewducker]

1) Get Trump to say "Take the vaccine!"
1a) Get Q to announce that vaccines are good after all.
2) Tell them they can't go to sports/bars/clubs without a vaccination
3) Pay them to get vaccinated
4) Reverse psychology manouver whereby they get vaccinated to own the libs.

None of these will work on all of them, but all of them will work on some of them.

[mountainkiss]

1) possibly not working?

[andrewducker]

It absolutely won't work on all of them, but I do suspect it'll work on a few.

[birguslatro]

5) Have people they don't like tell them not to get vaccinated. (That's the opposite of what happened though, suggesting the headline's at least half-true.)

In NZ (and probably elsewhere) people are no longer anti-vax, but vaccine-hesitant. It's a good policy. Dial down the rhetoric.

[calimac]

Whenever Trump is persuaded to say something sensible, they boo Trump. They're wedded to Trump and stupidity, but if the two conflict, they choose stupidity.

[andrewducker]

Yup! Trump stood at the front and say what they were feeling. But it's the feelings that are important, bot the guy standing at the front.

[lilysea]

Re: the problems of automating monitoring driver behaviour

"Council parking officers walking down a footpath can see a disability parking permit in the lower left-hand side of a windscreen and will not issue a fine.

But the council has begun using mobile technology that involves officers driving down the road and taking photos of parked vehicles.

The photos, taken from the road, do not show disability permits on the left-hand side of the windscreen.

Infringement notices issued by Brisbane City Council, seen by ABC Radio Brisbane, include photos of vehicles taken from the road, not the footpath.

The council's city standards chair, Kim Marx, said the council had waived 173 fines for people with a valid disability permit between January and June this year.

"We have recently become aware of an issue with our mobile technology and I can confirm the issue has been investigated and is urgently being resolved," she said.

"What's become apparent is that mobile technology used for standard on-street parking bays has not always effectively captured disability permit stickers.

"We are now urgently reconfiguring the cameras to allow for additional angles and better zooming in, which will ensure any disability permits on a vehicle can be clearly seen so no infringement is issued." "

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-21/fines-issued-to-brisbane-disabled-parking-permit-holders/100477112

[andrewducker]

You'd think they could simply keep track of which cars are registered and then not issue fines to their owners.

Or is it more complicated than that?

[lilysea]

They are going to do that NOW, but only after 173 Disabled people spent hours on the phone contesting fines and complaining...

It's not a perfect solution, because the parking permit travels with the Disabled person, not the car - so if a Disabled person is being driven somewhere by a nonDisabled friend or family member or staff member, they can legitimately park in a Disabled spot - but it's better than the current system

"Another young woman with a disability parking permit was fined twice while legally parked, causing her parents to have to call and send through proof of the parking permit.

"Multiple phone calls, time spent on hold, photos, emails, stress as weeks pass … all a huge and unnecessary impost on our already squeezed time, especially considering our caring needs for our daughter with a disability," her mother said.

Ms Marx said she urged anyone who had concerns about a parking fine to contact the council immediately.

"We are also working to find a solution to make sure vehicles linked to valid permits are recognised in our database and not incorrectly issued with infringements going forward," she said."

[andrewducker]

I hope they are able to fix it. Not thinking about this stuff is maddening.

[bugshaw]

In England, disability permits go with the person, not specific to the vehicle (so different people can drive you, and you can park in the nearby space, not have to wait while they go off and park somewhere else and walk back to you).

EDIT: I don't read well enough to see that lilysea already basically said that, sorry.

[wildeabandon]

I think that I've changed more in the past than I will in the future, but I don't see where the assumption that it's an illusion comes from. I changed less in my 30s than I did in my 20s, and less in my 20s than I did in my teens. I fully expect this trend to continue through my 40s.

And I don't think I'm particularly unusual in that regard - becoming more stable with increasing age (and dare I say wisdom?) just seems like how humans typically work.

[mountainkiss]

I've been thinking about this. I wonder - with absolutely no supporting evidence in either direction, whether the rate of change might be consistent across the decades for a population. That would allow your principle to be true but also allow for a reasonably regular distribution of significant events that do catalyse deep change - e.g., marriage, becoming a parent, divorce, bereavement etc.

[andrewducker]

Fairly sure I've changed huge amounts in all of my decades so far. More in my 20s than teens, certainly, and then my 40s and 30s probably about the same but both more than my 20s.

[conuly]

You know what? If that ridiculous conspiracy theory gets them to vaccinate themselves, so be it.

[andrewducker]

Oh yes, I hope it will work for some of them.

[snippy]

On changing - I think the amount of change we've all done in the last year or so might be setting an unbeatable record for the rest of my life, at least.

[mountainkiss]

This is also a very good point and the ripples may carry on for years.

A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it - possibly inspiring

[anef]

Completely fascinating! And it may well have caused the story of Jericho as well as Sodom and Gomorrah, two for the price of one. I wonder if there were any other contemporaneous reports, eg in Bablyonian or Hittite writings.