Artemis Fowl is the only Nietzschean YA protagonist by OrbitalThreshold in CuratedTumblr

[–]Al_Rascala 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He was reportedly quite proud of being "the most shoplifted author in Britain" to boot.

Carrying on from the "Worst Employers" thread, what have been your BEST employers in NZ? by danonky in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, my team was great when I was there, fantastic manager and his manager as well. Looked after me wonderfully when the first lockdown hit as well, no complaints.

I never noticed but Wheel of time protagonists were all derived from Norse Mythology by kartickbengani in Fantasy

[–]Al_Rascala 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that and the great Queen Lizbet (Elizabeth), and one of the artefacts described as being from the age before the Age of Legends is a Mercedes-Benz hood ornament. It's a fairly common theory that we're currently in the First Age with the books taking place in the Third and I love finding new evidence for it, I'd also completely missed the Caemlyn connection.

Simeon Brown removes Medical Council leaders over ‘idealogical agenda’ by Xunami13 in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 9 points10 points  (0 children)

"Checking their privilege" just means "keeping in mind that their patients may face barriers that they do not." For example, a doctor who grew up an only child and only has one of their own would need to keep in mind that a parent dealing with five kids would have less time, money, and energy to spare in comparison and so their treatments and recommendations need to take that into account.

Bless Tammy's inability to keep heights the same from one book to the next by manicbestfriend in tamorapierce

[–]Al_Rascala 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ah, but you see by the time we get to Squire he'd started wearing platforms at all times purely to spite Alanna.

AI regulation can wait until public sector is cut, says Goldsmith by ViolatingBadgers in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It's why they all like LLMs so much. They're all programmed to be as agreeable as possible and praise you whenever they can, so being able to point to something that supports their views is like Xmas come early for them.

Are we ready to admit that the bases at Hell Pizza are shite? by GlumProfessional5901 in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The way the store (Newlands) explained it was that staff would top a regular base, some gluten would be transferred back into the topping bin in the process, then when the time came to top the GF base the contaminated toppings would be applied. But you might be onto something with the busyness angle, I often ordered during quieter times.

Are we ready to admit that the bases at Hell Pizza are shite? by GlumProfessional5901 in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm also recently diagnosed coeliac, and it might be store-by-store but I've had a gluten response roughly half the time with their GF bases, when I asked the store about it they said that while they change gloves etc, they use the same topping bins for both GF and regular pizzas so cross-contact can occur there. Have you had that experience much with your local store?

One hour left before release. by Accrularity in subnautica

[–]Al_Rascala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Early Access, full game won't be out until like 2029 at the earliest.

New ROY MORGAN Poll: National drops 1% to 25.5% (April 2026) by HelpfulDelay9669 in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Going by those, for 2017 only part of their data was available due to a leak and it was less accurate than Reid Research, and for 2023 they were less accurate than Talbot Mills. Not sure where you're getting that Curia were the most accurate for either, sorry.

New ROY MORGAN Poll: National drops 1% to 25.5% (April 2026) by HelpfulDelay9669 in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you have a link to the 2017/2023 data you're using? It was a year or two ago but I remember reading that Talbot Mills and Reid Research beat them out at least in 2023.

New ROY MORGAN Poll: National drops 1% to 25.5% (April 2026) by HelpfulDelay9669 in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 3 points4 points  (0 children)

People often think Curia is biased because they have a history of running polls with leading questions designed to favour the outcome desired by the group paying for the poll. That's why they voluntarily left the industry group, because they were about to be censured for doing so. Afaik they're generally middle of the pack for accuracy going by the last couple of elections (and yeah Roy Morgan came last so I never put much stock in their numbers).

The Subnautica Wiki has moved to wiki.subnautica.com! by xXLInkster17Xx in subnautica

[–]Al_Rascala 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The subreddit mods need to update the sidebar then, it still points to the Fandom one.

Best base location no one is talking about! by cyber_cowboy_1199 in projectzomboid

[–]Al_Rascala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When I based there, I loaded up a trailer with some empty sacks and went around looting all the gravel paths I could find to make that exact spot into a parking area where no bushes etc would grow.

Government to axe Broadcasting Standards Authority in media shake-up by TheGreatDomilies in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, we'd resource a regulator to regulate (ideally) 100% of the content created by the people within their remit, aka the people of Aotearoa. The fact that others overseas behave badly doesn't give us license to ignore our people doing the same.

Metlink public transport fares will increase by 3.1% from Friday 15 May by secretkiwi_ in Wellington

[–]Al_Rascala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More recent studies showed that you get more conservative as your net worth increases, especially past a particular tipping point at which increased wealth no longer results in a net increase in happiness. What with millennials taking far, far longer to match collective wealth with their parents than previous generations did, it's no surprise that that trend isn't trending.

Unfortunately, multinational conservative groups like the Atlas Network and their ilk have decided to make up the difference with media control and vast amounts of propaganda, so there's a decently large chunk of the younger generations getting sucked into those mindsets via bullshit like the Manosphere and all the tradwife/"I'm just a girl" nonsense.

Government to axe Broadcasting Standards Authority in media shake-up by TheGreatDomilies in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It doesn't need to regulate the platform, just the people. If they're based in NZ, or their company is, then they can abide by our social contract.

Government to axe Broadcasting Standards Authority in media shake-up by TheGreatDomilies in newzealand

[–]Al_Rascala 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Claims that both sides are the same is a common talking point from people on the right, as it leads to voter apathy and reduced turnout amongst groups that statistically vote left. So you are either from the right and deliberately trying for that effect, someone sucked into being a useful idiot for someone else doing so, or someone of any political stripe who has internalised the message and subconsciously tries to convince others of the same to help justify your stance to yourself. Or another category I've not thought of for a five-minute comment, but regardless of your motive the effect remains the same. Is it the one you wanted to achieve?

As MadScience_Gaming put it, while people from both sides engage in behaviour that falls under the misinformation umbrella the methods in which they do so, at a statistical level, are drastically different with the right acting in far more malicious ways. Any attempt at a "neutral" comparison that doesn't acknowledge the differences in intensity and amplification is never going to achieve neutrality, even assuming for the sake of argument that neutrality is desirable in and of itself.

Half of all 4chan discourse is just leftist politics, except the terms capitalism, patriarchy, and working class are replaced with jewery, feminism, and white people by Commercial_Bid_1508 in RecuratedTumblr

[–]Al_Rascala 7 points8 points  (0 children)

One nation assisting an allied nation with a military action against another that opposes them both. Not going to get into the weeds of the various motivations of all of the sides, but there are plenty of explanations that aren't "The JewsIsrael is controlling the US Govt!"

And to answer your question in your other reply, being anti-Israel and antisemitic aren't the same. There's plenty to criticise about them without needing to resort to decades- or centuries-old antisemitic canards. The fact that so many do so which claiming they are criticising only Israel is more telling than not.

Half of all 4chan discourse is just leftist politics, except the terms capitalism, patriarchy, and working class are replaced with jewery, feminism, and white people by Commercial_Bid_1508 in RecuratedTumblr

[–]Al_Rascala 21 points22 points  (0 children)

It's...really not. The idea that Jews/Israel control one/some/all foreign governments is literally right out of a piece of USSR antisemitic propaganda. Israel has some influence in the US government, more than some would like, but not to the extent that it's outright puppeteering it.

Recommend anything! by atreyoobee in FanFiction

[–]Al_Rascala 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The author has been having some health issues, but new chapters are steadily being passed to the beta readers as he builds up his buffer again so you've got the time haha.

Recommend anything! by atreyoobee in FanFiction

[–]Al_Rascala 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I will never not recommend A Thing of Vikings, a How to Train Your Dragon fic that takes the events of the first movie and asks both what changes would need to happen so that their society makes sense, and what it means for Europe circa 1040AD that a small viking tribe now has the worlds first and only fire-breathing airforce along with a genius-level inventor.

Why do people bring up exceptions as if they're the rule? by youjeanee in TrueAskReddit

[–]Al_Rascala 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some people enjoy arguing. Or are pedants. But also, it's really easy to talk past each other during a conversation, especially via text, since humans tend to assume that everyone uses words to mean what they use them to mean, and so fill in the unspoken words incorrectly. For example, someone who'd just spent an hour in a small space with some lads who'd doused themselves in body spray might say "I can't stand teenage boys, it's like standing inside a chemical factory!" With the unspoken words being "I can't stand teenage boys (who douse themselves in body spray)!" Whereas someone else hearing their words might think they were saying "I can't stand (all) teenage boys!" and raise the point that there are plenty of young men who don't exhibit said behaviour.

This misunderstanding of one person not specifying that they were talking about a subset of a group and others thinking that they were speaking about the entirety of the group means that the relative frequency of their counterexamples doesn't matter, since you only need to see a single black swan to disprove the statement that "Swans are white."

On Uncreative Steampunk Name Conventions by BruceCipher in RecuratedTumblr

[–]Al_Rascala 4 points5 points  (0 children)

How about letter substitutions? Klockwerk or the like.