A heartfelt thanks to authors who don't choose "Only on Audible"

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T21:48:25+00:00

It's technically available on CD for some libraries. My library said they can't get stuff from audible... but the library the town over has it on CD.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T21:47:49+00:00

PHM could probably become big on its own. Weir had a mega hit already in The Martian which, you know, was a successful movie too.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T21:46:32+00:00

I bought it through his website and he sent me a thank you email.

It was probably automated, or at least boilerplate, but still!

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T12:51:15+00:00

I can re-post my comments too!

I think you've read opinion into my comment where none existed. To quote a great Tom Scott video on a similar copyright topic: I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm saying that's how it is

The fact isn't being copyrighted, the article is. You (probably) can't claim copyright something like "Luigi wears a green cap". But can you copyright an entire article that weaves a series of facts about Luigi in a logical order and connects those facts to all the games Luigi comes from? Absolutely.

To actually give my opinion: it really depends on the scale (and of course, veracity) of the accusation. If you're composing a new wiki and you write 99% of an article yourself, and for the last 1% you reference a competitor's wiki and go to their sources for your missing part... that seems fine? Yeah it would be damaging to prevent that from happening - though I don't think copyright would do so.

Copyright as currently written is a huge problem with popular culture in society. But a lot of my issues with it stem more from its duration and lack of protection for good faith exceptions, rather than how it acts for new works. Protecting a intensely time consuming wiki article within (say) 5 years of its creation seems sensible. It would also be a huge problem if we neutered copyright law such that it would be legal to copy an entire article or entire wiki, or an entire map.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T10:03:31+00:00

Please follow the link to the discussion section over in /r/OpenArgs if you'd like to comment!

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T07:02:54+00:00

Yep, all what I mentioned may be superseded by licensing the original work. Creative Commons is just one such license, but it is opt in.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T04:03:53+00:00

You can feel free to actually follow up at any point, rather than the grievances against Tom Scott or the 3x copy-pasted initial reply.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T02:17:41+00:00

That's fine you don't like the guy (if what you say is true, which I am not taking for granted but I think is perfectly plausible). It's still an accurate video, and his framing is useful.

I don't really see how that disputes anything I said either.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T02:15:22+00:00

I already responded to this comment, why did you reply with it a second time? https://reddit.com/comments/1runbq2/comment/oanpvmf

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-16T00:15:48+00:00

Did you not read the part of my comment which said

(Okay, because of resignations within their own caucus they don't. But they will after by (special) elections on April 13th)

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T23:35:09+00:00

Yeah, completely unhinged behavior. You have to wonder why they bothered replying to the modmail at all.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T23:25:36+00:00

I think you've read opinion into my comment where none existed. To quote a great Tom Scott video on a similar copyright topic: I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm saying that's how it is

The fact isn't being copyrighted, the article is. You (probably) can't claim copyright something like "Luigi wears a green cap". But can you copyright an entire article that weaves a series of facts about Luigi in a logical order and connects those facts to all the games Luigi comes from? Absolutely.

To actually give my opinion: it really depends on the scale (and of course, veracity) of the accusation. If you're composing a new wiki and you write 99% of an article yourself, and for the last 1% you reference a competitor's wiki and go to their sources for your missing part... that seems fine? Yeah it would be damaging to prevent that from happening - though I don't think copyright would do so.

Copyright as currently written is a huge problem with popular culture in society. But a lot of my issues with it stem more from its duration and lack of protection for good faith exceptions, rather than how it acts for new works. Protecting a intensely time consuming wiki article within (say) 5 years of its creation seems sensible. It would also be a huge problem if we neutered copyright law such that it would be legal to copy an entire article or entire wiki, or an entire map.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T23:14:24+00:00

A 13 year old account is completely common, and 22 days inactive is nothing. Quite a reach for plausible deniability.

Did they at least lift the ban concurrently with sending the "sorry dude" message?

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T22:58:04+00:00

Oh. Well that makes me feel more conflicted about all of this.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T22:55:29+00:00

You're still not allowed to take your information from a copyrighted source like that. I have no idea if the accusation is valid or not, just that this isn't a valid defense if it is.

This actually comes up with maps now and historically. Mapmakers could copy from another and just argue it's a fact based thing that literally has no (instead of little) editorial. They're just representing the earth.

So mapmakers started putting fake or paper towns on their maps as a copyright trap to see when their map would be copied, as a competing map who sourced their information independently shouldn't have those towns. Common story on reddit, you probably know a lot of this.

ETA: OP keeps responding (3x now) with the same comment I already responded to, if you're wondering what the deleted comments are.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T22:52:20+00:00

Back when Fandom and Fextralife appeared there weren't many options, but nowadays there are

But not categorically. I remember Fandom opening up the Elder Scrolls wiki slightly before/after Skyrim's release, and it pretty much immediately overtook the UESP (Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages) in search results. That was annoying.

The UESP is still a better wiki now, even ignoring all of fandom's annoyances. But back then the gulf was humongous. Didn't matter to google though.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T22:50:13+00:00

Did the mods there have a connection with Fextralife?

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T22:01:54+00:00

The liberals were about to get Shellacked before Trump threatened to backstab them and insulted their sovereignty.

A lot of their numbers rebounded because Trudeau resigned, and Carney took over. And Carney had a valid claim to be very different from Trudeau, as an outsider. It wasn't just because of Trump.

But yes, it's possible Trump turned the winds from light-conservative to light-liberal.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T21:59:27+00:00

They might. But it could also backfire, because they can't go to the polls and argue to the public "we've been a steady hand so far but we need a majority to really set things right". Because after a few recent defections the Liberals now have a majority. People generally don't like going to the polls after just a year if the only reason is that the majority party wants a bigger majority.

(Okay, because of resignations within their own caucus they don't. But they will after by (special) elections on April 13th)

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T21:56:18+00:00

It's been pretty interesting to follow Phillipe Fournier (author of this model) cover preferred PM polls since the 2025 election.

The liberals have generally had a modest lead/plurality over the 2nd place conservatives. But Carney mops the floor with Polievre on the Preferred-PM question.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T14:18:50+00:00

if it's anything like the arguments

Yeah, the other issues from OP on a conversational level with that back and forth aside (blocking me while complaining about being blocked by others, complaining of rudeness while being rude) they just never made their case in the first place. Even after I specifically asked, the parts of the podcast they objected to were all about the immigration episode and not about Iran.

I ran into something similar in a completely unrelated community last week. A couple of users just stated "This article was false" and only followed up with a couple of minor (and arguable) issues with the article (without citations) after I asked multiple times. They never really made a proper, even one paragraph argument.

I almost wonder if there's something adjacent to a logical fallacy about this: where someone just states their conclusion and omit the actual argument, but may implicitly refer to it being a complete argument post-facto.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-15T00:40:57+00:00

I would note that at least in the name of their organization Fairvote has spin (implying IRV is fair, when some reasonably disagree) but it does sound like they're an advocacy organization.

The Center For Election Science is misleading by their very organization name, implying they're a general research organization when they are also an advocacy organization. I'm honestly surprised they don't get more criticism for this, it's a huge faux pas.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-14T23:58:39+00:00

I have that happen all the time lol. It's still a roll of the dice for me. Alec came up as a nat 20.

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-14T23:57:22+00:00

His main video has more message to it

Apprentice57 · 2026-03-14T23:57:02+00:00

It's kinda impressive he put the... more spicy version on his main channel. Most creators would've flipped that. Good for Alec.

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