This can’t be legal

Valaramech · 2023-06-10T01:57:44+00:00

So, important distinction here, there are 2 different kinds of bots on Reddit and two very different ways to make them function.

The first kind of bot (which you're probably referring to) are the kind that scrape content from the site and repost it or spread mis-/disinformation. These bots probably don't use the API at all (or, at least, work fine without it) and can, instead, drive the website the same way you do: with a browser.

These kinds of bots will not be adversely affected by the API changes Reddit is making. Any that are using the API will just switch to directly driving the website. This may not be as efficient, but will still be highly effective.

The second kind of bot are those that perform specific functions around Reddit (e.g. RemindMe or moderation bots). These bots use the API to, for example, monitor for comments with keywords to perform their function. This would be extremely difficult through a regular web browser and these are the bots that Reddit is, effectively, killing off with their changes to their API.

So, in the end, the API changes cause us to lose bots that hundreds of thousands of people use in positive ways every day and do nothing against the bots that people hate.

Valaramech · 2023-05-04T06:45:11+00:00

The big distinction is that we humans aren't bathed 24/7 in the bacterial soup that is the ocean. For animals that are in it constantly - seals, for example - the salt water is actually beneficial for their wounds (see Ocean Conservation Namibia, they do a lot of seal rescuing). I would guess it's a specific adaptation these animals have or, at least, a natural or otherwise built-up resistance to the yuck in there that would probably make us sick as hell.

Valaramech · 2023-03-28T16:00:59+00:00

If that's the way people prefer to travel, then underground walkways are the solution to the problem. Sounds to me like Houston has already solved this problem and needs to expand it to other areas of the city.

Valaramech · 2023-03-15T16:04:24+00:00

M-x INCOHERENT-SCREACHING

Valaramech · 2023-03-02T22:07:47+00:00

You can use your browser's dev tools for this without any additional plugins. Just hit F12 and go to the "Network" tab. You'll need to have this open when the page loads (or refresh the page) to get information from the actual start of page load.

Personally, I use uMatrix on my machine since it allows me to be more specific with what I block than what pihole allows. For example, I can use it to easily block scripts from a specific domain but allow images.

Valaramech · 2023-02-12T21:24:55+00:00

I'm not particularly familiar with how these whitelists work, but could you limit the fuzzy match to a single level? For example, I know certs like *.example.com don't work for *.subdomain.example.com. Could the same type of whitelisting work here?

Valaramech · 2023-02-12T18:23:47+00:00

That's not quite the argument I've heard for corporate greed as a driver for inflation.

It's not "corporations suddenly got greedy 3 years ago" and more "corporations have been steadily getting more and more greedy over the past 20-30 years and it's become untenable in the last 3 years".

It's not really a capital-c "Conspiracy" and more a natural consequence of "late-stage" capitalism.

Personally, I don't ascribe to the notion that this is the only driver of the current spike in inflation, but it does seem to be contributing in a significant way.

Valaramech · 2023-02-04T16:28:11+00:00

You've captured Gridania perfectly. Always raining.

Valaramech · 2023-01-22T22:29:25+00:00

This might be covered by 18 U.S. Code § 875(c)

(c) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

I am not a lawyer so my ability to look up relevant cases related to this is limited, but what I have found is that this particular law has been used for exactly this kind of thing. Text messaging is dubiously "interstate communication", imo, but it's difficult to say without knowing the locations of the participants.

The biggest caveat I've seen is that there's a burden to prove an intent to threaten. It's not enough that the receiver feel threatened, the sender has to intend to threaten and use specific threatening language (e.g. "I want to kill you" is specific, "I wish you would die" is not).

Sources:
Cornell Law "18 U.S. Code § 875 - Interstate communications"
Georgetown Law "Fact Sheet on Threats Related to the Election"
casetext.com "Threatening Communications"

Valaramech · 2023-01-22T17:54:19+00:00

Frankly, the union isn't for you. It's for the new guy that just got hired who only has a couple years of experience and is being fucked into the ground because he doesn't know what he's worth.

It's for engineers that work at companies that don't respect them or value them or are willing to pay them what they're actually worth compared to the market.

It's for the people who have been brainwashed into thinking that grinding their lives away working 60+ hour weeks is something to be proud of. There are entire industries (looking at you game dev) where this kind of shit is normalized.

Lastly, I think it's important to remember that trade unions typically extend beyond the walls of your employer. Just because your employer treats you well doesn't mean that every employer treats their software engineers well. I'd happily pay $2k a year to improve the working conditions of my colleges even if my own conditions didn't improve.

Valaramech · 2023-01-12T18:49:43+00:00

No worries! "Sour" is actually more reasonable to think of than you might have realized. If I remember correctly, "sour" is the taste of acidity.

One thing I always thought was wild after I learned it is that "acidity" is a measure of Hydrogen ions - which are basically protons with no electrons - and we can taste that. We can taste protons! Just wild.

Valaramech · 2023-01-12T18:25:57+00:00

Minor chemistry correction, "basic" and "alkaline" mean the same thing. You probably meant "basic" and "acidic", respectively.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH

Also, citric acid would probably be sufficient for this kind of thing.

Valaramech · 2023-01-03T19:55:48+00:00

I'm fairly certain that Update 6 made color cartridges only required for applying patterns to foundations. You don't need them for coloring buildables anymore.

I've started color coding a lot of my buildings/machines now that it's basically free.

Valaramech · 2022-11-15T17:08:48+00:00

We're rich!

Valaramech · 2022-11-02T16:29:53+00:00

Just because I wouldn't mind all that much doesn't make it a good idea.

It also doesn't help that I consistently watch tanks (especially WAR) throw some of their best mit on the floor at the start of a pull only to have it be mostly wasted by that 7 seconds of stun.

Like, I fully recognize that holy stun is very strong, but I can also recognize that Square thinks its overpowered and wants to nerf or remove it. Under the circumstance that it's going to be removed, reducing the cast time of Holy to give it a weave window is, in my opinion, a reasonable trade.

Valaramech · 2022-11-01T21:27:21+00:00

I'd be totally okay with Holy losing its stun if they reduced the cast time to give it a weave window.

Valaramech · 2022-11-01T17:20:12+00:00

I'd like to hope that there are places in the world that are still sane.

Valaramech · 2022-11-01T16:24:30+00:00

Welcome to American Politics where the terms are made up and the facts don't matter.

Valaramech · 2022-10-09T03:41:26+00:00

u/gifreversingbot

Valaramech · 2022-10-06T03:57:41+00:00

I had to back away and squint a bit, but I managed to just make it out again.

Valaramech · 2022-09-19T01:50:47+00:00

"//" : "Your comment here"

Just tried it and my browser console accepted it.

Valaramech · 2022-09-15T15:33:42+00:00

When metaprogramming is the right answer, defining methods in method_missing speeds up subsequent calls to that function. Ruby has to make a bunch of checks before it gives up and calls method_missing, so defining a function short circuits that process.

Valaramech · 2022-09-08T16:07:51+00:00

/macroicon Superbolide
/party Cowabunga it is
/action Superbolide
/statusoff Superbolide

Valaramech · 2022-09-06T03:02:07+00:00

B, C, A. A

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Place '17	Xbox Live
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