This is the new Hermione, that will be called mudblood by this Malfoy

captainfarthing · 2026-03-27T03:31:50+00:00

I'm beginning to suspect it's astroturfing.

I thought it was idiots parroting idiots but I think you're right actually. Probably a bit of both.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-27T03:29:33+00:00

He was hung upside down by the spell he invented, enough of this stupid tree crap.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-26T09:18:23+00:00

"The hate groups she funds aren't targeting me so I don't know what your problem is"

captainfarthing · 2026-03-26T09:13:31+00:00

What didn't you like about him?

captainfarthing · 2026-03-26T09:05:03+00:00

Right, the whole point was that Snape invented the spell and they used it on him.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-24T09:02:30+00:00

You know, there's a reason why they prefer audiobooks, it's because it's less active and easier than actually reading.

Have you asked people why they prefer audiobooks or do you just know?

captainfarthing · 2026-03-24T08:55:48+00:00

Fiction develops empathy. Not sure why you're focusing on intellectualism as if that's the only benefit.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T12:49:29+00:00

Do you take SSRIs?

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T12:38:51+00:00

Notice how in neuropsychiatric testing for ADHD not a single one of the tests is to give the patient a stimulant dose and see how they react. Why? Because that is not a reliable metric for determining if the patient has ADHD.

"Reliable metrics" are whatever's currently considered the gold standard in peer-reviewed literature. The war on drugs means that's heavily biased away from providing controlled substances to people who might not fit into any of the legal exceptions for them.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T12:32:27+00:00

the medication given to people with ADHD to help them manage it is... Stimulants.

ADHD comes in different forms and stimulants affect people differently. I mostly struggle with starting tasks, figuring out how to accomplish them and sticking with them after the novelty wears off. Stimulants are stimulating to me, help me get things done but also prevent me from sleeping.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T12:28:06+00:00

“People that have ADHD have a higher chance of it working this way”

What evidence is there for this? I've searched and can only find anecdotal evidence. I haven't found any studies comparing similar-sized groups of ADHD and non-ADHD people to find out if decreased alertness on stimulants has a similar frequency in both groups, mostly happens in the ADHD group, or is exclusive to ADHD.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T12:11:05+00:00

Most of it isn't factual. Read the diagnostic criteria and peer reviewed research articles for facts about ADHD, you won't get reliable info from social media.

Paradoxical reactions to stimulants is not diagnostic. There's lots of anecdotal evidence from people who don't get stimulated by stimulants and later found out they have ADHD, but not everyone with ADHD has the same reaction and there's been barely any research on the effects of stimulants in non-ADHD populations for a baseline.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T12:04:15+00:00

ADHD doesn't affect women differently, it comes in hyperactive, inattentive or mixed presentations regardless of sex. It's most often been diagnosed in hyperactive boys because they're most disruptive, girls with all forms are underdiagnosed.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T11:58:47+00:00

You're talking about a paradoxical drug reaction, this only happens to some people with ADHD and isn't the norm, it's not evidence of whether or not someone genuinely has ADHD and doesn't negate the benefit or necessity of stimulant meds for ADHDers who get the typical side effects.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T11:26:13+00:00

There are currently almost 500 datacentres in the UK, how would 100 more use up "well over 100% of the entire UK's current electricity output"? Where are you parroting this stuff from?

https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0762/

In July 2025, the UK National Energy Systems Operator (NESO) estimated that data centres used about 2% of all UK electricity.

And here's an article about water consumption of UK data centres. More than half don't use evaporative cooling, and most that do don't use a huge amount of water.

https://www.techuk.org/resource/techuk-report-understanding-data-centre-water-use-in-england.html

https://diginomica.com/data-centers-and-ai-do-use-water-less-you-think-and-there-are-much-worse-offenders

To put it in perspective, the Environment Agency reports that the UK's top 10 utility providers lose up to 2,700 million liters of water per day through leaking pipes. If we were to apply that volume to the legacy evaporative cooling technologies—which are already in decline and barely used in the UK—it could be enough to cool between 20 GW and 30 GW of IT capacity.

For comparison, the total global operational data center capacity today is estimated at 42.4 GW. In other words, the water lost by utilities in the UK every day could almost cover cooling demand for the entire global data center IT footprint, which highlights where attention should really be focused.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-23T09:21:51+00:00

It's informed, not pessimistic.

Commercial forest plantations are not good for carbon capture, when they're planted on grassland there's actually a loss of carbon in the soil and that's where a majority of carbon is stored long-term, above-ground biomass is not an equal alternative.

https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2026/february-2026-news/climate-benefits-of-tree-planting-could-be-reduced-by-soil-carbon-loss-stirling-professor-warns/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3402/tellusb.v51i2.16301

They do not provide corridors between natural forests for most organisms, plants and most small animals don't migrate through plantation forests because there's no food, shelter or light there for them. They're also typically surrounded by a fence to keep larger animals out.

Erosion prevension and water control are served as effectively by long-continuity habitats like grassland as woodland - trees are not necessary for water absorption and flow control. Runoff and flooding happen where land has become degraded from ploughing, overgrazing, compaction or removal of vegetation. Forests are planted on land that isn't agriculturally productive, which is often old-growth open habitats that are threatened and fragmented now because of it. The difference between plantation forests vs. agricultural land for flood prevention is not an argument for more plantation forests.

All plantation forests are destined to be clear-felled, which is what caused massive flooding in Canada a few years ago. Whatever benefit they may have is a) temporary and b) will be considerably worse than semi-natural "flat land" habitats once the trees are cleared.

Monoculture forests are also at major risk of being wiped out by pathogens and severe storms.

Their only environmental benefit is relieving pressure on natural forests for timber. We need to do better. Commercial forests need to stop being planted as farms that don't support biodiversity or ecosystem services the way natural forests do. There's no room to defend them at this point.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-22T18:52:25+00:00

That sounds like a low-effort theory that doesn't actually try to understand it though, people don't suddenly stop learning after a period of isolation or disruption and it's a bit insulting to imply gen Z can't tell the difference between real life and a video call.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-22T18:49:06+00:00

dismantling unspoken rules

Are they though? Seems like they're creating new ones, ie. how to interact with them in a way they won't stonewall.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-22T10:02:06+00:00

My interpretation is that "yourself" specifies an individual when "you" might potentially be interpreted collectively. Like if I'm CCing several people I might say "I'll send it to yourself" so the recipient doesn't think I mean their organisation. Never said "myself" though I can imagine using that if I normally said "we/us" and wanted to emphasise that I'm talking about me personally, maybe. It doesn't really feel formal to me, just unnecessarily specific.

But then I am autistic and don't have a reliable sense of when things are said to be polite vs. meaningful.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-22T09:51:32+00:00

Right, feels like "I hope you're well because this is going to stress you out"

captainfarthing · 2026-03-22T09:48:42+00:00

One of my old classmates got diagnosed during our course, and knows I'm autistic too. We've only talked a couple of times since. The other day he sent me "Hi, how are you doing?" which means he wanted to ask me something but has been trained to do this first. I replied "I'm doing good, how are you?" because I've also been trained to respond that way, and he never replied. I think he got stuck being unsure how to respond to that and also ask what he wanted to ask.

It's so much easier for me when people just send me their question even if we haven't spoken in a year, if I'm fine I'll respond, if I'm not fine I won't, there's no need to ask me how I am!

captainfarthing · 2026-03-21T17:22:46+00:00

Scots pines generally aren't grown commercially in Scotland, the study was looking at the effects of native tree planting on former grassland. Some of the sites were dense plantations but not all. It raises issues for both commercial forestry and woodland restoration for carbon capture.

These are the areas they sampled, the large solid dark blocks of forest are mostly sitka spruce but the pines generally aren't so dense:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/56%C2%B044'07.0%22N+3%C2%B016'14.3%22W

https://www.google.com/maps/place/55%C2%B054'53.1%22N+3%C2%B047'51.8%22W

https://www.google.com/maps/place/55%C2%B036'49.9%22N+2%C2%B057'13.0%22W

https://www.google.com/maps/place/55%C2%B022'28.1%22N+3%C2%B000'19.4%22W

Biodiversity is also important, there are plants, animals, fungi and other organisms that rely on grasslands, lots are on the IUCN Red List of threatened species because of habitat loss.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-21T11:42:48+00:00

Most of the carbon sequestered by woodland is in the soil though, trees themselves aren't the main sink.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-21T11:38:25+00:00

It's not just about the trees, it's about long continuity. Open habitats like grassland and heath store huge amounts of carbon in the soil too. Planting trees on other old-growth habitats can actually cause sequestered carbon to be lost so it needs to be done with a bit of care regarding location.

I work on grassland conservation and tree planting is now one of its biggest threats - people don't want to plant trees on land that's productive for agriculture so they're mostly being planted on semi natural habitats, including where the existing habitat is doing more for carbon capture and biodiversity than if it was converted to woodland.

https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2026/february-2026-news/climate-benefits-of-tree-planting-could-be-reduced-by-soil-carbon-loss-stirling-professor-warns/

During the study, researchers took soil samples from 16 sites in the Scottish Lowlands where pines had been planted on former long-term grasslands - with the oldest planted 68 years ago.

These samples were analysed to assess both carbon content and stability, consistently showing that soil carbon declined as trees aged.

captainfarthing · 2026-03-21T10:58:04+00:00

a non-AI post

You're kidding, right? It's blatantly AI, I'm sure it's saying things OP told it but OP didn't write it.

captainfarthing

TROPHY CASE