MachineInterface

66444 pts · December 22, 2015


[depressingly nihilistic quote here]

#1 hot liquid and gas rise thru convection, but heat *sinks*; there's a reason that a radiator's hot water intake is at the top, not at the bottom of it.

4 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 4

Also you cannot in fact confidently determine the biological sex of a single skeleton in isolation. The markers of sex in skeletons are statistical averages, not a clearly delineated binary.

1 week ago | Likes 32 Dislikes 2

We do in fact need data centers, that's where the internet is. What we don't need is *AI* data centers.

2 weeks ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 1

It, like many words, admits multiple definitions. Being unsure about the existence of God is one of those that is in use.

3 weeks ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

As a kid I believed in God. Then I was an atheist. Then an agnostic. Then I believed in God again. Then I was an atheist again. Now I'm non-committed deist. Growing up isn't a straightforward march toward progress.

3 weeks ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

That's more Catholics; Protestants is more like "I am saved and therefore incapable of sin, thus everything I do is good"

1 month ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 0

There were Muslims in America before the Mayflower landed.

1 month ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I mean, you can have atheistic religions, and you can have non-religious theism. It's kind of orthogonal.

1 month ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 10

There are many people who care about historical accuracy genuinely, who don't care about the race of the actors but think rightly that a depiction of Bronze Age Greece that is at least *informed* by historical research, if not beholden to it, would be a lot more interesting to see that the theme park version of Hollywood clichés we keep getting, whether you put a Serious Artsy Filter on it or not.

1 month ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Steelman version of that argument: the Odyssey isn't "fantasy", it's *historical fiction*; it's set in a real time and place, which Homer was *trying* to depict accurately, and to who gods and monsters were part of reality. Adapting the Odyssey as "fantasy" with no regard for its context is not engaging with what the original text was trying to do — it's not a faithful adaptation. You don't *have* to make a faithful adaptation, but it's important to be clear about it and not deceive audiences.

1 month ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 1

Fox/Cat confrontations are not rare, and the outcome is about 50/50. Keep your cats inside.

1 month ago | Likes 16 Dislikes 1

He has enough money to produce a hundred Odyssey movies, with full cast and everything, and still be the richest man in the world if not a single of these movies turn up a profit, and he still asks grok to do it. Biggest cheapass loser ever.

1 month ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

typically used for vet care or grooming of a very uncooperative kitty

1 month ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 0

6 billions is roughly how much it would cost to build 4 high end theme parks in California, to put this into perspective.

1 month ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Unfortunately Flock contracts with cities include that any destroyed or damaged camera must be replaced and payed for by the city with tax money. Every destroyed camera brings more money to Flock.

1 month ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I mean, monkeys don't hoard bananas because they physically can't. Bananas are easily stolen and are only going to be edible for a few days before spoiling. But animals who can hoard food absolutely do, just look at squirrels. Hoarding is survival behavior; it is in fact better to have far more than what you need in ideal conditions, because conditions are never ideal. Like all natural behaviors of course, it can be maladaptive in the wrong circumstances.

1 month ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 2

Should start using these occurrence as sniper training.

2 months ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Only thing that sucks about soccer is how it's socially permissible and even expected of soccer fans to watch every match, no matter the teams or stakes, by continuously screaming at the top of their lungs, no matter the time or place. The sport itself is ok.

2 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 2

When it's already 30°C (86°F) at 9am, you know it's going to be a long day. At least it's mostly dry heat.

2 months ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

Do your stretches, every day, several times a day. And look up witch stretches to actually do, not everything is good. Daily exercise also recommended. Doesn't need to be 1 hour hard sweating at the gym, even 10 minutes daily light exercise will do so much for you.

2 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

The second fetch got me. "nyyyyyYYYYOOMMM *splashes*" Someone needs to add a F1 racecar sound effect.

2 months ago | Likes 23 Dislikes 0

Game cartridges were amazing technology because they were not just software storage, they had their own hardware too, which allowed developers to do things like the original SNES Star Fox coming with a 3D acceleration chip *built in the cartridge* to go beyond what the SNES's processors were capable of.

3 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I mean temple fires are a known quantity in Japan. They know this will just happen. Which is why they make sure the traditional skills and knowledge to rebuild these temples are preserved with each generation. There are even temples that they destroy and rebuild *on purpose* every decade or so.

3 months ago | Likes 54 Dislikes 0

Eh. We don't know what the Sentinelese know because *no one understands their language*. Their island is far enough that no other land is visible from it. We don't know why they're so hostile to outsiders, and who or indeed what they think outsiders are. We don't know their worldview, we don't know what kind of oral history they have. That post is still projecting western ideas on them.

3 months ago | Likes 48 Dislikes 2

Life expectancy at birth for hunter gatherers as best as we can measure is about 30 years, with about half of children dying before reaching adulthood. Don't idolize the State of Nature too much.

3 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 1

Depends if it's a roe deer as pictured (average weight ~25kg/55lb) or a red deer (average weight ~200kg/440lb). One can give you a few bruises, the other you can be in a car crash with you, and win.

3 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Leo XIV is "liberal" by the *internal standards of the Catholic Church*, which is the most conservative institution in the world. Anyone who accuses Leo of being too "woke" or even "progressive" is a full-blown nazi.

4 months ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

As an autistic social-anxiety-having millenial, can't be grateful ever that this era is behind us. My life is so much better now that I know who's calling me, that I have a personal phone, and that most communication is by text.

4 months ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Yes, cities below the subartic circle have rats. That's inevitable.

4 months ago | Likes 15 Dislikes 0

Asian elephants are more closely related to woolly mammoths than to African elephants.

5 months ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0