New Testingstan

he was fiddled with a bit when he was a kid, and he doesn't think it actually did any harm to him (or the others that he knows it happened to, though I doubt he really knows that for sure), so he thinks the ongoing 'everyone from 1970s British TV turns out to be a pedophile' revelations to be overblown

plus cultural relativism, which isn't something I normally associate with Dawkins

I actually can't find it in me to get outraged over this, since he's speaking from personal experience, even if I disagree with him. I do wonder if in some cases the reaction against these kinds of things actually does more harm to the child than the act itself... I don't know.

I disagree vehemently with him, but he's an abuse survivor so a coping mechanism such as this isn't too unsurprising.

I think that the tendency to assume uniformity of reactions leads people to reject the overall framework when they find themselves reacting "inappropriately" eg Dawkins here.

As an abuse survivor myself, Dawkins can go fuck himself on this one.

Alright, can somebody tell me why my computer has installed the same "security updates" for office and Excel five separate times and is prompting me to install them again?

Something seems off about this.

Darksi4190 wrote:Alright, can somebody tell me why my computer has installed the same "security updates" for office and Excel five separate times and is prompting me to install them again?

Something seems off about this.

format and reinstall

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/enterprise/ ... ation-loop

God dammit. Is there a possibility that these will be patched and I could just turn off windows update for a while? I really don't want to go through the hassle of backing everything up right now.

Darksi4190 wrote:God dammit. Is there a possibility that these will be patched and I could just turn off windows update for a while? I really don't want to go through the hassle of backing everything up right now.

it was a joke you schlemiel

just turn off update for a few days and check that link until microsoft releases a patch^2 or whatever

That's what I was planning on doing, but I literally do have a friend whose first suggestion upon being told of comp trouble is "nuke the site from orbit," so I can never tell if someone is joking.

Oh man this textbook just used a metaphor of a birdcage for oppression, and how people will often just look at one wire very closely and even very thoroughly (maybe many overall, but one at a time) and then declare the bird as silly when it can't escape. It just works so well and especially highlights the infuriating way in which people zoom in on single instances of oppression and cannot or refuse to see how it's an issue.

To play with it a little you could bring in microagressions as a mesh, where with just a few you could break through or go around them, but there's so many and they're everywhere and help trap you in further.

Plus in class discussion I got to use the word "cissexist" and everyone knew what I meant this is so great

A far more abstract metaphor would be being trapped in a sunken ship

You could escape but you're afraid you'd drown trying to make it to shore

I like the birdcage/mesh job though

hi guys i'm back from the motherland and i didn't die

i have some pictures i might post up later

in other news The Weeknd released Kiss Land and it's great, esp. Tears in the Rain

which according to RapGenius is inspired by the line in Blade Runner, along with a lot of the album, which is kinda apparent if you watch the videos and the cover art from the singles

in other news Pusha T still hasn't put out MNIMN and I'm betting the October release gets delayed to Christmas season

You were gone?

http://newsone.com/2715972/dr-shiping-bao-lawsuit/

"Medical Examiner In Zimmerman Trial Sues For $100M, Claims Prosecution Threw Case"

Phant's back!

*dance*

it should be fucking illegal to do those javascript login forms that are becoming so common

like anyone who does them gets sent to the salt mines. and "i was just following orders" is no fucking excuse


it never remembers the passwords

so i just walked back to the house through the field under a half moon. a half moon is quite a brilliant thing; you can see pretty well under it

in my fanfiction their solar system has a companion star, similar in characteristics to wolf 359 in an orbit similar to that of pluto

if my math is correct, when the companion star is nearest to the planet, its brightness in the sky would be close to that of the half moon.


this is a very interesting thing to me. consider the following:

at certain parts of the year, esp when the companion star is at opposition, the night sky will be fairly bright. you have the all night, all season half-moon light. you also have the moon itself (they have one much like earth's), which wouldn't ever be quite new in this period - when it has the sun at its back and thus not be illuminated by it, it would have the companion star to light it up

i haven't done the math to figure just how bright it would be. tbh i kinda doubt it would be too much more than the new moon here as it is illuminated in part by sunlight reflecting off the earth which is prolly brighter anyway

but regardless it would be a little brighter than our new moon and prolly have a reddish tint to it from the companion star's light



anyway, imagine the look of the sky. you'd have this big red light. it can't be the same size as the moon given the distance, but with similar brightness.... well i'm not exactly sure what our eyes would perceive that as, but i'm thinking a big dull red blob up there

the ground would be illuminated, and with your eyes adjusted for night vision, you'd prolly be able to see pretty well. and so would the other animals, most likely. esp during the time when you also have a full moon omg.

i wonder if they might feel artificial street lighting is less necessary. now on the other hand though, there'd be years on end where the brightest it gets is about 1/4 the normal one, and a season (starting and ending would shift as it works its way around the orbit) where the companion star is only up at daytime, so you do have your dark nights.

so the natural light wouldn't actually work all the time. but when it does, maybe it would be sufficient to change the whole night life city planning


sooooo i guess that's all i have to say for now

but i put that companion star in there a few years ago pretty much just on a whim, to shake things up. having a pure clone of our solar system didn't realize the potential of a designer setting

and every few months i realize something else new and cool about having it there. been a whole lot of fun to imagine what their sky looks like

why am i participating in a thread about legalizing prostitution

Infinity Biscuit wrote:I disagree vehemently with him, but he's an abuse survivor so a coping mechanism such as this isn't too unsurprising.

For someone who hates it when people are put into boxes you sure did put someone in a box pretty quickly.

Um, what I said may have come out wrong?

I meant "him saying something I would normally take as horrifying as potentially a symptom of a coping mechanism for the abuse he suffered is different than if he were just saying 'yeah sexual abuse of kids is ok'"

F.J. Prefect, Esq wrote:

Infinity Biscuit wrote:I disagree vehemently with him, but he's an abuse survivor so a coping mechanism such as this isn't too unsurprising.

For someone who hates it when people are put into boxes you sure did put someone in a box pretty quickly.

we literally are all in boxes thanks to avatar size restrictions

thanks ban-ki moon!

also, is the statement "they have depression, they have problems with self-esteem" too much box-putting?

Infinity Biscuit wrote:Um, what I said may have come out wrong?

I meant "him saying something I would normally take as horrifying as potentially a symptom of a coping mechanism for the abuse he suffered is different than if he were just saying 'yeah sexual abuse of kids is ok'"

that's what i took it as

quorum achieved

Bakustra wrote:why am i participating in a thread about legalizing prostitution

Because why not? Not "why not legalize prostitution?" but "why not participate in a thread about legalizing prostitution?"

And I must say, MS sure does love throwing Updates at me all at once. 16 of the suckers this time.

RogueIce wrote:

Bakustra wrote:why am i participating in a thread about legalizing prostitution

Because why not? Not "why not legalize prostitution?" but "why not participate in a thread about legalizing prostitution?"

it's likely to be a frustrating exercise and there's already at least one person whining inarticulately about how prostitution is a rational choice and anybody that says differently is trying to control women

Are they sex-positive male "feminists"?