Ben Mann
@ben-mann.bsky.social
Left-libertarian. Roleplayer, computer programmer, anime and Doctor Who fan.
"At this time" is hard to define at large distances. If somewhere else is a billion light years away, "this time" can be anywhere within a range of a billion years (I think, might be two billion) depending on your frame of reference.
November 26, 2025 at 9:21 AM
"At this time" is hard to define at large distances. If somewhere else is a billion light years away, "this time" can be anywhere within a range of a billion years (I think, might be two billion) depending on your frame of reference.
Anything in a Ghibli film is being portrayed by anime, and so is by definition "as portrayed in anime". Good thing there's a vast variety of different types of portrayal. (Far wider than you get with live-action, where anything that doesn't look at least sort of real will stand out massively.)
November 19, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Anything in a Ghibli film is being portrayed by anime, and so is by definition "as portrayed in anime". Good thing there's a vast variety of different types of portrayal. (Far wider than you get with live-action, where anything that doesn't look at least sort of real will stand out massively.)
Well, thinking "genre" is a bit of a mistake, that would be like calling "British live-action" a genre. Like I started out with philosophical political thrillers (Patlabor movie 1 and 2) and before long was also watching things like Child's Toy (a frenetic comedy/drama aimed at little girls).
November 19, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Well, thinking "genre" is a bit of a mistake, that would be like calling "British live-action" a genre. Like I started out with philosophical political thrillers (Patlabor movie 1 and 2) and before long was also watching things like Child's Toy (a frenetic comedy/drama aimed at little girls).
Must...say...something...nobody...else...will... okay, Potemayo.
November 19, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Must...say...something...nobody...else...will... okay, Potemayo.
If you use a command-line calendar like ncal you get to choose by specifying command-line options, and you don't have to scroll.
November 17, 2025 at 8:22 PM
If you use a command-line calendar like ncal you get to choose by specifying command-line options, and you don't have to scroll.
There's a continuum. Not trying to improve on your incompetence sits somewhere in between pure malice and pure incompetence. (Really it's a mixture of both.)
November 16, 2025 at 10:51 AM
There's a continuum. Not trying to improve on your incompetence sits somewhere in between pure malice and pure incompetence. (Really it's a mixture of both.)
Okay, won't waste my time talking to you any further then.
November 11, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Okay, won't waste my time talking to you any further then.
Do you genuinely not know what sorts of things I'm talking about, or are you being deliberately obtuse?
November 11, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Do you genuinely not know what sorts of things I'm talking about, or are you being deliberately obtuse?
Try thinking of some other things they've done.
November 11, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Try thinking of some other things they've done.
Against immigrants, Palestinians (or maybe Muslims) and trans people (mostly trans women) are the most obvious.
November 11, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Against immigrants, Palestinians (or maybe Muslims) and trans people (mostly trans women) are the most obvious.
I'd call that +47 since "neither positive nor negative" is just the correct absence of bigotry. They're... people. It doesn't matter if your birth certificate says the other thing.
It's a badly worded question really. Something like "are trans rights a necessity or a problem?" would work better.
It's a badly worded question really. Something like "are trans rights a necessity or a problem?" would work better.
November 5, 2025 at 12:52 PM
I'd call that +47 since "neither positive nor negative" is just the correct absence of bigotry. They're... people. It doesn't matter if your birth certificate says the other thing.
It's a badly worded question really. Something like "are trans rights a necessity or a problem?" would work better.
It's a badly worded question really. Something like "are trans rights a necessity or a problem?" would work better.
"Open in new private window" (may be called something else) which means all those cookies will get deleted once it turns out not to be worth looking at.
October 26, 2025 at 10:46 PM
"Open in new private window" (may be called something else) which means all those cookies will get deleted once it turns out not to be worth looking at.
That "socialism" is what I'd call "social democracy". In Marxist socialism, there is no capital. Neither controlled by rich people, nor the state. The means of production are controlled by the people who use them, not by rich people, not by the state, even if it claims to "represent workers".
October 24, 2025 at 2:15 PM
That "socialism" is what I'd call "social democracy". In Marxist socialism, there is no capital. Neither controlled by rich people, nor the state. The means of production are controlled by the people who use them, not by rich people, not by the state, even if it claims to "represent workers".
My instinct is that a good way to predict whether a group can be relied upon to fight fascism is how it treats trans people as well as immigrants today.
October 22, 2025 at 5:23 PM
My instinct is that a good way to predict whether a group can be relied upon to fight fascism is how it treats trans people as well as immigrants today.
I've had plenty of powerful experiences with art which I've never shared, some which I couldn't even put into words. Losing the connection with the artist(s) seems more of a problem to me. Not just having your own ideas reflected back at yourself.
October 15, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I've had plenty of powerful experiences with art which I've never shared, some which I couldn't even put into words. Losing the connection with the artist(s) seems more of a problem to me. Not just having your own ideas reflected back at yourself.
I find what it does with the low-level supernatural stuff fascinating.
October 6, 2025 at 9:43 PM
I find what it does with the low-level supernatural stuff fascinating.
Simoun. A story of faith, love and war. And yuri-ish-powered mecha drawing patterns in the sky.
October 6, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Simoun. A story of faith, love and war. And yuri-ish-powered mecha drawing patterns in the sky.
"Tinskin" suggests that measuring entities by the nature of their skin is a generally sensible idea.
October 5, 2025 at 4:29 PM
"Tinskin" suggests that measuring entities by the nature of their skin is a generally sensible idea.
The first thing you need is a test for computer sentience.
Which seems to me already like an impossible problem to solve. Both "sentient" and "not sentient" seem consistent with any computer behaviour imaginable.
Which seems to me already like an impossible problem to solve. Both "sentient" and "not sentient" seem consistent with any computer behaviour imaginable.
October 5, 2025 at 8:40 AM
The first thing you need is a test for computer sentience.
Which seems to me already like an impossible problem to solve. Both "sentient" and "not sentient" seem consistent with any computer behaviour imaginable.
Which seems to me already like an impossible problem to solve. Both "sentient" and "not sentient" seem consistent with any computer behaviour imaginable.
I don't even know if the opposite of "real music" here is supposed to be fake music or imaginary music or what? I think I have actually heard a song by Taylor Swift, and it seemed like real enough music to me. (Competent but unremarkable.)
October 3, 2025 at 4:53 PM
I don't even know if the opposite of "real music" here is supposed to be fake music or imaginary music or what? I think I have actually heard a song by Taylor Swift, and it seemed like real enough music to me. (Competent but unremarkable.)
Google you should be able to avoid helping just by having no regard for their advertisers I think, (and feeding them false/misleading info sometimes,) their products are just a way to get you to see their adverts.
October 3, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Google you should be able to avoid helping just by having no regard for their advertisers I think, (and feeding them false/misleading info sometimes,) their products are just a way to get you to see their adverts.
People should decide for themselves who they want to listen to, not relegate such key things which help determine your worldview to a computer algorithm.
September 25, 2025 at 4:24 PM
People should decide for themselves who they want to listen to, not relegate such key things which help determine your worldview to a computer algorithm.
If true, this implies that the economics and structures involved tend to bring (financial) success to people like that. Which becomes the place to look for a deeper understanding of the problem.
September 21, 2025 at 4:30 PM
If true, this implies that the economics and structures involved tend to bring (financial) success to people like that. Which becomes the place to look for a deeper understanding of the problem.