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am_Unition

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am_Unition  ·  4 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: March 13, 2024

I'm working on a Halloween album, Spooker of the House. Can't tell you how much fun I'm having with it. Start from scratch every song. Design my own synths, shape my drum samples custom, lots of chromatic and minor scales for spookiness, sampled my squeaky garage door, etc. The album will be tied together by a guy (me, many people are saying) broadcasting over the radio as he makes his last stand against some unnamed monsters. Yesterday I uploaded a song for a mix check (mono Sonos speaker, car audio, studio stereo monitors, phone and laptop speakers, airpods) and soundcloud suggested a tag for the genre: Moombahton. My song's not really moombahton at all, but it was a genre that I'd never heard of before, which is pretty rare, so I'm gonna spend some time listening to it in the near future. I'll probably steal some Moombahton elements for another track on the album, 'cuz Spooker of the House is a variety of styles, but loosely all electro pop. And my bandmate for a different music project is recently sending me some good stuff to chew on (lol, looks like that guy has a set of electronic tenor drums, which is what I played on drumline back in the day). I bet that guy grew up with this band.

I'm gearing up to code something in a few weeks that'll be pretty engrossing. An expansion and refinement of some code I wrote a few years ago which will make video data products unlike anything else in the world. There's also another blossoming corner of my field that I'm keen to familiarize myself with, so that'll be fun. I already have enough new content for two or three pretty quick papers, so it feels like it's gonna be a year or two that I can really have some fun while still staying productive.

Can't wait for the solar eclipse on April 8th. Got some family coming into town for it. My parents live pretty close by, in the path of totality. My relatives can have the guest bedroom, it should be pretty nice weather for camping in the yard.

I mean... there's no way to not get caught faking superconductivity. But apparently SpinLaunch and Theranos (and so many others) are allowed to swindle investors for long periods of time. Maybe Dias got inspired.

I should also say that obviously a lot of good can come from private industry and profit motives. And occasionally there's public sector flops, like the faster than light neutrinos, for example. Those guys seemed to know they were wrong and just wanted help figuring out why, though. Honestly, I'm having a hard time thinking of why someone would lie if they intend to stay funded by grants.

Nothing.

Can't find it now, but I saw just the other day that someone had got a paper containing the phrase "As a large language model, I can't..." somewhere in the meat of the paper past peer review.

Apparently this here comment is the first on hubski to introduce the concept of enshittification. It's not only affecting online or social media platforms, obviously.

I dunno, man. My comment was mostly a flippant quip, and yeah, of course I'll concede that most fields runs most of the gamut of incentive structures, but the distribution can vary widely between fields. If that makes sense. My discipline's definitely more of an outlier; very little overlap with industry. Ain't nobody but the taxpayer gonna foot the bill, because there's never going to be a product. It's pure research. Pretty sure I could convince people that the $2 billion dollars for the main experiment I work on was well spent, if I'm granted 30 minutes and a whiteboard. But anyway.

The profit incentives that come with for-profit products seem problematic for a lot of people. Especially when the amount of potential profit is billions of dollars, like for a room temp superconductor. It's not like the guy in this article, Dias, thought he had anything worth two shits, but he still decided to ride the hype train for some short-term recognition. I'd be tempted to say "the system works!" if it didn't damage public trust and perception. Maybe his calculus his that he'll still be able to land a gig for a private company, because he's toast in academia.

I know this is childish, oversimplified, and probably at least a bit of something I tell myself to feel better about having very little income compared to private industry salaries, but I still think there's a nobility in academia. At least in the hard sciences. No, the academic system is not as infallible as I once thought, but it's been really nice to realize that my peers aren't doing what they do for the money. Some of them make a very comfortable amount of money, don't get me wrong, but most of them could earn a lot more in industry, and for less work. Fuck tenured professorship though. I'm not sure where the stereotype of the lazy tenured prof comes from (humanities? note: this is not my perception, I'm trying to guess common opinion), but half of the profs I had in physics seemed miserable. Overworked. Health problems.

    I can tell you from years of experience that the attitude in academia is "defend this at all costs" and in industry it's "kill this at all costs".

What is "this"? All of the best researchers that I know in the public sector have very little issue with taking an L and moving on if they were wrong. Again, there's probably a major difference inside academia between fields with a lot of industry overlap vs. not.

I'm cool with not a huge income, but I think having kids would change the game. Already made the choice not to ever do that.

    It's a shame showing a lack of successful measurement isn't rewarded or even encouraged.

Truth. I got scooped once, by a matter of days, was just about to submit to a journal, and one of my advisors said, basically, "oh well. next time." I was like "well it's kind of a complimentary paper, reconfirming the same physics", and they said "so what? you gotta be first." Same idea, though. Even though the paper would have contributed to the field, I was discouraged from publication. I should've published anyway, in hindsight, just like all the null results and other reconfirmations. But especially so, because the paper was already written and everything.

    grad students span gamut from 'wait, why isn't B a constant?' out-of-their-depth beginners to the likes of you, who probably shake their head at visiting professors' inexperience with methodology.

Eh, not common at all. Only once has this very notably happened, I think, when some theorists with no idea how particle spectrometers work were trying to use our data to do something with relativistic gauge invariance. They got shot down pretty badly at a conference. I just went off googling, and I can see they never published. Righteous, the process works! But it's very true that grad students in physics are selected primarily through their skills in mathematics, which is obviously necessary, but I've seen how often some of the students very skilled with maths struggle when they get into research. Creativity, critical thinking, and math skillz rolled into a single person is super rare. There were only one or two people in my class of twenty that had all three, and it sure as hell wasn't me.

By the way, it's funny because I'm still in grad school, hah, for just one more week! Fell off the wagon for a few years. Went to rehab for booze. Doing much better. I should probably write a pretty lengthy post about rehab, though. My god, what a funny experience.

Nobody shoots private industry in the foot like private industry.

And who can forget the LK-99 thing last summer?

That's what I thought your post was about, bfx. But nope, a completely different superconductivity let down. I'm impressed someone laid out this particular saga in longform.

    Several other researchers told the news team that the principal investigator does not typically produce all the plots. “That’s weird,” Canfield says.

lol this is so commonly true. So many grad students will run the labs for like 80 hours a week, gather the data sets they were told to, and then have no idea what any of it means. Instead of the advisor telling them, the boss'll just swoop in and publish, and the lab rats will be lucky if they get a coauthorship. It's also a reminder that my advisor was so badass that he can't be stopped from making his own plots. He writes code code, not just toggling image and graph settings.

It's perfect that the story ends with him lying about his work on Twitter. Primo perfecto.

am_Unition  ·  12 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: People Aren't Still Having Sex

I think it's some combination of "fascist logic is not logical" and "we may invent some new ways of subjugating people we don't like".

To add on to the former, the theocrats don't even really want you having sex, either, they just want you to magically have children for the Church or the Army or whatever. Ideally, you can just do the virgin birth thing like Jesus's mom, that worked out well. In-vitro is banned in some places here now (there is also some debate as to whether or not the ban was truly on purpose), so ya can't do that. If you absolutely have to have sex, don't have it more than like once per each child. If you have six kids, hopefully you only had sex six times.

As to the latter, we already have the conservatives demonizing cities, where minorities disproportionately live, with lies about "unprecedented" crime and voter fraud. They've also recently repealed affirmative action, and there's always the classic gerrymandering and voter suppression techniques.

Anyway. I wonder if the onset of free porn has something to do with less sex, too.

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: People Aren't Still Having Sex

I kid you not when I tell you that those exact sentiments are part of the reason driving the movement to limit Americans' access to birth control. Abortion was first, but they'll come for the pill, IUDs, even condoms, I suspect. For others in the same white Christian theocracy movement, it's because they know that limiting access to those things will disproportionately impact non-whites poorly. Hard to say which justification is more nefarious. And probably the worst people of all think both.

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

Agree.

It's also really cowardly to simultaneously cloak these deliberations in hypotheticals while rushing to get the ruling out before Super Tuesday. Like "so, this theoretical insurrectionist, whoever it may be". They're supposed to think like that, yeah, but they're not.

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Palestine and the power of language

Yes and yes. I'm very happy, in general, but not about this stuff. Feeling guilty that none of it directly affects me. But it does fuck over some of my good friends, and plenty of other innocents, so I guess that's more than enough.

Maybe I just come off very poorly in plaintext. I suspect everyone does, though.

I also focus on this kinda stuff here because I don't really get to anywhere else. Like at a baby shower a few weeks ago: "How've you been, am_U?" "I'm good! Very good. It's gonna be a crazy year, though, I'm worried, towards the end of the year" "Why?" "Oh, just the election and everything" "What do you mean?" aaaaaand the shift: "Ah, y'know, election years are always kinda nutzo lately. Anyway, ..", then I change the subject, and that's all she wrote. If someone doesn't wanna talk about something, or feels unequipped or uncomfortable about it, I'm never going to force the subject.

Maybe I need to post more in Pubski to prove to people that I have a life? I don't know. This shit troubles me though, and I'm keen to understand it. I do apologize if it comes across as grating and single-minded.

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Palestine and the power of language

It's probably the converse, I think, the snark is a coping mechanism for a lack of happiness.

    constant diplomacy combined with a wearying Israeli electorate

It's a lot of that, agreed, but are you sure that the pro-Palestine progressive movement here in the 'States can be wholly discounted in influencing U.S. diplomatic efforts?

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

    Through inaction alone, Congress can effectively erase part of the 14th Amendment.

Yep. And, hwowww, what d'ya know, they just happened to drop this ruling during the most ineffective congress in the entirety of American history, coincidentally.

I've seen some really, really bad takes on it as well. Lawrence O'Donnell wanted to pretend like this was some big win, that SCOTUS had confirmed that Trump was an insurrectionist, and it's like, "OK..? Then they also said they're fine with it".

You watch, they'll use the immunity case ruling to fuck up Jack Smith's case as much as they possibly can. Already are. A court that knows it's considered illegitimate is even more dangerous, at least in the short term.

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

We're all on the same team, man. We're all worried.

I hope mk's prediction is correct 4 years from now, 'cuz I ain't got no time for the arc of history to do some eventual bending towards justice, I want it nowwwwww.

Sending e-hugs.

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

I didn't mean to imply that your optimism is tainting the accuracy of your predictions or something, I just meant that you seem to be better than I at internalizing what we're all facing (especially with framing it in historical contexts), and carrying on. Because yeah, when I look at threads from three years ago, we're all saying a lot of the same stuff. We all knew SCOTUS would go theocratic fundamentalist, but I, personally, didn't see them bending over backwards to accommodate an insurrectionist to this degree. It's seems worthy of a small freak out.

I do listen to you. I change my mind frequently. Like obviously JD Vance isn't entertaining enough to lead MAGA, and if I sit down and think about it for two minutes, yeah. And maybe I do get a li'l panicky sometimes, but some of it's because America writ large is almost 100% aloof, and I'm at least subconsciously trying to compensate. Sometimes consciously. But my panic and outrage is never directed towards you. Or anyone else on the 'ski. Except for once when I got pretty mad at b_b over trans rights, peace'd out for a bit, got over it, and came back.

I haven't put any words in your mouth. I appreciate your contributions. But honestly, yes, sometimes I struggle to figure out what it is I've said that you disagree with, or why you're upset with me. If I really upset you so much, and so often? You don't have to talk to me, dude. I enjoy our discussions, but if it's taking some kind of toll on you, then I guess you can mute me or something, but it's not like there are more than 7 people on this website anymore, so that sucks.

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

I think the, uh, spiritedness of our rhetoric often gets mistaken for disagreement, when we're usually just quibbling over the specifics.

I will say that you're obviously more optimistic than I, which I respect immensely.

That's probably what OB is hung up on.?

am_Unition  ·  13 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

The Supreme Court decision today to reinstate Trump on every ballot: Expected. It's not any additional reason for me to level any additional accusations of illegitimacy (edit: nah nvm. I added an edit below). I've already got plenty, besides. But it is telling that the "state's rights" crowd is celebrating.

Trump's response speech to the ruling this morning wasn't much in the news, which is good, because, after thanking SCOTUS (guys I'm starting to worry about his ideas regarding separation of powers) via video message, he literally begs for presidential immunity. "There will be some things that, perhaps, don't work out so well, but, I don't wanna be prosecuted because I decided to do something that is very much for the good of the country and even for the good of the world" (direct quote). There is zero subtlety in his approach. I'm sure that the delay in the immunity ruling has emboldened him.

Sadly, the more I think about it, the more I can see at least 4 SCOTUS members carving out some realm of presidential immunity designed to be a very difficult hurdle for Jack Smith to clear, especially if he rushes the J6 case to trial before the election. That is my official projection. Absolute presidential immunity? No, but some wild-ass version of immunity intentionally made to give Trump the legal W at least through Jan. 20th, 2025. Something like "immune while performing official acts, or even while performing acts POTUS mistakenly thought were official". This has a bit to do with the ruling today, and more to do with explaining SCOTUS wanting to take up presidential immunity this late and so obviously delay his trial. Might explain why they're going to sit on it for a while, too, if it's gotta be finely polished into some tasty bullshit.

edit: After finally reading the 4 dissents (the 4 female justices), who still agreed with the overall ruling but not the justifications, it's pretty clear that this is Donald Trump's SCOTUS. After the GOP members in the early 2021 congress said "Trump's fate will be decided in the courts" to avoid voting for impeachment or conviction, 5 SCOTUS members (including Roberts!) have turned around and said "not only are we going to reinstate Trump on the ballot," (again, expected) "but we're going to wholesale invent a congressional process for insurrectionist disqualification that has no chance of ever being enacted against Trump." Basically for the hell of it. Even if Jack Smith finds him guilty of insurrection before the election, this guarantees no actual mechanism to remove Trump from the ballot. Further, this is even further away from any consistency at all with the "conservative" ideal of state-checked federal authorities than I had thought. Trump and the House GOP will simply try another insurrection, if he doesn't win, and SCOTUS by and large seems fine with it. And yeah, this came out of nowhere. SCOTUS isn't even in session. They released it on their website, because the majority wanted this ruling out there before Super Tuesday. Non-partisan "judging balls and strikes" my ass.

am_Unition  ·  14 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Palestine and the power of language

It's been really funny to watch what only the progressives originally called for (a cease-fire, in this instance) get slowly normalized enough that it becomes U.S. foreign policy.

Can't wait to ignore the progressives again.

Sounds like the "undecided" vote in Michigan air dropped 38k meals to Palestine the other day, by the way. It's obviously wayyyy shy of the million+ meals they'll need every day, but it's a message to Netanyahu. Hopefully the message isn't interpreted as "we're so weak we'll only do something symbolic and inconsequential".

am_Unition  ·  14 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: February 28, 2024

Can't believe they got Jason Statham back for Transporter 10

am_Unition  ·  18 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

It'd be nice if substantive debates were happening anywhere else. The ICJ and UN are about it.

am_Unition  ·  18 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

Ah. Well, yeah. "Give us back our people and we will resume the killings" is not such a great deal, huh.

am_Unition  ·  18 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

    it's aims aren't genocidal, they're statecraft

I don't think that's really true, though. Sometimes the framing of things in terms of statecraft is abandoned entirely:

    This week alone, a parliamentarian from Netanyahu’s Likud party went on television and said it was clear to most Israelis that “all the Gazans need to be destroyed.” Then, Israel’s ambassador in Britain told local radio that there was no other solution for her country than to level “every school, every mosque, every second house” in Gaza to degrade Hamas’s military infrastructure.

There are many other statements from top government officials in this vein. The hatred runs deeeeeeeeeep. Goes both ways, of course, but this is incredibly asymmetric warfare, if it's warfare at all.

am_Unition  ·  18 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

    the aim is the elimination of a government, not of a people.

Israel has decided that the only way to eliminate the Palestinian government is to eliminate the people. The exact degree to which this is true is something of a mystery, I agree, but I find it awfully convenient that the timing coincides with when Netanyahu needs to wage "war" for political convenience. And like I've said elsewhere, it would not at all surprise me to learn later that Israeli intel knew of an impending terrorist attack large enough to kill 1,160 Israelis and decided to sit back and let it happen. Supposedly their intel is the best in the world relative to their population size. Makes sense, they have the money for it.

But yes, Hamas has lost some of my sympathy by recently refusing any terms of a ceasefire. But they understand that if they surrender, they'll be facing even less representation in Israeli politics than on October 6th. Which is how this all started anyway. edit: well, it really started with Israel being carved out of Palestine, but if we, erm, can.. forgive... the first Nakba...

I think Israel should exist, but they sure as hell aren't making it easy for me. The left is correct about this one, but anyone pro-Palestine and also pro-Russia can be discarded.

am_Unition  ·  18 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

    But you can't say "maybe they're more clever than we give them credit for" without some wag bringing up "3d chess" like somehow being smart is worthy of snark in and of itself.

    I think impeachment was a foregone fucking conclusion until Lee Atwater led the party to a place of antibellum evil. Now? I mean just fuckin' ask Moscow Mitch.

I'm also kinda puzzling over those paragraphs. It seems like you're saying that Congress impeaching a SCOTUS judge was never going to happen until the GOP went off the deep end starting with Atwater, and McConnell's 2016 shenanigans now make impeachment something that's on the table? But they're not even considering it, even as Clarence Thomas refuses to recuse when we know his wife is batshit fuckin' crazy and was involved in the insurrection herself.

Just posting this for alllllllll to see:

    She sent messages that had been making the rounds on pro-Trump sites, where anger over the election echoed her own raw feelings, including this passage: “Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators (elected officials, bureaucrats, social media censorship mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc) are being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition.”

I mean what in the FUCK?!? A SCOTUS spouse. Who is known to deeply influence the SCOTUS member. Is in fucking Q-Anon. And there is a 0% chance that she's realized the error of her ways. What a goddamn joke that the dems are throwing up their hands.