futurebird

futurebird, 8 months ago to random

This has mostly been reported as "trans women banned from women's chess" but it's much more sinister. (as if it weren't already.)

ALL trans people are targeted by this ruling. Trans men will be stripped of all chess titles won, which can only be returned to them by “changing the gender back to a woman” (from the ICF’s ruling). ALL transgender chess players will be marked as trans in their files.

If you play or know anyone who does take a stand on this. It's ugly.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/international-chess-org-trans-women?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

futurebird, 10 months ago to random

If you are a white leftist and you talk “both parties are the same they are both capitalist” you will loose most of your black audience. I think it ought to be obvious that this isn’t because blackfolks love Democrats (in most cases, there is always someone being simple in any group) —no. it’s because the difference between the parties is material and obvious and these are unstable times.

When I hear such talk I wonder if the speaker is working on voter suppression.

futurebird, 1 year ago to random

A lot of people don't know the difference between capitalism and ... having markets and shopping and little coops and companies in non-super-essential economic sectors that operate independently.

Markets existed before capitalism and will exist after.

futurebird, 11 months ago to random

Parallel universes are real! You shall be sent to live in one... forever.

You will get a choice between 5 universes that each have a similar collection of languages though technology & culture may be very, possibly hazardously, different.

To make your choice you may request one (1) kind of typical artifact. This will be fetched from each universe, you may compare to make your choice.

Electronics will be disabled. If the artifact doesn't exist... you get nothing.

What do you request?

futurebird, 7 months ago to random

It’s not a public square until it is controlled by the public democratically. Anything less is a substitute, a stand in for The Big Conversation we probably should be having.

The fears people have about “collective action for the common good” aren’t trivial. The potential for corruption, cheating and diversion of the public will to private whims is real.

Too many people are more comfortable letting some powerful man tell them “I’ll take care of people like you” and screw the Big Conversation.

futurebird, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago) to random

I've been trying to find the right way to articulate this-- but the folks on the right have it backwards about who is driven by "white guilt" --

This impulse to cover up and distort the history of slavery reeks of shame. It's, frankly, weird. Nobody has perfect ancestors, what sort of crisis of identity leads one to lie about the past.

It's just the things that happened. You learn about them you learn from them. You do better. Don't make it so emotional and personal.

futurebird, 8 months ago to random

Does Mitch McConnell have a family? Does anyone love him enough to talk with him about... the finite nature of life. The preciousness of hours, minutes seconds?

How from dust we all have come and to dust we shall all return?

He could be petting some kittens. Listening to the sound of a child's laugh-- Dude really wants to die in front of us holding a pen mid-way through signing a bill that forces orphans to work in coal mines or something.

futurebird, 1 year ago to random

There are many different sides to the "Dave Debate"

Should people named Dave exist? Should they have rights? Are they people at all?

I'm not anti-Dave, in fact I am a great supporter of Daves. I just think we need to ask some questions. But if you ask these questions people get so mad.

Shouldn't we at least have a sober reasonable discussion? What's wrong with that?

futurebird, 8 months ago to random

I'm really mad at several college professors in the CS department at my undergrad who told us all "self driving cars are coming" and trusting them as authorities I quashed my many qualms and wasted a lot of time in otherwise important conversations about urban planning insisting that we account for the impact of this 'inevitable' variable.

"They will be safer than human drivers." tapped into my confirmation bias ... I hate drivers, after all. Of course every one could be bested by a machine. 1/

futurebird, 10 months ago to random

In 100,000 years an alien ship enters our solar system. The earth has no remarkable intelligent life, but it's a beautiful biodiverse planet recovering from some bad extinctions. The aliens don't notice the traces left by humanity right away, this is just a survey trip and not much monumental remains.

But, they do pick up a signal, coming not from Earth, but from Mars. "How strange?" they think. Mars is obviously the inferior planet for life. Earth is incredible. But they go to investigate. 1/

futurebird, 11 months ago to random

Is there anyone serious who is saying this? Or is this just another way to make the tech seem more powerful than it is?

I don't get this "we're all gonna die" thing at all.

I do get the "we are too disorganized and greedy to integrate new technology well without the economy getting screwed up and people suffering... but that's another matter..."

futurebird, 6 months ago to random

Listen I know we need a lot of variables in math. A single alphabet won’t due. So capital and lower case letters can be different variables. I can even roll with the idea that letters of the same case in different typefaces can be distinct— but, I still find the abusive use of C in Hoggs Mathematical Statistics a little extreme… we couldn’t get more distinct typefaces? How many students have cried because you did this, Hogg? (i otherwise love this textbook it’s so much fun) /math rant

futurebird, 7 months ago to random

I know I've said I don't agree with doing call out posts. But this is a call out and each of you knows who you are.

futurebird, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

I'm starting to really like Jamelle Bouie's writing on politics. While he still essentially has a liberal perspective (as opposed to a radical or left perspective) he's really good at identifying and criticizing liberal process, technicality and hypocrisy-based criticisms of the right.

These are criticisms that don't address the gulf in values, morality, or outcomes, but focus instead on things like finding hypocrisies, or showing how the right is failing to live up to the constitution. 1/

futurebird, 7 months ago to random

Seeing their attempts at indoctrination fail to take hold the indoctrinated can only imagine they have been stymied by some equal and opposite form of indoctrination. That we might be sincere about creating the space for each young person to find their own way, to make up their own mind is impossible from their perspective.

That we wait on the outcomes of experiments and study to determine what is best? Just a lie.

futurebird, 9 months ago to random

There is no benefit to anyone on the left being on twitter.

Nina Turner tweeted "Insulin should be free." some libertarians responded "Nina should pick cotton for free."

Did this obvious racism hurt them? No, they now have more followers than ever. Being over there is just being bait for these extremists to build their network.

Grotesque racist images of Nina, rather than being demoted by the algorithm are being promoted since the people posting them paid for blue checks.

Leave.

futurebird, 5 months ago to random

Watched a video of Gigantiops destructor (the ant with the best eyesight of ants) A lone ant hunting makes a point of sneaking up on the prey from behind, circling them to stay clear of their antennae and out of range of their eyes.

Can that be done without a "theory of the mind of the other" ?

"It can see me here, it can't see me there?"

Were this a mammal I bet people would call this evidence sufficient. Since ants are so tiny, & have such tiny brains we look for other explanations.

futurebird, 3 months ago to random

So.

None of you thought it might be important to tell me that ferns have sperm that swim??? I just had to find all this out on my own?

And, (apparently, & no one thought to bring this up either🙄) fern plants are only one form... they have this 'other form' (tiny, ephemeral, difficult to find in the wild) alternates generations-- Fern spores don't grow into ferns! (WHAT) they grow into 'gemetophytes' (WHAT) THEN you get a fern.

Feel like I've uncovered a massive scandal.

futurebird, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to random

I still cannot get over the wonder and mystery of what gall wasps can do to plants. This is bio-engineering! The wasp lays her egg and somehow the plant makes a structure that is not a fruit, it is not a seed, it is not a leaf or stem. It's a wholly recombinant architecture customized to the needs of the growing young larva. The plant provides food and shelter-- It's like a cancer, but with a purpose.

How did it evolve? How is it done!?

(Photo by Timothy Boomer, https://wildmacro.com/)

futurebird, 7 months ago to random

Another teacher asked me an interesting question today. "What do you think about this idea of replacing calculus with statistics. After all statistics is more useful."

That's probably true on the surface, but I can't say I'm a huge fan of the "replace calc with stats" craze... even as I lament the poor understanding many people have of stats. It's obvious we need more education on interpreting datasets and visualizations.

But, there is a subtext to this argument I dislike. 1/

futurebird, 9 months ago to random

Having a logo design contest is exploitative to designers. Especially for a huge company.

Logo design is something everyone thinks they can do, but really? No you can't.

The new logo is terrible.

Twitter's name and branding was one of the valuable things Musk bought! And twitter's branding was top notch-- and probably not free.

It's contempt for creative work. The implosion continues.

futurebird, 6 months ago to random

How do people go through life not knowing what weevils are? I was talking about ants to a teacher the other day and mentioned something about weevils & they were like "what are weevils?"

"Like beetles but with the long snoot to drill acorns and trees."

"drill acorns!?"

"That's how they end up hollow"

"oh."

"That's how acorn ants have a place to live!"

"oh. I didn't know so much was going on in acorns."

"That's not even the tip of the iceberg!"

I'm astonished.

futurebird, 9 months ago to random

This is the 3rd time I've seen someone who makes YouTube videos go mad trying to second guess "the algorithm."

YouTube provides creators with a firehose of data: How long people watch, when they stop watching, the distribution of views.

YouTube also sometimes selects videos using a secret, unknowable algorithm to be "promoted." For small and medium creators this is a huge deal and the difference between 500 views and 500,000.

For self-critical analytical minds it's a toxic combination. 1/

futurebird, 9 months ago to random

I asked my math camp kids what kind of experiments they did in in science class:
“none”
“we watch videos”
“we dissected a frog… on the computer”
“we were going to do lasers but there were no batteries”

I’m concerned!

futurebird, 6 months ago to random

Get ready!