@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

kenmarable

@kenmarable@dice.camp

D&D nerd, web developer, part time philosophy professor. Also getting into 3d printing and foam crafting for RPGs. (He/Him)

Most read other people's interesting toots and re-toot them.

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Tim_Eagon, to television
@Tim_Eagon@dice.camp avatar

There's nothing better than watching go in for the proverbial kill. Another smarmy, rich asshole goes down (just watched the S3 episode "Publish or Perish").

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@Tim_Eagon Yes, that was a good one!

We also like trying to guess at what point does Columbo start suspecting or even outright know who the killer is. Then it is a slow game of the predator Columbo circling in on his prey.

Tim_Eagon, to television
@Tim_Eagon@dice.camp avatar

I started watching Columbo at the start of the pandemic (my Dad was a big fan of the show, so I had watched some of the later TV movies with him as a kid), but kind of dropped it. I thought I got farther, but I guess I stopped in the middle of season 3. Started watching again tonight with Robert Culp's third appearance as the murderer.

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@Tim_Eagon @Da_Gut My wife and I are rewatching it, and we're now in season 9 which is from shortly after it restarted in 1989. It's really odd since Hollywood has moved on to the sex-obsessed late 80's/early 90's and he's still the same frumpy, easily embarrassed 70's Columbo.

It's extra fun since we alternate with Murder She Wrote which is from the same creators and we're now at the same point in time with them both. Not having them crossover is such a painful missed opportunity.

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@Tim_Eagon My fun little head canon is that the returning actors are actually the same characters seeing if they can outsmart Columbo this time, and he just plays along pretending he doesn't recognize them. 😂

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@Tim_Eagon @Da_Gut Watching them on Peacock, I think a couple of them even had the general ABC mystery-of-the-week intro which threw us for a loop when we first saw it.

Richard Levinson & William Link created and wrote most of Columbo. The two of them plus Peter Fischer created Murder She Wrote, although the two of them didn't really write any, only came up with the concept while Peter Fischer and a bunch of rotating writers did the writing (including J. Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 fame).

inquiline, to random
@inquiline@union.place avatar

Ahahaha just received an email from the uni, subject line

"How can you avoid research misconduct allegations?"

Answer: don't be someone that emboldened rightwing shitheads get in their sights

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@WiseWoman @inquiline I'm not sure the best response to "racists targeting Black scholars" is to argue "But they deserved it."

It's the exact same reasoning as responding to white youth often avoiding drug charges while Black youth often go to prison for the exact same level of offenses by simply arguing "The Black youth shouldn't do drugs."

There is no difference between that reasoning and responding "But they shouldn't plagiarize."

Racially motivated attacks are racially motivated attacks.

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@WiseWoman @inquiline I'm not sure you do understand the point.

Racist attacks on Black scholars is not comparable to press focusing on politicians at all. There are MASSIVE differences between being targeted for belonging to a discriminated, minority group as opposed to scrutinizing literally the group in power.
(1/3)

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@WiseWoman @inquiline
Maybe it's missing the issue of race in America, but the problem is that Black and minority scholars are under far greater scrutiny than white scholars. And this greater scrutiny is a problem for Black and other minorities throughout their lives. Regardless of their career, they are often under greater scrutiny that white co-workers.
(2/3)

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@WiseWoman @inquiline
Even walking through a store, they are often watched as potential shoplifters far more than white people. This doesn't mean that we need to work harder to prevent shoplifting!

In fact, this reasoning that Black people deserve defending only if they achieve a level of perfection is exactly one of the kinds of problems MLK was writing about with his warning about white moderates.
(3/3)

maxkennerly, to random
@maxkennerly@mstdn.social avatar

So the way the IDF chose targets was (1) an AI spat out tens of thousands of names of potential Hamas members; (2) those people's homes were made bombing targets; (3) no one bothered to review any of it or even see if the person was home; (4) the potential for civilian casualties didn't matter.
https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@maxkennerly They actually named the software that checks if their target is likely home with their family so that they can bomb the house, "Where's daddy?"

Someone made that conscious decision, many more approved it, and countless more work with it every day.

This is what evil looks like. Pure, cold-blooded evil in every damning sense of the word.

montecook, to random
@montecook@dice.camp avatar

I was scrolling through YouTube and saw one of those "first reaction" videos for a guy listening to Stairway to Heaven.

I I could think of was, "you big liar." (I didn't actually watch it, it might be true, but come on)

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@montecook Thinking about, how often has that song actually been used in a movie or similar? I've heard they are pretty selective about use of their songs. Immigrant Song is used a bunch, but can't recall Stairway. (I'm sure it has, I just can't think of any offhand.)

Without either A) listening to a radio station that specifically plays older rock songs or B) had it on my own playlist, I'm not sure I've heard it at all in years. It's definitely not as "in the wild" as it was 20+ years ago.

scottsantens, to random
@scottsantens@hachyderm.io avatar

We worry about providing Universal Basic Income because people might stop working, but here's a thought: maybe, just maybe, with a little financial security, people might actually pursue work they truly choose rather than work to just not die. Imagine that world for a moment.

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@freemo @scottsantens [citations needed]

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@freemo Ah, I thought you had an interesting different perspective to provide. But I guess it's just another "poor people are lazy" trolling. yawn

Blocking and moving on.

Tim_Eagon, to random
@Tim_Eagon@dice.camp avatar

It sucks that The Last Starfighter isn't streaming on any services, not even the ones with commercials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKxS9z9a_VU

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@Tim_Eagon Seriously! I loooved this movie growing up! To this day, a tiny little voice in my head still wonders if any video game I play is secretly an interstellar alien test.

lowqualityfacts, to random
@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

Tony Hawk: I'd like to turn myself in for murder.

Cop: Are you Tony Hawk?

Tony Hawk: Yes.

Cop: If you're Tony Hawk where's your skateboard?

Tony Hawk, holding up a blood-soaked skateboard: It dug right into his skull. I am a monster

Cop: You look a little old to be Tony Hawk

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@lowqualityfacts Cop's partner entering the room: Hey, anyone ever tell you that you kinda look like Tony Hawk? Huh, I wonder what he's up to nowadays.

Tim_Eagon, to DnD
@Tim_Eagon@dice.camp avatar

I'm unhappy with the layoffs affecting WotC and Hasbro's leadership but found some of the online reactions strange. Then it clicked, this hadn't happened in about a decade (at least not at this scale), so what was once a regular occurrence during the 3e and 4e eras, is completely foreign to the vast majority of 5e players. How things change but also stay the same.

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@Tim_Eagon @yukamichi Yep, that view is definitely becoming more mainstream. Just saw PCGamer magazine even included the following:

"In the memo itself, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks (who received over $9 million in compensation in addition to his $1.5 million salary last year) said the layoffs are intended to "modernize our organization and get even leaner", calling them a "lever we must pull to keep Hasbro healthy". Cocks has not announced any cuts to his pay or compensation to achieve these goals."

bedirthan, to DnD
@bedirthan@dice.camp avatar

We got a preview of 2024 backgrounds and there's a major change coming.
But all the focus from the presentation has been on new products and schedules rather than the further reduction of story in WotC backgrounds

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@Tim_Eagon @phd20 @Alphastream @bedirthan Most changes I'm don't get really worked about even if I don't like them. But languages for backgrounds just REALLY grated me, especially when I saw (at least in the UA) that gladiators get orcish. The WotC design team really don't understand the problems with monocultures, orcs/racism, etc. and it's only been fan complaints and the hard work of consultants & freelancers that have lead to any progress.

They truly do not understand the problem. At. All.

Drew_Lab, to DnD
@Drew_Lab@ecoevo.social avatar

Im getting myself this as a holiday present. This was the first book I ever owned. (I’m guessing circa 1988 or so) so I’m getting it framed.

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@Drew_Lab It was my first book, too, and that's such a great idea! If I ever have a proper home office, it might be neat to frame the full BECMI array. That color array definitely hits the nostalgia feels for me still.

tveskov, to random Danish
@tveskov@mastodon.social avatar

Many will know that feeling..

kenmarable,
@kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

@tveskov Wow, there's the gut punch I needed this morning. ;)

Just kidding. I'm glad I'm not the only one!

mazouzi, to Palestine

deleted_by_author

    •
    kenmarable,
    @kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

    @philheppenstall @stpaultim 1) There is other identical phrasing between the two statements that was not changed.

    1. If it is just avoiding repetitive phrasing, then it'd likely be used 50/50 each way, right? Has it been?

    Whether deliberate or unconscious, the issue of journalists using active vs passive voice in this exact way has been pointed out for years. It is extremely common when U.S. media covers problems with police as well.

    kenmarable,
    @kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

    @philheppenstall @stpaultim And sometimes people choose not to see what they don't want to see. I'll leave it at that, too.

    anildash, to random
    @anildash@me.dm avatar

    The received cultural mythology of 9/11 is so far from my actual lived experience of being an adult New Yorker on that day that it breaks my brain (and my heart) to even try to reconcile the two. For those who are younger, question nearly all of the political framing you hear about that day. All these years later, it’s clear Bin Laden got nearly all he wanted, thanks to the predictability of American reactionaries.

    kenmarable,
    @kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

    @Eka_FOOF_A @anildash Yep, he wanted to show that American "freedom" was a lie and could easily crumble. Then the Patriot Act was a great big confirmation of the worst opinions of us.

    It was so frustratingly tragic to watch it all unfold in real time.

    Similar with Iraq. I still vividly remember telling my wife partway through one of GWB's speeches months before we invaded, "Wow, we're actually going to invade Iraq, too. He's just going through the motions first to make it look legitimate."

    mattontech, to ai
    @mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

    I have feelings about bans on use of AI to do this or that, here is one not discussed too often.

    A freelance or contractor creates work for hire. As part of this arrangement, the company commissioning the work shouldn’t dictate how the work is done. They should only set the standard by which the work satisfies the contract.

    Telling a contractor they can’t use AI? I think it’s an overstep.

    https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-dungeons-dragons-ai-generate-artwork.html

    kenmarable,
    @kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

    @ben @mattontech The way this particular artist's workflow worked would maybe avoid that issue, but you are correct that considering all of the legal issues still surrounding AI Art, any company allowing it would be taking on additional risk. Avoiding AI Art, among other things, is a good risk-avoiding strategy right now.

    slyflourish, to DnD
    @slyflourish@chirp.enworld.org avatar

    tip: "That's what the adventure says" is as bad as "that's what my character would do".

    kenmarable,
    @kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

    @slyflourish I'm tempted to suggest the addendum "That's what the adventure says and I don't know what will be impacted if I change it" if only to highlight the benefit of writers explaining why things are the way they are as well as providing quickly readable thorough summaries and such.

    atomicpoet, to reddit
    @atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

    Android Authority doesn’t get it.

    Compared to , sucks. And so does . We all know that.

    The isn’t about any app being better than Reddit. It’s about a company that’s grown on the backs of volunteer labour now claiming ownership of that labour.

    Reddit didn’t write those posts, draw those illustrations, make those videos. We did.

    And Reddit sure as hell didn’t create those communities, nurture them, and moderate them. We did.

    I agree with tech writers who say that the average person just “wants their memes”. But Reddit never made those memes. We did.

    Content might be king. But who makes content? We do.

    I have no doubt that the average person just wants content. But while we might be providing content for free, we’re not dancing monkeys. Who decides why content is made, how it’s made, and where it exists? We do.

    The Fediverse doesn’t exist merely as an engine for content. It exists so that people can share what they love.

    Why are people coming to the Fediverse specifically? Because we rightfully see ActivityPub as insurance for our content – which, again, is made by and for us.

    Not Reddit. Not Big Social. Us.

    If I’m giving my content away for free, then so long as it is federated, no one company can own it – putting up gates, demanding payment for my work. Instead, my work is out there, living on 24,000 nodes that presently exist.

    Android Authority might dismiss this as “suffering the same fate” – what fate they perceive, I don’t know. But to me, the true “suffering” is when a company like Reddit claims ownership of my work, locking 3rd party developers out from API access.

    For this reason, I’m locking Reddit out from my work.

    Perhaps the author of this post, Dhruv Bhutani, doesn’t consider that he’s writing for a, well, blog. And that this blog exists on its own domain, with its own design, as its own property. He could have written this entire post on Reddit, but he didn’t.

    Why? I suspect it’s because he believes his work has value, and Reddit simply doesn’t give him what he believes is his worth.

    Same deal with me. I’m not looking to get paid for my work on Reddit. I do it for fun – always have. But if I’m doing something for fun, it’s still going to be on my terms.

    Not all of us creatives are willing to be a cog in Big Social’s machine. That’s why I’m here on the Fediverse right now. I don’t give a damn whether the average person just wants memes. I create for me.

    So yeah, Lemmy and Kbin suck. I can live with that – they will both improve. And I have no doubt that, with time, they might prove to be better than Reddit.

    But this isn’t about how good Lemmy or Kbin are. Nor is this about the insatiable appetite for memes.

    This is about my need to create on my terms – and I’m not alone here.

    Decentralization is the killer feature here.

    https://www.androidauthority.com/reddit-alternatives-lemmy-3335429/

    @fediversenews

    kenmarable,
    @kenmarable@dice.camp avatar

    @skotchygut @atomicpoet @fediversenews "I can't see it..."

    When I see that, I just that really seems to be a you problem.

    Right up there with "I can't imagine that...". That phrase just makes me hope they get a better imagination someday.

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