nice! I made lifelong … [read full article]
Oh definitely. He does have a petty bratty nature though that one often gets when they’ve only ever gotten what they wanted and have the power to shove until they get it for far too many years. I mean, psychological and trait diagnosis is useful as long as we also hold them as adults who have found reasonable workarounds for their various conditions in order to function in society and therefore are as accountable as any so-called rational adult for actions, culpable for misdeeds and responsible for failures and consequences alike.
Oh definitely. He does … [read full article]
Need a stronger comparison. You could use DEI vs Trump’s first time alright. “Why did he hire his family in government?” _well why did your guy hire a trans woman?_ etc That’s tit for tat. But this is structure and broad. DEI wasn’t structural. There’s absolutely never been a Tom Krause. What he does is the same kind of thing as to what happened to Toys R Us. It “disappeared” suddenly because of private equity firm pulling it out. It’s that level of stuff.
Need a stronger comparison.… [read full article]
Not everybody is good at every task. When he made his website in the mid 1990s for his first business after college where he had business listings and such (I made a similar website from 2007-2014 for my area), he most likely used a flat-file database and not a relational database because web tools were not very sophisticated at that time. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that you started to see more powerful tools for website databases, around the time they were working on Paypal. “de-duping” is something you might do on a flat-file database. He is likely seeing the same social security number showing up with variations of names So in his mind, there should be only one social security number per name – AND THERE IS, kind of. People make spelling errors, there are married and divorced names, etc. so really there are a LOT of different versions of names that can resolve to a single social security number. If you look at the correct table, you’ll see a “master list” of ss numbers where each of them are uniquely associated with whatever names are associated with that number. Every version of a name has to be captured that’s in use. That probably shows a ss number in a row with every variation of the name that’s in use. BUT you might see another view which combines that table with others, then you might see ss numb1 Name one ss numb1 Variation of name one ss numb1 Unmarried name etc. and it will look like the same number is used for different people, but it’s all the same person. If you just picked one name and “deduped” by deleting the others, you’ve just deleted information belonging to that person, all because it is a comprehensive database that’s catching every version of a person’s name in use.
Not everybody is good … [read full article]
He doesn’t understand the SS database. What exactly isn’t “de-duped” in it? There’s a number of fields for different reasons.
He doesn’t understand the … [read full article]
It’s entertainment. and you are entertained. These figures are all so incredibly tiny compared to either the US Govt or Elon Musk or Peter Theile’s net worths. They only SEEM BIG to us “poors”. Has anyone said HOW the ‘money’ is going to be returned to “us”? Shall we be cut checks? What will this plastic-based cashless technocracy do for us that they’re leading us to?
It’s entertainment. and you … [read full article]
I wasn’t happy with how Baudrillard uses information in different ways so I asked an AI (claude 3.5) to try and disambiguate some of the language and simplify a little. Here’s my attempt to rewrite the key points from the passage in simpler, more accessible language: There is an abundance of raw data and facts being transmitted, but less and less actual meaning or significance being conveyed. Baudrillard proposes a few ways to understand this: a) Data/information may be intended to generate meaning, but the loss of meaningful content is happening faster than new information can replace it. So we try to create alternative media channels to try to restore meaning. b) Data/information may simply be a functional system separate from meaning – just a code or transmission, not inherently tied to significance. c) The most interesting idea is that the proliferation of data/information is directly destroying meaning and significance. The more data there is, the more it neutralizes and dissolves real, shared meaning. Baudrillard argues this third idea is true – the media are not creating more real communication and meaning, but rather replacing it with a simulated, self-referential version of communication that lacks genuine significance. The media don’t just neutralize meaning, but also dissolve the cohesive “social” fabric, fragmenting it into passive, disengaged masses. The media create a circular, self-contained system disconnected from external reality. Baudrillard sees this implosion of meaning and the social as a challenge, not just a catastrophe. It opens up new forms of fascination beyond the traditional ideals of meaning and communication. There is an unresolvable paradox – are the media manipulating the passive masses, or are the masses directing the media into meaningless spectacle? There is no clear answer, just an escalating, circular dynamic of simulation. The key is translating Baudrillard’s complex theoretical language into simpler concepts like data, meaning, communication, media, and social cohesion. The core insight is that the proliferation of information/data is actively undermining genuine meaning and shared social reality.
I wasn’t happy with … [read full article]
unrelated/related: Currently lesson in “Religion and Film” and we’re going over post-modernism and the Simulacrum. I love this definition and see if it looks familiar: Hyperreal: The hyperreal is a world where the distinction between reality and simulation collapses. In hyperreality, media, advertising, and technology create an artificial reality that feels more real than reality itself. We no longer experience events directly but through images, screens, and narratives designed to manufacture a sense of truth.
unrelated/related: Currently lesson in … [read full article]