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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • I disagree with calling individualized pronouns pronouns, mostly because the whole idea of pronouns, like you said, is to replace a noun with a generic reference. As you also said, words shape our thoughts, but they also have meaning. All that said, I can’t think of a better way to reject the idea of pronouns without implicitly rejecting the person doing so, which I also don’t believe is acceptable. I’d be happier if a better way was found, but making me happy isn’t the goal of communication in general.

    I’ve been watching this drama for a while and keeping my opinions to myself since I’m largely unaffected by this discussion, but your comments helped crystallize my opinions on this and come to a reasonable state. I still don’t like the idea of individualized pronouns, but I can’t see an option that both ignores them and still respects their users right to how they identify themselves (and I can’t see a way to write that sentence without at least ignoring the whole subject). So thank you for that insight.









  • I don’t have a problem with them changing the theme. I have a huge problem with them not allowing me to change it back, especially when it serves no practical purpose (other than, “sign up for our Windows <insert version here> certification!”). Now, I have no right to require them to do it, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t a shitty move on their part, and don’t pretend it isn’t.





  • There have been some recent advances on hydrogen production. I don’t think this (sorry for the MSN link) is the one I heard of, but is an interesting example where cheaper catalysts are improving the efficiency of hydrogen production.

    Now, I don’t know if or when hydrogen will be more cost-effective than batteries, which are also experiencing massive advances. This is why I’m going to take the comment someone on Lemmy made about buying used EVs for the next little while - it’s cheaper, they’re lasting longer than predicted, and the advances lined up for the next few years are significant.





  • Honestly, Canada is a terrible target from a guerrilla warfare perspective. We have vast areas of emptiness that locals are familiar with but are dangerous if you don’t know how to survive there, many pocket communities that could easily hide insurgents and weaponry, lots of farming, which means lots of nitrates, a populace that can easily disappear into the American general population, and enough of an identity to not want to be absorbed by a different culture.

    I don’t think we could stop America from invading and occupying, but we could make Vietnam look like a walk in the park. So, who’s up for another couple decades of occupation?



  • There are two American rocket projects in the works that can carry a significant payload to the moon. One is using existing parts in a new configuration. It had one successful launch and cost $4B ($2.5B in launch costs alone). One is building a largely new system and improving existing elements and is estimated to have cost less than $2B so far, although it hasn’t reached the moon yet. That said, they have done 7 tests, at least 3 with a full configuration. How is that not better than the other option?

    Also, you are acting like there are no fundamental advances happening in space engineering. Sure, the physics is pretty well-known, but the engineering problem of landing and reusing stages/rockets commercially has only been done since the Falcon series, so I think it’s safe to assume the technology and associated product lines is still maturing.