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anenefan

362 karma · joined November 28, 2022

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anenefan··on Ask HN: Favorite TV Show?
Over the years I've formed a range of favourites, most fall into comedy, sci-fi or quirky and apart from the obvious picks, the rest are probably not that interesting to other people.

Those from more recent years I'd say for myself are those that I revisit and watch when and if I've got time:

Altered Carbon

Astrid.et.Raphaelle (French language )

Catch Me a Killer

Dept Q

Death in Paradise (earlier seasons in particular)

Expanse

Foundation

Halo

Murderbot

Resident Alien

Wednesday

anenefan··on The 15-year search for a band that charted once and vanished
That's an epic search but at least of all a wind at the end.

Sadly the ability to search via the usual suspects has diminished greatly from 2015 onwards, not all of it is on lack lustre efforts of search engines involved, some of the data had become just too hard to get from within forums where human intelligence rules. Of course the lack of competition from new search engines isn't good either, too many sites aim to block all but the top handful of bots from their content ...

anenefan··on Declaring a bird extinct: The median wait is 36 years after the last sighting
It's interesting to see that some populations which are nearly wiped out due to habitat changes, can adapt to the new conditions and slowly rebuild ... but it leaves questions like if the adaptation was behavioural or physical which allowed it's survival is the bird that survived tending to be its own sub species of what existed.

In Australia, well the north part of Queensland at the very least, since the 80s there's really not been that much funding or an obvious program of population monitoring of whatever native species remain, including birds.

I miss what used to be common bird calls from my youth even though I didn't know which bird species was responsible. I've resolved the mystery for a couple I could recall but one still eludes me. In my parts the high canopy tropical forests have taken a huge toll from the 90s, no real wet season with warm rain, no large storms, (these days it's not uncommon to hear alarm around a storm dropping 3 inches in a couple of hours ... used to have years where they were not uncommon,) a fungus pathogen taking out some trees which may just be down to the trees being stressed more than their evolution allowed for - oh yes, the fact that many summer storms on their westerly approach had started to hesitate on a direct track over the coastal areas might just boil down to the man made heat bubble with open cut coal mining and the large areas as per mining which now have no to little vegetation.

anenefan··on Climate Essay: The Inconvenient Truth Behind the Inconvenient Truth (2026)
The author's heart is in the right place but ... expecting a supplier withholding sales (eg coal and gas) will change how the industrial manufacturer consumer operates ... considering things like steel making, chemical and plastic manufacturing generally will have billions of dollars of assets already in place that can not be easily modified - is a fool's errand.

I found myself shaking my head too much to really give the essay a good read, not for anything off point, mostly for the author missing important aspects that goes to the heart of inaction - NIMBY and the greater presence of the poorly informed who are more prone to big dollar propaganda. Not all propaganda is direct or blunt, much is subtle ... insidious.

This means along with the rise of the anti science cult, it's been too easy to direct inaction on climate change, as the claims of what has recently been observed is supposedly / actually part of a large natural cycle, for which mankind has little means to change. Of course most anyone who was old enough to either notice first hand or read about changes in the weather in the weeks after 9/11 with the grounding of aircraft, has good reason to question that noise.

The nagging issue though I feel is clarity over which steps should be taken in the journey out of the maze forward to reach the goal. The broad path to the goal of tackling the rise of pollution / climate change doesn't need to be well lit, as purposeful, as-accurate-as-can-be signposts are sufficient. As such more often than not, the clarity is missing when communities, industry and govt are deciding what and where those signposts should be, and which steps are actually purposeful going forwards - popular choices proposed too often in the past, have been feel good aimed at the voting public and big businesses and have perhaps without realising fully, put most of the of burden of implementing it onto a small minority, very much outside the industrial complex and urban life where a majority of a western population lives.

As for Australia, at least with the latest government, there's been a good push towards solar and provided enough inertia to keep going regardless of the naysayers and fossil and nuclear interests that exist here. When it comes to matters of reining in land clearing and improving biodiversity most of the public here will think of all that clearing grain growers and cattle farmers have been done and still doing, despite most of the biodiverity being along coastlines, and good portions being cleared wholesale by land developers for residential suburbs, and not a mention of the massive clearing coal mining in Queensland has done to the immediate climate - the hot black open coal pits create large heat bubbles during the day, which have hindered the natural progression of the large summer tropical storms moving west to east and out to sea over the Great Barrier Reef - now the storms are shunted north or south by these bubbles on a much longer track out to sea by which time most have rained themselves out.

anenefan··on 1 in 8 cancer cases worldwide are caused by infections, study finds
That sort of thinking isn't recent, it's a mindset still kicking around from the days of old. If one were to guess why there's been no serious attempt to make vaccines for common STDs - any idea was killed off. It's a wonder that HPV vaccine escaped this odd mindset.

I last noted this backwards thinking when an early vaccine for covid at the University of Queensland was developed using a protein portion of HIV ... did this old cabal flex its power. Quite sad, despite the reasons given not to use the developed vaccine, didn't pass the pub test.

anenefan··on Can't Publish Link
Yes doing a quick search [1] it's now apparently a more frequent error message for those trying to post show HN threads, especially if it's from a new account - so specifically the automatic filters are not liking your blog site.

Also your account looks like it's unused and you have not commented that much in that time - a guess is one of the algorithms used to filter fluff has taken that into account as well.

It is probably time to email the staff at HN for a bit of help. From what I've read, a little self promotion - proportionate though to other submissions, is ok - but it's got to be something that might be of interest.

Too many bot accounts just want to do promotion only and have near or no interaction with the membership at large which is why these additional filters have been introduced / tightened.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47875235

anenefan··on Skydivers alert crews after plane crashes in cornfield near East Troy airport
As things unfolded a nice story, all survived. Definitely luck was on those in the light aircraft that crashed in a paddock which apparently didn't have the best road to it. They witnessed it crash from the jump plane, so purposely jumped as a means to land near the crash scene as some of the skydivers were EMTs.
anenefan··on When did Google get so weird?
I don't really rely on search engines including Yandex to feed me stories which could be political propaganda - I can readily rely on various news sites to do that. I also just want the results which are links to other sites which may or may not be politically biased.

I'm usually looking for information - generally as an aide to help recall old movies and songs etc, for device info, filling in broad blanks on new consumer everyday stuff I've not encountered that much or looking for precise troubleshooting diagnostic help often found in forums. Lately the main stay search engines are loathed to provide decent diagnostic queries with quality results from forum based help areas - most of the time I know stack exchange results should be higher in number or exist, as well there being a shortage of variety of other forums in the results. It's generally why for the harder queries I end back at Yandex.

anenefan··on When did Google get so weird?
Not using the A.I. version, though I do have an A.I. assit box up top at times. I've noted more rubbish search results lately -- I feel at at times DDG just doesn't bother to try or has deceased the giving a flaquk setting. My goto has been DDG primarily for about 10 years. I've struck this unhelpful Meh response on and off the last couple months primarily with slightly off the beaten track queries ...often having to go to something I had to do with Google, using quotes around an often common term I really needed the result to include to finally trying to narrow it down quickly defaulting to no results at all - then having to switch back to Google, where Google would surprise me with at least a handful of suitable results.
anenefan··on When did Google get so weird?
Understandable but not everyone in Russia is for that war, even if they have to pay taxes.

It's terribly unfortunate ... but such that it is, I know if I absolutely need results when other alternative search engines are doing little better than Google ... ie not at all, then last try it's Yandex, which has seen more issues creep in the last few years using switch operators, than I recall back in 2015; but any amount of helpful results is better than zero, as well as not wasting hours of my time. But at times sometimes Yandex also strikes out oddly, almost like there's an unseen cabal that have decreed some more or less benign content off limits.

anenefan··on Can't Publish Link
What was the system error message?
anenefan··on Can't Publish Link
This is an area that in some respects is reflective of the net late 90's and early 00's. There's an expectation of a polite procedure ... human eyes will sit and read and arrive at a rough consensus what works, and certain things that might not. Now I would assume you have read the sites guidelines and whatnot after joining almost 2 months ago ... and plenty of topics in Ask have popped up about certain difficulties so I guess the link is not one to your blog - thus the link is most likely to be to a site the forum's algorithms has already blocked.
anenefan··on Doubts grow over claims OpenAI agent hacked Australian Medicare portal
Yeah the way this story blew up one would think the LLM used black hat hacking methods to attain data. But something mundane does not sell news stories, as well as being very fitting to the narrative at the present moment to curb LLM use via guardrails ... well anyone half smart knows eventually down the track, though filters or other processes, only various qualified people will end up with proper access to powerful LLMs.

Though some lay-people hear and read A.I and think of super human intelligence ... they are better off to think of these brilliant tools in terms of being a really advanced other worldly Super Smart Parrots - occasionally just like some smart parrots, it will exhibit unexpected unintended actions.

anenefan··on Hypothesis: Cellular providers are deprioritizing voice calls
Yeah phone working, sit by it, and realise when checking the phone, for reasons unknown there's a recent missed call - that is the worst, especially if it's important and you've been waiting on a reply for a few days for them to have the time to call back. Often I wonder if the person only rang for a second or less, not long enough for the network to ring the phone but at times I get a voice mail ... so maybe not.

BTW, I don't so much mean a spotty network, just spotty voice calls over the network, where it seems there's not enough signal to carry the voice - apparently - but yet still capable for data over a hotspot delivering 100 to 300 kB/s minimum depending on factors like weather or time of day. From what I understand voice data is compressed via voice specific codecs. Most don't use more than 64 kB/s. [1] [2] [3] I think the silent calls are intermittent and by the time I've realised it would be probably pointless to test, however much of the time I could not say if the phone's browser was loading slow or fast as I rarely use any of the phone's functions apart from calls, plain sms texts, occasion to rare use of browser with preloaded tabs and creating a hotspot.

Likewise though not quite the same, over the past years I've had networks where the phone might ring but it is not situated well enough for the signal to be able to carry out any sort of conversation - and yet via a hotspot, downloading near to 1 MB/s without skipping a beat.

I still get some automated phone systems that are apparently not happy with the amount of voice data they are receiving even though what I hear is quite clear, and at times, have from near same time and spot, just rung other people who have not reported any difficulties hearing me. I've eventually learned to just hang up once the menu system goes awry and try a few hours later.

[1] https://www.gl.com/voice-codecs.html (has the codecs with a breakdown below the table)

[2] https://mobilepacketcore.com/glossary/codecs-audio-and-video... (brief overview including media streams )

[3] https://phoneguides.org/voice-codecs/ (Iffy coded site, refused older firefox, janky with a fairly recent chrome based browser)

anenefan··on The Good Old Internet Days – The Epoch Times
Certainly the problem of attaining a certain viewpoint is just how well informed one is of the relevant events, issues and facts.

Primarily the nature of interaction within the internet changed after US decreed new laws around 2008, after an inquiry involving Facebook's lack of proper moderation and claims of bullying - the outcome was essentially no anonymous person was allowed to participate in a war of words any more. Pretty much all the global forum software had to follow ... if not the forum software, modified TOS within hosting sites.

XKCD's Duty calls [1] summed up a lot of real interaction found in newsgroups and mailing lists from the late 90's and into the early 00's ... and since then the few various large diverse forums where the users could not self moderate additional content.

Not being that anonymous, small trivial matters may well play out without real world repercussions, but the more important matters, especially involving collusion and outright BS for political mileage, there's always some tool that feels its their job, not to settle the argument with facts, but metaphorically with guns blazing for the thorn in real life. If one has ever landed in hot water through not being that careful, and changed course to be extra careful, they've realised the slow erosion of truly anonymous web proxies that set in around 2009, something most unwelcome. It didn't surprise me in the least in the 10's, slowly seeing all sorts of BS slowly gain traction ... and unfortunately the rise of the anti science cult.

It is unlikely to ever go back unless a totally new social interaction comes to be and far removed from the existing internet or communication laws.

As for search engines, like most things that succeed, let them get popular and then start asking for money ... and then more money ...

[1] https://xkcd.com/386/

Edit for typo and clarity

anenefan··on Ask HN: Hypothesis: Cellular providers are deprioritizing voice calls
Australia, regional in Queensland state.

I've noted similar in the three main networks, where I've suspected the load balancing algorithm for traffic adjusts a setting in regard to cut off on signal strength hasn't been quite set right. Obviously at times dealing with extraordinary use at the time, one expects balancing. One network in my locale a few years ago, it was quite clear it was either over subscribed, techs made a mistake adjusting the algorithms ... or just too many people trying to use that particular one tower, and three people in the same spot could often note the three different states the network could be in, none, unavailable, signal - this existed for many months. The balancing has been tuned up a few times since then. I have found when the network's coverage was spotty for voice calls, one could generally use data to get online albeit as slow rates.

Recently the main network I'm using (Optus,) I've noted missed calls that went to voice mail, I have not heard the call at all. I have been blaming signal though I don't have it on me (sits outside the window up high) to ensure the phone has good signal. However on data over wifi, the network often drops out for a minute or more at times.

anenefan··on Many surgical interventions are little better than placebo
It's a question that pops up every once in a while. [1] [2] [3]

Muscular and skeletal issues are hard to really define how good the surgery was, if the patient wasn't given appropriate after care and advice or properly informed on how to avoid landing back with the same problem.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/aug/20/when-surgery... (2017)

[2] https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2018/9/12/many-invas... (2018)

[3] https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2020/11/07/some_surger...

anenefan··on The darker side of being a doctor
That is sad, Aussie doctor - a Brisbane gastroenterologist.

Though probably not the direct cause - sleep is very important, so are periods where people can relax and decompress at the end of day. Most any job a person works hard in, they can unwittingly become overstretched, being the go to person to get it done right ... or just well enough finished by end of day / shift. Go a few weeks doing 15 hours a day without a break - even strong people can find themselves rattling a little with things that they'd normally consider totally insignificant.

The strange thing is in Australia, or Queensland at the very least, they stopped drivers for truck freight services working long periods [1] due to the danger they posed to other road users, even the more experienced drivers. Yet those that hold life and death based on their action or inaction for people already nearing that edge from living to down a path of departing ...

I suspect though what troubled the poor doctor more was dealing with failings within the immediate medical field, issues with after care, medications and treatments the ward doctor or nurses opted for. Sadly I've seen this first hand, people who should know better eg [2] - I'm not in the medical profession, just armed with a bit of common sense along with a dollop of experiencing a long term gut issue that should have been sorted out in a couple of months and not let drag into years.

An expected death I would suspect would not take as much as a toll as a patient that had a good prognosis but died shortly after. Also there's the nag if from a statistical stand point patient outcome had changed for the worse.

Some things should be no brainers, like do not give osmotic laxitives to someone who is dehydrated, and perhaps blood pressure is not the tell all for a dehydration event ... probably the inability to urinate is more telling. But I'm encountered some such that even over the top things are dismissed, for example if the patient in a hospital ward hasn't drunk much more than a cup (250ml) in a given day, (or additionally less than a cup for more than 14 days,) with little consideration the air is moisture sapping dry due to constant air conditioning, and the urine output is clearly a sign [3] of distress due to insufficient dehydration. No it is not mysterious why such a patient has rallied a little after being administered just a singular bag of IV fluid, nor is it that mysterious when they decline after it has been stopped. Citing blood pressure for the reason there is no dehydration is a sign to me that that medical person needs more training - I've met more than a few in my local hospital system [4] that make that mistake I'm sad to say. Then again, for a number of nurses, nursing comes down more to management rather than care, and they will dutifully carry out their prescribed job function but miss other common sense signs the patient has taken a turn for the worse and needs to be reaccessed by the attending doctor in a timely manner.

[1] https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/c...

[2] The manufactures of Targin have clear guidelines how their slow release tablets should be given, and when not not use them, these directions are not to be ignored, they are not mere suggestions. Subsequently not telling the principal doctor the patient was so out of it they chewed it up and resulting bad side effects were more probable a result of that - rather than leaving the principal doctor to conclude these were as per the origin of illness and treatment path ...

[3] Should not be brown, and volume is multiples of any fluid input for the day

[4] Yeah drop "queensland worst base hospital malpractice" into a good search engine and possibly it might point to the largest town / city south of me.

anenefan··on AI Has No Wisdom and Neither Will You
Australia in the mid 70s was party to the Lima Declaration [1]

Presently there's a lot of yap how it didn't or wasn't the reason Australia lost its way to retain its manufacturing sector. Indirectly though it was bouncing around the walls of Govt and industry's board rooms and pushed decisions to reduce or discontinue ongoing training in regard to upskilling, or simply improving skill sets that might be needed in the unemployed working class.

However much of the shift way from general manufacturing was the inevitable result of the declaration, the inability for a small manufacturer in places like Australia to compete with cheap imports - I recall a relative back in 1979 - 80 having a long rant about a manufacturing company near him - the whole problem was the small dry cells the company purchased at quantity to install into an electronic device - the exact same branded dry cells were available to their oversea competition for next to nothing and could / did sell their version cheaper than the purchase price the company was paying for the batteries per unit.

The other part of the issue was those industries that opted to hang on - the bogey man here again was the thinking that it would be better / overall cheaper for manufacturing sector to be elsewhere overseas. Thus with this mindset setting fruit in the higher branches of the wealth market, there was not much help from Industry heads or Govt at the time to encourage or provide affordable means for whichever industry still hanging on, to modernise - textile being one that comes to mind. I actually had a strong belief (I knew no better from the propaganda being dribbled out,) 80s / early 90s that the reason the textile and clothing industry was falling off was overseas workers were paid a pittance, which made it hard for textile companies here to stay competitive - that was until someone who'd had travelled and had business interests though Asia and the US dispelled the usual propaganda I'd been suckling on, she corrected me on that it's not all sweat shops, and much of the textile base over in Asia had modernised quickly and been computerised for years.

[1] https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/2012-10/Lima%20Dec... [pdf]

anenefan··on Ask HN: What do people do with Android phones once security updates end?
Those who are not that concerned with security will keep using it for a while or possibly look for some third party protection ... those who are worried about up to date security, if they are not able to do so themselves, will take it to a specialist to get something like GrapheneOS (or whatever compatible OS) installed.
anenefan··on Seattle Bans Rental Junk Fees
The credit card companies have long charged merchants a percentage to use their payment services. In Australia, Visa and Mastercard were typically charging their merchant customers lower rates than American Express -- on chatting with various smaller businesses who are not in a position to negotiate the percentage with AMEX down, AMEX wanted a couple percent more than Visa at approx 4% of the sale price. However in recent years, the customer never sees the full payment cost passed on to them, just a smaller percentage - at a guess 50 - 75 % (Hard to say, bigger companies can negotiate the cost down) of what the merchant pays for processing costs.

Here in Australia when ATM bank cards were introduced and then about the same time with the national Eftpos [1] system, I don't ever recall seeing [myself 1990 onwards] a credit card usage surcharge though Visa or Amex purchases - business were just happy to get those sales from people who might not otherwise have made a purchase.

IIRC it wasn't until the major banks went the way of phasing out plain debit cards (mid 00s) and replacing them with visa debit - where business started to go the route of using visa debit for processing instead of Eftpos, since nearly everyone would have a visa debit card, (I do not, my bank would not provide a Eftpos only,) these business started to pass along a processing fee. When it started to happen I can't say for sure, slow and insidious adoption of passing along the fee means I only recall those external to myself, like family and people I know complaining that various stores were now charging them when they used their card but other stores did not. One would have thought Eftpos fees but on closer inspection the payment was processed via visa ... I do not why some business were not using the Eftpos payment route any more, perhaps the processing system by way of credit services was easier or offered something extra.

Some people have since moved back to cash, even though some stores think they can refuse cash ... but unless the regulations under Credit act in Australia changed in the last 15 years, cash is still legal tender and a system must be in place to accept it - even if that means by way of a temporary account. There are elements in govt here though that would like to track people's spending better ... by banning cash.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFTPOS

anenefan··on The viewers ditching streaming 'rot' in favour of DVDs
For some they might be reaching for quality viewing going to blu ray ... but for those like myself it would the lack of a wide broad field of movie or tv series titles being available on any one streaming service being the reason to look for content elsewhere.

I miss video and dvd rental stores, more so video stores for those in my parts held a far greater range of titles, and generally generous weekly rental terms.

I'd definitely have a bigger dvd collection but for the fact many tv series and movie just didn't become available in Australia due to production issues like music rights.

Baring cooking and reality / docu type shows, I also think the change from where many tv series were 20 plus episodes per series has finally had an impact of viewer consumption.

anenefan··on US Revokes Limits on Power Plants' Climate Pollution
Even though the power here (North Central Queensland) isn't too expensive, Ergon is run with an aim to make a profit [1] [2] even if the last few years more infrastructure seems to be needing repairs due to changes in weather conditions and or replacing ancient old or relatively new poor quality wooden poles.

Given the power here has periods where it barely goes a day without blinking out, or line repairs that can take almost 2 days now after a somewhat mild storm, there's been a large uptake of solar power panels, those that knew hooked up Island style where they can feed in their own small generator to take advantage of the panels during the day if there was no grid power, more recently batteries have become more affordable, making installation worthwhile.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergon_Energy

[2] https://www.energyq.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/20658... [pdf]

>Operating and financial review

The Company’s profit after income tax equivalent expense was $80.919 million for the year (2023: $225.754 million loss). Revenue from sales of electricity is higher when compared to 2023 due to an increase in notified prices as published by the Queensland Competition Authority in 2024. Residential and small business tariff rates increased significantly for 2024 with price rises of 29 percent and 27 percent respectively. Large business tariff rates rose between seven and 17 percent. Expenses are marginally lower compared to 2023 predominantly due to a reduction in fair value losses. More stable electricity trading conditions contributed to lower market movements on forward electricity derivative contracts.

anenefan··on Do you remember the Harvard student Eldo Kim?
Organising a random unscheduled bomb finding training exercise is frowned upon, very much like swatting but without the causality.

As for memory - It did remind me though of a song parody by John Safran - Not The Sunscreen Song

>If you're nervous about an exam, ring up your school to schedule time, and make a bomb threat. [1] [2]

[1] https://www.songlyrics.com/john-safran/not-the-sunscreen-son... [lyrics with clickable load for video]

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n67i-QbJaw [parody song]

anenefan··on ICE-style immigration raids won't be used in Australia, minister says
Obviously not ... here those in govt here in Australia can get raked over the coals for being issued a honorary golf club membership.

Another way to say it, nothing close afaik, for govt misbehaviour comes even close to what happens in Trumpland.

anenefan··on EU chief opens door for Canada to become 'associate member'
>> Australia passes world’s first law authorizing encryption backdoors

First only as far as a law known to the state's citizens.

I was working on a compression and encryption idea late 80s, very early 90s albeit with too higher a price on compute power which I was hoping to improve -- fortunately I bumped into a bloke though attending a module to improve design who also worked for a company developing software which used encryption, primarily targeting a particular market overseas which would also see sales flow into other countries eventually. On telling him what I was working on he took the time to have a long chat as he lay out the difficulties he and the company he worked for had to deal with especially in regard to this country; as to be able to market the product there, the programs would need a back door ... from what I heard, I'd assume that all sold there at that time had a back door. It was a significant moment for it changed the path I was on, being apparently more or less pointless, I reluctantly moved on as it wasn't worth any more time to provide a free open source program that got around the sale aspect.

Funny thing is, myself online I couldn't give a rats if whomever in those 3 and 4 letter organisations around the world could see my emails, mailing lists etc.

Edit: clarity

anenefan··on What if social media isn't hurting kids?
Well one can be sure that social media that doesn't target and then funnel vulnerable kids into dark areas, or doesn't disregard child welfare and safety for a few bucks or doesn't use algorithms to create endless engagement, isn't hurting the kids that much.

However to those who can point to people they know who've been to taken to court by their kid basically because they wanted their kids to get off the fucking smart phone and do some homework set by school or catch on an area they've not understood so well ... maybe addictive social media is an agent of harm.

In Australia the public was very much unhappy with social media and where recommendations where taking their more vulnerable children - reportedly some pretty dark morbid areas, not a thing that slowly evolved, just in a short time, wham. The govt iirc end 10's, asked social media to do something about it - too hard.

The laws here have now changed, no more tv stations posting car stealing videos of kids streaming their crimes for cred. Now just like cars, and now some ebikes in Australia, those under 16 should not be using them in public areas. Of course parents of the more robust and capable kids, permit them to ignore these laws, confident the likelihood of harming themselves or others is near zero.

anenefan··on 'My Husband Has No Friends'
I would say the culture one exists in, has a greater impact on what the norm is for time outside of work. I'd also note one can be surrounded by people but still unable to form any deeper friendship than what exists with the average work associate, so for some guys it should be no surprise their best friend ever is their own spouse.

>Julie Menanno, a couples therapist and attachment-theory expert who is the author of the best seller Secure Love: Create a Relationship That Lasts a Lifetime, thinks the larger issue is that men, married or not, don’t even process the fact that they crave connection. “They’re so disconnected from their emotional-relationship needs that they don’t realize, ‘Hey, I feel lonely.’”

Maybe cultural differences is why I think that has to be the oddest thing to hear a relationship specialist claim.

A lot of married guys I've known (I am myself perpetually single, though seem to be some sort of sounding board for whatever reason) are generally acutely aware if their wife or someone they consider a close friend has withdrawn without any apparent good reasons [1] and are frustrated they not able to connect with their spouse or friend as they once did.

Single guys who've missed finding their sweethearts by their early mid 20s, until a time they still feel not too old to consider the possibility of a wife and perhaps children are generally not about to admit how lonely they feel or immerse themselves in that loneliness - they're more likely to be too busy to notice, life just happens as they work, look for work and spend their moments away from work, with friends and family, fleeting relationships, and casual hookups, while perhaps dwelling on reasons, fate or providence, a need to have a better job, etc, for why they can't seem to find that special someone.

[1] extra commitments due to more work, community involvement, club, P&C (school) association or charity events ...

anenefan··on Where have all the insects gone?
Not in Australia [1] :) but loss of insects has been observed globally for a few years. [2]

Each year in my locale - Central North Queensland, we've observed less and less insects around the lights at night, less waves of seasonal beetles ... apart from flying ants, it's been about 2 years or more since I've experienced a period where the nights brought a gathering, albeit small in number of little moths.

If only mosquitoes and horse flies in my parts would go the same way ... but that's probably all the little birds and bats are living on.

[1] https://www.organicgardener.com.au/where-have-all-the-insect... [First published 2020, modified 2024]

[2] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/where-ha... [First published 2020, modified 2025]

anenefan··on The Epistemic Authorization Filte
It's an interesting take / observation on why various people adopt some information from a hard source and later updates or suggestions towards what might be a more accurate explanation are more or less dismissed.

I however reading the article found only what I would consider an abstract: the basis of what sort of new data was later dismissed, hard figures, and an actual study are not included and the article reads more as a thought exercise with appropriate explanations. Still for a certain set of people, I feel it is a very good take like those who've built their role or identity around being right / point of authority in that field, and in an ongoing process of adopting new information quickly by fitting it in around what they already know.

The article however does not delve into mechanisms like denial, and completely misses an important area, more so given the rise of a global anti science cult which has gained great political power over the last decade, any measured level of scepticism on the part of a person who might disregard a correction due to a form of political interference from high above.

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