Looks cool! I’d definitely try it out! Does it have options to change the key?

I think the number of people who care deeply about privacy and cannot tell the difference between an sms or signal message is minimal. There were plenty of ways signal could have highlighted DANGER UNSECURE CHANNEL if they had wanted to, or made it an off-by-default option, rather than drop SMS entirely. For myself and many other people it meant that family members dropped Signal rather than have an extra messaging app, and so I’m still stuck with WhatsApp on my phone…

Absolutely. Words change, and it’s not an unhelpful term, but we already had a word for ‘ruled by the best’, aristocracy. Over time it became very apparent that aristocracies did not promote leaders who were objectively ‘best’ or often even ‘adequate’, so it began to mean a small group of privileged people who used their power to keep that privilege for themselves and their peers.

So although meritocracy started as a joke, it could be used sincerely. But unless it’s pretty clear how ‘merit’ is assessed its hard to take it more seriously.

In cities I’d agree, but when I lived in a closeknit rural area it was probably majority women. As the rest of the commentors are saying, I think it’s mostly a perceived safety issue for a lot of women. But if you’re likely to know the name, address and family history of everyone who gets into your taxi, it’s less of a concern.

I’m not sure about your visual interpretation, but I completely agree that the two scales don’t translate directly, and that if something is rated 7/10 I’d assume it’s better than something rated 3.5 stars / 5.

As to the reason? I wonder if the scales five different senses of the middle value? In a five star system, 3/5 film is the middle value, and not especially good nor bad, but I’d probably give the same “totally average, not good not bad” film 5/10. Similarly, it seems weird to translate “Awful, 1/5” into “Awful, 2/10”. So maybe the difference comes from a lack of clarity about half stars, it’s okay to give 0.5 / 5? But not 0? Or 5.5?

And that doesn’t even start to address the modern “if it’s rated less than 4.6* it’s probably awful” issue…

Jolt Cola, “All the sugar, twice the caffeine!”

Totally agree.

As the other commentator says, medieval Europe was mostly early twenties. Studies of stone age remains suggest a first birth age average of 19.5 and contemporary hunter gather societies have a comparable average. Sexual activity generally begins earlier, during adolescence, but the most “reproductively successful” age for beginning childbearing has been shown to be around 18-19. Also, this age at first birth isnt “Average age of a child’s mother” as many women would have multiple kids over their life, so the average sibling would have a much older mother at birth than the firstborn.

Its important to remember that puberty has shifted massively since industrialisation, "menarche age has receded from 16.5 years in 1880 to the current 12.5 years in western societies". So the post-puberty fecundity peak, that use to happen 17-19, when women are fully grown enough to minimise birth complications, now happens at a disressingly young 13-15. Not only is this a big social yuck for most western societies, but it’s reproductively unideal, because of the complications linked to childbirth at that age.

That’s a self fulfilling cycle. If more institutions and organisation left and made a public statement of not wanting to be associated with fascism, then it would push another bunch to have to defend why they didn’t think nazi salutes were a problem, and they’d leave too.

Whether it makes enough of a wave to push major groups to leave is a question of public pressure, but that public pressure is expressed through “costly signalling” that show organisations have values and are willing to take a hit to live by them. And non-profits are exactly the groups who can afford to take a symbolic stand, and make things more difficult for those that remain.

Cool idea. I still use imdb to check stuff but that site is bloated as hell, I’d love a clean alternative.

That’s a very good point! So that crazy desire to try and give a bear a cuddlewuddle isn’t just a crazy deathwish, it might actually confuse the beast so much that he doesn’t try to eat you!

I think this is a big part of it. Predators are stimulating and demand our attention. For most people spiders and snakes do so in a way that is upsetting, but because mammalian predators are less alien to us (and many resemble the cats and dogs we’ve domesticated) they’re attractive rather than repellent. But while I might find a lion adorable in video, I’m sure if one walked into my garden I’d be extremely fucking attentive.

I guess like the Goths, the Franks were a barbarian tribe, who were presumably reasonably direct and… frank, compared to sophisticated imperial types.

Sure, why not!

I imagine it would be a total ballache for the person https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/03/they-said-i-dont-exist-but-i-am-here-one-womans-battle-to-prove-she-isnt-dead

Yeah, this happens to me. On ritalin lp it’s not that bad because it happens just before I actually go to bed, but whatever I was on before was awful for a few hours of constant snacking.

The main thing I tried to keep in mind is that I’m not in any sense hungry (although it can feel like that) and that’s why having one more snack won’t stop the feeling (even if it feels good at the time). Instead, I’m craving simple sensation and easy dopamine so I try to replace the cravings for unhealthy snacks with alternatives.

My cravings are for salty, crunchy things and that normally ends up in me eating bags of chips or crackers/toast and thick butter. But anytime I’ve had left over roast vegetables, that are a bit blackened and carmalised and well-seasoned I discovered that I’d just as happily eat a piece of roast cauliflower or carrot as a bread stick. the key is that they’re a satisfying texture and salty / spicy. If I just had a bag of carrot sticks I’d eat one or two then want something more intense and reach for the bag of tortilla chips.

I’ve even had some success recently with crushed ice and a dash of lemon juice. With a cupful of tangy ice I can relax in the evening and keep reaching for another piece to cronch down on. And because it’s cold and hard it recreates that “I shouldn’t have more, I should wait, oh what the hell” that I get with snacks I’m “not allowed” and I think that the giving into temptation is itself a dopamine hit.

The use of a pretend quote is one thing, but what is the middle quotation mark doing?

Manny’s Milk “We’ll deliver that white cream” that puts a smile on your wife’s face"

Is everyone too distracted by the cringe to be infuriated at the punctuation? Wtf is happening with those quotation marks?

I think the reason for down votes is that the comment suggests that issues with dating are the reason for male loneliness, when most people in the thread would argue that believing that ‘a romantic partner is the only acceptable source of meaningful emotional connection available to men’ is a big part of male loneliness.

Worked in the UK, when I started my job I was given lots of hr forms, contract, info about benefits and leaflets for each of the two main unions that covered our workplace. If there was ever any issues, our line managers would remind us of our right to have a union rep present for meetings with management.