If ICE, subcontractors, and the federal government and are doing nothing wrong, why do they need to hide?
Readit NewsThe problem with the call center A.I. is that almost every time I need to call somewhere that uses them, I have some kind of edge case.
They always give examples of how the automated agent can handle simple queries like “what’s my balance” or “what hours are you open”, but I never need to call with something straightforward like that.
As such I also wouldn’t want to trust my own edge case to an AI that might mishandle it.
Maybe the most value to me would be a tool that figures out the shortest route through the phone touch tone labyrinth to get to a live human I can talk to.
I remember GetHuman being helpful in the past. Not sure how it performs now: https://gethuman.com/
jonathanlb commented on Bill Atkinson's psychedelic user interface patternproject.substack.c... · Posted by u/cainxinth
When someone has a profound psychedelic experience that shows them the arbitrary nature of many social constructs, or reveals possibilities for consciousness that mainstream science doesn't acknowledge... that's genuinely disruptive to systems built on those constructs.
The resistance is real, systematic, and rational (from the perspective of maintaining current power arrangements). Not a joke.
I'm curious whether you think that resistance is genuinely adversarial or more based on ignorance and institutional inertia.
For example, someone might have insights about the interconnectedness of all life and wants to transition to regenerative agriculture or communal land use, but face zoning laws that enforce individual property ownership. Or someone might experience ego dissolution and wants to create more egalitarian workplace structures, but runs into rigid corporate hierarchies.
jonathanlb commented on The death of partying in the USA derekthompson.org/p/the-d... · Posted by u/tysone
I can't stress this enough to new or soon to be parents.
Hold off on giving your child a phone as long as possible. Once your kids are old enough (your choice...but it's before they are teens), send them outside, shut the door, and go about your business.
Tell them to come back for lunch. Then send them outside again and tell them to come back for dinner.
I mean this in all sincerity. Don't plan their day for them. Make them go out and plan their day on the fly. Friend's house a mile away? Walk over and see if they can come out and play. Not home? Oh well, walk back or head to a different friend's house. There is value in this friction.
Don't be the person who gives your child a frictionless youth. The hard way is the best way.
I agree with this sentiment, but there have been cases of families who have had CPS called on them for letting their kids walk home alone from a nearby park [1]. It's frustrating to know that neighbors, schools, or authorities might interpret normal childhood independence as neglect and report parents to authorities.
jonathanlb commented on US Court nullifies FTC requirement for click-to-cancel arstechnica.com/tech-poli... · Posted by u/gausswho
Courts don’t only serve consumers and citizens. They also have to serve corporations. This is not a flippant remark; corporations also have rights to defend.
In theory, courts don't "serve" anyone, but they do serve the rule of law. Courts _should_ remain impartial. Given this, it's problematic when the rule of law favors corporations over consumer interests, e.g. Federal Arbitration Act, Citizens United, thanks to corporate lobbying.
jonathanlb commented on Why English doesn't use accents deadlanguagesociety.com/p... · Posted by u/sandbach
French was the lingua franca for a very long time (pun intended)
Former linguistics major here. Interestingly, 'lingua franca' originally referred to a specific pidgin trade language spoken in the Mediterranean. The 'franca' part referred to the Franks, who were originally a Germanic tribe that established kingdoms in what is now France and much of western Europe. By the late Byzantine period, 'Franks' had become a blanket term for all Western Europeans. What happened to both 'Franks' and eventually to 'lingua franca' is an example of semantic broadening.
jonathanlb commented on Gene therapy restored hearing in deaf patients news.ki.se/gene-therapy-r... · Posted by u/justacrow
This particular study looks like it's dealing with a pretty narrow condition and solution (protein missing - add gene for protein). I don't think this particular research can be extended the way you hope.
I agree. The causes of deafness I mentioned are diverse and fall outside the specific focus of this current study. Ideally, future research will address deafness caused by these and other other factors.
jonathanlb commented on Gene therapy restored hearing in deaf patients news.ki.se/gene-therapy-r... · Posted by u/justacrow
This is great news. Hopefully this will be expanded to other forms deafness like those caused by ototoxic medication, ear infections, and general sensorineural hearing loss.
jonathanlb commented on The first American 'scientific refugees' arrive in France politico.eu/article/meet-... · Posted by u/saubeidl
> free healthcare
> earn 40k/yr
> get taxed 30% on it
> get taxes 30% on it
As opposed to paying more out of pocket or getting denied a claim? No thank you.
Thankfully, it's rare because people using ad blockers is apparently rare on the whole.
I wish this were the case. There's quite a number of websites that use Admiral's services to detect adblockers. Admiral got 19m dollars in funding last year, so I imagine the adblock threat is meaty enough.