It isn't, but I think this probably fits. Enshittification is when a company provides useful, good services to gain users, then once those users are locked in they start degrading those service or removing features to cut costs, right? That seems like a pretty close analogy to what's going on here, I'd think.
I didn't need to read the article to know this was going to be about Alabama Power. They are massively influential in this state and essentially own the state regulator, the Public Service Commission. We have high rates and our support for residential solar is worse than nonexistent. It's just pure corruption.
Better than last week, so far. I made a decision earlier in the week to try something that I've been wanted to do and pitched a cowriting project to my sister, who was really enthusiastic about the idea. We've both struggled to write in the past, I think we both have a hard time getting stuck on details. I feel like there's a real chance that having a writing partner will help us both push through those times when we get stuck on a word or phrase or detail, because we tend to obsess about different things.
Also, she's better at punctuation than me, which is good because my approach to commas is usually just to sort of sprinkle them liberally wherever I would naturally pause. I know that isn't right but so far it's a habit I haven't been able to break.
Hey @Scary_le_Poo, I know we don't have this in the rules anywhere on the site - there's some ongoing discussion among the mods about how to handle things like this, but I'd like to encourage you to use something like an archive link if you're going to post an alternative way to access an article, rather than copying the full text of an article into a comment.
Having kind of a rough week with wrestling with identity stuff. Things are generally good for me, but I just keep having these questions about myself coming up and I can't seem to just drop it. Not sure where any of it is going, or if it's going anywhere, but I'm getting kind of tired of it tbh...
Hey. While I sympathize with the sentiment here, this kind of drive by, low effort content isn't really the vibe we're trying to cultivate on Beehaw, and I've noticed that this kind of comment seems to be the primary way you're engaging with our instance. We're not asking folks to write an essay every time you want to comments, but we would like for commenters to try and add to the discussion rather than just creating noise that doesn't really contribute to the conversation. In the future, please try to put a little more effort into your comments, even if it's just to explain your feelings with more detail in a way that will contribute to the conversation around the topic at hand. Also, please remember our primary guideline: Be(e) nice.
Hi skeptomatic, Beehaw Technology mod here. To be clear, this community is not only for the uncritical admiration technological development or the tech sector. It is a community for discussion of Technology in general, which will likely include discussion of the effects of technology on society. Those topics very well may include discussions of how and when those technologies, the environment they are developed in, or the systems they enable are harmful to human flourishing.
You are absolutely welcome to defend generative AI as a useful or positive development - I personally think it's a really interesting technology with some major potential (although I think we're probably in a hype cycle and it's being applied in all kinds of ways that don't really make sense), but I also recognize that there are potential social pitfalls in it's development and deployment. Those ideas are worth discussing in a kind, civil manner.
Lastly, when you comment here on Beehaw, please remember our rule: Be(e) Nice.
I've found that usually is the case especially with "articles" like this on TV News channel sites, but I can't find where any papers have picked up the story. They may still be following up on it, but I would expect if the Houston Chronicle winds up picking the story up they will have more details.
This was a really interesting look into the ways that board game mechanics can represent real-world systems in a way that provokes understanding or empathy.
There were also a couple of references to Gloomhaven that really made me laugh:
In 2021, researchers analyzed the ten thousand games with the highest rankings on the Web site BoardGameGeek, and found that, between 2000 and 2020, the average number of mechanics in new games had increased from roughly two and a half to four. The 2017 game Gloomhaven, which held the highest rating on the site for years, utilizes nineteen mechanics.
and
“Not everybody enjoys killing monsters in dungeons,” said Isaac Childres, the designer of Gloomhaven, which is about killing monsters in dungeons.
I'm not sure that I agree that we should dehumanize people just because the do something wrong or commit a crime. I think all sorts of people deserve sympathy, even those that have done wrong. I'm not saying at all that Somerton shouldn't have to face the consequences of his actions or that what is happening to him is worse than what he did to others, but I don't think that justice and empathy are mutually exclusive.
This video really made me realize how disconnected I've gotten from the top 40. I'm not one of those that is gonna go on a diatribe about pop not being real music, people are allowed to like whatever they like and music doesn't have to be complicated or deep to be good. But I hadn't realized how little I was listening to the radio these days. A decade ago I would have still probably been listening to radio stations in the car most days and so I would have some exposure to the top 40 as I was switching between stations, but I didn't recognize a single song on this list, with the exception of the two really controversial ones - which I only recognized because I saw some of the backlash against them. I also noticed that Todd pointed out several times how much less it takes these days to get a song on the top 40. I wonder if that is because of how fractured the general listening public has gotten as radio has less sway when it comes to making hits. If anybody has any articles/videos on that I'd love to see them.
Yeah I'm with you, I don't think there was a better way to do this (and it needed to be done). I don't think Hbomberguy did anything wrong. But the whole episode has just left me (personally) feeling bad and I don't love how much joy some folks seem to be getting watching somebody get taken apart. Not accusing anybody in this thread of that, I've just seen it in other places.
I can sympathize. I'm not sure I agree with you that Hbomb did anything wrong, but I did leave that video feeling pretty shitty in general. With the Tommy Tallarico thing it was so absurd and Tallarico is such a huge figure that it was just kind of funny, but this last video felt like watching somebody's life being dismantled. It needed to be done, because Somerton was hurting folks and being dishonest. And I'm not sure that somebody with less clout than Hbomberguy could have done it. There were several examples of smaller creators calling Somerton out with little to no effect other than getting backlash from Somerton's fans. But honestly the whole thing just kind of made me feel sad, I didn't get much satisfaction out of it.
It isn't, but I think this probably fits. Enshittification is when a company provides useful, good services to gain users, then once those users are locked in they start degrading those service or removing features to cut costs, right? That seems like a pretty close analogy to what's going on here, I'd think.