shirro

@shirro@aussie.zone

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Petition: Bring the Affinity Suite to Linux - #AffinityOnLinux⁩ ⁨⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩:

  Yep. This is a waste of time. Canva are just another US VC backed SaaS company despite their Australian origins. An affinity suite port would have been interesting under the previous UK ownership.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Rightwing lobby group Advance says it makes ‘no apology’ for support given to anti-Greens groups⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Just follow the money. Don’t even need to do that, its very obvious which industry group benefits from attacking the Greens. It is the same companies, majority foreign owned who aren’t paying their fair share of taxes.

  It is hard to understand how anyone would fall for these corporate propaganda campaigns but then you think about the number of phone and internet scams and see all the fraud and weird cults around and I guess you just have to influence enough people to shift the goal posts. They must be spending a fortune per vote. Must be nice to have a licence to steal our countries wealth and not give anything back.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tariffs on 'incredibly important' ally Australia branded 'insulting' in fiery US Senate hearing⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Need to seriously look at the taxes paid by companies with high foreign ownership, specifically American. News Corp. Tech companies. Mining companies. So much wealth being extracted from our country and so much foreign influence on our politics with fuck all to show for it for the people who live here.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Trump hits pause on reciprocal tariffs⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I live in a civilized country under the rule of law so I won’t advocate violence here. But factually and historically countries have found popular solutions to problems like this in the past that involved mobs with sharp pointy things.

  This is the furthest thing from responsible government I can imagine. Even the craziest authoritarian leaders usually commit to something then do it. Lets kill all the sparrows. Or lets shoot all the people wearing glasses. This is fucking crazy. It looks more like stock market manipulation than economic policy. The uncertainty alone has to be costing billions in productivity as businesses pause investments, orders, lay off employees etc.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Microsoft has created an AI-generated version of Quake⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Using infinite energy to employ infinite monkeys to recreate the work of one Elizabethan playwright is not a business plan.

  Stop using windows, office and azure and this company and their bullshit go away.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What movies have you watched this week?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  a lot less CGI than I was expecting.

  Less CGI is just invisible CGI Hollywood consistently lies about the amount of visual effects used. If it is done well, as it mostly is in a movie like this, it isn’t too distracting.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Clothing retailer Jeanswest collapses, with 90 stores to close and hundreds of jobs lost⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Also there is a fair amount of ignorance. Australian unions have worked with the ALP for decades to ensure entitlements for Australian workers in these circumstances and Labor passed the FEG legislation.

  We get it, the mining lobby and billionaires are a corrupting influence on democracy including the ALP. The ALP aren’t left enough, aren’t proactive enough, whatever. But also the ALP has passed a lot of legislation that benefits working Australians and unsurprisingly you hear fuck all about it from MSM or people pushing minor parties and independents.

  When these companies can’t pay entitlements it isn’t the Liberal party, Greens or independents that legislated to ensure workers aren’t going to be completely fucked.

  Credit where its due.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Coalition will not support Labor’s budget tax cuts, Angus Taylor says⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Our voting system gives us the freedom to do that and it would be stupid not to take advantage of it. Voting for independent or minors is a good thing as long as you also preference the parties that will actually get elected sensibly. It is important to recognize that while the mining industry can buy just about anyone, there are plenty of important things for average people that the mining companies don’t give a shit about which can make a huge difference.

  These industry groups are powerful, like drug cartels, the gambling industry or other organised crime. You get some idealistic independent voted in with a balance of power and these guys can make them an offer too good to ignore. You can be set for life with a post political job. They can give jobs to family. They can fund your campaign. And that is all the stuff in public. You look at some of the shit they do overseas and its clearly an ethics free zone.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Coalition will not support Labor’s budget tax cuts, Angus Taylor says⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  He is a good communicator. Much better presentation than West and much prefer his style to FJ.

  Unfortunately with the scale of money and influence from these mostly foreign owned companies state Labor governments are as compromised as the Libs when it comes legislating on behalf of these companies, not just in WA. I think any political party is going to face the same problems and it really fucks with democracy. There are huge differences in policy between parties and voting should make a real difference. We have a pretty fair electoral system too. But its a joke if the industry can buy whoever is in government or kick them out. It is incredibly frustrating.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Porn on Spotify Is Infiltrating the Platform’s Top Podcast Charts⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The tech sector has a massive diversity problem. Lots of young men raised with one hand on their dick watching porn while reading libertarian propaganda. I get why vulture capitalists want naive, manipulable children running their businesses but I wish real adults were in charge. Fortunately better alternatives exist to all these platforms.

  As a older man and father I think these people are pathetic little children and I avoid shitty social media in my house and around my family. Unfortunately they are still having a devastating impact on society.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨fuck this asshole⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I am not the enemy and I am genuinely sorry for your hardship (though not nearly as much as for people born into poverty, war and genocide in far lass fortunate countries)

  Americans trying to justify themselves on social media seems like a waste of energy and focus and its probably not good for mental health. Outside opinion that contradicts the narratives we have in our heads is important. My opinion might be wrong but its a genuine observation. My very real fear is we can’t rely on US citizens to fight for their democracy anymore and that has global implications for the world and my children’s future. Please prove me wrong. I love to learn new things. The BLM protests were huge but perhaps they turned from grass roots outrage into a social media phenomenon instead of a real effective political movement.

  Protecting our kids is an issue that cuts across all beliefs, races, classes to the heart of our humanity, the most basic goodness that unites our species. I think the turning point was Columbine, 1999. I think that is when things broke down. Not the bad guys on 9/11, not Putin election interference or MAGA. That is the issue that would have really outraged most countries. Millions on the streets protesting. Politicians of all parties scrambling to act. The shootings kept getting worse every year and it was swept under the carpet. More than the homelessness, wealth inequality, healthcare, that makes me worry a lot for your future and by extension the rest of us. We are definitely drifting to the right here and are a worse society for but for all our similarities and weaknesses that is still the the most fundamental issue that separates your politics and society from ours which is why I think we can never really be in your situation.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨fuck this asshole⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  And if people think they are alone and have no power perhaps consider reading books about Abolishionists, Underground Railroad, Suffragettes, Labour Unions, Socialists, the Civil Rights Movement, Anti-war protests, Environmentalists and all the other ordinary people who made a fucking effort and delivered real improvements to our lives while the thoughts and prayers brigade wasted the last decade taking selfies and lamenting their disenfranchisement on social media. The template is there. Just read a fucking book.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨fuck this asshole⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Sorry, but I think you and those like you are deflecting. I still see posts from Americans saying this wasn’t us. We are nice people. We have no power. It is crazy. Why are you even online telling us this? You think we blame you personally?

  I live in the other side of the planet. If I am going to help anyone its going to be some poor unfortunate struggling with poverty, war and genocide imposed on them.

  Not delusional people from the richest country on earth who had everything and lack the will to influence their own fate.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨fuck this asshole⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Thankfully I live in a rich liberal democracy where over 90% vote and we still have a fairly decent though far from perfect society.

  I can be outraged by what Americans let happen to their country because I’m human and a parent but I can’t help and shouldn’t help. American society needs to find its own solutions, in its own time and on terms it can live with.

  I can empathize with a family in Palestine or Ukraine fighting for survival but it would be disgusting for me to tell them how to fight and force my own ignorant opinions onto them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨fuck this asshole⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Exactly. In Ukraine parents fight and die so their 4 year old will have a country to return to. In the US they let their souls die instead and leave their kids to fight their own battles.

  You are a nation of Uvalde cops.

  Donevote me. Argue. In your hearts you all know it is true. You are broken. You were clearly broken since at least the 90s when you met Columbine with platitudes instead of tens of millions of mothers on the streets screaming.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨fuck this asshole⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  They won’t. They couldn’t even get upset over kids being massacred every week in their schools. They are a broken people. Have been for decades. Their military.and economy didn’t fail. Their moral fiber did. They substituted thoughts and prayers and other virtue signalling for community organisation and direct action.

  If you think I am wrong then don’t reply. Go outside and prove it. Nobody gives a shit what people write in social media. It means nothing.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why isn't the Albanese government boasting about falling inflation?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t think the ALP or RBA have done a bad job at all and I think the ALP deserve another term. But it is sensible not to make a big deal about the economy or they risk looking arrogant and out of touch.

  While inflation may have slowed to a stop, many incomes are a long way from catching up. Cost of living pressures are still a huge deal for many people. There are certainly some people who have bounced back well and are taking their holidays and spending but they probably aren’t the ones who are going to punish the ALP in the burbs.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China’s ambassador criticises Australia’s move to limit DeepSeek⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  The model, which to most people is the far more important part, is not open source according to the criteria set by the Open Source Initiative. They own the trademark and police the Open Source® definition. It is fairly clear.

  DeepSeek’s list of restrictions on use of their model puts them in a similar position to Meta’s LLama License is still not Open Source. I don’t think it makes sense to say a binary blob is either auditable or is source code but you can say the same of any LLM. There is no way to check the provenance or replicate it or re-build it.

  The code they released is under an approved Open Source licence. The MIT licence is very permissive and is compatible with and can be incorporated into closed source and free software while being neither itself. No argument there.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China’s ambassador criticises Australia’s move to limit DeepSeek⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  The code they have released is under the MIT licence which is most definitely an OSI approved Open Source licence.

  The model’s licence grants rights in perpetuity to use and redistribute but imposes a number of conditions on usage. I would concede that it does not satisfy the conditions to be considered an open source license do to those conditions which exclude military use, harming minors, defamatory content, generating misinformation etc.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Albanese in trouble as polling shows Dutton most likely to be next PM⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You are free to vote for the Socialist Alliance if you want but they aren’t winning any seats. You can vote for the Greens but they won’t do much better. Whether you like it or not the ALP were founded by Australian workers to give them a political voice and they have done that for over 120 years and delivered some huge wins. They are the reason we have a public health system, pensions, super, minimum wage, somewhat decent working conditions etc.

  I have no idea why someone who wants politics to move to the left would shit on the ALP who are hanging in there as best as they can while the world is turning to shit. The people deserting the ALP aren’t going to the left. Those that are they can get back on preferences. Nobody is being blocked. You can’t sell your message to the Australian people and that isn’t Labor’s fault. They clearly have the same problems.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Albanese in trouble as polling shows Dutton most likely to be next PM⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I wouldn’t assume that. There is too much us vs them divisiveness going around. A lot of people, even those who have some really twisted beliefs are salvageable with a bit of outreach.

  I think some of the shift is just the economy. People are impatient for change and the global economy and coalition legacy haven’t allowed the ALP deliver the sort of miracles they pulled during the global financial crisis. People are frustrated and don’t know how to direct it.

  The nastier side is that some ordinary working people have got sucked up into a bunch of far right politics without really understanding what is motivating it or who it serves and Dutton stands to gain those votes from Labor. It isn’t the whole country. Traditional party voters and traditional values still exist. Dutton stands to benefit, basically for free, from the divisive, extremist politics flooding in from overseas. But its potentially also his vulnerability to be associated with a brand that might quickly turn toxic in Australia depending on overseas developments.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Albanese in trouble as polling shows Dutton most likely to be next PM⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  They act the way they do because they get attacked if they don’t. They don’t want to upset the mining lobby, property developers, Murdoch press who will fund huge campaigns against them. Musk runs twitter which has influence and can slip people like Joe Rogan money to tell his listeners that Labor is attacking their rights or some bullshit. Pissing of Trump isnt smart as his executive power is unchecked and he can impose petty revenge tariffs that hurt our economy and workers.

  Don’t think the ALP are timid because they are weak or unimaginative. They tread a fine line between being tolerated by powerful elites who can toss them out and implementing an agenda that benefits all Australians.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Temu recalls flammable glow-in-the-dark jumper after 8yo girl suffers burns⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Who the fuck buys shit off temu? Those sites are a dumping ground for products that don’t meet the already lax quality and regulatory requirements of our retailers. China can make very high quality products to equally high standards but where is the incentive when consumers are brain dead and buy mountains of crap instead of save to buy quality then look after it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Labor looks likely to win 2025 Election⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  There were probably extenuating circumstances after 2019 but I have no idea what was going on under the Hockey and Morrison treasuries. Hockey might have been disinterested but Morrison was a disaster. They kept on taking on more debt and where was it going? Not increased services for taxpayers. Mates? Waste? Corruption? Who knows?

  Our percentage of government debt to GDP still isn’t too bad in global terms. Even under the coalition while it was lax management and dodgy deals it wasn’t going to break the nation.

  It was certainly going up under Gillard but very notable the massive outrage in the press ceased as that continued and considerably worsened under successive coalition governments. Extremely biased press coverage and complete dumbarsery from the Australian public to accept the media spin when the debt figures are public record.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Labor looks likely to win 2025 Election⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  They inherited a bit of a mess thanks to covid, the global economy and the previous government. Inflation seems under control but I think they could still be punished by the many people who are struggling. Also they have created divisions with unions and other traditional supporters that are going to be an ongoing issue. The ALP are on some dangerous ground blessing some unions over others depending on factional support and politics instead of the interests of workers. They shouldn’t take anything for granted.

  A huge amount of power resides with the ultra wealthy who own the media platforms. Musk could go on the attack as he thinks he is God-Emporer of the world now. Murdoch will be hostile. Industry groups will be funding campaigns. Foreign governments and corporations will be funding anti-democratic, divisive politics to weaken us. They will need to work very hard and be very creative to get their message across in this environment.

  I think we could very easily wake up to a Dutton government with the labor machine shaking their heads in disbelief. A huge proportion of the population get a completely different algorithmic feed of what is going on in the world and then they all form their echo chambers and it takes over the work place and community. The ALP will need to get out in the community and see how broken the information environment has become.

  And for the people who think Albo has been piss-weak on some issues, the reality is the ALP can’t piss off the wrong people because of the above. They are going to have to sit in the middle, placate big business and fossil fuels and nibble away at stuff and be content with being the coalition-lite. Put a minor party or independent above them if you don’t like it but this isn’t the time to walk away.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Labor looks likely to win 2025 Election⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Donkey votes are crazy in Australia with a preferential system. Just rank your preferences. All the bad parties are not equally bad. You owe it to yourself, your family and your country to put them in order. Your competition is some ignorant fuck who is going to put the worst team first because they hate everything and everyone. No point whinging when they win. You can at least counter their vote.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Users from Other Instances⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It the tragedy of the commons. It is inevitable. Anything good is always ruined by the bad behavior of a few.

  It isn’t too bad currently compared to other platforms due to the low traffic. There are many richer targets for manipulators and crazies where they can reach a wider audience.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Hundreds of elective surgeries cancelled as 50,000 nurses and midwives walk off job in NSW⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Massive difference in education/qualification between average police and nurses. You need a high school certificate to become a cop and at minimum a diploma for enrolled nurse or an undergraduate degree to start on a career as an RN and with specialization the skies the limit. All that time and expense studying while a police officer can be earning good money.

  Pay for nurses and to some extent teachers has a basis in historical sexism. Even as these occupations became increasingly professional and demanded much higher levels of education they retained the stigma of being womens jobs. Its a joke.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Private health insurance is a dud. That’s why a majority of Australians don’t have it⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  We keep it out of habit and because the Government bribes us.

  Some people probably get good value out of it. There is a lot of faith healing stuff on their policies and those practitioners rely a lot on over-servicing for their income so the people into that shit likely make claims. There is nothing in it for us. Partner went into hospital once and I said why didn’t you use the card to get a room upgrade with nicer wallpaper and its basically not worth the effort. I’m not complaining because if they were offering value it would be at the expense of the public system and peoples health. But hey hugely overcharge for policies that are basically useless and never get claims.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Nacc to reconsider whether to investigate robodebt after ‘apprehended bias’ finding against commissioner⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  In a country where a 10yo indigenous kid can be held fully responsible for their crimes we still can’t prosecute rich and powerful people who have full comprehension of their actions and know they will never face consequences. We can lower the age of criminal responsibility to sweep inconvenient social issues created by bad economic and social policy under the carpet. So why can’t we lower the bar for criminal responsibility in cases of maladministration, fraud and favoritism by public officials. Surely they should be held to higher standards than some ignorant kid.