more seriously - as a standalone chat system - its fairly painless to set up, federation just works, with the current recommended settings, it needs a single open port...
uh. That's been a feature of IRC as long as there's been IRC
folks who walk in, not knowing the culture or IRC etiquette
200 people suddenly leaving and then there's always that one newbie who asked what happened and why they all left. Answer: The universe split in two, of course.
@Aibobot Ride the split, baby!
Unrelated, but are there any SE sites for sexuality? I know that a Sexuality.SE didn't get enough members to pass Area51, but would a question related to sexuality be relevant on any existing site?
(Assuming it's about social aspects, not biological aspects that'd go on Biology.SE)
I'm tempted to propose a "Gender and Sexuality Studies" site. However it says...
If you do not yet have a community organized, ready and eager to build your site, please do not submit this proposal.
So I'm asking here to see if it would be perceived as useful.
Question: Would a "Gender an...
> Gender and sexuality studies: Similar to the Startups site above, there have been two failed attempts at launching this type of site, and the SE team has decided they will no longer be accepting proposals for this site without a large organization rallying to create the site from a fresh perspective.
Lets say if an organisation goes "we do stuff on the topic, and we have a pre-existing community and a plan" it'll likely be something that can be worked on
@Aibobot Well, believed by people of the faith, at least.
But regressive and highly inhibitive. I saw a question once by a young Islamic girl asking if there would be homosexuals in heaven and if she should just wait for death and avoid homosexual relationships while she's alive. Of course, all the answers suggested essentially depriving her of what she loves, forever. I can't imagine how that much screw with a developing mind.
Does anyone here know anything about trans culture? I literally just looked up someone whose software I'd used for some years who seemed to be a generic, well-adjusted dude who did embedded programming and hung out on IRC, with a very technical Twitter. Now they've changed their name and are presenting as a female and their Twitter is entirely full of stuff about trans-this and trans-that, with barely a hint of the tech that used to be there. What causes this?
Yeah but... nearly everything about them changed. I almost sent an email to them telling them their account was hacked before realizing that they changed their name on their website.
It is, but what's the word for evangelizing? - I don't want to suggest that they are selling people on how they discovered a great idea, like a better way to clean your tiles or change a tire. It's important to them, and they're letting you know. Some people choose not to share.
Some change and act like they never changed; their current form is as they always were; it's your misunderstanding.
Perhaps "brainwashed" is too strong, but "evangelizing" may be suitable... not only for trans-culture, but also specific diets, environmentalists, flat-earthers, etc...
@JourneymanGeek My not first hand experience, but witness to the actions of others, is that they convert and then (~50%) a few years later either don't go to completion or change their mind and go back to how things were. It's something that they had to do, to decide that they didn't want to do it. --- Like having to try X just to decide if you'd like it; but with a fairly large commitment / investment in the idea.
@Rob there may be other issues, but maybe its the communities I've been around being more liberal, but I don't think I know anyone who went back
and if they do - well, its their personal issue, and the important thing is they're happy as they are.
the problem with 'they could go back' is it feeds a lot of toxic political movements (like forced conversion 'therapy') and marginalising folks who are not
@JourneymanGeek What confused me is how this one person is now associating with trans people seemingly exclusively, as if they have changed not just outward gender but entire personality.
@Rob That's my experience as well, although it is true that many have suffered gender dysphoria their whole lives and are much happier the way they are after transition.
@JourneymanGeek Maybe it's just my own perceptions that are making them seem more different than they were, but now they're super into politics and fringe-left ideas (not that I disagree with all of those...), and seem to have become a "stereotypical" trans person.
I have a particularly difficult time because I classify people based on what I assume they are based on name, looks, personality, etc. so it's mentally difficult for me to remember some of these things.
But I try to remember if someone transitions.
(Now, using "bizarre" pronouns on the other hand... that's something I just won't do)
But if a man wants to be called she and no longer be treated as a man, I have no problem with it.
I just have to get reminded by them from time to time. :P
I barely have a two dozen people sample size, so it's not a particularly large enough sample to draw conclusions from. I could probably say the same thing about other groups / categories (Snowboarders, Shoplifters, Stunt persons; just covering the S's) - It's difficult to know enough people to say something conclusive about the group as a whole.
Personally, I won't change how I use the English language just because someone wants me to, but singular they is pretty ancient and well-accepted, found in pretty much all modern books.
Although it's not a "true" gender-neutral pronoun. It is a gender-indefinite semantic singular pronoun, so it can be used where "one" could be used.
Compare:
> One should wash their hands before they leave the bathroom.
With
> I love my spouse. They are a wonderful person.
The former is grammatically correct and has been for centuries. The latter was only pushed for in the 70s in the US and didn't gain much traction except in fringe groups.
(And yeah, I know it always breaks grammatical numbering, but so does singular you)
@JourneymanGeek Kinda, yeah, but the second example is more awkward. At least that's my opinion as a native English speaker (and it's apparently a much less common use of singular they).
(so in tamil - there's he, she , it, and the singular they is gender neutral, and a singular of the word we use for they...)
more accurately its a singular respectful term of address
(so a human is he, she or singular they, a dog or cow is 'it' though in casual speech we use the other ones, chair is it, your parents or elders would be singular they)
Lots of experienced people could participate, instead of on obscure forums.
I got an answer yesterday on a question I made (a year ago) on Parenting.SE which basically summed up to "guns r bad m'kay kids are too delicate for guns zomg". Very frustrating.
And a lot of SE/SO users are liberal Silicon Valley types who think guns are self-aware murder machines that shoot up schools on their own by virtue of their very existence.
So SE would have to find a community from outside SE to help populate it.
@JourneymanGeek In English "cow", "chicken", etc. are always female, "bull" and "rooster" are male. Other animals, where it isn't obvious or you wouldn't check (example: Skunk), are often "he". Inanimate objects, like a ship, are female.
@Rob Only certain inanimate objects are female, and that's out of respect as ships are seen as motherly, protecting seamen from the ocean like the womb protects a child.
But he is often used as gender-indefinite to mean he or she (a fact often misunderstood by those who think that sexism is anywhere and everywhere in the English language, the same types who don't understand the etymology of man and woman).
I was reading wikipedia about a ship and it it's always refered as female. Is it unique to ships?
I've learn in school that words in english does not have a sex, you can call a cats and dogs as "it".
> In my sailing days it was explained to me that women carry life. Any vessel that can sustain life in an environment that people could not normally sustain life functions without her body should, appropriately, have a feminine name.
Depending on who you're talking to, it is definitely good practice to use the feminine form for ships.
My friend once worked for the Ministry of Defence and had to telephone the Royal Navy to ask for a ship's current location (let's use HMS Victory).
"I'm calling about HMS Victory. Please can ...
@Orbling - Yeah. Just try calling one of their ships a "boat", and see what different shades they turn. — T.E.D.Sep 9 '11 at 18:59
I read the following claim concerning pronouns referring to inanimate objects:
Anything that is meant to contain you, protect you or provide you with something beneficial is [often referred to as] a she; anything that is a perceived threat is a he. That's why cars, boats and some countries a...
@Tinkeringbell Thank me for getting too high and being stuck on SE because I'm not able to work and have nothing else to do. I kinda spammed this place with my random questions. lol
@Tinkeringbell I agree when it comes to rude or insulting language. I meant more things like English man and woman not being harmful (some people claim it implies that a woman is just a man with a _wo_mb, but that's not at all what the etymology is. Woman came from wifman and man came from werman. We can see remnants of this in "wife" and "werewolf")
@Tinkeringbell Nah not high anymore. Just feeling a little ill.
@Tinkeringbell Etymology isn't a matter of opinion or how one thinks. The fact that woman comes from wifman is not up for debate and no one thinking of woman as an insulting word can change that.
You don't have to agree with any of it, but fact is that people think about these things differently. And while it doesn't change the facts, it does influence people.
And etymology (and linguistics in general) is an under-appreciated field.
So if someone thinks that the word person is masculine and excludes women because it has "son" in it should be taught that it comes from the Latin persona (we actually don't know where "son" came from)
Teaching people etymology and the facts is also part of the 'fight' for me, and it's something that needs to be done more instead of just dismissing this as 'silly'
Trust me, I've seen my share of people resorting to 'language' to solve their problems, and inventing words and concepts just so they don't have to face reality :)
Back then an ounce of crap (the best you could get) was around 80 bucks, now it's around 110 and 10x stronger. Back then an ounce would be at least a week in prison, now a pound (which is way more than you are allowed to have) will net you a fine (no estimate, but way less than the 2000 COVID fines).
does it have the same tendency as LSD to get trapped in the bloodstream in capsules that pop at inopportune time and give you a trip when you don't want it?
@JohnDvorak @JohnDvorak It's like a key and lock. One key (chemical) can not fit any lock (receptor), it's inert (like water). A different key (chemical / inhibitor) can fit some locks (receptors) but doesn't turn (it's a blocker). Yet another key (drug) fits a specific lock (receptor) and turns freely, opening the lock. That is a chemical (drug) that is not inert like water, it does something.
To difficult to edit using mobile, but you get the idea.
In apartment (or hotel) your key probably fits every lock, but only turns in your suite (and probably one other, if you tried them all). The manager's key uses a different line on the pins, it's a master key, and opens all locks.
In my SO profile, you may see something odd: a peeking duck.
I've just recently uploaded this new profile picture of mine. I checked it after the upload and everything's fine. After a few hours, I opened my profile and there it is, the duck has somehow become afraid of the people viewing it.
...
It still happens, though rarely, it's a bug on imgur side, failing to render the image propely.
@Alex using the app is risky, it's even worse than using IE6 these days: not only that it doesn't support almost anything, it gives you false feeling that it's working while you actually miss things, exactly like that example. It should really be nuked out of orbit.
It can be compared to driving ancient car that can get on fire any moment.
@JourneymanGeek "You don't know what you're missing" goes for time-travel too. Unless there's some way to compare your current situation with all other possible situations, there's no 'worse' or 'better' ;)
I'm tempted to propose a "Gender and Sexuality Studies" site. However it says...
If you do not yet have a community organized, ready and eager to build your site, please do not submit this proposal.
So I'm asking here to see if it would be perceived as useful.
Question: Would a "Gender an...
I was reading wikipedia about a ship and it it's always refered as female. Is it unique to ships?
I've learn in school that words in english does not have a sex, you can call a cats and dogs as "it".
Depending on who you're talking to, it is definitely good practice to use the feminine form for ships.
My friend once worked for the Ministry of Defence and had to telephone the Royal Navy to ask for a ship's current location (let's use HMS Victory).
"I'm calling about HMS Victory. Please can ...
I read the following claim concerning pronouns referring to inanimate objects:
Anything that is meant to contain you, protect you or provide you with something beneficial is [often referred to as] a she; anything that is a perceived threat is a he. That's why cars, boats and some countries a...
In my SO profile, you may see something odd: a peeking duck.
I've just recently uploaded this new profile picture of mine. I checked it after the upload and everything's fine. After a few hours, I opened my profile and there it is, the duck has somehow become afraid of the people viewing it.
...
