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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3182 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 31, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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... Manual memory management incredibly bad practice and is a main cause of software vulnerabilities everywhere. To make that concrete: people employed by the Chinese and US Government, as well as some private individuals, could right now send you a text message, or a link, that, just by viewing or clicking, allows them to take over your device, steal your data, passwords, spy on past and future conversations, etc. Dozens of vulnerabilities that could, and sometimes are, parts of these exploits are fixed in the most popular browsers, operating systems, and applications every month or so.

Your parody-argument as written is literally correct for 'unsafe languages' like C. People should stop using them for even moderately-complex, user/network facing applications. Beginner programmers don't notice pitfalls advanced programmers do and introduce RCEs, even advanced programers regularly introduce RCEs.

The notion that modern binge-drinking culture as found in American colleges and chav/bogan culture in the commonwealth is even remotely related to the notion that people should always have a standard drink flowing through them is palpably ridiculous

It’s pretty clear to me, and presumably many others reading your posts on this subject, that you are absolutely not interested in being persuaded even a tiny bit from your maximalist position on this. And that’s fine - given your statement that you’ve personally diluted wine to Roman specifications, I can tell that alcohol is a big part of your life, and the history of alcohol is a major point of interest for you - but it’s hard to escape the impression that you’re engaged in the genre of persuasive essay rather than in the spirit of actual dialogue.

Do you equally apply this prohibition to things like programming languages like C or stimulants like Adderall?

I’m not a programmer, so I have absolutely no opinion on programming languages, and I’ve never used Adderall in my life. You’re arguing against someone else and assuming that person is me. You’re also assuming that I argue for… well, it’s not exactly clear what specific policy position you’re attributing to me regarding alcohol consumption. I certainly have not advocated any top-down coercive measures to be taken against alcohol consumption in this conversation, so it seems once again that you are reading into my post something that I have not actually said.

Overall, you seem a lot more passionate about this subject than I am, and have far stronger opinions about it, so I don’t know what else there is for me to gain by confusing to engage.

Neither you nor curious_straight_ca has provided any evidence whatsoever that my arguments are unsupported, by either contemporary social reality or historical record

We've provided "evidence", in the sense that we've tried to use various sources and ideas to push back on your arguments. You mean we haven't provided good evidence. Which may be true, or may not be - but making incorrect arguments isn't against the rules, and the only way we can figure out which side is correct is continuing to make arguments.

I did skim it, as I'd read it in the past and missed that part. After you pointed out that mistake, I actually spent a few hours reading sources on ancient alcohol consumption, including a few chapters of a few pirated books!

Sure, sure, sure. This is the purest ad hominem and consensus building. "You're embarrassing yourself in front of others that clearly agree with me and you're a motivated drunk."

This is not an inaccurate summary of @Hoffmeister25's post, and he should stop engaging in consensus-building appeals to a silent audience.

That said, you're also being obnoxious and condescending.

Stop it, both of you.

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