#global approach

[fresherfriut]

[tanadrin]

Ok this might be a strange ask, but. do you have any opinions on the marxist/leninist/whatever idea that, western capitalist states supply a welfare state and higher wages (and so on) for western workers through imperialism, in order to subdue class struggle in western states, so that the western proletariat basically has a hand in imperialism (that anti-imperialism in practice would materially harm the western proletariat)

i think that's wrong. i think it sounds like a way you can rationalize political disengagement in a both-sidesist kinda way and also accelerationism if you're into that; i think that kind of nebulously conspiratorial belief is also a way to sort of rationalize the red-brown alliance, the need to punish the bad sheep people who don't agree with you, and a way to discount anybody who uses actual substantive policy achievements as a way to point out that actually, yes, engaging with politics can produce positive outcomes.

it is factually incorrect, of course. there's no causal connection between the welfare state and capitalist imperialism. capitalist imperialism in the form that hardcore marxists are thinking of is kind of an anachronism anyway. much like "liberalism," they're using a lens of analysis which basically thinks history ended in 1917, that the systems and politics of the long 19th century have continued forever, and we have to sort everything into categories that are a century old even though the world has changed radically since then.

it is also, annoyingly, a rejection of the wins of leftism. leftism has done a lot of good in the world! i think leftism is directionally correct. many of the things we take for granted now in many wealthy countries--the 40-hour workweek, legal protection for unions and labor organizing, universal healthcare (outside the US of course), the existence of welfare programs in various forms, employee protections (weak in the US except for Montana; strong in many other countries), and, you know, the decolonization of most of the planet--these are all things leftists of various stripes fought and died for, and for good reason!

the reason "leftism" is weak--and of course by "leftism" people taking this position usually only mean their own particular flavor of revolutionary leftism, with everybody else being a scumbag liberal or a revisionist or a trotskyist sabateur or w/e--is because leftism keeps winning when it allies with aligned interests in an electoral context. that is to say, pragmatic progressive politics is historically quite effective (the thing Americans have historically called "liberalism" but which in international political language is closer to "social democracy," and is not Reaganism/Thatcherism), is quite willing to ally with people who share its goals including less self-defeating leftists, and continues to make new gains. see this page. there is no telos to history of course, and it's a constant struggle. but the revolution-only remnant needs to come up with a narrative to rationalize being left out in the cold, because without that rationalization their whole approach starts to come under indictment. so it can't be that their politics is ineffective--it's the sheeple bribed into shutting up by welfare!

[xstea]

CN Server 1st Anniversary Celebratory art

The tinies are adorable.

and then there's Arcana with a knife.

Each of the Arcanists celebrating in their respective version garments since release, and with our lovely Sonetto carrying that smile.

MADAM Z WOOO, her, Vertin and Sonetto all helped in preparing the cake, Tooth Fairy brought in the flowers, and then of course, Lilya takes the 'necessary' sample out of the cake. Side note, almost didn't recognise Lilya without her aviator's hat but she looks so "for me?" when taking a bite out of it.

[pepa-is-drawing]

happy diggers anecdote day everypony!💙🌹

[lucky-fy]

Since I have to write some clinical cases for my professors, from what I’ve seen during internship, I might as well translate them into English and share here :)

I think I’ll do that.

[boeing747]

like listen i dont think russia needs any defending but its amazing to me how "all russians are evil genocide supporting warmongers" mentality so often coexists with "every representative on every political level in my country is actively supporting a genocide in palestine and overwhelmingly anyone speaking out against it is punished and blacklisted and arrested" like ????????????????????????????? are we not on the same page? that our political systems as a whole inherently support the murder and disenfranchisement and ethnic cleansing of vast swathes of population for a nations own political gain?? how is my uncle being pilled by russian propoganda any different than your uncle being pilled by the every single Palestinian is a terrorist and deserves to die narrative being pushed out??? is it not a curse that we must collectively organize and fight against ???

[hussyknee]

Kind of insane how much y'all hate queer, disabled, mentally ill adults. Especially Black and brown ones.

All this "adults who like X are creepy/ gross/disgusting" is just an excuse to hurt the most systemically vulnerable people and shame them into compliance. Shaming doesn't work on comfortable white people with stable jobs and social lives and the money to buy luxury items– they can just log off and go to a fondue party. So you just go for the people with the least socio-economic protection who depend on online communities and congratulate yourselves on your "activism" and social conscience. Even when your collateral includes people from the same minorities you're "defending".

Western leftism operates on conditional humanity and respectability politics. "We'll give a fuck about you...as long as you behave only in ways we find palatable." When we point out that punitive forms of social control always take us out first and in larger numbers, we're given to understand in no uncertain terms that we are in fact acceptable collateral in your personal social justice hero quests to "punch Nazis", "fuck the US government" and "eat the rich". All just a bunch of hyperindividualistic neoliberals resentful of being robbed of white privilege rooting around the social justice closet for cudgels that suit you.

[jcmarchi]

The Importance of Investing in Soft Skills in the Age of AI

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/the-importance-of-investing-in-soft-skills-in-the-age-of-ai/

The Importance of Investing in Soft Skills in the Age of AI

I’ll set out my stall and let you know I am still an AI skeptic. Heck, I still wrap “AI” in quotes a lot of the time I talk about it. I am, however, skeptical of the present, rather than the future. I wouldn’t say I’m positive or even excited about where AI is going, but there’s an inevitability that in development circles, it will be further engrained in our work.

We joke in the industry that the suggestions that AI gives us are more often than not, terrible, but that will only improve in time. A good basis for that theory is how fast generative AI has improved with image and video generation. Sure, generated images still have that “shrink-wrapped” look about them, and generated images of people have extra… um… limbs, but consider how much generated AI images have improved, even in the last 12 months.

There’s also the case that VC money is seemingly exclusively being invested in AI, industry-wide. Pair that with a continuously turbulent tech recruitment situation, with endless major layoffs and even a skeptic like myself can see the writing on the wall with how our jobs as developers are going to be affected.

The biggest risk factor I can foresee is that if your sole responsibility is to write code, your job is almost certainly at risk. I don’t think this is an imminent risk in a lot of cases, but as generative AI improves its code output — just like it has for images and video — it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a redundancy risk for actual human developers.

Do I think this is right? Absolutely not. Do I think it’s time to panic? Not yet, but I do see a lot of value in evolving your skillset beyond writing code. I especially see the value in improving your soft skills.

What are soft skills?

A good way to think of soft skills is that they are life skills. Soft skills include:

communicating with others,

organizing yourself and others,

making decisions, and

adapting to difficult situations.

I believe so much in soft skills that I call them core skills and for the rest of this article, I’ll refer to them as core skills, to underline their importance.

The path to becoming a truly great developer is down to more than just coding. It comes down to how you approach everything else, like communication, giving and receiving feedback, finding a pragmatic solution, planning — and even thinking like a web developer.

I’ve been working with CSS for over 15 years at this point and a lot has changed in its capabilities. What hasn’t changed though, is the core skills — often called “soft skills” — that are required to push you to the next level. I’ve spent a large chunk of those 15 years as a consultant, helping organizations — both global corporations and small startups — write better CSS. In almost every single case, an improvement of the organization’s core skills was the overarching difference.

The main reason for this is a lot of the time, the organizations I worked with coded themselves into a corner. They’d done that because they just plowed through — Jira ticket after Jira ticket — rather than step back and question, “is our approach actually working?” By focusing on their team’s core skills, we were often — and very quickly — able to identify problem areas and come up with pragmatic solutions that were almost never development solutions. These solutions were instead:

Improving communication and collaboration between design and development teams

Reducing design “hand-off” and instead, making the web-based output the source of truth

Moving slowly and methodically to move fast

Putting a sharp focus on planning and collaboration between developers and designers, way in advance of production work being started

Changing the mindset of “plow on” to taking a step back, thoroughly evaluating the problem, and then developing a collaborative and by proxy, much simpler solution

Will improving my core skills actually help?

One thing AI cannot do — and (hopefully) never will be able to do — is be human. Core skills — especially communication skills — are very difficult for AI to recreate well because the way we communicate is uniquely human.

I’ve been doing this job a long time and something that’s certainly propelled my career is the fact I’ve always been versatile. Having a multifaceted skillset — like in my case, learning CSS and HTML to improve my design work — will only benefit you. It opens up other opportunities for you too, which is especially important with the way the tech industry currently is.

If you’re wondering how to get started on improving your core skills, I’ve got you. I produced a course called Complete CSS this year but it’s a slight rug-pull because it’s actually a core skills course that uses CSS as a context. You get to learn some iron-clad CSS skills alongside those core skills too, as a bonus. It’s definitely worth checking out if you are interested in developing your core skills, especially so if you receive a training budget from your employer.

Wrapping up

The main message I want to get across is developing your core skills is as important — if not more important — than keeping up to date with the latest CSS or JavaScript thing. It might be uncomfortable for you to do that, but trust me, being able to stand yourself out over AI is only going to be a good thing, and improving your core skills is a sure-fire way to do exactly that.

[butchkaramazov]

thinking about how i love murakami’s writing & narrative style, the way he subtly catches the reader’s attention etc etc & and at the same time despise the way he writes women & sex scenes. thinking about how i’m starting to appreciate him while hating the misogyny in his writing, & simultaneously recognising how his culture & upbringing played a major role in forming his misogynistic views & also understanding that he's a man before he's a writer &c &c........

[theadaptableeducator]

Chains of Power: The Fragile Web of Colonialism, Nationalism, Imperialism, and Capitalism

Michel Foucault’s philosophies, particularly his ideas on power, knowledge, and discourse, provide a rich framework for analyzing the interconnectivity and unsustainability of colonialism, nationalism, imperialism, and capitalism. His insights into how power operates through societal structures and institutions can help elucidate the complex relationships among these…

[dykesynthezoid]

Loving this lecture on refugee status and humanitarianism in Muslim majority countries and the issues in how we specifically conceptualize humanitarianism in the global north but also my eye keeps twitching every time the lecturer says “judeo-christian”

[petrichor-moss-and-lightning]

watching this clip again and thinking about girlhood and reflection and time and gender roles. like, i see my 7-year old niece, and it's gut-wrenching to watch her be pushed into the same eldest-daughter patterns of performance and forced perfection that i was as a kid, knowing what waits for her and yet not being able to save her.

[diaryofaphilosopher]

What are the features, knowledges, values, representations, practices, infrastructures, institutions, and governance modes of a just world that fits within planetary boundaries? How can we imagine them in a way that acknowledges the deep entanglements between human and non-human worlds while addressing the ubiquity of entrenched asymmetrical power relations that structure global societies?

— Ivana Isailovic, "Introduction" in "Radical Imagining of ‘Just & Green’ Futures."

Follow Diary of a Philosopher for more quotes!

[stepseduworldblog]

Unlocking Opportunities: How a Trusted Education & Career Coach Facilitates Study in the UK

In the vibrant city of Dubai, where innovation meets tradition, the journey of Trusted Education & Career Coaches and consultants unfolds with promising opportunities and transformative innovations. As Dubai continues to position itself as a global hub for education and business, students in the region are witnessing a dynamic evolution in the way they learn, explore career paths, and prepare for the future. In this blog post, we delve into the multifaceted aspects of education and career opportunities for Dubai students, from emerging trends in learning to the diverse pathways in the professional realm.

Virtual Reality Classrooms: Stepping into Tomorrow

Imagine students donning VR headsets, transported to ancient civilizations or exploring molecular structures up close. Virtual reality classrooms are revolutionizing learning, turning textbooks into immersive experiences. In Dubai, where innovation is a way of life, VR classrooms are poised to reshape traditional learning paradigms.

One of the defining characteristics of modern education in Dubai is the integration of cutting-edge technologies that enhance learning experiences. Virtual reality (VR) classrooms have emerged as a game-changer, offering students immersive and interactive environments that transcend traditional teaching methods. Imagine a history lesson where students can virtually visit ancient civilizations or a science class where they explore complex molecular structures up close. VR classrooms not only make learning engaging but also foster deeper understanding and retention of concepts.

[mantisgodsdomain]

9 and 10 for rad

(for this ask game)

9. What does your iterator think of their body? One organism with many moving parts? A giant computer? A small creature stuck in a box? etc.

A home, now left empty. A product of love living past those who loved it. A monument to the care that used to be there. Somewhere dearly cared for, that is now painfully, achingly lonely. Rad's can has been breaking down since they were constructed, and though it was a home to all the ancients that inhabited them, now it is more akin to a gravesite, slowly crumbling into the swamp they were built on. Nearly every piece of them was replaced at least once by the time Mass Ascension happened, and they consider every piece to still carry the hands of those who installed it - a single remaining splinter of those that used to be their citizens, left behind after mass ascension.

They consider their entire can and the many organisms that make it work to be parts of one body, but they have somewhat unconventional views on the specifics of that. They would have considered their citizens to be part of them as well, when they were still there.

10. If your iterator could be anything else other than an iterator, what would they be and why?

...honestly, we don't think that Rad would want to be anything but an iterator? Sure, they're slowly collapsing into the swamp, but if they were anything else then they wouldn't have been able to host the people that they used to. They wouldn't be able to form the same relationships with those who once worked on them, or watch people strew their halls with decorations for some insignificant occasion or another, or act as the same sort of assistance for their citizens' many, many repairs on them. A smaller, shorter-lived body of flesh could not have half the history, nor could it have had half the experiences. That said...

If they absolutely had to choose, post-mass-ascension, they would likely choose to become an Ancient themself. Take up the mantle of repairing their body, of archiving the many, many documents still left on them, of using the freedom of hands that can affect more than just their chamber to finish the work of those they used to host, and ensure it goes on for just a while longer, after their body crumbles to the ground. It wouldn't be a state of being that would last forever, of course, but nothing about them has ever been in the ballpark of lasting forever. They would just want... to finish things, in a sense. Or at least, to give their old citizens' work a bit more chance of surviving,

[quetzalpapalotl]

There's this bishop who says that wearing a cilice with the ac on is pointless. This does make sense with Catholic ideology, the greatest mortifications are not the ones you choose but the ones that come to you, to be able to accept adversity with a smile is a virtue because it mortifies your soul.

And I mean the whole mortification of the flesh is already very sub coded, but the idea that you don't even get to pick your poison, that you have to take everything God throws at you and accept it with joy it's like... damn