A 50-something French dude that’s old enough to think blogs are still cool, if not cooler than ever. Also, I like to write and to sketch.
https://thefoolwithapen.com/

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: November 26th, 2023

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  • I think all of this is a huge problem in the world today.

    Always have been a problem. It was just a lot less consumerist-focused in the past.

    I just read a text from Pascal that he wrote somewhere in the year 1656 and in which he was discussing how a bunch of people from the Sorbonne university (they were not your average angry lynching mob, they were scholars) were asking for another one to be severely punished for something he had said in favor of some text they deemed heretic (which was no joke, back then). Pascal then explains they refused to change their mind when they were faced first with the fact that all the guy said was that he could not find any occurence of that heresy in said text (they even refused to read the text to see by themselves when he proposed to do so); and then when they were told that this dude they wanted so badly to punishe (for something he did not say) was indeed agreeing with them on the condemnation of that heresy only refusing to blame it on that specific author since he never wrote that. Their reply? He still deserved to be punished because of his attitude. I have grossly over-simplified the thing but that is indeed the core idea: they did not like the dude and his tone and wanted to make him pay for that, they openly said fuck it to any fact demonstrating them wrong. And those people were scholars.

    This happened some 370 years ago but it could be happening at this very moment in (too) many universities—one would just need to replace ‘heresy’ with any of the ‘sensitive’ topics we consider so much more important nowadays.

    And I have little doubt it will keep on happening under a variety of guises. Probably even much more frequently, seeing the world-wide rise of proud idiocracies, and their proud idiot leaders, and the rise of all those communitarisms that that thrive on hating on one another, almost everywhere.

    Edit: typos and a few minor changes.


  • Libb@jlai.lutoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.worldWhy do people defend assholes
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    10 hours ago

    Ok keep committing literal crimes

    thx for that impressive confirmation you’re not a (bad) joke, and that this was the plain real you. Thick and all.

    In case you have any working brains left under that red cap of yours, here is something to consider:

    ‘jail’ is not a natural punishment of bad people or of assholes. How so? They are put into jail (which btw doesn’t exist if it is not build by people) because they 1) have broken some law (which is 100% social construct, and 100% agreed upon by what we can still call the ‘civil society’ aka the expression of the common will of the members of a community that do range from a family (parents mating & raising children) to the town, State, Nation, and so on; 2) because they have been caught doing it , have you ever noticed that people never spontaneously teleport into jail by themselves; and 3) they have been judged and convicted they were guilty by other people (through discussion or through interpretation of the law) which is, surprise!, another 100% social construct.

    But like I said, have the most pleasant day while you’re wondering why people can’t agree with you (and your indisputable certainties)

    Any time I post on an American forum, I get everyone saying the treatment I receive is absolutely unacceptable and despicable. Any time I write the same on a forum in this country, 90% of people attack me and say the asshole “did nothing wrong” and I “deserved it” for being stupid

    You said it and it seems like we can agree on at least that point.



  • Libb@jlai.lutoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.worldWhy do people defend assholes
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    11 hours ago

    Right and wrong are not solely based on opinion with zero objective truth. If that were the case jail wouldn’t exist.

    Are you for real or is this some kind of a (stupid) joke?

    Whatever, have a nice day and don’t stop being so certain about… yourself.

    edit: added the missing first sentence of you’re… interesting take on jail, right and wrong.


  • Libb@jlai.lutoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.worldWhy do people defend assholes
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    12 hours ago

    Any time I write the same on a forum in this country,

    Which is?

    Other than that, if I understand your question you’re wondering how it is possible that people may not agree with you on what is right and what is wrong? Allow me to suggest it’s because right and wrong are nothing but personal opinions. They’re not facts. They’re socio-cultural constructs that can vary widely from one group (of persons) to another.

    90% of people attack me

    I would also suggest you don’t let your emotion dictate how you react. I doubt there is a numerical 90% of people attacking you. Really. Even the orange clown that is now sitting at the White House doesn’t reach that level of hostility. Well, maybe he is capable to quickly get there? Tell, me you are not him? ;)


  • I’m just wondering if it would actually stop people acting this way though.

    Not all of them, there a few different types of bullies but I would say the majority of them are just weak people that like to focus their frustration on other persons they don’t think could get them into trouble (either by replying or by being able to make them pay in any way). And by dressing differently you’re sending a message they can read as an opportunity to bully you with little risk.

    But then it depends who they are, other bullies won’t change at all because you change your look.

    I don’t know wtf is happening I’m so sick of it cause it happens way too often I just want to go outside without being treated like garbage for 2 seconds

    Not knowing you nor what’s happening exactly, I can at least say I feel for you and understand your frustration. Those kind of things should not be happening in a functional society.

    What may help is try spending your time in other places. I live in Paris, it’s really far from being the worst city in the world and if most Parisians are indeed constantly angry people, they rarely bite. Still there are some sectors I will try not to spend too much time in, some where I would not put out any cash, and so on. I know it can be a pain but changing habits can help.


  • Reading the title, I wondered for an instant in what way body temperature was related to being bullied or not.

    I imagine being ‘hot’ can help not being annoyed by bullies (they could be somehow intimidated)… but then being ‘hot’ one would probably be annoyed by admirers or wannabe friends or just plain wankers. Would that really be better? I’m not sure.

    I’m not hot and I’m old-ish, and I also don’t give a crap about bullies—I never hesitate to more or less nicely tell a bully to go fuck themselves when I have to—so I may not be the best informed ;)


  • Depends what you need. Even more so in a spreadsheet have I been told by my spouse (she is using advanced XL features a lot in her job). It also depends on what OS it’s installed. I find it worse on macOS (much less well integrated) and real excellent on Linux.

    I quite like using LO Writer as it’s easy to set it up once and for all and have it behave exactly like I want it to be, including the very few extensions I use. Once configured, it’s then very easy to backup all settings for quick re-installation or even to copy them onto another machine. It’s also great to use different profiles for different pen names (ie having different dictionaries, rules, shortcuts,… depending the type of content one is working on) :)

    I much prefer Writer’s management of styles compared to MS Word too. I just think it’s better… but it still is not perfect.

    Depending your specific needs Writer may lack a few advanced stuff (stuff I’m confident 99% users will never use). I also don’t like how keyboard shortcuts are managed as you can’t really modify them freely but at least once can change them.

    I will always make sure to install whatever the latest version is (the one installed with my distro always lags behind) as each update brings its fair share of improvements and bug corrections.

    For writing, I use two different ‘workspace’: VSCodium (+Markdown and Hugo) for blogging, and LO Writer for anything longer. I consider both apps very reliable tools. I also like how I can easily tweak them to fit my needs and preferences.

    I would not want to go back to using Word even though I never was a hater of Word. I started using Word in the 90s and I’ve been using it without any serious issue or drama up until I switched to Linux and LO a few years ago. Heck, I even managed to keep working with files I created back in the 90s without any difficulty, despite MSWord few format changes.



  • Libb@jlai.lutoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world*Permanently Deleted*
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    2 days ago

    A singer is a singer. Some singers are writers, musicians, and even producers too. They’re all singers as long as they sing—I think it’s worse precising that since more and more singers are now… digitally enhanced and unable to, well, sing, without that digital assistance.

    That’s how I see it ;)


  • All gains from the last 3 years have been erased. Actually the first time they reached this price was in januari 2021.

    Does it matter? It’s a noob question here, as I’m not sure to understand what you want to say and if that matter the first time it was at a certain price. I would have thought the last time was what mattered.

    I just checked the graph (i don’t much stock, so I need to check data ;) and to me it looks like Tesla is down to its Oct/November 24 (not 2021) price which is already an impressive drop (and it looks it will keep going down today too). But it also has been at that level more than a few time since 2021. And reached much lower in early 2023, somewhere in the 100-120, and at 175 in May 2024

    What’s interesting looking at the graph is to see how often those lows are followed by a bounce… I would be curious to see how much more it will go down (and for how long) before it bounces again… If I had a Cristal ball I would be rich, I suppose :p


  • He doesn’t give a shit about Tesla it’s an old stepping stone.

    Not exactly, I would even say it’s quite the opposite.

    The car business of Tesla is one thing, but Tesla is morphing into a whole new company with much wider perspectives than selling EV, and that I doubt Musk doesn’t care about.

    What Musk can’t be bothered with while is playing the diva next to his orange dummy, is the market panicking like it always does the moment things become wobbly and the moment it doesn’t understand something, anything. Doing so, they start overselling and that puts Tesla stock at a nice discount… for anyone rich enough and patient enough to buy it at the right opportunity (aka not while it’s falling).

    That discount will make those already rich people a lot more richer thx to people panicking and thx to the media fueling that panic with their sensationalist headlines. What an amusing coincidence most if not all those turd media also belong to rich people that want nothing more than getting richer themselves.


  • Are there some good stores with ease of use that’s similar to the Amazon’s one? Buy a book, send it to device, done. Or do I need to accept, that I will need to somehow convert books before using them?

    You better be ready to accept that as, to the best of my knowledge no one but Amazon sells DRM-protected ebooks that works on the Kindle.

    You can fin DRM-free ebooks that for now you can still upload on a Kindle, but seeing how Amazon has started removing features (like the ability to download your purchased ebooks and transfer them trhough USB), I would not bet this option will be there forever.


  • But how do you prevent this from happening if the content is centralized?

    I have no idea and like (I think) I said, I’m not even sure that’s an option we should consider. It’s just it feels likes there is this path circling back to centralization and that makes me wonder.

    Once we reach a big enough population (not a given, Discuit is still doing 210 weekly active users) , a company comes in, makes the owners an offer they can’t refuse, and they do what you criticize in your previous comment

    That’s why I (want to) believe in the fediverse. If something like that were to happen and that’s also why I’m not sure centralization is a solution.


  • So… Reddit?

    I don’t know, I just shared agut feeling while reading the OP. And I’m not saying it’s what we should thrive for, just sharing that gut feeling about what, like I said, I consider a critical issue on Lemmy.

    With the cancelled third-party apps, the visible ads, the ads hiding as posts, the powertripping mods (but unpaid as well), the algorithm trying to get the most “engagement” by showing hateful content?

    That’s a whole other discussion imho. But if you want to discuss about that:

    • I only talked about a centralized system (aka, a unified one) and, once again, I did not say it was the solution only that it felt like that while I was reading the post. As far as I know, centralization does not imply the obligation to rely on algorithm (and ads, paywalls, or nothing dirty like that).
    • As far as mods abusing their power is an issue (it is), I think we do have a few on Lemmy too. Isn’t there a community dedicated to that issue?
    • Ditto for the ‘hateful content’ (and I would add the extremely low effort posts too), it was a pain on Reddit, it’s a pain on Lemmy too there is just of it on Lemmy because there are less of us posting ;)
      I consider the Reddit default home page an insult to any half-working brain but I would not be much more sympathetic to Lemmy’s default feed either. I remember we briefly discussed that already: I’d rather see an empty feed by default, with only a short-ish selection of very broad categories the user would pick from to start seeing content that they’re interested in. And only that content, not all the crap. They would then be able to start fine tuning their selection. Something like that.
    • Reducing Reddit to what you listed here would be… unfair to the great content and great discussion one can easily find over there. As an ex-Reddit user, after an adaptation time (learning how to get rid of the default crap feed and how to remove the crap ads, learning what subs were better ignored) I had a great time using Reddit (and that is despite its poor UI). I did not quit using it because of the flow of hate or the flow of moronic content, nor because of abusive mods (quite the opposite, I appreciated their work… thx to fine selection of the few subs I was subscribed to). I did not quit reddit for that, no more than I would quit Lemmy for those flaws either. I left because I hated how Reddit, the corporation, took hold of our content and started restricting access to our content in order to negotiate deals with partners. And started talking about paywalling some of it. I briefly explained it as a last post on my Reddit profile and I close the door behind me. But I do miss those interesting discussions I had, and I miss a few subs too (r/Simpleliving, would be the first one I would mention).
      If I was not admitting I miss that I would be a liar.
    • I also find it difficult to motivate/encourage more people to join and participate here on Lemmy because I’m myself constantly faced with the ‘messy’ aspects of Lemmy. I’m stubborn and I decided I could live with them (happily) but I also know many people are not ok with that and it’s unlikely they ever will.

    Hence me agreeing with the OP: Lemmy being as fragmented as it is is a critical issue.
    Hence, the second part of my comment: it feels to me that the only easy/obvious solution is to rely on a centralized system. I’m not saying it’s what should be done (I would not be part of the fediverse if I had no desire to see an alternative to that centralization). I may be wrong in that, most probably I’m (I have no technical expertise) but it still is what I felt while reading the post. Nothing more.

    And for the rest, let the downvoters enjoy their very own moment of power ;)



  • I really like the Assimil method of learning. I find it is more organic than Duolingo or flashcards. It makes you more proficient in conversation early than learning a whole lot of vocabulary.

    Indeed. It gives stronger fundamentals. I much prefer it to Duolingo myself which I find a bit too focused on the gamification of the learning through their system of badges, rewards and leagues. Whereas Assimil has none of that (at least last time I checked). It’s also much, much older than Duolingo something I’m afraid many of our younger people may feel awkward to be seen using the same method their (great-)great-grand-parents could have used.

    That said, no matter how excellent the method, the best way to learn is still to immerse yourself in the language and live it.


  • Not really the same type of app as Duolingo, but here In France we have the Assimil Method (En). It has existed since 1929, using books, 33t longplays, then tapes, CDs, USB key, MP3s and online access.

    BTW, if you own a free library card, at least if you’re living in Paris no idea about other cities, you have access to a few online methods for free through your Public Library portal (link in French). Also, next to these full online methods (no need to go to the library borrow anything) there are also many traditional books/physical methods one can borrow for free from the libraries.

    Those online lessons are a neat feature many Parisians don’t even know it’s included with their free library card.

    As a matter of fact, the city of Paris offers quite a few various online formations entirely free, in many domains ranging from cooking to writing novels, painting, playing the music, sketching, and so on. Alas, like most things public it’s kind of a mess, and one will need to do some hunting.


  • Libb@jlai.lutoCommunity Promo@lemmy.caAI Kingdom - Lemmy's AI Safe Space
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    6 days ago

    However, there’s lots of assholes who are negative towards other AI Developers because they’re envious because they suck.

    You seem to be on a great starting point here.
    May I ask your opinion on why you think some people don’t like bananas? Is it because these people suck or are envious (of the much better people that do like bananas, I suppose), or may we propose the daring idea that they simply don’t like the taste of a banana? Asking for a friend that doesn’t like bananas and is not even ashamed of admitting it. He doesn’t like AI much either, I must say.