paloaltokid

One note: if you are inspired to try watercolor after seeing this article/videos, don't be discouraged if you struggle. Watercolor seems easy (that's what kids do, right?) but it's very difficult to master.

Comment · 6 years ago

BAT sounds to me like just another form of airline miles or cryptocurrency?

Comment · 6 years ago

I am not a fan of PornHub because I feel that many of their practices are unethical. That said, as with so many other controversial topics, keeping things legal is ultimately better as it provides opportunities for oversight and regulation. Things being legal don't make them okay though, I am in favor of legalizing prostitution but I also believe it should not exist in the first place.

Kristof's piece is a classic "moral panic" article. It could have been written basically at any time in the last 100 years (at least). What is different this time is that the focus is on a modern delivery medium, the internet. But scandalized reporting about the wide distribution and availability of child pornography is nothing new. I remember being a kid and seeing headlines in the newspaper about "internet pedophile porn web rings" being taken in by the police, that was in the 1990s.

As for the motivations behind the people pushing the narrative, they're diverse. Some are religious, some are political, some have nefarious motives. Ultimately these things always distract from the thing no-one ever wants to do: hear from the victims and find real ways to prevent the abuse.

Comment · 6 years ago

Your insight and the comments in the Github thread all back up the same point - the current economic model is not set up to empower or distribute wealth to the little guy.

I think it was phk who many years ago pointed out that Free Software is really anti-capitalist at heart; it makes sense that it would come from America (and MIT!) because of how the economic system works there.

The licenses are a distraction. The bigger issues are structural in terms of how the economy is set up. Our current free market system is predicated on folks at the bottom of the pyramid getting squeezed for their labor. It is only when it starts happening to us and not folks somewhere else that we begin to do something about it.