JasSmith

I literally quoted that exact passage. Did you read my comment before you replied or did you just rage post when your world view was threatened?

Foltz claims that she received a $92,000 annual salary while men with the same duties and qualifications received an annual salary of $115,000.

Foltz also claims that SpaceX uses different job titles for the same position as a way to pay women and minorities less than their white or male counterparts, TechCrunch reported.

This is an empty claim. She didn’t even have the same job titles as the people she was comparing herself against. There are a thousand reasons one person can be paid more than another. Often it’s just negotiating prowess. Often it’s the responsibility of the job title, and the risk and hours that entails. Often it’s tenure at the company, or social skills. Her claim amounts to, “pay me more because I have a vagina.” No.

I also don’t have an issue with paying for default placement. The suit is much broader than that. Google’s anticompetitive conduct has included:

• Acquiring Competitors: Engaging in a pattern of acquisitions to obtain control over key digital advertising tools used by website publishers to sell advertising space;

• Forcing Adoption of Google’s Tools: Locking in website publishers to its newly-acquired tools by restricting its unique, must-have advertiser demand to its ad exchange, and in turn, conditioning effective real-time access to its ad exchange on the use of its publisher ad server;

• Distorting Auction Competition: Limiting real-time bidding on publisher inventory to its ad exchange, and impeding rival ad exchanges’ ability to compete on the same terms as Google’s ad exchange; and

• Auction Manipulation: Manipulating auction mechanics across several of its products to insulate Google from competition, deprive rivals of scale, and halt the rise of rival technologies.

More details: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-google-monopolizing-digital-advertising-technologies

They they settled another suit yesterday: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/06/states-google-settle-app-store-antitrust-case-00114176

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With all due respect, I strongly disagree. I admit my views are coloured by my love of Asimov’s work, and their radical re-write has left a bad taste in my mouth. But when I analyse this show objectively I am left bewildered that anyone could call it “excellent fucking science fiction.”

Most of the actors are TERRIBLE. It was like watching wooden planks act. Instead of developing the story in any meaningful way, the directors chose to focus on disparate and dream-like sequences which appear to have little connection to each other. Bizarre pacing. They took the expansive time gaps and somehow made them confusing and meaningless. The dialogue is atrocious. The CGI is laughable. The accents are ridiculous. This is science fiction of the worst kind.

Lee Pace is the only reason I finished season one. Despite the horrific writing, he somehow pulls it off. The Expanse set the bar very high for sci-fi, but it showed us it can be done well. Foundation is fantasy in space. It’s Wheel of Time and Rings of Power in space bad.

I agree. I grew up reading Asimov. It ignited my passion for reading and sci fi. To see how badly they’ve butchered this material is devastating. It bears almost no resemblance. Like so many Hollywood projects, the only thing it has in common with the material is some character names. Everything else is creative writing. Because of course modern writers think they’re better than Isaac Asimov.

I’m so thankful the kbin.social owner doesn’t give in to the relentless cries and pearl clutching for censorship. You want piracy? Go right ahead! You want to make fun of politicians? Be my guest! You have the “wrong” political beliefs? Just don’t go there if it offends you.

I’ll just tell my IT department to stop using Outlook. I’m sure they’ll get right on that ;)

Gaming is keeping me off Linux. Most of the most popular Twitch games like Fortnite and CoD Warzone either don’t run at all or run poorly with difficult workarounds. I don’t have time to tinker anymore. I want to click one button and have my games run first time, flawlessly. Ironically, it’s why I like my Steam Deck. Valve figured out how to make handheld gaming on Linux work without effort. I know it’s the fault of developers but that doesn’t resolve the problem. I hope the Deck encourages more developers to make their games compatible with Proton.

The EU generally operates under the principle of the “spirit of the law,” while in the US, courts typically operate under the principles of the “letter of the law.” The EU will not take kindly to attempts to skirt the spirit of the law, and their penalties have teeth.

That’s fair. I think the writing in the original is rather ham-fisted. I suppose there’s no one way to describe Star Trek. With such wildly different writing quality between shows we each have enough ammunition to prove any thesis we like.

and tolerance of the intolerant was never a theme.

I’m sorry but this is bullshit. I cite episode 1-2, season 1. Q places Picard and the Enterprise on trial for the misdeeds of the human race. This character and plot re-emerges many times throughout this show and others. As recently as Picard season 3. Q’s accusation is that the human race is guilty of crimes. He calls humanity a “dangerous, savage child-race.” He’s right, of course, which is what gives the theme gravitas. Picard’s ongoing game with Q is a form of atonement rather than a test. The theme is that us humans are clearly fallible, and guilty of much, but also capable of heroism and feats of bravery and altruism.

Star Trek isn’t Star Wars, with a baddie and a goodie. The three shows I cited explore the grey area between what you think is right, and what someone else thinks is right. They are powerful and thought-provoking precisely because they don’t treat the audience like children, or parishioners in their pews. “Tolerance of intolerance” was one of the central themes in Star Trek, because the writers demanded we explore the nature of our morality ourselves. As a Star Trek fan I’m surprised to be explaining this to you.

Right there with you. The thing is, I’ve been trying to kick the habit for years now. Huffman is doing me and millions of others a favour here. I’ll probably still log in online occasionally, but that’s a small minority of the time I spend on the site.

TNG, DS9, and Voyager had great writers. They deftly wove in contentious issues designed to invoke introspection and consideration of one’s own positions, prejudices, and biases. They appealed to people of all political persuasions because they didn’t cast judgement. “Oh that’s what you believe? Well here’s a whole planet built on those hypothetical principles. Here are some cool things, and some terrible things. Make up your own mind.”

Star Trek writers today have all the tact and nuance of an angry baboon flinging faeces at the viewer while screaming “REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” Without exploration of the plentiful and beautiful nuance in life, what’s left is a sermon. A preachy, dire, boring sermon. And who better to lead the ceremony each week than the Maryest of Sues, Michael Burnham.

Comparing TNG with whatever the fuck we have today is an insult to Star Trek, and Trekkie Bill knows it.

California has many of laws on the books which grandfather workers under various statutes of de facto employment. Even contracts can be voided. No contract is necessary for an employment relationship to exist.

I love it. It’s so on brand.

They weren’t forced to reopen. They were threatened with being replaced. Who gives a shit? One can’t even call this cowardly. Who fears losing an unpaid job? This is just pathetic. So much for solidarity. The r/Videos mod team called this from the beginning. They’re prepared to go down with the ship. Of course this would be the natural outcome of a prolonged strike. This is really separating the performative virtue signalling from those who care.