I tried it and it’s awesome! But there are two features that Discord has over Element when it comes to these voice calls; in Discord, you can choose to not watch the stream (which can help save data for those with limited data at the time); Matrix, or at least Element(? Help me out here) forces all voice call participants to stream the screen-share.

Additionally, Discord outlines avatars in green when they’re saying something, which is a handy mic test feature, whereas Element(/Matrix?) gives no visual feedback.

I got confused by that at first because while things did get heated, Ada is not a mod of this community—which is on lemmy.world, not lemmy.blaha.zone. I had also responded the way I had without knowledge of the deleted content, because I hadn’t actually been functioning here as a moderator until after this post; I had a cross-instance access issue prior for quite a while. I’ve still got a fair chunk of Fediverse operations and procedures to learn!

All I know for sure is that the mental health of both sides is crucial to try to uphold as much as possible, and more us-vs.-them-ing is pretty much the opposite of the way towards long-term, global peace. So it was my choice to have OP unbanned since there had been no warning issued directly by any local mod here, but we’ll monitor and retake action if more daggers fly. Respectful(-enough) dialogue should always be allowed, though, and it’s inevitable that things can get hairy when changing people’s opinions. Maybe I’m too permissive, but I believe there was still potential for dialogue even at the height of conflict here.

The question is: do we (I mean generic “we” over any topic, not just this) actually want to try to influence someone toward a different view, or do we just lock them out and throw away the key and treat them as less-than-human, even if that’s what they seem to have been doing themselves? Banning can easily feel like tremendously authoritarian silencing, as someone who has experienced unfair banning over misunderstandings elsewhere, so I don’t do that lightly (unless the person is a scammer, a troll, or a repeat offender after having been warned—those 3 specific cases are my criteria, personally). Lots of large-forum experience over two decades went into developing this policy.

Edit: Oh, and correct, empathically connecting isn’t an excuse for misbehavior but that was just a possible explanation.

I had intentionally deleted my own comment because I hadn’t read all of the other comments here at the time, and I realized that you and others have already said what I might have said. No one should shrug off the victim’s pain, but I see the other side as well, especially given @buddascrayon@lemmy.world’s insightful response most recently.

This is all sort of annoyingly merely due to the phenomenon of certain language structures like English; for example, Indonesian doesn’t have a “s/he” difference; the closest pronoun, “dia,” is merely universal for all singular organisms and is most closely equivalent to “that person/animal.” Basically, it sucks that this problem even exists at all.

This was excellently well-worded and neutrally calm and cool, until part of your last paragraph that concerns me on here.

you were not the one abused, so why are you doing it?

I deduce that @fancycheeaecake@lemmy.world perhaps felt directly empathic about the incident, but now we may never know.*

obviously, we can’t control your language.

Banning is language control, and even direct language control; please tell me how it is not. This (mindset overall) could lead to the path of thought police and authoritarianism over time, though I’m talking only in the scope of online forums, not national laws; if a person will not listen, just let them leave on their own instead of banning them. As a large-forum admin elsewhere myself, I would have issued a formal pre-ban warning instead regarding generally unacceptable misbehavior. That almost always suffices.

*Banning also eliminates our ability to uncover any possibly critical supporting details, and just overall reduces the person’s likelihood of reflecting on and reconsidering, which defeats the purpose; do you actually seek reform and understanding, or just want to silence the opposition? I do not suggest banning unless a person is specifically trolling to get a rise out of someone. I don’t think this person was trolling.

Off-topic: why is @fancycheeaecake@lemmy.world’s username struck-through on my end (using Summit)? Did this user get banned here, too, or something?

deleted by creator

I’d rather just play other games as I don’t feel good about doing that, partly because I don’t want to deal with any malware risk due to confidential information on my personal PC.

How is it possible to solve levels on harder difficulties in games like Unequal and Towers without cheating or guessing? I’d wanna see you solve a Towers or Unequal game on any of the harder difficulties live.

Thanks for the rundown. My biggest problem is that the literal only copy I have is from the DRM-free Humble Bundle from way back then (I gave away the Steam key to a friend of a friend), which is on a higher version than with what Multiverse is compatible, so I’ve never been able to play it all these years even though I’ve been itching to try.

I’ve sunk many an hour into Simon Tatham’s no-guess Mines, yeah, as well as Slant and various other titles from his free puzzle collection. Try Inertia!

Roguelites are the way, fam:

• Noita
• FTL: Faster Than Light
• Slice & Dice
• Death Road to Canada
• I’ve never actually played it yet, but maybe S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, or else possibly Infested Planet or RimWorld

I’ve been on Waterfox for years and see no reason worth changing for.

I have a certain potato-based experiment I’d be interested to know the outcome of.

Go on…

Oh.

I guess I was thrown off by the driver not actually smiling in the second frame. That really messed me up and wondered if there was something far more sinister underneath the detour lol. I’m thinking too much.

I don’t get it.

Man, joke’s gonna be on them if they dont keep up with the times…

Unbelievable. Linux sellers deserve the death penalty. /s (mostly…)

Rather, why are you unable to define it for yourself? It’s not that hard. Helping things towards balance (like helping any angry, sad, or greedy person to be less so, etc., or trying to heal a physical or emotional wound as appropriate) is a fine start.

Oh okay, gotcha. I agree with everything you said, especially legalizing drugs, except this:

the evidence behind marijuanas medicinal benefit is shaky at best

At correct doses… (that’s the kicker) https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/medical-marijuana-faq

We have literally seen kids to adults during epileptic attacks be made to take cannabis, with massive, visible reduction in their seizures shortly after; no other natural substance can do this so fast of which I know.

The typical ∆8-/∆9-THC strains can also significantly boost appetite for people struggling with theirs. They strongly increase pain tolerance. They aid sleep (or they stimulate if taken in microdoses). They shut down anxiety (again, at correct, small doses, such as likely not when smoked—which is the absolute worst way to take it, or anything else for that matter).

I guess my point is that we know the harm that it causes already. There are specific fenceposts by which people should abide:

• Pregnant women should do their best to never use it, obviously.
• Unless dealing with a severe medical condition or emergency (like seizures), no one under the age of 25 should experience marijuana, due to addiction risk, psychosis risk, and the potential for permanent brain damage (even if minor; we could even argue for age 32-34 since that’s really when the brain has truly finished developing).
• Doses should be small and measurable, such as through edibles, oils, or maybe vaping—never smoking, ever.
• It should not be taken recreationally; as a mind-altering substance, it should only be taken at home, ideally in the evening when one’s tasks are done, and if there is a reason: the user is sick; or fatigued and has been battling insomnia and needs to ensure good sleep for a heavy, upcoming morning; or has experienced literal, physical pain; or is in the stress of a panic attack. Boredom is not a reason!
• It is not a solution for anxiety because even when dosed correctly, it only blocks anxiety for the duration of the high, so it’s just a Band-Aid; a permanent reduction needs to come from something more overarching, like potentially PMR (progressive muscle relaxation) or something else, like possibly psilocybin, depending on the circumstances.
• Usage should always be tracked strictly, IMHO.

There’s a whole ton of literature to back this all up which is why I think examining its problems is sort of spinning wheels. Compare that to the fact that it can prevent people from digging into heroin, etc. and I’d go with this stuff any day.

it’s a miracle drug that cures everything and makes life better in every way.

A little off-topic but just for readers’ information here: the miracle material out there is probably actually infrared light. I’m convinced that if God exists, He/It emits pure infrared light; even NASA uses red light panels to heal its astronauts’ wounds faster: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22114-red-light-therapy

As for a miracle drug in the realm of mind-altering substances, it’s probably psilocybin (or really psilocin if one wants to get technical): one single, well-designed trip can annihilate perfectionism or obsessions (and thereby depression or anxiety resulting from any such mental ruts): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_therapy

And none of these are any more addictive than sugar, as far as I know from all the research that has been poured into them—certainly not worse than alcohol or nicotine.

Sincerely,
A teetotaler

Nice username lol. Anyway, if you’re in the US, you could technically just stop paying… I think this January or so was when medical debt was restricted from affecting Americans’ credit scores, so it’d just fall off after 7 years if you can withstand the collectors’ attempts.