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diff --git a/.!46979!404.html b/.!46979!404.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 --- /dev/null +++ b/.!46979!404.html diff --git a/.!46980!buffer.html b/.!46980!buffer.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 --- /dev/null +++ b/.!46980!buffer.html diff --git a/.!46981!contact.html b/.!46981!contact.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 --- /dev/null +++ b/.!46981!contact.html diff --git a/.!46982!hub.html b/.!46982!hub.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 --- /dev/null +++ b/.!46982!hub.html diff --git a/.!46983!index.html b/.!46983!index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 --- /dev/null +++ b/.!46983!index.html diff --git a/.!46984!template.html b/.!46984!template.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 --- /dev/null +++ b/.!46984!template.html diff --git a/article/abortion.html b/article/abortion.html index 79416d7..d03ea31 100644 --- a/article/abortion.html +++ b/article/abortion.html @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ <p>Article ID: 3</p> <p> -<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113">In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled seven-to-two in favor of Roe's rights to abortion against a healthcare official of the state of Texas. Roe argued for abortion with ``privacy'', derived from the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.</a> As the U.S. has a precedential judiciary system, this effectively legalizes abortion across the country. +<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113">In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled seven-to-two in favor of Roe's rights to abortion against a healthcare official of the state of Texas. Roe argued for abortion with “privacy”, derived from the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.</a> As the U.S. has a precedential judiciary system, this effectively legalizes abortion across the country. </p> <p> @@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ The poor person was life, and your decision did cause their decession. But is t </p> <p> -There is a subtle, but eventually significant difference between helping a person down the street and voluntary pregnency. (Involuntary pregnency is basically ``alright, here comes a person at your doorstep, you MUST help them and keep them alive'', there's not much to discuss there in my opinion.) +There is a subtle, but eventually significant difference between helping a person down the street and voluntary pregnency. (Involuntary pregnency is basically “alright, here comes a person at your doorstep, you MUST help them and keep them alive”, there's not much to discuss there in my opinion.) </p> <p> diff --git a/article/copyright.html b/article/copyright.html index 4688209..4e6e057 100644 --- a/article/copyright.html +++ b/article/copyright.html @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ </p> <p> - Information unlike physical items can be copied with minimal cost, especially in the case of digital information, and thus the traditional private property argument of ``this is theft and the author loses stuff'' doesn't really apply. However, information/data that an author creates shall be under the control of the author, it's ultimately what they create and is their private information. The authors, not anyone else, should control how their information goes. (Transferring this control to another entity is ultimately using their control to share or give away the same control, so that's no different.) + Information unlike physical items can be copied with minimal cost, especially in the case of digital information, and thus the traditional private property argument of “this is theft and the author loses stuff” doesn't really apply. However, information/data that an author creates shall be under the control of the author, it's ultimately what they create and is their private information. The authors, not anyone else, should control how their information goes. (Transferring this control to another entity is ultimately using their control to share or give away the same control, so that's no different.) </p> <p> diff --git a/article/democracy-fundamentals.html b/article/democracy-fundamentals.html index 8d1ded5..cf7f5ba 100644 --- a/article/democracy-fundamentals.html +++ b/article/democracy-fundamentals.html @@ -9,24 +9,24 @@ <body class="indent"> <h1>Democracy: Fundamentals (Unfinished)</h1> <p>Article ID: 4</p> - <p><i>Unless otherwise specified, ``democracy'' in this article refers to representative democracy. ``Country'' can additionally refer to other regions that have people and its own policies, such as a state, provinces in some countries, etc.</i></p> + <p><i>Unless otherwise specified, “democracy” in this article refers to representative democracy. “Country” can additionally refer to other regions that have people and its own policies, such as a state, provinces in some countries, etc.</i></p> <p> - We usually think of ``democracy'' as people influencing the policies of the country by electing trustworthy experts that serve their interest to make actual decisions about running the country. This type of democracy, representative democracy, has evolved from direct democracy aging back two thousand years ago as created by Athens in Greece. Representative democracy is more scalable than direct democracy and also avoids some forms of populism and uninformed decisions as its the experts in the field that are making the actual policies. + We usually think of “democracy” as people influencing the policies of the country by electing trustworthy experts that serve their interest to make actual decisions about running the country. This type of democracy, representative democracy, has evolved from direct democracy aging back two thousand years ago as created by Athens in Greece. Representative democracy is more scalable than direct democracy and also avoids some forms of populism and uninformed decisions as its the experts in the field that are making the actual policies. </p> <p> - The Chinese term for democracy is ``民主''. The first character, ``民'', means ``people''; the second, ``主'', ascin ``主人'' means ``owner''. You could understand it as saying ``the people of the country own the country (and thus get to decide on its affairs)''. But at the same time, ``主'' as in ``自主'' means ``do things themselves'', i.e. the right not to be interfered by others while doing their own business. + The Chinese term for democracy is “民主”. The first character, “民”, means “people”; the second, “主”, ascin “主人” means “owner”. You could understand it as saying “the people of the country own the country (and thus get to decide on its affairs)”. But at the same time, “主” as in “自主” means “do things themselves”, i.e. the right not to be interfered by others while doing their own business. </p> <p> This is, of course, not the proper definition for democracy; democracy is just saying that the general public ultimately runs the country. But we could take the time to appreciate how with democracy we usually end up with liberty and how we take personal liberty for granted. </p> <p> - In any case, both democracy and liberty are important in a long-lasting prosperous system of society. Note my wording in the first paragraph, that the decisions of elected experts are for ``running the country''—I specifically mean issues that deal with either the general public (such as public health and the environment) and things that would be otherwise hard to solve personally (such as enforcement of contracts and crimes). The ``will of the people'', represented by the government, have no business doing things like banning freedom of thought or mandating people not to smoke in their private property. Only when things affect others such as smoking in public should the government, or the will of the general public, have any say. And of course, people should take responsibility for their own private deeds. It is argued that a lung cancer patient who got lung cancer by smoking excessively doesn't deserve medical insurance from taxpayers; but for cases where an illness isn't caused by a identifiable private decision factor, medical insurance and support should be given. (In practice the distinction is subtle; this is also a very controversial topic.) + In any case, both democracy and liberty are important in a long-lasting prosperous system of society. Note my wording in the first paragraph, that the decisions of elected experts are for “running the country”—I specifically mean issues that deal with either the general public (such as public health and the environment) and things that would be otherwise hard to solve personally (such as enforcement of contracts and crimes). The “will of the people”, represented by the government, have no business doing things like banning freedom of thought or mandating people not to smoke in their private property. Only when things affect others such as smoking in public should the government, or the will of the general public, have any say. And of course, people should take responsibility for their own private deeds. It is argued that a lung cancer patient who got lung cancer by smoking excessively doesn't deserve medical insurance from taxpayers; but for cases where an illness isn't caused by a identifiable private decision factor, medical insurance and support should be given. (In practice the distinction is subtle; this is also a very controversial topic.) </p> <p> People overemphasize the importance of democracy. In fact, democracy is in my opinion less important than liberty—though in practice indeed liberty wouldn't survive for long without democracy. </p> <p> - Note that abortion and similar subjects may fall into the scope of government. Some opponents of abortion believe that fetus is human life and thus abortion is murder and shall be outlawed. The ``privacy'' and ``personal liberty'' arguments don't stand up well against this as it's no longer a personal matter when another human life is supposedly on the line. <a href="abortion.html">I oppose the abortion bans that Republicans in the US are placing in many states for a different reason.</a> + Note that abortion and similar subjects may fall into the scope of government. Some opponents of abortion believe that fetus is human life and thus abortion is murder and shall be outlawed. The “privacy” and “personal liberty” arguments don't stand up well against this as it's no longer a personal matter when another human life is supposedly on the line. <a href="abortion.html">I oppose the abortion bans that Republicans in the US are placing in many states for a different reason.</a> </p> <p> Modern populism (which is a poorly-defined term but does have the following general scope) gives the power of deciding everything that happens in the country to the people. This is bad in two ways. (1) The general public often make uninformed and un-thought-through decisions and are easily influenced. (2) The government, in this case directly the collective decision of the people, is stepping its feet into the personal lives of people. While it is democratic, it doesn't give people liberty, creating a tyranny of the majority, and at the same time making uninformed decisions which are better made by experts which people elect. diff --git a/article/democracy-us.html b/article/democracy-us.html index 0854b85..47d25af 100644 --- a/article/democracy-us.html +++ b/article/democracy-us.html @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ <h1>Democracy: The United States (Unfinished)</h1> <p>Article ID: 5</p> <p> - When people talk about democracies, it's common to think of the US Constitution as the ``defining point of democracy''. While the US is the first modern democracy, its laws is far from perfect. In fact, it may be one of the worst of modern time! I will briefly go through the following. + When people talk about democracies, it's common to think of the US Constitution as the “defining point of democracy”. While the US is the first modern democracy, its laws is far from perfect. In fact, it may be one of the worst of modern time! I will briefly go through the following. </p> <ul> @@ -21,14 +21,14 @@ <h2 id="#corruption">Corruption</h2> - <p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B/S1537592714001595a.pdf/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens.pdf">A study shows that ``Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.''</a></p> + <p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B/S1537592714001595a.pdf/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens.pdf">A study shows that “Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.”</a></p> <p> A near-ideal democracy would have a roughly linear positive correlation between the fraction of voters who support a policy and the possibility of the policy being passed in the legislature. But in the US, the line is flat at about 30%. A representative democracy wouldn't have a perfect correlation, because the general public is unable to be informed on all topics; fluctuations are normal. But <em>a flat line</em> means that the opinions of the people don't matter at all. This does not make sense in any type of democracy. </p> <p> - According to the study, the influence of economic elites and business interest groups on politics is rather high with a rough positive correlation as opposed to the flatline for the general public, making the US an oligarchy rather than a democracy. Mass-based interest groups have discernable impact on policies, but are still trivial compared with economic elites and businesses. About three billion dollars are spent yearly by large ``politically active'' businesses to bribe politicians to pass policies for their interest. While businesses should have a say in legislation, it is unacceptable that they have superior dominance over public opinion. + According to the study, the influence of economic elites and business interest groups on politics is rather high with a rough positive correlation as opposed to the flatline for the general public, making the US an oligarchy rather than a democracy. Mass-based interest groups have discernable impact on policies, but are still trivial compared with economic elites and businesses. About three billion dollars are spent yearly by large “politically active” businesses to bribe politicians to pass policies for their interest. While businesses should have a say in legislation, it is unacceptable that they have superior dominance over public opinion. </p> <h2 id="senate">The Senate</h2> @@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ The Senate of the USA consists of 100 members, with 2 from each state. Two senators from California represent 39 million people while the two from Wyoming represent 500 thousand people. The founding fathers never could have imagined such a huge a difference between the population of states. </p> <p> - Some people believe that the Senate helps against populism as opposed to the House. Although the number of Senators for each state do indeed not correspond to the population, this has no correlation whatsoever with preventing populism and doesn't serve an obvious purpose. It only ``helps'' by giving completely unproportional voting powers to people based on their location, period. + Some people believe that the Senate helps against populism as opposed to the House. Although the number of Senators for each state do indeed not correspond to the population, this has no correlation whatsoever with preventing populism and doesn't serve an obvious purpose. It only “helps” by giving completely unproportional voting powers to people based on their location, period. </p> <p> The Senate also suffers from the fillibuster. Passing a bill in the Senate has a few steps: Firstly the Senators must <em>agree to vote</em>, passed at a supermajority. Then the Senators actually vote on the bill. Those who are against the bill will just disagree to vote altogether, effectively requiring all bills to have a supermajority support to pass which is nearly impossible as the two dominent political parties almost always oppose each others' bills and neither have a supermajority in the Senate. @@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ <h2 id="plurality-voting">Plurality Voting</h2> <p> - Single-winner elections in the US uses what's called ``plurality voting'', where each voter casts one vote to their favorite canidate and the canidate with the most votes win. This contributes to the partisan dualopoly (not an actual word, but it basically means ``monopoly'' but with two rather than one) as voters who support smaller parties will undergo the decision of choosing their honest favorite or one of the two big parties that most closely ressembles their favorite. As it's hard to gather votes for smaller parties, and thus there's a small chance of them actually winning the electron, many voters strategically vote for the big party in order to not be ``taken over'' by the big party that they oppose more. + Single-winner elections in the US uses what's called “plurality voting”, where each voter casts one vote to their favorite canidate and the canidate with the most votes win. This contributes to the partisan dualopoly (not an actual word, but it basically means “monopoly” but with two rather than one) as voters who support smaller parties will undergo the decision of choosing their honest favorite or one of the two big parties that most closely ressembles their favorite. As it's hard to gather votes for smaller parties, and thus there's a small chance of them actually winning the electron, many voters strategically vote for the big party in order to not be “taken over” by the big party that they oppose more. </p> <div id="footer"> diff --git a/article/free-hardware.html b/article/free-hardware.html index 801ab0b..b863eac 100644 --- a/article/free-hardware.html +++ b/article/free-hardware.html @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ <h1>Free Hardware</h1> <p>Article ID: 8</p> <p>This article is unfinished, combined from all over the place, and is a big mess. Read if you want, I guess.</p> - <p><strong>In ``free software'' and ``free hardware'', the ``free'' in ``free computing'' does not refer to price; it refers to freedom and liberty of users.</strong></p> + <p><strong>In “free software” and “free hardware”, the “free” in “free computing” does not refer to price; it refers to freedom and liberty of users.</strong></p> <p>This section is mainly for posts on <em>hardware hardware designs</em>. Without which, <em>no computer user is free</em>.</p> <blockquote> <p>In fact, access to schematics, boardviews, datasheets and any other documentation is <em>critical</em> to software freedom.</p> @@ -74,8 +74,8 @@ Intel and Microsoft. An oligopoly is a market structure in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of large sellers or producers. People often confuse this with monopolies, for which the latter Francis Wayland -defines as ``an exclusive right granted to a [hu]man or a monopoly of -[hu]man, to empoly their labor or capital in some particular manner'', +defines as “an exclusive right granted to a [hu]man or a monopoly of +[hu]man, to empoly their labor or capital in some particular manner”, which cannot exist in a free market (i.e. free of government regulations). The technology industry in most countries is an oligopoly, not a monopoly. @@ -91,12 +91,12 @@ for daily life, exacebating the harms of a relevant oligopoly market. There is yet another practical harm of a oligopoly technology market: about the rights of users. When CPUs are produced by almost solely Intel, AMD, and a few others, they are now free to add their backdoors -and ``management engines'' into the CPUs that we users use daily, and +and “management engines” into the CPUs that we users use daily, and their seek for profit pushes them to do so. We now have to work with spyware in our computer hardware, and we can't do anything about it, because the oligopoly nature of the market doesn't allow us common people to monitor, produce, develop, or otherwise deal with our own -technology except for the ``expected usages'' that the oligopoly +technology except for the “expected usages” that the oligopoly superimposes on us. One way out is to decentralize the development and production of CPUs diff --git a/article/free-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html b/article/free-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html index d7d463e..1f6faab 100644 --- a/article/free-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html +++ b/article/free-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html @@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ </p> <p> - The contact tracing system used is not Free Software. At first I didn't understand why (except for the explanation that they want to profit from harming citizens which is hopefully just a hypothetical ``explanation''), but I noticed that the authenticity and accuracy of the system may be affected if users are allowed to modify their software. This seems to be the core of some problems with regards to software freedom—here, the user is not running software to complete their tasks. Rather, it's the government's way to maintain public safety, therefore I believe that whether users should be able to modify software in these conditions is up to discussion. Back to the point, since a green-code proof from the system is needed to get in a lot of places, a person basically needs to use proprietary software to live a normal life (to get into coffee shops, for example). + The contact tracing system used is not Free Software. At first I didn't understand why (except for the explanation that they want to profit from harming citizens which is hopefully just a hypothetical “explanation”), but I noticed that the authenticity and accuracy of the system may be affected if users are allowed to modify their software. This seems to be the core of some problems with regards to software freedom—here, the user is not running software to complete their tasks. Rather, it's the government's way to maintain public safety, therefore I believe that whether users should be able to modify software in these conditions is up to discussion. Back to the point, since a green-code proof from the system is needed to get in a lot of places, a person basically needs to use proprietary software to live a normal life (to get into coffee shops, for example). </p> <p> diff --git a/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html b/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html index f27be6c..3b020c6 100644 --- a/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html +++ b/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ <h2>Abstract</h2> <p> - Free Software is undoubtably a good thing for society. However, modern computer users are stuck in the proprietary ``ecosystem'' for historical reasons. This document describes the justification and best current practices of using proprietary platforms to spread the ideas of Free Software. + Free Software is undoubtably a good thing for society. However, modern computer users are stuck in the proprietary “ecosystem” for historical reasons. This document describes the justification and best current practices of using proprietary platforms to spread the ideas of Free Software. </p> <h2>Status of This Memo</h2> @@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ </p> <p> - In February 2022, the author decided to permit limited usage of nonfree chat platforms to hopefully spread our ideas to the general public. This was attempted by registering a Discord account, creating a Guild called ``Free Software Introductions'', and setting up a basic Discord-to-IRC relay to #fsi on both irc.andrewyu.org and irc.libera.chat. + In February 2022, the author decided to permit limited usage of nonfree chat platforms to hopefully spread our ideas to the general public. This was attempted by registering a Discord account, creating a Guild called “Free Software Introductions”, and setting up a basic Discord-to-IRC relay to #fsi on both irc.andrewyu.org and irc.libera.chat. </p> <p> - One of the communities that he knows about, the VF-Technic Minetest community, primarily uses Discord as a means of communication by players not in-game. As the users inside are Minetest players, a Free Software voxel sandbox game, similar to but much more flexible and freedom-respecting than Minecraft, it is believed that the users have some contact with Free Software, although they might not understand the freedom part of the issue, i.e. they might be thinking in terms of ``open source'' instead, and do not understand the harms of nonfree JavaScript and services like Discord. After sharing the invite link in the VF-Technic Guild, some people joined, and we've partially converted two users. + One of the communities that he knows about, the VF-Technic Minetest community, primarily uses Discord as a means of communication by players not in-game. As the users inside are Minetest players, a Free Software voxel sandbox game, similar to but much more flexible and freedom-respecting than Minecraft, it is believed that the users have some contact with Free Software, although they might not understand the freedom part of the issue, i.e. they might be thinking in terms of “open source” instead, and do not understand the harms of nonfree JavaScript and services like Discord. After sharing the invite link in the VF-Technic Guild, some people joined, and we've partially converted two users. </p> <h2>Justification</h2> @@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ </p> <p> - Generally, users on IRC and XMPP have a fair understanding of the Free Software Movement, and it is quick and easy to inform them what we mean by ``free'', ``the four freedoms'', and similar ideas. For users on the Libera Chat IRC network, which by far has the most users of any network, it is exceptionally easy to introduce a user into the #fsf channel for discussions with people supporting Free Software. Introducing ignorant users on these protocols and platforms are a day-to-day simple task. Furthermore, the amount of users we can reach on these protocols are rather limiting. Libera has around forty thousand users according to the `LUSERS` command, and considering the fact that around 90% of these people aren't ignorant, there isn't much we can do. + Generally, users on IRC and XMPP have a fair understanding of the Free Software Movement, and it is quick and easy to inform them what we mean by “free”, “the four freedoms”, and similar ideas. For users on the Libera Chat IRC network, which by far has the most users of any network, it is exceptionally easy to introduce a user into the #fsf channel for discussions with people supporting Free Software. Introducing ignorant users on these protocols and platforms are a day-to-day simple task. Furthermore, the amount of users we can reach on these protocols are rather limiting. Libera has around forty thousand users according to the `LUSERS` command, and considering the fact that around 90% of these people aren't ignorant, there isn't much we can do. </p> <p> @@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ <h2>Current Practices</h2> <p> - Activists <b>MUST NOT</b> list such nonfree services in ``Contact Information'' pages on their website or similar sources, unless followed by a explanation that the purpose of the nonfree platform is to introduce users thereof onto free protocols and to eventually exterminate the nonfree platform. Whenever these references to nonfree platforms appear, the author <b>MUST</b> present free methods of communication. Activists <b>SHOULD</b> pragmatically use as many of the popular free protocols as possible, to ensure that oppurtunities of introductions are not lost. In cases involving competition between free and nonfree protocols and platforms, ethical concerns (i.e. enabling talking to a new user on any ethical platform) <b>MUST</b> take precedence over technical concerns (such as disliking the XMPP protocol for its inefficent use of XML). + Activists <b>MUST NOT</b> list such nonfree services in “Contact Information” pages on their website or similar sources, unless followed by a explanation that the purpose of the nonfree platform is to introduce users thereof onto free protocols and to eventually exterminate the nonfree platform. Whenever these references to nonfree platforms appear, the author <b>MUST</b> present free methods of communication. Activists <b>SHOULD</b> pragmatically use as many of the popular free protocols as possible, to ensure that oppurtunities of introductions are not lost. In cases involving competition between free and nonfree protocols and platforms, ethical concerns (i.e. enabling talking to a new user on any ethical platform) <b>MUST</b> take precedence over technical concerns (such as disliking the XMPP protocol for its inefficent use of XML). </p> <p> @@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ </p> <p> - For example, the author created a Discord Guild called Free Software Introductions, which is one-way-puppeted to #fsi on irc.andrewyu.org, which is then one-way-puppeted to Libera. The relay system is sort-of messed up, but it's working. Inviting new users to such Guilds (https://discord.gg/7CYp7ntww7) when perse refuses to or is ignorant on how to use IRC helps conveying our ideas to users, but as the author has made their own ``sacrifice'' already, there exists less of a need for other existing Free Software activists to join and use it instead of free protocols. + For example, the author created a Discord Guild called Free Software Introductions, which is one-way-puppeted to #fsi on irc.andrewyu.org, which is then one-way-puppeted to Libera. The relay system is sort-of messed up, but it's working. Inviting new users to such Guilds (https://discord.gg/7CYp7ntww7) when perse refuses to or is ignorant on how to use IRC helps conveying our ideas to users, but as the author has made their own “sacrifice” already, there exists less of a need for other existing Free Software activists to join and use it instead of free protocols. </p> <h2>Technical Limitations</h2> diff --git a/article/purple-hibiscus.html b/article/purple-hibiscus.html index 5c1a8ba..6eedafb 100644 --- a/article/purple-hibiscus.html +++ b/article/purple-hibiscus.html @@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ <p>These are some random, unorganized thoughts on Purple Hibiscus, particularly around the bildungsroman of Mama.</p> - <p>Adiche wrote in chapter one that Mama polishes the figurines often, especially after episodes of family violence, suggesting that the figurines were of symbolic importance to Mama. After they were shattered as Papa flung his missal at Jaja and missed, ``it was not just the figurines that came tumbling down, it was everything'', suggesting that the figurines symbolizes family unity. This indicates a critical change in Mama—from someone that views herself as a ``wife'' and a ``woman'' and truly believes that Papa is correct in violence and punishment and that such violence is justified, to a person who understands the importance of independence and freedom and opposes tyranny.</p> + <p>Adiche wrote in chapter one that Mama polishes the figurines often, especially after episodes of family violence, suggesting that the figurines were of symbolic importance to Mama. After they were shattered as Papa flung his missal at Jaja and missed, “it was not just the figurines that came tumbling down, it was everything”, suggesting that the figurines symbolizes family unity. This indicates a critical change in Mama—from someone that views herself as a “wife” and a “woman” and truly believes that Papa is correct in violence and punishment and that such violence is justified, to a person who understands the importance of independence and freedom and opposes tyranny.</p> - <p>I believe that this sudden change is uncanny when considered from a relatively logical perspective. The figurines merely symbolize the family environment, and logically it makes little sense that Mama would perceive ``the figures broke'' as a fundamental change in the family environment—in real life it's hard to imagine someone being so sensitive to symbolism. I will need to look through the novel again, but I do not currently recall prominent foreshadows of Mama's perception of the family environment falling apart in the story's timeline before Palm Sunday. These might just be subtly hiding somewhere waiting to be picked up by the cautious reader, but if such foreshadows are actually present, Adiche may be hinting at the tendency for people to not consciously realize or to intentionally hide subtle feelings until a point where the pressure could not be held any more, and emotional, irrational acts of desperation inevitably commence, reflecting on the futile nature of humans trying to approach rationality but failing to do so. Alternatively, a simpler explanation would be that Adiche is trying to highlight the sensitivity to seemingly irrelevant symbols of emotional and irrational side of people. I believe that both of these are possible interpretations of the novel on first read, but some close analysis in the future or further knowledge of context, such as Adiche's family and cultural background, may be in favor of one particular explanation. I'll see when I get to reviewing the whole novel, and I believe I shall take extra care on the part after Mama comes to Aunty Ifeoma's after Papa breaks the bible table on her and causes another miscarriage and her exact actions on Palm Sunday.</p> + <p>I believe that this sudden change is uncanny when considered from a relatively logical perspective. The figurines merely symbolize the family environment, and logically it makes little sense that Mama would perceive “the figures broke” as a fundamental change in the family environment—in real life it's hard to imagine someone being so sensitive to symbolism. I will need to look through the novel again, but I do not currently recall prominent foreshadows of Mama's perception of the family environment falling apart in the story's timeline before Palm Sunday. These might just be subtly hiding somewhere waiting to be picked up by the cautious reader, but if such foreshadows are actually present, Adiche may be hinting at the tendency for people to not consciously realize or to intentionally hide subtle feelings until a point where the pressure could not be held any more, and emotional, irrational acts of desperation inevitably commence, reflecting on the futile nature of humans trying to approach rationality but failing to do so. Alternatively, a simpler explanation would be that Adiche is trying to highlight the sensitivity to seemingly irrelevant symbols of emotional and irrational side of people. I believe that both of these are possible interpretations of the novel on first read, but some close analysis in the future or further knowledge of context, such as Adiche's family and cultural background, may be in favor of one particular explanation. I'll see when I get to reviewing the whole novel, and I believe I shall take extra care on the part after Mama comes to Aunty Ifeoma's after Papa breaks the bible table on her and causes another miscarriage and her exact actions on Palm Sunday.</p> - <p>Further on in the novel, Mama then commits the ``desperate act'' of poisoning Papa to death, after which she experiences another change in personality. She becomes fairly robotic and rarely displays emotions, which in and of itself could be considered an unnatural emotional state. This reflects how constant emotional pressure, and likely her own guilt of killing a supposed ``loved one'' tends to make people numb and hyposensitive to emotional stimuli, creating depressive dissonance. Kambili's anger for Mama, but ultimate understanding, the former of which hasn't really occurred before in the entire novel suggests how even after turmoil in constant domestic violence and unhealthy family relationships, death is ultimately empty in its very nature. This in turn reflects that Kambili, who may be considered to be in the most healthy mental state in the her inner family, is able to understand and perceive emotions from the perspective of others and appreciate how there is a sensitive and kind part of everybody. However, I'm not sure how this interpretation could extend to political violence, which is routinely compared with against domestic violence and religion throughout the novel. It could be argued that Adiche wants to present the inevitability of power dynamics in modern society, but I doubt that that's the actual point of the novel.</p> + <p>Further on in the novel, Mama then commits the “desperate act” of poisoning Papa to death, after which she experiences another change in personality. She becomes fairly robotic and rarely displays emotions, which in and of itself could be considered an unnatural emotional state. This reflects how constant emotional pressure, and likely her own guilt of killing a supposed “loved one” tends to make people numb and hyposensitive to emotional stimuli, creating depressive dissonance. Kambili's anger for Mama, but ultimate understanding, the former of which hasn't really occurred before in the entire novel suggests how even after turmoil in constant domestic violence and unhealthy family relationships, death is ultimately empty in its very nature. This in turn reflects that Kambili, who may be considered to be in the most healthy mental state in the her inner family, is able to understand and perceive emotions from the perspective of others and appreciate how there is a sensitive and kind part of everybody. However, I'm not sure how this interpretation could extend to political violence, which is routinely compared with against domestic violence and religion throughout the novel. It could be argued that Adiche wants to present the inevitability of power dynamics in modern society, but I doubt that that's the actual point of the novel.</p> <p>(Then there's Jaja getting into prison and the weeks before he gets out of prison and such, which gets messier. I don't have the time and energy to write about that today, so I guess that comes later.)</p> <div id="footer"> diff --git a/article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html b/article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html index cd86e3f..c8c5425 100644 --- a/article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html +++ b/article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html @@ -14,16 +14,16 @@ I've been trying to get <a href="https://www.texmacs.org/">TeXmacs</a> with its <a href="https://maxima.sourceforge.io/">Maxima</a> <a href="https://www.texmacs.org/tmweb/documents/tutorials/maxima-tutorial/maxima-tutorial.en.html">plugin</a> to work. </p> <p> - Enabling the ``mathematical input'' mode in its interactive sessions I can use TeXmacs as a nice computer algebra system. However, an issue arises when I use integration. + Enabling the “mathematical input” mode in its interactive sessions I can use TeXmacs as a nice computer algebra system. However, an issue arises when I use integration. </p> <p> - If I enter \(\displaystyle\int x\,\mathrm{d}\,x\) with ``<code>\int <enter>x d<tab><tab>x</code>'' (spaces here are actually typed in while the ``<code><tab></code>''s and ``<code><enter></code>''s are their respective keys), I get this idiosyncratic error: + If I enter \(\displaystyle\int x\,\mathrm{d}\,x\) with “<code>\int <enter>x d<tab><tab>x</code>” (spaces here are actually typed in while the “<code><tab></code>”s and “<code><enter></code>”s are their respective keys), I get this idiosyncratic error: </p> <pre>incorrect syntax: 1 is not an infix operator integrate( x 1, ^</pre> <p> - This seems to be a bug when TeXmacs is translating things into Maxima. Just replace the ``<code><tab></code>'' between the integrand and the ``\(\mathrm{d}\)'' with a multiplication operator entered by ``<code>*</code>''. For example, <code>\int <enter>x*d<tab><tab>x</code> yields the correct result of \(\displaystyle\frac{x^2}{2}\) rather than the nonsensical error. + This seems to be a bug when TeXmacs is translating things into Maxima. Just replace the “<code><tab></code>” between the integrand and the “\(\mathrm{d}\)” with a multiplication operator entered by “<code>*</code>”. For example, <code>\int <enter>x*d<tab><tab>x</code> yields the correct result of \(\displaystyle\frac{x^2}{2}\) rather than the nonsensical error. </p> <p> For reference, the source code of a demonstration document is included below in Scheme and XML-like (?) formats. diff --git a/article/the-old-web-was-better.html b/article/the-old-web-was-better.html index d0b881f..31a1868 100644 --- a/article/the-old-web-was-better.html +++ b/article/the-old-web-was-better.html @@ -10,19 +10,19 @@ <h1>The Old Web Was Better</h1> <p>Article ID: 9</p> <p> - When I go to an average ``modern'' World Wide Web site with the default configuration of Lynx, a wonderful plain text Web browser, I am usually greeted with things like <code>example.com cookie: some jibberish Allow? (Y/N/Always/neVer)</code> for which I'd press V a couple times. Then, I would press C-f or page-down a couple times to scroll past a giant navigation bar full of nested lists, a few HTML login forms, multiple search bars. Then I'd see the actual text of the article I'm looking for. Or sometimes, the site would show ``Please enable JavaScript to view this page.'' or some Cloudflare prompt saying that I need to enable JavaScript to solve a proprietary CAPTCHA to view the page because they have detected ``unusual activity from my network''. Or I would be met with a blank page. If I decide to visit the modern Web with a ``normal'' Web browser such as Firefox or Chromium, with a default install, I'd get a ten-megabyte load of a bunch of fancy advertisements at the top of the page, a giant navigation bar that's really colorful to distract me from what I actually want to see, some pop-ups wanting me to fill in my email address to sign up for their newsletter (which as people say would usually be weekly HTML email spam), flashy advertisements on the side bar, and when I finally scrolled past the header part of the page, a few hasty paragraphs with large paragraph seperations unreadably wrapped in a narrow column. All to display a few kilobytes of actual text, and rarely a few hundred kilobytes of useful images. + When I go to an average “modern” World Wide Web site with the default configuration of Lynx, a wonderful plain text Web browser, I am usually greeted with things like <code>example.com cookie: some jibberish Allow? (Y/N/Always/neVer)</code> for which I'd press V a couple times. Then, I would press C-f or page-down a couple times to scroll past a giant navigation bar full of nested lists, a few HTML login forms, multiple search bars. Then I'd see the actual text of the article I'm looking for. Or sometimes, the site would show “Please enable JavaScript to view this page.” or some Cloudflare prompt saying that I need to enable JavaScript to solve a proprietary CAPTCHA to view the page because they have detected “unusual activity from my network”. Or I would be met with a blank page. If I decide to visit the modern Web with a “normal” Web browser such as Firefox or Chromium, with a default install, I'd get a ten-megabyte load of a bunch of fancy advertisements at the top of the page, a giant navigation bar that's really colorful to distract me from what I actually want to see, some pop-ups wanting me to fill in my email address to sign up for their newsletter (which as people say would usually be weekly HTML email spam), flashy advertisements on the side bar, and when I finally scrolled past the header part of the page, a few hasty paragraphs with large paragraph seperations unreadably wrapped in a narrow column. All to display a few kilobytes of actual text, and rarely a few hundred kilobytes of useful images. </p> <p> The Web, which people often refer to as the aggregate of human knowledge and high-speed distribution of information, has turned into a degenerate mess of advertisements, JavaScript, slugishness, tracking and profiling, security holes, and slowness. In summary, the modern Web is <em>painful</em>. </p> <p> - I'm looking back towards the 1990s, where Websites would be like this one. Simple (X)HTML, plain text, or another lightweight markup language. No ads, trackers, JavaScript, popups, <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html">Software as a Service Substitute</a> etc. Just distribution of information and ideas, as gophertext, plain text, or simple (X)HTML. As simple as that---basically ``use the simple defaults of your Web server program and don't bother with huge management systems''. + I'm looking back towards the 1990s, where Websites would be like this one. Simple (X)HTML, plain text, or another lightweight markup language. No ads, trackers, JavaScript, popups, <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html">Software as a Service Substitute</a> etc. Just distribution of information and ideas, as gophertext, plain text, or simple (X)HTML. As simple as that---basically “use the simple defaults of your Web server program and don't bother with huge management systems”. </p> <p> Though, some semi-modern things are good. MediaWikis, for example, while their behind-the-back workings of mulplitudes of PHP mountains, SQL databases, and recently JavaScript-infested visual editors are extremely unelegant, they do provide a consistent simple user interface, without many browser requirements, for users to distribute useful information with. Just not loads of JavaScript and margins and paddings and ads, please. </p> <p> - It would also be better if more people were to have personal Websites to express themselves with, rather than relying on centralized social media giants, who once again display a bunch of ads and wraps articles/``posts'' at 30 columns to make people uncomfortable reading comprehensive ideas and get them inclined to write short illogical rants and personal attacks. <a href="https://learn.tuxiversity.org/">Tuxiversity</a> and <a href="https://landchad.net/">LandChad.net</a> are useful resources to get started with. + It would also be better if more people were to have personal Websites to express themselves with, rather than relying on centralized social media giants, who once again display a bunch of ads and wraps articles/“posts” at 30 columns to make people uncomfortable reading comprehensive ideas and get them inclined to write short illogical rants and personal attacks. <a href="https://learn.tuxiversity.org/">Tuxiversity</a> and <a href="https://landchad.net/">LandChad.net</a> are useful resources to get started with. </p> <p> The same applies to the Internet more generally. Don't send huge, clunky HTML emails. Simple chat protocols like IRC. Whatever. diff --git a/contact.html b/contact.html index 48e2172..f3bb5f3 100644 --- a/contact.html +++ b/contact.html @@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ SIMP, and my implementation <a href="https://git.andrewyu.org/andrew/ememo.git/about/">Ememo</a> are under active development and are extremely incomplete. <strong>This is not a reliable channel for communication.</strong> And because the protocol specification is updated slower than the testbed implementation, please refer to the latest Ememo implementation when sending messages. </li> </ul> - <p><a href="/note/wechat.html">Please do not contact me via WeChat. (Same for other proprietary stuff like Discord.)</a><br /><a href="/note/social-media.html">I do not use modern ``social media'' like Twitter or Weibo, here's why.</a><br /><a href="/note/comms.html">Please follow these communication guidelines when applicable.</a><br /><a href="/school/contact.html">If you are a student of YK Pao School and would like to contact me for school-related purposes, use this.</a></p> + <p><a href="/note/wechat.html">Please do not contact me via WeChat. (Same for other proprietary stuff like Discord.)</a><br /><a href="/note/social-media.html">I do not use modern “social media” like Twitter or Weibo, here's why.</a><br /><a href="/note/comms.html">Please follow these communication guidelines when applicable.</a><br /><a href="/school/contact.html">If you are a student of YK Pao School and would like to contact me for school-related purposes, use this.</a></p> <h2 id="pgp">OpenPGP</h3> <p>If you have no idea what these mean, read <a href="https://emailselfdefense.org/">the Email Self Defense tutorial</a>.</p> <p>Usually, electronic mail that I send are signed with my OpenPGP key. Please use OpenPGP when contacting me through electronic mail. The following are available.</p> diff --git a/hub.html b/hub.html index 9f25b76..50d0d09 100644 --- a/hub.html +++ b/hub.html @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ <h1>Andrew Yu's Hub</h1> <p>Other people's Websites nearby:</p> <p style="font-size: 125%;"> - See <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/">my homepage</a>'s links list for stuff that's relevant to me. This link hub is mostly ``things by others, really''. + See <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/">my homepage</a>'s links list for stuff that's relevant to me. This link hub is mostly “things by others, really”. </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://users.andrewyu.org/~luk">Luke</a></li> diff --git a/index.html b/index.html index c04d2cc..1003a90 100644 --- a/index.html +++ b/index.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ </p> <hr /> <p id="about-me">I am Andrew Yu, a 15-year-old student in Shanghai, China, currently studying at YK Pao School. I am interested in fundamental computer science, philosophy, biology, and physics.</p> - <p id="pronouns"><a href="/note/pronouns.html">My pronouns in English are ``they/them/their/theirs/themself''. 我的中文代词是“他”。</a></p> + <p id="pronouns"><a href="/note/pronouns.html">My pronouns in English are “they/them/their/theirs/themself”. 我的中文代词是“他”。</a></p> <hr /> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/">My Personal Website</a></li> @@ -32,19 +32,19 @@ <ul> <li><a href="/note/pronouns.html">My Pronouns</a></li> <li><a href="/note/comms.html">Communication Guidelines</a></li> - <li><a href="/note/wechat.html">``WeChat''</a></li> + <li><a href="/note/wechat.html">“WeChat”</a></li> <li><a href="/note/ask.html">Don't ask to ask, just ask</a></li> <li><a href="/note/social-media.html">Modern Social Media</a></li> <li><a href="/note/emacs.html">My Problem with Emacs</a></li> <li><a href="/note/suicide-jokes.html">On Jokes about Suicide</a></li> <li><a href="/note/on-racist-jokes.html">On Racist Jokes</a></li> <li><a href="/note/tone.html">Tone Indicators</a></li> - <li><a href="/note/really.html">``Really'' is a confusing word</a></li> + <li><a href="/note/really.html">“Really” is a confusing word</a></li> <li><a href="/note/mailing-list-guidelines.html">Mailing List Guidelines</a></li> </ul> <div id="footer"> <hr /> - <p>Unless otherwise specified with the ``<span class="copyright">copyright</span>'' HTML/CSS class, works hosted on this subdomain (<code>www.andrewyu.org</code>) served with the HTTP(S) protocol is available under <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/note/pubdom.html">Andrew Yu's Public Domain Dedication</a>.</p> + <p>Unless otherwise specified with the “<span class="copyright">copyright</span>” HTML/CSS class, works hosted on this subdomain (<code>www.andrewyu.org</code>) served with the HTTP(S) protocol is available under <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/note/pubdom.html">Andrew Yu's Public Domain Dedication</a>.</p> </div> </body> </html> diff --git a/note/ask.html b/note/ask.html index 7ca66dd..93b2c25 100644 --- a/note/ask.html +++ b/note/ask.html @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ </head> <body> <h1>Don't ask to ask, just ask!</h1> - <p>Please don't send random emails and IRC messages saying ``Are you there? I have a thing to ask you about...''. Just ask the question. If I'm online I might answer right away, if I'm not I'll answer you when I have time. An ``Are you there?'' or ``Can I ask a question?'' question is just a waste of time and effort.</p> + <p>Please don't send random emails and IRC messages saying “Are you there? I have a thing to ask you about...”. Just ask the question. If I'm online I might answer right away, if I'm not I'll answer you when I have time. An “Are you there?” or “Can I ask a question?” question is just a waste of time and effort.</p> <div id="footer"> <hr /> <p><a href="/">Andrew Yu's Website</a></p> diff --git a/note/comms.html b/note/comms.html index e934bc1..1c75230 100644 --- a/note/comms.html +++ b/note/comms.html @@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ </p> <ol> <li>Write a descriptive subject for emails. Do not send emails with an empty subject or no subject header. The subject should be give the receiver a brief idea of what the email is about.</li> - <li>Send complete information. When telling me something or requesting something, please provide complete background information, knowledge required, and other relevant context. This prevents back-and-forth communication along the lines of ``and now I need to know ... but you didn't tell me that so can you please give that to me''. Providing context defragments conversations which increases efficiency.</li> + <li>Send complete information. When telling me something or requesting something, please provide complete background information, knowledge required, and other relevant context. This prevents back-and-forth communication along the lines of “and now I need to know ... but you didn't tell me that so can you please give that to me”. Providing context defragments conversations which increases efficiency.</li> <li>When using instant messaging such as IRC, do not split one sentence into multiple messages. Fragmentation reduces readability.</li> <li>Do not use excessive emojis.</li> - <li>Be direct. As the sender, do not use polite expressions like ``you did quite well in that presentation'' when in reality, the sender believes that the presentation is not ``quite well''. Direct critique and suggestions are very welcome here. Politeness is acceptable if it does not interfere with honest conveying of information.</li> + <li>Be direct. As the sender, do not use polite expressions like “you did quite well in that presentation” when in reality, the sender believes that the presentation is not “quite well”. Direct critique and suggestions are very welcome here. Politeness is acceptable if it does not interfere with honest conveying of information.</li> <li><a href="./ask.html">Don't ask to ask.</a></li> <li>Use plain text email. Both hard-wrapped and non-hard-wrapped emails are acceptable. If you do hard-wrap, please wrap at 72 characters for English. Chinese, if hard-wrapped, should be at 36 characters. Non hard-wrapped emails should <a href="https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3676.txt">specify format=flowed as per RFC3676</a>.</li> <li>Interweave the original message with the response when replying to an email and remove irrelevant parts (i.e. greetings, closings, signatures, etc.) of the quoted original email.</li> diff --git a/note/emacs.html b/note/emacs.html index c7a21fb..3c232af 100644 --- a/note/emacs.html +++ b/note/emacs.html @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ <body> <h1>A Few Problems with Emacs</h1> <p> - <a href="https://emacs.org/">Emacs</a> is supposedly a text editor but is more of a integrated computing environment. At its core is an Emacs Lisp interpreter and a text and buffer-oriented set of conventions that Emacs Lisp code follows. The ``default''/``standard'' build of Emacs contains a World Wide Web browser, newsreader, electronic mail client, Internet Relay Chat client, a few games, and overall a ton of stuff that I do not use, need or want in my environment. Therefore I use a minimal-ish custom build (i.e. simply leaving stuff out during <code>./configure</code>, which makes me feel a bit better. + <a href="https://emacs.org/">Emacs</a> is supposedly a text editor but is more of a integrated computing environment. At its core is an Emacs Lisp interpreter and a text and buffer-oriented set of conventions that Emacs Lisp code follows. The “default”/“standard” build of Emacs contains a World Wide Web browser, newsreader, electronic mail client, Internet Relay Chat client, a few games, and overall a ton of stuff that I do not use, need or want in my environment. Therefore I use a minimal-ish custom build (i.e. simply leaving stuff out during <code>./configure</code>, which makes me feel a bit better. </p> <p id="space-based-alignment"> One problem that I've recently noticed with Emacs is the tendency to use a set amount of spaces, expecting a monospace font, to align items across a buffer. For example, when <code>:tags</code> are used with <code>org-agenda</code>, the agenda page aligns the tags to the right of the page with spaces precalculated from the window size. But when we have double-width unicode characters, for example Chinese characters in the mix, or if we are using a variable-width Latin font, the alignment is completely screwed up. Resizing the window also doesn't update the wrapping and alignment of items inside. Emacs's text buffer-centric design makes it really hard to do otherwise. diff --git a/note/on-racist-jokes.html b/note/on-racist-jokes.html index 6205ec3..f2073b9 100644 --- a/note/on-racist-jokes.html +++ b/note/on-racist-jokes.html @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ </head> <body> <h1>On Racist Jokes</h1> - <p>The use of the terms ``black'' and ``black slave'' as insults is:</p> + <p>The use of the terms “black” and “black slave” as insults is:</p> <ul> <li>profoundly disrespectful towards the millions of black people that have been abused, discriminated against, and treated unfairly, in the past and the present</li> <li>ill-considerate towards people who are experiencing racism</li> @@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ </ul> <p> - A common argument to make here is that ``consider how you would be discriminated against when you become the minority, you wouldn't appreciate such jokes on your social group''. Although we head in the same general direction, I do not agree with this frame of mind. Discriminatory jokes are wrong, independent of the possibility of the discriminator being held to the same activities in the future. + A common argument to make here is that “consider how you would be discriminated against when you become the minority, you wouldn't appreciate such jokes on your social group”. Although we head in the same general direction, I do not agree with this frame of mind. Discriminatory jokes are wrong, independent of the possibility of the discriminator being held to the same activities in the future. </p> <p> - The argument to ``take this easy as these are just jokes'' is ridiculous. The mere act of descriptive terms for a specific social group being used as a ``joke'' undermines the seriousness of the social issue. Find something else to joke about. Not something like racism and other forms of discrimination. + The argument to “take this easy as these are just jokes” is ridiculous. The mere act of descriptive terms for a specific social group being used as a “joke” undermines the seriousness of the social issue. Find something else to joke about. Not something like racism and other forms of discrimination. </p> <p> diff --git a/note/really.html b/note/really.html index 7c82a6d..72bbd05 100644 --- a/note/really.html +++ b/note/really.html @@ -1,17 +1,17 @@ <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> <head> - <title>``Really'' is a confusing word</title> + <title>“Really” is a confusing word</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/plain.css" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <meta charset="utf-8" /> </head> <body> - <h1>``Really'' is a confusing word</h1> + <h1>“Really” is a confusing word</h1> <p> - Often times when the word ``really'' is used in as an adverb in an assertion or proposition, it may be useful to replace it with ``in some sense'', and seek to ask or clarify ``in what sense''. It shall be recognized that questions that arise may be legitimately hard to answer, but it may be still beneficial to consider them. + Often times when the word “really” is used in as an adverb in an assertion or proposition, it may be useful to replace it with “in some sense”, and seek to ask or clarify “in what sense”. It shall be recognized that questions that arise may be legitimately hard to answer, but it may be still beneficial to consider them. </p> - <p>The same applies for ``actually'' and similar words when used this way, though in my experience, people tend to use ``really'' this way. I do so too, and I'm trying to get rid of this habit.</p> + <p>The same applies for “actually” and similar words when used this way, though in my experience, people tend to use “really” this way. I do so too, and I'm trying to get rid of this habit.</p> <div id="footer"> <hr /> <p><a href="/">Andrew Yu's Website</a></p> diff --git a/note/social-media.html b/note/social-media.html index c017342..f83c921 100644 --- a/note/social-media.html +++ b/note/social-media.html @@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ <body> <h1>Social Media</h1> <p>Referring to things like Facebook, Twitter, and similar: I do not use social media. I do not find social media to be meaningful.</p> - <p>Social media as I understand it is based on ``microblogging'', i.e. short posts about a person's life, thoughts, etc. Sharing random fun facts about life is fine, but it's really suboptimal for thoughts, especially political ones. Social media is usually designed in a quick ``consumption''-oriented style, often leading to flamewars instead of in-depth discussions because of its ``quick'' and ``short'' nature. Modern social media recommends new posts and people to people based on what they ``like'' and ``boost'' further creating an information cocoon, ``shielding'' them from new ideas, rather than allowing for natural human distribution of good articles.</p> + <p>Social media as I understand it is based on “microblogging”, i.e. short posts about a person's life, thoughts, etc. Sharing random fun facts about life is fine, but it's really suboptimal for thoughts, especially political ones. Social media is usually designed in a quick “consumption”-oriented style, often leading to flamewars instead of in-depth discussions because of its “quick” and “short” nature. Modern social media recommends new posts and people to people based on what they “like” and “boost” further creating an information cocoon, “shielding” them from new ideas, rather than allowing for natural human distribution of good articles.</p> <p>Instead, I read and write <a href="/#articles">articles</a> and <a href="/other-articles/">share</a> those that impress me naturally.</p> <p>Most popular social media services <a href="https://stallman.org/facebook.html">such as facebook</a> are also nonfree and have extra problems.</p> - <p>Sharing some fun facts about life is okay. <a href="/life.html">I do that too.</a> Just don't use microblogging for should-be-extensive topics and don't use these ``posts feed'' things.</p> + <p>Sharing some fun facts about life is okay. <a href="/life.html">I do that too.</a> Just don't use microblogging for should-be-extensive topics and don't use these “posts feed” things.</p> <p><a href="https://drewdevault.com/2022/07/09/Fediverse-toxicity.html">The Fediverse can be pretty toxic</a> by <a href="https://drewdevault.com/">Drew Devault</a>, founder (I remember?) of <a href="https://sourcehut.org/">SourceHut</a></p> <div id="footer"> <hr /> diff --git a/note/suicide-jokes.html b/note/suicide-jokes.html index 1064630..9ab123f 100644 --- a/note/suicide-jokes.html +++ b/note/suicide-jokes.html @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ <body> <h1>Jokes about Suicide: Stop!</h1> <p class="copyright"> - People really need to stop joking about suicide. Stop clowning around with statements like ``I’m gonna kill myself'' ``I will commit suicide'' or ``I want to jump off a building''. It is not cool to tell others you want to end your own life for something of little importance that may have inconvenienced or bothered you. It is extremely disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of people who loose their lives because of suicide and is inconsiderate to people who are really suffering from mental health issues. Joking about suicide is not okay, grow up and find other ways to deal with and express your stress or frustrations. + People really need to stop joking about suicide. Stop clowning around with statements like “I’m gonna kill myself” “I will commit suicide” or “I want to jump off a building”. It is not cool to tell others you want to end your own life for something of little importance that may have inconvenienced or bothered you. It is extremely disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of people who loose their lives because of suicide and is inconsiderate to people who are really suffering from mental health issues. Joking about suicide is not okay, grow up and find other ways to deal with and express your stress or frustrations. </p> <p>This short paragraph was written by Tyler Zhang, a student at YKPS.</p> <div id="footer"> diff --git a/note/wechat.html b/note/wechat.html index 7d3f022..56e6e20 100644 --- a/note/wechat.html +++ b/note/wechat.html @@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ WeChat's servers are nonfree; the service is centralized. </li> <li> - Tencent suspends WeChat accounts for sending ``politically sensitive chats''. + Tencent suspends WeChat accounts for sending “politically sensitive chats”. </li> <li> Information collected by WeChat is given to the police of the PRC without court warrants. |