AMA with Virginiá

[Comrade Funk]

Why do you never return my calls? 

I been thinking the same thing

[_]

Why do you never return my calls? 

I been thinking the same thing

Welp, time to declare this the new creepiest thread on Atlas.

Anyway I've got a question or two:  Has being a moderator on Atlas been a drain at all?  Also, have you been able to tell funny stories about posters here to friends?

[GeorgiaModerate]

You mentioned SF and post-apocalyptic books.  Any particular favorite books or authors?

Why is the site sooooo slow to load pages sometimes?  (It's not my connection - other sites are fine.)

[Virginiá]

Since you seem to be interested in space and sci-fi...what are your thoughts on the nearest habitable exoplanet to us, Proxima Centauri B, and what do you make of the odds of it being truly habitable and/or already having life on it?

A couple things:

1. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star, which is a low-mass type star and planets have closer orbits. PC B is likely tidally locked which means one side always faces the star. Very detrimental to life, especially if that side gets too hot, resulting in a barren side with a frozen side.

2. Proxima Centauri has high solar activity and the tight orbit of PC B means exposure to pretty strong bursts of radiation. Not good for life. Although even if the sun-facing side was totally cooked, the frozen side could still develop life if it had large bodies of water and a molten core.


Interesting but doubt there is life or overwhelming potential there.

[Virginiá]

Will you vote for Michael Bennet in the Democratic primary?

Oh dear

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

What social and scientific developments give you cause for worry? Is technological development driving us apart, perhaps in the future threatening what it means to be human? Or is it a, by definition, liberating force?

[Virginiá]

Who do you think wins the Florida Democratic primary? I know we're like eight months away, and that things can and will shift, but if you had to guess based on the current field who would be? Who do you plan to vote for?

I feel like the field is too big and it's too far away to make an accurate prediction, but seems like a state ideal for Biden or Beto, assuming Biden doesn't gaffe or metoo his way out of the field first.

Need to see what it looks like this winter

[Virginiá]

Why do you never return my calls? 

Why haven't you returned mine?

I think you just like the ring of my phone

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

Real Virginia v Fake Virginia?

[Virginiá]

Why do I have to pee after I poop but I don’t have to poop after I pee?

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-pee-involuntarily-after-we-poop/answer/Paul-Wilson-93

The rectum and the bladder are controlled by one muscle. The figure 8 muscle called pelvic floor muscle group. Through a series of sensor nerves the brain is alerted to the need for urination or defication. Loosening one portion of this group increases the likelihood of the other part loosening also. Better explained here…

[Virginiá]

- Why do you have a DC avatar?

To express my disgust with Florida. Politics aside, I really just don't like the state for more reasons than one. But 2018's gubernatorial result was just too disappointing, especially given all of DeSantis's shortcomings and Rick Scott being a literal fraudster. Nothing matters but that magical R (or D) these days though.

- How do you find the motivation to dedicate as much effort to improving Atlas as you do, and has it been worth it?

It's usually when I start a project that I have the most, and the longer it goes on, the less I am able to motivate myself, until you get to a project like this where no less than 50% of the time it actually took to develop was actually just procrastination rearing its ugly head. I just love this community and the great people I've met in it, so it makes me want to help out when I can, and a perpetually busy Dave and a forum woefully in need of updates and new features gives a good opportunity to do something I don't otherwise do in life (create things).

I think it's been worth it. I hadn't done a big project in a long time so it gave me a chance to keep those skills from atrophying too much. I was telling someone the other day thought that it sucks because this is my biggest project since college and I can't even reference it in my portfolio without having to link to Atlas, a place where I've made literally thousands of posts, many of which I'd prefer not to potentially share with a future boss.

- What's the farthest away from home you've ev- How does victory over the forces of EHarding feel?

[/quote]

Considering he still hangs around the peripheries of Atlas like a pilot fish yet unable to ever come back, pretty good, actually.

- Favorite Disney film?

Do Marvel movies count ?

I guesssss Finding Nemo and Fantasia

[Virginiá]

Real Virginia v Fake Virginia?

define real virginia and fake virginia

[Tartarus Sauce]

Why do you never return my calls?  

Why haven't you returned mine?

I think you just like the ring of my phone

Guilty as charged.

My next question actually involved me asking what it's like to be a Democrat in Florida, but you've already given a glimpse into how miserable that experience is for you. Where do you plan on moving to after you leave the hellhole of Florida? Back to DC? I wouldn't blame you for that, I'd love to move back to the DC area at some point in my life.

[Virginiá]

What social and scientific developments give you cause for worry? Is technological development driving us apart, perhaps in the future threatening what it means to be human? Or is it a, by definition, liberating force?

One potential development that gives me pause is the increasingly effective industry of genetic manipulation. There are a lot of great things that can be done with that technology, such as curing myriad diseases, but there are also a lot of negatives too. What happens if this technology proliferates without proper controls and we develop a stratified society where the wealthy and powerful are no longer just that, but also physically and intellectually superior beyond natural means due to their access to technology that most of the world has no hope of accessing? I worry about the conflict this will bring and what paths it will introduce into humanity's evolution as a civilization.

Another is the literally unprecedented scale of control technology allows a government to have over its populace. China is probably the best example we have of this right now, but it's going to get much worse. Already there exists massive networks of cameras in public spaces that can track everyone it sees with facial recognition. Voice recognition will become more practical. Even DNA collection units in public spaces that can pluck it right out of the air when we cough. Cameras that can literally see through walls with a variety of different sensor packages, including tracking radio signals from phones or using infrared components. Microphones that are orders of magnitude more sensitive than current versions. Gigapixel-level cameras that can be deployed above cities to essentially create live streams of multiple square miles, so high resolution that you can zoom in on the screen of someone's phone. All of this really amounts to a stunning level of control and insight into society that was not even conceivable just 100 years ago. Social media alone provides an unprecedented look into the minute details of people's lives that people really take for granted.

And don't even get me started on AI. It's hard to imagine what direction that can take us in and how it will upset the balance of power in the world. I'm not really a "Skynet" machine apocalypse person, but I think the more realistic result from this is that it could lead to a reshuffling of the world power structure and possibly major wars. It's not all roses with that technology. It could be, but there is too much room for abuse.

-

I don't necessarily think the merging of man and machine is a bad thing. I'm not a transhumanist or anything, but I think if we want to become a space-faring civilization, we're probably going to have to evolve beyond what it currently means to be human - especially if faster-than-light space travel is actually not possible. But I think that if this does happen, there will always be a not-insignificant portion of society that resists that change for a long time.

[DINGO Joe]

You ever land that cyber security career? If not, what do you do?

I do IT work for the healthcare industry. It's hard to find interesting jobs in software development around where I live, besides defense contractors, so I'm doing something mildly interesting that pays OK until I figure out my next steps.

I don't know if I want to do cybersecurity either. I like making things, and a lot of cyber sec isn't that. If I had to describe it, it's probably better to say managing than creating. Plus I'm not nerdy enough to get into cryptography or vulnerability analysis either, which is really near the heart of the industry.

Plus I think there is a fairly good chance AI displaces a lot of jobs in that area once protecting large networks gets too complicated for human operators to navigate effectively.

But then who will protect us from the AI?  Other AI?  Is it like being in a room with mirrors on opposite walls?

[GeorgiaModerate]

You ever land that cyber security career? If not, what do you do?

I do IT work for the healthcare industry. It's hard to find interesting jobs in software development around where I live, besides defense contractors, so I'm doing something mildly interesting that pays OK until I figure out my next steps.

I don't know if I want to do cybersecurity either. I like making things, and a lot of cyber sec isn't that. If I had to describe it, it's probably better to say managing than creating. Plus I'm not nerdy enough to get into cryptography or vulnerability analysis either, which is really near the heart of the industry.

Plus I think there is a fairly good chance AI displaces a lot of jobs in that area once protecting large networks gets too complicated for human operators to navigate effectively.

But then who will protect us from the AI?  Other AI?  Is it like being in a room with mirrors on opposite walls?

Artificial intelligence will never be a match for natural stupidity.

[Virginiá]

You mentioned SF and post-apocalyptic books.  Any particular favorite books or authors?

Honestly I don't even read fiction much anymore. That is the kind of genre it'd have to be for me to get back in, though. The last one I read was World War Z and before that, the last incredibly depressing post-apocalyptic book, On The Beach. I've been trying to find time to get into the Worldwar series, which involves an alien invasion and nuclear war. Nowadays I'd rather watch movies to save time. Some good ones: Z for Zachariah, The Road, Children of Men, I Am Legend, Contagion, Melancholia and Cloud Atlas.

Why is the site sooooo slow to load pages sometimes?  (It's not my connection - other sites are fine.)

I think Dave has end of day automated maintenance (backup, updates, etc) scheduled at that time. I've been meaning to confirm that but I keep forgetting.

[Anti Democrat Democrat Club]

Are you single?

Why do you never return my calls? 

I been thinking the same thing

Of course you would.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

You ever go to strip clubs?

[The Mikado]

Is Atlas worth the effort you put in trying to fix it?

[Virginiá]

Anyway I've got a question or two:  Has being a moderator on Atlas been a drain at all?

I guess on my patience, but mostly from mid-late 2017 - early-mid 2018 as I was arguing incessantly over things like trolling. I've been spending most of my Atlas time working on the forum software over the past 6 months and less time on moderation, though.

Also, have you been able to tell funny stories about posters here to friends?

Oh boy. I don't really tell offline people about any forum stuff, even if cryptically worded. I learned my lesson when casually mentioning "Godwin's Law" years ago. In my experiences, at best, most forum stuff isn't going to make any sense to people who don't do that type of stuff, and at worst, they'll look at you funny for being on a forum at all (as if it's any different than their full-blown addictions to social media...)

[Wazza [INACTIVE]]

Thoughts on Virginia (state) and West Virginia?

[Virginiá]

My next question actually involved me asking what it's like to be a Democrat in Florida, but you've already given a glimpse into how miserable that experience is for you. Where do you plan on moving to after you leave the hellhole of Florida? Back to DC? I wouldn't blame you for that, I'd love to move back to the DC area at some point in my life.

I still want to move to the west coast, because that is where the action is at for my profession, but I'm not opposed to moving back to the DC area. I haven't really made up my mind tbh. I do love the DC metro area though.

[Virginiá]

You ever go to strip clubs?

I've been to a few in Maryland/DC with some of lez friends and it was alright. I don't really like the strip club atmosphere tbh.

Is Atlas worth the effort you put in trying to fix it?

Actually because of all the work I had to invest in learning how the forum software works, I was able to spin that off into a handful of side jobs unrelated to Atlas that was fairly lucrative. I wouldn't have been able to do that if I didn't spend all that time working on this forum. But even without that I'd say it's worth it.

[Comrade Funk]

I am moving to DC in August. Any tips?