3 ms·

Having worked with non-orthogonal coordinate systems, the use seems fine with me. “Straight line” movement along an orthogonal dimension usually induces a chan

by dv_dt 3y ago

Having worked with non-orthogonal coordinate systems, the use seems fine with me. “Straight line” movement along an orthogonal dimension usually induces a change in multiple non-orthogonal coordinates. So colloquial use of saying something isn’t orthogonal seems like a reasonable way of saying things are coupled in a way that doesn’t allow free change in one direction without dragging along other changes.

anonymouskimmer 3y ago
I didn't get that intent from what the original user of orthogonal posted. Maybe I just didn't understand what they posted. > >Lose your (google) passkeys account for whatever reason (ai says no, wrongthink, itar ban), and you risk losing your digital life. > Isn't this entirely orthogonal to the usage of passkeys? You could "lose your digital life" if you forgot your password, or remembered your password but tripped their risk scoring system (eg. fresh login from an unusual location). So the person they responded to was saying that loss of (centrally coordinated) passkeys means potential loss of all digital life. They are responding that a loss of (centrally coordinated) digital life can happen for a variety of other reasons unrelated to passkeys. The first person is narrowly concerned with central coordination of a particular passkey system, and the second person is saying that if "loss of one's digital life" is the primary concern, then they should instead be concerned with broader central coordination and verification. In essence, their criticism is that cause and effect are being reversed, or at least mistaken. I dropped out of school in the middle of taking linear algebra, so you know more about math than I do. Maybe orthogonal was appropriate here, but I'm still going to push back against its colloquial use in most situations.
- dv_dt 3y ago
  Orthogonal vs non-orthogonal is specialized jargon. And discussion should try to stay accessible and prefer a more widely understood term if a specialized term really isn’t offering any advantage in the discussion. So I’d agree with you on that. A better way to put the concern is the use of a passkey and access to digital life accounts should be independent, but the concern is in practice they could become entangled.

by dv_dt 3y ago

anonymouskimmer 3y ago

I didn't get that intent from what the original user of orthogonal posted. Maybe I just didn't understand what they posted. > >Lose your (google) passkeys account for whatever reason (ai says no, wrongthink, itar ban), and you risk losing your digital life. > Isn't this entirely orthogonal to the usage of passkeys? You could "lose your digital life" if you forgot your password, or remembered your password but tripped their risk scoring system (eg. fresh login from an unusual location). So the person they responded to was saying that loss of (centrally coordinated) passkeys means potential loss of all digital life. They are responding that a loss of (centrally coordinated) digital life can happen for a variety of other reasons unrelated to passkeys. The first person is narrowly concerned with central coordination of a particular passkey system, and the second person is saying that if "loss of one's digital life" is the primary concern, then they should instead be concerned with broader central coordination and verification. In essence, their criticism is that cause and effect are being reversed, or at least mistaken. I dropped out of school in the middle of taking linear algebra, so you know more about math than I do. Maybe orthogonal was appropriate here, but I'm still going to push back against its colloquial use in most situations.

dv_dt 3y ago
Orthogonal vs non-orthogonal is specialized jargon. And discussion should try to stay accessible and prefer a more widely understood term if a specialized term really isn’t offering any advantage in the discussion. So I’d agree with you on that. A better way to put the concern is the use of a passkey and access to digital life accounts should be independent, but the concern is in practice they could become entangled.