Mastodon Feed: Posts

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

“The certification that one is not engaged in a boycott of Israel is no different than requiring a person to espouse certain political beliefs or to engage in certain political associations,” wrote a U.S. District judge, Mark Cohen in 2021, striking down an anti-boycott statute in Georgia. “The Supreme Court has found similar requirements to be unconstitutional on their face.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/opinion/campus-free-speech.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

interesting story

https://www.wired.com/story/fast-forward-chatgpt-hunger-energy-gpu-revolution/

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

InfoSecSherpa@infosec.exchange wrote:

InfoSecSherpa's #DataPrivacy and #InformationSecurity News Roundup for Saturday, January 20, 2024 🇻🇮​

Features the Virgin Islands source article by Sian Cobb, "Virgin Islands Lottery Operations Suspended Over #DataBreach"

https://infosecsherpa.medium.com/infosecsherpas-news-roundup-for-saturday-january-20-2024-7a13cb65cbfc

Attachments:

• Image by Pixabay, St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Island. (remote)

Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):

gutenberg_org ("Project Gutenberg") wrote:

The Women Who Rode Miles on Horseback to Deliver Library Books

Librarians are amazing.

They were known as the “book women.” They would saddle up, usually at dawn, to pick their way along snowy hillsides and through muddy creeks with a simple goal: to deliver reading material to Kentucky’s isolated mountain communities.

BY ANIKA BURGESS. via @atlasobscura

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/librarians-horseback-new-deal-book-delivery-wpa

#books #librarians

Attachments:

• A group of "book women" on horseback in Hindman, Kentucky, 1940. KENTUCKY LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES

Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):

futzle@old.mermaid.town ("Deborah Pickett") wrote:

Speaking as a sysadmin, I am becoming increasingly distressed at how difficult it is now to excise AI shit from the computers that I manage. It is making me doubt that I am in the right career, and seeing those around me embrace this shit just makes me doubt it even more.

Speaking as an artist with original content that I give away on the Internet, and as a friend of artists who rely on selling their work to survive, I am becoming increasingly distressed at the cavalier way that AI companies are scraping fucking everything and taking credit for it.

When I see a person using AI, even ironically or for humour’s sake, what I see is someone who is OK with artists being disrespected and ignored and pushed into poverty, and I will judge that person accordingly.

Don’t do AI. Burn it to the ground.

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

tonight’s special: Housepanther on a bed of fresh sprouts

Attachments:

• 78ef17aaf6d8f320.jpeg (remote)

Reblogged by mbrubeck@mefi.social:

Tak@glitch.taks.garden ("Tak!") wrote:

🎶 grendel's mom has got it goin' on 🎶

Reblogged by zack@toot.cafe ("Zack"):

0x1C3B00DA@stereophonic.space wrote:

@bouncepaw I filed an issue about that more than a year ago. Unfortunately, like most things caused by mastodon that don’t directly affect mastodon, it has stalled.

https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/22070

Reblogged by zack@toot.cafe ("Zack"):

bouncepaw@merveilles.town ("bouncepaw 🍄") wrote:

All the Mastodon servers in existence tell my Betula that their users get deleted. I have never interacted with these servers nor users, hey! My inbox is full of these.

#FediDev folks, why is it like that?

Reblogged by isagalaev ("Ivan Sagalaev :flag_wbw:"):

Geekman@bitbang.social wrote:

Rant/Top tip: Your local business isn't JUST failing because amazon undercuts you.

It's also because people (like me) who want to spend money at a local business, looked up your hours and location on your website, planned a morning around coming by, drove over to find your storefront papered over with a printed note saying you'd moved to the other side of town – a fact not reflected on your website, or Google Maps. 😑

(🧵/1)

rmrenner ("The Old Gay Gristle Fest") wrote:

You know they were kinda on to something with custom, personalized bookplates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_Libris_(bookplate)

Attachments:

• Bookplate of Hendrik Nicolaas Ouwerling. A woman sits on a wooden bench, holding a quill and a book with the word "HISTORIA" on the cover. An owl is perched on a row of books behind her. Below that illustration, in a rectangle: "Ex-Libris H.N. OUWERLING." The whole thing is surrounded by a repeating floral motif border.

Reblogged by slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell"):

semibogan@infosec.exchange wrote:

LMAO holy crap they didn’t clear coat cybertrucks 🤣

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/tesla-youll-have-to-wipe-dead-bugs-and-bird-poop-off-your-cybertruck-asap-to-avoid-corrosion/

Reblogged by slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell"):

jonty@chaos.social ("Jonty Wareing") wrote:

This paper starts out amazing and just keeps getting better

https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.06133

Attachments:

• [A screenshot of a paper on arxiv, it reads:

 The possibility of making $138,000 from shredded banknote pieces using computer vision
 
 Every country must dispose of old banknotes. At the Hong Kong Monetary Authority visitor center, visitors can buy a paperweight souvenir full of shredded banknotes. Even though the shredded banknotes are small, by using computer vision, it is possible to reconstruct the whole banknote like a jigsaw puzzle. Each paperweight souvenir costs $100 HKD, and it is claimed to contain shredded banknotes equivalent to 138 complete $1000 HKD banknotes. In theory, $138,000 HKD can be recovered by using computer vision. This paper discusses the technique of collecting shredded banknote pieces and applying a computer vision program.][6] ([remote][7])

• A screenshot from the paper, it reads "The shredded banknotes were then collected. Surprisingly, three paperweight cylinders were opened, and two of them had stones in them". Three pictures follow. (remote)
• Screenshot from the paper, it reads: "This cylinder only contained 82.57/138 = 60% of the shredded banknote pieces that the label had claimed. Although this issue is not the focus of this paper, it appears that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has broken the law." (remote)
• Screenshot from the paper, it reads: "The idea for this paper was discussed with the staff during my visit to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority visitor center. The paperweight souvenir is currently no longer available." (remote)

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

aunteef@mstdn.party ("Aunt Eef") wrote:

You son of a bitch, I'm in.

Attachments:

• Screenshot of a reddit post. The title reads, "Replace statues of Columbus with statues of Columbo" (the famed TV detective) Below is a photo of a bronze statue in Budapest, showing the detective wearing a puzzled expression, trademark cigar in hand, as he scratches the top of his head. (remote)

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

dangillmor ("Dan Gillmor") wrote:

Christian church whose pastor plainly understands the teachings of Jesus is indicted by city that plainly does not. https://www.christianpost.com/news/ohio-pastor-arraigned-after-being-charged-for-housing-homeless.html

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

LiminalFlares@tech.lgbt ("Maika 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈") wrote:

Despite not being made from real Girl Scouts, the most delicious #GirlScoutCookies are sold by #trans and #nonbinary scouts. Bonus points for being able to order online and have #cookies shipped to your house while supporting trans kids: https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/2024-trans-girl-scouts-to-order-cookies

Thank you, @ErinInTheMorn for assembling this list of trans Girl Scouts from whom to order cookies, to say nothing of all your tireless advocacy work.

#Transgender #Genderqueer #TransRights #TransPride #LGBTQIA

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

kcarruthers wrote:

Eek! Scientists say worse to come as Himalayan snow ceases: Himalayan ecologies and economies are heavily reliant on winter snowfall, but the necessary weather patterns – western disturbances in particular – are decreasing in frequency and intensity

https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/climate/scientists-say-worse-to-come-as-himalayan-snow-ceases/

Attachments:

• Renowned for its ski resorts, Gulmarg in Jammu & Kashmir is in the middle of an extreme dry spell that has left its slopes and landscapes devoid of snow (Image: Faisal Bashir / Alamy)
• this is fine fire meme

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

whitedove@pixelfed.social ("White Dove") wrote:

In Gaza and Sderot Girls Want to Live

Seen in Jerusalem.
@RadicalGraffiti@todon.eu

—
@israel@a.gup.pe @palestine@a.gup.pe #Israel #Palestine #Gaza #Hamas #IsraelHamasWar #Sticker

Attachments:

• A sticker on a fence in the street that reads “In Gaza and Sderot girls want to live” in Hebrew. (remote)

pzmyers@octodon.social ("pzmyers 🦑") wrote:

I need to know: what flavor of powdered soft drink was mixed with Gene Rodenberry's cremains in the Peregrine destruction?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/01/20/not-the-best-way-to-endear-oneself-to-sf-fans/

Attachments:

• cremains launched into space, sorta (remote)

cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen") wrote:

Regarding LB[1]: There's something I just really enjoy about that terminal's design. You wouldn't just be staring at a screen. You'd be pondering your orb...

https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/5424/Orb-Computer-The-Multi-user-Computer/

[1] https://oldbytes.space/@SinclairSpeccy/111789278444923013

Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):

SinclairSpeccy@oldbytes.space ("Sinclair-Speccy") wrote:

Red is SUS

#Tech #Computer #RetroTech #Retro #RetroTechnology #RetroComputers #VintageComputer #RetroComputing

Attachments:

• A vintage advertisement for ORB, The Multi-user Computer, featuring colorful spherical computers with built-in keyboards arranged in a semi-circle on a dark background. (remote)

cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen") wrote:

Dang. I just looked him up to see where he's been only to find out he died much too young. We'll never know what other things he would've gone on to create. :(

cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen") wrote:

Finally, a song I can relate to. Klaus Nomi's "Simple Man":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhYI1DtCIo

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

georgetakei@universeodon.com ("George Takei :verified: 🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽") wrote:

I’ll have some synonym with my morning brew.

Attachments:

• 02092bbd6b7fd09a.png (remote)

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

emilymbender@dair-community.social ("Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)") wrote:

This definitely makes it sound like they're misuing LLMs. As a reminder: papier-mache made out of good text is still papier-mache. It's not the result of someone using language to communicate something, it's not grounded a factual model of the world, and it sure as hell isn't journalism.

>>

Attachments:

• Screencap: Speeding up certain research and administrative portions of our workflow: CNET editors could use AI to help automate some portions of our work so we can focus on the parts that add the most unique value. This might include creating outlines of a given topic or analyzing written work to let us know if it's missing key themes or relevant context we can add. RAMP may also generate content such as explanatory material (based on trusted sources) that a human could fact-check and edit. Source: https://www.cnet.com/ai-policy/#ftag=MSF491fea7 (remote)

Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):

Unixbigot@aus.social ("Christopher Biggs") wrote:

There were just a few at first. We dubbed them Canadian Boring Worms after news broke of the ones discovered tunneling through a landfill in Vancouver. They look more like enormous caterpillars than worms, and it turned out earlier specimens had been sighted under cities in West Africa, Thailand, and elsewhere, but the name stuck. Comedians quipped “boring is redundant, you already said they were Canadian”.

Their appetite for organic waste, and particularly plastics hinted at a revolution in waste management. When the Vancouver colony was traced back to a cache of eggs, the outsourced garbage contractor had seeded six other sites with eggs before anyone thought to stop them.

People stopped repeating the “boring” joke after the worms grew fat on garbage, pupated, and the adult dragons emerged.

#Tootfic #MicroFiction

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

rreverser ("Ingvar Stepanyan") wrote:

Released a new version of Wasmbin - a self-generating #WebAssembly parser and serializer in #Rustlang - with updated support for exception handling and multi-memory proposals. https://github.com/RReverser/wasmbin

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

ucsc@mstdn.social ("UC Santa Cruz") wrote:

The National Science Foundation recently awarded $3.9 million to researchers at UC Santa Cruz as the lead institution for the development of a next-gen telescope alignment system!

The researchers will work with an international team to build and test systems in Santa Cruz and eventually install the final designs in seven telescopes at three ground-based observatory sites around the world.

Looking forward to all of the new, exciting observations!

https://bit.ly/3SmKgbI

#space #research

Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):

OnlyU wrote:

Colors

Attachments:

• 79bc33b6e53725c5.jpeg

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

love this [ h/t Prof Ed Wild @profwild.bsky.social ]

Attachments:

• 9178cc2c296ae6bb.png (remote)