Mastodon Feed: Posts

slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell") wrote:

IDK who needs to hear this, but engineering is the conscious act of synthesizing what we know and can learn about systems to build things that serve users and society.

The opposite of engineering is reckons; not looking or learning about the system, usually in service of avoiding the hard work of managing the quality of the result. In other words, bullshitting.

Engineering == service.
Bullshit == self-service.

Only one of these is worth paying for.

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

tommorris ("Tom Morris") wrote:

Technologists: I’m barely confident this computer is able to parse dates correctly. And don’t get me started on inkjet printers.

Politicians: they can definitely be cops.

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

rasterweb ("Pete Prodoehl 🍕") wrote:

“Link in bio” is the stupidest fucking thing ever. Links should be everywhere.

Reblogged by fromjason ("fromjason.xyz 🖤"):

IHateMichaelM@mastodon.scot ("Michael M") wrote:

Got a tattoo of the windows mouse cursor so that I can sit like this on Teams calls in the hope that someone frantically tries to move it.

Attachments:

• A specky guy with a mouse cursor tattoo on his arm (remote)
• A closeup of the mouse cursor tattoo (remote)

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

Black couple defied racism and rented to Chinese family, who pay back - Los Angeles Times

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-05/amid-racism-black-couple-rented-to-a-chinese-family-who-pay-back?sfmc_id=65329f6025b3640666ade2ef&utm_id=34937596&skey_id=2fbbf08813c8c3427139dbcdcc74eba60f8d3313b59bc0fd9d3a6ea9d0f07522&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ALERT-Email-List-Black%20couple%20defied%20racism%20and%20rented%20to%20Chinese%20family%2C%20who%20pay%20back-20240405&utm_term=Alert%20-%20News%20Alerts

Reblogged by pzmyers@octodon.social ("pzmyers 🦑"):

bstacey@icosahedron.website ("Blake C. Stacey") wrote:

@pzmyers Retraction Watch has started a hall of shame:
https://retractionwatch.com/papers-and-peer-reviews-with-evidence-of-chatgpt-writing/

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

I'm learning about the proper medical response to an epileptic seizure from the police. It involves tasers and handcuffs.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/04/05/acab-now-and-forever/

kornel ("Kornel") wrote:

The MIT license says it needs to be included with the software, but it doesn't say it can't be a song:

https://youtu.be/pGbodliLFVE?t=53

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

The topic in my eco devo class this week was the developmental origin of adult diseases. Also, Nazis are bad and we should provide for the health and welfare of pregnant people and mothers.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/04/05/the-developmental-origins-of-adult-diseases/

Attachments:

• Diagram of all of the connections between maternal & fetal nutrition and adult diseases. (remote)

andreu@andreubotella.com ("Andreu Botella") wrote:

I was running the numbers on this earlier today. For the record, in my data, I'm counting the number of event names (even if e.g. `window.onerror` and `xhr.onerror` are very different events), and I'm including events that are shipping without a flag in at least one browser.

andreu@andreubotella.com ("Andreu Botella") wrote:

I wonder how many events you think there are in the web platform.

Reblogged by nadim@symbolic.software ("Nadim Kobeissi"):

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

Must-read reporting by +972 on how the IDF are using “AI” in their indiscriminate murder in Gaza. It’s horrific, and we must not look away. And it’s an absolute nightmare of the usual sorts of AI harms cranked up to the extreme: mass surveillance, "we don't have any choice but to automate", AI as pretext for deadly violence.

https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

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

I don't think this illustration is medically accurate. Or useful.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/04/05/are-my-lungs-really-that-garish/

Attachments:

• AI-generated diagram of drug delivery strategies for non small cell lung cancer (remote)

Reblogged by bcantrill ("Bryan Cantrill"):

rasmus91@fosstodon.org ("Rasmus Lindegaard") wrote:

Ollama is pretty cool in how easily it can be deployed, Mistral 7b is absolutely astounding.

Thank you to @bcantrill and Alan for having a talk with Simon Willison on #OxideAndFriends about LLMs that reawakened my interest in looking at this:

primarily the part about open source, open datasets, and being able to run it locally without a $1000 GPU

andreu@andreubotella.com ("Andreu Botella") wrote:

Currently writing a blog post including the text:

“You’d think folks who work on browsers would be all about making browser go brr [...]”

This might not survive the first draft...

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

ugh, need to read this a few more times before I do anything...

https://easydmarc.com/blog/how-to-configure-dkim-opendkim-with-postfix/

slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell") wrote:

Was chatting with a friend last week and as we lamented Silicon Valley PM blindness to Goodhart's Law and the McNamara Fallacy, they said *"What would Marissa Mayer do? Then don't do that"*

Which made me realise that I'm an anti-Mayerist PM.

Anyway:

https://www.platformer.news/marissa-mayer-sunshine-shine-app-design-cofounder-quits/

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

zens@merveilles.town ("Luci for dyeing") wrote:

“Toll Bridge” means almost literally the same thing as “Bill Gates”

slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell") wrote:

*two* whole apps? That'll teach 'em _for sure._

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/4/24114673/google-sues-alleged-crypto-scammers-play-store

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

Meyerweb ("Eric A. Meyer") wrote:

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and the time an online recipe promises it will take to prepare a meal.

slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell") wrote:

If you put together a slide that says, in essence, "we are going to tax user's batteries and CPUs while we think they aren't looking, and it makes our system XX% better", my immediate question is going to be "ok, what does it make worse?"

If you don't have an answer that's at least as specific as your claimed wins, expect a bad time.

slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell") wrote:

It is a not-uncommon occurrence in my world that, when presented with evidence a bloated JS-stack system isn't nearly fast enough by a team trying to embed an experience, that instead of reducing the total time taken, shortcut-takers will invent some iframe "pre-boot" nonsense to smuggle the costs into "idle time".

I believe in redemption so it need not necessarily be a firing offense. But it certainly argues against promotion.

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

FediThing@chinwag.org ("FediThing 🏳️‍🌈") wrote:

Some random really nice Fediverse things to look forward to later in 2024 🤞

- @dansup's Pixelfed apps finally getting into mainstream app stores, could greatly widen Pixelfed's audience

- @gotosocial leaving alpha testing. It's a lightweight safety-conscious microblogging platform, could be a good alternative to Mastodon.

- @Feditext being released, Metatext had a lot of fans even after development stopped and will be great to see a direct successor app

#Fediverse

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

https://apnews.com/article/taylor-johnatakis-capitol-riot-sentencing-f97acd68b8860d36b212e408ac80abd4

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

seattletimes@press.coop ("The Seattle Times :press:") wrote:

Massachusetts council approves pardoning people with misdemeanor cannabis convictions

A Massachusetts council has approved Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to pardon tens of thousands of people convicted of misdemeanor marijuana charges going back decades. #press

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/massachusetts-council-approves-pardoning-people-with-misdemeanor-cannabis-convictions/?utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all&utm_source=press.coop

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

NewsDesk@flipboard.social ("Flipboard Picks in News") wrote:

The United Nations says more than 53,000 people have fled Haiti’s capital in the past three weeks as gang violence consumes the city. Most of those escaping Port-au-Prince are going to the country’s southern region, where officials say there is not enough infrastructure or resources to handle them. At least 1,500 people have been killed and 17,000 have been left homeless since March 22, according to the U.N. Read more from NBC News.

https://flip.it/MKuc4p

#Haiti #Gangs #Violence #UN

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

ElectionCentral@flipboard.com ("The Politics Desk") wrote:

Is the current Congress, the 118th, is “the least productive in our lifetime,” as Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said recently? The numbers back her up.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/apr/03/donna-brazile/is-the-current-congress-the-least-productive-of-ou/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Fact Check @fact-check-ElectionCentral

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

“noted that Knight was not registered to issue appeal bonds in New York… seeking to clarify whether Knight, which had never posted a similar court bond before aiding Mr. Trump, is financially capable of fulfilling its obligation to pay the $175 million if Mr. Trump defaults… Mr. Hankey said that Mr. Trump pledged $175 million in cash as collateral that was being handled by a brokerage firm. Mr. Trump, in the meantime, is able to earn interest on the money.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/nyregion/letitia-james-trump-bond-deal.html

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

nytimes@press.coop ("The New York Times :press:") wrote:

Letitia James, the Attorney General, Objects to Trump’s Bond Deal

Letitia James, the attorney general, said in court papers that the California company providing the guarantee was not qualified to do such deals in New York. #press

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/nyregion/letitia-james-trump-bond-deal.html?utm_source=press.coop

Attachments:

• 3bfff5a3162adf48.jpg (remote)

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

GottaLaff ("Laffy") wrote:

Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar subpoenaed in #Arizona probe of #Trump fake electors

The Arizona attorney general is nearing a decision on whether to charge Trump allies with crimes, but there is no indication Biggs or Gosar will face charges.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/biggs-gosar-arizona-subpoenas-00150416