Mastodon Feed: Posts

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

strongly agree:

NYTimes Opinion: "as close observers of people and places where democracy has come under pressure and occasionally buckled, we see creeping autocracy as a distinct and under-discussed possibility."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/opinion/trump-democracy-autocracy.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=highlightShare

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

these headlines are *not* disconnected, they are datapoints in an economic situation that is about to get much worse

Attachments:

• 2af9a54b27586263.png (remote)

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

QasimRashid ("Qasim Rashid, Esq.") wrote:

I'm in LA right now and had a chance to see some of the damage. Experts estimate the cost at $150B.

$150 BILLION

Only thing crazier than that massive price tag is the fact that it can be paid for in full by at least 3 USA billionaires, & its only 1.5% of the net worth of USA's 800 billionaires.

Tax billionaires. Invest in working people. Save our democracy.

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

w7voa@journa.host ("Steve Herman") wrote:

TSA says it intercepted 6,678 firearms at airport security checkpoints last year and 94% of the weapons were loaded. https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/USDHSTSA/2025/01/15/file_attachments/3132695/Firearms%20Discovered%20at%20TSA%20Checkpoints%20in%202024.pdf

Attachments:

• a65b6f90e5315418.png (remote)

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

rvaughnmd@med-mastodon.com ("Zauberlehrling") wrote:

"All sects dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight; and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subversion of the duperies in which they live."

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Presbyterians protesting the appointment of Dr Cooper to the chair of chemistry

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

"Using multilevel analysis with random country intercepts, we find that radical-right populism is the strongest determinant for the propensity to spread misinformation. Populism, left-wing populism, and right-wing politics are not linked to the spread of misinformation. These results suggest that political misinformation should be understood as part and parcel of the current wave of radical right populism, and its opposition to liberal democratic institution."

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/19401612241311886

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

jeffjarvis ("Jeff Jarvis") wrote:

Important paper by Dutch scholars Petter Törnberg and Juliana Chueri brings data to show that the alleged epidemic of disinformation is not widespread across the political spectrum or manufactured by technology but is a specific tactic of far-right extremists exploiting the vulnerability of both an open society and mass media's attention economy. I've been shouting this into the void and I'm delighted by the research. 1/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/19401612241311886

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

dansup ("Daniel Supernault") wrote:

Pixelfed and Loops are amazing projects but it's you the community that makes them special, not me.

I promise that during this historic journey, I will not forget to remain humble and remember who I work for, you!

Don't hesitate to comment on my posts, DM me, or reach out in Discord or Matrix with your feedback or bug reports.

It may get wild with all the new people and celebs but let's just try to be good to each other.

The world deserves to see the magic of the fediverse, and we can behave

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

SANKOFAB@zirk.us ("Sankofab") wrote:

#health
#poverty
#socialism
#capitalism
#communism
#classwar
#democracy
#humanrights
#austerity
#socialwork
#slavery
#resistance

Attachments:

• 037f227c9fc86b2a.jpeg (remote)

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

catsalad@infosec.exchange ("CatSalad🐈🥗 (D.Burch) :blobcatrainbow:") wrote:

Don’t Use Session (Signal Fork)

:clap_claw:⁠https://soatok.blog/2025/01/14/dont-use-session-signal-fork/

via @soatok@soatok.blog

In-depth analysis by @soatok@furry.engineer of the many ways Session (Signal Fork) screwed up their cryptographic routines. Like the developer decisions are suspicion af! I mean, they could be just incompetent devs, but either way... :eyes_squint:

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

Don't OD on all this Bob Ross!

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/01/15/need-therapy/

Attachments:

• Bob Ross (remote)

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

h/t https://arghstudios.com:50433/

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

Soft purrs fade sweet,
Gentle paws in moonlit peace,
Love wrapped in soft paws.

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

apparently, our dear friend Oscar the Cat has cancer. the Vet estimates he has somewhere between a few weeks and a few months of life left. 💦

Attachments:

• Oscaar the black cat lying in his cat tree, sprawled comfortably in a patch of Springtime sunshine last year. (remote)

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

bicmay@med-mastodon.com ("Bích-Mây Nguyễn :verified:") wrote:

"Franklin Tao, an Asian American scientist who was wrongfully accused of spying for China, is suing the University of Kansas, his former employer, accusing it of 'vicious, unabated discrimination.'

Tao, a chemistry professor, said in a lawsuit filed last week that he was 'unfairly and unlawfully' terminated from his tenured position and is seeking to be reinstated."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/franklin-tao-professor-china-university-kansas-rcna187063

#aapi #aanhpi #ChinaInitiative #science #research #courts

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

Neil Gaiman flatly denies all the accusations made against him. Sure, he fucked the babysitter, but she liked it.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/01/15/neil-gaiman-responds/

Attachments:

• Neil Gaiman, "Call Me Master" (remote)

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

I learned my lesson: don't bother participating in local politics. The goons on the city council don't care what us little people say.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/01/14/i-did-my-civic-duty/

Attachments:

• A proposed park in my town that I opposed. (remote)

Reblogged by kornel ("Kornel"):

luna@pony.social ("luna, only carbon now") wrote:

today i learned that https://johnmastodon.org exists

Reblogged by kornel ("Kornel"):

c_9@mstdn.ca ("Cameron MacLeod") wrote:

Wear reflective clothing to be safer while walking near car drivers?

Just kidding, turns out we built software that ignores reflective clothing.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2025/01/10/alarming-report-shows-that-two-auto-braking-systems-cant-see-people-in-reflective-garb

Attachments:

• Screenshot of linked article headline "Alarming Report Shows that Two Auto-Braking Systems Can’t See People in Reflective Garb" and subheadline "The safety strips are useless in the eyes of automatic braking systems on two very popular car models." Below the headline is a photo of a dummy dressed all in white, with an approaching car's headlights very close. The caption of the photo reads "This guy is likely to be safe, but no so his friend in reflective garb." (remote)
• Screenshot from article showing photos of dummy wearing reflective garb being hit by a car driving at night, and a section of the article text: Pedestrians are often advised to wear reflective strips on their clothing so that car drivers can see them, but a new report says that such safety precautions are useless in the eyes of some automatic braking systems. Going, going, struck. Check out what happens to a dummy dressed in reflective strips.Photos: IIHS The worst systems were on two popular models made by Honda and Mazda. The alarming finding by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety will likely shock millions of American pedestrians ... and maybe even force change among the governmental agencies that lay the onus on them for their own safety. In the study, researchers outfitted an adult-sized dummy in black clothing, one in white clothing, one with a reflective jacket and one with a reflective strips in a configuration similar to those worn by roadway workers (though their safety gear is generally bright orange or yellow rather than black). The tests were run at 25 mph in three conditions — with no roadway lighting, with 10 lux of illumination and with the federally recommended 20 lux of illumination. Every time the test was run, no matter the lighting conditions, the Honda CR-V and the Mazda CX-5 hit the dummy with the reflective strips. And the Honda hit the dummy with the reflective jacket every time, too. (remote)

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

"… was the most downloaded free app in the U.S. Apple store on Tuesday. Over 300 million people, mostly in China, use the app, where they share short videos as well as still, text-based posts. People flocking to it said, in interviews and on the app, that they wanted to show they do not share Washington’s concerns about TikTok’s ties to China.

TikTok, which is available in more than 150 countries but not China, is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/business/tiktok-rednote-xiaohongshu-app.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=highlightShare

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

as usual, @laloalcaraz is spot on

http://www.gocomics.com/laloalcaraz/2025/01/14

Reblogged by jwz:

Daojoan ("JA Westenberg") wrote:

Nothing says ‘I lack conviction in my own drivel’ quite like a desperate little ‘lol’ at the end of a post.

jwz wrote:

Fascists and their dongs, amirite?

Italian soccer club Lazio has fired the man who handled the club's eagle mascot after he posted photos and videos online of his own prosthetic penis. Falconer Juan Bernabé shared the images on his private social...
https://jwz.org/b/ykgU

Attachments:

• Screenshot

jwz wrote:

I guess the amount of spam I get about e-bikes might be a positive sign, if you squint?

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

html5test@front-end.social ("Niels Leenheer") wrote:

The BarcodeDetector API is a very useful addition for our app. You can basically turn every webcam into a barcode scanner.

I made this library based on it:

https://github.com/NielsLeenheer/WebcamBarcodeScanner

Try it here:
https://point-of-sale.dev/barcode-scanner/playground/

Reblogged by jwz:

mastodonmigration@mastodon.online ("Mastodon Migration") wrote:

Initial response to @pluralistic regarding #FreeOurFeeds

Want to thank Cory Doctorow for answering questions about his support for Free Our Feeds here:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/14/contesting-popularity/#everybody-samba

What follows is a response in the form of a list of concerns about FOF.

Cory rightly took exception to the "scolding" tone of some of the discussion so far. It is hoped that here, at least, we can keep it focused on the substance of this issue.

So, here goes...

1/n

#FreeOurFeeds

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

noupside.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy ("Renee DiResta") wrote:

Get ready for the return of “Pope Endorses Donald Trump” and other similar viral bullshit.

This is part of the redefinition of “freedom of speech” to mean “freedom from moderation,” where any limit on algorithmic boosting or virality at all is “”censorship””.

www.platformer.news/meta-ends-mi...

Meta just flipped the switch t...

Reblogged by jwz:

interesting@bookmarks.kvibber.com ("Interesting Links") wrote:

Map: How big are the LA fires? Use this tool to overlay them atop where you live
"To better understand the size of the L.A. fires, this tool lets you overlay the fire perimeters on any location in California."

#Califonia #LosAngeles #geography #PalisadesFire #EatonFire #HurstFire

Reblogged by jwz:

codinghorror@infosec.exchange ("Jeff Atwood") wrote:

I like how "remastered in HD" now means "bicubic upscaling with a sharpening filter plus some hallucinated 'AI' nonsense we've added because reasons"

Reblogged by jwz:

codinghorror@infosec.exchange ("Jeff Atwood") wrote:

We have learned literally nothing from "computer, enhance" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhF_56SxrGk