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Boosted by jwz:
brucelawson@vivaldi.net ("Bruce Lawson ✅ ♫ ♿ ✌️♂️✊") wrote:

Have a lovely day, designer chums.

Some tlles in the footpath that are terribly badly laid oit

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bcantrill ("Bryan Cantrill") wrote:

I'm out today dropping a kid off at college so no Oxide and Friends -- but @ahl and I will be back next week!

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Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
DrALJONES wrote:

Interview: A million Israelis protest to end the "war".

A minority of them has been against the genocide from the beginning.

But most blame Netanyahu for putting his political survival ahead of the hostages.

"Most Israelis are not speaking directly on the suffering in Gaza, on the killings, on the children, on the starvation, but instead focus on the survival of the hostages held in Gaza."

~Oren Ziv, +972 Magazine

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/8/18/israel%5Fantiwar%5Fprotests

#IsraeliProtests #USPol #EuroPol @palestine .

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denschub@schub.social ("Dennis Schubert") wrote:

this clusterfuck is so big, it's already a high-availability fuck

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pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

Time to smack down Brian Lauer again.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/08/18/reid-v-laueragain/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljS0FEkff5U

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
mweagle@hachyderm.io ("Matt Weagle") wrote:

This Townsend's Chipmunk was feasting on blueberries that had dropped to the ground. I chose to feast on berries I picked from a bush. Trailside berries are the best.

#bloomscrolling

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
avandeursen@mastodon.acm.org ("Arie van Deursen") wrote:

> When you’re a student at a university, you should think of yourself as an athlete in training, and the job you'll do after you graduate is the sport you will compete in.

> What your professors do know is that strength training will help you. That’s what essay writing is; it’s strength training for the brain.

> Using ChatGPT to write your essays is like bringing a forklift into the weight room; you are never going to improve your cognitive fitness that way.

https://cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08/12/ted-chiang/
#TedChiang

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
tozka@fandom.ink ("mx. tozka") wrote:

Meanwhile one of the cats got high on catnip and started wailing until I left the computer and sat on the couch where she could reach me

#housesitting #catsitting

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
ubuntourist ("Tadonic the Flautulent") wrote:

TACO Don chickens out... again...
(from CNN's 5 Things AM, August 18, 2025)
#TACO #TACOdon #news #war #politics #russia #ukraine

SCREENSHOT: CNN 5 things AM 2025-08-18 PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump. Reuters/AP 1. Ukraine Prior to last week’s historic summit in Alaska, President Donald Trump said he would be disappointed if a ceasefire wasn’t reached between Russia and Ukraine, and even threatened “severe” consequences on Moscow if Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t end the fighting. However, Trump returned from the summit with different priorities. He is now focused on securing a peace deal without a ceasefire and said “we don’t have to think” about sanctions against Russia. Trump will host a summit at the White House today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders to discuss his talks with Putin in more detail. But on his social media site, Trump appeared to preview the message he’ll deliver to his visitors: If Zelensky wants the war in Ukraine to end, he must agree to some of Russia’s conditions, including that Ukraine cede Crimea and agree never to join NATO.

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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
noelreports@mstdn.social ("NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦") wrote:

Defense Minister Shmyhal confirmed that production of the Ukrainian long-range “Flamingo” cruise missile has begun, saying details will be disclosed “when the right moment comes.”

Attachments:

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

the strains of this war are showing in the economy, and this is not a good sign for stability within Putin’s empire

“Barter is back in Russia as one Chinese company seeks to navigate settlement issues”

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/barter-is-back-russia-one-chinese-company-seeks-navigate-settlement-issues-2025-08-18/

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

good

“Russian oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia halted after Ukrainian attack”

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-oil-flows-hungary-slovakia-halted-after-ukrainian-attack-2025-08-18/

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fribbledom ("muesli") wrote:

I don't hate LLMs. In fact I'm absolutely blown away by their performance. They work far better than they "should" and I ever thought possible.

But that astonishing capability doesn't make them intelligent. What's frustrating is the massive, uninformed hype where people speak on LLMs and "AI" without *any* real understanding of what it is and isn't.

It's crypto bros all over again.

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Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
therightarticle@mas.to ("Michael") wrote:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/sally-rooney-vows-keep-backing-palestine-action-despite-uk-ban

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Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
DrewKadel@social.coop ("Drew Kadel") wrote:

My daughter, who has had a degree in computer science for 25 years, posted this observation about ChatGPT on Facebook. It's the best description I've seen:

Something that seems fundamental to me about ChatGPT, which gets lost over and over again: When you enter text into it, you're asking "What would a response to this sound like?" If you put in a scientific question, and it comes back with a response citing a non-existent paper with a plausible title, using a real journal name and an author name who's written things related to your question, it's not being tricky or telling lies or doing anything at all surprising! This is what a response to that question would sound like! It did the thing! But people keep wanting the "say something that sounds like an answer" machine to be doing something else, and believing it is doing something else. It's good at generating things that sound like responses to being told it was wrong, so people think that it's engaging in introspection or looking up more information or something, but it's not, it's only, ever, saying something that sounds like the next bit of the conversation.

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Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
therightarticle@mas.to ("Michael") wrote:

Starmer has been urged to recall Parliament to “impose immediate sanctions” on Israel in a joint letter signed by politicians in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

https://www.thenational.scot/news/25398201.keir-starmer-urged-impose-immediate-sanctions-israel/?ref=rss

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aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Anyone know why I can’t see @NouranKhaledGh’s account when I do a search for “Nouran” from my Mastodon instance? Can you folks see her profile from yours? If not, any idea why not?

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Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

I just had a video conversation on Signal with Nouran (@NouranKhaledGh) and her brother Yousef from Gaza.

Their family is one of countless ones in Palestine who are still alive but unsure of what tomorrow is going to bring. Last night was especially tough with Israel’s renewed bombing. Yousef told me that at least they are still in their own home and that if they’re ordered by Israel to evacuate again that they will not leave what little they have left. He told me “we will die here”.

Please don’t let Nouran, Yousef, and their family die.

We must keep protesting, keep pressuring our governments until they take definitive action to stop Israel’s genocide.

And also, please help Nouran and her family survive in the interim by donating to their campaign:

https://chuffed.org/project/121561-urgent-help-for-ahmads-family

Your donations help them buy food to eat as Israel continues to starve Gaza.

Even if you cannot help financially right now, please boost this to help spread the word.

Thank you!

@palestine

#Palestine #Gaza #aid #fediAid #FreePalestine

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fribbledom ("muesli") wrote:

Saying an LLM is "AI" is like calling your Roomba a feng shui master because it pushed a chair around.

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Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
NouranKhaledGh ("Nouran 🍉") wrote:

I am very scared. I don’t want to experience the displacement again.

Please always keep us in your thoughts.

#gaza #palestine

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Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Just had a video call with @Aseelsehwel from Gaza. Like every family there, they need your help to survive.

Our governments have failed us, we are the only ones who can help. Your donations go directly to keeping families like Aseel’s alive as they struggle to survive Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.

Please help Aseel and her family if you can.

https://chuffed.org/project/138285-help-sehwel-family-with-their-medical-treatment

Please boost.

#Palestine #Gaza #WestBank #FreePalestine #StopTheGenocide #StopIsrael #israel #genocide #ethnicCleansing #apartheid #settlerColonialism #MutualAid #fediAid

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aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Every death in Palestine is a precious life lost forever and also a nail in the coffin of the humanity of the West.

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adam@social.lol ("Adam") wrote:

Back in January when I pointed out the problems with continuing to actively use X, paying for a blue checkmark, praising Elon despite his egregious behavior, etc., Manton did two things:

1. He defended the heck out of this guy and told me how wrong I was in every possible way.

2. He removed this guy’s name from his website. 🤔

The name is still gone, but the business affiliation persists to this day. I wonder where exactly the line is drawn? Or if there even is a line.

#indieweb

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adam@social.lol ("Adam") wrote:

Every now and then I check in on this guy to see if he’s maybe somehow changed. Hoping that his past bigotry was just some kind of fluke.

The last time I did it, he was praising Musk right after the Nazi salute. This time, he’s just sticking with regular racism. Unless you can give me a better explanation for what “not Polish” means here. (But please don’t insult yourself by trying — we all know what he means.)

But hey, what a lovely advertisement for Tesla! Totally on brand. #indieweb

A screenshot of a post on X by Vincent Ritter: _vincentritter Aug 15 When we were in Warsaw, we got a taxi that was a Tesla. I was looking forward to it. The driver, not Polish, didn't have air conditioning on, windows down, foul rap music (great bass in the Tesla) and he was absolutely speeding like a crazy person. Shame. Should have told him to just drop us off at the next corner. Where do they find these people? So we got an Uber Black on the way back. What a world of a difference! He even avoided the bumps, didn't speed and made sure we were comfy. Whilst I used Bolt a lot, the lack of allowing me to choose a better service, is not worth it anymore. Feels like a race to the bottom with terrible drivers. Aug 15, 2025 • 7:54 AM UTC

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aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

OK, so here’s likely the simplest possible example demonstrating:

• The same route, implemented as both a Kitten JavaScript Page (.page.js) and as a Kitten Markdown Page (.page.md)

• How to persist to the default Kitten JSDB¹ database.

(That first line with the nullish coalescing operator creates a “table” on the database with a default value for the count if it doesn’t already exist.)

https://kitten.small-web.org

¹ https://kitten.small-web.org/tutorials/persistence/

#Kitten #SmallWeb #web #dev #JavaScript #HTML #Markdown #example #comingSoon

Three windows: top-left, source of page.js version of Kitten count example, bottom-left, source of page.md version, and on the right, the output in a browser. Top-left: kitten.db.kittens ??= { count: 0 } export default () => kitten.html <h1>Kitten count</h1> <p>${'🐱️'.repeat(++kitten.db.kittens.count)}</p> Bottom-left: --- script: | kitten.db.kittens ??= { count: 0 } --- # Kitten count ${'🐱️'.repeat(++kitten.db.kittens.count)} Right: Kitten count (heading) and 15 🐱️ emojis.

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aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Alt text (continued due to Mastodon’s 1500 character limit on alt-text):

Source of Button and Reactions components:

/**
Simple Reactions control.

Broadcasts «reaction» event.
*/
function Button ({ Icon }) {
const iconName = Icon.name
return kitten.html`

export default function Reactions () {
return kitten.html`

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aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Coming soon (likely this afternoon, I’m writing tests and docs and updating examples as we speak)…

This is the sort of thing you’ll be able to do with Markdown pages. Just pop any arbitrary JavaScript you want in the new script block in the front matter and then import and use components as well as plain old JavaScript tagged template variable interpolation (not shown in this example) inside your Markdown.

The screen has all the code (sans the end of the last line of CSS and the closing tags for the and in the Reactions component, which I couldn’t make fit without reducing the font size) for the example you see in the browser with functional buttons that persist their state to Kitten’s built-in default database.

When I say all the code, I mean all the code. There is no scaffolding. Those two files are the only two files in the project.

https://kitten.small-web.org

#Kitten #SmallWeb #SmallTech #HTML #CSS #JavaScript #JS #Markdown #web #dev #comingSoon

Screenshot: three windows: left side: Source of index.page.md, top-right browser showing running web app, bottom-right, source of Button and Reactions components. Contents of windows: index.page.md: --- title: An interactive markdown page script: | import Reaction from './Reaction.fragment.js' // Initialise database if necessary. kitten.db.reactions ??= {} kitten.db.reactions.Heart ??= 0 kitten.db.reactions.Confetti ??= 0 kitten.db.reactions.Smiley ??= 0 let page export function onConnect (data) { page = data.page } export function onReaction (data) { kitten.db.reactions[data.type]++ page.send(kitten.html<${Reaction} />) } --- <!-- raw HTML omitted --> # Hello! While this is a markdown page, I can easily layer interactivity by adding a simple component in a script block. ## Reactions{id=your-reactions} <${Reaction} /> Browser (output): Hello! While this is a markdown page, I can easily layer interactivity by adding a simple component in a script block. Reactions Heart button: 5 Confetti button: 4 Smiley button: 3

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aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Here’s more information from the BDS movement on Microsoft (this is what the first link on the site leads to):

https://www.bdsmovement.net/microsoft

#BDS #Microsoft

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aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan") wrote:

Rewriting the Windows section of Kitten’s installation instructions.

Update: it’s live now.

https://kitten.small-web.org/

#Kitten #SmallWeb #SmallTech #web #dev #HTML #CSS #JavaScript #NodeJS #FOSS #tech #Windows #Microsoft #israel #genocide #ethnicCleansing #apartheid #settlerColonialism #Palestine #Gaza #WestBank #StopIsrael #StopTheGenocide #BoycottDivestmentSanctions #BDS #FreePalestine

Screenshot of web browser showing https://localhost. It’s a detail of the Kitten web site’s main page, with the Install section highlighted: Install Latest version released last Tuesday at 5:28 PM Europe/Dublin (view source). Tabs: Linux, macOS, Windows (selected) Tab contents of Windows tab: Sorry, no. Microsoft is complicit in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. (link) Small Technology Foundation (link) stands in solidarity with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement (link). Callout with exclamation mark: Windows is an ad-infested and surveillance-ridden dumpster fire of an operating system and, alongside supporting genocide, you are putting both yourself and others at risk by using it.

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Boosted by aral@mastodon.ar.al ("Aral Balkan"):
mhoye wrote:

Kinda flew under my radar, I guess, but head of the Technological Defense Division at the Israel National Cyber Directorate, whose name is Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, was arrested at Black Hat in a child predator sting operation.

He was allowed bail, fled to Israel and has since purged his social media presence.

Special relationship between the two countries, I guess. Common interests at the highest levels.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/israeli-official-arrest-nevada-release-b2809024.html

https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-israeli-cyber-official-detained-in-las-vegas-as-part-of-child-solicitation-probe/