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

It's not just Mel Gibson, a defining characteristic of Christians is a belief in their specialness.

Even worse, Americans also have this belief in their specialness. Combine the two, you get a particularly poisonous kind of Christian Nationalism.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/08/10/in-case-you-were-wondering-mel-gibson-is-still-a-colossal-asshole/

Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
colincornaby ("Colin Cornaby") wrote:

https://infosec.exchange/@david%5Fchisnall/117066183348062085

I looked at the replies to this post, did some more digging, and found the actual story is *even weirder.*

BOTH projects were generated using Claude. So you have two people - both generating the same app from the same training data - having a public throw down over who copied who. Kind of embarrassing.

The one guy claiming his Claude generated code as an original creation no one else can "copy" is maybe the most embarrassing part.

Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
nicklockwood ("Nick Lockwood") wrote:

RE: https://mastodon.social/@colincornaby/117069185435215102

Holy shit, so the "Claude plagiarised an app" story is actually "Claude produced the same app twice when prompted to do so by two separate developers" 😅

Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
jasongorman@mstdn.business ("Jason Gorman") wrote:

Bear in mind when you ask an LLM to explain why it did what it did (or didn't), you're asking faces on toast to explain faces on toast.

It's not explaining. It's plausibly completing.

And you fell for it twice.

Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
bert_hubert@eupolicy.social ("bert hubert 🇺🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦") wrote:

The Dark Hours author who just published his Claude "Mea Culpa" has a history of being full of shit: https://daringfireball.net/2026/08/retraction%5Fapp%5Fstore%5Frejection%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fweek

Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
drahardja@sfba.social ("Dave Rahardja") wrote:

@Em0nM4stodon Agreed. I wrote a similar sentiment recently: https://humancode.us/2026/06/11/ai-moral-hazard

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

A remarkably effective repellent.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/08/10/build-more-guillotines/

Boosted by kornel ("Kornel"):
Screwtapello@teh.entar.net wrote:

The Amiga "module" music format was hugely popular in the 1990s, with tens of thousands of songs written in "tracker" tools, often used in games and demoscene productions. Mostly on the Amiga, of course, but PC games like Jazz Jackrabbit and the original Deus Ex used music based on the same technology.

The very first "tracker" composing tool was The Ultimate Soundtracker by Karsten Obarski in 1987, a commercial release with one disk containing the program and some example songs, and a second disk containing a selection of instrument samples composers could use.

In the very early days of tracker modules, those were the only samples available, and they were heavily used by just about everyone. Even once people started making their own samples, they were still heavily used, and to a certain extent became the unofficial Amiga soundfont.

Today I learned that despite its significance, this first sample disk is lost media. All the samples survive in thousands of modules, but every sample has a bunch of variants from accidental disk corruption or intentional modification, and it's not always clear exactly which one is the original. Even among things *claiming* to be images of the original sample disk, different images have different sets of samples, or different versions of the same samples. We don't even know if Obarski kept the same sample disk for each release of his software, or if he updated it over time - and if he did, which versions shipped with which samples.

#retrocomputing #preservation #amiga

baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason") wrote:

Responding to every post that notes something awful done by tech with “that’s capitalism” glosses over the fact that tech cos are spending all of their innovations points on coming up with new ways for capitalism to be awful. They’re the new vanguard of abuse.

Boosted by brib@bribstodon.xyz ("brib :neofox_floof:​ :Nonbinary:"):
jtruk ("James / jtruk / crow") wrote:

Thoughts and prayers for the online retail stock of eclipse-watching glasses that can only be delivered from Thursday onwards

Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
jaredwhite@indieweb.social ("Jared White (ResistanceNet ✊)") wrote:

If you're wondering why so many people who build software today are unethical,

may I introduce you to the previous three decades of people who built software unethically. 😕

Yeah I know. It's a hard pill to swallow. I spent most of my career thinking there were a few bad apples. I wasn't willing to admit the whole barrel was spoiled.

If we want to “fix software” we can't merely critique tools. Because ultimately our challenge is cultural in nature. *And real solutions lie in the humanities.*

Boosted by soatok@furry.engineer ("Soatok Dreamseeker 🔜 DEFCON 34"):
Bwee@meow.social ("🩵 Bwee the Fluffdragon 🩵") wrote:

The horse, of course. You can lead a horse to otter, but you can't make it blink!

🐎 🦦

Boosted by soatok@furry.engineer ("Soatok Dreamseeker 🔜 DEFCON 34"):
charlotte@akko.chir.rs ("Charlotte :lotteheartplural:/Cinny :cinny_heart_plural: :thetadelta: :ursaminor: :treblesand: ") wrote:

why would humans hate homosexuality they are called homo sapiens not hetero sapiens

Boosted by soatok@furry.engineer ("Soatok Dreamseeker 🔜 DEFCON 34"):
paulyd@genserver.social ("paulyd II - the wrath of caro-kann") wrote:

On that topic it is wild to me how much of the Internet is completely broken if you use Vivaldi + pihole / add blockers. Strava: broken, Lowes: broken, O'reilly Auto: broken, Harbor Freight? broken. We have lost the plot.

baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason") wrote:

“Criminal Deception in Silicon Valley | Organization Science”

https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2024.19981

> Entrepreneurs construct, perform, and protect illusory appearances (façades) that externally project high-growth performance to audiences while masking ventures’ actual underperformance

Bear this in mind the next time you hear about "AI" firm financial shenanigans

baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason") wrote:

“Venture Fraud”

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract%5Fid=6220259

> Fraudulent entrepreneurs continue to found new VC-backed startups unharmed, suggesting weak market discipline.

And:

> We find that firms initially financed in hotter markets--those with higher valuation multiples--are more likely to commit fraud at some point in the future.

This is why I've been saying, for a long while now, that it's likely that at least some of the "AI" firms are committing fraud

dysfun@treehouse.systems ("gaytabase") wrote:

maybe there is hope for him yet

dysfun@treehouse.systems ("gaytabase") wrote:

okay i did not have terry tao making me laugh on my tarot cards

Boosted by dysfun@treehouse.systems ("gaytabase"):
tao@mathstodon.xyz ("Terence Tao") wrote:

I decided to convert one of the points in my ICM 2026 slides https://teorth.github.io/tao-web/slides/age-of-ai-icm-2026.pdf into a meme format.

Boosted by brib@bribstodon.xyz ("brib :neofox_floof:​ :Nonbinary:"):
gsuberland@chaos.social ("Graham Sutherland / Polynomial") wrote:

it's been a while since I've mentioned it, but my DMs are open for anyone who thinks they maybe have ADHD and wants to know more about it, about the diagnosis process, medication, coping strategies, or whatever. or just ask in public if you want! either way.

I also wrote a bunch of stuff about it here, which may be helpful: https://blog.poly.nomial.co.uk/2024-07-22-a-list-of-adhd-symptoms.html

Boosted by brib@bribstodon.xyz ("brib :neofox_floof:​ :Nonbinary:"):
gsuberland@chaos.social ("Graham Sutherland / Polynomial") wrote:

also gonna point y'all at Dani Donovan, who does amazing ADHD outreach and makes a ton of fun comics and resources.

https://adhddd.com/

brib@bribstodon.xyz ("brib :neofox_floof:​ :Nonbinary:") wrote:

I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Aug 10th 2026 (Easy), in 05:15
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟩🟩🟩
https://cluesbysam.com

Boosted by brib@bribstodon.xyz ("brib :neofox_floof:​ :Nonbinary:"):
stellarskylark@solarpunk.moe ("φ-52 "Skylark"") wrote:

But like to me the best piano-roll style MIDI editor I've ever used is Helio and it's great because it has tooling that gets around the problem that piano rolls are not a good way to represent music graphically :P

like I'm sorry but standard music notation is really really good actually

db@social.lol ("David Bushell 🪿") wrote:

apparently "taste" allows you to cosplay all the roles

"oh let's get the CoPyWrItEr involved 🙄" (7:40) https://syntax.fm/show/1027/the-rise-of-the-design-engineer

db@social.lol ("David Bushell 🪿") wrote:

job insecurity

Boosted by slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell"):
atax1a@infosec.exchange ("mx alex tax1a - 2020 (6)") wrote:

git blame, or as they say in france, g'accuse

Boosted by soatok@furry.engineer ("Soatok Dreamseeker 🔜 DEFCON 34"):
defcon@defcon.social ("DEF CON") wrote:

DEF CON 34 is wrapping up, and it’s been another amazing year.

Thanks to the amazing DEF CON Community for bringing the good energy, curiosity and enthusiasm that makes this little desert shindig so special. From the old heads who remember why we have a dialer and a floppy disk in our logo to the brandest new newbies, you are an amazing tribe of humans. Thank you for sharing your passions, making connections and looking out for each other.

Special thanks to the army of Goons who make this big machine go. A happening like this takes a lot of skilled and patient hands, and we’re eternally grateful to our top-shelf crew.

It’s gonna be another year until DEF CON 35, but take heart. There are DEF CON Groups you can join to keep the vibes going all year. If there’s not one near you, maybe it’s time to think about starting one. Consider sharing your talent with the DEF CON Franklin Project. Stay engaged. The days will fly by.

We’re already thinking of ways to top this year, and we can’t wait to see what you lovable scamps get up to in the off season.

See you soon, everyone.

#defcon #defcon34 #vibesimmaculate #staysafe

Boosted by kornel ("Kornel"):
jschauma@mstdn.social ("Jan Schaumann") wrote:

‘“The world looks different now than when we co-founded the climate pledge,” said Margaret Callahan, an Amazon spokeswoman.’

Yeah, no kidding. IT’S ON FUCKING FIRE because of soulless sacks of shit and the corporate bullshitters like you.

Climate pledge my ass.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/climate/amazon-data-center-texas-pollution.html

Boosted by jwz:
RadicalGraffiti@todon.eu ("Radical Graffiti") wrote:

"Go ahead and destroy the AI Data Centers Godzilla, make the people happy!!!"

Poster spotted in Naarm / Melbourne

Boosted by jwz:
RadicalGraffiti@todon.eu ("Radical Graffiti") wrote:

"The only AI I support is Abolish ICE"
Sticker spotted in NYC