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@cdarwin@c.im
2026-04-16 04:08:08

The small town of Festus, Missouri
— a community made up of just under 14,000 people
— has become a focal point over the growing backlash against
AI data centers entering communities across the country.
Following the approval of a $6 billion data center project,
voters removed four of the eight members of the Festus city council,
as well as started a petition to remove the remaining city council members and the mayor, reports Politico.

Small Missouri town ousts half its city council after $6 billion AI data center approval — petition calls for mayor's removal as frustration (and violence) over AI data centers mounts
A lawsuit is also seeking to undo the project's approval.

@leftsidestory@mstdn.social
2026-01-17 00:30:00

Gloom & Bloom IV ☁️🌺
黑暗绽放 IV ☁️ 🌺
📷 Zeiss IKON Super Ikonta 533/16
🎞️ Lucky SHD 400
#filmphotography #Photography #blackandwhite

Lucky SHD 400 (6x6) English: This black-and-white photograph captures an urban scene under a clear sky. In the foreground, there are trees with dense foliage, and a pedestrian staircase leading up to an elevated walkway or bridge. The staircase is flanked by a tall streetlight. The bridge extends horizontally across the image, supported by pillars. The overall atmosphere is calm, with a focus on the architectural elements and the contrast between the sky and the structures. Chinese (中文): 这张黑白照片…
Ilford HP5 Plus 400 (FF) English: This black-and-white photograph captures a daytime scene at a sports field or park. A row of empty bleacher seats is visible in the foreground, aligned along a chain-link fence. The fence is illuminated by day light, casting dramatic shadows and highlights. The background is dark, with silhouettes of trees and foliage, creating a stark contrast between the lit area and the shadows. Chinese (中文): 这张黑白照片拍摄于日间的运动场或公园。前景是一排空荡的看台座椅，沿着铁丝网围栏排列。围栏被明亮的日光照亮，投射出戏剧性的阴影和高光…
Lucky SHD 400 (6x6) English: This black-and-white image features a close-up of a white fire hydrant sign, which is shaped like a hydrant with an arch above it. The sign is positioned in front of a row of trees, creating a sense of depth. The trees are tall and slender, with their trunks and branches forming a rhythmic pattern. The background includes a paved path and neatly trimmed bushes, adding to the orderly and serene atmosphere of the scene. Chinese (中文): 这张黑白照片特写了一块白色消防栓标志，标志形状像消防栓，上方有拱形…
Lucky SHD 400 (6x6) English: This black-and-white image depicts a serene park or forest path. Tall, slender trees line both sides of the path, their trunks and branches creating a natural corridor. Two people are walking along the path in the distance, adding a sense of scale and life to the scene. The sunlight filters through the leaves, casting dappled light and shadow on the ground, enhancing the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere. Chinese (中文): 这张黑白照片展示了宁静的公园或森林小径。两侧是高大苗条的树木，树干和枝条形成天然走廊。远处有两个…
@qurlyjoe@mstdn.social
2026-03-15 01:40:51

#silentSunday
Sprague Lake, #RockyMountainNationalPark

A photo taken at Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s been snowing, and is still snowing. The sun has risen an hour ago and the clouds are not that deep so the sky is washed out. Across the bottom 2/3 of the image, dense pine forest appears hazy because of the large snowflakes falling gently. Across the bottom of the image the lake is mostly snow-covered except for what looks like a band of open water but is really ice. There is a log at the right side, and a chunk of tree trunk i…
@aredridel@kolektiva.social
2026-04-14 14:22:42

So to follow up on this, I've caught it in action. Models, when quantized a bit, just do a bit more poorly with short contexts. Even going from f32 (as trained) to bf16 (as usually run) to q8 tends to do okay for "normal" context windows. And q4 you start feeling like "this model is a little stupid and gets stuck sometimes” (it is! It's just that it's still mostly careening about in the space of "plausible" most of the time. Not good guesswork, but still in the zone). With long contexts, the probability of parameters collapsing to zero are higher, so the more context the more likelihood you are to see brokenness.
And then at Q2 (2 bits per parameter) or Q1, the model falls apart completely. Parameters collapse to zero easily. You start seeing "all work and no play makes jack a dull boy” sorts of behavior, with intense and unscrutinized repetition, followed by a hard stop when it just stops working.
And quantization is a parameter that a model vendor can turn relatively easily. (they have to regenerate the model from the base with more quantization, but it's a data transformation on the order of running a terabyte through a straightforward and fast process, not like training).
If you have 1000 customers and enough equipment to handle the requests of 700, going from bf16 to q8 is a no-brainer. Suddenly you can handle the load and have a little spare capacity. They get worse results, probably pay the same per token (or they're on a subscription that hides the cost anyway so you are even freer to make trade-offs. There's a reason that subscription products are kinda poorly described.)
It's also possible for them to vary this across a day: use models during quieter periods? Maybe you get an instance running a bf16 quantization. If you use it during a high use period? You get a Q4 model.
Or intelligent routing is possible. No idea if anyone is doing this, but if they monitor what you send a bit, and you generally shoot for an expensive model for simple requests? They could totally substitute a highly quantized version of the model to answer the question.
There are •so many tricks• that can be pulled here. Some of them very reasonable to make, some of them treading into outright misleading or fraudulent, and it's weirdly hard to draw the line between them.

@cdarwin@c.im
2026-03-16 15:54:21

Oil prices have climbed again amid mounting supply fears after the US struck Iran’s vital Kharg Island oil hub and Donald Trump demanded allies help reopen the strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.8% to $104.98 per barrel during early trading on Monday.
Another weekend of violence across the Middle East compounded concerns over the conflict, and its ramifications for global energy markets.
Trump claimed on Saturday that US strikes had “totally …

Oil prices rise after Trump claims US ‘totally demolished’ Iran’s Kharg Island export hub
Another weekend of violence compounded global market concerns over war in the Middle East, following US strikes on the vital oil hub

@davej@dice.camp
2026-04-13 00:41:47

“Originally launched as a casual meet-up in a cafe, the club has flourished into a network of offline events across Europe.
“Facilitators now organise sessions in 18 cities, and the club has built a following of around 600,000 on Instagram.”
'A simpler way of being': The rise of the offline club

'A simpler way of being': The rise of the offline club
There's a growing movement of young people coming together to switch off their phones and rediscover life offline.

@leftsidestory@mstdn.social
2026-02-15 00:30:02

Rare Colours Red 🟥🟥
稀有的色彩红 🟥🟥
📷 Pentax MX
🎞️ Cinestill 800T (FF)
#filmphotography #Photography #Art

CineStill 800T (FF) A nighttime scene showing a glowing green neon sign viewed through a window. The sign reads “THE MUSIC STREET,” but the letters appear reversed because they are seen from behind the glass. The neon light reflects strongly on the surface, creating a bright green haze. Behind the sign, faint outlines of plants and a building with lit windows are visible, giving the scene an urban, atmospheric feeling. Image 1 – 中文替代文字 夜间场景，一块绿色霓虹灯牌透过玻璃窗被看到。灯牌上写着“THE MUSIC STREET”，但因从玻璃背面观看，文字…
CineStill 800T (FF) Image 3 – English Alt Text A paved walkway with embedded horizontal red LED light strips glowing at night. Several people walk across the area, but only their legs and feet are visible. The red lights contrast with the gray stone surface, creating a modern, graphic pattern that guides movement or adds decorative interest. Image 3 – 中文替代文字 一条铺石步道上嵌有水平红色 LED 灯带，在夜间发光。几个人从灯带上方走过，只能看到他们的腿和脚。红光与灰色石面形成鲜明对比，呈现出现代感强烈的视觉效果。
CineStill 800T (FF) Image 2 – English Alt Text A building entrance at night illuminated by bright red neon signage. The wall displays a grid of English and Chinese words related to gemstones and jewelry, such as “silver,” “jade,” “pearl,” “ruby,” and “emerald.” The entrance has glass doors showing a brightly lit interior. Silhouettes of people stand or walk in front of the building, adding a sense of movement and urban energy. Image 2 – 中文替代文字 夜间的建筑入口被红色霓虹灯照亮。墙面上以网格形式展示与宝石和珠宝相关的中英文词语，如“silver”…
CineStill 800T (FF) Image 4 – English Alt Text A modern outdoor shopping area at night with illuminated storefronts. Visible signs include “WETIDONE,” “GENTLE MONSTER,” and “Vivienne Westwood.” A large digital screen displays a man in a blue jacket as part of an advertisement. Directional signs in Chinese and English point toward “SOUTH PIAZZA” and “SANLITUN ROAD.” A few people walk through the brightly lit commercial space. Image 4 – 中文替代文字 夜间的现代户外商业区，店铺灯光明亮。可见的招牌包括“WETIDONE”“GENTLE MONSTER”“…
@cdarwin@c.im
2026-02-11 06:11:38

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are accusing the Justice Department of
covering up the names of co-conspirators of the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
as fallout from the Epstein files grows across the globe.
Millions of pages remain unreleased.
As many prominent U.S. figures evade accountability following mentions in the Epstein files,
a number of European figures have resigned for their relationships with Epstein.
“The most extraordinary and worrying …

Protecting Pedophile Predators: Carole Cadwalladr on Jeffrey Epstein & the Elite’s Veil of Silence
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are accusing the Justice Department of covering up the names of co-conspirators of the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as fallout from the Epstein files grows across the globe. Millions of pages remain unreleased. As many prominent U.S. figures evade accountability following mentions in the Epstein files, a number of European figures have resigned for their relationships with Epstein. “The most extraordinary and worrying thing of what is going on in the United …

@leftsidestory@mstdn.social
2026-04-13 02:24:06

Human Traces VI ⛩️
人类踪迹 VI ⛩️
📷 Pentax MX
🎞️ Harman Red 125 （FF）
If you like my work, Support by buying me a coffee or a roll of film from PayPal paypal.com/paypalme/ydcdingsite

Harman Red 125 (FF) ##English A sepia-toned photograph featuring a landscape with traditional Chinese architecture. The image shows a cluster of buildings with curved, tiled roofs, likely part of a historical or cultural site. The buildings are nestled among trees on a hillside, with a larger structure visible at the top of the hill. The sky is clear, and the overall atmosphere is serene. ##中文 一张带有棕褐色调的照片，展示了传统中国建筑的风景。图中有一群建筑，屋顶为弯曲的瓦片结构，可能属于某个历史或文化遗址。这些建筑坐落在山坡上的树木之间，山顶上有一个较大的建筑物。天空晴朗，整体氛围宁静。
Harman Red 125 (FF) ##English A red-tinted landscape photograph of a mountainous area with buildings scattered across the hills. The sky is a gradient of red and orange, creating a dramatic and intense atmosphere. The buildings appear to be nestled within the mountainous terrain, blending with the natural surroundings. ##中文 一张带红色调的山区风景照片，山坡上散布着一些建筑物。天空呈红橙色渐变，营造出戏剧性和强烈的氛围。建筑物融入山区地形，与自然环境相互映衬。
Harman Red 125 (FF) ##English A red-tinted photograph of a traditional Chinese building with a red flag flying on a flagpole. The building has a classic curved roof and is surrounded by trees. A crowd of people is gathered in front of the building, suggesting a public or ceremonial event. The sky is red, adding a dramatic effect to the scene. ##中文 一张带红色调的照片，展示了一座传统中国建筑，建筑上方有一面红旗在旗杆上飘扬。建筑物具有经典的弯曲屋顶，周围环绕着树木。建筑前聚集了一群人，暗示可能是公共活动或仪式。天空呈红色，为场景增添了戏剧性效果。
Harman Red 125 (FF) ##English A red-tinted landscape photograph of a mountain range. The sky is a gradient of orange and red hues, possibly indicating a sunrise or sunset. The mountains are silhouetted against the sky, with a faint moon visible near the top center of the image. The overall scene is dramatic and atmospheric. ##中文 一张带红色调的山脉风景照片。天空呈现橙红色渐变，可能是日出或日落时分。山脉在天空的映衬下形成剪影，图片上方中央有一轮淡淡的月亮。整个场景富有戏剧性且氛围感强烈。
@cdarwin@c.im
2026-03-10 18:14:51

Just as they’re gearing up for planting season, U.S. farmers already stretched by high input costs and low commodity prices are watching the price of fertilizer go up.
The recent conflict in Iran, the following closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the resulting impacts to global markets are hitting farmers particularly hard right now.
The wholesale price of urea, the nitrogen input the U.S. imports the most of, had a high-low spread of $460–480 per short ton the week of Feb. 27, j…

Fertilizer Prices Jump as Strait of Hormuz Closure Hits Farmers
Fertilizer prices are rising sharply as the Strait of Hormuz closure disrupts global nitrogen supplies, squeezing farmers just weeks before peak spring application.