Tootfinder

I’ve been working on some Python code for a few days now… just an hour or so in the evening as time allows. I could probably use some AI Slop Generator to quickly kick out what I need, but that’s not gonna happen.
No, Nope, No Way.
I actually *want* to write the code, and understand it, and know that every choice was mine, even if I make mistakes along the way.
If I publish it I want it to be from me, not from me and the AI Slop Generator and every codebase it ever stole …

AI can’t make mistakes*, but you can make the mistake of believing AI can make mistakes.
*they don’t have a mind, cannot think, don’t conceptualize and have no understanding of anything, therefore they can’t be mistaken

I can image a developer parallel to the first, too: the human still using all their skills and experience, but with the machine catching mistakes, providing context and validation and vigilance that is •orthogonal to• testing and type checking and code crafting and — the big one! — actually •thinking• about the problem.
That’s a regime I imagine developers would feel a lot better about. And I know there are people out there pursuing it! But they’re not the ones dominating the conversation.
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TIL that WB0RLJ Jim posts videos of his POTA activations keyed by time, so you can find your call in his video description with a link straight to the time in the video. Very cool!
I also read his QRZ page and discovered that I did something that he dislikes. I've heard other ops say that if someone gives a partial call, you should reply with your sign twice to cut down on back-and-forth, and now I kn…

I updated my page on mosquito-control tips to include Thermacells (I own 2), plus added a section on the Mosquito Magnet and Biogents Mosquitaire (neither of which I've tested but I have some thoughts). #mosquitoes https://colinpurrington.com/fighting-mosquitoes/

Degrowth and socialist comrades, what should we be doing?
Ted Trainer* This is an attempt to clarify this discussion of degrowth strategy, a topic on which I think there is considerable confusion and mistaken approaches. Debate has recently been fuelled by Jason Hickel’s argument for a socialist position on both the goal and the means do it for degrowth. Liegey, Nelson and Leahy replied against Jason, defending the wide and diverse range of strategies now…

Degrowth and socialist comrades, what should we be doing?
Ted Trainer* This is an attempt to clarify this discussion of degrowth strategy, a topic on which I think there is considerable confusion and mistaken approaches. Debate has recently been fuelled b…

Great thread on cast iron skillets.
And lower down they mention cast iron woks.
I would put my votes in for cast iron griddles and dutch ovens as well.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pkakkdcfdr6inetyj737kzpd/post/3mlwkjixdpk2u

Der Fisher (@blackholefun.bsky.social)
Every time I see people posting on the internet about cast iron skillets, I am reminded that people genuinely seem to think they're mystical objects that either must be babied or need incantations to work properly. All of these conversations miss why your grandparents had a badass cast iron skillet.

Oh, dear thing, did you see a post by a Palestinian facing genocide on your favourite fucking sci-fi hashtag by mistake? You, poor, delicate flower. Do you think you’ll survive? Should we call 911? @… ht…

In today's Two Minutes Hate, I'd like to talk about automatic translations on Reddit.
As a user of English as a second language I find them annoying for two reasons.
One - they always rank high in search results when I specifically need LOCAL knowledge on the topic, coming from other folks from my country, and anything else is useless to me.
Two - when the Reddit thread contains reference to a nationality, e.g. "As a Finnish", their translation switches that to "Jako Polak" ("as a Pole"). And that makes things confusing as hell if I make a grave mistake of diving into a thread I shouldn't have touched in the first place (usually due to the Reason Number One).
I used to appreciate Reddit a lot in the past, but of course it couldn't last forever.

Consider those two different versions of the radiologist’s role: one as a valued human augmented by a machine, doing a job they believe in better than they’ve ever done it — and the other as a cog in a corporate process whose job is to perpetually deal with the machine’s mistakes.
Consider the parallels in software development. All vibe coding and “agentic” stuff points to the second: developers as slop wranglers, as accountability sinks, as exhausted and expendable workers on a code assembly line.
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