@cdarwin@c.im2026-08-15 22:08:49
Trump’s tendency to point fingers at others is increasingly in the spotlight
As November’s midterm elections approach Republicans are trying to retain control of Congress
But Trump's unwillingness to accept blame sometimes leads him to deny that there are problems at all,
and could leave GOP leaders in tight races with little reassurance for voters that their concerns are being addressed.
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2026-07-12 16:28:07
Since it was relevant to a discussion I just had on here and is something most people probably haven't thought about much (unless you've taken one of a handful of philosophy classes), I thought I'd try to lay out a key piece of Descartes' Meditations (#philosophy
@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng2026-08-02 15:30:26
Reinhold Messner's moving message about the recent death of Nirmal Purja and ten others:
What matters is being there while that person is still alive. Listening, especially in difficult times. Staying present when someone feels lost. Sometimes the greatest gift is simply to let them speak and to be heard.
I know what it feels like to leave someone you love behind in the mountains. A pain so profound it takes your breath away.
And yet l also know that, for some, …
@aredridel@kolektiva.social2026-07-11 17:06:34
For those that don't know, I help run a large women in technology chat group on Slack. It's been going for 11 years now! (ask me for an invite if you want one and that's appropriate!)
It has deeply shaped how I think about technology, especially the social side. There is so much embodied knowledge in that community, it's amazing. And it's also such a window into how much the mainstream of technology writing is dominated by men. We talk about it differently! We're much more likely to be critical, and to be critical of the _structures_ in tech. Sometimes that comes off as kneejerk "Ugh BRIAN!" to some of the bullshit men to do women in the workplace, but also embedded underneath is an understanding of rarely-mapped power structures in the field. So much advice out there is written assuming that there is no dissent, no silent frustration, no quiet abandoning the job when the pressures are unresolved. And so much of the tech world, press and on social media alike, has no insight that this attrition even happens.
Women, collectively, though, understand it. We notice the patterns of promotions. We understand the way that if we're in our 40s, we're rather likely to have a manager who is a decade younger than we are, with no particular experience. We notice when men are lauded for spending time with their family instead of work on occasion, but women are expected to be present at all times and rarely seen positively for doing the exact same things.
And yet, any given instance is always shrouded in deniability. The pattern generally holds, but is this one my fault? Do I not measure up? Or is it sexism?
That's what these structures rob from us: we never have the clarity in feedback that it is accurate, that is us that must change. When we stick to our guns, are we being obstinate, or are we correct? That information is denied to us by sexism. It only becomes clear in aggregate, and even then it is very hard to find action to take on it except to acknowledge it and move on.
I don't think people talk about that ambiguity enough: we're always looking for the clear sexism, the man speaking over the women, the trading sexual favors for advancement, the clear pattern of pet-to-threat that so many women experience as they age or gain skill in the field. But the bulk of sexism that we experience is in the structural poisoning of feedback.
@elduvelle@neuromatch.social2026-09-08 16:58:42
Do you think all the problems of the world would stop if we removed the concept of Money?
No more bank accounts
No more trading or investments
No more paying people to do your dirty work (at least, not with money)
No more constant push towards getting More Money?
...or will it just be replaced by something else?
#Money
@pre@boing.world2026-09-15 22:37:15
Started up some improv again now the summer is over. Eight weeks of practice together then a few shows in November.
Three hour sessions are like 50% more hardcore than two hour sessions.
Seems like the instructor is more interventionist than most. More notes and suggestions as we go.
Same note to me as usual though: Slow down, be more grounded, let it simmer a bit first.
He mentioned Lord Of The Rings, and how its all world-building and slow pacing for the first twenty minutes before the action starts.
Is it? Wouldn't know. I got bored and turned it off before the end. Dreadfully dull story I thought. Just marching up and down. 😆
I'm sure they're right though. It's a hangover from the way you train early with short form. There, if something doesn't happen in the first 2 minutes it doesn't happen at all and you gotta establish setting and relationships immediately.
But I notice also that these days half the podcasts and youtube shows start with a clip from the middle. And I usually skip right to minute five anyway because I don't care about the introductions.
#improv #writing #london
@nelson@tech.lgbt2026-09-16 15:39:50
I just watched one AI agent learn from another. Claude suggested a dumb way to do something, I asked Gemini and it gave me a better way. I then showed it to Claude and it agreed it was better and remembered it for next time.
Look, I know all that really happened is the stochastic parrot wrote some strings into MEMORY.md. It's not "thinking" or "remembering", it's a giant pile of logistic functions running some simple program commands. But it sure feels like one AI learned something from another AI. And it functionally acts like that.
The more I work with AIs the more I wonder if simulating intelligence and being intelligent are meaningfully different.
@haayman@todon.nl2026-08-01 12:20:30
Ja, daar was ik al bang voor: dat Scandinavië Europa's vluchtoord wordt
Zwarte Zaterdag: ruim 1000 kilometer file in Frankrijk, ook druk naar Scandinavië
- https://nos.nl/l/2625165
@markhburton@mstdn.social2026-08-21 07:53:24
‘Very unusual’: UK Palestine activists could be sentenced as terrorists | Courts News | Al Jazeera
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/21/very-unusual-uk-palestine-activists-could-be-sentenced-as-terrorists?tra…
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2026-08-16 23:32:08
Just finished reading "The Beast Player" by Nahoko Uehashi. I had already watched the anime, but it had been so king I didn't remember all the details. While the anime was great, the book is even better, and it's going to be high on my list of things to recommend to my children when they're old enough to read for fun.
The neurodivergent representation is cool, as is the deep central question of interspecies bonds and the political possibilities and dangers they entail. Uehashi handles the exploration of that question well in my judgment, including appropriate ambiguity without muddying moral clarity. Elin is a truly fantastic protagonist, not without flaws but nevertheless a excellent role model and a very sympathetic figure without being pitiful.
One thing I really love about Uehashi's writing is that she's not shy about using interior narration to tell the reader directly what a variety of characters are feeling, but when she does this she focuses on human contradictions, quirks, and weaknesses that make those characters feel much richer, and that remind the reader of all the ways our weird and sometimes contradictory or inexplicable quirks guide our actions just as much as both logical thought and predictable/expected feelings. None of the characters is an unerring source of wisdom, with every grand principle presented shown to have its weaknesses and biases, and even the wisest characters making mistakes and learning from them.
Overall, a wonderful book, and having also seen the "Seirei no Moribito" anime but not read the books, I'm excited to dig into more of Uehashi's extensive catalog.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon