@Techmeme@techhub.socialThe US DOJ says Peter Williams, former boss of L3Harris' Trenchant, stole and sold tools that can hack millions of computers worldwide to a Russian broker (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/…
@ruth_mottram@fediscience.orgLeaving Antarctica with computers full of data, notebooks full of notes numbers and just about as much kit as we brought ( some waste for correct disposal). Travelling out via the gobsmacking #WhiteDesert.
#Antarctica, you've been wonderful, who knows when we'll meet again... #iQ2300
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioIt’s really funny to watch a almost 15-year old Apple product intro and the specs for the computer are virtually the same as the specs for computers you can buy now
15-inch retina screen
512GB SSD
8GB RAM
USB3, MagSafe, HDMI, Thunderbolt, SD card slot
~$2,500 in 2012
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@niklaskorz@rheinneckar.social
@dr2chase@ohai.socialIs Our Computers Learning?
"The name on your account must exactly match the name on your reservations to ensure that you receive mileage credit and other benefits."
Global Entry number matches, passport number matches, date of birth matches, but no, if there's a difference in the name, including that usually optional middle initial and/or full middle name, I'm sorry, we were too busy training LLMs to handle basic fucking database 101.
@trezzer@social.linux.pizza
@grumpybozo@toad.socialThis is my 1st time learning of #Guacamole, despite being an ASF Member. Looks cool…
Basically a J2EE app that talks HTML5 with WebSocket (or falls back to a custom HTTP-based stream proto) to a JS client in the browser on the front end, and speaks its own abstract remote desktop proto to a backend proxy that talks RDP or VNC to desktop servers. Apparently there’s also a X11 graphics drive…
@fanf@mendeddrum.orgfrom my link log —
A gallery of early computers, 1940s - 1960s.
https://royal.pingdom.com/retro-delight-gallery-of-early-computers-1940s-1960s/
saved 2019-03-17
@metacurity@infosec.exchange"A pair of US lawmakers are calling for an investigation into how easily spies can steal information based on devices’ electromagnetic and acoustic leaks—a spying trick the NSA once codenamed TEMPEST"
https://www.wired.com/story/how-vulnerable
@iam_jfnklstrm@social.linux.pizzaQ: I run Ubuntu 25.10 and use filen.io to mount a cloud service to sync files between computers (limited to a specific folder). But it doesn't work to autostart it as it is out of sandbox - is there any way to go around that limitation? It has worked before and I trus filen.io so I have no issues to use some kind of fix to cirkumvent the settings for that specific app. #linux
@UP8@mastodon.social‘No Kings Act’ sails through House despite Republican pushback
https://marylandmatters.org/2026/04/10/no-kings-act-sails-through-house-despite-republican-pushback/
@servelan@newsie.social“The DOJ is giving Congress just four computers in a satellite office to read the unredacted Epstein File of more than 3 million documents. Working 40 hours a week on nothing else but this, it would take more than seven years for the 217 Members who signed the House discharge petition to read just the documents they’ve decided to release (and there are 3 million still being withheld)."
‘A Bunch Of Sick Fucks’: Lawmakers Review Unredacted Epstein Files
https://washingtoncurrent.substack.com/p/a-bunch-of-sick-fucks-lawmakers-review
@Techmeme@techhub.socialFrance says it plans to move government computers running Windows to Linux, to further reduce its reliance on US technology, without providing a timeline (Zack Whittaker/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/10/france-to-ditch-windows-f…
@qurlyjoe@mstdn.socialOk, first, I’m genuinely curious about this. Honestly, I’m not trolling. I toyed briefly with some version of *nix years ago (maybe 20 or so) but didn’t get it, or it didn’t get me, or something, and I’ve been content to let Apple do all the heavy lifting for me and my computers. That said, can someone explain to me why there are so many versions, or implementations of it? What’s the point of that? Feel free to
@StephenRees@mas.toFrom SPEC #Vancouver
Get Road Ready - FREE Bike Tune-ups at the Repair Café!
Spots for bicycles, computers/electronics/tech support, and textiles are still available.
📍Trout Lake Community Centre
📅 Saturday, March 22
🕤 9:30am–1:30pm
@trezzer@social.linux.pizzaI saw an Explaining Computers video about the Peripad-506 trackpad, and while he cautioned that not all features were working outside of Windows, enough of it worked in Linux that I wanted to get it, as I need something gentle on the hand at the moment. I'm happy to report that it just works great in KDE. Maybe it is better supported now than when he tested it; gestures, 2- and 3-finger taps etc. work great, and I'm using it on a tablet that already has a trackpad, but they show up a…
@skaverat@skaverat.netSurprising that they are using #Microsoft on #orion
You'd think they would be afraid to open windows
@cdarwin@c.imQuantum computers must be cooled to extremely low temperatures to minimize vibrations and prevent errors.
So far, chip-based systems have been limited to inefficient and slow cooling methods.
Now, a team of researchers at MIT and MIT Lincoln Laboratory has implemented a much faster and more energy-efficient method for cooling photonic chip-based quantum computers.
Their approach achieved cooling to about 10 times below the limit of standard laser cooling.
Key to this te…
@netzschleuder@social.skewed.defoldoc: FOLDOC entries (2002)
A network of hyperlinks among entries in the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC, www.foldoc.org), an online dictionary of acronyms and technical terms for computers. An edge points from i to j if the term j is referred to in the entry for term i. Edge weight denotes number of uses of the same term.
This network has 13356 nodes and 120238 edges.
Tags: Informational, Web graph, Weighted
@cellfourteen@social.petertoushkov.euArtemis II astronaut finds two Outlook instances running on computers, calls on Houston to fix Microsoft anomaly — puzzled caller describes ‘two Outlooks, and neither one of those are working’ | Tom's Hardware https://share.google/lLHJOLGiopWU2S1xo
@karlauerbach@sfba.socialEvery now and then I like to remind people of this highly prescient report.
(I have the original printed version and it is the size of a book.)
Records, Computers and the Rights of Citizens: Report of the HEW Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems
1973
https://epic.org/documents/hew1973repo
@metacurity@infosec.exchangeCheck out today's Metacurity for the most crucial infosec developments you should know, including
--Italy says it foiled Russian cyberattacks on foreign ministries, Olympics websites,
--NFL deploys cyber squad to secure Super Bowl,
--ShinyHunters takes credit for UPenn and Harvard attacks,
--Ransomware gangs are exploiting high-severity VMware ESXi sandbox escape vulnerability,
--Canada Computers & Electronics breach reached 1,300,
--SystemBC malwar…
@shriramk@mastodon.socialWe have made so much progress in computing. In the 50s, people told Grace Hopper they wouldn't use her compiler because "computers could only do arithmetic; they could not do programs". Now, LLMs can do easily do programs, what they can't do is arithmetic.
https://www.
@portaloffreedom@social.linux.pizzaThe common understanding is that modern "AI" is based on abuse. It's abusing copyright, it's abusing server hosting and it's abusing its users too. On top of that they are absuing the economy too, making it harder to buy computers and possibly creating the seed for a macro global economic collapse.
Many people here are at the short end of the stick: artists, sysadmins, and computer people that like to own their own computing devices. Plus many are post boomers, wh…
@gadgetboy@gadgetboy.socialOpenClaw is What Apple Intelligence Should Have Been
Yep.
I run my instance on Ubuntu Server in a Proxmox VM in my home lab, but it would be nice to take advantage of some of the Apple-specific workflows on a dedicated Mac Mini.
https://www.jakequist.com/thoughts/opencla…
@danyork@mastodon.socialI do so love this idea of using manual #typewriters as a way for students to understand life before our computers (and before #AI ) -
@andres4ny@social.ridetrans.itThe cloud is just other peoples' computers [experiencing a missile strike].
@theodric@social.linux.pizzacomputers were a huge mistake
@socallinuxexpo@social.linux.pizza@… will speak on 'UI Lessons from Antique Computers' as part of our General track at SCaLE 23x. Full details: https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/23x/p
@blakes7bot@mas.torpidity.netSeries B, Episode 02 - Shadow
ZEN: There are traces of an element -
BLAKE: All right, Zen, we've got enough. Have the navigation computers set in a course for the planet Zondar.
ZEN: Confirmed.
AVON: Wait.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/202/392 B7B5
@filmfacts@social.tchncs.deDer gute Junge rührt kein Ohr am Koppe mehr. #Bildschirm geht an, #Festplatte und Lüfter laufen, aber es kommt kein Bild. Habe erstmal eine neue Batterie für's Board bestellt. Das war beim letzten Mal der Grund.
@v_i_o_l_a@openbiblio.social"Digital Technologies and Reading Habits of Students: A Scoping Review"
https://doi.org/10.1515/opis-2025-0040
"This scoping review aims to map the literature on the types of digital technologies and the purposes of using digital technologies by secondary school students."
@rasterweb@mastodon.socialSo I tested a split keyboard last week, and there were a few things that bothered me about it (more on that later) so I figured I would look for other keyboards...
Oh shit, rabbit hole!
I didn't find any split keyboard that I liked, and besides that they are super expensive! Like, I've paid less for computers than some of those keyboards cost.
So then I thought about building one, but that gets expensive as well, and...
1/n
@toxi@mastodon.thi.ngClaude Code source leak reveals how much info Anthropic can hoover up about you and your system
"Anthropic's Claude Code lacks the persistent kernel access of a rootkit. But an analysis of its code shows that the agent can exercise far more control over people's computers than even the most clear-eyed reader of contractual terms might suspect. It retains lots of your data and is even willing to hide its authorship from open-source projects that reject AI."
@gwire@mastodon.socialSaw some reactions to a suggestion made, by a black British celebrity, that former-colonial powers, like the UK, still exert a negative influence on former-colonial African nations.
An opinion that would largely go unremarked if from a white academic or campaigner, is here framed as "ungrateful".
Not long to go now until news outlets routinely run AI-generated "opinion" pieces on these lines, that can't be described as racist since computers aren't hum…
@fanf@mendeddrum.orgfrom my link log —
A cryptography engineer’s perspective on quantum computing timelines
https://words.filippo.io/crqc-timeline/
saved 2026-04-06 https://
@dfupdate@social.linux.pizzaUpdate logo scrolling past in the #revision infobeam rotation :D
#revision2026 #revisionparty2026
@ErikJonker@mastodon.social
@elduvelle@neuromatch.socialI'm thinking of installing #Tunderbird on my different Linux computers, but I'm worried that it will go the same way as #Firefox with their forcing of #GenAI on users...
Does anyone have any i…
@vform@openbiblio.socialHm, Doom läuft inzwischen auf Zahnbürsten und nun lernen pythonprogrammierte Gehirnzellen das Spielen von Doom in einer Wochen. Hey, was soll schief gehen, Skynet hat auch mal klein angefangen ;) :D
Human brain cells on a chip learned to play Doom in a week: https://www.
@daniel@social.telemetrydeck.comRE: https://wandering.shop/@cstross/115995187467947699
Ten years ago I was trying really hard to launch a startup in the aerospace industry and this is one of the ideas we considered. The reason why this can’t work is heat, which is produced by computers th…
@publicvoit@graz.socialIs there a #Thunderbolt dock that can be connected to 2(!) computers via #USB-C?
It should support:
maybe 2x Thunderbolt USB-C input (from 2 different computers)
2x 4K TFT output (HDMI and/or DP)
Power delivery
>= 4 USB-A input/switch (USB 3) for peripheral devices (keyboard, mo…
@piger@mastodon.socialThe practice of downloading the same stuff over and over in today's development process bothered me for a while now, and I'm thinking if the alternative (caching) would have less environmental impact.
Going with caching, we would be replacing these big distribution points plus all the network gear in between with smaller local distribution points and less network; is that any better?
Build times would be shorter, but now there are more computers involved (all these smaller…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialA cryptography engineer calls for urgent rollout of post-quantum cryptography schemes, saying the risk of inaction is now unacceptable, after Google's warning (Filippo Valsorda)
https://words.filippo.io/crqc-timeline/
@iam_jfnklstrm@social.linux.pizzaVillhöver den här - men har inget egentligt behov eftersom jag köpte en refurbad laptop som jag fixade till och som därför funkar kämpegrejt nu. Men OM den for till himlen... https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/TUXEDO-InfinityBook-Pro-14-Gen10.tuxedo#gallery
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io1. Programming languages exist purely to make it easier for humans to tell computers what to do
2. Programming languages are invented by programmers who suck at making things for humans
3. Programming languages aren’t actually that easy to use
4. Coding LLMs exist purely to make it easier for humans to write code to tell computers what to do
5. Coding LLMs were invented by programmers who suck at making things for humans
6. ?
@mxp@mastodon.acm.org“College courses in computers may be creating digital criminals.”
#UndoneCS
@n8foo@macaw.socialJust got back from middle school STEAM night. I did "Analog Synthesis: The Science of Sound"
“Learn how electronic music was made before computers, using electrical signals instead of digital technology…”
This went so well! I setup an ARP, a Moog, and an oscilloscope. We did waveforms, R2-D2 squeals, Close Encounters, Stranger Things, etc. A teacher let me borrow a big DIY subwoofer and we rattled the windows of that 8th grade math classroom! Haha!
@philip@mastodon.mallegolhansen.comWrote a webpage in HTML. Like 10 lines.
Found a bug in mobile Safari’s default stylesheet.
Computers.
Can’t live with them, can’t live… what’s that? You can live without them?
Boy I should give that a try.
@Simone21@mastodon.social#Buchempfehlung
Douglas Rushkoff: “The Survival of the Richest.
Warum wir vor den Tech-Milliardären noch nicht einmal auf dem Mars sicher sind.»
Douglas Rushkoff zeigt in seinem Buch auf, wie wir von den Anfängen des Computers an den Punkt gekommen sind, an dem wir uns jetzt befinden.
Er beschreibt, wie Peter Thiel und seine Kollegen, die obszön reiche Kaste, ticken…
@alejandrobdn@social.linux.pizzaMy government offers public subsidies for buying computers and laptops. That’s great, right? I’ve been able to use a modern laptop for the first time in years. After buying a laptop with that subsidy, I received an email informing me that the antivirus connection couldn’t be detected.
- Yeah, so? I don’t need antivirus software. I use GNU/Linux and common sense, and that’s been enough for two decades.
- Yeah, but you have to install Windows 11 Pro and this antivirus so we don’t pe…
@UP8@mastodon.social🧮 The Texas Instruments CC-40 invades Gopherspace (plus TI-74 BASICALC)
http://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-texas-instruments-cc-40-invades.html
#calculator
@fgraver@hcommons.socialAI is McDonald’s. That Will Be Good, Bad, and Catalytic for Civil Rights Advocacy. | TechPolicy.Press https://techpolicy.press/ai-is-mcdonalds-that-will-be-good-bad-and-catalytic-for-civil-rights-advocacy
@karlauerbach@sfba.socialWe know that the present administration is dumber than a pile of rocks. But this ban on foreign made consumer "routers" takes a special cake of its own.
This policy fails to understand that a "router" is a prettied-up computer, often using standard PC X86-64 or ARM architecture, with some wifi and ethernet interfaces. Like all computers, it is an empty box until software is added. And like all computers it can be programmed to do may things, only one of which is …
@Techmeme@techhub.socialFinnish startup IQM Quantum Computers raised €50M from BlackRock to accelerate its global growth, ahead of a planned dual US and Helsinki IPO later in 2026 (Anne Kauranen/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/business/blackrock
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scotOK, I'm done. I'm too stupid to program computers today.
@usul@piaille.frSpectre gcr - Atari ST/TT/Falcon Computers - AtariAge Forums
#atari
@boris@cosocial.caThe third path here -- beyond personal computers or renting them from the cloud -- is walkable mixed density co-op computing.
@paul-rony.bsky.social covers this in "From groups to individuals, micro-computing and us", @causalislands.com Berlin.
https://www.
@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.caRecommendations on a 24port 2.5 and 10Gbs switch for a home network?
I would like to swap out my aged 1Gbs managed switch with an unmanaged variety. (I used VLANs at the start but long ago decided they were more work than they were worth for even a relatively complex/busy home network)
currently trolling ebay.
Oh, also if you have recommendations for places to obtain such a beast with decent shipping to Canada, let me know!
#homelab
#network #computers #switch #ethernet
@newstik@social.heise.deBillions we have spent on speeding up our computers and our internet connections, just to sit and look at "checking if you are a bot" animations two microseconds earlier.
@ellie@ellieayla.netI regularly drag my feet on some upgrades, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. I'm using an iPhone 13 Mini because my tiny hands can't hold the giant phablets. And iOS 18.7.2, because I hate the AI junk crammed into everything and don't want nauseating translucent UI effects. But there's a lot of security bugs lately that might demand something to change. Uggghh.
I wish portable pocket computers were less capable and had more battery life.
#apple #wtf
@netzschleuder@social.skewed.defoldoc: FOLDOC entries (2002)
A network of hyperlinks among entries in the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC, www.foldoc.org), an online dictionary of acronyms and technical terms for computers. An edge points from i to j if the term j is referred to in the entry for term i. Edge weight denotes number of uses of the same term.
This network has 13356 nodes and 120238 edges.
Tags: Informational, Web graph, Weighted
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioIt's still amazing to me what's possible with modest equipment purely due to the availability of extremely sophisticated personal computers.
To make an image like this, I combine often dozens of hours of total exposure time in hundreds of images to average them out (this reduces noise and improves visibility of faint structures).
@servelan@newsie.socialFBI never took Epstein’s hard drives and computers — and now Democrats are after them - Alternet.org
https://www.alternet.org/jeffrey-epstein-hard-drives/
@grumpybozo@toad.socialRE: https://mas.to/@zzt/115988197945001424
I am not a "Use MY preferred software to fix your problem" kind of guy, but these sorts of stories (which I’ve heard for a decade) make me wonder if people just live with de facto spyware on their computers & whether it …
@fanf@mendeddrum.orgfrom my link log —
Apple Scorpius CPU architectural specification. (1989)
https://archive.org/details/scorpius_architecture
saved 2019-12-29 https:/…
@cdarwin@c.imMicrosoft provided the FBI with the recovery keys to unlock encrypted data on the hard drives of three laptops as part of a federal investigation, Forbes reported on Friday.
Many modern Windows computers rely on full-disk encryption, called #BitLocker, which is enabled by default.
This type of technology should prevent anyone except the device owner from accessing the data if the computer is …
@blakes7bot@mas.torpidity.netSeries B, Episode 03 - Weapon
BLAKE: Zen, put the battle computers on-line.
ZEN: Confirmed.
BLAKE: Full range on the detectors, constant scan.
VILA: Absolutely.
BLAKE: Right. [Zips up his collar] Let's see what we're going to do when we get there.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/203/323
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioAge verification, but it's remembering affordable personal computers
@ruth_mottram@fediscience.orgThis piece could just as easily have been written about atmospheric scientists and climate modellers.
We all need to get out of the computers and into the real world more often
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04150-w
@metacurity@infosec.exchange @Techmeme@techhub.socialGoogle researchers warn that quantum computers may crack elliptic-curve cryptography, which helps secure crypto wallets, with 20x fewer resources than expected (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-31/g…
@rasterweb@mastodon.social“Clawdbot can execute Terminal commands, write scripts on the fly and execute them…”
I don’t even trust myself to do those things before 9am most days!
I just do not think I can be convinced I need a “digital assistant” in my life or on my computers (with elevated permissions, no less). https://mastodon…
@netzschleuder@social.skewed.defoldoc: FOLDOC entries (2002)
A network of hyperlinks among entries in the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC, www.foldoc.org), an online dictionary of acronyms and technical terms for computers. An edge points from i to j if the term j is referred to in the entry for term i. Edge weight denotes number of uses of the same term.
This network has 13356 nodes and 120238 edges.
Tags: Informational, Web graph, Weighted
@filmfacts@social.tchncs.de @shriramk@mastodon.socialAnother banger by J. B. Crawford in his "Computers Are Bad" series, this time going through computer history from PLATO to Lotus Notes. PLATO is probably the most influential computer system almost nobody knows about (unlike, say, Mother of All Demos).
https://computer.rip/2026-03-14-lotusn
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioLike I’ve used computers for maybe 8 hours today and literally none of what I did had anything to do with “AI”.
No matter how much the tech industry wants to feed us their generative excrement, it’s simply at most some other tool that some people use.
Just get fucked with this “it’s magical!” shit.
@karlauerbach@sfba.socialIn the last couple of days I have had two different types of NUC sized computers, both with Intel x86-64 processors (of different generations) that refuse to put out a video signal via HDMI to an LG 4K monitor.
If I switch to Display port (either via a true DP interface on the NUC or via a USB4==>DP cable) things work just fine.
Weird.
@trezzer@social.linux.pizzaThis game demo was mildly triggering but also pretty funny. It's basically a Windows 9x desktop invaded by pop-ups and old icons chasing your mouse around Vampire Survivors-style. https://store.steampowered.com/app/4320630/Antivirus_Survivors_2003_Profess…
@blakes7bot@mas.torpidity.net#Blakes7 Series C, Episode 13 - Terminal
AVON: I saw him. I spoke to him and he-
SERVALAN: You saw nothing. Heard nothing. It was an illusion, a drug- induced and electronic dream. We spent months preparing it. We recreated Blake inside our computers, voice, images, memories, a million fragmented facts. When I was ready, I started sending you the messages, seeding the idea in your…
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioRE: https://climatejustice.social/@terminaltilt/115896899179047548
Steve Jobs: "Computers are a bicycle for the mind.
Jeff Bezos: "My computers are a hamster wheel for my bank account."
@cdarwin@c.imBill Paxton received his PhD from Stanford in 1977. -- He worked with Doug Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute where the group built the Online System (NLS) and he participated in
"The Mother of All Demos".
After leaving Stanford, Paxton joined the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
where they developed emerging technologies, including Ethernet, networked personal computers, bitmap displays, graphical user-interfaces, and laser printers
Paxton j…
@rasterweb@mastodon.socialIt's been a rough week because so many computer things I wanted to do just were too difficult, didn't work, or I ended up spending (wasting?) too much time on them.
Some things did work though, and I learned a lot. Some of what I learned is that computers and certain companies (and people) suck, but there's always a way around things that don't work.
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioOpening a new computer used to be so exciting.
That’s really one of the things I enjoy about retrocomputing—a step back in time to when computers weren’t just boring slabs full of hastily written suffice-ware trying psychological tricks to “engage” you.
What used to be bicycles for the mind are now subscription-based pickup trucks driven by Nazis in a neverending demolition derby.
@netzschleuder@social.skewed.defoldoc: FOLDOC entries (2002)
A network of hyperlinks among entries in the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC, www.foldoc.org), an online dictionary of acronyms and technical terms for computers. An edge points from i to j if the term j is referred to in the entry for term i. Edge weight denotes number of uses of the same term.
This network has 13356 nodes and 120238 edges.
Tags: Informational, Web graph, Weighted
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioJust thought about something that bugged me about that Apple “Crush” iPad ad (from two years ago).
The whole image it conveys is that personal computers went from bicycles for the mind to trash compactors for your dreams is just so aptly describing the modern tech industry.
Carry on.
@Techmeme@techhub.socialRaspberry Pi stock rose as much as 42% on Tuesday in a record two-day rally, amid demand for single-board computers to run low-cost AI agents like OpenClaw (Danilo Masoni/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/technology/raspberry-pi-soars-40-c…
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioEven if you're a prompting god, an LLM savant or otherwise an accomplished machine whisperer—
—it will inflate prices you have to pay for stuff too; computers, phones, hosting, Internet service, software, and generally anything with chips in it (or made in e.g. in a factory that uses stuff with chips in it) and any services that are provided by or are facilitated by something with chips in it.
(This means all goods and services).
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioAnd here's the tech industry's greatest revolutionary inventions
1980s: personal computers
1990s: the Internet
2000s: supercomputers in your pocket
2010s: fake money
2020s: vibe palaver
@Techmeme@techhub.socialThe US goods trade deficit hit a record $1.2T in 2025, driven by a 60% rise in imports of computers and chips to $450B since President Trump's inauguration (Ana Swanson/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/busines
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioDoes it affect computers that can share an Ethernet Internet connection wirelessly?
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSam Altman's brain-computer interface startup Merge Labs raised $252M from OpenAI, Bain Capital, and others (Ike Swetlitz/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-15/altman-s-merge-raises-252-million-to-l…
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioOnly analog computers can run software with all the nuance the programmer intended
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioTangent, why does Apple not make computers like this anymore?
(this is a rhetorical question, you do not need to reply)
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioSo I think about one of the central thesis of Joseph Weizenbaum a lot.
It’s essentially an extension of “there’s no technical solutions to social problems”; it posits that computers are widely used to immortalize and amplify social problems while preventing reforms.
And it has gotten much worse since he wrote about this in the 1970s.
Two of the examples he gives are nation/world-wide stock exchanges and automated trading (lead to wealth concentration and gambling), as well as highly complex but wasteful, punishing and unfair welfare systems (instead of e.g. UBI).
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioSomething to think about is that the most fondly remembered computers from Apple are those with specific custom highly sophisticated mechanical engineering in their cases—as opposed to electronics.
Examples:
- the monitor arm on the iMac G4
- the door on the PowerMac G4
- the screen hinge on the alumin(i)um unibody laptops
- the locking handle on the G4 Cube
- even the motorized PowerBook Duo dock
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioHow long have Macintosh platforms lasted?
68k: 1984–1996 (~13 years)
PowerPC: 1994–2006 (~13 years)
Intel: 2006–2023 (~18 years)
Apple Silicon: 2020– (~7 years so far)
Wonder if I'll be around when they change platforms again, assuming they're still making computers then.
