Tootfinder

from my link log —
Towards scalable dataframe systems.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.00888
saved 2026-03-29 https://dotat.at/:/6GM7U.html

Towards Scalable Dataframe Systems
Dataframes are a popular abstraction to represent, prepare, and analyze data. Despite the remarkable success of dataframe libraries in Rand Python, dataframes face performance issues even on moderately large datasets. Moreover, there is significant ambiguity regarding dataframe semantics. In this paper we lay out a vision and roadmap for scalable dataframe systems. To demonstrate the potential in this area, we report on our experience building MODIN, a scaled-up implementation of the most widel…

Celebrating #GNUTerryPratchett day by reading Wee Free Men to my kids.
In English. for the first time.
So they can experience the rollercoaster that is my Scotti^H^H^H^H^H^H Feegle accent.
And be thankful it's only them who experience it.

Wrote up my notes after using Bazzite for a few days. I've really liked this experience and may switch for real to using a Linux desktop for the first time in 20 years. But maybe not Bazzite, I'm not a fan of the atomic OS concept.

My "Widekey Keyboard" app is now publicly available in the Play Store for Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.kuix.widekeykeyboard
It has an unusual typing experience, but I hope it can be helpful for some.
(F-Droid …

Widekey Keyboard - Apps on Google Play
Wide-button keyboard: tap once or twice per key, hit fewer wrong buttons.

I finally did it: I now have a speaking page on my site. 🎤🎉
If you’re looking for someone to talk about design, the web, CSS, accessibility, or the independent web at your event, that’s where you’ll find what I do, what I’ve spoken about, and how to get in touch:
https://matthiasott.com/speaking

Speaking of the Web … · Matthias Ott
Matthias Ott is an independent user experience designer and web design engineer from Stuttgart, Germany.

Un Québécois a monté le Mont Everest Š 23 ans, le plus jeune Š le faire.
Il a raconté son histoire sur son Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/DYuxFJwk5kk/
J'ai lu beaucoup de livres sur l'Everest, c'est vraiment souvent trop téméraire et les gens prennent des risques i…

What’s My Favorite Audiobook?
I’ve only listened to one audiobook in my life—and I can’t even remember which one it was. A Clive Cussler novel, a stack of cassettes, and a lot of driving made for a surprisingly memorable (if fuzzy) experience.
http://www.bobmuellerwriter.com/whats-my-

What's My Favorite Audiobook? – Bob Mueller
A single audiobook and a mystery that still lingers—revisiting a Clive Cussler story I enjoyed but can’t quite remember.

@… Fair. I’m using mine as Airplay speakers, either from my phone or Mac, so in that sense I don’t get to experience that awkwardness.

A great quote on fixing things from @…
"The fix is almost always simple or hopeless."
In my experience, that also seems to be the case. A silly little thing which is easy to fix or something that makes it impossible. The impossible ones are often because a thing is digital instead of analog.

I'm going to deviate a bit from my normal audience and focus in on #tech (especially #Security folks). I came across the practice from public health and emergency management and brought it into work. They seemed to have never heard of it. I'm curious how common my experience is. (Please boost for visibility)
Have you ever used table top exercises in your work (such as, to verify a runbook would work as expected)?
Yes, and I work in tech
No, and I work in tech
Yes, and I don't work in tech
No, and I don't work in tech

Appalling standard of Primary Care in this article.
My experience is a lot better. Efficient web-led system but GP sees us if indicated/in doubt.
However there's little continuity: a big practice and a different GP (or pharmacist or health care assistant) each time. At my age I expect a named GP. One problem is the GPs are all part time (good salaries).
It seems some NHS GPs no longer ‘see’ patients, they process them

It seems some NHS GPs no longer ‘see’ patients, they process them
Unable to get seen or fighting for months just to get basic health care, this is the reality for some with NHS GPs nowadays

Alex Vindman is not a man to hold a grudge.
Ask him about the bullying, intimidation and retribution meted out by Donald Trump and Maga acolytes following his appearance as a key witness in the first of the president’s two first-term impeachments, and he almost shrugs it off.
“I’m an optimist by nature. I’m more focused on the future than the past, and this idea of vindictiveness or grievance is completely opposite of my personality.
-- Now, accountability is essential …”

I've been looking at cars for some while (really need a new one) and found a Kia Ceed from 2019. Any day soon someone will drive it to me so I can have a look at it. It's looks good on paper and pictures - but I'm picky on the driving experience. And scared... it may be one of the most expensive purchases I've done ever (exept for bying my apartment). What if it breaks down.... I have nightmares and dreams of rolling in comfort.

The LibDems are pro-nuclear and hate nature. In my experience, people who get their knickers in a knot over seagulls generally hate immigrants as well and are bigoted with regard to LGBT people. It's the party for backwards people.
We humans have fished-out the food stocks that used to support gulls and polluted their air and water. The way to support them now while we sort out those problems are to make sure they get fed.
A gull that is not hungry is not going to try to stea…

Every paragraph rings true here, at least WRT my experience at work in the last six months.
We've killed a lot of sparrows.
The AI Great Leap Forward
https://leehanchung.github.io/blogs/2026/04/05/the-ai-great-leap-forward/

The AI Great Leap Forward
In 1958, Mao ordered every village to produce steel. The steel was useless. The crops rotted. Today's top-down AI mandates are producing the same pattern: ba...

Calling all Audio/Video Nerds! I need to choose between these two semi-pro video cameras to purchase for work!
This #poll is only 6 hours so please vote and #boost!
In one corner!
Canon XA70: MSRP $3599
https://www.canon.ca/en/product?name=XA70
In the other corner!
the Panasonic HC-X20 $3799
https://www.panasonic.com/my/consumer/camera-camcorder/camcorder/4k-full-hd-camcorder/hc-x20.specs.html
If anyone has hands on experience with these cameras, or comparable ones, please do leave a comment!
We actually had our eye on a different one for awhile but time moved on and it's no longer an option.
Canon XA-70
Panasonic HC-X20

Being in these fucking nests of iphone ui and tab lists and <div> and pun usernames and ai pop-ups strip literally everything of the sublime. Maybe I should force people into temples I created myself to experience my creation no matter the cost

Check out my latest article - "What is uniquely human in an AI future?"
https://www.brichapman.com/p/what-is-uniquely-human-in-an-ai-future?utm_source=bri-mastodon&utm_medium=social&src=mstdn

What is uniquely human in an AI future?
Desire, Directionality, and Direct Experience

Pretty bonkers experience tonight. I have Fedora on its own drive next to Windows on my desktop. I've mostly kept it around because I have pre-paid game pass for a few more months. But... I've been spending most of my time in Fedora - including playing my games. Today I rebooted to try a preview of something where Proton doesn't work yet, and ... my PowerA Advantage *wired* Xbox controller won't work. It's half-way invisible to the OS. Spent hours trying troubleshooting t…

Hmmm the Garmins look interesting!
The Venu 4 (and Forerunner 970, tho that’s way too big for my wrist and more expensive) have most of what I want, and their phone app is optional!!
Not sure exactly what features I’d be missing with no phone connection (specially considering that it has no lte/mobile data), tho the phone app supports both iOS and Android so maybe once Bluetooth on Waydroid is a thing I could get that to work too!
I don’t think I’d be missing anything from my current Apple Watch (s5) or even from newer AWes other than the Ultras (which are also too big for my wrist, and too expensive). The Ultras have a depth sensor for diving which is really really cool, while the FR and Venu aren’t water resistant enough for that (Garmin has a way more specialised smartwatch for that, with a mostly non-overlapping featureset).
Both the FR and the Venu are rated for swimming, which is cool, but neither of those are proper for diving (I don’t really dive, tho that’s something I’m interested in trying out in the future). I think it should be safe enough for when I go around swimming in the pool or beach tho? Well, I don’t usually keep my Apple Watch on when swimming anyway. It’s just nice to know that if I were to get more sportive about that it’d be a possibility.
I think the only disadvantage of the Venu compared to the FR is the lack of a Maps app, tho that’s totally fine ig. Also no HR while swimming and less storage. The FR is 2mm bigger than my current 45mm s5 apple watch, and I already find this too big. The Venu has a 41mm option which is what I’d get if I decided to go for it.
OH AND THEY BOTH HAVE SUPER PRETTY COLOR OPTIONS, INCLUDING A LAVANDER ONE FOR THE VENU!!
(the FR has lots of very pretty options too!!)
This is mostly just brainstorming rn, but does anyone around here have any experience with the Garmin smartwatches? It’d be nice to see opinions from someone who owns one of them :3
#Garmin #SmartWatch #Fitness

If I haven't used any of them, what would you recommend as a first experience: OpenAI Codex or Anthropic Claude Code?
Most of my code is in Java, Go.
I intend to use the recommended one also to create a macOS and an iOS app.
I've been reading @… for long and still can't make this decision.

Anyone who has experience with the M-DISC standard?
Is it any good?
Been looking at some non-cloud backup media in case my NAS fails.
Will primarily hold my photo archive and some other data.
#askfedi

Could you use WebP to compress webpages? Well, yes, you can!
A bit of an older post, but still well worth a read, it's beautifully unhinged: https://purplesyringa.moe/blog/webp-the-webpage-compression-format/

WebP: The WebPage compression format
I want to provide a smooth experience to my site visitors, so I work on accessibility and ensure it works without JavaScript enabled. I care about page load time because some pages contain large illustrations, so I minify my HTML. But one thing makes turning my blog light as a feather a pain in the ass.

Tips I can give you from my experience as a musicial weirdo if you’re looking to redevelop a sense of intrinsic purpose and meaning:
Beware of leaning on extrinsic validation (winning a contest, getting a grant, getting a job) for your psychological well-being. Those things may be important for practical purposes, but psychologically they are all empty calories.
Three •good• sources of purpose and meaning in your work that can sustain you:
- your own sense of satisfaction in your work
- sharing work via meaningful, sustained human connections
- the sheer joy of making and doing

What’s My Favorite Audiobook?
I’ve only listened to one audiobook in my life—and I can’t even remember which one it was. A Clive Cussler novel, a stack of cassettes, and a lot of driving made for a surprisingly memorable (if fuzzy) experience.
http://www.bobmuellerwriter.com/whats-my-

I had an experience recently that this one https://mastodon.energy/deck/@christymarx@beige.party/116219051247040119 reminded me of, in which an purported recruiter for a private equity firm working in AI wanted to have a conversation with me to gauge my expertis…

@…
I remember getting Sowiesoso on cd around 1993 (pre-internet), and thinking of it as this impossible to find thing. I think it was an import that I special ordered from a giant book in my local record store. Finding (and finding out about) music used to be a very different experience.

I'm in the market for a reliable sewing machine—I want to replace my old Singer. I made a mistake at first, buying an old Bernina Virtuosa with mechanical/electronic issues (luckily returned).
A sewing machine repairman told me that early digital Berninas are risky, and he recommended a mechanical Bernina 930, 1030 or 1031.
A serviced vintage Bernina 930 is now on hold for me at a dealer.
Anyone here with Bernina 930 experience? #Sewing #Bernina #SewingMachines

A buddy of mine is looking for work! Hit me up if you’re interested in a great developer and leader

𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.
𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.
I grew up in rural Iowa, where my parents, two siblings, and I lived in a two-bedroom, one-bath house.
My father was a farmer, and my mother was a small business owner. 
As I grew older, I saw my neighbors lose everything as Iowa’s economy collapsed during the farm crisis of the 1980s.
That experience shaped how I see the economy
– 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳…

Katie Porter for Governor | Official Campaign Website
What California needs is a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit. Join our team today to help Katie Porter stand up to Donald Trump and lower costs for Californians.

Has someone in the community experience with #Pelikan 400N?
The cork in my piston fountain pen has shrunk. It needs to be repaired—has anyone else had this problem before?
#fountainPen

I'm lucky I haven't had a lot of health issues myself in my life... but what I got a lot of experience with is health issues for the 2 cats I've had.
I can't stress enough the importance of doing your own research to complement what you hear from your vet.
There has been too many cases where what the vet said wasn't fully consistent or incomplete VS what the real situation was with my cat.
If you care about your little friend, have a vet, but also, be s…

Nice things about the experience though?
Can confirm the Puck works with macOS.
Once you get past the Privacy setting configuration, Steam on macOS was able to natively update both the firmware of the Puck and the controller (needed to plug into each, one after the other) - which was pleasant to see, as that kind of thing can be overlooked
Also - in Big Picture mode they have a nice indicator for remaining battery life on the #steamcontroller
Overall, I think my primary usage for this will continue to be as a controller for #SteamDeck - but it's feels nice to have as an option for Mac as well
(2/2)

I realized something interesting today that I hadn't fully pieced together: living under #Trump is a pretty close approximation to being poor in a rural area, at least in my experience.
You're constantly afraid of authorities because any of them could randomly ruin your life. You randomly can't afford things (because some unexpected expense came up, or because some incompetent asshole decided to tariff something or start a war or whatever). Everything is terrifying, unstable, and unpredictable basically all the time. The only way you survive is with a community.
I knew Trump would take the rural vote way back because I recognized him as the crooked sheriff or good ol' boy mayor of more than a few little towns I've lived in. He's so deeply familiar, which is really triggering for the tiny number of people who managed to escape that kind of crushingly hopeless place.
So if this has all felt very terrifying and foreign, then perhaps use it to understand the people who find it terrifying and familiar. For at least some of those people, this has been an unpleasant return to (continuation of) an old normal. Understand why we say that things must change far more radically than that which lets a few people "go back to brunch."

Just arrived at a #clinic and waiting in the lobby for the doctor to arrive. Already got a text asking feedback on the experience at the clinic.
I don't think it's because they're eager for my #feedback. Unless it's 5 stars, which they might get only before I actually experience anything here. 🙄

The latest Trump wanna-be assassin:
“And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
…..
“I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.
The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before.”
…..
“Oh and if anyone is curious is how doing something like feels: it’s awful. I want to throw up; I want to cry for all the things I wanted to do and never will, for all the people whose trust this betrays; I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done.
Can’t really recommend it! Stay in school, kids.”
#usa #trump #theAmericanFascist #WHCD

Just had a horrible experience with the AIB mobile app and website. Even though you use your phone to approve the sign in, you still need the ancient card reason just to send a payment. Disgusting carry on.
My mam couldn’t have done this bank transfer on her own.
#mastodaoine #speirgorm…

DevOps has become incredibly powerful, but also incredibly complex. In my latest Southern California Linux Expo speaker interview with Kat Morgan, Tech Lead at Cisco Security, about her upcoming talk: Cloud Taming – A Human Friendly DevOps Experience.
https://www.

Myst was my first all-nighter in college. A few of us co-played it, thinking together and taking turns at the controls, 2 or 3 people at a time, coming and going as the night went on. We started at 10pm, finished around 6am, then went to get breakfast. Wonderful experience, social gaming at its best. https://infosec.exchange/@0xabad1dea/116386607676409616

I have some sketches of an essay that I need to write, but I think it's worth brain-dumping a bit more in the mean time.
#LLMs are an attempt to make tech grow forever. But like, how many "your mom/a friend, but done by a precarious worker instead" apps do we really need? Everything right now is in the AI grift hole, but there's almost nothing of interest (even if you ignore the ethical concerns). Like, no, I don't fucking want a robot to lie to me about my groceries. That doesn't sound like a useful feature. There's a lot of useless shit being pumped out to prop up the bottom line, and a lot of people just want to be able to use their old phone for more than a couple of years.
No one is happy with this. No one wants this. Except the billionaires who are forcing us all to drink the capitalism koolaid, because they'd rather exterminate life on earth than live in a world where they experience consequences.
Nothing grows forever. That's not how literally anything in reality works, or has ever worked, at all in history. Some people think that the universe itself may work like that, but that's only an educated guess. Finite things don't grow forever. Every organism, every society, every technology, every dynamic and adaptive system we have ever known goes through a growth phase and then goes in to a stabilization phase. Or, following a Malthusian pattern, grows until it reaches a catastrophic point and collapses. Like lemmings. Or reindeer. Or cancer.

1/ Lofty innovation and development pace was slow. You could tell right away by looking at how the product worked that business/customer experience is disconnected from how the developers were thinking about the product. Both of these factors were huge in creating an opportunity for LoftyAssist.
I learned about their ecosystem and became one of the users and felt all of their user pains and shortcomings. I fixed all of them and some more based on feedback and got my first paying custom…

An underwhelming experience, my first setup of T2SDE. Technically absolutely something very special and blazingly fast and snappy. But at the moment too many usability gaps (installer, upgrading, documentation) to use it (even in beta) as a daily driver. At least for me. A pity.

Now is a good time for doing crime
Eons ago, in 2012, I had a weird experience.
My iPhone suddenly shut down.
When I restarted it, I found it was totally reset—clean, like a new device.
This was the early days of iOS, so I wasn’t too concerned until I went to connect it to my computer to restore it from a backup.
But when I flipped open the lid of my laptop, it too was mid-restart.
And then, suddenly, the screen went gray. It was being remotely wiped.

Now is a good time for doing crime
New technology always means new kinds of crime—and new ways to fight it.

Booking a rental car for Iceland next month.
I see electrics are finally becoming an option for rentals, so that's what I booked.
Excited and a little nervous to drive electric for my first time ever. I mean, I've test driven them at the dealership, but it'll be the first time I need to navigate the world of charging an electric car. In a foreign country no less, it'll be an interesting experience.

BTW, this is 21/21 now:
#lean

Folks who know me tend to describe me as a level-sort, good to have around in a panic, nothing about pre-festival pre-show post-everything crises seems to phase him, catastrophic data failures, structural issues, you name it, I was somehow there and apparently welcome.
but give me just ten minutes with a Windows or OS/X machine and you'll experience my sailor's vocabulary! I cannot imagine, from that, what might ensue should someone force me to rely on some LLM. I did have the experience of my youngest INSISTING I believe his 2025 Civic GPS when I bloody KNEW my route would be as fast and less trouble, but hey, he's my youngest, gotta humour youth. I still bitched about it.

First experience with uv tool has been a disaster. I couldn't achieve anything I planned to (create an isolated environment for a project, pull in dependencies using pip, etc.). For every command I have spent a lot more time trying to figure out what command to run. It seems like I came to uv with my baggages and uv's take is rather different.

I'm Neurodivergent and I'm interested in Neurodiversity and anything else we might learn on the way to improve self-knowledge and knowledge about society.
I'm Neurodivergent and I'll explain how.
I got "diagnosed" in that my brain is wired in a certain way, which psychiatry doesn't understand yet.
Luckily I do! From experience of meeting other neurodivergent folks I figured out what it's all about.
It's not a disease. It's not…

Very proud and excited to vote in the NDP leadership race today!!
This is not the first time I've voted in a Federal leadership race... more on that later but first, my choices! I considered only voting for two people, but I ended up filling in all 5 choices.
#1: Tanille Johnston @…
#2: Avi Lewis @…
#3: Heather McPherson
#4: Tony McQuail
#5: Rob Ashton
Why?
You might ask why I would publicize my choices. I don’t expect others to of course. It is a privilege and a right in Canada to exercise your democratic choice freely and privately, but I also think there is value in knowing how others voted.
#1 why Tanille? #electoralReform and proportional representation myself, I didn't just want to pick my top two. I wanted to make a statement on each of these candidates an influence each one.
To be blunt, Heather is #3 because she is the middle-of-the-road candidate. She is an excellent representative as MP and has gathered the support of other MPs including my own, but while I would be OK with her leadership, I would see her as a continuation of the status quo, and that is not what the NDP needs as a party, nor is it what Canada needs as a country.
We desperately need a vigorous and clear alternative to the Centre-but-mostly-Right Liberals, and the MAGA-wannabe Conservatives. The only way to do that is to catch the attention of Canadians and inspire them. I am not sure that Heather has the ability to do that, and if we continue with the same leadership crew in the NDP, I am not confident that the policy choices will be strong enough to inspire and attract Canadians.
That is why Tanille and Avi are far better options.
#4 Why Tony:

Tony is the real deal. Honestly, I would have loved to rank him higher. He represents the true life blood of rural, socially progressive, environmentally aware, Canadians. You should go check out his platform. I am so glad that he was able to participate fully in the race and we need his voice in the NDP.
#5 Why not Rob?
I have been an active member in my Union for more than 10 years. Unionism is The Way. Rob is representing a division within the union movement that claims that working people can't have jobs if the environment is put first. This is a lie.
We need union leaders that look to the future and speak honestly to people. We need union leaders who are genuinely progressive, not ready to do the bidding of corporate masters to the benefit of a few.
Working people need honesty, and when an industry is on decline, a clear path to new, excellent, union, jobs!
#CanPoli #CdnPoli #Liberal #CPC #Canada #Democracy #NDP

Artists of fedi: if someone is commissioning you for a ref sheet, is there some quantity of references or provided details that gets too much or too specific?
In the past I’ve seen an artist saying they like receiving references, so I made like a pdf with references and like everything about my sona with as many information as possible. I then sent that to a friend that has more experience than me on hiring commissions and asked if they thought it should be more specific, tho they replied saying that it actually had way too much information and that could limit the artist’s artistic freedom.
So I really don’t wanna send something that’s way too much info, but also I do want the refsheet to actually reflect how I imagine my sona

Ok - here's my #macOS (Tahoe) specific #steamcontroller #gaming #steam personal experience, having tried it out:
So - it works!
BUT
The setup process from Valve does you no favors. While their help guide (https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/33E8-5EDF-24E6-4CFB#mac) has a Mac specific setup section - the on-screen setup in the Steam client itself does not help out Mac users at all
The guide mentions you need to grant Steam "Input Monitoring" permission - but until I did this, Steam didn't even agree the controller was connected (via USB directly or via the Puck)
And then the second permission "Accessibility" was explicitly necessary if you wanted to do a mouse and keyboard game and it needed to move the cursor (I chose Scritchy Scratchy as a test for this specific reason, especially since they just added macOS support)
Another downside: the default keyboard and mouse layout for the controller maps shoulder buttons to scroll up and down - but only a single increment per press! I had to reconfigure it to enable turbo/repeated scrolling events.
(1/2)