@cdarwin@c.im2026-01-20 02:45:57
The United States is a global superpower,
and its military trains for war in every domain.
During my years as a military educator, I saw American officers wrestle with any number of scenarios designed to challenge their thinking and force them to adapt to surprises.
One case we never considered, however, was how to betray and attack our own allies.
We did not ask what to do if the president becomes a threatening megalomaniac who tells one of our oldest friends, Nor…
@jake4480@c.im2026-01-10 22:08:23
I was thinking this morning, there should be more things like Goodwill, more thrift stores like that everywhere, for even LESS things going to landfills. Just people getting together, even as a trade or barter system, things like flea markets or garage sales-- people do some of this already.
Reusing things is so important, and repair, when possible-- I've been seeing some cool self-repair fix-it meetups on here, too.
As I was talking to my wife about it, and I remembered thi…
@inthehands@hachyderm.io2026-01-09 18:56:02
Excellent words from @…, shared here with permission:
❝My favorite piece of advice for protests has been, “accept side quests”. Sure, you can show up, shout a bit, and go home - there's value in just uncorking some frustration. But don't look past meeting your like-minded neighbors. If you're an introvert, like me, that may induce anxiety just thinking about it. But there's all sorts of easy conversation starters - people spent time on their signs, and chances are they would love to talk about them - how they made them or what they were inspired by. Viola! Now you're talking! Everybody at a protest is looking for something - whether it is a word of encouragement or witty comment, a pointer to a place to go or a thing to join, that something may be you!❞
@leftsidestory@mstdn.social2026-02-10 00:30:01
Different Corners VIII ▶️
不同的角落 VIII ▶️
📷 Zeiss IKON Super Ikonta 533/16
🎞️ Ilford HP5 400 Plus, expired 1993
#filmphotography #Photography #blackandwhite
@hex@kolektiva.social2025-11-27 22:32:54
I was just thinking about how the fact that #Musk named his AI "Grok" is evidence that he "reads sci-fi" in the same way he "plays video games." Like, he claims to do it but when it comes time to show the evidence it's clear he does not actually "grok" it.
Like... To grok something is to have a layer deeper than simply knowledge, but mathematically encoding statistical relationships between words is pretty obviously not even understanding much less qualifying as "groking" it. In the book, the ability to grok something is also the ability to annihilate that thing with a thought. Just pretending that an LLM actually *was* something that could become AGI (which it's not), this name would imply the AI would have the power to annihilate reality. That's bad. That's a bad name for an AI.
And why would a greedy fascist name something of his after something an anarchist communist space Jesus taught to the hippie cult he started? There are so many layers of facepalm to this. It's some kind of php-esque fractal of incompetence.
Like, there's no reason to talk about this but my brain does this to me sometimes and now it's your problem.
@mikeymikey@hachyderm.io2026-02-01 02:07:48
Been playing Roots Devour (#Steam via CrossOver on #macOS
BE THE ELDRITCH HORROR YOU ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE
It's pretty great, put in 8 hours so far.
The general gist of the game is strategic, puzzle-like reveal of map levels - capturing cards of creatures and humans, wrapping them in your blood sucking vines, and generally conquering all.
When you get stuck, spend some of the blood to open a card pack and get random helper tools, effects, and critters.
Sounds are superb and visuals are very 𝒜𝐸𝒮𝒯𝐻𝐸𝒯𝐼𝒞 - if you dig Cult of the Lamb or Darkest Dungeon, you'll probably enjoy it.
Only downside is that there's an occasional indicator that English is not the primary language of the game developers. Very rarely you can see untranslated Chinese text on-screen, one or two oddities (uncapitalized, punctuation slightly off). This is unfortunately probably why they're getting a little beat up in the Steam reviews.
Honestly, in my 8 hours so far, I've noticed it like 3? 4? times tops so far. The game is so very much my jam, it really hasn't bothered me.
Some people are also reviewing it as "too linear" - they definitely gave up way too early. There are SECRETS, side areas, choices you can make, intentionally difficult areas that will take some thinking to unlock, etc.
Currently 10% off right now, give it a shot!
@cdarwin@c.im2026-01-12 16:08:21
Republican senator Thom Tillis has vowed to block all Federal Reserve nominations
after the justice department opened a criminal investigation into the Fed chair, Jerome Powell,
inflaming tensions over the central bank’s independence.
Sen . Tillis of North Carolina,
a member of the banking committee that oversees Fed appointments
who is retiring at the end of his term later this year,
said Sunday he would oppose any nominee for the Fed,
including the…
@Sustainable2050@mastodon.energy2026-02-04 20:21:27
By 2027, 2.5 million French civil servants will stop using video conference tools from U.S. providers — including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex and GoTo Meeting — and switch to Visio, a homegrown service.
https://apnews.com/article/europe-digital…
@hex@kolektiva.social2025-11-21 14:40:06
I keep thinking that I should text a friend of mine, tell him how much I've been writing, tell him I mentioned him in something I wrote. Then I remember he died like 4 years ago.
Edit:
It must have been more like 6 or something now that I'm thinking about it. It was part of the way through the first Trump administration. He would have really appreciated the way Trump is unraveling now. One of the last times we talked he was like... "You know man, You used to play 'Baby, I'm an anarchist' and I'd think... ' don't want to throw a brick through a Starbucks window. I kinda like their coffee sometimes.' But the way things have been going lately, I'm kind of looking around and thinking you might be right. Fuck Starbucks. Where's that brick?"
At least I won the SRV vs the Hendrix version of Voodoo Chile debate. Hendrix is just better.
We used to talk about music, especially punk (and rockabilly, and ska, and 2 tone), and poetry, and beer. He liked hop stupid, but I always thought it didn't have the body to match the hops and I always preferred Racer 5. Of course, this time of year we'd be shifting in to red and stout season, and I'd be excited for Lagunitas Russian Imperial and this year's Bourbon County Stout batch.
He was really big in to Star Wars. He missed all of Andor, which is probably the best thing to have come out since the original 3. But I guess he also missed the new trilogy, so maybe it balances out.
He would have really liked all the good music I've run across in the last few years. He had a music blog for a bit.
Yeah... I don't know why it's hitting me so hard now, other than maybe I never had time to really process it before.
@cdarwin@c.im2026-01-07 18:32:55
Tulsi Gabbard MIA on Venezuela operation amid tensions over Trump policy
Trump’s top national security advisers in recent days have outdone one another, publicly extolling his decision to launch the risky military raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolšs Maduro.
But one key figure has been largely absent from public view:
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran who for years has spoken out against costly U.S. intervention…
