Tootfinder

Name something that's cool in theory, but not in real life.
I'll go first: expensive cat toys

micro:
Thinker toys.

Show pitch:
SHART TANK
Five millionaires floating in a large aquarium being fed a steady diet of onion cream sauce and soybeans. First one to shart forfeits $100k to the pot, and each one to leave the tank thereafter forfeits double the previous amount. Last person in the tank takes the pot. Add pool toys for spice.

Query Attribute Modeling: Improving search relevance with Semantic Search and Meta Data Filtering
Karthik Menon, Batool Arhamna Haider, Muhammad Arham, Kanwal Mehreen, Ram Mohan Rao Kadiyala, Hamza Farooq
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.04683

Query Attribute Modeling: Improving search relevance with Semantic Search and Meta Data Filtering
This study introduces Query Attribute Modeling (QAM), a hybrid framework that enhances search precision and relevance by decomposing open text queries into structured metadata tags and semantic elements. QAM addresses traditional search limitations by automatically extracting metadata filters from free-form text queries, reducing noise and enabling focused retrieval of relevant items. Experimental evaluation using the Amazon Toys Reviews dataset (10,000 unique items with 40,000+ reviews and d…

A look at AI-powered stuffed animals like Grem, Grok, and Gabbo, which are being promoted as an alternative to screen time for children as young as 3 (Amanda Hess/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/arts/ai

They’re Stuffed Animals. They’re Also A.I. Chatbots.
New types of cuddly toys, some for children as young as 3, are being sold as an alternative to screen time — and to parental attention.

I have just released my debut solo album, "Tools and Toys", part of an electronic/synthpop project (Transits of Mars) that I've been developing in recent years.
Available to stream and download on Bandcamp.
Produced with free and open-source music production tools in #Linux, mainly #lmms

Looking at brother's kids toys:
Carbrains will do everything not to admit the superiority of railways. They will literally put cars on tracks!

For some reason, today is crappy, all kinds of progress on 10 projects, but all are blocked by small problems that aren't easy to fix. Maybe I should follow #Floki's example, and sleep in the box of cat toys while high on #catnip.

Crypto group claims responsibility for hurling sex toys at WNBA games (Meghan L. Hall/USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2025/08/07/wnba-sex-toys-green-dildo-crypto-meme-coin/85551443007/?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&taid=6894f4f9a84a4a00010d10da
http://www.memeorandum.com/250807/p147#a250807p147

A look at China's AI toy boom, which builds on decades of consumer electronics designed for children, as AI toy companies expand into the US and other markets (Caiwei Chen/MIT Technology Review)
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/07/1125191/ai-toys-in-china/…

AI toys are all the rage in China—and now they’re appearing on shelves in the US too
Competition is heating up, with Mattel and OpenAI expected to launch a product for kids this year.

Cocaine in Private Jets and Sex Toys: What the FBI Found on its Secretly Backdoored Chat App https://www.404media.co/cocaine-in-private-jets-and-sex-toys-what-the-fbi-found-on-its-secretly-backdoored-chat-app/

Waiting for the videos of right-wingers burning their Star Wars childhood toys and their Minnie Mouse sweaters because of Disney being against free speech

https://www.404media.co/trump-tariffs-cause-chaos-on-ebay-having-a-hobby-is-now-a-logistical-nightmare/

I often think it is a disservice that climate change activism has focused on suffering and changes "over there" - our natural environment and cultural life will be as impoverished just as much by loss of familiar species and traditions as the Inuit hunting narwhal or Pacific Islanders forced to retreat from their coastlines.
https://mastodon.scot/@Kerplunk/115241857960561419
Kerplunk@mastodon.scot - @…
We will not just mourn the Beech, the wonderful white lady of the Forest, the Birch is also suffering badly.
No more collecting birch sap in the spring,
making syrup or sugar, no tea from leaves and bark, no bark for starting fires, making knife handles, boxes book covers ornaments. No more wood to make a traditional Kuksa (cup) bowls and toys. No making Birch tar or pitch, no forests in the north where Chaga and many other mushrooms to grow.
I mourn the loss of every tree.

Just a reminder that if you're a system, the Chinafake Central Discord server implements PluralKit! (which, by the way, ought to be in every server IMO)
#plural

Just a reminder that if you're a system, the Chinafake Central Discord server implements PluralKit! (which, by the way, ought to be in every server IMO)
#plural

Smart dogs have a humanlike knack for naming new objects https://www.science.org/content/article/smart-dogs-have-humanlike-knack-naming-new-objects
Some dogs can classify their toys by function

"Hitler personally had more German generals executed than all the Allies combined managed to kill during the entire war. That’s not micromanagement; that’s murder as a management style."
Very interesting thread!
https://infosec.exchange/@masek/115266663243424953

Periodic reminder to new followers or anyone just swinging by: I have high speed digital design / SI experience and lots of nice lab toys. Most folks can't afford this kind of stuff so I try to share the love.
If your project is open source or generally noncommercial / hobby in nature, there's NO CHARGE for a quick design review or some basic lab measurements. If you send me a board for characterization and want it back, all I ask is that you send me a prepaid label or reimburs…

🪀 Parents Never Bought You that Power Wheels? Here’s a Cooler One for $10,000
https://www.thedrive.com/news/parents-never-bought-you-that-power-wheels-heres-a-cooler-one-for-10000

Parents Never Bought You that Power Wheels? Here’s a Cooler One for $10,000
These electric karts, skinned to look like real cars, are much more capable than the toys you remember.

Join Chinafake Central, a server about bootleg and generic toys/consoles.
A great place to hang out if you have a chinafake or want to learn more about them! :)
https://discord.gg/CHVErNV99d
- Pronoun roles and color roles to spruce up your profile!
- Plural system friendly! (Tupperbox and P…

wait until @… finds out my entire PeerTube channel basically centers around toys @… :P

Trump Tariffs Cause Chaos on Ebay as Every Hobby Becomes Logistical Minefield https://www.404media.co/trump-tariffs-cause-chaos-on-ebay-having-a-hobby-is-now-a-logistical-nightmare/

What kind of strange ritual did I interrupt??

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBCRadio3's #EssentialClassics
Victor Herbert, Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra & Keith Brion:
🎵 March of the Toys (Babes in Toyland)
#VictorHerbert #RazumovskySymphonyOrchestra #KeithBrion

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBCRadio3's #ThroughTheNight
Victor Herbert, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra & Uri Mayer:
🎵 March of the Toys from the operetta "Babes in Toyland"
#VictorHerbert #EdmontonSymphonyOrchestra #UriMayer
https://open.spotify.com/track/26oP6VKWP4xlFhQTsUmPi4
Please 🔁 BOOST to share what you like
- your followers don't see if you ⭐ favourite a post

If anyone in the #Seattle area wants to get into #chinafake #collecting or is generally just into #vintage

If anyone in the #Seattle area wants to get into #chinafake #collecting or is generally just into #vintage