@rasterweb@mastodon.social2026-04-25 04:55:01
10 things my wife learned from her first 100 miles e-biking to work
https://electrek.co/2023/12/11/everything-my-wife-learned-from-her-first-100-miles-e-biking-to-work/
@rasterweb@mastodon.social2026-04-25 04:55:01
@hex@kolektiva.social2026-05-25 10:09:12
So one of the authors is Nicholas Carlini, who works for Anthropic. This is basically an ad for the three letter agencies to use Claude. It massively over-promises compared to what the actual paper says.
But, it is important. First, this is really about silencing people. The threat of identification is designed to make people afraid to talk online. There's a massive asymmetry between the fascists and the people. The fascists are weird racists and pedophiles who are obsessed with control. No one likes them. No one likes their ideas, because their ideas are creepy and bad.
When they talk about their ideas, that people should be murdered or kidnaped based on their skin color, that there should be a national dress code, that people's sex lives should be monitored, that children should be treated like objects that are owned by the parent (specifically, one parent), that people with different skin color or uteri should be considered as livestock, people fucking hate it because it's awful. When we talk about our ideas, that everyone should be able to eat and take care of themselves, that people who can't take care of themselves should be taken care of, that we should live in a society that values life, that we should live in harmony with nature, people like those ideas. When fascists out us for talking about those ideas, people support us. When we out people who are working as fascist goons those people have to face social consequences.
Everyone hates these people. The US government is currently less popular than it has ever been. The only way they can keep power is by making everyone think that they aren't extraordinarily unpopular. The only way to do that, the way authoritarian have always done it, is to make everyone afraid to talk.
But, yes, what this paper is saying is actually kind of bad. It looks like people who don't take any precautions at all in separating identities can be identified about 30% of the time (based on the results). It's unclear how this will actually work in the real world. Larger corpses will probably have more data, making connecting things easier.
This isn't as good as a human trying to dox someone. It's not going to work as well. It may only work in a small number of cases. There will be false positives (just like there are with people doing the work). It's probably not cheaper than hiring people. But it does mean that you can just dump money into a machine that has no ethical framework and get data out. That's the point. It's hard to find humans who will do evil shit like help dictatorships target human rights activists, but if a machine can do it for twice the price then it's a better deal for the dictatorship.
For most people, you just shouldn't care. This isn't for you. As long as you keep doing what you're doing, and you can keep everyone else doing what they're doing, then there aren't enough resources to actually target you. Even if they know who you are, there are just too many people who hate them and too few goons.
For people who might actually be targeted, there are a lot of things. First, keep in mind what you're putting into anonymous accounts. Any feature that's connected to your real life is a feature that can be extracted to identify you. This has always been true, it just may be easier to find now. Your identities should be totally siloed. It's also harder to identify you if you're writing anonymously as a collective. Collectives are better anyway because they can help check your thinking. When you write as a collective, you can help clean up each other's personal details and language. A collective develops its own voice, which is distinct from individual contributors. If you do this, and you also present your work as being from one "person," then it becomes even harder for anyone (systems or individuals) to really figure it out.
I'm not going to do a full deep dive on this because I just don't have time, but your existing threat model should *already cover these threats* if you need to make sure your writing remains anonymous.
This paper doesn't present any novel methodologies. It just extracts a bunch of features, which a human would extract as notes, and tries to correlate those between identities, which is how human researchers work. Linguistic forensics were mentioned (not by name) in the paper, but the actual methodology doesn't actually seem to use them.
So a thing with less ethics can do a worse job for more money (when adjusted for the real, not investor deflated, price of tokens). It's worth knowing. It's not the end of the world, but it is a good reminder to check your threat model and make sure it's up to date.
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-06-25 11:06:12
OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, Microsoft, and others launch Raise Us, a new non-profit led by ex-Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to help US workers adapt to AI (Lydia DePillis/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/business/economy/ai-work-…
@cowboys@darktundra.xyz2026-06-25 12:56:28
Embattled Cowboys RB Praised for ‘Great Work Ethic’ https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/running-back-jaydon-blue-work-ethic/
@bogo@hapyyr.com2026-05-24 16:47:53
For one of the campaigns against surveillance I am looking for a designer to help us with some of the creative work. Paid project for a few days that can turn into something beautiful. Please send some of your work as DM here, ideally with your hourly rate. Reposting also helps.
The work should do to print in May. So please hurry.
#foss
@lightweight@mastodon.nzoss.nz2026-05-23 08:49:09
Content warning: NZGovt in bed with Microsoft
Wow, this couldn't be any more dodgy. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/596121/future-of-work-on-agenda-as-nz-govt-digital-leaders-head-to-microsoft-us-hq
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk2026-05-24 21:47:41
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #VarietyMix
Men at Work:
🎵 Who Can It Be Now?
#MenatWork
https://reeserodri.bandcamp.com/track/men-at-work-who-can-it-be-now-reese-edit
https://open.spotify.com/track/5BCykgPXc7zEBg2oU0klvy
@aredridel@kolektiva.social2026-06-23 15:32:20
Our collective sense of entitlement is getting in the way of doing the work to get things improved.
"But they should _____"
Sure but they is we.
"But nobody should go hungry"
Okay and? HOW DO WE DO THAT? Let's build it! It's not just going to happen! Government isn't a magical provider! It's us! Sometimes complaining fixes things but mostly small things.
"They should run the busses all night."
Okay so let's work the system to get it right.
Things cost money. Systems take care to build and maintain. They don't just happen. Sometimes trade-offs have to be made.
@danyork@mastodon.social2026-06-25 11:11:55
RE: https://techpolicy.social/@internetsociety/116801474865319482
Every time I read one of these reports about the work of @internetsociety Chapters, or attend a Chapter event, I get SO inspired by the amazing work of volunteers out there ensurin…
@cdarwin@c.im2026-05-21 13:28:37
How do erasers actually work?
It’s surprisingly interesting
https://www.popsci.com/science/how-do-erasers-work/
@andres4ny@social.ridetrans.it2026-07-24 18:17:16
@callunavulgaris@mastodon.scot2026-07-23 15:54:46
Goodness me I'm no use to anyone today. I think it is the 'tism putting its foot down. Last week's main work days, M-W, were the hardest I'd had in ages. Guests arrived Weds night, on Fri night I was awake the whole time sitting in Fit to Sit with a relative and guests were still with us til Mon morning. Another hard M-W at work. Apart from having to find some quiet space at times I've coped but last night slept 10hrs and today am a wet lettuce. I think today and mebbes t…
@ddrake@mathstodon.xyz2026-06-23 18:55:37
Just learned a cool word: illfare.
There's "welfare", right? So it makes sense to have "illfare".
I learned about this from the preface to J. A. Hobson's book "Work and Welfare": https://archive.org/details/workwealthhumanv0…
@raiders@darktundra.xyz2026-07-23 21:15:42
Fernando Mendoza shares message for Raiders fans after signing rookie deal https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/raiders/2026/07/23/fernando-mendoza-excited-to-get-to-work-after-signing…
@fathermcgruder@jorts.horse2026-05-22 23:48:48
1.5 tallboys might be just the right amount for posting
https://pixelfed.crimedad.work/p/crimedad/963570002701429822
@aral@mastodon.ar.al2026-06-25 09:08:34
Sharing this not because it’s about AI/LLMs but because it’s solid advice and the recommendations work equally well for *people* coding web applications (funny that, almost like these things were made by people for people or something).
TL;DR: Use web and platform standards; don’t reinvent the wheel.
https://www.jimmo…
@NFL@darktundra.xyz2026-04-25 03:46:38
NFL Draft roundtable: Giants and Browns add talent, Broncos have work to do https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7227666/2026/04/24/nfl-draft-day-two-drew-allar-jermod-mccoy/
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2026-05-25 04:16:41
Playing Terra Nil right now, and it's funny because from the promo stuff I thought I wouldn't like it much, yet I'm enjoying myself a lot. There's definitely a game design lesson to be leaned here.
I was absolutely correct in my assessment that the game feels like it's actively trying to make suspension of disbelief as hard as possible with its completely ridiculous mechanics that make absolutely zero sense. "That's... Not how that works at all!" Is basically playing on repeat in my brain.
Furthermore, the entire technosolutionist tenor of the game rubs me very much the wrong way. This compounds with the physics- and biology-defying (or perhaps -spiting) fictional layer in cases like the convenient magical radiation-absorbing buildings so that you can reverse radiation contamination with a few simple clicks to be extremely bad politics actually...
But... The mechanics do work together quite well to make interesting puzzles with good gameplay that includes satisfying variety and challenges. The art is wonderful, and the music and audio design are spot on. The the result of each level is immensely satisfying, and the pacing is excellent.
I guess the lesson I'm taking away from this is that really solid fundamentals can triumph over an absolute cacophony of ludonarrative dissonance. That doesn't mean that in every decision between ludonarrative harmony (or just straight up believability) and neat mechanics you should compromise towards mechanics, but it reinforces the idea that if you make the mechanics enjoyable in the abstract, players (or at least, players like me) will be willing to compromise a *lot* on whether it actually makes any sense for things to work that way.
I'm still bothered by the "use technology to fix everything" politics, which prevents this game from being one I'll enthusiastically recommend, but despite myself I am having a lot of fun with it.
#GameDesign #SolarPunk
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io2026-05-24 15:45:34
Neuroscientists being “surprised” that the brain doesn’t work like a computer, episode 244:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01554-0
@thesaigoneer@social.linux.pizza2026-05-24 03:58:03
It's a me thing. There is sth in the (hardly existent) combo of Gnome and ricing that invariably leads to rage explosions. Terminals have no opacity, color schemes need git clones. Extensions, a hot mess that needs to be searched manually, if they work or not anymore. Worse than the AUR. Distros providing that DE suffer. I clearly need to separate both, the message and the messenger. Doesn't work yet 😆
@catsalad@infosec.exchange2026-06-25 03:01:38
RE: https://infosec.exchange/@SecureOwl/116806767345470213
When returning your work laptop, don't forget to leave IT a little stroopwafel... as a treat!
@davidaugust@mastodon.online2026-05-24 16:16:13
"Come to work on time, know your lines and don't bump into the other actors."
—Spencer Tracy
#acting #coaching #inspiration
@arXiv_physicsaoph_bot@mastoxiv.page2026-05-25 08:04:56
Atmosphere as a steam engine
Anastassia Makarieva, Andrei Nefiodov
https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23875 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2605.23875 https://arxiv.org/html/2605.23875
arXiv:2605.23875v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Earth's atmosphere operates a steam cycle in which water vapor evaporates from the surface, expands, condenses, and returns as precipitation. The Clausius-Clapeyron law relates the incremental expansion work of saturated water vapor to latent heat converted at a Carnot efficiency corresponding to the temperature difference between evaporation and condensation. We generalize this relation to an atmospheric column with condensation occurring over a range of heights and derive the expansion work per mole of precipitated water. This includes the gravitational work associated with lifting moist air to the mean condensation height, the expansion work generated by condensation, and a correction for incomplete condensation. Using GPCP v3.3 precipitation and observational constraints on condensation height, we estimate the global steam-engine power as $W_v=4.4\pm0.9$ W/m2, close to an independent estimate of total atmospheric power, $W=W_P W_K\simeq4.3\pm0.6$ W/m2, obtained from the gravitational power of precipitation and kinetic energy generation by horizontal pressure gradients diagnosed from MERRA-2. Kinetic energy generation is $W_K\simeq3.2\pm0.3$ W/m2, of which at least two thirds is generated in the lower atmosphere. The smaller upper-atmospheric contribution, dominated by temperature-related pressure gradients, is comparable to Lorenz available potential energy generation. The agreement between steam-engine and atmospheric power is linked to condensation and precipitation fallout. By removing water from the atmospheric gas phase and enabling column-mass redistribution, precipitation maintains surface pressure gradients that drive cross-isobaric flow in the frictional lower atmosphere. The steam-engine framework thus provides a thermodynamic basis for condensation-induced atmospheric dynamics and identifies a major lower-atmospheric power pathway associated with water phase transitions.
toXiv_bot_toot
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-05-25 08:45:37
A growing number of execs are creating AI digital twins to manage tasks; Reid Hoffman says "Reid AI" has delivered 75 addresses and presentations since 2024 (Joann S. Lublin/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-agents-work
@mszll@datasci.social2026-07-23 21:14:35
It's nice to work hard on things in silence, and imagine they could become really useful someday.. #BikeNetKit
@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng2026-07-24 11:50:57
Lunch Break (2026)
(High alpine carpentry, today a month ago at Breslauer Hütte... Not the worst of work places one can imagine... The mountain peak opposite, Talleitspitze, is 3406 meters...)
#LandscapePhotography #Photography
@rasterweb@mastodon.social2026-06-24 16:31:24
Some engineer posted that "We all work for Billionaires. (Unless you own your own business.)"
WTF?
I've been working for four decades at many companies and I don't think any of the folks who owned the company were Billionaires.
Some were definitely *wealthy* (to varying degrees) but none were movie villain rich like Gates, Bezos, Musk, etc.
Do *you* work for a Billionaire?
@Sustainable2050@mastodon.energy2026-06-23 20:59:08
I'm afraid that many here in the Netherlands don't fully understand yet how hot the coming days will be. We're heading for 4 consecutive days like this (map for Wednesday). 35°C really feels different than 30°C!
The weirdest part is that this already happens in June.
(It's climate change at work)
1/8
@stefan@gardenstate.social2026-06-23 19:00:16
if Anil can't make it work here what hope do the rest of us have?
@Kingu@sakurajima.moe2026-06-25 11:11:40
At work they added a "Music recommendation" channel to our chat.
I was super surprised to see people actually liking what I post there.
Then I realize we have an office in Tokyo and all the like come from there :-)
@brian_gettler@mas.to2026-07-23 18:20:41
Who doesn't have a wrench in their desk at work for adjusting the HVAC?
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk2026-06-24 23:47:36
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #DriveTime
Blondshell:
🎵 Heart Has to Work So Hard
#Blondshell
https://blondshell.bandcamp.com/track/heart-has-to-work-so-hard
https://open.spotify.com/track/4wwOje67xW4mPCf8JvmWYK
@v_i_o_l_a@openbiblio.social2026-06-23 14:59:48
@AimeeMaroux@mastodon.social2026-06-21 23:49:16
Content warning:
#ScribesAndMakers June 20: How difficult is it for you to receive criticism of your creative work?
I usually love receiving feedback on my work. Of course it can hurt if it was a work that I was emotionally invested in and people don't like it. But most often, the criticism is there for a reason and I can decide I either don't care, I don't agree, or I see their point …
@datascience@genomic.social2026-05-24 10:00:01
{nplyr} has helper functions to work on nested dataframes: #rstats #datascience
@pimterry@toot.cafe2026-07-23 13:43:24
I do lots of long-ish horizon work (e.g. OpenSSL PRs I can't actually use for years after merging). Remarkable how bad LLMs are at even considering this as an option. Quick fix every time, even if there's a clear long-term right answer we should do instead. Does not bode well for the ecosystem...
@mia@hcommons.social2026-06-23 15:17:18
Cool post at the British Library! Barker Postdoctoral Fellow in Born-Digital Archives: 'Co-design a research project for a 12-month funded-fellowship, embedded in our expert curatorial and research teams'. Work on Local Large Language Models to Enable Discovery and Access for Personal Digital Archives, supervised by Callum McKean, Lead Curator for Born-Digital Archives, and supported by the Research Development Team (and us!)
@fanf@mendeddrum.org2026-05-23 20:42:04
from my link log —
A new suite of modern tools for editing and publishing IETF RFCs.
https://www.ietf.org/blog/new-tools-coming-for-editing-and-publishing-rfcs/
saved 2026-05-23
@Mediagazer@mstdn.social2026-06-23 14:30:41
Beehiiv adds Cloudflare AI Crawl Control to writers' dashboards, allowing them to decide whether AI crawlers can scrape their work (Duncan Riley/SiliconANGLE)
https://siliconangle.com/2026/06/23/beehiiv-adds-cloudflare-ai-crawl-c…
@cheryanne@aus.social2026-05-24 12:16:26
Seeing Eye Dogs Show, By Vision Australia Radio
Your on air guide to the incredible work that goes in behind the scenes at Seeing Eye Dogs, plus all the latest in dog health, caring and fostering puppies, interviews with experts and more...
Great Australian Pods Podcast Directory: https://www.greataus…
@stefanlaser@social.tchncs.de2026-06-24 20:03:32
ngl, I read a research report of mine from a few years ago, my #train study, and I feel like a treasure hunter.
It’s a mix of digital methods including code work (1 M tweets!), creative quali methods (podcast ethnography meets og interviews), and the prose has been smoothened by a proof write. 🫂
@dennisfaucher@infosec.exchange2026-05-22 13:23:53
I would like to thank Mythos for my having to perform multi-factor gymnastics every day for every work mobile app:
* Please re-authenticate
* User ID
* BeyondIdentity Challenge (which never works)
* Open BI QR Code
* Screen Shot QR Code
* Open in Work Side Photos app
* Google Lens to read the QR code and turn into a URL
* Open the URL
* Approve BI
* Challenged with my phone's 8 digit PIN
* Challenged by Okta
* Accept the Okta N…
@wraithe@mastodon.social2026-06-22 17:04:35
This is a great thread on remote work. The notes about having to be 💯 while on camera made me realize that all my clients are fine if people have their cameras off (mine is almost always off), and how much that really makes doing meetings easier.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:svvjd
@frankel@mastodon.top2026-06-24 16:34:08
The Java Geek Weekly special "pneumonia during a heatwave" 🥵🤒 edition is out.
Get it before it's too late!
https://blog.frankel.ch/java-geek-weekly/142/
@georgiamuseum@glammr.us2026-07-23 13:41:23
Her inclusion of Kristin Leachman’s “Longleaf 2” invites us to look at minute details of our surroundings, while a woven Gullah basket made from sweetgrass invokes discussion about how we take from the land. One piece that McCaskill is excited about is an untitled work by Radcliffe Bailey because of the artist’s ability to construct polyvocal stories that cross time, generations and space.
8/
@memeorandum@universeodon.com2026-06-22 21:55:38
The Secret Reason Bosses Want Everyone Back in the Office, Every Day of the Week (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/opinion/office-work-wfh-bosses.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260622/p97#a260622p97
@yetiinabox@todon.nl2026-07-24 10:55:30
1312
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3v0rq66q3no
if sex work were legal, this man could never have discovered, raped, and tried to murder dozens of women. because he was police, he had protected access to his victims. we have no idea if he did actually kill sex workers…
@smurthys@hachyderm.io2026-05-23 18:34:26
Kaleeshabi Mahaboob and Mahaboob Subhani are from Naadaswaram families. He stopped playing to work but resumed after seeing her concerts. Married, she helped him prep for a concert and they played together (only) for 25 years, until his death (2026).
https://www-thehindu-com.translate.goog/society/padma-shri-winners-sheik-mahaboob-subhani-and-kaleeshabi-mahaboobs-tryst-with-the-nadaswaram-padma-bhushan-awardee-krishnammal-jagannathans-efforts-to-promote-social-equality-through-land-reforms/article30703019.ece?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=te&_x_tr_hl=te&_x_tr_pto=tc
@DamonHD@mastodon.social2026-06-25 07:04:30
#today will be mainly spent avoiding the heat again (34C forecast), with not much 'work' planned. I will attempt to keep on top of the #NewScientist article flood, if it arrives (only 5 unread tabs at the moment).
@mxp@mastodon.acm.org2026-05-23 15:43:16
RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116618619694373891
“‘To cut and paste page by page, the text from each page would have been an hour’s worth of work, of mindless cutting and pasting. ChatGPT did it in about four seconds.’
To which the obv…
@mxp@mastodon.acm.org2026-05-23 15:43:16
RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116618619694373891
“‘To cut and paste page by page, the text from each page would have been an hour’s worth of work, of mindless cutting and pasting. ChatGPT did it in about four seconds.’
To which the obv…
@mxp@mastodon.acm.org2026-05-23 15:43:16
RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116618619694373891
“‘To cut and paste page by page, the text from each page would have been an hour’s worth of work, of mindless cutting and pasting. ChatGPT did it in about four seconds.’
To which the obv…
@grahamperrin@bsd.cafe2026-06-23 22:14:18
@… I expect a policy for the FreeBSD Project to appear elsewhere, not at the page for the work by these three engineers.
@bici@mastodon.social2026-07-24 03:40:22
BOND MOVIE FILMING LOCATIONS MAP ★
“From a Bond fan to Bond fans worldwide.” Nice work.
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/bond-movie-filming-locations-map
@denmanrooke@mastodon.ie2026-05-23 20:53:08
We may be out of the race in Galway West, but next week it's back to the real political work building in our communities fighting for working people where the government continues to fail.
If you want to help build that, get involved!
1/3
@Cognessence@social.linux.pizza2026-06-24 19:32:54
I've used it on and off since 2017, but in the last week Reaper took over as my "main" DAW. Even if I'm DAW agnostic, for soundtrack work (and the tricky borefest that stemming can be), the way it deals with track folders, exporting and scripts (to shorten some of the steps) is just a beautiful lifesaver!
@cowboys@darktundra.xyz2026-06-23 12:03:28
Cowboys Work Out Former Flash-in-the-Pan NFL Running Back Among 3 UFL Players https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/onsi/cowboys-work-out-flash-pan-nfl-running-back-ufl-players
@penguin42@mastodon.org.uk2026-06-23 23:58:46
I'm fighting a TTL based double stepper from a Cumana floppy drive; having replaced it's 74LS123 (dual monostable) and 74LS38 (quad OC NAND), it's now continually oscillating and just throws the head to the end of the travels; hmm - from my reverse eng it looks like it loops both the Q and !Q outputs of one back to the !A,B inputs of the other and relies on relative timing to stop the oscillation - which doesn't work on the replacement chips I used.
@samerfarha@mastodon.social2026-05-24 21:48:17
I’m chopping a metric ton of spinach (to yield about 100 grams, if I’m lucky), and at the end of all that manual work, it occurs to me that maybe I could do this in the meat grinder? Will have to try this next time…
(Also: farmers market spinach has so many tiny bugs! Protein, right?)
@leftsidestory@mstdn.social2026-07-24 00:30:07
Civic Museums VI🏛️
民间博物馆 VI 🏛️
📷 Pentax MX
🎞️ LUCKY SHD 400 (FF)
If you like my work, Support by buying me a coffee or a roll of film from
PayPal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ydcdingsite
Wise
@lpryszcz@genomic.social2026-07-24 16:03:29
AI has changed what clients expect. The AI aesthetic has become a default visual reference point that many researchers now push towards. But we often create images for scientific journals. When clients ask us to chase the AI look, we explain that it is likely to work against them as it doesn’t match what journals want: clarity over spectacle. Sometimes they listen.
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2026-05-24 15:42:26
Content warning: Minor spoilers for "A Psalm for the Wild-Built"
Just finished "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" by Becky Chambers. Overall it's good but I also have some Thoughts.
First, it was very pleasant to finally read some non-trite utopian solarpunk after having read stuff like Octavia Butler recently. Both hope and despair can be poisonous on their own IMO, so getting some balance in is nice. It's definitely a very valuable thing to be able to lay out an actually desirable and in many ways imaginable future given our grim present. Chambers is no LeGuin though. I'll probably be reading more of her work and maybe she fleshes out these ideas elsewhere, but at least in this book there is no focus on either how the transition to a better society could happen nor on how the better society holds up in the face of adverse events and inclinations. Compare LeGuin's "The Dispossessed" or N. K. Jemisin's short story "The Ones Who Stay and Fight" and it feels like there's something important missing from Chambers' portrait of a future society. Of course, maybe the point is to make a cozy book, in which case fine, there's certainly a place for such things, and I can look for deeper inspiration elsewhere.
The second big thought I had was that Chambers' worldview seems not well-informed by certain indigenous perspectives, and this creates some contradictions. For example, (minor spoilers) when Dex enters the wilderness there's a whole bit about understanding humankind's place in nature and how human settlements are what we're used to but they're only a brief interruption of the vast untouched wilderness. Along the same lines, much of the world is intentionally left untouched by humans as a way to keep it pristine and natural. Later however, a character makes the point that humans *are* animals. The indigenous perspective that I appreciate would agree with that, and would further question the value in distinguishing between human influence on ecosystems and influences that others have. More sharply, one might observe that there's a bigger difference between how different kinds of humans relate to and influence their environments than between how less-disruptive humans and various animals do the same: the strip-mine-operator vs. migrant tribesperson impact difference is probably much greater than the migrant tribesperson vs. beaver gap, for example. Rather than talking about limiting human disruption, then, as if all human-environment interactions are disruptive and must be minimized, we could/should be talking about how to create human societies that have beneficial relationships with their environments and acknowledging that we actually have many positive examples of that, both historical and contemporary. Chambers' utopia is a "humans dominate nature but restrain themselves so that their disruptions are minimal and thus nature can thrive" vision, but what I'd even more like to see would be a "humans study old ways and make new ones so that they can interact positively with ecosystems again" vision, including some of "here are the places that sometimes breaks down but also the patterns and institutions that ensure repair of those breakdowns and thus long-term sustainability."
Final big thought: Chambers' utopia is too homogenous for my tastes. Of course it's hard enough and valuable work dreaming up and sharing any utopia and Chambers' transcends triteness in a number of ways, so this criticism is a bit rude. But the single shared religion, lack of mention of conflicts around shared decisions, especially historical society-defining ones, and nagging questions like "what about the people indigenous to the now-uninhabited lands?" and "what about the indigenous peoples who weren't part of the factory-building societies?" leave me wishing for more nuance in this direction.
All in all: a good book, and I'm criticizing out of a place of appreciation, not scorn. I've got there sequel out from the library as well and will probably detour to a few other books but get to it pretty soon.
Sadly I don't remember who, but I got this one because of a recommendation on here, so thanks if you're someone who recommended it!
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-07-21 17:30:57
Block launches Buzz, an open source collaboration workspace on Nostr protocol for humans and AI agents to share messages, code repositories, workflows, and more (Block)
https://block.xyz/inside/introducing-buzz-where-humans-and-agents-work-together
@aral@mastodon.ar.al2026-05-23 22:21:00
Talked to a software engineer at Microsoft working on Copilot Studio today at a social event and he said he was ashamed that he hadn’t written a single line of code in over three months. “I used to take pride in my work.” (They simply create plans in natural language and feed it to the LLM which generates the code. They can’t even do human code reviews anymore as there’s too much code being generated.)
He said a lot of them were waiting for a catastrophic event (something that would ta…
@davidaugust@mastodon.online2026-05-24 04:16:11
"The hardest part of acting is not being guaranteed work. Every job could be your last."
—Henry Cavill
#acting #coaching #inspiration
@hex@kolektiva.social2026-05-20 10:01:28
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)?
@cdarwin@c.im2026-07-23 21:40:24
Gen Z-ers are often accused of shrugging off work
— in fact, they say so themselves
— and who can blame them?
They’ve watched millennial workers burn out, wages stagnate, degrees turn worthless and institutions crumble.
Now, they’re entering what’s widely called the worst job market in years.
Almost half of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed.
The cost of living has soared;
buying a house feels impossible.
Who knows wh…
@raiders@darktundra.xyz2026-04-25 03:38:05
@cowboys@darktundra.xyz2026-06-23 11:44:41
Cowboys Work Out Former Flash-in-the-Pan NFL Running Back Among 3 UFL Players https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/onsi/cowboys-work-out-flash-pan-nfl-running-back-ufl-players
@fathermcgruder@jorts.horse2026-06-23 17:49:49
Hey so where do I get 6/3 copper wire for a reasonable price? I need at least 50ft, but it looks like it's going to cost more than the EV charger I want to get. #EV #DIY #Electrical
@Mediagazer@mstdn.social2026-07-23 19:57:55
The DOJ withdraws subpoenas that would have forced three NYT reporters to testify about sources, after a federal judge criticized the DOJ for sloppy legal work (Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/usmediatimesair-force-one-42429e4d4da8accc42b6c3…
@aredridel@kolektiva.social2026-05-22 13:48:14
RE: https://kolektiva.social/@aredridel/116614280060230177
Okay I wrote this as snark but there is a body of economics research on this, Elinor Ostrom's Nobel-prize-winning work in fact.
Commons _can_ be managed, but it requires some interesting framework pieces to really work. I think actually trying to apply her ideas to the information commons is extremely prudent.
It's also a little uncharted because the commons isn't just a resource. It's people's creative output.
@aral@mastodon.ar.al2026-06-24 08:54:52
Daddy, when the fascists came, did you take up arms and join the resistance?
No, son.
Did you try and protect the people they were targeting?
No, son.
Did you speak out against it?
No, you little shit, I didn’t, ok? I didn’t even boycott a stupid football game and a music contest. Now shut up, daddy has to go work at the concentration camp.
@cheryanne@aus.social2026-05-24 19:08:26
InTheBlack
Brings together expert analysis and thought leadership across accounting, business and finance, taxation, technology, digital transformation, innovation, ethics and governance, ESG, the economy, careers, workplace and work life...
Great Australian Pods Podcast Directory: https://www.greataustralianpo…
@callunavulgaris@mastodon.scot2026-06-24 07:49:01
This is lovely 💙
A moment that changed me: A telegram arrived – and I had to choose between my head and my heart | Education | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/24/moment-changed-me-telegram-arrived-…
@davidaugust@mastodon.online2026-07-24 16:16:03
"The hardest part of acting is not being guaranteed work. Every job could be your last."
—Henry Cavill
#acting #coaching #inspiration
@raiders@darktundra.xyz2026-04-25 03:38:06
@leftsidestory@mstdn.social2026-04-25 12:22:46
Human Human 👘
人啊人 👘
📷 Pentax 6x7
🎞️ Lucky SHD 400 (6x7)
If you like my work, Support by buying me a coffee or a roll of film from PayPal #filmphotography
@rasterweb@mastodon.social2026-07-24 20:41:06
If you need to remove a bottle cap from a bottle but all you have handy is another bottle cap will it work to remove the bottle cap from the bottle?
Yes. But... it may be messy.
(This toot brought to you by a person who had a cat sitting on them but forgot to grab a bottle opener before they sat down.)
@cdarwin@c.im2026-06-23 00:39:35
When we later asked them about their stances on hybrid and remote work, manager's answers didn't correlate with how much they trusted their employees or how much they loved being around people.
The only trait that consistently predicted objections to remote work was narcissism
https://bs…
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk2026-06-22 14:08:27
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MorningShow
Blondshell:
🎵 Heart Has to Work So Hard
#Blondshell
https://blondshell.bandcamp.com/track/heart-has-to-work-so-hard
https://open.spotify.com/track/4wwOje67xW4mPCf8JvmWYK
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-06-24 06:25:57
London-based Isometric, which develops AI agents that work with human verifiers to automate industrial certification, raised a €34M Series A led by AVP (David Cendon Garcia/EU-Startups)
https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/06/london
@Mediagazer@mstdn.social2026-07-23 23:05:50
A judge extends the temporary order pausing the Paramount-WBD merger for 14 more days and writes that the WGA can participate in a scheduled hearing on August 3 (Ted Johnson/Deadline)
https://deadline.com/2026/07/paramount-warner-bros-merger-judge-ex…
@cowboys@darktundra.xyz2026-06-23 18:41:20
Cowboys work out 3 more UFL prospects, including 2026 season's rushing leader https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cowboys/2026/06/23/cowboys-ufl-workouts-deon-jackson-micah-baskerv…
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2026-07-23 20:56:28
@… okay, here's one I just made up: 'pc' would work as cp, except it would silently replace any swear words in text files with asterisks.
@davidaugust@mastodon.online2026-07-24 04:16:02
@rasterweb@mastodon.social2026-05-25 02:03:54
@cdarwin@c.im2026-07-23 03:22:01
A U.S. appeals court has ruled in a case involving Exxon Mobil that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
cannot require businesses to document work-related mental illnesses reported by employees.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said on Tuesday
that a requirement in federal law that employers periodically report work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses only applies to physical -- and not mental c…
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-06-23 15:45:57
Beehiiv adds Cloudflare AI Crawl Control to writers' dashboards, allowing them to decide whether AI crawlers can scrape their work (Duncan Riley/SiliconANGLE)
https://siliconangle.com/2026/06/23/beehiiv-adds-cloudflare-ai-crawl-c…
@leftsidestory@mstdn.social2026-05-25 00:30:03
The Story of the Two Towers IV 📖
双塔故事 IV 📖
📷 Nikon F4E
🎞️ Lucky SHD 400 (FF）
If you like my work, Support by buying me a coffee or a roll of film from PayPal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ydcdingsite
@davidaugust@mastodon.online2026-07-22 13:17:26
Almost like he wants another 9-11 type attack, which he thinks he will then be able to seize extra powers as a result of such an attack. The Reichstag may have been fire, but I don't think a reboot will work as he hopes.
"Congress created…TSA after…September 11, 2001…Before…airlines contracted…private security firms to screen…but…9/11 attacks showed…private system had dangerous vulnerabilities. Now…Trump administration is resurrecting that…"
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-07-25 00:05:50
A joint preliminary evaluation by the UK's AISI and the US' CAISI finds Kimi K3 trails leading US frontier closed weight models on cyber capability (AI Security Institute)
https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/preliminary-assessment-of-kimi-k3s-cyber-capabil…
@leftsidestory@mstdn.social2026-05-24 00:30:07
The Story of the Two Towers III 📖
双塔故事 III 📖
📷 Pentax 6x7
🎞️ Harman RED (6x7）
If you like my work, Support by buying me a coffee or a roll of film from PayPal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ydcdingsite
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-07-21 13:10:50
OpenAI says it now has 10M people using Codex and ChatGPT Work, nearly doubling usage from earlier this month when the company announced ChatGPT Work (Shirin Ghaffary/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07…
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-07-24 17:14:32
Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5, which it says comes close to Fable 5 performance at half the price; it is the new default model on Claude Max (Anthropic)
https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-opus-5
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-06-24 06:01:28
New York-based Probook, which is building an AI operating system for home service businesses, raised a $34M Series A led by a16z and a $6M seed led by Sequoia (Lily Mae Lazarus/Fortune)
https://fortune.com/2026/06/23/excl…
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-06-24 15:56:24
Nature publishes a peer-reviewed paper alleging that Microsoft's 2025 quantum breakthrough claims were based on "basic Python errors" and data cherry-picking (Thomas Claburn/The Register)
https://www.theregiste…
@Techmeme@techhub.social2026-06-25 06:05:58
Assort Health, which develops AI voice agents for health care to handle scheduling and more, raised a $120M Series C led by Menlo Ventures at a $1.2B valuation (Heather Landi/Fierce Healthcare)
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/ai-and-ma…
