Nostr notes by Kee Hinckley

Cannot verify, but funny regardless. ...

2026-05-04T03:12:12Z

Cannot verify, but funny regardless.

Probably a furry though. ...

2026-03-17T14:26:45Z

Probably a furry though.

“The U.S. poverty line is calculated as three times the cost of ...

2025-11-26T16:39:35Z

“The U.S. poverty line is calculated as three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963, adjusted for inflation.”

That's because at the time, food accounted for 1/3rd of a household budget.

Now it's 5-7% of a household budget. So the poverty line shouldn't be 3x food. It should be 16x food.

"Which means if you measured income inadequacy today the way Orshansky measured it in 1963, the threshold for a family of four wouldn’t be $31,200.

It would be somewhere between $130,000 and $150,000.
.:.
What does that tell you about the $31,200 line we still use?

It tells you we are measuring starvation."

https://www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie

Measuring the car for storage bins. Dogs do not want to be left ...

2025-10-21T04:43:15Z

Measuring the car for storage bins. Dogs do not want to be left behind.

#DogsOfMastodon

Fight the power! https://social.tinyview.com/9AEECFwjtXb ...

2025-10-15T00:09:26Z

Fight the power!
https://social.tinyview.com/9AEECFwjtXb

❝ generative AI, like chatbots and large language models ...

2025-10-01T22:21:49Z

❝ generative AI, like chatbots and large language models (LLMs), advertised as research and writing supports—come with a particular risk that matters deeply for the U.S. national security workforce whose decisions can carry life-and-death consequences. Regular use of generative AI programs may erode many of the very cognitive skills U.S. security depends on. Unless policymakers act, the same tools marketed as efficiency boosters could undermine national security professionals’ ability to think critically, respond rapidly, and outmaneuver adversaries. Considering how risk averse the national security space tends to be, this is a consequence worth acknowledging and addressing. ❞
https://www.justsecurity.org/121289/ai-hidden-national-security-cost/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ai-hidden-national-security-cost

Everyone's H1-B workers just got really expensive. EDIT They ...

2025-09-20T01:47:12Z

Everyone's H1-B workers just got really expensive.

EDIT They are now saying it only applies to new applicants.

Of course, like the tariffs, the fact thay theres no payment mechanism betrays the goal. It's to stop immigration completely.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/

Nostr event nevent1qqs8syy397ktfrgy4gw4sz2letvutjeh7pg34erggtm0tx4xpgr2tcqzyrgder2qptmyaccvyqwjr4d8g20t458hvj3ku6nfjvykvutewhpqz2jaauz

2025-09-17T02:58:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…q7p5
_________________________

#GreatBlueHeron

#otter and #GreatBlueHeron at #sunset #Photography ...

2025-09-17T02:56:48Z

#otter and #GreatBlueHeron at #sunset #Photography

We've moved into a new phase of fascism. Where the government ...

2025-09-16T03:04:06Z

We've moved into a new phase of fascism. Where the government is threatening to shutdown nonprofits like the Ford Foundation for funding news organizations who pointed out that Charlie Kirk was racist. Miller, who calls the shots for anything in this regime that has to do with promoting white men, has called those nonprofits terrorist organizations. And remember that Congress is talking about revoking passports for anyone who supports terrorists organizations.

This is moving very fast. And any such actions will be greatly enhanced by Palantir technology, which can easily map who supported what organization, and who said what on social media, to their address, SSN, and tax records. Hitler had IBM to organize tracking his enemies. Palantir is millions of times more powerful.

#USPol

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/vance-miller-announce-crackdowns

Nostr event nevent1qqsqevhcv4sxkk7dafmd6krvhpcwxc4yxks9y5ysqdxaers4t9cjgyszyrgder2qptmyaccvyqwjr4d8g20t458hvj3ku6nfjvykvutewhpqzv3f7v0

2025-09-04T05:25:26Z

#DogsOfMastodon

USAA (insurance, banking, etc) has recently increased their login ...

2025-08-26T17:27:21Z

USAA (insurance, banking, etc) has recently increased their login security in a way that really screws older users.

Attached is the error message you get if you try to login to USAA and do not have a cell phone on file.

First of all, this message is horrific. Clearly whoever made the security changes didn't bother communicating with the rest of the teams. You know, how about "No cell phone on file. Please call xxx to add one"? But let's put that aside.

NOT ALL PEOPLE HAVE CELL PHONES! Especially older people.

But it gets worse.

So I help my mother call USAA, and before they can change anything, they ask her authentication questions. You know the ones, "Where have you lived, what cars have you owned....". And she forgets the color of her previous car (I mean, *I* don't remember it either, and I'm not 91). So she fails that. But no problem they say, just go to the web site, go to the verify page, and upload a photo of your drivers license.

Uh huh. And how are you going to do that if you don't have a cell phone?

Fortunately, she *does* have cell phone. In fact, it may already be on file, but as a landline. I can't tell. They can't tell me.

So I walk her through taking a picture of her license. I get those photos onto her Mac. We go to the verification page. We upload them.

They're rejected. Too crooked (I'm guessing).

So I have her message the damn photos to me. I straighten them out and crop them, and then I send them back. We upload them again. They are accepted.

And now, as customer support said, they will call her back. IN ONE TO THREE DAYS.

Oh, and what's their solution if you don't own a cell phone?
Use the cell phone of a friend or relative.
And every time they send a code, have them call/message it to you.
Terrific.

Did *nobody* think this through?

Because there *is* a solution to this that companies use. They make an automated call to the landline and it reads the number to you. WTH USAA?

If you're wondering what you can do about ICE as a white ...

2025-08-21T20:12:29Z

If you're wondering what you can do about ICE as a white person in a blue state...

#uspol

❝ The crazy thing is not that garlic isn’t grown from seeds; ...

2025-08-21T06:43:42Z

❝ The crazy thing is not that garlic isn’t grown from seeds; it’s that, for the most part, it can’t be. Ever since people began cultivating garlic — six millennia ago by some estimates, 10 by others — it’s primarily been done through asexual reproduction. In all those thousands of years, scarcely a single plant was coaxed to produce one solitary seed.
And so it forgot how.
About 15 years ago, a Missouri farmer and former union painter named [Mark Brown](https://www.gatewaygarlic.com/?ref=ambrook ) began trying to coax true seeds from his garlic — an attempt, essentially, to undo thousands of years of domestication.
❞ https://ambrook.com/offrange/crops/so-you-think-you-know-garlic?utm_source=clivethompson&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=linkfest-38-tk-tk-and-tk

My mother-in-law knows I like dragons. So she got me these dragon ...

2025-08-18T03:50:25Z

My mother-in-law knows I like dragons. So she got me these dragon socks. Today Mollie was looking at them on my feet and realized that the dragons are stoned. It's not clear my MiL realized this.

I mean. That's one way to sleep. #DogsOfMastodon ...

2025-08-09T03:42:51Z

I mean. That's one way to sleep.

#DogsOfMastodon

They told people they could apply for retirement benefits. But ...

2025-08-08T02:08:56Z

They told people they could apply for retirement benefits. But then they refused them all. The cruelty is deliberate.
https://apnews.com/article/air-force-transgender-no-early-retirement-e6a4da806f2cc2bdc05f49438cbd26fd

Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination JRR Tolkien - The Hobbit ...

2025-07-20T00:45:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…p8mh
_________________________

Alfred Bester - The Stars My Destination
JRR Tolkien - The Hobbit

One I think about reading but can't really bring myself to. But I think about it.

George R Stewart – Earth Abides

And ones that just give me warm fuzzies thinking about.

Bertrand R. Brinley - The Mad Scientists Club
Multiple authors - The Campfire Girls
L Frank Baum - The Oz books
Anything by Andre Norton

Someone spent two weeks "generating a book" in ChatGPT. ...

2025-07-16T23:55:52Z

Someone spent two weeks "generating a book" in ChatGPT.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/s/nhLwG2Idrt

This is brilliant. Precisely the opposite of what you see in ...

2025-07-12T02:12:11Z

This is brilliant. Precisely the opposite of what you see in dystopian cyberpunk.
AR glasses that block ads.

https://x.com/stspanho/status/1935728608514838540?utm_source=clivethompson&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=linkfest-36-moon-rice-mountaineering-in-high

A good friend is job hunting. San Francisco bay area, remote, or ...

2025-07-08T16:00:05Z

A good friend is job hunting. San Francisco bay area, remote, or with relocation paid.

Please pass this on.

20+ years of unix and linux system administration and automation. Last 7 years were infrastructure engineering: deployment pipelines to lay out and configure cloud infrastructure; developing a vm system with native containers to replace a kubernetes-based deployment model; and implementing an automated status page management system in python with a fully-configurable workflow engine to translate metrics from prometheus and loki into status updates on a third party status page service.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnson-earls-4aa15a1

#FediJobs #FediHire

“They will hunt you, they are like a cross between a lentil and ...

2025-06-29T14:51:36Z

“They will hunt you, they are like a cross between a lentil and a velociraptor,”

Calling it an allergy to red meat under-describes the impact. The proteins that trigger the allergy appear in everything from meat to toilet paper and even being near things that are cooking can trigger it.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/29/lone-star-ticks-increase-climate-crisis

I was having sushi in #Split, #Croatia / #Hrvatska (excellent ...

2025-06-05T10:37:12Z

I was having sushi in #Split, #Croatia / #Hrvatska (excellent fish, but Croatia's idea of "spicy" needs work) when I was faced with the following doors during a bathroom break.
I guess if you have a Prince Albert you need to find a door with a champagne bottle on it.

Won't be the last. ...

2025-06-01T19:16:01Z

Won't be the last.

Seems about right. ...

2025-05-04T20:06:08Z

Seems about right.

❝ For example, researchers from four universities analyzed ...

2025-04-14T22:28:14Z

❝ For example, researchers from four universities analyzed short snippets of audio transcribed by Whisper, and found completely fabricated sentences, with some transcripts inventing the races of the people being spoken about, and others even attributing murder to them. In one case a recording that said, “He, the boy, was going to, I’m not sure exactly, take the umbrella” was transcribed with additions including: “He took a big piece of a cross, a teeny, small piece.... I’m sure he didn’t have a terror knife so he killed a number of people.” In another example, “two other girls and one lady” was transcribed as “two other girls and one lady, um, which were Black.” ❞ https://dair-community.social/@timnitGebru/114338469117858107

They told him he had a citizenship meeting. They lied. ...

2025-04-14T22:05:16Z

They told him he had a citizenship meeting. They lied.
https://newrepublic.com/post/193975/ice-arrest-mohsen-mahdawi-citizenship-appointment

No amount of anti-anxiety and ADHD meds can get me moving ...

2025-04-07T20:36:24Z

No amount of anti-anxiety and ADHD meds can get me moving anymore.
Can I hire someone to just do my life for me, so I can stay in bed?

Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis No one move a muscle as the ...

2025-04-07T04:11:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…88qm
_________________________

Big black nemesis, parthenogenesis
No one move a muscle as the dead come home

Saw them in concert many years ago. Great band.

Now there's a protest sign you don't see often. ...

2025-04-06T02:05:25Z

Now there's a protest sign you don't see often.

When old Soviet Union jokes are applicable to the US, you know ...

2025-04-05T07:10:54Z

When old Soviet Union jokes are applicable to the US, you know something has gone terribly wrong.

Laura Loomer, who once chained herself to Twitter's door when ...

2025-04-04T05:14:51Z

Laura Loomer, who once chained herself to Twitter's door when they blocked her account, and then got upset when nobody cared that she was there, has apparently fired the head of the NSA.

Can we rename this age from "Anthropocene" to "Surrealocene"? https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs/114277557858332727

If you're wondering where the regime got these crazy high ...

2025-04-02T23:26:03Z

If you're wondering where the regime got these crazy high tariff rates from...it wasn't in fact tariffs.

And when they do this to a citizen, they will say the same thing. ...

2025-04-01T03:24:49Z

And when they do this to a citizen, they will say the same thing.

"But in Monday’s court filing, attorneys for the government admitted that the Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported accidentally. “Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,” the government told the court. Trump lawyers said the court has no ability to bring him back now that Abrego Garcia is in Salvadoran custody."

"Trump administration attorneys told the court to dismiss the request on multiple grounds, including that Trump’s “primacy in foreign affairs” outweighs the interests of Abrego Garcia and his family."

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/an-administrative-error-sends-a-man-to-a-salvadoran-prison/682254/?utm_source=apple_news

Here's the text, roughly converted. I t wi ll be necessary ...

2025-04-01T02:05:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…d0wa
_________________________

Here's the text, roughly converted.

I t wi ll be necessary for both of you to go to Korea to adopt your children.
HOLT ADOPTION PROGRAM
P. O. Box No. 95
Creswell, Oregon
Dear Friends:
We have received so many applications for adoption that it is impossible for us to write personal
letters to everyone. We feel that this is the Lord's work and He has sent these applications to us
for a purpose and we look to Him for wisdom.
We are sending "Application for Adoption" forms out to those who write in about adoption.
However, before you fill out this form, we would like to state our requirements as plainly as
possible.
First and Foremost, we wish to place the children in born-again Christian homes. The name
"Christian" is used so carelessly now-a-days that we wish to express our definition of the word.
Christian means "Christ one". The Word of God says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new crea-
ture." II Cor. 5:17. Many people now-a-days claim the name of Christian who are not in Christ.
Everyone hopes to go to Heaven when he dies. Many call themselves the sons of God by natural
birth. However, the Word of God does not teach this. The Word of God says, "Ye must be born
again," John 3:7, and "But as many as received Him _(that is Christ) to them gave He power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on ikis Name." John 1:12.
-44
There is only one way to Heaven; only one way to God. The Lord Jesus said, "I am the Way,
the Truth, and the Life." John 14:6. We believe the Word of God from cover to cover; we believe
that the Lord Jesus meant what He said: That He is the Way. The Scriptures go on to say, "No
man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:6. The Word of God teaches that man is born
in sin—a lost creature. This is repeated many times in the Scripture. "For all have sinned and
come short of the Glory of God." Romans 3:23. Therefore, man being a lost creature, needs to
be saved; and there is only one Saviour. So, in spite of all the teachings of man and of devils, the
way to Heaven narrows to just one door, the Lord Jesus Christ. "He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth
on Him." John 3:36.
We know there are many people who have given mental assent to the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Many people believe that he died for the sins of the world; many believe that He
died for their sins. Therefore, many people know about Him but do not know Him. Do you know
Him? Have you received the Son of God as your Lord and Saviour! Can you say, like Paul, "I know
whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able."? II Tim. 1:12. We believe that anyone
who is washed in the Blood of Christ and born of the Spirit of God will know it. Now, if you do
not Kaye this: assurance and are interested in the eternal welfare of your soul, we would be glad
to have you write to us and question us further on this subject. However, WE WOULD RATHER
THAT YOU DID NOT FILL OUT THIS FORM UNTIL YOU ARE ASSURED THAT YOU
ARE A SAVED PERSON. You see, the Word of God tells us that God is the father of the father-
less. Therefore, we feel that these little children are the Lord's children and it is our responsibility
before God to see that they go into homes where they will be reared in the nurture and admoni-
tion of the Lord.
I f you are Christians and know it, we would ask that you fill in the enclosed form so that we
will know how to classify your status, etc. We cannot get one of these children for you and we
cannot guarantee that you will receive one of them, for this is the Lord's work and only He can
put a child in your home.
As we walk by faith, we often cannot see very far ahead and do not always know what the
future holds. However, because of the fact that there are many helpless children in the world who
need homes and there are so many homes in America that have been opened to these children, we
have confidence that the Lord will show the way to get them together.
We would rather not put a child in a home where there has been a divorce. However, we will
consider the circumstances, if you wish to give us the information. Single persons (widows, widow-
ers, unmarried people) and those who are not legal citizens of the United States cannot get a visa
for their child. This is a government regulation.
Several people have desired to adopt the offspring of their own sons or relatives in the service,
but after much consideration and prayer we have decided against this in most cases. Everyone
knows that these children are born out of wedlock, but when a complete stranger, who knows noth-
ing of their father, adopts them, this is forgotten in the years ahead. But, it will never be forgotten
if he grows up where the father is knelirn. Being of mixed parentage is a big problem for the
child to face, but being the illegitimate ched of someone close by adds to the discrimination.
One family can file petitions with the Immigration Service for only two children, unless it would
mean the separation of brothers and sisters.
As you know, our work has been primarily with the mixed-race children in Korea; that is, the
children of American fathers and Korean mothers. However, we have come upon a situation that
we would like to explain. In the Orient little girls are not considered very important. Economic
conditions being the way they are in Korea, people can hardly feed themselves and the children
that they have; therefore, sometimes baby girls are abandoned by married families. Of course,
there are always a large number of illegitimate babies born and Koreans tell me that the children
of misfortune are always girls. In any event, there are certainly a great number of baby girls
abandoned. Most of these are brought to some charity hospital or baby home, and I doubt that one
in ten survives the first two months. This may seem strange to you who know the living condi-
tions here in America, but many of the babies have been chilled before they are found.
The full Korean children are not discriminated against, but a girl, or even a boy, growing up
in Korea, without a family, has very little chance of ever livin: a decent life • i• • • JI q:,,104 4,11 • 6 • , -
."1.10110616404.1-1.1.01",..., ,
•
Now, we are not asking any of you folks to take these babies. We are just telling you about
them and if some of you feel led to take one or two of them, we would be most happy to place them
in your home. However it must be remembered that naturally they will be and will look like
Koreans when grown. The average Korean is a little darker than the average American, not as dark
as Mexicans, but, I believe, about the same as the average Italian. Should this in any way make a
difference in the family's attitude, we would advise against adoption.
I know that you folks all want your children cared for as well as possible. The Lord has given us
these little ones and it is up to us to care for them, but it does cost money. Up until recently our
financial situation was pretty good and we have been able to donate to the operation of this
thing ourselves and supply the deficit. However, this has come to an end. We have our own family
to care for, and the Scriptures say, "But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of
his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." I Tim. 5:8. We have therefore
found it necessary to increase the fees to $500.00 for each child brought to the West Coast. The
fees are:
Transportation and Handling from Korea to the West Coast $253.00
Processing Fee 100.00
Visa Fee 25.00
Home Study Fee 15.00
Child Care, Hospitalization, etc. 107.00
TOTAL $500.00
We do want you to know from the start that it will be necessary for at least one of the parents
to meet the plane when it arrives with your child.
I f you return the "Application for Adoption" form it is evaluated and if it meets requirements,
i t is put in our "Christian Waiting" file. Eventually a Home Study is ordered for you and, if ap-
proved, we send you a set of legal papers to fill out, and ask you for letters of recommendation,
certified or notarized copies of birth and marriage certificates with raised seal, and pictures of
your home and family. These pictures are in addition to those we ask for when you return your
application form. Please, do not send these certificates or the money until we ask for it.
Under the present bill it is necessary for the Immigration Service to also make an investigation
of each home and approve the petitions to classify aliens as eligible orphans. This investigation
costs an additional $10.00, which is paid to the Immigration Service. From the time the petition is
filed until it is approved usually takes from six weeks to two months.
When a child comes in for adoption, he is carefully and prayerfully chosen for a home by an
assignor who has undertaken this very important work for our Lord. You can designate the age
and sex of your child and you are never given one with a handicap unless you specifically ask for
it. Colored children go only to colored homes. We are in need of more homes for colored chil--
dren. If you wish to adopt a certain child, already chosen, be sure to give us the name and any
information you have about him.
In handling so many children, we acquire some handicapped ones. These are not placed in
homes unless parents specifically ask for them. If anyone knows someone who feels led to adopt
a lame, deaf, deformed or blind child, let us know. At the present time we are caring for many
children who are unadoptable for various reasons, which adds to our expenses, although we are
making every effort to keep costs at a minimum.
The child will be an alien for two years, at which time the parents should apply for citizenship.
Just contact the closest office of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service for
the procedure for obtaining citizenship.
If you adopt a child through some other agency, or for some reason you wish to cancel your
application, let us know immediately. Please, notify us at once of any change of address. Also, we
want you to know that we are not connected with any other organization whatsoever.
We have provided a follow-up program and realizing there are adjustments to be made, we desire
to be of help in any way. A home visit will be made, when requested, and we will try to help you
with any questions you may have or any problems which may arise. We just ask that you be sure
and let us know before a problem becomes too great.
If you have not read the book, "The Seed from the East", written by my wife, we will appre-
ciate your buying one as all the profit from it goes to further the work with orphans. You can also
help us by sending names and addresses of your friends or relatives who might be interested. (1/2)

If you're curious what those Korean adoptions looked like ...

2025-04-01T02:01:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…mmzr
_________________________

If you're curious what those Korean adoptions looked like from the other side, here is an introduction to the process that I found in my aunt's estate. She adopted my cousins in 1964, so the adoptions could well have been forged. The blatant "save the poor brown kids by converting them using Saved Christians" is very horrendous, never mind the rest.

Alt text was too long, I'll add a reply with it.

Just wanted to follow up to say that I really really appreciate ...

2025-03-31T21:54:36Z

In reply to nevent1q…69h3
_________________________

Just wanted to follow up to say that I really really appreciate that share. There were several moments there (suddenly being able to make phone calls and wanting to socialize without it making her anxious, liking her smile for the first time) that were absolutely the same experiences I had had. And while I knew the smile one was related to transitioning (it happened as soon as I acknowledged I wasn't cis), the other had never occured to me. But the timing is exactly right.

Thanks again,

We know the names of some of them. The soccer fan with a soccer ...

2025-03-28T22:44:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…p3xv
_________________________

We know the names of some of them. The soccer fan with a soccer tattoo, a tattoo artist, the gay barber, the guy with a tattoo honoring his grandmother, the one with one honoring his daughter. But none of them deserved to be denied due process.

El Salvador did return some due to not matching their agreement. Several woman, and a guy who wasn't even from Argentina.

That alone tells you how rushed and completely without logic this was. Speak Spanish, have a tattoo, and on our list of asylum seekers? In you go.

❝ These men—human beings with names, histories, dreams—were ...

2025-03-28T21:19:18Z

❝ These men—human beings with names, histories, dreams—were marched through a gauntlet of armed guards, beaten, stripped naked, shaved, and thrown into overcrowded cells. A photojournalist on the scene described watching men age a decade in two hours. He watched as one young man sobbed, “I’m not a gang member. I’m gay. I’m a barber.” This man was slapped for his tears, beaten for his vulnerability.

No phone calls. No visitors. No books. No talking. Just exile to a place “so cold and far from home they may as well have been sent into space, nameless and forgotten.”

And all of this—every slap, every sob, every stolen dignity—stamped with American approval. Coordinated with American officials. Executed with American efficiency. ❞

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/28/what-is-it-exactly-that-being-an-american-means-to-you/

❝ Frustrated that the US Treasury Department is walking back ...

2025-03-25T19:54:36Z

❝ Frustrated that the US Treasury Department is walking back plans to replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill with Harriet Tubman, Dano Wall created a 3D-printed stamp that can be used to transform Jacksons into Tubmans on the twenties in your pocketbook. ❞

https://kottke.org/25/03/the-harriet-tubman-20-stamp-1

I see the tough guy approach is going well. ❝ Today, when the ...

2025-03-20T04:26:00Z

I see the tough guy approach is going well.

❝ Today, when the phone call [with Trump] was scheduled, Putin was on stage at an event. When his interviewer asked if he needed to go because he would be late for the call, Putin dismissed the question and laughter broke out. Brett Bruen, president of the Global Situation Room public relations firm wrote: “Making leaders wait is an old Putin power play. But, this is pretty brutal. Putin is publicly mocking Trump.” ❞

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-18-2025

Not little dogs! ...

2025-03-17T04:20:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…vvnl
_________________________

Not little dogs!

Nostr event nevent1qqspev7hac69n8hkd7yqp2qx2xnt884c4k8l67g27jmpsdf27fal9tgzyrgder2qptmyaccvyqwjr4d8g20t458hvj3ku6nfjvykvutewhpqzk5txfc

2025-03-17T04:17:05Z

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/feds-appear-columbia-second-time-week-while-university-capitualates-government-ultimatum-0 https://mastodon.world/@BrianJopek/114175431448764893

Remember that old adage about IQs? 100 is the average and median ...

2025-03-16T05:29:20Z

Remember that old adage about IQs? 100 is the average and median IQ. Half the population is *under* 100.

ChatGPT and its ilk are trained on the text available on the internet. We are the expected to believe that they are experts and will reply to questions accurately.

When they are trained on a corpus of content written by average people.

I'll stick to experts, thank you very much.

“AI”: Brought to you by the people who thought NFTs were a good investment.

For 240 years the U.S. has fueled its growth with cheap and ...

2025-03-11T18:14:04Z

For 240 years the U.S. has fueled its growth with cheap and abused labor forces that weren't allowed to vote; slaves, prisoners, women, children, migrants, indentured labor (H1B visas), "permanent" residents, and offshore workers.

Ironically, this extremely unethical model is being disrupted not because we suddenly developed a national conscience, but because the current regime has deliberately erased that part of history and so doesn't realize its importance to their own wealth.

But the wheels of progress must keep rolling. We've already seen increased use of child labor, as well as calls to eliminate women's suffrage. I expect prison labor in farms and factories to be a huge growth industry moving forward. And at some point it may occur to the regime that instead of deporting migrants, they should put them in work camps.

Don't comply. Don't stand aside.

I really didn't need to feel this seen. ...

2025-03-09T08:52:24Z

I really didn't need to feel this seen.

“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, ...

2025-03-08T18:13:07Z

“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit,” Musk said. “There it’s they’re exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response.”
-Elon Musk, March 6, 2025

“In my work with the defendants (at the Nuremberg Trials 1945-1949) I was searching for the nature of evil and I now think I have come close to defining it. A lack of empathy. It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants, a genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow men. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.”
-Captain G. M. Gilbert, the Army psychologist assigned to watching the defendants at the Nuremberg trials

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/politics/elon-musk-rogan-interview-empathy-doge/index.html

In a sane country, charging $5m for access to the president, or ...

2025-03-08T17:36:11Z

In a sane country, charging $5m for access to the president, or providing way for foreign nationals to anonymously donate millions of dollars to the president, would result in instant impeachment.

https://www.chrismurphyct.com/p/trumps-biggest-corruption-is-flying

Nostr event nevent1qqszga2ujqdycnr7wcafmtrp44t9x4xtfgayhvhex93x2t9h9ayr5dgzyrgder2qptmyaccvyqwjr4d8g20t458hvj3ku6nfjvykvutewhpqzqcp3da

2025-03-08T04:44:42Z

Accurate.

Half way through and still enjoying. Though existentially worried ...

2025-03-01T22:46:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…3kat
_________________________

Half way through and still enjoying. Though existentially worried about her relationship with her wife.

I recently discovered there are at least three other couples in my area where one is transitioning, so I'm going to see about setting up a "Transitioning While Partnered" meetup and see how that goes.

Okay. Last comment. Wow do the self doubts resonate. Thank you so ...

2025-02-26T03:24:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…69h3
_________________________

Okay. Last comment. Wow do the self doubts resonate. Thank you so much.

Just read the digital preview. A lot resonates. But I never had ...

2025-02-26T03:02:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…hlzs
_________________________

Just read the digital preview. A lot resonates. But I never had that strong a feeling about it. A lot of fantasies. Some experimentation. But never the feeling that I was burying part of myself. Like her though, FaceApp was an emotional shocker. But I think it was growing my hair out again during COVID that really got me questioning. Although the truth is, when I came out as pan a few years earlier, I noted that I reserved the right to revisit my gender later.

Anyway. Thanks again. I'll read the rest.

I have not seen that. Thank you!

2025-02-26T02:41:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…697m
_________________________

I have not seen that. Thank you!

My therapist thinks that I'm dealing with internalized ...

2025-02-26T00:31:44Z

My therapist thinks that I'm dealing with internalized transphobia (due in no small part to the era I grew up in). And I don't think they're completely wrong. When the answer to "if you could flip a switch and instantly transition" is a clear "yes". But the answer to "Should I do it now, at my age" is very conflicted, then clearly I'm tied up with the whole "passing" thing. That said, society is not helping. And also, I get a lot of joy from being somewhat femme. But it's true that the uncanny valley thing scares me, and that's pretty transphobic. I feel like we hold ourselves to a much higher standard of femininity than cis women do.

I got a new MMR after a test showed I no longer had antibodies. ...

2025-02-26T00:01:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…9ppv
_________________________

I got a new MMR after a test showed I no longer had antibodies. Some of the earlier vaccines, if you're in your 50's or 60's were not as good.

I was fine on the mumps, but that's because I *got* mumps as a kid. But no good on the others.

Just do it.

iOS text replacement only works when you type, not when you ...

2025-02-25T23:19:24Z

iOS text replacement only works when you type, not when you dictate. Is there a dictation equivalent?

Apparently when I speak I always say "gonna", but I don't want that in there when I'm dictating, I want "going to".

Is this going to be like how I changed my printing to cross my 7's because of the Newton?

I'm just going to put this out there. Storing all media and ...

2025-02-01T23:32:22Z

I'm just going to put this out there.

Storing all media and data on the internet is extremely fragile and dangerous. If we were back in the days when things were published on books and on magtape, we wouldn't be losing all this info.

And yes, people can and should mirror data. But fundamentally, the internet is ephemeral. If we had a Carrington Event tomorrow, or even just all the undersea cables were cut, we'd have chaos. And it could last for decades. https://fediscience.org/@petergleick/113930618026604809

I'm still lost on the Canada part. We have a problem with ...

2025-02-01T23:19:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…c8wt
_________________________

I'm still lost on the Canada part. We have a problem with migrants crossing from Canada?

I was thinking about this over the last day and then I realized ...

2025-02-01T23:00:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…dk5n
_________________________

I was thinking about this over the last day and then I realized that we can't actually trust the government to report on negative economic news anymore.

Apparently ICE is ignoring Navajo tribal membership documents. ...

2025-01-24T23:28:30Z

Apparently ICE is ignoring Navajo tribal membership documents.

https://azmirror.com/2025/01/24/reports-of-navajo-people-being-detained-in-immigration-sweeps-sparks-concern-from-tribal-leaders/

Happy sun dog. #DogsOfMastodon ...

2025-01-17T19:45:21Z

Happy sun dog. #DogsOfMastodon

Nice!

2025-01-17T00:50:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…rtqk
_________________________

Nice!

I have photos of my great great great great grandmother. But this ...

2025-01-17T00:25:03Z

I have photos of my great great great great grandmother. But this is the first I've found of any of the men that far. This is my great great great grandfather, Joseph Niyes. He was born in 1809 and died in 1890.

#genealogy

Amazon removes section on LGBTQ+ rights from its policy page - ...

2025-01-14T04:50:57Z

Amazon removes section on LGBTQ+ rights from its policy page - LGBTQ Nation https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/01/amazon-removes-section-on-lgbtq-rights-from-its-policy-page/

Border Patrol isn't wasting any time. ...

2025-01-11T03:55:19Z

Border Patrol isn't wasting any time.

https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/01/kern-county-immigration-sweep/

#USpolitics

It all makes sense now. ...

2025-01-09T07:22:18Z

It all makes sense now.

Has anyone told Trump that Greenland isn't as big as it looks ...

2025-01-09T01:36:25Z

Has anyone told Trump that Greenland isn't as big as it looks on a map?

Matching signatures has never been a terribly secure mechanism? ...

2024-12-24T04:28:51Z

Matching signatures has never been a terribly secure mechanism? But with a new generation that doesn't use cursive, it's a disaster.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-12-23/young-voter-signatures-california-ballot-curing-verification

Evil. ❝ While acknowledging some areas have “very long ...

2024-12-14T06:32:39Z

Evil.

❝ While acknowledging some areas have “very long waitlists” for the therapy, the company said it aims to “prevent new providers from joining the network” and “terminate” existing ones ❞

https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealthcare-insurance-autism-denials-applied-behavior-analysis-medicaid

Nostr event nevent1qqspv5nyw0x3uq2mzzau6dn2uurpp9yafedy2wddcvtaaycmf72uguszyrgder2qptmyaccvyqwjr4d8g20t458hvj3ku6nfjvykvutewhpqzkhqx55

2024-12-08T18:17:04Z

Want!

"Always remember the secret weapon against fascism – humor. ...

2024-11-28T04:17:04Z

"Always remember the secret weapon against fascism – humor. More specifically, insult humor aimed against specific targets, making them laughing stocks. Puns, satire, metaphor, doggerel, and general ridicule are all important tools in writers’ toolkits toward this end." https://mastodon.social/@hrheingold/113557240623275507

If I wanted to be generous, it could be that their activity pub ...

2024-11-25T10:01:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…wzku
_________________________

If I wanted to be generous, it could be that their activity pub implementation doesn't yet have the ability to respond to things like deletion requests from users or something else required in the EU.
Or the team that reviews features for GDPR compliance hasn't signed off yet.

This sounds absolutely lovely. Ordered!

2024-11-17T01:41:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…7ep4
_________________________

This sounds absolutely lovely. Ordered!

Random IT "(in)security" musings. When I first started at ...

2024-11-16T23:32:57Z

Random IT "(in)security" musings.

When I first started at TiVo they gave me a Mac laptop and for a week or so I tried keeping my personal stuff on one machine and my work stuff on the work one; as one should. And then I said the hell with it and followed the advice of a senior engineer. I wiped the work laptop (after copying the Office licenses and VPN configuration) and used it for both. Over time I upgraded my personal machine and switched to that. I was still running anti-virus, Little Snitch, and stuff, so I was actually staying ahead of their base security level. And I was working remote, so it was easy.

This went on for about a decade, and through a couple acquisitions. Finally they started to crack down and I got an ultimatum; use the work laptop or else. By now they had monitoring software on them and various restrictions. So I said fine, send me a new laptop (I'd long since turned in the old one) and I'll use it to access work.

So I got the new laptop, installed the work security software, wrote a script to dump the routing table into a convenient format, and installed a WireGuard server on it. Then I took my personal laptop, pasted the routing information into my WireGuard client, and happily "used the work laptop to access work". They never noticed. Of course they also never noticed the back-door OpenVPN server someone was running either. Nominally it was for the TiVo boxes to use, but some devs did as well, since it was a split-VPN rather than a full one, and so much faster.

Needless to say, I did *not* try that stunt when I went to work for Meta. Although I did run DAVMail on the work machine so I could continue using MailMate as my mail program instead of Outlook.

I'm not sure there's a moral to this story other than that split-VPNs are inherently insecure and will be abused, but full VPNs are inherently slower and will be worked around.

A cis friend of my wife's moved to South Carolina. She has ...

2024-11-14T21:11:55Z

A cis friend of my wife's moved to South Carolina. She has sometimes been accused of being trans, but in the few weeks she's been there it's already happened twice, and one time the guy filmed her in a store, followed her out, and then tailed her car. She drove around randomly for an hour before she was sure she had lost him.

I wish I didn't need to share this. ...

2024-11-12T02:36:34Z

I wish I didn't need to share this.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/steps-for-transgender-people-preparing

Nostr event nevent1qqs2n293rkd2valaxun8hdg57pah8drqzpnpfyauk0zgctrz9lty5vczyrgder2qptmyaccvyqwjr4d8g20t458hvj3ku6nfjvykvutewhpqzpfnqgf

2024-11-08T08:24:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…0eel
_________________________

.*youtu\.be/([^?]*).*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=$1.*(m|www)?\.?youtube\.([.a-z]*)/watch\?([a-z0-9&=]*)v=([-a-z0-9]*).*https://www.youtube.$2/watch?v=$4

Case insensitive.
(Hopefully markdown or something else doesn't screw up this post)

I ended up scripting a regular expresión to normalize YouTube ...

2024-11-08T04:52:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…lugy
_________________________

I ended up scripting a regular expresión to normalize YouTube videos into something that reliably showed a preview.

Apologies for Apple shortcut format, but the regex's are the same on any platform.

Nostr event nevent1qqs8maqmhdwjfus6sy7rvtv8g43w3uk092ny6229adxd8ul6n362kqszyrgder2qptmyaccvyqwjr4d8g20t458hvj3ku6nfjvykvutewhpqzs0e5dz

2024-11-06T23:08:17Z

MRIs sound like the movie "Brazil" looks.

Death and rebirth. ...

2024-11-06T07:30:27Z

Death and rebirth.

For many years I've believed that Facebook and Instagram were ...

2024-11-01T22:28:42Z

For many years I've believed that Facebook and Instagram were secretly downloading phone photos in the background. Because when you go to post a photo, it gets sent far too quickly to have done a download at the same time.

Yesterday I found this video from an Instagram founder, and damned if I wasn't right.

It doesn't appear to be *all* photos, just the most recent one (ones?). It's not clear from the video if it happens when you launch the app, or when you hit compose. They're doing it on the assumption you're about to post some recent photos. They claim it's okay because if you don't post it, they delete it.

That's classic Meta self-serving bullshit. The "Yeah, it's wrong, but it's okay because we're Meta and we're smart" excuse they always use.

It is not okay to upload my photos without my explicit consent. It's not okay to chew up my bandwidth when I may be deliberately trying to keep it low. IANL, but that first, frankly, sounds like class action material.

It doesn't matter that they claim to delete it. They just introduced a privacy risk. That could have been a nude of my spouse. That could have been a photo of my kid I was sending to my doctor. That could have been a photo of a contract I'm not allowed to share. All to save a few seconds they can brag about.

When Apple allowed you to selectively make photos available to app, I turned the feature on for Meta apps. This makes posting photos a pain, because Meta doesn't uses Apple's UI for choosing which photos they can see and selecting them at the same time. It's a multistep process and it isn't obvious how to do it. Ironically, it means that I rarely post to Instagram anymore. A fact that just reinforces my belief that Meta really wants full photo access and deliberately isn't fixing the issue.

For those following along at home, my aunt died peacefully last ...

2024-10-12T07:27:23Z

For those following along at home, my aunt died peacefully last night. She hadn't had anything to eat or drink since Sunday, so it wasn't unexpected. And I'm happy for her, because for at least a year she'd been saying she was ready to go, but God kept telling her it wasn't time yet. She was a proud UCC church member, and as liberal as they come.

Unless you count when I was a baby, I only met my aunt in person twice when I was growing up. She was just a satellite-delayed voice on the telephone on Christmas Day for most of my life. Shortly after she had gotten her library sciences degree, she was trudging through the Boston winter and overheard two men talking about moving someplace warmer. She hated the cold. Her DNR instructions stated that I should not be used on her lips, and she should be kept warm. So she looked around to see where she could go that was warmer, and found the government would pay to send her to teach in Guam, and give her a full-fair trip back home every few years. This had the advantage of also being far from her mother. So off she went. And she seldom came back until she retired to Hawaii.

Once she cashed in that ticket home for around the world economy trip. She visited Post war Japan, and traveled on a train full of salary men who took off their business suits so they wouldn't get dirty from the soot. She was the only woman on the train. And she met her husband at some layover in the Pacific where they were both waiting for the next plane. She did not shy from adventure.

She was a bit neurotic, but she knew it and laughed at herself. The first time I met her as an adult, my first child had just been born, and we took her out to Legal Seafood for lunch. She expressed concern that we had put the baby in the car seat under a ceiling lamp, and if there were an earthquake, the light might fall on my daughter. And then she laughed at herself, because she knew that was silly, but she couldn't stop her brain from going there.

Once my wife and I visited her in Hawaii to take her out to lunch. When we got to her apartment she announced that she was tired and needed to take a nap first. So we sat there in the living room while she attempted to nap for half an hour. She finally gave up, and off to lunch we went.

Ordering food with her was always an adventure. She would ask about everything on the menu, and then order a tunafish sandwich. But only after checking to see what brand of tunafish and what brand of mayonnaise they used.

But I'm a big admirer of eccentric aunts. For one thing, they tell you stuff that nobody else in your family will tell you.

It was my aunt that told me that my grandfather had probably had an affair with a princess. Which does explain the two color drawings I have from that princess, with rather personal notes to my grandfather written on them.

And she told me how my grandfather's English dissertation, "Browning and the Bible" actually had charts and graphs in it, as befits someone who had originally majored in chemistry. And about the time he was late for a board meeting because he stopped learn how a stonemason chiseled letters in a gravestone.

She was also the one that told me that one time when my grandparents were babysitting me, they snuck me off to a minister and had me baptized. They were upset that there was no way my mother was going to have me given a Christian baptism.

Previously the only time I've heard about people being ...

2024-10-12T05:29:46Z

Previously the only time I've heard about people being injured from watching opera was when they got in a fight about it afterwards.

The last paragraph kind of lays it out though. Basically, if you're not up to going to a BDSM club featuring live piercing and suspension, this is not the opera for you. https://flipboard.com/@flipboarduk/news-uk-edition-mukbja9gz/-/a-H5jleul_Tea71EoJCIsung%3Aa%3A26228122-%2F0

The #sunset got jealous of all the attention the aurora was ...

2024-10-12T02:03:46Z

The #sunset got jealous of all the attention the aurora was getting. 1/3

#skagit #pnw #Photography

Home insurance in many parts of the country is doomed. Even ...

2024-10-08T02:32:54Z

Home insurance in many parts of the country is doomed.

Even Nebraska's rates have almost doubled in the past ten years. Worker shortage, supply shortage, building prices...all multiplied by dramatically more unprecedented and increasingly expensive disasters. https://press.coop/@seattletimes/113268129563136719

❝ if one wanted to grasp the historic nature of flooding from ...

2024-09-30T23:18:23Z

❝ if one wanted to grasp the historic nature of flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Helene in western parts of North Carolina and the surrounding areas, the logical place to begin is at the National Climatic Data Center.
...
Unfortunately, the National Climatic Data Center is based in Asheville, North Carolina
❞ https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/113227203849739583

❝ The study found that just having a first-class section on an ...

2024-09-29T02:29:20Z

❝ The study found that just having a first-class section on an airplane quadrupled the chance of an air rage incident and that loading economy passengers through first class doubles that again. "We advance an alternative view: the modern airplane reflects a social microcosm of class-based society, making inequality salient to passengers through both the physical design of the plane (the presence of a first class cabin) and, more subtly, the boarding procedure (whether economy passengers must pass through the first class cabin)," the preamble of the study reads. ❞

Class 'Inequity' Fuels Air Rage - AVweb https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/class-inequity-fuels-air-rage/

Nostr event nevent1qqstf8k7ekcm3r4982cd86uegavphxm03mj4e3ftcez9mx687f2dmfqzyrgder2qptmyaccvyqwjr4d8g20t458hvj3ku6nfjvykvutewhpqzjjmrfp

2024-09-26T17:08:23Z

Our greatest defense against fascism is Dunning-Kruger.

The vodka is strong, but the meat is rotten. ...

2024-09-22T18:44:42Z

The vodka is strong, but the meat is rotten.

What if we all did it, just a few shares each?

2024-09-11T22:51:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…33fn
_________________________

What if we all did it, just a few shares each?

How did I make it all these years without learning that ...

2024-09-05T05:50:03Z

How did I make it all these years without learning that Beetlejuice is actually a super sweet movie?

Don't worry, just be very demure and very mindful and ...

2024-09-04T18:51:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…fz2j
_________________________

Don't worry, just be very demure and very mindful and you'll be fine.

Tonight's #SomethingPositive photo of the night is of two ...

2024-08-28T05:24:01Z

Tonight's #SomethingPositive photo of the night is of two species trying to decide if they trust each other. Otherwise known as a #parrot and my daughter Shadi.

#photography #birds

In the end, history will record that the war against “AI” was ...

2024-08-27T08:14:23Z

In the end, history will record that the war against “AI” was won not by programmers, activists, or lawmakers. Rather, the fatal blow was struck by a secret cabal who had anticipated this moment and for years had diligently seeded the web with the ultimate poison pill intelligence test; the shitpost. https://a2mi.social/@dave0/113031300914816116

Tonight's #SomethingPositive is baby bunnies. We accidentally ...

2024-08-26T05:57:05Z

Tonight's #SomethingPositive is baby bunnies.

We accidentally uncovered this nest of bunnies a few years ago. It was in some tall grass we cut. Mama probably hid them in our yard because we have dogs, which probably wouldn't notice them (in fact our terrier mix, Charlie, walked right on top of them without noticing) and would keep away the bald eagle who hangs out nearby, as well as the coyotes.

I put a dog fence around them just to be sure, and made sure it was open every evening so mama could get in and feed them. And of course, I set up a camera.

See reply for the rest of the story :)

#rabbits

This evening's #SomethingPositive photo is of a small part of ...

2024-08-25T03:30:54Z

This evening's #SomethingPositive photo is of a small part of Shwedagon Pagoda in #Yangon #Myanmar ( #Burma). It gives me a glimpse of what a peaceful world should be like.

Image enhanced to give it a more dreamy quality. June 16, 2015

#photography

Thanks for posting that. I'm embarrassed to have lived in ...

2024-08-22T17:36:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…8nvr
_________________________

Thanks for posting that. I'm embarrassed to have lived in Skagit for 8 years but the closest I've come to Mt Baker is Baker Lake. Definitely need to get up there before the end of the season.

There have been studies though showing that CEOs tend to be heavy ...

2023-12-11T21:43:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…urwx
_________________________

There have been studies though showing that CEOs tend to be heavy on the percentage of sociopaths. And I pretty firmly believe that you can’t get to the billionaire class without seriously hardening your empathy, at the very least.

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot in the current battle ...

2023-12-09T22:35:21Z

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot in the current battle over the future of (pseudo) AI is the cotton gin.

I live in a country where industrial progress is always considered a positive. It’s such a fundamental concept to the American exceptionalism claim that we are taught never to question it, let alone realize that it’s propaganda.

One such myth, taught early in grade school, is the story of Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. Here was a classic example of a labor-saving device that made millions of lives better. No more overworked people hand cleaning the cotton (slaves, though that was only mentioned much later, if at all). Better clothes and bedding for the world. Capitalism at its best.

But that’s only half the story of this great industrial time saver. Where did those cotton cleaners go? And what was the impact of speeding up the process?

Now that the cleaning bottleneck was gone, the focus was on picking cotton as fast as possible. Those cotton cleaners likely, and millions of other slaves definitely, were sent to the fields to pick cotton. There was an unprecedented explosion in the slave trade. Industrial time management and optimization methods were applied to human beings using elaborate rule-based systems written up in books. How hard to punish to get optimal productivity. How long their lifespans needed to be to get the lost production per dollar. Those techniques, practiced on the backs and lives of slaves, became the basis of how to run the industrial mills in the North. They are the ancestors of the techniques that your manager uses now to improve productivity.

Millions of people were sold into slavery and worked to death *because* of the cotton gin. The advance it provided did not, in fact save labor overall. Nor did it make life better overall. It made a very small set of people much much richer; especially the investors around the world who funded the banks who funded the slave purchases. It made a larger set of consumers more comfortable at the cost of the lives of those poorer. Over a hundred years later this model is still the basis for our society.

Modern “AI” is a cotton gin. It makes a lot of painstaking things much easier and available to everyone. Writing, reading, drawing, summarizing, reviewing medical cases, hiring, firing, tracking productivity, driving, identifying people in a lineup…they all can now be done automatically. Put aside whether it’s actually capable of doing any of those things *well*; the investors don’t care if their products are good, they only care if they can make more money off of them. So long as they work enough to sell, the errors, and the human cost of those errors, are irrelevant. And like the cotton gin, AI has other side effects. When those jobs are gone, are the new jobs better? Or are we all working that much harder, with even more negative consequences to our life if we fall off the treadmill? One more fear to keep us “productive”.

The Luddites learned this lesson the hard way, and history demonizes them for it; because history isn’t written by the losers.

They’ve wrapped “AI” with a shiny ribbon to make it fun and appealing to the masses. How could something so fun to play with be dangerous? But like the story we are told about the cotton gin, the true costs are hidden.

#ML #TESCREAL

Edited 2025 to update gender and a few other things. I'm a ...

2023-01-11T08:53:30Z

Edited 2025 to update gender and a few other things.

I'm a software engineer with a degree in Anthropology. I highly recommend the combo.

Most recently I was tech lead for Scaled Human Review at Meta. I worked in the Integrity Foundation (what other companies call "Trust and Safety") on Better Engineering initiatives and #Metaverse integration, with the teams that build human review software for the 30-40K external reviewers. I'd sworn I’d never work at Facebook, but I decided to see if I could make a difference. I couldn’t. And it wasn't a good fit for either of us. But I learned a lot about how the sausages are made and why they have such a hard time with #contentmoderation.

I've been on #socialmedia for four decades (seriously, I saw someone catfished in chat in 1978—this stuff isn't new), and virtually everyone I know I met online somewhere—many I've still never met in person. Needless to say, that's made me pretty passionate about making online communities safe for everyone, and especially marginalized groups.

I'm now a freelance #consultant and semi-retired, working on my own projects (I'll write more on that later), and with my wife's #consulting company (see below). I'm planning to do a lot more writing about #society and #technology (as well some #SFF), and to travel more.

I tend to write long posts (like this one). They may get shorter once my blog is back up. I don't stick to one topic, but I'll try to tag them so you can filter. I post about tech stuff (recent, as well as old geeky #Unix stuff), #social issues, #LGBTQ issues (especially the T), pretty #photos, and random personal anecdotes. When I boost, it's because I think it's something that might be interesting to someone, or some group, that follows me. Those tend to include all the above topics, plus SF&F-related things, and cool science stuff.

I'm #pan, #poly, and #trans. I prefer "they" or "she" for pronouns, but "he" is fine. I spent most of my life thinking I really was a straight cis man who just happened to be a bit quirky and a passionate and tearful ally, so I'm not too picky about how you refer to me. I'm also more than happy to answer any questions about all that, public or private.

I grew up mostly in #Maine and then lived in Massachusetts for a long time, but I now live on sovereign #Swinomish land in #WashingtonState (US), on the edge of the San Juan islands. Despite my first name (that's a story) and current location, I'm not Native American, although I focus a lot on Native American rights. My parents were both active in that area, and that was my introduction to civil rights in general.

I've been a #software engineer at various levels (from programmer to CTO to company founder) for 40+ years. I learned BASIC in high school, taught myself Pascal, FORTRAN and PL/1 in college, learned C as an intern at Bell Labs (Murray Hill, one floor up from the Unix crew), and went on from there. In college, I majored in #Anthropology with a concentration in #Psychology, and that's influenced the way I look at software ever since. Software is designed for people. Software systems build communities (whether intended or not). Anyone who does that damn well better understand how people and #communities work.

I've worked for Bell Labs (psych stats), Sperry Research (window systems, UX design), Apollo/HP (programmable shell, windowing systems, Unix porting, UX design), Bright Ideas (cookbook, educational games), OSF (windowing standards), Alfalfa (multimedia email - SMTP *and* X.400 :)), Wildfire (phone-based voice assistant), Utopia/USWeb (web and security consulting), Saroca (small boats), Messagefire (anti- #spam software), MessageGate (corporate compliance software), Somewhere (software consulting), ZeeVee (web video aggregation, metadata scraping), TiVo (video content correlation, #metadata pipelines), and Meta. Plus a few others.

I've been with my wife, Dr. Mollie Pepper, for over a decade. She's a #sociologist with a focus on #refugee migration, #gender, and violence; the kind of work that gives you PTSD. She did her dissertation on women's roles in the (now extremely defunct) peace process in #Myanmar (aka #Burma). A few years ago she was at a military base frantically processing thousands of Afghan refugees and managing translators (whom Trump is now deporting). She has a consulting company that specializes in evaluating and designing social service projects. You can find her at https://carlsonpepper.com/. Everything I know about #feminism, #intersectionality, #queer theory, #CRT, and #racism I either learned from her, or she gave me the theoretical underpinnings to understand them properly.

I have two grown daughters from my first marriage with Nassim Fotouhi; a kick-ass software engineer/engineering manager who came to the States just before the Iranian revolution.

Shadi Fotouhi is an artist (see my profile background photo, go look up the drug codes and compare them to the mermaids' behavior) turned software engineer; building dynamic room installations will do that to you. She worked in QA at a gaming company, and then at Jibo; a robotics startup. Now she's a senior software engineer at Wayfair--Kubernetes, release configuration, and all that fun stuff.

Shireen Hinckley is a documentarian, digital image technician, video editor, and co-founder of Somewhere Films (https://www.somewherefilms.com/shireen-hinckley); a womxn's filmmaking collective. She works for #Beyoncé at Parkwood Entertainment, where she's an editor and post-production supervisor for all of their video releases. She worked on "Black is King" and just about every video since then, whether it's for Instagram, Times Square, Tiffany's, the Oscars, or Chloe x Halle.

I'm incredibly honored to have those wonderful women in my life. I wouldn't be who I am without them.

A couple other things that may come up, especially in my photos. My mother is an artist who lives in Maine in a round house she designed, and the family built, when I was in high school. And I'm part owner of a #lighthouse on Cape Cod.

--kee