Taran Rampersad

Author, writer, software engineer.

Systems-oriented neo-generalist focused on coherence, legitimacy, and real-world consequences.

I like being wrong because it means I learned something.

Privacy advocate · human rights advocate · sensible technology advocate.

Politics left to the experts; my views are grounded in systems coherence.

KnowProSE.com (Tech): https://www.knowprose.com
RealityFragments.com (non-tech): https://www.realityfragments.com

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Last Notes

2026-04-08 13:24:51 UTC

...He didn’t ask soldiers what they believed before he cared for them. He understood his role was not to define their faith, but to support their humanity. Because that is what a chaplain is supposed to do...
This is the pivot. Well written, thoughtful and agnostic.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/why-was-the-armys-top-chaplain-fired-george-hodne-green-hegseth
#usmilitary #ethics #leadership and now I guess I should use #USPolitics ...
🫡

2026-03-27 21:36:20 UTC

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you're so subtle, Stux...
Try being more direct... 🤣

2026-03-27 14:22:37 UTC

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I just read the whole entry and...
There are some interesting parallels with the present administration. 🤣

2026-03-27 14:06:02 UTC

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I think the link is this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Brinkley

2026-03-27 01:38:01 UTC

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well, jeepers.
Boner chocolate?! 🧐

2026-03-21 13:01:13 UTC

Laughable.
Linden Labs was the first #menagerie with #secondlife.
I know. I was there as Nobody Fugazi. It's limitations were already known.
So this was all a predictable failure that cost a billionaire a lot of money. 🙄
https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-metaverse-dying-horizon-worlds-ai-2026-3
#meta #lindenlabs

2026-03-18 12:49:16 UTC

"...Over time, it’s possible that my own sense of “what sounds right” is being trained by these interactions. Not consciously. Not through a single interaction. It occurs through thousands of small decisions and calibrations across months and even years of daily use..."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/the-algorithmic-mind/202603/ai-is-quietly-colonizing-how-you-think/amp
#ai #psychology #dido

2026-03-17 23:47:31 UTC

Architecture is part of the algorithm.
Structure shapes adjacent possibility.
https://realityfragments.com/2026/03/17/architecture-is-part-of-the-algorithm/
#SystemsThinking #AdjacentPossible #Complexity #Writing #Philosophy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/247/178/551/599/916/original/3acc1e9f64999109.png

2026-03-17 19:36:48 UTC

"...The consequences are not abstract. When audiences cannot distinguish authentic from manipulated evidence, atrocities become easier to deny. Genuine documentation of civilian harm can be dismissed as “AI.” And crucial questions about the human cost of war become obscured by an avalanche of spectacle..."
https://www.techpolicy.press/how-ai-content-detection-is-being-weaponized-in-the-iran-war/
#ai #iranwar #ethics #aiethics

2026-03-17 00:30:55 UTC

I wrote this in 2024.
"...Artificial intelligences don’t suddenly become conscious and bomb people. We humans do that, we tell them what they’re supposed to do and they do it – the day of a general artificial intelligence is not yet here...."
I was already talking about the #ethics involved, and how #ai would be a scapegoat.
This isn't new. Some of us saw it. And this was #Gaza related.
Now, #IranWar . The ai hasn't been blamed for the school. Not yet.
https://knowprose.com/2024/04/that-3rd-ai-the-scapegoat/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/241/666/408/013/272/original/5d52d7ef568ddb7a.webp

2026-03-16 15:01:44 UTC

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yes.
We need to deal with both the oligarchs and corporatism and lobbyism and...
Which rules out just about everyone presently in politics.
🤣

2026-03-16 14:57:56 UTC

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no. The ones that follow the actual response to actual tyranny.

2026-03-16 14:53:13 UTC

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ffs.
This is how tea parties start.

2026-03-15 22:45:02 UTC

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May have even been related to some of Nikola Tesla's black projects. :)

2026-03-15 22:31:28 UTC

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well... wouldn't be a bad spot for me to land.
Been... 35 years since I worked a radar. Lol.

2026-03-15 18:16:14 UTC

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wow.
Society is weird. But I guess it's not for everyone for obvious reasons.
But give me that, some paper and a good supply of pens, and shelves full of books...
I would consider that a good life. Active in mind and body.
I didn't like winters in a lot of places because of that entrainment to a productivity tempo I didn't set. I could have set my own there.

2026-03-15 17:59:30 UTC

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that's really cool!
I would love to live in a place like that.

2026-03-15 15:56:01 UTC

Helium. This I did not see coming.
Helium.
https://www.techspot.com/news/111683-critical-semiconductor-gas-lost-third-global-supply-drone.html
#tech #iranwar

2026-03-15 04:46:10 UTC

People often assume I move around on the political spectrum.
I don’t.
The spectrum seems to move around me.
Some thoughts on why.
https://realityfragments.com/2026/03/15/beyond-the-political-spectrum/
#politics #ethics #complexity
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/231/366/955/183/655/original/3a097a425967c7ed.png

2026-03-14 14:17:05 UTC

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Yeah!
Part of my process these days is fiddling with images while background processing other stuff.
It's fun for me. Weird, right?

2026-03-14 14:14:45 UTC

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The truth is it takes me maybe a few hours to write something, and I spend the rest of the day fiddling with images.
Because I stink at it, and it's fun, and I begin stinking less.

2026-03-14 14:11:30 UTC

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Check this one out! lol.
https://www.oldbookillustrations.com/illustrations/beggars-oak/

2026-03-14 14:04:08 UTC

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Off the beaten path looks like someone spent a lot of time making walkways. lol.

2026-03-14 11:18:58 UTC

Guess what..... more ai no one asked for..
"Google Maps is getting a huge update.
...
Google’s Gemini AI is also being integrated into Maps, enabling drivers to ask questions about their trip."
https://insideevs.com/news/789916/google-maps-3d-immersive-navigation-gemini-ai/
#Gemini #googlemaps

2026-03-12 15:07:12 UTC

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they always forget Honeywell.
I worked at Honeywell MAvD.
It's not a small business.
I sat in through some of the original TACMS project stuff.
Peace was goid for that industry. War was better.

2026-03-11 12:57:49 UTC

"The information available spans location histories, purchase history, demographic details and more. Civil liberties groups have long argued the practice violates the Fourth Amendment, while the government has argued in the past that it does not break any laws..."
A neutral article through a political lens related to the Pentagon and Anthropic. Hidden beneath it, the 4th amendment.
#Ethics vs. Law.
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5775732-anthropic-pentagon-ai-surveillance-clash/
#privacy #politics

2026-03-10 15:48:41 UTC

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just write.
Edit later.

2026-03-10 15:47:34 UTC

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Yeah... I hate writing the way I was taught. I like writing with my voice.
You know, there's a little known author who was infamous for writing long descriptions. Some guy named J.R.R. Tolkien.
A cautionary tale.
🤣🤣🤣🤣

2026-03-10 15:43:50 UTC

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will do.
I am pondering just putting it in the public domain and having in the book, 'if this helped, great! If you want to send money, here's how you can do that'.
But now.... focusing on procrastinating about what more I put in. 😅

2026-03-10 15:38:42 UTC

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I have my book that is for people who live in liminal spaces. I am editing it, adding a few things...
And I accepted before I started that it's not for everyone. It's not supposed to be.
So... I am not saying I am right and have my shit together, but I am saying just write for your audience.
Whoever you think it is.

2026-03-10 15:35:26 UTC

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maybe your audience will enjoy it.
Maybe don't worry about mass markets.
Maybe we neurodivergents are a market. 🙃

2026-03-08 20:53:12 UTC

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that cap.
😡

2026-03-08 18:46:07 UTC

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Aha.
Really weirded out on not describing this before.
The dremel should be parallel, visually aligned, so the roll part of the dremel does a curved cut into the metal. Concave.
I'm really weirded out. I don't want anyone to get hurt. Wear safety glasses. And gloves. And a condom, just in case.

2026-03-08 18:37:19 UTC

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Not an expert.
A dremel and a steady hand: A sander or stone is what I have used with fair results, following the edge with the drive of the dremel.
I never had to describe that before.
I line up the dremel drive with the edge of the shear and follow it up and down.
I hope that makes sense.

2026-03-07 12:04:16 UTC

No need to read it, really, if you have been paying attention...
I just really like the image of #Trump with the dow overlayed. That should be his new default image.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/03/february-jobs-report-trump-economy.html

2026-03-05 14:33:26 UTC

I am getting dangerously close to muting people with extremely long posts.
My word. Use a link, don't destroy timelines. If I am not interested, let me scroll past in peace.
#fediverse

2026-03-04 00:56:07 UTC

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everything i knew about him resounded. Great guy. We lost him too soon.
He would have a lot to say about now.

2026-03-04 00:52:29 UTC

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yeah. I only got to see him once. 😪

2026-03-04 00:47:48 UTC

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the thing about Zappa was his live solos. He decorated time.

2026-03-03 12:55:57 UTC

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it's the whole point of science.
The friction occurs because of who funds studies, etc. And that can be legitimate.
But science itself is just science.
Every conversation I have had where I encountered this, I made that point. And it sticks.
There is bias in some aspects of what is *presented* as science.
But that's not science.
Science is not marketing. So I point to that. 🙃

2026-03-03 00:42:53 UTC

Pre-solar crystals. Quite a read before I head to bed, thinking about crystals formed before the sun.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-crystals-older-than-the-sun-reveal-about-the-start-of-the-solar-system-20260302/
#science

2026-03-01 21:51:32 UTC

"Attackers jailbroke Anthropic’s Claude and ran it against multiple Mexican government agencies for approximately a month. They stole 150 GB of data from Mexico’s federal tax authority, the national electoral institute, four state governments, Mexico City’s civil registry, and Monterrey’s water utility, Bloomberg reported..."
https://venturebeat.com/security/claude-mexico-breach-four-blind-domains-security-stack
#datasovereignty #infosec #privacy #Claude #mexico

2026-03-01 00:15:52 UTC

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I did not even know this was a thing. When I researched, they are not known as pests in the Caribbean region... which is probably why I never knew.
Great post. My sister gardens in Wisconsin, so I will send to her.

2026-02-28 21:47:48 UTC

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we all fuck up sometimes.
Rubbing a dog's nose in shit only teaches it the scent of shit. To creatures who sniff buttholes in greeting. That seems unproductive.
Apologies for stepping in. I am stepping out. Please let me.

2026-02-28 21:24:28 UTC

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I understand where you are all coming from.
I do not see this as productive.
I see no one mentioned Gaza.
The reality is that systems did not give good choices. To say otherwise is to deny the real issue.
Saying the path not taken would have been better seems moot.
Passion harnessed should be pushed toward the future, not used to calcify the past.
We can do better. We should do better. So let's do better. Please.

2026-02-27 16:54:51 UTC

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Israeli software along these lines has become ubiquitous. 😶

2026-02-24 10:43:44 UTC

"...But now, more than ever, it has become clear that Taiwan is critical to America’s economic survival, especially as artificial intelligence — which is built using chips made in Taiwan — drives the U.S. stock market and fuels economic growth..."
#China knows this. #Taiwan knows this. The #unitedstates knows this. The #techbros know this. You should too. Can't vibe out of that, kids. Single point failure.
Gifted link.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/technology/taiwan-china-chips-silicon-valley-tsmc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OlA.RdLM.i2Yk9nz5Z5Ll&smid=url-share
#ai #business #supplychain

2026-02-22 15:59:37 UTC

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Meh. the only people excited by my condition are the doctors. I take joy in breathing free and spending my time doing things I love.
My diet didn't change because of diet or screaming of outraged people. It changed because I decided to change.
Telling people what to do makes them defensive. Cooking a tasty meal without browbeating is completely different. :)

2026-02-22 15:54:27 UTC

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Concur.
An interesting thing to look at is the Pepper Pot, an indigenous 'dish' in Guyana/Suriname that everyone claims. I had some prepared in those areas in my wanders through South America.
Basically, whatever is gathered or hunted is thrown in the pot.
It's been bastardized. It is, simply put, "Cooking what you get with lots of seasoning".

2026-02-22 15:48:51 UTC

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I think, literally, everything is on the table.
Tracing my own dietary adventures over 54 years is a marvelous study in hardening arteries. I have references!
Growing up in the 70s in Ohio and Wisconsin, a steak dinner was the thing. It is in most of the world (except, notably, India). Now, after a heart attack, my diet has varied because I have, on my own, tried to do better. My doctor didn't tell me to.
My experience is anecdotal, but I'm certain I am not alone.

2026-02-22 15:38:56 UTC

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I think it's fair to say that in the United States protein is over-marketed too.
I'm not vegan (please don't hurt me!) but in the same token, I probably have eaten more animal protein than I have used in my lifetime.
There is a way to strike a balance, I think, and maybe the center needs to be better seen by everyone.

2026-02-10 13:48:09 UTC

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and arguably, a cat door could value the property ...

2026-02-10 12:20:00 UTC

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I wouldn't advise burning it for health reasons. 👀
But the symbolism I get.

2026-02-09 13:21:00 UTC

This is important for many. It doesn't really cover it all, but the things mentioned are worth a look and consideration.
Because the world will try to make you insane with illusion.
Tether to reality. Know the difference between what is real and what you need, and focus on getting there.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-the-way/202602/10-keys-to-emotional-sanity-and-integrity/amp
#selfcare #psychology

2026-02-07 23:34:58 UTC

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Would you two stop?
It's Saturday night! You're making us look bad! 😂

2026-02-06 17:50:14 UTC

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nicely done!

2026-02-05 17:52:53 UTC

When #socialmedia increases hurry, the data for training models that they're probably using (unconfirmed) from the platform gets baked into the training data.
That has consequences for #AI, and for we humans.
https://knowprose.com/2026/02/baking-bad-how-behavior-gets-captured-in-ai-models/

2026-02-01 13:12:07 UTC

Most pop #psychology I skim, but this is a surprisingly good article on #individuation or #integration . It has an unmentioned philosophical connection to killing the Buddha.
After almost 50 years, I did that late last year. It wasn't easy. As I told my psychologist, it had felt like an occasional pebble in the shoe that disappeared and came back as a boulder.
#philosophy #mentalhealth
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/trauma-growth-and-the-search-for-meaning/202601/inner-death-the-death-we-dont-talk-about/amp

2026-01-31 22:38:14 UTC

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interesting thought.
I was pointing out yesterday that openclaw is a symptom of friction which it eliminates part of. At first. (LinkedIn below)
Friction is necessary for butterflies coming from a cocoon, of course - do we probably could discuss good and bad friction. That would likely be a black hole.
I will differentiate between human friction and system friction. I think that works with your thought
What i meant was system friction in what I wrote.
https://knowprose.com/2026/01/openclaw-is-a-symptom-not-the-disease/

2026-01-22 16:35:54 UTC

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I offer there is only the illusion of #privacy now.

2026-01-20 20:11:11 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.nu/@janhoglund/115929197419037869
This is a transcript worth reading. Starting with the Václav Havel reference, which is quintessential.
The rituals we know are false we should not participate in. Propagate. Normalize. And despondency and equivocation are much the same.
Damned good speech from #Canada.
#note1p6f…ux3z

2026-01-07 17:55:07 UTC

Dafuq? #Minneapolis #shooting #ice
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/07/shooting-south-minneapolis-ice-agents-federal-operation

2025-04-23 12:37:12 UTC

in the end, are we just folding into ourselves like a Möbius strip of DNA?
https://realityfragments.com/2025/04/23/a-mobius-strip-of-consciousness/
#self #philosophy

2025-02-07 09:54:25 UTC

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more independent than if it were your enemy's.
What people are forgetting is that when the USSR fell, all the news agencies were still centralized in Moscow and were subject to Moscow's narratives even up until the invasion of Ukraine.
So sure, sponsored media is questionable, and different agencies are questionable. But the original post is from X. So I mean...

2024-12-28 12:27:00 UTC

The #DeepSeek identity confusion could be good news for those of us that create original content.
#AI #syntheticrecursion
https://knowprose.com/2024/12/synthetic-recursion-and-ai-how-it-might-help-original-creators/

2024-12-28 10:00:51 UTC

Spoofed email by #copyright troll.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/youtuber-won-dmca-fight-with-fake-nintendo-lawyer-by-detecting-spoofed-email/

2024-12-28 09:55:08 UTC

Seems like a big deal, using present infrastructure for #quantum teleportation.
https://www.sciencealert.com/quantum-teleportation-achieved-over-internet-for-first-time

2024-12-28 09:30:43 UTC

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and an explanation: https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/27/why-deepseeks-new-ai-model-thinks-its-chatgpt/

2024-12-27 15:26:38 UTC

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man. Those cards.
Man. 🙁

2024-12-27 14:18:00 UTC

Great. Even tea is trying to kill us. Douglas Adam's is laughing somewhere.
#microplastic
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-single-tea-bag-could-release-billions-of-microplastics-into-the-body

2024-12-27 14:13:29 UTC

Curious.
#openai
https://www.unilad.com/news/world-news/openai-whistleblower-death-update-256038-20241227

2024-12-27 12:31:45 UTC

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that's hilarious!

2024-12-27 10:32:29 UTC

#China brought out an open #ai
Political views are unsurprising. 🙄
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/26/deepseeks-new-ai-model-appears-to-be-one-of-the-best-open-challengers-yet/

2024-12-26 20:03:55 UTC

Oh dear. Those dependant on #ChatGPT might have to *think*.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/26/24329760/chatgpt-down-outage-error-sora-openai

2024-12-26 16:24:33 UTC

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I'm not too surprised.
To be fair it is a lot of information out there on Distros. I remember the days when it was much simpler. 😂

2024-12-26 16:22:03 UTC

Well, I solved this problem. And no mice were harmed.
#mouse #hardware #Windows11
https://knowprose.com/2024/12/its-not-a-bad-mouse-maybe-its-something-else/

2024-12-26 13:40:01 UTC

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interesting... Hopefully ollama and it will maximize that OpenAI api so that it can be truly private.

2024-12-26 13:37:00 UTC

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#Israel using tech from #China?!
Well, #aipac will make that ignored by the sitting and elect President.

2024-12-26 13:35:26 UTC

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Oh hell, a mirror within the sphere. If the material can take the heat.

2024-12-26 13:33:57 UTC

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well, the same should be said of the far left.
These battles between the 'fars' is pretty annoying.

2024-12-26 13:01:38 UTC

This is interesting, but also based on a compatibility that doesn't exist. We humans are ambulatory sensor devices that connect to a centralized structure that we increasingly are finding is not as centralized as we thought.
AI, on the other hand, doesn't really have sensors and simply mimics based on knowledge fed to them by human experiences of questionable quality.
https://dailygalaxy.com/2024/12/what-do-ai-and-your-grandmother-have-in-common-both-becoming-geriatric/

2024-12-26 12:53:25 UTC

"... The Acolyte was riddled with bad writing, amateurish filmmaking and didn’t have a discernible audience in mind—at least not one that actually watches Star Wars..."
Hallelujah. And Andor got top marks on all of that. Wish they had continued Andor instead.
Fight me.
#starwars
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2024/12/24/disney-confirms-that-toxic-dudebros-didnt-kill-the-acolyte-after-all/

2024-12-26 12:50:15 UTC

This could be really cool. Create a sphere of it in a parabolic dish.... Have to make sure the dish surface area is less than the area of the sphere as a limit...
Voila. More current per area? Maybe. I bet someone else already thought of that.
#solarpower #renewableenergy
https://www.eldiario24.com/en/the-first-transparent-and-solar-panel/6347/

2024-12-26 12:45:02 UTC

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Wikipedia does have some problems with editors, deletionists, and all manner of people.
However, Musk is not the solution and is not qualified to propose one.
There are articles that need to be redone, lack citation, etc. They are also clearly marked.

2024-12-25 18:12:55 UTC

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What's funnier is that no one has even considered that stacking people is not efficient for elevators. 👀 😂

2024-12-25 15:43:06 UTC

"I can't tell you how many times I got in trouble for being a decent person..."
#healthinsurance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJbzkwGkZ3E

2024-12-25 12:56:10 UTC

Guilty or innocent, either ruling comes with its own problems.
#LuigiMangione
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-pm/2024/12/23/lawmakers-push-for-insurance-reform-as-mangione-pleads-not-guilty-00132333

2024-12-25 12:54:28 UTC

With titles like this, enthusiasts are going down the slippery slope of being called 'size queens'
https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-5090-pcb-leak-reveals-massive-gb202-gpu-package

2024-12-25 12:52:54 UTC

You don't say...
I'm all for changing DC, but someone whose name sounds like an awful cologne was a really bad idea.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/12/24/elon-musk-washington-congress-00196006

2024-12-25 12:50:45 UTC

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really good question.
I'm about to move back to thunderbird too....

2024-12-25 12:48:57 UTC

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he was kind. I probably would have waded in with my skateboard and rescued the kitten.
Ahh, how times have changed.

2024-12-25 12:46:54 UTC

Umm. What?
#linux #wubuntu #opensource
https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-i-no-longer-recommend-this-windows-like-linux-distro/

2024-12-25 12:41:01 UTC

Has anyone tried a pacifier on #trump?
#greenland
https://www.axios.com/2024/12/23/trump-buying-greenland-us-ownership-plan

2024-12-25 12:39:28 UTC

*sigh* this was something that I expected.
#ukraine
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c159082vdqyt

2024-12-25 01:53:15 UTC

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the joys of the modern world. 🤣🤷

2024-12-24 22:30:27 UTC

Whoa. That's doing people dirty.
#infosec #privacy #vpn
https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/vpns/this-vpn-sells-access-to-peoples-home-internet-networks

2024-12-24 22:27:39 UTC

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most memes tend to work with a shared image, which has been a lot of scenes in video...
AI can't really do that legally.

2024-12-24 22:24:40 UTC

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and we haven't gotten to jury selection... 🙄🤣

2024-12-24 22:21:24 UTC

Oh yeah. It landed in #trinidadandtobago with a thud.
***THUD***
#SAHARADUST
https://www.stvincenttimes.com/saharan-dust-plume-set-to-impact-caribbean-islands/

2024-12-23 21:31:03 UTC

Season's greetings, all that stuff. Be safe, be responsible, and don't stick your elbow in your ear.
https://realityfragments.com/2024/12/23/what-i-like-about-this-time-of-year/