mmalc

Former content developer/instructor with Software University at Apple. Interested in energy, electrification, efficiency. And subjects like health and photography whose names don’t begin with “e”.

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npub1mvjkfru947tqk2hhdqk8r37swfx08t8ds9u9dmgzvw7hwz0vz5wsnu0tuw

NIP-05 Address

mmalc_at_mastodon.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsdkfty37z6l9st9tmkstr3clg8yn8n4nkcz7zka5px80thp8kp28gprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmnts55z2k

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relay.momostr.pink

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npub1mvjkfru947tqk2hhdqk8r37swfx08t8ds9u9dmgzvw7hwz0vz5wsnu0tuw

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Last Notes

2026-07-08 07:53:39 UTC

Solar, batteries, EVs, LEDs and laptops all run on DC, yet household wiring converts everything to AC and back, wasting energy at each step. DC distribution cuts those losses and the copper a home needs — and you can start with the lighting circuits you already have.
#Electrification
#DCElectricity
#Efficiency
#Environment
#EV
#Solar
#Battery
https://mmalc-x-machina.ghost.io/the-dc-house-and-garden/

2026-06-23 20:32:06 UTC

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Probably, though it'd be even more delicious if it fell from a vehicle in Trump's motorcade when it *drove across the newly-coated surface*
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-drives-across-lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-to-inspect-blue-coating-hes-adding

2026-06-23 20:21:44 UTC

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They're going full Wag The Dog on it.
(Movie reference in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_dog)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/801/280/415/680/157/original/cef03e4baab716e2.png

2026-04-12 14:28:04 UTC

#SilentSunday
#Sonoma
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/392/203/422/115/386/original/f3d1cfd81e9751f2.jpeg

2026-04-07 15:40:23 UTC

It's frustrating that the UK is trying to follow in the USA's political footsteps…
#USPol
#UKPol
(Not sure who to credit for the artwork.)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/364/176/225/151/632/original/cbe2f8d71a168269.jpeg

2026-04-06 13:33:20 UTC

Many of those gravely asserting that the $200 million cost of rescuing one pilot was worth it because "every human life is worth saving” are the same as those who will routinely shout down calls for universal healthcare, improved public transportation, better food access, and environmental protections. Investments that would dramatically reduce mortality from a range of leading causes of death in the U.S.
#USPol
#IranWar

2026-02-14 20:50:18 UTC

Senate Democrats should not attend Trump’s State of the Union, and should instead place a photo of an Epstein survivor on each of their chairs.
- Paraphrasing AudreyLovesPolitics.
#USPol
#Trump
#StateOfTheUnion
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/070/954/721/846/081/original/6c82acaf83d285ce.jpeg

2026-01-15 03:15:20 UTC

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It's been one of those days
#DogsOfMastodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/896/937/069/139/857/original/203de048036cebca.jpeg

2025-12-20 18:40:08 UTC

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I'm happy that "finally" the future many of us hoped for is arriving.
But I somewhat disagree with your characterisation of fossil fuel producers here — it's not that they *can't* compete, it's that they *chose* not to…
They had every opportunity *and more* that others had to reinvent themselves by investing in and developing renewables. Instead of innovating, they *chose* the easier path of suppressing competitors to maintain their profits.
Shame on them.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/753/353/453/078/008/original/75e60af47f67acd4.jpeg

2025-12-11 16:07:15 UTC

“A New Report Reveals the Real Reason Democrats Lost in 2024
It wasn’t because Biden voters shifted to Trump—but because so many of them stayed home.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/204271/why-democrats-lost-2024-election-trump-way-to-win-report
As @npub1xw7…r9m5 has been saying…

2025-12-01 02:14:21 UTC

#SilentSunday
#SFBayArea
#SanFrancisco
#Photography
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/641/893/333/406/414/original/07f7bb6da3fc48db.jpeg

2025-09-19 03:31:06 UTC

Senate passes "National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk"
What “we” should do is remember him by running replays of all his bigoted speeches on Fox et al. throughout the day
I wonder how much advertising time will cost — at some times on some days it’s remarkably “cheap”
#CharlieKirk
#RememberHeWasABigot
#USPol
https://www.axios.com/2025/09/18/charlie-kirk-national-day-remembrance-senate
https://apple.news/AA1EPIg4hTgq9HT0ddOnDhw

2025-09-14 23:24:33 UTC

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Gosh, I was literally about to post this about Nepal
“#Nepali protesters use #ChatGPT to pick their new leader
A youth movement that ousted the government used #AI to select their candidate to be interim prime minister and represent them in negotiations with the army"
https://apple.news/A1uGZHHPiQCmjV-5KMQcx3w
https://www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/nepal-protests-government-prime-minister-wh9v78fxl
A fascinating strategy, which immediately brought to mind an Asimov short story from 70 years ago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchise_(short_story)

2025-09-12 20:02:26 UTC

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Sincere question (interested in your perspective): do you see any expectation of privacy at a gathering such as Kirk’s anyway?

2025-09-10 21:42:00 UTC

#MAGA at the moment:
“Racist Lives Matter!”
#CharlieKirk
#USPol
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/182/534/179/537/770/original/97e8413699a0ad61.jpeg

2025-08-13 01:56:55 UTC

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@npub1xw7…r9m5 is probably the best person to comment on this, but I'm not sure it's just that people "couldn't be bothered”. There was an epidemic of #ToxicIdealism spread perhaps primarily by the “G-n-c-d- Joe” brigade leading a non-trivial number to not vote as some sort of masochistic protest.
The left wing must, finally, learn the lesson:
Fight in the primaries, unite in the election

2025-07-11 01:00:48 UTC

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Who says #AI isn't useful for anything?
(Screenshot of #ChatGPT apology speech for a #Republican politician who was caught cheating on his wife, overtly evangelical, with claims that @npub1wah…u867 will forgive him)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/831/893/716/315/249/original/dd8d1a87318bee62.png

2025-07-07 21:01:09 UTC

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Oh, absolutely, I completely agree with her.
"No person, company, entity, or government should ever be allowed to modify our weather by any means possible!!"
She should take action immediately against the numerous companies who have been modifying our weather for decades…
#ClimateChange
#FossilFuels

2025-03-28 19:39:47 UTC

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It's really difficult to discern delusion from gaslighting.

2025-03-28 15:26:25 UTC

“Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in COBOL, an archaic programming language. Safely rewriting that code would take years—DOGE wants it done in months.”
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/
Total Dunning-Kruger, combined with hubris, and contempt for quality.
I am reminded yet again of this article about software written by real rocket scientists:
https://www.eng.auburn.edu/~kchang/comp6710/readings/They%20Write%20the%20Right%20Stuff.pdf
(via @npub1rxx…7s6a)
#DOGE
#SocialSecurity
#DunningKruger
#SoftwareDevelopment
#Quality

2025-03-18 01:39:56 UTC

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At what point does this legally become tyranny?

2025-03-02 20:36:32 UTC

After the economic disaster of #Brexit, welcome news for the people of the UK who can now look forward to full and gainful employment teaching #Americans how to speak #English.
https://apple.news/ARfuOY0eCRhCgtYLKZCEg6A

2025-02-24 13:32:27 UTC

“All billionaires must submit a list of five things they did for society in the last week or their wealth shall be confiscated”
(Don't know who to credit)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/059/112/858/681/992/original/df39b604b7a15d95.png

2025-02-17 01:08:36 UTC

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Land Shark will be a foster for a few days next week
#DogsOfMastodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/016/551/728/389/444/original/ad900e14a8071496.png

2025-01-19 14:25:09 UTC

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Utter bollocks.
She garnered incredible support in remarkably short time, as witnessed by the huge rallies she held.
"The Democrats" didn't choose Harris, Biden did.
At point in campaign when Biden forced out, another round of voting at convention would have been even riskier.
Harris lost in no small part because of toxic virtue signaling by people too self-absorbed to think about how the US election actually works: not voting Harris supports Trump. It's as simple as that.

2025-01-12 16:56:18 UTC

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https://9to5mac.com/2025/01/09/tim-cook-says-los-angeles-wildfires-are-heartbreaking-apple-is-donating/

2024-12-23 18:34:59 UTC

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Oh, gosh, I'm really sorry — that's wretched.
It's certainly a very different style of delivery; I'm fortunate to have found ways to make it if anything more enjoyable than some of the in-person classes I used to teach. But this is in a “commercial" rather than academic setting.
I hope you're finding other things to love in retirement instead, though I suspect few endeavours are as rewarding as seeing enthusiasm and enlightenment in your students. 😕

2024-12-23 17:04:58 UTC

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Absolutely. I'm quite sure that one of the main reasons many object to virtual meetings is that virtual tends to level the playing field — "some” can't dominate in one way or another as they might in person.
- Personal observation over a few decades is that participation in classes I teach is much more “equitable” when virtual than in person.
- At least one university (probably Stanford) supported this with a study — I can't quickly find the reference 🙁

2024-12-23 12:48:26 UTC

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And for the sake of catharsis, a personal observation:
Asserting that “people need to be in the office to meet, socialise, and generate serendipitous innovation" when a company has separate locations *around the world* that need to collaborate involves some pretty serious cognitive dissonance.

2024-12-23 12:43:55 UTC

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It may depend on how you define "well-structured”. 😊
Cherry-picking a little:
"It looks like being in the same building only matters if you are actually really close - like, within 66 meters!”
What academia in particular does show though is that a great way to develop contacts and collaboration is at *conferences* — events specifically designed to foster them.
https://mattsclancy.substack.com/p/innovation-at-the-office

2024-12-22 01:17:37 UTC

“Texas school district bans Bibles from its libraries, citing Republican-backed law”
This is rather glorious:
“This standard for library content prohibits books that have one instance of sexual content as described above,” [ Canyon Independent School District Superintendent Darryl Flusche] wrote. “Therefore, HB900 doesn’t allow numerous books, including the full text of the Bible, to be available in the school library.”
https://apple.news/ANy6iWy4zQzKtGFXxT-j3EA
#Bible
#Religion
#Library
#BookBans

2024-12-09 20:52:10 UTC

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"In 2021, Apple announced an on-device scanning system to identify and report users who stored known child sexual abuse material on their iCloud Photos accounts. …
However, in 2022, Apple was forced to reverse its decision to implement the detection feature after receiving backlash from privacy groups, customers, and even WhatsApp.”
https://apple.news/AKuGVFzRGQ8m0OIXMtDAWtw

2024-11-24 21:49:01 UTC

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If it's reasonable to view is as akin to universal basic income, there certainly have been many “experiments"
This discusses studies to 2020:
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/2/19/21112570/universal-basic-income-ubi-map
There have been several others I'm aware of in the US at least, and all seem to have had positive results, e.g.
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/04/973653719/california-program-giving-500-no-strings-attached-stipends-pays-off-study-finds
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1233440910/cash-aid-guaranteed-basic-income-social-safety-net-poverty
'Researchers also reject the stigma that poor people can't be trusted with free money.
"They spend the money in ways that everyone does,”’

2024-11-24 20:26:54 UTC

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https://mastodon.social/@mmalc/113539023892234088

2024-11-23 17:41:19 UTC

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Shhhh.
Just don't tell them that we added fluoride to the chemtrails just in case this happened.

2024-11-16 15:21:54 UTC

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Indeed; this was some of the real election interference.
(See also, for example, selective editing of Trump's interviews by Fox News.)
In a just society the perpetrators would be prosecuted; by MAGA they’ll be praised.

2024-11-08 04:46:43 UTC

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First, we clearly can't even count on each other to #WearAMask.
Second, lethality is hardly the only concern. Although people are now probably more likely to survive the acute phase, we also know the chronic effects of #Covid range from increased susceptibility to a range of other ailments to long-term disability.

2024-10-23 14:03:23 UTC

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Someone should petition to have the bible moved to the fiction category.

2024-10-18 19:36:20 UTC

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Splendid.
Supportive evidence for ‘I continue to suspect that there will be merit in some industries becoming "seasonal”.’
https://mastodon.social/@mmalc/112482354013635961

2024-10-13 14:17:43 UTC

#SilentSunday
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/300/541/230/065/064/original/c11fd1a0ba768857.jpeg

2024-10-01 23:54:30 UTC

“People are sicker, and while deaths from acute Covid infections are certainly down, the waves of sepsis, cardiovascular diseases and emergencies, cancer, and deaths from these and other long-term complications has become a predictable pattern in the wake of Covid surges. And yet, both society and a large majority of the medical industry like to uncouple these events or outright deny their association in spite of irrefutable evidence.”
https://catherder.substack.com/p/covid-and-capitalism-healthcares
#Covid
#CovidIsNotOver
#Healthcare

2024-09-24 20:55:02 UTC

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Hopefully we’ll see swift application of the time-honoured legal maxim, ludi inepta ludi, praemia inepta vincite

2024-09-23 11:44:35 UTC

“remote workers are capable of meeting their responsibilities while also doing healthy things and taking care of themselves”
“Elites bought up … trophy office towers based on the bad assumption that workers would rush back to offices. They also didn’t factor in skyrocketing energy costs or labor shortages, all driven by their own mistakes. You see, millions of workers are dead or disabled by the virus they wanted to ignore.”
https://www.the-sentinel-intelligence.com/p/heres-why-they-want-you-back-at-the-office-so-bad
#Covid
#RemoteWork
(via @npub1g74…7dlz)

2024-09-21 02:41:25 UTC

@npub1z4k…g27u
“Nikki Haley's Iowa co-chair will vote for Kamala Harris”
https://mastodon.social/@LauraRBelin/113172937774464944
(via @npub1uqz…sxyt)
#ProHarris

2024-09-20 14:21:12 UTC

“BREAKING: Email address linked to Tim Walz found on hardcore plumbing advice forum”
#Walz
(H/t [@ij_baird](https://mastodon.social/@ij_baird ))
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/170/321/756/756/121/original/71e4791da586e209.png

2024-09-19 13:03:24 UTC

@npub1z4k…g27u
This is encouraging:
‘The state of Virginia has moved from a tossup to one which "leans" toward Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, according to forecasters.’
https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-virginia-electoral-college-map-lean-trump-1954370
#ProHarris

2024-08-29 19:58:34 UTC

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Thank you.
And it looks like the place to offer feedback is:
https://armycemeteries.army.mil/About-Us/Give-Us-Your-Feedback
I think they should be given feedback.

2024-07-28 20:22:48 UTC

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Major parties being corrupt though is an orthogonal issue; the question is how readily could another party gain ascendency. In the current US system it's well-nigh impossible. With other electoral systems the possibility is at least greater. The Australian system has a number of advantages over the US to make the government more representative of the people's preferences.

2024-07-28 18:43:54 UTC

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United Kingdom: “Hold my beer”
A parliamentary system may still be subject to “peculiarities". Labour just won a “landslide" with more than double the majority of the previous government but with a significantly smaller percentage of the vote (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Kingdom_general_elections#21st_century).
For the US *Presidency* (as long as there is one), IMHO there should be universal suffrage with some form of ranked voting.