MHowell

@MHowell@kolektiva.social

Curious about/Interested in: food, people, science, engineering, computer security, surveillance tech, astronomy, beaches, philanthropy, humor, music, which is why I follow you.
Things I do: engineering, gardening, bicycling,
advocate for protecting habitat for endangered species #wilderness

White guy living in Indian Country (Suquamish aka Seattle, WA)
#AntiFacist .
#LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ ally
#BLM #BlackLivesMatter
#ProChoice
#GunReform
#nobridge

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Mikal, to Signal
@Mikal@sfba.social avatar

So, are you convinced to start using end to end encrypted messaging yet?
#FuckGoogle

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/01/27/new-details-free-ai-upgrade-for-google-and-samsung-android-users-leaks/

MHowell,

@Mikal FFS!

Further
Hey - @pluralistic

SiR_GameZaloT, to climate
@SiR_GameZaloT@paktodon.asia avatar

Guys, hosting a small event among friends and family for climate change awareness soon.

Need ideas on how to spread the awareness without boring people to death 😅

MHowell, (edited )

@alterdstates @SiR_GameZaloT and the history behind everything else in the room, from the building materials (old growth lumber contributing to desertification), to lighting and heating (coal, "natural" gas, nuclear, damns), to how guest arrived (private vehicles vs bicycles/public transit, impacts of roads), to computers and phones (mining exotic metals, and their waste products).

Watch/discuss video "The Story of Stuff"
https://www.storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/

moira, to USpolitics
@moira@mastodon.murkworks.net avatar

holy shit this is fast - jury's back in the E. Jean Carroll case against TFG.

https://mastodon.social/@GottaLaff/111824408951280302

MHowell,

@moira Good news!

Had to stop following Gottalaff account because of the (spammy) volume of posts and lowered signal to noise ratio.

MHowell,

@moira Thanks for the tip, I didn't know I could do that.

ai6yr, to Health
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

Health Fair tomorrow in Simi Valley.

MHowell,

@ai6yr Did you or the equipment get rusty?

Daojoan, to random
@Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar

Dinosaurs will die.

And I identify as an asteroid. 💅

MHowell,

@Daojoan

SwiftOnSecurity, to random
MHowell,

@SwiftOnSecurity Obligatory Spurious Correlations link and XKCD meme post
https://tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

is not

MHowell, to llm

Nightshade: Tool That Poisons DALL-E, Other AI to Help Artists Now Available to Download

of things to prevent theft
https://www.pcmag.com/news/new-tool-could-poison-dall-e-and-other-ai-to-help-artists

hannu_ikonen, to random

What fresh fucking hell awaits us this week?

MHowell,

@hannu_ikonen
Pretty sure those were the summoning words you just wrote.

Mikal, to random
@Mikal@sfba.social avatar

Create OKCupid account, yes/no?

MHowell,

@Mikal Who wouldn't jump at the opportunity to chat with AI bots?

YMMV, but they claim "only used for interrogation" and not "we also use it to distract users."

https://futurism.com/okcupid-chatgpt-to-online-dating-robotic

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

This is the script for the never-made-it-to-production first attempt at making a Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

MHowell,

@cstross The real story you are all missing here is that the raccoon wanted to go swimming, and found a drunk sailor to facilitate...

Mikal, to random
@Mikal@sfba.social avatar

Website operators: do not under any circumstances install what I think is called Google Places address autocomplete on your site. It is annoying, but can also be very WRONG. It insists that my NorCal address doesn't exist and keeps trying to change it to a similarly written one that will take you to a deserted backcountry ranch on a barely one-land road.

After multiple attempts and two unanswered emails to National Press Photographer's Association about it, I decided that if they are that bad at this, they don't need my membership renewal or money. I finally conceded to Southwest Airlines frequent flyer program and let them fill in the wrong address since they will be unlikely to ever mail me anything.

Do these people not check their site analytics to see that people bounce when Google gets it wrong? Also, maybe don't give up your members/customers to Google's surveillance? FFS people are so bad at this.
/irritated_rant

MHowell,

@Mikal This is the future: Due to google autocomplete, somebodies mailbox will be filled with extended auto warranty offers

hannu_ikonen, to random

Above all else:

Absorb the direct & indirect lessons of Octavia Butler, Ursula LeGuin, Malcolm X, & Huey Newton if you want your soul to survive the ongoing moneyed, Patriarchal White Supremacist theft of the future.

Biden is right about the conflict being for the soul of the country, but its as much about Trump as it is Charles Koch/ others.

Revolutionary Suicide is accepting they want us dead & will try to make it so, but will never have us.

MHowell,

@hannu_ikonen You will probably want to read this: "My Grandpa was a Nazi"
https://mastodon.social/@bastianallgeier/111782254583131775

MHowell,

@hannu_ikonen Please then, pass it along/boost with your own recommendation.

MHowell, to Seattle

Cory Doctorow at Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, Mon 2/26 at 7pm

The Bezzle: A Martin Hench Novel

A seething rebuke of the privatized prison system that delves deeply into the arcane and baroque financial chicanery involved in the 2008 financial crash, The Bezzle is a sizzling follow-up to Red Team Blues.

Cory Doctorow returns to Third Place Books for the next book in his Martin Hench series, a high stakes thriller where the lives of the hundreds of thousands of inmates in California’s prisons are traded like stock shares. This event is free and open to the public.

"Cory Doctorow is one of our most important science fiction authors."
—Kim Stanley Robinson

"Cory Doctorow doesn't just write about the future—I think he lives there!"
—Kelly Link

RSVP here
https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/event/cory-doctorow


@pluralistic

MHowell,

@Aaron @suzka
You Need to RSVP to get seats.

MHowell,

@Aaron @suzka So maybe I will finally get to meet some of you Cory fans IRL?

augieray, to random
@augieray@mastodon.social avatar

Something I want to post on Facebook but can't because friends will feel attacked:

If you don't care that is at the 2nd-highest level of the pandemic,
Or that hospitals brought back masks,
Or that the CDC Director recommended masking,
Or that 10 to 20% of infections result in Long COVID,
Or that your infection could result in someone else's disability,
So you went to a crowded restaurant or event this weekend,
Maybe you're not the empathetic person you think you are.

MHowell,

@augieray Grow a spine and post it. Those remaining are the ones you want to continue associating with. Fuck the rest.

ai6yr, to Weather
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

Tips on staying safe in Winter Conditions and when the power goes out, from the National Weather Service.

If Your Heat Goes Out

  • Close off unneeded rooms to avoid wasting heat.
  • Stuff towels or rags in cracks under doors.
  • Close blinds or curtains to keep in some heat.
  • Eat and drink. Food provides the body with energy for producing its own heat. Drinks lots of water and other non-caffeinated, non-alcholohic drinks to prevent dehydration. Cold air is very dry.
  • Wear layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing. Remove layers to avoid overheating, perspiration and subsequent chill.

https://www.weather.gov/safety/winter-during

#winter #weather #poweroutage #blackout #survival

MHowell,

@ai6yr Make your own:
Copper Coil Alcohol Heater Bloc Burners are:

  • Great for small enclosed spaces like tents or a small room
  • Safe to use indoors
  • Bad for outdoor use – the flame blows out easily
  • Can be used for heating or cooking.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N-q3Zu6jngpSJdXUoSkWl4YKb26RCvAV/view

Jgbird, to random

Hello to all new friends! If you’re here because of hummingbird photos, I’ve got good news for you…

MHowell,

@Jgbird If you have , remember to regularly thaw and warm them so the birds can eat.

Temperature ranges are 10F-25F here in until Tuesday.

ai6yr, to privacy
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

Ah, just what you need, a voice-controlled toilet which logs your fecal activity to Google and Amazon. And if you leave your voice assistant key on the internet by accident, maybe some spontaneous bidet activity from hackers, lol. This is LITERALLY the Internet of S*** https://www.engadget.com/kohlers-voice-controlled-bidet-seat-turns-your-dumb-toilet-into-a-luxurious-smart-throne-174934904.html

MHowell,

@ai6yr Works until the server the commands go through goes offline... then you likely have a nonfunctioning toilet.

bBuck, to random
@bBuck@mastodon.social avatar

https://pitchfork.com/features/podcast/brian-eno-music-for-airports-review/
Eno’s formative album shaped my music taste completely explaining much of the reason I currently enjoy DJ Alex & Pacific Notions each Sunday morning on KEXP. They’re both treasures. The first time I heard Music for Airports was at Chicago O’Hare traveling the flat escalator between terminals. Somehow I found the the music again, probably from the Trinity College radio station. Or possibly Rolling Stone. But who knows?

MHowell,

@bBuck You might also find some radio programs you like over at WFMU.org

bojacobs, to nuclear
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"Two planned nuclear power projects in Pac NW are scrapped"

https://columbiainsight.org/two-planned-nuclear-power-projects-in-pac-nw-are-scrapped/

MHowell,

@bojacobs Great News! What does it mean to be a subscriber to their plants? Is that a contract where the receiving utilities negotiate connection and $/MWh? Did they say: Too expensive? The article leaves out some important detail.

MHowell,

@bojacobs Will have to share the news with those hopeful pro-nuke co-workers of mine.

SallyStrange, to climate
@SallyStrange@eldritch.cafe avatar

: the good news: word is spreading

The bad news: Word is spreading amongst the worst people:

https://bnnbreaking.com/the-degrowth-movement-an-economic-paradigm-shift-or-a-misguided-agenda

https://schiffgold.com/commentaries/degrowth-advocates-misunderstand-the-business-cycle/

https://www.aier.org/article/degrowth-kills-people-yes-literally/

https://www.nsnews.com/opinion/opinion-deurbanizing-not-degrowth-would-benefit-everyone-8047167

I sum up their objections:

  1. You're just too dumb to understand the business cycle

  2. Don't call it "a recession" or a "financial crisis"--call it " the means by which markets cleanse themselves of mistaken and wasteful resource allocations." And never EVER blame those allocations on capitalists.

  3. Centrally planned economies are bad! (Did any degrowthers call for central planning? Shut up.)

  4. Growth can be forever. No, really, that's it. Yes, we live on a finite planet, but some dead white guy once said, "The history of the past 200 years, in fact the whole history of humanity, has shown us the extraordinary events, contrary to all common sense, that the more that we use of natural resources, the more we have of them," so shut up.

  5. Let's just all live as self-sufficient agrarians. That's just the last example here, it seems to be aimed at one element of degrowth proposals that call for significant rewilding. It's an odd objection since degrowth definitely doesn't require the abolition of small rural communities. It just calls for there to be fewer of them, and them that are, to be more densely populated and more self-sufficient.

MHowell,

@SallyStrange Call it what it is: "Degrowth: A Capitalist Perspective" by plutocrat-owned media outlets.

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