@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

Schouten_B

@Schouten_B@mastodon.social

Tech Lead with the Mozilla Performance team, SCUBA diving instructor, private pilot and amateur photographer.

Logic and reason above all else.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

GossiTheDog, to random
@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social avatar

Burn the planet for shareholder value! Woo!!

Microsoft released its 2024 Sustainability Report. Last year, Microsoft's emissions went up 29%, and it used 23% more water, primarily due to "new technologies, including generative AI."

https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2024/05/15/microsoft-environmental-sustainability-report-2024/

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@GossiTheDog This is not actually what the article says, it seems to say two things indendently:

  • Scope 3 emissions are up primarily due to data center construction to provide cloud services.
  • New technologies and generative AI pose environmental challenges going forward.
potus, to random

Earlier today, the first shipments of humanitarian assistance arrived on the shores of Gaza through the multinational humanitarian pier thanks to the tireless work of the U.S. Central Command and our teams at @usaid and @statedept.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@KnittingMittens @potus Hasn't he like.. Just vowed to veto a democratically approved bill to keep arming them? Like what more do you expect the administration to do?

QasimRashid, to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

Lebron James spoke out & was told shut up & dribble

Colin Kaepernick took a knee & was labeled unpatriotic

Serena Williams spoke out & was demonized as the angry Black woman

Harrison Butker spews right wing absurdities & he's a truth teller

Can't qwhite put my finger on why🤔

Schouten_B, (edited )
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@QasimRashid Maybe you and I live in a different part of the internet but I've read a -lot- of criticism of Butker.

(The stuff he said also seemed socially conservative rather than particularly right wing. But I didn't watch the full thing so I might very well be wrong)

amydiehl, to random
@amydiehl@mstdn.social avatar

I was excited to read this study until I got to the sample...all men. So while the headline generalizes the findings, they actually have no idea about how exercise changes saturated fat metabolism in women because they did not study women. When reading studies, always look at the sample. Even today women are being excluded from health studies.
https://gizmodo.com/exercise-changes-saturated-fat-metabolism-study-1851481654

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@amydiehl I feel the wording here is slightly tendentious, there's a subtle suggestion here that there's some kind of sexism here. Where the researchers clearly state they had to pick a sex to keep the sample size manageable for the initial exploration.

If you're gonna pick a sex for this study, male makes sense because men just get type 2 diabetes much more often.

QasimRashid, to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

Sad decision from USC.

A Muslim woman who minored in resistance to genocide is the USC Class of 2024 valedictorian — and USC is BANNING her from speaking at Commencement.😐

Utterly ridiculous decision.

You can contact USC Provost Andrew Guzman to share your concerns at uscprovost@usc.edu
and 213-740-2101.

image/png

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@QasimRashid As far as I can tell she is not being 'banned', they fear for her safety. The big question is how do they compensate for that and what alternative platform do they offer her, and that is not something that should be neglected. But using the word 'banned', seems tendentious and in bad faith. This kind of misinformation is not what society needs right now.

QasimRashid, to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

Outrageous. “Duke University announced it is ending a full-ride scholarship program for Black students”

Duke admits 11% of the general applicants but 23% of legacy applicants—whose parents and grandparents parents were accepted during Jim Crow.

Duke didn’t even accept Black students until 1963. Now Black scholarships are banned but racist Jim Crow Legacy thrives.

This is America. https://t.co/dNK2Rst99y

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@QasimRashid I'd say one of the better ways to address this would be to eliminate legacy applications. Anonymize the application process. Let's get rid of all these types of nonsense biases.

danyork, to random
@danyork@mastodon.social avatar

We have high wind alerts and as I watch the trees blow outside my windows... I'm also thinking about how many old trees we have around... and about how all our power lines are above ground on poles.

So if I'm not online later... there's a reason... 🙂

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@danyork The low and mid-voltage grids being run above ground has always been one of the most perplexing aspects of many North-American cities to me.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@timoj @danyork That's absolutely fair! But I've seen the same phenomenon in places with much more accssible ground layers like clay.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@timoj @danyork Seems unlikely to apply for coastal places like SF though 🙂. I'd imagine (although I don't know), that clay is pretty dominant there.

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Via @rbreich

Yesterday, repeated a vile lie, falsely accusing Democrats of having babies "executed after birth" — similar to a claim Nazis made to vilify Jews.

Most media ignored the lie & wrote that Trump is "moderating on abortion."

This is how the media are normalizing fascism.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff @rbreich Can we stop using the term fascism for things that are awful, absurd, but have nothing to do with fascism?

There are awful behaviors, claims and policies that aren't fascism. It's okay to attack them on the merits. And that way it's a lot harder for them to defend against.

danyork, to random
@danyork@mastodon.social avatar

I am amused by the suggestions from Vermont state agencies that people should bring a paper map in case GPS stops working. After 17 years with smartphones and Google/Apple Maps… ** do people even know how to read paper maps anymore? ** 🤣

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@danyork While teaching a diving course I recently asked somebody to triangulate their position on a map by using two prominent landmarks and they looked at me as if I was speaking Arabic.

PCMag, to random
@PCMag@mastodon.social avatar

NASA argues that you shouldn't take photo or video of today's eclipse using your smartphone. "The phone sensor could be damaged just like any other image sensor if it’s pointed directly at the Sun." https://www.pcmag.com/news/nasa-warns-against-taking-eclipse-photos-with-your-smartphone

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@PCMag I don't think modern humans are physically capable of enjoying something without pointing their phone camera at is. So this is gonna be a problem.

coreyspowell, to space
@coreyspowell@mastodon.social avatar

Only three humans have ever witnessed an eclipse of the Sun by the Earth. It happened while the Apollo 12 crew was returning home from the Moon, on November 21, 1969.

Fortunately, the astronauts filmed the moment so you can share in the experience.

https://archive.org/details/Apollo1216mmOnboardFilm [at the 4:50 mark]

Footage of the eclipse of the sun was taken with a 16mm motion picture camera from the Apollo 12 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey home from the moon. The fascinating view was created when the Earth moved directly between the sun and the Apollo 12 spacecraft. Aboard Apollo 12 were astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., commander; Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot; and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot. While astronauts Conrad and Bean descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Intrepid" to explore the Ocean of Storms region of the moon, astronaut Gordon remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Yankee Clipper" in lunar orbit. Source: NASA/Johnson Space Center

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@coreyspowell Wait.. Don't we all see the sun being eclipsed by the Earth once every 24 hours if we're looking towards the Western horizon?

GeePawHill, to random
@GeePawHill@mastodon.social avatar

One of the key facts here keeps getting sidestepped by a mixture of scam marketing and common language usage out there.

LLMs don't sometimes make shit up, they always make shit up.

That's what an LLM is: a piece of software that makes up plausible sounding shit.

What's impressive about this is the extent of improvement in the plausibility.

What's horrifying about it is the extent to which so many people don't care to distinguish between plausibility and correctness.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@GeePawHill To be fair. That's mostly what humans do.

The main difference is that humans offer a better path for accountability when they're proven wrong and theoretically have more of a concept of 'being wrong or right'.

On the other hand humans are generally a lot more convinced of their own infallibility than LLMs.

winter, to random
@winter@translunar.academy avatar

:fuckautismspeaks: FUCK AUTISM SPEAKS :fuckautismspeaks:

a hate group masquerading as a charity, Autism $peaks is run entirely by neurotypicals, with only a few token autistic members with no real power in their leadership at any given time. the hate group brings in millions of dollars in donations each year, claiming to support parents and caregivers of autistic people. where does that money go? overwhelmingly, toward advertising campaigns aimed to vilify autism and towards eugenics research aimed to eradicate our people. in a typical year only 3-4% of their budget actually reaches any families, and the majority of that goes to ABA, a cruel and abusive program widely decried by Autistics and by researchers outside of ABA (https://stopabasupportautistics.home.blog/2019/08/11/the-great-big-aba-opposition-resource-list/ )

more information about Autism Speaks: https://thecaffeinatedautistic.wordpress.com/new-autism-speaks-masterpost-updated-62014/

for years, Autistics have promoted a boycott of Autism Speaks, avoiding financially supporting corporations that donate to them, and organizing to persuade companies to stop their support. we have been very successful both in spreading the word about this organization and in cutting off their funding. each year normally their budget shrinks. between 2022 and 2023, Autism $peaks saw a further 33% reduction in revenue!

these companies are the major donors to Autism Speaks: https://www.autismspeaks.org/meet-our-partners however, there are always many local events and donation drives in the month of April, so look out for those around you and oppose them as well.

our tactics are proven effective, but as long as Autism Speaks still exists, we will continue to fight them. no reform will be accepted, only total abolition of the organization and the entire movement it represents.

a note about Autistic iconography:

we Autistics reject the puzzle piece as a symbol :fuckautismspeaks:. any organization or event still using puzzle pieces is clearly not listening to Autistic people, and should not be trusted. our community’s symbol is the infinity: :neurodiversity: with the rainbow infinity representing all neurodivergent people, and the red or gold :autismgold: signifying autism in particular. we never use the color blue on its own in our organizing and symbolism–that is Autism Speaks’ color. we also use this pride flag :QueerCat_Autism: represented here by a cat because that is the emoji we have.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@winter @grillchen It does not. Your Mastodon/Twitter/Whatever bubble is not representative of 'autistics at large' (to the extent that that is even a thing among such a diverse group). Stop speaking in 'we', unless you clearly define the specific people or organization you are talking for.

Frankly I'm kind of tired of the loudest activists trying to derive authority from large swaths of the population.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@winter @grillchen then I have no idea who your 'we' refers to. Good to know that I don't need to derive any meaning from it.

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Dipping into Elie Mystal live posting on the arguments:

Kavanaugh: "Just to be clear, no doctor can be forced to... perform abortions."

Kav continues his unbroken streak of asking the "Class was moving a little too fast for me" questions

But, can we just pause here to say that it's ridiculous that SCOTUS is very worried about doctors being "forced" to perform abortions (they're not) but don't care about [checks notes] WOMEN BEING FORCED TO BRING A PREGNANCY TO TERM AGAINST THEIR WILL.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@GottaLaff If you're in the (admittedly delusional) mindset that an abortion is murder, and carrying a pregnancy to term is saving a life, that obviously makes perfect sense.

Not saying I agree but it is useful to try and understand someone who lives with the 'your embryo is human' mindset.

zachleat, to random
@zachleat@zachleat.com avatar

A large contingent of webdevs seem to think that fast means “best-case fast.”

“Our web sites are fast on expensive hardware and from reliable fiber networks.”

Worst-case fast is a much more meaningful, impressive, and inclusive claim to make! Fast on low-end hardware. Fast on slow networks.

Fast on the World Wide Web—not just from a WeWork in Silicon Valley.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@zachleat My brain is stuck on the fact that you managed to find a WeWork in Silicon Valley with fast, reliable internet.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@zachleat My experience is very limited as well (n=1), but if I extrapolate from other experiences in the valley that aren't like the Google campus (hotels, coffee shops, etc.), it doesn't bode well for the others 🙂.

EU_Commission, to random
@EU_Commission@social.network.europa.eu avatar

Today, we have opened five non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act.

It concerns:
🔹Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play
🔹Alphabet’s self-preferencing in Google Search
🔹Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store
🔹Apple's choice screen for Safari
🔹Meta’s ‘pay or consent model’

More info: https://europa.eu/!4NF6bV

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@TobiWanKenobi @sl007 @EU_Commission @1br0wn Or you can stop using the electronic diarrhea that comes out of that company in the first place :p.

I'm pretty sure the point is about how this is yet another case of Mac (which stands for malicious compliance, apparently).

flexghost, to random
@flexghost@mastodon.social avatar

Let me get this straight

A global conspiracy, involving every country on earth for 40+ years in order to spread mind-control chemicals from planes is real

Yet climate change is false

Hey Republicans from The South: ever wonder why no one takes y’all seriously?

🏆

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@flexghost This headline is disappointingly deceptive when you read the actual bill. It focuses mainly on future geoengineering processes.

dangillmor, to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

The auto industry has almost completely abandoned the idea of selling affordable cars in the U.S. https://www.motor1.com/features/710453/cheap-cars-dead/

China is plainly planning to fill the gap, as Japan did some decades ago.

This will -- guaranteed -- lead to a furious response, but that won't include US carmakers actually competing. The response will be protectionism, because one thing history has shown us is that American companies facing foreign competition are terrified of actual competition.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@dangillmor This is more complicated than that. Modern cars (especially EVs), are much harder to produce in a socially, and environmentally responsible way.

Chinese car manufacturers, frankly, don't give a shit, their footprints in ecological terms or human misery, are immense.

Western manufacturers simply can't compete with that. 'Protectionism' is bad. Charging China for the immense emissions and suffering their industry causes, is not.

taylorlorenz, to random
@taylorlorenz@mastodon.social avatar

The exclusion of Covid in major news reporting about the global hospital and healthcare system collapse is an active choice, based either in denial or collusion, and it’s happening everywhere.

Read this piece.

https://www.thegauntlet.news/p/unmitigated-covid-is-overwhelming

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@taylorlorenz The author seems to make numerous mistakes in their reasoning.

But perhaps one of their most interesting is on the immune evasion of JN.1. Yes, JN.1 was great at evading our immune systems. But it also didn't make us very sick, reduced the amount of variation in the virus and led to historically low infection counts for this time of year.

Look at wastewater numbers for the Netherlands for example where JN.1 peaked early: https://coronadashboard.rijksoverheid.nl/landelijk/rioolwater

Schouten_B, to random
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

https://nos.nl/artikel/2510923-amerikaanse-overheid-kan-bij-e-mail-van-nederlandse-overheden-en-kritieke-bedrijven

Uuh.. Parliament is 'too small' to maintain their own e-mail server?

The Dutch Parliamentary buildings are being renovated for 700+ million euros.

For a measley 10 million euros I will maintain their e-mail server for the next 15 years! I will even make sure there's someone on call when I'm on vacation!

Gargron, to random
@Gargron@mastodon.social avatar

I'm tired of hearing about AI, to be honest. I never cared for it. I don't respect people who use generative AI, and I despise companies that sell out people's data to train it. Yes, people will lose jobs to it, but the world will not be better for it. It's just that consequences are rarely immediately apparent in such complex systems.

Schouten_B,
@Schouten_B@mastodon.social avatar

@Gargron Oofff. I hope you never used Google Translate because I wouldn't want you to lose your self-respect.

What a dumb take.

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