@glecharles@zirk.us
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

glecharles

@glecharles@zirk.us

Data-informed, never data-driven. Sometimes loud, one-time poet; always opinionated. Gen X. He/Him. #NewJersey

Pronunciation: As in guillotine.

Previously: https://mastodon.social/@glecharles (mastodon.social & Twitter) & NYC

Interests: #comics #manga #gaming #libraries #publishing #running #MastodonFC #cmonson

Header: Box of matches with "May the bridges I burn light the way" written in all caps.

Avatar: Me, arms crossed in a Gotham FC t-shirt.

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

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

"When we shout about the effect that this system is having, we are not filing a bug report, we are giving a systems update, and in fact we are reporting back to those with agency over the system that it is working properly." @anildash

💯

https://www.anildash.com/2024/05/29/systems-the-purpose-of-a-system/

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

"Each of those was embarrassing in its own way. And yet — it also seems obviously worse to tell people to eat rocks or make spaghetti with gasoline. In that respect, the most important story about Google’s AI launches is that they are deteriorating over time." @caseynewton

Move fast and break things. Better to ask forgiveness than permission. Evil is relative. 👎🏽

https://www.platformer.news/google-ai-overviews-eat-rocks-glue-pizza/

baldur, to random
@baldur@toot.cafe avatar

Social media.: https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2024/social-media/

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

@baldur re: degradation thresholds, early in Facebook's rise I remember research about how many people we could realistically engage with as people started to obsess over follower counts, and the experience has only gotten worse with each platform. It's partly why I prefer blogs b/c there's a higher threshold for engaging, and you have more control.

Since you don't have comments on your blog, I typically respond here, but I also find a LinkedIn useful...

glecharles, to TeslaMotors
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

"So Tesla hasn’t found a different, better way to bring driverless technology to market. Waymo is just so far ahead that it’s dealing with challenges Tesla hasn’t even started thinking about. Waymo is playing chess while Tesla is still playing checkers." @timlee

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/05/on-self-driving-waymo-is-playing-chess-while-tesla-plays-checkers/

baldur, to random
@baldur@toot.cafe avatar

That feeling when somebody asks a question on a private mailing list (one that’s usually chock-full of nonsense and logic-free hype) that isn’t just a concrete answerable question, but also one you could help answer, but the person asking is a Grade A asshole so…. y’know… not gonna

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

@baldur And then someone equally bad answers it and they're wrong?

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

"If you want to exclude your Customer Data from helping to train Slack global models, you can opt out. If you opt out, Customer Data on your workspace will only be used to improve the experience on your own workspace and you will still enjoy all of the benefits of our globally trained AI/ML models without contributing to the underlying models."

So, really, you can't fully opt your data out of this bullshit, even if you're a paying customer.

https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/trust/data-management/privacy-principles

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

"These damn kids don't like what I like!" On book snobbery, comics for kids, acceptable censorship, marketing KPIs, and car stuff.

https://loudpoet.com/2024/05/09/five-things-may-9-2024/

baldur, to random
@baldur@toot.cafe avatar

Just saw somebody on a mailing list describe “AI” sceptics as performative contrarians and I guess they mean people like me. 🤷‍♂️

glecharles,
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@baldur Is that the same list with the predictably performative mansplainers and sycophants?

glecharles, to NWSL
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

Tonight's match is on NWSL+, which seems to only be available through a browser, and the NWSL app just pushes out to the website.

Is that right? I'm going to have to stream to my TV from my phone to watch this game?!? ☹️

How do you have a jillion broadcast partners and still have some games not picked up? It's not like Gotham are the reigning champs or have some of the most popular players in the league...

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

After almost 10 years, I finally gave up on after the Vanzeir incident last year, but they still pop up in my feed now and then. This latest thing makes me wonder what kind of non-sporting research they do on players because it's another character 😬 for them.

https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/new-york-red-bulls-emil-forsberg-accused-ghosting-neglecting-family-mls-move-19-year-marriage-collapses/blt74dba594c363dd64

baldur, to random
@baldur@toot.cafe avatar

I’ll let you in on a secret: I love sporadically updated weblogs. I subscribe to over 1200 feeds and most of them are sporadic or even technically “inactive”. Months often pass between updates

It means that every post published was important to the writer

Back in the days of snail mail, letters that began with “It’s been a while since I last wrote to you” were the ones people cherished the most

You don’t need to post every day or even every week to have a blog that matters

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

@baldur And the flip side of that is not every post needs to be a long, heavily researched and thoroughly sourced treatise. That practically killed blogging for me a couple of times during the Twitter years, and caused a lot of anxiety when I decided to start up again with the "newsletter" format. My earliest ones were a lot shorter and it was so freeing!

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

"But there was a catch." On ebooks (again) and games in libraries, the cons of subscription services, dirty money, and Racing Santander. Five Things: March 14, 2024

https://loudpoet.com/2024/03/14/five-things-march-14-2024/

mguhlin, to random

Self-Publishing: https://mgblog.org/2024/03/07/selfpublishing.html

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

@mguhlin Writers who write just to write and share their work still benefit from having a main hub. I lost so much writing over the years to platforms and websites that went under, now only the ephemeral stuff goes without archiving it in some way on my own blog. Post-Twitter, I'm really hoping to see a revival in blogging, and it's slowly happening in some circles.

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

Almost didn't watch Betis today because I was worried Athletic would absolutely manhandle them, but they flipped the script and came out swinging. Ruibal always seems to be a factor in scrappy games like this, and he totally frustrated Nico into quitting via that second yellow.

Instead of a disappointing, injury-plagued season fizzling out, maybe they'll still be in the fight for Europe when Isco (among others) returns? 🤔🤞🏽

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

"Not only does reviewing large numbers of books take away from the work librarians usually do, but in states like Texas where public-sector employees like teachers are prohibited from collective bargaining, librarians are not paid overtime for the work, according to Foote."

are just another tactic in the far right's "flood the zone with shit" strategy. It's also tied to their goal of dismantling public institutions.

https://prospect.org/education/2024-02-20-unheralded-labor-fighting-book-bans/

glecharles, to Dash
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

Didn't get to see the last match, but they look up for it tonight. Aggressive pressing, optimistic passing, and some nice goals! I don't know how much influence Hayes has had yet, but they look way more confident than last year, including a hopefully reinvigorated Morgan.

Considering most of them are still in preseason form, it all bodes well for a good Olympics run.

baldur, to random
@baldur@toot.cafe avatar

“The Tremendous Yet Troubled State of Gaming in 2024 — MatthewBall.co”

A long but interesting overview of the economics of modern gaming. Useful if, like me, you aren’t familiar. https://www.matthewball.vc/all/gaming2024

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

@baldur That was an unexpectedly long read that disrupted my morning, but worth it. He captures the breadth and depth of the industry well, and his insights are solid. Every time I thought, "But what about...?" — he addressed it shortly after. 👍🏽

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

"Ultimately, you have to be true to yourself and deal with the consequences."

My latest newsletter is out, on libraries, teams-in-name-only, group blogs, Substack, and AI punditry.

https://loudpoet.com/2024/01/25/five-things-january-25-2024/

glecharles, to random
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

2024 Book 1: Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman.

Insightful but ultimately depressing because, despite seeming particularly realistic, it feels like we're even farther away from it ever happening at scale than when this first published in 2014. ☹️

https://bookshop.org/a/100022/9780316471916

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

2024 Book 8: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

Deeply researched and smartly constructed, Range joins a small handful of invaluable, well-written nonfiction books that validate and clarify some strongly held beliefs. 👍🏽👍🏽

https://bookshop.org/a/100022/9780735214507

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

2024 Book 9: Black Hammer Volume 3: Age of Doom Part 1 by Jeff Lemire, et al

Solid pastiche whose potential to be more is constrained by its original periodical format. (The Omnibus collections are probably the best way to read these, but the underlying problem would remain.)

https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3000-806/Black-Hammer-Volume-3-Age-of-Doom-TPB

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

2024 Book 10: Xenos (Eisenhorn: The Omnibus) by Dan Abnett

A brisk, surprisingly accessible read. It surely helped that I spent a few months exploring the setting before starting to read this, but Abnett deserves props for his storytelling skills. I'm looking forward to the rest of this brick, but will read something else between each novel.

https://bookshop.org/a/100022/9781789990546

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

2024 Book 11: Witch Hat Atelier Volume 7 by Kamome Shirahama

Another engaging volume, still one of my favorite manga series with the most beautiful art. 👍🏽

https://bookshop.org/a/100022/9781646510788

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

2024 Book 12: Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy by Elly Blue

Informative and insightful, peppered with personal anecdotes, Blue does a great job making the case for bikes, while also acknowledging the challenges bike advocacy has to deal with re: representation and equity.

https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/4418

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

2024 Book 13: What the Font?! - A Manga Guide to Western Typeface by Kuniichi Ashiya

Breezy, informative, and occasionally weird (Gotham likes guns?!?) primer on fonts, perfect for teens and non-designers; I actually learned a few things.

https://sevenseasentertainment.com/books/what-the-font-a-manga-guide-to-western-typeface/

glecharles,
@glecharles@zirk.us avatar

2024 Book 14: A Journal of My Father by Jirō Taniguchi

Literary fiction isn't usually my thing, but Taniguchi delivers an emotional family tale of reflection and regret without any melodrama, combined with clean, beautiful artwork that subtly communicates the complicated feelings throughout. 😢

https://bookshop.org/a/100022/9781912097432

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