kkeller

lauren, 2 days ago to random

Because Voyager 1 is so far from Earth, it takes almost 23 hours for a command to reach it at the speed of light, and the same for a response to reach us back, for a total of close to 50 hours.

Which means that interactions with Voyager 1, currently around 15 billion miles away, are still faster than many Microsoft Windows updates.

Teri_Kanefield, 3 days ago to random

Hi, Fediverse,

I have my weekend blog post ready. It's a fun one because I answered a question about juries and I wrote about the Zenger trial.

What? You've never heard of the Zenger trial?

It's here: https://terikanefield.com/juries-and-the-zenger-trial/

(if you get the error message, wait a minute and try again.)

arstechnica, 12 days ago to random

Why US hockey players often speak with “fake Canadian” accents

They don't want to sound Canadian, but like a hockey player—a "linguistic persona."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/why-us-hockey-players-often-speak-with-fake-canadian-accents/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

eff, 14 days ago to random

“Enacting this legislation has undermined the U.S.’s longstanding championing of the free flow of information as a fundamental democratic principle,” EFF’s @BrendanGilligan told PCWorld. Instead, we need comprehensive data privacy legislation.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2317334/could-a-vpn-circumvent-the-tiktok-ban.html

lauren, 15 days ago to random

BREAKING: It appears that AT&T's attempt to end landlines in California will be rejected!

The administrative law judge issued a scathing preliminary decision which is likely to be followed when the CPUC meets to vote in June. He ruled that the application should be dismissed with prejudice. More details as I understand them. A decision was previously expected in September, so this came down very fast.

Here is an article:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/california-rebuffs-att-says-it-must-
keep-offering-landline-phone-service/

Here is the CPUC judge's decision PDF:

https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M531/K085/531085885.PDF

Teri_Kanefield, 17 days ago (edited 17 days ago) to random

Okay, I wrote the blog post I said I'd write: A more thoughtful explanation of why I refused to answer a few questions this week.

It's here: https://terikanefield.com/beware-the-lawyers/

This blog post could have been called “Why you don’t need a lawyer to answer your questions about legal issues in the news.”

Mostly it’s about former TV pundit Peter Arenella’s piece that I posted earlier.

If you get the error message, this is why:
https://news.itsfoss.com/mastodon-link-problem/

Just wait a minute and try again.

SmudgeTheInsultCat, 25 days ago to random

lauren, 25 days ago to random

An irony of understanding Internet technologies is that the more you understand, the more you simultaneously trust and distrust them.

lauren, 26 days ago to Youtube

What needs to be said about the uber-classic original film "Alien" (1979) that hasn't already been said a million times over the years. Oh, maybe this: It just popped up for free (probably U.S. only) on #YouTube Movies & TV! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6vtScz6Fbc

ProTop: Don't look inside that egg thing.

spaf, 1 month ago to random

Found in the social media tubes:

lauren, 1 month ago to TikTok

The TikTok Ban, Joe Biden, and SATAN!

The #TikTok ban -- which will likely face years of litigation and may be ultimately turned down by U.S. courts (as it should be) on first amendment and other grounds, reminds me of another dark episode of bipartisan madness decades ago.

Back in the 1980s in particular, "satanic cult" scares spread across the country, the media, and politicians of both parties. Innumerable lives were ruined as innocent people were imprisoned for long periods based on much the same nonsense as during the Salem Witch Trials of the 17th century. The lack of actual evidence in both cases didn't stop the panic.

While the TikTok ban shouldn't force innocent people into prison or result in them being burned at the stake, many lives that are dependent on income related to TikTok would be negatively affected, and a popular communications medium for a vast number of Americans would be cut off -- while the lack of actual evidence to support such drastic actions is glaring.

There is also much hypocrisy in play. Even as President Biden signed the ban, his campaign apparently plans to continue using TikTok! Not a good look Joe. Not good at all. That's the kind of thing we expect from Trump. You're better than that. -L

SmudgeTheInsultCat, 1 month ago to random

Some_Emo_Chick, 1 month ago to random

Teri_Kanefield, 1 month ago to random

Starting over because I had the wrong link!

This week's blog post:

https://terikanefield.com/sex-lies-and-falsified-documents/

Last week I installed the cache plugin people recommended to prevent that error message when I first put the link on Mastodon. People still got the error messages and the plugin messed up my website, so deleted it and I'm back where I started.

If you get the message, lucky you! Wait a minute and try again.

(Okay, so there really isn't any sex, at least not on the page. FALSE ADVERTISING!)

w7voa, 1 month ago to random

The games continue on Twitter/X with my rather inactive account — first was the involuntary upgrade to a complimentary premium account. I quickly hid the meaningless checkmark that came with it. Now it appears the account will be forced to display the blue tick.

drewharwell, 1 month ago to random

New from me on Truth Social:

• Trump's site made $4M in revenue last year, little more than average McDonald's (but less than Chick-fil-A)
• Executives got $600,000 "retention bonuses" even though company lost $58 million last year
• Trump Media called this a "ridiculous hit piece" even though it's all their own numbers
• Stock just opened down 9%

Gift link: https://wapo.st/3JcnUEG

lauren, 1 month ago to random

Against his objections, Musk deposition released - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-didnt-want-his-latest-deposition-released-here-it-is_n_66133d2ce4b0d81853f9a766

Teri_Kanefield, 1 month ago to random

I did what I said I would do with this week's blog post:

I analyzed the heated comments to last week's blog post.

I found it all so interesting that I kept thinking about it. Me: 🤔

https://terikanefield.com/the-ronna-mcdaniel-story-fall-out/

I installed that cloudfare cache plugin people were recommending so if you get that 500 error let me know (and I will growl -- but not at YOU. I will growl at Mastodon)

mastodonmigration, 1 month ago to random

Apologies for the all the rapid fire posts concerning the Trump NY bond today, but fascinating developments.

Short version: NY rejected Trump's bond because Knight, the bond company, didn't file proof of collateral. Knight today amended the bond filing to include some sort of financial assurances. NY's AG Letitia James just filed a "notice of rejection" asserting that Knight does not meet the requirements for a legitimate bond.

Start here >>> https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/112212072918141079

This is incredible stuff!

mastodonmigration, 1 month ago to random

Might be wrong here, but seems like this may be a bigger deal than a clerical error as is being widely reported:

Rejected and ‘returned for correction’: Docs for Trump’s $175M bond get bounced >>> https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/rejected-and-returned-for-correction-docs-for-trumps-175m-bond-get-bounced/

It may be that the bond company didn't report their financials because they have insufficient collateral to secure a bond of this magnitude. In which case the bond is no good, Trump doesn't have a bond, and he is out of time.

Let's see how this gets resolved...

glynmoody, 1 month ago to random

Let Me Rewrite That For You: NY Times Misinforms Readers About #RFK & #Biden - https://www.techdirt.com/2024/04/04/let-me-rewrite-that-for-you-ny-times-misinforms-readers-about-rfk-biden/ great piece by @mmasnick

jasonkoebler, 1 month ago to random

Bullying in open source software is a massive security risk, as shown by the Xz backdoor, a near-miss at F-Droid, and as repeatedly pointed out by @Mer__edith, @eighthave, and so many others over the years:

https://www.404media.co/xz-backdoor-bullying-in-open-source-software-is-a-massive-security-vulnerability/

Gargron, 1 month ago to random

The fact that you can follow the president of the United States (@potus) from your Mastodon account instead of being forced to have an X or Threads account for it is a huge W in my book. Of course our team is fully available to help if they'd want to set up Mastodon on whitehouse.gov. I believe governments should not rely on 3rd party platforms to connect with their constituents.

zarfeblong, 1 month ago to random

I guess the takeaway from the xz backdoor situation is:

If you’re an open-source project maintainer, and somebody starts getting on your case for not doing enough free work for them, you reply “big Jia Tan energy there” and then block them forever.

emlove, 1 month ago to random