@zeruch@mastodon.social
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

zeruch

@zeruch@mastodon.social

Silicon Valley native, tech, artist, wonk, raconteur. I'll veer from topic to topic, and change stylistically on a whim. Curious about stuff and things.

UCD alum (PoliSci/IR & Tech Policy). Strong interests in the arts, actual political science, cliodynamics, systems theory, and seeking a bit of adventure at even the smallest scale.

I own more albums than you have had changes of underpants since birth.

josepharruda.com

For art commissions and/or licensing, joseph.arruda@gmail.com

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

zeruch, to art
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

February 2017, "Maddie Healie" from the defunct Sktchyapp.

zeruch, to random
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

There are plenty of pop music home covers of tunes on Youtube, but a Lee Sklar lookalike, playing a Steinberger bass with a parrot on his shoulder, napping while the bassist stoically runs through The Police track "Spirits in the Material World" caught my bemusement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlQCzWltPdw

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

Fantastic -- if super-distressing -- article by Gisele Navarro about the horrible state of product reviews online

The tl;dr is that Google seems to overweight reviews from longstanding big journalism brands ...

... but many of those brands, like Popular Science, were long ago bought up by private equity or conglomerates, then hollowed out ...

... so they now produce crappy articles that are probably lying about their "test labs" to please Google

https://housefresh.com/david-vs-digital-goliaths/

Read it! So good

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@clive that's been pretty obvious for a while. It takes a fair amount of scrutiny to figure out which reviews are utile and which ones equine dung.

Google is really setting itself up for disruption, but I don't know if it will be a single vendor or just a disintegration into smaller enclaves in typical SV de/consolidating cyclical fashion.

zeruch, to 80s
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, the paragon of hi-nrg/electro dance tracks from SoCal, continues mining that same sound (which is in a resurgence of sorts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXjCG27TqX0

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@mxtthxw I actually got to see EL open for Dam-Funk a few years ago, and he is unapologetically still in his electro-funk bubble, which is still compelling as late night dark and dirty club tracks go. His live show includes him shoulder lifting an TR unit and one hand improvising with it (which may indicate how big a dude he is).

mxtthxw, to random
@mxtthxw@mxtthxw.art avatar

African Head Charge

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@mxtthxw I was pleasantly surprised by the new album (I expected good, but also assumed time might be getting the best of them...but no, great stuff). Hope they make it stateside.

zeruch, to random
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For those that only think of the gothic disco vibes of their commercial peak, here is the complete session recorded by The on 8 August 1978 for the show on BBC Radio 1. It's truly gloom (the classic track "Being Boiled" is a favorite), and yet the initial DNA of the group is there, including one cheeky as hell cover of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling ":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mClMsqfSms

mxtthxw, to random
@mxtthxw@mxtthxw.art avatar

Spot the difference

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@mxtthxw Fozzi is likable.

zeruch, to random
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A rare live bootleg of at CBGB's in 1977: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv7GBcrGzew

rysiek, to bluesky
@rysiek@mstdn.social avatar

Old blogpost bamp:

is cosplaying decentralization
https://rys.io/en/167.html

> BlueSky’s decentralization is a similar kind as with cryptocurrencies: sure, you can run your own node, but that does not give you basically any meaningful agency in the system.

> “Neutrality” and “speech” and “voice” and “protection from bans” is mentioned right there, front and center, in BlueSky’s overview and FAQ. At the same time moderation and anti-harassment features are, at best, an afterthought.

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@rysiek in EVERY single case to date, moderation is either treated as a de minimus bolt-on (and usually handicapped stupidly, like in BlueSky), or initially boot-strapped well and left to flounder thereafter because it 'interferes' with the / dyadic modality (e.g. Tumblr, DeviantArt).

It's just enervating.

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@rysiek I would never expect them to not be uneven, by the nature that there can only (at best) be instance by instance quality thresholds of content moderation, and even that will be limited by resources coupled with community adherence.

The idea of clear, discrete, consistent, policy-driven content moderation at scale requires immense staffing that is trained/equipped properly, and theres no 'model' in the current SV fluff-fest for that.

zeruch,
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@rysiek "'Id go further and say that the idea of a single policy that could be implemented in a clear, discrete, consistent way across hundreds of millions of people using a given social network is preposterous."

I don't entirely agree in the sense that just like real life we can generally globally agree that rape and murder are bad, but yes, your point otherwise stands well.

A key Fedi advantage is granularity of experience anyway.

/1

zeruch,
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@rysiek ""SV-driven social media walled gardens are trying, and failing, to do.""

Yes, but that failure is driven not from trying to affix a clear policy up from on high (although thats the appearance they try to pitch) but from a total failure to actually administer ANY policy consistently due to resource and training/tooling limits. They seek "efficiencies" through a kind of Huxley-an Hucksterism that is patently inept and deeply self-defeating.

They just don't want to admit it yet.

zeruch, to 80s
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

Well, I had forgotten this happened in the : Medley with , , and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-NgnympxAE

zeruch, to art
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

from 2020 "estresse de baixo nível que nunca tem fim" - mixed media (acrylic inks and paint, grog squeezers, gouache) on bristol paper, then digital dis/reassembly.

Available as prints.

zeruch, to drawing
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

February 2024. A quick pencil of singer-songwriter (originally of fame, including their big hit "voices carry" about her ex, the founder of industrial band Ministry, Al Jorgenson).

GovTrack, to random
@GovTrack@mastodon.social avatar

🔜 H.Res. 863 by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene [R-GA14]: Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hres863 🏛️

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@GovTrack she is such a colossal clown-shoe moron. To be as aggressively stupid as that posturing loon takes a unique sociopathy.

kevbob, to random
@kevbob@xoxo.zone avatar

It’s clear the courts will “save” us just like the impeachment did and just like the Mueller investigation did.

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@kevbob I don't think the courts will so much save us, as they will help sink him. He's being bled dry financially, and since he's too cheap to afford proper counsel, he's bleeding even far faster than he could cope with. I think he will gas himself out before the courts actually crush him. I think that's the reason Haley is still in the race, she's waiting it out.

mxtthxw, to random
@mxtthxw@mxtthxw.art avatar

When I went to America I was fully expecting pole dancing in the shopping centre. :80spc:

Turns out a strip mall is something else. :ogpc:

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@mxtthxw depends on which mall you go to. If you were in California, or Oregon, you might actually have a shot.

zeruch,
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@mxtthxw nah, that's more likely in Texas. In Florida it would be getting your face eaten by a dwarf high on bath salts then your corpse violated by an alligator.

mariyadelano, to Futurology
@mariyadelano@hachyderm.io avatar

HELP: looking for sources on fascist aesthetics. Why fascists (Nazi Germany, other fascist countries, and current fascist movements) like minimalism, Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture and architecture, and “elegant” beauty.

And why they banned the kinds of art they banned.

(PLEASE BOOST FOR REACH)

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@mariyadelano I might have a few books on this topic or at least tangential to it in my library. I'll go dig into that when I get home this evening. It's a pretty interesting topic in terms of cultural anthropology.

zeruch, to random
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

I watched the original series in the 80s (and read the book) in junior high, leading to enjoying most of 's novels (especially King Rat and Whirlwind) but am wondering what the remake intends to achieve? There is a lot in it to unpack, and I'm not sure what will stay and what will be changed to suit current sensibilities.

zeruch, to prog
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

I lived a short jaunt from The Cabaret in its South Bay heyday, but wasn't old enough to enter the 21+ venue when #AllanHoldsworth played there in '92

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL4ogac91Z0

#Prog #jazzrock #jazzfusion #livemusic

glynmoody, to random
@glynmoody@mastodon.social avatar

’s ‘achilles heel’? Haley’s refusal to drop out infuriates ex-president - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/27/donald-trump-nikki-haley-republican-nomination "A surprisingly disciplined campaign risks derailment as Trump lashes out at his former UN ambassador for staying in race"

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@glynmoody I don't think it's an Achilles heel per se, but as a node in the constellation of issues he's accrued, it could certainly be a nearline bollard in his way. The irony is that it's the byproduct of the Haley imitation of HRCs overly triangulated approach.

It's certainly keeping thinks interesting to watch. Basically the GOP is doing the best job of distraction on behalf of Biden.

arstechnica, to random
@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

Chrome can now organize your tab bar for you

A click in Chrome can turn your messy tab layout into carefully organized groups.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/chrome-can-now-organize-your-tab-bar-for-you/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

zeruch,
@zeruch@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica Firefox has had a better extension to do Tree-Style tabs for years...and they care more about privacy (and frankly are more performant these days as well)

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