JacksonBates

JacksonBates, 19 days ago to random

An uncommon visitor to a pond near my place. Not an especially uncommon bird, mind, just uncommon in this pond.

Usually the pond is overrun with Pacific Ducks and Wood Ducks, but this Little Pied Cormorant was enjoying chilling. Probably visiting from Warrandyte - see more of them over there.

A more distant shot of the same scene: A Little Pied Cormorant sitting on a branch close above the water of a pond. It's got its neck wound in a bit. In the background the pond fence and beyond some houses are visible.

JacksonBates, 29 days ago to random

PSA for fellow white tech folks.

You don't have to name your thing about a bad thing 'Dark'. There are other words. There are even words that better convey what you mean, which is what words are for.

I feel like tech has just sorta started to come around to using the term Deceptive Patterns in place of Dark Patterns. I still see Dark Patterns a lot, but at least there's a growing awareness.

But now there's a list of AI user agents going around. 'Dark Visitors'.

Why choose the word dark here? It doesn't actually convey anything useful. It doesn't immediately reveal what the list is for...

It only serves to reinforce connotations that Dark is Bad, and the primary reason that continues to be upheld as a connotation in 2024 is...say it with me...racism.

"But I'm not racist!"

Cool, don't further racist systems with your word choices. It's a really easy way to be less racist. Like, the easiest I can actually think of. It's barely an effort. The bar is extremely low on this one.

JacksonBates, 1 month ago to random

Dark Forest theory but it's about posting opinions online.

JacksonBates, 1 month ago to random

I really like The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love songs, because it's such a flex.

It's like, here's every cliche you've ever heard, and here's a whole swathe of completely fresh metaphors and takes on love songs too.

Like, I cannot write a single complete song, and those fuckers wrote 69 Love songs and you don't really get the impression they found it challenging!

And there's legitimately great songs on there - it's not just a wacky concept album for chuckles.

JacksonBates, 1 month ago to random

Misread Threads as Threats and...it tracks

JacksonBates, 1 month ago to random

Good 2 player board games?

JacksonBates, 2 months ago to random

Playing darts with 7yo with his 'Safety darts'.

Humming to myself:

🎵 We can darts if we want to 🎵

JacksonBates, 2 months ago to random

Out walking the dog at night, clear skies. Lots of stars out. And then I saw a train of 21 satellites.

JacksonBates, 2 months ago to random

Salaried workers, remember to take it real easy today. This one is a freebie for the boss so don't make it too good.

josh, 2 months ago to random

carb load every day

JacksonBates, 4 months ago to random

We're looking after some guinea pigs for some friends going on holiday.

The kids, dog, and, admittedly, parents are all pretty excited.

Fediverse, meet Jude

JacksonBates, 5 months ago to random

I've already resisted the urge to post 3 'clever' replies this morning.

Progress!

revk, 6 months ago to random

Is it just me, or is that a tad “weasel worded”?

If the cocoa in the product is not the exact same cocoa that they “responsibly sourced” then (a) where did it come from and (b) what did they do with the responsibly sourced cocoa?

JacksonBates, 6 months ago to random

I suspect there are some knowledgeable opinions on these questions here:

1. Where is an advisable place for normies to buy music today? I'm guessing it's still Bandcamp, but suspect there may be changes in the offing that make it less attractive in the not too distant future?

2. What's the most sensible set up for streaming said music, considering we have an ill advised mix of 'smart speakers' (sonos, alexa, nest) and android phones. (I've got hardware for running a server and can admin a linux box easily - but other household members want the easiest thing for them)

I'm guessing it's Plex, but interested to hear experiences / alternatives. (I'm also considering Navidrome)

:boost_ok:

JacksonBates, 7 months ago to random

The thing I miss most about working with Ruby is that at the end of my lunch I don't get to stand up, dust my hands and say

"Well, back to the Ruby mines, I guess!"

I mean, I say it anyway, but it doesn't make any sense.

JacksonBates, 7 months ago to random

Do any of you crafty buggers do anything cool with your used steel guitar strings?

JacksonBates, 7 months ago to random

If you buy fruit or veggies with a lil sticker on them, you can pop the sticker pretty easily on the self service terminal security camera, I'd imagine

JacksonBates, 7 months ago to random

If you change the ?utm_source param of a social link to a swear word, will it show up in some marketing person's slide deck when they present their monthly update to their bosses?

I don't know.

But I might have a new hobby.

JacksonBates, 8 months ago to random

The votes are in, I have it on good authority that I'm the Best Dad Ever

JacksonBates, 8 months ago to random

Running late for school because I stepped out the front door and got bird-sniped.

Heard a bird call I don't recognise and now I'm scanning the trees and rooftops!

JacksonBates, 8 months ago to skateboarding

So my first time skateboarding in well over a year was pretty good last night.

I wasn't a good skateboarder over a year ago, so expectations were already quite low! For reference, I only started when I was 38 so it's not like I've got years of prior experience to draw from :)

But after shaking off some nerves I was able to more or less do simple things it previously took me a while to get the hang of - like rolling in on banks, going up banks and either kick-turning to come down them, or riding down fakie and then pivoting afterwards.

No decent carving chops - but I never really had that anyway.

Unfortunately, the park we were at (Eltham) seems biased towards goofy stance, so I couldn't really work on carving from any runs without committing to going frontside which is a bit beyond my courage level. My one stack was a half-hearted frontside kick-turn.

The park is also a bit haphazardly designed which is a shame, but it's in reasonably good nick, and any park is better than no park, really.

Mate's LED lighting rig was excellent!

I need to go a lot more often though.

#skateboarding

JacksonBates, 8 months ago to random

Amazing!

The designer on our team misheard us talking about a tricky bug and thought one of our proposed solutions was to:

rub a duck

JacksonBates, 8 months ago to random

Code reviews get more nit-picky in August.

Discuss.