@JorgeStolfi@mas.to
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

JorgeStolfi

@JorgeStolfi@mas.to

Computer Science professor, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil.

Generally leftist (which means socialist outside the US), dreaming of democracy, justice, equality, disarmament, respect for science and human life, green energy, etc.

Posts in Portuguese are about topics of mostly Brazilian interest.

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

rbreich, to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Wait. If I don’t want a blue check but Elon gives me one anyway, indicating I’ve paid and endorsed his gonzo system when I haven’t, isn’t this fraud under the FTC Act?

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@rbreich

I suppose you can complain also if you die and Elon reopens your account with a blue check. Like he did with Pelé.

rbreich, to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

The modern Republican party is devoted to three ideas:

  1. That power is only legitimate if Republicans wield it

  2. Power must be acquired by any means necessary

  3. And the party is accountable to no one once it has it

It's a recipe for fascism.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@rbreich

Actually the GOP has been paid to implement to just one idea: protect every penny of the wealth of the richest.

Destroying democracy and seizing power is not the goal; it is just the means.

anderspuck, to random
@anderspuck@krigskunst.social avatar

Some people say that if Ukraine's summer offensive is a failure, may have to settle for a peace deal even if it means giving up some territory. This is a problematic argument, because it implies that it is only up to Ukraine to make compromises. I think it's important to consider what 's demands might be for peace too. So here is a short 🧵 about what Russia's minimum demands must be expected to be. 1/6

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@anderspuck

One must distinguish "Putin" from "Russia".

PUTIN certainly cannot give up his ambition of ruling over those territories, paying reparations, or handing his collaborators -- and himself -- over to international courts.

RUSSIA could do all of that, if and after it removes Putin from power.

Erik, to animals
@Erik@social.uden.ai avatar

Ladies, Gentlemen, and everyone inbetween and outside, I have an important (!!!) request:

Can you send me your cutest pet pictures?

Just as many as you got! Cats, dogs, bunnies, tortoises (??) or whatever you like!

A friend of mine is feeling down and needs some supporting images for the weekend d(^_^o)! :ya02:

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@Erik

Idea -03-9 to become filthy rich: create a PetGPT service that produces synthetic cute pet pictures, by using AI and a database of a zillion pics scrapped from the internet.

One problem will be making sure that the "adorable kitten" picture does not get the bill of a parakeet or the shell of a turtle. But I suppose I can leave that for version 2.0

marklemley, to random
@marklemley@mastodon.lawprofs.org avatar

In Montana it's apparently perfectly fine to pass laws that threaten people's lives but absolutely forbidden to point that fact out.

The Republican move to kick elected legislators out of their seats for daring to speak the truth continues

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@mattblaze @marklemley

No entity of the government should be allowed to make their own rules, define their own obligations, set their own pay.

All those items should be defined only by a separate higher entity; and if there is no higher entity (as for Congress, the President, the Supreme Court), only by a direct public referendum.

JorgeStolfi, to space
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

The goal of a test in engineering is to uncover and understand problems that the engineers could not predict.

Thus the first launch of the Starship "full stack" was a failure, because:

  1. The destruction of the launch pad HAD been predicted by the engineers, and happened only because Elon overruled them;

  2. It is not known why the engines failed.

  3. It is not known why the second stage failed to separate.

  4. The Starship engines were not tested.
    🧵‍>

danderson, to random
@danderson@hachyderm.io avatar

I'm enjoying how the NTP RFC is just wrong in places. Like, the formula for peer synchronization distance does not incorporate server offset or dispersion, or phi drift, or jitter. If you implemented NTP based on the spec, it would be completely wrong - unless you look at the non-normative reference implementation in the appendix, which includes all this and kinda does a better job of explaining the algorithm in the first place :/

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@danderson

PSA: do not confuse NTP RFC with PRC NFT.

rbreich, to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

It used to be normal for the House of Representatives to expand.

It wasn’t until 1929 that Congress arbitrarily capped the size of the House at 435 members.

Back then, each House member represented roughly 200,000 people.

Today, that number is 760,000.

Expand the House.

video/mp4

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@rbreich

Much more important is to end district-based voting.

It made sense when the issues people cared about were mostly related to the place they lived. Not any more. The issues now are country-wide.

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

What is the best book you have ever read?

Since the very beginning of their circulation in Europe, books have represented an incomparable good.

Be it for academic purposes or just leisure, books accompany us in our everyday life.

Let’s celebrate with some of the most beautiful libraries in our Union!

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@EU_Commission

Hard to pick the best, and the pleasure of reading them was much greater when I was under 20... but the one I have re-read most times may be Gods, Graves, Scholars by C. W. Ceram. Runners-up are Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif, The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, and several others that don't occur to me now...

JorgeStolfi, to random
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@semiquaver @futurebird @veronica @wynch

Does that mean that you subscribe to those dogmas? Including #6, #7, #8?

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@futurebird @semiquaver @veronica @wynch

It is self-perpetuating: it does not matter whether you believe, if everybody around you believes...

RitchieTorres, to random

Unlike House Republicans, the American people oppose economic suicide.

70% of Americans favor raising the debt ceiling to prevent a .

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@GhostOnTheHalfShell @RitchieTorres

They are NOT interested in saving the Republic. They are preparing for a dystopian future where the billionaires will live in a highly protected Eden and the rest of the world goes Mad Max.

rodhilton, to random
@rodhilton@mastodon.social avatar

He talked about electric cars. I don't know anything about cars, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.

Then he talked about rockets. I don't know anything about rockets, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.

Now he talks about software. I happen to know a lot about software & Elon Musk is saying the stupidest shit I've ever heard anyone say, so when people say he's a genius I figure I should stay the hell away from his cars and rockets.

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@th0r5t3n @Gerego @brianstorms @rodhilton

He may have "founded" in the sense of providing initial capital. He cannot have contributed anything to the engineering, although he always talks as if every feature of every rocket was his idea.
🧵‍>

JorgeStolfi,
@JorgeStolfi@mas.to avatar

@th0r5t3n @Gerego @brianstorms @rodhilton

Starlink is certainly "doable", like Iridium was. The big question is whether it will be a profitable enterprise. Starlink is not a public company so we cannot tell what the market thinks about that...

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