@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

SamUpstate

@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social

A suburban dad enjoying and celebrating life in New York's Capital District.

Working to improve the world by supporting public education and strong, walkable communities.

#Bicycles and #cocktails, sometimes #books and classical and sacred music (occasionally).

Software engineer (by day).

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

andrew, to github
@andrew@esq.social avatar

Reduced my thoughts on Copilot+ PC, as announced, to a piece for Forbes.

TLDR: Also we should think about compliance with things like subpoenas and how completely can anything ever be deleted with such a system.

The more I think about it, the less this seems like a well thought-out product for pros. Dreamed up by coders that already have had their life’s work sucked up by GPT through .

@law

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewleahey/2024/05/22/copilot-pcs-could-be-a-privacy-nightmare-for-professionals/
https://esq.social/@andrew/112484905475208847

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@andrew I think there's also a caste of software dev at Big Tech who live largely "easy mode" lives, protected by privilege of race, sexual orientation, and especially gender, as well as the fact that their lives are fairly mundane. They've never had brushes with the legal system in any form or suffered abusive spouses or even dealt with serious medical conditions. They have no internal concept of the importance of privacy to others' daily existence.

shoq, to random
@shoq@mastodon.social avatar

@jeffjarvis You had me at ⏵

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@shoq @jeffjarvis where do you think curation fits into this? I feel like we've ignored the importance and value of curation for too long, focusing solely on the end product, and as a result, we're now swimming in sewage, whether it's shopping on Amazon or trying to find real information among SEO garbage.

DrTCombs, to Flowers
@DrTCombs@transportation.social avatar

Ok people: what's the best way to carry a bouquet of by ? It's both day and and both needs must be met!!

@BarbChamberlain I feel like you have immense knowledge here

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@DrTCombs @BarbChamberlain I've had reasonable success in the past just carrying them in my pannier. Sometimes they stick out a bit, but if you're not riding too fast, that doesn't really matter.

One time I had my florist design the arrangement to fit in the pannier (see pics), but I recognize that's not really your situation.

I suspect I could also keep them in a messenger bag, if it closed by flap, not zipper, but I haven't tried that myself.

The floral arrangement from the other picture sitting inside a bike pannier. The top flap of the pannier is held open. The bouquet fills the whole rectangular footprint of the pannier, but the flowers do not appear crushed or crowded, and no part of the arrangement reaches the top edge of the sides of the pannier.

drinkswriter, to cocktails
@drinkswriter@epicure.social avatar

Old Pal

Equal parts rye whisky (I used Sazerac), dry vermouth and Campari with a lemon twist.

Usually served up, but whatevs…

@drinkstodon

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@drinkswriter @drinkstodon you've inspired me.

Despite the warm weather, something whisky-based felt appropriate around the fire.

Being from New York though, I used a local rye (Rough Rider Bull Moose Rye from Long Island Spirits: https://www.lispirits.com/spirits/rough-rider-whisky/)

danielpunkass, to random
@danielpunkass@mastodon.social avatar

My town lets you request street trees be planted anywhere you can keep an eye on them and water if needed. I am responsible for four trees on my block, and just requested three more. It's great to know that I'm literally throwing shade.

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@danielpunkass okay first, how cool is that!

Second, do you know anything about the specifics of the program? Has it been around for a while? How is it funded (eg grants, general tax revenue)? Is it popular, or does it mostly fly under the radar? Did a group have to lobby for it?

I love trees, but my town has a penchant for clear-cutting and many of my neighbors seem to regard trees as a nuisance, so I'm always looking for ways to get more trees.

Andres4NY, to random
@Andres4NY@social.ridetrans.it avatar

Once again, fuck Biden for not flushing this turd. https://mas.to/

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@Andres4NY no kidding. He should have done this on Day 1 (at least filling the Board vacancies so they could act). For all the clichés about the USPS, it's extremely popular, and it's present literally everywhere. It should have been a quick political win that would also noticeably improve things for hundreds of millions of Americans.

mekkaokereke, to random
@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io avatar

Honest question for white people that don't consider themselves racist:

White nationalists have been vocal about their attacks on DEI. These are literally the same people that talk about Charlottesville, Jan 6th, and ethnic cleansing.

They've laid out exactly how they plan to destroy DEI.

  1. Make false claims that DEI is about giving unqualified Black people an unfair advantage

  2. Work with racist politicians to use this as a pretext to make all DEI programs illegal.

1/n

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@mekkaokereke I haven't, mostly because I hadn't really thought about it. I think I would worry that they'd feel I was bringing it up to them because they are Black and that I wouldn't with others, which effectively means I'm treating them differently.

Maybe that's not a good reason not to do it. Or maybe it's a good reason to voice my support for DEI efforts publicly.

Either way, thank you for bringing it up. It's something I will do now.

Teri_Kanefield, to random
@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social avatar

I am still getting hate mail for my blog post, this time from a neighbor. She was so angry it took her a few days to calm down enough to write to me (in all caps!)

(I shut down comments yesterday)

When I wrote analysis for the Washington Post, I sometimes got angry email from MAGA people.

I did get a memorable letter from a librarian in Tennessee who was enraged at how I portrayed Andrew Jackson in one of my books.

But this has never happened.

I think it's interesting.

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield I was disappointed you closed comments (though I completely understand why you did): I was going to leave one letting you know how much I appreciated your insights and approach to thinking about these things.

Thank you for your patient, nuanced thinking.

(Btw, your posts here over the past months have convinced me I should read some of your books. Is there one I should find first?)

andrew, to random
@andrew@esq.social avatar

Apropos of nothing, I just had this memory of a type of needlework my neighbor would do when I was a kid. She made dozens of these little signs and we had them all over our (raised Catholic) house.

I would ask my parents what they said and they'd tell me, incredulously, that it was the name of a prominent religious figure.

I'm going to post a picture of one of these things here. Click it, and focus on the white lettering.

1/x

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@andrew I can see it if I really give it attention. Otherwise, I just see a jumble of white shapes on a blue background.

Of course, I'm still convinced the dress was white and gold, so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

drinkswriter, to drinkstodon
@drinkswriter@epicure.social avatar

What are you drinking tonight?

@drinkstodon

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@drinkswriter @drinkstodon Black Cherry Cider from Nine Pin Cider Works. Admittedly it's not really "night" per SE. I'll check in again later.

https://www.ninepincider.com/#ourcider

IceCubesApp, to random
@IceCubesApp@mastodon.online avatar

I’m considering integrating @telemetrydeck to get anonymized user events. It would greatly improve product planing, decision and development. Anyone strongly opposed to that? And why?

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@IceCubesApp @telemetrydeck a lot would depend on how granular and specific the events are. Hashing the user identifier is all well and good, but if you include things like request URLs, or metadata from photos uploaded for example, you'd hardly need the original user id to identify the user associated with the hash. That's particularly true since they designed it to be able to reproduce the same hashed id across platforms.

SamUpstate, to random
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

As a life-long fan of the Narnia Chronicles (and C. S. Lewis in general, misogyny and racism aside), it vexes me inordinately that all new editions of the Chronicles are published in chronological order, rather than in the order in which they were written (and were obviously intended to be read).

Does anyone know why?

SamUpstate, to random
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

Tonight's is a Joy Division. It was new to me and was decent enough. But I think I'll stick to dry martinis when I want gin and dry vermouth.

2 oz gin
1 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz orange liqueur
3 dashes absinthe

https://www.liquor.com/recipes/the-joy-division/

Martini glass with a beverage and lemon twist in the foreground, with bottles of various liquors blurred in the background.

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

Do you believe in the right of self-determination for peoples?

#EvanPoll #poll

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@evan generally yes. But if a specific people continue to determine that they should do things that are harmful to their neighbors, the world, or innocents within their society, the question becomes much less clear.

evan, to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

Listening to this episode of Native Plants, Healthy Planet on . What a great discussion and a great project.

https://www.projectpawpaw.com/

https://www.nativeplantshealthyplanet.com/e/meet-project-pawpaw/

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@evan we actually had a pawpaw tree planted in our backyard just last week. It'll be a few years at least before we get any fruit though.

Lizette603_23, (edited ) to random
@Lizette603_23@mastodon.social avatar

If I have to pay for insurance and a license to drive, why shouldn't ALL GUN OWNERS have to do the same for their guns? With regular testing!

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@Lizette603_23 @tsmyther I like the sentiment and intent, but cars kill nearly as many people each year in this country as guns (and there are many fewer of them, and they aren't explicitly designed to kill), so maybe that's not the silver bullet we're looking for.

SamUpstate, to cycling
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

Can anyone point me to some examples of good bike parking infrastructure for a primary/elementary school (students ages 5-11)?

The bike racks in my district are woefully inadequate, even for American suburbia, and I want to know what I should advocate for.

(Boost for reach? 🙏🏻)

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

How much of your groceries are organic?

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@evan in upstate NY we have an interesting phenomenon where a lot of local produce isn't technically organic because the farmers don't want the overhead of dealing with the paperwork, or a field isn't technically organic because chemicals were used in the recent past.

I typically prefer local, small farm produce over Whole Foods, even if it isn't certified organic.

jeffowski, to random
@jeffowski@mastodon.world avatar
SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@jeffowski that reminds me of this hilarious bit by Eleanor Morton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_TLhM3Fvk&list=PLfsOxDU3nQJWlmpBaw9qGBDbUsTaG4p-P&pp=iAQB

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

Without looking it up, estimate the percentage of Americans that support climate change action.

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@evan wouldn't this depend on your definition of climate action? I'd suspect a small majority of Americans support some level of action, as long as it doesn't inconvenience them, a large minority would support action that creates some inconvenience (eg using more renewables), as long as it doesn't force them to think too much about their own contributions to climate change.

But I'll bet the number who'd support meaningful action is under 25%.

We have a lot of work to do.

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@evan it does sound like that, yes. But I think the answer to the poll varies so widely depending on the definition that it's probably something that's needed.

Or maybe a more useful question would be what percentage of Americans believe that global warming is real and is caused by humans but don't support action.

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

How many books are you reading?

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@evan I forgot my audiobooks. I think that would bump me up to the 6+ range. (Yes, I do count them as regular books and consider it reading.)

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

Do you track the phases of the Moon?

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@evan mostly because of @pom

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

Is it better to vote for the lesser of two evils, or not to vote at all?

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@evan generally the reason one candidate is the lesser evil is that they oppose some of the real evils but are awash in corporate money, so I also draw the line at donating to their campaigns. They don't need my money anyway.

timkmak, to Ukraine
@timkmak@journa.host avatar

Good morning to readers; remains in Ukrainian hands.

I'm out of the hospital.

In today's issue: I talk about my experience in the public hospital system, and
Joseph Roche takes us to the front to report on how hungry soldiers feed themselves.

In a wooded area, after a fleeting summer rain, a group of soldiers are gathered around a makeshift table.

"Pass me a plate!" shouts one of the soldiers before serving himself a large piece of chicken. "It's a day to celebrate."

SamUpstate,
@SamUpstate@bluelupine.social avatar

@timkmak it's definitely okay. Take care of yourselves. Everyone needs (and deserves) breaks and downtime.

I'm not a government official: I don't need daily reports. I look to you and your team to be informed on the reality of the situation, and I will be better informed with more in-depth but less frequent stories, particularly if time is needed to get things right.

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