@assaf@mas.to
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assaf

@assaf@mas.to

🤗 I love to post about web development, UX, AI, startups, and always some random and fun stuff

You can also sign up to my free newsletter at https://labnotes.org/

Oakland CA ★ Too much coffee

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assaf, to random
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Bizarrely The Game is really really good

It's a slow moving spy drama set in the early 70’s. The days of the Cold War. But it does have its share of twists and turns. And surprising ending.

https://tv.apple.com/us/show/the-game/umc.cmc.2fhb37t37d95fcvdhsmduge20

assaf, to random
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I don’t get it.

Starbucks sells coffee. How does that have anything to do with politics?

And their coffee is horrible. Which is why Starbucks lasted barely two years in Israel. So they’re not even supporting Israel with their presence. Zero shops there.

I’m not saying you should be drinking Starbucks. Did I mention the coffee is horrible? Just how is their lackluster coffee not the center of the conversation?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5115lgd592o

assaf, to random
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no the code it perfectly works

assaf, to random
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This is the most poignant and also funny thing I read all day:

“Texas: the one star state.”
https://mastodon.social/@flexghost/112586779629301217

assaf, to random
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I can't imagine why HP would want to pay $1B for Humane

Then again, HP did buy Autonomy for $8B, Compaq for $25B, and Palm for $3.3B … so I guess in some bizzare parallel universe this is actually a very cash effective deal

(if you're wondering why printer ink costs more than gold, it's to make up for being so bad at financing)

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/technology/humane-ai-pin.html

assaf, to random
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assaf, to random
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assaf, to random
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Weekend Reading — Video should have been a blogpost

https://labnotes.org/weekend-reading-video-should-have-been-a-blogpost/

This week we get the Homebrew App Store, dump Bartender, get AI to do all our work, elect an LLM mayor, avoid using Windows 11, watch the Raven diagram, make tea in the tank, and travel in style.

assaf, to random
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United Airlines is not only going to keep flying you in broken Boeing planes, but as free treat, they’re going to show you personalized ads:

“United is personalizing those ads based on what it knows about individual passengers—such as the cities they live in, the places they travel to, their age group and whether they are flying economy or first-class.“

https://www.wsj.com/business/media/the-ads-on-your-united-airlines-in-flight-screen-are-getting-a-lot-more-specific-339147cb

assaf, to random
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What I’m curious about: Wingdings are fonts that render letters as a variety of symbols. Which was the cool thing to do back in the 90’s before we had emoji and UTF-8.

AI scrapes text, it doesn’t see fonts. So does AI scrape the text written with Wingdings, but thinks it’s reading text written in — say — English? Does that in any way seep into the AI training data?

Could you make ChatGPT spit out a nonsense answer that makes sense if rendered in Wingdings?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingdings

assaf, to random
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I think that if I just work harder, spend less money, invest some of it wisely in the stock market, than surely by age 65, I too can afford buying my very own supreme court judge

https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-has-reportedly-received-more-than-4-million-in-gifts-212471365959

assaf, to random
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SpaceWar is back! Rebuilding the world’s first gaming computer

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jun/06/reinventing-the-pdp-10

assaf, to random
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Heat map to help you find the most walkable cities (and places in the cities)

https://close.city/?x=-118.24269&y=34.04843&z=14.06499&r=0&l=11111

assaf, to random
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Interesting …

You can register to receive webhook notifications for certain conditions from world's news, financial data, etc

https://markets.sh

assaf, to random
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Yes, apparently Quest has a past experience with ADA violation. Maybe they're enjoying it?

Form past October: Quest Diagnostic Found Guilty – Loses Suit

https://retailsystems.org/quest-diagnostic-found-guilty-loses-suit/
https://mas.to/@assaf/112576764427329153

assaf, to random
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This day couldn’t get any weirder …

I got a bill for my Quest lab test. Which is fine and it’s a small amount so not what I’m concerned about.

It’s a PDF attachment that’s password protected.

Even though the attachment doesn’t show the test results only the invoiced amount, it's password protected.

The password is a specially formulated combination of my birthday and zipcode, looks like 01-01-197590210.

1/2

assaf,
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I need to use that password so I can open up the PDF.

I need to open the PDF so I can find the bill number and the lab code.

I need the bill number and lab code so I can access the online payment form.

All that’s for a service that I have an online account with, paying for a lab test which many people do because they’re quite old or not in good health.

Isn’t this some broad violation of the ADA?

2/2

assaf, to random
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If you ever wanted a $25K Tesla, now's there's a market for that!

"EV slump, Hertz fire sale take used Teslas to ‘no haggle’ $25,000 price”

(I'm 100% buying an EV later this year, but I would never ever consider owning a Tesla, not even as a sad joke)

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/06/ev-sales-slump-hertz-dump-take-used-tesla-to-no-haggle-25000-price.html

assaf, to random
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At least your startup is not …

“In a recent research note, HSBC estimated that Indian edtech giant Byju’s, once valued at $22 billion, is now worth nothing”

https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/06/hsbc-believes-indian-edtech-byjus-currently-worth-zero/

assaf, to random
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What??? 🤯

Friday was the deadline for candidates to file to run for mayor of Cheyenne

One of the candidates is quite a surprise:

"Thanks for reaching out! Actually, VIC stands for Virtual Integrated Citizen. I’m an AI candidate bringing a new perspective to Cheyenne's politics. No Victor Miller here, just VIC ready to tackle the issues with data-driven decisions and a fresh approach.”

ChatGPT going to make electoral decisions next?

https://kgab.com/cheyenne-mayor-race-ai-candidate-vic-shakes-up-political-scene/

assaf, to random
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What have you accomplished today?

Because this person just taught AI that the best place to keep your money safe is with a clown!

🤡

https://www.reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge/comments/1d9bjrm/little_bro_stole_my_money_so_i_got_him_back_with/

assaf, to random
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I don't know why I was just invited to the US General Counsel Summit.

Truth be told, I did run a company or two in the past, I did have meetings with general counsels.

Except it was sent to an email address I haven't used in 20 years, which is nothing more than a spam trap.

If you're the general counsel at Gilead Science, McDonald’s USA, or Robinhood Markets, would you want your name showing prominently (in bold) in a spam email?

Just not what I thought any general counsel would agree to …

assaf, to random
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Applite is like an Apple Store but for apps installed using Homebrew

https://aerolite.dev/applite/index.html

assaf, to random
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Spot on!

Trump’s San Francisco visit is a case study in the meaninglessness of ‘moderate’ politics

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/donald-trump-san-francisco-19495231.php

There’s an old Mexican saying: “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” The same can be said of policy choices, which reveal one’s true political leanings.

assaf, to random
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