@bwbeach@qoto.org
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

bwbeach

@bwbeach@qoto.org

Proud papa/dad/husband. Choral singer. Aspiring linguist. CTO at Backblaze. Usually in Indiana, sometimes on Maui. He/him.

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

StillIRise1963, to random
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“Originalism” is oppression.

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@StillIRise1963 The founders were explicit that they wanted to protect white male ladnowners from too much democracy.

Good discussion with Chris Hayes / Ari Berman: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-is-this-happening-the-chris-hayes-podcast/id1382983397

freemo, to random
@freemo@qoto.org avatar

is back after a long migration in the first stage of our upgrade. Now that we are on a new home we will give it 24 horus to see if the move was bug free (As it seems to be) and then we will start upgrading versions one at a time day by day.. The upgrades are prepared and ready and should be much quicker.

The move took a while as we keep a backlog of every message to the start of the fediverse so our media and DB stores are quite large and it took a long time. But we are back!!!

bwbeach,
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@freemo Thanks for all the work over the long weekend. Much appreciated.

bwbeach,
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@freemo My Home feed is not working. It's showing this toot and nothing else. Local and Federated look fine.

freemo, to random
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sometime in the next few days we will begin the process to finally execute the first stage of update. The first step will be to migrate servers, that will be the big one and may result in as much as a day of downtime.

After that we will do the first upgrade, this will mostly just update some security stuff, no major changes. Once that succeeds we will start adding the other updates on top one by one.

This will be a rough one but I assure you we will be back up on the other side and will mean a more steady stream of updates and new features in the future.

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@freemo Thanks for all of your work.

bwbeach, to random
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Woke up this morning to a clear description of the process of enshittification by Kim Scott in the NY Times. She did not actually mention the term, or @pluralistic. What she did was talk about how the Spotify business model is bound to harm authors as Spotify moves into the audio book business.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/opinion/audiobooks-spotify-streaming-algorithm.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F00.Ldu2.sj5d2gZgopKb&smid=url-share

bwbeach, to random
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

Ezra Klein has written a good high-level view of OpenAI and AI in general.

He describes the worry, as portrayed in many science fiction stories, that we might build an AI that doesn't have an off switch and proceeds to destroy humanity. The OpenAI governance structure was put in place to be the off switch if things got out of hand. The interesting take that Klein has is that it's not AI missing an off swicth, its capitalism that lacks the off switch. The OpenAI board supposedly had the power to stop things, but Microsoft had the real power: money.

Gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/22/opinion/openai-sam-altman.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BU0.1itI.qha2gHodGXC4&smid=url-share

bwbeach, to transit
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

I hit the 400 mile mark on my new Tern Vektron e-bike on the way to work. It happened right near the bakery, which I took as a sign that it was a good day to pick up scone to have with my morning coffee.

Almost all of my riding has been to and from work. It's an 8-mile round trip, so that's about 50 commutes on the bike, and not in the car. The trip is much more enjoyable riding on the bike path through campus; the route for the car is on the bypass highway that goes around campus.

JoshuaHolland, to random
@JoshuaHolland@mastodon.social avatar

Just take note of how little national coverage thousands of Jews shutting down Grand Central Station to demand a ceasefire gets tomorrow.

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@JoshuaHolland Yep. I was in a group that protested every week for a year in the middle of town in Columbus IN, right on state highway 46.

I tried a bunch of different signs. The one that the truckers and pickup drivers liked the best was “Beer Drinkers for Peace”. 🍻

bwbeach, to random
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

Sometimes it’s clear that lunch is not planned, just random things in the kitchen. Today it turned out to be “turkey sandwich with orange things”: mango juice and seltzer, carrots, Trader Joe’s cheeto clones, and mandarins.

bwbeach, to privacy
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

I've made the switch from Google to kagi.com for searching. No tracking. No ads. Just good search results.

Instead of a "free" service that steals my personal information, Kagi uses the old-fashioned model where I pay for a service they provide. The first 100 searches were free, and by then it was clear that just getting search results without clutter from ads is so much better.

StillIRise1963, to random
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In the beforetimes, before big box stores and mega pharmacies, I could leave the doctor and get my prescriptions IMMEDIATELY.

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@StillIRise1963 I wonder if things are better in North Dakota where they don’t allow chain pharmacies.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2010/12/06/131848012/why-the-walgreens-in-fargo-n-d-can-t-fill-your-prescriptions

jerry, to random

The new Infosec.exchange minio storage server (AMD7950/128GB DDR5, 2x2TB, 2x7TB enterprise nvme ssds, 10Gpbs network) is up and I’ve kicked off the multi-day process to replicate the storage bucket from Backblaze. Soon, I hope the random file upload errors will be a thing of the past.

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@jerry I just saw this, and it's probably too late, but... Let me know if there's anything I can do for you on the Backblaze side.

freemo, to random
@freemo@qoto.org avatar

You ever wonder why the small band of spectrum we can see (called visible light) is special? I mean almost all animals see in light ranges are are somewhere around here. I mean sure some can see a little farther into IR or UV but in general all animals see roughly around this same narrow band of frequencies in an otherwise infinite spectrum... So what is so special?

Its actually a quantum thing. Everything roughly around visible light and higher interacts with material by electrons jumping energy levels. However IR energy is absorbed by the bonds between molecules instead, which is why IR represents heat.

Basically visible light is right where these two modes intersect. Essentially they are the lowest energy part of the spectrum that is still high enough energy to interact primarily through changing energy levels of electrons. Essentially any more energy and it wont really get through the atmosphere as extreme UV is cut off.. any lower and it wouldnt be very effecieient cause most of the energy goes to heating the eye rather than seeing... So its right in that sweet spot.

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@simon_on_energy @freemo @drnoble Another factor is that visible light travels through water. Eyes first evolved in aquatic animals, and they use wavelengths that can be seen through water.

bwbeach, to random
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

The schools run by the Department of Defense have better outcomes that most public schools. These are some things the do differently:

• pay teachers more
• provide all needed supplies (so teachers don't have to buy them)
• racially integrated
• socioeconomically integrated
• uniform, proven curriculum
• families have housing and food
• at least one parent has a job

Who knew that doing things like paying teachers a living wage would be a good idea? (A: anybody who thought about it!)

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/us/schools-pandemic-defense-department.html?unlocked_article_code=eK1zIYZXPhU0-Xv5BnzvTyqDpXKOBGfojLeZJz0ztov2lUYYS6SGR4c33cggqz2r0CCZhc7ghzDpH6sP8HWI7zab9DFLzkK4qIloKcTB6aPaC6ixSwOFHkVOvZupCBcGyU8km4PPGikdliACeVxGZiNhezAU3v5PbU60gSe0hawmxzepYeVzt72ffsD7BvCxwZD0Ah0Uaf92-WLUZmU8vxrxmbhgvc2oXrXUl-_Fd8vNMLLX-C0RRVhjHWDk4-H464m2E7QOlrEF-38gwIRxcLjAO9sLz1Tz_7ZU8are4s6rF_54YUDEybhvYlO5s-0TLlJF1S20nd9c3LBc3fI1ufSruPAnOHrF&smid=url-share

bwbeach,
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@travisfw Yep. Maybe we should consider it when setting budgets for schools. 🤔

bwbeach, to random
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Set up camp this afternoon at Lake Lurleen in Alabama. It’s our favorite campsite of the trip so far. I’m halfway through @pluralistic ‘s Internet Con and the sin is setting. Time for dinner.

freemo, (edited ) to random
@freemo@qoto.org avatar

Why did you join the Fediverse?

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@freemo Went for “awesome” because it’s closest to: Joined qoto because it’s an awesome server, thanks to @freemo.

pvonhellermannn, to random
@pvonhellermannn@mastodon.green avatar

My mother still sends me newspaper cutouts (❤️). Just opened this after returning from a long work trip this morning (perhaps more on this later):

“Can you even fly at all any more? “

i’ve intensely struggled with too much flying these last few weeks; to be honest it’s really thrown me, i feel i can’t say anything to anyone anymore. Not sure whether it will help but I look forward to reading this; and it’s so nice that my mother is trying to engage.

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@pvonhellermannn I’ve been struggling with flying even more since I started reading Ministry for the Future. It’s more effective doing planning in person at the office, but each flight makes the climate a tiny bit worse.

And nothing I do personally makes as big a difference as getting governments to stop subsidizing fossil fields.

vicgrinberg, to HappyThings
@vicgrinberg@mastodon.social avatar

today:

  • a walk among the grapevines and along Lake Constance
  • a green & pink tradescantia plant (as my partner fell in love with the sedum I bought previously, I needed another new one 😅)
  • a work interaction where I felt competent (and my competence was accepted) and like I could help someone
bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@vicgrinberg today:

  • Finishing track light installation over partner’s quilting machine
  • Playing a game with six-year-old granddaughter
  • Being lazy and doing nothing while granddaughter builds a fort with the patio furniture
bwbeach, to random
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

The NY Times has a long article today about Starling and Elon Musk. Nice animations showing where all the satellites are, both Starlink and others. The last one shows how many satellites there would be if all 7 proposed internet systems are built: 42,000 satellites!

Here's a gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/28/business/starlink.html?unlocked_article_code=qrer2thNd6EWlGL43GQr2BiKK79wSLvka4PsgO6khLRdV9LB1KA2uS0ibSt49MwMwAZvxm1SFCmobUf0urtLk38uZoLwS46V0IJZhg13azO9RGTAhVVg7PXgL8wJ7Oqu11hay_d4uuZLlUlrJo1wN4kV8nr61unCBVusUVpODmrfHzo-PCLih4gUdVZeBx4eFKc4b-MOopUids1bWw6F1Gz4Ka4DvVBBaX8TmqZPDmAE75lalNvivVwwWybqfZrt7PKn1KgaeNcK_Y62-WNFZr9AKJKXe2ohY_KbQJ5b5do-5visUQy4mInVAcnZCvWieSIY-ZTjyYvdnVqM17hWUIJ2oQ&smid=url-share

@sundogplanets

mcc, to random
@mcc@mastodon.social avatar

I think LinkedIn is not a very good name for a product because it took me many years after Linkedln first appeared before I was entirely certain whether the letter after the d is an uppercase i or a lowercase L

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@mcc At a previous company there was an award for getting things done. They called it the "DoIt" award, and used a sans-serif font. I'm glad I never got one.

bwbeach, to random
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

If I were presented with this as a code review at work, it would be a hard "no".

This is debt ceiling deal. The so-called "Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023". https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20230529/BILLS-118hrPIH-fiscalresponsibility.pdf

1/3

bwbeach,
@bwbeach@qoto.org avatar

@LouisIngenthron Is it a bug? Is it a feature? It depends on your viewpoint if the outcome of the bill is to contribute to destroying the planet for future generations while lining Joe Manchin's pockets.

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