@david@quakers.social avatar

david

@david@quakers.social

Member of Fresh Pond Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers) in Cambridge, Mass. https://freshpondquakers.org Attender at Three Rivers Meeting. https://threeriversmeeting.org. Parent of trans kid. 🏳️‍⚧️

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futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I could deal with, but didn't agree with, the idea that a president can't be hauled into court during his term, ok, ok I can see the potential for abuse there.

But, no man is president for life, so that protection will expire and the force of the law still exists. (and the burden of proof)

I simply don't get immunity beyond that. I don't get it at all.

david,
@david@quakers.social avatar

@futurebird Also missing from the rhetoric is the fact that any president worth their salt would not be dissuaded from following their conscience and doing the right thing when it was called for, even if it meant having to be held accountable for it later.

axbom, to random
@axbom@axbom.me avatar

How people trust this software for decision-making is beyond me…

https://chat.openai.com/share/534ac2bd-332c-43d5-a26c-4b1bd8050c38

david,
@david@quakers.social avatar

@axbom Agreed. And here's what happened when I tried it:
https://chat.openai.com/share/371e91b8-233d-46ac-8ae8-5d4f305f286a

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

REMINDER FOR AMERICANS:

The US Constitution and common law are rooted in pre-18th century English legal jurisprudence and traditions.

And the "presidential immunity" bullshit is an attempt to rewind the clock to before 1649, when Parliament got fed up with the King's bullshit, put him on trial, and beheaded him.

Y'all: Trump wants to revive the divine right of kings.

You know who pulled the German equivalent of that stunt? Hitler.

(I will summarily block anyone who raises Godwin's law.)

david,
@david@quakers.social avatar

@cstross FWIW, Mike Godwin says it's okay. https://wapo.st/4aPejji

MLE_online, to random
@MLE_online@social.afront.org avatar

I attempted to help my brother with a confounding problem with his car this afternoon, and after a few hours of work, we were no closer to an answer than when we started.

Recently, his battery has been draining down overnight. He thought maybe he had a bad battery, so he got a new one. Same problem.

I went over there today and found that the car is drawing 1.6 amps from the battery even when turned off.

We started troubleshooting by pulling fuses. The car kept drawing 1.6 amps through all of them.

I pulled the main fuse, and the car still drew 1.6 amps.

For a while, we thought it was maybe the alternator rectifier, but that wasn't it.

We unwrapped the sheath from the main bundle of wires coming off the battery and found no shorts.

We disconnected the wiring to the starter and that wasn't it.

The car still draws 1.6 amps! We can't figure out what's doing it!

david,
@david@quakers.social avatar

@MLE_online could it be trying to phone home with a 3g (obsolete) cellular modem? This is a current Subaru issue for older models.

filmfreak75, to actuallyautistic
@filmfreak75@mastodon.social avatar

anyone have any book recommendations for a parent of an adult diagnosed autistic child?

everything i’m seeing so far is for parents of little kids. @actuallyautistic

david,
@david@quakers.social avatar

@filmfreak75 @actuallyautistic I am also one of those parents. I really loved https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/688819/unmasking-autism-by-devon-price-phd/

david, to random
@david@quakers.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar
    1. You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”
    2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
    3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
    4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

    Source: https://fs.blog/how-charitable-are-you-supposed-to-be-when-criticising-the-views-of-an-opponent/

    mamday, to random
    @mamday@kolektiva.social avatar

    If you have ever been in a position where you have to give people in power negative feedback with unequivocal data supporting your position, whether manager, senior employee or any position involving infrastructure, databases or networking, then you know that many people cannot accept it is possible to have someone criticize you and not be your mortal enemy who must be destroyed

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @mamday Not perfectly relevant, but I'm reminded of Anatol Rapoport's list of rules for how to criticize, synthesized by Daniel Dennett.

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @mamday 1. You should attempt to re-express your target’s position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way.”
    2. You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
    3. You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
    4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

    Source: https://fs.blog/how-charitable-are-you-supposed-to-be-when-criticising-the-views-of-an-opponent/

    rooster, to random
    @rooster@chaosfem.tw avatar

    deleted_by_author

    •
    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @rooster we always called it an “efficient Susan”

    david, to random
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    Three Rivers worship group became a monthly meeting of New England Yearly Meeting on Saturday. I keep hearing the birth metaphor being used to describe this event, but I don’t know if that really resonates for me - does that mean it had been gestating up until now? Maybe I’m too literal. In any case, there was a lot of pain and conflict around the process, and much healing work remains to be done. I’m reading Sandra Cronk’s Pendle Hill Pamphlet on Gospel Order. https://archive.org/details/gospelorderquake0000cron #quaker

    AmbularD, to random
    @AmbularD@fanglitch.space avatar

    Dear web site developer friends: Why is it that if I try to sign onto some sites while using a VPN, it will return a "Invalid login details' error or just silently fail? If for whatever reason it's deemed necessary to reject VPN traffic, couldn't there be some indication that this is what's causing the problem?

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @AmbularD From my days as a software developer, what I vaguely remember is that there are tradeoffs around providing detailed explanations for login failure. More info is friendlier to the user but also makes life easier for an attacker.

    Daojoan, to random
    @Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar

    Musk will inevitably restrict the app's user base to only those who share his views, stunting its growth and functionality as a true "Everything" app.

    It's a Muskcentric world view.

    Read more 🍕 https://joanwestenberg.com/blog/the-everything-app-has-to-work-for-everyone

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @Daojoan I wonder what he tells himself when he thinks about this contradiction. Maybe “the fascist state will force everyone to use it”?

    x0, to random
    @x0@dragonscave.space avatar

    @TechConnectify I wonder if there's any relay-based contraption more complex than a pinball machine but less complex than an electromechanical telephone switch. Those things had to do some crazy stuff to do their job

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @x0 @TechConnectify juke box?

    neurovagrant, to random
    @neurovagrant@masto.deoan.org avatar

    deleted_by_author

    •
    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @neurovagrant Yeah, bugs in hardware really bite. And, I choose to feel happy that a firmware update is possible, because otherwise that vulnerability would just sit there.

    RickiTarr, to random
    @RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

    What is a word that you had read, but after hearing it spoken aloud, you realized you were pronouncing completely wrong in your head?

    Mine is pretty Embarrassing, and is just one of many!

    MISLED! I'm not even sure how to type this out for it to make sense, but it was something like:

    Myz-ulled

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @Subumbral @RickiTarr my favorite one is biotech pronounced biotch

    StefanThinks, to random
    @StefanThinks@beige.party avatar

    Must fight the mansplaining urge to tell people that it's not daylight savings that started, it's now standard time.

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @StefanThinks I have succumbed to the mansplaining urge to tell you that it was Daylight Saving Time, not Savings. Sorry!

    ppatel, (edited ) to random
    @ppatel@mstdn.social avatar

    Does anyone know the reasons for FSA accounts existing and who decided that unused funds for the year would disappear, leading to either profligate spending or people losing their money. And where does the money go? Correction re Flexible Savings accounts. I do know they exist and the differences between the two. My real purpose is to find out why the funds are lost in the inflexible accounts.

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @ppatel I don’t mean to be pedantic but just for the sake of clarity, my understanding is that an FSA (flexible spending account) is the kind where the unused funds disappear, but an HSA (health spending account) is the kind where you control the account independently from the employer and get to keep it forever.

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @ppatel YW! And I don’t know the answer to your (possibly rhetorical) question, but my guess would be that an HSA is what the bill authors wanted, and the FSA is what they were able to negotiate. And then later after FSAs turned out to be really popular except for the expiring part, they had the additional political capital able to create HSAs. Wild guess!

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @ppatel As for where the money goes if you lose it, I believe it goes back to the employer.

    carnage4life, to random
    @carnage4life@mas.to avatar

    Andrew Ng a professor at Stanford who taught machine learning to people like Sam Altman of Open AI and who also co-founded Google Brain has called bullshit on AI doomerism.

    Ng states that the idea that artificial intelligence could lead to the extinction of humanity is a lie being spread by big tech in the hope of triggering heavy regulation that would shut down competition in the AI market.

    Crippling Open Source models is one outcome of this effort that’s succeeding.

    https://www.afr.com/technology/google-brain-founder-says-big-tech-is-lying-about-ai-human-extinction-danger-20231027-p5efnz

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @carnage4life I think it’s a both/and situation. It’s true that big tech wants regulatory capture AND it’s true that AI poses existential threats.

    jamesoff, to random
    @jamesoff@mastodon.jamesoff.net avatar

    I want a “don’t do it” card with explanatory notes to give people I see in public doing the quit-all-apps ritual on their iPhone

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @mastodon.jamesoff.net@mastodon.jamesoff.net I know me too. But I don’t, because it’s so obvious it makes them feel good and powerful.

    andypiper, to random
    @andypiper@macaw.social avatar

    Good relatively low-cost / sub-£100 audio interface for iPad / Mac USB-C connection, anyone?

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @andypiper Can’t go wrong with Focusrite Scarlett Solo. Unconditional recommendation. https://us.focusrite.com/products/scarlett-solo

    Jonah, to random
    @Jonah@quakers.social avatar

    How do I manage a week or so with no kids?

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @Jonah Perfect time to start a podcast.

    Private
    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @Jonah I would be interested in this, come September!

    Jonah, to random
    @Jonah@quakers.social avatar

    Friends attending Annual Sessions - have the Advance Documents been posted anywhere?

    david,
    @david@quakers.social avatar

    @Jonah Also audio! https://quakersofnewengland.buzzsprout.com/

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