@david_megginson@mstdn.ca
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

david_megginson

@david_megginson@mstdn.ca

#Tea drinker. Urban dweller. #Gardener. Classical guitarist. #Standards wonk. Grounded pilot. Pantheist. Jane Jacobs fanboy. #Language nerd. 25-year #vegetarian. 30-year #Linux user. #Disabled. Open-* and humanitarian #aid person. Former medieval philologist (Ph.D, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, 1993). Living on unceded Anishinabe Algonquin territory.

Header picture: Large reddish-orange letters spelling "Hintonburg", some lying flat on the sidewalk for use as benches.

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

ianbetteridge, to random
@ianbetteridge@writing.exchange avatar

This is one of those "thank god some journalists understand the history of antitrust" moments. One small quibble: Allison says, "I’m not really sure Apple owes the DOJ a thank-you card for making the iPhone possible", but Gates himself noted how, distracted by antitrust, Microsoft's ability to compete in smartphones was curtailed. They might not have stopped Apple, but they might well have been able to stop Android.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/22/24107693/doj-us-versus-apple-complaint-microsoft-antitrust-case

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@ianbetteridge In tech, anti-trust usually arrives too late. Also in tech, the industry leader before a big shift rarely remains the leader after because they're too deeply invested in the status quo, so it would have been far more surpising if Microsoft had succeeded in mobile under any circumstances.

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@ianbetteridge By 2001, my impression was that Microsoft wasn't really a threat any more. Companies often are largest when they've slowed down serious innovation and are settling back for profit taking. IBM had hit that stage when Microsoft capitalised on the shift to PCs, Microsoft had hit that stage when Apple capitalised on the shift to mobile, and Apple seems to be hitting that now (though I can't predict who will dethrone them).

…/more

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@ianbetteridge And then we get into alternative histories. Given that there was clearly a demand for a royalty-free operating system to run on cheap mobile devices for a big percentage of the world's population, if Microsoft had bought Android before it was open source, would another mobile operating system based on Linux or FreeBSD simply have taken its place? 🤷‍♂️

…/more

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@ianbetteridge What egos these billionaires have! Android took off only because Mr. Gates was briefly distracted? 🙄

Android is the top consumer operating system in the world: it (and thus, Linux) has also surpassed MS Windows.

Android took off b/c core AOSP is free, so it's available on inexpensive devices for the big part of the world's population that can't or won't pay royalties to Microsoft or Apple.

The founder of the Gates Foundation should have realised that.

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@ianbetteridge (Same reason that most web sites run on Linux rather than Windows servers.)

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@ianbetteridge I'm not far off — I don't share the belief of laissez-faire economists that creative destruction alone can ensure competition, so we don't need regulation and anti-trust — but when I was briefly engaged as a consultant to anti-trust MSFT stuff a little over 15 years ago, I pointed out that Apple was probably already a much bigger monopoly threat at the time because they were using their devices & closed ecosystem to try to gain dominance in apps, music, video, and gaming.

vlrny, to random
@vlrny@disabled.social avatar

Today's victory is getting all my biweekly meds sorted.

It took three hours, many cups of tea, two naps, snacks, and one small meltdown, but...

NAILED IT!
finger snaps

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@vlrny Maybe your inner vegan is fighting you. 🤷‍♂️

david_megginson, to Sliderules
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

prototype no. 2 (advanced version) solving the problem 5×25=75.

I cut the plastic cursor out of some stiff plastic "clamshell" packaging I pulled from the recycling bin.

Lessons from this iteration:

  1. Be more careful drawing the hairline on the cursor next time.
  2. Precise wheel alignment is very important, and I need to cover that more in the DiY instructions.

I'm going to glue these onto cardboard backings.

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@deborahh True, but in certain cases, it really is easier. I can do a lot of approximate currency or distance conversions faster with a little commercial circular slide rule than I can with my smartphone: I just spin the wheel to set the ratio once, then read the equivalent for any price or distance around the outside. It even works when I'm wearing gloves or mittens. 🙂

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@deborahh I get overwhelmed by notifications and clutter myself — modern apps are very noisy (literally and visually) and needy (please pay attention to ME!).

That's why I often make my windows fullscreen on my laptop, so that I won't see anything else, and why I use web sites rather than apps on my phone whenever possible.

jenbanim, to random
@jenbanim@mastodo.neoliber.al avatar

tooters, what's your take on electric mopeds?

In the same way that e-bikes are better suited for higher speeds and longer distances than electric scooters, electric mopeds seem like they could fill a currently empty niche, but I've never actually seen one here in Seattle

Of course they require a license and insurance to drive, so that ups the cost, but are they something that we should push for?

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@jenbanim Like e-bikes, I think they'd be more of a "cool" factor than a benefit for the environment.

Active transportation or public transit (for those physically able) are always better than any personal electric vehicle because of the social-justice issues around extracting the minerals for the batteries, and the toxic environmental issues of disposing of them after they're done.

And many disabled people will still need fully-enclosed, 3- or 4-wheel vehicles of some kind for accessibility.

BeAware, to fediverse
@BeAware@social.beaware.live avatar

People are SO angry about something they have to make their own decision about....why?

If you choose to defederate or federate with ANYONE, why is it anyone elses business? do what you want....You don't have to do what the rest of Fedi is doing nor do you have to try to change Fedi to fit your view.

That's the beauty of this entire protocol, you can move your account to an instance which aligns with your values OR you can even create your very own instance and have your own values realized and it doesn't effect anyone but you!

Setting up a new instance is as cheap as a Netflix subscription. People already paying to host their instances have no incentive to cater to you or your values.

Here's just 2 hosting options: https://masto.host or https://toot.io/mastodon_hosting.html

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@BeAware One site blocking Threads doesn't block other sites that connect to Threads, or sites that connect to sites that connect to Threads (etc).

That's why a pure libertarian approach won't work here in the fedi — we have some shared responsibility for each-other, just like in an offline community, so we have to listen and discuss and try to move closer to a consensus.

I support giving Threads a chance, but I'm also listening to my fellow fedizens who don't.

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@BeAware I'm fine with giving Threads a shot, but it's wrong to dismiss people's concerns as just being "angry".

Because we're a federation, no site/instance is an island — the choices that any site owner makes affects everyone else, directly or indirectly, and we rely on a set of loose shared principles to hold us together. The potential harm is much higher for people from vulnerable groups, and even when we disagree with them, we need at least to listen

BrownKnowser, to photography
@BrownKnowser@mstdn.ca avatar

Random photo of the day.

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@BrownKnowser Didn't that just catch on fire last Sunday?

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@BrownKnowser https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/firefighters-extinguish-3-alarm-fire-at-bank-street-pharmacy-in-the-glebe-1.6820041

david_megginson, to Sliderules
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

First working prototype of the #CardboardComputer, calculating the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

https://cardboard-computer.org

#slideRules #DouglasAdams

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

There is also a detailed guide, including a very short Quick Start for addition and multiplication:

https://cardboard-computer.org/guide.html#quick-start

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

The printable templates for the are available now at

https://cardboard-computer.org/templates.html

(There are also PDFs in A4 and US Letter sizes, in case your browser doesn't print properly.)

human3500, to random
@human3500@ottawa.place avatar

So, how many days do I spend in Quebec city? And I mean Quebec city proper - in the old part. We're not going to do long inside things like museums because there's an elevated level of a class three human pathogen there right now.

I've only been during carnaval and those memories are questionable. I'm figuring two full days at least.

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@human3500 I strongly suggest exploring the Faubourg Saint-Jean just outside the wall as well. The old city is charming in its way, but Saint-Jean is where Québec's heart beats (IMO).

jbaty, to emacs
@jbaty@social.lol avatar

My whole experience is tailored around evil-mode. I have an irrational urge to drop evil and go native. Has anyone survived this sort of extraction?

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@jbaty Wow! I'd never heard of evil-mode (I learned #emacs keybindings first, decades ago, and am still fuzzy on the less-common vi ones, so it wouldn't have made sense for me).

You'll use more keystrokes with default emacs bindings, but you'll be able to do a lot more (and remember how to do it). And since commands should represent less than 1% of your typing regardless, the overall difference in keyboard use will be negligible. The only challenge is the re-learning curve.

#tech

kdorse, to random
@kdorse@ottawa.place avatar

Horrifying. Likely not a factor here, but rising sea levels is going to mean a lot more of this. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-bridge-collapse?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@kdorse More likely, higher sea levels would mean that existing bridges make some ports inaccessible for larger ships, or that those ships could enter or leave only at low tide (which, in turn, could require dredging new channels and/or destroying more reefs 😥).

david_megginson, to Bread
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

After a few months of refining my simple whole-wheat molasses bread recipe, it's hard to remember why sliced supermarket bread was once even an option.

I'll start on this latest loaf tomorrow at breakfast, accompanied by fresh-ground peanut butter, orange juice, and loose-leaf black tea.

david_megginson, to tea
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

Bliss (n): Masala chai with lots of milk late on a March afternoon.

david_megginson, to Ottawa
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

How does your garden grow?

Late-March cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, eggplants (aubergines), and zucchini. Hardiness zone 5a/b, east-facing window.

david_megginson, to Sliderules
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

What's a Thursday without more news? 🙂

  1. There is now a home page with a virtual version that you can drag around manually to solve problems.
  2. The basic and advanced exercise pages now have help deeplinks directly to the relevant sections in the guide.

(I learned a bit making touch events work with SVG on mobile devices.)

https://cardboard-computer.org

david_megginson, to writing
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

A relationship that begins with mutual annoyance, insults, and an unwillingness to respect each-others' choice of career and place to live isn't likely to end well. At best, the two people can part with civility and seek out more respectful and sympathetic partners.

On an unrelated note, I can't figure out why keeps rejecting my scripts.

david_megginson, to Sliderules
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

The is looking spiffy with the @creativecommons CC0 Public Domain Mark attached.

https://cardboard-computer.org

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • megavids
  • thenastyranch
  • rosin
  • GTA5RPClips
  • osvaldo12
  • love
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • khanakhh
  • everett
  • kavyap
  • mdbf
  • DreamBathrooms
  • ngwrru68w68
  • provamag3
  • magazineikmin
  • InstantRegret
  • normalnudes
  • tacticalgear
  • cubers
  • ethstaker
  • modclub
  • cisconetworking
  • Durango
  • anitta
  • Leos
  • tester
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •