@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.

david_megginson, to Sliderules
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

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

https://cardboard-computer.org

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.)

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

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 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

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.

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 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 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 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 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 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.

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.

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).

mbonsma, to random
@mbonsma@mastodon.social avatar

Electric cars are not actually zero-emission vehicles. “Even if all our vehicles eventually become powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels, we will still have harmful pollution from vehicles because of tyre wear.”

It is important to reduce the amount we drive, not just swap in "green" technologies for our existing habits. EVs take enormous resources to produce, electricity may not always be green, tires release pollution, and people are still killed in crashes.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/23/health-impact-tyre-particles-increasing-concern-air-pollution

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@mbonsma Also, there's the high carbon cost of resource extraction for the batteries and manufacturing, as well as any carbon costs related to the electricity generation itself. There's also a human toll in the extraction industries, and a future environment toll from disposing of the toxic batteries.

And finally, personal vehicles require a lot more paved roads and road maintenance than public transit (or active transportation, when possible), and EVs don't reduce that.

…/more

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@mbonsma In the end, electric cars exist mainly to help affluent people keep driving large personal vehicles without feeling guilty and to give industrialists something new to invest in, much more than to reduce any impact on the environment. 😕

david_megginson, to Sliderules
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

My DIY circular slide rule side project — an excuse to improve my knowledge of CSS3 transitions and SVG — progresseth apace.

There is now a simple version (just multiplication and subtraction) and an advanced version (square and cube roots). It will also animate the solutions to random basic problems on either.

Coming soon:

  • advanced problems
  • DIY printables and instructions for assembling your own
  • detailed instructions

https://davidmegginson.github.io/cardboard-computer/

david_megginson, to Trains
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

My inner 10-year-old always rushes for the seat where I can watch the tracks ahead through the driver's window.

Rails and a lit-up station platform in a dark underground tunnel. There is a blurry image of a train and its headlights coming in the opposite direction on the other track.

chad, to random
@chad@mstdn.ca avatar

The survival stories of Kimberley, Adam, Troy and Leanne are so important.

I watched it as it was premiered tonight on Global Edmonton, and both my partner and I said no words as it premiered.

These are human beings. They deserve safe housing. They are begging for safe housing.

Housing is the foundation to build a life. Having somewhere to call home means folks can focus on growth.

This is an absolute must watch. Please, PLEASE watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEfiZN-HYko

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@deborahh @chad Adequate shelter is a basic human right according to the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Canada ratified (not only that; the first draft was written in Montréal, FFS). So Canada has as much of an obligation to provide shelter as it does to protect freedom of expression or allow habeas corpus.

And yet, 76 years later, many (most?) Canadian voters still think of shelter as a luxury, or at best, a discretionary act of charity.

david_megginson, to datascience
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

My team is hiring a senior data scientist to work in The Hague, Netherlands (UN staff position, P-4 level).

https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/228402?language=en

david_megginson, to random
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

The IPC acute food insecurity analysis conducted in December 2023 warned of a risk that Famine may occur by the end of May 2024.

… Since then, the conditions necessary to prevent famine have not been met and the latest evidence confirms that Famine is imminent in the northern governorates and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024.

https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-97/en/

david_megginson, to gardening
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

12 days after planting, my cherry tomatoes seedlings are growing additional leaves (my other nightshades, eggplants and bell peppers, still have only the original two).

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@ottaross Thanks for the tip. I might try watering from below while they're still in the mini-greenhouses. That should also encourage the roots to grow deep.

david_megginson, to books
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

Reading Mansfield Park for the umpteenth time.

  1. Austen's portrayal of Fanny Price at age 10, from a poorer family, is beautifully nuanced in contrast with Maria and Julia.
  2. Mansfield Park's genteel wealth comes from the forced labour of enslaved Black people out of sight in Antigua, which was common at time.
  3. Jane Austen very briefly lifts the veil and mentions Black enslavement, which was uncommon for in a novel set at an English country house at the time.

Wileymiller, to random
@Wileymiller@mastodon.social avatar

Remind me again how it's Tik Tok we should be most worried about with national security...

https://wapo.st/3IGNjWD

david_megginson,
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

@benroyce @ignova Yes, you're both right.

If the other social-media giants are as bad as TikTok — as the what-about-ers point out — the proper question still isn't "Why TikTok?" but "Why not TikTok?"

When you're cleaning house, you have to start somewhere — you can't dust all the rooms at once.

david_megginson, to reviews
@david_megginson@mstdn.ca avatar

I'm exhausted by the incessant demands to rate every product I buy online, every ride I book, and every meal I order. It's time for work-to-rule. My demand is a credit of 50¢ for each rating and $5 for each text review over 20 words.

If companies don't think my feedback is worth that very-modest sum, then it's not worth harassing me for with notifications and emails

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