djsundog

djsundog, 4 months ago to random

new rule: if your company puts a LLM bot on the front lines of your customer support effort, your company should be legally bound to adhere to whatever the LLM bot states on your behalf.

oh, you put a lying machine at the front door and it's telling people your product does things it doesn't actually do? and now you're stuck making your product do these things? maybe you'll think twice about deploying lying machines...

djsundog, 1 year ago to random

If you’re someone who needs to relocate to a different location within the borders of the US but are not comfortable using ground transportation due to the locales through which you’d need to travel, I am willing to help by meeting you at your current location and driving your possessions to your destination while you travel via faster means. I have four weeks of PTO this calendar year and have yet to use more than a handful of days and I cannot think of a single way I could use them better than this.

If you need a hand with this, or know someone who does, please do slide into my DMs and I’ll give you my Signal contact info.

❤️

djsundog, 7 months ago to random

So, as I alluded to yesterday, I've been chatting with folks about the current state of affairs regarding Bandcamp's acquisition and, most recently, massive layoffs. While it's been a good platform for a lot of independent musicians for a number of years, I don't trust the motivations of the new ownership to continue to operate the platform in a way that benefits those same independent musicians, and I don't believe going to yet another corporate-owned-and-operated silo is in anyone's best interests.

Thread continues...

djsundog, 1 month ago to random

Back when I was an engineering manager I had reason to read and recommend to all my team members "The Mediocre Programmer" by Craig Maloney.

We lost Craig's presence at the beginning of this week, but Craig was a special cat - one who left behind wisdom and knowledge rather than hoarding it as some special sauce. All too rare in this day and age.

So, if you're interested in the art and craft of computer programming, do yourself a favor and get a copy of "The Mediocre Programmer". Read it. Take it to heart. I'd much rather work with other mediocre programmers than ever again subject myself to working with 10x software engineers.

Miss you, Craig. Thanks for all the thoughtful advice you've offered over the years. ❤️

PDF: https://themediocreprogrammer.com/build/pdf/the_mediocre_programmer.pdf
HTML: https://themediocreprogrammer.com/build/html/the_mediocre_programmer.html

stavvers, 5 months ago to random

For real, just post hole occasionally on the tl and threads will defederate from you first

djsundog, 28 days ago to random

the fact that being told to violently arrest nonviolent college students on campuses across the country is not resulting in a chunk of cops at any of them saying no and quitting to join the protest is a solid demonstration of all cops are bad.

djsundog, 5 months ago to random

just saw a boost of a toot containing a screenshot of a bluesky post that contained a screenshot of an email containing only text. bluesky has an overlay that denotes that the screenshot of the email has alt text but it is not displayed in the screenshot. the screenshot of the screenshot does not have alt text. everyone involved is a damned sinner. I don't ask that we all use the same tools, or use the tools the same way, but can we at least endeavor to not use them to make something shittier before passing it on to people we ostensibly enjoy sharing things with?

djsundog, 3 months ago to random

hot take: the FCCs rules around the power and density of licensed FM transmitters are generations behind the technological advances and if they'd license low-power digital fm for community stations without it being a massive investment organizationally and financially our airwaves could flourish.

but there's no money behind a lush radio garden powered by regular people.

djsundog, 1 year ago to random

John Mastodon is just a figurehead; the real work was done by Ernestine Toot. he’s recently been trying but failing to erase her legacy.

djsundog, 4 days ago to random

the inverse of "make sure you have working backups of what's important" is "give yourself permission to delete digital detritus that no longer has any value to your life"

you do not need every email you've received for the last decade.

you do not need three copies of every photo you've ever taken with your phone.

you do not need the downloads folder for each of your previous twelve laptops.

you can delete some stuff.

djsundog, 4 months ago to random

psst

weirdos, freaks, and malcontents

we built a thing here. all of us - from the folks who worked on standardizing a protocol to replace OStatus to the folks who implemented and extended the protocol to the folks who did interop testing between different servers implementing the protocol all the way to the folks that use the protocol daily to communicate with each other.

it's a thing that's successful enough to have attracted experts across many fields to study the hows and whys of what's being done over here. it's a thing that's successful enough that titans of capital are doing the only thing they know how to do - throw capital - to try and figure out how to not lose their power over the internet at large.

it's pretty dang impressive, y'all. even with its warts. even with its missing stairs and paper cuts.

makes me wonder what else we could do for ourselves and each other instead of waiting on industry or government to do things humanely...

:blobpats:​

djsundog, 3 months ago to random

announcements about the FCC cracking down on pirate radio stations around USia really feels like a challenge, like it's time for the 21st century mashup of Cannonball Run and Pump Up The Volume.

djsundog, 1 month ago to random

it is simply time for the world to admit that capitalism is a failed experiment that results in massive systemic oppression and inequity and banish its practice.

djsundog, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to random

I do not want a friend link to your Medium blog post.

I want a Public Universal Friend link to all of your blog posts and everyone else's blog posts too.

Own your own blog. Let Medium blog on Medium.

djsundog, 6 months ago to random

So, a while back I ordered a little kit that's resulted in this:

djsundog, 3 months ago to random

if the thing you've built is opt out, either you do not understand the concept of consent or you just don't care. it's that simple.

djsundog, 5 months ago to random

our news media, reporting on the activities of people, use passive voice despite describing people taking action. "shots were fired." "lives were lost."

our computer software, reporting on the progress being made by the process, use active voice despite there being no persons actively involved at the time of processing. "we're getting things ready for you." "I'm sorry, I could not deliver mail to that address."

things have gone fucking awry. "the developing situation continues to appear to suck."

djsundog, 4 months ago to random

all it takes is one (1) boost of a post featuring a compy with a red display and I'm immediately thrust back into "damn I wish gas plasma laptop screens were still a thing" mode

djsundog, 4 months ago to random

The fediverse has always been fractured into n-fediverses, ever since the first domain block was put in place preventing traffic from one instance from reaching another.

this is by design. the fediverse is supposed to look different depending on where you stand. you have the power to decide where that is. you. empowered.

so do not fret the fracturing of the fediverse for any reason - it's good and healthy and by design. it will continue to grow and change and morph as people make choices about where they want to be.

the only core constant is this: no respect for the fucking mouse company.

djsundog, 5 months ago to random

djsundog, 5 months ago to random

y'ever think about how the modern concept of notifications and the ubiquity thereof are a completely new complication to the human experience over the last ~125 years or so? like, pre-telephone, how many things occurred each day to interrupt the flow of the average person's life?

notifications are used too casually.

djsundog, 5 months ago to random

Finally bit the bullet and revisited the state of Linux on the PineNote E-ink Tablet

djsundog, 11 days ago to random

over 25 years ago I met my wife online, playing a word game in a gussied up irc channel.

almost three years ago the two of us moved across the country to live in a small mountain town with folk I met in the fediverse.

the best parts of my corner of the so-called "real world" are so good because I sourced them online.

I am just saying. the world I live in is not the world I was born into in very real, tangible, and lasting ways, and anyone who discounts online interaction as "not real" is the one at risk for losing touch with reality.

djsundog, 5 months ago to random

good morning fediverse :cofepats:​

somehow during the chaos of last week's USian festivities I missed this announcement: Microsoft is moving ThreadX, the real-time operating system they bought for Azure, into the Eclipse Foundation as a fully open source RTOS: https://threadx.io/

(why care? ThreadX is what boots your Raspberries Pi, among other things...)

djsundog, 4 days ago to random

it should infuriate you that thousands of people in the world manage to make life virtually unlivable for billions of people for no reason.