@hosford42@techhub.social
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

hosford42

@hosford42@techhub.social

#MachineLearning engineer. #NLU enthusiast. #AutisticZebra (#autism & #EhlersDanlos). Guitarist, singer, songwriter. Rude-sounding kind person. (he/they)

https://hosford42.github.io/

Profile pic: Top half of the head of a nerdy white guy, peeking upside down from above the top of the picture. Clearly this guy looks at things from a different perspective.

Banner: Bands of color showing the average temperature change in Texas since 1895. Very red for the last 20% of the image.

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

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

It's expensive to be poor. It's ironic but true. You get charges and fees for everything. Higher interest rates. Overdraft fees. Late fees. Having only enough to buy what you need right now instead of buying in bulk. Losing your job because you can't afford to get your car fixed. Losing your car because you don't have a job. Even your mental faculties are drained, as you are forced to continually eat low-nutrition foods, "sleep" in miserable conditions, and be exposed to toxins and lack of medical treatment. The lack of liquidity wipes you out. Life really does kick you while you're down.

You can't tell someone trapped in that vicious cycle to "just" get a job or "just" make responsible decisions. Sometimes, no amount of good decision-making can stop the vortex sucking them down. So the next time you are tempted to place moral judgment on someone who lives in poverty, think twice.

Signed, someone who has been both a Have and a Have-Not.

StillIRise1963, to random
@StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

"Lawmakers and the governor are so proud of themselves that they’ve already branded this misguided way to deal with homelessness “The Florida Model.” But mandating that a class of people exist behind by barbed wire and supervised by authorities in the name of “security” is called internment. It’s incarceration as punishment for being destitute. And, it’s despicable — reminiscent of some of the world’s worst atrocities."

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fabiola-santiago/article285127192.html#storylink=cpy

hosford42,
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

@StillIRise1963 So we've finally reached the point of internment camps....

Oh wait. I forgot about how Japanese people were treated during WW2. Oh yeah, and how Hispanic immigrants were treated for the last...I don't know how long it's been going on.

So what's really happening is, we are picking up the pace, and crossing the line of doing it to natural-born citizens. I wonder who's going in the camps next. And how long till it gets unmanageable and they start culling people to make room for more?

They will be counting on the old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind." Don't let them get away with it, people.

hosford42, to accessibility
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Let's be clear about this: Accessibility is not a feature. Inaccessibility is a bug.

If your software or website is inaccessible, that renders it unusable to the end user. It is broken, in other words.










hosford42, to hire
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Please boost for reach.

I have run out of severance and now I'm running out of savings. It's do or die now, folks. Job offers, job leads, job hunting advice...please send them all my way, and/or boost for reach. Freelancing is on the table, too. Details about me and what I'm looking for, to follow.

#FediHire #FediHired #Job #Jobs #Hire #Hiring #JobSearch #JobHunt #JobHunting #MachineLearning #NLP #DataScience #Statistics #Software #Tech #TechJobs #Freelance #Freelancing

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

In modern times, when rich people levy taxes against poor people to support their lavish lifestyles, they don't use government to do it. They use corporations. We call these private sector taxes "profits", and we have been effectively sold the lie that they are not only just, but beneficial to us, and necessary for our economic survival.

hosford42,
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

This movement from government-instituted taxes to corporate profiteering was a direct response to the people pushing the aristocracy out of government and attempting to implement democratic self-governance. Corporations are the new tools of oppression.

hosford42,
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Every chance you get, choose to do business with a of which you are a member, instead of giving your money to a corporation designed to take advantage of you by generating profits for people who are already wealthy. You wouldn't move to a country where you can't vote, would you? Why is it any different when it comes to your purchasing choices? Don't give more power over your life to some stranger taking a free ride on the backs of you and your loved ones, no matter what form that power takes.

hosford42,
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

We have to do it again. Just like we pushed them out of government, and replaced them with government for the people, by the people, we must do the same to the corporate world. We must tear down the apparatus by which they steal the food off our tables to support their luxurious lifestyles. We must implement companies run for the people, by the people: . Cooperative-based economies are to oligarchies what democracies are to aristocracies.

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Anyone who says "If you're not paying for the product, you're the product" has been suckered in by Big Tech, whose cargo-cult version of markets and the discipline they impose on companies.

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/22/kargo-kult-kaptialism/#dont-buy-it

1/

hosford42,
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

@pluralistic Lock-in also explains why employers treat employees like trash and underpay them. They are taking advantage of the fact that you need a job, not just to have nice things, but to survive. They don't need you as bad, because they can get someone else to replace you, and this power imbalance is where the rot comes from.

This is one of the biggest reasons to support a UBI. If your basic survival needs aren't dependent on employment, only your ability to have nice things, then the power balance is restored and employers can't get away with abusive practices.

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

I suspect the fediverse is more than just a substitute for other social media. I see this as the beginning of a phase change in how we use the web. We are shifting from corporate control to community control. Fundamentally, the fediverse is a cooperative endeavor, instead of a competitive one. I look forward to the shift in mindset that this change brings about. Will there be a similar movement towards cooperative organizations in other areas of our lives? Once people have had a taste of this approach, will they not be eager to see it spread?

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Something I've noticed a lot lately, is that especially Boomer women, but honestly, women in general, don't seem to ask for what they want or need in a direct way. I notice this a lot with my Mom and her friends. Instead of just asking for what they need directly they tell a story, to ask in a roundabout way. For instance, my Mom needed help this morning, and Instead of just saying, "Hey, I dropped my remote, can you pick it up for me?" She tells a one minute story about what happened, no ask, and eventually I get the point, and then suggest that I come pick it up. Or if one of her friends wants to do something like have a birthday party for a friend, they don't say "We should have a party!" They say, It's Sarah's Birthday coming up, you know she likes surprises, what does everyone think we should do?"

I often wonder if this is why older people think younger women are rude and demanding, because younger people often just ask for what they want and need in a more direct way. But also it's probably just straight up sexism, because men are supposed to make decisions, and women are supposed to make suggestions.

What do you all think? Is this just me? Have you experienced something similar?

hosford42,
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

@RickiTarr @popey Being autistic, I tend to take things literally, exactly as they're said, so this is particularly ineffective on me. It takes a lot of energy for me to stay vigilant and catch it, which wears me out. I think it's better for everyone when people feel comfortable being direct.

hosford42, to actuallyautistic
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Requirements to put in a job description to discourage or filter out autistic people:

  • Comfortable with ambiguity
  • Strong people skills
  • Good culture fit
  • Multitasking
  • A fast-paced dynamic environment
  • Bachelor's degree or better

I see these things and think you don't want my >30 years of programming and machine learning experience, or my problem-solving skills and comprehensive knowledge that had people mistaking me for one of the team's PhDs, or my solutions that have proven patent-worthy. Your loss.


@actuallyautistic
@neurodivergence

hosford42, to machinelearning
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

The entire and team, including me, just got laid off. :( :( :( :( :(

Anybody out there looking for an ML or software engineer with >30 years total experience and ~20 years in the industry?

I have extensive experience with and frameworks, particularly , and I've worked on and both in the workplace and in personal open source projects. My resume is available here:

https://hosford42.github.io/

I'd love to work for a or non-profit, if that's a possibility, but I'm open to other options.

If you work in this industry or know someone who does, please boost for reach.


hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Did you know that evolution can take place with zero competition? There are only 2 ingredients necessary for evolution: mutative reproduction (organisms having kids that resemble but aren't identical to them) and trait-dependent reproductive success. Competition for resources is only one of many ways that reproductive success can be trait-dependent. Often the primary selection pressure comes not from peers, but from the environment itself. And often selection pressure from peers is positive, meaning that cooperation benefits reproductive success. The whole notion that evolution means the world is dog-eat-dog is a misunderstanding of what evolution actually is. Remember this the next time you have to interact with your local racist, ableist, self-proclaimed "uberman", or other people supporting eugenicist ideas.

hosford42, to llm
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

I am really, really, REALLY irritated by what I just saw. The function of Microsoft's is outright lying to people with vision impairments about what appears in images it receives. It's bad enough when an is allowed to tell lies that a person can easily check for veracity themselves. But how the hell are you going to offer this so-called service to someone who can't check the claims being made and NEEDS those claims to be correct?

How long till someone gets poisoned because Bing lied and told someone it was food that hasn't expired when it has, or that it's safe to drink when it's cleaning solution, or God knows what? This is downright irresponsible and dangerous. either needs to put VERY CLEAR disclaimers on their service, or just take it down until it can actually be trusted.









StillIRise1963, to random
@StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

Okay. Please stop sending me MORE info about the depravity of white people in the United States. Post it so OTHER WHITE PEOPLE can learn about it, but DO NOT KEEP SENDING IT TO ME. It's too much.

hosford42,
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

@Pagan_Animist @StillIRise1963 Imagining if everyone decided to send me stories about autistic people being abused/murdered...

Pay attention to injustice, folks, but don't specifically point it out to those facing it. Share it with the people who don't already know all about it first-hand. They're the ones who need to hear about it! Leave the targets and victims in peace. If you want to help, boost what they have to say about it, and let them know you see it and care when they do post it. But don't "at" them with new tales of horror.

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

"disrupted cortical development and disordered neural circuitry"

Please, for the love of God, researchers, can you just get to know a few people personally before you do research on us? I think that might cut down on the horribly normative language that you invariably use when describing us. If our cortical development is "disrupted" and our neural circuitry is "disordered", why is it that so many of us have above average IQs or otherwise can do things that people with blandly normal brains cannot? Normal doesn't mean best. Normal doesn't even mean good. Just take the value judgments out of your language and be done with it. There are both normal and autistic people who can or can't do all kinds of things. None of us is broken because of those differences. Mere variation should never be labeled as broken or inferior. If you so desperately need to label something as broken, ask people what they'd like "fixed". You'll be surprised by the answers.

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Social exhaustion is a real thing. I'm trying not to collapse from fatigue, but I've got hours more socializing lined up.

People often assume that if you can do something at all, then you aren't disabled in that activity. But sometimes disability takes the form of an activity being way more taxing for you than someone else.

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Research has confirmed that mansions, Harley motorcycles, expensive suits, huge trucks, loud bass systems, yachts, and other obnoxiously showy, so-called "status symbols" have a shared underlying theme: insecurity. They really are compensating.

https://www.psypost.org/2024/01/link-between-anxious-attachment-and-materialistic-values-revealed-in-new-psychology-study-221103

hosford42, to ADHD
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

To all my #autistic, #ADHD, and #AuDHD friends here:

Please take a minute to read about #RejectionSensitiveDysphoria (aka #RSD) if you aren't already aware of it.

Being aware of this temporary hell that many of us visit from time to time can help to cope with it. It helps, too, to know that you are not alone in feeling this way sometimes, and that your feelings are lying to you when they tell you that you don't deserve to live.

I think we react this way because of trauma. I don't think it's intrinsic to our brain wiring. The world tells us so often that we are human garbage. You are not garbage. Every human life has value, including your own.

[Please boost for visibility.]

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Business Insider: The Evidence Is Overwhelming: Universal Basic Income Works
https://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-works-red-state-blue-state-2023-10

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

News sites are dying because they don't understand the value of product they are delivering anymore. They think they can charge people to reveal secrets, but we can just get the news elsewhere. What's hard to come by isn't the information itself, but its reliability.

hosford42, to random
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

I am so ready for this absurdly overblown LLM hype cycle to wrap up, so the adults can get back to the real work.

hosford42, to cooperatives
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

Workers don't have to strike for fair pay if they own the company.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

https://youtube.com/shorts/NIvkzhylUfU?si=jsr4NXlD3tvxtyR1

Is this true though, Neurodivergents?

hosford42,
@hosford42@techhub.social avatar

@RickiTarr I once went around asking people if they ever had moments when they weren't thinking. I was really surprised to learn the most common answer was yes. I don't remember what my brain does while I'm asleep, aside from the odd dream, but I can tell you that every moment in my life that I can recall, aside from active meditation, my brain has been completely jam-packed with thoughts. There is no down time.

It's not just thoughts, either. I also have a running soundtrack which never lets up. And I can tell you it plays all night with confidence because when I wake up, often the same tune is still playing that I went to bed with.

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