@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

iamdavidobrien

@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social

Human being, being human. Trying, not always successfully, to leave the world a slightly better place than I found it.

Profile header is a slice of a sketch drawn by my brother.

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

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

What is the thing(s) that attracts you to a person romantically or otherwise?

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

Kind.

And interesting.

@RickiTarr

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Seriously heard someone saying they don't listen to many black artists, because they aren't really into rap. Bitch please, feel free to share songs from Black artists from any genre. Here is one of my favorites, if you like this song please check out her other work:

https://youtu.be/KovrJ8HXI1Q?si=HOYIG7YMuAUTsJz6

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

No-one’s mentioned

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lesvqQ55T7Y6cTk9W43S-pZiILJTr9Kb0

@RickiTarr

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

If Rachel & Eilidh don't bring you joy, you're probably dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqrXHheDczg

@richardinsandy @RickiTarr

arstechnica, to random
@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

Why deepfake detection isn’t as simple as OpenAI’s true-false binary

OpenAI is recruiting researchers to test its new deepfake detector.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/why-deepfake-detection-isnt-as-simple-as-openais-true-false-binary/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

Is it just me, or os big just creating a hornet's nest so they can employ hornet-whackers to lease to hornet-infested organisations?

Feels like we are setting up problems-to-solve here.

@arstechnica

jwz, to random
@jwz@mastodon.social avatar

Little Bobby Scunthorpe');--

North Yorkshire Council to phase out apostrophe use on street signs to avoid "problems with computer systems".

"All punctuation will be considered but avoided where possible because street names and addresses, when stored...
https://jwz.org/b/ykP0

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

This is BS.

Or B'S, if you prefer.

@jwz

iamdavidobrien, to BBC
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

Just watched an hour-long programme on on a 2009 MacBook Pro.

Running off the battery the entire time.

1 hour streaming HD video on a 15 years old device.

The web was alway designed to be backwards-compatible.

It is possible to design hardware with a 12-20 years lifetime.

We can do so much better.

@gerrymcgovern

SteveFaulkner, to webdev
@SteveFaulkner@mastodon.social avatar

“The reasons why use of the placeholder attribute as the only means of providing a user readable prompt for a form control is deficient UX, are voluminous. It is frustrating having to rehash this discussion endlessly.”

https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2021/02/14/re-upped-placeholder-the-piss-take-label/

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

A better name for the attribute - hint would be my suggestion - might have improved developer behaviour.

Sadly though, probably not.

@SteveFaulkner

iamdavidobrien, to Scotland
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

The #carbon intensity of #electricity generation in #Scotland is almost zero.

At times, it is.

https://www.extraordinaryfacility.com/carbonforecast/

#ClimateDiary

joelanman, to random
@joelanman@hachyderm.io avatar

"This means services created for internal users are assessed in the wrong way. Sometimes meeting user needs is not the most important thing"

mm nah. Any service needs to meet user needs otherwise it won't achieve what it needs to achieve. Makes no difference if they are 'internal'

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

Where’d that come from?

@joelanman

thomasfuchs, to random
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io avatar

And this is why people use Macs
https://journa.host/@mathewi/112322859973165069

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

Also, we don't get ads on the OS UI.

Which is the stupidest fucking idea I've ever heard.

@thomasfuchs

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

Yeah, but you either have to

• change the keyboard language
• Not ideal, since your actual keyboard doesn't change
• memorise some pretty esoteric unicode strings; or
• use a virtual keyboard

Tbf, Macs don't handle all diacritics that well by default, but they do the most common pretty well.

Like Option then E gets you é. Option U gets ü and so on.

I guess that's a legacy of their prevalence in desktop publishing apps in the 90s.

@CStamp @thomasfuchs

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

To everyone whatabouting in this thread, I did say "they do the most common pretty well."

And that would mean the most common in English-language publications using foreign language words or terms for whatever reason.

Neither OS is perfect. Nor, I think, is it possible to be.

But Mac OS does a better job than Windows, as things currently stand.

I use both daily. This is my experience.

@CStamp @thomasfuchs

Meyerweb, to random
@Meyerweb@mastodon.social avatar

Reality is being written by a malfunctioning Markov chain generator.

(Hat tip: @cstross)

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

To be fair, that's a fairly standard evening out in Somerset. Irrespective of species.

Although the tipple of choice is more likely to be cider.

And there's no way that duck's 18.

@Meyerweb @cstross

iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

More like a quack.

@Meyerweb @rachelandrew

thisismyglasgow, to glasgow
@thisismyglasgow@mastodon.scot avatar

The Buchanan Street section of former Glasgow Herald Building. Built in 1879, it was designed by James Sellars. It connects on to the Mitchell Street section, which was built just over a decade later in 1893 and was designed by John Keppie and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Cont./


iamdavidobrien,
@iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

Typo with “”shorts”.

Otherwise fascinating as always.

@thisismyglasgow

GhostOnTheHalfShell, (edited ) to climate
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    I absolutely loved that series when I was a kid. Burke was a science communicator up there with Carl Sagan; utterly masterful, and mesmerising storytelling.

    @GhostOnTheHalfShell @gooba42

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    I am so watching this tonight.

    @GhostOnTheHalfShell

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cCJh5D0FCZk

    @GhostOnTheHalfShell

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    This was marvellous. Everything I hoped it would be and more.

    https://archive.org/details/bbc-connections-1978/Connections/S01/S01E01+-+The+Trigger+Effect.mkv

    @GhostOnTheHalfShell

    axbom, to random
    @axbom@axbom.me avatar

    Not gonna lie. I tried out Threads for a couple of months to get my own grasp of what it's about. The FOMO can be strong in me.

    My personal conclusion is that it can't hold a candle to the Fediverse. It was a novelty for a week or two but once again the algorithm just messes everything up, wanting to "predict" and control what I should be paying attention to.

    I've also (again) realised that this right here is where my peeps are, and that is likely the most important aspect of all.

    So very happy and thankful for everyone who chooses the fediverse.

    I truly doubt that Threads federating with ActivityPub is a good thing – the underlying raison d'être is just very different.

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    I'm ... agnostic so far, Per.

    Haven't tried Threads (I have a zero-Meta policy) or Bluesky (ditto dorsey/musk). And I've seen a few things pop up for me here which are, so far, unobjectionable.

    I know some folks are blowing a gasket about it.

    Best take I've seen so far is:

    https://mastodon.social/@fromjason/112197613650671616

    Which makes sense to me.

    You can use a shared protocol, but if your desired outcomes are wildly divergent you will have wildly divergent outcomes.

    @axbom

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    Like you, I think I've concluded that my place is here. With the freaks and the geeks and the weirdos.

    (I'd place myself in at least 3 of those 3 categories.)

    I like it here, I'll stay for now anyways.

    And since I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford it, I send my instance admins $10 a month to keep things ticking over.

    Free always has a cost.

    @axbom

    arstechnica, to random
    @arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

    Dell tells remote workers that they won’t be eligible for promotion

    Report highlights big turnaround from Dell's previous pro-WFH stance.

    https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/dell-tells-remote-workers-that-they-wont-be-eligible-for-promotion/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    Cue exodus of employees.

    https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/112118281120263964

    @arstechnica

    molly0xfff, to random
    @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

    anyone have any good suggestions for lightweight local testing when implementing ActivityPub? would be nice to test signature verification and simulate various activities without spinning up a whole local Mastodon server or prematurely deploying my super alpha software

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    I think you and @Edent might have mutually beneficial conversation about that.

    @molly0xfff

    arstechnica, to random
    @arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

    Marijuana use linked to increased risk of heart attack, stroke, study finds

    Researchers call for more studies to understand why they're linked.

    https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/02/marijuana-use-linked-to-increased-risk-of-heart-attack-stroke-study-finds/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    Well it never did me any ha

    @arstechnica

    Meyerweb, to random
    @Meyerweb@mastodon.social avatar

    I’m holding off making snap decisions until I learn more, but if this comes to fruition as reported, I may have to migrate blogging software and quite probably hosts for the first time in over two decades.

    And as someone who values in situ comments on posts, and also doesn’t want to outsource that to a third party, I’ll face a bit of a challenge. https://www.404media.co/tumblr-and-wordpress-to-sell-users-data-to-train-ai-tools/

    iamdavidobrien,
    @iamdavidobrien@mastodon.social avatar

    Um, nope.

    But it doesn't look great, does it.

    @Meyerweb

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