@moelassus@mastodon.social
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

moelassus

@moelassus@mastodon.social

Retired tech nerd still enjoying tech just for the fun of it. Things that fascinate me: Computer #networking, #security, #privacy & Scottish single malt #whisky (not necessarily in that order). Concerned about: #Climate Change, unchecked #capitalism, political #corruption, #fascism, erosion of #privacy. Living #Blue in a deeply #Red state.

Proud #cat dad to three moggies.

Born at 320ppm CO2.

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sanjaymenon, to privacy
@sanjaymenon@mastodon.social avatar

Tuta has a brand new logo.

https://tuta.com/blog/new-logo-announcement

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@sanjaymenon I don’t usually give rebrandings much thought but this one doesn’t seem very well thought through. It might resemble a light switch in Germany but to me it looks like a wedge of cheese.

wdlindsy, to random
@wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

"Bottom line is that Trump didn’t know much and doesn’t even know how to learn more, and you can’t be good at the job without knowing much. That, even more than his disregard for the rule of law, made him a very dangerous president for four years, and given that there’s no evidence he’s learned anything it would make him a very dangerous president again."

~ Jonathan Bernstein


/1

https://goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/trump-was-incredibly-bad-at-presidenting

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@wdlindsy Millions, perhaps billions around the world will suffer if Trump wins a second term.

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@msquebanh @wdlindsy So give up, elect Trump and accelerate the demise of the US then? Is that what you’re advocating? Just hand the world to Putin on a platter?

moelassus, to animals
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

Jasper has found a nice spot for a nap.

arstechnica, to random
@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

Comcast, hemorrhaging subscribers, to bundle Apple TV+, Netflix, Peacock & cable

Comcast wants to tie its cable/Internet to your streaming subscriptions.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/comcast-hemorrhaging-subscribers-to-bundle-apple-tv-netflix-peacock-cable/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica Why not stop being an asshole ISP, revamp your customer service and stop nickel and diming your customers. Oh never mind.

film_girl, to random
@film_girl@mastodon.social avatar

Watching Linux distros (and yes, it is usually Debian packagers who act the most sanctimonious) shoot themselves in the face and then insult upstream AND the users of a popular package under the delusion that only the distro's self-declared experts are capable of making decisions is always a good reminder as to why you will never be able to waterboard me into using Linux as my primary desktop. Very sorry this is happening Team KeePassXC. https://fosstodon.org/@keepassxc/112417353193348720

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@film_girl @keepassxc Even FOSS isn’t immune from enshitification. It’s just a more personality-driven form, vs revenue seeking.

dangillmor, to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

The Biden administration, with overwhelming support from congressional Democrats, thinks it's fine to punish nonprofit news organizations that criticize Israel.

https://theintercept.com/2024/05/10/terrorism-bill-nonprofit-journalists-israel-hamas/

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@dangillmor Hmm, citizen speech, literally threatened with financial consequences by government legislation. Seems like cut and dry 1st amendment violation to me. Pfft, who am I kidding?

MissingThePt, to random
@MissingThePt@mastodon.social avatar

Breaking: RFK Jr. announces Vice Presidential running mate. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/us/rfk-jr-brain-health-memory-loss.html

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@MissingThePt Headline: Brain eating worm starves to death in RFK Jr’s head.

nixCraft, to random
@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar

I think about this every time someone tries to get me into online arguments 😂 https://x.com/anammostarac/status/1709029600297414699

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@nixCraft You can’t even enjoy a good metaphor anymore without pedants crawling out of the woodwork. 🪳😜

moelassus, to animals
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

Jasper playing with his tail, 12ft up in the air. Pardon the immodest views.

video/mp4

moelassus, to animals
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

Everywhere a cat is, the sun shines.

lauren, to mastodon
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Matt Blaze, a respected computer scientist whom I've known pretty much forever, just told me to "Fck off" (without the '') and blocked me here on .

I think you may find the reason why interesting.

While I have frequently stood up for him when he's the subject of unfair comments of one sort of another, I still call issues as I see them.

Earlier today, without any prompting, Matt noted here that he just cancelled a bunch of reservations he'd made to help assure he could get a "cloud free" viewing experience of the eclipse.

In response to my comment that this seemed to be rather obnoxious behavior, given how tightly rooms have been booked, he suggested that people could just use the reservations now. I noted that not everyone can do last minute planning and sometimes it takes weeks for many to plan such trips.

He "apologized" for not meeting my "personal standards". I noted that I felt they were pretty basic standards and wondered how many reservations he had made.

At that point, he threw the invective and blocked me.

What's interesting here is that Matt openly made a point of publicly saying he had made multiple reservations only to cancel all but one. Why he made that post in the first place I can't imagine.

But I stand by my analysis of that post.

Just wanted you to know why I apparently won't be interacting with Matt any more here on Mastodon at least.

I welcome alternative points of view regarding this dialogue.

Best, -L

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@lauren I used to follow him on Twitter back in the day but after following him on here, a large number of his posts seemed to focus on his dislike of Mastodon culture. “You can’t force ME to use content warnings!” “If you don’t like the way I post feel free to mute me”.

So I muted him.

waldoj, to random
@waldoj@mastodon.social avatar

I'm getting my first colonoscopy on Monday (that goes in the baby book, I assume?), and the dietary restrictions get really stringent the day beforehand: an all-clear-liquid diet.

This STAT opinion piece, published yesterday, argues effectively that research does not support this need, and that this overly-restrictive diet is an obstacle to people getting colonoscopies. https://www.statnews.com/2024/03/19/colonoscopy-preparation-liquid-only-diet-data-gastroenterologists/

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@waldoj If you have the Plenvu prep, you have my sympathies. I cursed my doc for prescribing that hell-juice.

techphotoguy, to iPhone
@techphotoguy@mastodon.social avatar

I have this icon on my home screen. Appears it can’t be deleted.

How can I do the impossible?

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@chris @techphotoguy this has been my experience too.

dangillmor, to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

For years and years I subscribed to the New York Times in print, then digital. More recently I've had access through my employer. When that ends later this spring, I will not be subscribing again.

While it's still fine in some areas, its political coverage continues to be a heap of journalistic malpractice.

In recent days, the Times has made it absolutely clear that it has no intention of learning from perpetual failure.

In what matters most right now, the Times is a disgrace.

Enough.

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@dangillmor I allowed my sub to lapse in December. Journalistic malpractice indeed!

jasonkoebler, to random
@jasonkoebler@mastodon.social avatar

We’ve begun to put our articles behind an email registration wall. We tried to articulate why this is:

  • AI stealing our articles
  • AI spam destroying discoverability on search
  • Fracturing of social
  • Collapse of programmatic ad market

We are actively working on a solve for paid subscribers who use RSS, or ways for real humans to tap into a full text RSS feed

https://404media.co/why-404-media-needs-your-email-address/

image/png

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@jasonkoebler I totally get why you need to do this and support whatever actions you believe are necessary. It is however unfortunate that legitimate journalism, which costs a lot to produce, must necessarily sit behind paywalls. Meanwhile disinformation, which is cheap to produce is openly available. It puts the truth at a horrific disadvantage. I’m becoming increasingly discouraged and wonder how we win this battle against propaganda.

briankrebs, to random

Google continues to struggle with cybercriminals running malicious ads on its search platform to trick people into downloading booby-trapped copies of popular free software applications. The malicious ads, which appear above organic search results and often precede links to legitimate sources of the same software, can make searching for software on Google a dicey affair.

h/t @th3_protoCOL for the image

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/01/using-google-search-to-find-software-can-be-risky/

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@briankrebs And THIS is why everyone must use an ad blocker. The ad networks themselves have been weaponized against us and Google enables it.

MissingThePt, to random
@MissingThePt@mastodon.social avatar

It’s going to be weird when DeSantis suspends his campaign tomorrow and is suddenly four inches shorter.

moelassus,
@moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

@MissingThePt DeSantis will finally return to fucking over Floridians and finally leave the rest of us alone.

victor, to random

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    moelassus,
    @moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

    @victor Normally I would rage against gaudy Christmas decorations regardless of how early or late they are displayed. However, this is absolutely beautiful!

    e38383, to macos

    I really want to help people out with problems and recommendations about , but I just can't stand all this hostility against updating to a new version. If it breaks your workflow, don't update; if you get help don't complain about something is different in your old version; and if someone asks for help, don't talk them down why they even updated.

    Just remember: for every one complaining about the update is making everything worse, there are at least 10,000 others who don't have any problems at all. I just made the number up, so don't take it too seriously.

    moelassus,
    @moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

    @e38383 Agree 100% and your 10,000 number is probably low.

    taniel, to random
    @taniel@journa.host avatar

    NEW: a MAGA sheriff is running for election in 3 weeks in Virginia, with ties to countless far-right groups & a rabidly anti-immigration agenda.

    But now there's more: He's running while under federal indictment for bribery & fraud.

    https://boltsmag.org/culpeper-virginia-sheriff/

    moelassus,
    @moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

    @taniel Your country might be broken if half of your citizens repeatedly put forth fascist, racist criminals as candidates.

    idoubtit, to random
    @idoubtit@mstdn.social avatar

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    moelassus,
    @moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

    @idoubtit They are not to be messed with. They will attack ferociously when disturbed. I hate those little bastards. There is a YouTube channel by a guy who clears wasp, yellow jacket and hornets nests. I love watching him work. He uses no chemicals because he feeds the nests to his chickens.

    GossiTheDog, to random
    @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social avatar

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    moelassus,
    @moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

    @GossiTheDog Such a fine “democracy” they have over there.

    NatureMC, to ai
    @NatureMC@mastodon.online avatar

    New analysis: like OpenAI's and 's consume an astronomical amount of and — or, more precisely, the massive that power them do. By 2027, these server farms could use anywhere between 85 to 134 terawatt hours of per year, 0.5 percent of the entire globe's energy demands." https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-electricity-use-spiking-power-entire-country

    moelassus,
    @moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

    @NatureMC AI really is going to kill us but not for the reasons everyone has been freaking about.

    leo, to random
    @leo@twit.social avatar

    I love the simple FidoNet BBS rules. There are only two:

    • Don't be excessively annoying.
    • Don't be easily annoyed.

    I was a FidoNet Sysop in the mid 90s and I can verify that the rules worked. Word to live by.

    https://wiki.c2.com/?FidonetRules

    moelassus,
    @moelassus@mastodon.social avatar

    @leo Cheers Leo from the Sysop of The Banana Republic (1:500/104) circa 1986-1992.

    I loved those simple FIDOnet rules.

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