@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

mycorrhiza

@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org

Dad, working scientist, degrowth anarchist, wobbly

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mycorrhiza, to random
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

A lotta people will hop on a public microblogging platform and confidently type out something like, “you cannot support the world's population with community supported agriculture alone,” without citing a single reference.

If science is so great for agriculture maybe you should incorporate it into your arguments.

mycorrhiza,
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

Fwiw, the main reason I’m skeptical of these claims is that our current agricultural production is supporting a biomass of cattle that's approximately as large as all of humanity. Basically, we’re already producing roughly twice as much agriculture as we need. There’s also all the market-demanded food waste, e.g., when farmers plow their crop over because it’s the most “economical” move.

mycorrhiza, to random
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

I see a thread that’s gaining traction making a point I disagree with. But I don’t know the OP and I don’t want to argue with strangers online, so I’ll make my point here.

The poster is talking about Fedi remaining niche like it’s a bad thing. Their central thesis is probably best summarized by the statement, “having a critical mass of users is the only way to gain relevance”. (Implicit in this statement is the notion that a “critical mass” of users is a lot of people, otherwise it’s vacuously true.) But I don’t share this perspective. I think the right couple thousand people — doing the right thing at the right time — could absolutely move the world. It’s happened so many times throughout history!

gwil, to random
@gwil@post.lurk.org avatar

Made something a bit different today: a colour-blindness friendly visual hash.

In reality it just visualises bytes, with 256 possible options for each cell, so any hashing function can be used with this (or none at all, just put in bytes).

Putting a little process diary for this in the replies.

mycorrhiza,
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

@gwil oh I get it! 3 bits for the square color, 3 bits for the L color, and 2 bits for their orientation. This is so cute and clever, I love it.

mycorrhiza,
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

@gwil haha, it doesn’t look like you needed any help. I have just gotten used to thinking in terms of bits because my tired old brain finds it easier to add bits than multiply combinations.

mycorrhiza,
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

@gwil also, I’m remembering that in some contexts, calling things “cute” comes across as condescending. I hope that’s not the case above — I really think this is cool!

mycorrhiza, to random
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

The latest issue of smolZINE (generously created/edited by @kelbot) publishes my review of nb, a note-taking and bookmarking tool for the command line. gemini://gemini.cyberbot.space/smolzine/smolzine-issue-39.gmi

requiem, to random

Computers should be simple, because the simpler the computer is, the easier it is to program, and the easier it is to program, more people can program it.

Being able to program your own computer is like a superpower. Not only can you make the computer do what you want and need it to do, but you also sever the dependencies which constrain what is possible and bind you to external systems and their unchecked complexity.

I know people say they don’t want to write their own software, but I try to ask why. Often the reasons have less to do with writing software and more to do with a tech industry that wants to keep selling them things.

But if you go back and look closely at the humble 8-bit micros of the late 70’s and early 80’s you’ll see a wide range of machines that shipped with everything you needed to program them, and as a result millions of people learned how and wrote the most diverse range of applications ever known. Perhaps even more miraculous, most of them were compatible with different computers and shareable via any conceivable communications medium (print, tape, vinyl, radio, etc.)

It’s hard to concisely explain how powerful this is. I’ll probably write a lot more about this when I’m out west.

mycorrhiza,
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

@irina @requiem I don’t see these statements as being in conflict. There’s an important difference between “people should be able to write their own programs” (which I agree with) and “people should write all of their own programs” (which I disagree with, for the great reasons you point out here).

I can cook all my own meals, but sometimes I get food from a restaurant and I quite enjoy it. But I would be miserable if I could only eat restaurant food. For the vast majority of people, using a computer is like only eating restaurant food.

mycorrhiza,
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

@irina When people talk about DIY stuff, there’s oftentimes an undercurrent of toxic rugged individualism that I find off-putting for sure (to be clear, I didn’t read that in @requiem’s post, but you see it plenty of other places). But the best DIY stuff always has a community aspect, whether it’s musicians, fabric artists, hackers, etc. I think this whole sentiment ties together nicely with @akkartik’s recent talk on computing: http://akkartik.name/freewheeling

blakespot, to random

Hmm.

mycorrhiza,
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

@blakespot You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

mycorrhiza, to random
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

One thing I changed my mind about in recent years is that I think “link rot” is fine, and that efforts to preserve all of the information on the web are misguided. Supposedly, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” but what if the reason we keep on falling into the same patterns of behavior is because we remember them? We certainly remember the 1930s enough to recognize where the creeping fascism we see today is headed, and it’s apparent that all the remembering in the world isn’t enough to stop it.

mycorrhiza, to random
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

“Oh, you use Emacs? Like that Stallman guy?”

(I don’t mean it, I love you Emacs people.)

alcinnz, to random
@alcinnz@floss.social avatar

Google Bard's vulnerabilities and other links - Baldur Bjarnason: https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2023/google-bard-keyword-vulnerability/

Some links from that blogpost:

Death Of A Meta Tag - Danny Sullivan @ Search Engine Watch (2002): https://12ft.io/proxy?&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.searchenginewatch.com%2F2002%2F09%2F30%2Fdeath-of-a-meta-tag (via 12ft.io)

The Algorithm is a Lie - Entertainment Strategy Guy: https://entertainment.substack.com/p/the-algorithm-is-a-lie?s=w (Substack)

mycorrhiza,
@mycorrhiza@post.lurk.org avatar

@apophis @alcinnz Oh, I’ve got something for this! I’ve been using nb for a few weeks and I think I love it. https://xwmx.github.io/nb/

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