@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

nitpicking

@nitpicking@mstdn.party

So I've been a science teacher, museum guide, freelance writer, software dev, software product manager, network admin, and for a long time now a business trainer. And I run SFF conventions.
Member: #tootfinder.

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taylorlorenz, to random
@taylorlorenz@mastodon.social avatar

NYC's AI weapon scanners produce 85% false positives https://hellgatenyc.com/nyc-ai-weapons-scanners-pilot-false-positives

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@taylorlorenz 85% false positive can be fine, if the result of a false positive is just a hand search. False negatives can be terrifying. False positives are just annoying.

AskPippa, to Canada
@AskPippa@c.im avatar

is looking better for the solar . New forecast looks good.


Fingers crossed!
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/weather/forecasts/canada-might-score-the-best-seat-for-mondays-eclipse-after-all-solar-eclipse

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@AskPippa

Darn. I will be prettty near the border (Niagara falls, US side), though.

typingmonkey, to random
@typingmonkey@mastodon.social avatar

Newly noted Cybertruck feature: its rear quarterpanel slopes in fairly dramatically leaving the rear wheels relatively uncovered by the body. It also does not have any mud flaps or guards. I learned this yesterday in San Jose when the one that was to the right and slightly ahead of me shot a rock straight into my windshield.

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@typingmonkey

What was the motto at Tesla? "It's ugly, but at least it isn't fit to task!"?

statisticsworld, to random
@statisticsworld@mastodon.world avatar

What are you starting to dislike more as you get older?

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@statisticsworld

TV and movies.

elithebearded, to random
@elithebearded@fed.qaz.red avatar

Vladimir: Well this has been pleasant.

Estragon: Yes but now I am hungry.

Godot:

Vladimir: We should go.

Estragon: Yes, we should.

[No one moves.]

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@elithebearded It has been so long since I thought about the play, I was wondering if Vladimir was a character in the Eragon stories by Paolini ....

nitpicking, to random
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

Actual page on the NewEgg web site (the web version of a promotional email). "Bulider"?! In a professional marketing product?
https://promotions.newegg.com/neemail/latest/USA_PromotionDeals-index-landing-033024.html?cm_mmc=EMC-Automation033024-USA-

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@elithebearded

I haven't bought anything from them in years myself. I sort of keep hoping they'll stop being "More expensive than AliExpress, but no cheaper than Amazon with a worse interface and worse service."

I wonder how many people under 30 know why it's called "New Egg".

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@elithebearded You don't remember Egghead Software?

ZachWeinersmith, to comics
@ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social avatar

Species
http://smbc-comics.com/comic/three-3 (click to see who else was left behind)

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@ZachWeinersmith

Questioner there isn't familiar with fungal mating types, is he?

ZachWeinersmith, to random
@ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social avatar

Absolute nerd agony from Alan Watts here:

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@ZachWeinersmith

The only thought that came to me: Zach is better at anagrams than I am.

nitpicking, to journalism
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

AP headline: "A big airline is relaxing its pet policy to let owners bring the companion and a rolling carry-on"

Which one? I need to know to avoid them. (It's American, as it turns out, my least favorite US airline.) They really had to contort to avoid putting the only important part of the story right in the headline, didn't they?

https://www.audacy.com/wcbs880/news/business/a-big-airline-is-relaxing-its-pet-policy-to-let-owners-bring-the-companion-and-a-rolling-carry-on

geerlingguy, to random
@geerlingguy@mastodon.social avatar

Regardless of your beliefs about Twitter/X... I've seen (and now am a victim of) content farming accounts that just repost other people's TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube video clips, then other accounts with millions of followers (and billions of monetized tweet views) repost the content and earn money off the original content.

The hot dog radio video clip is being posted and reposted on Twitter—I called someone out on it, then got blocked by that user :P

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@geerlingguy Send a registered mail DMCA takedown. When it's ignored, you can sue Mr. Musk's vanity hate-amplifying service for damages up to the millions. See https://revisionlegal.com/copyright/copyrights/digital-millennium-copyright-act-and-internet-service-providers/

samerfarha, to random
@samerfarha@mastodon.social avatar

This annoys me so much. The two trash cans are where the bus doors would be if the bus stopped where it is supposed to. Instead, busses have to stop short and then block the crosswalk. N. Wayne & Clarendon.

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@samerfarha The trash cans are acting as bollards, I assume? They might be code-required. They could be set further from the road, if the rules allow it.

nitpicking, to random
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

Best Buy is apparently Citibank. Also, they're partly owned by a conservative think tank. I talk about it at http://blog.nitpicking.com/2024/03/best-buy-is-apparently-citibank-also.html

ampersine, to LGBTQ
@ampersine@mastodon.online avatar

is caving to threats by investors, and will stop contributing to non-profit organizations — including blocking their employee resource groups from making donations to those groups.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/best-buy-offers-screen-lgbtq-nonprofit-donations-conservative-pressure-rcna145603

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@ampersine The NBC article says that actually, they didn't change donation policies at all. "This, in turn, ensures NCPPR’s shareholder proposal regarding LGBTQ donations will not be presented at Best Buy’s annual shareholder meeting in June."

I have no inside information, but I suspect one person at Best Buy was willing, but some higher-up then said, "Nope." Compare that filing to, say, https://corporate.bestbuy.com/at-best-buy-pride-is-part-of-our-business/

darkling, to random
@darkling@mstdn.social avatar

Looking at the Hugo award nominations for this year... I've read none of the novels, novellas, novelettes, comics, or games.

I've read one of the short stories, one of the series, and seen one of the dramatic presentations (long); two of the dramatic presentation (short).

I've got three novels from the series nominations sitting on my bookshelf, and I've just started one of those.

Is this level of ignorance in the face of the shortlists typical? I feel inadequate.

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@darkling It's certainly typical of me. This is a big year--I've read two of the novels, a novella, and half the series.

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@darkling I've never been to a UK Worldcon. The only European one I did was Helsinki.

Because it really is "world" con, I can tell you that the English and Scottish fans I've known have been really open and friendly. (The Finns were great, too.) I'm looking forward to it a lot. I skipped Chengdu for ... reasons, it'll be interesting to be back.

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@darkling If I may recommend something I learned at my second ?

Try to stay at a hotel near the venue. (There are several.) I like the ability to go back to my room and decompress after I get overstimulated, which definitely can happen at a 10,000+ person event. When I've stayed even a moderate distance (say, a 20 minute walk) away, like I did at BucConeer, that felt less like an option.

pauloldhamsnp, to random
@pauloldhamsnp@mastodon.scot avatar

"We do not agree with the United Kingdom Government that nuclear energy is environmentally sustainable. [It] is not required in Scotland. Our draft energy strategy sets out that the capacity for renewable generation in Scotland could mean that Scotland’s annual electricity capacity generation will be more than double our demand by 2030 and more than treble by 2045. We have a route to net zero through renewables. We do not need nuclear power."

https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-27-03-2024?meeting=15788&iob=134738#orscontributions_M16215E355P844C2574886

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@pauloldhamsnp

Mr. Oldham, whatever his qualifications might be, is ... you know .. wrong. Nuclear power is entirely sustainable. It's very expensive at the moment, though.

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@pauloldhamsnp

OK. I would love to know the reasoning. I hope it isn't "Nuclear sounds scary!" Fission power is less polluting and kills enormously fewer people than, say, coal or oil power. (I'm talking about electric generation, of course.) Coal power still kills an astonishing number of people, see:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/494425/death-rate-worldwide-by-energy-source/

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@HighlandLawyer @pauloldhamsnp Cleaning up current wind tech is not trivial, in fact. The turbine blades are a mess of epoxy-bound fibers that can't be recycled or even burned.

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@pauloldhamsnp @HighlandLawyer You left out one adjective.

"Tiny".

nitpicking, to random
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

Congratulations, @ZachWeinersmith and Kelly on the Hugo nomination for Bea Wolf.

jdnicoll, to random
@jdnicoll@wandering.shop avatar

2024 Hugo Award Finalists

The full list of 2024 Hugo Award, Astounding, and Lodestar finalist may be found at the other end of this link.

https://glasgow2024.org/hugo-awards/2024-hugo-award-finalists/

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@jdnicoll Above average year for me: I've read three (3) of the stories, but half the series, nominated. (I don't follow anything on the list except written fiction, so those noms don't count for me.)

geerlingguy, (edited ) to random
@geerlingguy@mastodon.social avatar

This acrually worked

*edit "actually" lol

nitpicking,
@nitpicking@mstdn.party avatar

@geerlingguy Acrually? So it's increasingly working, perhaps as a result of time's passage?

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