@peterbutler@mas.to
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

peterbutler

@peterbutler@mas.to

CNET editor. Totally serious. No candy.

#Biking #Vegan #PingPong #LGBTAlly #Software #DiscGolf #IndieRock #BoardGames #JigsawPuzzles #Cats #PublicSchool #Parenting #Berkeley #Books #Writing #Horror #ScienceFiction #Sustainability #EconomicJustice #EndHomelessness #Libraries

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smitten, to random

if people didn't depend on the stock market for their retirement account I don't think it would ever come up. 401k was a sneaky way to give even more money to wall street and make people emotionally invested in it to boot

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@smitten pyramid scheme

peterbutler, to books
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

> In a few months we went from “free, universal health care in America now!” to “wear a fucking mask!” and we couldn’t even achieve the latter.

https://aftermath.site/log-off-cross-intro

ricmac, to random
@ricmac@mastodon.social avatar

This is my favourite yet, especially the Beatles reference… (via https://www.instagram.com/p/C7btGs-Bovd/?igsh=MWgyeHVnMGZmaWZ2MA==)

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@ricmac It’s a joke from a few years ago, I think

I have a hard time believing this one is real, but AI corollary of Poe’s Law strikes again (no way to distinguish true hallucinations from parodies)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwCL3HahgS8

paninid, to OpenAI
@paninid@mastodon.world avatar

The CEO of @TheAtlantic announced a partnership with on .

This might be a sign of the peak hype / bubble.

Or to cancel my subscription.

Don’t get into business with a broken stair.

What a failure of judgment.

https://www.superversive.co/blog/on-broken-stairs

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@paninid @TheAtlantic This reeks of l’eau d’esperation

“They’re gonna scrape our content anyway, so why not make a few bucks?”

I can honestly understand the sentiment, but it’s self-defeating, imo

SynAck, to random
@SynAck@corteximplant.com avatar

It's awesome that most financial transactions really, really, really want you to pay via credit card (by making it a lot more onerous to pay with any other method) and then charge a 1-3% "convenience fee" for doing so.

How did we let them get away with this and make this the norm, people? How did we not push back on this the first time one of these profiteers tried to foist this upon us?

:facepalm:​

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@x00001 @SynAck Now you can do that with Zelle for free

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@SynAck Also, the merchant pays the 1.5-3.5% fees. Consumers get the convenience for free

Compare to paying $3 to withdraw $100 from the ATM and it’s a no brainer for many consumers

What’s sadder to me are the places that don’t take cash. I’m trying to give you (and your employees in the form of cash tips) more money!

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@SynAck Good points. I know that many small businesses accept it, but probably not major corps like health carriers (honestly don’t know)

I haven’t used it for company bills, just personal services (music teacher, plumber, etc)

Zelle also lacks the consumer protections of credit cards, i.e. you probably wouldn’t buy something online with it

(I was mostly replying to "Most people don’t want to wait for a check to go through the mail.”)

alex, to random
@alex@dads.cool avatar

many people are calling this the most normal description of marriage of all time

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@alex He’s getting ahead of the security camera footage that will show him walking past the upside-down flag many times

Nonilex, to vexillology
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Justice tells he will NOT from related cases

Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. announced Wed that he will not recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases at after Democratic lawmakers questioned whether he could be impartial following reports that an upside-down flew at his home in the weeks after the… [].


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/29/supreme-court-alito-recuse-flag-jan-6/

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@Amoshias @alexlubertozzi @Nonilex yeah the gift link doesn’t work (yes I clicked the text link)

Here’s the archived link:
http://archive.today/Lt7a2

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@alexlubertozzi @Nonilex This legal reasoning is all well and good but without a mechanism to enforce the law they can’t “force” the justices to do a damn thing

>> The Supreme Court cannot disregard this law just because it directly affects one or two of its justices.

I’m willing to bet $1,000 that they can and will

peterbutler, to MLB
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

“[Josh] Gibson is MLB’s new all-time career leader in batting average (.372, moving ahead of Ty Cobb), slugging percentage (.718, moving ahead of Ruth), OPS (1.177, ahead of Ruth), and holds the all-time single season records in each of those categories”

(He still can’t top Barry Bonds’ .609 OBP in 2004 though!)

This is fantastic news for baseball fans

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2024/05/28/negro-leagues-statistics-officially-incorporated-into-major-league-record-book/73882293007/

#MLB #MajorLeagueBaseball #Statistics

mhoye, to random
@mhoye@mastodon.social avatar

This is a remarkable graph.

You might have heard that "EV sales are slumping", "people are starting to avoid EVs", etc.

That's not what's happening.

What's happening is "Tesla is cratering so hard that it's skewing the aggregate market data."

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@mhoye Tesla also sold more EVs in Q1 2024 than all other EV manufacturers combined

I get that the rest of them are up ~30%, but it’s still like ~120K cars total?

There are like 50 million cars sold every year

jewishreader, to Dog
@jewishreader@sfba.social avatar

Please don't let your #dog off-leash in areas where it's not allowed. It's incredibly unsafe for your dog and also very, very triggering for people who are afraid of dogs and constrains their ability to be out in public.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@greensofshade @MargaretD @jewishreader Ugh. That was my childhood

“He’s attacking you because he can tell you’re afraid of him!”

Please 🙄

br00t4c, to random
@br00t4c@mastodon.social avatar

The Senate Has Called Leonard Leo In for Questioning. Leo Has Said: No Thanks!

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/leonard-leo-ignoring-senate-subpoena.html

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@br00t4c "above the law, untouchable, and unaccountable"

SteveThompson, to nyc
@SteveThompson@mastodon.social avatar

"Biden campaign sends allies De Niro and first responders to Trump’s NY trial to put focus on Jan. 6"

https://apnews.com/article/trump-de-niro-biden-insurrection-hush-money-78a33c5083a243e18f9fbd63ce9e8ddd

#GOP #Trump #Jan6 #DeNiro #Biden #NYC #TrumpTrial

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@jackhutton @SteveThompson If it were the Biden admin prosecuting Trump, I might agree. But it’s not

It’s a risky move. I think it will further the narrative that the trial is compromised because the charges are politically motivated

If you’re a low-info voter who's paying attention to the trial, what would you think? I’d think it’s the Biden admin that is prosecuting Trump

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/poll-majority-of-americans-arent-paying-attention-to-trumps-hush-money-trial

futurebird, (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

These AI SEO spam operations have used lists of common searches to ensure that their pages come up first in searches in the “long fat tail” the kind of search where it used to be about 50/50 if you’d find a page addressing your needs. But, it used to be if you found something like “The top 15 smallest ants in the world” it wouldn’t be nonsense. It’d either exist and be the work of another person who cared OR you found nothing. Not so now! I can’t possibly over-stress how bad this is! 1/

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@Segebodo @CatDad @futurebird Google’s new AI Overview feature provides sources

kevinrns, to climate
@kevinrns@mstdn.social avatar

In the near future a mass of people are going to die in a city from the heat, and the headlines will say that "it wouldn't have been so bad except the power went out"

Heat is going to take down power systems. The power systems that could protect us from an event, will be harmed by the event.

618 people in Canada, in the mountains, in the forest, died of a #climate heat event, on the floors of their homes, on their beds. No flames. Just a days heat.
The power stayed on, it would have been worse

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@kevinrns I haven’t heard anything about this since January, when the first four states (CA, HI, NM, and NY) applied for HEEHRA funds

https://www.energy.gov/scep/articles/first-group-states-apply-landmark-home-energy-rebates-funding-lower-energy-costs

Still stuck with the feds? (The 30% back via tax credit is valid nationally for any income)

AFAICT, no one can apply for HEEHRA rebates yet

jmcrookston, to random
@jmcrookston@mastodon.social avatar

" Conversations about disasters have always been colored by fear and superstition. The word disaster, from the Latin dis (away) and astrum (stars), can be translated as "ill-starred." ...

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@jmcrookston “research shows that as much as two-thirds of the time it takes occupants to exit a building after an alarm sounds is start-up time--time spent milling about, looking for more information”

https://www.apa.org/monitor/sep04/fighting

rain, to random
@rain@hachyderm.io avatar

More and more websites have anti-adblock measures these days, some going so far as to tell you to uninstall your ad blocker altogether. I understand the impulse, but you are basically telling your users to meaningfully reduce their security for your benefit.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@rain Especially since many of these “ad blockers” come standard on certain browsers (and are not ad blockers)

ovan, to ai
@ovan@social.lol avatar

Meta × AI

“we'll now rely on the legal basis called legitimate interests”

and

“We may still process information about you to develop and improve Al at Meta, even if you object or don't use our Products and services.”

…We'll review objection requests in accordance with relevant data protection laws. If your request is honored, it will be applied going forward. We may still process information about you to develop and improve Al at Meta, even if you object or don't use our Products and services.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@ovan Fish in a barrel, but …

https://peymanity.medium.com/what-metas-ai-thinks-of-meta-s-ai-policy-cbafaf2d599c

binaryequation, to random
@binaryequation@freeradical.zone avatar

"Perhaps the most consequential plank calls for a constitutional amendment to require that candidates for statewide office carry a majority of Texas’ 254 counties to win an election, a model similar to the U.S. electoral college."

Sorry but we need less electoral college, not more.

The Texas Tribune: Proposed Texas GOP platform calls for the Bible in schools, electoral changes that would lock Democrats out of statewide office

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/25/texas-republican-party-convention-platform/

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@binaryequation Same effect as electoral college— disproportionate voting power for rural, less populated areas that are predominantly White

lydialurch, to random
@lydialurch@mastodon.social avatar

Before TV ads were all about drugs and Medicare, the airwaves were a rich tapestry of toy commercials. One of my favorites was for the Silly Safari game. I wish I still had mine, but y mom had a thing about regular purging of plastic toys, aka junk. A lot of that junk is worth hundreds of dollars now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_gSe-fACDw

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@lydialurch I loved all the Mouse Trap variants. Crazy Clock was another

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEG2Gnr1Uis

grumpybozo, to ai
@grumpybozo@toad.social avatar

Dear : What is needed to get Google to show me fun AI suggestions like adding glue to pizza sauce? How do I get the fake- results?

I am not kidding. Most of my searches are on macOS (12 & 14) using Safari and occasionally other browsers (I've got 7 installed...) but I only log into my G accounts on an as-needed basis and because I use a real mail client for email, I almost never need to log in. I wipe cookies on every browser restart.

I see no -generated summary...

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@grumpybozo I think you have to be logged into Google on the Chrome browser to see the new AI Overviews

I dunno. They stopped showing up for me last week. Maybe Google is realizing AI is a money pit — those overviews have to be costing them ...

EvilBunnyPottymouth, to random
@EvilBunnyPottymouth@mastodon.social avatar

from CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism

MAGA is now passing this photo as real and it’s obviously AI.

In case you didn’t know, there are no palm trees in the Bronx.

Let’s share this everywhere.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@EvilBunnyPottymouth They’ve been making these fake pictures of him with Black folks for a long time now

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68440150

mlanger, to random
@mlanger@mastodon.world avatar

THIS is bullshit. A 4% surcharge for the kitchen? How about paying them better? If I wasn't already sitting here with my dogs and nowhere else to go, I'd walk out. I'm so tired of surcharge bullshit.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@mlanger GREASY. Instead of accurate menu pricing, they’re hiding costs secretly. Do not patronize

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