@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

pyperkub

@pyperkub@mastodon.social

University Sysadmin, Science/Space geek, Fantasy/SF Fan, College Sports (especially Bruins!) fan. (addendum - while I loathe the authoritarian and sometimes fascistic politics growing, I may not follow back, as seeing too much fascist this/fascist that isn't good for my mental health!)

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jonny, to random
@jonny@neuromatch.social avatar

's Palestine solidarity encampment just posted an update on their telegram - UCLA has declared it unlawful, and administration has reached out to start negotiations. Organizers have been holding occupy-style general meetings and plan to continue that to guide negotiations

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@jonny Gee, the counterprotests are being paid? https://dailybruin.com/2024/04/27/counter-protests-of-ucla-encampment-raise-over-50000-on-gofundme

SFRuminations, to scifi
@SFRuminations@wandering.shop avatar

Larry Niven (1938-) was born on this day. Bibliography: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?42

L, Rick Sternbach, 1975; R, Dean Ellis, 1970

image/jpeg

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@SFRuminations Some of my favorite yarns from the 70's and 80's!

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@SFRuminations Sorry to hear it - I still have flashbacks to some of his short stories like The Hole Man and The Fourth Profession, as well as Lucifer's Hammer, Ringworld, The Legacy of Heorot and Footfall, where I'll just contemplate some of the ideas.

pyperkub, to cycling
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

Got in a nice bike ride before going to @pluralistic 's Book reading/signing at in Marin yesterday. An excellent day! (thanks Cory!)

image/jpeg

grivettcarnac, to Canada
@grivettcarnac@mstdn.social avatar

With all the focus on EVs in and the corresponding “green economy” storytelling structure around it, transportation is being limited to personal vehicles as the way forward on Canadian climate change mitigation. It’s predictable but frustrating all the same that all the subsidies for EV manufacturers could massive kickstart major transit projects for regional hubs across the fucking country. You’d definitely generate more jobs broadly

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@grivettcarnac one subsidy I hate is the obfuscated one of data privacy, and car manufacturers' nightmares. Is Canada any better than the US at curtailing this? https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-on-wheels-every-car-brand-reviewed-by-mozilla-including-ford-volkswagen-and-toyota-flunks-privacy-test/

design_law, to random
@design_law@mastodon.social avatar

It's the weekend! What are we reading, watching, or listening to for fun or distraction?

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@design_law Finishing up Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future Novel/ wonkiness.

anirvan, to random
@anirvan@mastodon.social avatar

"Senator Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) claimed that even passive [speeding] notifications would be a dangerous distraction for speeding drivers who 'really need to be paying attention.'"

https://cal.streetsblog.org/2024/04/24/bill-to-require-speed-control-in-vehicles-goes-soft

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@anirvan It is a STUPID bill written by someone who lives in a city and completely ignores rural and suburban realities and wants to impose the nanny state everywhere. Weiner is an idiot.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@anirvan Not really. Ask yourself "why" there are more speeding deaths in rural areas, and you'll find that there can be a need (call it real or perceived) to speed to get somewhere on time. I'd wager that the speeding deaths to speeder ratio in cities is far higher than in rural areas.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@anirvan And IMHO, one needs to address the "why?" question before doing something like this.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@anirvan That's the billion dollar question, but I'd put both poverty and infrastructure near the top of the causes list.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@anirvan yeah, but none of those impair functionality, and are unobtrusive. I'm fine with that.

StillIRise1963, to random
@StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

I think we can now stop saying “google it” when looking for info. No one will find it there.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@StillIRise1963 This still applies:

donni, to random
@donni@mastodon.social avatar

Maybe you’re the main character in a boring novel where very little happens

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@donni how very kafkaesque :)

donni, to random
@donni@mastodon.social avatar

Got too high once and called a bunch of people in the phone book just to make sure they were doing OK

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@donni 🤣 🤣 🤣

arstechnica, to random
@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

Google merges the Android, Chrome, and hardware divisions

Google says the new “Platform and Devices” team will let it move faster.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/google-merges-the-android-chrome-and-hardware-divisions/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@arstechnica In other words, we need to make sure our and are standardized across Alphabet/Google!

eff, to random
@eff@mastodon.social avatar

Tell the U.S. Senate: RISAA does not reform mass surveillance, it greatly expands who can be surveilled and why.

https://act.eff.org/action/tell-the-u-s-senate-stop-risaa-the-fisa-mass-surveillance-expansion

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@eff @potus - this STILL means you!

acdha, to random
@acdha@code4lib.social avatar

“If Uri wanted to start a discussion about journalism at NPR, he succeeded, though maybe not in the way he intended. His colleagues have had a rich dialogue about his mistakes. The errors do make NPR look bad, because it’s embarrassing that an NPR journalist would make so many.”
https://steveinskeep.substack.com/p/how-my-npr-colleague-failed-at-viewpoint

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@acdha I'd have more (any?) sympathy if he had come up with anything which wasn't 100% RW Froth designed to churn the waters and nothing more. As is, he needs to listen to the Cleveland Plain Dealer: https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/03/our-trump-reporting-upsets-some-readers-but-there-arent-two-sides-to-facts-letter-from-the-editor.html

SFRuminations, to scifi
@SFRuminations@wandering.shop avatar

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading?

Now a column and reading/writing update on my site: https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2024/04/15/what-pre-1985-science-fiction-are-you-reading-update-no-xi/

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@SFRuminations I re-read EE Doc Smith's Lensmen series recently. I thought it would have some pretty significant sexist/cultural bias from its time, but it wasn't as bad as I feared, and it's still a rip-roaring space opera.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@SFRuminations I already closed the tab (well, repurposed it to search for Matriarchies in Chinese History/Mythology as part of my post!). I did find that the Lensmen biases were more towards Western Civilization than towards patriarchy, and in both cases the ideals of "Civilization" espoused by the Galactic Patrol and Arisia were well balanced, even with the very limited female lensmen as a slight counterpoint.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@SFRuminations YMMV, of course. I have my own biases and loved these books growing up too. So I really didn't want them to be hideous. they don't really pass the Bechdel test until the Red Lensman goes to work tho, which is kind of understandable and probably a LOT better than most at the time.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@SFRuminations Yeah, but sometimes it's still so cringey, even when trying to view with such tolerance for the viewpoints of the era(s) and the intended audiences the publishers wanted, if not also the authors (and yeah, we do need to account for publishers and not just blame the authors!)

pyperkub, to random
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

ONe wonders what @pluralistic 's Martin Hench would find if he was doing some forensic accounting... ;) https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-bonds-cayman-connection-stinks-to-high-heaven

dangillmor, to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

A reminder that Cannon, the federal judge in the Trump theft of classified documents case, is for all practical purposes a member of the defense team.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/aileen-cannon-trump-classified-disqualification.html

Also a reminder that it's all corruption, all the time in Trump world.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@dangillmor there is nothing in that article to support the click bait headline.

design_law, to random
@design_law@mastodon.social avatar

D598,633 - issued to General Mills in 2009 for a design for a "food product."

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@design_law Hmm, I could see pudding cups, but my first glance indicates Gas Mask!

blogdiva, to cooking
@blogdiva@mastodon.social avatar

DON'T KNOW WHO NEEDS TO HEAR THIS, but the amount of garlic in a recipe is only a suggestion. of the barest minimum, at that.

pyperkub,
@pyperkub@mastodon.social avatar

@blogdiva This restaurant has embraced it! (Heck, I even had their Garlic Chardonnay on a lark while we were there).

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