@rythur@mastodon.social
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

rythur

@rythur@mastodon.social

My name is Rythur and I'm a folk artist. I'm also a statistician. I may sound cranky sometimes but really I'm just being honest. I see the world through the lens of the overworked, exploited, tired, abused, and powerless. Why? Because I was born weird and haven't figured out how to shake the designation.

In the amended words of a man laden with issues:

[Little] Internet, [Little] Phones

PS -- Your freedom matters more than you think, so go beat a dead horse or two... please.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

StillIRise1963, to random
@StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

What makes going out to eat in the U.S. much less fun is the fact that your time is limited. The table has to turn over to someone else after the allotted time and I hate it. I don’t appreciate people telling me I have to go.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@StillIRise1963

Yeah, this is a very impersonal norm. Nothing about it says: welcome. And when they say welcome they mean: come in quickly and give us your money, then leave.

I'd love to just sit and relax. I guess there's a war on these two things, if you think about it.

KathyReid, to stackoverflow
@KathyReid@aus.social avatar

Like many other technologists, I gave my time and expertise for free to #StackOverflow because the content was licensed CC-BY-SA - meaning that it was a public good. It brought me joy to help people figure out why their #ASR code wasn't working, or assist with a #CUDA bug.

Now that a deal has been struck with #OpenAI to scrape all the questions and answers in Stack Overflow, to train #GenerativeAI models, like #LLMs, without attribution to authors (as required under the CC-BY-SA license under which Stack Overflow content is licensed), to be sold back to us (the SA clause requires derivative works to be shared under the same license), I have issued a Data Deletion request to Stack Overflow to disassociate my username from my Stack Overflow username, and am closing my account, just like I did with Reddit, Inc.

https://policies.stackoverflow.co/data-request/

The data I helped create is going to be bundled in an #LLM and sold back to me.

In a single move, Stack Overflow has alienated its community - which is also its main source of competitive advantage, in exchange for token lucre.

Stack Exchange, Stack Overflow's former instantiation, used to fulfill a psychological contract - help others out when you can, for the expectation that others may in turn assist you in the future. Now it's not an exchange, it's #enshittification.

Programmers now join artists and copywriters, whose works have been snaffled up to create #GenAI solutions.

The silver lining I see is that once OpenAI creates LLMs that generate code - like Microsoft has done with Copilot on GitHub - where will they go to get help with the bugs that the generative AI models introduce, particularly, given the recent GitClear report, of the "downward pressure on code quality" caused by these tools?

While this is just one more example of #enshittification, it's also a salient lesson for #DevRel folks - if your community is your source of advantage, don't upset them.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@KathyReid

This is a pure and unadulterated decline in trust happening in real time, and it's palpably saddening.

We should all just stop using the internet now. That would rid most societal problems in one night.

This AI stuff is merely theft. That's all.

dlakelan, to statistics
@dlakelan@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Here's the logical structure of what you will be taught in terms of as a masters student in pretty much any field.

If MY DATA is a sample from two random number generators of PARTICULAR TYPE, and MY TEST has a small p value then MY FAVORITE EXPLANATION FOR THE DIFFERENCES IS TRUE.

This is, quite simply, a logical fallacy. The first thing wrong is that your data IS NOT a sample from a random number generator of that particular type. So we can ignore the rest logically.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@dlakelan

Man, this is so backwards from my process.

I don't do stats like a textbook in general, because that's all too shiny (and linear) for the real world. It's best to work from the Scientific Method itself and the nature of the data (like ordinality, etc.)

Either way, you're describing statistical fishing, which I don't see as research so much as digging for gold.

Still, I live in a car, so maybe being true to form is a detriment in today's world. Good guys finish quite last, I guess.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@dlakelan

Thanks, mate.

Well, it's partly a decision to value time much more than money, but yes, I don't feel as though I fit in anywhere that things are done incorrectly as a norm, which rules out a lot.

I won't work on weapons, or banking. In general, I won't do any work that directly harms another. As such, I remain poorer than I'd like to be.

Imagine a much more moral Einstein. History would throw him away.

History is throwing me away.

But that's OK. More time for tea and parkour!

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@kalfatermann

I knew you and I had a lot in common. I could feel it.

I too am a firm believer in do it when you can, even if that means taking classes from a nursing home. Others won't easily understand this. The programming is just too strong.

We need meaningful work that can be done with pride and a lack of crummy management. Need. There are probably too many folks like us, not being used efficiently. The world could be so much better, easily. Change but a few things!

@dlakelan

QasimRashid, to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

BREAKING: House passes bill to criminalize criticism of Israel — a bill opposed by numerous Jewish groups, numerous Jewish members of Congress, and the ACLU.

My latest: https://qasimrashid.substack.com/p/breaking-house-passes-bill-to-criminalize

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@QasimRashid

House. Wait for it. Of bullshit.

And cards.

FantasticalEconomics, to random
@FantasticalEconomics@geekdom.social avatar

Remember folks, "rubber bullet" is a misnomer.

"Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component." - Wikipedia

It is more accurate to say "Riot police are shooting students with rubber-coated-metal-bullets."

I know that doesn't roll off the tounge very nicely, but that's ok 'cause it probably shouldn't.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@FantasticalEconomics

Still bullets.

Still truth to say:

Cops are firing bullets at students.

Seriously.

FantasticalEconomics, to random
@FantasticalEconomics@geekdom.social avatar

Important question: when have large-scale student movements been on the wrong side of history?

I may be biased by my progressive leanings (no, scratch that, I'm definitely heavily biased by them) but it seems like we can reliably look to the young to see the direction we should be moving.

I don't care where you stand politically or your views on the fucked up situation in Gaza, everyone should be standing up to loudly support the rights of students across the globe to protest.

Full stop.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@FantasticalEconomics

How is this either serving or protecting?

In other words, who are they serving and what are they protecting?

Damn. Kudos for being part of the action, man.

FantasticalEconomics, to climate
@FantasticalEconomics@geekdom.social avatar

Not going to lie, I'm skeptical. Very skeptical. But there is a chance CO2 emissions will have peaked in 2023.

"We find there is a 70% chance that emissions start falling in 2024 if current clean technology growth trends continue and some progress is made to cut non-CO2 emissions."

Regardless of if it actually happens, it is important to recognize the progress we are making, which are more rapid than most realize and many predicted. There is hope.

https://www.vox.com/climate/24139383/climate-change-peak-greenhouse-gas-emissions-action

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@_noelamac_ @FantasticalEconomics

Ouch.

Seems like the only thing that would close this gap is a shock to the system. A huge and lasting unit root kind of shock. And that'll likely suck.

I agree that remaining as realistic as possible in matters of mass human survival is a good idea too. Better alive than sorry.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@thesquirrelfish @_noelamac_ @FantasticalEconomics

The current system is immune to the real world only in the form of delusion. Problems bigger than the system will devour it, like the growing cost of Climate Change.

I agree that all should do what they can. The problem is the constant and professional obfuscation of anything climate. Making it harder to know what right is.

Someday, when all is on fire everywhere,
We may be too hungry for the word Elite,
We may eat in spite of the label.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@GhostOnTheHalfShell @FantasticalEconomics @thesquirrelfish @_noelamac_

The biggest problem here is that we know:

  1. Climate problems are expensive and growing more expensive over time
  2. We are not doing enough to make 1. go away

The only logical implication is, as you say, collapse. It truly is just a matter of time.

parismarx, to tesla
@parismarx@mastodon.online avatar

Tesla has to recall every Cybertruck it’s shipped. There are only 3,878 of them.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/19/tesla-cybertruck-throttle-accelerator-pedal-stuck/

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@parismarx

The real news here is that almost 4,000 people still trust this guy and his garbage.

Some people will trust anything, I guess.

Miriamm, to random
@Miriamm@mastodon.social avatar

Turns out alienating your core demographic so a handful of bigots on Twitter think you’re cool, is an awful business strategy.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@Miriamm

It would be quite logical (and stupid) for him to spin poor performance as a push for competitiveness, which is probably what this is all about.

Someday, he will need help and have to pay for it. Someday, he may need a job.

mxtthxw, to random
@mxtthxw@mxtthxw.art avatar

england is suffering from a brain drain. Each day I’m here it feels like I’m getting my brain scooped out by bastards.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@mxtthxw

I'm in the United States and am intelligent. Aka my life is one miserable sight after another. Oh, to be born dumb enough to stand this all.

PS -- diggin' your posts!

rythur, to random
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

I am not sure if I am the only one noticing this, but it seems like, for much of what we use, we are no longer the customer.

My cell coverage, service, and customer service experiences are actual junk. I'm not the customer. The people buying my data are the customers now.

My government only cares about the wealthy. I am no longer the customer. I am a user now, a user of ill-fitting government.

My internet experiences are almost all junk. You get it...

rythur, to random
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

Finally, I'm leaving SoundCloud for something a bit more in line with my ethical perspectives. For a while, I was considering BandCamp heavily. Then, that went out the window, corporately speaking. Now, I see things like and others popping up. Are they any good? Can they be expected to go corporate in a month? I'm not trying to be cynical... I just want a place where I can park my music more seriously. As for the music, I've been working on it but not talking about it... At all. 🥸

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@freebliss

Howdy, Simon!

What timing, mate. I've got a new song that is to be my first for faircamp and I've been thinking about this in the past few days. So, double thanks for the insights and comfort!

I am very anti-corporate these days, so I really appreciate what you have made here. I look forward to the straightforward nature of the whole thing. File-based is awesome.

Happy New Year and please be well :-)

bandcampunited, to random

We wanted to share some demographics around these layoffs so our supporters are able to follow along. These numbers include the whole staff at Bandcamp (including non-union eligible workers), but are important to keep in mind as we continue to negotiate severance with Epic Games.

When 59 of Bandcamp’s 119 employees were laid off, Black employees were disproportionately impacted. Only 4 of Bandcamp's 19 Black employees received job offers after the sale to Songtradr. As a result, the number of Black employees at Bandcamp was reduced by 79% overnight. As we continue severance negotiations with Epic Games, we think it's important for this disparity to be publicized and taken into consideration.

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@bandcampunited

But... But... Check out my tunes for BandCamp Friday!

The longer you stay, the worse you may feel... hopefully.

In an ideal world, we'd all walk away from companies who maintain statistically racist protocols. In this world, BandCamp Friday and Me, Me, Me!

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@radiofreefedi @bandcampunited

I can see your points here. But there are assumptions too, such as I'm yelling or that I mean anything ill to any artist there. These are gray areas, and arguing for the use of this stuff is almost as bad as arguing against it. I am approaching this from the correct perspective overall, that artists should not put their work on such sites. You're framing this as something further, that I am against artists or something. I'm sure Chomsky has a word for this. 😴

ProPublica, to Texas
@ProPublica@newsie.social avatar

The GOP’s Secret to Protecting Gerrymandered Electoral Maps? Claim Privilege.

Through new and expansive assertions of privilege, legislatures around the country are shielding their work on allegedly discriminatory maps to prevent the public from finding out how and why they made their decisions.

https://www.propublica.org/article/electoral-maps-gerrymandering-texas-voting-elections-privilege?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@ProPublica

It's clear to me that gerrymandering is a form of fraud. What isn't clear is why it's considered a legal practice in the first place. In a democracy, this has no place.

rythur, to random
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

Consider for a moment that if the grift know as "content creation" never worked, and art was never cheapened for internet use, the richness of training data sets, and therefore political and economic advantage of the associated companies, wouldn't be what it is now.

You get a taste of fame, while they get real advantage.

In other words, every post is time spent in a virtual office where you work for far less than you think you're getting.

Stop training the guards of your prison, please.

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

CEOs are hugely expensive. Why not automate them?
If a single role is as expensive as thousands of workers, it is surely the prime candidate for robot-induced redundancy.

https://www.newstatesman.com/business/companies/2023/05/ceos-salaries-expensive-automate-robots

https://archive.is/FDPly

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@kcarruthers

Have you people actually met executives? I work with many, and some could have been automated in the 90's. As others have said, this is all about power and structure maintenance, not payment. The illusion is up. Why do you think their compensation has become even more egregious? The illusion. Is up.

It's the BOTTOM line that has applied. Its the other that applies. They ain't going anywhere.

rythur, to Futurology
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

What if paywalls are actually about generating a norm where people read only headlines?

jmcleod, to random
@jmcleod@mastodon.au avatar

Why Biden’s? Why not whichever Republican eventually runs? They’re the ones trying to destroy government.

A debt default would be catastrophic for the US – and Biden’s re-election chances https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/23/debt-default-biden-reelection-republicans?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@jmcleod

It literally just hit me that the corporate elites of probably most countries are destroying governments to replace the concept with a corporate analogue, one that seems as yet really authoritarian. Boom in my mind.

Ps -- why else would corporations be buying up housing and land. We're headed to a corporate 1984.

stux, to random
@stux@mstdn.social avatar

Ugh.. again we got hit with a spam attack.. 😩

Closed signups once again. I'm gonna look for a better solution

All accounts should be suspended

rythur,
@rythur@mastodon.social avatar

@stux

I guarantee this has everything to do with @Gargron being on an announced honeymoon.

Great for him, but opportunists jump at scumbag stuff like the boss being away from their desk all the time.

They are just trying to decay your product and free speech. That's literally it.

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