@saprentice@mastodon.social
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

saprentice

@saprentice@mastodon.social

Chief Leximator (automation of words), DITA XML, EPUB, Mac guy, hopeful farmer, hiker, mountain biker, genealogist, traveler, social/political liberal .. architecturally inclined, and a builder of many things, experimenting with residential solar and wind power .. #StillFeelTheBern

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

clive, (edited ) to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

People of Mastodon!

I'm researching the growth of ebikes ...

... in cities around the US

I've talked to many people who love them!

But also want to include the perspective of folks who have concerns ...

... i.e. about the speed and weight of ebikes in accidents with pedestrians or other cyclists, and the like

If anyone has thoughts they wanna share, ping me! I'm all ears: clive@clivethompson.net

Pass this along if you know anyone else with perspective they want to share

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@clive @AnneTheWriter1

When used appropriately and responsibly, it’s great, but since humans have the tendency to push everything to its limit, in the wrong hands it can be a dangerous weapon.

Unfortunately, most of the e-bikes I see are ridden by teenage boys who seem to enjoy terrorizing people. I also see e-mountainbikes ridden by people who have no concern for people around them, other bikers and walkers. Mostly selfish people.

I like the idea, and hope my experience isn’t the norm.

ai6yr, to ai

Well, on the plus side, all the vast number of pages of AI slop you search for on topics nowadays sound the same. So you can quickly move on to a page written by humans.

"You're interested in learning more about X? Well, it's a fascinating topic. Here, we'll talk about all the ways you can do X! The history of X is fascinating..." bleah bleah bleah

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr

Thinking of making a search engine that doesn’t blindly crawl the web, but instead crawls a curated list of sites with real, useful, and meaningful information. Specifically, NOT on this list will be websites with AI-generated content.

Maybe I’m crazy, but this seems like it would be really useful. So tired of wading through pages of garbage.

Problem is that MY curated list may not sync with YOUR curated list. Hmm.

saprentice, to Arizona
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

Does anyone recognize this control tower? May be in the area or .. ?? Fate would be from Dec. 1961, if that’s of any help.

Digitizing old films of my dad's and trying to identify the unidentifiable.

video/mp4

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@exador23 @ai6yr

Was from Dec. 1961, if that’s of any help. Updated the post with that info, because, heck, you can do that here on Mastodon. :-)

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr @exador23

Yes!!! It sure does say PHOENIX! I kept try to make that out and nothing was materializing. Now it’s clear as a bell. Thank you!!

Now I have to figure out what they were doing there. Likely my first airplane flight .. I would have been 6 months old.

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@Archnemysis Great to see it’s still in use! Thanks!

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@Archnemysis That’s very cool! I like that it started off from repurposed fuel tanks, then repurposed again later in life! If only we could make such efficient #reuse of other things!

ai6yr, to peppers

Hmm, big box hardware store with orange buckets had their vegetables on sale, so now I have way more Habanero (and Carolina Reaper) peppers than I expected, LOL. ($3.33 for the large multi-plant packs, vs. normally $4.98 or $9.99).

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr

I’ve sprouted a bunch of sweet pepper varieties this year. One I’m particularly interested in is the Habanada. It’s a sweet version of a Habanero. Hmm. :-)

#peppers #veggiegarden

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@ai6yr

My “hot box” experiment resulted in way more plants than I have room for in my micro garden. Will be giving away most to neighbors. Beans, tomatoes, peppers, and zukes. :-)

ninavizz, to random
@ninavizz@mastodon.social avatar

Today Adobe announced its annual MAX conference would take place in Florida. A US state the NAACP has declared unsafe for Black travelers. 500 employees signed an internal letter, condemning the decision. Some PR lady responded, with a blurb saying they're "(giving money to) local LGBTQIA groups" in recognition of Florida's "challenges." One of the most explicity anti-Black actions I've seen an unrepentant tech industry do, in recent years.

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@ninavizz @timbray

Yet one more reason to #BoycottAdobe.

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Wanted to order something, but the item descriptions made absolutely no sense since the last time I was on the site. What happened? Found a small notation: "Descriptions now created with AI". Garbage. Utter garbage. To hell with it.

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@lauren

#Amazon .. maybe?

Yet one more reason to #CancelAmazon

The deal you think you’re getting, really isn’t worth it!

#BuyLocal or direct from the manufacturer. Or even from some other aggregator. #NotAmazon

MattBinder, to random
@MattBinder@mastodon.social avatar

visiting Austin and within just a few hours of arriving i’ve already seen a Cybertruck in the wild for the first time

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@MattBinder Ugh.

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

It is essential to stop using Chrome.

Under the pretense of saving users from third-party spyware, Google is creating an ecosystem in which Chrome itself is the spyware.

Given Google's overwhelming presence in the browser market, this is unconscionable.

We should all despise the ad-tech business, and have no sympathy for the companies getting whacked by Google's actions. But we should not permit one monopolist to replace them all.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/12/year-review-googles-corporate-paternalism-browser

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@xs4me2 @dangillmor

Same. Firefox has been my go-to browser since Netscape. No problems on Windows, MacOS, or the occasional Linux. Other than the brief foray into Opera, and the occasional use of Safari, mostly just to confuse certain websites. Only use of Chrome is for work, on my employer’s laptop. Feels dirty. Kinda like IE has in the past.

quixoticgeek, to random
@quixoticgeek@v.st avatar

A while back I lost my set of Allen keys (the BBB set). So I treated myself to a set of colourful Wear Allen keys. Then the friend I had lent the BBB keys to, and forgotten about, returned them. My Christmas advent calendar included another set of (less colourful) wera Allen keys.

I now have 3 sets... I think I'll reserve the BBB set for lending out... Not sure about the other two sets. Maybe leave one with all the bike tools ...

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@Marrekoo @quixoticgeek

But .. what to do when your keys go missing? My 2 and 5mm keys have disappeared. I can buy a new set, but then I still have an incomplete set. I’d like to buy those two keys, but so far what I’m seeing is the cost of shipping those guys will cost more than a whole set.

Yeah. Probably not the biggest of issues.

ai6yr, to Costco

🤔 CNBC: Costco sold more than $100M in gold bars last quarter #costco #gold https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/15/costco-sold-more-than-100-million-in-gold-bars-last-quarter.html

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@exador23 @ai6yr a 1 oz. gold “bar” is going to be $2000+ .. is that an impulse buy? Good thing they just limit 2 per person!

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

John Warnock, Adobe Systems founder and PDF inventor, dies at 82. Peace.

saprentice,
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

@cazabon @lauren RIP John Warnock .. long live PDF!

saprentice, to internet
@saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

Enjoyed watching the live stream of @jeffjarvis on the Commonwealth Club tonight! Fascinating connections between the past and the present. Slightly eased my trepidation for the future of humanity. :-)

Thanks, Jeff!

#internet #gutenberg #print #censorship #power

http://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2023-07-25/jeff-jarvis-age-print-and-internet-0

chris, to random
@chris@mastodon.chriswiegman.com avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    saprentice,
    @saprentice@mastodon.social avatar

    @chris .. don’t get me wrong. Chicago is an awesome city! But it can be wicked cold. There are plenty of warmer welcoming places!

    For warmth, San Diego might do the trick. Or many places up the west coast even up into OR or WA. Closer to home, many nice places from Delaware on up. I’m partial to Boston, which isn’t necessarily “warm” but warmer than Chicago.

    Good luck with the move! Wherever you end up, I’m sure you can find more “warmth” than you’re getting now. :-)

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • megavids
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • cisconetworking
  • magazineikmin
  • InstantRegret
  • Durango
  • thenastyranch
  • Youngstown
  • rosin
  • slotface
  • mdbf
  • khanakhh
  • tacticalgear
  • JUstTest
  • everett
  • modclub
  • Leos
  • cubers
  • ngwrru68w68
  • ethstaker
  • osvaldo12
  • GTA5RPClips
  • anitta
  • provamag3
  • normalnudes
  • tester
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •