@clive@saturation.social
@clive@saturation.social avatar

clive

@clive@saturation.social

Writer, musician/songwriter, hobbyist coder. Contributing writer to New York Times Magazine and Wired. Author of "Coders". Blogging at clivethompson.medium.com, archive of writing at www.authory.com/clivethompson #science #technology #coding #software #writing #literature #poetry clive@clivethompson.net

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

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

How to make Google more usable with this One Weird Trick

By @ernie: https://tedium.co/2024/05/17/google-web-search-make-default/

clive, to instagramreality
@clive@saturation.social avatar

Are the people who go on reality shows like “Love Is Blind” workers?

If so, what sort of labor protections should they have?

Should they unionize?

This phenomenal and deeply-reported piece by my fabulous wife @Emilynussbaum tackles this question by diving into the show’s recent lawsuits and controversies: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/27/is-love-is-blind-a-toxic-workplace

TiciaVerveer, to random Dutch
@TiciaVerveer@mastodon.social avatar

The frozen ground of the Altai Mountains preserved this beautifully detailed Scythian woman's boot for over 2,300 years.
The leather boot was decorated with a red woollen braid, with leather figurines and gold-leaf, possibly depicting ducklings.

Photo credit Sergei I. Rudenko/ Washington University. https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/museums/shm/shmpazyryk.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0ruczzG1TpZNqVjz9f4QTey_xlsE6VBN4lG5Ksn2yIsiJLTskn3YmqLj8_aem_AUMB1uCQewdUjL6CCmCwVIVAZrmdIQWfkLHBl3kxfHKhgRX32RKoM_r-74pNj9e98a2JsxuHlI5ga2jS98bsidwh

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@TiciaVerveer @jonhendry

yeah likely not

mbonsma, to random
@mbonsma@mastodon.social avatar

There are times when you walk or bike somewhere that the hostile infrastructure makes you feel like a fool and a chump. Exhibit A, me waiting 20 minutes for a bus, trying to nurse my baby while standing at a bus stop with no shade or seating. But there are other times...

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@mbonsma

Ugh

Lack of shade in civic waiting areas is inexcusable

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@mbonsma

That’s lovely!

theropologist, to random
@theropologist@beige.party avatar

Beowulf is pretty wild, and I haven't even gotten to the fight with Grendel yet. Beowulf has just shown up and is like Hey this Grendel character? I'm gonna waste his ass for you. And then Unferth is like Pshaw! You can't even swim good, Bro! Breca totally crushed you in that swimming contest. And Beowulf is like Really? You want to go there? Sorry I was too busy slaying NINE sea monsters to worry about winning some stupid little race, and by the way I was swimming in full armor and carrying a sword, but you're welcome for the steep decline in sea monster attacks lately. Do you even slay, Bro? Oh wait l, what am I saying, if you were even halfway decent at slaying then I wouldn't have to come here with all my Geat bros to save your sorry ass! And Unferth just sits there in silence because what are you gonna say after having been so thoroughly owned?

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@theropologist

It is such a nutty book, I love it

Tolkien’s translation is pretty metal

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@lkanies @theropologist

I hadn't heard about that one -- thank you! Putting it on my list now

thomasfuchs, to random
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io avatar

“In Toronto, the percentage of seven-year-olds fully vaccinated for measles dropped from 80.2 per cent in the 2019-2020 school year to 38.9 per cent in the 2021-2022 school year.”

It’s child abuse not to vaccinate your children and yourself against deadly diseases.

https://www.cp24.com/news/child-under-5-dies-of-measles-in-ontario-pho-1.6890989

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@thomasfuchs @Sir_Osis_of_Liver

Yep I’ve still got the mark on my shoulder from my smallpox vaccination in Ontario elementary school in the 70s

And yep, they didn’t have a chicken pox vaccine so I got chicken pox

now that was miserable

freddy, to random
@freddy@computerclub.social avatar

@clive Did you read this piece? https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/05/cultural-arbitrage-good-taste/678244/ For me, you are a cultural arbitrageur ✌🏻

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@freddy

aha, that's a really interesting piece! Hadn't seen it; thank you for the pointer

Thank you the compliment!

There's another thing that I'd add to the analysis in that piece -- which is that another thing making info/culture-arbitrage an ongoing and vital force is the homogenizing nature of algorithmically sorted feeds

They tend to focus big masses of people's attention on a ... rather small array of issues?

So people wind up hungry for things outside that small spotlight

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@freddy

(One of the main things I love about Mastodon -- which, I gather, most heavy Mastodon users love -- is the weird serendipity that comes from the feeds here being purely reverse-chron)

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

Struggling to remain strong enough not to mouse over onto this clickbait

but I'm losing the battle

i'm losing

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@gannet

did you succeed?

I accidentally closed the tab before I could click, so I sort of saved myself

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@overholt

I close the tab accidentally so now I’ll never know

I am very curious about that empty toilet paper roll hack too

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@EricCarroll

😂

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@meetar

lol

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@glennf

Lolol

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@freddy

tragically I closed the tab accidentally before I could click

When I reopened it

A different ad

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@Artsandsocks

Dammit

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@RedStateExile @artcollisions

prolly yeah

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@gannet

correct yes

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@xsk8rat

yess!

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@abetterjulie @gannet

Ah, there you go

yurnidiot, to random
@yurnidiot@mstdn.social avatar

can't tell me this isn't skilled labor 🥑💨

woman packing avocados in a box by tossing them from one hand to the other rapidly without looking at the catching hand

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@yurnidiot

I’ve written a lot about robotics and I can tell you it’s incredibly, incredibly difficult — and expensive — to develop robotic arms that could grab soft, easy-to-damage items like that and toss them into packaging without bruising them

and even if you can get the correct robotic arm and gripper, everything else has to be designed so that the box is in the exact right place, etc.

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@yurnidiot

that final move, where the worker grabs the box flips it shot and moves it off? That’s literally a whole other nightmare for a completely different robotic system

this is why it’s comparatively easier to impress people with “AI” that just manipulates images and words – they don’t need any of this proprioception, flexibility, and common-sense reasoning about the physical world

This physical-world stuff requires massive amounts of everyday smarts

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@eichin @yurnidiot

Yep precisely

These workers are doing constant judgements that require not just visual recognition but a common-sense knowledge of the world

As for grippers, Soft Robotics has some very deft food-safe ones that could do this sorting

but the ones suitable for food sorting aren’t the ones that can move the box

and as you point out, it’s a tight squeeze for one robot there, let alone another for box handling

clive,
@clive@saturation.social avatar

@yurnidiot @eichin

😅 true

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