@not2b@sfba.social avatar

not2b

@not2b@sfba.social

(he/him) Aging tech nerd, living in Silicon Valley. I'm an avid hiker and geocacher.

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bruces, to random
@bruces@mastodon.social avatar

*Yeah?

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@bruces The tool will probably just publish articles that are poor rewrites of Wikipedia articles, which it can do easily because all of Wikipedia is in its training set. And search engines will then find these bad rewrites instead of the originals.

FantasticalEconomics, to USpolitics
@FantasticalEconomics@geekdom.social avatar

Trump raised a record-breaking $34.8 million the day after being convicted of election interference. That's nearly double their previous largest single-day online donation amount.

29.7% were new donors.

This is not a drill. He will get reelected unless people on the left step up to oppose him. And makes it clear how much worse things can get, both domestically and abroad.

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/31/trump-fundraising-record-hush-money-conviction

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@scentedmeat @FantasticalEconomics @talia_christine One difficulty is that many of the Democrats' biggest donors hate some of Biden's best accomplishments (like appointing a trust buster as head of the FTC, who's now going after Google and LiveNation, or being much more pro-union than Obama). So they don't brag about that stuff much.

josh, (edited ) to random
@josh@josh.tel avatar

Hey folks! I'm looking for examples of elected officials and people running for office who have accounts on the fediverse.

Know of one? Please let me know! Boosts appreciated :boost_requested:

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@josh @RepShontelBrown is one I know of.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Is this what y'all think living with me is like?!

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@RickiTarr So you ask him the same kinds of questions you ask us?

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

How much alone time vs socializing do you need?

For me there are a few people who are usually equalizing, and I can just be around them, so I won't count that. But generally, I find about 3 times a week, I'm game for socializing. A day in between to rest is usually nice, but the larger the gathering or if we go somewhere particularly noisy or I'm meeting new people that involves more effort, and my social battery empties sooner. I'm very curious where everyone else falls on this!

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@RickiTarr I was already an introvert and I think COVID broke my remaining ability to socialize. I live with my wife and daughter which is enough people, and even then we make sure we all get enough "introvert time". Of the three of us my wife is the most extroverted but even she is maybe 50/50. I do a lot of solo hiking. There are old friends I would like to see, but it is exhausting to plan things and when I do go to an event I burn out quickly.

QasimRashid, to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck loudly condemns Israel:

"The famine, the suffering of the Palestinians, the attacks in the Gaza Strip are incompatible with international law. It is indeed the case that Israel has crossed a line there, and it must not do so.”

How much longer will the United States allow itself to become isolated for the sake of Israeli war crimes?
https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-actions-incompatible-with-international-law-says-germanys-habeck/

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@QasimRashid That is a shift. Germany has been blocking criticism of Israel, even banning people who witnessed the atrocities from entering the country and speaking.

b9AcE, to random
@b9AcE@todon.eu avatar

"Aid once again enters Gaza from Egypt following temporary agreement with US"
https://www.madamasr.com/en/2024/05/26/news/politics/aid-once-again-enters-gaza-from-egypt-following-temporary-agreement-with-us/
From the only free press remaining in neighbor Egypt.

Egypt is the other State which has for decades directly participated in Israel's blockade against everyone in the Gaza Strip of Palestine, for pay and arms through the Camp David Accords between USA, Israel and Egypt, so USA is co-responsible for that part of the blockade imposing starvation as a method of warfare against the civilian population (the definition of a war crime) and therefore also rules on when it is to be eased.

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@b9AcE The current Egyptian government considers the Muslim Brotherhood and their close allies in Hamas their enemy, so they are willing to help Israel box in Hamas, no matter how much Gazans suffer.

not2b, to animals
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

Sebastian smells something good up on the stove. #catsofmastodon #caturday

ernie, to random
@ernie@writing.exchange avatar

I like the undercurrent of misogyny in some of the takes I’m seeing about the ScarJo thing.

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@ernie Bette Midler and Tom Waits both won cases like this (company asks if they will do a commercial, they say no, company hires someone to do a knockoff). Doesn't matter if OpenAI cloned her voice or hired an imitator, it is well established that they can't do that.

not2b, to hiking
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

This is a Mariposa lily I found on my hike today at Henry Coe park, southeast of San Jose, California. It is my favorite local wildflower.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Y'all I just made myself feel so old, hubs looked up top 100 music from 2001, 2011, 2021, and today and the amount of music I could recognize decreased by significantly. I recognized probably 70% of 2001 and decreasing as I went on. BUT I blame the internet, I can listen to exactly the kind of music I want with no dependence on the radio, but also I'm old!

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@mentallyalex @RickiTarr I find it amusing when GenX friends get bent out of shape if someone describes Nirvana or Pearl Jam as classic/oldie.

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@mentallyalex @ferricoxide @RickiTarr @Weanerdog I fixed a lot of Y2K bugs in my employer's software and also helped a bit with cleaning up GCC. Y2K wasn't a disaster because a lot of people worked their butts off fixing vast numbers of issues by the deadline.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Y'all want to hear a fact that really changed the way I thought about homelessness?

Half of all homeless people were in the foster system at some point. Social Workers often call the foster system The Highway to Homelessness. If you ever had a point in your life where you had to live with friends or family to for a short time to get back on your feet, remember that is a privilege that not everyone had.

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@Vincarsi @textualdeviance @Rayston @RickiTarr I had always assumed that any causality would be in the reverse direction (that homelessness could cause addiction more than vice versa).

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

Tonight on my usual Monday evening national network tech segment, I'll be discussing the solar storm and its impacts, past, present, and perhaps future. And Galileo, the man!

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@lauren I have been wondering whether SpaceX or others lost any satellites. Past storms like this caused the upper atmosphere to expand, which caused a few satellites in low orbits to deorbit.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Friends. I don't get it.

I understand the idea of a loan: borrow money, pay it back over time plus a fee for the favor of having more money sooner.

I understand having a company and taking out a loan: borrow money to do something to help the company make more money and pay it off... but it's OK you made enough that it was a good idea.

But HOW can someone borrow money to BUY a company then say the cost of the loan should go on the companies books?

I don't get it. :(

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@futurebird It wouldn't matter if the purchased company manages to pay back the loan, it would just be accounting.

But the vulture capitalists have an even better trick: borrow money to buy a company, and assign the debt to that company. Then loot the company, sell it off for parts, give big payouts to the execs of the firm that bought it, split it into pieces, then declare a major piece of the company bankrupt so the debt never has to be paid. This trick has been used to get rid of pension obligations, for example.

See https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/private-equity-is-out-of-control-and-looting-america-this-prosecutor-says-we-can-fix-it

sundogplanets, to random
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social avatar

Oh shit I'm in Toronto. Why did I agree to go to Toronto?? I better make a lot of people angry about satellites.

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@sundogplanets I am wondering how many satellites Elon lost thanks to the geomagnetic storm.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I still say Trump won't pick a VP. From what I've seen he wouldn't need to pick one legally unless he is elected... I don't see anything about voters getting to know who it would be before the election... or am I misunderstanding these rules.

There is simply no benefit to picking a VP. Too many forces want Trump gone so having a named successor is dangerous for him.

When he dies the world ends as far as he cares, why would he plan for that?

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@futurebird @pelha @AndyGER The current VP, Kamala Harris, will be presiding over the January 2025 ceremony, fortunately.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Okay, I wanted to make a joke that I can't possibly choose between dogs and cats, I can't even choose between men and women, because I'm bi-furrious. BUT I know y'all would make jokes about me in the comments, because you all are perverts. GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER!

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@RickiTarr Roxy was great (in Scott Pilgrim vs the World).

jwz, to random
@jwz@mastodon.social avatar

Blockchain Rasputin over here is mad that moderation exists.

It has been obvious to anyone paying attention that the reason Dorsey founded and funded Bluesky was with the end goal of enabling Twitter to go [Spider-Man Pointing dot GIF] any time an...
https://jwz.org/b/ykQM

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@jwz I feel better about the bridge with BlueSky now that the asshole with the weird beard is gone.

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@jwz Doesn't mean I would want an account there but there a couple of people there I would like to follow.

not2b, to random
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

Europe is getting quite an #aurora show right now, thanks to a huge geomagnetic storm. Here's a link to webcams in the Alps; the main shot is at Lucknerhaus in Austria. #northernlights https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/lucknerhaus/2024/05/11/0030

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Pete McCloskey, a California congressman who raised a flag of rebellion against President Richard M. Nixon’s war policies in Vietnam with a spirited but futile race for the Republican presidential nomination in 1972, died on Wednesday at his home in Winters, Calif., west of Sacramento. He was 96.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/us/politics/pete-mccloskey-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@GottaLaff I am old enough to remember when there were Republicans who were to the left of most Southern Democrats (and when some Southern Democrats were segregationists and they hadn't become Republicans yet). Mac Mathias of Maryland was one of them that I remember.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

People on Mastodon: Assume EVERYTHING is AI, and have an extensive discussion about its dangers and possibilities under every post.

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@RickiTarr Careful: Trump is now adopting the "everything is AI" defense to deny things he's on video saying or admitting to, at least in some of his posts. He even says it about unflattering photos. So "assume everything is AI" has its dangers.

GottaLaff, to legal
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

#TrumpTrial #Trump #legal 🧵starts HERE.

REMEMBER: I can’t/won’t reply while live-posting. Please use NFL (Not For Laffy) so I can skip your reply, but NO hashtag on that. Thx.

1/…

Tyler McBrien::

Necheles rises to renew Trump's objection to Daniels testifying about any "sexual details," which she says has no relevance and is prejudicial.
By details, Merchan asks, more than just "we had sex"? Yes, Necheles says.

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@GottaLaff NFL They'll ask for a mistrial but the judge is no pushover. If the prosecution went over the line in his opinion he would have stopped it. He sustained some defense objections. And while IANAL, I don't see why a mistrial makes sense: in a trial that is about disguised payments to cover up a sexual encounter, the prosecution had the audacity to provide evidence that there was a sexual encounter?

evacide, to random
@evacide@hachyderm.io avatar

I cannot overstate how dangerous to free speech and a healthy democracy it is to redefine all anti-Zionism and criticism of the state of Israel as antisemitism. You know who's loudly critical of Zionism and the Israeli govt? Jews. A lot of Jews.

https://forward.com/fast-forward/608308/gop-democrats-antisemitism-campus-israel/

not2b,
@not2b@sfba.social avatar

@evacide Not to mention that there are plenty of people who identify as Zionists who nevertheless are outraged at the Netanyahu government (some because of the war, others because of his corruption); there are huge marches protesting against him right now.

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