@peterbutler@mas.to
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

peterbutler

@peterbutler@mas.to

CNET editor. Totally serious. No candy.

#Biking #Vegan #PingPong #LGBTAlly #Software #DiscGolf #IndieRock #BoardGames #JigsawPuzzles #Cats #PublicSchool #Parenting #Berkeley #Books #Writing #Horror #ScienceFiction #Sustainability #EconomicJustice #EndHomelessness #Libraries

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peterbutler, to random
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

"Please contact your representatives before it is too late and demand device-based verification solutions that make the internet safer while also respecting your privacy.”

Pornhub is now blocking everyone from Utah. If someone with an IP from Utah visits the site, they’ll instead see a Vimeo video from adult performer Cherie DeVille:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93kbkv/pornhub-blocks-utah-age-verification

#Pornography #Utah #Privacy #AgeVerification #CherieDeVille

shoq, to random
@shoq@mastodon.social avatar

"I regret to inform you but Bluesky is fun..and Mastodon will remain as a niche product."

Well there it is folks, Wired has spoken. Let's go home. Nothing to see here. It's all over but the IPO. Nice try, though. A plethora of venture capitalists and a cabal of fascist plutocrats think you're a swell buncha peeps. Sincerely.

https://www.wired.com/story/bluesky-is-fun/

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@shoq https://www.saramccord.com/blog/why-did-clubhouse-fail

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@John @shoq Absolutely. It’s the entire appeal. Many people have openly declared they just want “Twitter before Elon” back. We’ll see how that goes

hrheingold, to random
@hrheingold@mastodon.social avatar

Now is the time to form smaller, independent social media communities: Start a Slack, Discord, Discourse Forum, a Wordpress group blog for a small group with mutual interests. My experience suggests you need a critical mass of a dozen regular posters, and out of 100 invites, 50-70 will try it, 20-40 will stay, and a dozen regulars will keep it alive while you try to grow. It helps to have a strong mutual interest. #OnlineCommunities

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@hrheingold Reminds me of (potentially apocryphal) advice from Kurt Vonnegut:

"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.”

#KurtVonnegut #Loneliness #Community

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@hrheingold I’m also reminded of the cozy web vs. the dark forest by @maggie

https://maggieappleton.com/cozy-web

tomflood, to random

The Reckless Pedestrian shirt is now live on the site.
creativebyrovelo.com/shop

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@tomflood Love it! Thanks for adding some color options (I don’t wear black). I’m gonna ask for this one for my birthday

sepinwall, to random

The HBO miniseries #WhiteHousePlumbers takes a frantic, farcical approach to the Watergate scandal, but stars Justin Theroux, Woody Harrelson, and Lena Headey all seem to be acting in different shows. My review: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/white-house-plumbers-review-watergate-veep-treatment-hbo-nixon-woody-harrelson-justin-theroux-1234723186/

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@sepinwall Theroux is a fine actor, but there should be a rule that any mustachioed role goes to Murray Bartlett

spaf, to random
@spaf@mstdn.social avatar

I have now heard from several people that they got COVID at #RSAC. Apparently, it was a semi-super-spreader event.

People don't seem to mention this as much any more, It is as if getting COVID is expected. That's not a good expectation, especially considering the longer-term damage it can wreak on the neurological and cardio systems.

So far, @drpattie and I are COVID-free. We didn't see very many people with masks -- less than 1% but we wore them.

Best wishes for recovery to those infected.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@franktaber @spaf @drpattie That was my thought as well. I was in SF last Wednesday and saw a lot of RSA participants and very few masks, which seems ironic at a security conference 🥴

vwdasher, to random
@vwdasher@weird.autos avatar

Pop to the hardware store tonight and look what I spy in the carpark!

#VW #WeirdCarMastodon

Yellow VW Golf Mk1

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@vwdasher late ‘70s era Rabbit? 1977-78 would be my guess

timbray, to random
@timbray@cosocial.ca avatar

BTW, if you use phanpy.social, you already get what’s effectively quote-tweeting, if you paste in the URL of the post you want to quote.

I'm sure there are other clients that are doing this now?

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@timbray It feels like a bunch of the mobile clients do. I know Ice Cubes and Ivory do. As you say you just paste the URL and it displays as a quote post:

https://cosocial.ca/@timbray/110283137563582955

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@timbray Here’s how it displays on Ice Cubes

ABecenti, to random
@ABecenti@newsie.social avatar

Hello editors out there! I’m training as an editor for our publications daily focus desk. Any tips you may have, please share. Thank you! This is really out of my comfort zone.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@ABecenti Trust your writing instincts, and watch for misplaced modifiers. Heds are everything.

Don't be afraid to change writers' stuff but don't make any more edits than are absolutely needed. Consider how elderly and young readers might perceive text differently.

If you're not sure about a sentence or phrase, read it aloud. Then with a foreign accent. Ask lots of questions

Tell your writers how great they are and how much you appreciate their clean copy ;)

ct_bergstrom, to random
@ct_bergstrom@fediscience.org avatar

For the entire span of my life, people have tried to develop AI systems and anticipated a day when those systems can pass the Turing Test.

Now that day has arrived, and no one seems to care about Turing Tests anymore. Why not?

Is it that

  1. We're not actually there? It would take more than a few simple patches (google the answer to arithmetic questions!) on top of ChatGPT to pass a turing test?

  2. Arriving there makes it clear that the Turing Test never was the right metric?

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@ct_bergstrom 2. And 4

simon, to random

I’m now on Bluesky, Mastodon, Nostr, Post, Planetary, Cohost and Hive. I think that’s covered most of the “Next Twitter” social networks. Have I missed any?

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@simon Spoutible

ne1for23, to random
@ne1for23@betweenthelions.link avatar

Judge warns Donald Trump 'now sailing in harm's way' after Eric Trump flouts rape trial rules

https://www.rawstory.com/eric-trump-e-jean-carroll/

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@ne1for23 Give him another warning. That will surely fix the problem

robpegoraro, to random
@robpegoraro@journa.host avatar

Phoenix hoops fans got another reason to dump their pay-TV provider: Suns and Mercury games will now be available on free over-the-air broadcasts and on a new streaming service (price TK). https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36310895/suns-mercury-broadcasts-over-air-tv-streaming

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@robpegoraro Wow! I am jealous. I thought we were never going back

Growing up, I remember watching almost every Tigers and Pistons game on WKBD-50

Even in the ‘90s, I remember watching tons of Warriors games on KICU-36

Now, I only listen to the Warriors on the radio 😭

anneapplebaum, to random
@anneapplebaum@journa.host avatar

The fact that the American political system already seems poised to produce a Trump- Biden rematch in 2024 is quite a serious indictment of that system.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/the-week-the-biden-trump-rematch-got-real

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@PennyG @anneapplebaum She’s unpopular with anticarceral Democrats b/c she was an AG and called herself the “top cop” of California

I think one reason she’s unpopular with other Democrats because the Biden administration hasn’t given her anything significant to do

paninid, to random
@paninid@mastodon.world avatar

From the horse’s mouth:

“The only way a candidate from the Right can possibly win the presidency in 2024 is by campaigning on limiting immigration (build the wall), increasing tariffs, getting out of Ukraine, and restoring law and order (especially in regards to elections and the opioid crisis).”

  • Please fear The Others™
  • Implement economic protectionism
  • Capitulate to genocide / war crimes
  • Suppress the votes of The Others™
  • Ignore mental health / suffering

https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/27/conservatives-lost-the-culture-war-and-the-trump-agenda-is-the-only-path-forward/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=act_eng&seyid=62544

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@paninid

>> Political power doesn’t flow from scoring debate points in the “free marketplace of ideas.” It comes from the willingness to impose one’s beliefs on others and possessing the resources to do so.

Old school Christian, like Crusades-style old school 😬

blogoklahoma, to random

Moment woman flips out at robot ‘receptionist’ and smashes it up with plank of wood in huge meltdown
https://www.the-sun.com/news/7981482/woman-flips-out-robot-receptionist-smashes-plank-wood-meltdown/

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@blogoklahoma “Pictures of the end”

adhdeanasl, to random
@adhdeanasl@beige.party avatar

Just gonna be honest here: To hell with bluesky; I’m at my social media limit. If Mastodon tanks, I’m going back to writing my jokes in bus station toilet stalls.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@adhdeanasl lol. When I was in 9th grade someone wrote the poem:

"Here I sit, my buns a flexin’
Giving birth to another Texan"

on the wall of a toilet stall

They signed it “The Shithouse Poet” — and everyone thought it was me (it wasn’t)

#TrueStory

micahflee, to random

A lot of criticism of Mastodon community vibes going on over at Bluesky

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@micahflee “always” … “failed” … these words do not mean what these people think they mean

always != the 6 weeks they tried Mastodon :ablobthinkingeyes:

Patricia, to random
@Patricia@vivaldi.net avatar

Bluesky is a beta. It’s too early to say on a lot of things. We need to give them a minute. Mastodon had years before the flood this fall. Bluesky is building it with users in it. It’s a beta.

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@wrd @Patricia Thanks. I agree with you that those are good metrics, but how many MAU or new registrations would make Mastodon or Bluesky a “success"? That’s hard to define, I think

50 million MAU? 100 million? Twitter currently has 556 million (?!) and Facebook has almost 3 billion, according to Statista.

I would guess Mastodon has about 1-2M right now? (Post? Spoutible?)

https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

anildash, to random
@anildash@me.dm avatar

Since some people have asked me, here's a quick thread on initial experience comparison between Bluesky and the fediverse. It's important to note that this comparison is somewhat absurd by default because Bluesky is still tiny & unproven, but there's interest so I'm happy to share what I've observed. Also, I don't get into protocol differences because honestly who cares. So:

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@Theblueone @barbarakb @anildash ew. that doesn’t bode well

jayrosen_nyu, to random
@jayrosen_nyu@mastodon.social avatar

Monday night I was on The Rachel Maddow Show to explain how ‘verification in reverse’ (that's my term for it) powers the conservative media and right wing politics.

Here's the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUTTBI0I67U

My goal was to introduce on television an idea you have not heard before on television: "verification in reverse."

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@jayrosen_nyu It feels like there’s a conspiratorial element that’s missing

All of the given “verification in reverse” examples involve a nefarious group of villains conspiring to hide the real truth

I think that’s different from another possible example of “verification in reverse” — intelligent design. The consensus on evolution is established, but it doesn’t seem to be accused (by many) of being a “deep state” plot

peterbutler,
@peterbutler@mas.to avatar

@jayrosen_nyu I’m just riffing, so not sure if there’s anything to it

It seems like there is a difference between certain types of climate change denial (“no, you’ve got it wrong — it’s all b/c of the sun” etc.) and even some antivax sentiment (those who don’t ascribe danger to a massive conspiracy)

The big difference I see is intent. With Ray Epps, etc., the goal is to stoke anger and distrust rather than merely confirm a bias/feeling, but the “verification” process could be identical

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