@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

tokensane

@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk

Married, software dev, geek, science fiction fan, Linux user. searchable.

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tokensane, to random
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

George Monbiot (who I think is @georgemonbiot) has written about a local conspiracy theorist. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/may/04/youre-going-to-call-me-a-holocaust-denier-now-are-you-george-monbiot-comes-face-to-face-with-his-local-conspiracy-theorist

Its a disturbing read. Anyone who pays attention to politics will have opinions on which bits of media are systematically misleading us and why so many people swallow their line. So where does that become a conspiracist fantasy?

Hats off to Monbiot: I couldn't have stayed focussed on what this guy said: I'd have given in to the temptation to argue.

ChrisMayLA6, to politics
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Jonathan Freedland offers a summary of where we are:

'The Tories are so unpopular because so much is broken & there is not enough money to fix it. Right now, that is the Tories’ problem, one that promises to sweep them out of power. But once it has, it will become Labour’s problem. And it could hardly be more daunting'!

Of course, there being 'not enough money' is Tory policy not a fiscal fact, but otherwise this offers a fair/concise signpost to our future (I think).

#politics #Election2024

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 There's an easy get out to the promise to stick with the Tory "fiscal rectitude". Just declare that you are following the rule they followed in one of their 14 years in power, rather than just the last one.

tokensane, to random
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

Happy Star Wars Day!

#StarWarsDay #MayTheFourthBeWithYou

gwynnion, to random
@gwynnion@mastodon.social avatar

Upon finding out 99% of NYU protesters were indeed students, Republican Councilwoman Vickie Paladino decided they all have to die.

It feels like Democrats should stop helping these people in their war on students and higher education?

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@gwynnion She sounds exactly like talking about a disobedient dog.

mattblaze, to photography
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

#photography nerdetry:

I have a pretty developed and deliberate approach to the photos I make, in that I generally have a fairly clear vision of the final result I want to achieve when I'm capturing something, even for details like contrast and tonality.

Except for color toning. I almost never have any idea whether I will add a sepia tint or whatever. I'm totally ad hoc and inconsistent about this, and I often go back and forth several times before settling on a final version.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@mattblaze That thing you do, that you've spent countless hours working on? I've decided that you're doing it wrong.

arstechnica, to random
@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

The BASIC programming language turns 60

Easy-to-use programming language that drove Apple, IBM, and Commodore PCs debuted in 1964.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/the-basic-programming-language-turns-60/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@arstechnica
This was my first computer programming book.

https://www.carousell.sg/p/vintage-1980s-illustrating-basic-a-simple-programming-language-1196314968/

GreenFire, to random
@GreenFire@mstdn.social avatar

In July 2022, the price of a used Tesla Model Y (2021 model year) was $71,000. Today, it’s $32,000, reports Edmunds. Most remarkably, a used Tesla Model 3 is now cheaper than the average used gasoline vehicle.

Because of sophisticated cooling hardware and management software, most batteries are expected to outlive their car. Replacing the battery is unlikely to pay the full price of $6,500 to $20,000 cost. Warranty policies generally cover batteries when they fall below 75% of original capacity

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@GreenFire AIUI they also don't need cobalt, so no dependency on child slaves in the Congo.

aral, to random
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

Folks: there’s no alternative to capitalism.

Capitalism: Hello! Today I created a potentially deadly new pandemic by feeding ground-up chicken shit and other poultry waste to cows because profit!

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@aral The fundamental problem here is that both these statements are true.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@aral
/1
I assume you're asking for a cite on "no alternative to capitalism" one.

I don't have a single cite, but I'll try to lay out my thinking in brief.

If we want running water, sewage disposal, electricity, modern medicine, mechanised farming, transport faster than a horse etc then we need a high-tech civilisation. Going back to 1700 is not an option.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@aral
/2
Hi-tech civ requires large-scale organisation. Any tech product has a BOM of hundreds or thousands of parts. There are tens of millions of different products. E.g. https://www.rs-online.com/ 500,000 products alone. Getting the right number to the right place is a huge problem.

So far we have two models.
1: central planning. That has many failure modes. The USSR provides a good case study. I can go in to more detail if you are interested.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@aral
/3
2: Decentralised planning mediated by money. Current implementation: capitalism.

Could there be a different implementation of money-based planning? Possibly, but I haven't seen a credible one yet. Closest one is worker-cooperative model, but that only manages steady-state, not investment in innovation and Schumpterian creative-destruction. For that you need investors. So we come back to capitalism.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@aral
/4
Also, worker co-ops are just as likely to feed poultry waste to cows as capitalist companies are: same pressures, same response.

So I'm in favour of a "kinder gentler capitalism" built around free health care, Basic Income and stronger regulation, but still in a fundamentally capitalist mode of economic organisation.

Does that answer your question? I'm happy to engage further.

dougiec3, to random
@dougiec3@libretooth.gr avatar

Keep in mind that the US does not have a health care system. It has an insurance/medical industry.
https://www.propublica.org/article/cigna-medical-director-doctor-patient-preapproval-denials-insurance

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@CivilityFan @dougiec3 Worse, they're not being paid to review, they're being paid to nope the claims with their authority as doctors.

renegadejade, to random
@renegadejade@hachyderm.io avatar

Caught between “haha, get fucked fascists” and the reminder that simply using a restroom risks violence.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@eliocamp @renegadejade Thanks. I was going to ask, but you got there first.

ChrisMayLA6, to random
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Tomorrow morning the Home Office starts to round up the migrants they expect to try to send to Rwanda... I saw round up, but actually they're expecting to pick up (some of) their victims when they attend regular/scheduled meetings with officials.

These currently 'free' migrants will then be detained ahead of flights to Rwanda.

(again) if the money spent on this viscous & inhumane policy was spent on integrating migrants into British society, it would be much more cost effective!

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@JetlagJen @ChrisMayLA6 This has that Nazi "report for resettlement" vibe.

cherold, to random
@cherold@zirk.us avatar

I think everyone should read this @tkanefield piece on what's going on in the Trump trial, simply because if he's not convicted then instead of freaking out and raging you'll say, "oh yeah, that was a distinct possibility. Kinda sucks, but I get why."

She's not saying he won't be convicted (she says the odds are that he probably will) but she explains why it's not the slam dunk some people think it is.

Also, law is kinda interesting if it's explained well.

https://terikanefield.com/wheres-the-beef-trumps-manhattan-criminal-case-and-some-mind-bending-legal-puzzles/

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@cherold @tkanefield Trump obtained sexual services from Daniels with a promise of putting her on his show and rigging the contest in her favour, when he had no intention of doing so. Could that be fraud? If so, could that be the predicate crime? Or are contracts for sex unenforceable?

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@cherold @tkanefield It's not fraud to break a contract, but it is fraud to make a contract without ever intending to fulfil your side. And this is already part of the defence story, so rowing back on it is going to be hard.

rexsin, to Life Russian
@rexsin@mastodon.social avatar

The chase
#life #animals #cat #caturday #catsofmastodon​

video/mp4

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@rexsin I'm sure there's a video game in there.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@Salvo @Seagoon_ I know this isn't a good situation, but could you do something with a WiFi extender?

glynmoody, to ireland
@glynmoody@mastodon.social avatar

plans to send seekers back to under emergency law - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/28/ireland-plans-to-send-asylum-seekers-back-to-uk-under-emergency-law "Taoiseach wants to reduce arrivals through Northern Ireland amid concern that Sunak’s plan is driving people to Ireland" this is going to end in tears...

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@glynmoody So a gets to NI, crosses the border to Eire, and applies for . Eire wants to push them back, but UK will send the refugee to Rwanda, which isn't safe. So now the refugee has a cast-iron case for claiming asylum in Eire.

This might decrease asylum claims in the UK, but it will do nothing to .

tokensane, (edited ) to random
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

I've got 3 takes on the dog business, going from this story on the BBC:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68909801

  1. The dog (fair enough).
  2. The goat (not so fair).
  3. The way she talks about it (horrible).

I'll tackle each in a separate post for space.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

2/3: The Goat.
Then #Noem decided that while she was about it she'd kill an old goat too, because she hated it: it was was "nasty and mean", smelled "disgusting, musky, rancid" and would knock her children down.

So she shot it. And then had to walk back to the truck and get another round because the goat survived the first one. So not a clean kill. Didn't occur to her to have a second round handy.

Unlike the dog, this wasn't from necessity, it was from hatred.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

3/3: How #Noem talks about it.

She doesn't feel sadness or regret over the need to kill Cricket, or the needless suffering of the goat. Instead she talks about her hatred, and her willingness to channel that hatred into doing "ugly" things.

So we must presume that she is willing to do "ugly" things to people she hates as well. That's ... not something you want in a president.

“I guess if I were a better politician I wouldn’t tell the story here.”. Classic humble-brag. "I'm just folks".

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@Ultraverified Probably depends on whether they want to see ugly things done to people they hate.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@Ultraverified
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant that the people of SD, or anywhere else, will vary in their opinion depending.

NanoRaptor, to random
@NanoRaptor@bitbang.social avatar

Same picture. Same bullshit.

A report card from year 10. It reads in part: English, Grade A, Dana is a very able and talented student who does not always give of her best. This failure to invest much energy in her English prevents her from achieving her full potential although this is not the say that this work is of an inferior standard. Also, Mathematics (Advanced), Grade A, Dana is a keen student but her work lacks discipline. She has a lot of ability but this needs further development.

tokensane,
@tokensane@mastodon.me.uk avatar

@NanoRaptor Fully agree with the comments on the "Quiet Quitters" post. You absolutely don't owe your employer more than the contracted effort, unless they offer more money.

But at school "coasting" is a danger sign. Eventually you hit the point where coasting doesn't work any more, and you don't have the study skills or habits. Bright teenagers often flame out at this point.

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