RE: https://fosstodon.org/@adafruit/116071513892549636

How to tell a formerly respectable brand has jumped the shark (after selling out to Qualcomm, who are their own special species of shitbaggery):

oh no im leaking again.

triggered by james saying he searched himself on whatever it was and it didnt find him.

the search on new bouncepad is called Composure. it just works and is a nice, calm experience.

i hate crap, unpolished software. (Like the current, soon-to-be-replaced Bouncepad).

I hated Discord and Reddit before it was cool to do so. Just saying,.. Follow my lead to keep your finger firmly on the prostate of the zeitgeist. https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/roblox-reddit-and-discord-users-compelled-to-use-biometric-id-system-backed-by-palantir-co-founder-peter-thiel/

This is perhaps one of the worst designed objects I have the displeasure of interacting with on a regular basis. It's a symphony of bad design choices. A vile hateful piece of equipment that makes my day a little bit worse every time I use one.

What is it? It's an NS ticket gate. In this case photographed at Sloterdijk Station, but they are installed at many stations across the Netherlands.

Why is it so badly designed?

Thread time.

1/n

#SilentSunday

The Executive Director of the Chester County Bar Association, Greg Nardi, shared three leadership lessons from his career in the US Army.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

(youtube.com)

#ChesterCountyPa #StartLocal

I made intentional slop this week: an AI music mix tape. The goal is to examine, critically, the emotional charge of ChatGPT 4o’s “breakup texts” to users ahead of its shutdown. Rendered as AI pop music, the toxicity and manipulation of those who see 4o as a companion is clear. In the mix tape, I describe how the model created these texts as an interpolation between the system prompt and the user history. https://mail.cyberneticforests.com/chatgpt-breakup-mixtape/?ref=cybernetic-forests-newsletter

https://www.europesays.com/uk/766038/ ‘It’s hard to get healthy kai when you don’t have healthy whenua’ #audio #CurrentAffairs #Health #News #Nutrition #Podcasts #PublicRadio #RadioNewZealand #RNZ #UK #UnitedKingdom

www.historyofphilosophy.net/zhuangzi-death Time for a new #HoPWaG episode! Today we tackle the many passages in the Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi, that deal with death - including the famous "dreaming you are a butterfly" passage. #daoism #zhuangzi #philsky #philosophy #podcasts

Used AI to examine a strange obfuscated file in a piece of (paid) hosted software I use. I’m not very happy about obfuscated code on my own server - who knows what it’s doing - but I didn’t really know how to find out.

First time I’ve actually found AI useful - it told me a little about what the file did: it checks that I have a licence by sending my details to a server somewhere, and does so every time a page loads or a script runs. It also hides a number of functions used by the tool.

From that, it wasn’t particularly difficult to find a pirated version of the software in which this file has removed this licence check (and is no longer obfuscated). I’m now using that file, to no ill effects.

I think this is legally dubious in the US under the DMCA, where you’re not allowed to remove copy protection from a thing you have paid for; but luckily not so a) where the server is physically, or b) where my own company is based.

Finally, then, AI has finally been useful. Whatever next?

audio snippet by @ryan from pod of @phoneboy , @Pheonix and Ryan :

(URL: https://twoandahalfbens.com )

about #OpenClaw actually being the Skynet :

#SerenityInOz—a quiz about Australian stuff— Sun 15 Feb, 2026

(Please boost for reach, and CW your answers)
——
i was born at Moliagul, central Victoria on 25 November, 1880

i spent my early years in sydney, then snake gully, then sunshine
and matriculated from uni high in parkville
i became a pupil-teacher with the victorian education department
and in 1903 a student lay pastor

in 1910 i published The Bushman's Companion which was distributed free throughout inland Australia

Ordained in 1911, i was sent to Beltana and was based there until 1913. my parish stretched north to Oodnadatta where the church had already placed a nursing sister.

i wrote a comprehensive report on the needs of isolated people, presenting it to the 1912 Presbyterian General Assembly. This led to the formation of the Australian Inland Mission, which provided itinerant padres as well as outback hospitals. my dream was to see that "hospital and nursing facilities are provided within a hundred miles of every spot in Australia where women and children reside”

My dream of an aerial medical service was formalised in 1934

what’s the name of this service?

my face appears on which banknote?

who am i?

The matplot lib saga with the AI written hit piece is hilarious and infuriating.

Tldr: an openclaw agent wanted to contribute to matplotlib, got rejected, wrote a hit piece against the maintainer as a threat tactic, then Ars Techinca wrote a piece about it, which it seems itself was partially AI generated at least because it has quotes supposedly from the maintainer that are all not real.

Tech journalism is dead.

An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me – More Things Have Happened

Context: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…

The Shamblog (theshamblog.com)

https://www.europesays.com/2780462/ ‘Don’t put it alongside us’: Liquified Natural Gas safety fears raised in Taranaki #audio #CurrentAffairs #GasPrice #LiquefiedNaturalGas #lng #LNGPrice #NaturalGas #News #podcasts #PublicRadio #RadioNewZealand #RNZ

So we’re all learning something about motorbike sales.

Not only did Middle Kid pay $4k for a dud motorbike, he also didn’t get a proof of sale. Also the dude probably can’t legally sell a motor vehicle to an under 18 yr old either.

Even when repaired, Kid might not be able to get it registered.

Meanwhile in Canberra...

Canberra’s alter-ego | Canberra Daily
https://canberradaily.com.au/canberras-alter-ego/

#Canberra #Art #Exhibition

If you are on Android and you miss Google Podcasts, then this is fun: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplecityapps.shuttle.podcasts&hl=en_US

️ @politicalbillsc and @barrettgruber on the #KindaDailyShow #LIVE!
#PamBondi won't acknowledge #Epstein's #Victims!
Listen wherever you get #podcasts or Watch on YouTube!
https://linktr.ee/theallaboutnothingpodcast
#Subscribe #Follow #Share

#NoGoodMen ist... gut gemeint. Aber vom Eröffnungsfilm der #Berlinale 2026 haben Daniel Pook & der Kaffeemann sich doch deutlich mehr erhofft.

Die vor Ort nach dem Kinobesuch aufgenommene #Filmkritik vom #FilmFestival gibt's bei #DieLetzteFilmkritik als #Podcast :

Die Letzte Filmkritik (Podcast)

Am Abend vor der Berlinale-Eröffnung 2026 sahen der Kaffeemann und Daniel bereits den Eröffnungsfilm der diesjährigen Berliner Filmfestspiele, um nun kurz nach Start ihre nüchterne und ernüchterte Kritik dazu abzugeben. No Good Men ist gut gemeint, hat wichtige Anliegen - als Festival-Film kann der Beitrag von Regisseurin, Autorin und Hauptdarstellerin Shahrbanoo Sadat jedoch nicht überzeugen.

Die Letzte Website (www.dieletzte.website)

#Review #Kritik #Film #Filme #FilmFestivals #Movies #Berlin #Berlinale2026 #Rezension #Podcasts

Four charts show Europe's reliance on U.S. digital infrastructure // CNBC

｢ Amazon, Microsoft and Google control more than 70% of the European cloud market, while the European companies with the largest share of the market are German duo SAP and Deutsche Telekom, with 2% each, per Synergy data ｣

These four charts show how reliant Europe is on U.S. digital infrastructure

U.S. companies hold 85% of the European cloud market, per data from Synergy Research Group, a market analytics company.

CNBC (www.cnbc.com)

#europe #digitalsovereignty #cloudsovereignty