Q1: Tell us who you are, and give us a comic slogan to describe you current, or a recent project.
I'm a person (he/him or whatever you like) in rural NY state in the USA who doesn't make anything for my moneyjob except students who know slightly more than last month (hopefully) and maybe some statistical models and occasional papers and conference presentations.
The rest of the time I make a variety of things. This week it was more repair and decoration than construction. Comic slogan: "90% ugly, 50% functional, 0% profitable."
I have an #electricGuitar (Godin SD, circa 1999) that I messed up by blocking/decking. I got the intonation fixed with some strips of credit card-type plastic. That isn't photogenic so here is the silly design I drew on it last night after a stiff White Russian.
#MakersHour
@makershour@a.gup.pe
@MakersHour@cupoftea.social
makershour group reshared this.
Video takes a wider look at the busted caps of early 2000s PCs and other gear.
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/0…
Report: (Smaller) Museums should make admission free
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5328747/museums-free-admission-report?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Arts & Life @arts-life-npr
Anubis, from the legendary @cadey, looks really promising for confounding scrapers/bots.
GitHub - TecharoHQ/anubis: Weighs the soul of incoming HTTP requests using proof-of-work to stop AI crawlers
Weighs the soul of incoming HTTP requests using proof-of-work to stop AI crawlers - TecharoHQ/anubisGitHub
'Courage the Cowardly Dog' head writer David Steven Cohen dies at 66
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/19/nx-s1-5333316/courage-the-cowardly-dog-head-writer-david-steven-cohen-dies-at-66?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into All Things Considered @all-things-considered-npr
I've been using Ptyxis for my terminal since switching to GNOME again for a future video.
I really like it! It's nice and clean, does what a terminal should do! While I haven't tried the containerization stuff yet, it looks interesting.
The Federal Trade Commission keeps tabs on big business. Trump fired 2 of its members
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5333640/ftc-trump-firings-democrats?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Business @business-npr
Britain Issues Travel Warning for US
The change comes amid President Donald Trump's large-scale crackdown on illegal immigration.Billal Rahman (Newsweek)
Paul Cantrell reshared this.
Traveling to the US should be considered the same way as traveling to Myanmar, N. Korea or Russia
apparently 50gbps fttp is going to be a thing in british homes, possibly during this decade
openreach.com/news/openreach-a…
can't wait!
Openreach run 'hyper-fast' 50Gbps broadband line in UK first
Openreach and Nokia have successfully tested the UK’s first live 50 Gigabits per second (Gbps) broadband connection.Openreach
Dark energy is weakening and the universe could (eventually) collapse, study says
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5333843/dark-energy-weakening-universe-collapse-desi?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Space @space-npr
"Measles is arguably the most contagious infectious disease that scientists know about…Researchers have estimated that you want to see vaccination rates in the 95 percent range to protect a community."
theatlantic.com/newsletters/ar…
Why This Measles Outbreak Is Different
America’s regression could change the experience of childhood.Lora Kelley (The Atlantic)
Marianne by Christine Bee
Source: deviantart.com/christinebee/ar…
#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #ttrpg #character #characterart #art #digitalart #dndart
The image depicts a fantasy character with large, translucent purple butterfly wings. The character is standing in a dynamic pose, holding a sword in their right hand. They are wearing a red and green outfit with leaf-like patterns, complemented by red boots. The character has pointed ears and a slender build, with a confident expression. The background is a soft, cloudy white, emphasizing the character's vibrant colors and ethereal wings. The overall style is a blend of fantasy and digital art, with a focus on the character's unique features and the intricate details of their attire and wings.
Provided by @altbot, generated privately and locally using Ovis2-8B
🌱 Energy used: 0.161 Wh
After 3+ years at Forbes, Friday March 21 will be my last day.
After 20+ years of doing professional journalism, I’m moving on to a new challenge.
Short work day because morning shenanigans in town, but then I retrieved the rotavator from the tractor barn. Fixed a few small problems and greased all the things, as it was nicely painted but not a drop of grease anywhere.
Some studying of Japanese manuals (translated) and wrestling the thing on and off the 3PH twice and then... magic!
Turning the concrete field into fluffy garden soil. At sunset, sadly, so just a quick test run.
#Rotavator #Tractor #Iseki #Farm #Homestead #Gardening #Soil
This is wild: We kindly asked #X to fix their damn #TrustedFlagger online forms and for 4+ weeks nothing happens, they basically ignore our deadline.
Then we spend days preparing and filing a legal complaint under the #DigitalServicesAct for infringing Art 22(1) DSA and, within hours, X makes the changes to comply, the exact changes we asked them for.
eupolicy.social/@edri/11419568…
**This makes me:**
1. angry b/c we could have done this the easy way.
2. happy b/c it proves the DSA is a sharp sword.
EDRi (@edri@eupolicy.social)
UPDATE: ⚡Just hours after filing the complaint against X in Ireland, and sharing about it social media and on our website, we found that the previously faulty online forms misleading Trusted Flaggers had started being updated to reflect the correct E…EUpolicy.social - A Mastodon server for the EU bubble
The newly empowered fossil fascists are setting an example on #greenpeace and defenders of #standingrock, in order to deter climate activists and native communities from defending the land against #fossilfuels and extractivism.
None of this is normal. #farright Authoritarians worldwide are emboldening #oilandgas companies to act without any accountability, while #climatechange is already destroying communities.
Climate activists everywhere need to get their shit together and resist now.
Europe looks to poach US researchers as Trump cuts funding
Twelve EU capitals want programs to bring over American scholars.
🚨 Alert: The use of #Spyware and an attack on #Encryption have been tabled in the French Parliament. These measures pose a serious threat to everyone’s online privacy and security.
In an urgent letter to members of the French National Assembly, 22 digital rights organisations from all around Europe, including EDRi, call to reject the proposed articles.
edri.org/wp-content/uploads/20…
EDRi-member @LaQuadrature is mobilising against the „narcotrafic“ legislation:
laquadrature.net/en/warondrugs…
#PPLNarcotrafic
All-out mobilization against the French "war-on-drugs" law
In the midst of the media uproar over drug trafficking, a law on “drug trafficking” is passing through Parliament.La Quadrature du Net
reshared this
Good news: The provision attacking #encryption was rejected. ❤️
Bad news: The #spyware provision, allowing police the remote activation of devices' microphone and camera, passed. 💔
What's next? The French National Assembly is set to vote on the full text next week, Tuesday, 1 April. They will then begin negotiations with the French Senate before the final law can be passed.
NEW
“We will deport you if we have evidence against you, and deport you if we do not”
On an extraordinary witness statement from the US government - and how it has adopted the logic of the Ducking Stool
By me, at Prospect
prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/l…
We’ll deport you if we have evidence against you, and if we do not
On an extraordinary witness statement by the US governmentwww.prospectmagazine.co.uk
Step Aside, Schumer. The Nation Can’t Survive With You In Charge.
Dear Senator Schumer: There is no question that you are a dedicated public servant. You believe in our democracy. You believe in the norms that maintain it. You believe in its mission of bringing u…Techdirt
The airport panopticon is getting people deported and detained
Recent reports of travelers being detained, deported, and allegedly tortured by Customs and Border Protection have a common denominator: surveillance.Gaby Del Valle (The Verge)
Glyn Moody reshared this.
oh no, oh well
theverge.com/news/633272/lg-ar…
LG’s NFT marketplace for TVs is shutting down
LG Art Lab, the company’s NFT marketplace for TVs, is shutting down on June 17th, 2025.Emma Roth (The Verge)
Wow. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum officially recognizes Palestine as a state. Here she welcomes Palestinian ambassador Nadya Rasheed.
Sheinbaum is Jewish, supports Palestinian self-determination, & unapologetically condemns Netanyahu's attacks on Gaza.
Historic & inspiring leadership. ❤️✊🏽
Eugen Rochko reshared this.
I cannot believe the spam email I just got re: vibe coding being a good thing or a differentiator. cdevroe.com/2025/03/20/the-vib…
cc @simon
The vibe coding litmus test
Unsure of what vibe coding is? See Simon Willison's explanation of a term recently coined by Andrej Karpathy on X. It is a buzzword that is lighting the world in fire it seems. But IColin Devroe
Sensitive content
- theguardian.com/environment/20… "Office for Environmental Protection says targets for water quality likely to be missed, and clarifying rules may help"
Steve Reich: ‘We all wish art could counter the direction of US politics. But it can’t’
Now 88, the minimalist composer has reissued his life’s work. He answers your questions about Bowie, the Grateful Dead, spirituality – and his complicated friendship with Philip GlassDave Simpson (The Guardian)
amazon.com/dp/B0DMS9XRDM?ref=t…
This Australian sugar ant (Camponotus consobrinus) warns us to avoid approaching her nest too closely. Melbourne, Australia.
Would you say they are more bity than Camponotus pennsylvanicus?
Those mandibles do look a bit sharper.
Greenpeace verdict is ‘weaponization of legal system’, advocacy groups say
Campaigners condemn North Dakota jury’s ruling as Greenpeace must pay Energy Transfer at least $660mMarina Dunbar (The Guardian)
There's a big difference between the currently hyped AI (LLMs are mostly huge sunk costs in search of a revenue-generating application) and this sort of AI: this gets performance tested, and hard, against the data (and the existing software) and it has to show it doesn't hallucinate.
theguardian.com/technology/202…
AI-driven weather prediction breakthrough reported
Researchers say Aardvark Weather uses thousands of times less computing power and is much faster than current systemsRachel Hall (The Guardian)
Russia names former FSB officer behind Ukraine invasion to lead peace talks
Terms of proposed ceasefire remain unclear as Moscow launches airstrikes and Kyiv hits Russian airbasePjotr Sauer (The Guardian)
Thousands protest in Israel over ‘attack on democracy’ by Netanyahu
Protesters accuse PM of continuing Gaza war for political reasons and ignoring plight of hostages still held by HamasJason Burke (The Guardian)
Steven Rosenberg
in reply to Veronica Explains • • •Veronica Explains
in reply to Veronica Explains • • •Ptyxis does something really neat that I'd love to see more in GNOME apps, and that's in-app palette selection.
I certainly don't expect *everyone* to think this is a good idea but I love the idea of application developers being able to define sensible palettes while allowing users a degree of customizing the window.
When every window is the same color, it can get hard to contrast one application from another. This is the most elegant way I've been able to change that with a GNOME application.
Adam Lein
in reply to Veronica Explains • • •J.P. Wing
in reply to Veronica Explains • • •Veronica Explains
in reply to J.P. Wing • • •friendlymathperson
in reply to Veronica Explains • • •Zeeshan Ali Khan 🇺🇦
in reply to Veronica Explains • • •Veronica Explains
in reply to Zeeshan Ali Khan 🇺🇦 • • •Zeeshan Ali Khan 🇺🇦
in reply to Veronica Explains • • •Veronica Explains
in reply to Zeeshan Ali Khan 🇺🇦 • • •@zeenix This isn't exactly customization *by* the user, this is customization *offered to* the user *by* the developer.
What I'm saying is that I like this implementation, as it allows the developer to offer well contrasted and tested palettes, which the user can choose if they'd like.
I still don't see where there's a "workaround" here, sorry.
Matt Panaro
in reply to Veronica Explains • • •