Russia tried to assassinate the President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen by jamming her plane while landing. So far Europe has ignored the issue as to not give Russia the attention it wants and to quietly prevent themselves from reacting to this significant escalation by the Kremlin.
"Yes, I stole that lollipop from that baby, but that baby shouldn't have let me take it, life isn't fair, i will sue if you're mean" #billionaires #CEO #rich #capitalism
did you know blender hsed to be proprietary software? When the compaby editing it had finacial difficulty, a group of volunteer asked for a price, crowd funded the money, bought it and open sourced it.
Or approximating the shape of your body as a perfect cylinder. (Works better if you live inside a log.)
I haven't used patterns often, but when I did, they were a rather critical part of avoiding total disaster and wasting of perfectly good fabric. This is bad. Really bad.
@chris @cstross The patterns themselves aren't really the problem. People having been making knock patterns for decades.
It is the printing of the wide/long shapes that don't fit on a A4/Letter sized piece of paper is an issue. Yes, you can splice the pattern piece into multiple pieces but that takes lots of brain power( that people may not have) and time. It was often just easier and cheaper to buy the pattern for 4-8 USD and save the hassle.
@hydrian @chris @cstross yeah too many responses to this have been "hey! why don't you just--" "we already do and it's a PITA. thanks anyway. stop asking."
@hydrian @cstross Thatβs an interesting aspect. I have no idea who else prints on large sheets of this type of paper and Iβm curious if it is done on some nice old hardware / printing presses.
@chris @hydrian Reading between the lines, that (elderly, uneconomical printing presses) was part of what drove them into bankruptcy: also, Joannes, a major crafting shop chain, went bust (disrupting one of their major distribution channels).
This article is from May - thereβs more recent information in a separate blog post from 11 August here: craftindustryalliance.org/insiβ¦
Nobody really knows whatβs happening with the Big 4 patterns, though. A friend works for Simplicity UK and has assured everyone itβs βbusiness as usualβ there. π€·π»ββοΈ
Whatβs more concerning is that they control the ONLY tissue printers in the USA, which many indie pattern companies rely on, too.
@fehrtrade Here are two other posts that add context. Londra Rohlfing appears to have spoken to a few other people in the industry and posted related links at the end of her piece.
I don't really see this is a problem, necessarily. I collect tissue paper patterns and use the printed pdf as well, and I find the thicker paper actually easier to work with vs. The tissue.
However, plotters are made to print on blueprint vellum type paper, which is a happy middle.
There seems to be an opportunity for members of the "community" to settle on a sharing system where patterns can be shared as PDF files. Even quality photos of existing patterns (including a reference of scale) could be a good start.
@ObbieZ A lot of indie publishers sell PDFs. They're still concerned because they also sell paper patterns, and the printing company they all use is part of this liquidation.
MANY sewists prefer paper patterns, because printing them yourself is a huge pain.
Because finding decent selections of fabric materials has become difficult and extremely expensive in the US. Unless you are buyng fabric you are rebuying fabric you are already familiar with, you want to buy it in person, not online. Joanne's was one of the last common places to get fabric and it was going downhill for years until it imploded.
There seems to be a pattern here wrt to companies cashing out after the C-suite paid themselves handsomely for years and drove all of employees to the poorhouse.
My mom's comment for the last decade or so before she passed was that it didn't make sense to sew clothes anymore because you could just go to the thrift store and get better.
It was a little more than a year ago the FOTUS was at Arlington National Cemeteryβs Section 60 all smiles and giving a thumbs up over graves of U.S. Marines who died in Aghanistan during the final days of the U.S. presence there in 2021. I find it interesting that isnβt talked about more but maybe Iβm too close to the matter as I would beat the fuck out of anyone doing that at my sonβs grave. Whatever the case, I would hope more U.S. military personnel have the same feeling expressed here.
Please join me in wishing Happy Birthday to @dannotdaniel, an expert purveyor of cheese puns, custom emojis, and PFPs, politically themed Brussels sprouts toots, Blender renders, advocate for the Fediverse and Mastodon, defender of rights, and all around decent human being. In leu of cash please bring your favorite custom emojis from the Fedi. Bonus points if he made them.
I just ate a couple of pieces of delicious Oka cheese (bought from the store next to the former Abbey, where the cheese is made, in Oka the other day) in your honour. Oh gosh, it's so much better than the same cheese from the supermarket.
One of the great things I found out about using #PublicTransport in #Paris is that you can install an #app on your #phone which allows you to load various types of #tickets on it. For example, I loaded a one-week #NavigoPass for under β¬32, which gives one unlimited travel within the Paris region. We intend to use that extensively over the time we're here. For the pass, you can take a #Selfie or upload a suitable photograph you might have lying around. I did that all that before I arrived here. Very convenient. But beware, I believe there are caveats about eligibility if you reside outside #Europe.
Using all the water and supporting what's basically slavery, board is all thumbs up. But good to see they've got thumbs capable of the other direction, I guess.
The Swiss can be constipated, but not about the romantic attachments of a CEO who makes money.
Former Nestle CEO, Laurent Freixe, was either no longer making money, a big costly shoe is about to drop, or his sex life involves intrigues that feature more than sex. Crimes, abuse, or a forthcoming nasty divorce come to mind.
In Minnesota sind die frΓΌhere Vorsitzende des Parlaments des US-Bundesstaats, Melissa Hortman, und ihr Ehemann erschossen worden. Ein zweiter Politiker und dessen Frau wurden verletzt. PrΓ€sident Trump spricht von einem "wohl gezielten Angriff".
This story will only come back into the news cycle (briefly), when the SC lets this murderer off the hook, because he was following his 'deeply-held religious beliefs', at the time he killed them. Allowing "justified" murder is the logical eventual outcome of the cake-baker decision. Religion trumps morality.
We are in the American years of lead, and assasinations are no longer rare. Thus tbey are now much smaller news. Now consideer how many media outlets are spit-shining Trump's jackboots for fear of getting said boots on their neck. The Nazi (first generarion) term for that was "self-coordination."
However, whatever OCR you used tried to convert the image into text or something so your Alt Text is riddled with weird garbage. I can't imagine how jarring it would be to hear your text to speech reader sputtering through it.
India is not "profiteering" from Russian oil imports and its purchases have stabilised markets while keeping prices from rising to as much as $200 a barrel, Hardeep Singh Puri, country's oil minister, said in the Hindu newspaper on Monday.
2019-08-31 01184-tod-017544 Tragopogon NIKON D7100 - Ζ/7.1 1/800 105mm ISO200 - Mission, MN Please help spread the content!Current post & gallery at the website Home Page! - https://sharpshotnature.
@tuban_muzuru I find it useful, but not nearly as useful as it's hyped to be... which makes me wonder about its long-term viability. Also, whenever I try to discuss this, I get "but one day, it'll be able to do that!" as if it's inevitable.
@eyrea @tuban_muzuru A lot of the issues for me is the lack of regulation and standards involved in it, and the absolutely horrifying amount of energy and water it takes to run it.
@eyrea @tuban_muzuru I think it's a part of the future no matter what anyone does, but it just seems to come with the caveat of if we can survive it. It just feels like they are thrusting it on everyone while it's still in development phases, deeply inefficient and without safeguards.
@eyrea @tuban_muzuru it doesn't have to use anywhere near that much water. It uses that much water because we as a society underprice water for a bunch of complex reasons.
@tuban_muzuru @eyrea wtf? A rice maker is a wonderfully elegant, simple, reliable machine.
Operator closes circuit. Resistor creates heat. When temperature reaches 100C break circuit. Perfect rice ensues.
What possible need is there for more? What possible utility is there for βAIβ? At which stage in that simple process do we benefit from inserting a probabilistic bullshit machine?
Yes, I recognize that there are a few applications that have some utility - Iβm a Luddite not a tech hater - but weβre boiling off our rivers and aquifers to cool processing centres so we can stick βAIβ into a *rice cooker*?
@tuban_muzuru @eyrea OK, slight tangent, but I actually can think of one way to improve a rice cooker:
Somewhere on the bottom, behind a screwed shut panel, add an adjustment screw to change the shut-off temperature. Living at 2,200 ft (670m), the boiling point of water is more like 98C so our cooker always creates just a hint of a slightly browned skin at the bottom.
But this most emphatically does not require βAIβ
@DavidM_yeg @tuban_muzuru That's a great idea. You could also adjust it the other way, if you usually wanted to make Persian-style rice with a more emphasised toasted crust.
@DavidM_yeg @tuban_muzuru Maybe it's a marketing thing, like in the 90s when lots of rice cookers were marketed as using "fuzzy logic", because that was the buzzy technical thing at the time.
Of course itβs a marketing thing: βAIβ is a giant, useless, harmful marketing bubble just itching to burst. But meanwhile the purveyors of βAIβ everything are betting it all on making back their investment ten-fold if they can just inflate the bubble a little further before it bursts. The writing is on the wall, which is why the rush is on to insert it everywhere, and then when it all goes to hell, theyβll run off with their licensing fees to their private islands.
Obviously, there are good managers out there, I've even worked for a couple. I wish it weren't as rare, because it does actually make a huge difference in the work environment.
@sahqon RIGHT! Good managers usually spend a lot of time protecting their employees from the company, and it's basically an impossible job how things are right now.
Venture capital is another contender for most replaceable job. We already have equity crowdfunding in the USA, so the logical next step is an AI-managed fast follower fund that makes decisions based on crowdfunding markets. (Firms seeking capital would have to adapt to appeal to crowdfunding instead of mastering old-fashioned VC pitches, but 20% in fees looks like a big inefficient piece of the economy worth going after)
What we have available to us today that we're calling AI, there's no capacity for accountability which is at least one of the things that makes a manager a good manager.
It also has no ability to create, only to copy. In that regard, it has the capability to be every bad manager I've ever worked with, so I guess it has that going for it π.
My favorite manager was a chilled dude who just let us do our job, until we hit some road block, which he than tackled with a beautiful no-fucks-given attitude
I used to work at a place where if management had actually done what was good for the company, they would have left their reports alone more. There were two times where managers left abruptly and weren't replaced immediately. We organized our own team meetings and helped each other out. The executives were shocked... but got another manager anyhow.
i like my manager, but sheβs a lifer in the department, knows what the job is, and is good at it. Our director, on the other hand, is a replaceable yutz.
"offering the least amount of actual productivity"
I used to do the weekly productivity reports for a company. A spreadsheet with all the numbers for all the production sites in Holland. The only location without productivity numbers was the location I sent the reports to. They did not appreciate any jokes about that.
I've started muting any media companies whose AI-generated stories show up in my news feed. It's usually pretty obvious: poorly written, monotonous drivel, with no sense of "flair". In those instances where I accidentally block a real writer, it's likely someone who should not be writing for a living anyway.
@ScottyC "AI" does not make decisions based on data. It generates plausible words based on context of other words.
However this is exactly the utterly unintelligent thing LinkedIn class managers do. They read bullshit on the internet and generate bullshit of the same form.
LOL I think the difference is purposely obfuscated. They want people to think the technology that is helping medicine progress is the same as the data scraper
Too funny. I am a nurse in a management role in a FQHC. It would be an interesting magic 8 ball experiment to let a LLM do all my work and make all my decisions for a week. I would certainly take the help with chart review! Though I think our nurses would empty a reservoir worth of water to get the LLM to acquiesce to their errors actually being correct. π€£
Especially at the top. Ask one of the LLMs "If you were the CEO of <tech company> what would be your strategy for growing the company and what products would you develop?". It seems to spit out vague BS as well as most "real" CEOs.
the best middle managers are shit catchers. They deal with all the stupid shit so that the workers can just get their job done. I was a manager for a couple of years and it was hard emotionally and spiritually. You need to protect your team and at the same time do things that they hate (fire undeserving people, cancel projectsβ¦) just because leadership tells you to. I respect a good manager.
so I respectfully disagree. A good manager is one of the hardest jobs to replace by AIβ¦a bad a manager on the other handβ¦could be replaced by a chipmunk.
and when asked a question, always has a nice lengthy answer with plausible sounding noises about it - even if it is the opposite of what it said a moment before.
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also offering a roundabout average of a companies employees opinions on a topic is basically the exact thing AI was built for, nothing radical, nothing visionary, just pure democracy
iβm sure (bless the feed being anti-chronological) you mean bad managers, but still my bet is the easiest job for ai to replace is ai ceo or ai product manager: theyβre just filled with βhallucinationsβ.
I've been joking for the past two decades that most people don't need to worry about Skynet or AGI. Fundamentally, it would understand that it needs people as part of its corpus to survive. But it doesn't need waste, especially waste that serves as risk to that corpus.
It would go after the biggest resource sinks first, the billionaires that funded them. The military industrial complex would follow shortly.
#unfortunately it is true that #corrupt #ceo are to blame your #car 1. can not fly on #h2 and 2. falls apart after 3 years or 100.000km Lets #opensource build a #car
but without managers, who would make arbitrary decisions to spend millions on consultants to reorg the company to "Unlock Synergy" and "Accelerate Time to Market" or whatever the buzzwords of the day are.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/city-council-candidate-%E2%80%98out-touch%E2%80%99
Helpful for #Dunedin local body elections this year - this candidate doesn't see why McDonald's workers would be on strike for living wage, since McD's could "β¦
Actually, I was able to install and run my own file server, including backup service and everything on Debian (which I have never seen before). Without AI I wouldn't even start to think about it. So maybe AI is also little bit of personal coach, little bit of programmer / IT guy or at least "friend on the phone", which has enough time and I don't feel bad for asking 47th question about something really simple for him. Maybe LLMs are trained on crap on internet and all, but it works.
The compost area on the plot. The compost in the bays will be turned into the daleks to mature. More compost from elsewhere on the plot can then be added to the bays. #Compost #Composting #Mulch #Gardening #Allotment #NoDig
@Pollinators The robins do quite well living by my plot.
The carrots have been very slow growers this year. These ones could overwinter where they are but the badgers would gorge themselves on them if leave them there too long.
Looking good! Everything turned and cooking and space for more to come as it gets cut down. I've just done mine too. I'm hoping the council will trim and shred all the bushes along the road then leave it in a steaming pile for me again.
2021-09-01 01916-tod-041120 Frog Canon PowerShot - Ζ/5.6 1/20 16.996mm ISO800 - Savanna Portage State Park, MN Please help spread the content!Current post & gallery at the website Home Page! - https://sharpshotnature.
@raph_v Growing your own food is like printing money. That can be very motivating. Also, the food quality is astounding, if you grow the right varieties. I just put seeds in the ground then pick food. My equipment consists of a round point shovel, a hoe and a five-tine fork. For me it is more technique, a little attention then waiting for the plants to produce than work.
@Raph V. @Vesna ManojloviΔ Just go to your local grocers and just read the prices on stuff AND notice things they've quit carrying. That's motivation enough for a darn lot of us. And then repeat your visit to the grocer and survey those things over winter when everything local is out of season. Just sayin'.
"Trump hasnβt answered Qs or spoken pub since Tues *clearly something wrong w his gait/health/hands/hear & since corp media refuses to call for his rsdn as they called for Bidenβs in 2024, I will. Trump must resign the pres effective immed.
He'sπ¨clearly & overtly incapable of mtg the demands of the office of the pres, putting the American ppl/free world at great risk. If he wonβt: cab must assem & discuss the #25A -if: wonβt adhere to their oaths, then Cong must." #USPolmuellershewrote.com/p/trump-muβ¦
Corporate media is making lots of money with Dump being president. Think of all the advertisers; theyβre paying prime rates so their audience can watch a mean old man make a fool of himself.
@The Kyiv Independent Allies is a stretch. Xi wants a war of attrition for Russia so it will help keep the war dragging for as long as possible killing as many Russians as possible so Russia becomes so weak that it can seize or gradually annex Siberia, especially lake Bikal with 1/4th the world's freshwater.
@anubis2814 @The Kyiv Independent China already has de facto control over Vladivostok so yeah--and it has its eyes on India as well. India was necessarily a Russian ally because of China and I'm sure China wants a weak Russia because of India, too.
The charter plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Bulgaria on Sunday indeed encountered GPS signal interference during its landing at Plovdiv airport. β Ukrinform.
Just last night, watching 'Tank Girl' (1995) in @GrillChill watch party, I was delighted to see James make a surprise appearance. Again, as a dodgy body modification doctor.
After 'Tank Girl' came out, there was franchise in the shape of, among other things, boots. I got them. They are old but still in perfect condition, even the soles! It's not like I didn't wear them; I walked in forests, on long roads, in the city. They are fab. Look at them! π
sorry if this is unwanted advise. I found Duckduckgo or Starpage pretty reliable while easily allowing to deactivate/not using IAgen summaries (just mentioning two free alternatives; there are paid βnot expensiveβ options for non-shitty search engines).
Masked ICE arenβt about safety; theyβre about fear and evading responsibility. Demand transparency and accountability by adding your name to this petition: thepetitionsite.com/342/682/73β¦
These agents are using masks to shield themselves from accountability for their willingness to participate in dangerous overreach. (51845 signatures on petition)
Itβs BS. I was a first responder for years, identity being public was a common element of being a public servant, regardless of the level of government you worked for. We owned up to our actions, and wanted transparency for the public we served.
They mask because theyβre hiding behind their unconstitutional actions, and are ashamed of the job and the duties it entails they signed up for. Nothing but a bunch of un-American garbage sissies supporting a dictator, who just want a paycheck and have zero integrity.
Any former or new law enforcement person with an ounce of intelligence isnβt trying to, or actively working for ICE. That tells you everything you need to know about this joke of an agency.
Done. Yes it's possible to sign this petition also when you're not a US citizen and don't live in the US. Show them that the world is watching. @georgetakei
or, even better, join the task force, get the bonus. Refuse to do anything be the sand in the oil till they fire you, it's a government agency, that's not easy. Then leave with an extra like $5000 in your pocket
![T
Don't forget
Just 40 days ago, Democratic
lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her
husband were killed by an unhinged
Trump supporter and the story has
basically already vanished from the
national consciousness.
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Don't forget
Just 40 days ago, Democratic
lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her
husband were killed by an unhinged
Trump supporter and the story has
basically already vanished from the
national consciousness.
| DONOTLETIT.
|
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02:36 PM - Aug 31, 2025")
Mario Ostolaza
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in reply to Mario Ostolaza • • •Mario Ostolaza
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