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Top 10 Hacker Movies You’ve Missed
Who Am I? (2014)Introduction
Yeah, I’m doing one of these.
I’m going to list and rank ten movies that feature hackers as major characters or hacking itself as a major plot point and discuss what makes them good or bad.
I am purposefully not including WarGames, Sneakers, Hackers or Swordfish, all movies that have existing rabid fans and detractors in the hacking scene.
10. Prime Risk (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiU7hkMe4_M
Prime Risk is a weird movie, despite how much they talk about hackers and computers it is obvious that the writers had no idea about either so we get an odd movie about electronics causing ATMs to spit out money. Add in a conspiracy by a shadowy cabal to undermine the entire financial system and you have something approximating a coherent movie.
I like that the hacker in this is a woman though, and her sidekick is a goofy guy.
9. Hide and Seek (1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjQnucHby8Y
This movie is based on a sci-fi novel from 1977 but it is essentially a lower budget Canadian WarGames, there’s a certain charm to it though.
A high-school student hacker befriends a rogue AI and mischief ensues before the plot takes a hard left turn into averting nuclear disaster.
8. Takedown (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbgDMYy9mzM
This movie about Kevin Mitnick caused so much controversy, as he was still in prison when they started filming it, that it never saw a proper release. You can find copies online though.
Skeet Ulrich is serviceable as Mitnick, Donal Logue is great as Lewis de Payne and if you can separate the film from the actual story and person it was based on and just see it as a work of fiction it becomes a lot more watchable.
7. Blackhat (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CA95Bzpy7s
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this movie, I watched it and then heard there was a director’s cut that was longer and more cohesive. I purchased a special edition Blu-ray so I could watch the director’s cut and I still don’t know how I feel about it.
A lot of people in the hacking scene hate it, but it looks great, it is very visually stylish and Mann seems really engaged with the subject matter. Chris Hemsworth is miscast though, or he was told to act in a way that renders his character an emotionless hulk for most of the movie.
6. The Net (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHYQjHrhKY
I really like this movie, it meanders a bit in the middle but the overall concept is tight and if you can ignore the hand waving over whether any of it is technically possible you will have a good time.
Sandra Bullock is great and the plot captures genuine anxiety from the mid-90s as to how this thing called the internet was steadily encroaching on people’s lives and threatening to change society.
You can find a video I made about it over at the YouTube channel.
5. 23 (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDWU4RBtds
The first of two German hacker movies on this list, it is set in the 80s and really feels like it. I’ll warn you now though this is based on the real life case of young German hackers who handed data over to the Soviet government, it does not have a happy ending.
You may have trouble tracking down a copy with english subtitles for this one, I don’t think there is any dubbed version.
I’ve made a video on this movie over on my YouTube channel.
4. Masterminds (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5gtXzHnN7M
This is an action comedy with Patrick Stewart holding a school full of rich kids hostage while a teen hacker who was previously expelled from the school tries to thwart his plans.
The plot moves along quickly, there is a satisfactory amount of action and Patrick Stewart makes a wonderful villain, I recommend checking it out.
3. Enemy of the State (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3mrRv-1khI
I recently rewatched this movie, having originally seen it in the cinema when it came out with my local 2600 meetup, and I still like it. The concerns over privacy seem really outdated now, as we all hand over so much data to corporations and the government.
It is a solid movie about a man (Will Smith) who isn’t the most technically minded person finding himself up against a vast and nefarious surveillance apparatus. Plus you get Jamie Kennedy and Jack Black as smart ass government hackers, I feel like both of them played similar roles in multiple movies.
2. Who Am I (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vnjheCqRIs
The second German movie on this list, I love this movie. A dark thriller about a young man who joins a sort of Anonymous like hacker group, has various thrills and spills with them before disaster strikes.
A little bit Mr Robot, you need to check this movie out if you like your hacker movies with tangled plots and absolutely soaked in paranoia.
1. The Steal (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBxvGaIK2eE
I only discovered this movie recently and until it appeared on some streaming services it was quite hard to track down.
It is a whimsical British crime caper involving a free spirited American con artist and an uptight British computer programmer being pursued by a British aristocrat, while they try to drain bank accounts belonging to an evil corporation.
Hacking and social engineering play a heavy role in the movie and I love the cast.
You can watch the entire movie on YouTube, linked above.
Conclusion
I was going to include some honorable mentions here, but honestly there are so many movies I could have added to this list that a follow up blog is inevitable.
If you enjoyed this blog head on over to Bluesky for similar thoughts on hackers in pop culture.
#23 #Blackhat #EnemyOfTheState #film #films #Germany #hackers #hacking #HideAndSeek #history #KevinMitnick #list #Masterminds #Mitnick #Movies #PrimeRisk #Sneakers #Swordfish #Takedown #TheNet #TheSteal #WarGames #WarGames #Webmaster #WhoAmI_
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Top 10 Hacker Movies You’ve Missed
Who Am I? (2014)Introduction
Yeah, I’m doing one of these.
I’m going to list and rank ten movies that feature hackers as major characters or hacking itself as a major plot point and discuss what makes them good or bad.
I am purposefully not including WarGames, Sneakers, Hackers or Swordfish, all movies that have existing rabid fans and detractors in the hacking scene.
10. Prime Risk (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiU7hkMe4_M
Prime Risk is a weird movie, despite how much they talk about hackers and computers it is obvious that the writers had no idea about either so we get an odd movie about electronics causing ATMs to spit out money. Add in a conspiracy by a shadowy cabal to undermine the entire financial system and you have something approximating a coherent movie.
I like that the hacker in this is a woman though, and her sidekick is a goofy guy.
9. Hide and Seek (1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjQnucHby8Y
This movie is based on a sci-fi novel from 1977 but it is essentially a lower budget Canadian WarGames, there’s a certain charm to it though.
A high-school student hacker befriends a rogue AI and mischief ensues before the plot takes a hard left turn into averting nuclear disaster.
8. Takedown (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbgDMYy9mzM
This movie about Kevin Mitnick caused so much controversy, as he was still in prison when they started filming it, that it never saw a proper release. You can find copies online though.
Skeet Ulrich is serviceable as Mitnick, Donal Logue is great as Lewis de Payne and if you can separate the film from the actual story and person it was based on and just see it as a work of fiction it becomes a lot more watchable.
7. Blackhat (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CA95Bzpy7s
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this movie, I watched it and then heard there was a director’s cut that was longer and more cohesive. I purchased a special edition Blu-ray so I could watch the director’s cut and I still don’t know how I feel about it.
A lot of people in the hacking scene hate it, but it looks great, it is very visually stylish and Mann seems really engaged with the subject matter. Chris Hemsworth is miscast though, or he was told to act in a way that renders his character an emotionless hulk for most of the movie.
6. The Net (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHYQjHrhKY
I really like this movie, it meanders a bit in the middle but the overall concept is tight and if you can ignore the hand waving over whether any of it is technically possible you will have a good time.
Sandra Bullock is great and the plot captures genuine anxiety from the mid-90s as to how this thing called the internet was steadily encroaching on people’s lives and threatening to change society.
You can find a video I made about it over at the YouTube channel.
5. 23 (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDWU4RBtds
The first of two German hacker movies on this list, it is set in the 80s and really feels like it. I’ll warn you now though this is based on the real life case of young German hackers who handed data over to the Soviet government, it does not have a happy ending.
You may have trouble tracking down a copy with english subtitles for this one, I don’t think there is any dubbed version.
I’ve made a video on this movie over on my YouTube channel.
4. Masterminds (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5gtXzHnN7M
This is an action comedy with Patrick Stewart holding a school full of rich kids hostage while a teen hacker who was previously expelled from the school tries to thwart his plans.
The plot moves along quickly, there is a satisfactory amount of action and Patrick Stewart makes a wonderful villain, I recommend checking it out.
3. Enemy of the State (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3mrRv-1khI
I recently rewatched this movie, having originally seen it in the cinema when it came out with my local 2600 meetup, and I still like it. The concerns over privacy seem really outdated now, as we all hand over so much data to corporations and the government.
It is a solid movie about a man (Will Smith) who isn’t the most technically minded person finding himself up against a vast and nefarious surveillance apparatus. Plus you get Jamie Kennedy and Jack Black as smart ass government hackers, I feel like both of them played similar roles in multiple movies.
2. Who Am I (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vnjheCqRIs
The second German movie on this list, I love this movie. A dark thriller about a young man who joins a sort of Anonymous like hacker group, has various thrills and spills with them before disaster strikes.
A little bit Mr Robot, you need to check this movie out if you like your hacker movies with tangled plots and absolutely soaked in paranoia.
1. The Steal (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBxvGaIK2eE
I only discovered this movie recently and until it appeared on some streaming services it was quite hard to track down.
It is a whimsical British crime caper involving a free spirited American con artist and an uptight British computer programmer being pursued by a British aristocrat, while they try to drain bank accounts belonging to an evil corporation.
Hacking and social engineering play a heavy role in the movie and I love the cast.
You can watch the entire movie on YouTube, linked above.
Conclusion
I was going to include some honorable mentions here, but honestly there are so many movies I could have added to this list that a follow up blog is inevitable.
If you enjoyed this blog head on over to Bluesky for similar thoughts on hackers in pop culture.
#23 #Blackhat #EnemyOfTheState #film #films #Germany #hackers #hacking #HideAndSeek #history #KevinMitnick #list #Masterminds #Mitnick #Movies #PrimeRisk #Sneakers #Swordfish #Takedown #TheNet #TheSteal #WarGames #WarGames #Webmaster #WhoAmI_
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Top 10 Hacker Movies You’ve Missed
Who Am I? (2014)Introduction
Yeah, I’m doing one of these.
I’m going to list and rank ten movies that feature hackers as major characters or hacking itself as a major plot point and discuss what makes them good or bad.
I am purposefully not including WarGames, Sneakers, Hackers or Swordfish, all movies that have existing rabid fans and detractors in the hacking scene.
10. Prime Risk (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiU7hkMe4_M
Prime Risk is a weird movie, despite how much they talk about hackers and computers it is obvious that the writers had no idea about either so we get an odd movie about electronics causing ATMs to spit out money. Add in a conspiracy by a shadowy cabal to undermine the entire financial system and you have something approximating a coherent movie.
I like that the hacker in this is a woman though, and her sidekick is a goofy guy.
9. Hide and Seek (1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjQnucHby8Y
This movie is based on a sci-fi novel from 1977 but it is essentially a lower budget Canadian WarGames, there’s a certain charm to it though.
A high-school student hacker befriends a rogue AI and mischief ensues before the plot takes a hard left turn into averting nuclear disaster.
8. Takedown (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbgDMYy9mzM
This movie about Kevin Mitnick caused so much controversy, as he was still in prison when they started filming it, that it never saw a proper release. You can find copies online though.
Skeet Ulrich is serviceable as Mitnick, Donal Logue is great as Lewis de Payne and if you can separate the film from the actual story and person it was based on and just see it as a work of fiction it becomes a lot more watchable.
7. Blackhat (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CA95Bzpy7s
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this movie, I watched it and then heard there was a director’s cut that was longer and more cohesive. I purchased a special edition Blu-ray so I could watch the director’s cut and I still don’t know how I feel about it.
A lot of people in the hacking scene hate it, but it looks great, it is very visually stylish and Mann seems really engaged with the subject matter. Chris Hemsworth is miscast though, or he was told to act in a way that renders his character an emotionless hulk for most of the movie.
6. The Net (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHYQjHrhKY
I really like this movie, it meanders a bit in the middle but the overall concept is tight and if you can ignore the hand waving over whether any of it is technically possible you will have a good time.
Sandra Bullock is great and the plot captures genuine anxiety from the mid-90s as to how this thing called the internet was steadily encroaching on people’s lives and threatening to change society.
You can find a video I made about it over at the YouTube channel.
5. 23 (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDWU4RBtds
The first of two German hacker movies on this list, it is set in the 80s and really feels like it. I’ll warn you now though this is based on the real life case of young German hackers who handed data over to the Soviet government, it does not have a happy ending.
You may have trouble tracking down a copy with english subtitles for this one, I don’t think there is any dubbed version.
I’ve made a video on this movie over on my YouTube channel.
4. Masterminds (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5gtXzHnN7M
This is an action comedy with Patrick Stewart holding a school full of rich kids hostage while a teen hacker who was previously expelled from the school tries to thwart his plans.
The plot moves along quickly, there is a satisfactory amount of action and Patrick Stewart makes a wonderful villain, I recommend checking it out.
3. Enemy of the State (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3mrRv-1khI
I recently rewatched this movie, having originally seen it in the cinema when it came out with my local 2600 meetup, and I still like it. The concerns over privacy seem really outdated now, as we all hand over so much data to corporations and the government.
It is a solid movie about a man (Will Smith) who isn’t the most technically minded person finding himself up against a vast and nefarious surveillance apparatus. Plus you get Jamie Kennedy and Jack Black as smart ass government hackers, I feel like both of them played similar roles in multiple movies.
2. Who Am I (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vnjheCqRIs
The second German movie on this list, I love this movie. A dark thriller about a young man who joins a sort of Anonymous like hacker group, has various thrills and spills with them before disaster strikes.
A little bit Mr Robot, you need to check this movie out if you like your hacker movies with tangled plots and absolutely soaked in paranoia.
1. The Steal (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBxvGaIK2eE
I only discovered this movie recently and until it appeared on some streaming services it was quite hard to track down.
It is a whimsical British crime caper involving a free spirited American con artist and an uptight British computer programmer being pursued by a British aristocrat, while they try to drain bank accounts belonging to an evil corporation.
Hacking and social engineering play a heavy role in the movie and I love the cast.
You can watch the entire movie on YouTube, linked above.
Conclusion
I was going to include some honorable mentions here, but honestly there are so many movies I could have added to this list that a follow up blog is inevitable.
If you enjoyed this blog head on over to Bluesky for similar thoughts on hackers in pop culture.
#23 #Blackhat #EnemyOfTheState #film #films #Germany #hackers #hacking #HideAndSeek #history #KevinMitnick #list #Masterminds #Mitnick #Movies #PrimeRisk #Sneakers #Swordfish #Takedown #TheNet #TheSteal #WarGames #WarGames #Webmaster #WhoAmI_
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Top 10 Hacker Movies You’ve Missed
Who Am I? (2014)Introduction
Yeah, I’m doing one of these.
I’m going to list and rank ten movies that feature hackers as major characters or hacking itself as a major plot point and discuss what makes them good or bad.
I am purposefully not including WarGames, Sneakers, Hackers or Swordfish, all movies that have existing rabid fans and detractors in the hacking scene.
10. Prime Risk (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiU7hkMe4_M
Prime Risk is a weird movie, despite how much they talk about hackers and computers it is obvious that the writers had no idea about either so we get an odd movie about electronics causing ATMs to spit out money. Add in a conspiracy by a shadowy cabal to undermine the entire financial system and you have something approximating a coherent movie.
I like that the hacker in this is a woman though, and her sidekick is a goofy guy.
9. Hide and Seek (1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjQnucHby8Y
This movie is based on a sci-fi novel from 1977 but it is essentially a lower budget Canadian WarGames, there’s a certain charm to it though.
A high-school student hacker befriends a rogue AI and mischief ensues before the plot takes a hard left turn into averting nuclear disaster.
8. Takedown (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbgDMYy9mzM
This movie about Kevin Mitnick caused so much controversy, as he was still in prison when they started filming it, that it never saw a proper release. You can find copies online though.
Skeet Ulrich is serviceable as Mitnick, Donal Logue is great as Lewis de Payne and if you can separate the film from the actual story and person it was based on and just see it as a work of fiction it becomes a lot more watchable.
7. Blackhat (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CA95Bzpy7s
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this movie, I watched it and then heard there was a director’s cut that was longer and more cohesive. I purchased a special edition Blu-ray so I could watch the director’s cut and I still don’t know how I feel about it.
A lot of people in the hacking scene hate it, but it looks great, it is very visually stylish and Mann seems really engaged with the subject matter. Chris Hemsworth is miscast though, or he was told to act in a way that renders his character an emotionless hulk for most of the movie.
6. The Net (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHYQjHrhKY
I really like this movie, it meanders a bit in the middle but the overall concept is tight and if you can ignore the hand waving over whether any of it is technically possible you will have a good time.
Sandra Bullock is great and the plot captures genuine anxiety from the mid-90s as to how this thing called the internet was steadily encroaching on people’s lives and threatening to change society.
You can find a video I made about it over at the YouTube channel.
5. 23 (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDWU4RBtds
The first of two German hacker movies on this list, it is set in the 80s and really feels like it. I’ll warn you now though this is based on the real life case of young German hackers who handed data over to the Soviet government, it does not have a happy ending.
You may have trouble tracking down a copy with english subtitles for this one, I don’t think there is any dubbed version.
I’ve made a video on this movie over on my YouTube channel.
4. Masterminds (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5gtXzHnN7M
This is an action comedy with Patrick Stewart holding a school full of rich kids hostage while a teen hacker who was previously expelled from the school tries to thwart his plans.
The plot moves along quickly, there is a satisfactory amount of action and Patrick Stewart makes a wonderful villain, I recommend checking it out.
3. Enemy of the State (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3mrRv-1khI
I recently rewatched this movie, having originally seen it in the cinema when it came out with my local 2600 meetup, and I still like it. The concerns over privacy seem really outdated now, as we all hand over so much data to corporations and the government.
It is a solid movie about a man (Will Smith) who isn’t the most technically minded person finding himself up against a vast and nefarious surveillance apparatus. Plus you get Jamie Kennedy and Jack Black as smart ass government hackers, I feel like both of them played similar roles in multiple movies.
2. Who Am I (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vnjheCqRIs
The second German movie on this list, I love this movie. A dark thriller about a young man who joins a sort of Anonymous like hacker group, has various thrills and spills with them before disaster strikes.
A little bit Mr Robot, you need to check this movie out if you like your hacker movies with tangled plots and absolutely soaked in paranoia.
1. The Steal (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBxvGaIK2eE
I only discovered this movie recently and until it appeared on some streaming services it was quite hard to track down.
It is a whimsical British crime caper involving a free spirited American con artist and an uptight British computer programmer being pursued by a British aristocrat, while they try to drain bank accounts belonging to an evil corporation.
Hacking and social engineering play a heavy role in the movie and I love the cast.
You can watch the entire movie on YouTube, linked above.
Conclusion
I was going to include some honorable mentions here, but honestly there are so many movies I could have added to this list that a follow up blog is inevitable.
If you enjoyed this blog head on over to Bluesky for similar thoughts on hackers in pop culture.
#23 #Blackhat #EnemyOfTheState #film #films #Germany #hackers #hacking #HideAndSeek #history #KevinMitnick #list #Masterminds #Mitnick #Movies #PrimeRisk #Sneakers #Swordfish #Takedown #TheNet #TheSteal #WarGames #WarGames #Webmaster #WhoAmI_
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CW: New free & open-source mesh body in the making for OpenSim and Second Life; CW: long (can't count due to included shared post, but over 500 characters)
@OpenSim
Exciting news from @Austin Tate/@Ai Austin: A new #OpenSource mesh avatar for #OpenSim is in the making! Oh, and it'll be available in #SecondLife as well. The project is called Max, the female body is named #Maxine, the male body is named #Maxwell. (Now we need an easily distinguishable hashtag for the whole project.)
Looks like Ada found it easier to make something completely new from scratch in Blender than to try to nip and tuck even the most glaring shortcomings out of #Ruth2 and especially #Roth2. Granted, we'll be back to zero clothes-wise, but it looks like chances are good that Max will have a working and usable dev kit, and making clothes for Max will be much easier than for Ruth2 and Roth2.
The new bodies will be licensed under #CreativeCommons #CC-BY-NC 4.0, probably a better choice for a mesh body than the #AGPL. After all, most Ruth2 and Roth2 spin-offs in Second Life are technically closed-source.
Metaworld Opensim Social wrote the following post Wed, 13 Sep 2023 20:11:13 +0200 Max – New Open Source Mesh Avatar – Resources | Austin Tate's Blog
https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/2023/09/13/max-new-open-source-mesh-avatar/
#OpenSimulator #Metaverse #VirtualWorlds #MeshBody -
In 2009, I had to cancel a scheduled keynote talk at the European Lisp Symposium (ELS) in Italy because I was due to be in surgery at that exact time for my thyroid cancer. (Surgery went well, and I've seemed thankfully free of it since.) They were kind enough to ask me to speak in Lisbon in 2010 instead. But I didn't at the time, in 2009, speak publicly about the surgery or the cancer. Instead I made a vague excuse about an illness in the family (not technically untrue) being the reason I couldn't do the talk.
On the evening before the surgery, I wrote a somewhat metaphorically cryptic post to my blog that I figured would at least capture my apprehension in case the surgery did not go well, or even if it did, I suppose. It's still interesting to have a window back into my thoughts.
https://netsettlement.blogspot.com/2009/05/over-edge.html?
Back to modern day, I do have a planned procedure (not tomorrow, not dire and far more routine, so not to worry, but please don't ask for additional details just now) that I've been reflecting about just a bit.
Though in all honesty, I and all of us are probably at more risk just walking around on the streets in our emerging fascism (here in the US, though other places are not exactly immune either), and that's on my mind all the time now as well. Any one of us could become an unperson, certainly anyone with decent ethics anyway, as that seems to almost be the criterion for who they're going after.
The tanka I wrote is not specific to one thing in particular, just the sum total of various such things that point to the ephemeral nature of each of our existences.
It's both frightening and infuriating to live in a society where we are at risk merely because of our very existence or nature being seen as a crime.
There may be some among us that don't feel at risk. I wish I could say that's good. But I worry it's obliviousness/denial, or privilege, or something darker, perhaps even being comforted by being on the winning side of bigotry. Maybe give it some thought, because I don't want people to be disempowered by what's afoot, but neither should they feel it's someone else's problem. We have real problems that need to really be addressed. It's a time to feel uncomfortable because no one should be comfortable with what's happening. It's a time for people to empathize and contribute to getting the world back onto an even keel.
Meanwhile we are all individually fragile, too. I had a philosophy class in which the professor told us we could not say with certainty that we would have lunch with someone tomorrow. The future is intrinsically less than certain, we're just talking degree here. But the things going on now are good cause to appreciate those we love, and make sure that we've got things in order in case things get wonky.
And even beyond the politics of the day, the state of climate is dire. I talk enough of that elsewhere, so won't belabor it, but its spectre is ever-present.
Still, it also makes it a time to live, not to put off living to some mythical future time when things will be better. (I wrote a different haiku about that earlier this evening as part of this same pondering.) Let's work toward creating a bright future, but let's also not fail to appreciate that today is all we know we have for sure. Make the best of it. And be the person you want others to remember fondly.
#love #friendship #legacy #empathy #solidarity #hope #health #society #community #fascism #climate #collapse #CarpeDiem #ELS #ELS2009 #ELS2010 #Lisp #CommonLisp
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I've recently thought about how the #Fediverse, when it comes to accounts and instance-hopping, compares with the #Hypergrid of #OpenSimulator, when it comes to #avatars and grid-hopping.
It happens in both cases. You have to start somewhere. In both cases, it's hard to know if the place you're signing up on is good or not. It's actually even harder to know in #OpenSim because you can't look into a #grid, its community and what else it has to offer through a Web browser. Or if you can, it's through the grid's website if it has one, and such websites are never critical for obvious reasons.
So you have to jump into cold water and look around afterwards. It's much easier from within, and you can see more from within. You can see greener pastures from within. And you move to these greener pastures by creating a new user account there. Unlike #SecondLife, you can make new avatars with the same name as your old one, namely one per grid.
Okay, the first difference is that OpenSim doesn't let you transfer your whole inventory, your friends, your groups etc. from one #avatar to another. Technical limitations. Bugger. But that isn't what I wanted to talk about.
The second difference is what'll happen to your old account/avatar. In the Fediverse, you usually abandon your old account. #Hubzilla and #Streams are exceptions with their #NomadicIdentity: You have a new account, but you still have the same channel, the same identity, and you just make one an identical clone of the other one, always kept in-sync.
On the Hypergrid, you may abandon your old avatar as well. But so much I can tell you: You're more likely to keep it as an alt, just in case. Technically speaking, your new avatar is your alt until you declare it your main. Some users have avatars with the same name, sometimes even the same look, on one or a few dozen grids, and they keep coming back to them.
Another difference is that most new Fediverse accounts are created as new main, all-purpose accounts. As I've said already, if someone already has an account, it'll end up abandoned. In OpenSim, in contrast, people often create new avatars with the same name even if they don't plan to move somewhere else. These new avatars are intended to stay alts for special purposes.
By the way, the Hypergrid has something that's kind of akin to mastodon.social on #Mastodon, a primary "lighthouse" grid. And that's #OSgrid, the biggest and oldest of all grids with the most active users and the most registered avatars. This grid alone has a bigger landmass than Second Life which is only possible because it only hosts its official sims itself, and all sims not run by the admins are hosted by the users and attached.
Just like mastodon.social, OSgrid is the place where new users are the most likely to arrive. And, again, they're likely to move elsewhere in both cases, once they've found out what exists elsewhere. But while mastodon.social is chock-full of abandoned accounts, OSgrid is chock-full of older (and newer) avatars kept on the backburner as alts. OSgrid is great for alts. Since it's so big, it's neutral, and other grids can't afford to block it.
So on the one hand, I find it kind of dumb how masses of people are being sent from Twitter straight to mastodon.social as if there's nowhere else to go in the Fediverse.
On the other hand, I don't have a problem with OpenSim newbies making their first avatar on OSgrid. You'll probably have an alt on OSgrid sooner or later anyway.
#Metaverse #VirtualWorlds #Alts -
I live in America and am on Mint Mobile. I am totally blind and use an external keyboard. I own a Galaxy A15, and while it works well, it's simply too large and wide for my needs, especially when I need to hold it to use Seeing AI (for scanning printed materials). My specifications shouldn't be too difficult to find, and yet, they are.
Android 14 or 15. Technically, I can go as low as 12, but I would really rather not.
Upgradable if possible.
Comes with Talkback pre-installed (or able to have someone install it). I have also heard of MicroG, an alternative to Google services that allows such apps to be installed, so that could work as well.
No larger than the iPhone SE 2022, unless by a tiny amount. Smaller is fine.
Headphone jack.I am considering the Jelly Max, the Fonepia Q10, and the Minimal Phone. Has anyone here tried any of these in the United States? I don't think the Max has a headphone jack, but as much as I want one, I would be willing to sacrifice it if necessary. I know almost nothing about the Q10. The Minimal contains a real qwerty keyboard, so I wouldn't need to carry one. I don't care what they do with the screen, since I can't see it.
Am I missing any other good phones? I would like to keep this undder $350 at the most, preferably under $300 (Minimal might cost more, but could be worth it).
#accessibility #blind #Android #JellyMax #keyboard #MinimalPhone #phones #Q10 #qwerty #SmallPhone #SmallPhones #Talkback #technology
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I get that lava lamps looks cool, I own one too but… seriously?
"The Randomness Crisis Threatening the Internet"?
… in 2025???(please note that I have nothing particular against this video, this was mainly the straw that breaks the camel's back and finally led me to rant on the interwebs 🤣)
This problem has long been solved for good, and Yarrow in 1999 put a nail in the coffin for most practical purposes, and Fortuna again in 2003 even removed the need for entropy estimation.
#CSPRNG are real. Are here. Are working. They are fundamentally indistinguishable from real #random numbers (#RNG) for every possible purpose.
“Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin.” (John Von Neumann, 1951)
This is still a cool quote, but it's just that. Funny. Nice. Interesting from an historical point of view. (and only technically still true, not in any practical way)
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I’m all-in on the Fediverse as the best way to own my own data and network. It’s based on an open standard (ActivityPub), loosely-coupled and open source services, and everyday people (and, it isn’t subject to the whims of lying, narcissistic billionaires). You can think of it as the next iteration of the open web, with social features baked in.
I’ve got a number of accounts that correspond with content that the different networks are good at – posts on Mastodon, photos on Pixelfed, reading habits on Bookwyrm. If I post something on one that I think my followers on a different network may like, I can boost it directly for them to see; or, folks can follow me on whatever platform they choose. My WordPress blog has federation switched on, too, so you can if you like follow @andypiper@andypiper.co.uk, and read my blog posts directly in your Fediverse platform of choice. (of course, RSS remains another excellent way to follow my blog).
By the way, if you’re curious what the buzz about the Fediverse is all about, I recommend Elena Rossini’s newsletter The Future is Federated – in the edition that was published today, she did a great job of explaining some of the interoperability between federated networks, from the perspective of, you know, just actually, using them, rather than from a deep technical angle. Worth following!
One of the other services I’ve been using is PeerTube, a federated alternative to YouTube. Up until now I’ve been on Diode Zone. However, that instance recently started to run into some storage issues, and also switched off the live broadcast feature that I’d occasionally used to stream some 3D printing and pen plotter content (this is straightforward to configure in OBS, by the way). I really appreciated my time on Diode Zone, but I’ve chosen to move across to MakerTube, a relatively newer instance dedicated to “makers, musicians, artists and DIY content creators”.
One of the core elements of the Fediverse is data ownership, and some form of portability. When I first joined Mastodon I started out at mastodon.social/@andypiper – if you visit that profile page now, you’ll find my posts starting in November 2016 and ending in November 2022, when I moved over to my current home, macaw.social – there’s a large message that points you at my current location if you look at my original profile. When I switched instances, my whole follower network went with me, seamlessly – unlike, for example, Twitter, where I lost everything when I deleted all my accounts; or Facebook, which heavily relies on its lock-in – read Cory Doctorow‘s excellent book The Internet Con to understand what’s happening there.
The current state of portability is absolutely not perfect – in the case of Mastodon, there’s a process which enables to you to migrate from one server to another, and that automatically resubscribes you to your network, and your followers to your new account, but it’s currently not technically possible to take the past posts with you (there is a W3C Social Web Incubator Community Group taskforce that is working on a more complete set of specifications for data portability that may help to improve this in the future).
Here is how I moved from Diode Zone to MakerTube:
- Requested an account on MakerTube. They want to know who is part of the community, their content intentions, etc. I explained that I’m a maker and I also may plan to use the streaming feature.
- Requested an export of data from Diode Zone.
- this was technically a little bit frustrating, as it got stuck the first time (likely because I had requested it when there were earlier storage issues), but the instance owner was really kind and helped to clear the stuck process.
- it was also a bit annoying because of the size of my export including the videos, which was a lot of gigabytes; so I ended up having to run a script that kept running
wgetwith a resume flag to get the data in chunks.
- Setup the basics of my new account on MakerTube.
- Imported the export from the other instance.
- Modified a few places that were pointing to Diode Zone, such as my links page, and also updated a few embeds that were loading videos from my previous account, such as some of the Fedidevs.org meeting recordings.
- … while I was doing that, I thought I’d take advantage of PeerTube’s multi-channel capability, and created a specific channel for Fedidevs content, which you can now follow @fedidevs from other Fediverse platforms.
There were a couple of slightly rough edges, but nothing very significant:
- Unlike Mastodon, PeerTube does not run a process to tell your followers that you have moved, and to resubscribe them to your new account. In my case I didn’t have a huge number of followers, but I will be posting a video there to say that I moved, and I also updated my profile information to point to the new instance. It did re-follow the accounts I had followed, but didn’t do the other side of the process.
- The new instance imported my playlists, which was great – but some of them were playlists of my own videos, which I tend to create for curation and organisation, and of course, they still pointed at the videos on the previous instance. This was fairly straightforward to fix, just removed and re-added the videos on the new instance.
So there you are. You can follow my entire MakerTube account, my main channel, or the Fedidevs channel, if you like. I also have it set up to import future content that I may choose to post to YouTube, so that it has a free and open backup that Google can’t delete if I ever lose my account there.
I’m still frustrated that WordPress doesn’t seem to have a good integration for PeerTube content yet – I can paste a YouTube link here and get an embedded video, that’s less easy for PeerTube – but, I’m hopeful that will improve in the future.
Like it? Share it -
- Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window)
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https://andypiper.co.uk/2024/07/25/switching-peertube-instances/
#100DaysToOffload #activitypub #coryDoctorow #data #diodeZone #fedidevs #fediverse #makertube #migration #portability #streaming #video #YouTube
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It's time to make my #introduction
I'm Pallas. I'm #Aplatonic #aromantic (#demiromantic) and #genderqueer. I consider myself #Omnigender, because I have at least one gender of any quality, but I don't necessarily experience every gender.
I'm technically #asexual and #asensual, but as I experience other types of #PhysicalAttraction strongly, I just say I'm a #grayce #MspecGay
I love retro/vintage things, including but not limited to:#CLassicTV, #OldHollywood #OldSchoolVisualKei, #ClassicalMusic (Mostly from the Galant/classical and romantic periods), #ClassicLiterature, #VintageFashion and more; and I'm particularly interested in the intersection between queerness and those things, like queer artists of the pass and queer rep on old media.
As you can see for my profile picture, my favourite composer is Beethoven
I'm #neurodivergent (#Autistic and #epileptic) and, beside vintage/retro stuff, my special Interest are #Space related things and #linguistics.
I'm #disabled and require the use of #AltText as my vision often doesn't work properly due to nerve-related issues.
I'm not new to either the #fediverse, I've been in and out of it since 2018 (Not because I didn't like it, I just pass from times where I don't use #SocialMedia), nor fully to #Calckey or #Misskey, I've tried them in the past without good results; the places I was in either died or I didn't felt at home in. So here I'm trying to give this side of the fediverse another try! -
I think what bugs me about this is that I've been able to assemble a decent summary system prompt that has, so far at least, not invented anything.
"How do you know", you may ask. Well, I can't say with 100% certainty because after a while I started trusting it.
But for a while I was immensely distrustful of it, and I'd regularly put through it real articles, and content I was familiar with, and look at the results.
But I've been using it for quite a few months now, with Llama 3.1, and it's proven itself quite good with whole raw text dumps of webpages.
(I use it so often that I include it with the handful of default system prompts with #chit (my Ollama front-end).)
Here it is: https://gist.github.com/Fortyseven/708dac25d24f1d2d063d4b3f2dc48596
Since I started using it regularly, if something sounds out of place or "sounds wrong", I'll go and verify. (And honestly, I'll even fuck up verifying: it'll be technically correct about something, but I'll have misread or overlooked the fact in question.)
So I'd love to know how Apple is fucking this up. Apparently this is not an isolated incident: https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/12/24289939/apple-intelligence-ai-notification-summaries-awkward-funny-bad
I wonder if their prompts have been dumped yet?
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Now that Twitter is a Junkyard, I Need a Way to Deal with the Twitter Posts Cited on this Blog
“Live, ongoing connections to people – not your old posts or your identifiers – impose the highest switching costs for any social media service,” argues Cory Doctorow in a recent post. Well, yeah, but hear me out.
I’ve abandoned my Twitter account, for all the obvious reasons, but for the sake of good housekeeping on this WordPress site I haven’t deleted it . In the years when I was active on Twitter, I cited and linked to my own tweets in a number of blog posts here, especially those having to do with mining around the Lake Superior region and FOIA production. Now I am looking for some way to preserve those tweets before they disappear or stop working, as Musk continues to break the thing he bought.
Of course, I should never have counted on it, but I did.
One answer is to go back through all my posts and convert the tweets into screenshots. Do I have to settle for that? It sounds like dreary work; it also wouldn’t really do the trick. Some of the tweets cited on this blog are parts of longer threads, where I am developing an argument or describing the public record, and ideally I would like to allow readers to click through and read the whole thread, ideally some place other than Twitter. I would also want any media included with those tweets to carry over.
I understand that I can use Porto to import the whole Twitter works to Bluesky, and I may end up doing that, but then I will still have to go back through all my posts and change those links to Bluesky. More dreary work. Besides, I have serious qualms about Bluesky: it just looks like Zombie Twitter to me, the same online strivers hopped up on dopamine and chasing the elusive brass ring. My qualms only deepen when I read people like Doctorow or L. Rhodes.
The recent announcement of Series A funding by Blockchain Capital makes noises about sharing Bluesky’s user-first design philosophy that “empowers the people,” but talk from venture capitalists about power and people should always be viewed with suspicion, or dismissed outright, as should their promise not to “hyperfinancialize the social experience,” as if the financialization of social experience is not bad enough, morally, socially, politically, and as if there is a bright line between financialization and hyperfinancialization that won’t eventually be crossed.
All that means that relying on Bluesky could land me in this same situation a few years down the road. Eventually, the walls will go up, and (to borrow Doctorow’s metaphor) there won’t be any fire exits.
I see that Shawn Hooper has developed a WordPress plugin that will import a Twitter archive to WordPress. While I am not sure I am technically competent to implement it (probably not! not my bailiwick at all), it looks promising, and maybe despite my incompetence I can figure it out or find someone to help me figure it out.
Essentially what I am looking for is an effective way to host those old tweets right here, on WordPress. Self-hosting, self-reliance, or mutual reliance that allows people to opt out, wherever possible, of the financializing and hyperfinancializing of the social web and social experience, looks like the only viable way forward.
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#collapse #financialization #hyperfinancialization #mutualAid #socialCollapse #socialMedia #switchingCosts #Wordpress
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CW: Long list of what we like on Mastodon
Hey all,
To help the #MoveToMasto Movement, can we list all the reasons why we like #Mastodon?
(See this other post for the things to be improved)I’ll start (in no specific order):
[1] it’s non-profit
[2] it’s ad-free
[3] you can edit posts (but edit history is visible), for example add the answer to a post once you got it, or update a list like I'm doing now according to the answers
[4] it’s not (too) addictive
[5] it has very varied contents, interesting suggestions, the bloomscrolling hashtag (among... many others)
[6] you can follow hashtags
[7] its technically impossible that 1 person will buy and destroy it
[8] a single person or company doesn’t control what you see
[9] you can format posts with Markdown (on some versions)
[10] you can write loooong posts if you want (on some versions, like mine)
[11] most people are nice and genuine ❤️
[12] you can choose between local, home or federated timelines, each with their advantages
[13] you can show verified links in your account
[14] Introduction posts 🌟
[15] you can use content warnings for many purposes
[16] most people add alt-text to their visual content
[17] it's open source
[18] it's open access
[19] there are many apps to chose from to connect to it, and the default one (browser) is great too
[20] good content moderation (of course, depends on server) + possibility of using filters, lists and its anti-viral design
[21] it's truly international![…] your turn!
updated with contributions from @dustin_, @knutson_brain, @UlrikeHahn, @alicia_izquierdo - thanks all!🙏
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Finally Friday Reads: The Incompetent and The Cruel
“Kristi Noem is so thoughtful.” John Buss, @repeat1968.
@johnbuss.bsky.socialGood Day, Sky Dancers!
Cartoonist John Buss continues to blow me away with his renditions of all the monsters inhabiting the Trump Regime. You never know how far they will go. Incompetency and cruelty are their defining parameters, and the only thing you know about this regime is that they are negatively correlated and huge. You know the negative impact on the country in a big way, but the actual actions leading to the outcomes are unimaginable. You know they’re going to a new low that will be shocking and unimaginable. I’m beginning to think that some are designed to take our eyes away from the dismantling of our government and democracy.
Today’s Featured Funny was more than I had hoped when I put this on his Facebook thread. “Hi! It’s your dark muse again. You have to do something about Kristin Noem doing a glam shot in front of all the shirtless, bearded men she likely sent to be tortured and enslaved. Abu Ghraib, but this administration has no shame!” She had paraded down here in a similar outfit during the Super Bowl, but instead of looking like a slutty ICE agent, she looked like a Slutty police officer. She just oozes psychopath, doesn’t she? She’s LARPing all those war criminals that psychologically torture whatever they capture. Just thinking about how the really bad ones torture animals first, and her poor puppy.
This is from the Washington Post (article gifted). “How Kristi Noem’s $50,000 Rolex in a Salvadoran prison became a political flash point. The high-end Swiss watch lent a striking contrast to her tour of a notoriously overcrowded mega-prison in one of Latin America’s poorest countries.” I supposed she could wear that “I don’t care, do you?” jacket, but then everyone would miss her signature whitie tightie boob shot op. She must have a closet full of those. She wore them daily during her Super Bowl tour. This is reported by Drew Harwell and Alec Dent.
When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem visited El Salvador’s most notorious mega-prison on Wednesday, she sported an eye-catching piece on her wrist that experts have identified as an 18-karat gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch that sells for about $50,000.
The high-end Swiss watch lent a striking contrast to Noem’s tour of the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where imprisoned men watched silently from a crowded cell as she recorded a video for a social media post warning undocumented immigrants not to enter the United States.
“If you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face,” Noem said.
Noem’s choice of watch kicked off a race among internet sleuths to identify it and infuriated immigration advocates, who said the juxtaposition was insensitive to the harsh reality of mass imprisonment and deportation.
“You’re in front of all these people in a very poor country, who are in the bottom 10 or 20 percent of their country … and it looks like you’re just flaunting your wealth while you flaunt your freedom,” said Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group.
“This is an administration that is trying to be populist, anti-elite, appeal to the common man,” he added. Meanwhile, there’s “people stacked up like cordwood behind her.”
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the make of the watch in a statement, saying that “then-Governor Noem chose to use the proceeds from her New York Times best selling books to purchase an item she could wear and one day pass down to her children.”
While the #FARTUS purge of immigrants looks like an SS round-up. I fear escalation to Hitler’s Einsatzgruppen (killing squads). It is difficult to predict if they will actually go that far. We’ve already had children in cages and family separation. We also have midnight raids that have spirited away graduate students who have taken part in demonstrations or written op-eds against the bombing of Palestinian civilians in GAZA. This is from Mike Masnik from TechDirt. “Trump’s Secret Police Are Now Disappearing Students For Their Op-Eds.”
For years, we’ve been hearing breathless warnings about a “campus free speech crisis” from self-proclaimed free speech warriors. Their evidence? College students doing what college students have done for generations: protesting speakers they disagree with, challenging institutional policies, and yes, sometimes attempting to create heckler’s vetoes.
This kind of campus activism — while occasionally messy and uncomfortable — has been a feature of American higher education since the 1960s. It’s how young people learn to engage with ideas and exercise their own speech rights. Sometimes that activism is silly and sometimes it’s righteous. Often it’s somewhere in between, but it’s kind of a part of being a college student, and learning what you believe in.
But now we face an actual free speech crisis on campus that goes beyond just speech. It’s an attack on personal freedoms, due process, and liberty. The federal government isn’t just pressuring universities over speech — it’s literally disappearing students for their political expression. If you support actual free speech, now is the time to speak up.
The latest example of this authoritarian overreach is particularly chilling: Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts who was here legally on a student visa, was abducted by masked agents in broad daylight. She was disappeared without due process or explanation — only later did we learn she had been renditioned to a detention center in Louisiana.
The video of her kidnapping (because that’s what it was) is terrifying enough.
If you listen, you hear her quite understandably surprised reaction with a scream, and then she asks to call the police, only to be told “we’re the police.” None of them are in uniforms. Most of them are masked.
Her supposed crime? A year ago, she co-authored an op-ed in The Tufts Daily criticizing her university administration’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Not advocating violence. Not supporting terrorism. Not even criticizing the U.S. government. Just exercising core First Amendment rights by publishing criticism of her own university’s policies in a student newspaper.
The government has attempted to justify similar renditions (and there is a growing list of victims) by falsely painting targets as “terrorist supporters” — a dangerous conflation of political speech supporting Palestinian rights with support for terrorism. But even those cases typically involved people involved in public protests, which are themselves constitutionally protected activities. This case goes even further: disappearing someone over an innocuous piece of student journalism published a year ago.
Everyone should be alarmed. Everyone should be demanding that she (and others) be released and that ICE and DHS stop this horrifying and unconscionable practice. Everyone should be demanding that Trump and Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem stop this Gestapo bullshit.
Even if — especially if — you disagree with her views on Israel and Palestine. This isn’t about that. This is about the very concept of freedom. The rights everyone — even visitors — are supposed to have in this country. The right to speak your mind, even if (especially if!) it is opposed to those in power. The right to walk down a street without being kidnapped. The right to due process.
If the government genuinely believed Ozturk had violated immigration law or her visa terms (she hadn’t), there are established legal procedures to address such issues. Instead, they chose to send masked goons to disappear her without warning or due process — a chilling message to every other international student that their supposed right to express political opinions comes with the risk of rendition.
And, of course, the implied threat is that this won’t stop at international students.
I have taught university classes for decades. Finance and Economic policy are inherently political. We stick to established theory and mention policies in the past that did not work. The two big ones are Tariffs and Tax cuts for the very rich. We have data that shows they don’t work and years of published papers. I fear that the Commerce and Labor Secretaries will kill the data, so we cannot teach the theory and the reality using current economic and financial data. Since I’m now technically retired and only teach as an adjunct, I worry a lot about the current faculty. The Republicans have been after tenure for years. Universities and research are a significant source of progress. The attacks on research and the inability to run graduate programs and graduate Doctoral students we will not have teachers after we old folks retire will severely curtail our leadership in science and the exercise of free thought. That is their goal.
This is from Forbes Magazine. “Trump Orders Department Of Education Closure: What Happens Next.” The story is reported by Sarah Hernholm.
President Trump has issued an executive order to close the Department of Education, a move that will reshape federal education policy and affect America’s 49.5 million public school students. The order mandates redistributing the department’s functions across multiple federal agencies by the end of the year, marking a major change in how the federal government approaches education.
This decision, long championed by conservatives who believe education should remain primarily a state and local matter, has sparked disagreement about the federal government’s role in education policy, funding, and oversight.
The executive order outlines specific transitions for key education functions:
- Civil rights enforcement will move to the Justice Department
- Federal student loan programs will shift to the Treasury
- Special education oversight will transition to Health and Human Services
These changes will affect the management of federal education funding streams totaling over $150 billion annually, including:
- $18.8 billion in Title I funding for high-poverty schools, serving approximately 26 million students
- $15.5 billion in IDEA funding, supporting 7.3 million students with disabilities
- $120.8 billion in Federal Student Aid programs, helping 10.8 million college students
Educational stakeholders stress the importance of ensuring these resources continue without disruption during the transition period, particularly for disadvantaged students who rely heavily on federally funded programs.
This will hurt rural and poor urban schools that rely on the funding to offer help for disadvantaged students and students with disabilities. I’m also wondering what will happen to ESL (English as a second language) teachers, programs, school nurses, and psychologists. These things are incredibly expensive.
“The backpedaling is something to behold..” John Buss, @repeat1968.
@johnbuss.bsky.socialThen there’s Pete Hegseth and his keystone cops LARPing military leadership. We got all the war moves and none of the conversation about what it means to target and bomb a civilian apartment. Hey! Hey DOJ! How many kids did they kill that day? They’re all suggesting it was successful, but really? What has all that incompetence brought us?
This is breaking news from CNN. “Officials say texts sent by Waltz, Ratcliffe in Signal chat may have damaged US’ ongoing ability to gather intel on Houthis.” Evidently, the intelligence they got from the Israelis was from an on-site agent. But of course, no heads are rolling in any of the meeting’s inept Cabinet. They’ve declared war on The Atlantic instead. This story is reported by Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen,
Current and former US officials have told CNN they believe two texts sent by national security adviser Mike Waltz and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in the now-infamous group chat involving senior US officials discussing battle plans to strike Houthi targets in Yemen, may have done long-term damage to the US’s ability to gather intelligence on the Iran-backed group going forward.
Although messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth detailing the sequencing, timing and weapons to be used in a March attack on the Houthis have drawn the most scrutiny because they could have endangered US servicemembers if revealed, the messages from Waltz and Ratcliffe, in the chat Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was added to, contained equally sensitive information, these sources said.
In one of the messages, Ratcliffe told other Cabinet members who were discussing whether to delay the strikes that the CIA was in the act of mobilizing assets to collect intelligence on the group, but that a delay might offer them the opportunity to “identify better starting points for coverage on Houthi leadership.”
That text, according to the current and former officials, exposed the mere fact that the US is gathering intelligence on them — bad in and of itself — but also hinted at how the agency is doing it. The language about “starting points,” these people said, suggests clearly that the CIA is using technical means like overhead surveillance to spy on their leadership. That could allow the Houthis to change their practices to better protect themselves.
Then, in a later message, Waltz offered an extremely specific after-action report of the strikes, telling the thread that the military had “positive ID” of a particular senior Houthi leader “walking into his girlfriend’s building” — offering the Houthis a clear opportunity to see who the US was surveilling and potentially figure out how, thus enabling them to avoid that surveillance in the future, the sources said.
The Houthis have “always been difficult to track,” said a former intelligence official. “Now you just highlight for them that they’re in the crosshairs.”
Trump administration officials, including both Waltz and Ratcliffe, have repeatedly insisted that no classified information was shared in the text. Ratcliffe, in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, specifically referenced his text about “starting points.”
But current and former officials have disagreed vehemently with that assessment: The kinds of information in not just Hegseth’s texts, but Ratcliffe’s and Waltz’s, included very clear references to sources and methods. Even if it wasn’t an explicit or technical description, these people say, it is information that the US government would typically withhold because it might allow an adversary to make an educated interference about US sources and methods.
Ratcliffe’s use of the Signal app in this way is raising eyebrows inside Langley, current and former officials said.
“I think he is going to be viewed skeptically for using the app for that purpose,” one US official told CNN.
“(Ratcliffe) was basically talking as if he was in a SCIF,” said another former intelligence official, referring to a secure room hardened against electronic surveillance that is designed for discussions of classified material.
“He’s the director,” said the first former official, calling Ratcliffe’s text “irresponsible.” “He should know better.”
A CIA spokesperson told CNN, “Director Ratcliffe takes his responsibility to safeguard America’s ability to gather intelligence extremely seriously.”
“Nothing he conveyed in the chat posed any risk to any sources or methods,” the spokesperson said. “The only lasting damage is to the Houthi terrorists who have been eliminated.”
CNN has reached out to the National Security Council for comment.
The primary tool of Trump’s spokespeople is to lie and deny and protect FARTUS at all times.
Former Secretary of State penned this Op-Ed in the New York Times today. “Hillary Clinton: How Much Dumber Will This Get?” Remember, it will get worse; we just can’t forecast how because only the incompetent and cruel can come up with such batshit crazy pogroms. Throw in narcissism and sociopathy, and it’s a forecaster’s nightmare. Clinton’s name has been evoked recently because the same folks who were traumatized by her personal emails being released by their Russian buddies are taking this incredible breach of security cavalierly.
It’s not the hypocrisy that bothers me; it’s the stupidity. We’re all shocked — shocked! — that President Trump and his team don’t actually care about protecting classified information or federal record retention laws. But we knew that already. What’s much worse is that top Trump administration officials put our troops in jeopardy by sharing military plans on a commercial messaging app and unwittingly invited a journalist into the chat. That’s dangerous. And it’s just dumb.
This is the latest in a string of self-inflicted wounds by the new administration that are squandering America’s strength and threatening our national security. Firing hundreds of federal workers charged with protecting our nation’s nuclear weapons is also dumb. So is shutting down efforts to fight pandemics just as a deadly Ebola outbreak is spreading in Africa. It makes no sense to purge talented generals, diplomats and spies at a time when rivals like China and Russia are trying to expand their global reach.
In a dangerous and complex world, it’s not enough to be strong. You must also be smart. As secretary of state during the Obama administration, I argued for smart power, integrating the hard power of our military with the soft power of our diplomacy, development assistance, economic might and cultural influence. None of those tools can do the job alone. Together, they make America a superpower. The Trump approach is dumb power. Instead of a strong America using all our strengths to lead the world and confront our adversaries, Mr. Trump’s America will be increasingly blind and blundering, feeble and friendless.
Let’s start with the military, because that’s what he claims to care about. Don’t let the swagger fool you. Mr. Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (of group chat fame) are apparently more focused on performative fights over wokeness than preparing for real fights with America’s adversaries. Does anyone really think deleting tributes to the Tuskegee Airmen makes us more safe? The Trump Pentagon purged images of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb that ended World War II because its name is the Enola Gay. Dumb.
Instead of working with Congress to modernize the military’s budget to reflect changing threats, the president is firing top generals without credible justification. Five former secretaries of defense, Republicans and Democrats, rightly warned that this would “undermine our all-volunteer force and weaken our national security.” Mass layoffs are also hitting the intelligence agencies. As one former senior spy put it, “We’re shooting ourselves in the head, not the foot.” Not smart.
There’s more at the link, which has been gifted.
It’s hard to get through the day without the next chain of what the hell did they do now coming out to beat us senseless. They’re worried about the midterms because FARTUS sent Elise Stefanik back to Congress yesterday. The poor woman won’t get that deluxe apartment in the sky now. This is from Politico. “Stefanik’s withdrawal suggests Republicans are sweating their thin margins. Democrats insist Republicans are panicking.” Democrats shouldn’t be so complacent.
President Donald Trump’s decision to keep Rep. Elise Stefanik in Congress is the clearest sign yet that the political environment has become so challenging for Republicans that they don’t want to risk a special election even in safe, red seats.
A pair of April elections in deep-red swaths of Florida next week was supposed to improve the GOP’s cushion in the House and clear the path for Stefanik’s departure, until Trump said he didn’t “want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat.”
The decision to pull Stefanik’s nomination came as Republicans grew increasingly anxious about the race to fill the seat of National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on April 1. Polling in the district, which Trump carried by 30 points, had tightened, and the president himself is hosting a tele-town hall there to try and bail out Republican Randy Fine.
An internal GOP poll from late March showed Democrat Josh Weil up 3 points over Fine, 44 to 41 percent, with 10 percent undecided, according to a person familiar with the poll and granted anonymity to discuss it. Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s pollster, conducted the survey. That result spooked Republicans and spurred them to redouble efforts to ensure a comfortable win in the district, according to two people familiar with internal conversations.
Some Republican strategists said it’s not worth taking the risk of losing Stefanik’s sprawling northern New York seat, which Trump won by 20 points in 2024.
“Can they defend her seat? Absolutely. But why do you do that right now?” asked Charlie Harper, who was a top aide to former Rep. Karen Handel on her successful 2017 bid in a special election in Georgia.
Harper is not the only Republican making that calculation.
“If we’re far underperforming in seats Trump won by 30 then there’s obvious concern about having to chance special elections in seats Trump won by a lot less,” said one top GOP operative granted anonymity to speak candidly. “The juice is not worth the squeeze sweating them out.”
Okay, that’s enough shock and awe for now.
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
#JohnbussBskySocialJohnBuss #Repeat1968JohnBuss #abuGhraibTortureAndPrisonerAbuse #CabinetOfIncompetentImbeciles #DepartmentOfEducationBlues #EliseStefanikIsACunt #EveryOneGoesToElSalvador_ #FARTUS #higherEducation #HillaryClintonOnSignalGate #KidnappingGraduateStudents #KristiNoemSociopathAndCunt #PeteHegsethWeirdoSexualAssaulter #TheWhiskeyLeaks
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What is that hideous #Creature that scuttles accross your timeline?
Its me, Lobster, a #Queer #Anarchist. I am here to tell you about my latest obsession, no matter if its the #MagnusArchives, #ArmoredCoreVI or #Titanfall.
Technically I am a software dev but tbh the only real consequences that job/interest has gotten me are a lot of #gender #dysphoria and some cool socks.
Im a never ending source of useless information and listen to a lot of different genres of music and always hope to find new artists I can listen to. A few of my favourite genres are #glitchpop, #breakcore and #jumpstyle.
I play a lot of different video games and when I say a lot I mean a lot. From indie gems like #DeadCells, #Boomeraxe, #Ultrakill and #HeatSignature to some multiplayer games like #ApexLegends, #LeagueOfLegends(Ouch I know). I also played a lot of #BaldursGate3 and #DarkestDungeon wehn it comes to turnbased games. So if you got any recommendations, especially niche indie banger.
I am also very interested in #Reading, #Writing and more recently #Acting. And been wanting to write some #Fantasy texts. I would be very interested in other #Authors sharing their creative process and ways of #Worldbuildung . On a similiar note I love #TTRPG 's, although Im pretty new to this so I have ever only tried #DND and a slither of #Pathfinder
Some of the shows and movies I have watched and really enjoyed are in no particular order: #Nimona, #Arcane, #OnePiece, #Bleach, #NeonGenesisEvangelion, #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce, #BNA, #Beastars, #CyberpunkEdgerunners, #GreatBudapestHotel, #BulletTrain,
#GoodOmens, #IntoTheSpiderverse, #JujutsuKaisen
Still a bit confused on how to find new people on here so feel free to interact. -
What is that hideous #Creature that scuttles accross your timeline?
Its me, Lobster, a #Queer #Anarchist. I am here to tell you about my latest obsession, no matter if its the #MagnusArchives, #ArmoredCoreVI or #Titanfall.
Technically I am a software dev but tbh the only real consequences that job/interest has gotten me are a lot of #gender #dysphoria and some cool socks.
Im a never ending source of useless information and listen to a lot of different genres of music and always hope to find new artists I can listen to. A few of my favourite genres are #glitchpop, #breakcore and #jumpstyle.
I play a lot of different video games and when I say a lot I mean a lot. From indie gems like #DeadCells, #Boomeraxe, #Ultrakill and #HeatSignature to some multiplayer games like #ApexLegends, #LeagueOfLegends(Ouch I know). I also played a lot of #BaldursGate3 and #DarkestDungeon wehn it comes to turnbased games. So if you got any recommendations, especially niche indie banger.
I am also very interested in #Reading, #Writing and more recently #Acting. And been wanting to write some #Fantasy texts. I would be very interested in other #Authors sharing their creative process and ways of #Worldbuildung . On a similiar note I love #TTRPG 's, although Im pretty new to this so I have ever only tried #DND and a slither of #Pathfinder
Some of the shows and movies I have watched and really enjoyed are in no particular order: #Nimona, #Arcane, #OnePiece, #Bleach, #NeonGenesisEvangelion, #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce, #BNA, #Beastars, #CyberpunkEdgerunners, #GreatBudapestHotel, #BulletTrain,
#GoodOmens, #IntoTheSpiderverse, #JujutsuKaisen
Still a bit confused on how to find new people on here so feel free to interact. -
What is that hideous #Creature that scuttles accross your timeline?
Its me, Lobster, a #Queer #Anarchist. I am here to tell you about my latest obsession, no matter if its the #MagnusArchives, #ArmoredCoreVI or #Titanfall.
Technically I am a software dev but tbh the only real consequences that job/interest has gotten me are a lot of #gender #dysphoria and some cool socks.
Im a never ending source of useless information and listen to a lot of different genres of music and always hope to find new artists I can listen to. A few of my favourite genres are #glitchpop, #breakcore and #jumpstyle.
I play a lot of different video games and when I say a lot I mean a lot. From indie gems like #DeadCells, #Boomeraxe, #Ultrakill and #HeatSignature to some multiplayer games like #ApexLegends, #LeagueOfLegends(Ouch I know). I also played a lot of #BaldursGate3 and #DarkestDungeon wehn it comes to turnbased games. So if you got any recommendations, especially niche indie banger.
I am also very interested in #Reading, #Writing and more recently #Acting. And been wanting to write some #Fantasy texts. I would be very interested in other #Authors sharing their creative process and ways of #Worldbuildung . On a similiar note I love #TTRPG 's, although Im pretty new to this so I have ever only tried #DND and a slither of #Pathfinder
Some of the shows and movies I have watched and really enjoyed are in no particular order: #Nimona, #Arcane, #OnePiece, #Bleach, #NeonGenesisEvangelion, #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce, #BNA, #Beastars, #CyberpunkEdgerunners, #GreatBudapestHotel, #BulletTrain,
#GoodOmens, #IntoTheSpiderverse, #JujutsuKaisen
Still a bit confused on how to find new people on here so feel free to interact. -
What is that hideous #Creature that scuttles accross your timeline?
Its me, Lobster, a #Queer #Anarchist. I am here to tell you about my latest obsession, no matter if its the #MagnusArchives, #ArmoredCoreVI or #Titanfall.
Technically I am a software dev but tbh the only real consequences that job/interest has gotten me are a lot of #gender #dysphoria and some cool socks.
Im a never ending source of useless information and listen to a lot of different genres of music and always hope to find new artists I can listen to. A few of my favourite genres are #glitchpop, #breakcore and #jumpstyle.
I play a lot of different video games and when I say a lot I mean a lot. From indie gems like #DeadCells, #Boomeraxe, #Ultrakill and #HeatSignature to some multiplayer games like #ApexLegends, #LeagueOfLegends(Ouch I know). I also played a lot of #BaldursGate3 and #DarkestDungeon wehn it comes to turnbased games. So if you got any recommendations, especially niche indie banger.
I am also very interested in #Reading, #Writing and more recently #Acting. And been wanting to write some #Fantasy texts. I would be very interested in other #Authors sharing their creative process and ways of #Worldbuildung . On a similiar note I love #TTRPG 's, although Im pretty new to this so I have ever only tried #DND and a slither of #Pathfinder
Some of the shows and movies I have watched and really enjoyed are in no particular order: #Nimona, #Arcane, #OnePiece, #Bleach, #NeonGenesisEvangelion, #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce, #BNA, #Beastars, #CyberpunkEdgerunners, #GreatBudapestHotel, #BulletTrain,
#GoodOmens, #IntoTheSpiderverse, #JujutsuKaisen
Still a bit confused on how to find new people on here so feel free to interact. -
Daily writing prompt List your top 5 favorite fruits. View all responsesWell, today’s prompt is going to lead to some deep, heavy discussions. I’m a little hesitant to contribute as I don’t want to upset anyone today (yeah, right).
Also… do I have five favorite fruits? I haven’t had a lot of fruit since the gastric bypass surgery. Something about the few things I’ve tried have made them difficult to handle so I’ve backed off. A lot of this will be pre-surgery opinions, but it’s not like I was a big fruit eater when I was eating party sized bags of chips in one sitting almost every day. You don’t get over 400 pounds by eating things that are good for you all the time. Once in a while, sure, but doubtful it could be a regular (ya know, healthy) kinda thing.
Here is my super detailed list. Enjoy!
- Grapes. Specifically green grapes. Post-surgery, the thin layer of skin is tough for me to chew up to a small enough state to not get stuck trying to get into my newly redesigned stomach. I’ve been mostly okay eating grapes, but every now and then they bring on a nasty case of The Foamies.
- Apples. When I was a kid apples were my favorite by a mile. As I got older I sort of lost the taste for them. Not completely. Every once in a while an apple would be great. Post-surgery I haven’t had one. My hesitation is the same as the grapes issue. I’m worried about not being able to break down the skin enough. I could peel them, of course, but I just haven’t tried it. Also, there’s a lot of sugar in apples. Would that lead to dumping syndrome? On a related note, just after surgery while I was in the pureed food stage I tried some apple sauce. It went down fine, but the gas it produced. WOW.
- Oranges. I love a seedless orange. I haven’t tried one post-surgery. One of these days.
- Pineapple. I’ve tried a couple of bites of pineapple since the gastric bypass and it went fine. Pineapples are delicious, but do they go with pizza? I’ve never tried it so I recuse myself from the debate.
- Okay… one more… now we are firmly into, “is that a fruit or a vegetable” territory. Also… I’m having a hard time thinking of something else I like. Is celery a fruit or a vegetable? It’s a vegetable. Also, the stringy nature… there’s no way I could eat celery without getting savagely nauseous. What about olives? Google says it’s both, though technically a fruit. We have a winner! I always loved seedless black olives. I haven’t had one in ages though. Maybe I should revisit them. There was a time in my younger days when I really liked them.
And there you have it, friends, neighbors, and gentle readers. Five fruits that I like or liked, some of which I might still be able to eat without vomiting! Enjoy!
https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/05/14/deep-discussion/
#Apple #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1938 #food #fruit #fruits #health
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Guake has long been a favorite application of mine. If you’re new to Guake, it’s a terminal application for Linux that stays out of site until it’s summoned with a hotkey, like the console in Id Software’s Quake games.
Hit F12 or whatever combo you set up for it, and it slides into view over the top of other windows. When you’re done, bang the hotkey again and it slides back up out of sight. I find it super useful.
But, I’ve long wanted to be able to do that with other applications. Specifically, I’ve really craved a text editor that would be easy to summon like Guake so I could keep running notes and scratchpads for little snippets of text.
Technically I could just use Vim for that in Guake, but I wanted something a bit easier to copy and paste text in and out of. My previous searches never turned up anything I loved, so I stopped looking.
While looking for another GNOME extension today, I found Quake-mode. This is just the thing I was looking for. After installing the extension you can choose whatever application you like, set an “Accelerator” (hotkey) and you’re all good. You also have the option of setting a notification area icon if you prefer to mouse it.
Nice, simple, perfect for productivity. I’ve set it up to use Gedit but you could do whatever makes sense for you.
The only thing that would be better is if it supported more than one app. But I won’t be greedy, one is good enough, and it doesn’t conflict with Guake so I get my terminal and text editor too. Love it. Big thanks to the author of this extension.
#gnome #gnome-extension #linux
https://dissociatedpress.net/2023/02/14/my-new-favorite-gnome-extension/
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Jan 14, 2023 - Day 14 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 20Game: Half-Life: Opposing Force
Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Nov 19, 1999
Library Date: Apr 10, 2004
Unplayed: 6853 days (18y9m4d)
Playtime: 45mI was wrong yesterday when I said that was the oldest unplayed game in my Steam library.
There is another.
On the 10th of April 2004, I installed Steam for the first time, and activated my first Steam key, for the "Platinum Pack".
I went on to just play Half-Life.
I didn't play Opposing Force or Blue Shift.
This game sat for almost 19 years, unplayed. I did open it once in 2019, but apparently closed it again without playing.
(Technically, it's even longer, because I owned it on CD before that, and hadn't played it there, either.)
So much for playing for "15-30min"; at the 45 minute mark, I had to leave to drop my daughter to work, otherwise I might still be playing.
Here we are in 2023; 23 years, 1 month, 26 days after Opposing Force was released, it still absolutely bangs. Here I am playing it natively at 1440p. It runs at normal speed. The head crabs STILL send chills up my spine. There's still a bug in the game that will permanently break the Desert Eagle if you try and fire it underwater (guess what I did!).
I've got games from the mid 00's that are unplayable.
Half-Life: Opposing Force is:
4: Good
#HalfLifeOpposingForce #FPS #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365
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Since #Streams isn't listed on any Fediverse website and probably never will, it's hard to find instances of it. But it isn't impossible.
There are two ways to do that. One is by finding a (streams) instance. Yeah, okay, that was a bad one. Try streams.hubzilla.social or Rumbly.
The other one, the one with learning wheels, is by finding an instance of one of the post-Hubzilla, pre-(streams) #Zotlabs projects because the-federation.info lists or used to list them. It still lists Zap.
Go to that instance. If it's (streams), you've technically found an instance. But where's the fun in stopping, no matter how inviting Rumbly appears? Let's find more. Let's go instance-hunting. If you've started on an instance of a Zotlabs project, you'll need to do that anyway because you aren't on a (streams) instance yet.
Next step: Click on the burger menu to the right on the navigation bar. (streams) has a menu entry named "Communities", the Zotlabs products had (or still have) "Sites". It's the same: It's where all Fediverse instances which have connected to this one are listed.
So there could be a (streams) instance or three somewhere, right? Yes. It's the more likely, the bigger the instance is.
The sidebar on the left lists projects; (streams) calls them "community types". You'll find lots of familiar names there. If you scroll down, chances are very good that there's "Streams". Bingo.
Now wait a second. Let me tell you a secret: Most (streams) instances don't identify as such. streams.hubzilla.social only barely does so, Rumbly doesn't at all. And those that do are usually personal instances with closed registration.
So let's go back to the list of projects/community types. The next part of the trick is to look at all those that don't sound like valid Fediverse projects. If you open them, and something with the ActivityPub logo shows up, you're extremely likely to not have found a (streams) instances (unless some prankster has used that same logo to identify their instance). If not, it might be a (streams) instance.
It's also worth looking at the old Zotlabs project names: Redmatrix, Osada, Zap, Misty/Mistpark2020, Roadhouse. All five can be upgraded straight to (streams). This has actually been done with some instances, and sometimes, the original branding/the last branding was kept in place.
Once you've reached this point, (streams) instances can be identified in various ways.- Does it mention (streams) in its description, maybe even link to the code repository? Then it's very likely to be (streams).
- If not, does it have a date as its version, e.g. 23.04.18? Again, it's very likely to be (streams).
- Still unsure? Then visit it. If it has the same colour scheme as my Hubzilla channel, it's very likely to be (streams). The colours on my channel are a blatant ripo-, um, homage to (streams).
- The litmus test is the burger menu. If there's a Communities entry, it is (streams). If you find a description of the Zot API under Help, yup, it's (streams).
Before you join, go back to the Sites/Communities list where you came from and check the version. If it's a few months old already, chances are that there isn't much administration going on on this instance. If it's only a few hours old, don't worry, (streams) isn't so bleeding-edge that it's likely to blow up in your face.
Besides, remember that (streams) supports nomadic identity. If you're a cowa-, um, concerned about the resilience of your channel, you can always go nomadic on another instance or two.
If you've found a not-too-small-not-too-inactive (streams) instance, you can of course use it as your next base to go instance-hunting. - Does it mention (streams) in its description, maybe even link to the code repository? Then it's very likely to be (streams).
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Video Sunglasses
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2010/11/video-sunglasses/
For a little while, I've been lusting after the Immortal Video Glasses. Sunglasses with a built in video camera - perfect for recording all my action/adventure exploits!But, at £300, I thought they were a bit out of my price range. Undoubtedly fun, yes, but not 100-pints-of-beer fun (or however you choose to measure your fun).
I wondered if anyone was selling them second-hand on eBay. They weren't. But there were a whole load of clones. "Spy Sunglasses DVR" and the like. Some were technically very impressive - bluetooth, mp3 players, fm radios - all built in.
I went for the cheapest pair I could find. 1280x960 video resolution (actually 640x480 - more on that later), no built in memory, and shipped from Hong Kong.
Total cost? £16.50. A damned site cheaper than the Immortal glasses - but would they be any good? After two weeks on a slow boat from the East, they finally arrived...
So, how well do they work?
Test Videos
Sunshine Test
Walking down Brick Lane in the dark
The video glasses I purchased said that they recorded at 1280x960 - in fact, they're only half that at 640x480. The seller has agreed a partial refund. I'm not convinced that the 1280 version would be any more than interpolated upwards.
Test Pictures
The resolution of the pics is 3264*2448. Click the pictures for full size.
The Specs (geddit?)
- Weight: 52g
- Battery:5V DC 450mAh
- Recharging Time: 3-6 hours
- Continuous working Time: 2-3 hours
- Picture Resolution: The rather odd 3264*2448.
- Video details (based on usage, not manufacturer's details)
- Video 640*480
- Audio is driven by a mono microphone on the left side.
- Mplayer says: VIDEO: [MJPG] 640x480 24bpp 29.710 fps 5479.8 kbps (668.9 kbyte/s)
- Mplayer says: AUDIO: 24000 Hz, 1 ch, u8, 192.0 kbit/100.00%
Once plugged in to USB, the camera just shows up as a USB mass storage drive. No software needed. Works perfectly on Linux.
lsusb produced
05e1:0b02 Syntek Semiconductor Co., Ltd
The Down Side
Look, it's a piece of sweatshop produced plastic. Don't expect the world, ok? That said, there are a few minor niggles.
- Mini USB rather than Micro USB. All of my gadgets use the new standard - I have plenty of mini cables, but it's a pain that this doesn't support the new standard.
- Limited to 8GB MicroSD card. To be fair, that's ~2 hours of recording time - which is what the battery is rated at.
- The lenses of the sunglasses seem to be smoked glass and don't offer any real UV protection.
- The lenses are meant to be removable (I've got a clear pair of lenses coming) but I can't find any way to remove them.
- Glasses are lightweight but feel quite fragile.
- Glasses are a little tight for my big head.
- The mono microphone picks up what the wearer is saying reasonably well - but other sounds can be quite muffled. I think this is because the mic is pointing downwards.
All that said, I'm reasonably impressed with them.
Setting The Time
One of the problems with buying cheap tat from China is that the instructions are... obtuse. As you can see in the above videos and pictures, I managed to screw up the time initially.
To set the time correctly, create a file called "time.txt" in the root directory. Open it up in your favourite text editor and type the time using this format.
2010.11.05 13.45.30 Y
That's "YYYY.MM.DD HH.MM.SS" The "Y" at the end tells the camera to place a timestamp on every video and picture. If you don't want a timestamp, write it as
2010.11.05 13.45.30 N
Once the file is saved and the camera turned on, the time will be set and the file automatically deleted.
Comparisons
Comparing the video to the hyper-expensive Looxcie
And the Immortal
I think this generic set holds up very well.
Conclusion
Under twenty quid? Bargain! It certainly falls in to the "good enough" category.
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August 31, 2023 - Day 243 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 263Game: The Ascent
Platform: Steam
Release Date: Jul 30, 2021
Library Date: Aug 31, 2022
Unplayed: 365d (1y)
Playtime: 67mThe Ascent is a cyberpunk-themed isometric action-shooter RPG, with an oddly annoying control scheme.
This is not, technically, the first time I've played The Ascent. I played a short part of it -on PC- when it was on Xbox Game Pass. I remember being annoyed by the controls then, but forgot I'd installed it.
Then it dropped in the August 2022 Humble Choice bundle, and I uninstalled it from the Xbox app and installed it on Steam, and promptly forgot about it.
Turns out that was *exactly* twelve months ago.
When starting it tonight, I remembered my annoyance with the controls, and turned on my controller.
This is a game that feels like it was designed to be played with a controller. On a controller, and an isometric* game, moving with the left stick feels natural. WASD feels odd, because you're using two keys at a time.
But targeting with the right stick feels like playing in glue. Maybe if it had snap-targeting, but it doesn't. Targeting with a mouse feels natural and particularly during the first frenetic boss battle, if I'd been trying to target with the controller, I'd probably have given up.
My only other critique is that "isometric*" above. A lot of isometric games handle being behind an object by making it transparent, or outlining your character.
The Ascent puts a circle on the ground, which can be a little hard to keep track of when you're behind a large fixed object during a frenetic boss battle.
On top of this, it's isometric until it isn't. Suddenly, the camera is behind you for a while, but not when it might be helpful, like when you're behind a giant object during a frenetic boss battle.
The gameplay and atmosphere are excellent. It nails that gritty cyberpunk feel. The mobs suddenly popping up out of nowhere give just the right amount of chills. The first level in the bowels of the city feels -and sounds- like you're underneath everything.
The visuals and sound design when you complete your first major quest getting a machine running is great.
The Ascent is a game that overcomes its weaknesses pretty damn well.
The Ascent is:
4: Good
#TheAscent #Isometric #ActionShooter #RPG #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay
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A Land Acknowledgement for the Internet
For many years I have sought to push back against treatment of the internet as a “space” — simply: to do so is a category error because it is a domain of speech, unlike the more normal military/political operational domains such as air, sea, sky, land, and space.
Thus: the “cyberspace” has always been a bad metaphor because it implies that it can be policed in much the same way as a city; equally “information superhighway” was always bad, and folk who talk about “cutting off from the Internet” in pursuit of political goals, clearly think in terms of trade not communication.
Oh, and “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace?” — it’s really kinda cringe, but mostly for the non-obvious reason of giving people something pointlessly libertarian to push back against when instead they would probably be a lot more sympathetic towards “A Treatise Upon How The Internet Can Bring People Together For Good Or Ill.”
But: however poorly founded, space is clearly a popular frame for consideration of the Internet, and ChatGPT has given us all the opportunity to query a technically-competent ingénue for their opinion. So I threw it a prompt:
Imagine that you are a new Internet user – or indeed an Artificial Intelligence. Compose a heartfelt Land Acknowledgement outlining the history of the Internet and the (now largely unused and forgotten) rich and diverse communication protocols upon which it was founded, paying respect to the elders who created those protocols, and recognising (perhaps citing a few examples?) some of the communities which have previously existed on the internet. Explain how you will behave in order to respect their traditional cultural norms of “netiquette” (explaining what that means), free speech, and respectful yet forthright discussion.
…and here is the first and only result which I sought. There has been no attempt to tweak it, and it’s interesting to see use of “the lands on which” being employed, which are perhaps better considered as “cyber lands” or something.
It might provide a useful template for your next essay or diatribe about Internet “culture”.
A Land Acknowledgement for the Internet
As a new Internet user, I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the lands on which the Internet was created, developed and continues to expand. The Internet has its roots in the work of many elders, who created and maintained various communication protocols, such as ARPANET, which formed the basis of what we know today as the Internet.
We acknowledge the rich and diverse history of communication protocols, such as Gopher, Usenet, IRC, and many others, which have played a crucial role in shaping the Internet as we know it today. We honor the work of those who created and maintained these protocols, recognizing their contribution to the development of the Internet and the global communication networks.
We recognize that the Internet has historically been a space for diverse communities to connect, exchange ideas and collaborate. These communities have included online forums, chat rooms, mailing lists, and more, which have facilitated communication between people across different countries, cultures and backgrounds.
To respect the traditional cultural norms of “netiquette,” we will strive to engage in respectful and responsible communication online. This means treating others with kindness, avoiding offensive or hurtful language, and being mindful of the impact of our words and actions on others.
At the same time, we also recognize the importance of free speech and the exchange of diverse ideas, which have been fundamental to the growth of the Internet. We will strive to engage in respectful yet forthright discussions, acknowledging the perspectives and experiences of others while expressing our own views.
In conclusion, we acknowledge the rich history of the Internet and the diverse communities that have existed on it. We commit to engaging in respectful and responsible communication online, while also recognizing the importance of free speech and the exchange of diverse ideas.
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I'm looking forward optimistically toward a future where either:
1. ) mastopub isn't mentioned with respect to networking at all
2. ) people stop conflating masto with #Fediverse - They are not the same.technically, #Lemmy might be a percentage of some sort in terms of traffic by MAUs with respect to mastotron - but not really; because it's a percentage of some sort in terms of traffic by MAUs with respect to Fediverse, and more specifically, ActivityPub traffic - NOT masto! Unless of course, one wishes to compare a single platform against another, but then it would usually be framed differently, instead of "as if" masto was the network itself, which it is not - it's just an aging Fediverse platform slowly, yet incrementally being marginalized as a goto buzzword, due to it's predatory nature with respect to other, better, older, and more feature complete Fediverse platforms, Including those operating over
diaspora*,Zot6,ActivityPub,OStatus, Etc.Oh, why is it, that Lemmy feels more vibrant, active, lighthearted, and even more powerful than mastotron?
Nevermind.... it doesn't matter. Coz if you think that's kewl, you should really check this out.
Oh, geez! Is that you? lolz....
Seriously though @rimu , Don't you think it's about time for #PyFedi to have it's own #Fediverse account that we can subscribe to via RSS or folllow? People really like it. People are really impressed. People ARE NOT saying things like this about it:
> I don’t like that the easy install instructions are longer than this blog post. I don’t like that the build failed after ten minutes due to a missing dependency because they couldn’t check for it before starting. I don’t like that restarting the build literally restarted from crate zero and rebuilt everything. I don’t like that the build failed fifteen minutes later trying to compile lemmy-schema because it ran out of memory, so I had to add swap. I don’t like that the build failed again another twenty minutes later trying to link lemmy_server because I didn’t add enough swap. Come on, man.
Attribution:
https://flak.tedunangst.com/post/azorius-01So yah, we were discussing PyFedi in the Fediverse-City Matrix room, and clumping together notions such as how your following assertion here has found a relevance that other 'similar' so-called link aggregators have eschewed:
> PieFed - a federated forum, similar to Lemmy but written in Python
And indeed, even at merely the first glance, it looks a heckuvalot (sic) more friendly than just link aggregation, the lines begin to blur even further when you take a look at the fast and friendly NodeBB, not too dissimilar, but not as lightweight as PyFedi - Wait! Are we supposed be calling it something else? #PieFed, perhaps? Are you undergoing a rebranding and just haven't renamed the git repo over at Codeberg yet?
Do please let us know :) Piefed has a lot of other FUN connotations, as both a play on words and also just falling off the tongue a little easier.
Yes back to the question of whether you feel it's the right time for your PyFedi project to launch its own Fediverse account - preferably, if I might be so bold as to suggest, NOT on a masto instance. After all, and like you said:
> Mastodon feels like a fucking funeral.
Indeed it does. I could recommend a couple of Good Mitra instances, put in a word for you on one of the dev's reference flagship intances, or Friendica is awesome too - very awesome, and unlike mastopub, it doesn't, "feel like a fucking funeral", lolz (as you sooo eloquently stated). It also interoperates seamlessly with and between Diaspora, Bluesky, Hubzilla/Zot, and the entire ActivityPub portions of the Fediverse. The Pleroma and Misskey family of forks have some nice offerings as well. I think a lot of people would find it refreshing if a new and refreshing federated forum/aggregator project with an enjoyable, clean and friendly feel had it's Fediverse presence somewhere other than a cemetery ;)
I predict a rapid rise in the deployment of #PyFedi instances. just look at the number of #Mbin deployments as/of late, and #Kbin before that - both are still enjoying accelerating adoption rates.
Yup! There's a lot of excitement and people are talking - thought you might like to know ;) And thank you for creating PieFed!
#tallship #FOSS #Fediverse #ActivityPub #Forumware #Link_Aggregation #meme_posting #Shitposting #discussion_sharing You can haz #Cheezburgerz! 🍔
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June 19, 2023 - Day 170 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 188Game: Bioshock Remastered
Platform: Steam
Release Date: Sep 16, 2016
Library Date: Sep 16, 2016
Unplayed: 2467d (6y9m3d)
Playtime: 41m"Wait... you've never played Bioshock?"
Well... yes and no.
I got Bioshock Remastered & Bioshock 2 Remastered for free because I already owned Bioshock & Bioshock 2.
Once I got past the intro (which seemed completely new to me), and into the game proper, I started to feel a sense of deja vu.
As it turns out, I played the original Bioshock for a total of 3.1 hours, last played July 26, 2014. I don't remember any of it; since I've never played Remastered, so I'm counting it as technically unplayed (particularly as I'm too tired to start something else at 10:30pm)
Bioshock (if you've been living under a rock) is an FPS/immersive sim set in a Libertarian utopia called "Rapture" that... isn't.
I'm not far enough into the game to understand why Rapture has collapsed, but I'm pretty sure that it's something to do with the "Plasmids" that effectively give the character super powers.
The visual and audio design of Bioshock Remastered is incredible, giving the game an oppressive & claustrophobic feel.
I doubt I would have grasped much of the Libertarian subtext in 2014; in post-Brexit/COVID/Musk 2023, that subtext sits very uncomfortably.
Bioshock Remastered is:
4: Good
#BioshockRemastered #FPS #ImmersiveSim #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay
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Nasty Savage – Jeopardy Room Review
By Steel Druhm
I did NOT have a brand new Nasty Savage album on my bingo card for 2024, or ever for that matter. I was a big fan in the 80s, finding the belligerent, over-the-top attitude of unhinged frontman/WWF wannabe Nasty Ronnie to be the perfect match for the band’s oddball blend of trad-metal and thrash.1 Their 1985 debut was like a loony hodge-podge of Venom, Manowar, and Mercyful Fate, with the Floridian bruisers trying to settle on the right tone and style. 1987s follow-up Indulgence was a tougher, meaner hombre full of technically precise thrash with proggy accents. 89s Penetration Point took the prog elements and pushed them further to join the wave of bands experimenting with tech-thrash in the late 80s like Watchtower and Toxik. After that the joy ride ended and the band imploded. They reformed to drop a respectable comeback in 2004 and then promptly folded again. An album 20 years later is a big surprise because Nasty Savage never seemed like it was made up of guys destined to live long, healthy lives. Nasty Ronnie was a trailer park psycho living with alligators and the rest of the band was equally sketchy. And yet Jeopardy Room finds Ronnie very much alive and kicking supported by an all-new lineup of unsavory riff-raff.2 What will a Nasty Savage album sound like in the modern age? I was a bit scared to find out, honestly.
After a short intro piece, the title track roars out with a shockingly ageless sound very much in line with their Indulgence era. Fiery caveman thrash is the rotgut of the day with Ronnie grunting and shouting over aggressive riif chaos just like in the olde days. In fact, Ronnie sounds exactly the same, which is crazy. It’s a classic Savage track with the same kind of burly, bullying thrash riffs and concussive force I depended on during gym time in my angry teens. “Brain Washer” is a big dose of low-brow speed that pays big, dumb dividends with Ronnie hysterically shouting “Brainwasher, Brainwasher!!” like an inmate at Arkham Asylum. It also weaves proggy ideas through the thuggish brutality in a way where you don’t even notice them at first. “Witches Sabbath” is a throwback to the debut where they dabbled in Mercyful Fate and King Diamond influences, going for a moody, mysterious atmosphere complete with horror movie keyboards. It’s cheesy and ham-fisted but somehow ends up working and those riffs are pure Sherman/Denner.
Jeopardy Room is a classic Savage album in that it tries to represent all the stages of their too-short career. You get the trad and thrash and prog, but thrashers dominate the day. “Blood Syndicate” hits especially hard toward the album’s conclusion as furious, weighty riffs run wild and Ronnie roars like an enraged silverback as a woman reaches ever closer to climax in the background for whatever reason. Classic Savage. Sure, not every track hits the mark. “Schizoid Platform” tries to balance hog-defiling speed and prog with awkward results, and “Operation Annihilate” is rudimentary idiocy but still fairly entertaining. The overall balance favors the nasty, as most tracks are good with a few rising higher. It’s a motley collection of metal zingers by a real motley crew of ne’er-do-wells and it’s surprisingly spry and energized.
The big surprise here is Mr. Nasty himself. Ronnie sounds like he’s been in cryofreeze since the mid-90s. His husky baritone bellows are still stuffed full of toxic masculinity and goonism and he’s highly effective. He foregoes the King Diamond-esque high-pitched falsettos he employed in the past but I don’t miss them. He’s still a massive presence behind the mic and he can probably still toss a few wimps ass-over-teakettle into the rotpit. New guitarist Dave Orman does an excellent job mimicking the axe styles of original members Ben Meyer and David Austin, which is no easy feat as they always had a very distinct and usual approach. His riffs are thick, razor-sharp, and oppressive with a slightly proggy flare often present even in the most thrash-tastical cuts. He’s slick as shit without departing from the mission statement of kicking poser ass. The whole band is tight and polished, making Olde Man Ronnie sound like an angry 20-something again. Kudos.
I didn’t expect much from Jeopardy Room, but it’s a fun and forceful throwback to the band’s early days of drunken excess and alligator humping. It reeks of 1987, warm beer, and moist BO, which means it smells like Nasty Savage sounds. Give this a loud, angry spin and rock the double-wide. After that, go discover or re-discover their classics and get swole.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: FHM Records
Websites: nastysavage.com | instagram.com/nastysavageband
Releases Worldwide: October 11th, 2024#2024 #30 #AmericanMetal #FHMRecords #HeavyMetal #JeopardyRoom #NastySavage #Oct24 #Review #Reviews #ThrashMetal
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The 2nd part of our #WarOfTheRing game took a sudden turn for the worse for the Shadow - I had terrible luck on the dice!
- Dol Amroth falls to the corsairs. (2 VP!)
- The Southron army moves from Osgiliath to besiege Minas Tirith.
- The Gondor army in Pelargir moves into Lossarnach.
- The Shadow army besieging MT attacks the army in Lossarnach but takes some casualties & cease the attack.
- The Witch King appears in North Ithilien at the head of an army of Easterners & Mordor Orcs.
- Free Peoples play the "Help Unasked For" card & drive the besiegers back to Osgiliath.
- The Witch King's army reinforces the survivors in Osgiliath & descends on MT, the defenders choose to fight a field battle. A combination of good luck & amazing cards for FP & awful luck for the Shadow means that the Witch King's army is annihilated & he dies (permanently) along with two Nazgul! Huge setback for the Shadow!
- Gandalf the White appears.
- Saruman's army besieges Helm's Deep! Rohirrim move out from Edoras into Westemnet. Saruman's army attack them from Helm's Deep, forcing them to retreat to Fangorn.
- The Elf army (+ Legolas) moves out of Lorien towards Fangorn, leaving it undefended. Orcs leave Moria & Dol Guldur to claim Lorien. (2 VP!).
- Ents attack Isengard (event), which only has Saruman in it (I left it unguarded, not knowing there was an Ents Attack card)! Orthanc falls & Saruman is removed from play - another huge setback for the Shadow!
- After that, the Free People are just mopping up. The remaining Shadow army in Parth Celebrant are wiped out by the elf army in Fangorn & the Rohirrim wipe out the Shadow army attacking Helm's Deep - that's where we had to end.The Fellowship barely moved (they got up to 4 on the track) & were never revealed!
Technically the Shadow won with 4 VP (we still had Dol Amrath & Lorien) but we lost the Witch King & Saruman. The FP could probably turn the tide if we had been able to continue the game. Still, it was a lot of fun! #boardgames