Alyx Woodward (obsolete) @Alyx@computerfairi.es
Twitter, maybe leaving
well I got my own Twitter now (first tweet https://twitter.com/AlyxWoodward/status/1141827840008019968) so I guess I'll be on my bullshit there
bleh
I don't quite wanna ditch this account (seeing as how I've barely given it a chance) but I don't think I fit in here and nobody has taken notice of the kind of physical science nerd shit I wanna talk about
it sucks and I'm not happy but whaddya do
just try again somewhere else, like always
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
fascist culture wars
i will not let fash take the spelling "fren". goddamnit. i feel like every day these fuckers lick something and declare "this is mine now." don't let them have it! symbolism matters and their feeble attempts to taint symbols like bread, clowns, and an adorably misspelling of "friend" can be overcome. together, we are strong! ✊
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
ukpol
some people really love it when you ease up the pressure on their neck just a little. so much so that they don't for one moment imagine a world where the boot is gone entirely
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
@Alyx "why does this cider taste like fish?"
"hey, I didn't know exactly which genes to copy over, I just copied a load of them"
"ah, the stack overflow approach to gene editing"
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
Reason #7812 I'm not allowed in genetics labs: glowy trees
I want like, bio luminescent apple trees
Plant them along paths
Save a load on street lighting
Also make glowy cider from them
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
gonna be moving back to Twitter. feel like maybe I'll get more interest for the kinda science / engineering stuff that I wanna spout off, here
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
wanna see a work of art? this is an actual tutorial on how to reset your GE smart lightbulb: https://youtu.be/1BB6wj6RyKo
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
US concentration camps, birbsite
"Detainees are packed so tightly into rooms that they have to stand on toilets to breathe."
One cell with a capacity of 8 held 41 detainees.
A cell built for 35 held 155."
children are dying in ICE and CBP custody
Solitary confinement and torture to the point of slitting wrists, gouging one's eyeballs, especially disabled, LGBTQ people and hunger strikers they don't know what to do with.
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
FOSS zealots: Please stop telling people this is the year of Linux on the desktop and that Linux is better than Windows/Mac for every use case.
It's not, and it isn't. It took me years of being a system engineer to be able to just use it as a daily driver without significant pain every day.
For very narrow and specific cases, a very user-friendly distro may be better, but that's a call one can only make if they're intimately familiar with the needs of the user.
It's not, and it isn't. It took me years of being a system engineer to be able to just use it as a daily driver without significant pain every day.
For very narrow and specific cases, a very user-friendly distro may be better, but that's a call one can only make if they're intimately familiar with the needs of the user.
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
I mean there's no way they'd break up over it, I'm sure. But maybe Alphys would have to admit it's actually not terrible. But could also introduce Undyne to the first one
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
Free Undertale story/comic idea:
Set after the true pacifist ending, Undyne and Alphys are together still
But then Undyne of her own reconnaissance watches and enjoys Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2, unaware of the first one, and unaware of Alphys' dislike of the sequel.
And gushes to Alphys about how great it is.
mordanting anthocyanidins must be a thing right? should do a systematic investigation of what color "lakes" you get with different metals
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
Facebook moderation horrors
There's another investigative journalism piece about Facebook's outsourced content moderation companies on theverge.com.
I only skim read it, but that was bad enough. As you might expect it's a catalogue of horrors combined with abusive work practices and very exploited workers. Being continuously exposed to disturbing content eventually takes its toll on mental and physical health, and as the article describes is sometimes fatal.
"It was mass panic. All the SMEs had to rush in there and try to help people. They were freaking out — they couldn’t handle it. People were crying, breaking down, throwing up. It was like one of those horror movies."
This is the hidden part of what Facebook really is. It might also be part of the reason why Zuckerberg claims that in the next few years the company will be moving to a situation where they can't access the content (presumably client side encryption with the ad targeting also on the client).
People can also post disturbing or illegal content on the fediverse, but the difference is that nobody is forced to view it and blocking can isolate off bad instances like an immune response. It's also a reason why instances should try to avoid having thousands of users, because the burden on the admin can become too much.
I only skim read it, but that was bad enough. As you might expect it's a catalogue of horrors combined with abusive work practices and very exploited workers. Being continuously exposed to disturbing content eventually takes its toll on mental and physical health, and as the article describes is sometimes fatal.
"It was mass panic. All the SMEs had to rush in there and try to help people. They were freaking out — they couldn’t handle it. People were crying, breaking down, throwing up. It was like one of those horror movies."
This is the hidden part of what Facebook really is. It might also be part of the reason why Zuckerberg claims that in the next few years the company will be moving to a situation where they can't access the content (presumably client side encryption with the ad targeting also on the client).
People can also post disturbing or illegal content on the fediverse, but the difference is that nobody is forced to view it and blocking can isolate off bad instances like an immune response. It's also a reason why instances should try to avoid having thousands of users, because the burden on the admin can become too much.
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
speculation, facebook coin, colonialism (boost with CW)
From @Ttle in https://knzk.me/@Ttle/102294299507104801
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facebook coin is aiming at ppl around the world who don't have banks. I don't have any data to back this up but my hunch is the majority of those people don't live in the west (because most people don't live in the west). Facebook is targeting the global south to hold onto what little money they have and to make a profit on relatively small fees on a giant economy of scale.
it seems like a kind of weird new imperialism where a stateless, multicultural entity is targeting the global poor
Alyx Woodward (obsolete)
boosted
tech vitriol
TECH COMPANY: I think I'm gonna invent a new thing and try to get people to use it. should I make it proprietary so I can get maximal moneys from patent licensing?
HISTORY: if you make it proprietary, it will fail.
TEXH COMPANY: hmm ok but what if it's different this time
also considering xanthone as a building block? you can get that from salicylic acid, with a bit of foolery. might be a route to interesting polymers
had the idea last night that you could probably get anthrone (that's 9,10-dihydro-9-oxoanthracene) from natural materials, and get that to self-condense, with a Knoevenagel-type condensation between the keto group and the benzylic carbon
this paper seems to indicate feasibility
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0032386178901003
"hey look at my spiffy new microcomputer based on nanofluidics, made entirely out of renewable biopolymers!"
"damn that's sweet"
"it runs Arch Linux"
*drops it into the trash* "well at least it's biodegradable"
towards organic conducting polymers from biomass
not that I've got anything against really speculative, off-the-wall academic chemistry papers; they can be fun reading. but it's...questionable, how much of that work has any hope of being scaled up into something that's industrial-grade
