FoxQuirk 🦊 @quirk@computerfairi.es

wow remember these old DOS error messages?

The chicken doesn't owe you an eggsplanation

ENTERING MY GRAINY POTATO PHONE VIDEO FOOTAGE OF CONSTRUCTION CRANES AND FEHRNSEHTURM ON AN CHILLY AUTUMN WINTER NIGHT ERA WE ARE SO FUCKIN BACK FOLKS

[crossposting from twitter 6 hours late]

I wrote a short note about Meta's toaster problem— toaster are impossible to make, digital platforms are easier. So Zuck needs a bigger more expensive moat.

#IndieWeb #Fediverse #OpenSocialWeb

https://www.fromjason.xyz/p/notebook/meta-s-toaster-problem/

In UI circles you sometimes see a (usually derogatory) label of "hover tunnel" given to a UI widget, like a clickless contextual menu, which requires you hover over an element then continue to hover over specific elements in order to keep the widget active. I would like to propose the term "Reverse Hover Tunnel" for the current YouTube front page, where you must move the mouse in strict and meticulous paths to avoid it beginning to autoplay random crap, possibly forever showing it as 10% watched

I sat across @lina’s legs and whispered in her ear:

“Babe, imagine this: You’re 14, and you invite your crush over for dinner.”

“Your family’s all upstairs. And I suddenly sit on your lap”

Her expression started to turn a little playful.

“You think you’ve just invited a friend over to hang out. You finally meet a girl who can also code, and you think tonight is just for some pair programming.”

I felt like I had her imagination hooked.

She tried not to laugh, holding it in. Then, she burst out laughing, covering her mouth.

“Was I too specific?” I asked.

She laughed even harder, pushing me away.

“The pair programming part totally ruined the mood, too funny!” #AsaCyan

one of the big changes due to HRT is how I treat myself when I see a reflection of me or a photo of me.

pre-HRT... my expressions whilst being photographed were flat, and if I caught a glimpse of myself in a shop window, or even in a mirror in the morning... it was very much "who dis?" and non-recognition.

one of my partners remarked that I appeared "dead inside"... sounds about right seeing photos from that time.

post-HRT... just caught myself in the mirror in the hotel room and I'm like, hey, how are you, looking great this morning... and I smile to myself.

it's not like I cannot see the body of a man totally masking the emerging woman, it's not like there's not dysphoria, but what there is, is a change.

where there used to be detachment... now there I see I embody that being, it's me, and I feel happier and more whole than in years, and it's just hard not to see myself and cheerlead a little... go you, you're smashing it, have a great day dee.

I really hope people on here feel the same and smile at themselves with love and kindness 💜

Someone has submitted a working turing machine to Lego Ideas and I'm loosing my mind over how cool it is: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/10a3239f-4562-4d23-ba8e-f4fc94eef5c7 #lego

The secret economics of Google Street View makes me think if the folks contributing to that would be better off contributing to #openstreetmap instead 🙈 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp2Qgw44MsA

When you live in a system that is always pushing for growth, your perspective becomes skewed. There are problems that we deal with everyday that probably could be solved — permanently (or at least for a long time) — but to do so would eliminate an entire cascade of profit, which is considered unacceptable.

So we continue to try to reinvent the wheel, or add features, or enshittify to increase profits.

This goes back to something I've ranted about in the past. Capitalism is incapable of comprehending the idea of a solved problem.

There is a class of problems for which optimal (or nearly optimal) solutions exist or could exist. Some of those solutions have existed for decades. But capitalism is never satisfied — growth must continue. So people keep trying to reinvent the wheel, making solutions that are more profitable but also more abstracted and inefficient.

Putting advertising on everything takes power.
Making everything internet connected takes power.
Pushing notifications takes power.
Autoplaying videos and sound takes power.
Tracking and data collection systems take power.
New "features" take power.

Manufacturing new computing hardware is an enormously energy and resource intensive process. Having to make hardware obsolete because the *software* isn't efficient is an absurd waste.

Something no one talks about enough:

CPU cycles aren't free.
Memory reads and writes aren't free.

That shit takes power. A miniscule amount per instance, yes, but it adds up quick if it's from an app that everyone uses constantly. All that power comes from somewhere, and right now that's mostly fossil fuels.

When people complain about software bloat, it's not just a UX problem, it's an environmental one too.

i'm a silly catgirl who has done a silly comfort purchase (tasking a satellite to take a high resolution image of the quartz mine in Spruce Pine, NC)

the licensing terms do not allow me to share the image but i'll keep you updated when it comes :3