David Mitchell

It is completely unclear what these numpties think “regime change” even means (it seems to me that they don’t either). Does it mean taking out a prominent leader (who was 86 and likely to die soon anyway), or the wholesale replacement of the entire government structure? The first doesn’t change the country much at all… Khamenei didn’t slaughter thousands of protesters with his own hands, his underlings are quite capable of staying on course. The second means reinventing government from the ground up, on the fly, by inexperienced people, leaving the nation vulnerable to the risk of a takeover to radical partisans… which is how the people of Iran ended up in the current pickle to begin with. #USPol #cdnPoli #iran #RegimeChange

@Paulatics@mstdn.ca Thank you Senator for speaking on behalf of like-minded Canadians, who believe that *every* person is of inestimable value, and that Canada is and must continue to be a nation that strives to treat people equally and make no distinction between people based on race, creed, or place of origin. Well worth listening to. #CdnPoli #ABPoli #ABLeg #Immigration #BillC12 #AlbertaSupremacists

@Paulatics@mstdn.ca People who somehow aren’t swayed by the well-documented moral and ethical concerns of using X point to simple ‘practicality,’ that in order to reach people and ensure information is available they need to “be where the people are”. But this makes the assumption that if you are on X and you post something, that people who follow you will actually see it, and that assumption is extremely unwarranted. Try going to X and see if information from the Edmonton Police Service is easy to find even if you are looking… probably not. The most important official information is often the least exciting and sexy… it certainly shouldn’t have to rely on gaming an algorithm or becoming viral to be seen by people who have tried to connect. In my mind this is the best argument in favour of spinning up mastodon instances for official orgs: your information *will* definitely end up in the feed of anyone who is interested enough to follow you, no algorithm gaming, attention farming, or annoying gimmicks needed.

@tlariv@mastodon.cloud @sofiav@mastodon.online @hannah@posts.rat.pictures TIL: In 1887 the first softball was a wrapped up boxing glove and the bat was a broom, in Chicago!

@infobeautiful@vis.social It’s almost like there’s an entrenched, wealthy, and powerful special interest group with a vested interest in discouraging investments in solar … 🤷‍♂️

@nat@kind.social This is part of the reason I really just don’t spend time with men in male spaces.

@hannah@posts.rat.pictures @sofiav@mastodon.online Very nearly (~6.7cm vs ~7.5cm diameter)… I suspect the person who invented this scale was thinking of a softball (~9.7cm)

@ojs@c.im @johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz @antopatriarca@mathstodon.xyz I don’t see it as first customer and second customer, it’s not a functional transaction: I think he’s using this visual perspective to invert real and imaginary. Her inner reality is presented as factual, and the factual is presented as a fiction both literally and figuratively by relegating it to the reflected world. In ‘reality’ she stands alone in her internal existence - isolated, disconnected - from events around her, offering a “fourth wall” breaking gaze to the viewer, inviting us to truly see her.

@BigJackBrass Cats make the most effective jailers…

@chad @yegbike.bsky.social “Next time you’re out walking, biking, rolling, or waiting for transit: Spot a sneckdown — usually at corners, intersections, or along wide roads. If snow is showing unused road space, it counts. Take a quick photo (phone photos are perfect). Please don’t step into traffic to get a photo — safety first. Send it to us with the location and date You can reply to this email or tag us on social media with #YEGSnowStories. No editing. No perfection. Just real winter streets, as they are. Thanks for helping us show what safer, people-first streets can look like — even in February.” #yegBike #YEG #UrbanPlanning

@gnate Yes… I’ve had some pretty frank discussions with my father, who is a retired physician. Because he lives alone, he is (justifiably) concerned that if found unconscious he will subjected to things he would not choose. Odd how (as a society) we are so unwilling to prevent infectious disease with real and significant risks of disease or death, and then rush in to ‘save’ the life of a dying 90 year old.

@whatanerd@social.treehouse.systems Indeed: “My moral system doesn’t require me to care about others” is not a problem of knowledge, information, or understanding.

@fringemagnet Amen.

@futurebird So happy for her!

@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io @Mabande@mastodon.social He is indeed impressive! Also, it’s easier to stay on point when you only need to have one: They done bad, and that is the source of all their troubles: don’t blame me!

@IanHill@infosec.exchange Ultimately we desperately need to just get everyone out of their cars altogether, but I certainly never predicted the route to that would be making cars both so unreliable and so snitchy that no one would want to own or use one anymore… 🤷‍♂️

@greenpeace@mastodon.social This demonstrates the true values of the Government of Alberta which has stopped development of small scale wind and solar: centralization is riskier in every way, but easier to gate-keep and pull unearned profit from.

@Kevin We visited the Biosphere2 when visiting a couple of years ago and I found that interesting… of course I remember when they built it and so confidently locked themselves in the 80s. It’s a little out of town but a couple hours in interest. Also enjoyed hiking up into the mountains and a visit to the botanical gardens

@Su_G 😂

@anyGould Someone did try a preemptive “regime change” in the US and MAGA lost it…

@thecrushedviolet@mstdn.games @chad@retro.pizza That’s what I’ve always wondered: what does your soap taste like and why are you eating it?

@daveybot@mastodon.scot Oof, this is a tough time of year for those us living in the great white north: as you can see, we’re several months away from daffodils. Don’t stop posting though! Better to #BloomScroll vicariously than not to bloom scroll at all…

@pascaline Are *you* a supertooter? Now you can find out if your family and friends are right…

@Thomas@laserdisc.party I’m sorry, my understanding is that “y’all” is in fact singular, and the plural is “all y’all”

@jfmezei@mstdn.ca @WaitingForTheSign@mstdn.ca @Paulatics@mstdn.ca @su_liam@mas.to @elasticsoul@mastodon.social Why? Defence against what?

@WaitingForTheSign@mstdn.ca I am involved… “Canada needs them [drones] to be as fast as fighter jets” Why? “or they are useless for any type of aerial defence” Defence against what? @jfmezei@mstdn.ca @su_liam@mas.to @elasticsoul@mastodon.social @Paulatics@mstdn.ca

@jfmezei@mstdn.ca What are the 1 or 2 humans going to see from that cockpit flying past at some substantial fraction of the speed of sound? To your point, a fighter jet flying overhead does not replace human intelligence on the ground, does it? If the jet is then just a platform for equipment, keep in mind that even the world’s *very most* expensive military drones cost 1/10 a fighter jet, and most *much* less than that, so most of that equipment could be mounted onto drones that cost a vanishing fraction of of a jet. @su_liam@mas.to @elasticsoul@mastodon.social @troy_frizzell@mstdn.social

@geekysteven And be clear that you don’t need to belong to whatever group(s) they’re talking about this time. The whole point of the “first they came for…” poem is that once the worldview accepts that some people don’t deserve to live, humans can be endlessly inventive at coming up with new categories of people to devalue.

@fabio Absolutely get and agree with your point on “AI” models. The ‘video’ is fascinating though, and makes me wonder what the result would be if someone recruited 200 human artists to perform the same task: generate the next frame in sequential isolation.

@krnlg@mastodon.social @ipofanes@mastodon.social @VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social @csolisr I’m confused, which case is that? How would someone be certain of finding a parking spot just outside their door rather than a block away?

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social @csolisr @krnlg@mastodon.social @ipofanes@mastodon.social Because the streets that had parking were very crowded… it seems unlikely they would be able to secure a spot right outside their destination.

@csolisr @krnlg@mastodon.social @ipofanes@mastodon.social @VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social That I don’t live in it is part of why I would like to understand better…

@krnlg@mastodon.social @VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social I’m not sure I understand how the ‘before’ streets would have been better for someone on crutches… they would be unlikely to secure a parking spot very close anyway? Someone who doesn’t have more than a few meters of independent locomotion really can’t use a car on their own either, or am I missing something? 🤷‍♂️ @ipofanes@mastodon.social @csolisr

@linux_mclinuxface@fosstodon.org @AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca "I don't think anybody's even going to notice that it's gone." Well, I will miss it… since we got a soda stream, my kids and I have fun mixing drink flavours for sparkling beverages using frozen concentrates. My current go-to is a spoonful of lemonade, another of mango punch, a splash of lime juice, a pinch of salt, and sparkling water to the top.

@pauldrye@spacey.space @TheBreadmonkey@beige.party No van needed!

@catelli.bsky.social In July my partner and I travelled to Halifax and rented the “manager’s special” for a week. (It’s cheap, they choose the vehicle when you arrive). We’ve done this before often enough that we didn’t worry about it. They handed me the keys to a Tesla. I gave it shot for about half a day and then made them give me a different car. It was so ridiculously, wildly different, a very dangerous thing to hand over without warning. So many dangerous things, from the throttle operation of the accelerator through pretty much every ‘feature’ it has. We were struggling to figure put how we would keep it charged on a side trip through PEI when it started to rain, and I realized that to control the wipers I needed to click through two menu options and then operate a digital slider on the centre control screen. That was the last straw for me.

@thetnholler.bsky.social DJT (paraphrased): Dammit! We invested a lot into those judges; chose them carefully, spent millions of dollars, wined and dined them, did education sessions, all so they would know their place and do their job… which is to elevate me, glorious me, and support everything I want to do! Somehow those uppity judges decided they’re important on their own or something. #USPol

@nivex Ah the clear-sighted and prescient Shel Silverstein… I had all his books of poetry when I was a kid, maybe that’s part of the reason why Super-Auto-Carrot never impressed me?

@Catelli@social.vivaldi.net @catelli.bsky.social Our newest vehicle is several models ‘fancier’ than anything we’ve ever bought before (mostly for other reasons, we really don’t value the supposed luxury) The extent to which basic functions are reliant on the big screen is really troubling. I know this sounds odd, but vehicle controls should be tested blind, because to drive safely I need to be able to operate most of them without taking my eyes off the road, and that requires physical controllers.

@grepe@ieji.de The difference between #LLM #AI replacing you and it replacing the CEO is that the CEO will continue to pull his paycheck and have more time for golf, while you’ll just be out of work and destitute, the “way God intended it!”

@duckz It’s a special branding of war: “peace through violence” … all very 1984.

@aka_quant_noir I’m all for “regime change” if the Iranian people are making a new government for themselves… and the same goes for the United States.

@maco I still can’t stop myself from reading that as if AI is some kind of sex slave, forced to fuck everything… ymmv especially if you have a balanced and mature sense of humour.

@dantescanline@autonomous.zone I’m becoming increasingly curious about the laws governing the release of a noxious chemical irritant in public, as the first group did to cover their escape. Not that I expect it would change their behaviour (they have clearly granted themselves an unqualified exemption from any reasonable limitations on their behaviour), but curious what I as protester might find myself charged with if I did the same.

@evan@cosocial.ca Yes, and… it’s my youngest’s birthday!

@EllenInEdmonton@mstdn.ca @TheConversationUS@newsie.social A good while ago my dad (a retired MOH) sent me a copy of “Eat, Drink, and be Healthy”. Written by the lead scientist on the Health Professionals Longitudinal Health Survey it is a book about health and food, but what struck me was what he wrote in the Introduction. Going over the vast amounts of data they analyzed over decades, he pointed out that the single biggest predictor of health was “Do you smoke?” followed closely by “Do you get moderate daily exercise?” The effects of these factors *far* outweighed any effects of differences in diet.

@jfmezei@mstdn.ca So why does Canada need 88 jets on the off chance we may need to check out the odd ship in Arctic? Surely a handful would do? “Is the cost still that far below a jet?” … um yeah. Again the world’s very most expensive, hardened, equipped military drone still costs a 1/10 of a fighter jet. And since most drones are *much* less expensive even than that you don’t need to put all the equipment on one drone, you can have a thousand of them, that’s the point. Is Canada better off with 88 new jets, or with a few new jets for jet things and a million drones for everything else? @su_liam@mas.to @elasticsoul@mastodon.social @troy_frizzell@mstdn.social