Replying to
@Bette@mstdn.social Email the MIT Science Fiction Society? mitsfs@mit.edu
Remote
Fred Haineux
@haineux@mastodon.social
mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Was at Apple for 25 years. Retired, returned as contractor for another 5 years, retired again.
We truly live in an age of marvels. Now if we can just get the trillionaires not to burn it all down for couch money.
158 Followers
60 Following
50 Posts
Joined April 01, 2017
Boasting about the motivation I get from Apple Fitness (Rings and FitnessBuddy):
85 perfect weeks (all three rings)
99 perfect weeks (Move)
101 perfect weeks (Exercise)
1750 Move goals
1007 All Rings Closed
I’d rather be sleeping, but I get my “brisk walks” in (3.5 miles a day, usually in 1 or 2 bouts) and here I am.
My doctors could not be happier.
I ❤️ San Jose bike trails. And I’m an old sloth. And I vote.
Replying to
@Cdespinosa@mastodon.social @NanoRaptor@bitbang.social I wonder if there could be a Connection Machine Simulator built out of GPUs and whether it would be faster than the original…
Replying to
@nonelvis@mastodon.social Oh good. Must keep them in business. Next year can I join you guys?
@courtney@pdx.social -- note that Benson's is “on the way" to The Clam Box, where the fried clam may or may not have been perfected. Indeed, from my ancestral home in Andover, along Route 133, are three famous ice cream stands and two clam restaurants. Gluttony über Alles!
Replying to
@NanoRaptor@bitbang.social Haters been hating since forever. Before AI slop, it was "’SHOPPED!”
You fricking rule at 'shopping. And your sense of humor is primary cyan beautiful. Thanks for all the laughs.
Replying to
Let me just say that this modern software world is strange. I wanted to open a picture. It was an SVG, so Affinity launched and immediately downloaded a mandatory, 1.02 GIGABYTE update.
What Bill Atkinson could've done with MacPaint had he been given a gigabyte of space!!
Mashup courtesy Chris Frantz (yeah, that guy in Talking Heads)
Like A Rolling Sex Machine (James Brown vs. Bob Dylan)
Replying to
@Cdespinosa@mastodon.social @NanoRaptor@bitbang.social The big hit for The Connection Machine at the MIT Media Lab was that a PhD student spent a month learning how to make text scroll on das Blinkenlights.
This was a fun article -- some of the special effects magic of the MacBook Neo intro video disclosed.
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/24/behind-the-scenes-look-at-macbook-neo-intro-video/
The world has got me down, so I am posting this. Feel free to follow up with more humor.
It is hard to explain just how happy this makes me, if only for the music! Johnny Costa, I am told, was a genius and played a completely different piano introduction for each of the 1000+ shows. Joe Negri was a famous guitarist. Many, many, many famous and accomplished musicians turned up.
I’m buying one. Great opportunity to help a cherished voice.
Replying to
@NanoRaptor@bitbang.social David Byrne says he ate a rock from the moon. I always wanted to, as a result. Found out it's a crime, too.
Replying to
@luxliquida@critter.cafe @NanoRaptor@bitbang.social
My offering of 10% tithe of the ink tanks has been received and THE PRINTER GOBLINS ARE PLEASED
Replying to
I also decided to get the full-on fancy birth certificate because the one I actually have from when I was born is NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO VOTE. VitalChek.com, easy-peasy, $70.
I look forward to voting against Those Bastards™ as hard as I possibly can. (3/3)
Hey babe: I have over 500 jazz LPs from the early Fifties, and not just all that 'Songs for Swinging Lovers' pablum. Wanna pick a record? What's that you say, 'Where to start?' Well, how about the Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall? Or do you prefer Bebop? I have a collector's edition of 'Jazz at Massey Hall.'
RE: @BasicAppleGuy@mastodon.social
I have a Great Need for stupid, space-hogging, fake computers now.
Replying to
Oh yeah, pictures of my “medal” -- by the way, it conjured up this notification with a special (I've never seen it before) “circle of lightning” animation. Thanks, Apple. I feel special.
Your daily dose of “Oh my goodness, were we really that insane?”
GET OFF-FOXY-OFFICIAL VIDEO-1978 [ HD]
Replying to
@justkwin@toot.community Like, one PAGE of documentation suffices, leaving only the really hard work to the programmer (figuring out what to do in response)! Love simple, awesome ideas.
Further cane-shaking at the HI designers who made Mac screen recording nigh-impossible to stop.
Here, have a nice recording of me asking Google how to run my Mac(!!!)
Replying to
@owiecc @FluentInFinance Sigh. The far-away grocery stores have chargers. I just wish I had bought an EV with fast charging, and the whole thing would be irrelevant, but I made a conscious decision to go with Honda instead of Tesla, and I had a home charger back then, which was nice enough. But at least I get excellent gas mileage with no electricity.
Replying to
Then driving across town to get to the one post office that was still open for passports, being told they closed at 3 despite posted closing at 6, getting helped anyway at 4:30 after two families of a billion kids and parents had appointments… Fees basically $200. Because there shall be no financial hurdle to voting… (2/3)
Replying to
@luxliquida@critter.cafe @NanoRaptor@bitbang.social My inkjet is mad at me. How else to explain the persistent streaks despite several deep-cleaning cycles?
Replying to
@FluentInFinance OK, just curious -- how many miles does that translate to? I am guessing here, but filling a tank of gas takes like 10 minutes and gets you 300-400 miles of travel. Are we THERE yet, so to speak?
Yes, if you HAVE a home charger, this is pretty much irrelevant, but my apartment has no chargers and no plans to add them. Fast charge is important to me.
Replying to
@alexr@mastodon.online Yelp had a really really lame one long ago.
Yelp could use the Netflix Algorithm and garner ad revenue if they wanted.
Actual good news. (TL;DR: Solar and other renewable forms of energy generation are winning over fossil fuels. Coal and Oil generation going DOWN. Better world, if we can keep the oligarchs in check)
Seen on a product webpage:
The GLOBSTOPPER introduces an unprecedented feature – Centripetal Force, a game-changer in the world of dabbing.
Unlike centrifugal force, it adeptly draws concentrates to the center during rotation, optimizing the dabbing experience and minimizing loss. Maximizing heat in the base, rather then the walls of the unit.
Height Efficiency:
Revolutionize your setup with a distinctive design that avoids rotation towards the walls. (1/2)
Seen in the Kodeco newsletter:
There had been rumours of how Google search itself will stop being a search engine as we know it, and start being a front for an AI engine. These rumours have been confirmed now, with a rollout expected later in the summer.
Guess I’m being forced to switch. Or maybe Google has a plan to alleviate the environmental impact of the data centers.
Honest question: Where is the #ACLU and what are they doing now to restore democracy?
#boston
“Boston, My Home Town” by Freddy Cannon
Just a wonderful “spelling song” about my home town, which I dearly miss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjUP79e7tX0
Freddy Cannon - Boston " My Home Town"
This crossed my feed this morning, and brought me joy. It's an oldie but obscure, they tell me.
I wish you joy too:
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DVHL6H0jBWM/
ALT: Man in silly Eighties eyeshield parties flailingly with a pig (which he feeds from a bowl), a parrot, and a chicken. Music is mid-Eighties power pop “Born To Be Alive”
Seriously: may it bring you joy in these troubled times.
Wait for it. @Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt @Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt