Norman Wilson

Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years. Socialism is what they called public power. Socialism is what they called Social Security. Socialism is what they called farm price supports. Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance. Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people. --Harry S Truman, Syracuse NY, 1952-10-10

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social Or the cardboard box at the back of the closet?

@iamnotU@mastodon.social @maxleibman@beige.party I have no car but chose decades ago to live in a walkable neighbourhood. I am old AF and still walk to the store for granola bars and the like (I don't drink coffee). I order some stuff for delivery, but usually it's bulky or heavy things, or things that are hard to find locally. And even then I rarely buy from Amazon. If it's a good product that is well-made there are other sources, and if it's cheap-ass crap I probably don't need it. If you're trapped carless in a sprawly North American suburb I feel for you. I'm just pointing out that there are other options, albeit requiring long-term planning and sometimes some compromise. I don't have a huge back yard, and I have neighbours that talk to me. Not everyone likes to live like that, and that's OK.

@mattblaze@federate.social It's a sign of laziness. Big, bold advertising that `we have AI' is a sign of sloth, and that you have three toes on either foot, or half a doz on both.

@sash@hachyderm.io It's at least eight. You're omitting the factor of the order in which you tap the keys.

@burnoutqueen@todon.nl Also because it's un-ladylike to use a toilet. Real ladies only scrub them out.

@murodegrizeco@toad.social One of my favourite places to spend a quiet, calming week. Wish I was there right now. I'm glad you're encountering and enjoying the mild quirkiness of the place.

@cyberspice@oldbytes.space @david_chisnall@infosec.exchange From my advanced point of view, 60 is young.

@virtuous_sloth@cosocial.ca @mattblaze@federate.social The key is that we have separate elections for each level of government. I naturalized only (!) 25 years ago, but I don't think I've ever seen more than three races on one ballot. In my youth I lived in California, where there were almost aways several dozen, most of them ballot initiatives and special funding approvals. And I lived in an unincorporated part of LA county; county officials to vote for but no municipal officials. I slightly miss the information booklet that was mailed to every voter back then, listing each ballot initiative; civil-servant's analysis of its net cost; statements from proponent and opponent groups, plus one level of rebuttal. Interesting when the groups were serious people, fun when they were childish jerks. I don't miss having to decide about all those issues at once, though.

@jmcrookston@mastodon.social If you don't want that, use a credit union instead of a bank. (If it's an option for you. In Canada community credit unions, anyone in the metropolitan area, are common; dunno if they've popped up in the States.) The money I deposit is owned by the credit union's members, including me. An annual dividend is paid out based on the amount of interest earned on savings AND paid on loans. I don't often check, but when I have, interest rates have been better than at conventional banks, and there are almost no fees. I wish I'd figured that out when I lived in the States, but there were a lot of financial things I didn't really cotton on to until I moved to Canada.

@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange I hear Hegseth is rooting for the other site.

@cmconseils@mastodon.social I'll cosine that.

@aarontrevena@techtoots.com Interesting. It hadn't occurred to me that the history I know is at least partly specific to North America, but it clearly is! I've actually worked at least a little with all those technologies. Was involved in an early-80s experimental 3Mbps network with the old black cable; later ran real systems with 10Base5, then 10Base2, then 10BaseT 100BaseT 1000BaseT, and now some fibre and some 10GBaseT. It is amazing how much life there has been in twisted pairs as long as you keep twisting them tighter and tighter.

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social None so blind as those who use generative AI as a source of facts.

@cgervasi@fosstodon.org @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange Nah. He's just a wannabee Nazi.

@dramypsyd@ohai.social it me

@aarontrevena@techtoots.com @aka_pugs@mastodon.social It wasn't quite like that. The earliest twisted-pair Ethernet was 10BaseT, 10 Mbps (just like 10Base5 and 10Base2) over Cat 3 wiring. Cat 3 was standard for inside-the-wall telephone wiring, often in trunks of 24 pairs between floors, so many buildings could use 10BaseT without pulling new wires. That's an important part of why it caught on so fast. Computers spread to every office, and faster speeds demanded better wiring; Cat 5 for 100Mbps, 5e for gigabit, now 6a for 10G. So now we pull high-grade wiring just for Ethernet, and POTS uses the computer wiring (if POTS hasn't been superseded by mobile phones and VoIP). But it started the other way round, computing using POTS wiring to spread.

@mattblaze@federate.social I hadn't heard. His long life and contributions should be celebrated!

@stonebear2@hachyderm.io @VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social I don't think any of that would happen; so far as I can tell there's nothing in operation yet. This is all water consumption just from building lots of huge concrete buildings.

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social On one hand, I don't think that data center is operating yet. This is about water use during construction, not about that used cooling megacities of GPUs. On the other, even setting aside the theft, it's appalling and insensitive during a statewide drought and a local water shortage to draw so much that residents' water pressure drops enough to notice. And the construction is scheduled to continue for another six years. This would be just as big a deal were it a giant office park or Amazon warehouse. That it is meant eventually to host zillions of bullshit-generating computers is kind of a sideshow.

@noodlemaz@mstdn.games @gbargoud@masto.nyc @mattblaze@federate.social Do you think homework is a good exercise to help them learn? If not, what is the point of homework?

@mattblaze@federate.social I don't get what's hard about the first, unless you're booking something with >25 segments like I did in the spring of 1984. The second I never exactly have to do. I send the renewal request to my pharmacy (via a mostly-smooth web form). If the existing Rx has repeats, no problem. If it doesn't, the web site warns me, and the pharmacist contacts the prescribing doctor and usually gets clearance to renew within a few days. There are patient portals for the various hospitals I've dealt with here, including the one where my family doctor works, but I use them only to see test results. It's terrible here under communism.

@Thorium@social.linux.pizza @nndflip@flipboard.com @ai-nndflip It doesn't matter. systemd is already sentient.

@Dougfir@m.ai6yr.org @mattblaze@federate.social It doesn't mention the graffiti on the other buildings either. Why are you playing favourites? It doesn't even mention the name of the railroad, the engine number of the train, or the radio frequencies used to communicate with the dispatcher.

@eggs@jorts.horse @jaelisp@lgbtqia.space You'll get just that when (generative) AI eliminates all jobs you're qualified for.

Elon Musk has no taste. Anyone who doubts that needs to read his opinions about store-bought vs fresh-picked tomatoes.

@cks@mastodon.social Hard cider might have been good cider if it wasn't ruined by the alcohol taste. (I dislike it too.)

@mattblaze@federate.social Geeze, even my USB-C Enigma charges happily from a modern wall wart, and that's 1920s technology. Well, emulated 1920s technology. And battery sold separately.

Happy #SeijiOzawa Day!

@mattblaze@federate.social What a weirdass. Saying that, plus my having worked at Bell Labs 40 years ago, probably proves my bad faith and that I make money from elections. Reported to my server and his, for what it's worth. And then blocked.

@mattblaze@federate.social How much T-Mobile stock is owned by GOP leaders?

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social @SpiritualAnnie@chattrbx.com Compared to Trump, they are. Compared to other cats, not so much.

@donhawkins@mastodon.social @virtuous_sloth@cosocial.ca @bmacDonald94@hostux.social The part where your pitch had anything to do with Matt's original thread. Maybe stop attempting hijacks?

Received the Notice of Assessment for my 2026 Canada tax return. The bad news is that I made some fumbles (which, in Canada, they automatically fix). The good news is that that means I get about $600 back. The weird news is that the notice is dated nine days from now. I guess I get paid then.

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social It's your fault for egging them on.

@mattblaze@federate.social They obviously hadn't read as much Len Deighton as I have, possibly because none of it had yet been written.

@VE2UWY@mastodon.radio @mattblaze@federate.social David Stockman, Reagan's OMB director, famously went on TV with a coin dispenser on his belt to claim that every bagel sold cost taxpayers $132.83.

@mattblaze@federate.social But their milk is the GOAT!

I wouldn't have watched it anyway, but during Trump's speech I was busy giving my oldest cat his preventive meds. Most of are water-soluble and don't taste bad, so I mix them with water and a little canned cat food; to him that's a treat. One tastes bad, he gets it in a capsule; to him that's awful. I expect I'd have a worse taste in my mouth had I watched the stupid speech. I'll read about it tomorrow morning on https://electoral-vote.com

@mattblaze@federate.social But did Elon Musk use Starlink to modify the test results?

@mattblaze@federate.social Speaking as a Canadian, we'll talk to the US about smoke after the US prevents all the guns from being illegally brought into our country. Speaking as a US citizen, I'm embarrassed but not surprised by the sheer idiocy of GOP lawmakers.

@mattblaze@federate.social @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange @20002ist@thepit.social One of my travel cables has USB-C at one end and a reversible USB-A on the other. Can't do modern high-wattage power but that's not what it's for; eg it's fine for my phone. I still travel with a few micro-USB devices, and have a both-ends-reversible cable for them too.

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social I tried a chill pill but it melted too fast to be of any use.

@mattblaze@federate.social @tragiccommons@infosec.exchange I thought it dated from Fred Grampp, and we left such a phony passwd file on research! where uucp could see it, years before we had an Internet gateway. I could be mistaken.

@mattblaze@federate.social He stuck mostly to the prepared remarks? That invites conspiracy theories about AI fakes! Someone review the video and count his fingers, please.

@mattblaze@federate.social Can I do whatever dance I want if I clear it with you?

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social Forrest Trump, eh?

@noelreports@mstdn.social s/Putin/Trump/

I guess I'll be wearing an N95 outdoors today.