Pseudo Nym

Coke vs Pepsi. vi vs emacs. I bring you the ultimate preference showdown. How do you pronounce "GIF" (the image format)? Feel free to comment, but I don't need the "why" or what the inventor of the format has said. This is purely a descriptive usage poll, not an argument over proscriptive usage or what one "should" say, or why. If you had to speak a file name "foo.GIF" do you personally *say* it with a hard G or a soft G sound?

@topofmyvoice@cupoftea.social @LoganFive@beige.party Zom-rom-com. It's kind of like how Romero and zombie movies don't exist in zombie movies. Probably for the best, or you get loops like the Gilmore girls / Sopranos. https://www.looper.com/1339256/sopranos-gilmore-girls-paradox-proves-meta-multiverse/

No! Don't take my corn! (Listen with sound)

@leafygreens@meow.social @gloriouscow@oldbytes.space True. Ever notice how "coding assistants" and executive agents are generally male coded (e.g. Claude, HAL) while "virtual assistant" secretaries are generally coded female (e.g. Alexa, Siri)? Most of the tech demos and displays and conference talks use stylised female avatars of subservient AI or robotic women. Bah. At least OpenClaw used a crab.

Inside you are two wolves. They are both very good bois, happy doggos, deserve treats, and boops to their snoots.

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social Play it, in going to be teaching an elective at my kid's school for intro to D&D. :-) So, yes. So many #ttrpg on my shelves.

Elder Kitty (about 10 years old) has decided that at bed time she is due chest sitting time. She will get quite bossy and verbal if I'm late coming to bed. As soon as I lay down, boom, cat on the chest. She stands then lays down sphinx like. Then the required making of muffins on my neck (ouch!). She sniffs my beard, I guess we both have white fur? Then pushing of the head under my hand, so I can provide sufficient head, ear, chin, and cheek scritches. Then, she sneezes in my face. #cats

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social I uttered this malapropism, but I was 12, and reading a #ttrpg module in basic D&D and hadn't encountered the word before. My friend's older sisters busted up laughing overhearing this.

@morganth@social.tchncs.de Was a passenger in a car diving in the bay area, and saw a pairing request from a tesla somewhere near by. Of course I refused, but then thought I should have accepted and started playing baby shark for them

US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference - https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-government-map-africa-mislabels-every-country-global-conference-2026-07-30/ #USPOL #AI #Slop

Battle of the horns:

@gloriouscow@oldbytes.space Claude / ChatGPT fanfic? If LLMs don't have a gender, can you still call them "non-binary" given their digital nature? I suppose there are worse things to burn tokens on.

Walking near the park. Saw this red trailed hawk sitting in the tree. Glad I'm not a small rodent. Zoom in to look at that face.

Brown shorebird, an Avocet I think, with a long bill, posing in the sand. Monterey Bay Aquarium. #photo #bird

@blogdiva@mastodon.social @maxleibman@beige.party History doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme. And this is a particularly apt rhyme. I recall the star wars years and the following analysis that it was an economic DoS attack that worked.

Was at the drug store. Toothbrushes had the trivial anti-theft "lock" blocking one from removing the package from the metal hanging rod. One could rip a centimeter of cardboard to remove the package if so inclined. It's not about the lack of efficacy of the control. It's that such a control exists at all. I get wanting to deter casual shoplifting, but toothbrushes? Really? Remember, if you see someone stealing baby formula or diapers, no you didn't.

Don't know if #monsterdon has an age limit on movies, but kid and I are watching "Eight Legged Freaks" and I think it would make a fine offering. Scarlett Johansson is in it, so I had to make the #dadJoke about Black Widow.

@sarahjamielewis@mastodon.social You are doing important work. Thank you.

@overholt@glammr.us I find myself completely taken in by their cunning ruse. Wait, no.

Oh joy. New failure mode unlocked. Sensory sensitivity overload. I'm pretty darn neuro-typical with a few spectrum behaviors, but never really had sensory sensitivity. Today the arcade with the kid was just Too Much(tm). Not quite what I understand a full panic attack to be, but just generally not ok. My deepest sympathy to ND friends for whom this is a daily challenge. It wasn't "too loud" or "too bright" (normal arcade beeps and boops I've been fine with before). Just suddenly too much.

Going to Vancouver and Calgary in a bit. Will have some unplanned down time. Any recommendations for family friendly activities? We will be there for the big rodeo thing, and have tickets for that and a bus trip out to Bamf. Museums, parks, particularly Canadian activities? Anything you'd like to recommend?

American first time in #Calgary impressions. Saw the big Stampede. The whole town feels a bit like "cowboy cosplay" with cowboy hats like mouse ears at Disney. I had never heard of a horse relay race, where the riders change horses, bareback jumping off and on and continuing. That was cool. Comparing to US cities, it feels like mini-Dallas, or like a spread out Medford with a Manhattan population. It is cleaner, and feels kinder than most US cities. Country twang, with less racism.

Drive through safari. Emu and Rhea have similar bird shape faces, but the the rhea is kind of cute, like "Hi there. Can I have some kibble? Sorry about my crazy cousin over there." And the emu is like the old "overly attached girlfriend" meme. "Hey! I had 5 espressos this morning! Got any kibble?"

@MissConstrue@mefi.social @oldguycrusty@mastodon.world So much of the "cool" (for a cishet boy) 70s and 80s shows are very cringe now. Surprisingly, the original Lynda Carter "wonder woman" held up pretty well. She punched Nazis. Saved Steve. All good.

@stux@mstdn.social Nostalgia neurons stirring. Wasn't it a key point in the #book "Shockwave Rider" by Brunner, that a code/virus was released that basically removed all the passwords and privacy of all the data, everywhere, at the same time, making it all public?

@Taweret@timeloop.cafe I read the list to my wife. She guiltily said she wanted to watch all of them. I married the right one.

Cross the fandoms. Instead of the Sarrlack pit from StarWars, I want the Snorlax pit from Pokemon. "You will recline on a comfy couch for a thousand years, taking a nap. " #random

Kid is asking the tough literary and culinary questions. "Do they have sushi in Oz?" (Wizard one, not Australia) My suspicion is no, given that they have talking animals, and it seems to be projected from early 20th century Americana. But I suppose they could. Which leads to questions about other fictional worlds. Star wars? Almost certainly. What other works would or would not have sushi?

@cR0w@infosec.exchange Got it. Check to make sure Payroll updated the routing number on the deposit as per the urgent text message the CEO sent from the meeting where they wanted gift cards, just before the incident. Check.

@bennomatic@appdot.net I think we have to assume the voice wants the silos to continue to exist, if and only if they follow "the rules." The voice values that for some reason Destroying yourself with violence is sub optimal, so "do what I say to avoid self destruction" makes sense. But a silo that breaks "the rules" is not valued either, so the voice can threaten the head of IT into compliance. Since we know there are 50 of them, sounds like experimental control to me. Voice keeps experiments running

I dislike the #AI #llm term "jailbreak" for the same reason many folks dislike "hallucination." Like it or not, they are both "terms of art" in the space, so we must deal with them. But it's helpful to know what they mean. Broadly, "hallucination" is a non factual response, and "jailbreak" is an undesirable (to the creator) behavior. But what both miss capturing, is that both are the system operating as designed. Possibly not as intended, but as designed. Next probable token. That's it.

Pretty sure I've seen this opening in a bunch of horror sci-films movies. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a71783510/black-eggs-flatworms-emerged-from-ocean/

This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here. No eggs. Only #goose

Recall for thyroid meds https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/recall-alert-thyroid-medication-levothyroxine-recalled-nationwide/NI25TAVBMNCXFAR6IPGHVYUPTQ/

@adavid@aus.social @nixCraft@mastodon.social To the tune of BOC "veteran of the psychic wars". You see me now a veteran, of the 'V-I Emacs wars'. I've been coding on the edge so so long, where the booth of bimbos roar. "

@LALegault@newsie.social Really happy to be on your side of the border tonight. Alas, there was aTV on on the background covering the speech so I still had to hear the voice. Kid asked "why is the world so stupid" and after an age appropriate explanation about selfishness "I wish we didn't invent money." And I'm just floored by their insight.

@Urban_Hermit@mstdn.social @StumpyTheMutt@social.linux.pizza @Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt OpenTuna

@Solomon_G@mastodon.social @evdelen@mstdn.ca Yea. Zap has a rough charisma

@cavyherd@wandering.shop @morganth@social.tchncs.de Correct.

@nev@flipping.rocks So a big ole' fuzzy bumblebee today, checking out the local flowers. While family stopped to watch him for a bit.

@mathaetaes@infosec.exchange I've done both Blackhat and Defcon in years past with no issue. But yea, I could see that

I've started getting email notifications for my mastodon notifications. I didn't change any settings. Server default update? Anyone else suddenly have this start happening?

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org @grumpydad@infosec.exchange "View source" figure out which framework bits are broken, go to direct hyperlink.

@darkling@mstdn.social @ckeen@social.vernunftzentrum.de @NanoRaptor@bitbang.social I'd expect it to be rather generational.

Serious question. Anyone seen Mitch since the hospital thing a couple of weeks ago? The silence is getting awkward.

Socks and underwear locked up at local #target Complete with ironic brand name socks visible, and lame ass "justification" sign. If you see someone stealing underwear, no you didn't.

@darkling@mstdn.social @ckeen@social.vernunftzentrum.de @NanoRaptor@bitbang.social Great, now I'm really tempted to do this next time I'm asked for my name for an order.