calcifer @calcifer@hackers.town

Hello H.T

I've recently arrived from the Bauhaus, because you all have built a pretty sweet community here

I'm old, I'm all over the place, I get nerd-sniped on the regular, and I'm very enthusiastic about tech ethics

I like to fiddle with embedded stuff, particularly making stuff out of Arduino and LED pixels. I get cranky when "modern" means "we added complexity for no real reason". I think tech should aim for legibility and serve as a human enhancer; I get cranky when it's used to control or oppress or replace humans

I have no patience for stupid tech holy wars -- all hardware sucks, all software sucks, the documentation is provably incorrect, and the vendors all tell lies

I'm a dad -- so there will be dad jokes. I'm queer and polyam -- so there will occasionally be venting about that. I'm a nerd -- so there will be references and in-jokes aplenty

I see claims of "virtue signalling" are going around again, so here's your reminder:

• that's an ad hominem,
• making a virtue signalling claim is often an example of virtue signalling,
• claiming virtue signalling requires evidence of someone's motivation/internal state (and so is always suspect),
• and even if someone is virtue signalling, that doesn't preclude sincerity (i.e. you can signal virtue and still in fact be virtuous).

The term has some utility, but only descriptively; if you're using it to mock or dismiss someone, you're just showing your ignorance and inability to reason.

(if you're thinking of posting "the democrats aren't left": they are on the left in US politics, and they're certainly left of the Republicans. Your pointless pedantry isn't particularly welcome)

So the AZ GOP had their pep rally and one of the speakers characterized democrats and anyone else on the left as 'wanting to fight us and destroy us!'

Yo, no. The vast majority of us don't want to fight you, we want you to wake up and realize the harm you're causing to others. We don't want you destroyed, we want you to be better.

We fight because you've made it necessary to fight. Because you've abandoned compromise and civil discourse and reasonableness. We'd love to not have to fight you, y'all.

Came out of my little cave to get coffee and I discover my spouse is participating in two Zoom calls simultaneously, while also texting her boss and updating a stats spreadsheet. My kids are sitting across the table from her, having a conversation while working on separate school projects.

Extroverts are a trip, man. Thank all the tiny gods for headphones with good noise isolation...

Also, to their credit, if you don't want to use the phone integration, you only lose the notification and the ability to select the temp (it'll hold it at 57ºC by default, which is reasonable) -- it still works without any integration, which is rare for "smart" things

I still can't recommend it, because it's absolutely a waste of money for what it does; but as I say, it really does feel luxurious to use

I've picked on my boss for having a "smart mug" (expensive, rechargeable mug that keeps your hot beverage at a specified temperature and talks to your phone via Bluetooth LE) for several years

One of my partners bought me the exact thing (well, newer model, but still)

It is silly. But also, I'll be damned if it's not luxurious to have my watch ping when my tea has cooled and then have my mug hold that temp for an hour or so. My boss is smug about it 😅

It's ok to not have an opinion on things. It's ok to say "you know what? I don't really know enough about this to have an opinion"

It's ok to have weak opinions. It's ok to say "I think X, but I realize I probably am insufficiently informed"

It's ok to have strong opinions, weakly held. It's ok to say "I know a lot about this, have thought it through, and am completely convinced that X; but I'll consider thoughtful counterarguments and new information, and I might change my mind"

There's a minimalism documentary on Netflix. In the spirit of minimalism, I decided watching the first 5 minutes was sufficient and turned it off

It turns out only two of the Three Tenors are effective. The other's a Placido

I have absolutely zero problem with people remixing content, but please: if the original creator took time to "sign" their work (like by putting a domain or URL in a comic frame), find a way to propagate that information

It's easy to forget when making a quick edit or the like. I forget too. But just like image captions, it's polite and a good habit that costs little and can be a big help to others. I'm working to be better at it: join me!

I think my email is trying to tell me something 🤘

You can send anything at all, with Alice's Protocol

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1350926129411010562.html

One of my partners had tested positive for COVID a few weeks ago; fortunately the few people she'd had regular contact with (including me) all tested negative

Also fortunately, she's now almost entirely recovered and seems to have got off with a mild case that didn't require hospitalization; and her doctor advised her 3 days ago she was fine to end her isolation

Which means I got to see her for the first time in 5 weeks today! It's good to have her back in the bubble

Noting a recent increase in misuse of chord/cord. Has always been common to see people use "cord" when they want "chord", but I'm seeing the reverse a lot more. I wonder why?

Anyhow, for reference:

If you're talking about music, line segments in a circle, buttons pressed at the same time, or an emotional impact, you probably want chord

Otherwise, you probably want cord (a length of rope or wire being the most common use)

Conservatives: liberals who mock a President for how he speaks are just elitists who have no respect. Anyone who has worked their way into that office deserves respect

Biden: *has a slight stutter but has worked very hard and achieved the presidency despite it*

Conservatives: ha! B-b-b-biden!

It's a stutter, folks. Most of y'all would do much much worse speaking to that many people. Take your ad hominems and go