Not impressed by the build quality of this newish MAN bus when the point where the luggage rack is attached to the wall is cracking…
software security, vaguely ranty (3)
(Referring to this part of Midori specifically: https://joeduffyblog.com/2015/11/03/blogging-about-midori/)
software security, vaguely ranty (2)
Bonus frustration: Microsoft almost, *almost* resolved this problem, most likely, with Midori (being one of the very few organizations that could put their foot down and *make* people care about this) - and then axed the project and only took parts of it.
Relevant as the days get shorter. All credit goes to @tomflood and @TheBikingLawyer (Not yet on Mastodon)
#CycleTO #BikeTooter #Urbanism #SafeStreets #TheBikingLawyer
software security, vaguely ranty
I find "supply chain security" discussions so exhausting, even in their genuine form of "how do we contain malware on the average person's system"... because they are all identical carbon copies of each other in the end, and no new conclusions are ever reached.
It goes something like this:
- All these plugins and packages are a security disaster! Anyone can publish them! We should limit publishing to a curated set that's been reviewed.
- Oh, turns out nobody has the review capacity to do so, and/or it would break the world by creating a centralized gatekeeper for everything, so I guess we need to make it possible to run untrusted code safely instead. Sandboxing!
- Oh, turns out sandboxing is imperfect, so we actually need to fix the problem at the root, and adopt secure programming practices and tools like capability security and explicit authorization grants.
- Oh, turns out it's impossible to convince the majority of developers to collectively work on that (which is needed to make it succeed) because most of them don't recognize the problem and keep waffling on about curation and sandboxing. Guess we're just fucked then and it will be broken forever!
Rinse repeat for three decades.
(The more general life hack: think about which specific terms and services agreements you're asking your friends, colleagues, and loved ones to sign.)
[white cis men do not comment]
#Men #Sexism #mansplaining #ToxicMasculinity #gaslighting #ReplyGuys
EXTRY EXTRY READ ALL ABOUT IT: A new allowlist-only instance for Black folks
Following the repeated harassment waves that white supremacists have been sending our way, we've been hard at work putting together an alternative option/model for Black folks to engage with the fediverse. And I am very happy to now be able to announce publicly that we are open for signups!
This new instance is called NiggasAndFriends (shout-out to Kid Fury for the name inspiration 😊) and will be open to any Black folks on the fediverse. We will have very limited federation, with us predominantly (but not exclusively) being connected to BIPOC-run instances.
When I started BlackQueerLife, I was hoping that with robust moderation, we could have a space that had open federation and was relatively sheltered from white supremacy. I now believe that given the stranglehold whiteness has on this network (particularly on Mastodon), that just isn't possible. It reminds me of what MLK once said about integrating his people into a burning house. That’s a very apt metaphor for this space imo. It's also very clear that the current state of affairs is just how most fedizens want it. I can yell at folks for being antiblack until I'm blue in the face, but as Pharrell once said, “They're gonna do it anyway.”
So, we will continue to do what Black folks have always done: build something for ourselves. If you're interested in making an account with us, DM me and I can send you the signup instructions. Thanks for reading!
Hey fedi, let's play a new(?) game! It's called "Stories That Could Have Happened".
The game: Someone picks a phenomenon, a saying, an event, or something else, where we don't actually know for sure how it happened or came to exist, and then we collectively write a Story That Could Have Happened about its origins! It doesn't need to be true or based on history!
There are only a few base rules, to keep it fun and non-confrontational for everybody:
1. You can either post a top-level reply to start a new story about the topic, or reply to someone else to continue on their story chain so far.
2. If you reply to someone else, you must either add to it or refine it with more nuance - you cannot outright contradict their post!
3. Posting with public visibility is encouraged, but make sure to add the #StoriesThatCouldHaveHappened hashtag, so that people can mute it if they want.
4. Keep your post short, and leave enough room for the next person to build on it.
So, anyone up for playing? 🙂 Let's start with this topic:
"Turning lead into gold"
Where did the idea come from?
(If your local waste collection program has different instructions for "when in doubt", then follow those; but almost no collection agency seems to specify this, for whatever reason)
Just realized that probably not everybody knows this: when sorting plastic waste, and you're not sure whether something can go in the plastic waste... if in doubt, put it in mixed waste!
The potential consequences of mixed waste in plastic collection are much worse (can make an entire truckload of plastic useless, depending on local collection process) than the potential consequences of plastic in mixed waste (one piece of plastic wasted).
Some time ago I worked on a pilot research project about AI, which started with a bunch of user interviews learning about how they used technology and what they might want from an autonomous AI agent
The project went nowhere because the users didn't want an autonomous AI agent making decisions for them
The engineers kept asking for "the data" so they could use AI to "model a solution"
Which rather missed the point of what the data uncovered
Technical debt collector and general hype-hater. Early 30s, non-binary, ND, poly, relationship anarchist, generally queer.
Sometimes horny on main (behind CW), very much into kink (bondage, freeuse, CNC, and other stuff), and believe it or not, very much a submissive bottom :p
Feel free to flirt, but if you want to actually meet up and/or do something with me, lewd or otherwise, please tell me explicitly or I won't realize :) I'm generally very open to that sort of thing!
Further boundaries: boosts are OK (including for lewd posts), DMs are open. But the devil doesn't need an advocate; I'm not interested in combative arguing in my mentions. I am however happy to explain things in-depth when asked non-combatively.
My spoons are limited, so I may not always have the energy to respond to messages.
Strong views about abolishing oppression, hierarchy, agency, and self-governance - but I also trust people by default and give them room to grow, unless they give me reason not to. That all also applies to technology and how it's built.