from outside

These are things pulled in here or pushed to here from other sources.

For once MPLS is in the news for something other than scary PoC crime

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“So if you want a California-style housing crisis, don’t do anything. But if you want to avoid the fate of states like California, learn some of the lessons of what we’ve been doing over the last few years and allow for more of that infill, mixed-income housing.”

Source: A housing shortage in the U.S. is leading to zoning changes : NPR

We don’t own a car, instead we bike; we bike year round. In Minneapolis this means we’ll bike in sub-zero Fahrenheit weather during winter.

Every time I think about living anywhere else in the continental United States, it is the cost of housing that stops me. Here in Minneapolis I work two jobs so I can afford my lifestyle; anywhere else I would have two jobs just to survive.

Also Strong Boy Mayor Frey Guy did the most to prevent these changes from happening, so fuck him and his coterie of bitchass motherfuckers

For once MPLS is in the news for something other than scary PoC crime Read More »

Some idiot will claim theirs is the first full AI song and it will suck

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No, the goal was instead to see if AI mastering could really be a “sonic accelerant” for the hobbyist, the amateur, the laptop producer, the opening act, the indie label, the Famous Artist doing demos in their home studio, or the mix engineer who has five minutes to send a band home with something they can play in the car.

Source: AI can now master your music—and it does shockingly well | Ars Technica

Just picked up a jerb (henceforth referred to as musicbarJerb). I wonder if the musicians up on the stage even know about this.

I’m sure the small-time rappers in town already do but… like the post says, at the end of the day, most people in the music industry consider this a tool, not the end result.

Some idiot will claim theirs is the first full AI song and it will suck Read More »

Chale hijo!

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So, in the interest of systematic knowledge (and public safety), this essay tabulates the streets’ honks into a taxonomy of cláxones [horns], a “claxonomy” of Mexico City’s traffic.

Source: A Claxonomy of Mexico City’s Traffic – Allegra Lab

As a cyclist I’ve learned one or two “words” i.e. groupings of honks, but they apply only to the Twin Cities area and are in English. What the essay goes over is like me learning Spanish all over again.

Chale hijo! Read More »

This will make for even blurrier memories

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Generative-AI tools will not wipe our memories or corrupt our sense of self, but the camera roll of the future could be missing the little bits of texture that allow us to recall certain moments as they really happened.

Source: AI Is About to Photoshop Your Memories – The Atlantic

Human memory is a fallible thing but having AI interpose itself between reality and memory is not a solution.

This will make for even blurrier memories Read More »

Some on twitter have bragged about having sex with their fitbits on

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For instance, Google kneecapped the Fitbit Versa 4 and Sense 2 by removing features like Google Assistant and third-party apps like Spotify and Starbucks. As a result, any longtime Fitbit user would be “upgrading” to products with fewer smart features than their predecessors — unless they chose to buy a Pixel Watch instead. And the decision to remove legacy Fitbit social features without offering an alternative threatens to chip away at one of Fitbit’s greatest strengths: its community.

Source: What is going on with Fitbit? – The Verge

A repeat of what Yahoo did to Flickr

And that was the problem. At the time, the Web was rapidly becoming more social, and Flickr was at the forefront of that movement. It was all about groups and comments and identifying people as contacts, friends or family. To Yahoo, it was just a fucking database.

All they’re trying to do is figure out how to make money off it. Fuck the people that came up with the devices, fuck the community built on those devices. To googke, fitbit is just a fucking database of lots of some of the most intimate and personal data they have: Their bodies themselves.

Some on twitter have bragged about having sex with their fitbits on Read More »

Abusers face the wall

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Sexual harassment as a rule is terrible. The #MeToo campaign on social media was heartbreaking, as I watched nearly all the women I knew bravely lay out their stories, or simply admit that it had happened to them. But when sexual harassment and assault happens in the military, it’s incredibly disturbing. See, in the military, we all joined up to serve in an organization where implicit trust in those around us is key for survival. Trust is built through continued training and operations as well as day-to-day interaction. In the Army, we have seven key values, and most support the growth of trust amongst fellow Soldiers; especially integrity.

Source: I Didn’t Know – The Angry Staff Officer

Makes you wonder how many female-presenting soldiers did the ethical and heroic thing and let an Abuser eat an enemy bullet.

Abusers face the wall Read More »

Being employed keeps me out of trouble. Keep me employed

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“This is the beginning of the end,” Yoo said last week. “It’s already just a midsize business in San Antonio. This is not a company that’s on a trajectory of growth. They’re on a trajectory of death. It will not be around.”

Source: Rackspace ‘on trajectory of death,’ founder Richard Yoo says

I work at a small datacenter. We’re… having some issues with customer retention and customer acquisition cos everyone wants that cloud hotness, even if they’re going to pay through the nose for it. What are we to do??? If Rackspace, one of the first names you think of when you need colocation, what is a small datacenter business in Minnesota to do?

A lot of people keep saying to avoid the cloud and whatnot, but then they end up going with aws, google cloud, or azure. That’s not putting your money where your mouth is.

If they get hacked, you get hacked. This is proven. All of these platforms, in their efforts to make it easy to get onboarded make it super easy for you to shoot yourself in the foot with insecure defaults.

Right now they’re making money, sure… But what happens when they don’t? Looking at you, google. But the others aren’t that much better. Do your part and support small and local businesses that can, and will, lend you their expertise.

Being employed keeps me out of trouble. Keep me employed Read More »

A king in waiting gives a king’s answer

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One day in the pavilion at Karakorum he [Genghis Kahn] asked an officer of the Mongol guard what, in all the world, could bring the greatest happiness.“The open steppe, a clear day, and a swift horse under you,” responded the officer after a little thought, “and a falcon on your wrist to start up hares.”“Nay,” responded the Kahn, “to crush your enemies, to see them fall at your feet—to take their horses and goods and hear the lamentation of their women. That is best.”

Source: ‘Do You Want to Live Forever?’—John Milius’ ‘Conan the Barbarian’ • Cinephilia & Beyond

Reading this twitter thread brought me to that Cinephilia article. They used real blood.

Time for a rewatch!

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