I’m not nostalgic for computing of the past. The computers I grew up with were fun but they were also bad. A load of things I want to do simply wouldn’t fit in their memory (or on their disks / tapes), would take infeasible amounts of compute time, or both.

But I am somewhat sad that, when those limitations were removed, lack of attention to detail by developers replaced them. Something like the Psion Series 3, Smalltalk on the Alto, or the original Mac were close to the best UIs that it was possible to build in the available hardware.

I don’t want a new machine that’s like the Series 3. It was a great machine for its time, but there are a load of things that I take for granted now that it couldn’t do (for example, the word processor supported styles, but couldn’t render the printer output, and it didn’t support spell checking). What I want is a machine where the same attention to detail was put into the software stack to make everything work smoothly together, to make common operations easy and fast, and to make it possible for end users to extend it in arbitrary ways.

so i did a talk yday on a panel about technofascism at the Anarchist Studies Network conference and out of a room of about 30 i'd say there was a glimmer of recognition for "the fediverse" and "mastodon" from about two people and noone said they were on it.

saying this as an expression of how little known this place is even inside cultures that are 100% politically aligned

@davidgerard I think the standard measurement procedure is: left arm, while sitting straight, instrument at heart level (either wrist, or upper arm).

so, i have gained nothing from this investigation, and in fact find it all vile and hateful to me

@CarlesB segueixen perquè tenen moltes menjadores actives, acordades amb el PSC.

@JackTheCat

JACK. Great now I'm done the rabbit hole. Man With No Name and Electric Universe. Look I know it's bad and terrible and also illegal, but sometimes I just long to throw a bunch of pills into my face and go dancing all night. If only scientists could made an mdma that doesn't ruin your life. Goodnight Sandra from the accounts department are you doing anything fun this weekend? Oh yes me and the family are going down Pendragon to get totally off our tits on pills and dance all night lost in an oblivion of bliss, then we have the mother in law over on Sunday. Should be a nice weekend.

Qui dit nouvelle formule, dit nouveau contrat, dit remboursement complet si vous résiliez dans les 14 jours suivants votre achat initial.

Reste plus qu'à résilier dans ce délais et hop vous pouvez divorcer d'Adobe sans vous ruiner

@sebsauvage
Ouais aucun pb avec Distant Horizons aussi. Jamais essayé Voxy mais je crois que c'est moins poussé ?

@david_chisnall the accreted layers of path-dependent complexity, as opposed to, say, an Apple II, also make them somewhat unapproachable for youngsters. They have also been trending towards being closed consumer appliances with few to no provisions for programming.

https://github.com/nikomatsakis/trait-matching-algorithm/blob/693245bde54696c0d3a99f60dab7a13019e9227d/trait.js#L197-L210

// - If this set has size 1, we're done. Look below to the confirm step.
// - Otherwise, we rule out those impls in the set where we can
// determine that a recursive bound cannot apply.
// - If this set has size 1, we're done. Look below to the confirm step.
// - If this set has size > 1, we do not yet have sufficient type
// information, so we mark the obligation as DEFERRED and move
// on to the next.
// - If this set has size 0, it's possible that this impl cannot ever
// be resolved. To determine this, we check whether the types have
// any unresolved inference variables:

again, if you wanted to do anything other than waste everyone else's time on your bullshit, you would not write this

Good morning, folks. Happy #caturday from Lupino

#cats #catsOfMastodon #catsOfUmbria

Ein Freund aus Deutschland sagte zu Claus Günter Petersen, er solle sich für seinen amerikanischen Pass schämen.

Warum gerade Deutsche zu solchen Urteilen neigen, hat Isolde Ruhdorfer bei der ältesten deutschen Organisation der USA erfahren:
https://krautreporter.de/politik-und-macht/6511-vielleicht-sind-wir-deutschen-die-schlechten-freunde?shared=458ce427-9541-4a47-879d-3ec600af9d58&utm_campaign=share-url&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=mastodon.social

Privilegierte Hamburger Eltern wollten nicht, dass Kinder länger gemeinsam lernen.

Beim Volksentscheid stimmten sie doppelt so oft ab wie sozial schwächere Eltern.

Lea Schönborn zeigt, wie die Reform kippte, die diese Kluft schließen sollte.
https://krautreporter.de/kinder-und-bildung/6518-wie-ein-volksentscheid-eine-schulreform-kippte-die-schule-gerechter-machen-sollte?shared=3848e1eb-671a-409b-a3f9-a6e1851b6870&utm_campaign=share-url&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=mastodon.social

The "secret" project I've been working on for the past few weeks is released! It's... a podcast! Martin Wolf (from Golem.de) and yours truly are talking about elderly computers and consoles. In German! Available on YT and on our website for now, to be listed in all the usual podcast places soon.

We called it "Elektroschrott" (e-waste) because it felt right.

Spread the word.

Website: https://elektroschrott.org
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@elektroschrottpodcast
RSS-Feed: https://elektroschrott.org/feed/mp3/

@spla Ai, senyor! És increïble que els mateixos mentiders o ineptes que van descarrilar el tren fa 9 anys continuen conduint (és un dir) la locomotora (també és un dir) dels partits (esmicolats, diria jo).

🆕 blog! “"iT woRKs BeTter in THe aPp!!"”

The monkey-punchers at Google never quite seem to finish any of their apps. There's always some useful bit of work left undone, or showstopping bug which remains unfixed, a thousand jagged edges as yet unsolved by the greatest minds of their generation.

I wanted to subscribe to an events calendar. I had a URl. I had my Google™ Pixel® ph…

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/08/it-works-better-in-the-app/
⸻
#android #Apps #google #rant

Gary Taxali

https://www.garytaxali.com/

#cartoon #LakeAmerica #Politics #USA

“Six Problems With Talking About the “Ethical” or “Responsible” Use of “AI” • Buttondown”

https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/six-problems-with-talking-about-the-ethical-or/

> Part of what makes that middle ground untenable and uncomfortable is that it requires carrying water for these clearly bad actors.