Notices by Noah Cook (uncivilservant@med-mastodon.com)

@ljrk @lisamelton Even when people mention Von Neumann, for some reason it's always John and never Klara. Klara was the one who flew the Monte Carlo punchcards to ENIAC, directed the wiring of the machine for the problem, and ran the actual program (would that make her the kernel in that architecture?).

But then again, John would have looked out of place at the time, since computer programming was "womens' work" back then.

@GossiTheDog That article isn't even good propaganda, I give it a C-.

But yeah, I suspect that this was kept secret from their policy and legal teams as well, because I'm going to assume that the people working on those teams are competent.

I also really, really, really want to know the gender makeup of the supersekrit skunkworks team that tested this. I mean, I feel confident in my hypothesis, but best to await confirmatory evidence.

@GossiTheDog Most government agencies have policies and procedures for destroying/disposing of sensitive documents. I'm not even talking about classified natsec stuff, just basic things like PHI at health agencies, or the PII stored by tax, driving, and municipal utility agencies.

Improper disposal of those documents can be every bit as serious as improper disclosure of classified documents. Either Microsoft has sat down with attorneys and spent months going over liability issues, or...

If you are a college administrator, and you cannot handle student protests during the last few weeks of classes before summer break, it's time to find a new job.

Seriously, that's not a failure, it's a damned moral collapse, a complete abdication of all responsibility to your students.

It's especially sad to see it happen at Columbia, which used to have a good journalism school. It won't after this, that's what happens when you choose the governor over your students.

@GossiTheDog If Microsoft could take a project like Skyblivion (Oblivion remade in the Skyrim engine), but obviously fast-forward a generation or so of advances...

I loved Skyrim's graphics and character creation (no classes!), but Oblivion had so much better world-settings, so much more diversity of biomes and areas. It definitely deserves a full rebuild, but I suspect that sort of project has real costs beyond fun and volunteering.

@mattblaze You're one of the first I've seen to analyze this in terms of the adversary's constraints. I am not a computer scientist, but in terms of constraints, resources, and targeting, this doesn't "feel" like a state actor.

So, this is highly targeted, and the social engineering tactics seemed personal. You're not getting that from a committee. And it was a long game, which would have meant supervisors coming and going, changes in priority, etc in government.

@hannu_ikonen It's more embarassing than that: one of the supposed statements of "confusion" was Biden asking "was I Vice President in 2017?"

It is possible that this is evidence of dementia, but...I am thinking of the various questions that would elicit this answer. I'm pretty sure this was Biden responding to a stupid question with a rhetorical one.

@hannu_ikonen Or like my totally hypothetical response to Medicaid work requirements, which I totally did not actually say and any witnesses are mistaken:

"When did they repeal the 13th amendment?"

@hacks4pancakes I wonder if it might even be simpler than that: is the divide between people who think sci-fi is about the future, and those who recognize that good sci-fi uses the future as a canvas to paint pictures of the past and present in ways we can access?

I'm reminded of when a reader asked Lois McMaster Bujold about how a character responsible for the murder of protestors in her books could also consider himself pro-democracy. She replied that she was a Kent State alum.

@hannu_ikonen @BethanyBlack I just kinda stopped at "83 point plan" because...yeah.

Oddly enough, I've known a number of nurses with ADHD as well, and I am beginning to think that there is some utility in being used to a plan becoming FUBAR after step 2. Also the ability to look into the maw of pure chaos and go "relax, I've got this".

(I'm not saying the American healthcare system is a maw of pure chaos...that would imply deliberate structure and function where none exists)

@e_urq Ironically, it will also impact a lot of wealthy, old-money Virginia families where the eldest son inherits a family first name, but usually is known by their middle names or nicknames. A quick look at the names of state legislators will demonstrate the size and scope of this tradition.

Youngkin sees Trump and De Santis in trouble and wants to run for President, but he's quickly reaching the limit of his own state party's taste for culture wars.

@inthehands @conniptions @mekkaokereke I have a question (I'm deaf in one ear, so absolutely no claim to expertise here at all): might individual LP players each have a slightly different rotation speed, at least compared to CDs/streaming?

The reason I ask is it would give each LP player a unique offset in tempo and pitch, just slightly enough to notice and make it feel like LPs on this player are each your ideal version of the song?