Notices by Timothy Clark (tclark@mstdn.social)

Pay attention and remember who the quislings are. I'm not talking about people who go silent or otherwise don't speak on the pending clusterfuck or even who say vague "congratulations", I'm talking about the people and especially companies actively trying to normalize the pathology and justify it.

@mattly Stupid management has those feels. Smart management understands that silos are artificial, sometimes necessary evils, but should not just be accepted as "the way things are done." Cargo cult management is everywhere, though. I'm not saying I'm a great manager but a more philosophical approach beats dogmatism nine times out of ten.

@cstross Advertisement doesn't just enshittify products, it enshittifies culture.

@mattly CSS finally caught up to <table> in 2023.

@mattly minesweeper pay to win now? i'm outta that loop.

@cstross Congrats, Charlie! It's been a heck of a ride so far, and I'm looking forward to the last installment.

@kneath @mattly I think it's also not necessarily about dealing with knowable, objective things (there's a lot we don't know about the places we send our spacecraft).

The whole delineation between project structure and management approach is rooted in something that, generally, non-aerospace tech people probably talk way too little about: risk tolerance. An honest, forthright discussion of the failure modes of each approach often doesn't happen enough because people get dogmatic.

@mattly The kids are alright. The parents are fucking horrible.

I think the most revealing aspect of the Windows Recall thing is that they promise not to screenshot any DRM-protected content. They're MAKING SURE not to screenshot the latest extruded Marvel Cinematic Product, but gay or trans young people searching for support resources on a shared computer will be happily ratted out if they've been cursed with lynch-the-gays parents.

@mattly yeah wtf is that about

@mattly To the extent I'm aware, I'm more on the NT end of the spectrum perhaps with some mild atypicality,, but my personal experience of "flow" isn't quite either of those things. I seem to go into a dreamlike state (in terms of "just going with it"). I feel like the part of my brain that inhibits freeform thought and connection drops into "suspension of disbelief" mode. I've only really ever entered flow state while writing prose/poetry or writing/playing music, though.

@mattly Put a big "THIS IS BULLSHIT GROWTH HACKING" watermark on it

@mattly Value seeks its own abstraction like water goes downhill. So long as there's scarcity of anything valuable to people, even if you don't have money, there'll still be money. A tax system that acknowledges decreasing marginal utility and prevents anyone from inheriting or accumulating wealth beyond what they can reasonably spend in a lifetime (which has never been tried before) is worth trying before abolishing money.

@mattly Once I voted there's a "See previous results" which is actually.... see current results.

@mattly No algorithms. Recommendations can be "dumb" and still work.

@mattly I think it sucks that people are picking Sam Altman over David "best pals with Thiel and Musk" Sacks.

Available Today! Primary Target, the new Phantom West album (that's me!) is available at all the places you like to stream or buy music:

Bandcamp: https://phantomwest.bandcamp.com/album/primary-target

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4y8MLPUDsfdxloclEZgRUT

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP6KCDQH/ref=sr_1_1...

Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/primary-target/1719011115

@mattly Is it the proper-sized lens?

@mattly The problem is looking for good advice.

But seriously, the vast, vast majority of advice in nearly all forms and locations come from an absolutist mindset. If you're just ideologically pure and disciplined enough about X, your problem gets solved!

People don't make much money saying things like "you may notice incremental improvement if you try these ideas. If they work, try a little more but don't overdo it." Ain't no money or clout in that kind of advice.

@mattly The problem is looking for good advice on the internet.