Notices by Token Sane Person (tokensane@mastodon.me.uk)

@ChrisMayLA6 @Myryama @GeofCox @WTL @CheRosach
I always apply Hanlon's Razor: never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence. Regulatory capture is a well known failure mode, made more likely because any effective regulator needs to hire people who understand the industry, and there is generally only one place to find them.

Telecoms had the same issue until OfTel was merged with other media regulators to form OfCom. Now we have vastly better telecoms. Reform OfWat!

@slothrop @andnull Unless you're on a government contract that specifically bans you from saying that.

#FungiFriday

@benroyce @Cat_LeFey ISTR that in "Islands In The Net" by @bruces there is a character who vehemently refuses to eat natural plant matter on the grounds that plants have had billions of years to evolve poisons aimed at herbivores.

@severtz @georgetakei And you waved a sword around. That's got to count for something.

What the hell, #Duo?
#duolingo

@munin I had a similar experience in the Covid pandemic. A bunch of conspiracist anti-vax stickers appeared on lamp posts around town here. I took to tearing them off, or if stuck down too well I'd apply a marker pen. The next week I found someone else had got there with the marker before me, and a couple of weeks later they stopped appearing.

#duolingo graphics are ... a bit disturbing.

@glynmoody I have nightmares like that!

@TimWardCam @gavin57 @CaffeinatedBookDragon @cstross @Oggie @pluralistic The other thing about dumb thermostats is that they have hysteresis and no prediction. Say you set it at 20 degrees C. It waits until the temp is 19 before turning on. Then it stays on until the temp is 21. But the radiators are still hot so your house heats up to around 22. A 3 degree temperature swing is pretty uncomfortable.

Our smart thermostat now keeps the temp within 1/2 a degree C of what we set.

@Willow Umm. What do I do when a woman tells me that she isn't safe in a public restroom that trans women are allowed to use? I do believe (as a cis het male) that trans people should be able to use the restroom they identify with, but I know that some cis women aren't comfortable with that.

@GreenSkyOverMe Interessant, das Wort ist "ghostest", nicht "gespensest".

@glynmoody Be careful what you vote for, because you might get it!

@mattblaze Actually, "slightly inept stalker" is a good description of the whole surveillance-industrial complex.

@darnell They are at @TheEconomist and have been for some time.

@graydon @cstross @tuban_muzuru The term is "technology stack". And China is investing heavily in all those things.

Food starts to look a lot easier if you assume plenty of cheap energy. And in many parts of the world the population is actually decreasing as people get wealthy.

@glynmoody Save water: bath with a friend.

@michaelormsby @cstross @tuban_muzuru
The Economist had an extended essay on this a few months ago. I've found a non pay walled version here. Interesting read.
https://archive.is/ak34k

@cstross @tuban_muzuru
> The geopolitics of a solar-powered world will look rather different

That sounds like a very interesting question. Those desert dictatorships won't have the oil wealth, but they will still have lots of sunshine. So will big bits of the southern USA and Mexico. We may see energy-intensive industries relocating equatorwards. Or if better ways of shipping energy around get developed, maybe not.

#Georgia #gun #censorship #republicans

I wish I could retire this.

Please feel free to post it on any other social media, stick printed copies on lamp-posts etc.