Notices by Jonathan Kamens 86 47 (jik@federate.social)

You will find no better evidence than this that #MAGA is a cult.
#politics #USPol #ClimateChange
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-weather-2677157001/

RE: https://jasette.facil.services/@PariaSansPortefeuille/116846423718240004

What kind of brain-worms are Democratic political consultants feeding Kamala Harris to make her think it might be in any way a good idea for her to run for president in 2028?
I swear to God, Democratic centrists and the Democratic consultant class are doing their best to destroy whatever small chance remains of saving democracy in the U.S.
#politics #USPol

We stopped to see the Brighton Bathing Boxes. There were a couple people in the water despite the 55°F weather with brisk winds.

Wombat sleeping in the sun

Today I am on a https://gowest.com.au/ tour bus, going to https://moonlitsanctuary.com.au/ to see Aussie animals and https://www.visitphillipisland.com.au/ to see the little penguins.
I got to the pickup spot early so I get to ride shotgun.

Honestly, sitting up front is perfect for me because it minimizes the amount of time I have to talk to other tourists. I'm here for the animals, not the people. 😝 #introvert

Oh look it's the ocean. We're on our way out of Melbourne.

The ocean is quite cathartic.

Going backwards in time a bit, I saw this great tree in Brighton before we got in the bus to go to the animal sanctuary.
It's apparently a Drooping Sheoak. Kind of like the Australian version of the weeping willow we have in the U.S. Fun fact: native Australian trees don't drop their leaves in the winter, it's just the imports from other continents that do that.

#TechIsShitDispatch
When I visit the Boston Public Library website from Australia to cancel a hold that is going to expire before I get back, so somebody else in line can have the book, the page reloads several times and then I see the error below.
If I activate my VPN whose exit node is in the U.S. I am able to visit the site with no trouble.
Two shitty things here: (1) it shouldn't block non-US traffic; (2) if it's going to block non-US traffic, it should do it clearly and openly.

Just tried #Vegemite for the first time. Perhaps… it's an acquired taste?
I suppose a sufficiently thin layer of it might be palatable with unsalted butter. 🤷
#food #Australia

This one might be even better.

It was hard to capture in a photo how beautiful this view out the airplane window was.

In three hours, all five of our kids will have graduated from high school. 🎉
Reply with a photo of the gift you think the _parents_ should receive on this occasion.
#today #celebrate

RE: https://journa.host/@fulelo/116695525232223401

This is a lie.
This is a CEO of an AI company lying to keep the hype cycle going so his company and the other companies banking everything on AI and the economy don't crash and burn.
What the research actually says is that when AIs interact with other AIs instead of people, they go into spirals of degradation and get worse and worse.
It is, in fact mathematically impossible for AIs to "develop without human input."
AIs like what Anthropic sells are not conscious or intelligent.
This is a lie.

Well, either there was just an explosion near my house in Brighton Center or a very large tree just came down. That was quite a dramatic noise.
#Boston #BostonMA #Brighton #BrightonMA #weather

Current theory is a meteor off the coast:
https://hachyderm.io/@lkngrrr/116664981125385396
#Boston #BostonMA #Brighton #BrightonMA

I keep hearing people say AIs are "better at coding than people."
First of all, no, they're FASTER at coding than people, which is not at all the same thing.
Second, am I the only one who remembers when what folks in this industry do was called "software ENGINEERING," which is not at all the same as "coding"?
Notice how no one is claiming that AIs are good at software engineering?
Why do you think that is? 🤔
Most commercial tech was already shit before genAI. The AI is 10x'ing the shit. *sigh*

RE: https://federate.social/@jik/116398825147509209

A combination of ant poison stations and pet-safe peppermint-oil ant repellent has almost entirely eliminated the ants in our kitchen. Unfortunately, although the peppermint oil sprayed in our mud room appears to be perfectly safe for our cats, it _dramatically_ affects my wife. Apparently some people are more sensitive to it than others: it's making my wife sick, it sometimes give me a sore throat but that's it, and our son doesn't notice it at all.
(1/2)

@adam Yet another reminder that the answer to "what would I have done in Germany during Hitler's rise to power" is "whatever you're doing now."