Notices by Michael Bacon (michaeltbacon@social.coop), page 2

@Remittancegirl Freddie Gray

Is it just me or does anyone else who ever did Y2K compliance still subconsciously put the century digits in the year on, like, everything?

Like I just put soup in the freezer and wrote "Sept 2025" on it. Yeah, better make sure I'm not confused which 25 year it is, this might be 100 year old soup!

I just learned the words "botlicker" and "slopholm syndrome" and my life is better for it.

EDIT: This blew up unexpectedly and I really should have cited my source, @emilymbender
https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/115045984765522396

@raganwald @gvwilson

Also, techbros: "AI is going to change everything, nothing will be the same, adopt it or get left behind"

Senior devs: "Well golly gee, now that's something I've never heard before . . ."

@crazyeddie @raganwald @gvwilson

*10 new super-shiny things appear on the horizon*

Young dev: "ooh, those are the future! Let's go—"

Old dev: <hand out blocking the way> "Hang, on, wait for it. . . "

*7 of the 10 super-shiny things crash and burn in a fiery ball that can be seen from space*

Old dev: "almost . . ."

*1 of remaining shiny things turns evil and starts eating everything near it*

Old dev: "okay, let's go."

The UK government saying "delete old emails" to save water. 🤦♂️

Most emails average about 50k of storage even for someone who gets a lot of attachments, and will have exactly zero effect on data center consumption.

"Don't use cryptocurrency" and "don't use generative AI" would of course be thousands of times more effective.

The pun was intended. (generally applicable.)

I don't know all the specifics, but from the outside it looks like a very brave and principled action that UVA President Jim Ryan took to resign as President rather than tap dance to please the gangsters at DOJ to gut any kind of program that might help people who aren't straight white men.

I might revise this as details come out but the first blush looks like a very effective principled resignation.

@shortridge And yes, one of the annoying things about running Solaris back in the day is that every time you installed an OS patch, it would *remove* Sendmail 8 and put Sendmail 5 BACK ON.

Like, gee, thanks, Sun.

Whatever you're building right now that brings people together to make a small thing better, keep building it.

Whatever you're maintaining right now that supports your community, keep maintaining it.

May there be joy in that work.

Even if it feels useless, keep at it. You have no idea how far reaching the effects might be.

@pbloem @futurebird @lnlyisol I dunno, for a good 10 years Netflix was a goldmine for new niche content. They’ve contracted a lot but they made shows like Nimona and I Am Not Okay With This and many others that were way weirder and more niche than anything I’d ever seen on television before.

@pbloem @futurebird @lnlyisol They’ve scaled way back on those shows but there was a kind of golden era of originals for a bit there.

Huge turnout at #HandsOff Durham, NC. I never got a look at the full crowd so it's hard to estimate but I'd say it was close to or over 10k people.

6,000 probationary USDA employees hired back.

Guantanamo detainees brought back stateside

Weldon's CDC nomination yanked.

Tesla stock in the toilet.

Pushback works. Court battles work. Protests work.

We can't save everything, but the things we can save are worth saving.

Keep going.

#uspol

Jamie Raskin is encouraging people to file Federal Privacy Act requests on their personal DOGE data. Fillable forms here:

https://jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy-act-requests/

#uspol

I'm doing science and I'm still alive.

IMPORTANT FOR FIRED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES:

If you were in probationary period in your current job but had continuous federal service before that, it's likely your firing was illegal. It may be worth contacting an attorney.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/important-note-for-federal-civil-servants

A reminder that *if you are so inclined*, religious spaces of all sorts have long been outstanding ground for organizing mutual aid, sanctuary, collective action, collective education and training, and a range of other actions.

It is a center of power but it is also contested space. Nearly every tradition has a radical corner of it. There are people in religious spaces doing outstanding work and they need help from those able to give it.

@futurebird "Intoxicating thought?"

In case you missed it, acting ICE head Tom Homan was up yesterday complaining that ICE is having a hard time meeting the quotas they're setting because of campaigns telling people their rights and how to resist raids.

In case you're wondering if the little things you do could possibly make a difference, know that they already are.