@Sean@liberal.city cover
@Sean@liberal.city avatar

Sean

@[email protected]

Dad of two awesome kiddos. Lucky to be married to my best friend. Interested in interesting things: progressive politics/social democracy, infosec, Linux, organized labor, Yankees, NY Giants,Rick & Morty, Andor, CBS' Ghosts, The Orville, cord cutting before it was cool (since 2012), The West Wing, The Wire. American by birth, citizen of the world by choice, progressive social democrat.

Formerly @TheSean before the Masthead.social instance disappeared Feb '23

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

@junesim63@mstdn.social avatar junesim63 , to random

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @junesim63

    This is a perfect example of Dual-state model first proposed by Ernst Fraenkel to explain the legal system of the Nazi regime. Normative state where individuals are geanted the rights that are expected, and the prerogative state where individuals are not protected from the brutality of the state, the trick of the model is that individuals will defend it if they believe they are in the normative state and ignore those who are in the prerogative state.
    https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-parliament-advances-death-penalty-bill-backed-by-ben-gvir-2025-11-11/

    @georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random

    I need a Tylenol after listening to him drone on.

    A screenshot of two X posts. The first post by David Frum (@davidfrum) reads, "Medical advice from the president who urged Americans to inject disinfectant," posted 4 hours ago. The second post by Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) includes a video clip and text: "Trump: 'If you can't tough it out, if you can't do it, that's what you're gonna have to do. You'll take a Tylenol, but it'll be very sparingly ... I think you shouldn't take it.'" The video shows a man speaking at a podium with a flag and bookshelves in the background, with a caption reading, "It's a small number of cases, I think, but if you can't tough it out."
    ALT
    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @georgetakei why the brand Tylenol and not acetaminophen/paracetamol? Could it be that Kenvue, the company spun off from Johnson & Johnson that sells Tylenol and is a competitor of iHerb in many skin care product categories and has member of the administration Dr. Oz who owns over $20 million of shares in iHerb the competing company in those skin care categories

    @georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random
    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @georgetakei more like cringey, Trump is an unambiguous ass hat, Newsom pretending to be an ass hat doesn't do anything that didn't already turn off the people who are against ass hattery and doesn't make followers of the original ass hat that the pretender is anything but a phony poser trying to be like dear leader.

    @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar gerrymcgovern , to random

    Bitcoin is pure evil

    "But there's one noise some of the 300 villagers cannot stand: the constant, mechanical droning of Greenidge Generation. This former coal-fired facility is now a natural gas "peaking plant" that supplies electricity to New York during high demand. Since 2019, it has also powered an energy-gulping Bitcoin mine."

    https://www.dw.com/en/how-rural-communities-in-the-us-are-bearing-the-brunt-of-bitcoin-mining/a-72889383

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @gerrymcgovern oh so now it's evil to degrade the planet just so that illicit financial transactions can be completed among a sea of speculators who know that the whole thing is a Ponzi scheme and have no intention of being the ones who are left holding the bag when it all inevitably collapses under the weight of it own fraudulence and in doing so evaporating billions if not trillions of dollars of real world value when it does.

    Why would you think all of that is evil?

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    Al Jazeera - The Israeli government has issued new directives restricting how its media covers its current war with Iran. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/19/how-does-israel-restrict-its-media-from-reporting-on-the-iran-conflict

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @w7voa
    "The directive also bans the sharing of videos from social media without prior review by the censor, cautioning – as a side note – that some may be “enemy-generated fake news”."

    Who determines what is fake news and what is simply accurate reporting that is embarrassing or contrary to the government's hasbara? I'm going to speculate that they will make those decisions as state secrets.

    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar lowqualityfacts , to random

    I hate submarines now.

    Submarines can stay underwater for decades by sucking dolphins into the vessel and burning them as biofuel.
    ALT
    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @lowqualityfacts but they are sure waste "biofuel" while hunting more dolphins so that time submerged is going to be less than a decade

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org avatar Endymion_Mallorn @culprit@lemmy.ml avatar culprit "single mode" is preferable to multi-modal? If there's a choice of private car, lightrail, bus, and something else to take you from origin to destination, you would prefer not to have that choice? You want less liberty not more liberty?

    Alright do you boo, I'm going to remain in the camp of more choices not less.

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    NYT - After killing a criminal case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams, the Trump administration has begun investigating his chief rival in the mayoral race, former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo. .https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/us/politics/andrew-cuomo-investigation-doj.html

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @w7voa could this somehow benefit the next leading mayoral candidate not indicted or have a plethora of sexual harassment and corruption allegations against him: the very much not corrupt ?

    @dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar dangillmor , to random
    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @dangillmor Gannet newspapers are suddenly adhering to the EOs of the president?

    There goes 'afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted' axiom for journalists

    @Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar Daojoan , to random

    Social skills aren't moral virtues. Some of the best folks I know are awkward, and some of the smoothest conversationalists are terrible humans.

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @Daojoan autistic individuals are strident about their sense of justice, sociopaths are not concerned about anything outside of the what's helpful to them in the moment. That explains the awkward moral people and the smooth conversationalists who are terrible individuals

    @stux@mstdn.social avatar stux , to random

    Btw, like what @signalapp also said

    Don't think any less of with the leaked messages from the US gov

    It was leaked because they are so incompetent that they added a journalist to the conversation

    Not because Signal is unsecure!

    For us civilians, Signal is one of the better options

    For the military it should't be an option, why else spend hundreds of billions on your military?

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @stux @signalapp

    The fact that senate confirmed members of the national security apparatus were copacetic to use a consumer grade (although rather secure) communication tool rather than the definitely existing communication tools that might not be on their mobile device (probably for a reason). Was there any indication that there was anyone who said "take this offline, this isn't secure"

    @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar gerrymcgovern , to random

    Data center growth in the US is skyrocketing, driven by advancements in AI, leading to a massive increase in energy demand.

    Natural gas is currently a key source for meeting the immediate power needs of data centers, though there's a strong push from hyperscalers for clean-firm energy sources like nuclear and geothermal.

    Renewable energy faces challenges due to grid interconnection limitations, despite significant growth in solar and battery storage capacity.

    https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Natural-Gas-Surges-to-Meet-Data-Center-Power-Needs.html

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @disco3000 @gerrymcgovern the AI computes costs dollars per prompt and that will only go exponentially up with more prompts increasing the marginal costs for AI. Shoving AI into everything will inevitably accelerate the AI bubble popping and a 3rd of market valuation of S&P 500 collapse all the sooner.

    @internetarchive@mastodon.archive.org avatar internetarchive , to random

    🚧 What do dancing babies, "under construction" signs, and bubble-gum-blowing Furbys tell us about digital preservation? In the latest essay for the Internet Archive's Vanishing Culture series, writer JD Shadel explores the rise, fall, and cultural legacy of early Internet GIFs—and why they matter today.⁠
    ⁠
    🔗 https://blog.archive.org/2025/02/05/vanishing-culture-what-early-internet-era-gifs-show-us-about-preserving-digital-culture/
    ⁠
    🕳️ ⁠

    video/mp4

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @internetarchive

    Line break starting with “blowing Furbys” is unfortunate bit typography, but it did spark my interests in the article

    @georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random
    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @georgetakei Grimes doesn't identify as a woman, yet that doesn't stop Elmo from procreating with them, but still does give him the opportunity to consider his own child to be dead because she doesn't conform to gender assigned at birth.

    Elmo Tusk is such a bigoted gaping rectum of an individual.

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    President-elect Trump says he’ll nominate former Senator David Perdue as US ambassador to China. As the head of Asia operations for Sara Lee Corp. Perdue helped source suppliers in China while the company closed dozens of its US plants.

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @w7voa food, it's not something that I want to have in a container ship for a month or two. Weird that Sara Lee pushed plants on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, probably explains why all their breads and cake taste like crap.

    @Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar Daojoan , to random

    Never forget: misogyny is a skill issue

    Screenshot of a discussion and post on tumblr: &10;&10;Male behavior towards female gamers&10;A 2015 study found that lower-skilled male players of Halo 3 were more hostile towards teammates with a female voice, but behaved more submissively to players with a male voice.&10;Higher-skilled male players, on the other hand, behaved more positively towards female players. The authors argued the male hostility towards female gamers in terms of evolutionary psychology, writing, "female-initiated disruption of a male hierarchy incites hostile behaviour from poor performing males who stand to lose the most status". &10;Still the best gaming fact.&10;&10;Top reply:&10;&10;Noted: misogyny is a skill issue
    ALT
    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @Daojoan
    This is analogous to the Reconstruction Era where self government included, for the first time ever in the US, elected officials of African descent usually those who had somehow been emancipated prior to the war but the millions of former enslaved men were able to participate in elections across all the states in former CSA states. Having less skill in governing and organizing the people gave rise to the KKK and similar racial violence of those who were never in the power structure.

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    BBC Weather app warns of 15,000 mph winds and searing UK temperatures of 404°C. https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/complaints-bbc-weather-app-warns-hurricane-15000mph-winds-400-temperature/

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @w7voa oof, and I thought it was a weather disaster in Tampa Florida with Hurricane Milton

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    Venezuela's interior minister announces 400 rifles and pistols, that he says were sent from the US, have been seized and Americans are among the foreigners arrested who were plotting to destabilize the country. https://www.eluniversal.com/politica/190847/diosdado-cabello-anuncia-la-incautacion-de-armamento-que-ingreso-a-venezuela-desde-eeuu

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @w7voa
    Juan Guaidó was the recognized by the US leader of 6 years ago without a single vote cast for him. I saw him getting applause in the State of the Union. The is obviously gaslighting the American people and once a liar shows themselves to be liars trust in their shameless ability to bald face lie again and again.

    @nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

    No more WFH. Please come back to the office for the amazing culture & benefits! It is mandatory now.

    The office:

    On Reddit, someone posted: Started a new job today at a large Fortune 500 company headquarters, and was surprised to find that coffee (k-cups) isn't free. Is this normal?
    ALT
    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @nixCraft
    This smacks of McKinsey (or similar management) Consulting advising ways to nickel-and-dime workers to squeeze out a couple more bucks that not only back fires for the employer/client but comes no where close enough to "save" enough costs to pay for the consultant fees.

    "We're all family around here" except I don't know of any family that sees themselves as line in the budget of an already profitable enterprise that seeks to further increase their profits by being dicks

    @arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar arstechnica , to random

    Pornhub is blocking more states this summer to protest age-verification laws

    The number of states blocked by Pornhub will soon nearly double.

    https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/06/adult-sites-blocking-more-states-this-summer-to-protest-age-verification-laws/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @arstechnica
    Much like a border wall will incentivize ladders and cartel coyotes, these laws will grow VPN services exponentially, because they aren't that expensive and many services tack on additional services like password management, email and cloud storage.

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @notnotmike@programming.dev avatar notnotmike @yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar yogthos the addictive characteristic of Tiktok isn't about a massive amount of quality, but quantity hidden among mid quality content. Just all grade-A content wouldn't set off the dopamine that getting dud, after dud, after dud, jackpot, dud again, dud, dud, dud, dud, maybe jackpot no, dud, dud, dud... is a clear path to dopamine

    Much like a slot machine, the algorithm can intersperse jackpot and near jackpot amongst mostly dud content that makes it very addictive.

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar uriel238 mondoman712
    In the days before Wannsee Conference (Nazis setting up death camps) but after the invasion of Poland where most executions occurred by firing squad, there were German tourists who would travel to partake in the firing squads. So the trauma is not universal across the human experience and there's some circumstances that would cause individuals to kill. Lynchings and massacres in the US, are examples of this occurring without a war to give cover to killings.

    @maegul@hachyderm.io avatar maegul , to Fediverse

    Is decentralised federated social media over engineered?

    Can't get this brain fart out of my head.

    What would the simplest, FOSS, alternative look like and would it be worth it?

    Quick thoughts:

    • FOSS platforms intended to be big single servers, but dedicated to ...
    • Shared/Single Sign On
    • Easy cross posting
    • Enabling and building universal Multi-platform clients.
    • Unlike email, supporting small servers

    No duplication/federation/protocol required, just software.


    @Fediverse

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @Aatube @maegul @1984 @mindlight @maegul
    Couldn't it be like public-private keys such PGP protocols, where the users have the private key and the platforms have the public key? It's seems quite good privacy, some would even say it's "pretty good privacy".

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    @Aatube @maegul @1984 @mindlight @maegul
    The private key doesn't need to be memorized, it stays saved on the device that the client software is on, allowing the user to integrate mobile device's biometric reader (fingerprint/face/iris/whatever) to confirm identity, or use security key, there are already different ways to implement it that doesn't require pw memorization.

    I've got a long unmemorizable string for Firefox sync, Brave, Proton Mail/Pass, it's still more secure than pw memorized

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    PlasticPigeon
    I have a Mastodon account, and a Beehaw (more civil version of Lemmy, more moderation, no downvoting), and i have no pixelfed or peertube (fediverse YouTube) accounts and yet I can access any account/community/hashtag from any service by either of my accounts. Mastodon has a character limit that beehaw/lemmy doesn't but Mastodon is about following individuals while lemmy is about subreddit/community/magazine/etc that anyone can participate in.

    Sean ,
    @Sean@liberal.city avatar

    PlasticPigeon I can reply on Lemmy with Mastodon (with Mastodon character limit), and never tried to comment on pixelfed or peertube, but Beehaw can interact with all lemmy and kbin. I primarily use Mastodon and a secondarily Beehaw.