@adavid@aus.social cover
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adavid

@[email protected]

Knows a little about a lot, and has many loosely-held opinions.

From now on, all typos in my toots will be left in place as markers of my mental state.

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

@preinheimer@phpc.social avatar preinheimer , to random

If an "AI" company can sell you access to software that will replace a $250k/year software engineer. They're going to charge $249k/year for it.

That's how capitalism works.

Well, they're going to charge $20k/year at first, during the land rush phase. Wait for some competitors to die off. Keep it low a while longer to kill off the incumbents. Then it'll jump up a bunch, before finally being even more expensive than the original thing.

See also: Uber & AirBnB.

adavid ,
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@404mediaco@mastodon.social avatar 404mediaco , to random

"Top Assitarian Staples,” include “Bananas (firm, not overripe; peeled).”

https://www.404media.co/rfk-jrs-nutrition-chatbot-recommends-best-foods-to-insert-into-your-rectum/

adavid ,
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@404mediaco

Anything using Grok is an affront to humanity

@adavid@aus.social avatar adavid , to random

https://euroloom.eu/ Is now deployed in its initial form.

"EuroLoom is a curated European search engine and database built for one purpose: to connect you with businesses genuinely operating, owned, and creating within Europe. In a digital landscape dominated by a few global players, we are the compass pointing you toward the European economy."

"We combine AI-powered analysis with human expertise. First, our custom-automated system scans legal documents, official records, and external data to verify headquarters location and European production levels"

Site built using https://coralite.dev/

@adavid@aus.social avatar adavid , to random

My recently HS-graduated grand daughter had a stark lesson in

6 years of work is now inaccecssible to her.

OneDrive is now a normality for most kids in Australia's education system. It is not a backup system. It is a mirage on their laptops, pretending to be a reliable storage device.

I advised her to take regular backups of all her own work at QUT during her Engineering studies, and throughout her career. Take responsibility for your data, no one else will.

@adavid@aus.social avatar adavid , to random

One of our new young chooks (Sunny) has realised she can get over the 1m+ gate. The neighbour knocked on the door to see if we had a chook.

video/mp4

@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

Over 419,056 tech layoffs have occurred in the last 20 months, and software engineer/IT jobs have been hit harder. I don't know if this is correct or wrong, but the shift due to AI is real, no matter what tech CEOs say, given that all these tech giants are making record breaking profits each quarter. So, please take care of yourself. Learn new skills. Apart from learning new skills, what other skills can one learn to stay relevant in the age of AI and automation? Source https://trueup.io/layoffs

A screenshot of "Tech Layoffs Tracker". The latest layoffs across all tech companies. The text reads: So far in 2025, there have been 619 layoffs at tech companies with 180,595 people impacted (577 people per day). In 2024, there were 1,115 layoffs at tech companies w/ 238,461 people impacted (653 people per day). A bar chart titled "Tech Employees Impacted by Layoffs as of November 9, 2025," showing the monthly total number of tech employees impacted by layoffs from December 2024 to November 2025.
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adavid ,
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@nixCraft

IBM layoffs were legendary and brutal in the 80s. Along with HP, DEC, and more. I was RIFF'd by Amdahl, Data General(both nineties) and SGI (noughties).

@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social avatar GossiTheDog , to random

LinkedIn is already a glorious trash fire but now I have people doing AI replies to my posts. 🫡

adavid ,
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@Doomed_Daniel @GossiTheDog
The near-term future for AI is "consuming and excreting" in a recursively expanding desert.

@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar arstechnica , to random

FCC chair teams up with Ted Cruz to block Wi-Fi hotspots for schoolkids
Ted Cruz's anti-hotspot bill stalled, but FCC is ending Wi-Fi program on its own.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/fcc-chair-teams-up-with-ted-cruz-to-block-wi-fi-hotspots-for-schoolkids/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

adavid ,
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@arstechnica

So, are they boosting school library budgets?
/s

@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar aral , to random

The only way Microsoft should be involved in a European Sovereign Tech Fund is if we fund it by taxing the living shit out of them.

But having them organise and influence it (and who gets funded by it), thereby de facto giving Microsoft EU taxpayer subsidies? Get the fuck out of here.

There are no words to describe how angry this attempt at corporate capture gets me when we’ve been working on sovereign tech in the EU for the past seven years with zero EU funding (not for lack of trying).

Note which people and organisations allow their names to be used to legitimise this effort so you don’t trust a thing they say on this subject in the future.

https://github.blog/open-source/maintainers/we-need-a-european-sovereign-tech-fund/

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@aral

WTH? What is the point of all the EU work and words, if it gets poisoned by this US company, notorious for subversion of technological freedom?

@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

Today, Slackware Linux turned 32 years old https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slackware. Happy birthday 🎂 and thanks for all memories 😍

PS: What was your first distro? 🤔

adavid ,
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@nixCraft I installed Slackware from floppies, with a teenager in the early naughties.

My 1st distro was Redhat 4.2

@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

If a kernel panic had a sound, what would it be?

adavid ,
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@nixCraft

TARDIS alarm

@Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar Daojoan , to random

So just to sum up, the economy is worse, there’s no hurricane relief, there’s no more cancer research, the war on climate change has been set back 10 years, the situation in Gaza is worse, the situation in Ukraine is worse, and everyone hates America but on the other hand…nope, nothing.

adavid ,
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@Daojoan
MAGA has a knack for implementing the worst policies to the detriment of the most people.

@mcc@mastodon.social avatar mcc , to random

Discovery: The "copilot" bot user that Microsoft will soon be flooding your github repos with garbage content from is implemented in some sort of special way that exempts it from the "block" feature you would normally be able to block other users/bots with

https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/159749

adavid ,
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@mcc

What a joke.
We are in the process of moving to @Codeberg

Anything no fitting codeberg's guidelines goes to our bitbucket projects.

adavid ,
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@mcc @Codeberg

We aren't wedded to bitbucket. We moved our major AGPL project from there to Github a while ago. When we get some cyles, it will be shifted to Codeberg.
Bitbucket a long-standing service we have used. Any good alternatives you use?

adavid ,
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@mcc
I would feel the same way. They dropped your bucket.

@tante@tldr.nettime.org avatar tante , to random

I think the most tragic aspect of deploying "AI" in teaching and learning situations is how much it pushes people into a situation of learned helplessness. This constant feeling of not knowing how to do a thing of being incapable of actually doing work on one's tasks is mentally so harmful. How do people under those conditions gain confidence in their abilities? Like ever?

adavid ,
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@tante

I have not seriously used "AI" for writing a paper or writing code. Being the generalist I am, I have dabbled broadly.

From my observations of others using "AI", I have seen good results where there is a strong understanding of what the goal is what steps are needed along the way, comparing results from different models and presenting the results that meet the goal.

in a teaching situation, there of course needs to be a good foundational knowledge among the teachers themselves. The other thing that needs to be encouraged is to having the classroom resources tro run models locally. Like all intensive computing, understanding efficiency is vital, Having more tokens in the model does not guarantee a significantly better result. I heard there is work on running models on a phone, so it should be doable as long as the goals are set appropriately.

@malwaretech@infosec.exchange avatar malwaretech , to random

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

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    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    In RSF’s world press freedom index the US falls to 57 (“problematic”) with the report stating: “Donald Trump’s second term as president has led to an alarming deterioration in press freedom, indicative of an authoritarian shift in government.” https://rsf.org/en/country/united-states

    adavid ,
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    @w7voa

    Trump is shooting for bigger numbers. He must be envious of Putin's ranking.

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    CBC - A remarkable reversal for the Liberal Party which has made an incredible comeback and will form government.

    adavid ,
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    @w7voa

    PP, in the bin.
    Good work Canada.

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer. https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-signal-chat-dirty-internet-line-6a64707f10ca553eb905e5a70e10bd9d

    adavid ,
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    @w7voa

    What sort of IT security system does not alert admins to this sort of shenanigans? If it did, obedience to MAGA over doing the right thing is deep and the USA is truly screwed.

    @ProPublica@newsie.social avatar ProPublica , to random

    NOAA Scientists Are Cleaning Bathrooms and Reconsidering Lab Experiments After Contracts for Basic Services Expire
    —

    A Seattle lab has lost janitorial services, hazardous waste support, IT and building maintenance as it waits for the Commerce Department secretary to personally approve all contracts over $100,000.
    https://www.propublica.org/article/noaa-contracts-seattle-lab?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

    adavid ,
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    @ProPublica

    It will not be long until the only science funded will be MAGA science.

    @evacide@hachyderm.io avatar evacide , to random

    In case you were wondering what kind of story would lead me to say "I'm going to need a moment to come up with something more printable than 'fuck no,'" it is this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/04/01/waltz-national-security-council-signal-gmail/

    adavid ,
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    @evacide @mattblaze

    I am 'shocked' that another of Trump's cabinet have NFI what their job requirements are.
    The sick trolling continues.

    @nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

    You youngsters with your 'devops' and 'continuous integration'. I deployed websites with an FTP client and the sheer force of my will. And let me tell you, your lack of FTP scars is showing 🤣

    adavid ,
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    @nixCraft
    Such a versatile protocol. The details elude me, but nearly 40 years ago I set up printing from a Amdahl mainframe domain running UTS where the printer driver FTP'd the file to the print server.

    @georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random

    First Dr. Oz gets himself a Trump hairdo, now Mike Johnson is bronzing like him. This is a sickness, people.

    X post by Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJong ...), featuring a verification badge, posted 15 hours ago. The post reads, "Contouring with bronzer isn’t for everyone or maybe anyone." Below this, there is a quoted post by Acyn (@Acyn ), posted 1 day ago, which says, "Johnson: The adults are back in the room and we are going to turn this economy around." Accompanying the quoted post is an image of a person in a suit and tie, wearing glasses, speaking on Fox News. The background features a bookshelf filled with books. The bottom of the image includes a Fox News graphic stating, "LIFE, LIBERTY & LEVIN," with a timestamp of "7:29 CT," and a segment title "MOMENTS AGO STEVE MOORE."
    ALT
    adavid ,
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    @georgetakei
    Its the fascist moustache of the 21st Century.

    @techlore@social.lol avatar techlore , to random

    If you own a TP-Link router, listen up ‼️ A botnet campaign is exploiting Archer AX-21 with a patched exploit. Be sure to update ASAP to patch. If you don't own TP-Link, this is a reminder to check for updates on your router anyway 🫡 Read more:
    https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/malware-adware/thousands-of-tp-link-routers-have-been-infected-by-a-botnet-to-spread-malware

    adavid ,
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    @techlore
    I am so glad I dumped the once-great Internode that was swallowed by the useless purveyor of this rubblish.

    @nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , (edited ) to random

    Hi, Why did the Linux sysadmin refuse to use top anymore?

    Because they found htop to be a top-notch upgrade! 🤓

    PS: say hello to @htop and give them a follow

    adavid ,
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    @nixCraft @htop

    I have been using atop for the past few years. Consider myself educated.

    @nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

    This @nixCraft post is exclusively sponsored by the SSH gang as PSA. Get your free SSH implementation at OpenSSH.Com

    A warning about the insecurity of Telnet, which sends data unencrypted.
    ALT
    adavid ,
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    @nixCraft

    Me on phone(webmaster, late 90s): I just telnetted to Port 80 on your server ...
    Webmaster at another department: We don't allow telnet through our firewall.
    Me: ...
    [10 minutes of me trying to fruitlessly help him understand that his website had a problem]

    @nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar nixCraft , to random

    By the time you're 35, you should have successfully done following at least once:

    1. rm -rf / on your unix or linux box
    2. Reboot production server by mistake
    3. Drop CPU/hard disk and damage it permanently
    4. Changing firewall rule instantly blocked you out
    5. No backup was made/verified ever...
    6. Delete source code before actually committing to source control
    7. Run a SQL update/delete with wrong where clause
    adavid ,
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    @nixCraft I avoided the full set by re-reading the deadly SQL 3 times. My best version of #2 was lying on the floor of a regional office (why was the Sparcstation 20 mounted so low in the cabinet?) at 9pm, with two xterms open. 'shutdown -h now' was fired off on the main server in Canberra, 700kms away!