Ben Taylor @VoxDei@qoto.org
Software Engineer, Trade Unionist, Gamer, Geek, Dad. Lives in Devon
Joined Nov 2022
Ben Taylor
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Good morning Internet, and a @HappyGoodFriday to all who care about such things.
#Easter #EasterBunny #StephenCollins #comic #funny #humor #webcomic #TheGuardian #comicstrip #funnypages #paganism #christianity #daylightsavingtime #daylightsavingstime
Ben Taylor
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Every time I see some nob going on about 'cancel culture' I immediately suspect one to many of the following is true:
1. They were a complete ass to someone before they were 'cancelled'
2. I would not be welcome to speak freely in their spaces
3. They don't understand 'free speech' means you are free to talk – while others are just as free to ignore you; actively if necessary
4. They are narcissists and everything they say – including about cancel culture – is all about THEM
"Yet, for all that, Hong Kong flourished... under the aegis of empire. ... Though denied full democratic rights, its people eventually prospered."
Simon Tisdall in the Guardian decrying China's destruction of Hong Kong's democracy by, er... harking back to the British Empire's undemocratic treatment of Hong Kong. China's treatment of Hong Kong is a disgrace, but I'm not sure this is the killer argument Tisdall seems to think.
Ben Taylor
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† Vernor Vinge (79)
Rest in peace. Loved the Zones of Thought series.
#books #amreading #reading #kindle #literature #bookwyrm #booktoot #book #books #knihy #scifi #sff @bookstodon @scifi @knihy
Ben Taylor
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“We want to make sure that we’re not leaving any pricing on the table. We want to take as much as we can.”
—CFO of Constellation Brands, producer of popular beers like Corona and Modelo
Corporate price gouging has gotten so bad that they aren't even trying to hide it anymore.
Ben Taylor
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Rancher faces prison for trying to breed absolute unit of a sheep
Ewe-nique endeavor aimed to create Jurassic Baaa-rk experience for hunters In a case that could have been lifted from a bad movie about a "mad scientist," a Montana rancher has pleaded guilty to wildlife trafficking charges in his quest to genetically engineer an ubersheep for hunting.…
#theregister #IT
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/03/14/rancher_hybrid_sheep/
Ben Taylor
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OMG!!!
For years, the antivirus software company #avast harvested information from users’ web browsers without their consent.
And SOLD that data!
Though I have never used any of their products, I pray that this company is sued into oblivion.
What an abhorrent deception! https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24080135/avast-security-privacy-software-ftc-fine-data-harvesting
Ben Taylor
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Palantir is looting the UK’s National Health Service, under cover of vulture capitalism’s Big Lie: “There is no alternative.” — @pluralistic https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/08/the-fire-of-orodruin/
Ben Taylor
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As someone who did her PhD on consent I just want to flag a few things in the bsky bridge discussion. One: medical style disclosure based consent (terms and conditions, EULAs etc.) is totally inappropriate for this sort of situation and has been for decades. But it serves the needs of slow-moving legal requirements and companies that like people to forget they signed up to stuff (or were coerced into doing so for social or other reasons). See https://liedra.net/thesis for more details. (1/n)
Ben Taylor
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Canada's 10 seasons:
Winter
Fool's Spring (we are here)
Second Winter
Mud, Potholes and Allergies
Hope
Summer
False Fall
Second summer
Fall
Hello darkness my old friend
I see the Guardian is going for the could-have-been-published-by-the-Nazis look this morning.
(Going by the associated headline I think it's supposed to represent Iran. Separated from the headline, it's awful.)
Ben Taylor
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Here's today's press release for JAXA's SLIM lunar landing!
TL;DR:
Pinpoint site identification was crazily successful.
We were lowering into position, detecting boulders like a champ.
THEN ONE OF THE ENGINES DROPPED OFF.
(I kid you not)
(we don't know why yet)
(maybe space pirates)
But we still soft-landed on 1 engine.
(TAKE THAT SPACE PIRATES!)
but on our head.
Strangely, might not be a big deal once the Sun moves round to the other side of the spacecraft.
"“We don’t put planes in the air that we don’t have 100% confidence in,” Calhoun told reporters."
Well, no. The wheels falling off is a safety feature. If the plane detects it's in an unsafe condition then the wheels fall off, and then it can't take off. Right?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/24/boeing-ceo-plane-safety?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
One of the cards in one of my (9yo) son's board games. Need to guess as many as you can. This has made my inner grammar pedant twitch badly, along with my monarch list pedant. 😂
Wait, so if you turn up at a polling station as a young person on polling day with photo ID (like a young person's railcard) but it's not the right ID, you're a fraud risk and can't vote, say the Tories.
But anyone else who may or may not be British or indeed exist can register to vote and can vote by proxy, four proxies to one UK resident, "on the word of an eligible British resident" that they're eligible, in their choice of marginal constituency. WTAF?
Ben Taylor
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Okay, sex determination in humans.
This shit is COMPLICATED and this will probably be a longish thread. Sorry. But I've seen a lot of people claim that "biology says" that everyone is either male or female, full stop, and it's just not true. 1/22
Tory backbencher described as "usually loyal to Sunak": “It’s clear that a plurality of people in the country are more to the right on immigration than we are and we would do well to remember that.”
Yeah, that's your problem right there. The British people think you're a bunch of softies on immigration. Yeah, that's definitely why the polls are pointing to your annihilation at the next election. No question.
Ben Taylor
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History is curiously quiet on what "minor repairs" the Royal George required in 1782, but I'd cautiously venture the toolbox talk was inadequate.
I mean, killing up to 800 people and leaving the ship 20m deep at the bottom of the Royal Navy's most important anchorage doesn't *imply* a safe system of work...
After 60 years the wreck was removed - along with windows 6 miles away - by the traditional application of [checks notes] a shit-ton of explosives. Top work all round, lads.
Software Engineer, Trade Unionist, Gamer, Geek, Dad. Lives in Devon
Joined Nov 2022
