Brian Beach has moved @bwbeach@qoto.org

President Biden “calling for three bold reforms to restore trust and accountability” in SCOTUS, the White House announces. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/29/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-bold-plan-to-reform-the-supreme-court-and-ensure-no-president-is-above-the-law/

🧵 I won my YouTube dispute with Sony Music Entertainment after they claimed I had infringed the copyright of one of their artists. They rejected my first appeal, even though I offered evidence that I'd written/performed/recorded the music myself.
I guessed that my track's background atmosphere audio sample might be the contentious element, so I demonstrated that it was from a Creative Commons audio library which offers free audio samples.

@qurlyjoe @futurebird a friend in college and I had an ongoing competition to find the book that had gone the longest without being checked out. Some of the most interesting things I read came out of that competition.

The idea that AI will help you handle tedious writing projects like status reports or even boring homework is a compelling use case.

AI writing the heartfelt fan letter a little kid sends their role model goes from a narrative of AI stealing our jobs to stealing our humanity.

@futurebird

As promised: in this tiny patch of rewilded land, across the main entrance to Harvard’s Natural History Museum, I found 8 species of wasp and 4 of bees, plus hoverflies, flies, true bugs, ants and a dragonfly. And butterflies that I couldn’t photograph.

Compare with the surrounding lawn deserts.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=42.37864070649608&nelng=-71.11562494157167&on=2024-07-27&place_id=any&swlat=42.37827613415456&swlng=-71.11610773919435&user_id=albertcardona
#iNaturalist #rewilding #entomology

"Switzerland now requires all government software to be open source"
👇
https://www.zdnet.com/article/switzerland-now-requires-all-government-software-to-be-open-source/

[FR] Loi fédérale
sur l’utilisation de moyens électroniques pour l’exécution des tâches des autorités (LMETA/EMBAG)
👇
https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/oc/2023/682/fr#art_9

#Cyberveille #Switzerland #opensource

One thing the pundits are right about—this is absolutely, 100% a turnout election. It’ll all come down to who brings more people to the polls.

Of course, getting to the polls is only part of the job. If you’re an eligible voter in every state and territory except North Dakota, you have to be registered first. If you registered before, make sure you’re still on the rolls, active, and that your contact info is correct. You don’t want any nasty surprises come November!

https://vote.gov

" If you are on Ukrainian social media, you are dealing with Russian bots and trolls saying that Harris is unpopular in America and can’t win. In the United States, the Russian bots and trolls are spreading racism and misogyny. The Russian demobilization serves the same goal: to stifle any hope for something good in both countries."

~ Timothy Snyder

#KamalaHarris #Trump #Ukraine #Russia #disinformation #propaganda
/15

https://snyder.substack.com/p/ukraine-and-harris

The internet can be homophobic.

The internet can be racist.

Most fediverse developers have privilege.

We have a responsibility to use that privilege to build a better, more inclusive online space.

Let's start listening to marginalized voices, amplify their experiences, and work together to create a Fediverse where everyone feels safe and welcome.

#FediverseForAll #DevsForDiversity

Per today's Toronto Star editorial: "The right of citizens to the greatest safety possible when travelling by bicycles should not be a matter of negotiation, a privilege granted only when politicians conclude that a majority of their fellows say so." #BikeTO #TOpoli https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/it-s-a-matter-of-life-and-death-but-in-toronto-cyclist-safety-is-a/article_e6c8e9b8-4b8a-11ef-9ee7-4f9c79ca0986.html

We desperately need to start a Slow Software movement. High quality, intentionally designed, low defect software done at a quarter of the pace for the same price. Because we've been destroying the mental health of developers for the last quarter century, and what do we have to show for it but a giant mess?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SHWKBfhpcg

“What makes biking dangerous is all the cars. What makes the bus so slow is all the cars. What makes driving a car so slow is all the cars. What makes everything too far away to walk is all the space we have to reserve for the cars.” 🚗 🚙 🚗 🚙 #biketooter

I don't recall any articles suggesting that Trump needed racial or gender balance for his VP pick.

“In supposedly affluent Western nations, the dire state or absence of public toilets has become a universal nightmare, impacting the health and quality of life of all of us, but particularly for marginalised groups.” https://psyche.co/ideas/public-toilets-are-vanishing-and-thats-a-civic-catastrophe

If you can't fix it, you don't really own it.

#RightToRepair #coffee #opsec