Darryl Wright 🇨🇦 🎧 @darryl@qoto.org

I just read a review for a television show which said "It doesn't punch down to religion." It struck me as a completely irrational assertion. Is it even possible to *punch down* to one of the most powerful cultural institutions in every society across the planet?

I don't feel any particular need to abandon #Twitter but my tweets there are getting fewer naturally as #Mastodon becomes increasingly populated with interesting folks. I will admit, however, that Elon's recent decision to close the API to third party apps, has made it significantly less interesting to me as a user and as a #programmer.

It's going to get scary.

[Credit to the TLDR newsletter]

"Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University were able to create full-body images of subjects using simple Wi-Fi routers. The technology could revolutionize healthcare, security, gaming, imaging, and many other industries. However, it could present many privacy issues as the technology can monitor people's movements through walls without their knowledge or consent. The technique involves analyzing the amplitude and phase of Wi-Fi signals to find interference and then using AI algorithms to produce an image."

Apropos.

#canada
#alcohol
#drinking
#beer

It's interesting to me to see how far Starbucks has aesthetically fallen (or perhaps deliberately changed) from premium cafe in the 90s and early 2000s to something that is only a colour scheme away from Dairy Queen or Burger King in both atmosphere and product line.

I just heard Sinead O'Connor's "Take Me to Church" for the first time and it's really good. No idea how I missed that one. #NowPlaying

Every. Single. Day. I am these judges and the performers are the world around me.

https://v16-webapp-prime.tiktok.com/video/tos/useast2a/tos-useast2a-pve-0068/oQIWowSjfI23XyngCKge3ccwQbvwHeDCngna5A/?a=1988&ch=0&cr=0&dr=0&lr=tiktok_m&cd=0%7C0%7C1%7C0&cv=1&br=1074&bt=537&cs=0&ds=3&ft=4fUEKMMD8Zmo01fm464jVN~pDpWrKsdm&mime_type=video_mp4&qs=0&rc=Nzc2OmVmOGU8aDs6NGhoZEBpM3U0dmc6Znl1aDMzNzczM0AtXi0uXzJeNTAxXzReXy4xYSNwLXMycjRnbXBgLS1kMTZzcw%3D%3D&btag=80000&expire=1674263468&l=202301201909447937D7867E71948B5476&ply_type=2&policy=2&signature=e1e706ca2cbe6e0bd7d93779429af0a4&tk=tt_chain_token

#Halifax nurses, is it true that you have no access to free coffee at your workplace?

#NovaScotia

We need activists in the same way we need rainy days. They serve a valuable purpose and sometimes, if they're warm enough, you might even be able to appreciate them.

I really don't like ReactJS. It might be the best we have but that's not great. It feels like stacks and stacks of hacks to compensate for poorly planned architecture decisions -- a lot like JavaScript really. #programmming #webdev #shotsfired

I once worked for a company that had a Hawaiian Shirt Day completely unironically, as though none of them had ever even seen Office Space.

#work
#culture

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-right-not-to-be-fun-at-work

"In a win for workplace dignity, a French high court recently decreed that businesses cannot force their employees to participate in supposedly enjoyable activities."

Power to the People?...

Because I have been strolling down memory lane into 90s #metal, this beautiful thing came up and I can think of no better representation of the era:

https://open.spotify.com/track/1158ckiB5S4cpsdYHDB9IF?si=8492a22dd2624451

I am putting together a large list of the best 90s #metal for a thing called #GenreJukebox. What should I definitely have on there?

#music
#AskMastodon

At the risk of sounding like an old person, I have observed that when we used to be in a physical room listening to a presentation from company execs or people in general, we tended to listen and not speak and then afterward we processed and discussed, maybe even collectively. We looked at what was said in retrospect, to the best of our memories, and decided on its merit. These days, online, we actively type, chat and heckle an ongoing presentation like school kids covertly passing notes in class. I don't think we listen or consider anything well because criticizing for social capital is paramount. The value for modern youth is in the criticizing of a perceived source of authority or power. Actually listening to the speaker or consciously considering their message, for better or for worse, is secondary, maybe even peripheral to the experience.

#discourse
#modernworldproblems
#youth
#communication
#business