LoriHC @lorihc@qoto.org

In the Washington Post, my take on Tesla Autopilot:

“Even if [Tesla owners] accept [Autopilot's risks], what about everyone on a public road or street who is not in a Tesla? None of us signed on to be a guinea pig.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/28/tesla-trial-autopilot-crash/

#tesla #safety #streets

If you made $10,000 every day and never spent a cent, from the time the Declaration of Independence was signed, to the time you are reading this, you would still not have a billion dollars.

Tax billionaires out of existence. And actually redistribute the wealth to the people.

@chockenberry @lorihc @douglemoine I've had a very busy day but just want to acknowledge that I'm going to sit down and read this. I know Lori will too.

@chockenberry @lorihc @taylorcarrigan Hi, Craig. Very much appreciate this thoughtful post. It's helpful to understand how you use Timers, and to see the issues you raise in that context. Also thanks for filing feedback. As you well know, that's the best way to capture issues and enhancement suggestions like these 🙏

My team at Apple is looking for interns for summer 2024! We work on Instruments, the tool built into Xcode that lets you analyze the performance of your apps running across all Apple platforms. I interned last year and it was a really rewarding experience. If you’re interested in applying, send me a DM with your resume and/or questions.

(fine print: usually 12–14 weeks, paid, in person in sunny Cupertino, housing/travel provided, must be a current college student returning to college next year)

What color clothing am I supposed to wear around drivers who see me and just don't give a $hit?

#BikeTooter #CarBrain #safestreetsforall #WearBrightClothing

On the deep pleasures of posting practical advice online

My essay: https://clivethompson.medium.com/why-you-should-post-your-practical-advice-online-105afcae9e0

A "friend" link in case you're not a Medium subscriber: https://clivethompson.medium.com/why-you-should-post-your-practical-advice-online-105afcae9e0?sk=1f244090d20df8dcf0d93300b25d1dab

Join a whole bunch of visionOS engineers and me in Cupertino for an all day, in-person event with TONS of great info about how to make your app awesome on Apple Vision Pro! Registrations are open for Take your app further with Apple Vision Pro (and many other events). Hope to see you there! https://developer.apple.com/events/

“Allowing turns on red is an outdated policy that makes streets more dangerous and stressful for people. Implementing No Turn On Red citywide will make it safer, easier and more comfortable for people to cross the street, as well as safer and more predictable for people in cars.”

Today is Stanislav Petrov Day. It's a day when I take some time to reflect on the importance of questioning technology. Because that is what Stanislav Petrov did when he averted nuclear war on September 26 in 1983.

"We can't wait anymore."
"7 minutes until the first warhead is in the observation zone."
"We won't have time to retaliate. You have to make a decision!"
"You see it?"
"Could be."
"No. That's not heat from a missile."
"Damn!"
"Let's keep looking."
"THE COMPUTER CAN'T BE WRONG!"
"I don't understand it."
"Damn it! They have to confirm this damn attack."
"All thirty levels of security levels confirms the attack!"
"Infrared devices verify heat from all five launched missiles!"
"What are we going to do?"

Stanislav Petrov: "Nothing. I don't trust the computer. We'll wait."

This dialogue is from a re-enactment in the documentary The Man Who Saved the World.

Last year I wrote about three learnings I take away from his story.

1. Embrace multiple perspectives.
Petrov was educated as an engineer rather than a military man. He knew the unpredictability of machine output.

2. Look for multiple confirmation points.
To confirm our beliefs we should expect many different variables to line up and tell us the same story. If one or more variables are saying something different, we need to pursue those anomalies to understand why. If the idea of a faulty system lines up with all other variables, that makes it more likely.

3. Reward exposure of faulty systems.
If we keep praising our tools for their excellence and efficiency it's hard to later accept their defects. When shortcomings are found, this needs to be communicated just as clearly and widely as successes.  Maintaining an illusion of perfect, neutral and flawless systems will keep people from questioning the systems when the systems need to be questioned.

https://axbom.com/lessons-from-stanislav-petrov/

They don't burn witches to get rid of the witch. They do it to control all the women forced to watch the fire.

I'm just so dang tired of a transportation system that routinely creates chaos and expects everyone to just deal with it, perfectly, every single time.

Today I had to choose between following the letter of the law and keeping my kid from unwittingly riding into a likely deadly situation. I chose the latter, got yelled at by a very angry lady, saved my kid.

And then we had yet another conversation about how our roads are designed as if everything is always perfect even though we know it's not.

Children's Rights
#children #rights #science #education #life

A junior iOS developer from Ukraine is looking for a job or internship in the Frankfurt/Main area (or, anywhere in Germany). If you have any leads, please send them my way!

#boostme

Many free speech absolutists seem not to realize that it’s not just defending people they like, like Nazis and religious weirdos. If they truly believe in free speech, they have to defend all sorts of unpalatable types, even schoolteachers and librarians and children they don’t like the look of.

Latest comic: The Real Conspiracy

#misinformation #disinformation #authoritarianism #democracy #cartoon

"Yes, there was global warming in prehistoric times. But nothing in millions of years compares with what we see today" | My op-ed in today's @latimes about #OurFragileMoment: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-09-24/climate-change-fossil-fuels-global-warming-rate

When XKCD describes the #urbanism movement like this, it starts to feel like the winds of society are changing.

My own story is a bit different, but then I don’t live in the US. My home town of #stockholm is pushing bicycle infrastructure forward with every year that passes.

Never quickly enough, of course, because the traffic increases outpace the city infrastructure: we have actual bicycle traffic jams at some points. https://xkcd.com/2832/