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ploum

An Offpunk user sent me this picture of #offpunk running on a #decvt220, browsing offpunk.net

And it is awesome!

Thanks Dylan!

#retrocomputing #gemini #gopher #SmallWeb #smolnet

An old DEC VT220 terminal (small monocolor screen with green text over a black background).

The text displayed is offpunk.net gemini capsule.
ggdupont

@ploum this looks gorgeous!

Stupid open question that doesn't need answer: how much energy are these old terminal using compared modern hardware? Being frugal on the software resource usage is great but using an old machine that use 200W mostly to make heat might not be super efficient... (I know that not the point of using old terminal but still I wonder what the margin of energy efficiency)

ploum

#Mozilla has announced that they are closing their Mastodon instance.

But at least, they are hiring a lot, which is nice.

Like:
- Machine Learning Engineer, Gen AI
- Principal Product Manager, Generative AI
- Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Gen AI
- …

Wait, are they hiring for something else than AI ?

Glad you asked:

- Senior Staff Software Engineer, Ads
- Client Analytics Manager
- Product Policy Manager, Ads
- …

mozilla.org/en-US/careers/list

#Mozilla has announced that they are closing their Mastodon instance.

But at least, they are hiring a lot, which is nice.

Like:
- Machine Learning Engineer, Gen AI
- Principal Product Manager, Generative AI
- Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Gen AI
- …

Wait, are they hiring for something else than AI ?

Show previous comments
Tiger Jerusalem

@ploum @Ursalzona as much as I hate it I kinda understand. Google was deemed a monopoly and that may torch a huge chunk of Firefox cash infusion. They must go for new revenues, and today's world value AI and Ads. Seems like the only way out for them since people won't donate nor adhere for any kind of subscription service.

OddOpinions5

@ploum

typical no context post
Mozilla appears to have 750 employees, so this is 1% of headcount ?
maybe 2% of programmer headcount ?
which means 98% of programmers working on other stuff (maybe)

Anika :flag_transgender: :flag_pansexual: :autism:

@ploum ugh, mozilla is really going downhill.

I'd rather work for Canonical than Mozilla.

ploum

If you use #Telegram and think that your conversations are encrypted, you are wrong.

99% of conversations on Telegram are plain-text and perfectly readable by telegram-people and the Russian administration.

It is not some weird technical trick. Telegram is *NOT* encrypted. Never was.

Marketing is (always) a lie.

Telegram only encrypt special "secret chats". If you don’t know what those are, then you are part of the unencrypted 99%. (and the 1% is badly encrypted).

Use @signalapp !

ploum

As expected after their customer survey, @protonprivacy released a "AI mail writing bullshit assistant".

On Reddit, two kinds of reactions:

1. The negatives: asking about the privacy, the ecological impact, the money/time spent on this instead of other features.

2. The positives: thanking the developers for not enabling the feature by default.

Despite this, I’m sure people at Proton are convinced that this one the most important/urgent thing the Email world needed.

redlib.freedit.eu/r/ProtonMail

As expected after their customer survey, @protonprivacy released a "AI mail writing bullshit assistant".

On Reddit, two kinds of reactions:

1. The negatives: asking about the privacy, the ecological impact, the money/time spent on this instead of other features.

2. The positives: thanking the developers for not enabling the feature by default.

Cleverson

@ploum Hi, check out this guy's website in case you want to change service. Lots of suggestions of privacy-protecting services, and he is quite rigorous in his selections: digdeeper.club/

ploum

« Tout ce que l’on fait et ce que l’on pense est défini et contrôlé par les médias. Ce sont eux qui définissent notre réalité. Et c’est la raison pour laquelle nous nous trouvons sur une voie rapide au bout de laquelle nous attend une récompense darwinienne collective : l’extinction de notre espèce. »

Paul Watson, fondateur de Sea Shepherd, récemment arrêté au Danemark.

ploum.net/2024-02-23-culture-e

EricAT13

@ploum Dans ce monde #technocapitaliste ou plus rien n'est gratuit qu'est ce que le Japon a promis au Danemark pour son arrestation.
Et oui toutes les réponses à nos maux c'est d'ou vient l'argent et ou il va

ploum

Do you miss blogs? Do you feel that people are not blogging any more?

Then explore a nicely curated blog directory:

ooh.directory/

Amir E. Aharoni

@ploum what are the flags in the end of every entry? Country? Language? Something else?

ploum

Step to write software by human:

1. Decide what you want your software to do (medium)
2. Decide what you REALLY want your software to do in all the corner cases (very HARD)
3. Write the code (Easy to Medium)
4. Test the code (Medium)
5. Debug the code (hard to very HARD).

Now, thanks to ChatGPT, you could improve this workflow by:

- making step 3, the only easy step, somewhat easier (and thus hiring less competent engineers)

- making step 5 nearly Impossible.

Step to write software by human:

1. Decide what you want your software to do (medium)
2. Decide what you REALLY want your software to do in all the corner cases (very HARD)
3. Write the code (Easy to Medium)
4. Test the code (Medium)
5. Debug the code (hard to very HARD).

Now, thanks to ChatGPT, you could improve this workflow by:

Show previous comments
🇺🇦🇪🇺 cweickhmann

@ploum
So, you integrate steps three and five in an iteration loop, and the person who does it will be called Prompt Engineer.

David Nash

@ploum Both with personal projects and the projects I do for my employer, there is often:

6. Realize that what you (or other stakeholders) want the software to do has changed. (Extremely easy to *do*, but not always easy to *admit* is needed.)
7. Redo steps 2 - 5. (Inherits their difficulties from Easy to Very HARD).

Not only does generative AI have no fscking visibility into when and why step 6) might be needed, generative AI's existence makes it even easier for management levels to say "Hey! Coding's *easy* now, right? Make the software do this now too."

@ploum Both with personal projects and the projects I do for my employer, there is often:

6. Realize that what you (or other stakeholders) want the software to do has changed. (Extremely easy to *do*, but not always easy to *admit* is needed.)
7. Redo steps 2 - 5. (Inherits their difficulties from Easy to Very HARD).

ploum

Leave Google now and help others doing the same by:

1. Switching #Duckduckgo or #Kagi (using !g if Google is really needed)

2. Creating an email account on one of the many ethical alternative while asking gmail to redirect all email received.

3. Trying @organicmaps and adding your business information on OpenStreetMaps (opening hours, etc)

4. Creating a @peertube account on an instance and uploading your videos there

All those steps can be achieved by yourself, alone!

#degoogle

Siroj42

@ploum @organicmaps @peertube Organic Maps is amazing because it works fully offline. And OSM is great in general because of all the small things that are marked there. There's a single small water fountain beyond security at the Hamburg Airport, and it's tucked away on a separate floor so you'll only see it if you happen to go to one of the few gates there (I assume the shops that sell water in plastic bottles lobbied for this). But OSM has it, as well as the gates, defibrillators & more!

ploum

Thanks everyone! We closed the loop!

Most websites are now publishing algorithmic generated content in order to please ranking algorithms from search engines in order to display generated ads that will be clicked by crawling bots and automatically generated social profiles.

No humans needed any more!

Which means that you can now close your laptop, watch a sunset and talk to real humans near you. Enjoy your life far from your screen.

Show previous comments
Dan

@ploum it's getting that way... According to one study some 50% of Internet traffic is bot activity. #deadinternet here we come! independent.co.uk/tech/dead-in

MarjorieR

@ploum and all that faff and waste of energy to no point since I use an adblocker.

Wouter De Borger

@ploum which supports my theory that the corporation is the dominant organism on this planet.
A bunch of people doing crazy stuff in the hopes of getting more money out of the corporation by making the corporation get more money out of other people.

ploum

Dear people writing announcements and blog posts about the new version of your product,

You lost me at the "new AI integration".

ploum

Les femmes préfèreraient croiser un ours qu’un homme.

Je ne sais pas si c’est vrai mais je pense que les hommes n’imaginent pas à quel point les femmes ont peur.

ploum.net/la-moitie-du-monde-q

ggdupont

@ploum ya d'autres changements de paradigme qui ont aussi beaucoup changé sans que l'on s'en souvienne
- eau courante puis chaude dans tous les logements - découvert récemment avec des archives de l'INA que ce n'était pas le cas dans les années 60
- le simple téléphone...
Mais oui internet et les smartphones sont un "gros truc".

Chez Iceman

@ploum Pour l'ubiquité de la voiture et le reste d'ailleurs, il faut prendre garde à ne pas avoir une vision trop ethnocentrée ou occidentale...Si on peut penser que la voiture peut voir sa place diminuer dans nos grandes capitales européennes, c'est très différent en Afrique, Asie du sud-est, sous continent indien pour une période similaire. Idem pour les moyens de communications et l'omniprésence de l'électricité.

Un monde sans électricité et sans pétrole ? on a du boulot pour s'y faire

ploum

Remember the new @mozilla CEO whose first action was to post a link to her Linkedin profile?

Some said I was harsh that we should let her the benefit of doubt.

So here are the first true actions: firing 60 people working on useless products to focus the company on its true mission.

The useless products?
- Relay (privacy, protection against spam)
- VPN (privacy)
- Mozilla.social (Mastodon)
- Monitor (privacy)

True mission to focus:
- AI (???)

You can’t made that up

techcrunch.com/2024/02/13/mozi

Remember the new @mozilla CEO whose first action was to post a link to her Linkedin profile?

Some said I was harsh that we should let her the benefit of doubt.

So here are the first true actions: firing 60 people working on useless products to focus the company on its true mission.

The useless products?
- Relay (privacy, protection against spam)
- VPN (privacy)
- Mozilla.social (Mastodon)
- Monitor (privacy)

Show previous comments
Benoît B.

@ploum @mozilla

F*ck, f*ck, f*ck…

Not what we were expecting…

fruitbat

@ploum @mozilla ...
so dropping the 'useless' products doesn't actually mean focusing on firefox...
come oooon

Microsoft ate my computer

@ploum @mozilla Looks like I'll be using LibreWolf if it junks the add-ons of Firefox. Or I cd just use Tor all the time.

ploum

You cannot apprehend the sheer power of Streetpass without using it.

Just install it, makes its button visible in your browser main bar and continue your online life as usual.

After a few days, you will realize how many individuals you have crossed paths with, how the words you were reading came from real people. The #fediverse is already everywhere !

Of course, it works best when reading blogs and independent websites. But that’s our shared goal, isn’t it?

streetpass.social/ by @tvler

ploum

According to Apple’s lawyers, "no reasonable user would expect that their actions in Apple’s apps would be private from Apple."

I repeat to make it clear: According to Apple itself, no reasonable Apple user should expect privacy when using the device.

So let’s make it even more clear: if you expect basic privacy using your Apple device, you are "unreasonable" (= a fool).

(originally posted by @mysk )

Excerpt from the court document:


"Given Apple’s extensive privacy disclosures, no reasonable user would expect that their actions in Apple’s apps would be private from Apple."

Civil Case No.: 5:22-CV-07069-EJD
Case 5:22-cv-07069-EJD Document 122 Filed 12/08/23 Page 30 of 41
Show previous comments
Ilgaz

@ploum @mysk The other alternative is Google. A complete duopoly nightmare. They are public companies which are required to use whatever they can to make profit.
We should blame governments and organisations like EU, non profits for not supporting free, open source alternatives like postmarket, KDE and even NetBSD. The community are doing everything and there is amazing progress but still not enough. I notice the EU still use Twitter for exclusive updates so I don't hope much.

Jigme Datse

@ploum @mysk Well, I think that you *are* a fool, if you expect privacy in your Apple device. But, "reasonable person" isn't defined the same way that I do in terms of a legal definition. "reasonable person," tends to me roughly "typical person." To me, "reasonable person," is someone who has a more than passable understanding of basic logical concepts.

Ie. making a statement that self proves itself (ie. shows itself to be false) is not reasonable. It is typical.

ploum

Je voudrais juste rappeler qu’en 1973, comme le prix du pétrole a subitement augmenté, la France a sérieusement discuté de l’idée d’interdire les sports automobiles.

Je pose ça là, juste pour dire que discutter de prendre des mesures extrèmes et impopulaires, c’est une possibilité quand le danger est important.

Pour le portefeuille.

Pour l’avenir de la planète ou de l’espèce, évidemment, c’est une autre histoire.

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdic

Show previous comments
DELETED

@ploum Et certaines conséquences seront inattendues comme en 1973

30 novembre 1973, mesures en vue de réduire la consommation de carburant dans le pays par l'interdiction des sports motorisés

13 décembre 1973 un journaliste sportif automobile voit des Aliens

Myriam Tamagni

@ploum mais quelle horreur de supprimer Francorchamps :-( ;-)

pygargue

@ploum "Sérieusement discuté", pas très certain. Peu d'années après 73, il n'était question que du développement du très nouveau Circuit de Magny-Cours, par exemple. Par contre, on a imposé à toutes les constructions neuves d'habitation des "normes" thermiques, à partir de "rien".

ploum

If you think that AI could write a text for you, maybe that text was not really needed, nobody will care to read it.

If you think that AI could illustrate your blog post, maybe your blog post didn’t need any illustration.

If you think that AI can summarize a book or a long article for you, maybe you didn’t need to read it in the first place (because in a long read, long is part of the experience).

Yes, AI is replacing every useless thing we should have never done in the first place.

DELETED

@ploum I just want local LLMs that do ~simple regex from plain English prompts :blobcatheart:

ploum

When I graduated as an engineer, a friend told me "How do you feel entering a plane when you know that people like us build it".

I’ve worked several years in the automotive industry and saw how software was done there.

When the 737-MAX crashed, I entered into the rabbit-hole and built a really good understanding of the software issue.

The result are:

- I don’t board a boeing plane anymore.
- I avoid cars as much as I can.
- I be sure to recommend cars with the less possible software.

When I graduated as an engineer, a friend told me "How do you feel entering a plane when you know that people like us build it".

I’ve worked several years in the automotive industry and saw how software was done there.

When the 737-MAX crashed, I entered into the rabbit-hole and built a really good understanding of the software issue.

ploum

Inspiré par la mise hors-ligne de #sourcehut, l’hébergeur de mon blog, une réflexion sur la pérennité d’une présence en ligne, le tout en lançant l’année des 20 ans de mon blog:

ploum.net/2024-01-18-perennite

(je ne suis pas sûr que tout le monde aie accès à cet article, il y a un délai de propagation DNS)

jean-mi

@ploum pour la pérennité du livre, la durée de vie a baissé en passant du papier animal au papier végétal.

Timothée Goguely

@ploum Très chouette billet, comme d’habitude, qui résonne avec beaucoup de questions que je me pose moi-même en ce moment.

As-tu déjà envisagé d’imprimer une sélection de tes écrits les plus importants pour toi sous forme de livre, à la façon de Low-tech magazine ? solar.lowtechmagazine.com/fr/o

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