@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io Ever since Thunderbird has split off from Mozilla they have done exactly what everyone wanted; Just build a better e-mail client.

@thomasfuchs @mozilla needs to stick with what theyre good at: the web

I could see the phone, I might be able to see vr, but ai? crypto?? no.

Firefox has only been getting worse over time, i still miss being able to set your own search engine

@thomasfuchs there is one person left who sells these, and he only takes orders over the phone.

They were also used by a tiny Amstrad 8-bit notepad computer, but also a huge and expensive CNC machine. users of the latter will pay a lot for working cards

@thomasfuchs Ok, but… citation needed? Nobody can deny that AI is generating tons of junk, but how are you judging the amount of legit and useful applications? Those don’t get dumped out into the wild as often, so we don’t know about it.

@thomasfuchs I'm constantly flummoxed by how "generating summaries" is considered useful work. Like, are there *really* so many people out there who are required to summarize "other people's stuff" but *also* don't need to learn the stuff themselves in order to summarize it?

> “Yay, I can stop reading stuff I don't need to and can just clickity-clack to get generated summaries of it all instead!”

**Said me never.**

Who's doing this??!!?!

@thomasfuchs It is not AI. That's the key point. It means to be fucking with our language and our brains to call LLMs and SDs Artificial Intelligence.

They are static networks of vector nodes, products of mathematic iteration, incapable of self reflection and adaptation. They are bayesian token chainguns. But they are not intelligent.

@thomasfuchs The iPad would be one of the greatest devices ever created if I could install macOS on it.

@thomasfuchs totally true. Eventually the most users will not care at all and use it the same way as they do right now. 💁

Apple's maniacal insistence on retaining control over iOS devices after sale is the №1 reason why I'm that weirdo who uses a Mac but an Android phone. I can't see myself using a phone where I'm not able to install apps form wherever the fuck I want without asking anyone.

@thomasfuchs I completely agree with your premise, but have you encountered random things that use an s-video or ps-2 style connector for power or communication in a seemingly arbitrary way? I have a few times and it’s always a surprise. Maybe there’s another standard for those connectors I’m not aware of?

@thomasfuchs 😬 ah yes, I first learned of this from https://hackaday.com/2021/03/22/cursed-usb-c-when-plug-orientation-matters/

I only ran into a bad case of it about a month ago when I picked a random cable to plug my phone into the computer to run adb and it wouldn't work... too many minutes of trying to fix it with updating software versions, etc, then I tried flipping it around and it worked😠

@thomasfuchs does anyone make a USB-C “sniffer” that you can connect a cable or device to and it will tell you which features are supported?

This isn’t just an empty aphorism.

Unless you are an ethical person who strongly cares about not making other human beings suffer—you cannot make high quality software.

This includes not making software at all when as a consequence of that software other human beings would suffer.

@thomasfuchs YES!

@thomasfuchs yaaaar.

@thomasfuchs I'm reminded of a novel in which someone got an experimental cybernetic replacement for her optic nerve and wanted to call it her "eye pod", which really annoyed RIM because they were the ones who built it. Someone later got an implant to bypass spinal nerve damage, and decided to call it the "backberry" to make up for it! 😂

@thomasfuchs iEyeEye

@thomasfuchs Still less of a risk than it controlling our drones.. 😂

@thomasfuchs I try to think of it as an attempt at creating a labor substitute in a country that has a shrinking population nearing retirement age. The pandemic really highlighted this problem when a bunch of people said fuckit and retired “early”.

We can’t go back in time 30 years and create more favourable conditions for people to pop out kids at above replacement levels, but we can attempt to automate the things we’d need bodies to do.

Not a good substitute, but an attempt nonetheless.

@thomasfuchs
Accurate.

@thomasfuchs

what MLK called "negative peace" (preferring the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice)

whenever evil takes hold in the world, it's always these people: "i can't be bothered, i can't do anything, just go away"

the banality of evil

@thomasfuchs Rings true. Except for the nice and timid part.

@thomasfuchs This could have been posted in 2018 and 2020 and would still have been missed smh

@thomasfuchs For years I was thinking about Software getting worse faster then hardware is getting better. When Nikolaus Wirth died, I found https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirth%27s_law and finally I felt understood.

@thomasfuchs
yes

only more like "AI: A buzzword, actual meaning is 'some magic', we don't have the slightest clue about how to create said magic. Currently used to indicate that something techy want's to be trendy"

@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io bookmarked

@thomasfuchs

@thomasfuchs “oh no, not Amazon!”

@thomasfuchs well, it's "Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.", so sorry.

@thomasfuchs Tacky. Especially considering the source (but I respect your decision not to name this site 😊).

@thomasfuchs wow how does the site know it's "Enhanced Tracking Protection"?