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I'm not sure I can sit through 40 minutes of every single stop he makes because I've probably had every CCS issue he's gonna run into myself.

But that was the point of Dunn's followup - that he didn't face any major issues on his repeat trip, and in fact found the general environment improved overall. In fact, he found a number of CCS (and even one non-Tesla NACS) chargers with functional "pay at the pump" interfaces.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 9:03 AM on December 3, 2024

I think the problem with “defeating through mockery” is that we’ve created public figures without shame and a public that does not appear to care enough to shun the patently malevolent.

Part of the problem there is that we've been marinating in a culture that has been pushing the idea that shunning is wrong for several decades now. Some of that was well meaning, while a good portion was bad actors trying to argue that telling people to fuck off for… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 1:12 PM on November 29, 2024

The argument given for keeping such a maximalist interpretation of the 1st is often "do you want Trump deciding who's a hate group?"

To which the response is "what, exactly, is going to stop him?"

This is why binding our hands will never bind theirs is so important to understand - that the supposed safety said maximalist interpretation provides has always been questionable, as they are quite happy to toss it aside as soon as it no longer benefits them.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 7:18 PM on November 29, 2024

Yesterday was incident-response day in my human-factors-infosec class. One thing I tell them about incident PR is never, ever to use the phrase "sophisticated attacker(s)," because you never know when it's a script kiddie... or what Scattered Spider and their ilk are currently being called in the infosec community, "Advanced Persistent Teenagers."


And this is the sort of attitude that is why white collar crime isn't… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 11:59 AM on November 26, 2024

Schmucko, there's an animated version of that meme image.

Also, it seems appropriate to celebrate today with this animated remix of one of Jones' most infamous rants.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 9:50 AM on November 14, 2024

Richard Linklater on Casting Alex Jones in 'Waking Life': 'I Just Thought He Was Kind of Funny': "It's crazy, it's insane, but it fits our times."

To which the proper response is "Go fuck yourself, Dick."

One of the ways Jones was enabled was how many people looked at him as "funny" or such, ignoring the harm he was doing.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 9:54 AM on November 14, 2024

The particularly annoying thing with the judge's comment is his lack of awareness about how Dutch auctions work, or that they're actually a common way to handle something like this.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 7:21 AM on November 15, 2024

OTOH if some of MuskTwitter's lawyers were at the hearing, that suggests something could be up.

They're involved because one of the items in the Free Speech Systems bundle is the @RealAlexJones tag, and the desecrated corpse of Twitter has legal interests in not letting tags be treated as property that can be disposed of in a lawsuit (because if they are, they may owe quite a bit of money to the people whose tags they seized.)

This is a good text overview of what is happening here.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 11:49 AM on November 18, 2024

Which is a load of bullshit from the Times. It's "gotten messy" in that Jones threw a legal Hail Mary that has no actual footing.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 9:58 AM on November 20, 2024

Liz Dye breaks down the auction and the bids for LegalEagle, including the way the Connecticut plaintiffs made sure the Texas plaintiffs actually get a meaningful recovery.

(i think in perpetuity)
The law does not allow for perpetuities (something that LegalEagle has actually discussed on his channel.) The deal likely either has a fixed term, or is using the lifespan of a known public individual as its length (like Prince William's… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 4:57 PM on November 22, 2024

It sounds like there's almost 0 chance of the FUAC lawsuit changing things here, since the Onion offer is really attractive.

In addition, the trustee responded to the FUAC lawsuit with the legal equivalent of "I know you lied, I can prove it, and I'm going to have the court beat you with the sanctions stick."
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 5:00 PM on November 22, 2024

The point at which I knew this was going to be some very motivated rationalization to avoid looking reality straight in the face was this:

One possible explanation for this disjuncture is fear. Maybe people don’t put up lawn signs to avoid alienating neighbours or inviting retaliation. Maybe they aren’t showing their colours in public because they don’t want strangers haranguing them, or worse.

I don’t find that explanation compelling, however,… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 9:18 PM on November 20, 2024

I mean, the author isn't making a great case for himself as a person, but he's not David Brooks.

I brought up Brooks because (as the Vox article I linked to noted) he pulled the same conclusion from the "Hidden Tribes" study as the author did.

Hence my point earlier that the author should have been questioning how he wound up agreeing with a man who is known for being on the wrong side of every argument.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 8:54 AM on November 21, 2024

Most people are not getting into shouting matches about Gaza with their bank teller, you know?

If this is your view of "political conversation", I ask that you expand your horizon. Because the reality is that a lot of what we talk about is political in some degree - especially if someone is part of a marginalized population, because our society doesn't let them forget that their very existence is political.

When I… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 9:20 AM on November 21, 2024

I think about this any time I see someone say people have some privilege when they don't think about politics. It rather seems the other way, that to be informed, have the time to discourse, and spend hours fretting to and fro about all of these things is, itself, a privilege.

So, here's the thing - if you are a member of a dispossessed group, like a minority - not thinking about politics isn't an option, because your very existence is political (and… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:08 PM on November 21, 2024

Like, never mind all the rising cost of eggs shit - consider the 20 million people who lost their medicaid under Biden. Their lives got worse, that's politics impacting their lives right there. What do we think those people look like? They're all privileged?

And the reason that happened is because the public chose to turn over the House to the Republicans in 2022, and as a result the needed laws to continue their Medicaid support were killed. But… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 2:13 PM on November 21, 2024

A cassowary is basically a modern day velociraptor, with the armament to match. I was watching a video on Tumblr posts, and one that came up was "what omens would a haruspex get from a cassowary?" The consensus was the omen of a cassowary was "death by cassowary", with one wag noting that it would be the cassowary examining the priest's entrails, not vice versa.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 11:58 AM on November 18, 2024

Japan’s political climate is less polarized,

We're talking about a country where the reaction to everything that came out after one of their former PMs was assassinated was "wait, let's hear the assassin out - he has a point."

Japan's political climate isn't "less polarized", it's been stifled. Not to mention that they have their own equivalent of the alt-right that wields a lot of power there (there's… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 3:31 PM on November 17, 2024

The actual research is paywalled, but a lot of media critics (to say nothing of philosophers or literary critics) would deny that any source is actually objective or unbiased.

The problem is that too many people conflate bias with honesty. It is possible to be biased and still present your position in an honest manner. Conversely, there are a lot of "objective" sources who engage in outright… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 3:45 PM on November 17, 2024

He has completely failed to learn the lesson of the past eight years: that idiot clowns can still be incredibly dangerous.

Well, this is all for reasons that Upton Sinclair laid out a century ago. And honestly, I'm pretty much done with the free speech "absolutist" set that White has been at the vanguard of for the past decade or so, as in my view they were part of how we got here, with how they made excuse after excuse… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:08 AM on November 15, 2024

And that, for me, is why "binding our hands will never bind theirs" is such an important thing to learn. This idea that somehow we can stop their abuses by limiting ourselves does not hold up, and the sooner we understand that, the sooner we can better fight back.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 10:21 AM on November 15, 2024

He is still serving in Congress representing Florida's 1st district.

Actually, he isn't - he resigned on Wednesday to preempt the report that was to be released today.

What I really want is an article from him with the energy of the final Midnight Mass episode, looking out at the scene and going, "Wow, we really fucked that up"

And for me, that would have him say things… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 11:51 AM on November 15, 2024

But did you hear about the robot-car plowing into a busy hair salon and injuring dozens? No, because that's one of many things that happen with human operated cars that will never be automated.

One of the major issues of Tesla's Full Self-Driving system is that the system has "hallucinated" and put the car into something it should not have, killing or injuring the driver in the process. Not to mention that the Not Just… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 7:35 PM on November 11, 2024

There are convertibles and motorcycles and those topless 3 wheel motorcycle type things and skiboats and jet skis? Are all of those vehicles also unsellable in the US because of cold and snow and salt?

The difference is that all of those things aren't being marketed as being able to handle bad weather - autonomous vehicles are. They are being marketed as a "solution" to driving, all while being unable to handle a parked delivery van.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 3:07 PM on November 12, 2024

Waymo does not use humans in the loop.

The primary loop, sure. But it's ridiculous to think that they don't have remote operation abilities, and their "no comment" response speaks volumes. (We know about Cruise's remote observation thanks to the fallout from when one of their cars ran over and dragged a pedestrian who was knocked into its path.)

Which gets back to the argument that the video makes -… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 10:17 AM on November 13, 2024

Also, how awesome was it that the Tech Guild had a Strike Needle?
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:42 PM on November 4, 2024

Oh hey, it's all the usual anti-union bullshit hits. I do find trying to portray pushing for a scent-free workplace (which is actually becoming a standard in workplaces overall) as some grand overreach is hilarious.

Also, given the utterly shit job the Times editorial team has been doing for some time now, letting the unions take a crack at it may very well be an improvement.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 1:29 PM on November 4, 2024

In good strike news, the strike may have killed the accused Needle.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:23 PM on November 5, 2024

it's to say that at least with better economic conditions more people would in fact tend their own gardens and be bigots in private.

I'm sorry, but this isn't just bullshit, but easily disproven bullshit. We've seen reports that the lower quintile of society tends to lean left, and the bulk of the right wing support we see comes out of the middle class - the people who aren't facing actual economic prevarity.

Instead, they… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 10:52 AM on November 2, 2024

but I am allowed to be angry at the system that continues to fail us.

Yes, but the point is that those failures aren't the source of the hatred and bigotry that animates the right, and as such you're not going to actually address said hatred and bigotry by addressing economic conditions. The reality is that the demographic groups that are at the vanguard here are not the ones directly facing economic prevarity (again, look at who showed up on 1/6,)… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 1:27 AM on November 3, 2024

Don't like a book? Don't read it. DONE

This is a problematic position from two directions, which is why it fails to understand the goals of said book banners, as well as why there can be no neutral position on hate.

To start with, the reason why these individuals are banning books is not because they "don't like it"*, but because they fear what these books represent - the normalization of positions that run counter… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 1:10 PM on November 2, 2024

There is no justifiable reason to root for the Yankees.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:25 PM on October 23, 2024

You root for your league in the World Series if your team doesn’t make it. Always.

And you always root against the Yankees.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:31 PM on October 23, 2024

Oh, just one more thing. The level of hate and vitriol directed against the Yankees and Yankees fans here wouldn't be tolerated if it were about any other group. Except perhaps billionaires.

As someone who grew up in the New York City metro area, I will point out that vitriol against the Yankees is because they are the team of billionaires - they're the team that the Wall Street assholes have season tickets to, and cheer for. Someone above said… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 1:55 PM on October 25, 2024

Seen elsewhere: "5-0 is the new 28-3."
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:14 PM on November 1, 2024

So, it turns out that the catch didn't go as well as we thought - in fact, it was on the verge of becoming a major conflagration, as well as almost being aborted due to system failures.

That's the "so that's what they didn't want to tell us" part (though some of this was already known from observation.) Now, here's the hilarious part - you know how we know this (given SpaceX has been tightlipped?)

It's because the CEO of SpaceX decided… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 1:30 AM on November 1, 2024

We knew some of this - you can't exactly hide an engine undergoing rapid explosive disassembly, after all.

But there's a vast difference between "well, from what we saw the recovery wasn't nearly as smooth as SpaceX is playing things" and "we know that they were on the verge of either a large fireball or aborting the catch because the guy who owns the company doesn't understand how OPSEC works and literally broadcasted everything online."
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 10:13 AM on November 1, 2024

Once again, it's worth reading Leverage showrunner John Rodgers' writeup on why they did cheerleading as an episode topic:

Every year the writers come in with three or four ideas for episodes. Jeremy Bernstein (@fajitas) led with two crime-y ones, and then said "Also, cheerleading."

We'd joked about it before. The auditorium we scouted for another episode was hosting a cheerleading competition at the time, and of… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 5:09 PM on October 30, 2024

So, among the various hats I've worn in my working life, one of them was that of projectionist as well, and while I do get some of the magic he talks about, I also remember sitting at the projectionist's table splicing movies together, and being rather bored with it all because it honestly the process of splicing the film together and winding it on the large platter for the projector is sort of...repetitive. Also, while I get the concern about putting the film together backwards, that's actually… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:02 AM on October 23, 2024

Ooh I can finally ask my question that's always bugged me: was it really hot in the projection booth?

The answer is it depends on the theater, but not if you can help it because film is somewhat particular about its environs. (When I was an usher, one of my duties was filling up the projection room humidifiers, to prevent static cling on the film reels.)
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 6:43 AM on October 23, 2024

Makes sense. I just always wondered because the combination of big mechanical device+light bulb(s) seemed like a recipe for heat.

Yep - which is why the projectors have independent ventilation systems.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 7:10 AM on October 23, 2024

Actual quote from the subject of the thread:

'The last thing I would do is trust a computer program,' claimed Elon Musk, who's currently trying to sell America on driverless cars."

Dear reality - I know it's your favorite past time, but I would really appreciate it if you would stop fucking with me.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:19 PM on October 22, 2024

Even if I agree with them, I'm never quite sure of the point of these "Successful Author is Actually Bad at Their Job" articles. To protect the general reading public from its own bad taste?

From the article:

Picking on Gladwell, however, is a bit of a cliché, and I am often advised to keep quiet for a wide range of professional reasons. But he's unstoppable and incorrigible, and I don't believe he's harmless. As… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 10:37 AM on October 22, 2024

oh they are such beautiful birds.

Beautiful and oh so deadly, as XKCD famously pointed out.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:37 PM on October 19, 2024

Also, the way peregrine falcons hunt is amazing - they enter dives of up to 200 mph, and strike their prey with their talons, killing them with the force of the blow.

In other words, they literally Falcon Punch their dinner to death.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 8:36 PM on October 20, 2024

A fed animal is a dead animal.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 8:30 PM on October 20, 2024

It's also good to see Hama get the recognition as well - though saying that he worked on G.I. Joe is an understatement - a lot of the series mythos came from his mind. He's also a quite the character (for example, he was known for carrying an Uzi in his briefcase back in the 80s),as well as a fierce fighter for minority creators in comics stemming from his own struggles.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 6:05 PM on October 16, 2024

Delicious in Dungeon absolutely deserved the win (and I am so looking forward to getting the box set for the manga in December.)
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 8:39 PM on October 19, 2024

As a programmer, I always find the introduction of laypeople to modular arithmetic fun, as the usual experience for a programmer is the following:

Programmer in first grade: We learned about division, and that if you don't divide cleanly you get a remainder...and then we forget about them because we can divide to decimals and get the actual answer.

Programmer when they learn their first language: You remember those remainders from first grade?… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 12:42 PM on October 18, 2024

I am amused by 2+2x6=14 in this app. This is not how an adding machine would have done it...

Which is why as a programmer, I got into the habit of explicitly defining my order of operations, and not relying on the guy who wrote the compiler agreeing with me.
posted to MetaFilter by NoxAeternum at 9:02 AM on October 18, 2024