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Pybricks reboots LEGO® MINDSTORMS® for use in the modern classroom. Help us save hundreds of thousands of robots from the e-waste pile!

Saving LEGO® MINDSTORMS® …

seen via this

might be a cool thing some here may enjoy contributing to

1
Bad brainwaves: ChatGPT makes you stupid
  • also why I was reserved in my wording (I am, at best, "armchair enthusiast" level of clued on detailed neuroscience)

    it's so damn messy though. here's some concurrent (and/or semi-sequenced branching) thoughts/opinions:

    • there's enough people getting high on LLMs (et al) that it is morally and ethically worthwhile to investigate the implications thereof
    • it's extremely fucking hard to objectively quantify this
    • we should still try
    • it seems like there's a hell of a need for funding for the applicable research fields of human study ito figuring out the dynamics of this shit
    • ...wow wouldn't it be nice if they got even 3% of the openai grift budget
  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 15th June 2025
  • I don't have the headspace to sneer it properly at this moment, but this article fucking goes places might even be worthy of its own techtakes post

    Shawn Schneider — a 22-year-old who dropped out of his Christian high school, briefly attended community college, dropped out again, and earlier this year founded a marketing platform for generative AI — tells me college is outdated. Skipping it, for him, is as efficient as it is ideological. "It signals DEI," he says. "It signals, basically, woke and compromised institutions. At least in the circles I run in, the sentiment is like they should die."

    Schneider says the women from his high school in Idaho were "so much better at doing what the teacher asks, and that was just not what I was good at or what the other masculine guys I knew were good at." He's married with two children, a girl and a boy, which has made him realize that schools should be separated by gender to "make men more manly, and women more feminine."

  • Meta announces money pit; Alexrandr tapped to lead
  • Meta has reportedly offered compensation packages worth seven to nine figures to dozens of researchers from companies like OpenAI and Google, according to The New York Times, with some already agreeing to join the company.

    devil's in the detials/comp structure/yadayada, but fuck damn is it frustrating how this still means that after even a year or two a fair number of the worst people you could ever meet would be set for life

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 15th June 2025
  • ran across this, just quickly wanted to scream infinitely

    (as an aside, I've also recently (finally) joined the ACM, and clicking around in that has so far been .... quite the experience. I actually want to make a bigger post about it later on, because it is worth more than a single-comment sneer)

  • Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 8th June 2025
  • I've been waiting for this. I wish it had happened sooner, before DOGE could do as much damage it did, but better late than never

    as I said elsewhere (and have from early around the doge announcement): he was never going to last because orange was never going to felon lead, and felon was never going to settle. and everyone who brought him in did so knowing that, but that was fine for them because they were using him as a useful idiot, as a politically useful wrecking ball who they could dump all blame on later and wash their hands of

    DOGE has shown you don't need congressional approval or actual legal authority to screw over people funded by the government

    this tracks with historical fascist power seizures, although ofc updated in the detail of “let felon run wild, then just accept the outcome and use it as a new precedent”. he provided them with a test run of finding just how egregious they could go without pushback (and thus where they need to machinate more)

    I am looking forward to Donald screwing over SpaceX or Starlink's government contracts. On the returning end... Elon doesn't have that many ways of properly screwing with Trump, even if he has stockpiled blackmail material I don't think it will be enough to turn MAGA against Trump. Still, I'm somewhat hopeful this will lead to larger infighting between the techbro alt-righters and the Christofascist alt-righters.

    overall, same yeah. felon’s long appeared to be comfortable socking for outside influences, so maybe he might go knocking for some more russian/chinese/indian/emirati/whatever war funding, but maaaybe not find some soon enough to prop up his whole house of cards?

    (besides, the entire ai craze is begging in the same corners, which maybe is a good thing in this light)

  • London permacomputing club

    Just ran across this and figured I’d link to people, looks interesting

    1
    revisiiiioooooon!
    2025.revision-party.net Timetable

    Revision 2025 Timetable

    I forgot to post it here earlier but it's revision weekend!

    0
    seeking input - android apps for things

    in the spirit of this post, but from the other side

    I have a shitdroid that I can't root because the vendor sucks, but google can go fuck themselves too. combined with that I haven't androided much for about a decade and know nothing about the current ecosystem.. I'm looking for good alternatives to a few things. free/foss preferred but I'm pragmatic over picky - if there's a good paid option I'm willing to consider it

    immediate known requirements include contact sync, calendar (more business than personal but either works if it's good). maybe also other things I should know about?

    judicuous preference to things that support open protocols and self-hosting (i.e. anything that has to use their service to operate - no go)

    tell me about good apps! I know about syncthing and photosync

    2
    broken containment warning

    some of the sub’s friends are holding a conference although they’re still not totally comfortable to go public:

    > but buyers are warned that purchases will “require approval”

    aww, the poor babies. even with literal nazis in the whitehouse they still feel uncomfortable to spout their weird shit

    hopefully if this thing happens at all, someone documents the everliving hell out of every attendee

    16
    new oscilloscope music from jerobeam and hansi3d out

    the precision and clarity are astounding

    by the time the hilbert curves got there my mouth was hanging open, and it still gets better

    1
    Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending Sunday 27 October 2024

    Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

    Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

    If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

    > The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be) > > Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

    Last week's thread

    (Semi-obligatory thanks to @dgerard for starting this)

    167
    hands up anyone else who wants one
    ideas.lego.com Turing Machine – Working Lego Computer | LEGO® Ideas

    What is a Turing machine?It's an abstract model of an algorithmic machine. Although it was not designed to be implemented in real life, some people actually do …

    Turing Machine – Working Lego Computer | LEGO® Ideas

    'cuz I definitely do

    14
    fresh money in, and mira’s bouncing
    www.cnbc.com OpenAI considering restructuring to for-profit, CTO Mira Murati and two top research execs depart

    OpenAI's board is considering plans to restructure the firm to a for-profit business. CTO Mira Murati and two top research execs said they are leaving.

    OpenAI considering restructuring to for-profit, CTO Mira Murati and two top research execs depart

    > “stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration.”

    yeah I completely believe you, weird lady. I too want to vaguely step into the warm embrace of my piles of ill-gotten gold, forgetting about the stressors of how to sell something that doesn’t exist and that you helped claim would be here really soon now. ahhh, bliss..

    one’s gotta wonder about the timing of this announcement, right? like come the fuck on

    2
    good news everyone, mariadb strain is now owned by PE
    www.prnewswire.com K1 Acquires MariaDB, a Leading Database Software Company, and Appoints New CEO

    /PRNewswire/ -- K1 Investment Management, LLC ("K1"), one of the largest investors in small-cap enterprise software companies, today announced the completion...

    K1 Acquires MariaDB, a Leading Database Software Company, and Appoints New CEO

    I will say I'm not much of a fan of mysqls but uhhhhh this seems bad

    6
    ibm mainframes: now featuring AI
    chipsandcheese.com Telum II at Hot Chips 2024: Mainframe with a Unique Caching Strategy

    Mainframes still play a vital role in today, providing extremely high uptime and low latency for financial transactions. Telum II is IBM’s latest mainframe processor, and is designed unlike a…

    Telum II at Hot Chips 2024: Mainframe with a Unique Caching Strategy

    saw this kicking around on the lobsters frontpage

    > IBM also includes a DPU for accelerating IO, along with an on-board AI accelerator

    ah yes. an AI accelerator. for a chip that goes into a system that'll quite possibly have a lifespan measured in decade-partials. in environments so extremely up to date with the bleeding edge of technology that they are absolutely not losing their programmers to retirement. an AI acceleator for that. makes total sense.

    imagine being the poor engineers who had to spec that out, design it, and get it actually existing. nevermind even the awe-inspiringly stunning disregard to reality that it takes for some management fuckhead(s) to have "steered" this

    > Funny enough, I asked why IBM had different terminology compared to the rest of the industry. They said IBM came up with the terminology first, and later on the industry adopted different terminology. It was all lighthearted and funny.

    ah yes! funny! haha. not at all some weird insular shit from the same company that runs a worlds-apart platform with a control grip so strong it makes larry ellison check if they're infringing on anything actionable...

    4
    Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending Sunday 18 August 2024

    Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

    Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

    If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

    > The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be) > > Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

    168
    Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending Sunday 11 August 2024

    Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

    Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

    If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

    > The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be) > >Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

    202
    accidental time capsules in winamp skins
    jordaneldredge.com The bizarre secrets I found investigating corrupt Winamp skins / Jordan Eldredge

    I started looking through corrupt Winamp skins and it lead me down some very strange rabbit holes

    The bizarre secrets I found investigating corrupt Winamp skins / Jordan Eldredge

    found this kicking around on one of the feeder sites a few days ago and only got to read it now

    kinda neat. it's the sort of thing that you used to find quite a lot with keygens and other things prone to easter eggs, and that I don't really know of being as prevalent in more recent gaming and such

    4
    Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending Sunday 30 June 2024

    Need to make a primal scream without gathering footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh facts of Awful you'll near-instantly regret.

    Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

    If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

    > The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be) > Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

    203
    apparently it was Opposite Day at coindesk
    www.coindesk.com Mass Adoption Would Ruin Crypto. Keep It a Niche

    There is an unavoidable tension between the aims of decentralization and onboarding everyday users.

    Mass Adoption Would Ruin Crypto. Keep It a Niche

    there is some strong copium in the article, combined with a total description of having a massive gambling addiction without, y’know, actually realising it’s an addiction

    remarkable stuff

    10
    hot off the presses: automatic wrong information without even going to the wrong-information deliveries store
    theconversation.com AI chatbots are intruding into online communities where people are trying to connect with other humans

    People participate in online communities to share experiences and sympathy. AI chatbots that join the conversation can only pretend to offer either.

    AI chatbots are intruding into online communities where people are trying to connect with other humans

    there are some remarkable instances of bad behaviour in there already, but imagine being the sort of product team that thinks users being gaslit by a chatbot that they couldn’t even consent to choose to use is totes something to deliver without any modification or remark

    7
    the loons are at it again

    this time in open letter format! that'll sure do it!

    there are "risks", which they are definite about - the risks are not hypothetical, the risks are real! it's totes even had some acknowledgement in other places! totes real defs for sure this time guize

    22
    Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending Sunday 2 June 2024

    Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid!

    Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

    If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post, there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high

    > The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be) > Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

    138
    a blind man stumbles into the activitypub

    since I haven't touched AP before (and figure other possible contributors may not have either), going to use this post as wayfarer bathroom graffiti

    feel free to contribute your own learning and investigation as well

    0
    InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)FR
    froztbyte @awful.systems

    I'm @froztbyte more or less everywhere that matters

    Posts 45
    Comments 2.7K