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Graffotti

@Graffotti@mastodon.social

Thinking about smarter systems. Hoping for smarter people. Toots about #UX, #HCI, and #Green politics.

Background in designing and building stochastic simulations of complex systems, and aviation safety, with a doctorate in applying safety thinking to UX.

My ideas on analysing the ethical properties of a design will be linked here once I finish my new website.

I mute stuff I don't want.
I block stuff nobody should want.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

The “Liberal Arts” education is a suite of skills, philosophical stances, and information that has been refined over hundreds of years. It includes both technical skills and problem solving techniques— it provides a foundation for more specialized study but also for philosophical reflection. It evolves over time, but isn’t subject whims of the market or fashion.

What is the role of Computer Science in the Platonic ideal of the liberal arts education?

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
That is such a good question.

Ideas of proof and structured arguments are perhaps more alive and practical in computing than in maths or philosophy?

Ideas of the ethical use of information, of transparency and accountability?

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
If you insist on writing down your assumptions, then the problem is never "solved" because the assumptions depend on an ever changing phenomenon: people.

So revisit and debug is an open opportunity.

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Normally I take the bus. It takes 40min, but since it’s rush hour it would take 65min. So, I’m walking to the subway. When my leg was injured I’d have no choice but to be late — the subway is too far and too many stations aren’t accessible.

The major avenues into the city are like parking lots. Millions of New Yorkers leave hours early to avoid rush hour. My work is less than 3 miles away but it might as well be on another planet.

If not congestion pricing then WHAT will ya’ll do?

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
The eligibility rules for free transport to the nearest school in England are basically the same now as they were in the 1970's when I used the school bus. They are based on walking distance:

2 miles or more if under 8 years old
3 miles or more if aged 8 to 16

If enough of you insisted on walking to work, loudly, would that help make the argument for change and be listened to?

Natasha_Jay , to random
@Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt avatar

NEW: the first Survation MRP poll of the 2024 General Election (Labour Set for Record Breaking Majority)

🔴 Labour 487
🔵 Conservatives 71
🔶 Liberal Democrats 43
💛SNP 26
⚪ Reform 3
💚 Plaid Cymru 2

30,044 interviews conducted online and on the phone. Fieldwork: 22 May - 2 June Conducted on behalf of @BestForBritain

Findings in the article below: https://www.survation.com/survation-mrp-labour-set-for-record-breaking-majority/

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@Natasha_Jay
Take these numbers with a pinch of salt.

MRP polls don't necessarily reflect the level of campaign activity and support in a local area, particularly for parties that have to focus their limited resources and don't have the same visibility everywhere.

I expect the Green Party to win more seats than Reform.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Huge presenANTation today! The ants speak for themselves!

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
I hope they remember it when they are old enough to appreciate what you did for them 👏

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

"It's not just a bug, it's a creature."

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
"There's no such thing as monsters. They're just creatures you haven't met yet." Dr Who

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

NYC pretends to be a modern city. But really we are still a place with fishmongers and cutlers. Cabarets and speakeasies.

The cutler’s flier advertises when he will bring around his grindstone. (gotta remember my knives that day)

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
A city where people actually live is a modern city.

The other kind, where people are priced out, may look shiny and modern but are basically dead space, and a real estate crash waiting to happen.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Has anyone read any good math and science history nonfiction books recently? (pop nonfiction please) Are there any really good ones out?

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
Currently enjoying "Models of the Mind" by Grace Lindsay, about the various models of how the brain works and how they came out of different branches of science, engineering and mathematics.

EU_Commission , to random
@EU_Commission@social.network.europa.eu avatar

The EU-New Zealand trade deal entered into force this week 🇪🇺🙌🇳🇿

Here's how it benefits you:

🔵 Reduces costs for EU imports/exports
🔵 Expands service market opportunities
🔵 Enhances procurement options for EU companies in NZ
🔵 Facilitates streamlined data flow for better cooperation

This deal could save EU businesses €140 million a year and increase EU investment in NZ by up to 80%!

It also prioritises sustainability, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and labour rights.

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@EU_Commission
How does it compare to the free trade deal that NZ made with the UK, that came into force a year ago?

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Could we design a skyscraper & sewer system with the intent of creating ecological niches all through the building? Some of the work with green roofs touches on this... can your building handle rain like a forest, not produce fast run-off? Maybe even act as a water sink for less well designed nearby areas. You collect the runoff and get all the moss and plants your parking garage neighbor can't be bothered with.

Don't be mad about the bugs in the walls, design walls that attract the best bugs.

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
I like the idea of attracting the best bugs to live in the walls 😎

If I could persuade the ant colony in my back yard to inhabit the wall cavity and actively manage the temperature and humidity in the cavity, and the moisture levels in the bricks either side of it, that would be awesome.

Of course, I'm assuming they don't already, except perhaps at ground level 🤔

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

A few days ago I posted about how, while "debunking" can be nice, just showing how things work can be better. I mentioned showing geology to someone who thinks the earth can't be 4 billion years old. Here is a great video about how exactly we know that that there was once a sea that split North America in two. I love how Dr. Cook is careful to explain not only what he knows but HOW he knows it in a way anyone can follow.

https://youtu.be/UCPnUAAOuDg?si=Fys8Xu4-xnvqXibW

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
Great share, thank you.

The scale of North American geography boggles my tiny British mind, but we can see lots of similar features squished into the north of England, and meeting up with glacial deposits in the parts of Lancashire that I'm familiar with.

Preston is boulder clay/till over sandstone, turning to sand and gravel, and meeting mudstones and shales nearer the sea where they had a go at fracking until a small quake got it shut down 😎

https://www.bgs.ac.uk/map-viewers/bgs-geology-viewer/

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Every now and then I hear conversations from outside of here about "the state of social media" and let me tell you: People are suffering. People are miserable. Many people feel addicted to social media but unable to have positive and valuable interactions in the space. Mostly, in the profit-driven social media space negative emotional reactions glue eyeballs as well as positive, so a heap of the experiences is just ... unpleasant.

Meanwhile around here things are different.
1/

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
Partly it's by construction: we left other platforms to find something less toxic.

I'd like to hope it's also by design: having reply and boost but not quote.

If the only things you can do with a thread are contribute to it or make it more visible, then there's a higher cost to being snarky than when you can quote it behind the backs of the original posters to a different audience for the deliberate purpose of shaming or contradiction.

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

People trying to train AIs are now complaining that all of the AI data on the internet are making it hard for them to get quality training sets of natural language and images.

bitter snickering

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
What's that I hear? Could it be the world's smallest ant playing the world's smallest violin?

They could always pay for data rather than dumpster diving 😲🙊

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Found a queen ant on Park Ave. Looks like Prenolepis imparis, or the american winter ant. You can spot queens by their distinctive waddle. She was hustling along the side walk as if on her way to the Chanel store. Now she’s in one of my luxury ant condos— but don’t tell her I’ve moved her out to the Bronx.

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
That's your wine fridge temperature?
In most British office buildings that's the thermostat setting (18 Celsius) 🤔
Maybe that explains our temperament 😎

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Gold ring with quartz intaglio depicting an ant. Roman, 1st-2nd century AD

I wonder who wore this ring. Why did they choose an ant as their symbol? It's interesting to me that the depiction is specific enough that it can't be written off as a general "bug" the mandibles, and body plan make this explicitly an ant.

The ant motif appears on garnets in other rings.

This is up in New Haven at the Yale University Art Collection and I am not contemplating becoming a cat burglar.

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
The Wikipedia page on the ant in European heraldry is fun

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmet_(heraldry)

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Here is how I “watch YouTube” first I check that my ad blockers are on, and the extension that hides thumbnails, and the extension that gives videos more neutral titles. I look at my subscriptions and add videos to a playlist. I search for topics I’m currently concerned about. When I have about 90min of video. I shuffle the list and check the order. Then (and only then) do I get to kick back and “watch TV”

YouTube isn’t easy to use this way.
Anyone else do something similar?

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird

I watch it using the YouTube app on my Amazon stick and don't sign in.

I get content similar to what I've chosen to watch before by doing that, and many fewer weird disinformation recommendations than when I'm signed in on my laptop.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I'm looking for a FUN activity, or test question about Java classes, class methods, OOP.

If you can think of something memorable you did in a class or for fun that taught you something about Java classes I'd love suggestions.

I'm finding all the examples dry and boring. "The student class is a subclass of the people class"

Any suggestions?

Graffotti ,
@Graffotti@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird

How about distinguishing between a curtain, a door, a gate, and a window?

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