@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

WesternInfidels

@WesternInfidels@mefi.social

Fearful MeFi lurker. Snark appreciator. Napping consultant.

My optimism must be super-strong at this point. Goodness knows it's challenged every day.

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

Sometimes an F5 tornado will grind the bark off of trees. The cyclone, nature's sandblaster, is full of metal scrap, glass, broken, tile and cement, it turns entire buildings to dust, scrapes the ground down to clay, strips asphalt, lifts & flings sidewalks. Everything pulverized into further grist to grind the earth.

To see a cyclone in the big midwest sky is to look on the angry face of God.

And I often think: Like a cosmic horror, perhaps they make Americans a little crazy.

WesternInfidels ,
@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

@futurebird @floatybirb @noricenolife Please note: the Grand Canyon also wants to eat you.

georgetakei , to random
@georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar

"We all deserve a ""fun treat"" sometimes."

WesternInfidels ,
@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

@georgetakei Pretty bold move to mock someone else's grocery list when your cart has a dozen helpings of ramen in it.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Taught my CS how to program a mandelbrot set generator from scratch today.

Still don't have the colors doing exactly the right thing. This is in python, but we'll sort it out in the next class.

The most annoying thing is making the magnitudes of the terms in the series into a number between 0 and 256 without knowing exactly how big they will get.

I need to find my old James Gleick book.

WesternInfidels ,
@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

@futurebird @chris_radcliff Good golly I'm such a rusty old fogey. This took me way too long.

Mandelbrot, 8-bit style:

WesternInfidels ,
@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

@futurebird @chris_radcliff I don't know a great way to share Python code, so I tried to translate this to p5js, which I can share:

https://editor.p5js.org/WesternInfidels/sketches/UnBpzbCqi

But the math doesn't come out the same, and the difference shows up in the design. Wild.

I guess I don't actually know how either Python or JavaScript do floating point. I think the Python version is more accurate. The JavaScript might be 100x faster, though.

atrupar , to random
@atrupar@journa.host avatar

New in PN: Imagine if Joe Biden did this https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-courtroom-naps-new-york-hush-money-trial

WesternInfidels ,
@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

@atrupar I'm not much of a meme-er. I'm not sure I approve of the practice, the simplification it enables. At the same time, I very much agree that more of us should be talking about this. And so I've made something nasty. But I think it's fair to say I've been provoked.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

This MR segment on MAGA demographics is important.

When people say "why do they vote against their own interests?" (assuming MAGA folk are poor, rural) I'm just like "they aren't!"

Planned retirement communities with restrictions on who can move in are... questionable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ3svFXdkL8

WesternInfidels ,
@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

@BernieDoesIt @futurebird Sure, it's patronizing to guess what their interests are.

But they will readily enough tell you that (for example) they're in favor of "freedom of speech" and also the banning of these specific books. Or that they're in favor of "law and order" and also pardons for right-wing rioters.

"Voting against their stated values" is an observation that comes from listening to them, from watching them. From taking them seriously.

WesternInfidels , to random
@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

Someone was Wrong On The Internet today but I've decided to just let it slide. I'm such a mature adult!

Now validate me with likes and boosts, goddammit.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

"desktop size" air purifiers are such BS that cheap knock-offs don't even bother to put the charcoal filter in line with the fan.

Love to know how this product ended up ... like this. Why put the filter in at all?

Notice how there are steal bars & plates mostly just to make the device heavier & more legitimate seeming.

Pity the poor office worker who lugs this fraudulent monstrosity to work everyday hoping to make the air in their cubical a little less terrible.😢

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o0emBQfeL0

WesternInfidels ,
@WesternInfidels@mefi.social avatar

@futurebird I always imagine the engineers, the line workers, and even the owners of these sorts of factories must be operating in a state of absolute bedlam. In which no supplier can be counted on, nothing is delivered accurately or on time, and every crack, every failing in the in the whole edifice is papered over with sheer human effort.

Of course, that is just my imagination.

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