@dan613@ottawa.place cover
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

dan613

@dan613@ottawa.place

🇨🇦Recovering engineer, ex-military (#RMC), ex-Jazz musician, triggered by injustice. Born 318.5 ppm CO₂. Raised in BC, but in Ottawa since 1990. Generation Jones, but never conservative. Joined Mastodon in April 2022.

Profile pic: myself against Canada's warming stripes
Banner: Cityscape of Cyberpunk 2077's Night City at twilight

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

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

If you have not yet watched John Oliver’s presentation of the plans for Trump’s second term, I recommend you do.

Yes, it is a comedy show, but the facts presented are extremely important and eye opening.

Last Week Tonight is on Max, but if you are not a subscriber, there is a 30 minute version of the show here on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/gYwqpx6lp_s?si=sV2g9mQkSK9I2hJQ

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@randahl I saw the Jimmy Kimmel segment, also terrifying.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@randahl @lenlayton He talks like he's British or something.

RickiTarr , to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

"You just use the internet to escape reality."

Yeah, sometimes I do, sometimes reality needs a bit of escaping.

BUT

I also use it to keep in contact with people I'd have very limited contact with otherwise.

I use it to make new friends, and be a part of a community.

I use it to learn information I would not have access to.

I use it to spread information and share thoughts I wouldn't be able to otherwise.

I use it to organize.

When I'm sick mentally or physically, I can still participate, even if I can't be there physically.

I use it when my social battery is too low for face to face meetings.

Yes, all technology can have a downside, but can we also acknowledge, for so many people, this is a lifeline.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@RickiTarr I used books to escape reality. I used TV to escape reality. I used museums to escape reality. We all need a regular break from reality.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@RickiTarr The funny thing is, I know more about the world from escaping into social media than I ever did from escaping into "socially acceptable" media. I vote at all levels now. I care about all levels now. I see the pain others are enduring now. Before I would have to seek out media to inform myself of these things. Now it finds me.

dan613 , to random
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar


You may have already seen the Time cover interview with Trump but I was gobsmacked today: https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/

In it he says he wants to:

  • Deport 11 million people (3.3%)

  • Build detention camps

  • Use military to round up immigrants and asylum seekers

  • Let red states monitor pregnancies and prosecute violators

  • Withhold funds appropriated by congress if he chooses

  • Fire any US Attorney who refuses to prosecute anyone he wants

  • Consider pardons for over 800 coup criminals

  • Gut US civil service and staff administration with acolytes

  • Send National Guard to cities to fight crime

  • Use funding to coerce measures like stop and frisk by cops

  • Close the US pandemic preparedness office

Choose wisely

kenshirriff , to random
@kenshirriff@oldbytes.space avatar

To use the Montreal subway, you tap a paper ticket against the turnstile and it opens. But how does it work? And how can the ticket be so cheap that it's disposable? I opened up the tiny NFC chip inside to find out more... 1/15

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@kenshirriff I hadn't heard of load modulation before. That's a clever solution.

RickiTarr , to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Okay, so remember several years ago when there was a whole uproar about trans people using restrooms? Well, it's been back big time on social media, so it got me thinking, now you have to think with me too.

The scenario being given this time around is:

A person who in every way appears as a man (dressed as a man, full beard, ect) walks into a Women's Restroom.

The questions go as follows:

Do women have a right to be afraid? Is it wrong to be afraid of someone who appears male whether they are or not?

And here's the thing, I think people should go to the restroom they are most comfortable in, and who the fuck am I to tell anyone how to dress or style themselves. But if someone who appears to be a man walked into a restroom with me, I would be scared, and I hate that it's true, but it's not unwarranted either from personal experience. But I'm not stupid, trans people whether fem or masc, have to be afraid all the time too.

Now in this situation I always go to facts, there is no group of people who is without baddies, that's just reality, I'm not making any group angels or devils, humanity is just more nuanced than that. But legitimately there's just not really any actual worry about trans people attacking women in bathrooms or cis men dressing as women to attack women in bathrooms. There is unfortunately issues with cis men attacking women in bathrooms, but the rate of this hasn't changed in areas where they've allowed people to use the bathroom of their choice.

So, is the entire idea of having sexed bathrooms ridiculous anyway? If it were up to me every bathroom stall would a full tiny room, and we could share handwashing stations. I don't want people peaking in the gaps of stalls at me no matter who they are. But what do you all think:

If you're trans and you are transitioning or aren't in a place in your life where you can be publicly transitioned, how have you handled this? How does this whole thing make you feel?

If you're non-binary, how do you handle the whole bathroom question?

What does everyone think about sexed bathrooms in general?

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@RolloTreadway @RickiTarr I would prefer and support this, though it may take up more space, and lockers would best be separate. It gets pretty crowded when a gym full of sports ball players all finish at once. The rooms would typically be a lot smaller than individual bathrooms.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

The Quakers don't quake anymore and maybe they should bring back the quaking I think.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@futurebird @swelljoe They might make us get enough soluble fibre in our diet.

CelloMomOnCars , to random
@CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

"Dozens of bodies were discovered in Delhi during a two-day stretch this week when even sundown brought no relief from sweltering heat and humidity. Tourists died or went missing as the mercury surged in Greece. Hundreds of pilgrims perished before they could reach Islam’s holiest site, struck down by temperatures as high as 125 degrees."

And the northern summer has just started.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/06/22/deadly-heat-wave-climate-change/

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@CelloMomOnCars @hanscees 125°F is 52℃. Unimaginably hot. Water is painful at that temperature.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

The universe crashed due to the Voyager probe causing excessive chunk generation. Buffer overflow.

(In the new patch chunks not occupied by objects capable of sending data to logged-in players will not be loaded. A 27 chunk cube around the probe will remain loaded as long as it is sending.)

Since there isn't much to render out there, this shouldn't cause any update errors. We were able to cover up the issue, ironically, by making the probe appear to crash.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@futurebird The impact of Minecraft on generations of thought is under appreciated.

9to5Mac , to random
@9to5Mac@mastodon.online avatar

New accessory setup in iOS 18 is good for us, and for Apple https://9to5mac.com/2024/06/21/new-accessory-setup-in-ios-18/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@9to5Mac An important consideration is future antitrust lawsuits. If Apple kept easy Bluetooth pairing technology for its own products when it was strictly a software algorithm, that could be seen as monopoly behaviour.

Xenograg , (edited ) to random
@Xenograg@dice.camp avatar

Artist credit : Sophie Labelle
https://www.serioustransvibes.com/
https://www.instagram.com/labellesophie/
Original post : https://www.instagram.com/p/CwsSwTrs_TE/

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@Xenograg @trashheap All great points

ElleGray , to random
@ElleGray@mstdn.social avatar

shout out to all the alien dads who are stuck on earth, far away from their kids. happy father's day, or whatever they call you guys back home

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@ElleGray When my mate and I wanted kids, I put my finger-like appendage into her abdominal orifice, where calcified ligaments cut it off. It then grows inside her to a perfect clone of myself, while my appendage grows back. It's a very itchy process. When we wanted a trans version of myself, she ate a fruit similar to avocados during the growth phase.

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

There is something very special about the way that the brain processes faces. And why wouldn't there be? Being able to tell people apart is an important human social skill. Without this extra sensitivity everyone might look kind of the same.

There is also something really interesting that happens to the way people react to photos of insects they might be indifferent to, or dislike if you can get a good photo of the insect's eyes and face.

I think there is a nugget of a study here.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@futurebird It's something about the hairiness of ants that grosses me out. Beetles and ants don't have that, but the Beatles do, unfortunately.

But jumping spiders do seem cute (there's someone on TikTok who gives them voices).

CelloMomOnCars , to random
@CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

The world could soon see a massive glut. Here's why.
"Oil supply capacity will be a "staggering" 8 million barrels a day beyond projected demand by 2030.

Among the drivers for rising oil supplies are expectations that Americans and consumers in other developed nations will continue to shift to ."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gas-prices-oil-supply-international-energy-agency-2030/

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@CelloMomOnCars @engineering Capacity and production are two different things. Cartels like OPEC will continue to manage production in order to keep a favourable price for them.

diametrijenesis , to random
@diametrijenesis@lgbtqia.space avatar

What Apple-friendly app do you use for that exists on both the computer and the phone?

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@BeAware @diametrijenesis I use Mona as well. Its essential feature is that it uses the captions on photos in the Photos app for alt text, and saves alt text when saving photos.

It's missing Markkdown support, otherwise it would be perfect for me.

verge , to random
@verge@mastodon.social avatar

Meta Quest will soon let you watch Netflix from its web browser https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/4/24171322/meta-quest-3-netflix-browser

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@verge I currently watch it from the app. I suppose you have more flexibility with the browser.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Have you ever stopped listening to or trusting a person who posts information in media, or online because of a "red flag" ?

That is are there certain topics, habits, actions etc. that instantly decrease your trust in a person you might have otherwise listened to on a podcast, article, or video?

Are there any "green flags" that build trust?

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@futurebird Anyone supporting rights of almost any kind in the bio are green flags for me. Instant follow back. Not "men's rights" nor "parent's rights".

dangillmor , to random
@dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

The stupidity of Brexit was obvious before it became law, but the consequences are indeed, as predicted, an ongoing "shitshow" -- as this example demonstrates: https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/26/why-travelling-on-eurostar-from-the-uk-is-about-to-become-much-trickier

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@Npars01 @dangillmor Hard to come to any other conclusion. It's partly why their economies suck when they're in power.

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

I strongly believe, if Trump is reelected, he will finally get a border wall.

Because Canada will gladly pay for it.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@randahl My spouse would be organizing migrant boats* for women escaping to Canada. She has already promised to help several women she knows online.

*The border goes through the centre of several Great Lakes and parts of the St Lawrence River, and a few First Nations reserves straddle the border.

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

Today Russia launched 15 more missiles at Kharkiv. 7 people were killed. 23 injured.

Among the civilian targets was the Vivat printing house, which publishes books in Ukrainian.

And Biden does not want the Ukrainian army to protect Kharkiv by firing back at the missile launchers on the other side of the border — it makes no sense.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@ottawasteph @randahl Russia has to lose, or Putin might think he can annex a NATO country next. Then American and Canadian soldiers would be deployed. Far fewer people will die if we stop him now.

andrewnez , to random
@andrewnez@mastodon.social avatar

Been doing some research into GitHub Sponsors the past few days.

Out of 27k accounts analysed:

~12k had at least one sponsor,
~2k had at least 10 sponsors,
~900 have more than 100 sponsors 78 more than 1000 (past or present)

About 10% of GitHub sponsor accounts are organizations, 90% individuals.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@futurebird @andrewnez The security issues on browsers is a real problem. I use it for Minecraft and it is constantly being updated. I can only assume for security reasons mostly since I rarely hear of improvements. It is no longer shipped with Apple products.

It being an essentially proprietary language (or at least the appearance of one) is another problem.

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

The bald eagle could have easily gone extinct. But we did all sorts of "woke" things protecting it legally, ran conservation and study programs, banned DDT (that was good for other reasons too) and in 2007 they were removed from the endangered species list.

Likewise pine forests could be dead from acid rain.

The ozone could have a huge hole.

We CAN take care of nature when we want to. And the successes have been worth it.

I feel like we forget this, you know?

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@futurebird It's amazing the number of people of Twitter who claimed acid rain wasn't a problem. I can't rule out the possibility that they were just trolling, though.

CelloMomOnCars , to random
@CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

"He said the faster rate of rising sea-level on 's coast will increase the vulnerability of coastal people and their livelihoods.

Salinity, coastal inundation, and storm surge height will increase. It could impact agriculture, food security, disaster management, health, drinking water supply, and coastal infrastructure.

The world's largest forest and its ecosystem will be affected by rising sea-level and salinity."

https://www.thedailystar.net/environment/climate-change/news/sea-level-rise-bangladesh-faster-global-average-3613116

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@CelloMomOnCars @davidarnell It's hard to remember all the impacts climate change will have. Poisoned wells from encroaching sea water is one of those insidious ones.

dan613 , to random
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

Crap, I could have been playing all day in Fallout 4's dystopic future of 2277 instead of worrying about the possible dystopic future of January 2025.

chu , to random
@chu@climatejustice.social avatar

Americans are choosing between a rapist/traitor and a genocide enabler/apologist for president. Those who are unhappy and want to register a protest vote can do so with an antivaxxer whom the kindest thing one can say about is that he's been infected by brain worms.

Exciting times.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@chu The rapist/traitor just didn't get an opportunity to show his complete support for genocide, though he thinks Netanyahu should finish what he started.

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

Georgians. 🇬🇪♥️🇬🇪

video/mp4

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@randahl Holy fork!

dannotdaniel , to random
@dannotdaniel@mastodon.social avatar

I am covid cautious and goddamn I miss live music

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@dannotdaniel I used to play sax at open mic nights. I don't know when I'll feel comfortable using a vapour concentrator on an audience.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@dannotdaniel It's been a while, I'm afraid.

dansup , to random
@dansup@mastodon.social avatar

So there is a wildfire near me that has grown over the past few hours and lead to the evacuation of surrounding homes

It's now too smokey to even see the night sky, just my luck!

(Don't worry about me, the fire is about 30km away, but we are in for another scary wildfire szn)

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@dansup

johnefrancis , to random
@johnefrancis@mastodon.social avatar

The CAT attacks the dirty dishes
The DOG attacks the dirty dishes
The ANT attacks the dirty dishes
The BUG attacks the dirty dishes

Starting to see a pattern here...

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@johnefrancis You left the door open again?

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@benroyce @johnefrancis Still better than ChatGPT.

dansup , to random
@dansup@mastodon.social avatar

Anyone building a federated Stack Overflow?

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@dansup The problem with doing that to avoid ChatGPT et al is that all they have to do is build their own server and federate. They can then scrape every answer.

However, it would be nice to have a non-corporate system. Painful to rebuild Stack Overflow's database.

mike , to random
@mike@libertynode.net avatar

Imagine if you had to buy a new mouse every time you bought a new Mac.

https://eworld.social/@ismh/112400334432195786

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@mike @BeAware I bet they moved the charging coil on the Pro so they could put the camera in the landscape position. And that makes the 2nd Gen pencil a problem because the alignment magnets are now in the wrong place. And of course the communications antenna is also at the other side so you can't pair the 2nd Gen pencil to the new iPads. So, a new pencil so you can get a landscape camera. Not a horrible trade.

mikeblake , to palestine group
@mikeblake@climatejustice.social avatar

Zionist trolls having a tough time with this reality: If Biden keeps supporting this genocide he likely loses in November, to any GOP candidate.

Pressure him, not people morally opposed to genocide.

If that doesn't sit with you, here's some other ideas from the Onion.

https://www.theonion.com/what-biden-can-do-to-win-over-gen-z-1851427528/slides/2



@palestine

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@mikeblake @palestine Yes, if Biden loses, then they'll have to deal with real antisemites in government.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@crashglasshouses @mikeblake @palestine No. But Republicans are vocal antisemites who encourage other antisemites. Hate crimes were up under Trump. Pick your battles.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@NoFlexZone @crashglasshouses @mikeblake @palestine Not picking a battle with the lesser evil.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@crashglasshouses @SallyStrange @mikeblake @palestine Trump destroyed Canada's economy, on top of causing an increase in hate crimes in Canada against Jews and Muslims. So yes, I have a horse in the race. And you think Trump will say no to fellow narcissist Netanyahu? Really?

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@crashglasshouses @mikeblake @palestine Keep Trump out of office so you can deal with Biden. You won't have a chance to pressure Trump. Think strategically.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@crashglasshouses @mikeblake @palestine Ah, twisting words.

CelloMomOnCars , to random
@CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

" is a well-resourced country, with a strong agricultural and biodiversity heritage. Our findings, based on a synthesis and review of existing research on , are that climate change and socioeconomic risks threaten to bring about a huge change to this status."

https://theconversation.com/climate-change-makes-life-harder-in-south-africa-its-likely-to-bring-heatwaves-water-stress-and-gender-based-violence-226937

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@CelloMomOnCars @xerophile The first climate science denier I met on Twitter was a South African farmer (undoubtedly white). During a drought where Cape Town was a day away from running out of water. I wonder what he's doing these days.

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

I used to be really excited for what the next smart phone would offer. Or the next tablet. Or hell, the next smart watch.

Not any more. And of course this happens when all technology (or gadgets) become old-hat.

Thing is there IS new stuff that might be exciting. VR. MR. AR. They haven't hit their stride yet. I SHOULD feel excited to see what happens when they do.

But I don't.

Why/? I honestly think is the software. The monetisation. The -companies- themselves.

The companies selling the new gadgets make me not care.

No matter how fancy the tech, it won't stop it just straight-up boring me. Even when Apple or even Meta show off something new with a VR headset, I never do more than glance at it for a moment, before browsing away to a different article or video.

Basically, what I'm saying is: capitalism killed my interest in gadgets and technology, almost entirely.

I'm more excited by weird $40 open source bits of hardware, despite many using decades old tech.

So that's what I think I'll focus on. The weird shit. The cool shit. The bizarre re-uses of 8-bit Z80 or 6502 processors. Of cheap e-Ink displays on 2010-vintage microcontrollers.

Maybe I'll find some joy again there.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@vampiress The hacking community has got some really cool stuff these days. Tiny easy-to-program processor boards with OLED and e-ink displays. LED strips that are individually programmable. 3D printers with multi-filament capability. Just so much!

elizabethtasker , to random
@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

This week, we're hitting the shop floor for a big design that (I hope) will ultimately become a space for a conference.

So far... it's a doughnut.

Is this to remind attendees that they better getting running around this track to burn off eating too many pastries? We shall see...

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@elizabethtasker It's scenes like these that make me wonder why we didn't optimize for cubic surfaces. Your wall would be just 4 surfaces instead, with scalable resolution, and I'm fairly certain the number of total calculations would be fewer overall. I used to read Jim Blinn's work at JPL, but I stopped before this transition happened.

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@elizabethtasker Oh sorry. A cubic surface is of the form ax³+bx²+cx+d but in 3D. It is often used for interpolation.

In any case, I've been thinking more about it and realized that if you have enough polygons (triangles in 3D), there is no difference at the rendering stage (your graphics card). It might be easier to create the triangles (a process called tessellation) from a cubic model, though. So, just ignore my previous comment. I was thinking out loud.

RememberUsAlways , to israel group
@RememberUsAlways@newsie.social avatar

It's really quite simple according to the .
You take a hostage, you sacrifice your human rights.
is a false flag, one step from and just as ignorant of .
I didn't make the laws of warfare, I'm just the messenger.



@palestine
@israel https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/icath/icath.html

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@RememberUsAlways @palestine @israel Would the Palestinian women and children that Netanyahu has kept in prisons over the years be considered hostages?

taylorlorenz , to random
@taylorlorenz@mastodon.social avatar

Stanford Professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who advocates for mass COVID infection, rails against masking and who has cast doubt on the utility/safety of the mRNA COVD vaccines, just won an award with major prize money from one of the most powerful right-wing foundations in America. https://www.importantcontext.news/p/covid-contrarian-doctor-scores-big

dan613 ,
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

@taylorlorenz Man, if only there was a way to get the benefits of a SARS2 infection without the risk of illness and death.

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

This ant cartoon by falseknees over on tumblr really captures what I think it's like to be an ant.

Everyone is busy. No one really knows what they are doing.

https://www.tumblr.com/falseknees/747594384451813376?source=share

A four panel hand drawn comic strip. The first two panels. A small brown ant, looks at a grain of rice and asks her sister who is carrying a leaf "Hey do you know where to put this stuff?" the ant with the leaf replies "sorry I actually don't know either" she replies "k thanks" around them other ants are hurrying by carrying things with purpose. Drawing of the ant's face, the ant looks surprised, shocked. Mandibles slightly open.
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    dan613 ,
    @dan613@ottawa.place avatar

    @futurebird "This feels like the right place. Oh, there's another green thing already! I'll just put mine right beside it. Hmm, it's a bit windy. Maybe if I spit on it, it'll stay in place."

    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/

    dan613 ,
    @dan613@ottawa.place avatar

    @futurebird @sidereal The nice thing about ads on Instagram and TikTok is that I can scroll past them easily. But I have bought a number of things from them with few regrets. We have a little wine pourer in the shape of a bird that chirps as I pour. How cool is that?

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