@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

isaackuo

@isaackuo@mastodon.social

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

Ailantd , to random
@Ailantd@mastodon.art avatar

Script idea:
Idiocracy has finally spread all around and the planet is becoming uninhabitable. As a last chance for humanity survival the last group of smart people, already elders, build an ark spaceship knowing that they have to crew it with total morons.
How they design it?

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@Ailantd

Well, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the ships pretty much ran themselves - which was convenient because they were usually crewed by morons (better for his style of comedy).

But let's assume it's not that easy.

Here in the real world, there are two fundamental approaches to making something work long term.

One is to overengineer it so much that it is zero maintenance.

The other is to make it require frequent - but straightforward - maintenance.

1/2

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

@ivory is there any hope, Ivory will implement thread posting, allowing users to write a long text, which is automatically broken up into a multi-post thread, so we can compose and post the entire text at once?

Right now, I am composing long posts as individual posts, and people start replying when my 1/3 is out, while I am still working on 2/3 and 3/3. Confusing for the followers and not ideal.

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@randahl @ivory

The whole idea of thread posting is annoying. AFAICT, there is no actual advantage to having a post size limit, and lots of annoying disadvantages.

Some Mastodon pods allow longer posts, with a "cut" to "read more". At some point, I want to move to a pod that allows this.

Other ActivityPub platforms don't have a post size limit, period.

Ideally, it should just be a user chosen view limit. And if a user actually likes seeing a post split up, they can specify that also (why?).

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@randahl

Speaking as a database programmer, it is entirely trivial to get the desired performance without a length limit in the back end. If you really want fixed length records, you can ... just do it. And simply stitch together multiple records as needed on the fly when serving up posts to the front end.

On the front end, it's even easier, thanks to CSS. I dislike CSS, but it sure makes a lot of things easy - such as a pixel height limit beyond which it gives a scroll bar.

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@randahl

Quintessentially, the way Mastodon.social is is because that's what the Mastodon devs want Mastodon to be. The ability to post with a "cut" for "read more" is an unofficial mod to the basic Mastodon server software.

That said, all Mastodon pods support storing these posts and showing them. The Mastodon devs aren't "forcing" their way on us all. We can choose a pod with that mod.

It's not always that simple, of course. The pod I wanted to move to... oh well I'm still working on it.

Ailantd , to random
@Ailantd@mastodon.art avatar

Very rough picture of another exoplanet explorer before ending the day.

It is not clear without opening it whether this one is still operational or if there is just a lonely desiccated body inside. Would you take a look inside?

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@Ailantd

I looked inside, and found the desiccated body of a sexy Tardigradiform. Naturally, I rehydrated them.

"... yawn ... Oh. You're one of those homo sapiens, aren't you?"

"Yes, fellow explorer."

"Uhh ... you didn't 'do' anything with my body before rehydrating me, did you?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to."

Ailantd , to random
@Ailantd@mastodon.art avatar

Alien spaceship cockpit design for fun!
Of course I had to try this.

I have an idea in my head about how the alien looks, but based on this, what would be your take?

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@Ailantd

Those side tracks and handlebars are particularly suggestive, but I'm not sure what it means ...

wdlindsy , to random
@wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

Noting that Biden called for "an immediate ceasefire" today, Josh Marshall says that what happens next is "really all on the current government in Israel and the man who orchestrates every one of its strategies, Benjamin Netanyahu."

And the eyes of the world will be watching.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/its-all-down-to-him

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@wdlindsy

What's missing from the discussion is the fact that Netanyahu actively wants to hurt Biden and get Trump elected. And since the protests are against Biden rather than against Netanyahu, he's incentivized to do anything to make Biden look bad. That includes committing even more atrocities, that the protesters will blame on Biden.

Netanyahu's most useful allies are the protesters. They're the best way to get Trump elected, and they're so easy for him to manipulate.

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@wdlindsy

Maybe you intended to link to a different article? The article you linked says nothing about the protesters, much less anything about Netanyahu's easy manipulation of them.

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@wdlindsy

Thanks for the clarification. I'm still confused what your linked article is supposed to be saying that's relevant to my statement. The article barely even mentions Netanyahu.

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@wdlindsy

Simply because it's noteworthy in its lack of any commentary on Netanyahu's motivation and actions to hurt Biden and get Trump elected. Without that context, Josh Marshall's implication is simply that Netanyahu doesn't care about how it plays in the USA or affects Biden.

But he does care. The way his horrific actions play in the USA do matter to him because it hurts Biden and helps Trump get elected. Netanyahu isn't just being difficult or myopic.

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@wdlindsy

I follow TPM, although I'm not a paying subscriber so I don't have access to all the articles.

randahl , (edited ) to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

Growing up, I recall the assassinations of presidents and prime ministers. But I never worried about it in my adult life — until now.

Never has so much depended on the outcome of the US presidential election, and the person wanting to ensure Biden does not win is none other than Vladimir Putin.

I truly hope the US secret service keeps Biden in a bullet proof box until this war is over. The same goes for European key figures in the Ukraine war.

Putin will stop at nothing to retain his power.

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@randahl

FWIW, very many of us had that worry on the night of Nov 4, 2008.

Maybe you don't know, first hand, the trauma of MLK Jr's murder - amplified by decades of civil rights backsliding since. Amplified by knowing so many who were murdered by a cop or random bigot. Knowing how much progress can be erased by a bigot with a gun.

I'm not black, but I knew I was just prey for white bigots in 1993 when our racist justice system acquitted the murderer of a Japanese student in my home city.

Xenograg , to random
@Xenograg@dice.camp avatar

"How is there a village witch?" Or, States Should Be Hoarding Magical Power: A Problem for World-Building

https://periaptgames.blogspot.com/2023/07/how-is-there-village-witch-or-states.html

isaackuo ,
@isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

@Xenograg

On the one hand, this line of argument seems reasonable.

On the other hand, so does Lrrr's line of argument, "Why does Ross, the largest friend, not simply eat the other five?"

There are LOTS of highly useful skills, and we can look at all sorts of different historical organizations (and/or lack thereof) for inspiration. Guilds, unions, mercenaries, etc ... lots of possibilities...

alice , to random
@alice@lgbtqia.space avatar

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    isaackuo ,
    @isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

    @alice

    My C-tier power is the ability to become an expert on stuff in seconds, just like in The Matrix.

    My freak origin story is that a container ship ran into a bridge and two YouTube conspiracy video shorts later VOILA! I'm an expert on piloting container ships.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Taylor Swift is unstoppable.

    isaackuo ,
    @isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts I hear a low quality Taylor Swift on the radio yesterday. They said she and her boyfriend were "on a break" ... meaning that they were taking a vacation together.

    Somehow, these radio people completely failed to know the modern meaning of "We were on a break!"

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    This blows my mind.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    isaackuo ,
    @isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts Definitely a low quality fact. The first horse drawn carts (travois) predate the invention of the wheel by way more than 50 years.

    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    “US forces will build a temporary port on the #Gaza shoreline in the next few weeks to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, #Biden will announce in the #SOTU speech.

    “We are not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership,” a senior US official said on Thursday, reflecting growing frustration of what is seen in Washington as Israeli obstruction of road deliveries on a substantial scale”
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/07/biden-us-port-gaza-aid-delivery?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    isaackuo ,
    @isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

    @GottaLaff Wait. Biden will announce the humanitarian Gaza port in the SOTU speech?

    Oh. OH.

    This is some hardcore political strategy. Because the Democrats have solid control of their caucuses, and the Republicans do NOT.

    ALL of the Democrats will applaud this announcement. The Republicans? Not so much. There will be some visible boos.

    This is going to say a lot to a lot of viewers who they want to vote for, and not just at the top of the ballot.

    nyrath , to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    Rocket packs have drawbacks.

    Jet packs carry chemical fuel but uses atmospheric oxidizer. About 10 minutes before the fuel is used up.

    Rocket packs carry both fuel and oxidizer. About 30 SECONDS before the fuel is gone.

    Hard to increase duration, short of nuclear energy.

    Users typically fly with rocket packs at an altitude too low to use a parachute (below 30 meters) but too high to survive the fall (above 9 meters)

    isaackuo ,
    @isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

    @tkinias @nyrath The no-survival envelope is not necessarily a big deal. I mean, let's assume you are NOT going for a military application. So it's recreational. You can fly over water, which makes a fall pretty survivable.

    robindlaws , to random
    @robindlaws@dice.camp avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    isaackuo ,
    @isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

    @robindlaws I feel like the people in the comments aren't aware of Project Icarus/Icarus Interstellar.

    (The reason it's named Project Icarus is because it's a modernized revisit of Project Daedalus ... not that this makes it any better.)

    Sigh ... look. Odysseus was named by techbros who can just barely manage to not call something unironically The Torment Nexus.

    LeviKornelsen , to random
    @LeviKornelsen@dice.camp avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    isaackuo ,
    @isaackuo@mastodon.social avatar

    @LeviKornelsen Could be a reluctant cult leader, as in "He IS the Messiah" (Life of Brian)

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