Thank you Euro Truck Simulator for making me aware of the best border sign ever made ( photo source )

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A large blue sign cantilevered over a road, with text in Georgian followed by, in English, ‘Azerbaijan border / Good luck’

😍 GEEXY STUFF

#geexy #geek #lego

It gives me great pleasure to reject the silly American convention of putting punctuation in quotes, regardless of whether it’s part of the quote. (The practice comes from antiquated situations where an unsightly gap was caused by monospaced type, and it has no business surviving today: https://style.mla.org/punctuation-and-quotation-marks/.)

Just like the Oxford comma, I am all for the British quotation standard, even with American double quote marks.

Cat vs printer - which is reliable?

(by Lynn Miclea)

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A Venn diagram compares "CAT" and "INKJET PRINTER". The left circle is labeled "CAT" and is yellow. The right circle is labeled "INKJET PRINTER" and is purple. The overlapping orange section, representing shared characteristics, lists "MOODY", "SPEND A LOT OF TIME SELF-CLEANING", "UNRELIABLE", "DEMAND FEEDING WHEN CONTAINER IS FULL", and "IGNORE REQUESTS". A cat's head is visible in the bottom left corner, looking up at the diagram.

Is it wrong that if I look at a chili recipe and see that the person who wrote it is a big bear of a guy I trust it instinctively?

Windows 95 Nuclear Bio-Reactor Setup Wizard

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A Windows 95 driver installer. Bio-Reactor Setup Wizard This wizard helps you install the software needed to use your portable bio-reactor with Windows 95. You can install new drivers or update existing ones to ensure proper operation and containment. To continue, click Next.

A parent should be able to propose removing a book from the school library only after READING IT in its entirety & delivering a book report to the librarian. The book report should be an argumentative essay on why it should be banned, at least 5 paragraphs & include counter arguments & proper citations. The parent must also give their stance on why the book is more dangerous than guns. Until then no discussion shall be entered into.

#books #BannedBooks

The Australian bakers are making meringue Bombes? Never heard of them

I love The Pelican Brief (1993) because it's an amazing fantasy of justice, good journalism and "the good guys" winning and "the bad guys" getting what they deserve

DC Friends: Neither CVS nor Walgreens appear to have any of the updated COVID vaccines available in the District yet, but both do in the nearby MD suburbs. Just scheduled mine in Bethesda.

(I suppose getting vaccinated is technically literally a drug deal, but now it also feels that way).

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) : “Our Maternal Death Rates Are Only Bad If You Count Black Women.” And this guy’s a fucking physician. #BillCassidy #Louisiana #GOPRacist

MAY-2022

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/05/bill-cassidy-maternal-mortality-rates

Friend’s 8 yo is in hospital in Malaysia. This is how lunch comes. Different smiley face every time. Why aren’t we doing this?

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Spag Bol with vegetables made into a smiley face.

it has been zero days since a customer told us we're not allowed to handle their proprietary code on an internet-connected machine and then sent us a setup script that depends on the internet to bootstrap

CNN - After just weeks in the job, the CDC director is being ousted. https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/27/health/cdc-director-monarez

The Infectious Diseases Society of America doesn't like the latest #FDA announcement about #COVID #vaccines

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Graphic reading, "By narrowing its approval, FDA has made a decision that completely contradicts the evidence base, severely undermines trust in science- driven policy and dangerously limits vaccine access, removing millions of Americans’ choice to be protected and increasing the risk of severe outcomes from COVID.” | ® IDSA President Tina Tan, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS, FACP -®IDSA

“Judge Rules Ohio’s Voucher System Unconstitutional”- That ruling found that using public funds to subsidize tuition at private religious schools violates the Ohio Constitution’s ban on directing “school funds” to religious or sectarian institutions. https://prospect.org/education/2025-08-22-judge-rules-ohios-voucher-system-unconstitutional/

Voting should be easier than buying guns.

if you are not happy single, you won't be happy in a relationship.

true happiness comes from chaining together obscure `sed` and `awk` commands to parse a log file, not from someone else.

Now this is real convenient, especially on machines where's it impossible to hit the right key fast enough to enter the UEFI BIOS settings.

On #OpenBSD/amd64, you can now type "machine fwsetup" at the boot> prompt in efiboot. ​

jmatthew@ modified src/sys/arch/amd64/stand/{efi,}boot/*: Add a 'mach fwsetup' command, which uses the EFI OsIndications feature to reboot the machine into the firmware setup interface, if supported.
This is an optional feature introduced in UEFI 2.4 (released 2013).

ok kn@

These developments could herald a shift from America’s vaunted #FreeMarket system to one that resembles, at least in some corners, a form of #state-managed #capitalism more frequently seen in #Europe &, to a different degree, #China & #Russia, say lawyers, bankers & academics steeped in the history of #HostileTakeovers & international #business

#Trump #economy #law #fascism #authoritarianism #dictatorship #autocracy #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/business/trump-intel-us-steel-nvidia.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

The first 100% effective HIV prevention drug is approved and going global

It's royalty free and there's already six, generic manufacturers lined up.

https://newatlas.com/infectious-diseases/hiv-prevention-fda-lenacapavir/

You know how there’s a rule that in order to be a podcast it has to have an RSS feed…

What would be the equivalent statement about the web?

How can you tell of a document or app is “on the web?”

This is something I’d like to work out with people who understand, support and protect the web.

The NYT reports today that members of the Department of Government Efficiency uploaded a copy of a crucial Social Security database in June to a vulnerable cloud server, putting the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans at risk of being leaked or hacked, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed by the Social Security Administration’s chief data officer.

From the story:

"Mr. Borges did not indicate that the database had been breached or used inappropriately."

"But his disclosure stated that as of late June, “no verified audit or oversight mechanisms” existed to monitor what DOGE was using the data for or whether it was being shared outside the agency. That kind of oversight would typically be provided by the agency’s career information security professionals, Mr. Borges said in his account."

'And his complaint cites an official agency security assessment that described the project as “high risk” and that warned of “catastrophic impact” to Social Security beneficiaries and programs if the database were to be compromised."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/us/politics/doge-social-security-data.html

Check out my new shirt! 👕

Destroy AI!

• Bad at Everything! 👎
• Kills the Planet! 🌍
• Brain Atrophy! 🧠

Artist: Phineas X. Jones
Order one too: Octophant

Thanks to @tante for the fantastic recommendation! https://tldr.nettime.org/@tante/114863463868788391

#NoAI #HumanArt #NewShirt

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Photo of a person wearing a black t-shirt with only the torso part showing. The t-shirt has an amazing illustration from artist Phineas X. Jones, showing a punk woman holding a chainsaw and kicking a robot in the face. Above her the words: "Destroy A.I." and below the design are three sentences: "Bad at Everything!", "Kills the Planet!", and "Brain Atrophy!"

Do you ever think about how the fine for peeing in public is substantially more than the fine for dumping tonnes of CO₂ in public?

doomscrolling fedi with this bad boy

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a computer mouse with two scroll wheels, the packaging says "Cruise the Net faster with 2 wheels"

Look, we all know Fahrenheit is the most nonsensical and most arbitrary measurement in the US (sorry @caseyliss), but I would like to posit that American Wire Gauge gives it a run for its money.

What in the fuck is even happening here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge

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Part of the Wikipedia page for American Wire Gauge. I can't even copy it here because the math stuff is too complicated and can't be rendered in the alt text input field.

The only reason I use Fedora Server is because I like saying, "Oh you can just add that using the COCK PIT web UI"

The MIT research found that, of more than 300 organizations analyzed, 95% saw zero financial returns for their AI efforts, and even those which were actively using the technology had not seen major changes. https://www.semafor.com/article/08/22/2025/ai-fails-to-bring-businesses-returns-report-says

Turns out I still had the following in my translate script:

#!/bin/bash

Instead of:

#!/usr/local/bin/bash

Now it's working. What a rookie mistake. Thank you @jsph@mstdn.ca ;)

Anyone running #Qutebrowser on #OpenBSD and tried running the translate userscript ?

I get the following error when the script is executable and in the following location as the doc says.

~/.local/share/qutebrowser/userscripts/translate

The error:

15:27:34 ERROR: Userscript '/home/justine/.local/share/qutebrowser/userscripts/translate' failed to start: Child process set up failed: execve: No such file or directory

https://github.com/AckslD/Qute-Translate/blob/master/translate

Boosts appreciated ❤️

You follow an account because it looks interesting. After a few weeks, it turns out to be not that interesting to you. You unfollow that account and get your timeline back to its previous state.

No harm. No hate. No "hey, come check me back!".

#Fediverse Social Media at its best.

do trans db admins get on that postgresterone or?

✨ A Sprinkle of JoyousJoyness ✨

BOING!

Have a JoyousJoyfulJoyness day!

#happy #dog #dachshund #cute #joyousjoyness #repost

#3132 - Coastline Similarity

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Three-panel black-and-white classroom comic. Panel 1: A teacher points with a stick to a wall map. On the world map, the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa are traced in red. Text at top reads: “People had long noticed that South America and Africa had similarly-shaped coastlines.” Panel 2: Same classroom. Two students sit at desks facing the teacher, who stands by the map. Text at top: “In the 20th century, geologists finally found the explanation:” Panel 3: One of the students raises a hand and speaks; and the teacher interrupts. Dialogue: Student: “Plagiaris—” Teacher: “Continental drift.” Student: “Oh.” Hidden text: "Hey! A bunch of the early Cretaceous fossils on each coast seem to have been plagiarized, too!"

what’s the ifixit repairability score of a lobster? you need all these specialized tools just to get in there and you can’t put the lobster back together after

#memes #humor #funny

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This is a popular meme presented as a screenshot of a tweet from the user "Taming Fred Savage" (@FredTaming). The meme uses a simple, two-line format to create a self-deprecating joke: **me: [donating body to science]** **science: [donates my body to goodwill]** **Explanation of the humor:** 1. **The Setup:** The first line, "me: [donating body to science]," describes a noble and altruistic act. Donating one's body to science is seen as a valuable contribution to medical research and education. 2. **The Punchline:** The second line subverts this expectation. "Science" is personified as an entity that receives the body, evaluates it, and finds it so lacking in value that it passes it on to Goodwill. 3. **The Joke:** Goodwill is a well-known chain of thrift stores that accepts donations of used goods (like clothing, furniture, and household items) to sell. The humor comes from the absurd and insulting idea that a human body would be treated like an unwanted piece of second-hand merchandise, implying the person is so worthless that even science has no use for them. In short, the meme is a humorous expression of low self-esteem, suggesting that the speaker is useless even after death.

Quokka eating a leaf timeline cleanse.

"Nom nom nom nom".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka

A 1914 Gay-Ola Soda Advertisement.
https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Gay-Ola
.
#Soda #Advertisement #Retro #Vintage #softdrink

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Advertisement is black-and-white. The bottle of soda sits in a man’s hand. It says “keep it on hand“ it also mentions that it was produced in Alabama

Today I heard the phrase, "GPT endpoint". Sad to report it didn't mean what I first thought.

Me reading some tech news: I don’t want 1TB storage of the size of a microSD card, I want affordable 50TB storage of the size and silence of a 2.5" SATA drive… 🙃

Meanwhile in Norway.... the taxation of the wealthy has become a key election issue, with the major parties responding to the 'exodus' of the mega rich (upset at a 1% wealth tax) over the last decade.

Even if the centre Left wins, it looks like the tax will be 'reviewed' at the very least.

Which once again poses the Q. of why the ultra-rich who would hardly notice a 1% levy on their wealth get so vexed about its imposition? A Q. of relevance well beyond Oslo.

#tax #Norway #politics
h/t FT

Like, follow, and share if you love libraries!

Then, take action to support libraries at action.everylibrary.org

— "Can you believe how stupid and primitive the ancient Greeks were? When they didn't know something, they asked an oracle, and they believed whatever it said!"
— "That's nuts. Where was this oracle?"
— "No idea. Let's go ask ChatGPT."

Here’s a poem called ‘Roger’s Thesaurus’.

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Roger’s Thesaurus In order to grow, expand, widen his lexicological corpus, Roger bought, acquired, purchased
a synonymopedia, a thesaurus. Soon, presently, without delay, he no longer ran out of things to say, speak, utter, express, articulate, give voice to, pronounce, communicate. This was all very well, fine, great, wonderful, super, terrific but his friends, mates, pals found him boring, tedious, dull, soporific. So let this be a warning, an omen, a sign, a premonition, it’s all very well to show learning, education, knowledge, erudition, but here’s a top tip, a hint, a suggestion, some advice, don’t ever let it stop you from being concise

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brief, short, clear, pithy, succinct, compendious, to the point, compact, snappy, laconic. Breviloquent. Brian Bilston

In brazillian portuguese, LLM means "lero-lero machine" (bullshit machine) and I think that's beautiful