Progressive who’s been here for a bit. The fediverse has definitely swung more left-wing recently - when I first started up two years ago there was a fair amount of conservative bs, libertarian tech-bros and russian bots - it was about a 50/50 split depending on what instance you were on.

The bot problem seems to have been largely dealt with now, and conservative voices have been more or less drowned out by the new influx of users fleeing twitter and Reddit crackdowns. Many are agreeing that the current administration is bad for everyone. There are a number of hard auth-left moral purity testers that kind of a pain in the ass that pop up from time to time.

Meanwhile, the cat:

Post Traumatic Shit Disorder, to be precise.

Your points are valid, but I look at AI as an unavoidable trend in the tech space, which is why I experiment with local models. I’d rather understand how they work (and how to protect oneself from them) as I believe avoiding them isn’t really possible in my field.

Thus far, the local models I’ve worked with have gotten a C- on coding, but an A+ on bullshit. I think the tech still has a long way to go before it lives up to the hype, both negative and positive.

Ok, this part is pretty cool:

Thunderbird Assist will also be available. This experimental feature, developed in collaboration with Flower AI, offers optional artificial intelligence functionalities for users who want them while also addressing privacy concerns head-on. On devices robust enough to handle AI models locally, Thunderbird Assist processes everything on the user’s own machine.

However, for users on less powerful hardware, the development team has integrated NVIDIA’s confidential computing to keep any remote processing secure. Rest assured, those who prefer to skip AI services can continue using Thunderbird without these extras.

I’ve been unwilling to touch cloud based AI, much less expose my emails to it as there’s no guarantee of privacy, but being able to run a local model allows you the functionality without the risk. Haven’t used Thunderbird in years, but this is tempting me to give it another shot.

I don’t know. I don’t have a horse in this dogfight. Still working on his pilot’s license.

Crypto.

Agreed (context: same legacy system work, 20 years), although given the size and scale of the tech debt involved, I’d peg it at 5 years if you had a team of 100+ COBOL developers.

10 to do it right.

Once you start dealing with databases older than SQL and languages older than C, things get funky real fast.

I’m so old I remember when disks were floppy, came in the 7" size, and were an awesome replacement for punch cards.

Still haven’t beat Zork tho…

They do this at my work. I simply report every external email I get as a phishing attempt.

As a result, I’ve caught all the fake phishing emails sent by our IT department, at the minor cost of them having to clear 50+ legit emails per day. My coworkers have been quite appreciative of my tactics against phishing, and have started to adopt my methods.

Strangely enough, the number of phishing tests IT has sent out has dramatically decreased since I was initially hired.

You, my child, may be counted amongst the blessed.

remember kids:

A place in heaven is reserved for those who speak truth to power

I’d come a running, just as fast as I can…

Yosemite

Grand Canyon

Yellowstone

Avenue of the Giants

Add to this list any national parks you were thinking about visiting. After this administration, they may not be around anymore.

This is a perfect album cover for Marcy Playground

Challenge accepted:

Project manager’s response:

Anon missed log day…

I have two multi-racial disabled family members I care for. Even if I could leave the country, they couldn’t - very few nations allow the disabled to immigrate.

I’m here till the fight is done.