I was laid off by google last January, though I was still employed through March. Since then I've been taking a break and exploring. Built a homelab and traveled to Europe.
Previously at Google I managed the team that made smart phone call experiences for Android, now branded collectively as Call Assist. I'm very proud of the fact that our features were keynoted in almost every major Pixel phone announcement.
I live in San Jose with my wife Michele. Our two daughters are in college.
| Blog (currently inactive) | https://shebanator.com |
| Twitter (archival) | @shebanator |
| https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashebanow/ |
Dear tech bros,
Have you licked the boots of your favourite billionaire and/or trillion-dollar corporation yet today?
Remember to nitpick and challenge every word of those trying to warn folks away from them and creating alternatives that don’t exploit people for profit (fucking commies, amirite?) while giving them every benefit of the doubt (let’s be frank, who hasn’t caused the occasional genocide?)
Silicon Valley thanks you for your service.
Adding a dark mode toggle button to Rails apps that defaults to user’s system preference
https://www.mocra.com/toggle-dark-mode-in-jumpstart-pro-rails/
Poland today marks 80 years since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when hundreds of Jews launched a doomed attack against the Nazis.
The presidents of Germany and Israel will join their Polish counterpart for the anniversary of the revolt, the largest single act of Jewish resistance against the Germans during World War II.
Church bells and sirens will sound in honour of the insurgents who died fighting rather than in gas chambers.
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230419-poland-marks-80-years-since-warsaw-ghetto-uprising
I wrote this essay on "AI" being not a technological but a religious narrative 5 years ago and it's basically still true.
"AI" is a secular religion.
tante Content Warning: The following text references algorithmic systems acting in racist ways towards people of color. Artificial intelligence and thinking machines have been key components in the way Western cultures, in particular, think about the future. From naïve positivist perspectives, as illustrated by the Rosie the Robot maid from 1962’s TV show The Jetsons,...
I’m happy to pay taxes to support public schools because I recognize that having an educated populace is a public good.
However, I would deeply resent my tax dollars paying for religious indoctrination and the undermining of public schools.
There is nothing good in this and I wish but dare not hope that the SCOTUS would agree with me.
Oklahoma to vote on first taxpayer-funded religious school in US |
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/oklahoma-vote-first-religious-charter-school-us-2023-04-11/
An Oklahoma school board on Tuesday unanimously rejected the Catholic Church's application to create the first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in the U.S., taking a first step toward a long legal battle testing the concept of separation of church and state.
The Supreme Court is off the rails. Some ideas for reform:
1) Enact term limits
2) Enforce ethics standards
3) Require financial disclosures
4) Expand the court
5) Rotate justices
Enough is enough.
A Florida college government class canceled a guest speaker on civil rights because a white student expressed "discomfort."
Note the assymetric treatment of discomfort in relation to free speech.
When a white student feels "discomfort" about a class discussing white racism, discomfort cancels speech.
When LGBT students feel distressed about a speaker who questions their identity, speech outweighs discomfort.
Rosanita
Aral Balkan
Dr Nic
The European Network
tante
Tony, Pretty Much
Robert Reich
Omar Moore
Miriam Boosh
ReginaldOhLaw