Mastodawn

Seriously, there ought to be a central place where every time an open source project either adds "AI" integration or code generated by "AI", the repo is forked from the last commit before infection so that someone can someday resume from that point.

(I'd have set this up already but I'm at an energy low and will be for a while yet.)

Brett R Dec 6

Valerie Roney Dec 5

A friend, while having an existential meltdown, just said:

"I think I'm grieving for the future."

And dayum! That pretty much sums up all the feels rather poetically, eh?

Brett R Nov 29

thisisfranciswu Nov 28

I spent the last 5 years advocating for stateful URLs in modern applications. It’s a lonely and often frustrating fight to preserve this fundamental web principle, but it's crucial for usability and accessibility. This article is a great reminder. #a11y https://alfy.blog/2025/10/31/your-url-is-your-state.html

Your URL Is Your State

A deep dive into how thoughtful URL design can enhance usability, shareability, and performance. Learn what state belongs in URLs, common pitfalls to avoid, and practical patterns for modern web apps.

Ahmad Alfy's Blog

Brett R Nov 26

Staff Chief of Joints Nov 26

Instead of "no pun intended" I'll be saying "that was punintentional".

We don't need Medicaid for all. We don't need the ACA. We don't need some other random insurance thing to make you jump through hoops.

We need health care to be free. Walk into a doctor's office, you get help. Doctor schedules surgery, you get surgery. Doctor prescribes drugs, pharmacy gives you drugs.

That's it.

We need a million new health care workers who aren't blocked by education costs.

BECAUSE EDUCATION SHOULD BE FREE ALSO.

Brett R Nov 6

Show thread

Unicorn Riot Nov 6

NEW: As contention across the country between communities and law enforcement festers, and for the 5th anniversary of Minnesota’s largest mass arrest, UR is publishing its fourth exclusive law enforcement-related video release from the historic events of Nov. 4, 2020.

https://unicornriot.ninja/2025/body-cameras-show-how-police-acted-during-minneapolis-largest-mass-arrest/

Body Cameras Show How Police Acted During Minneapolis’ Largest Mass Arrest - UNICORN RIOT

UR is exclusively releasing 73 Minneapolis Police videos from the largest mass arrest in MN history of at least 646 people in Nov. 2020.

UNICORN RIOT

Brett R Nov 5

Rochelle Nov 2

If you’re a user of Libby (the library app), consider before following their suggestion to type #InspireMe into the search bar.

It seems harmless, but it turns on an unrequested AI feature, & there is no way to reverse that.

This comes courtesy of Mr/ProfHeyRochelle, who is now reasonably pissed over following said directions.

Brett R Nov 5

Tilly Bridges Nov 5

this has been a VERY hard year for trans people

so let me just say

to all of you out there who stood up for us and soundly rejected transphobia in this election

thank you for protecting us

PLEASE KEEP IT UP WE NEED YOU and there’s still a long way to go

but

THANK. YOU. 😭🩷

Brett R Nov 5

Waldo Jaquith Nov 5

The most important lesson for Democrats from Mamdani's victory is this: abandon the decades-old practice of triangulating to win the center. Instead, grow the base with a positive, joyful vision for what government can do when it gives up on being shackled to a Republican base.

Brett R Oct 25

Thomas 🔭🕹️Jul 7

Even if “AI” worked (it doesn’t), there’s many reasons why you shouldn’t use it:

1. It’s destroying Internet sites that you love as you use chat bots instead of actually going to sources of information—this will cause them to be less active and eventually shut down.

2. Pollution and water use from server farms cause immediate harm; often—just like other heavy industry—these are built in underprivileged communities and harming poor people. Without any benefits as the big tech companies get tax breaks and don’t pay for power, while workers aren’t from the community but commute in.

3. The basic underlying models of any LLM rely on stolen data, even when specific extra data is obtained legally. Chatbots can’t learn to speak English just by reading open source code.

4. You’re fueling a speculation bubble that is costing many people their jobs—because the illusion of “efficiency” is kept up by firing people and counting that as profit.

5. Whenever you use the great cheat machine in the cloud you’re robbing yourself from doing real research, writing or coding—literally atrophying your brain and making you stupider.

It’s a grift, through and through.