#tech thoughts

[rainofdauwuand0w0]

[collective Alt text of all images: various shots of all the first person views shown within the web series of murder drones as far as I know, showing off the differing views and looks that each has from their tint colors of their screen, getting a look at all the various colors and such]

So I was looking at the various first person views, I noticed something, as the series progressed, it became more obvious that the drones chosen color was more of a tint then a actual "oh you only see things in this color", it is more so like tinted car windows seemingly, as by viewing the look of the manor N, that memory has full color, fully fledged view with normal colors.

I just find it so fascinating, really like the look of it too.

if I ever figure out how to get it situated or whatever, I'd love a streamer set up that looks like the murder drones hud, maybe specifically the DD Hud, due to the extra eye visual area's being able to be showing the visuals of my png tuber potentially when I update it, but also judging by the teachers solitare, games can be moved around and windows and such as well, which is really cool!

I also really like it for inspiration of like, designs for things in general! I think it would be really cool and maybe, juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust maybe, I'd like to see icons for stuff like steam, firefox, discord, and other such applications inspired by it. Maybe some cursors inspired by the absolute solver and such and differing symbols for each thing! (may draw examples lol)

seriously though I really love the hud design, i'd love to be able to emulate on my own visor lel.

[mobydyke]

every day I miss being able to shake my phone flashlight on :( android bring it back

[eclipse-astro]

random brainstorming about AI

imagine if instead of stealing art and being used for scams ai instead was built into all devices (phones, tablets, laptops) as an automatic assistant. bear with me

currently ai is mostly accessible via websites which means all you can have is a text box and image uploading (there are some exceptions, chatgpt has a desktop app and phone app but the functionality is the same)

if ai was actually built into the OS itself, instead of always having a million menus to navigate the ai could literally just do it all for you via text commands the assistant could just do menial tasks like clean up your desktop or sort folders or change settings for you

it would also effectively take the place of a standard search engine, instead of having to open a browser tab and google something you just ask the ai that's already there

it could also have a data repository (something like a compressed just-text version of wikipedia) for if you're offline

all this functionality is literally super easy for current ai in terms of actual computing power, it's just a hardware integration issue

devices could be made with ai button triggers or gestures on touchscreens to ask it stuff

right now the current methods of ai still have a lot of friction, only in a few specific cases is it frictionless enough to be worth using instead of google or whatever

(most of that is solely due to the task and not the friction of the ai)

hardware integration would actually truly make it frictionless, and would majorly speed up pretty much everything you do on every device

some other benefits of just integrating the ai directly into the OS are instant tech support for anyone that's tech illiterate, it's essentially a perfect automatic screenshare with an IT professional + the general ability to ask about anything on your screen without having to screenshot it and send it to the ai (extreme friction)

this is less of an objective fact but i kind of think the "talking to ai via voice" thing would catch on more if it could "see" your screen and you could use the screen as sort of an interfacing medium for it to understand whatever you're asking about (edited)

if this was actually implemented well i honestly think browsers would overall become kind of obsolete, if you can just ask the ai to link an article about something you really don't need a browser to search for stuff, you just need to view the webpage

overall i think phones/tablets benefit from this the least (touchscreens are inherently super frictionless Uls, and typing is hard) but could still take some pointers

for desktops/laptops i'm envisioning a system that is based around essentially a screenshot mechanic, but that screenshot immediately gets analyzed by the assistant and you just type dialogue right as you take it, to ask the ai about what you're seeing

could even be something like a button press signaling that you want the ai to pay attention to whatever you're pointing at with the cursor

the ultimate goal is just make the most frictionless UI so the use cases increase, because it is actually very useful if there isn't friction

big mistake everyone in ai seems to be making is thinking use cases are tied to the computing power/functional capabilities of the ai when actually use cases are mostly tied to how frictionless its UI is

[markdyerhere]

On Tech Support

On May 5, 2023 I got a call that changed my life.

I had just accepted a job offer to work for the Browser Company of New York!

I walked up the stairs to our apartment with great news and my wife told me to sit down. My Mum had called. My Dad had to be rushed to the hospital. He was bleeding internally and it looked like he was suffering renal failure. We flew out to be with him and my Mum. He passed away 9 days later.

My Dad is one of the reasons I’m good with computers.

Dad went to college to learn how to use computers back in the 70s — this was back when computers would take up whole rooms and you had to input commands with punch cards.

He brought home our first home computer in the late 90s; a chunky Compaq Presario that clicked like a bottle nose dolphin as it chugged along. The Compaq was mainly for his side hustle (a carpet cleaning business) and for me and my brothers to do our school work (the side hustle was helping to pay our school fees), but it quickly became my direct portal to the skateboarding article on Encarta and pokemon.com.

Dad’s main job was the night production manager for the Royal Gazette — a job he had for close to 40 years. He would often talk about how he missed the sound of a newsroom. The clacks and thunks of typewriters, the ringing of phones, the chaos of people coming together to make a paper every day. I couldn’t imagine how the Gazette could ever have been a loud place when I would visit him at work. It was deafeningly quiet! He would plop me in front of a computer to play Minesweeper and the only sounds you could hear were my mouse clicks.

Since Dad worked at night, he had a good chunk of hang time waiting for the paper to be ready to go to production. He would listen to internet radio stations, read interesting articles and forward dirty joke emails from his coworkers. When I left home for university my procrastinating study hours and his work hours would sync up. We would email each other links to cool music, videos, articles and, since I was old enough, the odd dirty joke email forward. But we mostly just chatted.

We started saying “I love you” over email

He was a great writer — he wrote just like he spoke — and both of our conversation styles lent themselves to the time delayed back and forth of email. I say something, you read it and think about it, you send a considered response back with a little something extra. Repeat.

We started saying “I love you” over email. We were always close, but we both had a hard time talking about our feelings especially when I was a teenager. Being apart, but still staying in touch over email gave us the space to feel comfortable saying we loved each other. We had no trouble saying it after that — it was one of the first things we said to each other when I could finally come home for Christmas in December 2022.

Tech is very expensive where I come from (about 30% more expensive than the US), so whenever I go home I roll up like Tech Santa with a bag full of laptops, tablets and phones. The Compaq Presario was long gone and Dad’s laptop had seen better days. Dad was a long time Windows user — he wrote his memoirs in Microsoft Word — so he was keen to stay on something familiar.

I got him a Surface Laptop 3. I walked him through setting up Windows 11. I arranged his bookmarks bar in Chrome so he could quickly access his email, Facebook, Youtube and, most importantly, his memoirs which we’d uploaded to Google Drive. He was so happy to have all of his stuff moved over to his new computer and relieved that his memoirs were properly backed up.

Going through his browser after he died was some of the most heartbreaking work I’ve ever done

After he passed away I helped my Mum with the gut wrenching task of cleaning up Dad’s digital life. I made sure she had access to his email and important logins so she could deal with closing accounts and adjusting billing names. I also memorialized his Facebook page to ensure it didn’t get hacked and start spamming friends and relatives with crypto scams.

Dad had several strokes leading up the internal bleeding and renal failure in May 2023. Honestly back in Christmas 2022 he had only recently recovered from his last stroke and he wasn’t quite himself. Going through his browser after he died was some of the most heartbreaking work I’ve ever done. The bookmarks bar that we had carefully set up together was riddled with duplicates — Facebook, Youtube, Google Drive over and over spilling out into a drop down menu. My Dad knew his way around computers. He had been using them since they took up a whole room. I knew some damage had been done after the strokes, although he was very good at hiding it and I don’t think I was ready to admit it at the time. But with him gone and looking into his computer, his window to the world, I couldn’t deny what I had known for at least a year. My Dad had strokes, my Dad had internal bleeding, my Dad was dying, my Dad was gone.

These things — computers, web browsers — they’re not just inert tools waiting to be picked up and used. The more you use them, the more they become a part of you and you of them. The laptop lid gets scratched, coffee is spilled onto the keyboard, cords become frayed, bookmarks get bundled up into folders to be forgotten, passwords get scribbled on sticky notes and then reset again, tabs sit open for months just in case, URLS and search queries are typed in repeatedly just because you’ve built up the muscle memory — facebook, youtube, google drive, pokemon.com.

We’re all about to be new at this again

A developer friend of mine once said to me, “the future is here and we’re all bad at it”. University level STEM students don’t know how file paths work, they don’t teach kids to type anymore and more and more jobs across a variety of fields require some degree of computer literacy. Everyone is expected to just know how to use computers, but as my Mum would say “I’ve never had a lesson!”. As we head into the next phase of computing — where you work with the computer instead of simply using the computer — much of your interactions will be through AI language models, but even the people building those don’t really know how they work. We’re all about to be new at this again — new at computers, new at web browsers, new at everything. Now more than ever, we’re all going to need some help. Hopefully that help comes from someone who understands what you’re going through, what you’re trying to get done and can meet you where you’re at.

What we’re building is so much more than just a portal to websites

On June 5 2023 I started a job that changed my life. I started working at the Browser Company of New York!

I help to build Arc, a product that I love, with some of the most talented, thoughtful and inspiring people I’ve ever met. I helped bring Arc to Windows, so people like my Dad could use this very special browser that feels like my home on the internet.

I truly feel like I’m doing the best work of my life and that’s because what we’re building is so much more than just a portal to websites. It’s where you do your work. It’s where you hang out with friends. It’s where you pirate anime, do your taxes and send emails to your Dad.

It’s where you live your life. As we continue to build I hope to be that human voice on the other side of the computer that helps you feel like Arc is for you, for your stuff, for your life. I want to help Arc feel like home. See you on the internet ✌️ Love you, Dad!

[loopylivy]

Wondering what it would be like to have Tumblr but offline? Like idk I don't wanna be Ms. Tin Hat over here but with the way tech execs are acting with Donald Trump I feel a little less safe putting my thoughts, ideas, beliefs, personal things, etc online??? Is in person Tumblr just talking??? Or maybe some sort of anonymous writing in newspapers?? In my mind's eye I see a big room chock full of people, like a 1920s newsroom or newspaper house. Lots of bowler hats and those nice girl bowler hats, light pink and powder blue and tan, and someone's waving a handkerchief.

Seriously though, can you be anonymous in person?? Maybe by simply creating and not signing. And we're not totally anonymous on here --- is anonymity better for connection anyway?? I'm more honest and open but community and being known is better I guess.

-Liv out

[blu-ish]

Got a Polaroid camera for my birthday and instantly thought of these losers.

[annaphamclouds]

data technician i am–

[fehck]

[leafyeyes417]

Followed by LOA

Prompt: Normally Danny wouldn’t care that his sister joined a cult the LOA in an effort to tone them down, but he is a bit unhappy that he is now being followed by an assassin to gain blackmail/keep in line his sister. It’s not even the being followed part that he cares about! It’s the fact that the Bats have already caught on to him being followed and now he is on their radar. And he can’t even get a single coffee without a Bat showing up! Ancients Danny is tempted to show his eldritch form in an attempt to scare them off but he knows that will make it worse not better.

[sondheim-girly]

I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater I love you live theater

[ceilingfan25]

Can you draw Danny Fenton as Chat Noir and Valerie Gray as LadyBug?

I love this kinda crossover!!!!! One of my favorite pass times is taking 2 shows I like and assigning characters roles from the other show, also drawing characters in other characters' outfits, so this was fun to ponder!!

[notbornwithit]

Man I hope you make it, buddy.

I hope I come into a bright eyed boy tomorrow

I hope you're resting comfortably despite your condition.

You're the BEST boy, and life is so unfair.

[soulrox]

No Fly Zone

DPxDC #29

Conner has taken to flying around high above the world, just drifting where the winds take him. He uses this time to just live in the moment and take in the natural beauty of the world.

As he's floating, he hears the distinct sound of music and screaming fans. He slowly pays more attention to the music, a strong female voice is belting out lyrics to a song that resonates with him.

Pinpointing the location the sound is coming from to a small town a few clicks west of where he is. He immediately moves to watch and listen in person. He has to know who is playing and if all their songs are as good as this current one.

The concert is taking place in a park with a completely open area to stand and listen. The concert is packed with teens and young adults. A typical concert, in Conner's opinion. He decides to fly further to the back of the crowd to watch. Conner doesn't really pay attention to the crowd and is focused on the band and the singer. Completely missing several eyebrow-raising things.

"Hey, flying guy! You can't watch from there please move to the designated area for flyers," A man with gravity-defying white hair and piercing green eyes flying near him says while gesturing to an area more to the left of the stage, where several people were flying and enjoying the concert. Most are glowing faintly, and some of them, concernedly, are semi-transparent. "Or you can keep on moving."

"Ah, sorry I was flying around, then heard this music and had to see who it is… So, umm, who is playing? I really love what I've heard so far." The two of them move away from the crowd.

"She's Ember McClain, the best musician from the Realms. As long as you're not here to start anything, you're good."

"Why are you the security here?" Conner purposely tilted his sunglasses, looking him up and down. Thinking to himself that this scrawny twink can't pack that much of a punch.

"Yes, I am. Even before that comment, I could tell you aren't from here if you don't recognize me." the cute twink laughs a little, "I'm Phantom! Manager of this whole thing and security. Making sure Ember sticks to the rules and making sure everyone else is too. This time no one tries to mind-control anyone."

Concerning comments shelved for later. "It seems I'm also unknown if I have to introduce myself. But for a cutie like you, I'll give you anything." Wink, "I'm Superboy, call me Kon. Can I ask more about you? Like, if you have a number I can have?"

Phantom blushes "Danny…..I don't just give my information or number out to some rando. That is lesson one of being a hero. As I'm sure you "Superboy" know this."

"Okay then, tell me more about this band, and you can tell me more about yourself at dinner after."

Conner reappears at the Young Justice base several hours after he normally would, with several bags full of Ember merch. Signed copies of the albums, posters, shirts, and even a water bottle. He gives a shirt to every YJ member. His phone is full of selfies and videos from the concert and after, as well as the number of a very cute boy, with a date set for Friday night.

[raevulsix]

More Tech.

[cabbagege]

[saltyseaturtle]

WE KNOW TECH TAUGHT OMEGA HOW TO FLY! WATCH HER ROLL UP INTO YAVIN 4 LIKE THIS! 🤣

The Empire couldn’t handle her crazy antics, but can the Rebellion? 😅🥰