#tech roundup

[identifying-computers-in-posts]

strap in, this is a long one

Sony Beans Walkman WM-EQ Stereo Cassette Player (1995); Nike Presto Watch Duo (2004); (n/a); iMac G3 in Bondi Blue (1998); (n/a); Yahoo! Digital Camera (2000); KDDI A1403K Mobile Phone (2004); (n/a); Sony S2 Sport Walkman Portable CD Player (2005)

literally obsessed with the design of blobjects

[super-turtlephant]

Alright people, I’m going to start compiling a list of Tech-lives tbb fixits! Please send any you see my way by either reblogging this post, replying in the chat function, or sending me an ask! I’m especially looking for post season 3 fics, but feel free to send me any tech-lives fics. I’ll include a pre-season 3 section in the list!

BRING ON THE FIX-ITS!

Tech lives on in our hearts and in the amazing fics that members of our fandom so generously share. Let’s gather them up!

[dystopicjumpsuit]

Monthly Roundup: March/April 2024

Hello, friends! Welcome to my allegedly monthly roundup, where I post links to all the fics, chapters, HCs, art, designs and ask responses I've published the previous month so there's a quick and easy way for readers to find my newest works. Note: I didn't post a roundup for March because I didn't publish any fics, but I did create some Star Wars computer wallpapers, so I'm folding them into the April roundup.

Fic requests are open!

Note: I always accept HC and OC asks, even when fic requests are closed.

🍋 denotes mature content 🍋

Fics

"The Plant Prowler of Pabu" (Crosshair x GN!Reader)

🍋"Double, Double Boil and Trouble, Part 5" 🍋(Boil x GN!Reader) bet you thought I'd never update this fic, eh? Surprise, motherkriffers!

Request: “Feeling the rumble of their chest when they talk while cuddling/Needing their cuddles even though they have something else to do” (Tech x GN!Reader)

Request: “Putting your ear against their heart” (Tech x GN!Reader)

Request: “Soft looks while cuddling” (Rex x GN!Reader)

Request: “Trying to crawl under their shirt” (Wrecker x GN!Reader)

Request: "Cuddles of consolation" (Cal Kestis x GN!Reader)

Request: 🍋“Just a Little Bit More”🍋 (Wolffe x Fem!Reader)

Art, Designs, HCs and Ask Responses

"Kriff" wallpapers

"Starcups" and diner-themed "Caf & Death Sticks" wallpapers

Cyberpunk-themed "Caf & Death Sticks" wallpaper

Click to see previous monthly roundups

[setokaibapetty]

5 + 1 Fic Friday Roundup: Uplifting Women

Some fics revolving around women (and one man in a woman’s body) who lift their family/community/world up. May is the month of Mental Health Awareness after all - though I went for tech uplift instead of creating an uplifting atmosphere via emotional labor (though there is some of that in some of these as well).

1. Down the Rabbit Hole to Westeros (AO3)  -  A SI into Selyse Florent, later Selyse Baratheon. Refusing this time around to be vexed by a mustache, lack of indoor plumbing, and no more guacamole in favor of keeping her eyes on the prize: Surviving the upcoming Long Night and not letting Melisandre go Full Melisandre.

2. Compass of thy Soul (FF / AO3) -  Being reborn into the Uchiha clan during the Warring Clans Era is surprisingly idyllic, so long as you don't mind hard work and are too young to know any of the people who are actually dying. But innocence never lasts, and trying to help family stay alive is a road strewn with a surprising number of pitfalls and last-minute diversions. [SI-OC. Fluff, politics, fix-it. No Aliens.]

3. Sanitize (FF / AO3) -  Basic medicine and sanitation are simple. During the Warring Clans era, they become revolutionary. [OC-Insert]

4. Cold Winds Blowing (SB) -  Maia, a young woman without much direction in life, awakes in the snows of the True North beyond the Wall in the year 295 After Conquest. Equipped with a power she barely understands, the Celestial Forge and the endless potential it represents, she struggles to find her own path on the foreign world of Planetos. Will she be wrapped up in the schemes of the great players? Can the best of intentions truly bear out good results, or are they a mere hindrance to true power?

5. Taylor on the Edge of Forever (SB) -  A Worm AU/Star Trek AU where Taylor Hebert has alt powers related to having been in the Star Trek future before being returned to her teenage self in Brockton Bay.

Bonus: Coin and Conformity (SB / AO3) - A man wakes up one day to find that he isn't in his apartment, isn't in his own body, and isn't even on Earth anymore. The language, the geography, the culture, the stars, and even the technology level are all different. Even worse, in this backwards medieval society he had found himself in, he woke up in the body of a woman. A woman who had just given birth to her first child, a son.

[identifying-computers-in-posts]

Apple iBook G3 (1999); Apple iPod Mini 2nd Generation (2005); Nokia 3310 with pink Xpress-On covers (2000); Gameboy Color in Pink (with custom backlit screen) (1998); Emerson: 13” Color Hello Kitty CRT (2002); Gameboy Advanced SP (2003); (i have no fucking idea what this is); Nintendo DS Lite in Noble Pink (2006); Apple iPod Nano 2nd Generation (2006)

Pink 2000s tech

[esperanzapretila]

Have you ever wondered if a molecule discovered by accident could someday change your morning routine? Discover how overlooked scientific breakthroughs quietly shape our world—read on to uncover the answer.

[samwaverley]

Have you ever wondered if a molecule discovered by accident could someday change your morning routine? Discover how overlooked scientific breakthroughs quietly shape our world—read on to uncover the answer.

[sallymajors]

Have you ever wondered if a molecule discovered by accident could someday change your morning routine? Discover how overlooked scientific breakthroughs quietly shape our world—read on to uncover the answer.

[rachellepryce]

Have you ever wondered if a molecule discovered by accident could someday change your morning routine? Discover how overlooked scientific breakthroughs quietly shape our world—read on to uncover the answer.

[spotlyts]

Have you ever wondered if a molecule discovered by accident could someday change your morning routine? Discover how overlooked scientific breakthroughs quietly shape our world—read on to uncover the answer.

[techgizmohub]

July 9, 2023: Roundup of 3D Printing Webinar and Event from 3DPrint.com - Tech Gizmo Hub

Webinars and events in the 3D printing industry are ramping back up again this week! Stratasys continues its cross-country tour of the U.S. and will also host one of its Stratafest events, while Markforged continues to hold its Demo Days. Materialise is offering a webinar on metal 3D printing in the aerospace industry, along with a training for its Mimics Innovations Suite. XJet will have a virtual open house, Nanoscribe will discuss 3D printed cell culture microenvironments, and more. Read on for the details!

3D Printing News Unpeeled

Our Executive Editor Joris Peels, who’s also the Vice President of Consulting at SmarTech Analysis, offers a news livestream one to two times a week called 3D Printing News Unpeeled at 9:30 am EST. For each episode, Peels gets on LinkedIn Live and tells us, in 20 minutes or less, what he considers to be the top news stories from the 3D printing industry that week, and why they’re important. Some of the stories in his roundup are ones we’ve covered at 3DPrint.com, and some are not, but they are all equally interesting and impactful.

July 10: The Experience Stratasys Tour Continues

The Experience Stratasys Tour is taking its mobile showroom across the U.S. and giving designers, educators, and manufacturers a convenient way to see the company’s latest materials, 3D printers, and solutions. This week, the tour is only making one stop. On Monday, July 10th, the truck will head to Vincennes University in Indiana, hosted by H2I. “Speak with 3D printing experts from Stratasys and our partners to find out how your organization can benefit from 3D printing – whether it’s bringing a printer in-house or utilizing additive manufacturing services from Stratasys Direct. Let us show you how Stratasys is leading the global shift to additive manufacturing with innovative 3D printing solutions for aerospace, automotive, consumer products and healthcare.” You can register for the Stratasys Experience Tour here. Stay tuned for more dates and locations in the future!

July 11 – 13: SEMICON West 2023

In San Francisco this week, SEMICON West 2023 will be held in the Moscone Center from July 11-13. If you didn’t guess from the name, the name of the game at this event is semiconductors, which is a growing AM application. Industry professionals will focus on “Building a Path Forward” under three main industry priorities: Path to $1T, Path to Net Zero, and Path for Talent. These priorities will be integrated as a theme into the daily keynote presentations, and SEMICON West will also offer a Global Cybersecurity Forum, a variety of TechTalks, symposiums on Test Vision, the SEMI Market, and SOI Markets & Technology, a workforce development track, networking opportunities, and much more. “The event focuses on key challenges affecting the global microelectronics industry which include Supply Chain Disruptions, Climate Change, and Talent Shortages, all necessary to enable a $1T industry.” You can register for the event here.

July 11 & 13: AWP & Markforged Demo Days

Markforged will continue with its Demo Day open house events at Advanced World Products (AWP) in Fremont, California this week, specifically on Tuesday the 11th and Thursday the 13th. The event will feature Markforged’s large-format FX20 carbon fiber 3D printer, and there will be demonstrations of this printer, along with Smooth TPU 95A flexible filament, the latest versions of the X7, Mark Two, and Onyx Series, and new Metal X updates, including 99.8% copper parts. Visitors will also hear about tips for identifying 3D printing opportunities, and customer applications that prove the ROI of these systems. The event is free, and attendees will also receive a Markforged t-shirt. “Experience the NEW Markforged FX20 Carbon Fiber/Ultem 9085 Composite 3D Printer in action at the AWP/Markforged Open House and learn how quick and cost-effective parts can be designed and fabricated for manufacturing.” There are one-hour time slots available from 8 am until 6 pm PT, and you can register for your preferred day and time slot here. One registered person can bring up to five guests with them.

July 11 & 13: SOLIDWORKS CAM & CAMWorks Training Sessions

Also on July 11th and 13th, HCL CAMWorks will hold a free “SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks Training & Webinar Series.” The first, “SOLIDWORKS CAM & CAMWorks – Getting Started,” will focus on how to use the integrated SOLIDWORKS CAM Standard CNC programming system, covering topics like feature recognition and toolpath creation, as well as a brief introduction to the Technology Database (TechDB), which can be used to automate CNC programming. This webinar will be held on the 11th at 11 am EST for the U.S. and at 9 am IST for Asia. The second training session, “SOLIDWORKS CAM & CAMWorks: Getting Started with TechDB,” will teach attendees how to use TechDB, including topics like how to create a machine and a standard set of tools for a machine, how to save machining strategies back to the TechDB for later use, and more. This webinar will be held on the 13th at 11 am EST for the U.S. and at 9 am IST for Asia. “Sharpen your CAM skills and learn the advanced technologies in SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks to boost your manufacturing operations, such as integrated CAD/CAM, automatic feature recognition, and knowledge-based machining.” These trainings will be held on July 18th and 20th for users in Europe.

July 11: Stratafest at Andretti Autosports in Indianapolis

In addition to its ongoing Experience Stratasys tour, the company is also holding afternoon Stratafest events, which are focused on 3D printing and Industry 4.0. With an emphasis on automotive and aerospace, these will feature immersive demonstrations of the company’s newest technology, networking and career advancement opportunities, and inspiring sessions from Stratasys customers, partners, and industry experts. The first of four sessions was recently held in Detroit, and this week, Stratafest is headed to Indianapolis for an afternoon stop at Andretti Autosport from 12-4 pm EST on Tuesday the 11th. Representatives and speakers from Hexagon, PostProcess Technologies, and the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Rapid Prototyping Center will also be on-hand. “Stratafest is a free afternoon event for 3D printing and Industry 4.0. You will be able to hear from 3D printing experts, see engineering hotspots like SEMA Garage and Andretti Autosport and enjoy breakout discussions, complimentary food trucks* and music. (*Complimentary food is limited to the first 300 registrants for each event).“ You can pre-register for the free event here.

July 12 – 13: Additive International 2023 

Additive International, which was formally known as the International Conference on Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing, is a global summit about AM and 3D printing, welcoming academic and industry experts to Albert Hall Conference Centre in Nottingham from July 12-13 to share insights on the developments and technologies shaping the industry’s future. The event is supported by Additive Manufacturing UK, in association with the University of Nottingham, and HP is the headline sponsor. The conference sessions explore the latest AM developments and how they can be applied to a business’s processes, including Novel AM Computation, Design for Metal Jet Printing, Volumetric Additive Manufacturing, Empowering Distributed Manufacturing with 3D Printing, Advanced Polymeric Materials, and more. “With the global Additive Manufacturing market expected to grow from $12.6bn in 2020 to over $37bn by 2026*, this event provides the essential forum to fully understand the technical and commercial opportunities presented by this constantly evolving field of technology.” You can book tickets for the summit here.

July 12: Metal AM in Aerospace with Materialise & SLM Solutions

SLM Solutions’ Free Float Materialise is holding its first webinar of the week on Wednesday, July 12th, at 7:30 am GMT+2 (1:30 am EST) about how to “Unlock the Potential of Metal 3D Printing in Aerospace.” Experts from Materialise and SLM Solutions will explain how their software and hardware solutions can help optimize quality control and support generation to improve metal 3D printing. Attendees will learn how to leverage AI capabilities on powder bed layer images to consistently identify scrap and risk and reduce post-processing costs, how to use automated quality control with data gathered during 3D printing, all about SLM Solutions’ Free Float technology, and more. “Metal additive manufacturing (AM) combines AM’s design capabilities with metal’s mechanical properties, making it a game-changer for the aerospace industry. To utilize this technology as efficiently as possible, you must overcome metal AM’s three main costs: time, material consumption, and machine use.” You can register for the webinar here.

July 12: XJet’s Virtual Open House – Europe Session

This Wednesday the 12th, XJet is holding its first webinar designed specifically for European AM users at 10 am CET (4 am EST). The virtual open house, or “The Story of 10,000 Parts,” will teach attendees all about the power of high-quality powderless AM production at industrial scale. There will be an immersive live tour of the company’s facility and its unique Print-Wash-Sinter process, featuring XJet’s Carmel printers and SMART automatic post-procession station. Andy Middleton, VP Business – Europe at XJet, will also offer a deep dive into NanoParticle Jetting technology and the ceramics and metals it uses, and attendees will get to engage in live chats with technical experts and enjoy priority access to XJet’s benchmark production queue for future projects. “Curious about how XJet systems are capable of producing 10,000 high-quality ceramic and metal parts at industrial capability without compromising on part quality? Join our upcoming webinar to find out! “You’ll see how a part is made from file to final shape, and explore the possibility of manufacturing 10,000+ industrial parts with our systems that drastically reduce your production lead time!” You can register for the webinar and open house here.

July 12: 3D Printed Cell Culture Microenvironments with Nanoscribe

Later in the day on the 12th, Nanoscribe will hold a webinar about “3D printed cell culture microenvironments” at 5 pm CEST (11 am EST). With a subheading of “Biofabrication of microphysiological models with enhanced cellular behaviors in vitro,” the webinar will explore new research possibilities in biomedical applications that require speed, sterility, precision, and material diversity. Dr. Remmi Baker-Sediako, Life Sciences Business Development Manager at Nanoscribe, will moderate the discussion between Professor Angelo Accardo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Precision and Microsystems Engineering at TU Delft, and Dr. Benjamin Richter, Nanoscribe Application Manager, who will talk about cell culture models and mechanobiology concepts and biofabrication of 3D cell microenvironments. There will also be a live demonstration of 3D printing cell scaffolds on the Quantum X bio. “Interested in how to overcome the limitations of 2D monolayer cell cultures and make the most of 3D printing at the scale of biological cells and tissues for cell culturing by amazingly mimicking biological structures? Then be a part of the upcoming live webinar with two experts in 3D microfabrication, 3D cell microenvironments, and cutting-edge biological research.” You can register for the webinar here.

July 13: Materialise Mimics Innovation Suite Scripting Training

Materialise finishes off the week with “A Comprehensive Guide to Mimics Innovation Suite Scripting” at 4 pm CEST (10 am EST). This free training aims to help attendees gain a comprehensive understanding of the scripting module and its functionalities, and how it can be used to streamline scripting workflows to enable more efficiency and consistency in improving patient outcomes. The intended audience is university scientists, engineers from hospitals and medical devices companies, and physicians and technicians from hospitals and universities with a focus on 3D technology. The course will cover an introduction to the module, script setups, and a real example of script automation. “In this free online training course, our experts Noramirah Azlan and Vivek Chowdary Penumarthi will explain how Mimics Innovation Suite’s scripting module provides an easy-to-use platform to automate tasks while delivering outstanding care to your patients. Peter Pijpker, 3D Specialist at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) will show the clinical usage of the module.” You can register for the training here.

July 14: Appetite for Additive with Markforged

Markforged and CREAT3D will host an “Appetite for Additive” workshop in the U.K. on Friday, July 14th. Attendees can feed their minds, and their stomachs, at one of these dedicated sessions in Reading, Berkshire, learning about Markforged’s industrial, metal, and composite 3D printers and various advanced uses and applications, get free DfAM advice to optimize your functional part designs for Markforged printers, explore Markforged Digital Forge software, and more. The short session will be served over a light brunch at 1 pm BST (8 am EST). “Come to one of our Appetite for Additive events to find out more about the Markforged product line and how we’re helping to bring industrial production to the point of need; from tooling to manufacturing aids, through to end-use parts.” You can register for the workshop here.

July 14: 3D Printed Metal Molds PrintJection Session

Finally, Plastic Manufacturing Technologies (PMT) will hold its second PrintJection Q&A Session of the year on Friday the 14th at 11 am EST. Read the full article

[iwan1979]

As Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG) winds down, we take a look at some of the announcements from the event that will have an impact on technology in Singapore.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Thinking the unthinkable

On SEPTEMBER 24th, I'll be speaking IN PERSON at the BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY!

Time and again, I find myself thinking about radium suppositories: specifically, I get to thinking about the day that the consensus shifted from "radium suppositories are great" to "stop putting radioisotopes up your ass."

The thing is, people really liked radium-based quack remedies. They drank radium-infused water, smeared radium cream on their faces and bodies, and yes, rammed radium suppositories up their assholes:

https://maximumfun.org/episodes/sawbones/radium-girls/

The fact that this made whatever ailed you sicker didn't deter the radium true believers: if you're getting sicker, then you must need more radium.

When I think about the debate over radium, I imagine that the people who understood that radium was really bad for you must have run up against critics who told them they were being unreasonable. "You can't tell people to stop using radium. Tell them to use suppositories with less radium. Tell them to use them less frequently. But you can't just tell people, 'stop putting radium up your asshole.' They won't take you seriously."

About 20 years ago, I started pitching various institutions that reviewed consumer tech policy on the idea that they should reject any product that had DRM. After all, DRM didn't just restrict how you used a gadget today, it provided a facility for nonconsensually, irreversibly field-updating that gadget to add new restrictions tomorrow. How could a reviewer in good conscience say, "Go ahead and buy this device if you need this feature," if they knew that at any time in the future, the gadget's maker could take that feature away and leave the buyer with no recourse?

Here's the warning I (half-seriously) suggested magazines run alongside such products:

WARNING: THIS DEVICE’S FEATURES ARE SUBJECT TO REVOCATION WITHOUT NOTICE, ACCORDING TO TERMS SET OUT IN SECRET NEGOTIATIONS. YOUR INVESTMENT IS CONTINGENT ON THE GOODWILL OF THE WORLD’S MOST PARANOID, TECHNOPHOBIC ENTERTAINMENT EXECS. THIS DEVICE AND DEVICES LIKE IT ARE TYPICALLY USED TO CHARGE YOU FOR THINGS YOU USED TO GET FOR FREE — BE SURE TO FACTOR IN THE PRICE OF BUYING ALL YOUR MEDIA OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AT NO TIME IN HISTORY HAS ANY ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY GOTTEN A SWEET DEAL LIKE THIS FROM THE ELECTRONICS PEOPLE, BUT THIS TIME THEY’RE GETTING A TOTAL WALK. HERE, PUT THIS IN YOUR MOUTH, IT’LL MUFFLE YOUR WHIMPERS.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/08/playstationed/#tyler-james-hill

No one took me up on my offer. Over and over again, magazine editors, managers of nonprofit review outlets, and indie gadget reviewers told me that it was unrealistic to publish a roundup of, say, this year's portable music players with the recommendation, "Just don't buy any of these. None of them are fit for purpose."

In other words: No one wanted to publish, "The correct amount of radium to stuff up your asshole is zero."

But the correct amount of rectal radium for you to administer is "none" and the correct car for you to buy today is none of the cars:

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

This isn't the first time the correct automotive recommendation was "don't buy any of these cars." Back before seatbelts came standard in cars, the correct car was "don't buy a car." Sometimes, the correct answer is "none of the above." Even if that makes you sound unserious, the alternative is that you counsel people to put radium up their asses in a bid to seem "reasonable."

Today, DRM-infected products are routinely downgraded and bricked:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/5/24236237/ftc-software-tethering-letter-consumer-reports-ifixit

Even when companies face public uproar over these disastrous decisions and vow to reverse them, they can't, because these downgrades are one way:

https://www.stereocheck.com/news/music/unfortunately-you-cant-revert-to-the-old-sonos-app-anymore/

That's bad enough when it's your smart speakers, but what about when the company bricks your wheelchair:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/when-drm-comes-your-wheelchair

Or your $100,000 exoskeleton:

https://paulickreport.com/news/people/paralyzed-jockey-michael-straight-wants-to-keep-walking-but-manufacturer-wont-repair-exoskeleton

The reality is that we're living at the end of a catastrophic experiment in deregulation and its handmaidens, corruption and regulatory capture, and there are lots of "normal" things that we just need to stop doing. Not do less of them – just stop.

Like, the correct amount of collusion between realtors representing sellers and realtors representing buyers is zero:

https://www.latimes.com/business/real-estate/story/2024-03-19/realtor-rules-just-changed-dramatically-heres-what-buyers-and-sellers-can-expect

We got that one right, but there's plenty more that we're still engaged in this pathetic, denialist bargaining over. What's the correct degree to which White House officials should cycle back into working at the industries they oversaw? Zero. How many times should such a person come back to work at the White House? Again: zero:

https://prospect.org/power/2024-09-19-next-administration-can-stop-ethics-scandals/

When the Biden admin dropped its executive order on ethics just hours after the inauguration, they trumpeted that it "went further than any other towards slowing the revolving door and limiting conflicts of interest while in office":

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-ethics-commitments-by-executive-branch-personnel/

And it did. But it was also full of loopholes, because banning these conflicts of interest altogether was viewed as politically unserious, so the correct amount of radium up the administration's asshole was set at non-zero. The result? Well, it's about what you'd expect:

https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/what-the-hell-is-anita-dunn-even-allowed-to-work-on/

Congress hasn't updated consumer privacy law since 1988, when it took the bold step of…banning video-store clerks from telling the newspapers which VHS cassettes you took home. Since then, a coalition of commercial surveillance companies and the cops and spies who treat their data-lakes as massive, off-the-books anaerobic lagoons of warrantless surveillance data has prevented the passage of any new privacy protections for Americans.

The result? Stalkers, creeps, spies (both governmental and corporate), identity thieves, spearphishers and other villainous scum are running wild, endangering every American's financial, physical and political wellbeing. The correct amount of commercial data-brokerage for America is zero:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/06/privacy-first/#but-not-just-privacy

In other words, we should order every data-broker, every tech giant, every consumer electronics company and app vendor to delete all their surveillance data. All of it. The correct amount of radium in that asshole is – as with every other orifice zero:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/07/revealed-preferences/#extinguish-v-improve

From the perspective of the radium pitchmen, the most shocking thing about the past four years has been antitrust enforcers – like Lina Khan, Rohit Chopra, and Jonathan Kanter – who refused to bargain about how much radium we needed to stick up our butts. Fearless of being branded as "unserious" and "unreasonable," they seriously, reasonably said the right amount is none, actually.

None. Which is why they're so mad at Khan and co. Which is why they're so bent on getting Kamala Harris to fire Khan – despite the fact that this would burn precious political capital in the senate. Some people just love the feeling they get from a radium suppository – especially the suppository salesmen:

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-09-19-lina-khan-doesnt-need-to-be-confirmed-again/

The paperback edition of The Lost Cause, my nationally bestselling, hopeful solarpunk novel is out this month!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/19/just-stop-putting-that-up-your-ass/#harm-reduction/a>

Image: Museum of the Health Sciences https://www.uab.edu/amhs/

[exeggcute]

interesting links roundup #2

reading

America’s dairy farms are disappearing

The Canary (forgive me for sharing a michael lewis wapo piece but it's about mineshaft engineering safety which is super neat I promise!!!)

‘The data on extreme human ageing is rotten from the inside out’

Diving lizard’s built-in ‘scuba tank’ allows it to breathe underwater

The Empathy Punishment

The Final Penalty

Gold Treasure Worth a Fortune Was Just Hidden in a Forest. The Hunt Starts Now

How a Scientific Dispute Spiralled Into a Defamation Lawsuit

How to succeed in MrBeast production

How Weed Strains Get Their (Amusing, Provocative, Downright Wacky) Names

Human cases of raccoon parasite may be your best excuse to buy a flamethrower

I sell onions on the Internet

Jawbreakers

Man Called Fran

Moral progress is annoying

The optimal amount of fraud is non-zero

Planet of Person Guys

Real-Estate Shopping for the Apocalypse

Some Notes on Attunement

U.S. overdose deaths plummet, saving thousands of lives

Why Is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?

Why We’re Turning Psychiatric Labels Into Identities

You are not a commercial for yourself

tools/reference

archive.is (this is the paywall remover I've been running all the paywalled links through (you're welcome) and pairs nicely with the news aggregators below)

Microsoft Activation Scripts

Radio Garden

Tom Paine Today and The Brutalist Report (both of these are news aggregators that let you quickly see what's in the headlines and how different outlets are reporting on it, although the latter is a bit more tech-focused)

Unclaimed Baggage

other

Observations - Journey (YouTube)

Shouting in the Datacenter (YouTube)

This American Life #839: Meet Me at the Fair

[fieldghoul]

Ministry Office Tech Roundup

Oh boy! Oh boy!! New filming location means new set dressing and new technology to identify!! All of the following is from Chapter 20: Arrival of a Secret Agent.

For starters, the phones on the desk are the NEC DT330 in the 32-button layout option, sold c. 2010

(I cannot find photos of the 32 button DT330 in woodgrain but they sold it! Trust me! I found the 2010 BTB sales catalogue!)

Our dedicated clergy member has her papers stacked on top of an HP Pavilion DV7-6163CL, sold c. 2012

Judith's desk has a Casio Memory B-1 calculator, produced c. 1978

Frater's absurd battlestation consists of:

NEC Cromaclear P500 Monitor, c. 1996

Perix Perimice-209 Mouse, c. 2017

Generic RGB Gaming Keyboard, c. 2020

(I think it gets rebadged under multiple brand names -- the reference photo is from "KUIYN" and the the keyboard has used different keycaps over the years.)

Of course a monitor is useless without a computer, so everything is powered by a laptop under the table. It appears to be an HP laptop, something along the lines of a 14inch HP Stream c. 2020 onwards.