@paco This goes for podcasts too. I've actively not included my podcast on Spotify because of the many issues with the platform.I know this can limit the podcast's reach and growth. That's okay.We can make intentional choices about where we put out our work."Available on all platforms" is an act of concession.(Podcast is https://www.implausipod.com btw. Available at select locations.)

Let me tell the story of my “#math #pencil”.My dad was a bit of a draftsman in his day. He was a builder and so he had some nice mechanical pencils and straight edges. At some point in high school he gave me one of his nice mechanical pencils. 0.2mm lead. Nice grip. Throughout my high school career I used it in math class (and sciences like physics and chemistry) because it was nice and it was comfortable. Fast forward to college and the same thing: I used it in all my math classes. It had become my “math pencil.” All my mathematical knowledge (sparse as it is) is in that pencil.This is my middle boy’s first semester at #college and I bequeathed to him the math pencil as he packed for college. He may very well end up a math minor. I just got an update and he’s getting outstanding grades in math. Linear algebra final coming up on Tuesday.It was just an ordinary pencil. But through sorta habit and happenstance, and some good luck I kept it 30 years to hand it down. My own path to college wasn’t great. Pretty much whatever was in the back of my dad’s Buick when I went to college is all I carried from childhood to adulthood. (That’s another story) but the pencil is one of those things and it was great to pass it on. #university #inheritance #family

Fucking #mozilla. First they buy a web advertising company. Then, within months of closing that purchase, they remove the DNT header. Look: it’s true that most sites ignore it. Its practical impact is basically nil. But it has a moral purpose. Every website writes terms in tiny print that says “by coming to this web site, even once, you agree to the following 9 pages of legal terms”I like having the same fine print in every web request I make. “In case you were wondering, no I don’t consent to tracking.” Make it clear that they are tracking without my consent. If they were at all interested in my consent they have an affirmative indicator that doesn’t need interpreting. They can’t plead ignorance and they can’t say that the only way I can indicate consent is through some silly web form that they devise. I can’t imagine any POSITIVE benefit that would make the work of removing this feature jump to the top of any priority list. I can imagine a long list of possible negative reasons. Ways in which this feature runs counter to their new goals as an org.#privacy https://windowsreport.com/mozilla-firefox-removes-do-not-track-feature-support-heres-what-it-means-for-your-privacy/

@paco I don't know but I definitely need to try this!

@pacoI made an amazing discovery last #Monsterdon, well, amazing to me because everybody else was paying attention and already knew, but what I wandered into was an entire #peertube playlist of ALL the #monsterdon movies!So not only do I get to watch https://tube.me.jon-e.net/w/iFB25hjupH9eFpXoWADQkK but it fits with my #Fediverse philosophy to "eat our own dog food" as the tech-bros say, but I prefer to 𝚋𝙚 𝚝🅗𝕖 ⓐ𝙣𝐭𝖎-𝒆𝗻🅥🄸𝗿ⓞ𝑛🅜𝔢𝔫𝔱, and find out by actually living there

I found this absolute ragebait #YouTube account. It's a person who is making up #AI generated stories obviously designed to make people angry, and they're all totally fake. It's just a story made up by #GenAI, narrated by an AI voice. There's no video. Just one AI-generated image.What's amazing is that there's a ton of engagement. And it's clearly all fake engagement. It's a bunch of #fake accounts that like and comment. All the content, all the views, all the likes, all the comments: virtually all fake. So this is basically an entire artificial engagement ecosystem. But sometimes it breaks out and real people see this stuff. And then the scammer gets some real ad revenue.It worked, though. I was looking at something relatively mainstream (a Mehdi Hassan video), and one of the top 4 suggestions in my side bar, was this garbage.Be warned: (a) it's all rage-inducing, and (b) it's all totally #fakenews. Stuff like this really happens, but all of these are totally untrue and made up.The name is "Pateo Master of Stories", but really they're "Pateo Master of Baiting" https://www.youtube.com/@PateoMasterofStories/videos