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thehatfox thehatfox @lemmy.world
Posts 505
Comments 760
I bet I'm the only human in miles and miles!
  • As he speaks English, does Donald talk like a duck though?

  • Why BlueSky Isn’t the Alternative to X (Formerly Twitter) You’re Looking For — and Why Mastodon Is the Better Choice Over X, Threads, and BlueSky
  • That's a gross assumption that people care about any of this.

    For any form of federated community to be sustainable, its users have to care about that. Otherwise those communities will eventually be consumed by whichever instance gains the critical mass to close itself off and become another Twitter or Reddit.

    To achieve the benefits of federation, users must be educated on principles of federation, not be obfuscated from them. The question is how the Fediverse can do that.

  • www.theguardian.com Lib Dems plan to force vote on replacing Lords with elected upper chamber

    Party wants to amend government’s bill that would end tradition of hereditary peers to make reforms go further

    Lib Dems plan to force vote on replacing Lords with elected upper chamber
    40

    Home Assistant 2024.11: Slick dashboards and speedy cameras

    www.home-assistant.io 2024.11: Slick dashboards and speedy cameras

    Our new sections dashboards are now out of experimental and have become the default, low-latency camera streams using WebRTC, live streaming logs, Home Assistant Voice updates, and much more!

    2024.11: Slick dashboards and speedy cameras
    8
    www.bbc.co.uk Plans to ban smoking outside hospitals and schools in England

    Government proposals could mean some places become vape-free too, subject to consultation.

    Plans to ban smoking outside hospitals and schools in England
    31
    Carved a Gengar pumpkin this year. Happy Halloween!
  • I drew the outline on with a pen, cut out the holes first, then carefully cut the pumpkin skin with a scalpel, and scraped it off.

  • Carved a Gengar pumpkin this year. Happy Halloween!

    Give him some candy or he'll eat your dreams tonight!

    4
    www.theguardian.com Cycling will be more dangerous due to council clampdowns, say campaigners

    Critics of cycling bans in city centres say they unfairly punish cyclists and push them on to congested roads

    Cycling will be more dangerous due to council clampdowns, say campaigners
    14
    M4 Mac Mini's Power Button Has New Bottom Location
  • Functionally it’s harder to accidentally press on the bottom.

    Although it’s also now harder to intentionally press too. It looks like a finger can fit under there, otherwise you’ll be flipping it over to power on.

  • Britain will rejoin the EU within 15 years, former Brussels chief predicts
  • I expect (at least) one party will eventually adopt Rejoin as a distinguishing policy, and maybe sooner rather later.

    But the appetite for Rejoin will probably depend on the shape of the UK economy and the political direction of the EU in 10+ years. If the Starmer project really has been delivering tangible growth by then, people may feel Brexit has (inadvertently) “worked” in the end. If the EU achieves greater and greater integration in the UK’s absence it may seem less palatable to enough voters.

    Both of those are also going to be influenced by external factors like the direction of a possible Trump second term, the outcome of the war in Ukraine etc.

  • Amazon leaks tiny Mac Mini with M4 chip
  • I don’t think it’s the first time for Amazon either.

  • www.theregister.com UK needs cyber security professionals, but won't pay up

    GCHQ job ads seek top talent with bottom-end pay packets

    UK needs cyber security professionals, but won't pay up
    21
    What's a technology that was cooler in its older iterations?
  • Prague had a large pneumatic post system which operated for 100+ years.

    Prague pneumatic post.

  • www.bbc.co.uk Train crash Wales: Man dies, 15 in hospital, after collision

    The crash happened near the village of Llanbrynmair, in Powys, at around 19:30 BST on Monday.

    Train crash Wales: Man dies, 15 in hospital, after collision
    3
    seriously, it's the one thing keeping the web usable
  • I honestly don’t know how they do it. Whenever I get handed someone else’s device without an adblocker I find it almost painful to try and use.

  • Major overhaul of workers' rights to be outlined

    www.bbc.co.uk Workers' rights: Sick pay and parental leave part of major overhaul

    The deputy prime minister calls the measures the "biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation".

    Workers' rights: Sick pay and parental leave part of major overhaul
    3
    A Google breakup is on the table, say DOJ lawyers
  • Years ago a Microsoft breakup was also once on the table, but it never happened.

    I wouldn’t get too excited that regulators will follow through with this for Google either.

  • www.independent.co.uk Keir Starmer pins economic growth hopes on British Hollywood with new tax relief

    The prime minister spoke exclusively to The Independent about how important the creative arts are to him personally, as someone who has grown up playing the flute and the violin

    Keir Starmer pins economic growth hopes on British Hollywood with new tax relief
    11
    www.bbc.co.uk Government pledges nearly £22bn for carbon capture projects

    Sir Keir Starmer says carbon capture clusters on Merseyside and Teesside will reignite industrial heartlands.

    Government pledges nearly £22bn for carbon capture projects
    11
    When you're at home, where do you eat your meals?
  • Mostly at the dining table, meals are social and family time.

    Very occasionally I will eat the desk if I’m in the house alone or working late etc, but it’s something I try and avoid generally.

  • Online retailer eBay scraps fees for private sellers in UK
  • So I’ve heard they have already switched eBay in Germany to this no-fee system. It proved more profitable for eBay because private sellers who accrue an eBay balance from sales were in turn more likely to spend it on eBay.

  • www.theguardian.com Online retailer eBay scraps fees for private sellers in UK

    In latest response to rivals such as Depop and Vinted, users now only pay transaction fees on sales of vehicles

    Online retailer eBay scraps fees for private sellers in UK
    8

    Raspberry Pi AI Camera on sale now at $70

    0
    inews.co.uk Tory councils lead revolt over Labour's anti-Nimby housebuilding targets

    'Sometimes the Nimby argument is valid because it's about infrastructure,' Conservative councillor Carl Les tells i

    Tory councils lead revolt over Labour's anti-Nimby housebuilding targets
    2
    A Next Generation Approach to Heating and Cooling Buildings
  • Presumably this adds more cost and complexity to buying and installing appliances though if they have to integrate into these systems, which I’m guessing aren’t currently well standardised.

    It’s an interesting idea nonetheless. I’ve heard of other projects using excess heat from large data centres to provide energy for district heating systems.

  • Dozens from UK take up Putin’s offer to ditch ‘woke’ West and move to Russia
  • The current population of the UK is somewhere around 68 million.

    Thats enough people that you could probably find “dozens” who would say yes to just about anything.

  • www.theguardian.com Only 3% of UK 12-year-olds don’t have a smartphone. Here is how four of them feel about it

    There has been a huge wave of parental concern about smartphones this year. So do kids without them feel deprived – or more alive?

    Only 3% of UK 12-year-olds don’t have a smartphone. Here is how four of them feel about it
    10
    Words for the End of Summer [INCIDENTAL COMICS]
  • Resplendent and fungiform definitely are, and I hope slugabed is because it’s describing my mood this Sunday morning rather aptly.

  • They stole my voice with AI | Jeff Geerling
  • We are going to need much stronger image rights for individuals in the AI age.

    There’s no way to stop the technology itself (although current development may plateau at some point), so there must be strong legal restrictions on abusing it.

  • Mozilla exits the fediverse and will shutter its Mastodon server in December | TechCrunch
  • I don’t think Mozilla running a Mastodon server is losing focus. The ethos of Mozilla and the Fediverse have a lot of overlap, and Mozilla should desire to have a foot in it.

    An official Mastodon server is also a useful platform for marketing and outreach. In contrast an organisation claiming to be all about privacy and open source retreating from a social media platform that embodies those is not a good look.

  • Virgin Media Warns UK Broadband Users Not to Switch Routers Off at Night - ISPreview UK
  • High energy bills and misinformation about energy saving seems to be causing some odd behaviour here in the UK.

    I have relatives who go round turning off every device and appliance at night, despite the negligible power draw they have in standby. Another will only charge their phone at night during cheaper the electricity rate - but runs the tumble dryer during the day.

    I also often hear stories about people fearing electronic devices will catch fire if left on standby over night. Which may well be a risk for charging a dodgy Chinese e-bike but probably not for a home router.

  • Fears for patient safety as GPs use ChatGPT to diagnose and treat illness
  • I think the difference here is that medical reference material is based on long process of proven research. It can be trusted as a reliable source of information.

    AI tools however are so new they haven’t faced anything like the same level of scrutiny. For now they can’t be considered reliable, and their use should be kept within proper medical trials until we understand them better.

    Yes human error will also always be an issue, but putting that on top of the currently shaky foundations of AI only compounds the problem.

  • Mozilla is a sinking ship.
  • The challenge for Ladybird and other independent browser projects is the enormous size and scope required of modern browsers, which is also still growing. Web browsers are now probably second only to operating systems in complexity in the personal computing space.

    Plus even if they do reach technical maturity, they still have to convince people to use it. That’s not been going very well for Mozilla, and they already have a working browser.

  • Mozilla is a sinking ship.
  • Safari is more energy efficient on macOS compared to other browsers.

    But like it or not the (artificial) hold Safari has over the iOS/iPadOS ecosystem is the only thing stopping a complete Google hegemony over the web browser market.

    Mozilla is circling the drain and the few nascent new browser projects are years away from technical maturity and may never establish any meaningful market share anyway.

  • inews.co.uk Fears for patient safety as GPs use ChatGPT to diagnose and treat illness

    One in four UK GPs says they used AI tools to suggest treatment options, despite a lack of formal guidance on their use

    Fears for patient safety as GPs use ChatGPT to diagnose and treat illness
    41
    www.theguardian.com Internet replaces TV as UK’s most popular news source for first time

    Media regulator describes change as a ‘generational shift in the balance of news media’

    Internet replaces TV as UK’s most popular news source for first time
    2
    6
    www.bbc.co.uk Term-time holiday fine rise won't stop us, say parents

    Some say the threat of prosecution is not enough to stop them going on holiday for cheaper prices.

    Term-time holiday fine rise won't stop us, say parents
    8

    Home Assistant 2024.9: Sections go BIG

    www.home-assistant.io 2024.9: Sections go BIG

    Bigger wider sections for big cards, smarter energy monitoring, a new LLM option, Works with Home Assistant Matter devices, and more open source.

    2024.9: Sections go BIG
    5

    Restrained and scared - the £100k schools failing vulnerable children

    www.bbc.co.uk Private special needs schools accused of letting down children

    A pupil who says she was repeatedly restrained took her independent special school to court.

    Private special needs schools accused of letting down children
    0