Nostr notes by jwz

Hey, what's your favorite "walks into a bar" joke? ...

2026-07-03T08:24:17Z

Hey, what's your favorite "walks into a bar" joke?

Please be aware that I have the most comprehensive collection of jokes of this formation, so you cannot stump me, that's not what I'm asking. I have 100% heard your joke before. I just want to hear your best formation. Bring it.

https://jwz.org/b/yk8_

The Vaillancourt Fountain when it was fully operational. ...

2026-06-22T00:13:15Z

The Vaillancourt Fountain when it was fully operational.
https://jwz.org/b/yk8p

RE: https://sfba.social/@bitterkarella/116648620727300005 No ...

2026-05-28T07:24:52Z

RE: https://sfba.social/@bitterkarella/116648620727300005

No frsrs da papa quoting Gandalf instead of Aslan is *definitely* picking a team.

quoting
note1mq6…ajky

8
Tolkien: well well well
Tolkien: now look who's laughing!
Tolkien: hmm hey clive
CS Lewis: what
Tolkien: remind me, has the archbishop of whatever ever quoted aslan?
Lewis:
Tolkien: i'm sorry i can't hear you
Tolkien: what was that again?
Lewis: no
Tolkien: ha ha that's what i thought!

I like @npub1fdr…lvhs's line, "An app is just a ...

2026-05-24T19:28:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…mz53
_________________________

I like Cory Doctorow (npub1fdr…lvhs)'s line, "An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a felony to block ads in it".

Yesterday I saw an Incel Camino with a giant ad for a ...

2026-05-17T18:06:35Z

Yesterday I saw an Incel Camino with a giant ad for a chiropractor on the side.

At first this confused me, because I thought chiropractors were all crystals-and-qi hippies.

But I guess now they're probably all qanon maha antivaxxers too, so in hindsight, this tracks.

I want whoever decided that clicking on a text field should ...

2026-04-12T02:25:01Z

I want whoever decided that clicking on a text field should auto-select all the text in it brought up on charges.

Important XScreenSaver policy update. 25: No contributions built ...

2026-04-09T09:45:48Z

Important XScreenSaver policy update.

25: No contributions built with, or assisted by, LLMs or any kind of "generative AI" tools will be considered. If you didn't bother writing it, I'm not going to bother reading it. XScreenSaver is art by humans for humans.

https://jwz.org/b/yk56

Why are there no photos of the bombed out AWS data centers? ...

2026-04-05T03:39:50Z

Why are there no photos of the bombed out AWS data centers? Asking for an everybody.

Happy "techbros and incels try to monetize comedy without ...

2026-04-01T08:33:51Z

Happy "techbros and incels try to monetize comedy without understanding it" day to all who celebrate

XScreenSaver 6.15 is out now. A whopping thirteen new savers this ...

2026-03-31T01:15:45Z

XScreenSaver 6.15 is out now. A whopping thirteen new savers this time:
New hack by me, worldpieces.
New Shadertoy hacks brought into the fold: bestill, bubblecolors, darktransit, downfall, driftclouds, goldenapollian, noxfire, prococean, rigrekt, trainmandala, trizm and universeball.

I fixed a bunch of Android bullshit, too (some of which meant needing to reimplement glRotatef etc. from first principles). Android's implementation of GLES is a buggy mess...
https://jwz.org/b/yk5c

Ban adults from the Internet instead of kids. Logan's Run ...

2026-03-27T07:25:23Z

Ban adults from the Internet instead of kids. Logan's Run Now. I await the sweet embrace of Carousel.

I was let to believe that pirates had a code. If there was any ...

2026-03-26T07:09:58Z

I was let to believe that pirates had a code. If there was any honor among pirates they would clearly mark their rips as "this is some AI-upscaled camrip bullshit with crypto-casino watermarks that you shouldn't bother downloading".

What a world.

Favorite mobile mastodon feature: I hit reply, type a lot, scroll ...

2026-03-26T03:29:32Z

Favorite mobile mastodon feature: I hit reply, type a lot, scroll back to read something in what I am replying to, and OOPS you scrolled too far, reload page! Fuck your reply!

If those of you using Android could click on this link and tell ...

2026-03-22T17:15:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…6560
_________________________

If those of you using Android could click on this link and tell me whether it does anything even remotely useful, and if so, some detail about how horrible/stupid the whole experience is, that would be helpful: https://www.jwz.org/images/2026/test.pkpass

And tell me what version you're using, obviously. Possibly this requires some "Play" [sic] stuff to work.

An anti-AI march of a couple hundred people just walked down my ...

2026-03-21T20:54:40Z

An anti-AI march of a couple hundred people just walked down my street! Signs included "This is fucked" and "stop building skynet".

Four years ago I asked whether "Google Pass" was a thing ...

2026-03-21T20:05:11Z

Four years ago I asked whether "Google Pass" was a thing that I needed to give a shit about and consensus was, "no, nobody uses that." But I have heard anecdotally, recently, that this might no longer be true. Thoughts?

The goal here is, "reduce the amount of time it takes for someone standing in front of my nightclub to wave their QR code at the door staff."

Note: I don't use Android and know as little about its ecosystem as possible, so please use small words.
https://jwz.org/b/yk45

systemd-censord. Slow clap From: FloofyWolf Recently, a ...

2026-03-21T18:41:02Z

systemd-censord.

*Slow clap*

From: FloofyWolf
Recently, a proposal has been made to implement an API for a new California censorship regulation, "On the unfortunate need for an "age verification" API for legal compliance reasons in some U.S. states" by Aaron Rainbolt. I believe the approach outlined to be very short-sighted, in that creating a bespoke API for each of the hundreds of government censorship requirements that debian will presumably now be following...
https://jwz.org/b/yk41

BREAKING, I hav learned that a large number of my readers have ...

2026-03-21T07:40:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…843u
_________________________

BREAKING, I hav learned that a large number of my readers have "lost time" at a Waffle House. [ "Red Right Hand" plays ]

Top FEMA Official Claims He Teleported to Waffle House. ...

2026-03-20T19:46:46Z

Top FEMA Official Claims He Teleported to Waffle House.

FEMA's Gregg Phillips says he has experienced multiple "scary" episodes of sudden teleportation: Phillips spoke "on multiple podcasts" about being teleported against his will, which he has...
https://jwz.org/b/yk4x

The purpose of a thing is what it does. It is not open, and ...

2026-03-19T22:14:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…6255
_________________________

The purpose of a thing is what it does. It is not open, and they've been leading you along with "maybe someday real soon now" for years. It will never be open.

The crypto bro in question is Jack Dorsey, Blockchain Rasputin, the OG Twitter Nazi, and he may not be on the board any more but he still owns $13M of the company.

His involvement at any stage of any project, past or present, is immediately disqualifying.

I am shocked, shocked to learn that the not-actually-federated, ...

2026-03-19T20:48:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…yaup
_________________________

I am shocked, shocked to learn that the not-actually-federated, locked-in social network started by a bunch of cryptocurrency people is all in on cryptocurrency, VC and ads.

I cannot comprehend why you keep giving them the benefit of the doubt. They have told you who they are, repeatedly.

"It's BSD" is uselessly interesting trivia about .h ...

2026-03-19T08:01:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…28cc
_________________________

"It's BSD" is uselessly interesting trivia about .h files whereas "it's NeXTstep" actually has historically revelatory value.

Despite all the reasons to hate Apple, and great googly moogly ...

2026-03-19T05:52:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…z9e8
_________________________

Despite all the reasons to hate Apple, and great googly moogly there are *many*, and despite the fact that the OS has gotten significantly worse in very stupid ways in recent years through *many* unforced errors, I still contend that Apple's offerings are A) fundamentally Unix systems, and B) the best Unixen that have ever existed, and C) the *only* usable Unix GUI, desktop or mobile.

I might wish otherwise, but I do not deny my own lying eyes.

Today in ACAB: Afroman defeats Officer Lemon Pound Cake. Afroman ...

2026-03-19T02:26:33Z

Today in ACAB: Afroman defeats Officer Lemon Pound Cake.

Afroman found not liable in bizarre Ohio defamation case: Afroman did not defame Ohio cops in a satirical music video that featured footage of them fruitlessly raiding the rapper's house, a jury...
https://jwz.org/b/yk4o

Hey here's a new domain for you to block ...

2026-03-18T22:36:57Z

Hey here's a new domain for you to block

"It's like having a reference librarian!" My Brother ...

2026-03-17T23:31:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…drh9
_________________________

"It's like having a reference librarian!"

My Brother in Taxonomy, it is the farthest thing from that.

A reference librarian is a person with feelings, motivations and ethics, who has a goal of helping you find the answer to your question.

The chatbot is a clockwork mechanism that extrudes text optimized to make you *think* your question has been answered.

It is also a machine built by fascists with the goal of creating a dependent, de-skilled, submissive populace and ending Democracy. HTH.

A slopfondler walks into a bar. They: Hey. I found a good use of ...

2026-03-17T18:24:10Z

A slopfondler walks into a bar.

They: Hey. I found a good use of AI!
Me: No you didn't.
They: Wait let me tell you about it.
Me: Please don't. I'm begging you. Stop talking.
They: No, you'll like this.
Me: I assure you, I will not...
https://jwz.org/b/yk4i

This sounds like a techbro take of "but what if John Henry ...

2026-03-16T08:16:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…ef7s
_________________________

This sounds like a techbro take of "but what if John Henry deserved to die"

This is some boss-level forensic accounting demonstrating that ...

2026-03-14T22:12:45Z

This is some boss-level forensic accounting demonstrating that Facebook secretly wrote and is shepherding the various "age verification" bills.

Age Verification Lobbying: Dark Money, Model Legislation & Institutional Capture: How corporate lobbying, think tank infrastructure, competing model legislation, and obscured funding networks are shaping age verification policy across 45 states and Congress...
https://jwz.org/b/yk4c

The Removed DOGE Deposition Videos Have Already Been Backed Up ...

2026-03-14T17:36:53Z

The Removed DOGE Deposition Videos Have Already Been Backed Up Across the Internet.

Oh no. Anyway
https://jwz.org/b/yk4Q

I miss the days when Livenation news rose to the top of the list ...

2026-03-09T19:25:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…m39t
_________________________

I miss the days when Livenation news rose to the top of the list of things for me to be angry about, sigh.

Today in scrapers. Honestly one of the most offensive things ...

2026-03-09T18:28:55Z

Today in scrapers.

Honestly one of the most offensive things about these AI scraper bots is how bad at their jobs they are. Look at these 404s from the last 6 hours and despair: /blog/2014/12/30/411x480 /blog/2014/12/30/500x417...
https://jwz.org/b/yk4K

How much water do the data centres use? It's a secret. Do you ...

2026-03-08T03:08:20Z

How much water do the data centres use? It's a secret.

Do you want Immortan Joes? Because this is how you get Immortan Joes. Roanoke gets its drinking water from Carvins Cove Reservoir. The locals tried to find out just how much water Google would be...
https://jwz.org/b/yk4G

They will always be MICROS~1.EXE to me

2026-03-03T08:31:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…lfvs
_________________________

They will always be MICROS~1.EXE to me

That one XKCD thing, now interactive. This is so much fun... ...

2026-03-03T08:25:27Z

That one XKCD thing, now interactive.

This is so much fun... Craig S. Kaplan: In my online undergraduate P5.js course, students are about to begin the module on motion and physics, including a bit of physics simulation using Matter.js. It suddenly...
https://jwz.org/b/yk4B

Someone should make a feed that just re-posts Get Your War On ...

2026-02-28T19:21:52Z

Someone should make a feed that just re-posts Get Your War On from the beginning in order. http://www.mnftiu.cc/2001/10/09/war-1/

I switched to Apple ~2 years ago and have no regrets. Exporting ...

2026-02-24T19:23:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…ktcz
_________________________

I switched to Apple ~2 years ago and have no regrets. Exporting works, so there's no lock-in. https://jwz.org/b/ykHP

Already pre-ordering their record

2026-02-22T09:44:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…tncv
_________________________

Already pre-ordering their record

One of the things that is amazing about AI derangement syndrome ...

2026-02-18T12:23:46Z

One of the things that is amazing about AI derangement syndrome is that when you call someone out for buying into that shit -- someone you've previously been on quite good terms with for decades -- their response to you saying, "hey, you should stop doing that, there is no ethical use of this tech" is a level of offense as if you have just fucked their cat.

Some of you probably know who I'm talking about. If not, you probably have examples yourselves.

25 years ago today, Bad_CRC posted the primordial meme video ...

2026-02-16T21:28:53Z

25 years ago today, Bad_CRC posted the primordial meme video "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" on Newgrounds.

In honor of this important anniversary, I downloaded the original Flash SWF file from Internet Archive, played it using Ruffle in a full-screen window, and replaced the audio with the original MP3 of "Invasion of the Gabber Robots" by The Laziest Men on Mars. So this is probably the highest fidelity encoding possible, without going back to the original forum GIFs.
https://jwz.org/b/yk3i

Everything written by AI boosters tracks much more clearly if you ...

2026-02-16T03:29:28Z

Everything written by AI boosters tracks much more clearly if you simply replace "AI" with "cocaine".

I shall demonstrate!

(Not linking to OP, because it's trash.)

"Let’s pretend you’re the only person at your company using cocaine.

You decide you’re going to impress your employer, and work for 8 hours a day at 10x productivity. You knock it out of the park and make everyone else look terrible by comparison. [...]

In this scenario, you capture 100% of the value from your adopting cocaine."

"Door ajar" versus $100 billion valuation. Today I ...

2026-02-13T01:24:03Z

"Door ajar" versus $100 billion valuation.

Today I learned that you can DoS a Waymo by opening its door.

"The More You Know..."

Waymo, Google's autonomous vehicle company, and DoorDash, the delivery and gig work platform, have launched a pilot program that pays Dashers, at least in one case, around $10 to travel to a parked Waymo and close its door that the previous passenger left open.
https://jwz.org/b/yk3Z

Periodic reminder that "good billionaire" Marc Benioff is ...

2026-02-10T23:34:25Z

Periodic reminder that "good billionaire" Marc Benioff is still a massive piece of shit.

In his keynote, Benioff thanked international Salesforce employees for traveling to the United States for the meeting, and asked them to stand. Benioff then said...
https://jwz.org/b/yk3N

'AI' is a dick move. Baldur Bjarnason: I've stopped ...

2026-02-07T21:09:10Z

'AI' is a dick move.

Baldur Bjarnason: I've stopped trying to debate software developers on LLMs. It's a fruitless debate. Even if the believers in agents and copilots could be budged on empirical grounds, and the past few years have given us plenty...
https://jwz.org/b/yk3I

Waymo Exec Admits Remote Drivers in Philippines. Mechanical Turk, ...

2026-02-06T20:56:09Z

Waymo Exec Admits Remote Drivers in Philippines.

Mechanical Turk, meet Mechanical Filipino: Mauricio Peña, the company's Chief Safety Officer, confirmed under questioning that the Google subsidiary employs human operators abroad [...] "They provide...
https://jwz.org/b/yk3E

Some of them are at least pretending to be having their "Are ...

2026-02-06T08:52:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…xsch
_________________________

Some of them are at least pretending to be having their "Are we the baddies??" moment. https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-ice-dhs-alex-pretti-killing-workers-slack-minneapolis/

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Mastodon/115989801184595302 The ...

2026-01-31T20:39:19Z

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Mastodon/115989801184595302

The replies on this thread are wild.

"This is a conspiracy by Big Signup to make mastodon.social even bigger"

"I cannot tell the difference between using Google Docs for a survey and being owned by the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund"

quoting
note14e8…xq2a

We are excited to share that we are beginning work on a new onboarding experiment for #Mastodon: Default Server Recommendations.

Our intent for this experiment is to recommend the closest server geographically that is in the correct language during the sign-up flow. We will be running this experiment on our iOS and Android apps only to start.

1/6

Mozilla has 1.4 BILLION dollars that they are spending on some AI ...

2026-01-29T19:11:40Z

Mozilla has 1.4 BILLION dollars that they are spending on some AI bullshit.

That's billion with a B. So if you held out hope that filling out surveys or shitposting through it might turn this ship around, no. That much money has an event horizon.

Mozilla is cooked.

https://jwz.org/b/yk2n

Extremely disappointing to see you promoting cryptocurrency. You ...

2026-01-27T19:16:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…cgpp
_________________________

Extremely disappointing to see you promoting cryptocurrency. You should not accept it, period.

My iPad is currently begging me to allow it to upgrade itself ...

2026-01-24T22:33:03Z

My iPad is currently begging me to allow it to upgrade itself from 18 to 26. How much would I regret it if I said yes?
https://jwz.org/b/yk2S

RE: https://social.vmbrasseur.com/@vmbrasseur/115922995190919975 ...

2026-01-19T19:58:51Z

RE: https://social.vmbrasseur.com/@vmbrasseur/115922995190919975

Mozilla wants your input. Here's mine:

Mozilla should be doing two things and two things only:

1: Building THE reference implementation web browser, and
2: Being a jugular-snapping attack dog on standards committees.
3: There is no 3.

Mozilla should have NOTHING to do with AI. Nobody wants it. Stop forcing AI into every corner of every project because your VC-brained management have completely lost the plot.

https://mozillafoundation.tfaforms.net/201

quoting
note1z8f…dmuu

Mozilla wants your input. Please provide it.

https://mozillafoundation.tfaforms.net/201

Here's mine.

#OpenSource #OpenWeb #Privacy #AI

Hey look, here's Kimberly Guilfoyle's ex-husband sucking ...

2026-01-17T20:50:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…hr54
_________________________

Hey look, here's Kimberly Guilfoyle's ex-husband sucking Ben Shapiro's dick: https://www.commondreams.org/gavin-newsom-shapiro-ice

"Newsom then boasted that there have been 'over 10,000' deportations he’s cooperated with since he became governor of California. 'California has cooperated with more ICE transfers, probably, than any other state in the country,' he continued. 'I vetoed multiple pieces of legislation that have come from my legislature to stop the ability for the state of California to do that.'"

Welp, after my spamnesty, including a restructuring of my ...

2026-01-17T06:16:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…p7y0
_________________________

Welp, after my spamnesty, including a restructuring of my fail2ban jails and drastic reduction in the number of regexps being processed, performance was pretty good for a while. But in the last 8 days I've already put a 30 day ban on over *1.6 million* IPs that hit the honeypot. And now fail2ban is using a bunch of CPU again. fail2ban.sqlite3 is 2.5G.

We used to be an internet.

Let's say you run a nonprofit animal shelter. And for some ...

2026-01-16T20:43:05Z

Let's say you run a nonprofit animal shelter. And for some reason, some people feel you should be seeing hockey-stick growth, but the donations aren't covering it.

So you decide to start up a side-line of selling kittens for meat.

Then you will inevitably have someone stroking their chin and saying, "Yes, yes, but how could they afford to stay open if they weren't selling kitten deli slices?"

Some might say - maybe you aren't an animal shelter any more. Some might say.
https://jwz.org/b/yk2A

Periodic reminder that Newsom sucks. Gavin Newsom comes out ...

2026-01-13T20:34:12Z

Periodic reminder that Newsom sucks.

Gavin Newsom comes out swinging against California billionaire tax:

In interviews with Politico and the New York Times, [Kimberly Guilfoyle's ex-husband] described his office's efforts to kill the proposed billionaire tax and told the Times he would "do what I have to do to protect [rich people's yacht money]". As a direct-to-voters ballot initiative, Newsom would not have the power to veto the tax if the proposal passed...
https://jwz.org/b/yk10

CA DROP is finally live. California residents can use new tool to ...

2026-01-13T20:01:05Z

CA DROP is finally live.

California residents can use new tool to demand brokers delete their personal data: While state residents have had the right to demand that a company stop collecting and selling their data since 2020, doing so required a...
https://jwz.org/b/yk1v

fail2ban GC. Over the years I've accumulated thousands of ...

2026-01-08T08:30:45Z

fail2ban GC.

Over the years I've accumulated thousands of fail2ban regexps. It's a performance impact. Is there some way to figure out which ones have not been hit in a while, to remove?
https://jwz.org/b/yk1e

Car Brain. There's a lot of stupid in the world, but ...

2026-01-06T20:20:30Z

Car Brain.

There's a lot of stupid in the world, but here's some more. For those of you not in San Francisco: we have an old freeway running right past the ocean. It is falling into the ocean, and for decades had been closed like 20% of the time as...
https://jwz.org/b/yk1T

I don't like to talk in absolutes about security, but... my ...

2026-01-01T03:24:02Z

I don't like to talk in absolutes about security, but... my headphones are 100% immune from the latest exploit, via this One Weird Trick!

Now hear me out...

I call it "eargapping". I learned about it in my Intro to Antique Coding class.

https://jwz.org/b/yk1K

What asshat decided that user name and password should now always ...

2025-12-24T20:49:25Z

What asshat decided that user name and password should now always be on separate pages? How does this make anything better? Fuck you.

Christmas Throwback: EXERCISE VAGUE JOY. It was ten years ago ...

2025-12-24T19:19:22Z

Christmas Throwback: EXERCISE VAGUE JOY.

It was ten years ago today that I decorated the Christmas tree in my building's heavily-surveilled lobby. Simpler times.

Happy Surveillmas!

https://jwz.org/b/yk07

Unknown Xmas. https://jwz.org/b/yk02 ...

2025-12-24T11:57:20Z

Unknown Xmas.
https://jwz.org/b/yk02

Four way stop versus $100 billion valuation. It's on its ...

2025-12-21T23:40:56Z

Four way stop versus $100 billion valuation.

It's on its back, baking in the hot sun, but you're not helping, Leon. Why is that?

Also, all the headlines say variants of "Waymo halts service during massive S.F. blackout after causing traffic jams" but what they fail to mention is that it took nearly six hours of these traffic jams before Waymo *finally* decided that the press they were getting was bad enough that they should do the most obvious thing in the world.
https://jwz.org/b/yk0t

So that's going well... ...

2025-12-20T23:09:50Z

So that's going well...

We used the term "chrome" in the source code to refer to ...

2025-12-19T09:47:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…2rnw
_________________________

We used the term "chrome" in the source code to refer to everything in the window that was outside of the HTML area (menubars, toolbars, scrollbars, etc.) all the way back in version 0.x of Netscape in 1994.

struct _Chrome {
MWContextType type;
Bool show_button_bar;
Bool show_url_bar;
...

It has come to my attention that the artwork for the original ...

2025-12-17T00:01:43Z

It has come to my attention that the artwork for the original mozilla.org "dinosaur" logo is not widely available online. So, here it is.

As I explained in some detail in my 2016 article "They Live and the secret history of the Mozilla logo", I commissioned this artwork from Shepard Fairey to use as the branding of the newly-founded mozilla.org and our open source release of the Netscape source code, which eventually became Firefox. This happened in March 1998...
https://jwz.org/b/yk0j

This just in, I have been informed that my stance of, "no, I ...

2025-12-15T01:35:23Z

This just in, I have been informed that my stance of, "no, I am not interested in hearing your anecdote about how the Plagiarism Machine saved you some time once" means that I "live in a bubble".

Not that I have any interest in testing it, but I'm curious ...

2025-12-11T18:12:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…a6qz
_________________________

Not that I have any interest in testing it, but I'm curious about the "electrocuted as soon as you touch it" part. I assume that means the tower dumps a bunch of juice between you and ground, but if it was that easy, wouldn't there be a constant lightshow of arcs around its base as twigs, leaves, pigeons and squirrels got vaporized?

Kohler's $600/month toilet camera uses your turds to train ...

2025-12-03T04:51:43Z

Kohler's $600/month toilet camera uses your turds to train AI.

Kohler Can Access Data and Pictures from Toilet Camera It Describes as "End-to-End Encrypted": But emails exchanged with Kohler's privacy contact clarified that the other "end" that can...
https://jwz.org/b/ykx8

OpenAI says dead teen violated TOS when he used ChatGPT to plan ...

2025-11-26T19:29:48Z

OpenAI says dead teen violated TOS when he used ChatGPT to plan suicide.

Ghouls gonna ghoul: Facing five lawsuits alleging wrongful deaths, OpenAI lobbed its first defense Tuesday, denying in a court filing that ChatGPT caused a teen's suicide and...
https://jwz.org/b/ykxy

The algorithm failed music. Music recommendation algorithms were ...

2025-11-11T21:36:10Z

The algorithm failed music.

Music recommendation algorithms were supposed to help us cut through the noise, but they just served us up slop. Spotify leadership didn't see themselves as a music company, but as a time filler. The employee explained...
https://jwz.org/b/ykxT

Pi 4 SPI lossage. Dear Lazyweb, any idea why switching from a Pi ...

2025-11-05T07:47:15Z

Pi 4 SPI lossage.

Dear Lazyweb, any idea why switching from a Pi 3b to a Pi 4b made my MAX7219 start behaving like this? If I switch back, it's behaves properly. Same CF card, so no software differences.
https://jwz.org/b/ykxE

Great news everybody, you can't block that new OpenAI Atlas ...

2025-10-25T00:54:36Z

Great news everybody, you can't block that new OpenAI Atlas browser because it uses an identical user agent to Chrome.

There's an image going around that is the back of a $20 with ...

2025-10-23T19:05:33Z

There's an image going around that is the back of a $20 with the demolition in progress, and every time I see it my finger hovers over the share button, then I think, "there's like a 90% chance that this is 'AI' crud and not a Photoshop" and I die a little inside and do not share.

This is what they have stolen from us.

Exterminate all rational AI scrapers, redux redux. Nine months ...

2025-10-23T03:11:49Z

Exterminate all rational AI scrapers, redux redux.

Nine months ago I added an infinite-nonsense honeypot to poison LLM scrapers.

Today, it comprises 69% of URLs served.

Normally it feeds junk after a few seconds delay, but in "high-load mode" it bans IPs. That mode starts when the free-worker count is low, and ends when it has been calm for 15 min.

This month it has been in high-load mode 50% of the time.
https://jwz.org/b/ykwy

Absolutely chilling words that someone said to me today: "I ...

2025-10-12T10:26:04Z

Absolutely chilling words that someone said to me today:

"I have this new AI insulin pump..."

Every time I see someone saying, "Someone did an AI thing and ...

2025-10-12T09:10:48Z

Every time I see someone saying, "Someone did an AI thing and it found an obscure bug, kinda cool!" what I hear is, "Say what you want about Dr. Mengele, but his twin experiments did generate some useful data!"

Yes this is a subtwit. You know who you are.

Perennial "Fuck the Blue Angels" post. (NOTE: If you are ...

2025-10-11T20:01:24Z

Perennial "Fuck the Blue Angels" post.

(NOTE: If you are about to "Well Actually" at me about this in some way, please be advised that I do not give the slightest shit.)

https://jwz.org/b/ykwb

"Hey kids!" Drew Sheneman: https://jwz.org/b/ykvq ...

2025-09-21T19:07:53Z

"Hey kids!"

Drew Sheneman:
https://jwz.org/b/ykvq

Once again current events have forced me to confront the ...

2025-09-20T19:24:15Z

Once again current events have forced me to confront the difficult fact that Larry Ellison and John McAfee are actually two entirely different people and only one of them is dead.

As someone deeply embroiled in this so-called industry I am ...

2025-09-20T09:40:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…k2cw
_________________________

As someone deeply embroiled in this so-called industry I am always shocked when someone else becomes SHOCKED, SHOCKED to discover that the entire business model of TicketBastard and AEG/AXS is scalping, literally nothing but scalping, that's their whole fucking deal. That's the entire business. Scalping their own tickets.

Netscape Navigator 2.0 was released 30 years ago today. This ...

2025-09-18T20:12:23Z

Netscape Navigator 2.0 was released 30 years ago today.

This version introduced a number of new features:

• Plugins! This was the first time a web page could make sound, via RealAudio.
• Incremental display of progressive JPEGs on slow dialup connections.
• Animated GIFs that were actually useful.
• HTML frames.
• JavaScript! That wasn't my fault, but you still have my apologies.
• And of course my baby, the first release of Netscape Mail and News:

https://jwz.org/b/ykvY

1Password has been circling the drain at black-hole relativistic ...

2025-09-17T19:02:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…hjn7
_________________________

1Password has been circling the drain at black-hole relativistic velocities for years. I broke up with them 2 years ago and have no regrets: https://jwz.org/b/ykHP

Animal shelter evacuated after FBI incinerates meth. Meth! ...

2025-09-14T20:30:58Z

Animal shelter evacuated after FBI incinerates meth.

Meth! It's got what lungs crave!

The incinerator is usually used by animal control officers to dispose of euthanised animals, but local authorities said it can also be used by law enforcement to burn seized narcotics.
https://jwz.org/b/ykvO

Worst Kirk. The Nation goes hard: "It's a choice to write ...

2025-09-13T19:10:49Z

Worst Kirk.

The Nation goes hard: "It's a choice to write an obituary that begins 'Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children.'"

Charlie Kirk's Legacy Deserves No Mourning:
https://jwz.org/b/ykvK

The "School Shooting Industry" According to the market ...

2025-09-09T03:15:57Z

The "School Shooting Industry"

According to the market research firm Omdia, the school security industry is now worth as much as $4 billion, and it's projected to keep growing. "The school safety and security industry has grown rapidly over the past...
https://jwz.org/b/yku9

Bobby Brainworms. Who wore this rotting skin-suit best, Edgar, ...

2025-09-04T22:38:12Z

Bobby Brainworms.

Who wore this rotting skin-suit best, Edgar, Dr. Channard or Dr. Pretorius?
https://jwz.org/b/ykuz

Welp. I now have proof that Facebook is using the same outbound ...

2025-08-30T19:27:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…d99d
_________________________

Welp. I now have proof that Facebook is using the same outbound IP addresses for both A) scraping web sites for "AI" training and B) fetching images from my site when I use the official API to post to Instagram.

This means that I can either defend myself from injuriously voracious AI scrapers, or have a functional business Instagram account, but not both.

Not just the same subnets. The same IPs.

It was hard to pick pull quotes from this because every paragraph ...

2025-08-28T06:54:48Z

It was hard to pick pull quotes from this because every paragraph is perfect:

Anthony Moser: I am a hater, and I will not be polite. The machine is disgusting and we should break it. The people who build it are vapid shit-eating cannibals glorifying ignorance. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.

https://jwz.org/b/ykuI

The power we use and the power we give. Philip Bump: It is useful ...

2025-08-28T06:43:00Z

The power we use and the power we give.

Philip Bump: It is useful and important to look at this question not through the lens of persuasion but the lens of power. Your engagement and your work, not unlike your vote, is a form of power, something you...
https://jwz.org/b/ykuG

The Pigs Who Stare At Crosswalks. Florida Deploys Police To Stare ...

2025-08-26T17:37:52Z

The Pigs Who Stare At Crosswalks.

Florida Deploys Police To Stare At Crosswalks, Stop Them From Being Painted Rainbow Colors: Earlier this week, officers painted the rainbow stripes into stark black and white. Citizens repainted them. Road crews...
https://jwz.org/b/ykuE

This is great stuff! I'm happy to report that ...

2025-08-25T23:18:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…gcvt
_________________________

This is great stuff!

I'm happy to report that XScreenSaver's UTF-8 parser already seems to replace the problematic codes you've identified with 0xFFFD. At least according to my self-tests: https://github.com/Mathiasb17/xscreensaver/blob/82348d51320b89281407e1cb0e18ce0022189144/utils/utf8wc.c#L564

The one exception being \000 simply truncating the text, because, well, it's C.

Comparing how I got paid in 1995 to taking money in 202x from ...

2025-08-25T19:12:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…jpw4
_________________________

Comparing how I got paid in 1995 to taking money in 202x from *literal Fascists* is deeply disingenuous.

Well, she's funded by Jack Dorsey, who's deeply in bed ...

2025-08-25T18:59:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…y0eh
_________________________

Well, she's funded by Jack Dorsey, who's deeply in bed with Saudi Prince Bonesaw, for a start.

If you support Blue Sky, you support Dorsey, Musk, Trump and the rest of the fascists, TESCREAL lunatics and cryptogrifters. They are all the same fuckin' octopus. https://jwz.org/b/ykgp

I voted no, because regardless of its technical merits (narrator: ...

2025-08-25T18:49:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…f3wp
_________________________

I voted no, because regardless of its technical merits (narrator: it had none) ATproto is fruit of the poisonous tree. It is hopelessly tainted. Anything you write will give it oxygen.

Apropos of nothing, how's ReiserFS going? Still popular? Still winning on its technical merits? [ taps headset ] I'm being told...

Getting absolutely reamed by AI scrapers again today, and it ...

2025-08-25T05:49:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…47zh
_________________________

Getting absolutely reamed by AI scrapers again today, and it seemed like my mitigations were failing. Why weren't these being blocked?

Oh. Because I had Facebook's subnets on the fail2ban whitelist, so that people sharing DNA Lounge (npub1ac8…fc7j) links on the Zuckerweb got link previews.

Welp. You can't whitelist "facebookexternalhit" (the link preview bot) without also whitelisting "meta-externalagent" (the AI scraper, which seems to ignore robots.txt).

I guess link previews are gonna be a casualty.

ICE Is Using So Much Tear Gas in Portland, a School Abandoned Its ...

2025-08-24T01:24:14Z

ICE Is Using So Much Tear Gas in Portland, a School Abandoned Its Campus.

ICE! It's got what lungs crave: An ICE facility in South Portland has resurfaced as a hotbed where activists have been clashing with federal enforcement officers for months....
https://jwz.org/b/ykt5

Just happened across a comment on my blog from 8 years ago that ...

2025-08-23T20:40:13Z

Just happened across a comment on my blog from 8 years ago that has aged like fine milk:

"There are no Nazis getting popular votes right now. Hyperbole is not a good way to reason about the world."

Thanks, past "Well Actually" guy, you have always improved The Discourse.

Gonna need all nerds of conscience to declare a complete ...

2025-08-22T09:21:31Z

Gonna need all nerds of conscience to declare a complete moratorium on using 0xDEADBEEF in favor of 0xACAB8647, which has identical endianness and visual-repetition properties.

2896922183 is, while not greater than, superior to 3735928559.
https://jwz.org/b/yktu

Noting a new batch of Chrome-impersonating bots trying to load ...

2025-08-20T19:36:25Z

Noting a new batch of Chrome-impersonating bots trying to load the entire srcset property as if it were a URL. So much blocking. Blockety blockety block.