iceshrimp.net - Link to source
Today I learned that Google Gemini can understand ASCII maps like in nethacks or other roguelikes: Route to the Stairs
From your current position [@], follow these steps:
1.
Move East (Right): Move one room over to a cleared room [#].
2.
Move South (Down): Move one room down to another cleared room [#].
3.
Move South (Down) again: This will take you directly to the room containing the stairs [>].

mastodon - Link to source
Aujourd'hui un frappe une piñata en forme de voiture de police, et demain on frappe quoi ? C'est dégoûtant, en fait. huffingtonpost.fr/france/artic…

Cette pinata « anti-flics » dans une école d’art de Mulhouse suscite l’indignation de Laurent Nuñez

« Il ne faut pas laisser passer cette idéologie anti flics », s’est ému le ministre de l’Intérieur après ces faits qui se sont déroulés lors d’une fête étudiante.
Vincent Gibert (Le HuffPost)

mastodon - Link to source

I've been thinking a lot about my AI coding and why I don't particularly enjoy it. I miss the feeling of "flow" from coding by hand; with agentic coding it's more like you're fielding a bunch of Slack messages at once – it can be exhausting.

The analogy I keep coming back to is videogame minmaxxing. If you hyper-optimize a game you can "win" but it might be less fun.

in reply to Matt Campbell

mastodon - Link to source

Matt Campbell

BTW, like you, I've concluded that I don't actually find the ethical/environmental/etc. arguments against genAI that persuasive. I *wanted* them to be persuasive, so I could fully align with what I thought was the right tribe (yes, I admit it).

So now I have conversations with an LLM with no shame. But I still haven't seriously tried agentic coding yet. Not sure I want to, but I figure the pressure to do so will keep increasing.

in reply to Matt Campbell

mastodon - Link to source

Nolan Lawson

@matt Yep, that was my journey. I wanted to care because it felt like something worth caring about, and I tend to identify with the kinds of people who care. But I was just never that convinced.

Your mileage will definitely vary depending on the team (tribe? 😆) you hang out with. At my work people are constantly building and sharing little AI tools so it's just way easier to pick up and be productive.

@Matt Campbell
in reply to Matt Campbell

mastodon - Link to source

Nolan Lawson

@matt Environments where people are *mandated* to do it are totally counterproductive IMO. At Salesforce part of the reason I held out was exactly that – I was stubborn and tired of being proselytized all the time.

At my current gig we are not mandated at all, and I still have colleagues barely using these tools. Your experience with juniors matches mine, though – they are way more "AI-native."

@Matt Campbell
Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source

Nolan Lawson

OTOH I've been having fun helping my wife with her side projects. I vibe coded a Stardew Valley SQLite database so she can ask it questions like "what's more profitable: starfruit wine or grape jelly?" This is something I never would have done before because it's just too tedious. For her (a non-coder) it's absolutely revolutionary, especially because Claude can translate her English queries into SQL. (Using the SQLite MCP, it turns out, is way more reliable than having Claude read the wiki.)

mastodon - Link to source

Clare and I went on an impromptu tour of London infrastructure today after unexpectedly ending up at Dishoom Canary Wharf due to a power cut at the Kensington branch.

A ten-minute walk from Canary Wharf took us to the Temple Of Storms (officially the Isle Of Dogs Pumping Station), a grade II* listed building constructed in 1988. While I’m not generally into postmodern architecture, it’s refreshing to see a modern industrial building that isn’t just a metal and concrete box.

A building with grey and brown brick walls supporting a black and white pediment with a huge white fan in the centre. Two thick red brick columns are topped with blue, yellow, and red fins. The building complexly dwarfs its normal-sized door.
in reply to Kate Morley

mastodon - Link to source

Kate Morley

Throughout our walk we could see the London Cable Car. While a cable car might make sense for a mountainous city, it’s a ridiculous means of transport for somewhere as flat as London, and it’s almost entirely used by tourists. So of course we had to give it a go.

Near the highest point the cable car slowed down, and with today’s windy weather it started swaying alarmingly. The views across London were spectacular, but on the approach to the Greenwich peninsula it was very visible how the Millennium Dome had failed to encourage further regeneration of the surrounding former industrial area.

View from a cable car. Another cable car is visible nearby, with more in the distance. A huge white spiral pylon is on the edge of the photo, standing in empty land. Part of the River Thames is visible in one corner.

mastodon - Link to source
Oh no ... We have all this beer (more than 20 varieties), who will help us drink it
... Come join us for awesome music, delicious drinks and cool vibes (aka blinky Lights) during #bytenight2026 bytenight.brussels/
#fosdem ps. We also have loads of soft drinks as well as club mate of course.... Bring your friends and your friends friends

Bytenight

The unofficial FOSDEM afterparty
bytenight.brussels
#fosdem #bytenight2026
This entry was edited (3 days ago)

mastodon - Link to source

Why do so many "download X with curl" guides not use sane options?

-L : follow redirects! PLEASE!
-O: output to the filename specified by the server
-J : for `-O`, trust the content header
-f: fail fast without content body on a 4xx error

And for all that is holy, quote your URL content; not every shell is bash, friends

`curl -fLOJ 'https://your-url..../'` please

This entry was edited (4 hours ago)

mastodon - Link to source

Does anyone have knowledge of an instance that is focused on Minnesota?

I have a friend who's mounting an outsider Senate run in MN, and I'd like to find her an instance that has a strong MN presence to help move her campaign.

She's a member of DSA, trans woman, with a history in public service.

DMs are fine as responses, as well as open answers.

mastodon - Link to source
What the hell is this then just from a group on TG?
Channel message from Leander on Pc (Leander): Group, spam group, asdfjsdafhdsfadsfyuytrhdsgfcxvmvmvmvmvmvmvmvmvmmvmvvmmbwbwbwbwvwvwvwvnsbsmndbdnmdbdmnbffhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhjakakakak, 24 new messages, Muted, Rose: ok then, hbhbhbhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhbhbhhbhbhhbhbhallhlhlhllhlhlhlhlhlhllsllslsldlsllsls.bhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhbhhbbhbhhbhbhbhbhbhhbhhbballllhhllhlhlhllhlhlhlhllhlhhlhlhlhlhllhlslslslslslsls.bhbhbhhbbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhhbhbhhbhbhbhhbbhbbhbhhbhbhbhbhbhbhbhhbhbhbhallhlhlhlhlhlhslslslslslslss.bhbhhbhbhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhhbhbhbhbhhbhbhbhbhhbbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhoomnmnmnmnmmnmnmnmnmnmmnmnm.bhhbhbhbhbhhbhboomnmmmnmnmnmnnmnmnmnm.bhbhhbhbhbhbhbhhbhbhbhbhbhbhhbhhbhbhhbhbhbhbhhbhbhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhbbbbhhboonmmnmnmnmnmmnmnmnmnm.chhchchchchhchchchchchhcick.hbhbhbhbhhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhhbhbhbhbhbhbhbhhbhboonmmnmnmmnmnmnmnmmnmn.drumhmhmhmhmmhhmhmhhmmhnmnmmnmnmnm..druhmhmhmmhmhmhmhmhmmhmhmhmnmnnnmnmnmmnmnmnmnmmnmn.rhhrhrhrhrhrhrhrrhrhrhrhrhhrhrhhrhrhrhrawfflflfllflflflfllflflflhlhllhlhlhlhllhlhhllhlhlh.rhhrhrhrhrhhrhrhrhhrhhrhrhrhrhhrhrhrhrhhrhrrhrhrhhrhrhhrhrhrhrhawfhllhlhlhlhlhlhllhlhlhlhllhlhlhlhl.rhhrhrhrhrhrhrhhrhrhhhrhrhrhrhhrhrhrhrhhrhrhrhrhhrhrhrhhrhrhrhrhrhhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhhrhrhawflfl!, Received today at 4:55 PM 4 of 40.

glitchsoc - Link to source

Hey, so, I know this might be a weird thing to ask for and certainly a "git gud" on my part to some extent, but if you ask a rhetorical question or just would like to vent, it would be nice to note this somewhere. Otherwise please be aware that not everyone might be able to "read" your intentions and that a person "lecturing you with unsolicited advice" is trying to help you in good faith because they thought you actually asked a question.

I am autistic. In my specific case (we're not a monolith) this means social behaviours are a thing I learn, not some vague self-explaining instinct I have out of nowhere. "Someone asking a question in my general direction means they want an answer from me and it is rude to not give one" is one of the first things I learned.
However, "Someone asking a question in my general direction means they don't want any reaction at all aside maybe from 'that sucks' or a nod and if you reply you give unsolicited advice which is super rude" seems to be out there as well and just as common (and it feels like it's getting more common than the first one in recent years).

I have no way to tell which one you mean. I learned when it's a stranger it's helpful to ask "do you want advice or just vent" and this might work, but apparently even among friends it seems to be common and I can't tell how tired I am for being considered rude either for not answering an actual question or for answering a rhethorical one. (Not to mention extreme cases where people assume I'd be some person who would want to pick a fight, and "is looking for excuses" when I simply try to explain my reasoning like I do now.)

Any sort of pointer would be appreciated.

#Autism #SocialNorms #Communication #Accessibility

#Accessibility #communication #autism #socialnorms

mastodon - Link to source

Not all free email is created equal 👉 There are email providers that:

✅ Are free

✅ Are end-to-end encrypted by default

✅ Do not collect your personal data

✅ Do not spy on you

✅ Do not serve ads

Find out how these email providers compare in our in-depth guide: tuta.com/blog/best-free-email-…

Overview features of the email providers: Tuta, Proton, Posteo, Startmail, Mailfence, Hushmail, Gmx, Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail. Comparing if each has a free version, inbox size, attachment size, mobile apps, end-to-end encryption by default, pricing, serves ads, calendar, contact sync to mobile, EU based.

10 best free email accounts in 2026 | Tuta

Want to create a free email address? Check whether Gmail is still the most popular email provider and set up a no-cost email account today!
Tuta

mastodon - Link to source

Dear #FOSDEM people. There is a massive #pixelfed server now in Europe: pixelfed.com open for everyone (just people, no organsations).

Hosted from the Netherlands under Dutch law and funded by the @fediversity project.

Please enter a human reason when onboarding (due to AI slop we must do that).

Do join and boost please. 🙏🏻

Pixelfed

Pixelfed is an image sharing platform, an ethical alternative to centralized platforms. Hosted by Fediversity.
Pixelfed
#fosdem #pixelfed @Fediversity
This entry was edited (10 hours ago)
in reply to UnifiedPush

mastodon - Link to source

UnifiedPush

If you want to see one with an emulator, you can look at Chris Simmonds demo during droidcon 2025 !

youtube.com/watch?v=q5L8qWoG3d…


It's time to develop apps for Android cars - Chris, Sabine and Gabriel | droidcon Berlin 2025

🎤 Talk: It's time to develop apps for Android cars👤 Speaker: Chris Simmonds, Sabine Hofschen and Gabriel Gautron📍 Event: droidcon Berlin 2025📅 Date: 24th...
YouTube

mastodon - Link to source

#XMPP @ #FOSDEM 2026

Talk:
What are you listening to now?: Implementing "Now Playing" feature in modern XMPP - Özcan Oğuz
Sun, 14:15, AW1.126

Visit the XMPP #Realtime Lounge in #ULB, AW Building, Level 1!

#jabber #chat #opensource #messaging #federation #Brussels, #Belgium #opensource #europe

The XMPP Logo
#xmpp #opensource #Jabber #federation #fosdem #chat #europe #messaging #belgium #realtime #brussels #ulb

mastodon - Link to source

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

#Mastodon
in reply to miki

mastodon - Link to source

miki

@jscholes @matt And in other news, it turns out Codex (on 5.2 xhigh) can now, with minimal prompting, find its way through Mac OS's system frameworks, and reverse-engineer the ECI implementation differences well enough to produce a working program that speaks to a wav file via Eloquence. The parameters are off, as is expected for an LLM with no audio capabilities which cannot hear its own output, but God is it impressive. The whole process took 20 minutes and fit in the five-hour usage limit on the $15 subscription. Pre LLMs, getting 90% there took me about two days of highly-focused work I think.
@Matt Campbell @James Scholes
in reply to Matt Campbell

mastodon - Link to source

miki

@matt Yup. And weird ones at that, definitely not transpiles of win32 DLLs as some claim. They have symbols for the unexported C++ functions and methods for one, which the win32 ones don't seem to, at least the copies I have. They also don't rely on the filesystem for library / settings discovery at all, instead having an undocumented eciSetIniContent function (which really doesn't like \r, that was half a day wasted). They also crash when you instantiate with eciNew, requiring you to use an undocumented eciNew2 (which the win32 dlls also have, but which nobody seems to be using and which isn't in the OSS headers). Also no audio support afaik, just wave buffers.
@Matt Campbell
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