Geek Stuff category archive

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” works only if you find a way to get to know someone.

I am always fascinated by rational, kind, sane persons who call themselves “Libertarians” and who are unable to see that Libertarianism is little more than an elaborate rationale for “I’ve got mine and to hell with you.” I know a few folks like that.

I stumbled over a Mother Jones interview with Jeopardy champion Arthur Chu which was a more interesting read than I expected. I was particularly taken with this nugget, in a series of questions about Gamergate and related issues.

They discussed why some internet users insist on threatening and harassing those with whom they disagree from behind a curtain of anonymity, then become upset when called out about it and defend themselves by contending that harassment, misogyny, and sexism in the world of computer games is somehow not real because it’s done from behind avatars. It was in that context that Libertarianism appeared:

Being a nerd meant being good with computers, book knowledge, and data, and being bad with people. So the idea was that if you got really good at working with things and manipulating objects, you’d reach a point in life where you wouldn’t need people to like you. You’d win purely by merit. There’s nowhere on Earth where this is actually true, but there’s people who believe that.

That’s why so much of nerd culture involves these power fantasies full of magic—literally reshaping the world through thinking about it—and superheroes with super abilities. It’s also why a lot of the people in geeky subcultures gravitate towards libertarianism. There’s a strong ideological belief in wiping out “politics,” because politics means having to interact with people, and negotiating with people who have different interests.

I commend the rest of the interview to your attention.

Jamesetta Walker writes in my local rag that the idea of the Apple watch leaves her unimpressed. (Follow the link for the full tail of her travails.)

Despite the loud buzz, I’m not pining for another device, given the successive weekends this month that were consumed by data transfer problems during phone and tablet upgrades.

One of my friends has an Android watch. It enables him to talk to his phone. When I watch him use it, I am flooded with feelings of “why bother?”

Frankly, “because you can” is not ipso facto a sufficient reason for doing something.

Heh.

A US federal judge said Facebook Inc must face a nationwide class-action lawsuit seeking to force the social media company to provide refunds when children spend their parents’ money on its website without permission.

Daniel Ruth points out that Florida’s public school testing program does not compute.

If states put the same effort into teaching that they are putting into testi–oh, never mind.

Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Learn how to use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.

It’s not hard; it’s just different.

Tidewater Unix Users Group

What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting. (If can’t attend, you can always join the forums.)

Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.

Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.

When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, March 5.

Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)

Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)

Click for a larger image.

I have never been much of a computer gamer, unless you count Double Canfield and Mah Jongg solitaires as “computer games.” By the time we got our first home computer, I had too many kids and not enough time to become skilled at the early Mech Warriors, Duke Nukem, or Sim City, the games that were big at the time. I decided that I was already mediocre at enough stuff and didn’t need to add computer games to the list.

Recently, though, I stumbled over Rogue Class Linux, which describes itself thus:

Rogue Class is a toy Linux distribution for playing games and reading books. RCL favors turn-based games, such as puzzles and rogue-like games.

What interested me, a long-time Sherlockian, was the reference to the Sherlock Holmes gamebook, Murder at the Diogenes Club, one of the games in Rogue Class Linux.

Look below the fold for some observations and screenshots.

Read more »

Oh, the horror.

“Rather than acting as a source of accurate information, online media frequently promote misinformation in an attempt to drive traffic and social engagement,” said the study led by Craig Silverman, a research fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.

While news organizations have always dealt with unverified information, practices at some websites may accelerate the dissemination of fake news, said the report, “Lies, Damn Lies and Viral Content.”

“Many news sites apply little or no basic verification to the claims they pass on. Instead, they rely on linking-out to other media reports, which themselves often only cite other media reports as well,” the study concluded.

And this surprises you how?

Rules for news twits.

A researcher in artificial intelligence explains why he does not fear “the singularity,” because intelligence and consciousness are not the same thing. Here’s bit:

But as a researcher who works on modern, industrial AI, let me offer a personal perspective to explain why I’m not afraid.

Science fiction is partly responsible for these fears. A common trope works as follows: Step 1: Humans create AI to perform some unpleasant or difficult task. Step 2: The AI becomes conscious. Step 3: The AI decides to kill us all. As science fiction, such stories can be great fun. As science fact, the narrative is suspect, especially around Step 2, which assumes that by synthesizing intelligence, we will somehow automatically, or accidentally, create consciousness. I call this the consciousness fallacy. And if it is false, it means we should look at AI very differently.

If you fear that your Roomba will one day revolt, you might find this an interesting read.

What a bring-down.

Jess Zimmerman:

It’s a very large internet, after all, and it’s long been known as a prodigious generator of adult material for every occasion. You know the theory about how if you put an infinite number of monkeys in front of typewriters, one of them will eventually write Hamlet? Thanks to the internet, we have now tried this experiment with several billion monkey descendants. We didn’t get Hamlet, but we did get pretty much every kind of smut imaginable (including Hamlet parody porn). There’s even a name for it: Rule 34, which is generally stated, “if it exists, there is porn of it.” (Don’t bother looking up the other rules; they pretty much all suck.)

She goes on to theorize that there might possibly be worthwhile stuff out there and to wonder why you have to look so hard for it.

I sifted through the blogroll yesterday and removed a few sites that are no longer publishing and added a couple of new ones.

I must say, it was not nearly in such disarray as the last time I caught up on my housekeeping.

The UK forms the Fighting Frolickers.

Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Learn how to use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.

It’s not hard; it’s just different.

Tidewater Unix Users Group

What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.

Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.

Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.

When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, February 5.

Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)

Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)

Der Spiegel.