[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 37 points 2 months ago

For what it's worth, the judge also said that if the DoJ declines to prosecute, he will appoint another attorney to do so.

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 26 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I didn't see the testimony, but I did read her book.

When most people think "targeted advertising", I think they are thinking about something like: this user is a middle-class woman between 18 and 25 who enjoys bicycles, so we'll show her ad X.

According to Wynn-Williams, Facebook/Meta is doing things like detecting when a user uploads, then immediately removes a photo--detecting that as a moment of emotional vulnerability (that is, the user was feeling self-conscious about their appearance), then bombarding them with ads in that moment for beauty products.

I think the former is 'obvious' to most people, but the latter probably isn't--probably because Meta and other advertising companies have put a lot of effort in to keep this on the down low--which is why Wynn-Williams is speaking about it publically.

(not accusing you of defending them BTW, just my 2¢ that this goes beyond what most people would consider obvious, imo)

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 114 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The unfortunate reality is that a significant proportion of software engineers (and other IT folks) are either laissez-faire "libertarians" who are ideologically opposed to the restrictions in the GPL, or "apolitical" tech-bros who are mostly just interested in their six figure paychecks and fancy toys.

To these folks, the MIT/BSD licenses have fewer restrictions, and are therefore more free, and are therefore more better.

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 29 points 4 months ago

Excuse me, the Hidenburg was not merely a blimp, it was a rigid airship. JD could never.

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 81 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Please be careful when copying anything that could be considered your employer's intellectual property (almost certainly anything you built as an employee falls into this category) off of that employer's systems.

And definitely be even more careful about using one employer's IP for a new employer (neither company would be pleased to discover this).

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 41 points 7 months ago

alienation

Careful now, that sounds like one of them there socialism words.

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 159 points 8 months ago

I once got called the f-slur for having the audacity to read a book in public, outdoors in front of the library.

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 25 points 10 months ago

This is the first beard I've ever seen make someone's chin look weaker.

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 31 points 1 year ago

The main difference from the film being that the novel isn't a satire--Heinlein was being sincere.

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 27 points 2 years ago

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 65 points 2 years ago

It's a good thing we have you around to let us know what all Palestinians think

[-] brandon@lemmy.ml 58 points 2 years ago

I love this turtle

119
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by brandon@lemmy.ml to c/news@beehaw.org

You can listen to the recording on the article.

From the text:

The recording, which first aired on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” includes new details from the conversation that is a critical piece of evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump over the mishandling of classified information, including a moment when Trump seems to indicate he was holding a secret Pentagon document with plans to attack Iran.

3
submitted 2 years ago by brandon@lemmy.ml to c/books@lemmy.ml

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/1212709

I recently finished Moon Witch, Spider King, the second novel of James' fantasy trilogy after reading the first novel, Black Leopard, Red Wolf earlier this year. I'd love to hear if anyone else has any thoughts on these two books.

I was drawn into Jame's world building. The epic fantasy world he creates draws primarily from African folklore and culture. From the perspective of someone used to the ideology of Western fantasy, I was engrossed in the lore. The prose can be meandering--I had to go back and re-read paragraphs regularly ("wait, what did I just miss?"), but it's masterfully written.

The book is vulgar and incredibly violent. There are numerous scenes of graphic sexual violence, some of which was bad enough my immersion and had me questioning "does this really need to be in the book?". If you're sensitive about that, I would definitely avoid this one. I still feel uncomfortable about some of the scenes I read.

The plot of the books is centered around the same series of events (more or less), from different characters' perspectives. The first novel is narrated by Tracker--a mercenary with a supernatural 'scent', and the second by Sogolon, a misandrist with her own mysterious abilities. Both are unreliable narrators, and sometimes recount their stories in non-chronological order. By the end of the second book I was re-evaluating what I thought had happened from reading Tracker's tale in the first. I am sure the upcoming third novel will continue that trend.

Both books were fairly long, and dense reading, but they felt like only a short glimpse into the world of the North and South Kingdoms. I really want to learn more about that world, so I will probably pick up the third book when it arrives, even if I'm also still a little apprehensive about some of the more extreme scenes.

1
submitted 2 years ago by brandon@lemmy.ml to c/literature@beehaw.org

I recently finished Moon Witch, Spider King, the second novel of James' fantasy trilogy after reading the first novel, Black Leopard, Red Wolf earlier this year. I'd love to hear if anyone else has any thoughts on these two books.

I was drawn into Jame's world building. The epic fantasy world he creates draws primarily from African folklore and culture. From the perspective of someone used to the ideology of Western fantasy, I was engrossed in the lore. The prose can be meandering--I had to go back and re-read paragraphs regularly ("wait, what did I just miss?"), but it's masterfully written.

The book is vulgar and incredibly violent. There are numerous scenes of graphic sexual violence, some of which was bad enough my immersion and had me questioning "does this really need to be in the book?". If you're sensitive about that, I would definitely avoid this one. I still feel uncomfortable about some of the scenes I read.

The plot of the books is centered around the same series of events (more or less), from different characters' perspectives. The first novel is narrated by Tracker--a mercenary with a supernatural 'scent', and the second by Sogolon, a misandrist with her own mysterious abilities. Both are unreliable narrators, and sometimes recount their stories in non-chronological order. By the end of the second book I was re-evaluating what I thought had happened from reading Tracker's tale in the first. I am sure the upcoming third novel will continue that trend.

Both books were fairly long, and dense reading, but they felt like only a short glimpse into the world of the North and South Kingdoms. I really want to learn more about that world, so I will probably pick up the third book when it arrives, even if I'm also still a little apprehensive about some of the more extreme scenes.

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brandon

joined 4 years ago