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James Smith

@luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy
11 followers 4 following 34 posts

Moved to @jim. 🌉 bridged from ⁂ benehomini.social/@luggage, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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James Smith @luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2026
This might seem obvious, but if you wait until it’s too late to do something, then it will be too late to do something. Something has to be done before it’s too late to do it. Which means it has to be done before it’s needed. Why am I saying this? Because I’m hoping to have a workshop for NPOs […]
benehomini.social
Original post on benehomini.social
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G.I. Robot :bc: @guydudeman.beige.party.ap.brid.gy · 05/03/2026
Replace “gods” with “billionaires” and I think I see what Sir Terry was getting at here… “Gods are not very introspective. It has never been a survival trait. The ability to cajole, threaten, and terrify has always worked well enough. When you can flatten entire cities at a whim, a tendency […]
beige.party
Original post on beige.party
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matdevdug @matdevdug.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 06/03/2026
I wrote about the #fediverse matduggan.com/boy-i-was-wrong-about…
matduggan.com
matduggan.com
It's JSON all the way down
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 06/03/2026
Chile has rebuilt access to welfare around a municipal “one-stop shop”. Before, vulnerable families in Chile often had to make multiple trips to municipal offices to secure a single benefit. That all changed with the launch of Gestión Social Local in 2019: since then, GSL has reached 10 million […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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James Smith @luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/02/2026
I can’t be the only one who thinks chairdogs in the _Dune_ universe might be inspired by BarcaLoungers. I mean, melange is the spice of life.
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James Smith @luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/01/2026
This has been sticking with me for a while since I saw the lecture last year. It seems like a way to treat an LLM as yet another tool, finding ways to make it useful while maintaining human control. Find ways to train without blindly throwing gobs of data at the problem. Plus, optical music […]
benehomini.social
Original post on benehomini.social
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Chuck Darwin @cdarwin.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 29/01/2026
In an interview with MS NOW’s Alex Witt over the weekend, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) indicated that a nationwide general strike might be the next thing needed in order to oppose Donald Trump’s authoritarianism. Raskin made clear to viewers of the program that he didn’t believe a general […]
c.im
Original post on c.im
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Mark Sample @samplereality.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Stop supporting ed tech or predatory platforms like academia dot edu. Start supporting community-led initiatives like Knowledge Commons (Humanities Commons), built by academics *for* academics.
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Peter Suber @petersuber.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
1/ I'm seeking expressions of interest from nonprofit orgs to take over the Open Access Tracking Project ( #OATP, @oatp.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy ) and the open-source software on which it runs. Details in this Google doc: bit.ly/TransferOATP #OpenAccess #OpenScience #OpenSource #ScholComm 🧵
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Chuck Darwin @cdarwin.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 28/12/2025
Silicon Valley, drunk on exponential curves and both terrified and entranced by endless funding rounds, has given us the "Hero Developer": a figure who ships features at midnight, who “moves fast and breaks things,” who transforms whiteboard scribbles into billion-dollar unicorns through sheer […]
c.im
Original post on c.im
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kravietz 🦇 @kravietz.agora.echelon.pl.ap.brid.gy · 28/12/2025
Being aesthetically impaired I rarely post photos or art, but this… A Man Feeding Swans in the Snow, Poland | Marcin Ryczek
A photo where left half is entirely white (with barely visible footsteps indicating it's snow) and right is dark grey water, with a man standing on the bank and feeding white swans and some birds flocking toward him
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James Smith @luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/12/2025
I’ve been working with some others to stand up a non-profit organization this year. We’re going slow and building things. Our focus is on strengthening civic society in three areas: (1) helping people grow in their understanding of themselves & their empathy & compassion for others; (2) […]
benehomini.social
Original post on benehomini.social
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Shauna @shauna.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 31/10/2025
Been thinking a lot lately about the deep tension between abstraction and context. What do I mean by "abstraction" and "context"? Abstraction to me, fundamentally, is separation. Distance. It's that which can be lifted up out of its context and sent far away. A software library. A bylaw. A […]
social.coop
Original post on social.coop
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Jon Rowe @jonrowe.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2025
👋 I’m on the look out for my next project, I’m an experienced Elixir dev (> 8 years, and > 10 years of Ruby before that + I'm still the maintainer of RSpec), very familiar with Phoenix and LiveView, and have enough CSS / JS knowledge to approach projects from a full stack angle. I’ve worked […]
fosstodon.org
Original post on fosstodon.org
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Suzanne Aldrich (she/her) @suzannealdrich.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2025
Pope Leo’s secret letter to U.S. bishops just leaked. TrumpWorld is not going to like what it says. This week in Rome, Pope Leo XIV quietly handed a letter to a group of visiting U.S. bishops. Inside were messages from migrants families separated by deportations, children afraid to sleep and […]
hachyderm.io
Original post on hachyderm.io
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Laffy @gottalaff.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2025
"FBI severed ties w Southern Poverty Law Center, civil rts watchdog, after push from MAGA on social media... Musk called the group “an evil organization that spreads hate propaganda relentlessly” and accused it of “incitement to murder Charlie Kirk” […]
mstdn.social
Original post on mstdn.social
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Wittgenstein's Monster @wittgensteinmonster.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2025
I’ve said for years: If American industrialists paid a living wage, people would care more about their work — even the so-called “menial” jobs. But if you treat workers like disposable gears in a machine, they won’t give a damn. That’s not laziness. That’s a lack of love. 💡 Pay people. Trust […]
mastodon.social
Original post on mastodon.social
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william ⁂ maggos @wjmaggos.liberal.city.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2025
So many video outlets use YT for their live stream and clips. If #peertube and #owncast had a shared site and mobile/TV app, they could say to them, how about you stop relying on them or any other middlemen and instead fully control it? Work with us to build a similar service to what YT provides?
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Jess👾 @jesstheunstill.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2025
Just a note for the next time anyone schedules a conference in Texas: It is now literally illegal for trans people to use the bathroom there. Your trans friends and colleagues are going to be silently judging you for hosting events in a place it's illegal for them to exist when there's lots of […]
infosec.exchange
Original post on infosec.exchange
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James Smith @luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2025
[US society & politics] Some defend existing institutions and the rule of law. Some protest. Others do what they can to help the less fortunate. I & a few others are building alternatives: help local groups have more impact & find ways to make society more resilient. We’re at the beginning of […]
benehomini.social
Original post on benehomini.social
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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 22/09/2025
A few years ago I would not have predicted @wired.com would be a journalistic beacon, but with this forthcoming “politics issue” they are doubling down on real, anti-authoritarian reporting Not regretting my new subscription
Special Edition
THE POLITICS ISSUE

It’s been almost one year since Donald Trump took back the White House. Much has changed. The Rose Garden has been paved over; the Oval Office is covered in gold. National Guard soldiers swarmed Washington, DC, and President Trump has threatened other cities with the same.
At WIRED, we once saw ourselves as chroniclers, even champions, of an industry that seemed to transcend politics. This year, though, we’ve been clear about where we stand: We’re profoundly concerned about the United States’ authoritarian turn and the tech industry’s complicity in Trump’s actions. And we’re committed to continuing our coverage.

So committed that we decided to take to the streets: If you live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, New York, or Washington, DC, you might notice the cover of this issue as a mural, a digital billboard, or a wheatpasted poster. We wanted you to see what we saw, over many months of covering DOGE, ICE, and the rest of it. Tech leaders got what they wanted—a seat at the table with a would-be king, and a chance to haggle over the rules that govern their businesses. But remember: It’s your future that they just might gamble away.
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Tim Chambers @tchambers.indieweb.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2025
It’s more important than ever to support independent media free from corporate caving to autocracy and wherever possible on the open social web and on direct open media. journa.host/@w7voa/1152221292775890…
journa.host
Steve Herman (@w7voa@journa.host)
Variety - Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show on ABC TV will be off the air“indefinitely” after criticism of comments the host made about the motives of the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk. https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/nexstar-jimmy-kimmel-abc-charlie-kirk-1236522584/
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Adrianna Tan @skinnylatte.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2025
Seeing a lot of American anti -imperialist types read a lot of conspiracy theories into American meddling in the developing world today. I’m sure there is a grain of truth in some of it but I think it is disrespectful that they won’t simply accept that many people around the world have agency to […]
hachyderm.io
Original post on hachyderm.io
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Tim Chambers @tchambers.indieweb.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2025
I can track with this.
A post by sweetpeainkcreative: "Hot tip: Your 40s and 50s are for reclaiming everything you gave away when you were younger in order to be liked."  receiving 288 likes, 9 comments, and 8 shares.
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Adrianna Tan @skinnylatte.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2025
I have a political science degree. I have 17 years’ experience in ‘tech’. I had some early AI ethics training (2019? 2020)? I think our STEM-only tunnel vision has led us to precisely this place. I think I said in a talk recently: I care about what happens to people (when computers happen) […]
hachyderm.io
Original post on hachyderm.io
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jonny (nonvenomous) @jonny.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2025
#Sciop hit a Petabyte (actually a Pebibyte but nobody knows that word) of total proven capacity a week or two ago. That's all the seeders * the size of the things they are seeding. All volunteers, zero dollars in funding, piggybacking off existing resources […] [Original post on neuromatch.social]
Indexing 233 datasets
with 927 uploads.

13416 peers, 8590 seeders sharing
216.8 TiB in 8514732 files.

Swarm capacity 1.0 PiB
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william ⁂ maggos @wjmaggos.liberal.city.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2025
A Russian and an American get on a plane in Moscow and get to talking. The Russian says he works for the Kremlin and he's on his way to go learn American #propaganda techniques. "What American propaganda techniques?" asks the American. "Exactly," the Russian replies. [we need a term for how […]
liberal.city
Original post on liberal.city
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
This is not a drill. 🇺🇸 www.thebulwark.com/p/despotism-...
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James Smith @luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2025
One way to counter the requirement of ID for social networking might be to have local community-oriented instances where you get an account because you know someone in the community. Show up, claim the account, and no record needs to be kept to be leaked or sold or used inappropriately. Locally […]
benehomini.social
Original post on benehomini.social
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Tom Stafford @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy · 23/08/2025
"At each point the language model has done nothing more than make the next move in the conversation game. Like a good improviser it has formed no commitment beyond being consistent with what has gone on before, helping to continue the current scene." […] [Original post on mastodon.online]
Understanding language models as improv
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william ⁂ maggos @wjmaggos.liberal.city.ap.brid.gy · 21/08/2025
The idea of the "cicada" is great. People who only write occasionally when they have something important to say. It acknowledges that much of what the #substack puts out is filling space. To justify a paid subscription. I'd say the same with podcasts that aren't about processing the weekly news […]
liberal.city
Original post on liberal.city
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James Smith @luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/08/2025
Just finished watching Time Cop (Rifftrax version). They were 20 years early and a bit off on details, but not by much. Ugly self driving cars, rich person wanting to be president for life, white supremecist party, corrupted law enforcement. And the accompanying short about the policeman being […]
benehomini.social
Original post on benehomini.social
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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
The only thing that will stop Trump is a grassroots movement using diverse tactics. (not just protests! We need boycotts, strikes, slowdowns, guerrilla art, disruptions, gumming the works from the inside, etc) from a cross-section of society. It’s on us. A few skeets here with resources: 1/x
lifeisasacredtext.com
On Organizing
time to level up / an early draft of a playbook
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Quinn Daedal @quinnanya.me · 18/08/2025
DC-adjacent friends of #DHmakes, there's work to do.
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The Nexus of Privacy @thenexusofprivacy.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2025
@andypiper (or anybody else ...) Somebody working with a non-profit that is considering starting up a Mastodon instance to use as part of an activism campaign asked me for a rough estimate of how time consuming it is to administer a mastodon instance. Good question! Is there a good wrteeup of […]
infosec.exchange
Original post on infosec.exchange
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Baral'heia Stormdancer ΘΔ🐲 @baralheia.dragonchat.org · 27/06/2025
Seeing some extra spicy #USPol takes on my timeline right now suggesting certain things and y'all I 100000% get it but *especially* today you NEED to see this ⚠️ VERY ⚠️ FUCKING ⚠️ IMPORTANT ⚠️ REMINDER #ShutTheFuckUpFriday #STFUFriday #ShutTheFuckUp
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william ⁂ maggos @wjmaggos.liberal.city.ap.brid.gy · 15/08/2025
Decentralize the economy. It's our only hope.
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Jens Ohlig @johl.mastodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2025
“The statistics are brutal. Fascist takeovers prevented after winning power democratically: zero. Average length of fascist rule once established: 31 years. Fascist regimes removed by voting: zero. Fascist regimes removed by asking nicely: zero. Most were removed by war or military coups, and […]
mastodon.xyz
Original post on mastodon.xyz
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Jeremiah Lee @jeremiahlee.com · 13/08/2025
Agriculture now generates 25% of greenhouse gases. Agriculture uses 70% of fresh water and is the leading cause of water pollution, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. 75% of all agricultural land is used for grazing or growing crops that get fed to livestock. Eating less meat is one the […]
alpaca.gold
Original post on alpaca.gold
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James Smith @luggage.benehomini.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/08/2025
The Great Enscrapening: a period in history when AI hoovered up everything it could find. Various authorities place its end date around the mid- to late-2020s depending on how much AI generated content was mixed into the material. It was followed by the Missing Century when AI-generated content […]
benehomini.social
Original post on benehomini.social
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Alexander Karn @xankarn.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy · 13/08/2025
Seems like a good day for this one. #LiveInTruth
Because the regime is captive to its own lies, it must falsify everything. It falsifies the past. It falsifies the present, and it falsifies the future. It falsifies statistics. It pretends not to possess an omnipotent and unprincipled police apparatus. It pretends to respect human rights. It pretends to persecute no one. It pretends to fear nothing. It pretends to pretend nothing.

—Vaclav Havel (1978)
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Ted Underwood @tedunderwood.com · 13/08/2025
Will is doing the Lord's work here. We don't know for sure this is the story: capital could still succeed in building moats and enclosing this. But this is absolutely the story we need to hope for, and it's not crazy to hope for some version of it.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Not enough people are talking about the chilling subtext and imagery in the messages being sent by the official DHS accounts
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