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Thadd Selden

@thadd.selden.social
155 followers 394 following 57 posts

Maker, sailor, appreciator of the natural world. I live in Sacramento, CA with my wife, daughter, and house full of pets. More active posting at Mastodon: selden.social/@thadd

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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 26/09/2026
They’re not actually acting on their own volition. Anthropic is apparently just not turning on the hacking machine trained to hack and letting it run wild. The spin that these are autonomous motivated agents is marketing. It’s just automated tools doing what they’re told to do.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 04/09/2026
I guess the “HOMES” mnemonic we teach kids to remember the names of the Great Lakes will have to change to “SHAME”. Seems appropriate.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 22/07/2026
I’d like to see a candidate take a stand on binding arbitration agreements. Eliminating the ability to file class-action lawsuits is one of the most anti-consumer practices of big tech and now it’s bled into almost everything product you use.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 01/06/2026
There are a lot of options that could work. I personally think getting rid of primaries altogether and having open RCV elections would be the best approach but Alaska's 4 advance then RCV would be better too. Ultimately any A or B choice is problematic and forces too much "strategic" voting.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 01/06/2026
It's not that the jungle primary needs to go, it's that it doesn't make any sense without ranked choice voting.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 01/06/2026
Sometimes you buy something you saw on social media on a whim. Sometimes you end up with the best cat bed ever.
A grouchy tortoiseshell cat sitting in a cardboard cat bed printed with the Mona Lisa so that it looks like she is holding the cat in her arms.A gray cat sitting in a cardboard cat bed printed with the Mona Lisa so that it looks like she is holding the cat in her arms.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 01/06/2026
Given where polls are now, I'm not as worried about a two GOP race so I voted for Steyer on the chance that it pushes him up and we actually have a choice in November between two dems.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 28/05/2026
Just wrapped up reverse engineering the RF protocol of the remote for my whole house fan. It was a challenge to figure out but once I decoded it all it was pretty simple. If anyone else has a QuietCool fan and wants control from home automation, check out my repo here: codeberg.org/thadd/quietc...
codeberg.org
quietcool-house-fan
ESPHome and Arduino tools for controlling a QuietCool house fan with the "glass" RF remote.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 05/01/2026
My kid crushed her #cosplay at SacAnime this weekend. She did so much of it herself from woodworking to sewing and was super proud. Tons of great reactions too. (She was Zanka from Gachiakuta and got to meet the voice actor @wildercorey.bsky.social)
Teen wearing cosplay of Zanka from Gachiakuta at SacAnimeCorey Wilder, voice actor for Zanka from Gachiakuta, reacting to teen’s cosplay of his characterTeenager operating a band saw
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 22/12/2025
Nazi Germany’s first concentration camps weren’t in Germany.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 15/12/2025
All the “I didn't vote for this" folks are deluded and need to be called out. They voted for this. They voted for cruelty and chaos, they just wanted it to affect someone else. Until they see that, they will keep voting to hurt people. If you want a change, you need to start with some empathy.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 08/11/2025
FedEx “support” is the most useless thing on the planet. I had no choice how this package was shipped, but you can be damn sure I will never willingly use them in the future. I don’t think a single actual human has been involved and their chat bot is a million times worse than any AI I’ve used.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 13/10/2025
This is how we’ve gotten so many memelord shitposter shooters. They start by thinking the edgy nazi stuff is funny and egg themselves on until it becomes real and they head to a crowded place with an AR15.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 18/09/2025
You'd have to ask @joshtpm.bsky.social or @allegrak.bsky.social, I don't know and I think it's a fair question. Likely one they'd answer. That doesn't change that their reporting on US politics is some of the best out there and remains free of the influence of outside money or venture capital.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 18/09/2025
Josh is Jewish and has complicated feelings on Israel. He’s been clear in condemning what’s happening in Gaza, especially recently. His delay in calling out the genocide doesn’t change the fact that TPM is independent and honest journalism.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 18/09/2025
Surprised not to see much mention of @joshtpm.bsky.social ‘s Talking Points Memo on this list.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 06/09/2025
So sorry that you were bothered by Democrat’s tone when we told you this is exactly what would happen. You really showed us!
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 21/08/2025
This means she doesn’t want to help her constituents if she gets to congress. If TX goes ahead and CA doesn’t counter, nothing remotely resembling Dem priorities will pass and what does pass will be actively harmful. Either she is disqualifyingly naive or wants power for questionable reasons.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 22/07/2025
Just be careful of collateral damage! youtu.be/Ngyn2pcSHzM
youtu.be
When you're so hot you cause a car crash
YouTube video by Julie Nolke
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 17/07/2025
As MAGA realizes they're being duped it's the ideal time to welcome them and point out the other lies. Everything the GOP has told them about trans, immigrants, crime, and climate is also lies to cover up greed, racism, and misdeeds. Helping the duped realize this is how we get a better future.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 08/07/2025
Our job as privileged white guys should be to show up at occasions like this and mock them. Just point out how fucking ridiculous they look and the fact that they’re marching through a fucking park with fucking machine guns. Guys, you can just do civil war reenactment or LARP like normal dorks.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 21/06/2025
They wear the masks to hide their smiles.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 18/06/2025
We have unearned privilege. We owe it to our community to fucking use it.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 18/06/2025
White people: if you see ANYONE claiming to be ICE and they aren't wearing a badge or official uniform, you need to shout "Prove it!". if they don't, you need to forcefully stop them. These videos of randos kidnapping brown people while white bystanders just watch are offensive on every front.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 13/06/2025
Printing this to take to #NoKings tomorrow.
Kombucha girl meme with her making a disgusted face at a photoshopped picture of Donald Trump wearing a crown and an intrigued/happy face at the logo of the Sacramento Kings basketball team.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 09/06/2025
You’re 100% right that we need bookmarks, but a workaround is to have an alt account and share via DM. Then you just go to DMs and you’ve got a list of posts you’ve shared with that alt.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 15/05/2025
3 of 5 kittens in the latest batch adopted and just when feel like you're getting ahead, another feral mom with 4 more turns up. Know anyone in Northern California looking for a new friend? crowdedhouse.pet/categories/a... #cats #kittens (First 2 need homes now, the others are available soon)
Gray tabby kitten peeking out from a hammock while laying in the sunBlack and gray kitten sitting on a cat bedSeveral kittens hiding in a cat bedBrown and white tabby kitten being held for a picture
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 24/02/2025
Now is the time for progressives to run for office at all levels. I think I'd be good at it. I'm pragmatic w/ strong principles and I'm a decent orator. I also think we don’t need more white guys in charge. I suspect what I need is to find a local candidate I align with and help get them elected.
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Reposted by Thadd Selden
Flying Mezerkis @bananapantz.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Me, pre-election: It’s going to be so hard to convince normies that all of this matters and that the government deeply affects their lives in meaningful direct ways. I wish I could think of a way to convince them.
media.tenor.com
a cartoon hand reaching out towards a purple object
ALT: a cartoon hand reaching out towards a purple object
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 21/01/2025
Setting up a few Meshtastic nodes to give to my friends in case things go to shit.
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Reposted by Thadd Selden
Qasim Rashid, Esq. @qasimrashid.com · 21/01/2025
Don't know who said it first but it bears repeating—if you really don't think what Musk repeatedly did was a Nazi salute, please record yourself doing that exact thing and post it across all social media, and make sure your employer sees it. Oh...is that awkward gesture too much now? Interesting.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 21/01/2025
Even if you’re planning to disenfranchise millions of minorities, you still need someone other than your base to vote for you. They still have to *pretend* this is a democracy for the time being. 2/2
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 21/01/2025
I don’t think the GOP is ready for just how quickly things are going to go to shit and how much the public — including the disengaged ones who stayed home or even voted for Trump — are going to push back and blame those in power. 1/2
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 14/01/2025
It's not ideal and we need real bookmarks, but a close workaround is to create another profile and use the "Share via DM" feature. You never even have to log into the other profile, you can just go to your chat tab and see what you've shared to it. It's private and quick but still a hack.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 31/12/2024
We don’t talk enough about how most of modern life involves constant assault from scams. Email, phone, ads, even in-person pitches are dominated by bad actors. We need strong agencies like CFPB and FTC with legal teeth to keep us safe. We shouldn’t live like this. Distrust permeates everything.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 23/12/2024
Finished the clock in time for the gift exchange.
Wooden clock made from fixed individual letters that show the current time. “ITS QUARTER PAST EIGHT” currently lit up.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 11/12/2024
After a LOT of trial and error I found a mix I'm happy with. Light diffusion acrylic sealed with UV resin w/ a dab of white dye (bottom right YNOC are the final version). Still need to test with the actual LEDs (which are dimmer than the flashlight) but I'm very pleased with this solution so far.
Test piece of wood with lettering cut out and various methods of filling the letters to allow light to pass through. Two of the letters are lit up by a back light.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 09/12/2024
I just don’t think you can get away with the level of dictator-inspired, “arrest them all” stuff here and it’ll be one of the few real backstops. Not much considering how much other harm will be done but it’s something.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 09/12/2024
Our justice system is very abusive, mostly directed at marginalized groups. But that abuse relies on mechanisms that protect the rich so I also think that open trials and juries of peers mean the retributive abuses Trump is planning will likely completely fall apart against those with means.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 08/12/2024
I’m really sick of my home pod Siri saying “uh huh” after I ask it to turn on a light. It must have been coded by some incel who liked hearing the female Siri saying it because there is no other excuse. It does it all the time now and is the most annoying thing Siri does. That’s saying something.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 07/12/2024
This weekend I WILL solve the lettering for my word clock. I realized that when I made the original one, the maker space laser was more powerful than mine so the wood burned less. The charring causes microbubbles in the epoxy. Today is all experimenting with filing, vacuum, inlays to solve it.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 30/11/2024
As a true believer you’ll never doubt it, but telling a rational person that something is real because it’s older than all of science isn’t a compelling argument. I don’t practice bloodletting either and the Babylonians did that too. Science requires theory and evidence. Astrology has neither.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 30/11/2024
And
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 30/11/2024
And just like religion there's no real problem in people believing in it. The problem is when it influences policy and affects those who trust science over superstition. My original point was that so much of what RFK Jr. spouts off is bullshit too and you can't pick and choose your bullshit.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 30/11/2024
Hahahaha. Not going to argue with you since it's clearly very important to you, but it most certainly is not. Science is real. There is no physical mechanism by which astrology can work. It's magic. It's just as real as the magic in Lord of the Rings. You know, fiction. As in made up.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 30/11/2024
Astrology can't be sorry. Because it's not real. Homeopathy and gnomes aren't sorry either.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 23/11/2024
I love this sentiment. As a chronic maker I would so much rather teach someone how to build something with me than just make it for them. Teaching is sharing and sharing is good.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 23/11/2024
I think it’s highly likely that gen AI, enshittification, and the rot economy kill the open web as we know it, but it’s not new. The Internet started dying years ago. We just didn’t realize we were in the golden age.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 23/11/2024
It amazes me that there are local businesses that only have Facebook pages or sites that don’t work with ad blockers or VPN. A restaurant reliant on surveillance capitalism is stupid. I just want to see a menu. If you’re going to post it in your front window, you should post it on the open web.
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Thadd Selden @thadd.selden.social · 22/11/2024
Giving astrology even casual acknowledgement is harmful. It’s not science, it’s not real, and it should be treated just like the idiocy of flat-earth and biblical creationism. Keep it out of your profiles. Say “who cares?” when someone asks. Treat it like the bunk that it is. 2/2
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