djac - Network

> The framers of the US constitution “made clear that no one in our system of government was meant to be king – the president...

> The framers of the US constitution “made clear that no one in our system of government was meant to be king – the president included – and not just in name only”, the judge Beryl A Howell, wrote in the ruling.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/06/trump-labor-board-firing-gwynne-wilcox

I mean, good news, but... *did* the framers of the #US #Constitution actually make that point particularly clear? Because, *here we are*.

The US needs to explicitly reduce the powers of the president, or get rid of the role altogether.

If #Ontario is banning #US companies from its procurement contracts, presumably that includes #Microsoft, #Google, #Apple and a large swathe...

If #Ontario is banning #US companies from its procurement contracts, presumably that includes #Microsoft, #Google, #Apple and a large swathe of the for-profit tech industry in general.

So it's (almost) all #OpenSource, then? #NextCloud, #LibreOffice, #Linux, etc.?

Trump and Vance are such pieces of shit. So Zelenskyy showed "disrespect", did he? Zelenskyy wasn't the one shouting in front...

Trump and Vance are such pieces of shit. So Zelenskyy showed "disrespect", did he? Zelenskyy wasn't the one shouting in front of reporters about world war III. Zelenskyy remained calm, serious and eminently respectful throughout.

If Zelenskyy made any tactical error in his negotiations, it would have been in assuming Trump was a functional human being.

I understand why world leaders are so reluctant to call out Trump directly, but there'd be something so cathartic about ripping of the bandage at this point.

The key objective of international relations now is to avoid the US, or what's left of it.

Content warning:Trump & MuskThe entire #USA is following in the footsteps of #Twitter, isn't it? Buying blue/gold check marks worked...

Content warning:Trump & Musk

The entire #USA is following in the footsteps of #Twitter, isn't it? Buying blue/gold check marks worked out great. Let's scale it up to an entire country.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-end-eb-5-immigrant-investor-visa-program-2025-02-25/

The shitheads now in charge carry such absolute confidence in their future deification that they think they can sell tickets to it.

I like Arthur C. #Clarke's "Any sufficiently advanced #technology is indistinguishable from #magic."To this, I'd like to...

I like Arthur C. #Clarke's "Any sufficiently advanced #technology is indistinguishable from #magic."

To this, I'd like to add:

1. This also applies to #bureaucracy, as is: any sufficiently complex organisation is indistinguishable from magic. Which is why people keep saying "they should..." without actually knowing who "they" are (and often where there couldn't even exist anyone with such a role).

2. It doesn't say what kind of magic.

Hoping that the #US imposes blanket "#aluminum" #tariffs but carves out a blanket exemption for "#aluminium".

Hoping that the #US imposes blanket "#aluminum" #tariffs but carves out a blanket exemption for "#aluminium".

Content warning:AuspolHere's a rant on #Dutton plagiarising #Trump. https://djac.au/2025/02/plagiarising-trump/There is something...

Content warning:Auspol

Here's a rant on #Dutton plagiarising #Trump.
https://djac.au/2025/02/plagiarising-trump/

There is something strangely cathartic in writing about the grotesqueries of politics, as opposed to just letting them wash over you, I guess.

#auspol

#PeopleIDoNotUnderstandPerson sitting next to me: *prolonged, muted slurping*.Me in my head: FFS, you _finished_ that drink fifteen minutes...

#PeopleIDoNotUnderstand

Person sitting next to me: *prolonged, muted slurping*.

Me in my head: FFS, you _finished_ that drink fifteen minutes ago, and the only thing you're ingesting now is slightly humid air.

Content warning:Auspol#Dutton is just shamelessly plagiarising the worst instincts of #Trump and Trump's puppeteers. It's like...

Content warning:Auspol

#Dutton is just shamelessly plagiarising the worst instincts of #Trump and Trump's puppeteers. It's like he's exercising a kind of fealty to someone he admires as a more mature and seasoned dickhead than even himself.

How long before Dutton declares that he's going to buy Bali from Indonesia, (for the sole, unstated purpose of validating Trump)?

#auspol

Given #Trump's continuation of batshit orders affecting the US federal government workforce, he's effectively dismantling the #US...

Given #Trump's continuation of batshit orders affecting the US federal government workforce, he's effectively dismantling the #US itself. What happens when there aren't enough workers to collect taxes, not enough funds to pay federal judges or the military?

He'll be the president of nothing.

The states will carry on individually, or at least the ones that are sufficiently wealthy to plug the gaps in whatever the feds were doing.

#LinkedIn sued over data allegedly used to train...

#LinkedIn sued over data allegedly used to train #AI
https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2025/linkedin-sued-over-data-allegedly-used-to-train-ai.html

*sputters*

You trained it on LinkedFuckingIn? Are you *trying* to kill us all?

Why are our #universities undemocratic?https://djac.au/2025/01/why-are-our-universities-undemocratic/Given there's going to be a...

Why are our #universities undemocratic?
https://djac.au/2025/01/why-are-our-universities-undemocratic/

Given there's going to be a parliamentary inquiry into university governance, it's time to call this out. Australia is a #democracy, so why aren't our universities run democratically? (And what is the autocratic status quo costing us?)

#MSteams is the only website I've ever encountered that regularly asks me to _restart_ it, like it's desperately trying to be a...

#MSteams is the only website I've ever encountered that regularly asks me to _restart_ it, like it's desperately trying to be a shitty operating system, because being just a conventional website isn't Microsofty enough for it.

It doesn't do this after some extended period of use, either, but right as I'm loading the page from scratch. (Because I'm not keeping that shit loaded in a browser tab for longer than absolutely necessary.)

Content warning:MuskDid #TheOnion also buy out #Musk's brain, at the same time as their other recent...

Content warning:Musk

Did #TheOnion also buy out #Musk's brain, at the same time as their other recent acquisitions?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/14/elon-musk-trump

First, are Musk's tribe putting their supposed #IQ on their CVs now? Does Musk think that's something people do? (_Do_ people do that?!)

Second, is Musk trying to actually kill his own supporters? Did he get bumped off and replaced by a time travelling shape shifter?

The #HighCourt's ruling here, regarding former #immigration detainees, seems very reasonable and intuitive....

The #HighCourt's ruling here, regarding former #immigration detainees, seems very reasonable and intuitive. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-06/federal-government-high-court-immigration-case/104565962

And it makes a mockery of #Labor's long-term strategy of trying to politically "neutralise" the issue by acquiescing to the cruelty that the #Coalition has branded itself with.

A policy of cruelty is almost inevitably going to test the rule of law, and so you're almost inevitably going to get smacked down in court at various points. And the political fallout from that is Labor's own goddamn fault.

It could have stood on principle in the first place. It could have defended the legal rights of all people and made _that_ the argument. But it's going to seem ridiculous to suddenly pivot to defending people's rights immediately after being prevented from violating them.

One of my many and varied plans is, now, to have 3 working #bicycles, including a little folding #ebike for random utility...

One of my many and varied plans is, now, to have 3 working #bicycles, including a little folding #ebike for random utility purposes.

Currently I have one Lekker Amsterdam with a broken back wheel (it is very tragic and you should feel sad), and one old and thoroughly dissected Giant Roam, where I managed to crack the frame itself. And they share virtually no parts in common.

So I have some way to go to fulfil my KPI.

> Griffiths, also from Queensland Police, said #AI was “the best way to decrypt” encrypted communications and...

> Griffiths, also from Queensland Police, said #AI was “the best way to decrypt” encrypted communications and files.

https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2024/aussie-police-want-ai-facial-recognition-to-fight-child-abuse.html

I love that this article included this quote.

Why yes, I am aware of the names of two mathematically-impenetrable technologies. **brushes hair back** One of them is, ahem, _better_ than the other one, you know.

My take on the #ACS's #generativeAI recommendations in its "Digital Pulse 2024"...

My take on the #ACS's #generativeAI recommendations in its "Digital Pulse 2024" report:
https://djac.au/2024/10/gen-ai-part-2-digital-fibrilation/

To summarise: some tech workers surveyed think #AI lacks accountability, is perceived poorly, commits errors, removes autonomy and creativity, is biased, and creates legal risk. _SO_, what we need to do, right, is to "upskill" workers into understanding that generative AI is actually fine, in order to help close the #AIgap.

So I sleep-walked into this one.My phone (a recently purchased #Fairphone 5) will stop working in 3 days because it doesn't support...

So I sleep-walked into this one.

My phone (a recently purchased #Fairphone 5) will stop working in 3 days because it doesn't support "#4G calls".

Except... no. It absolutely supports 4G calls, and the reason it will stop working is because, as far as I've been able to tell, #Telstra is pulling a bullshit anticonsumer stunt by refusing to _permit_ 4G calls, even after shutting off #3G, from phones it doesn't sell itself.

I'm signed up with #aldimobile, who have been good to me, but since they use the Telstra network, we're both at the mercy of the Telstra. So I have to dump them now.

I rediscovered this post after many years:"Beijing Traffic Lesson: Left...

I rediscovered this post after many years:

"Beijing Traffic Lesson: Left Turn"
http://soimgoingtochina.blogspot.com/2007/06/beijing-traffic-lesson-left-turn.html