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• Post #4374500

  Researchers say a fundamental flaw in LLMs makes it easy to trick them into doing things they shouldn’t — like telling you how to sabotage an aircraft’s navigation system. "There’s a real probability that this is going to be a problem that’s fundamentally unsolvable," says one of the paper's coauthors. https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/30/1140927/a-fundamental-flaw-leaves-llms-vulnerable-to-attack/ #AI #LLMs #AIResearch #GenerativeAI #security

• Post #4016663

  Dear Fedi, I've searched and can't find this. About a month ago, when the news about Mullvad's support for fascism came out, I saw a recommendation for another VPN. I think it might have been made in Finland; it had a name that was about 5 or 6 characters long, and I think was a Sami word? Anyway, I can't find it in my browser history, bookmarks, comment threads, or search engines. Can anyone remember? Thanks. #AskFedi #VPN

• Post #3839495

  New Yorkers, if you need a mask because of all the wildfire smoke, you can get one at the library. (Yay, libraries! Increase their funding!) https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-libraries-giving-out-masks-as-wildfire-smoke-sinks-air-quality #NewYork #NYC #WearAMask

• Post #3799958

  Because it's late and I've been drinking and am in a fun mood, I'm going through my WIP so far and tallying how many times each character uses the F-word or any variants. I know Jessie will come out way on top, but I want to see how many times anyone else does. (This was spurred by Jessie noting how unusual it was that her mentor, Angel had just used it.) Anyway, I'm barely into the tally and already being more amused than this has any right to make me.

• Post #3573968

  OMG, glorious rainbow beside the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower! Edit: Damn, my phone's camera didn't do justice to the colors or the contrast. I'm sorry. #Brooklyn

• Post #3536740

  Happy Canada Day to all my many Canadian friends on here, and also to all the other Canadians who I don't know. 🇨🇦🦫🍁🏒🍲🇨🇦 (The penultimate emoji is intended to represent poutine.) #Canada #CanadaDay #HappyCanadaDay

• Post #3434839

  Waverly Place, NoHo, Manhattan, off Washington Square.

• Post #3399611

  #WritersCoffeeClub day 1: What’s the greatest benefit you’ve taken from the writing community online? Just a sense of community. Of knowing that there are loads of other people out there who are writing, who care about reading and the written word.

• Post #3098433

  #ScribesAndMakers May 16: Create a poll with three websites you reference for your creative work and one you don't. Ask people to guess the one you don't. Okay, which of these sites do I NOT use in my writing?

• Post #3087643

  If you can, please help me #GetFediHired and escape the US. I'm a front-end web dev with over 20 years of experience. I know React, of course, but I consider my core skills to be: * HTML, CSS, and JS/TypeScript * accessibility * listening to users and caring about them * hence, UI and UX I'll need visa sponsorship. I've been aiming for Ireland, but am open to other EU or Aus/NZ. CV: https://mactane.org/Kagan%20MacTane%20CV.pdf Reply or DM for more info. Boosts welcome. #FediHire...

• Post #2504352

  So now companies are trying to use "quiet hiring" to mean the already-abused tactic of "expecting employees to do extra work for no pay". Some claim they'll recognize such extra work with promotions - but not pay-scale bumps to match the new titles. For others, of course, it's just the usual "we expect one person to do the work of 2 or even 3." Don't buy the #quietHiring hype. It's "what we did for y...

• Post #2028039

  RE: https://wandering.shop/@kagan/116522726885599857 Or maybe we should go for IP;DR, for "incessant popups, didn't read". Thoughts, Fedi?

• Post #2028038

  TMP;DR = too many popups, didn't read. That article on #ElleMagazine about Bad Bunny's thought-provoking Met Gala outfit looked kind of interesting, but after 4 things popped up before I'd gotten 3 paragraphs into it? Forget it! I'll get the information somewhere else, or just live without it; I couldn't concentrate on the page anymore after having my focus interrupted so relentlessly. @ELLE

• Post #1728062

  Reminder: You don't get to claim the title of "ally". It's something bestowed (or not) by the people you are *trying to* ally with. Ally is a verb, not a noun. It's something you *do*, and have to keep repeating, for it to count. And only the people you're trying to help get to decide whether you succeeded. #ally #progressive #lgbtq #lgbtqia #disabled #disability #advocacy #neurodivergent #PoC #minority #feminism

• Post #858961

  At JFK, checked in, the whole deal. Having a drink at a bar near the gate while I wait for boarding to start. The next three weeks are going be to a major roller-coaster. Some of the most intense bittersweetness I think I'll ever experience in my life. And also a bunch of physical labor. Off into the wild blue yonder. Into the west.

• Post #823201

  RE: https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/116305793811427182 I'd been thinking about making some time to read _Project Hail Mary_ so I could go see the movie and join the convo about it. And then I read this 👇🏻. Nice to not have to crowbar that into my schedule, but overall? I'd rather Andy Weir had just not been a shitwaffle. Seriously, I am _so sick and tired_ of white-guy SF authors turning out to be right-wing assholes. (Also, the thing about "there's no symbolism or themes i...

• Post #762912

  [Edit: Solved!] I [had] a bizarre-ass #Bash #scripting problem. I'm at my wits' end. I have a script that scans a directory and picks a random file from it. This script works just fine if I invoke it manually, from the command line in a terminal window. But if I run it from the Linux Mint/Cinnamon menu (start menu, whatever), it hangs when it tries to list the files in the dir. Likewise when run from crontab (which is how I really want to run it most of the time). 🧵 1/4 #Linux...

• Post #703146

  Meh, that's probably all the preparation I can usefully do tonight. I guess I should write, but the twitchy nervousness about the interview has given me a serious case of the don't-wannas. Like, regarding practically everything. It's too early to go to sleep, though. (And I just had Irish Coffee, so it'll be a few hours before I could probably sleep anyway.) Besides, if I write, I'll be glad I did. Now I just gotta get myself to do it.

• Post #703144

  Okay. I did some writing. I prepped for the interview/coding test tomorrow. I'm all showered and shaved and looking nice. (As nice as I can look these days.) Interview's at 11:00 Eastern tomorrow. I'm going to try my damnedest to get to sleep ASAP and be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for it. (And, more to the point, mentally alert and good at coding.) Wish me luck, and good night Fedi.

• Post #703143

  By some kind of minor miracle, I actually slept okay last night! No bad dreams that I remember, I feel reasonably rested, and was able to wake up at a decent hour to ingest caffeine and get ready for my interview. Got 75 minutes now before the email comes in with the link to the task, and 90 until the interview itself starts. I feel more confident than I was expecting to right now. Now I just need to _not blow it_. 🤞🏻

• Post #703142

  Wow, I'm not sure I've ever had a coding interview go that badly. 😖😰😭💔

• Post #703140

  I had been generally planning on going down to Oldies (the izakaya I sometimes write in) tonight. But after the roller-coaster of this morning's interview catastrophe, plus not feeding myself until 14:00, I feel quite physically wrecked. Like, getting up out of this chair feels like a monumental effort. A subway ride? Ugh, I don't think so. I should at least try to write. Ugh.

• Post #419147

  Okay, I'm all showered and shaven, and I've done what I can as far as interview prep. I've got alarms set for tomorrow morning. I'm in bed and trying to get to sleep. Now all I need to do is: * actually get some decent sleep (easier said than done) * get up on time tomorrow morning * get myself awake and coherent before the interview …and then be sparkling, intelligent, witty, professional, and all that other stuff. You know, basically just knock that interview...

• Post #419146

  So, taking stock: * Had bad, stressful dreams last night. Not unexpected; since I'm stressing about the interview, it'd be odd if my dreams _weren't_ stress-filled. * But also, I was too cold, and that leaked into my dreams. * And also, possibly as a result, both my right calf _and_ that muscle in my upper back that's been giving me shit for the last two weeks are trying to cramp. Ugh. Gonna have my tea and give it my all. I can do no better.

• Post #419145

  Well, that fucking sucked. This is my first time using Google Meet since I converted my laptop to Linux, and my audio was messed up. They could hear me, but all muffled and distorted. And when I put on headphones, it just didn't pick up that mic's sound at all. I'll have to resolve this, really fast. Ugh. 😞