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Downes 🍁
@Downes@mastodon.social
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Philosopher. Educator. Journalist. Programmer. Photographer. Cyclist. Socialist.
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Joined December 03, 2016
Posts
July 28, 2026. Baseball. When I was pushing through the cold and the rain over the last month I was dreaming about sitting in the stands on a sultry summer evening watching a ball game. Tonight we went for an Ottawa Titans doubleheader. First game was a dog but the second was a 1-0 thriller. #SDDaily
July 27, 2026. Jeff Banister and the Lenses. Scene from a shelf in my home office, where I spent most of the day puttering. I'm still in trip recovery mode, but beginning to do stuff again. #SDDaily
Dragonfly #DailyPhoto #Photography 2026365 July 26, 2026. We went for a hike in Larose Forest west today; I haven't been there in the summer for quite a while. Listened to the ball game, though that was just disappointing. https://ift.tt/1Tf3Vjs
July 25, 2026. Grass, as seen from the basement window. Today's accomplishment was to upload a video. We also went to Costco. Also got some OLDaily posts done. Still not very ambitious. #SDDaily
July 24, 2026. First day back. This is the basement floor. It's my first day back after a long time on the road. I got my photos uploaded to Flickr, which is plenty for one day. So tired. #SDDaily
It has taken a while but I have now been able to upload the video recording of my keynote in Ecuador, Technology, Diversity and Human Connection: https://www.downes.ca/presentation/605
Enjoy a collection of 364 photos from my trip to Iceland: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_downes/albums/72177720334825867
July 23, 2026. Home again. Back after a long travel day in which a lot of things did not work the way they should. A case of summer travel? Luggage will follow, but at least my bike box arrived - beaten and ragged and sent to the wrong belt. Sore and tired - not just sleepy but body tired. It's good, though. It's what adventure feels like, and what am I without adventure? #SDDaily
"Every era’s turnaround began the same way: some unmeasurable number of people, each acting alone, declined to sell — and then made the single most subversive move available to a member of a collapsing civilization.
They found the people who could not be bought."
https://thegrimhistorian.substack.com/p/has-america-crossed-the-asshole-threshold
Replying to
@grammargirl@zirk.us
@grammargirl@zirk.us I think it's funny that people who object to the use of 'halluctinate' because it anthropomorphises AI are nonetheless happy with their use of the word 'confident', as in 'confidently makes mistakes', in the same context.
Replying to
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social
@jeffjarvis Good thing, because for most people, saving for retirement is a pipe dream.
Replying to
@cogdog@cosocial.ca
@cogdog@cosocial.ca That depends on whether the dog had SD2Tooth protocol installed.
Replying to
@epilepticrabbit@social.coop
@epilepticrabbit@social.coop maybe you can convince the AI that it wasn't fiction
April 21, 2026. Nuthatch. I've spent the last couple of days resting to relieve a sore oblique. This means I've been working on my CList software. Meanwhile, enjoy this nurhatch. #SDDaily #bird #photography
Replying to
@creativecommons@mastodon.social
@creativecommons I would hope for "up-do-date announcements and news from Creative Commons" from its account here in the Fediverse, so I don't have to sign up for more email.
Replying to
@dajb@social.coop
@dajb Good argument. https://www.downes.ca/post/79139 Yours is a community-based account of literacy. My own thinking is that literacy is personal - it reflects a personal capacity. Hence, a person living all alone in a forest can be literate in the ways of the forest, for example.
Replying to
@dajb@social.coop
@dajb so, first and obviously, I want to do this with my own content. Though it might struggle under the weight.
But second and more importantly, looking at your graph, it doesn't seem to be very interconnected. You have 10+ fairly dense clusters, with not a lot connecting them.
I wonder whether that's you or an artifact of the software and method. More likely the latter, I think.
Replying to
@Tom_c_watson@mastodon.social
@Tom_c_watson @dajb OK, now I definitely want do-it-yourself mushroom music
Welp... I'm home from my last day at the office (spent mostly packing books) and now I'm officially retired. It's on to the Next Thing, whatever that turns out to be...
April 3, 2026. Lunch. I liked how bright my lunch looked today. Today was very much a rest day - any ambition I had disappeared with the need for an afternoon nap. They say retirement is one of those stressful life events. I can relate. #SDDaily
Today's music: 10,000 Maniacs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ALBnosXFMo Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY8y_7B3Gxs
April 2, 2026. A last look at my office before I take things down. It was a decent office but I never felt any love for it. My last day in this building will be next Tuesday, with my only objective to take my own stuff out of it and leave NRC's stuff behind. #SDDaily
April 1, 2026. Sunshine in the Back Yard. The weather has turned a bit. Working from home, getting files archived and my post-NRC Web page set up. #SDDaily.
Today's music: Katie Melua - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIF5mcc0y4c
Today's music: Lissie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnC6ZBXCqa0 Also (with better sound quality): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKkzgVun43c&t=1151s
March 31, 2026. Productive day. Went to the dentist for the hygienist, X-rays and a checkup and left with zero cavities. So yay! Got my final time sheets completed, and wrapped up the project with DRDC. Also we had our last team meeting. Brought home many of the speaker's gifts I've accumulated over the years - not sure where to put them but I value them. #SDDaily
Today's music: P.J. Harvey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De-p_E650Ik
I've completely rewritten my CARE application — Content-Addressed Resource Exchange. This was my project from a few years ago to distribute Open Educational Resources (OER) on IPFS, a decentralized file storage system. https://github.com/Downes/CARE-project
An account is required to upload, and the demo version is a 'hermit' node, not actively publishing to IPFS, but the code includes full IPFS support. https://care.mooc.ca/
(I wanted to do all this 10 years ago but it was way too far ahead of its time)
Today's music: Faun - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbFVv2i5tig
Woodpecker #DailyPhoto #Photography ottawa, bird, 2026365 March 29, 2026. We went for a walk along the Ottawa River Valley today - it's that point where there's not enough snow for winter sports but there's too much snow for bicycles - the perfect day to walk these trails. https://ift.tt/9fCVA2R
March 28, 2026. Grackle. This bird and a dozen of it's colleagues descended in the bird feeder today, cleaning it out. A sure sign of spring.
With my retirement now just a few days away I have added the subscription links to my page so you can support continued publication of OLDaily.
Replying to
@epilepticrabbit@social.coop
@epilepticrabbit Despite what this report says, I'm pretty sure Canada could feed its own population.
Replying to
@Gargron__dup_1@mastodon.social
@Gargron@mastodon.social I'd buy one but in Canada I can't :(
Replying to
@jwcph@helvede.net
Replying to
@Wifiwits@infosec.exchange
@Wifiwits @jwcph I am aware that dump trucks are not the same as LLMs. However, the original statement said "If loss of a tool..." and both dump trucks and LLMs are tools.
The original principle sounds appealing, but the appeal comes from its generality. But it is too broad. It captures too much. So we have to ask, why would this principle apply to LLMs if it doesn't apply to dump trucks?
Try not to respond with insults. It's far more interesting to actually engage with the point being made.
Replying to
@Wifiwits@infosec.exchange
@Wifiwits @jwcph
Dump trucks are a tool. If we lose dump trucks, then we no longer have the ability & skills required to move large loads of gravel. Therefore, according to the general principle cited ( "If loss of a tool = loss of your skill & knowledge, then that tool isn't an asset, it's a liability") it follows that dump trucks are a liability.
But, of course, dump trucks are not a liability. They make it possible to do what we could not do before. Same with LLMs.
Replying to
@jwcph@helvede.net
"If loss of a tool = loss of your skill & knowledge, then that tool isn't an asset, it's a liability."
So, dump trucks are a liability?