Throwing mushrooms at the French since 2005

guppiecat @ 2026-04-08T08:11:00

2026-04-08T13:12:34Z

In case anyone cares, here's the current breakdown of the major AI players:

Anthropic: After due consideration of the likely impact of our technology, we have decided to delay the release of our new model until our private group can work to resolve the security issues it has found in other technologies.

OpenAI: Someone's gotta be first, and we really like money. Just trust us, bro. We pinkie promise we'll be good.

Google Gemini: We have thoroughly tested this in the lab and now release our new model to the testing group - by which we mean all of our users across the globe.

Microsoft: Please use our technology. Pretty please? It only costs $$$$, I mean $$$, I mean $$, I mean $, what the hell, you can have it for free.

Perplexity: LOL, YOLO, Here you go.

xAI: LEEEEEEEEEROY JEEEEEEEEEENKINS!!!!

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Winter in Minnesota

2026-01-08T01:29:00Z

I am not native to Minnesota. I choose to live here.

I’ve traveled the world, and while there are places that are warmer, friendlier, cheaper, and easier to live in, Minnesota feels right. The people here leave one another alone - and what others view as standoffishness, I see as respectful distance. But when someone needs help, people show up. It isn’t perfect - no place is - but it’s right for me.

People who haven’t spent much time here don’t understand the cycle of the seasons. Spring isn’t bright and green like it is elsewhere; it’s brown and muddy. Summer is hot and humid - sometimes among the hottest places on the planet—, sometimes smoky from wildfires, sometimes thick with mosquitoes. But the days are long, and the hiking and nature can be spectacular.

Fall is a time of coming together. While it’s not really my thing, as seasonal affective disorder starts to creep in, I can appreciate how important it is for others to gather—to share food, stories, and warmth.

Winter, however, is cold.

In snowy winters, the snow piles up and just keeps going. The joke is that by mid-January, two-lane roads become single-lane roads, and by early February—when there’s nowhere left to put the snow—the roads just start getting taller. This is when people ski and skate, take winter hikes, or retreat indoors to cook, read, watch TV, and spend time with family. This aligns with the public image of Minnesota: a place where time slows, where people are nice to one another in warm, yellow-lit houses while we wait for the cold, dark blues, greys, and whites to thaw.

But that isn’t all Minnesota is.

Minnesota is also about people working together and supporting one another. It’s about protesting injustice, as we’ve seen in response to the killings of Philando Castile, George Floyd, Amir Locke, and so many others. It’s about defending the most vulnerable—immigrants and Native people, the poor, people of color, and those whose sexuality or gender identity puts them at risk.

Minnesotans - more than anywhere I’ve lived, and more than most places I’ve visited - are deeply engaged politically. Even those who claim not to be involved are often only a degree or two removed from people in office or people who have served. We donate money, time, resources, our bodies, and sometimes our own lives to make things better for all of us.

And even in winter, even in the darkness, the sun still comes out some days.

When it does, things melt a little. Tree branches shed their weight and rise. Hard-packed snow turns to slush, and things begin to move. It doesn’t even need to get above freezing. I’ve seen water running down the driveway on a bright day when it’s well below zero.

That’s the thing about Minnesota: even in the darkest days of winter, we make our own sunshine. We come together. We help one another thaw and reshape ourselves. We jump each other’s cars, clear driveways, bring food - because if we don’t help one another, collectively, we don’t survive. At least not as the people we want to be.

It’s in that context that I fiercely oppose the cold-blooded killing of Renee Nicole Good this morning by federal “law enforcement” operating far outside their jurisdiction. It’s why I support those attending tonight’s vigil, and the protests in the days ahead against this violence—and the violence still to come from those who claim to be governing this country.

I can’t do otherwise.
We can’t do otherwise.

Because in Minnesota, even on the coldest days, the bright light of the sun melts ICE.

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Ur Mama

2025-02-13T13:57:31Z

Posting here too, because even in all the bleakness, we still need humor.

I saw someone use the word "Ur" for "Your" and, as the alternative is working on a paper, I give you ... "Ur mama" jokes.

Ur mama so fat, she survived the aridification famines and set societal beauty standards for the next thousand years.

Ur mama so fertile, she obviated the needed for agricultural revolution.

Ur mama so fit she built the ziggurat just to get her steps in.

Ur mama so forgettable, she presided over the second dynasty.

Ur mama so respectable, everyone worshiped Nanna.

Ur mama so artistic, she set the Standard.

Ur mama so unique, she spoke a language isolate.

Ur mama so rich, she controlled trade throughout the entire geographic region.

Ur mama so organized, she standardized administrative processes, archival documentation, the tax system, and the national calendar.

Ur mama so balanced, she drafted codes to balance lives and loss with punishment and payback.

Ur mama got around so much she had to invent a new dating system for the whole city-state.

Ur mama so literate, she mass-produced Sumerian texts.

(Feel free to add your own.)

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Moving from Facebook

2025-01-20T15:46:19Z

I meant to post this a few days ago, but since we seem to be having an exodus, here's a quick guide.

If you want an easy way to find where people are going, use the Facebook search function - but that's not all you have to do. Once you have the search term in, click on "Posts" so you're just looking at posts, then "Your Friends" and, if there are too many, narrow it down by year.

If you get a hit, remember to check the comments, because some of your mutuals may reply in comments with where they are moving to.

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Blue Sky is like Twitter. All posts are public and the focus is on engagement and sharing. There's better moderation than Twitter though.
To find which friends have moved to Blue Sky, search on:

bsky.social (the "right" way to share a profile link
bsky.app (the common way, for people who copy/paste URLs)
bsky (the abbreviation, may not be needed if you do the other two, but I don't fully trust FB's search function, so here you go)

These ones's aren't great, as they catch more than just people posting moving notices, but in case you want to do a deeper dive, here you go:

bluesky
blue sky

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Reddit is like an old school BBS or Facebook groups, with different channels for different topics. Some groups are good, some are really, deeply, unpleasant. Feel free to drop a group the moment you get uncomfortable.
To find which friends have moved to Reddit, search on:

reddit.com/r/ (this finds channels/groups)
reddit.com/u/ (this finds profiles/people)

I don't know of any other searches that work. Unfortunately, this one is messy.

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Dreamwidth is a LiveJournal replacement, best for long-form content and discussions. It works off of "circles", but basically, all communication occurs on the equivalent of Facebook pages and groups. Sharing images/media can be a challenge if you're not used to embedding images in an HTML-like form.

Dreamwidth is easy. Just search on "dreamwidth".

When people say "I'm beaksandbaubles on dreamwidth", that means that you need to go https://beaksandbaubles.dreamwidth.org/ . Once there, click "add to your circle" to follow them.

Remember to check comments on your friends' posts on Dreamwidth, as you can find more friends there.
You can also search on "dw", but know that you may match a lot of Doctor Who posts as well.

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Discord is like a modern spin on IRC or WhatsApp groups. It works off of "servers" which contain "channels", so you have to join a server and then see what channels on that server you care about. It's kinda messy, but it's much more "in the moment" than other platforms.
Search on "discord". And then read about which servers and channels they're suggesting you join. If they don't mention specific servers, you'll need to ask them for more specifics.

---
Mastodon/Fediverse is complicated and can vary based on which server you're using. It's generally for short-form content like Twitter, but aims at growing community.
Search on:

mastodon
mastadon (because people misspell it a lot)
fediverse

If people don't mention their specific server, you'll need to ask.

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Not really about a mongoose

2024-11-06T20:24:55Z

This is me reminding people that Signal is a good end-to-end encrypted messaging system with auto-delete capabilities that have been reviewed by independent security groups and that uses a protocol designed by one of the best security people on the planet.

Telegram, WhatsApp, and FB Messenger are not.

Also, you might want to check out the TAILS project - if you need anonymity in places other than chat.

---

Here's a photo of a mongoose. They eat snakes. (Though is a dwarf mongoose, and mostly eats annoying insects - which is fine. We can't all be big powerful mongooses (mongeese?))

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Shrimp

2024-01-26T21:53:09Z

This shrimp is here to kick ass and take names and there's no one else here, he can't hold a pen very well, the pencil floated away , the paper dissolved in the water, and frankly this whole project could be going a lot better.

(No, I'm not starting up the photo posts again - too busy, but I saw this old photo of mine and the caption popped into my head and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so here you go.)

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guppiecat @ 2023-12-12T12:15:00

2023-12-12T18:18:35Z

As you all know, I like new technology and old natural history. I took a bit of time yesterday to combine these together so we can play a game. (I expect I will do there periodically until I get bored with the game.)

Without searching, based on the text below, what do you think early explorers were describing?

Prompt: Can you draw a creature that emits a black and cloudy Liquor to disturb the cunning Angler; the Truth whereof I could never observe; only what was more certainly miraculous, its monstrous Figure: The Body was of a duskish Colour, all one Lump with the Head, without scales; it was endowned with large Eyes, and had long shreds like Gorgon’s Hair, hung in the manner of Snakes, bestuck with snail-like Shells reaching over the body; under these appeared a Parrot’s Beak, two Slits between the Neck are made instead of Gills for Respiration … the Inky Matter is bred in the Stomach.

GPT/Dall-E:

( more AI generations below, for those that care )

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A small rant on Cerberus

2022-12-31T17:56:31Z

(Since it was popular over on FB, I'm copying here.)

I'm seeing the "no one knows what kind of dog Cerberus was" post going around again, so I feel a need to mention that Κέρβερος was first mentioned in Homer and Hesiod, which places him at - the earliest - as 800 BCE, or less than 3,000 years ago. At that time, in Greece, the dominant dog breed was the greyhound.

Homer's/Hesiod's Cerberus could not have been a dachshund, as that breed is (1) German and (2) just over 300 years old. Similarly, the chihuahua is out, being around 150 years old (and it's predecessor breed, the techichi, is only about 1,200 years old). Even the poodle is out, being only 2,000 years old.

Assuming Hades can travel and leave Greece, in addition to the greyhound, reasonable dog breeds for Cerberus include the akita inu, the greenland sled dog, the afghan hound, basenji, tibetan mastiff, or the saluki.

HOWEVER, this assumes that Κέρβερος is the name for a single immortal dog. If Κέρβερος is a TITLE given to Hades' dog, which lives a mortal - though extended (as is common for those who associate with mythical gods) - lifespan until he either dies or gets to retire as a Naberius, then Cerberus could be unrestricted by breed.

Moreover, if we assume that, when he needs a new one, Hades just goes to the shelter and picks up three dogs to smush together, there is no reason to believe that all three heads would come from the same breed of dog.

(And there are advantages to picking specific breed traits, such as seeing, hearing, and barking, to maximize capabilities in a guard dog.)

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Humans and Rules

2021-05-22T00:01:56Z

I made this rant over on FB, and people are sharing, so I suppose it should also be here or something.

---

I am starting to see some people arguing about various laws again - so I wanted to offer a test that I use when I write policy for a client.

Let's look at gun control as an example (and just an example, I don't want to open the discussion here). Look at the phrase "if you outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have guns". It's nice and pithy and feels like a valid argument ... only that's not how humans interact with rules.

It's never going to be "good guys vs bad guys". It's going to usually break down like: 80% of people wouldn't do a thing anyway so the law doesn't matter, 15% of people would do the thing - but they're reasonable people and would be reasonably safe about it, 4% of the people would do the thing dangerously and be lucky when no one got hurt, 0.8% of the people would do the thing dangerously and hurt others, and 0.2% of the people would the thing maliciously specifically to hurt people.

You don't write a policy for the 80%, because it doesn't matter. You don't write a policy for 0.2%, because it wouldn't change their behavior. You write a policy in a way that allows 15% to achieve most of what they want - recognizing the need for their freedom. You write it so the 80% understand the 15% and form a 95% block to put pressure on those 4% to shift them over to safer behavior. You write it to drive culture around "reasonableness" so the rabid frothing-at-the-mouth "freedom or death" people look like fucking frothing-at-the-mouth "freedom or death" people to the rest of the group. Your goal is to make the dangerous behavior culturally unacceptable.

Whether you actually catch and punish anyone is NOT the point.

So here's the test. When someone floats a rule change at you, don't look at it as "us vs them". Ask yourself "Who does this protect?" Then ask yourself "Remember that one annoying person that I refuse to play board games with now? If that person saw this law, how could they use it to really fuck over people?"

If the answer is "This rule change protects people who would otherwise be at risk and a miserable conniving untrustworthy piece of shit can't abuse this rule without everyone else clearly knowing what's going on and coming down on them hard" ... then it's a good rule. If that's not the answer, you probably need to rework the rule a bit.

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Whooping Crane

2021-05-16T14:53:16Z

Whooping cranes like to tell jokes:

A fully vaccinated person and a non-vaccinated person walk into a bar. Six weeks later, the non-vaccinated person’s grandparents die.

Whooping crane jokes aren’t all that funny.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Butterfly

2021-05-09T23:37:25Z

This butterfly’s hobby is telling business people that not everything that matters can be measured, waiting through their rants, and then asking them to quantify exactly how angry they are.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Rockhopper Penguin

2021-05-06T13:51:40Z

This penguin understands that everyone makes mistakes, but observes that some sure do seem to make a lot more of them than others.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Whooping Crane

2021-05-02T19:58:52Z

This crane had a witty, relatable, and terse observation on human nature, but has decided to keep it to itself in the interest of retaining friendships.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Penguin

2021-04-28T15:04:02Z

intersect((z=-x^(2)-y^(2)+5),(x+y=2))

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Cougar

2021-04-26T15:39:30Z

Cougar realizing that CAPTCHAs prove non-artificiality by identifying traffic lights and crosswalks … the very thing that self driving cars are supposed to do.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Bighorn Sheep

2021-04-25T18:07:46Z

This sheep is aware that the 1980’s are as far away from today as WWII is from the 1980’s, but it doesn’t bother him because he likes being a time traveler.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Chacoan Peccary

2021-04-24T16:45:04Z

That feeling when your pandemic restrictions are loosening up but you’re not sure if you actually want to hang out with anyone anymore.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Butterfly

2021-04-23T15:42:56Z

Butterfly patiently waiting for the vaccine rollout to include the 1-30 day age range.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Bactrian Camel

2021-04-19T16:37:26Z

This camel has opinions that initially seem like reasonable statements on economic priorities, but that upon review place the personal property of his friends above the lives of those he doesn’t personally know.

He calls this view “social responsibility”.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Sea Nettle

2021-03-01T16:08:27Z

This sea nettle suggests that you pick one place in you house and label it “safe place”, so when you remember putting something in a safe place, there is only one place it can be.

Okay, it’s not the sea nettle saying this. It’s me.

Fortunately, I eventually found the tax documents.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Octopus

2021-03-01T02:20:01Z

Octopus that doesn’t understand why it’s called “cancel culture” when nothing’s being cancelled – people are just changing the channel.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Crab

2021-02-17T16:44:17Z

This crab just realized that, in all the stories, all the magic carpets do is fly. If they’re magic, shouldn’t they be able to do a lot more?

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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California Toad

2021-02-16T16:52:10Z

Toad that just received a well written and comprehensive answer to a completely different question than the one she actually asked.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Stream

2021-02-15T16:28:17Z

The streams running through Banff looked like they were full of magical powers. That said, I have read enough fantasy books *and* enough ecology books to know not to drink from them.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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Mountain

2021-02-14T16:26:11Z

Whoever said “show, don’t tell” clearly has never considered plate tectonics as seen in a mountain vs being explained with hand gestures and verbal sound effects.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

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