Writing With Unnatural Constraints

Writing With Unnatural Constraints:

So too, goes my thinking, regarding the “watermarking” of AI-generated text through word choices alone. Fitting words into the watermarking pattern surely results in prose far less stilted than omitting the letter e, and surely also less stilted than rs1n’s hard-wrapped-at-75-characters-per-line Super Metroid FAQ, but it’s necessarily stilted to some degree. It’s sophistry to argue that one can write within a constraint without the constraint affecting the quality of the writing.

[Constraints always have impact. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. It’s in the hands of the craftsperson.]

Source: Daring Fireball

Trump Is in Open Revolt Against the Constitution

Trump Is in Open Revolt Against the Constitution:

Jamelle Bouie:

The details of what is happening here are important — that’s why I laid them out — but it’s also important to step back and make a more fundamental point: the president of the United States is engaged in a conspiracy against the voting rights of the American people, which is to say that the president is engaged in a conspiracy against the Constitution itself. And this is part of a larger effort, spearheaded by the most fanatical of his allies, like Stephen Miller, to end the American republic and supplant it with an authoritarian regime in which President Trump holds sovereign authority over the whole nation.

It is important to say, as well, that this is all out in the open, as plain as day.

*repeated hair tearing-out noise*

Tags: Donald Trump · Jamelle Bouie · politics · usa

[The F’in f’ers]

Source: kottke.org

Apple’s John Ternus Era Begins

Apple’s John Ternus Era Begins:

Cook and Ternus each sent pretty anodyne company-wide memos about the transition. Cook’s tenure was the longest of any CEO in Apple’s history and he was the one who turned it from a successful company into a global behemoth.

The thing I have liked about Apple — one of the things that made me a longtime customer and someone who writes about the company — is that it has historically been a very simple kind of business: it designs products and sells them to people, mostly. Every one of its peers is a more complicated business. They often balance the needs of massive institutional and government customers, advertisers, or two-sided marketplaces.

[Hoping for better… but obviously I have no control.]

Source: Pixel Envy

Apple is not your friend

Not your friend:

Reminder: Apple is not your friend, even with a new CEO. Apple will continue to do some good things and some very bad things. Any feelings of love you have toward Apple is not reciprocated: Apple has no feelings. It’s a multi-trillion dollar company that, like every other corporation, would like your money but does not care about you, or your values, at all.

[For sure.]

Source: Brent Simmons

LiFX Smart Mirror w/ Matter over WiFi or Thread (review)

LiFX Smart Mirror w/ Matter over WiFi or Thread (review):

There aren’t many smart home categories I’ve not tested since jumping into Apple Home nearly 10 years ago, but a smart mirror is certainly one of them. That’s mostly because such a device didn’t really exist when it came to Apple Home compatibility.

With the LIFX Smart Mirror now available, I’ve finally been able to try one out for myself. Whilst the term ‘smart’ when applied to a mirror can be a little confusing, it’s nonetheless an interesting device with quite a bit more to offer than you might initially expect.

This isn’t my first LIFX product, as I previously owned three of the company’s Mini 800lm warm white bulbs, which served me well for quite some time. Hopefully, the same will apply to this new product. Read on to find out.

[Hmmm…]

Source: Homekit News and Reviews

Who’s Tracking You? Use This New Service to Find Out

Who’s Tracking You? Use This New Service to Find Out:

It can be daunting to determine who’s responsible for showing ads on the websites we visit, or who’s harvesting data from the mobile apps we use every day. That information is already semi-public, but it is not easily parsed and traditionally much of it has remained walled away in the hands of large advertising platforms. Not anymore: A powerful and free new service called DecryptAds scrapes and correlates this adtech data and makes it simple to quickly learn a great deal about the entities that are tracking you.

[What a mess…]

Source: Krebs on Security

Neovim?

Neovim?

Yesterday I thought it might be fun to get more into neovim — I’d downloaded and tried it a bit previously, and it seemed interesting.

Anyway, I went to its home page to see if I could learn something useful there, and I saw a DHH quote.

Nope. The DHH rule says nope.

brew uninstall neovim

[I didn’t know there was a rule…]

Source: Brent Simmons

Tim Cook Says Goodbye as CEO

Tim Cook Says Goodbye as CEO:

Tim Cook, on X (gross):

Sending lots of love to the Apple community on my last day as CEO. My title changes tomorrow, but the love I have for the Apple community never will. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. My gratitude is endless, and I’m excited for the next chapter!

This followed an “internal” memo in which he wrote:

There is something truly special about Apple. I am most proud of what an annual report could never capture. This place is proof that culture triumphs over everything. We share a belief that what we build matters, and that we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. That purpose is part of what makes this place extraordinary. Apple helps nurture it, but I believe it lived within each of you long before you arrived here. It is what brought you to this company and what continues to drive the work you do every day. Together, we have created something far greater than any one of us could have imagined or accomplished alone. And that’s the secret to our success. We bring out the best in each other. We lift each other up. We have made it possible to leave our “dent in the universe,” as Steve once described it, because of who we are and what we believe, because of what we value and how we see the world. How fortunate we are. How fortunate I am.

[Thanks for all the fish!]

Source: 512 Pixels