Posts by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
(DIR) Post #AuIVVSYsXCdZ9r9DqC by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-05-20T17:19:08Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
It’s NOT new. Bosses have always had it in for programmers, because what we do seems too much like magic to them. They don’t believe that doing a good job is hard. They genuinely think programming is for lazy people, and other related nonsense. We’re seeing it on display more now because they think AI actually can eliminate a bunch of programmers and will soon mean they don’t need them (or product/project managers) at all.
(DIR) Post #Auh4uoAaDuHbgsUQm8 by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-06-01T16:50:58Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
I’m happy, I’m feelin’ gladI got choc’lateIn a bagIt’s tasty, but not for longThis choc’lateWill soon be gone(Soon be gone)
(DIR) Post #AvURIQIAP2AFVzHm8e by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-06-25T13:11:05Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
Can we please stop making identity flags that are just horizontal stripes of colors? Even the ones with nice-looking colors just look like a printer test page at this point.
(DIR) Post #AvlGnw5Pvv573Zovlw by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-07-03T15:31:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Why call it a quickie when “high-speed rail” is right there?
(DIR) Post #AvwFyVducyQL0szaiG by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-07-08T18:26:38Z
2 likes, 1 repeats
Hey, please stop repeating the misinformation that corps are legally required to maximize profits or your shareholders can sue you. It's propaganda promoted by a handful of huge fund managers because they'd *like that* to be true.Even SCOTUS agrees “Modern corporate law does not require for-profit corporations to pursue profit at the expense of everything else, and many do not.” (Burwell v. Hobby Lobby)
(DIR) Post #AvwFydpCCuCeOCKiPY by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-07-08T18:28:23Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
Also, what follows from this is another request I have: do not accept "but we have to maximize our profits!" as an excuse for shitty corporate behavior.The duty leaders have to shareholders is basic, and comes down to at least trying to make some money; it absolutely does not require anyone to be a complete exploitative asshole. That's a *choice*.
(DIR) Post #AwdjLCEkkARDFNVAxs by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-07-29T20:27:56Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
Kid2: they have health potions but not mental-health potions Me: uh, coffee??Kid1: that’s just haste with a side of anxiety
(DIR) Post #AwhCpt4lQzJNaUn4Fs by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-07-31T15:00:54Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @crazypedia I don’t think this is about the youth at all. If you look at what’s required to comply with these “youth protection” laws, it’s all pointing to removing anonymity online.If you wanted to push towards knowing which people have which political and social opinions, this is exactly how you’d start. If you want to suppress dissent by making sure that everyone online is strongly identified, this is how you’d start.
(DIR) Post #AwjjsCLgR0hqkCKktM by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-08-01T20:20:34Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@vik @Richard_Littler not really. Cooling towers for industrial AC systems — which is where most of the data center water usage is spent — are mostly evaporative; the water goes into the air to cool down the hot side of the AC loop. Sure it eventually rains somewhere, but not into the constrained supply that’s being used.
(DIR) Post #AwrsAHpr7ypvs4GKGG by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-08-05T16:02:09Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Once again wanting to remind people that feminism is the fight against *patriarchy*, not a fight against *men*.The more like the patriarchs you are -- the more male, cisgendered, straight, etc. -- the more you benefit by living under patriarchy. Which is why it's called *feminism*, because it's a recognition of the ways in which femininity is particularly controlled and oppressed.But patriarchy still hurts *everyone*. Don't forget.
(DIR) Post #AwrsAPfW0JJoAJUBFo by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-08-05T16:04:42Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Also, please stop appropriating "humanist" and "humanism" if you feel like the time for the term "feminism" has passed. Humanism is already an established philosophy, and while you can be both humanist and feminist, "humanism" is not a drop-in replacement.It's kind of shitty to just ignore hundreds of years of humanism and be like "I'm just going to call gender equality 'humanism'"
(DIR) Post #Awwxhc2uTegNfcsVwe by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-08-07T18:58:43Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Hey if you’re freelancing and trying to figure out rates, remember that you’re responsible for a lot of extra taxes that an employer would normally cover, all your health insurance and retirement, etc. And also remember that unbillable work exists, and adjust your rate so billable hours cover your unbillable hours
(DIR) Post #AwwxhdM5bpcPjOrLTk by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-08-07T18:58:43Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
For example, if you spend 10h of unpaid work (dealing with contracts, meeting with potential clients, etc) for every 30h of work you bill: your rate needs to be 25% higher than you think it does.
(DIR) Post #AxQFayA5HnmIzd3OYi by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-08-21T15:30:40Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mhoye @djsundog I’ve been fighting this type of argument with network and web traffic since the early 00’s. “But we get over a million queries a month!” my friend, there are over 2.6 million seconds in a month and a query per second on average can be served by an old desktop we’ve got lying around. “We get 100k unique visitors per week!” One every six seconds on average? Yeah we don’t need massive infrastructure for that.
(DIR) Post #AxQFb5gxHzEOLbUFGa by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-08-21T15:33:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mhoye @djsundog I still have a basic vhost with 8 cores and 16GB of RAM that happily serves 5M requests a month, and it only needs to be that big to handle peaks.
(DIR) Post #AxmywuHx8Z2olagg7M by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-09-02T03:31:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Your mental health must take priority over small contributions to the greater good. Not just because “put your mask on before helping others,” but also because it is the correct ethical choice. For instance: if you’re over-keeping stuff and it’s causing you problems, you have permission to throw things out rather than find them a new home or ensure they’re recycled. You matter, and you taking care of you is better for the world in the long run than the tiny bit of extra trash 1/…
(DIR) Post #Axmyx2XUSgE6M61CRk by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-09-02T03:31:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
If you’re struggling to pay rent, going to Walmart or whatever to save the money you need to be ok is Actually Good. You’re not “supporting” the company, you’re surviving. Survival is praxis. 2/…
(DIR) Post #AxmyxAN9L0hyeLF3RI by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-09-02T03:31:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
If your phone is the main way you maintain the connection and community you need, you’re not a bad person for buying a phone that isn’t as sustainable or ethical as you’d prefer. You’re not sinning by making sure that what you have serves you without suffering for it 3/…
(DIR) Post #AxmyxI8CUTVIiIJEFU by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-09-02T03:31:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
It’s great that you care about others. It’s great that you want to do your best in the ways that you can. But please don’t listen to the puritanical voices telling you that you must suffer and strive for perfection else you’re a failure. That voice is the voice of the worst type of conservativism, filtered through centuries of cultural reframing to sound reasonable and acceptable. But it is neither. It is bullshit. 4/4
(DIR) Post #AxvqaPjB1xa0Ozp9uK by calcifer@masto.hackers.town
2025-09-06T14:23:02Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@m0xEE @jaystephens @ozzelot @bazkie @yetzt the way most employers in the US get around this is providing a (very much symbolic) “stipend” to offset your phone service costs. This becomes part of a larger employment contract where they can make you use a phone you otherwise pay for, with their shit on it. So *technically* they are compensating you for it, but in most cases not really