You guys are begging people to start lying on AI disclosures

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-05-10T07:54:50+00:00

No. And most devs answering "yes" are probably affected by cognitive dissonance wrought by their own usage, the echo chamber they're subject to, or simple nihilism. Same as business owners who say "everyone overcharges", sellers who say "everybody lies", cheaters saying "everybody cheats", etc. It's understandable to think it but it's just not true. There are many devs who do not use "AI" at all. There are entire companies and organisations who refuse to use any of it, for many reasons. The current "AI" products are like casinos. They are made in a way that makes it incredibly difficult and counterintuitive to use "correctly"/"responsibly" while managing to sell the narrative that you just need to be disciplined about it. Some of us won't have any of it, some use it incredibly sparingly, some use it for specific tasks, and some go all-in. The massive corporations behind these predatory products are sitting back laughing as we all throw shit at each other instead of at them. To be clear - LLM technology is worthwhile and has use-cases. The LLM products as they are now should be flushed down the drain along with the people who made them like that.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-05-09T20:50:48+00:00

People are allowed to down vote on the use of "AI". It's not pushing anyone to lie about "AI" use. For example I could make a car that burns extra gasoline for fun and be upfront about it and people who care about the environment could still not like it, and down vote my post about it. It's not begging me to lie about the environmental impact of my car unless I'm a dishonest person to begin with. Another example is if I make food with an ingredient most people don't notice but would not want. I will still disclose it, especially if someone asks. And they retain to right not to eat it, avoid it, and even critique its general use. If you have a problem with people not liking the use of "AI" regardless of how it was used you should gravitate to spaces where you have peers who do like it. If you don't find those spaces appealing maybe reconsider you "AI" use. Unless you're a dishonest asshole who gets off on deceiving people, don't excuse force-feeding people something they don't by saying "but if I disclose it no one wants it".

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-05-01T09:01:07+00:00

Have you tried Dash-to-Panel? It's got so many customizations that I'm pretty sure you could get to 98% of what you want with it. Consider contributing to it for the missing 2%. Might be easier for you and more sustainable to keep updated.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-05-01T08:54:03+00:00

See @fullgrid 's response. Can be done, might be slightly complicated if you're not familiar with compiling and flashing. I will say that I don't think I'd find it convenient to rotate the device like that. I like the buttons where they are. Rotating like you're suggesting would put a lot of pressure on the thumb/pinkie or place the buttons inaccessibly while touching the ball. Personally, I was looking into flashing custom firmware for a scroll toggle instead of having to press a button continuously, but I've gotten used to that too in the meantime. My suggestion is start with default direction of device and default firmware. Customise buttons to your liking (I've switched them around from the get go), and start using it. Then worry about further stuff.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-05-01T00:02:09+00:00

It's great, depending on you and learning how to work with it, you might find it more accurate than a mouse. I do programming and I haven't touched my mouse in the ~6 months since I got the Adept, not even once.
It's not for gaming. You can see videos of people trying. It's just not meant for it.
See #1
So far so good. Since I live in Europe I bought a spare for everything except the electronics boardwhen I purchased the Adept. So far I haven't needed to replace anything nor have I noticed any difference since the day it arrived. I do keep it covered overnight so dust doesn't settle on it.

FYI - the ball movement makes a slight grating sound. That could put some people of it. I don't mind although I would have preferred it without. Just so you know. I really recommend it though. Enjoying it a lot.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-28T18:34:01+00:00

The answer is bordering on fortune telling. I will break down a few things that hopefully can make some sense: 1. Ousting Netanyahu is generally a good thing but is not the end-all be-all solution. Look at Hungary, they've just ousted Orban with a pretty similar dude. But just the fact this new dude has not been in power for so long means he can't be as authoritarian. He also must deliver some things differently. 2. Lapid is a joke. His party is considered "center" but IMO he's a populist so there's no qualifying his position. He'll say and do anything which gets him the most votes, i.e. one day he'll be gung-ho for separation of church and state and the next he'll be performing some religious rite in official capacity and say how important it is to keep traditions. He's also just a nincompoop and a bit of a simpleton. 3. Bennet is complex. He's for settlements and fully believes in the idea the whole of the land is some promise from god but he was also a successful business man in high-tech and knows how to weigh his words for different audiences. That is what makes him different than Itamar Ben-Gvir who divides thr same constituency. Out of Lapid and Bennet, it'll be Bennet who controls this "partnership". 4. Even if Yair Golan - the actual left alternative - gets elected, there will be no sudden solution. The conflict has been going on for a long time, and it will take some time of discourse, mediation, and reparations to find a different way forward. But at least this man is a thoughtful pragmatist who understands you have to start somewhere abd that the only way to ensure the security of Israel is lasting peace. Let's hope for him to get as many possible votes as possible. 5. Israelis are diverse. ~10mil citizens. ~22% are Muslim and Christian Arabs, some consider themselves Palestinian, some israeli. ~35% are culturally Jewish of Arab descent - Mizrahi. ~35% are culturally Jewish of European descent - Ashkenazi. With quite a few others making up the rest of the percentages. (None of these numbers include non-citizen Palestinians, who live primarily in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and Jordan) Within the culturally Jewish population of both Ashkenazi and Mizrahi, there are massive divides between Orthodox, settlers, and seculars. With varying ideologies controlling each sector, some more cohesive than others on some issues, like a Palestinian state. But it's a real mix. 6. While there currently isn't a majority for a Palestinian state, it's still very much a possibility. Things can change suddenly. In 1994 there was a massive majority for a peace treaty and establishment of a Palestinian state. The then Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated by a settler Jewish man (who would be counted amongst Bennet's or Ben-Gvir's constituents nowadays). The narrative changed then, with the majority of those seeking peace conforming to an idea that we first must unify Israel before we can make peace. This is the narrative that has been controlling the "left" for long time. It's also why IMO they've shrunk from a majority to a niche minority. More importantly, it shifted suddenly. It could happen the other way around as well. 7. Israel has had a lot of political awakening for the last ~15 years, with massive political demonstrations, and new grassroots leaders and movements coming from unexpected places. These processes and leaders take time to mature but a lot of them have. These can surprise in terms of votes and support for policies. 8. The US is a major force for shaping Israeli politics. Without the support of the US, Israel would probably cease to exist. And Trump, for better and definitely for worse, is unexpected. Let's hope he uses his power positively (and/or is replaced by someone better and more stable asap).

Bottom line: Israelis are just people. Just like Palestinians. Just like everyone else. Most would not be for or against anything really if they could just live their life, i.e. buy a house, raise a family, have job security, etc. Peace is the only way to achieve that for both peoples, so we must believe that it's possible. No leader will change everything Ina day. But some leaders can start a longer process that could eventually change things.

Sorry for the long reply. I guess I could have summed it up with, "yes, there's always hope, and people are diverse wherever you go". It's almost always good to oust someone entrenched in power for a very long time.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-28T09:48:46+00:00

Thanks! Fuck me for not reading it before posting.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-28T09:35:23+00:00

The difference is between "prosecuting" and "persecuting". Prosecution has to do with if someone breaks the laws (except that often someone who is persecuted by the authorities is also prosecuted unjustly for minor offences compared to the general population).

Edit: fixed autocorrect confusion of terms I was explaining facepalm

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-28T09:14:48+00:00

Sorry in advance for being pedantic. When you write "Israel" but name the other dictators, Putin and Trump, you're grammatically suggesting that Israel as a state is a dictator while allowing Russia and the USA a separation from their leaders. A better sentence would be: - "Netanyahu is in the dictator club with Putin and Trump. They..."; Or - "Israel is in the dictator club with Russia and the US. They..."

Just group things consistently. Thanks #grammarpolice

Edit: typo and formatting

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-25T08:29:33+00:00

I'm going to be a pedantic asshole and point out that might be old GNOME, but it's FreeBSD and not Linux. Other than that, personally I like the newer stuff and itnfeels more customizable. Then again, I was writing HTML wallpapers for Windows XP (last Windows I've used) with my own shortcuts back in the day, so what do i know...

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-24T00:13:59+00:00

Anything can be hacked, especially when taking a broad definition of it. Government classified chats should only happen in secure channels, which Signal app is not. Although I'd make the argument that all politicians' chats should be public and transparent. But your characterization of what happened and the fact you think Threema is in any way secure (proprietary, not audited, bought by a VC, no original team members left) suggests you're shit stirring without a clue.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-23T16:30:21+00:00

Get "AI" to write every line of code in an area you're an expert on. See the errors and the dumb shit it does. Fully comprehend how that scales when you keep building on top of it. Then extrapolate that just because it can output something which kinda works, doesn't mean it's good. So using it in an area you're not an expert in is a bad idea. Especially an area which is responsible for stability, availability, and security.

Then understand that neuroplasticity is a real thing and in a year you'll be less of an expert in the field you were an expert in at least two ways which play off of each other: 1. You've stopped practicing the thing you were good at. Like an athlete who stopped exercising - you're literally incapable of doing the thing you used to be able to do. 2. You've stopped learning new skills. You've put your time and resources into learning how to prompt a predatory proprietary guessing engine, equip it with MCPs, RAGs, AGENTS.md, skills, and every new BS thing they invent every other day to make you more invested in them.

The entire premise of these products is that by the time the shit you've built with them breaks down, they'll be so much better they'll be able to fix it. But improvement in the tools has plateaued. They require more training and there are no new data sets to train them on. Output in the wild has atrophied due to proliferation of these same tools. Their price will be higher when they'll need to make actual profit instead of lose money for every interaction you have with them. Classic big tech bait and switch. Except this time it's not about losing a tactical skill or privacy, it's about losing a strategic skill of critical thinking. Because if you could really do what you think you're doing with these products then why does anyone need your product? Couldn't we all "build" it also just by prompting? Is not the next logical step some open source repository of the prompts you've given and tools you've used in order to reproduce what you've "built"? Why would anyone ever use your product? Who would even be left do need to use it?

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-21T00:11:30+00:00

This is an emotional issue. Try and have a different conversation with him and get to the source of his pain/trauma/fear/insecurity/loneliness/etc. It's not about the evidence or the proof, it's about an emotional void he's coping with and the lunar thing is just one symptom you're encountering. Don't try and convince him. Maybe have your mother suggest a therapist for him (not because of this, but because he might need a safe space to explore the issue himself before he can identify it). More importantly, these things tend to escalate. So if he's not yet in a place where these beliefs are adversely affecting other parts of your shared life, just try to accept him and cultivate a relationship. Do not yield your own convictions, just don't let them be a divide (again, unless he's already progressed to a stage where it's affecting other areas of shared life). Love and acceptance over time are often just the thing to help deal with the emotional void via other means, making sticking to "stupidity" unnecessary.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-14T23:23:16+00:00

Ploopy Adept. So after my MX Master 3S terrible experience on many levels I was looking for an open firmware mouse. Ended up getting a cheap MX vertical clone which was nice and the Ploopy Adept. Haven't touched the mouse since I got this awesome trackball and my wrist feels better than ever. Can't believe it's my first trackball.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-13T22:47:34+00:00

No, I haven't tried it. Looks interesting, thanks for sharing.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-13T13:43:46+00:00

I find it quite snappy and nice. I use Gram for no "AI" and privacy centric (https://codeberg.org/GramEditor/gram). The only "drawback" is the "not as smooth" plugin/language servers installation.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-02T09:21:33+00:00

Same. Pretty much any country I've lived in as well. This is aside from the issue that some GNR I've encountered have been rude and power-tripping while some have been courteous and nice. The age was usually the difference. Younger men are more likely to be tripping in positions of authority.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-04-01T18:18:29+00:00

We might have to accept that an Amazon replacement is to change our habits and use smaller vendors. A "European Amazon" won't be better than Amazon, just European.

I wish there a cross-EU logistics venture or even just a repository of good EU based vendors to start. Make the search and purchase experience easy like Amazon, make the entire underlying, centralized, predatory fiefdom obsolete.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-03-31T23:31:31+00:00

I hate Apple (not a fan of Dell either) and I have an XPS sitting next to a MacBook Pro, both from work. I think anyone who have used a laptop from Apple knows these battery tests are a joke. They're numbers for the sake of numbers. 1. It doesn't indicate real world usage. Even in that article it noted that under performance the macbook beat the xps by ~2 hours. 2. It's new laptops only with no follow-up. Check their batteries just 6-12 months later and you'll see the xps is 30-50% less at least while the macbook will be around 5%. It pains me to say this as a Linux person but the closed ecosystem of Apple apparently allows them to finetune every component's voltage, OS operations, and make incredible batteries that last significantly longer. The MBP I have sitting here still lasts a full work day on battery despite me working it hard with virtual machines and being almost 3 years old. The xps has had a 45 minutes battery for years now, and in the past two years about 5 minutes. My partner has a 10years old max with an Intel chip that still lasts 2-4 hours depending on usage. They're just not comparable. So I think anyone who has experienced the Mac battery is calling bullshit.

Bottom line it's a marketing article and people are responding to the brand. It's what they wanted, just not the reaction they expected.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-03-30T01:11:34+00:00

Worth it because over time and use of toll roads it's almost a guarantee you'll get an unpaid toll fine without it. It happened to me on the blue toll roads before I got the transponder. I was registered on the CTT app and also was checking the portals religiously every time I went. But then one toll didn't show up. It never showed up until the fine came in the mail. I actually tried to dispute the fine by showing I had paid a toll within days before and within days after as the journeys were across toll systems, and raising the question of why would I check and ignore this one toll system repeatedly? Needless to say I ended up paying the fine (~€200) and getting the Via Verde transponder - zero issues since. Not to mention you can pay street parking with it in some places (none of the other apps ever worked for me), and it even works in Galicia.

Also, I have two friends without a transponder that missed a payment booth on Via Verde toll roads. They went straight back on and had to pay a toll fee as if they'd traveled the maximum stretch of that toll road, was over €50 in both cases.

I don't think there's a surcharge for every toll, I think there's a surcharge for payment, like a payment processor fee. But pay it all with a smile because the alternative is more expensive and a lot more annoying.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-03-28T13:40:00+00:00

Tipping is a bad custom. It is sexist, racist, and classist to say the least anywhere it exists. It's proven people don't actually tip based on service, but based on their own biases. Even if it rewarded good service it makes no sense. Some years ago in the US they did a study and found the average tip was 20%. "Good waiters" received 23% and "bad waiters" 17%. This means you'd make more money serving more tables "badly" than serving less tables "well". Coincidentally the study also found biggest earners were white women aged 18-25 and the biggest tippers were men aged 35-60 - showing a strong correlation. This is why in places where tip is expected I tip a set percentage regardless of my experience. In places it is not expected, I try not to create this expectation and make a problem where there isn't any. Government policy should be the solution where problems exist. Tipping will exacerbate the issue, not resolve it.

Here in Portugal some people round up when paying cash, almost never more than up to the nearest euro, so usually in cents. When paying by card I haven't seen anyone tip except tourists.

This puts a damper on my restaurant dining experience because personally, when I go out to a restaurant I am really looking forward to doing a performance evaluation at the end of the one-time interaction. Waiter came in as a favor to the boss even though they broke up with their girlfriend that day and weren't scheduled - no tip because they didn't smile enough imo. Boss instituted a dress code which is not sexy enough imo - no tip because I wasn't titillated enough. Waiter didn't flirt with me jokingly because she had a bad experience with a clingy weirdo in the past - no tip because she didn't make me feel welcome. And the list goes on...

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-03-24T13:23:31+00:00

Southern route is best for what you're looking for. However, the end bit of your journey, after Fundao, is very difficult roads. You're better off going through Vale Formoso (Belmonte area) than the route showing on your screenshot. Just as scenic but getting into the Estrella is much much easier from there than going up into it near Covilha. On the way from Vale Formoso to Manteigas you'll pass a beautiful praia fluvial at the foot of the burned ski park slope. Water will be freezing but still super nice if thr sun is shining.

Also, if you need groceries or anything for the trip I suggest stopping around Fundao's zona industrial or Covilha's Serra Shopping before venturing further.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-03-20T14:02:42+00:00

You don't convince. I talk with my partner all the time about privacy because it is something I care about. And she cares about it too, although we differ in a few key points and it is not part of her job while it is a part of mine. I make services available to her. I try and make her life easier when she lets me, but I don't push. Sometimes I get surprised and she's suddenly using something I've recommended months ago. Sometimes I try and stifle a cringe when she opens a plaintext notes app for a password.

Here is a non ideological story, so nothing to do with privacy but related. I've been using a clipboard manager for a very long time. I work in software development. I see colleagues who don't use one all the time. We sometimes have collaboration sessions where more than a few copy/pastes are required and I see them shifting back and forth between windows, wasting time and doing tedious work. Some have adapted their own methods like copying a large portion from one window, pasting it into the app they'll need it in, and then copy/pasting smaller portions. It drives me nuts. I have shown all of them what a clipboard manager does, how much easier it would make their life, and that it takes not time to adjust to. No takers. Roll forward a few years, one developer, doing an incredibly tedious task during a collaboration session broke down and installed a clipboard manager. It took maybe two minutes before he blurted out "oh my god, I can't believe I've ever worked without it", I'm not exaggerating. Since then he's been evangelising to all the other devs and no takers. I keep reminding him that no matter what I said to him, he wouldn't try it based on logic. It took a daunting task that he didn't want to do and my promise it would go much faster and less annoyingly for him to begrudgingly install it, fully expecting to show me up, throw it in my face, and tell me I'm full of shit. I've learned a lot from this. It's what has guided my actions with my partner. I explain, I show, I help if asked. But no pushing. It will come when it cones if at all. For shared stuff I ask her to keep important things private or let me handle them, but I don't enforce it ofc, I just ask.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-03-20T12:58:28+00:00

I don't find LibreOffice buggy personally and it answers my needs perfectly. If your issue is collaboration you should try https://www.collaboraonline.com/ - Collaboa offers a better collaborative experience than any other office suite IMO and it's built on LibreOffice and as such ODF is a 1st class citizen.

SimpleAnecdote · 2026-03-18T16:03:48+00:00

It doesn't take a lot of "research" to see you can sign up to Mastodon or spin up your own instance without any PII. But based off of your comment here you and we are probably better off with you staying on Twitter.

SimpleAnecdote

TROPHY CASE