Brett Kosinski

By day I'm a software product manager. By night I'm a programmer, knitter, skier, cyclist, cook, guitarist(ish), and a dozen other things besides. He/him.

2024 Enbridge Tour Alberta for Cancer Campaign: https://support.touralbertaforcancer.ca/fundraiser/4834510

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Last Notes

2026-05-27 14:10:28 GMT

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@nprofile…upcd I hate to be that guy but... how much AI assistance went into this piece? And what's SDHQ's policy on AI usage and attribution?

2026-05-02 02:59:52 GMT

New refreshed fork of the gurrhack #Nethack port for #Android, updated to material, light/dark mode, gamepad support, brand new overlay system, and other stuff:
https://github.com/fancypantalons/NetHack-Android-DS
My main goal: a version that could take advantage of the two screens and gamepad on my #AynThor.
Very alpha. Sideload only. You have been warned!

2025-11-14 23:48:22 GMT

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@nprofile…mssx Been there, done that. My last pair of completed socks was really three socks when you count all the frogging and restarting... 😬 Sometimes you just gotta stop and put the book in the freezer.

2025-11-06 13:18:39 GMT

As a Canadian this hits hard:
https://xkcd.com/3164/
#xkcd #canada

2025-07-01 03:05:37 GMT

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@nprofile…2aaq I assume they believe they can finally be the one exception to Braess's paradox...

2025-06-26 20:59:40 GMT

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/06/judge-rejects-metas-claim-that-torrenting-is-irrelevant-in-ai-copyright-case/
The next evolution of piracy: 1) train an LLM on copyrighted works obtained illegally such that it just so happens to recite those works verbatim when queried, 2) destroy evidence you pirated those works 3) call it fair use, 4) profit! #ai #copyright

2025-06-26 20:32:58 GMT

This is completely insane:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/26/rfk-flu-shot-vaccines-panel
RFK Jr's anti-vax conspiracy beliefs now have the potential to endanger the rest of the world. It's time to diversify pharma supply chains so we're no longer dependent on a country that's being taken over by anti-science crusaders hell bent on rewinding public health to pre-germ-theory days.
#cdnpoli #uspol #conspiracytheories

2025-06-25 16:27:50 GMT

I just want to officially announce that, despite my liberal use of em dashes–a noble form of punctuation that’s being unfairly targeted as a sign of AI slop–nothing in this blog is, has ever been, or ever will be AI generated.
#ai
(https://b-ark.ca/UGKuiq)

2025-06-19 02:05:45 GMT

Huh, the Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2013 is seriously climbing charts for me. Usually I prefer peat monsters (Laphroaig Quarter Cask is typically my go-to at this price point), but dang... sweet, fruity, creamy... yeah this is good.

2025-06-18 22:32:19 GMT

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@nprofile…kdms Oh certainly in the spectrum from "no bikes" through various lane options to "no cars", the latter is the best option for cyclists. 😆 Realistically, though, co-existence is just gonna be a thing, in which case separated lanes are clearly the best option.

2025-06-17 04:37:42 GMT

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@nprofile…avux Setting aside the issue with the Waymos, this is precisely why painted cycling lanes are barely better than nothing at all (in fact I'd argue they might be worse since they create the illusion of a safe space for cycling when they're nothing of the sort). Cities who want to actually support sustainable, alternative modes of transport need to actually commit and create separated bike lane networks.

2025-06-16 13:22:35 GMT

Well now I definitely feel old: The Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA is 30 years old today!
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250616.htm
Happy Birthday #APOD! You don't look a day over 29!
#astronomy

2025-06-09 21:40:58 GMT

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@nprofile…c0t6 I find it fascinating that we went from skeuomorphic to flat to not only skeuomorphic but trying to duplicate the effects of physical materials on a digital display. Best rest assured, this skeuomorphic design is totally revolutionary compared to the old ones!

2025-06-05 13:02:16 GMT

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@nprofile…l5es Yeah fortunately my bandwidth requirements for services are pretty mild (streaming audio from a Navidrome instance is the most bandwidth intensive) and latency is a non-issue for my applications. Meanwhile the performance between my home and the Linode I have in Fremont, California has been more than adequate for my needs. If I was, say, streaming video over the internet from my Jellyfin instance, things would be lot more complicated...

2025-06-03 23:48:41 GMT

Not gonna lie, the Trump administration is genuinely impressing me by their ability to find creative new ways to be petty, bigoted, hateful pieces of shit:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hegseth-orders-navy-rename-ship-honoring-gay-rights/story?id=122460707

2025-05-30 14:46:49 GMT

You know, Habaneros make really nice (if messy, what with all the blossom dropping) house plants. And man are they tasty!
#gardening
(https://b-ark.ca/oySW_g)
https://cdn.masto.host/indiewebsocial/media_attachments/files/114/597/324/968/562/570/original/ed6da2a6fe8b1f73.jpeg

2025-05-27 18:31:11 GMT

Spotted my first tent caterpillar here in #yeg after noticing a number of large tents in neighbourhood trees last year... 😬

2025-05-26 15:01:48 GMT

I feel like part of teaching people to be better communicators should come with breath control lessons. Simply learning to pause and breath at the end of sentences instead of in the middle can make a huge difference not just in speaking skills but in listening and engaging in actual back-and-forth conversation.

2025-05-16 04:33:23 GMT

You know, it wasn't until recently that I came to fully appreciate just how much of a skill being a good listener is. I've coached staff for years about leveling up their writing and speaking skills, but being able to listen--really, truly, actively listen instead of just waiting for the next turn to talk-is deeply underrated among mature professionals, and something I really took for granted...

2025-05-12 21:41:15 GMT

Oh heck yes!
https://mosessumney.bandcamp.com/track/i-like-it-i-like-it
#music #MosesSumney

2025-05-12 17:38:34 GMT

It genuinely amazes me that Myers-Briggs is still a thing...

2025-05-02 23:38:55 GMT

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@nprofile…79pp Yeah you go girl!!!

2025-05-02 13:41:46 GMT

One of the many reasons I choose #debian: they understand what #OpenSource actually means. They're currently voting in the following resolution that will classify open weight, closed source models as non-free:
'"AI models released under open source license without original training data or program" are not seen as DFSG-compliant.'
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Debian-Free-AI-Models-GR

2025-04-27 00:56:29 GMT

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@nprofile…j393 The only people taking those wackos seriously is the media. The article even admits that much, partway through acknowledging that only 25% of Albertans offer any level of support to separatist notions. But that doesn't stop them from amplifying these extremists, and I can only assume it's simple cynicism: it generates clicks.

2025-04-26 18:30:39 GMT

Man if you want to help pollinators in the spring up here in the north (and birds in the summer), plant Haskap. Here in #yeg mine already have open flowers and very busy bumblebees. #spring #gardening
https://cdn.masto.host/indiewebsocial/media_attachments/files/114/405/686/377/070/624/original/566011ddf77a527c.jpg

2025-04-26 05:31:51 GMT

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@nprofile…xs7l
https://cdn.masto.host/indiewebsocial/media_attachments/files/114/402/623/962/469/786/original/7063d3aa80c44108.mp4

2025-04-25 01:34:33 GMT

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@nprofile…qhlu Poor guy only just now figured out that the modern conservative movement has left him behind as it focuses on populist punching down, harming perceived enemies, and wallowing in grievance politics.

2025-04-22 17:20:13 GMT

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And the best part? It still results in a significant deficit:
"Even with a combined $131 billion from savings and new revenues, the Conservative platform is projecting a deficit of $100 billion over the next four years"
No wonder they waited so long to cost their plan, they were probably hoping folks would vote before they saw it...

2025-04-22 17:18:14 GMT

LOL, the Laffer Curve strikes again:
"Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's election promises amount to $90 billion in new measures over the next four years that will be paid for in part by cuts and the economic growth the party says these measures will generate. "
From: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-platform-measures-revenues-cuts-1.7515440
The right really is incapable of balancing a budget without resorting to debunked theories and bad math... #cdnpoli

2025-04-19 04:12:06 GMT

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@nprofile…qhlu But think of the vote splitting! I'd be tempted to make copies and spread those around... 😉

2025-04-19 03:45:57 GMT

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Notably, the Wikipedia article on Blackstone's Ratio:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone%27s_ratio
Includes the observation that authoritarians tend to take the opposite view presented in Blackstone's Ratio, which clearly reflects what we're seeing in the MAGA movement, and may be part of a broader trend (note this study only goes from 1985 to 2006):
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756061616300507

2025-04-19 03:44:45 GMT

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Not only does explain what's happening in the US today, it also explains right wing opposition to unions, social programs, etc. Consider: a common objection to those things is "the undeserving might freeload", and it's more important to stop freeloading than support innocent folks. Blackstone's Ratio sits at the heart of the left/right divide.

2025-04-19 03:43:01 GMT

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2025-04-19 03:28:44 GMT

So a chain of thought led me to the Cato Institute's piece about Blackstone's Ratio, and it's very instructive right now:
https://www.cato.org/policing-in-america/chapter-4/blackstones-ratio
Not only does it explain what's happening in the US today, it also explains right wing opposition to unions, social programs, etc. Consider: a common objection to those things is "the undeserving might freeload", and it's more important to stop freeloading than support innocent folks. Blackstone's Ratio sits at the heart of the left/right divide.

2025-04-15 19:30:40 GMT

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@nprofile…tqva I look forward to hearing your reactions! I never managed to get into the book series (finished the first book, dnf's the second) but a TV adaptation might be worth watching...

2025-04-15 15:40:39 GMT

Tfw you hear folks talk about how awful agile development practices are, and then watch them reinvent stand-ups and stakeholder demos and burndown charts...

2025-04-05 15:57:08 GMT

Well, that's disappointing: #ZenBrowser removed web panels as a feature. Completely. Literally the primary reason I was using it. Guess I'll just go back to trusty ol' Firefox...

2025-04-02 03:04:48 GMT

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@nprofile…vtpx Yeah compared to Trump she definitely sounds fasci... uh... familiar.

2025-04-02 02:36:01 GMT

Statements like this are how you know Smith and her ilk don't care about constitutional rights:
'Elected legislatures — not federally appointed judges — should have the final word on the scope of rights subject to a parliamentary sovereignty clause," Smith wrote'
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-premier-danielle-smith-wants-to-strategize-on-provincial-sovereignty-with-quebec-s-premier-1.7499599?cmp=rss
No Danielle, legislators should not have the power to override our Charter rights. That's not how constitutional democracies work, and the notwithstanding clause was a bad compromise.
#abpoli #cdnpoli

2025-03-28 04:22:38 GMT

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@nprofile…jrg9 This is almost certainly 100% true and that should be incredibly alarming. I wouldn't be at all surprised of Elon and his little minions decided to automate their censorship apparatus using Grok to identify material to take down.

2025-03-22 04:11:24 GMT

Another wonderful performance by the #AlbertaBallet, this time a staging of The Wizard of Oz. Just one more to go in the 2024-2025 season... #yeg
https://cdn.masto.host/indiewebsocial/media_attachments/files/114/204/126/877/029/509/original/41938c372f97f5b6.jpg

2025-03-22 00:30:26 GMT

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@nprofile…gr2u Cool. Now do Tesla.

2025-03-16 23:26:33 GMT

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@nprofile…tqva Just Canadian resident hosting (i.e. for legal or regulatory reasons), or a Canadian company for f-k the US reasons?
DigitalOcean has a Canadian DC these days if that's an option.

2025-03-15 19:52:27 GMT

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@nprofile…tqva I managed to catch them at the United Center in Chicago, then MSG, and then finally the Bell Center in Montreal, and each show was incredible for different reasons. Their performance of There, There in Montreal was an absolute highlight.

2025-03-15 05:31:15 GMT

#Radiohead is without a doubt one of my favourite bands (so much so that I saw them three times in the same year during the A Moon Shaped Pool tour), and The Bends was where I first discovered them, so this was a real treat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRRGudcVMCE
As a funny coincidence, there's three songs I regularly perform from The Bends: High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, and Street Spirit (Fade Out), i.e. three of the four Thom picked for this set. Go figure.

2025-03-13 23:13:51 GMT

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@nprofile…m2n2 So post the link to the Reuters article. For all I know this is just more AI generated BS. Why not give us the receipts?

2025-03-13 01:27:49 GMT

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@nprofile…m2n2 Back this up or take it down.

2025-03-12 01:54:52 GMT

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@nprofile…e497 @nprofile…qhlu Team Magpie over here, definitely. Yeah, like any highly intelligent corvid they can be a nuisance but they're iconic around here, and they're objectively beautiful looking birds (just ask any newcomer what they think upon first spotting an Magpie).
Meanwhile I don't think I've ever seen a Boreal Chickadee. Shame the House Finch wasn't an option, I love those little guys, with their beautiful colouring and trilling calls...

2025-03-11 00:58:28 GMT

It's honestly kinda funny seeing a lot of Americans (and some Canadians) having their minds blown as they try to comprehend the idea that Canadians don't elect a Prime Minister, they elect the majority party who separately picks a leader.
The Westminster system just doesn't seem to compute for some folks...
#cdnpoli #uspol #canada

2025-03-09 16:52:22 GMT

Yup, it happened. Over nineteen months and two eclipses later and the career break is officially behind me. I still can’t believe that time came and went so quickly, but I can say honestly that I’m excited to start something new.
#CareerBreak #Sabbatical #Work: https://b-ark.ca/2025/03/09/back-to-work.html

2025-03-08 17:07:23 GMT

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@nprofile…qcs7 Yup it comes down to priorities. For me, the repairability, upgradability, and control (i.e. my machine doing things for me rather than to me) of the FW+Linux more than make up for those shortcomings (though I should note I have an original Intel FW13 and I've heard the latest AMD models are better in terms of heat and battery life).
And unfortunately I'd be surprised if an open, repairable, but less integrated platform can ever match what Apple achieves.

2025-03-08 15:33:42 GMT

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3/ Netting it all out, weirdly, for me the big practical day-to-day differentiator is the keyboard. The Mac key travel and overall feel is just *terrible* and I'm amazed folks are willing to put up with that garbage. If that's what you have to sacrifice to lose a bit of case thickness, man, that's a tradeoff worth making.

2025-03-06 13:43:51 GMT

You know, instead of this whole "Canadiano" thing, maybe we should just adopt language from our fellow Commonwealth countries and switch to the term Long Black. Technically the vast majority of Americanos (hot water added to espresso) are actually Long Blacks (espresso added to hot water), anyway, so it would also be technically correct, which is the best kind of correct! #canada #tariffs #coffee #commonwealth

2025-03-05 21:31:19 GMT

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@nprofile…943c Ugh, of course, I don't know why I didn't think of that. I'll definitely update my post with that suggestion.
But I'm glad you found the post helpful!

2025-03-04 14:40:33 GMT

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@nprofile…mze6 Fair enough, my bad! I made the mistaken assumption the question was coming from a newbie!
As others mentioned, it's just combination knitting. My stitches definitely set up differently, all with the front leg on the left side regardless of knits/purls or right/wrong side.

2025-03-02 16:19:26 GMT

Man I want a #Zwift #Cloudpunk team-up so bad...

2025-03-02 15:33:28 GMT

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3/ So while folks who believe in the open web eat their own and turn on Mozilla, they are doing the work of putting the web entirely in the hands of one of the most powerful tech monopolists out there.

2025-03-02 15:30:46 GMT

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2/ Meanwhile, Librewolf, Waterfox, and Zen are built on Firefox. They too cannot and will not be able to afford to maintain an actual fork of Firefox and are dependent on Mozilla existing.
There are three engines: Gecko (Mozilla), Blink (Google), and WebKit (Apple). Mozilla is far from perfect but they are one of the very few organizations out there keeping the web competitive.

2025-03-01 21:24:28 GMT

How to make your house smell a bit like cannabis: grow fresh basil. There is no step 2.

2025-03-01 14:18:33 GMT

And yet again we see the #Mozilla hysteria was unfounded:
https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/update-on-terms-of-use/
I wonder if Arstechnica will update their hit piece after this clarification...

2025-03-01 05:45:30 GMT

I think one of my favourite TV/movie tropes is that a gun can be used to both lock or unlock any door. Being chased and run through a door? Turn around, close the door, and shoot the lock. Being chased and find a locked door you need to open? Also shoot the lock.

2025-02-28 18:54:19 GMT

Watching #CNN report on the "shouting match" between Trump and Zelensky when it was, in fact, Trump and Vance dogpiling on Zelensky while he tried to calmly get at least a few words in edgewise, is one of the most blatant examples of false both-sides spin I've seen from them yet. Truly truly shameful.

2025-02-28 17:34:32 GMT

This is bizarre. Re the Chokade Svenskjävlar (aka Swedish Chocolate Bastards), I want from "oh god I don't think I can eat these" to "hmm these aren't bad" to "I know I shouldn't eat another but man do I want to". (tbf I only have a half at a time)
I realize, now, that salt licorice is no different than sour candy: you take one taste sensation then just dial it to 11. And I love everything sour, salty, spicy, and (somewhat) bitter, so in hindsight this makes complete sense... #salmiac

2025-02-27 03:33:58 GMT

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@nprofile…xsd2 Totally agreed. For a Minecraft-style aesthetic it's remarkable how alive the space feels. And the driving mechanics are simple yet oddly satisfying.
As for Nivalis, I only just heard about it and finally checked out the trailers. It looks extremely ambitious! Fingers crossed it can live up (and be playable on the deck...)

2025-02-26 14:15:31 GMT

I really don't understand why I'm finding #Cloudpunk so compelling. The writing and voice acting is pretty mid. It's entire mechanic is basically fetch quests. The environment can feel a little repetitive. And yet, hopping in my HOVA and flying around Nivalis, or popping out and hunting for punch cards, is somehow so chill and satisfying. Maybe it's the cool visuals or the synthwave soundtrack... I dunno. It's a pleasant mystery to me. And did I mention it plays great on the #SteamDeck? #gaming

2025-02-25 16:52:59 GMT

I'm definitely understanding people painting Ezra Klein as a weak enlightening centrist type. Listening to him interview Martin Gurri, who repeatedly lied, made baseless claims, and contradicted himself over and over, with very little challenge, was just deeply deeply frustrating.
Or course, then I remembered I cancelled my Times subscription for the same reason, and this is reminding me why...

2025-02-25 16:03:29 GMT

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@nprofile…5925 Silly question: Have you confirmed the touchpad is configured to disable while typing? I've been using my FW13 with Debian for ages, and there was a stretch, there, where, DWT wasn't working (though I have to confess I don't remember why). But otherwise I don't find the palm rejection too bad (certainly not bad enough to force me to use a mouse given I spent much of December hacking AoC problems on my couch).

2025-02-25 15:48:21 GMT

Well, I completed the second upgrade of my 1st gen #framework 13 by moving to the 2nd gen webcam! Overall, while it's not perfect (noise is still an issue IMO), it otherwise compares favourably with the much larger Samsung Slimfit camera I often use, which is impressive given the latter is much larger.
As for the upgrade, it was two screws+washers and a little ribbon connector. A little fiddly but otherwise very easy. It really is amazing what they've done with this machine.

2025-02-25 00:53:10 GMT

I'm starting to think a good litmus test for software engineers is: are you confident that human brains operate in the same way as a large language model?
Anyone who says "yes" gets an immediate pass for demonstrating the exact kind of arrogant hubris that we could use a lot less of in tech...

2025-02-24 22:58:09 GMT

I wanted to try using Navidrome on my Steam Deck, but couldn’t find a good client. I realized I’d love to just use the web interface, but using Chrome for this is a pain. Then I remembered there’s a way to ‘install’ PWAs with Firefox, which would let me run any major web app (e.g. Spotify, Youtube, etc) right on the deck as though it was an actual app. Here’s how I made it work.
#steamdeck: https://b-ark.ca/2025/02/24/steam-deck-pwas.html

2025-02-22 20:46:38 GMT

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2/ I also, on a lark, picked up a jar of Chokade Svenskjävlar, aka Chocolate Swedish Bastards.
Now, I've had chocolate coated salty licorice in the past when some Swedish colleagues brought some treats to town, so I figured these would be up my alley.
I did not realize that I was buying a product marketed as "the world’s saltiest artisan liquorice".

2025-02-22 20:43:36 GMT

1/ So I've enjoyed the more mild variants of #salmiakki for a long time, and passing through Tofield of all places, we found a candy story with a surprisingly large collection of Swedish saltakrits. My first pick was a pack of Bubs Saltkallar, which are delicious: strongly salty without being overwhelming, and a licorice that has mild toffee notes. Super addictive.

2025-02-22 05:08:01 GMT

Well The Dance Theatre of Harlem was absolutely spectacular tonight! The #AlbertaBallet always brings in fantastic guest companies and tonight was no exception. And it was wonderful to see how full the house was. The post-pandemic (such as it is) recovery has been tough and it's good to see the audience size bounce back. Hopefully they made a few new subscribers tonight! #alberta #edmonton

2025-02-20 18:56:03 GMT

That moment, a few seconds after you've clicked a link and started reading and getting outraged, when you realize you clicked on the link in the first place specifically because you knew full well you'd probably get outraged and a (maybe not so) little part you likes it...

2025-02-19 21:02:51 GMT

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@nprofile…884k Hardly surprising, Tobias Lutke, the CEO, has been a mask off alt right libertarian type for a while now, and is an overt Trump supporter.

2025-02-18 17:50:40 GMT

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@nprofile…884k I've said to a few folks I know: I think our great failing in telling the story of WWII and Nazi Germany is that the bulk of pop culture (think: movies, etc) storytelling focuses on the Nazis at the point when they were committing their worst atrocities and not the many years and steps that led there.
The Nazis didn't start with mass murder, but because of that narrow view of history, people seem to think you're only a Nazi if you're gassing people in showers.

2025-02-16 00:37:32 GMT

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@nprofile…tqva Uh it also suggests PP has no idea what the word "unvarnished" means...

2025-02-12 18:12:53 GMT

Thanks Mr. Matt Levine. Thanks to you I was just introduced to the term "finfluencer" and then died inside...

2025-02-12 02:58:17 GMT

Man the pairing of Give Me Mercy and Drive on The Weeknd's Hurry Up Tomorrow is sonically gorgeous. #music #TheWeeknd

2025-02-09 01:04:26 GMT

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@nprofile…fhev Yeah it's just the trolley problem except the group of people already died, the person who survived had moved on and kept living their life, and then Janeway came along and got to pull a lever that turned back time and kill them while bringing the other folks back to life.
And then she just... pulled the lever because the other folks were her friends.

2025-02-08 06:00:59 GMT

#NoMansSky Worlds II pro tip: maybe wait to build bases in purple systems until after they've worked out the kinks (which probably means at least after the next expedition).
I'd built myself a new home on a nice, stormy gas giant only to find it buried after the latest patch. Had to do a lot of digging to recover those resources...

2025-02-07 18:04:27 GMT

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@nprofile…ya5z Surprisingly good news given the extremely modest gains in GDP and the below-target inflation numbers from Q4.

2025-02-06 04:40:07 GMT

Gotta say, the terrain generation in the new purple systems in #NoMansSky Worlds II is just stunning.
https://cdn.masto.host/indiewebsocial/media_attachments/files/113/955/098/120/433/491/original/5e7d8ceef2a9962c.jpg

2025-02-06 03:33:02 GMT

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@nprofile…c3wp Man I'm sorry to hear that. Definitely report and block that user so the moderators can take action (one nice thing about Mastodon: good instance moderators are a lot more proactive about dealing with bad actors).
And I'd feel hurt if the tables were turned. We never should have raised kids to believe names never hurt. They absolutely do and it's not a failing to feel that harm.

2025-02-05 03:52:22 GMT

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@nprofile…aje9 It's a constitutional crisis. You have to hope that the other branches can assert their checks and there remain those in the executive who are willing to abide by those checks.
The problem is that you don't just have an out of control executive, your legislative and to some extent judicial branches are complicit. The ultimate remedy would be impeachment but with a compliant majority in Congress... 🤷‍♂️

2025-02-03 22:46:50 GMT

So Trudeau committed to do what they announced they were doing in December, and now the tariff implementation is delayed until March, aka the same delay that was leaked last week
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/03/trump-canada-tariffs-trudeau.html
Truly big brain moves.
No one should assume that tariffs will be off the table. Keep buying Canadian. Keep tearing down internal trade barriers. Keep building multilateral trade agreements. America is no longer a reliable partner and we need to act accordingly.
#cdnpoli #canada #tradewar

2025-02-03 17:15:46 GMT

Oh ffs:
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-tariffs-presidency-news-02-03-25/index.html
At this point it's clear every US trading partner need to assume the American government is not bargaining in good faith and should continue to enact policies that will defend against threats or enactment of a trade war.

2025-02-03 17:11:40 GMT

Pro-tip fellow Canadians looking to support Canadian products:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_Canada
'the last substantial transformation of the good must occur in Canada and that a minimum percentage of the total direct costs of creation must be incurred in Canada: 51% for "Made in Canada" and 98% for "Product of Canada" marking.'
#cdnpoli #canada #tradewar

2025-02-02 20:16:09 GMT

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@nprofile…54n0 Yeah I was suspicious of that myself. Ultimately, I do agree that, if this trade war is prolonged, the government should pass a financial relief program of some kind. But IMO that's not yet necessary and the government has enough arrows in the quiver, and we don't need the distraction of PP proposing confidence motions every day like he did in the fall before prorogation.

2025-02-02 19:22:40 GMT

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Meanwhile he really can't seem to stop himself from being snide and condescending...

2025-02-02 19:17:15 GMT

Well, Pollievre finally responded:
https://globalnews.ca/news/10993813/donald-trump-tariffs-response-poilievre-canada/
What I did interesting is how little his proposals differentiate him and the CP from the liberals. Oh sure, there's the usual BS about tax cuts (never let a good crisis go to waste!) and building more pipelines and whatnot, but otherwise its basically what the government announced.
It goes to show that when you force them to actually talk to concrete policy, PP and the CP really don't have a lot of original ideas.
#cdnpoli #canada

2025-02-02 18:33:44 GMT

I see #Shopify's CEO continues to be a kowtowing moron:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/shopify-ceo-tobi-lutke-criticizes-canadas-response-to-us-tariffs/ar-AA1yhxJ1
"Lutke said in a post on X, that Trump believes that Canada has not held its side of the bargain, and he set terms to prove that we still work together: get the borders under control and crack down on fentanyl dens.”
For a tech CEO he sure doesn't seem to care about actual facts or data.
#cdnpoli #uspol #canada #bigtech

2025-02-02 17:40:01 GMT

If you want to learn more about possible macroeconomic effects of this trade war, the Bank of #Canada did a very nice and accessible analysis:
https://www.bankofcanada.ca/publications/mpr/mpr-2025-01-29/in-focus-1/
In particular, I hadn't considered the predicted decline in overall Canadian commodity exports due to global effects of a broad US-centered trade war, which would decrease global economic activity and thus demand for commodities.

2025-02-02 16:50:31 GMT

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6/ Which is why JTs speech was brilliant: rather than leaning into anti-American sentiment, which would only further rile up MAGA-leaning conservatives and give Trump even more fuel he could feed to the base, Trudeau instead chose to portray Canada as steadfast, resolved, and resolved to defend ourselves if necessary, not because we hate America but because we have no choice.
Now will the average Fox viewer see the speech? No. But he also didn't give them sound bites to spin.

2025-02-02 16:45:41 GMT

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5/ And what about all that anti-Canada/Mexico/EU bluster?
Trump doesn't actually believe any of that. He realizes is that any anger voters might feel at him or the admin for raising prices needs to be redirected, so the solution is to seed anger among his base at the countries being targeted.
This also explains all the anti-trans and anti-DEI actions: while some are true believers, they're also red meat to appease the base and distract them from the inevitable inflation that's coming.

2025-02-02 16:25:27 GMT

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4/ This also, by the way, explains why Trump is targeting their largest trading partners: if your goal is to raise revenues, or course you target the largest sources of trade, i.e. China, Canada, Mexico, and the EU.

2025-02-02 16:12:13 GMT

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3/ As a result I would not expect Trump to blink on Tuesday and I will not be surprised if he announced a ratcheting up up tariffs in response. He's not looking for a solution that results in the tariffs going away. The tariffs are the point.
So I anticipate tit-for-tat announcements in the coming months as Canada looks for more ways to put pressure on GOP lawmakers in the hope that they will rein in Trump politically or legislatively, and Trump responds in kind.

2025-02-02 07:08:04 GMT

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@nprofile…9962 I'm honestly shocked we haven't seen this better covered by the media. The shifting justifications and the obviously false claims about fentanyl and illegal crossings make it clear Trump simply needed a pretext for wielding powers under the IEEPA.
The question I have is what, if any, recourse is their for challenging the use of the law. Because if there is no way to challenge Trump's invoking of the IEEPA, then the US system of checks and balances is truly broken.

2025-02-02 06:54:14 GMT

You know, there was another time in history when an authoritarian right wing government and it's supporters came into power and started destroying information it didn't like. Of course, in those days they burned books instead of deleting files from file servers...

2025-01-31 18:35:44 GMT

You know that old saw about no one being able to time the market? Well that's doubly true with Trump at the controls, pushing buttons and pulling levers just to see what'll happen:
https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-set-impose-tariffs-mexico-canada-starting-march-1-sources-say-2025-01-31
(I'd been considering breaking my rule about avoiding active investing and flipping some savings from equities to cash in advance of tariff announcements roiling the markets, but now I'm glad I'm lazy and forgetful...)
#canada #cdnpoli #finance