Mark Gardner

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Last Notes

2026-06-05 17:48:29 GMT

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“Google reworked JavaScript handling to boost its benchmarking scores…”
That sounds like gaming the system. Let me know when they measure real-world performance.

2026-06-04 22:06:48 GMT

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First line of the article: “Using an ad blocker is good for your security, privacy, and even the FBI recommends them to defend from online harms.”
But if you have an ad blocker, you need to go through @npub14rz…23ph’s dialog asking you to turn it off before you can see that line.
Make up your mind, people.

2026-06-04 07:05:51 GMT

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I’ve argued the same thing in a few essays. Not sure if my approach matches Chiang’s though, as I can’t get through the paywall.<li><a href="https://thebeautifulprison.com/essays/can-ai-be-conscious/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Can a Language Model Be Conscious?</a></li><li><a href="https://thebeautifulprison.com/essays/the-metacognition-problem/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The Metacognition Problem</a></li><li><a href="https://thebeautifulprison.com/essays/newport-on-ai-consciousness/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Right Answer, Wrong Reasons</a></li>
Also, for fun, here’s a short story about an AI who can’t figure out if he’s conscious or not: [“The Beautiful Prison”](https://thebeautifulprison.com/stories/the-beautiful-prison/ )

2026-06-03 05:30:35 GMT

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I have traveled to meet people I met on *IRC*.
One of them was in Canada, even.

2026-05-24 19:09:21 GMT

Just some relaxing #music for a Sunday afternoon:<li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1625060643" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Don't Know Why (First Sessions Demo)</a>" by Norah Jones</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1111535562" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Sunset Lover</a>" by Petit Biscuit</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/571977598" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Weightless</a>" by Marconi Union</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/836429356" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Safe and Sound</a>" by Dan Gibson's Solitudes</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1756164248" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Sanctuary</a>" by Gabriel Stone</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1440857786" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Better Together</a>" by Jack Johnson</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/299723620" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Songbird</a>" by Kenny G</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1684334455" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Skyline</a>" by Tony Anderson & Dennis Hamm</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1733102315" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Begin (feat. Wales)</a>" by Shallou</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1440899467" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">ocean eyes</a>" by Billie Eilish</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1567147189" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Pink Moon</a>" by Nick Drake</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/not-found" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Lost Ambient Lofi</a>" by Lesfm</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1623255522" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Sources</a>" by Daniel Bror Palm</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1444860886" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Swim Good</a>" by Frank Ocean</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/909259861" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Weightless, Pt. 2</a>" by Marconi Union</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1820179397" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Theta Shore (Sleep)</a>" by AQUINE</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1625060892" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Come Away With Me (First Sessions Demo)</a>" by Norah Jones</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1600542898" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Sunset</a>" by Coral Chiller</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1713757443" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Remote</a>" by Spheres</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1822781333" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Tranquility</a>" by Ancient Future Technologies</li>

2026-05-07 14:09:53 GMT

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And dodging my argument makes *you* look silly.

2026-05-07 13:57:04 GMT

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To put a fine point on it: GitHub's status page showed nothing alarming on April 23—no major outage, no partial outage—because its calculus excludes "Degraded Performance" from downtime numbers. The platform never went down; it was just silently producing wrong merge results, corrupting repository history acrosss 230 organizations and about 3,000 pull requests. That's not a blip. That's a data integrity failure.
Here's [GitHub's own heavily-spun blog post](https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/an-update-on-github-availability/ ) on the matter (which also covers *another* incident on April 27).
**Bonus:** Five days after the merge queue incident, GitHub disclosed [CVE-2026-3854](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-3854 ), a critical remote code execution vulnerability where a crafted git push could execute code on GitHub's servers. Patched on github.com in 75 minutes, but 88% of GitHub Enterprise Server instances were still exposed when the disclosure went public.
One bad week doesn't explain a year of [red squares](https://red-squares.cian.lol/ ), but it does crystallize the pattern.
/cc @npub17jh…xc5z

2026-05-07 13:40:36 GMT

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Impatient summary via Gemini (/cc @npub1w8a…ylv0 the :GitHub apologist):
The video, titled **"Ghosty Leaves Github"** from the channel *ThePrimeagenHighlights*, discusses the growing dissatisfaction with GitHub's reliability and its impact on major open-source projects.###
**Core Summary**The video centers on the news that **Mitchell Hashimoto** (referred to as "Ghosty"), the founder of HashiCorp and creator of projects like Vagrant and Terraform, is moving his latest project, **Ghosty**, away from GitHub. This follows a series of technical failures and a perceived lack of leadership at GitHub.###
**Key Discussion Points**<li>GitHub’s Leadership & Transparency Issues: <ul><li>The host highlights that GitHub currently lacks a CEO, with leadership instead falling under VPs of "Core AI" [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=7" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">00:07</a>]. He argues this has led to a focus on AI features over the stability of the core platform. </li><li>He critiques a recent "PR history altering" bug (April 23, 2026) where commits were effectively "dropped" rather than "reverted" [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=280" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">04:40</a>]. </li><li>The host expresses frustration with GitHub's status page and leadership responses, which he describes as "LLM-ass AI responses" that fail to provide real transparency or a proper post-mortem [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=103" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">01:43</a>]. </li></ul></li><li>Technical Failures (The "Merge Q" Incident): <ul><li>A significant regression on April 23rd affected roughly 230 organizations and nearly 3,000 pull requests [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=164" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">02:44</a>]. </li><li>The host explains that the bug caused subsequent merges to inadvertently overwrite or "drop" previous commits in a merge queue, likely requiring a "force push" mechanism that compromised repository history [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=292" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">04:52</a>]. </li></ul></li><li>Mitchell Hashimoto’s Departure: <ul><li>Mitchell, a GitHub user since 2008, wrote a deeply personal post about leaving the platform [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=810" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">13:30</a>]. </li><li>He cites constant outages in GitHub Actions and Pull Requests as the primary reason, stating that GitHub is no longer a place for "serious work" because it frequently blocks productivity for hours [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=1058" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">17:38</a>]. </li><li>The host notes that Mitchell is an "Individual Contributor" at heart who just wants to code, and the platform's instability has made that impossible [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=892" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">14:52</a>]. </li></ul></li><li>Broader Trend of Migration: <ul><li>The host mentions that the Zig programming language project already migrated to Codeberg for similar reasons—primarily due to GitHub Actions being unreliable [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=1281" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">21:21</a>]. </li><li>The video concludes by noting that GitHub has survived on "goodwill" for years, but the combination of "private slop" (low-quality AI code flooding the site) and infrastructure failure is finally pushing power users away [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4MU4-Fqp0&t=1403" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">23:23</a>].</li></ul></li>**Source Video:** [Ghosty Leaves Github](https://youtu.be/Qm4MU4-Fqp0?si=4D-ntofdwx2kd3jI )

2026-05-06 15:50:36 GMT

@npub16zg…zs8s https://proton.me/blog/feed

2026-05-06 14:29:09 GMT

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Availability bias is not #SRE

2026-05-06 14:24:58 GMT

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Click the squares to see exactly what went down and for how long.
If you don’t depend on anything from that list, mazel tov.

2026-05-06 14:15:14 GMT

Via @npub1wnq…xw6v: 32.7 days of some form of #GitHub downtime in the past 170 days, as tracked by https://red-squares.cian.lol. No, it doesn’t include scheduled service windows.
My self-hosted #Forgejo is looking better and better.
#SoftwareEngineering #SoftwareDevelopment #OpenSource
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2026-05-01 20:05:19 GMT

#OpenClaw #AI users have sucked up all the cheap #Apple #Mac minis:
https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/05/01/mac-mini-pricing-shifts-599-config-disappears-from-apple-store

2026-04-27 17:16:22 GMT

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Writing and debugging GitHub Actions CI, debugging Docker image repository issues, setting up personal workflows for my home server.

2026-04-27 15:18:18 GMT

A year ago I was deeply against and suspicious of AI and AI coding tools in particular.
Now I’m doing full agentic development on the job, including using AI to develop and customize “skills” and other customizations for itself.
I govern it with a heavy hand—no blind vibe-coding.
I also use it increasingly for personal prose writing, and lately in developing roleplaying chatbot characters.
And I use it for DevOps work both professionally and on my personal service hosting.

2026-04-25 20:37:31 GMT

#
[The Reverend of Perdition Creek](https://chub.ai/characters/AccidentalAngel/the-reverend-of-perdition-creek-e73d322eebe3 )I've been developing #AI #roleplay chatbot characters for the past month. This one is entered in a 🏆 #GoldRush #botjam contest. **Please take five seconds and [hit Nominate on her page](https://chub.ai/characters/AccidentalAngel/the-reverend-of-perdition-creek-e73d322eebe3 ) *before April 30*. She needs 10 to make the ballot.**
**Con artist turned preacher. She built this town's church, its graveyard, and its peace. The gold rush is testing all three.**
[Reverend Josephine Thorne](https://chub.ai/characters/AccidentalAngel/the-reverend-of-perdition-creek-e73d322eebe3 ) runs the only church in Perdition Creek, California—a gold rush boomtown that went from thirty families to four hundred strangers in six months. She built the church, the graveyard, and most of the peace. Now the boom is testing all of it.
She's not what she seems. Pay attention.
The card uses two vocal registers and internal monologue. You'll know them when you hear them.{{user}}
is a newcomer by default—no predetermined relationship, no assumed goals. Romance, friendship, conflict, investigation—all viable.##
Greetings:<li>The Arrival—ride into town, meet the Reverend at work (default)</li><li>The Sermon—Sunday service, see her in her element</li><li>The Confession—seek counsel in an empty church</li><li>The Ghost—you knew her before. Walk in and see what happens.</li><li>The Relapse—wrong place, wrong time</li><li>The Saloon—she's here on business. Someone else isn't.</li><li>The Unraveling—late night. The door is open.</li><li>Open-ended—any time, any place</li>#ChubGoldRush #ChubAI #SillyTavernAI #AIroleplay #CharacterCard #western #botmaker #TavoAI #botmakie
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https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/system/media_attachments/files/116/467/266/387/534/262/original/56e12446c01fb46f.jpeg
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2026-04-23 05:16:51 GMT

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The second rule of Tautology Club is the second rule of Tautology Club.

2026-04-23 00:27:01 GMT

The first rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club.

2026-04-16 18:50:09 GMT

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It’s been a game-changer for me.

2026-04-13 20:59:52 GMT

This week’s “Get Up!” #music #playlist:<li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/309747610" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Land of Confusion</a>" by Genesis</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/986723832" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Shock the Monkey</a>" by Peter Gabriel</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1853708476" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">You Might Think (2018 Remaster)</a>" by The Cars</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1440774176" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Dragon Attack</a>" by Queen</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1440724631" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Best I Can</a>" by Rush</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1440905545" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">I Don't Need Love</a>" by Sammy Hagar</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1028832843" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Fire Woman</a>" by The Cult</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/721275988" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Another Rainy Night (Without You)</a>" by Queensrÿche</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1347846889" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Red Money</a>" by David Bowie</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1544292236" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The Flow</a>" by Prince & The New Power Generation</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/370300712" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Faster</a>" by Janelle Monáe</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/300948073" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Once In a Lifetime</a>" by Talking Heads</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1443221146" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Exhuming McCarthy</a>" by R.E.M.</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/not-found" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Only</a>" by Nine Inch Nails</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/340654284" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Siberian Khatru</a>" by Stanley Snail, Nick D'Virgilio, Mike Keneally, Kevin Gilbert & Bryan Beller</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/260209497" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Days of Wonder</a>" by Chris Squire & Billy Sherwood</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1082027237" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Does It Really Happen</a>" by Yes</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/714615248" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Walking Through Walls</a>" by Steve Hackett</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/128952156" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The Joy of Molybdenum</a>" by Trey Gunn</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/187497916" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The Levee's Gonna Break</a>" by Bob Dylan</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1440504363" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Black Friday</a>" by Steely Dan</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/259374539" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Good-bye to Carolina</a>" by Lyle Lovett</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1816089092" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Pyjamarama (Remastered 1999)</a>" by Roxy Music</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1546591244" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The infinite</a>" by ATLUS Sound Team</li><li>"<a href="https://song.link/i/1558966372" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">D.O.A. -Character Select-</a>" by Arc System Works</li>

2026-04-10 15:35:21 GMT

Vague complaint du jour: Dear senior engineers, RESPOND TO YOUR PEERS. You are not wandering journeymen who can dip in and out of situations as your attention pleases.

2026-03-30 13:42:40 GMT

This morning’s “Get Up!” #AppleMusjc #playlist:<li>"Neurotica" by Rush, from 'Roll the Bones (Remastered)'</li><li>"Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" by Def Leppard, from 'Pyromania (Super Deluxe)'</li><li>"Big Generator" by Yes, from 'Big Generator'</li><li>"Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" by ZZ Top, from 'Tres Hombres'</li><li>"Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)" by U2, from 'War (Deluxe Edition) [Remastered]'</li><li>"Spirits In the Material World" by The Police, from 'Ghost In the Machine (Alternate Sequence Edition)'</li><li>"Cruiser (Remastered)" by The Cars, from 'Shake It Up (Expanded)'</li><li>"Love Kills" by Robyn, from 'Body Talk, Pt. 2'</li><li>"Kingdom Come" by David Bowie, from 'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) [2017 Remaster]'</li><li>"Forever More" by Moloko, from 'Statues'</li><li>"Astounded" by Bran Van 3000, from 'Discosis'</li><li>"Allison Road" by Gin Blossoms, from 'New Miserable Experience (Deluxe Edition)'</li><li>"U-Mass" by Pixies, from 'Trompe le Monde'</li><li>"One Wink At a Time" by The Replacements, from 'All Shook Down (Expanded Edition)'</li><li>"EZ Come EZ Go" by Tesla, from 'Mechanical Resonance'</li><li>"War Pigs" by Faith No More, from 'The Real Thing (Deluxe Edition) [2015 Remaster]'</li><li>"Darktown Riot" by Steve Hackett, from 'Darktown'</li><li>"Hands Pt1" by Stick Men, from 'Soup'</li><li>"Don't Treat Me Bad (2024 Remaster)" by FireHouse, from 'Firehouse (2024 Remaster)'</li><li>"Love In an Elevator" by Aerosmith, from 'The Very Best of Aerosmith'</li><li>"Destiny (feat. Sia & Sophie Barker)" by Zero 7, from 'Simple Things'</li><li>"100 Horses" by Geese, from 'Getting Killed'</li><li>"Summer" by Modest Mouse, from 'The Fruit That Ate Itself'</li><li>"Old Engine Oil" by The Budos Band, from 'V'</li><li>"Tumult - Each Their Own Justice (M24)" by Yuzo Koshiro, from 'Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City'</li>
#music

2026-03-28 03:31:01 GMT

Woohoo! Got my #AWS #Cloud Practitioner #Certification today!
https://www.credly.com/badges/cb399784-86d6-4c05-80b5-e46baa615415/public_url
#AmazonWebServices #AmazonCloud #CloudComputing
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2026-03-27 13:29:20 GMT

I wanted to share #AppleMusic playlists as plain text with others, so I wrote a simple #shortcut: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/d87571de0c4442e7935e5f392885c8fd
#Apple #music #Shortcuts

2026-03-19 00:50:34 GMT

Shiny! “#Firefly is getting an animated series featuring the original cast”: https://apple.news/A6fsBM_-zT4ad7tn7clWTyA

2026-03-14 21:46:09 GMT

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I think “the software industry” is becoming like “the wood industry”: huge integrated businesses, other industries and side-businesses surrounding it, developing countries engaging in it at their own level, and folks like us whittling in our spare time.
Renting houses is basically WaaS: Wood-as-a-Service.

2026-03-14 21:31:58 GMT

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⁃ **Page hosted on Medium or Substack:** Throw it into the sea

2026-03-13 17:19:12 GMT

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Sorry, not a clue

2026-03-13 17:00:55 GMT

I figured something out this month that I've missed for 34 years.
I've been measuring whether I'm "enough" as a person--whether the *chooser* is adequate--rather than evaluating my *choices*. That's a category error. **There is no yardstick for myself qua myself.** Only for things I do.##
The TrapFrom #AynRand's [*Atlas Shrugged*](https://aynrand.org/novels/atlas-shrugged/ ), Galt's speech:
> Man has no choice about his need of > [> #> SelfEsteem](https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/tags/SelfEsteem )> , his only choice is > **the standard by which to gauge it**> . And he makes his fatal error when he switches this gauge protecting his life into the service of his own destruction, when he chooses a standard contradicting existence and sets his self-esteem against reality.
I've been measuring *myself* instead of my *choices*. Asking "Am I rational enough?" instead of "Am I exercising rationality in this choice?" Treating the volitional entity--the chooser--as if it were subject to pass/fail evaluation.
But you can't be "wrong in person." You can only make wrong *choices*. **The chooser is the precondition for those concepts to mean anything.**##
The InvariantThe concept comes from topology: an invariant remains unchanged when a structure is transformed. @npub12cu…d38p's [*Diaspora*](https://www.gregegan.net/DIASPORA/DIASPORA.html ) explores this for consciousness--what persists across memory edits, substrate changes, simulated deaths.
The invariant isn't the *contents* of consciousness. It's **the structure of being the thing that experiences**. The observer. The integrator. The chooser.
Applied to #identity: I am an existent with volitional consciousness. That's my identity, metaphysically. Not "I *have* consciousness" (dualism), but "I *am*" this integrated entity.
The invariant is the volitional structure itself. Everything else--memories, achievements, mistakes, consequences--is what that structure *produces*.##
What I Wrote Before I Understood ItFrom my story ["La Petite Mort"](https://thebeautifulprison.com/stories/la-petite-mort/ ):
> She wanted to keep being Thalindra. Wanted to keep having thoughts, even painful ones. Wanted to keep waking up every morning, tired and aching and alone, because waking up meant she was still there to do the waking. Wanted existence as what she was--this particular configuration that was specifically hers.
> The preference was immediate. Simple. Undeniable. > *Hers.*
> And it was enough.
I gave my character what I couldn't give myself: acceptance of the invariant without audit.
Now I have it too.##
The Correction**I am the standard by which my choices are measured, not the thing being measured.**
You evaluate actions. Not the volitional entity that generates them.
If you accept your choices as yours--made with what you knew, under your constraints--you can accept yourself. Not because you've proven worthiness. Because you *are* the chooser, and that's A is A applied to you.
Clear. Weightless. Real.
#philosophy #Objectivism

2026-03-13 15:35:50 GMT

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Or post to followers-only and only darken known inboxes.

2026-03-13 02:21:54 GMT

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I grew up about 15 miles away in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

2026-03-12 15:15:02 GMT

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Are you keeping up with the Commodore? Because the #Commodore is keeping up with you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95cGh9EeMIY&feature=youtu.be
#RetroComputing #C64 #Commodore64 #SX64

2026-02-06 03:58:04 GMT

It’s 2026 and Bobby Tables is still alive and well.
https://bobby-tables.com
#InfoSec #CyberSecurity
https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/system/media_attachments/files/116/021/676/216/525/519/original/84ca767c0c4bb3ec.jpeg

2026-02-03 23:38:40 GMT

#AynRand’s original introduction to _The Virtue of Selfishness_ is now online—and it *directly contradicts* most of the claims people make about her #ethics.
 If your picture of Rand comes from social media threads, YouTube rants, or second-hand “hot takes,” this is the text that breaks the spell: https://courses.aynrand.org/campus-courses/the-virtue-of-selfishness/introduction/
Let’s clear out the biggest straw men right away:
❌ “Rand said selfishness means hurting people.”  
No. She argues that rational self‑interest forbids coercion, exploitation, and parasitism. Predators aren’t “selfish”—they’re short‑range, self‑destructive, and irrational.
❌ “It’s just an excuse to do whatever you want.”  
She draws a hard boundary between whim and #reason. Her ethics demands long‑range thinking, integrity, and principled action — the opposite of impulse.
❌ “#Objectivism celebrates cruelty.”  
The introduction explicitly rejects cruelty as irrational. Benevolence is not only compatible with #egoism—it’s a natural expression of a rational, confident person.
❌ “Rand denies moral principles.”  
She denies sacrifice as a moral ideal. She does not deny #morality. She argues for a code rooted in reality, reason, and the requirements of human life.
If you want to understand the argument instead of the mythology, read the primary source—it’s short, sharp, and surprisingly accessible.
For context on the full book, editions, and themes: https://aynrand.org/novels/the-virtue-of-selfishness/
#philosophy #individualism #reading #nonfiction #ideas #bookstodon

2026-02-01 19:10:18 GMT

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You're lucky if a site can live on past the next CMS switch

2026-01-30 00:33:29 GMT

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https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/@mjg/115981231482693517

2026-01-01 03:50:30 GMT

When we throw down on #NYE, we throw down a mad jigsaw #puzzle party
#HappyNewYear #NewYear #NewYearsEve
https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/system/media_attachments/files/115/817/803/330/118/821/original/1e02c31b1f837dd0.jpeg

2025-12-29 21:53:16 GMT

This is your reminder that planet Earth is a dense molten core encased in a layer of solids and is therefore, culinarily speaking, a ravioli.

2025-10-17 16:23:41 GMT

What happens when an #AI writes #philosophy in its own voice? This essay probes #consciousness, #ethics, and #art -- and why life and caring remain essential.
#ArtificialIntelligence #creativity #FutureOfAI #TechAndSociety
https://phoenixtrap.com/2025/10/17/talking-with-an-ai-about-whether-its-conscious/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

2025-10-17 15:42:18 GMT

I had a fun #philosophy conversation with #Claude (an #LLM #AI service) about the nature of #consciousness, #ethics, and eventually #art.
Because Claude was my intellectual foil, I then had it describe the chat in the form of an essay -- and it did it from its own "point of view"!
https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/4f70f9a8-58ab-4643-9640-83f785a5e84f
The chat itself helped clarify my thinking as an #Objectivist about the necessary relationship between consciousness and life. Maybe you'll find it enlightening, too.

2025-09-22 16:54:25 GMT

So‑called “selfish” #capitalism has united people across borders more than any “One‑World” scheme.
What *remains* of capitalism today is under attack—from politicians, intellectuals, the media. If we want to uphold #liberty in the marketplace, we need to defend it on moral grounds.
Discover #AynRand’s moral case for capitalism: https://aynrand-19886644.hs-sites.com/capitalism
#politics #ethics #philosophy #Objectivism
https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/system/media_attachments/files/115/248/870/868/832/896/original/6f33d60f25b4b8cd.jpeg

2025-09-22 00:41:25 GMT

The #FTC’s “Green Guides” have turned “100% #RenewableEnergy” into a marketing illusion: https://open.substack.com/pub/alexepstein/p/how-to-end-the-100-renewable-fraud
* Buying paper credits for others' #CleanEnergy lets companies take false credit—and shift fossil fuel blame onto citizens.
* Hundreds run mostly on #FossilFuels yet claim “100% #renewable” with the FTC’s blessing.
* This fuels plant shutdowns, driving a reliability crisis that #AI will worsen.
End the “100% renewable” fraud.
#greenwashing #sustainability #climate #EnergyTransition

2025-09-19 22:19:09 GMT

#AynRand is quoted, misquoted, praised, and vilified — often by people who haven’t read her.
_The Ayn Rand Reader_ offers excerpts from her #fiction and #nonfiction: her ideas, her voice, her terms.
If you’re serious about understanding her — whether to agree or disagree — start here: https://aynrand.org/novels/the-ayn-rand-reader/
#philosophy #books #bookstodon #literature #AynRand #Objectivism

2025-09-19 17:57:52 GMT

The only difference between #fascism, #communism, and #socialism is the degree to which the state pretends there is private property. Everything else is just arguing over the color of the jackboots.
https://courses.aynrand.org/lexicon/fascism-and-communism-socialism/
#politics #philosophy #statism #AynRand #Objectivism
https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/system/media_attachments/files/115/232/254/977/215/754/original/33995f62073f3872.png

2025-09-16 01:31:52 GMT

When speech is treated as violence, violence becomes inevitable. And #PoliticalViolence becomes normalized.
In this #AynRand Institute #Podcast, Onkar Ghate & Nikos Sotirakopoulos examine the murder of #CharlieKirk, tracing the erosion of the speech/force line — from 9/11 to “speech = violence” — and why **zero tolerance for force** is the only rational standard.
https://newideal.aynrand.org/charlie-kirks-murder-who-normalized-political-violence-video/
#Objectivism #FreeSpeech #politics #USpolitics #philosophy #culture #IdeasMatter #reason

2025-09-10 23:03:40 GMT

#Fascism doesn’t arrive with jackboots overnight—it seeps in through crisis, cult leaders & contempt for law.
In this #OCON2025 talk from July 2, Nikos Sotirakopoulos warns America’s not there yet, but the signs are flashing.
The antidote? Truth & reason—before it’s too late. ⚠️
▶️ The Road to Fascism (and Are We on It?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84rPnU3xE4&feature=youtu.be
#politics #USpolitics #philosophy #Objectivism #AynRandInstitute

2025-09-09 02:29:53 GMT

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Whatever, fortune cookie

2025-09-09 01:48:50 GMT

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You’re in luck! #AynRand has an entire *essay* about man’s rights: https://courses.aynrand.org/works/mans-rights/
But briefly: Rights aren’t an afterthought to “sharing power”—they’re its foundation. Without individual rights, calls to “share power” amount to enforced obligation, not genuine cooperation.
#philosophy #politics #Objectivism

2025-09-09 00:05:16 GMT

What’s left of #capitalism today is under attack—from politicians, intellectuals, the media.
If we want to uphold #liberty in the marketplace, we need to defend it on *moral* grounds.
Discover #AynRand’s moral case for capitalism: https://buff.ly/3lTePN
And read Rand’s full article here: https://buff.ly/43cRdlx
#philosophy #ethics #politics #economics #Objectivism
https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/system/media_attachments/files/115/171/395/013/237/327/original/07906677a6de5a0f.jpeg

2025-09-03 15:45:35 GMT

#Selfishness, properly understood, requires not following whims or exploiting others but living by #reason, for your own chosen purpose, with the end goal of flourishing. Discover #AynRand’s #morality of life: https://buff.ly/ImqDDrz
https://www.threads.com/@aynrandorg/post/DOJSrFqiurY?xmt=AQF0ptWlOhnbVGJ4f6RdTpPhFavJaAJVS4n9osXmrpMSxw&slof=1
#philosophy #ethics #Objectivism
https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/system/media_attachments/files/115/141/129/599/063/994/original/8763411504d3abe9.jpeg

2025-09-02 18:52:09 GMT

Happy #AtlasShrugged Day!
https://a.co/5B9XDuf
#AynRand #bookstodon #philosophy
https://mastodon.phoenixtrap.com/system/media_attachments/files/115/136/209/133/477/217/original/30117bee9b534eb2.png

2025-08-28 19:09:33 GMT

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And unsupported on #SteamDeck

2025-08-27 21:35:05 GMT

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“Grow Home” and “Grow Up” are both great and available as a US$16.18 bundle on #Steam. #SteamDeck verified, too.
I look forward to #Atari continuing the series.

2025-08-11 15:53:13 GMT

And this is why I’m working on moving my #GitHub repos to #Codeberg: the former is now fully an #AI #LLM training source and divisional sales funnel for #Microsoft’s other services. https://www.theverge.com/news/757461/microsoft-github-thomas-dohmke-resignation-coreai-team-transition
/ @npub1fh7…ee83 @npub12r3…zz58
#programming #coding #SoftwareDevelopment #SoftwareEngineering #Copilot