RantingCanuck

@benroyce@mastodon.social I am hopeful that many nations which have traditionally depended on fossil fuel imports are seeing the strategic flaws in those imports. Solar, wind, and tidal energy sources keep producing after being installed even if your source of new equipment is disrupted, fossil fuels don't. The combined environmental, economic, and strategic arguments for green energy make it the only way forward. The quicker world leaders wake up, the better off we will all be.

@anon_opin@mastodon.social It's not just the lack of a future, it's the lack of a present for kids. We've made it too dangerous for them to walk to school, we've made it do dangerous to run / bike around the neighbourhood with their friends, we've made recreation too expensive for many families, and those who can afford some recreation have to limit what their kids do.

@hrefna@hachyderm.io I fully agree I contracted measles as a teenager; I'd had one dose of the vaccine but the recommendation to receive two doses came later Even one dose of the vaccine measles was unpleasant, I can't imagine how bad it would have been with no vaccinations.

@TrueNorthSpice@mastodon.world @maxleibman@beige.party and more than a few bat'leth

Instead of spending hundreds of billions of dollars on #pipelines and subsidies for O&G, #Canada needs to be making generation investments in #RenewableEnergy We could be investing in publicly owned solar panel and battery manufacturing, using materials sourced in Canada, which would not only meet all our energy needs in perpetuity but give us an exportable product for the foreseeable future. It would create more new jobs than we will lose when O&G inevitably dies AND if we make it publicly owned will provide public funds for social programming. #NoMorePipelines

@NMBA@mstdn.ca @dyckron@cosocial.ca The maga maggots always hide their racism behind a thin veneer of 'we don't hate _____, we just want them to be legal and hard working'. It's a lie (they hate all non-white people) but they tell it to sound more reasonable. As with any form of propaganda if it is repeated enough people will start to believe it.

@benroyce@mastodon.social @VogueLaGalere@mastodon.online @lydialurch@mastodon.social I'd also add that many powerful shitty people take comfort in their last years in the knowledge that after they die only good things will be spoken about them due to decorum. If the shitty people have to worry about what people will say after they die, maybe a few of them will strive to be less shitty in life.

Venting The entitlement of some drivers... This BMW is parked in the hash marks between handicap parking spaces (and no they do not have a disability parking pass) I see things like this frequently and it drives me up a wall. If I hadn't been so worn out from getting food at Costco, I would have stopped to report it but my knee was done. #disability #handicap #parking

@realSiegfried@troet.cafe @uxMark@cosocial.ca @thenarwhal@mstdn.ca Its the same strategy around the world; take a desirable goal (i.e. net zero) and set a deadline but push that deadline so far in the future that none of the current politicians will be in power. Then they do nothing to work towards that target before leaving office. The next generation of politicians will come into power, declare that the deadline is unachievable, and set a new one further in the future. We are reaching a point (most likely we've actually past the point) where we, as a society, need to put ourselves on a 'war footing' to combat climate change; instead we are continuing to bend the knee to the oligarchs who control our governments.

@lritter@mastodon.gamedev.place @glynmoody@mastodon.social Millions of tonnes of concrete is buried every year in landfills from the demolition of existing structures. So the risk of greenwashing (i.e. intentionally building structures just to demolish them) is very low because it wouldn't be cost effective. The 10 towers being built in China would barely scratch the surface of concrete waste. CO2 emissions from cement are a major problem and companies will never switch from high emissions production methods (clinker, limestone, gas, etc) to lower emissions methods (LC3, calcium silicate, electricity, etc) unless forced to either by legislation (best) or economics (carbon tax), but given how much waste concrete is already being dumped into landfills each year recycling as much of it as possible is a good thing.

RE: https://union.place/@ufwupdates/116835878261092115 This just shows how much workers are getting ripped off for the labour A quick search shows that Rainier cherries are $6.97/lb at Walmart in Washington State; the workers are only getting paid $0.40... which means if you were to buy cherries in the store only 5.7% of the price you pay goes to the worker. Even if you consider waste, the worker is still being ripped off.... and never forget that without these workers there wouldn't be any cherries. Every other party in the supply chain is dependant on their labour but they get peanuts for it.

@ned@beige.party Take a meter, give back 10 centimeters, claim to help out Albertans

@Niall@mastodon.nz @mu@mastodon.nz @ptoothfish@beige.party We can never trust the social media companies to clean themselves up, they will always do everything in their power to be evil. Thus we need actual regulations: 1) Mandate that all content algorithms must be published, making them subject to independent review 2) Hold social media companies legally responsible for the content pushed by their algorithms by removing the safe harbour provisions so many countries enacted in the early days of the internet. Those provisions shield social media companies from liability for the content their algorithms push. Any content pushed by an algorithm should be considered published by the social media company and it should be held fully liable.

@lritter@mastodon.gamedev.place @glynmoody@mastodon.social The article specifies that they are using 'recycled concrete and industrial aggregate' for the blocks being lifted for energy storage. Using recycled materials would significantly reduce the CO2 impact of the structure

@ike@pkm.social I'd actually rather see vehicle registration rate taxes be based on hood height * horsepower because of the role of hood height in pedestrian injuries. Additionally EV's weigh more than their fossil fuel cousins (which would result in an EV registration penalty) and until we start both building adequate public transit systems and redesigning our cities with public transit in mind we are going to need a transition period involving EV's. By tying registration to hood height and horsepower we can better protect pedestrians during the transition to functional public transit.

@linuxandyarn@hachyderm.io @edsantos@ciberlandia.pt Nah, forget giving them the chance to change their behaviour. Just arrest every single officer who abused their power charged AND arrest every single officer who witnessed the abuse and did nothing or covered it up (charging them as accessories either during the fact or after the fact as the case may be)

@FediThing@social.chinwag.org There is always a risk (albeit a small one) that malware was placed on the drive somewhere in the supply chain. Neither wiping or formatting will address malware if it is in the firmware of the drive itself, but both are sufficient for eliminating it if it is in the data sectors of the drive. My personal best practice is to delete the factory partitions and reparation the drive with my own (in the format I actually want). Even on the largest of drives it only takes a few minutes. Performing a full wipe is unnecessary as the formatting process tells your OS that the drive is empty and it can overwrite any empty sector, which in turns means any malware written to the drive isn't seen by the OS.

@stux@mstdn.social I'm really curious who is behind these aid token AI bot accounts... but I have a theory (and because there is no hard evidence a theory is all it can be). When f'Elon took over twitter there was a large scale push for an alternative, with Mastodon suddenly being amongst the contenders. This threatened the techbro's grip on social media but they dodged a bullet when Bluesky emerged as the eventual destination for most of the twitter refugees. Mastodon however remains a threat in their books, one they cannot just buy and shut down because of the nature of federation. Thus they are spending money to create useless bots with one purpose, make the cost of operating an instance so high that public instances begin to shut down. Mastodon would survive among the enthusiasts but would cease to be a threat because joining would become beyond the ability of the average person (whereas right now joining is actually very easy)

@fname@kamloops.social I hope they figure out the root cause and you feel better soon... I've been in your shoes twice (thinking I was having a heart attack and it turning out to be something else) and it royally sucks

@gbargoud@masto.nyc @jeffowski@mastodon.world In Canada and the US nearly all construction since WW2 has been centered around having a car. We desperately need to start building in a manner that doesn't require a car but even if we shifted immediate (i.e. today) to a focus on all new development being walking/transit friendly, rather that car-centric, it would still take decades to fix the problem. Until that time for many (honestly most) people car ownership will remain essential for full participation in society, and with car ownership comes the requirement for insurance. Thus insurance should be a public service.

@librarysquirrel@sunny.garden I fully agree with this. Look at my current computers: A desktop built in 2017 with a Ryzen 1600 and 64gb of DDR4 (although I do have a video card from 2020) ... runs everything without issues including blender and CAD. Running Linux means I don't have to worry about Windows artificial obsolescence. A dell workstation from 2013 running Proxmox and slowly allowing me to transition away from tech company services A Macbok Air from 2015 that Apple stopped providing software supports for. I bought it for $50 and put Linux on it (then bought 2 more for my partner and our kid). Runs amazing. Both the Dell and Macbook were bought used for pennies on the dollar compared to what they cost new. I have no need for a new computer and will probably not need a new one until hardware eventually fails (and even then I can probably buy used parts cheap). 20 years ago I remember needing a new computer every few years because my existing ones just couldn't keep up.

@randahl@mastodon.social The IOC claims to be an altruistic organisation dedicated to human rights and fundamental ethical principals (via the concept of Olympism)... in reality it is a capitalistic, greed based organisation that exploits both athletes and communities to line the pockets of the corporations that control it.

@johnefrancis@cosocial.ca Given that the response of the Canadian Government to Grok producing actual child pornography was a big yawn... I'm not surprised in this. Disappointed, yes... actually more along on the lines of outraged but not surprised

@Su_G@aus.social @nixCraft@mastodon.social Honestly 75 million is just a drop in the bucket. AI slip has become pervasive

@anyGould@kind.social @ChrisCorrigan@cosocial.ca @dyckron@cosocial.ca

I agree that a P&L analysis is what is needed... but also governments need to stop forecasting the economic impact of large events using models that assume everything else stays the same.

A few examples:

• The model looks at how many people will travel to Toronto for the World Cup but assumes that everyone else who would have travelled to Toronto at that same time still does so rather than calculating how many 'regular' tourists will just stay home or take their spending elsewhere.

• The model looks at how much people are going to spend at restaurants near World Cup venues but fails to calculate how much of that spending is from people who already live in the GTA and would have spent that money somehwere in the GTA regardless (thus it's not actually new economic spending but simply shifted)

@paco@infosec.exchange Mouse My current setup has a wired keyboard and headset, with a wireless mouse beside me.... And I love it.

@atomicker@mstdn.ca Fingers crossed they not only replace him but choose someone significantly better

@TrueNorthSpice@mastodon.world This is pure speculation (because I have no evidence) but I'm going to guess that they shipping company has jumped on the AI bandwagon and the AI is doing what AI's do best, fail at basic tasks.

@kagan@wandering.shop @jalefkowit@vmst.io I wonder if he's planning a 'hanta party' to build up his 'natural immunity' while popping ivermectin pills and drinking kale shakes?

@TrueNorthSpice@mastodon.world I did have cans of cat food (with pull tabs)... maybe next time

#Calgary and many other cities have built Park and Ride lots for #PublicTransit to increase transit useage in cities whose infrastructure is car centric. It is time for out cities to take the next step and start installing #EVcharging in those lots. One of the most common concerns people have about getting an #EV is not knowing where they can charge (not everyone has the option of charging at home). If cities installed level 2 chargers in the park and ride lots, and enforced the usage rules of those spots, it would give people who can't charge at home a place to charge their car while at work. It is also municipal budget friendly as the cost to charge can be set at exactly what it costs the city, thus making it a revenue neutral infrastructure installation.

@aadeacon@mastodon.social @jbjrkng@hachyderm.io If a politician gets hacked they'll just build an exemption into the law for 'public figures' in the name of 'security' due to the privacy threat their position generates. Basically one law for the poors and another for the rich / their agents.

@mu@mastodon.nz @Niall@mastodon.nz @ptoothfish@beige.party Yes. Right now they often don't have a confirmed identity tied to the account since all the information provided when the accounts were created was voluntary and unconfirmed; they have to build a profile based on your actions (i.e. middle aged white male, married, living in Calgary). Forcing people to upload actual identification gives them confirmed information which will allow for more precise content targeting and thus make their platforms more effective propaganda tools.

AMA it ceases to be 'we are experiencing unprecedented call volumes' when it goes on for months... Now it's just 'we are refusing to increase staffing levels to meet member demand' Sitting on hold #Alberta #insurance

@vfrmedia@social.tchncs.de @gbargoud@masto.nyc @jeffowski@mastodon.world @adaliabooks@ohai.social Canada is a mixture; 4 out of 10 provinces have public insurance (3 of them operate as non-profits, 1 operates on a for profit basis with profits going into the provincial treasury).... the rest have private insurance and like Britain they operate under the 'free market' myth even though there are only a handful of actual insurance companies.

'Radical' idea to bring down housing costs in Canada... permanently freeze land values across the nation. Land is one of the largest components of building housing, freezing it's value would over time lower that cost. Additionally it would eliminate land speculation, since you couldn't sell it for more than you bought it speculators would be eliminated from the market. #housing #cdnpoli #Canada

@fname@kamloops.social There are far too many people who claim they believe in climate change but simultaneously are unwilling to do anything about it when it is in their power to do so... they are hypocrites who don't really believe in #ClimateChange and just claim they do because in their social / professional circles it is advantageous to pretend to believe

@dcdeejay@mastodon.online Or just let your 'friends' drink the beer and stick to the tequila... then they'll be on the menu and you''ll just be buzzed

RE: https://mastodon.social/@noaivancouver/116818049809490833 Boosting this for more visibility and encouraging everyone who can to both boost and sign. #AI #cdnpoli

@Starfia@mastodon.social 100% Too many sites are full of dynamic features but either leave out basic information (hours of operation, address, menu, etc) or make it hard to find. I won't patronise businesses whose sole presence is facebook / instagram, and I will always prioritise patronising businesses with easy to find information.

@mu@mastodon.nz @Niall@mastodon.nz @ptoothfish@beige.party The under 16 bans are beneficial to the big social media companies. There is little economic value in their under 16 users but huge value if they can start asking everyone for ID (thus giving them even more accurate profiles).

@zer0unplanned @aadeacon@mastodon.social @jbjrkng@hachyderm.io Troll?

@zer0unplanned @aadeacon@mastodon.social @jbjrkng@hachyderm.io Exemption into the law so that politicians and public figures don't need to provide ID to use websites, not an exemption from being hacked, since the law is about providing ID

@robyn@yeg.bike Homo sapiens maplemagadumbitolis?

@nickofnz@mastodon.nz The energy oligarchs have failed to find a way to generate as much profit from renewables as they do from O&G, which when combined with facts that most of them will be dead of old age in the next few decades and they don't care about how their actions affect future generations (including their own children / grandchildren) they are refocusing on O&G. Since they own the media and politicains (even in countries that don't produce O&G) the battle we need to fight is to be to convince our neighbours directly. If each of us can sway even 1 neighbour in real life, and then half those neighbours in turn sway an additional neighbour (and so forth), we can overcome the oligarchs.

@Amgine@mamot.fr Good! The confidentiality clause benefited airlines (because they know the details of all complaints) but hurt passengers who couldn't reference past precedents in their claims. And the airline argument that they might fly unsafe planes to avoid paying out passengers was complete BS. If they can't operate safely then their licences to operate (at all) should be revoked. On a side note; which ad blocker is not working for you on CBC? I seem to have no problems using Ublock Origin Lite in Vivaldi

@LALegault@newsie.social I honestly believe that it is because most of us grew up without smoke filled air during the summer, and those are the mental images of summer that form our expectations. When the actual summer differs from that idealised image in our memories we are shocked but still expect the next summer to conform to those memories. It's similar to how I still expect drinks in vending machines to be $1, even though they haven't been for years, and am shocked every time I see the price

@canadianglen@thecanadian.social Fortunately there is an alternative you can use, aceite, which comes in the same canola and olive varieties as oil.... no one in the US administration knows what aceite is ;)

@benroyce@mastodon.social -sigh- I miss having 30 year old knees, even my 39 year old ones where pretty good... these mid-40's ones are junk

@atomicker@mstdn.ca Eby is counting on being able to run a campaign based on 'we are better than Findlay' in the next election, regardless of how little public support he might have. Too many people stay home on election day, which results in those who do turn out to vote feeling compelled to vote for the 'lesser evil' rather than for the representation that actually matches their values. Thus Eby can act against the publics wishes knowing he will still have a strong re-election position due to how bad the alternative is.