GeekNights Mondays: Science Technology Computing

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about widgets. Mostly status and telemetry widgets that people like to put on their desktops or their phones. They have their uses, but are usually useless. In the news, Cloudplane is shutting down in December, Adobe's Project Turntable is stunning, and Tesla's robots were (obviously) fake.

If you are able to vote in the United States, make a plan to vote. You can't sit this one out. You can't vote for a "third party." It's frankly unethical to do anything but vote straight ticket for Democrats.

There are two power-seeking coalitions in America. Choose the one that you want setting the rules for the next election. The Democrats are the literal best option we have. Do the right thing.

• Widgets

• Widgets

• Rym - An undulating thrill
• Scott - Asian Hockey Card Collection

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about cores and concurrency and threads and such. Also Rym and Emily fought a bear. In the news, Intel's chip instability saga has concluded, and Python 3.13.0 is pretty good.

• Multicore Multiprocess Concurrency and Such

• Multicore Multiprocess Concurrency and Such

• Rym - How Mei Blows Up the Game
• Scott - Popular Science (May 1872)

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the evils of web trackers and analytics. They are used almost exclusively to feed the ad industry and you should block them wherever possible. Rym has installed the microcode patch for some Intel chips and you should too if you have one of them.

In the news, Microsoft is moving to a security-first posture, nostalgia accounts on social media are making up nonsense, and chatbots are intruding into and slowly ruining online social spaces.

• Web Trackers and Analytics

• Web Trackers and Analytics

• Rym - We Spent $20 To Achieve RCE And Accidentally Became The Admins Of .MOBI
• Scott - Magician's Brick

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the sad state of the technology creeping into car dashboards. In the news, the US Supreme Court has disastrously ruled that the president is above the law in extreme and shocking complicity with authoritarian takeover. In other news, some good Python development practices and Apple cramming AI into their largely failed Vision Pro.

• Car Dashboard Tech

• Car Dashboard Tech

• Rym - Small BIRDS 8K ULTRA HD with Names and Sounds
• Scott - Can You Make It Bigger?

Tonight on GeekNights, it's a Tech News Roundup! Mouse movers are getting people fired but are also a sign of late stage capitalism, social media is messing up the kids, don't operate your i9 at turbo voltages when it's overheating, Adobe is mostly wrong here but also read what you buy, this is a good car that will never reach the US, data breaches are getting worse as people care less and less that they happen, Wine patches bug 7955 after 17 years, the Pentax 17 is bad, Apple cancels Apple Pay Later, New York gets digital IDs (sort of), Microsoft slow rolls Recall after backlash, and Voyager 1 still lives!

• Tech News Roundup Summer 2024

• Tech News Roundup Summer 2024

• Rym - ZEUS, POSEIDON & HADES
• Scott - TerminalTextEffects

Tonight on GeekNights, we make some technology predictions for one, five, and ten years into the future. We did this once back in 2010. In the news, Ticketmaster and Santander have massive data breaches, Google accidentally published its secret search sauce, Twitter adds pornography, and Rubin is the next generation AI chip.

• Tech Predictions for 2025, 2029, and 2034

• Tech Predictions for 2025, 2029, and 2034

• Rym - Balance (1989)
• Scott - The Panzerbike

Tonight on GeekNights, we discuss markup languages like Markdown. In the news, Rym posted an analysis of strange noises in Sportsnet NHL streams, the ship that broke Baltimore Harbor has been removed, you can read a paper exploring The consequences of generative AI for online knowledge communities, and there are new iPads.

• Markup Languages

• Markup Languages

• Rym - Come stay in a $40 2/10 hotel with me for an evening.
• Scott - Non-Euclidean Doom:

Tonight on GeekNights we talk about when technology fails. Dead PSUs, dead hard drives, and the like. In the news, there is a vulnerability in practically all VPNs and Tesla is firing everybody after they fired a bunch of people.

• Technology Failures

• Technology Failures

• Rym - Why Stomping Wigglers Glitches Super Mario World
• Scott - The Unique Urination of Cicadas

Tonight on GeekNights we consider what A New TV in 2024 looks like. In the news, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway, GameCube and Wii emulators won't work on iOS due to Apple's ban on just-in-time compilation, and Meta really makes money from all the data they collect about you.

• A New TV in 2024

• A New TV in 2024

• Rym - 90s computer room ✨🛰️ 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝟗𝟓 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 🎧 extended version
• Scott - MAPSCII

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the ramifications of a ridiculous Texas law being argued before the Supreme Court, and its ramifications for the imperfect but valuable Section 230. In the news, A lot of Redditors hate the Reddit IPO, Reddit is selling your data to Google for AI training, and Reddit admitted that your moderator protests are working. Also Rym has some notes on his new workstation.

• Moderation, Section 230, and Free Speech

• Moderation, Section 230, and Free Speech

• Rym - The Oldest Room in the House
• Scott - GifCities