Gideon Hallett
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gmh.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Gideon Hallett
@gmh.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Given to compulsive pondering.

He/him/bleurgh.

[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@gmh on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
The attempt to read the UNIX V4 tape is underway!
December 19, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
I have a new hobby. You see, our local Lidl is where a lot of the refugees in "temporary asylum accommodation" shop. And they are trying to get food that feels like actual food, in a place where there have been some really nasty xenophobic protests.

The other day it was two guys from South […]
Original post on todon.nl
todon.nl
December 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
A Christmas cartoon from my new book of science cartoons PHYSICS FOR CATS. In good bookshops and online now: www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2
December 16, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
December 15, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
This is blowing up a bit: not trying to scare you all! There is a *gigantic* set of sunspots coming around the limb of the sun, comparable in size to the sunspots sketched by Carrington. They may or may not send some plasma our way. There is also a minor aurora event predicted for 2 days from […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
December 2, 2025 at 8:51 PM
When Signs Accidentally Call For Revolution…

These symptoms *can* indicate modern slavery.

They can also indicate that you’re a low waged worker trying to scrape out a living in a culture where zero hour contracts are a thing, rents are astronomical, and […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
November 27, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Killer quote:

“I’m going back to the Fediverse. Back to Mastodon. To the nerds, the hobbyists, the idealists. The people who don’t talk about reach, but about relevance. To those who understand that decentralization isn’t nostalgic, it’s the future. That digital sovereignty isn’t a gimmick […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
October 30, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
October 28, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
The Python Software Foundation shows more spine than every single tech giant in just one single decision.

> Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core to the PSF’s values

https://pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-funding-statement.html
The PSF has withdrawn $1.5 million proposal to US government grant program
In January 2025, the PSF submitted a proposal to the US government National Science Foundation under the Safety, Security, and Privacy of Open Source Ecosystems program to address structural vulnerabilities in Python and PyPI. It was the PSF’s first time applying for government funding, and navigating the intensive process was a steep learning curve for our small team to climb. Seth Larson, PSF Security Developer in Residence, serving as Principal Investigator (PI) with Loren Crary, PSF Deputy Executive Director, as co-PI, led the multi-round proposal writing process as well as the months-long vetting process. We invested our time and effort because we felt the PSF’s work is a strong fit for the program and that the benefit to the community if our proposal were accepted was considerable. We were honored when, after many months of work, our proposal was recommended for funding, particularly as only 36% of new NSF grant applicants are successful on their first attempt. We became concerned, however, when we were presented with the terms and conditions we would be required to agree to if we accepted the grant. These terms included affirming the statement that we “do not, and will not during the term of this financial assistance award, operate any programs that advance or promote DEI, or discriminatory equity ideology in violation of Federal anti-discrimination laws.” This restriction would apply not only to the security work directly funded by the grant, **but to any and all activity of the PSF as a whole**. Further, violation of this term gave the NSF the right to “claw back” previously approved and transferred funds. This would create a situation where money we’d already spent could be taken back, which would be an enormous, open-ended financial risk. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core to the PSF’s values, as committed to in our mission statement: > _The mission of the Python Software Foundation is to promote, protect, and advance the Python programming language, and to support and facilitate the growth of**a diverse and international community** of Python programmers._ Given the value of the grant to the community and the PSF, we did our utmost to get clarity on the terms and to find a way to move forward in concert with our values. We consulted our NSF contacts and reviewed decisions made by other organizations in similar circumstances, particularly The Carpentries. In the end, however, the PSF simply can’t agree to a statement that we won’t operate any programs that “advance or promote” diversity, equity, and inclusion, as it would be a betrayal of our mission and our community. We’re disappointed to have been put in the position where we had to make this decision, because we believe our proposed project would offer invaluable advances to the Python and greater open source community, protecting millions of PyPI users from attempted supply-chain attacks. The proposed project would create new tools for automated proactive review of all packages uploaded to PyPI, rather than the current process of reactive-only review. These novel tools would rely on capability analysis, designed based on a dataset of known malware. Beyond just protecting PyPI users, the outputs of this work could be transferable for all open source software package registries, such as NPM and Crates.io, improving security across multiple open source ecosystems. In addition to the security benefits, the grant funds would have made a big difference to the PSF’s budget. The PSF is a relatively small organization, operating with an annual budget of around $5 million per year, with a staff of just 14. $1.5 million over two years would have been quite a lot of money for us, and easily the largest grant we’d ever received. Ultimately, however, the value of the work and the size of the grant were not more important than practicing our values and retaining the freedom to support every part of our community. The PSF Board voted unanimously to withdraw our application. Giving up the NSF grant opportunity—along with inflation, lower sponsorship, economic pressure in the tech sector, and global/local uncertainty and conflict—means the PSF needs financial support now more than ever. We are incredibly grateful for any help you can offer. If you're already a PSF member or regular donor, you have our deep appreciation, and we urge you to share your story about why you support the PSF. Your stories make all the difference in spreading awareness about the mission and work of the PSF. How to support the PSF: * Become a Member: When you sign up as a Supporting Member of the PSF, you become a part of the PSF. You’re eligible to vote in PSF elections, using your voice to guide our future direction, and you help us sustain what we do with your annual support. * Donate: Your donation makes it possible to continue our work supporting Python and its community, year after year. * Sponsor: If your company uses Python and isn’t yet a sponsor, send them our sponsorship page or reach out to sponsors@python.org today. The PSF is ever grateful for our sponsors, past and current, and we do everything we can to make their sponsorships beneficial and rewarding.
pyfound.blogspot.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Good morning
October 25, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Just learned there was a new Google udm code discovered. So you know what I had to do.

https://udm56.com/

Still kicking in on the DNS front, but it’s already up.
June 19, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Thanks to my hardware store. New insult unlocked.
October 7, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
in a month there will be three years since we launched circumstances.run, our very own cruise vessel in the fediverse space.

and frankly, it's a bit anticlimactic.

we watched twitter flame down and fragment, but not fall in pieces as it should; twitter is now simply the largest unfederated […]
Original post on circumstances.run
circumstances.run
October 7, 2025 at 9:21 AM
I know Home Secretary is the modern Grand Vizier, that thinking is not in the job description and public displays of authoritarianism are, but still…

If you are not free to do something every moment of every day, you are not free to do something.

(Whether […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
October 5, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Something isn't right, can't put my finger on it.
October 5, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Happy Anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, to all decent people.
October 4, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Yet another indication that being a multibillionaire doesn't require genius.

The counterexample to his claims is standing right next to him.

The January 6th rioters - acting on Trump's sayso - behaved violently and without fear, as do Trump's militias and […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
September 29, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Number 60, done and dusted!
September 28, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
That cat was accused of counter-revolutionary activities by the Committee of Public Safety.
September 26, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
News you didn’t know you needed: there is a single specific seal who seems to have dedicated their life to swimming through the Netherlands’ freshwater canals to tour cities. They’ve been at least as far inland as Utrecht and were last spotted in Amsterdam […]
Original post on infosec.exchange
infosec.exchange
September 20, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Bertrand Russell to Oswald Mosley (UK fascist from the 1930's)
September 16, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Fijne Pythagoras dag!
9-16-25 :pythagoras:
September 16, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
Reposted with AltText

#charliekirk #uspol #fascism #fascist
September 11, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
When you peel back the rug on anti-refugee hatred, you always find fucking Nazis scuttling for the cover of darkness
August 23, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Gideon Hallett
BBC Breakfast this morning had a long segment about the 30th anniversary of Windows 95. So what vintage computer did they put in the studio as a handy prop?

#windows95
August 29, 2025 at 7:17 AM