Multiliterally
@multiliterally.bsky.social
Amateur... trombonist, writer, composer, tenor, engineer. Don't really like calling myself professional in anything. Generally interested, gets things wrong, multiple points of view. Tea or coffee.
Hi @techaltar.bsky.social , for CES and maybe also a Nebula Q&A (though I suspect the answer is "yes"): is the only method for secure viewing on TVs to keep them off the internet, and only connect a streaming device? Is this a topic for innovation at CES? Is anybody talking about privacy there?
Basically, don't buy a new "Smart" (read: surveillance) TV, especially not one from China.... www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/s...
Your smart TV is watching you and nobody's stopping it
Opinion: From buried settings to geopolitical risk, the business model is surveillance
www.theregister.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:31 AM
Hi @techaltar.bsky.social , for CES and maybe also a Nebula Q&A (though I suspect the answer is "yes"): is the only method for secure viewing on TVs to keep them off the internet, and only connect a streaming device? Is this a topic for innovation at CES? Is anybody talking about privacy there?
Reposted by Multiliterally
Basically, don't buy a new "Smart" (read: surveillance) TV, especially not one from China.... www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/s...
Your smart TV is watching you and nobody's stopping it
Opinion: From buried settings to geopolitical risk, the business model is surveillance
www.theregister.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Basically, don't buy a new "Smart" (read: surveillance) TV, especially not one from China.... www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/s...
Basically, don't buy a new "Smart" (read: surveillance) TV, especially not one from China.... www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/s...
Your smart TV is watching you and nobody's stopping it
Opinion: From buried settings to geopolitical risk, the business model is surveillance
www.theregister.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Basically, don't buy a new "Smart" (read: surveillance) TV, especially not one from China.... www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/s...
Does anyone know of a way to stop @theguardian.com from autoplaying those miserable, distracting videos? I'm an older guy who was happier in the olden days of video sites playing video, and news sites having fine photography but being calm enough to actually read.
August 27, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Does anyone know of a way to stop @theguardian.com from autoplaying those miserable, distracting videos? I'm an older guy who was happier in the olden days of video sites playing video, and news sites having fine photography but being calm enough to actually read.
My latest post as an engineer is up over there...
engineering.sebabbott.net/2024/11/09/w...
What we engineer: an off kilter dive into how engineers interpret the things we engineer, and into what those things could be...
engineering.sebabbott.net/2024/11/09/w...
What we engineer: an off kilter dive into how engineers interpret the things we engineer, and into what those things could be...
Seb on engineering
- What we engineer
engineering.sebabbott.net
November 14, 2024 at 7:09 PM
My latest post as an engineer is up over there...
engineering.sebabbott.net/2024/11/09/w...
What we engineer: an off kilter dive into how engineers interpret the things we engineer, and into what those things could be...
engineering.sebabbott.net/2024/11/09/w...
What we engineer: an off kilter dive into how engineers interpret the things we engineer, and into what those things could be...
Ooh, ⚠️ Invalid Handle! No whys, wherefores or wheretos, so I'll leave it for a bit - and perhaps think up and create a new one (within my wherewithal, at least)
November 13, 2024 at 3:25 PM
Ooh, ⚠️ Invalid Handle! No whys, wherefores or wheretos, so I'll leave it for a bit - and perhaps think up and create a new one (within my wherewithal, at least)
My work laptop just entered an eternal "Restarting" cycle... and it's great! Clocking off early and just letting things drift every so often is highly recommended: technical mishaps not required.
November 13, 2024 at 3:13 PM
My work laptop just entered an eternal "Restarting" cycle... and it's great! Clocking off early and just letting things drift every so often is highly recommended: technical mishaps not required.
Following his book Sticking Together about adhesion science (also @lauriewinkless.bsky.social 's thing 🩹), Prof. Steven Abbott and illustrator Mark Abbott have created an excellent new online resource on the Science of Clean (-ing things). Check it out at www.stevenabbott.co.uk/SoC/
Science of Clean* | Mark and Steven Abbott
Cleaning science brought to life in Mark and Steven Abbott's Science of Clean visual wiki
www.stevenabbott.co.uk
October 8, 2024 at 4:26 PM
Following his book Sticking Together about adhesion science (also @lauriewinkless.bsky.social 's thing 🩹), Prof. Steven Abbott and illustrator Mark Abbott have created an excellent new online resource on the Science of Clean (-ing things). Check it out at www.stevenabbott.co.uk/SoC/
This is pretty amazing, and hopefully encouraging for my daughter, who has to give a talk on fruit fly genetics in her biology lessons...
www.theguardian.com/science/2024...
www.theguardian.com/science/2024...
Tiny brain, big deal: fruit fly diagram could transform neuroscience
Scientists took years to map 50m connections, which may lead to understanding of how wiring gives rise to behaviour
www.theguardian.com
October 4, 2024 at 12:07 PM
This is pretty amazing, and hopefully encouraging for my daughter, who has to give a talk on fruit fly genetics in her biology lessons...
www.theguardian.com/science/2024...
www.theguardian.com/science/2024...
This article from @jameshawes.bsky.social in the Guardian adds a cultural-historical (colonial!) perspective to the recent Landtagswahlen that I'd previously only "felt". Well worth diving into, hope to find some good histories on the subject.
www.theguardian.com/world/articl...
www.theguardian.com/world/articl...
Everyone is terrified of a far-right return in Germany. Here’s why it won’t happen
The deep historical, political and cultural split between east and west acts as a brake on the rise of the AfD nationwide
www.theguardian.com
September 8, 2024 at 8:12 AM
This article from @jameshawes.bsky.social in the Guardian adds a cultural-historical (colonial!) perspective to the recent Landtagswahlen that I'd previously only "felt". Well worth diving into, hope to find some good histories on the subject.
www.theguardian.com/world/articl...
www.theguardian.com/world/articl...
I'm still not sure what to make of it, but this interview with Signal's Meredith Whittaker is really interesting: pugnacious and idealist, salted with realism and swearwords, it's at least fun!
www.wired.com/story/meredi...
www.wired.com/story/meredi...
Under Meredith Whittaker, Signal Is Out to Prove Surveillance Capitalism Wrong
On its 10th anniversary, Signal’s president wants to remind you that the world’s most secure communications platform is a nonprofit. It’s free. It doesn’t track you or serve you ads. It pays its engin...
www.wired.com
August 31, 2024 at 8:54 PM
I'm still not sure what to make of it, but this interview with Signal's Meredith Whittaker is really interesting: pugnacious and idealist, salted with realism and swearwords, it's at least fun!
www.wired.com/story/meredi...
www.wired.com/story/meredi...
But, who calls their company Crowdstrike, anyway? Sounds pretty evil to me, something an autocrat would want to buy straight away
July 19, 2024 at 6:37 PM
But, who calls their company Crowdstrike, anyway? Sounds pretty evil to me, something an autocrat would want to buy straight away
Oh my automotive deities: what a depressing sight of the test mule of the forthcoming Ford Capri, a dumpy "sports crossover" www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new...
New 2024 Ford Capri: electric crossover to be revealed shortly
Cult classic sports car's name set to return for 'sports crossover' based on the Ford Explorer
www.autocar.co.uk
June 6, 2024 at 7:06 AM
Oh my automotive deities: what a depressing sight of the test mule of the forthcoming Ford Capri, a dumpy "sports crossover" www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new...
Ah, that wonderful smell of fresh FFP2 mask can mean only one thing: I've got covid again. A delight.
June 5, 2024 at 6:58 PM
Ah, that wonderful smell of fresh FFP2 mask can mean only one thing: I've got covid again. A delight.
SpaceX calling its biggest upper stage Starship is like Tesla calling its cruise control Autopilot. Both monikers infer far more than they can realistically deliver
April 28, 2024 at 5:47 PM
SpaceX calling its biggest upper stage Starship is like Tesla calling its cruise control Autopilot. Both monikers infer far more than they can realistically deliver
Interesting to compare the latest news on CO2 reductions from the EU and USA:
www.economist.com/europe/2024/...
arstechnica.com/science/2024...
Both grids are reducing, but EU manufacturing emissions are also dropping, US not yet...
www.economist.com/europe/2024/...
arstechnica.com/science/2024...
Both grids are reducing, but EU manufacturing emissions are also dropping, US not yet...
Carbon emissions are dropping—fast—in Europe
Thanks to a price mechanism that actually works
www.economist.com
April 27, 2024 at 5:00 PM
Interesting to compare the latest news on CO2 reductions from the EU and USA:
www.economist.com/europe/2024/...
arstechnica.com/science/2024...
Both grids are reducing, but EU manufacturing emissions are also dropping, US not yet...
www.economist.com/europe/2024/...
arstechnica.com/science/2024...
Both grids are reducing, but EU manufacturing emissions are also dropping, US not yet...
Sounds about right, though I'm biased towards hoping that the surveys would say this anyway: It’s clearer than ever that Brexit has failed – let’s not inflict its miseries on young people | Zoe Williams | The Guardian
April 23, 2024 at 8:58 PM
Sounds about right, though I'm biased towards hoping that the surveys would say this anyway: It’s clearer than ever that Brexit has failed – let’s not inflict its miseries on young people | Zoe Williams | The Guardian
Really enjoyed this post on Wired about the damage done to Effective Altruism by the exposure of SBFs fraud, and how "AltEf" is based on very similarly flawed thinking (/arrogance): www.wired.com/story/deaths...
March 30, 2024 at 12:09 PM
Really enjoyed this post on Wired about the damage done to Effective Altruism by the exposure of SBFs fraud, and how "AltEf" is based on very similarly flawed thinking (/arrogance): www.wired.com/story/deaths...
Our first weekend of concerts behind us, one more to go and then a hopefully well-earned break! This season is all Grieg - a really enjoyable program.
Photo from the Epiphaniaskirche in #Mannheim
Photo from the Epiphaniaskirche in #Mannheim
February 7, 2024 at 7:29 PM
Our first weekend of concerts behind us, one more to go and then a hopefully well-earned break! This season is all Grieg - a really enjoyable program.
Photo from the Epiphaniaskirche in #Mannheim
Photo from the Epiphaniaskirche in #Mannheim
Encountered one of my favourite error messages so far on a business platform at work
success: false
success: false
February 7, 2024 at 10:00 AM
Encountered one of my favourite error messages so far on a business platform at work
success: false
success: false
Rehearsal Saturday, from 10 am to 7 pm (with breaks, of course!), but really feeling the tromboning lips by the end of it. Hopefully that's a good thing, getting fitter, rather than wrecking them!
More tomorrow, then we enter the concert phase.
More tomorrow, then we enter the concert phase.
January 20, 2024 at 7:53 PM
Rehearsal Saturday, from 10 am to 7 pm (with breaks, of course!), but really feeling the tromboning lips by the end of it. Hopefully that's a good thing, getting fitter, rather than wrecking them!
More tomorrow, then we enter the concert phase.
More tomorrow, then we enter the concert phase.
Hi @proton.me , your privacy washing email makes for good, if concerning reading, thanks! This one statement at the end felt too similar to the bad guys' style, though:
"Our revenue comes from community support, not advertising." What is "community support", other than subscriptions?
"Our revenue comes from community support, not advertising." What is "community support", other than subscriptions?
January 19, 2024 at 10:50 AM
Hi @proton.me , your privacy washing email makes for good, if concerning reading, thanks! This one statement at the end felt too similar to the bad guys' style, though:
"Our revenue comes from community support, not advertising." What is "community support", other than subscriptions?
"Our revenue comes from community support, not advertising." What is "community support", other than subscriptions?
So happy to learn that the UK has re-established the franchise for Britons who ended up living abroad for more than 15 years!
There were good reasons for the rule, but I never felt "not British", nor uninterested in what's going on back home (!)
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
There were good reasons for the rule, but I never felt "not British", nor uninterested in what's going on back home (!)
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
January 16, 2024 at 7:10 AM
So happy to learn that the UK has re-established the franchise for Britons who ended up living abroad for more than 15 years!
There were good reasons for the rule, but I never felt "not British", nor uninterested in what's going on back home (!)
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
There were good reasons for the rule, but I never felt "not British", nor uninterested in what's going on back home (!)
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Fantastic day meeting up with family in Strasbourg, scurrying from café to restaurant to café to avoid the biting cold, occasionally appreciating the city itself
January 14, 2024 at 9:07 PM
Fantastic day meeting up with family in Strasbourg, scurrying from café to restaurant to café to avoid the biting cold, occasionally appreciating the city itself
Overheard on the train the other day: an Australian student chatting about her impending flight back home after her first lengthy solo trip away:
"In my head, I'm the same, but in my soul, I've changed."
Lots to unpack there, but the main thing was, she sounded reflective and content about it!
"In my head, I'm the same, but in my soul, I've changed."
Lots to unpack there, but the main thing was, she sounded reflective and content about it!
January 13, 2024 at 10:10 AM
Overheard on the train the other day: an Australian student chatting about her impending flight back home after her first lengthy solo trip away:
"In my head, I'm the same, but in my soul, I've changed."
Lots to unpack there, but the main thing was, she sounded reflective and content about it!
"In my head, I'm the same, but in my soul, I've changed."
Lots to unpack there, but the main thing was, she sounded reflective and content about it!