Skip Navigation

tristynalxander

@ tristynalxander @mander.xyz

Posts
21
Comments
178
Joined
3 mo. ago

  • What is your policy on letting a child use the internet?

    Jump

  • As much as I hate the idea of exposing kids to the ideologies and mass propaganda of the internet, I hate the idea of incompetent adults even more. Plus, exposure builds resistance to some extent. How are they gonna learn to think for themselves if they haven't seen a wide range of views? Also, do you want your child to fail out of college the first time they play a video game? Or only start learning to code in their twenties? if ever since they won't think of a computer that way.

    No way, if I was gonna have a brat, the little bastard would be damn competent at everything.

  • foss nerds stop being condescending to those who don't know the same things you do challenge (impossible)

    Jump

  • Windows to Mint, Apple to Ubuntu

  • foss nerds stop being condescending to those who don't know the same things you do challenge (impossible)

    Jump

  • foss nerds stop being condescending to those who don't know the same things you do challenge (impossible)

    Jump

  • I study proteins and I chatter on about them, but once in a rare while I'll talk to a normal person and they'll say "like, the food group" or in introductions I'll say I'm a structural biologist and some people look at me blankly then say something about "bone structure". It kills me a little inside.

  • Turns out we all have a better understanding of equal rights then the founding fathers

    Jump

  • Not a historian, but I strongly suspect there have always been at least a few people who "got it".

  • The United States is named as the biggest threat to the world (even by Americans)

    Jump

  • The United States is named as the biggest threat to the world (even by Americans)

    Jump

  • me_irl

    Jump

  • Why does life have to be this depressing?

  • Boy I was wrong about the Fediverse

    Jump

  • Apologies, I think we are talking past each other. I think I misunderstood your initial comment. It read like a suggestion that lemmy's more extreme communities were terroristic and a criticism of the first amendment, which suggested that you believe the government should be allowed to dictate what kind of speech is or isn't acceptable -- in particular on these little platforms. My comment was in response to that notion.

    Re-reading it with your second comment, I think you're saying that "terrorist ideologies" have been allowed to develop on conventional social-media by claiming first amendment protections in order to not moderate communities, and 2016 was not in reference to early lemmy but to the MAGA movement. That makes more sense, and I generally agree that conventional social-media follows irresponsible stewardship practices.

  • Boy I was wrong about the Fediverse

    Jump

  • Turning to authorities to suppress fascism doesn't seem practical. We need to cultivate good democratic systems and education systems that create citizens capable of thinking critically and turning down bad ideologies on their own. Citizens should be empowered, not coddled.

  • Boy I was wrong about the Fediverse

    Jump

  • FOSS dominates by sheer persistence growing slowly as everything else burns bright and extinguishes until it's the best remaining option.

    It's the slow way, but it's the right way.

  • Claude Code's creator is sick of the phrase 'vibe coding.' Suggest your alternative here.

    Jump

  • Subscription bugging.

  • What are your BEST tech purchases?

    Jump

  • I really like my unihertz Atom phone. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's small and damn near indestructible. Thinking of trying to install linux on it.

  • rule, do not

    Jump

  • I suspect if someone sold a little automated "turret" that recognizes cameras and lasers them they could make big money off all this flock drama.

  • What are your worst tech purchases?

    Jump

  • During Covid I ordered a little screen replacement kit from a cheap Chinese company, and they said it was delayed due to Covid, so I was trying to be patient, but then the company disappeared. Unfortunately, I was too patient and the six months went by so I couldn't reverse the charge. Only time I've ever gotten scammed, and I was pissed because I had even looked them up before I ordered and they seemed to have decent reviews until after and everyone was calling them out. I don't know if they were legit then collapsed during covid or they put a lot of effort into looking legit with fake reviews. Lesson learned I guess.

  • What are your worst tech purchases?

    Jump

  • Replaced my samsung phone with a unihertz Atom -- Definitely not for everyone, but I love it. With samsung I'd gone from my phones never breaking to two phones that seemed to jump out of my hands and crack if you looked at them funny, so I gave up on the brand and looked for something small and rugged. I swear I could chuck the Atom off a building into concrete and it'd be fine. I do wish there was a newer version to update the software, but you get used to the older interface pretty quick. Hopefully Unihertz will go back to the atom series and make one with linux software, but I was thinking of just buying another and seeing if I can install linux.

  • What are your worst tech purchases?

    Jump

  • Skyrim is terrible in 3D. I can barely hack and slash normally, and I'm supposed to do it while disoriented and facing the wrong direction. Even with my coward play style of sneaky mage with uncapped runes, it's too much of a pain to do anything other than stare up at the sky.

  • Commodification of thinking

    Jump

  • LLM's owned by billionaires dis-empower both workers and small businesses, and you really should avoid using those, even if it's free.

    Local LLMs that run completely on your own computer empower individuals. Yes, they don't think for you and some (very dumb) people seem to struggle with that. But for people who can be bothered to put the intellectual work in, they give you the ability to do more. "What algorithms can I use to solve this niche problem" is not the sort of question stack overflow was ever great at, and good luck finding the right book -- but the AI will give you options that you couldn't have came up with that you can think about and decide on for yourself. Yes, those options are 'stolen' from other people, but if those people would begrudge you making your life better they're not worth considering anyway. It's useful in other areas too -- yes even art -- if you don't accept the first garbage it spits out and are willing to work and modify and build on or away from it to make it more what you want. (Again stolen style from artists, but inspired by artist's style has been a thing forever.) We should be using tools to empower people, and make the world a better place for people. AI can help with that.

    Rather than trying to kill AI in general, we should be ruthlessly mocking AI companies and business people for thinking AI will ever be used remotely. Why would anyone be dumb enough to build any meaningful part of their business on a remote service subscription?

  • A web page that shows you everything the browser told it

    Jump

  • Yeah, I think there are two problems. One issue is that they profile users both for ads and manipulative algorithmic content, and I'd like them to profile me incorrectly in most cases (except like they are less likely to try to sell people on linux things, that's a great thing I'd like to keep in the profile). The other issue is that they follow individual users using this fingerprinting, again this can be used both to sell things and to manipulate, but it's a tad creepier since it tracks how you're unique even compared to people superficially similar to you.

    Ideally, I'd like some extension where I can look at values and either keep them, set them, or randomize them.

  • Trading stocks does not make you a capitalist

    Jump

  • offer local collectives interest-free loan

    Or buy bonds in companies (including co-operatives) that you think are ran in a morally acceptable ways.

    I mean call me a capitalist pig, but I think investing can be a crucial funding mechanism for science, journalism, coding, or any public good / innovation that doesn't necessarily make a direct profit. Like right now science is falling apart because it was overly reliant on government funding and Trump has done a really good job of halting that. Even ignoring the salaries, science is expensive. Like $100/day just for supplies to run a single lab plus a couple 3k purchases every month. Public donations just aren't a realistic funding mechanism for that.

    I think young scientists like myself should be putting the bulk of our salaries into personal research endowments (Yeah, like FIRE). Like, it's giving up on retirement and home ownership, but I'm not willing to give up my research. Heck, even with that plan there are serious problems with how to fund equipment or rent lab space unless I come into a lot of money... Sorry, I think I'm spiraling into despair.

    My point is that we need independent funding mechanisms. Like, yes tenure has shown that not every scientists will keep working without being on a financial treadmill, but if a scientist proves willing to sacrifice their personal finances for their research goals having a larger organization like a university match their investment with "matcher" research-endowments seems reasonable, and those funds might work if they start as donations that are then invested as endowments (after you prevent admin from taking a huge bite out of it).

  • LocalLLaMA @sh.itjust.works
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    AI-Editor in LibreOffice Writer?

  • Science @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    Pace of N.I.H. Funding Slows Further in Trump’s Second Year

    www.nytimes.com /2026/04/22/science/trump-nih-funding-research.html
  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    Anatomy of a Bacterial Spaceship

  • Explain Like I'm Five @lemmy.world
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    ELI5: What role could Agentic AI have in the future, and how should individuals prepare?

  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    PDB101: Molecule of the Month: Proteins and Biominerals

    pdb101.rcsb.org /motm/232
  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    This Chemical uses Sunlight to Power All Life on Earth: Photosystem II

  • Country Music @lemmy.sdf.org
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    "Revival" - Zach Bryan

  • Mander @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    Connection Issues?

  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    PDB101: Molecule of the Month: DNA Polymerase

    pdb101.rcsb.org /motm/3
  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    A cool new Class of Antibiotic

  • Political Memes @lemmy.world
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    Homo-Economicus

  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    How Does Fluoride Change Your Teeth?

  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    PDB101: Molecule of the Month: Bacteriophage phiX174

    pdb101.rcsb.org /motm/2
  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    Hemoglobin and Blood Chemistry

  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    PDB101: Molecule of the Month: Myoglobin

    pdb101.rcsb.org /motm/1
  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    The Biology Behind Autumn Colors｜Leaf Senescence

  • Political Memes @lemmy.world
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    2028 Talk Be Like...

  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    Protein Art by Irina Bezsonova

    www.ebi.ac.uk /pdbe/inktober-2023-irina-bezsonova
  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    How do Bacteria Know the Time?

  • Biophysics @mander.xyz
    tristynalxander @mander.xyz

    Protein-Design with Foundry

    github.com /RosettaCommons/foundry/