Lmst

Looks like #cryptpad dumps derelict accounts, so support was pretty much a one-liner. So I set up a new account to explore, and that worked. Gonna have to figure out how it can be used in general use before I can make my mind up about it. #infotech #infosec

Here's a direct link to the paper on the ACM site if anyone wants to read it: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706599.3716217

#academia #HCI #InfoTech

When Earth is no longer habitable by human beings, and we're all extinct, I will be a ghost that cheers. We finally got you, #NorthernPositronics. It cost us everything, but in a way, it was worth it. God damn Microsoft. #infotech (4/4)

Me: netbox is like bitwarden for datacenter stuff!
G: yeah exactly haha, grumpy it rep goes over to grumpy netops guy "grrs" in "where address" "grunts" in "check source truth"
G: both go on about their day hunting problems with clubs >_<

#it #iit #infotech #infosec #datacenters #netops #worklife #cavemen #convosfromtheoffice

It’s time for my favorite Eastertide newsletter, “Market Analysis of CPU Fan Cooling [chinese lettering]”

#infosec #infotech #technology #spam #email

We did it. Internet achieved. Perfect exchange; we can all go home.

#tech #enshittification #devices #developer #infotech #technology #folklore

Screengrab of a social thread, so many words. They're talking about old magic versus new magic (runes, wizards, orbs) except actually it's a conversation about enshittification in tech.

Øyh, folks!!

I just realized that in six months the development of Windows 10 will finally be completed, and we will never have to update it ever again!!! 🤩🍻🤘🎉

#NorskTut #Allheimen #TutOgKjør
#MicroSoft #Windows #Windows10 #WindowsUpdate #Update #InfoTech
#Yes #Its #Sarcasm
#PleaseStopCrying
#TGIF

Just a photo of my monitor during installation of updates for windows 10, for illustration purposes.

There is some white text tilted slightly counter clock wise on a blue background. It's saying "Configuring Windows updates. 96% complete. Don't turn off your computer"

Also, not related to the image; You just lost #TheGame!
Sorry about that! (Well, not really...)
But have a nice weekend anyways! 😁

ResearchFish Again

One of the things I definitely don’t miss about working in the UK university system is the dreaded Researchfish. If you’ve never heard of this bit of software, it’s intended to collect data relating to the outputs of research grants funded by the various Research Councils. That’s not an unreasonable thing to want to do, of course, but the interface is – or at least was when I last used it several years ago – extremely clunky and user-unfriendly. That meant that, once a year, along with other academics with research grants (in my case from STFC) I had to waste hours uploading bibliometric and other data by hand. A sensible system would have harvested this automatically as it is mostly available online at various locations or allowed users simply to upload their own publication list as a file; most of us keep an up-to-date list of publications for various reasons (including vanity!) anyway. Institutions also keep track of all this stuff independently. All this duplication seemed utterly pointless.

I always wondered what happened to the information I uploaded every year, which seemed to disappear without trace into the bowels of RCUK. I assume it was used for something, but mere researchers were never told to what purpose. I guess it was used to assess the performance of researchers in some way.

When I left the UK in 2018 to work full-time in Ireland, I took great pleasure in ignoring the multiple emails demanding that I do yet another Researchfish upload. The automated reminders turned into individual emails threatening that I would never again be eligible for funding if I didn’t do it, to which I eventually replied that I wouldn’t be applying for UK research grants anymore anyway. So there. Eventually the emails stopped.

Then, about three years ago, ResearchFish went from being merely pointless to downright sinister as a scandal erupted about the company that operates it (called Infotech), involving the abuse of data and the bullying of academics. I wrote about this here. It then transpired that UKRI, the umbrella organization governing the UK’s research council had been actively conniving with Infotech to target critics. An inquiry was promised but I don’t know what became of that.

Anyway, all that was a while ago and I neither longer live nor work in the UK so why mention ResearchFish again, now?

The reason is something that shocked me when I found out about it a few days ago. Researchfish is now operated by commercial publishing house Elsevier.

Words fail. I can’t be the only person to see a gigantic conflict of interest. How can a government agency allow the assessment of its research outputs to be outsourced to a company that profits hugely by the publication of those outputs? There’s a phrase in British English which I think is in fairly common usage: marking your own homework. This relates to individuals or organizations who have been given the responsibility for regulating their own products. Is very apt here.

The acquisition of Researchfish isn’t the only example of Elsevier getting its talons stuck into academia life. Elsevier also “runs” the bibliometric service Scopus which it markets as a sort of quality indicator for academic articles. I put “runs” in inverted commas because Scopus is hopelessly inaccurate and unreliable. I can certainly speak from experience on that. Nevertheless, Elsevier has managed to dupe research managers – clearly not the brightest people in the world – into thinking that Scopus is a quality product. I suppose the more you pay for something the less inclined you are to doubt its worth, because if you do find you have paid worthless junk you look like an idiot.

A few days ago I posted a piece that include this excerpt from an article in Wired:

Every industry has certain problems universally acknowledged as broken: insurance in health care, licensing in music, standardized testing in education, tipping in the restaurant business. In academia, it’s publishing. Academic publishing is dominated by for-profit giants like Elsevier and Springer. Calling their practice a form of thuggery isn’t so much an insult as an economic observation.

With the steady encroachment of the likes of Elsevier into research assessment, it is clear that as well as raking in huge profits, the thugs are now also assuming the role of the police. The academic publishing industry is a monstrous juggernaut that is doing untold damage to research and is set to do more. It has to stop.

#bibliometrics #Elsevier #Infotech #ResearchAssessment #Researchfish #SCOPUS #UKRI

Every argument against #trans people is utterly destroyed by this one small very inexpensive piece of IT equipment. Don't give me any lip about gender or any of that shit, you can just fucking step off you hot pile of shit. Witness the HD15 VGA F/F Mini Gender Changer! YOUR ARGUMENTS ARE INVALID! MUHAHAHAHAH! :) #infotech

A product glamour shot of a HD15 VGA F/F Gender Changer. It even has writing around the edge, “MINI GENDER CHANGER” and it has fifteen holes on one side, and then fifteen holes on the other, so you can attach two male-ended VGA cables together and make them super convenient, certainly better than cussing a blue streak trying to get the D shaped plug to fit when it has to do so in a very inconvenient orientation. PUNS INTENDED. Straight people, amirite?!?! ;)

Yep. We're doomed.

PODCAST excerpt:
The Mad Scramble for Power: Global Superpowers’ Strategies for Energy, Economics, and War.

Podcast link: https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-03-24/the-mad-scramble-for-power-global-superpowers-strategies-for-energy-economics-and-war/

PDF Transcript link: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/61d5bc2bb737636144dc55d0/t/67ddcf598c35381c0dcb96d5/1742589786506/RR+16+Transcript+%28The+Mad+Scramble+for+Power%29.pdf

#Resources #Economy #Energy #War #PeakOil #PeakEverything #NATO #Feudalism #Politics #Authoritarianism #DeIndustrialization #InfoTech #Tech #China #Europe #Coup

The Great Simplification excerpt:

[01:04:16] The counterpoint that I think is important to stress is when you talk to the most sophisticated US foreign policy interlocutors who, you know, fly around the world in their, jets all the time and, their counterparts in Europe, of course, they're
much more sophisticated than Trump. And yet I can assure you wholeheartedly, as someone who knows a few of the regions pretty damn well, they dunno their ass from their elbow.

[01:04:42] They know absolutely nothing. They're staggeringly well read, staggeringly well connected, and they're idiots. So I'm not, trying to, you know, dismiss the validity of what I, saying quite the opposite. I'm saying that it's a, you know, a great concern that the people that you think, well, don't worry if they're in charge, everything will be all right.

PODCAST:
The Mad Scramble for Power: Global Superpowers’ Strategies for Energy, Economics, and War.

"If you wanna understand why the geopolitical fragmentation is going on...we're sort of in a race to the bottom to get what's left [of oil reserves in the ground]."

Link: https://www.resilience.org/stories/2025-03-24/the-mad-scramble-for-power-global-superpowers-strategies-for-energy-economics-and-war/

PDF Transcript: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/61d5bc2bb737636144dc55d0/t/67ddcf598c35381c0dcb96d5/1742589786506/RR+16+Transcript+%28The+Mad+Scramble+for+Power%29.pdf

#Resources #Economy #Energy #War #PeakOil #PeakEverything #NATO #Feudalism #Politics #Authoritarianism #DeIndustrialization #InfoTech #Tech #China #Europe #Coup

The Mad Scramble for Power: Global Superpowers’ Strategies for Energy, Economics, and War
Nate Hagens, originally published by The Great Simplification
March 24, 2025

In this discussion, Nate is joined by Art Berman, Michael Every, and Izabella Kaminska for a broad exploration of the complex relationship between energy, geopolitics, and economic strategy.

Screenshot of three men and one woman in a zoom meeting.

Show Summary
The rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape of recent years can be hard to follow. With economic conflicts between global superpowers and violent clashes across multiple continents, today’s events can seem starkly different from the trajectory of past decades. So, how can a deeper understanding of energy and resource security help us make sense of these chaotic trends?

Together, the [speakers] provide valuable insights into the consequences of deindustrialization, the impact of military spending, and the urgent need to reassess strategies as resources dwindle and geopolitical tensions rise.

How is the use of fear as a political tool intertwined with the challenges of trust and disinformation in navigating turbulent international conflicts? What role is the race for Artificial General Intelligence and Quantum Computing playing in these rapidly changing situations? And ultimately, what should we, as citizens, be expecting from our leaders at the global stage as the struggle for power in the 21st century continues to intensify?

We just hired this guy. I don’t think he knows how to do the things we hired him for. I think he’s all charisma and enthusiasm.

Which is great, those are not unimportant characteristics, but still. :/

#infosec #infotech #it #iit #software #projectmanagement #hosting #web #design

Question for those in #IT do you code at all?
#askfedi #askfediverse #technology #askmastodon #InformationTechnology #infotech #techsupport

I dance professionally under the name Bare Metal, and my aaS is more aSS than anything ;)

#infosci #infotech #hosting #servers #dancing #exoticdancing

Don't worry, your admin and your virtualization platform aren't splitting up; it's normal to have these kinds of arguments.

As with people, the most important thing is ultimately being right.

#relationshipgoals #goals #proxmox #infosec #infotech #compsci #virtualization

Sokay, Moxy and I just fight it out until we compromise, which means I get what I want.

#relationshipgoals #goals #proxmox #infosec #infotech #compsci #virtualization

Act casual, like you didn’t delete a table of credentials 8)

#infosec #security #credentials #passwords #infotech #infosci #compsci #business

Since compliance dates are staggered and details are still being finalized, we'll provide ongoing updates, documentation, and tools. Keep yourself informed by checking our EU AI Act documentation on the Microsoft Trust Center. #InfoTech #Transparency

Oh Adobe, you take so much, and then you take more.

#adobe #software #infotech #infosci #business #subscription