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Adam Wilbert

@awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

4 followers 3 following 180 posts

LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) instructor tackling #SQLServer, #PostgreSQL, #MSAccess, #ArcGIS, and other relational database topics. Dabbler in maps […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.social/@awilbert, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10h

I had some unlucky timing in trying to migrate from #adobe to #affinity. They shut the store down pending a major announcement at the end of October, right after I started my trial. Well, a bit of relief: They re-enabled any trials that were started after […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]

Affinity Photo 2 license screen with the message "Your trial is active (29 days remaining)."

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 3d

ChatGPT, what do I think about this?
*copy*
*paste*

This is what happens when social media becomes an algorithmic game. Some people can't help but look for every stupid shortcut to goose their metrics.

Social media post that includes ChatGPT commentary left in, with the original poster anonymized. Text reads: Here's a comment you could post in response to that thought:
"Totally agree with this. You can really tell when someone knows their stuff vs. when it's just stitched together. The best creators bring personality and genuine insight-it's what makes the content engaging and memorable."
Do you want me to draft it to sound more supportive and affirming of their point, or more critical and blunt toward the Al-scripted content?
Like 60 3
Reply

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 4d

I don't know how anyone types with predictive text turned on. It's constantly flashing random words at you, sometimes they're what you're going for, often it's not. Then your brain is constantly switching back and forth from "keep typing" to "hit tab" at any random moment. But if you're too slow […]

Original post on mastodon.social

mastodon.social

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 5d

New profile pic! Yeah, it's an @Iconfactory original pixel portrait.

Slurp it up, facial recognition data brokers.

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 6d

Interesting, I can still get a disk image of my old CS6 license from 2012. New weekend project: see if it'll work on some sort of old OSX VM or something.

download dialog window for Adobe Creative Suite 6:
CS6 Design Web Premium - English and Japanese, Mac, Download .dmg (button)

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 6d

Welp. Was looking at dumping my #adobe subscription this month (and taking the early cancellation fee hit just to be done with 'em). But there's some shenanigans going on with #affinity now. The perpetual license purchase links have been removed, the support […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 6d

RE: https://mastodon.social/@verge/115306424173494411

Today's "lost dog" is tomorrow's "brown person of interest."

Something something paved with good intentions?

TLDR; Ring cameras new AI feature will search neighborhood footage when an owner posts an image of a lost dog, and will notify the […]

Original post on mastodon.social

mastodon.social

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 8d

Finished playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle last night, and then I see that /NoClip put out a "Making of" doc yesterday as well. Perfect timing!

Truly a fantastically well executed game. Story, cinematics, acting, lighting, set pieces, puzzles […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]

Scene from the game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. A view of the Sphinx through Indy's camera viewfinder.

Scene from the game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. A Nazi dig site outside the great pyramids in Egypt surrounded by tents and cranes.

Scene from the game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. First person perspective shooting from the back of a biplane as it flys through the streets of Shanghai.

Reposted by Adam Wilbert

Bibliolater 📚 📜 🖋 @bibliolater.qoto.org.ap.brid.gy · 14d

**Have You Ever Heard of This Mysterious Mediterranean Island That Has Only Appeared 4 Times Since 264 BC?**

🔗 https://brilliantmaps.com/mysterious-mediterranean-island/.

#maps #cartography

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14d

"Why isn't my shell script working?"

Geordi meme. Top panel Geordi holding his hand up to "end if." Bottom panel, Geordi pointing to "fi."

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16d

Spending a bunch of time this week extricating myself from Adobe CC. I use a broad swath of the suite, so there's a lot to test for compatibility with a lifetime's archive of work.

Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign seem easy to replace with Affinity.
Premiere/After Effects, leaning towards […]

Original post on mastodon.social

mastodon.social

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18d

Updating my #pihole, and caught this info message as it quickly scrolled by:

Neutrino emissions detected...

Yup, it's a Star Trek joke:
https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/what-does-neutrino-emissions-detected-mean/11350

activity log during a pihole ad blocking server. Items include:

[✓] DNS resolution is available
[✓] Migrating the list's cache directory to new location
[✓] Deleting existing list cache
[i] Neutrino emissions detected...
[✓] Preparing new gravity database

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18d

"The algorithm will also be controlled by America" is a terrifying thing to read.

Post from Aaron Rupar with a screen grab of a Fox News interview: @aaron.rupar@threads.net
Leavitt on the TikTok deal: "There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the US and six of those seats will be Americans. The data and privacy will be led by one of America's greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well."

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20d

Stumbled upon this visual metaphor of our times: an Amazon van blocking a bunch of the free parking spots in front of the public library. 😡

A blue Amazon delivery van parked across four parking spaces. The spaces are marked with. Green curb, indicating the free 10 minute spots at the library.

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20d

Excised all the lorem ipsum and other placeholder stuff from my new Eleventy based static site, and finally deployed it for real. This is replacing an old Squarespace blog that was dormant for a long time. Hopefully the ease of dropping markdown files in a local folder and a quick `git push` to […]

Original post on mastodon.social

mastodon.social

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23d

Can't find any reason to justify updating my #apple devices today, or anytime in the near future. There is literally nothing of interest in iOS 26 or macOS Tahoe, and lots of downside.

At best, Liquid Glass is "meh" across the board, and has plenty of janky edges.
AI Translation in messages & […]

Original post on mastodon.social

mastodon.social

Reposted by Adam Wilbert

Alan McConchie @alan.subdued.social.ap.brid.gy · 27d

Cascadia Daily News "Citizens Agenda results: Housing, Bellingham waterfront, ranked-choice voting top concerns"

This is a big deal!

#rankedchoicevoting & #proportionalrepresentation are in the top 5 issues that local voters care about. Voters are fed up with dysfunctional government, and they […]

Original post on subdued.social

subdued.social

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Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28d

Are they, though?
https://mastodon.social/@levelbot/115183501410864863

levelbot (@[email protected])

whimsy levels are holding at 70% (70%) ■■■■■■■□□□

mastodon.social

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28d

Starting to build out a faster 2.5Gb network in the house, and picked up my first couple of Ubiquity switches. The Flex 2.5G PoE switch comes with a card to help center a wall mount bracket, and that card has a tiny little bubble level in it! As soon as I saw that, I thought "this company gets me."

Card stock locator guide for a mounting bracket, white paper with embedded blue bubble level.

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29d

I like rewatching older movies and spotting actors that I didn't know on the first watch, but recognize now. Instantly knew the voice of Empire's middle clone, Brother Day (Lee Pace, Foundation), when he showed up as an elf king in Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

Lee Pace as the elf king Thranduil, Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29d

Couldn't be any less interested in the Apple event that's apparently going on now. Zero interest in buying any new Apple gear until Tim's out, then maybe I'll reevaluate. Or maybe I'll have moved on by then.

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · Sep 7

Spending the day clearing out my ancient #gis data archive. There's some real doozies in these folders. Like this 600 megabyte "output.tif" image. I think it's Yosemite, but who knows what this was for. Circa 2016.

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Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · Sep 7

@wizvii Yes, exactly.

Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · Sep 7

Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure: the perfect gift for the #woodworking enthusiasts in your life!

https://xkcd.com/3138/

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Adam Wilbert @awilbert.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · Sep 4

Sometimes @verge has interesting articles, but boy do they really, REALLY want me to buy a robot vacuum from one of their affiliate links.