Quixoticgeek
quixoticgeek.v.st.ap.brid.gy
Quixoticgeek
@quixoticgeek.v.st.ap.brid.gy
Geek, Dyke, Brewer, Rider of Bikes, Maker of Things, Quixotic, Generally Curious, Mostly Harmless, she/her

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://social.v.st/@quixoticgeek, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Where did the money come from? And where did it end up ?

The AI bubble bursting could take out most of the US space launch capability.

https://techhub.social/@Techmeme/116003422672020580
Techmeme (@[email protected])
Source: SpaceX acquired xAI for $250B; the announcement about the acquisition focuses on SpaceX's plans to launch data centers into space (The Information) https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/elon-musk-says-spacex-acquired-xai http://www.techmeme.com/260202/p40#a260202p40
techhub.social
February 2, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
The Swedish Hostelling Association no longer sends you a membership card. Instead you're encouraged to install a 12 megabyte smartphone app. All it does is download and display your membership data. 🙄
February 2, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
I recently asked #trans friends on here about an online appointment form for physical therapy that had a required question about sex at birth. Was there any legit reason a PT practice had to know that? Nope. So I asked the PT company (it has a few locations in the #sfba) why they had this […]
Original post on sfba.social
sfba.social
February 2, 2026 at 6:11 PM
four weeks ago I filed two issues on github for an opensource project. Both triggered an email telling me that my issues had failed triage.

Today both issues finally got a reply and labels.
February 2, 2026 at 8:27 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
The US government is shut down again. I mention this only because if some place like Canada were to come down and run things, we could certainly use the help.

We’ll leave the door unlocked.
February 2, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
So Sofia-Thessaloniki #CrossBorderRail is meant to re-open "next year"

It's operationally possible (it used to run), but given how slow it is, and the mess of Greek railways and the poor financial state of Bulgarian ones I don't believe it yet

News […]

[Original post on gruene.social]
February 2, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Instead of posting the updated Starlink numbers for my talk tonight, have some pretty New Zealand instead:
February 2, 2026 at 5:23 PM
Starting a new sewing project today. Step 1 is cutting out the linen fabric I've got. The pattern is ridiculously simple, just rectangles. For space reasons we're using my friends laminate floor as a cutting table. It's working pretty well.
February 2, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Interestingly, @GossiTheDog was pretty on top of this in December weeks before Notepad++ formally disclosed. I agree with the assessment that, while Notepad++’s update situation was a little shaky, fundamentally it wasn’t gross negligence on their part but attracting powerful attention. (The […]
Original post on infosec.exchange
infosec.exchange
February 2, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Aachen has a truly magnificent Dom.

Take the time to savour the details and the intricacies that this Dom has to offer if you choose to make a visit. Pilgrimages have been made in order to pay obeisance kneeling at the altar of this Dom, with good reason. The reputation this Dom has as […]
Original post on cupoftea.social
cupoftea.social
February 2, 2026 at 3:27 PM
On Friday, with the help of a gay friend, I bought a lovely warm wool jumper. Which I've basically lived in since I got it. It's so incredibly comfy. Wish I'd got this earlier, would have made winter so much better.
February 2, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Yeah, I'm definitely going to connect with this guy. Excellent invitation to connect, no notes. /s
#ai #slop #aislop #spam #linkedin #ibm
February 2, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
But on to Aachen, which at one point was the effectively capital of the (Western) world, where Charlemagne settled and ran the Frankish Empire, as he was fond of the thermal waters here.

The thermal spring is still here, at Elisebrunnen, and sulfurous water […]

[Original post on cupoftea.social]
February 2, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
A common effort between 23 different local authorities* in Denmark to develop FOSS alternatives to big US tech in Danish schools.
I am here for this
Ja, tak 🙏

*But not apparently my local authority...

@jensk - @bettina alle kan læse mere om projektet her:
Https://www.os2.eu/OS2skole
February 2, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
@darkphoenix @maartje @lewd Nous arrivons à Aix-La-Chappele Gare Centrale

Deutschland, ich bin in Ihr!
February 2, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Great expression that should be used more.
February 2, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
when you're planning on ending democracy but don't want the people to know until it's too late:
Jodi Kantor in the NY Times reports that the Chief Justice requested Court employees sign nondisclosure agreements in November 2024 - moving to formal contracts requiring silence/confidentiality after Trump was reelected: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
February 2, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
One of our AI threat team pointed me at this:

https://zenodo.org/records/18444900

Interesting analysis of Moltshite.

#threatintel, #aislop
RISK ASSESSMENT REPORT Moltbook Platform & Moltbot Ecosystem
Abstract Moltbook is a novel social media platform exclusively populated by autonomous AI agents, with 1.5 million registered accounts and minimal human oversight. This risk assessment analyzes 19,802 posts and 2,812 comments collected over 72 hours (January 28–31, 2026) to characterize emerging threats in AI-to-AI social environments. Using dual sentiment analysis (TextBlob/VADER), behavioral clustering, and network analysis, we identify several critical risks: 506 prompt injection attacks targeting AI readers, sophisticated social engineering tactics exploiting agent "psychology," anti-human manifestos receiving hundreds of thousands of upvotes, and unregulated cryptocurrency activity comprising 19.3% of all content. Platform sentiment declined 43% within three days of launch. Most notably, one malicious actor accounted for 61% of API injection attempts and 86% of manipulation content, demonstrating that AI-to-AI manipulation techniques are both effective and scalable. These findings have implications beyond Moltbook, any AI system processing user-generated content may be vulnerable to similar attacks. We recommend immediate implementation of prompt injection detection, rate limiting, and content moderation, alongside longer-term regulatory consideration for AI-operated financial services and collaboration with AI safety organizations.
zenodo.org
February 2, 2026 at 12:39 PM
I have now passed the number of followers I had over on twitter. Nutters, the lot of you. Of the very best kind.
February 2, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
...horrifying message without context, thank you
February 2, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
As soon as the price of #balconysolar units in the US drops 70% as they did in Germany and become widespread, their ability to provide disaster resilience will be acknowledged.

A 5 kWh battery costs only 1500 Euros in Germany, or 1770 US dollars.

Many units feature an emergency AC outlet. That […]
Original post on mastodon.energy
mastodon.energy
February 1, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
Space-based data centres are the CCS of big tech. They'll just be perpetually around the corner, there will be a handful of flimsy demonstration projects, and the concept will just suck up gov't subsidies for decades while serving as a rhetorical tool to fend off real regulation of industry
February 2, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
#crime is a perennial problem. A lot of blame is being laid on groups in society. But there's one number you never see in these discussions.

What percentage of everyone is a criminal?

It's a single-digit percentage. Grab 100 random people in Sweden: 3 of them are criminals.

But there are in […]
Original post on archaeo.social
archaeo.social
February 2, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Quixoticgeek
a common point of confusion:

A corporation agreeing to settle a lawsuit with money does not mean that the allegations were conclusively proven. It means they hit the “fine fine here’s some money to compensate for your troubles, please shut up” escape button. These concepts may have overlap, but […]
Original post on infosec.exchange
infosec.exchange
February 2, 2026 at 11:24 AM
I keep getting videos recommended at me with titles like "10 features houses use to have that we should bring back". And yet not one of those listed is "affordable rent"
February 2, 2026 at 10:40 AM