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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist
@synonymist.bsky.social
240 followers 11 following 940 posts
Musician, technologist, he/him. Nominally human. Has not danced since 1983. https://synonymist.bandcamp.com/
synonymist.bandcamp.com
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 3h
“There are concerns automation could affect people of color particularly hard because Amazon’s warehouse workers are about three times as likely as a typical American worker to be Black.”
Inside Amazon’s Plans to Replace Workers With Robots
www.nytimes.com
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Reposted by synonymist
allyfromnola.bsky.social
Dr. Allison Wiltz @allyfromnola.bsky.social · 6d
“The segregationist goal is the total reversal of all reforms, with reestablishment of naked oppression and, if need be, a native form of fascism.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 18h
Thank you very much! I knew that other one was AI. 😕

Here is my new phone wallpaper, then, done _properly_ this time. 😊
An iPhone screen whose wallpaper is the “HOP” poster by Gwen C. Katz, drawn in the manner of The Obama “HOPE” poster. Katz’s poster features the anti-fascist “wizard frog” (an activist protester who famously faced down and admonished a large column of I.C.E. and other agents in Portland, Oregon while wearing an inflatable frog costume) wearing a red bandana as a neckerchief.
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Reposted by synonymist
gwenckatz.bsky.social
Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 3d
I saw a tragically AI-generated version of this poster, so I have recreated a 100% human-made version for all your protest sign needs.
The Obama Hope poster, but it's a frog and it says "Hop"
150 5.6K 20K
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 19h
Hahaha! I revel, nay I luxuriate in Americans’ abject stupidity. Without pity or intercession, I coldly witness the endless outpouring of destruction and performative self-debasement that is American life. That speaks poorly of me, but I admit it.
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 19h
Haha! Oh, but it can. 😄
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 19h
Hahaha! I'm enjoying this so much! Sigh… Does this mean I'm a bad man?

Hopefully not, because damn but if I'm not finally getting some value from (what is assuredly) the same widespread, endemic stupidity that helped unleash what is crushing the basis for what little happiness there was in the U.S.
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 20h
Made by a Canadian company, the things I bought comprise a system not currently for sale in the U.S., and that no U.S. maker's competing products can equal.

This event must exemplify the cost of greatness. Whose is unclear, but for sure it isn't American greatness.

2/2
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 20h
I just got and paid a bill from a U.S. shipper for a tariff fee, for a shipment to me from a seller in Canada. It was discounted to USD 8 from USD 20 for some unexplained reason.

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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 21h
spontaneously smiling happily with relief…

young me: because my girlfriend isn’t pregnant

old me: because the pharmacy figured out how to fill my supplemental blood pressure meds prescription
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 22h
Using a translation app to wish my friends a Happy Diwali in Gujarati:

What I wrote included “I wish your families happiness and light this holiday.”

The reverse translation (because I always double-check) of that was

“I wish your families happiness and may this festival illuminate their hearts.”
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 23h
Better very late than never. I'm so glad I learned about Batacumbele and this album. The mix of precision, soul, light touch and propulsion... I think I never heard anything quite like this previously.
A la I Ole
YouTube video by Batacumbele - Topic
www.youtube.com
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 2d
A Photographer Who Brought a Vanished Central European Jewry to Life
www.nytimes.com
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 3d
This negates the benefit of the phone's design, which prevented accidental button presses.

By contrary example, Mous gets it right by mimicking the phone's slightly inset placement.

With the dbrand case, I accidentally press the button routinely. But with the Mous case I never do.
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 3d
Others use an active solution, a layered capacitve overlay. Assuming the capacitive function of the overlay works properly, nonetheless this approach can be either hamfisted or elegant.

For example, dbrand gets in wrong by making the overlay flush with the case edge.

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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 3d
Now that I have my first iPhone with the Camera Control, I can say this about phone cases that do a better or worse job of accommodating it:

Some use a passive solution, a cutout. This is a low cost, elegant approach that respects the phone's slightly inset placement of the capacitive button.

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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 3d
Not to discount your feeling (I'm sorry you're experiencing it), but: Maybe you have yet to find the right community for you.

Anecdotally, I am in my 60s and never belonged in any community. I mean, in hindsight I realize that even in childhood I never fit in. Not all of us fit in, and that's okay.
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 3d
Well described. It's not just you. Liquid Glass is terrible for accessibility, usability and aesthetics (in that order).

Evident to me is that Apple's last good idea in the UI/UX space was Jony Ive.
synonymist.bsky.social synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 29d
As I wend through iOS 26, I see three things clearly:

1. Apple's main objective for iOS 26 was that it be visually differentiated from Android just as much as possible.

2. Serving the main objective, Apple fundamentally abandoned accessibility.

3. The iOS 26 GUI, apps and screens alike, is awful.
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 3d
I'm not even a sports fan, and I am enthralled by Ohtani. Obviously he is singular.
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 3d
Seydou Keïta and the Forging of West African Identity
www.nytimes.com
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 4d
More info: For Google Gemini, the voice is called "Orbit".
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 4d
In the countryside now, accompanying my friend as he swaps the winter tires onto my car. Even with the house and street lights, I see that the clear black sky is full of stars.
synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 4d
Do it. Music with whatever since about the late 1960s. Bass guitar since 1979. I still haven't played anything or made music any kind of way that's like bass. Very special.
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 4d
“The best laid plans…” Today, after a good start with the new pedalboard, one of the pedals freaked out. I tested it, then removed it.

Nothing I had that would fit the spot and was available did the same sort of thing.

Thus I chose something different, but awesome: Wreck'T (PTP 4-knob) by Menatone
A medium-small pedalboard, designed for use with bass guitar. It is arranged to make monaural audio. It comprises eight pedals on its top, ranging in size from medium to somewhat large. The board itself is gray and black in color, while the pedals are in a variety of mostly muted colors. The pedalboard is powered up, so various pedals' indicator lights are lit. At an oblique angle, with its junction box revealed on one of its short sides, a medium-small pedalboard, designed for use with bass guitar. It is arranged to make monaural audio. It comprises eight pedals on its top, ranging in size from medium to somewhat large. The board itself is gray and black in color, while the pedals are in a variety of mostly muted colors. The pedalboard is powered up, so various pedals' indicator lights are lit. The underside of a medium-small pedalboard. The board itself is gray and black in color, while the two power distribution units are a bright anodized blue color with white lettering. Each unit has several thin, black power cables connected to it. The power supply for the units is black in color. The pedalboard is powered up, so the power supply and distribution units' tiny indicator lights are lit. There is a small, square, dark gray audio buffer unit near the junction box at one short end of the board.
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synonymist.bsky.social
synonymist @synonymist.bsky.social · 5d
I just built a mono pedalboard for bass guitar. Cable routing was hard. But it all worked on the first try!

Short a low profile TRS cable, the expression input will wait until new ones arrive.

At first blush, this board sounds more raw and fun than the stereo board. But we shall see.

Ugly photos:
The top of a small pedalboard designed for bass guitar. It features two rows of pedals, ranging in size from medium to slightly large, in a variety of colors. The board is receiving power, so some of the pedals' indicator lights are lit. The underside of a small pedalboard designed for bass guitar. It features a power supply, black in color, that powers two power distributor units, bright anodized blue in color. Next to them is a small, dark gray audio buffer unit. The board is receiving power, so the power subsystem units' indicator lights are lit.
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