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#technology

55 posts35 participants3 posts today

How did I not know iFixit was on Mastodon? If you're unfamiliar, iFixit is a company that advocates for Right to Repair and the sale of repairable products. They offer free repair manuals and other information for countless devices, and they sell quality tools and parts to assist in making those repairs and avoiding bad tech. Great outfit, and a font of useful information. Be sure to follow.
ifixit@mastodon.social
#tech #repair #righttorepair #electronics #technology #ifixit #diy

@aral

One of the things you learn in many art classes as an adult is that the product is much less important than the process. Take pleasure in the process, and the outcome will take care of itself.

The artists I know draw and paint and sculpt (and since I know techie artists) “make” for the sheer pleasure of it.

Having said that, having programmed for fifty years, there’s a lot of boilerplate involved in programming. AI tools help one turn a human-language description of a problem and potential solutions into a partial solution in a matter of minutes.

One might ask: why is there so much boilerplate? Maybe our programming systems should seek to eliminate boilerplate by being more expressive?

To that, I agree. But one of the ways of being more expressive is using an expressive language to describe problems and possible solutions — and what is a coding-specific LLM if not that?

Of course, one can write buggy code in any language. The LLM does not free you from that, so walk through the output carefully, suggesting changes, asking for reasons of particular constructions. The LLM is also a pattern completer, so it will insert unnecessary, but frequently used things. The LLM has limited attention, so it may lose track of the project goal when down in the weeds.

The #Framework Laptop 13 is a slightly unusual size and aspect ratio. So, instead of getting a case that "kind of" fits, I had one custom made from this great #Canadian artist from #Quebec on #Etsy who specializes in making things from kimono fabrics. This is my second one from them and the quality of both is excellent. If you are in the market for a new case, please give their shop a look:

etsy.com/shop/MofLeema

@frameworkcomputer

Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to #Amazon starting on March 28

"Since Amazon announced plans for a generative AI version of Alexa, we were concerned about user privacy. With Alexa+ rolling out to Amazon Echo devices in the coming weeks, we’re getting a clearer view at the privacy concessions people will have to make to maximize usage of the AI voice assistant and avoid bricking functionality of already-purchased devices.

In an email sent to customers today, Amazon said that Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally and, therefore, avoid sending voice recordings to Amazon’s cloud. Amazon apparently sent the email to users with “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” enabled on their Echo. Starting on March 28, recordings of everything spoken to the Alexa living in Echo speakers and smart displays will automatically be sent to Amazon and processed in the cloud."

arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/0

In this photo illustration, Echo Dot smart speaker with working Alexa with blue light ring seen displayed.
Ars Technica · Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon starting on March 28By Scharon Harding