Rhumb Line

Minneapolis sailor. Sailing is my passion. So is writing. I think POB and E.B. White were on to something. I hope you enjoy the posts. A 'rhumb line' isn't a que for grog, but rather a loxodrome. All clear, right?

[liberalsarecool]

Intellectual property laws used to mean something when it targeted the consumer.

Now the venture capitalist steals the IP to make derivative AI bullshit.

[dduane]

Anthropic blames dystopian sci-fi for training AI models to act “evil”

But training on "synthetic stories" that model good AI behavior can help.

Gee, maybe if they hadn't started out by STEALING all that dystopian SF to train their autocomplete machine, this wouldn't be happening... :/

[peterfromtexas-deactivated20250]

Reenactor throws a spear at a drone

[supapoopa]

What a time to be alive.

[tenthcorner]

“The medieval warrior, realizing the consequences of his impulsive act, immediately approached the owner of the drone and offered to pay for the damage.

The owner of the drone was so impressed by the brilliant attack that he suggested organizing a competition for bringing down “dragons” with short spears next year.

Drone owners have another year to develop a unique “dragon-like” design for their flying machines.” (x)

[kineticpenguin]

I am 100% cooler with this knowing that the spear-thrower realized “oops maybe I shouldn’t have done that” and tried to make it right, and that the guy who the drone belonged to was cool with it

[brunhiddensmusings]

just so everyone knows, this has already been memorialized in a runestone

[stephendann]

Everything about this post blesses those involved with a +4 on their next Today is Good Day roll

[fromaliminalspace]

a rough translation of inscription on the runestone:

On the seventh day of May in the year of 2016 on hither spot the mighty warrior Ulf hath slain a dragon with his spear.

so yeah, happy birthday to this dragon-slaying event and to it only

[nonlinear-nonsubjective]

Happy Ulf Hath Slain A Dragon With His Spear!

[orphankin]

10 years!!

[wilwheaton]

[dduane]

(via the Star Wars Intro Creator)

[doyouknowwhatimeme]

[gamer-crow-deactivated20250412]

If radio wasn't loaded with ads for the dumbest shit possible, I'd prefer radio to everything else.

[mozukumi]

I'm going to use this as a jumping off point to mention the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.

It's... pretty much what it says on the tin. Some car manufacturers are phasing out AM Radio from their cars so they can replace them with their own streaming services - this bill seeks to make them a mandatory feature.

As somebody whose day job is in radio, I totally agree that the amount of ads and the quality of the ads is ridiculous. Personally, I don't find radio to be an amazing source of political news broadcasting.

But do you know what it is really good at? Providing emergency broadcasts during extreme weather events.

When power and internet is down, radio can be one of the only sources of information, and it's helped provide lifesaving information during these times.

(Plus, at least in my area of the country, emergency weather alerts override and interrupt programming when broadcast - even during pesky ads!)

So if you want to toss your signature in support, you can head on over here.

I want to make it clear I'm not an expert in this legislation or anything - this is just the stuff I know through working in the industry.

[sic-sempervirens]

AM radio can be one of the only available and reliable sources of local/regional news, weather and traffic, emergency or not. Not to mention community broadcasts.

(Plus, have you listened to any podcasts lately? It’s literally six minutes of ads on either end)

[noctumsolis]

Also you can build an AM radio receiver out of little more than scrap. Are you going to? No, almost certainly not, but the point is that the technology is simple, cheap, robust and repairable.

[rhumbline]

Also, the number of ads on podcasts is skyrocketing.

[timcurrysbooty]

Tim Curry candidly reveals an ill-fated affair during the filming of Muppet Treasure Island (1996) with Miss Piggy.

[sapient-simian]

Sounds like she broke up with him. Poor guy.

[liberalsarecool]

Trump trying to take credit for Obama. Again.

#StolenValor #StolenAccomplishments

[liberalsarecool]

"The majority of people who fly regularly are upper middle class white people, not undocumented immigrants. The longer this goes on the more political pressure the Republicans will feel from their constituents.

FOX News calling out the Republican speaker and in turn his fumbling response, is a huge tell that this airport slow down is not going well for them politically."

@Guy_Fawkes_News

[dduane]

Sixty years on, a Star Trek writer is still creating strange new worlds

Diane Duane’s early days writing fan fiction have led to a remarkable career as a novelist, comic writer and screen writer.

A fabulous interview has gone live this morning at the Dublin Inquirer. (With @tkingfisher making a guest appearance!)

...Thanks to @eoinglackin.bsky.social at Bluesky for doing the deed. :)

[socialjusticeinamerica]

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

Most of them are living for free in mansions on military bases.

[figureskatingpenguin]

2026 Milano Cortina Olympics | Women's Figure Skating Podium

Alysa Liu (USA), the reigning World champion who had previously retired for two years, claims the Olympic gold medal to complete her outstanding comeback into the sport. Meanwhile, three-time World champion Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) becomes the first-ever Japanese woman to win multiple Olympic medals in figure skating by clinching silver. Ami Nakai (JPN), who had previously led the short program segment, crowns her debut senior season with Olympic bronze.

[paxdemon]

Niina Petrõkina skates to Cell Block Tango featuring victims Ilia Malinin, Junhwan Cha and Tim Dieck.

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

[cryptonature]

It’s really that simple.

Withhold time/resources from organizations building an anti-human future

[depsidase]