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  Oh, I almost missed observing Four Seasons Total Landscaping day.

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  After the polls close, the election outcome is generally determined, and it’s just a matter of letting the count proceed and waiting for the results. But one exception is provisional ballots, where campaigns continue their GOTV efforts to encourage those who voted that way to cure their ballots before the deadline. Mississippi’s senate seat is likely to be decided by provisional ballots this year, so we’re seeing a lot of this activity now.

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  It might be a good time to remind Republicans that their party probably wouldn't have collapsed had they allowed Trump to be convicted in his impeachment the January 6 Capitol riot.

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  Election nerditry: Mississippi is getting a lot of attention, with it's razor-thin margin in the still-not-yet-fully-counted Senate contest and lack of a recount provision in its election law. Whoever wins, the loser is virtually guaranteed to feel unsatisfied by a process that denies them a safeguard that's available in some form in every other state. This may serve as the catalyst for MS to add a recount trigger to its election law, but I think that would represent a missed opportunit...

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  Spare a thought for the doomers, who are having to work extra hard today to convince us that fighting back is hopeless.

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  It's really notable that none of the worst case nightmare scenarios involving ICE at polling stations, arrested election workers, seized ballots, postal shenanigans, etc. came to pass. And that's due to tireless work by legal advocates for states and NGOs, not to mention independent judges who were willing to stand up to the administration's unlawful excesses.

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  Remember, it isn’t over until the president declares it was rigged.

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  DC elections are so cute. We vote for pretend members of the House and Senate, whose job is to rush over to the Capitol and be sworn in should DC get statehood during their term. (This is in addition to DC's non-voting House seat).

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  No matter the outcome of tomorrow's elections, Wednesday will likely be "the election was rigged by hackers!" day for many disgruntled supporters of losing candidates. Remember, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Think before you boost, especially when the message tells you what you want to hear.

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  I try not to over-react to the Internet's Outrages Of The Day, but it should be instantly disqualifying for a CEO of a company that sells reliability and security to tell employees that careful testing is "loser thinking". And if not, it should instantly disqualify that company's products from your consideration. What the hell, Proton?

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  I was going to vote for the democrat, but then I found out that Obama disrespected the decor at Cheesecake Factory.

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  Commuter Trains, Ewing (West Trenton), NJ, 2010 All the pixels, but please have your ticket ready for inspection, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4377309058 #photography

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  Former Bethel Tabernacle Church, Callowhill St, Philadelphia, 2011 All the pixels, but no collection plate passed around, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/5511072588 #photography

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  Steak and Bagel Train, Philadelphia, PA, 2011 All the pixels, but honestly the cheesesteaks aren't actually very good, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/5432394381 #photography

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  Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, NYC, 2013 All the pixels, closed at dusk, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/10374715704 #photography

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  Stone House (with Sofa), Harvard, CA, 2010 All the pixels, some repairs required, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4611078542 #photography

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  New curse: "May the President of the United States take an interest in your field". I guess the AI people now know how the election security people feel.

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  Titan II ICBM, Launch Complex 571-7, Sahuarita, AZ, 2009 All the pixels, but probably no warhead, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4185185541 #photography

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  The "AI changes everything" people rhyme remarkably well with the "blockchain changes everything" people.

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  The people telling me I should stick to photography and the people telling me I should stick to technology need to get together and come to a consensus about what lane they want me in. I’ll still ignore them, but at least they’ll have someone to talk to first.

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  @kumarvibe@mastodon.social Software correctness and safety isn’t easy. Who told you it was? But the killing problem can be solved. My word processor can’t kill anyone (Although maybe it could raise my blood pressure by deleting files at an inopportune moment). Perhaps if you aren’t sure what a piece of software might do, you shouldn’t let it control lethal capabilities?

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  Complex software behaving in unexpected and sometimes harmful ways has been a persistent problem since software was invented. The phenomenon used to be called “bugs” or “defects”, but I guess “going rogue” sounds cooler. It also implicitly frames “rogue” behavior as some kind of inexplicable exception, as if software is somehow usually trustworthy. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/technology/openais-ai-us-government-websites.html?unlocked_article_code=1.EFE.RfLT.x6YBjHa1PMz6

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  Little Boxes, University Mound, San Francisco, CA, 2024 All the pixels, each made of ticky-tacky, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/54062971395 #photography

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  Heathrow airport has special corridors reserved for passengers with antlers, which seems very thoughtful of them but also oddly specific.

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  Two fighter jet flyovers scheduled over the White House this week - one at 5pm today and another at noon tomorrow. These are incredibly loud and, if you aren't expecting them, frightening.

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  RE: https://newsie.social/@ProPublica/117314460472253583 Remember ABSCAM? Back when members of congress openly accepting bribes was considered a big deal.

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  NY (and Philly) region ILS failures related to a primary system failing and then, when it failed over to a backup, they discovered that the backup's fiber link had previously been severed. A old friend of mine was responsible for a critical public safety system with redundant links. He always monitored the backup links more closely, since if the primary fails, you discover that as soon as things stop working. But a backup link fails silently unless you watch it. https://www.nytimes.com/202...

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  A rule of thumb that has served me extremely well on social media is to stop reading any stranger's reply the moment they refer to you as "dude".

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  We’ll know they’re serious about slowing down on AI when the price of solid state memory drops back down.

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  @cookiesinheaven@m.ai6yr.org @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org Talking Heads captured the vibe of 70's/80's paranoia like no one else. See also Listening Wind (hard to imagine recording a song like this today!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK5uqY-VYDM