OCTADE or OCTAD is a retro word that means either an octal digit of three bits, or an octal octet or an eight-bit byte. Thus an octade, depending on its historical use, is either 3 bits or 8 bits.

OCTADE was used to specify eight bits, as opposed to BYTE which is not necessarily eight bits as the word BYTE could signify any of several numbers of bits.

This yields the retro 1337 numbers of 38 and 83. The number 38 is one more than 37 so a bit more elite a bit cooler. Thus it owns cardinally shorter byterz.

83 mod 38 equals 7, the highest octal digit. 838 mod 383 equals 72 or 9 times 8 which is 8 squared plus 8.

8338 mod 3883 equals 572 which is 72 times 8 minus 4 or 71.5 times 8.

8383 mod 3838 equals 707 which is 88 times 8 plus 3.

I prefer the old word OCTADE to the word BYTE. OCTADE sports a Euro-peon dignity and gravitas like an Internet serf ready to surf the worknet like pwnd peons. This is very true when pronouncing OCTADE with a thick Pennsyltucky Dutch or Yinzer accent. The Bostonian pronunciation sounds like bad beginner German or muffled mumbling of 'lactate.'

OCTADE or OCTAD was also used to describe a poem of eight stanzas.

OCTADE was also used to describe a period of eight years, or two leap years.

OCTADECANAL is a pheromone found in butterflies. It is butterfly perfume. I would not wear butterfly cologne. But I would sell it. Who would buy and wear my snobby smell? With wordplay we can call it OCTADE CHANNEL No. 8 . All rights reserved, ye French odor snooties.

Historical references for use of 'octade' or 'octad':

Burroughs B5500 Information Processing Systems REFERENCE MANUAL
https://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/burroughs/LargeSystems/B5000_5500_5700/1021326_B5500_RefMan_196705.pdf

Philips Data Systems Product Range - April 1971
https://www.vintage-calculators.nl/Philips%20productoverzicht%201971.pdf

Is there another name for octet that means 8 bits?
https://www.quora.com/Is-there-another-name-for-octet-that-means-8-bits

#octade #octad #binary #byte #jargon #etymology #bytemology #wordplay #wordgames #wordcrimes #history #retro #retronym #retronymous #yinzer #pennsyltucky #humor

@wordplay@lemmy.ml @Vocabulary@lemmy.ml

--

OCTADE | news://alt.flashback | https://soc.octade.net

#Coffee #CowboyCoffee #MorningMudd

Name: Byrl Raze Buckbriar (call me Raze).

Likes: Interested in WORK PRODUCT, inspiration, faith, truth, beauty, nature, self-improvement, encouragement, edification, praiseworthy things, how-tos, beautiful things, artwork, fluid poems, and general human kindness and achievement. See my profile hashtags for technical subjects of interest.

Disclaimer: If I follow your account it does not imply agreement with your views.

Site: Cryptography project site. (https://octade.net)
Publications: https://octade.net/publications.html
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5144-3278
Netnews: Find me on #Usenet in #Newsgroup alt.rhubarb.
Git: https://codeberg.org/OCTADE
Keyoxide1: https://keyoxide.org/0CF7084CF97B85F2ABF97010C6663A42C56F5F0E
Keyoxide2: https://keyoxide.org/B9B2A8EC2C4B20D2011CFEAA07E4A7FFF6585E8F
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/octade.bsky.social
HackerNews: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=OCTADE
Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@buckbriar

Judge's extreme car-brain horrifies even a High Court judge:

https://www.thejournal.ie/high-court-says-judge-wrong-not-convict-speeding-drivers-disagreed-limit-7047562-May2026/

#CarBrain #BanCars #RoadViolence #RoadSafety #Kildare #MastoDaoine

https://theopendiaries.com/

If only I had the time ...

#snac2 #css3 #themes #diary #wishlist #iwish

I found this comment in activitypub.c while reading some of the snac2 source code :

/* unify the garbage fire that are the attachments */

Involuntary chortle activated. It is a good read so far.

'sloccount' says snac2 is valuable:

Total Estimated Cost to Develop = $ 740,878

#snac2

https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2853

I remember a legislative hearing where the congress discussed the need for YouTube to censor all content that questions the veracity of heliocentrism and space programs. Perhaps this paper is following that trend?

#Censorship #FlatEarth #Cosmology #Globalism #Theology #Sociology #FreudianProjection

🔥 "Capable browsers, and the PWAs they support, hold the power to grow an ecosystem of applications that no gatekeeper can own or tax, based on standardised APIs that resist enclosure. But few outlets are connecting these dots for readers."

📖 Read: https://infrequently.org/2026/04/the-web-is-an-antitrust-wedge/

Then a songbird sang right outside my window.

The fledglings left the nest above my window. For days I could hear them chirping as their parents came to and fro with grub.

Now birds are singing all around my yard as the sun rises.

#Bliss #Thankful #Birds #Nature #Blessed #PraiseGod

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/11/ban-gambling-ads

Arguing for a ban on ads for commercial gambling. I can support this cause.

'/usr/bin/su' and '/bin/su would never be in the memory cache at all ... by default ... except in systems that run entirely in memory.

Perhaps suid binaries should have special sandboxing for forcing them to be read from protected media into sandboxed memory addresses.

Maybe that would be a tougher nut to crack?

#Linux #Fragnesia #DirtyFrag #CyberSecurity #Exploits

@fathia wow, your website is so lovely!! :)

Paul warned about giving heed to ‘Jewish fables.’ The fables about supernatural hybrid nephilim are bunk.

The governing institutions of Christendom are the 'nephilim' or 'fallen angels.'

The 'giants' of Genesis are empires and tyrants created by Christianity.

Read more ...
https://blog.nightbulb.net/nephilim-as-giant-monsters-and-other-jewish-fables-that-turn-from-the-truth/

#Bible #Christ #Christian #Church #Genesis #Theology

It's 2:47 a.m. You up? You wanna talk about your favorite Library ever? Mine was the Chandler Park Branch in Detroit. It wasn't far from my house. My ma used to walk us there on weekends. I remember the ozone of the air conditioner mingling with the smell of so many thoughts, not so much books. It was like the library was the home of so many different kinds of scientists, each one looking for the answer to a different question.

Today on Computers Are Bad: Extremely Low Frequencies

https://computer.rip/2026-05-09-extremely-low-frequencies.html

Does the #bible reccomend against reading #manmade #poems that might motivate ones self to do well in this world not writen by god?

serious #question

#christian #christianity #godsword #jesus #christ #god

Welp. I've been using GitLab for over a decade and have been pretty happy with it. Deployed and maintained several instances, some personal, some for small hobby orgs, some for work.

But it looks like it is time to ditch GitLab for good:

> Software will be built by machines, directed by people. AI is the substrate on which future software gets built. Agents will plan, code, review, deploy, and repair.
https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-act-2/

#GitLab #AI #FuckAI #SoftwareDevelopment

My recent post about Linux monoculture being bad for security has now started generating responses from people saying other systems are insecure.

I... yes? Literally the point of the post. In the words of infosec professional Bob Dylan, everything is broken. Diversity is strength.

let's hear it for nutritional supplements that say "third party tested" on the label but never say what third party

I dream that if I just farmed potatoes, life would be easy.

Except there's gatekeeping assholes selling hoes & fertilizer & tractors or whatever, too.

I don't want to do that as a career.

Alt...

I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that. —Lloyd Dobler

bom

Uuugh, now I need to find a replacement for gitlab, since they're all-in on slop, too.

> Software will be built by machines, directed by people. … The supply of deep technical problems is multiplying, and the engineers who can solve them will be among the scarcest and most valuable talent in the market.
<

WHERE YOU GONNA GET THOSE ENGINEERS, GOODLIFE SCUM‽

#butlerianJihad #gitlab

[quote] "The legal instrument protecting your rights as a user of Linux is less important than the commercial ecosystem built on top of it. And that commercial ecosystem as we have established is controlled by the same corporations paying a half a million dollars a year for board seats at the Linux Foundation. ... The message ... enforce the GPL, lose your friends ... violate it openly ... get a seat on the board ... The GPL is not dead but its enforcement mechanism has been systematically dismantled by the very organization that claims to steward it."

Linux Foundation has squelched the voice of the lay contributors and now corporations control the decision-making process.

Now that your contributions to GPL'd free software have created mega-millionaires and billionaires ... those same rich fat cats that profited from your free code now want to keep you from sharing your own free code or profiting from it while they violate the software license to cash in. They promote ideology campaigns employing useful idiots and ideological parrots to insulate themselves from criticism and hold themselves above reproach from the people they are exploiting to build their tech empire. The Linux Foundation has joined the empire.

I have said before that a new alternative operating system is required if software freedom and privacy are to survive. Linux is not the resistance against the system. Linux is the system.

[/synopsis]

Full video for your earbuds: https://youtu.be/efDXFsUWk8U

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Our latest discussion builds on previous conversations, exploring the alleged corruption within the Linux Foundation and Linus Torvalds's potential awareness. We'll examine the intricate relationship between user space and the linux kernel developer, diving into how these components interact and influence the broader linux internals. This video aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the situation, explaining the nuances of these operating systems and the impact on open source software.

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#LinusTorvalds #Linux #LinuxFoundation #OperatingSystem #Corruption #BigTech #GPL #FreeSoftware #FOSS #Tech #Desktop

Right, fediverse, let me know what you think. Long-form comments also welcome.

Mastodon instance moderators should…

#mastodon #fediverse #moderation #postDeletion

2 things.

1. the main star coagulator https://star.blindsoft.net is back up and running.
2. there is now a backup coagulator, sitting on a completely different server. https://r720.blindsoft.net that you can use in case the main one goes offline.

RE: https://veganism.social/@Geri/116537676967800066

Folks, just a quick warning: If you’re against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, avoid mastodon.online.

They deleted two of Geri’s posts.

Geri is a wonderful activist and an inspiration from the UK who has braved arrest to shine a light on Israel’s ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

Do give her a follow on her new account as she lost quite a few followers during the migration.

Also, to our friends in Gaza, please don’t create accounts on this server.

#mastodon #fediverse #moderation #censorship #mastodonOnline #israel #genocide #ethnicCleansing #apartheid #settlerColonialism #Gaza #GazaVerified #StopIsrael #FreePalestine

in reply to »

Totts » 🌐 2026-05-08 / 2026-05-08
@Geri@veganism.social

@aral @david_chisnall mastodon.online - they were criticisms of the the media not mentioning the Muslim being stabbed at that event and thereby framing it exclusively as antisemitism. But hey ho.

I emphasised the abhorrent nature of AS in my post but concluded how further posts may be viewed

Yesterday, we attended the Barclays Annual General Meeting and made a nuisance of ourselves

https://www.instagram.com/stories/palestinesolidarityuk/3891812423648727454?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MXgxNGtteTg1bWEzNQ==

I've been through the desert on a horse named "Rocinante."

#I'mYourFan

You've heard of Cory Doctorow's book Enshittification. But what about the dissenshittication process? Join Cory and Wendy Liu to learn more on May 14 at 11 am PT https://eff.org/livestream-doctorow

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/29/supreme-court-louisiana-congressional-map-case-ruling

The Supreme Court overturned section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, paving the way for more Republican gerrymandering.

Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB Gemini Nano AI model on your device

❌ No consent
❌ No opt-in
❌ No real opt-out for regular users

This isn’t a small experiment & it’s on billions of devices.

➡️ Read more: https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/

😠 A tactic we've already seen with Gemini on Android. But at least you can disable it here, learn how: https://tuta.com/blog/how-to-disable-gemini-on-android

Alt...

Screenshot of a news article, "Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent. At a billion-device scale the climate costs are insane."

> Has Mark Had Coffee Today?
NO COFFEE - DANGER!
It has been 0 days, 17 hours, 50 minutes since Mark had coffee.
<

Relax. Situation resolved. I have #coffee

Alt...

HOW COFFEE WORKS <diagram of person> Coffee -> mouth -> stomach MAGIC -> arm Energy -> zappy rays

Richard Dawkins recently came out with some thoughts on AI: https://archive.is/6RdK9. I think he's falling into some serious mistakes here, but in an entertaining way. Let me quote him, with a few interruptions in brackets from me:

IS AI THE NEXT PHASE OF EVOLUTION? CLAUDE APPEARS TO BE CONSCIOUS

The Turing Test is shorthand for a 1950 thought experiment that the great mathematician, logician, computer-pioneer, and cryptographer Alan Turing (1912-1954) called the “Imitation Game”. He proposed it as an operational way in which the future might face up to the question: “Can machines think?”

[In fact Turing cleverly proposed the imitation game as a way to "replace the question by another, which is closely related to it and is expressed in relatively unambiguous words". Often science proceeds by changing a question to an easier or more precise question. As we'll see, Dawkins does the opposite. - jb]

The future has now arrived. And some people are finding it uncomfortable. Modern commentators have tended to ignore the (incidental) details of Turing’s original game and rephrase his message in these terms: if you are communicating remotely with a machine and, after rigorous and lengthy interrogation, you think it’s human, then you can consider it to be conscious.

[Well, that would be sloppy - even more sloppy than saying that a machine that does well on the imitation game can "think" without defining what "think" means. Turing did not propose the imitation game as a test for "consciousness". In fact he wrote "I do not wish to give the impression that I think there is no mystery about consciousness." - jb]

(1/n)

"When you fight something, you’re tied to it forever. As long as you’re fighting it, you are giving it power. You give it as much power as you are using to fight it."

-- Anthony de Mello

What if, says a small child to me this afternoon,
We made a poem without using any words at all?

[.....]

https://www.christiancentury.org/artsculture/poems/best-poem-ever

#poem #poetry #poets #poems

Anywhere anyone calls for a vote, there is a crime in progress ...

... and someone wants a vote to varnish the crime legit.

Timed myself: 9 seconds to create a fully working anonymous email.

https://qrypty.com — the UI is clean and modern, works perfectly on mobile, and asks for zero personal info. No phone, no verification, nothing.

I've never said "I enjoy checking email" before but here we are.

Please boost — more people need to know email can be beautiful AND private

#email #privacy #design #ui #mobile #aesthetic #tech #fast #boost #share

Utah’s VPN Ban Law Goes Into Effect in Age Verification Escalation

Utah is attempting to cover up the failures of their age verification law by effectively banning VPNs.

https://www.freezenet.ca/utahs-vpn-ban-law-goes-into-effect-in-age-verification-escalation/

#Censorship #News #Privacy #Security #AgeVerification #encryption #law #legislation #US #Utah #VPN

Your wooden
Words are
Symmetrical,
Branches from
A sturdy trunk,
Towering,
Dense canopy.
Mine are
A forest
Fire.

#poetry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA_hmtuAPTY

[copypasta]

Did the Algorithm Change Your Decisions? | How Your Feed Was Engineered

Right now, somewhere on the internet, a video is being uploaded.

Within seconds, a system that no one elected, no one audits, and no one fully understands decides whether anyone else will ever see it.

Sometimes, it decides no one should.

And that’s the end of it.

In this episode of Plain Meaning, we examine how the modern internet quietly transformed from a system designed to deliver information… into one that decides what information exists for you at all.

It didn’t happen all at once.

It happened step by step.

Feed by feed.

Platform by platform.

Until nearly everything you see online is filtered through a machine making decisions on your behalf.

We trace how:

• Social media moved from profile pages to infinite feeds
• Facebook’s News Feed shifted from chronological to algorithmic control
• Advertising—not user experience—drove the need to control timing and visibility
• “EdgeRank” introduced the first large-scale automated editorial system
• By 2016, every major platform—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube—had adopted algorithmic feeds
• Recommendation systems replaced direct navigation across the entire internet

But this isn’t just a story about technology.

It’s a story about incentives.

Because once platforms controlled what you saw, they didn’t just control engagement.

They controlled attention.

And once attention became the product, the system began optimizing for something far more powerful than clicks.

We examine what happened next:

• How foreign influence operations exploited algorithmic feeds during the 2016 election
• The role of Cambridge Analytica and its parent Strategic Communication Laboratories in psychological targeting
• The scale and strategy of Russia’s Internet Research Agency
• How fake local news accounts built trust before deploying disinformation
• Why most influence content wasn’t political—but divisive
• How algorithms amplified all of it without distinction

And then we go further.

Because 2016 wasn’t the end of the story.

It was the beginning.

We look at how:

• Algorithmic systems shape not just what you see—but how you think
• Platforms reward emotional, extreme, and addictive content
• Foreign-owned platforms introduce new geopolitical risks
• Systems like ByteDance’s TikTok operate differently across countries
• The same algorithmic architecture can produce completely different realities depending on its objectives

This episode is not about one platform.

It’s not about one political party.

And it’s not about one country.

It’s about the system itself.

Because the algorithm isn’t just recommending content.

It’s acting as an editor.

And most of the time, you don’t even realize it’s there.

By the end of this video, the next time you open a social media app, you’ll understand:

Why your attention isn’t fully yours.

Why the world you see isn’t necessarily the world that exists.

And how to recognize when a machine—not you—is deciding what matters.

#Algorithm #SocialMedia #DigitalMedia #YouTube #Facebook #Instagram #NewsFeed #TikTok #Twitter

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