Andy Lowry @AndyLowry@qoto.org

There is a political dynamic we all get, but that the mass public does yet understand.

Mastodon has cleaved from the monopoly sites a small but significant userbase. And here, we are able to *organize*. Because of the size of the community.

On ALL of those other sites, whether #Peertube #PixelFed #Lemmy, etc ... there simply aren't enough users to reach critical mass.

But there are here.

Here on Mastodon is a PURPOSE that has attracted a large user community.

Timeline of a new Mastodon user:

Day 1: this sucks servers are confusing and why is my feed empty

Day 2: why is there no quote tweet this is dumb

Day 3: mastodon better make some changes if it wants to compete with tw_tter

Day 7: hm, people are really nice here

Day 10: loving the no ads and real conversations

Day 15: THE WORKERS MUST SEIZE THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION AND EXECUTE CAPITALISTS

#TwitterMigration

"I don't need luck, I have you"

Ok. I’m 51 years old. Love language. Love learning etymology.

I just learned that what I’ve always thought of as “craft paper” because it’s used for crafting (as many kids learn to use it) is in fact “kraft paper” so named because it is the resulting paper from the “Kraft” paper pulp process, which produces a stronger product than other methods.
Butcher’s paper, paper bags, & so forth, all kraft paper.

Leading me inexorably to some questions regarding the production of Kraft Dinner…🤔​

Terrific reporting by Rebecca Ellis at The Los Angeles Times on the scope of the card skimming fraud targeting people who receive state food and other financial assistance via debit cards (a.k.a Electronic Benefits Cards or EBTs).

The story makes clear again that the organized crime groups involved will wait until funds are deposited by the state onto these EBT cards. That happens early in the morning, and the fraudsters are hitting the ATMs with the cloned EBT cards just as soon as the funds are there.

From the story:

"Skyrocketing theft amounts
In 2019, Los Angeles County saw $25,227 in EBT benefits stolen, according to the Department of Public Social Services. In 2020, $340,891 was taken. In 2021, the number began to skyrocket: $914,003 was stolen, most of it in the last few months of the year."

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-08/ebt-fraud-la-county

I covered EBT skimming in a couple of recent posts:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/10/how-card-skimming-disproportionally-affects-those-most-in-need/

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/11/lawsuit-seeks-food-benefits-stolen-by-skimmers/

I enter the Library of Books You Read As A Child.
"Do you have... er. It was green, and there was a girl and a dog, and..."
The librarian nods.
"Of course. Which version do you want?"
"Version?"
"The one you read, with all flaws you didn't notice, or the one you remember loving?"
#MicroFiction #SmallStories #TootFic

“Meeting expectations since 1994.”

True story: I was once invited on the board of directors of a feminist news outlet and I came to suspect that I wasnt there to be the "trans" voice but more to be the white voice against the black women. So I just shut up and voted with the black women. No one noticed me but it was my finest hour. For once in my life I managed to do good by being quiet. Shutting up is very hard for me, Im a chatterbox. But it can really pay off. I bet no one who was there remembers me at all. As Bilbo would say, thank goodness.

Sorry Twitter, I was deleting all my tweets and think I deleted a load-bearing one.
#TwitterDown

I keep seeing articles about Mastodon slumps, and journalists going back to Twitter. Is it fair to say, that maybe Mastodon isn't for journalists, or brands, or even people who want large accounts? Maybe Mastodon is true social media, for people who want to interact and discuss, not be influenced, sold to, or manipulated with cult style tactics and followings. There will always be groups who dislike the idea of the people controlling their own inputs, people who don't like the idea of accessible Administration, and people who don't like the idea that if we don't like a space that we can just move to another one, or even create our own. Individualism is scary to the kind of people who thrive on complacency, and not challenging the status quo.