Andy Lowry @AndyLowry@qoto.org

What does it look like when the world's richest man decides to spend $44 billion and then vaporize his new asset? Amazing reporting from the New York Times. This link is unlocked so you can read it without a subscription.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/technology/elon-musk-twitter-takeover.html?unlocked_article_code=lxii16uHv5SueTcLSTWiDFs8aMYntm6-aqWPmeMbbSdsjI1p_-XHqL60OubbG4qu3qb82_bQTm9wQpOYotCcVNXwQHxdQlXW1C91vHq39sU2KHyzVPEszwRbXlrBemOYebSfNdmr4FiMGDSDgczkl4IMWublv3PRkLiuymNre7FeoRtye15kkjH3-LIZoKVoxVWufZh8K3xEYzz-N-mRRthGJ2UoNgQ99eafZ0Y-jJDLJy_VY_530d7fPh568XI6wfFMN65ePGnFIW5sbMpP-MGBkKF0fzra8hVK6THc-3A9spx3B2aXdGhY6xjznwlOYpNRQLyY2pQfXnR5LXclpgKY9abV_Q&smid=share-url

I built this tool a year ago but I feel like Mastodon folks would like it

The "Weird Old Book Finder"

Type in a search query, and it'll find one randomly-chosen public-domain book that matches the query -- and present it for immediate reading: https://www.weirdoldbookfinder.net/

Why only one book? To prevent the paradox of choice! Just *start readin'*

Can't promise every book will be weird, but most are

A longer essay on how/why I developed it: https://debugger.medium.com/a-search-engine-that-finds-you-weird-old-books-3a74fbb5f3d4

This was a search for "mastodon"

Christmas is a terrible holiday. Here’s some ways to improve it.
1. No public Christmas music before 12/24 or after 12/26.
2. No presents other than stocking stuffers. Total value not to exceed $50.
3. Mandatory snow on Christmas Eve.
4. Anybody caught with an Elf on a Shelf has to do serious prison time.
5. From now on, Charlie Brown Christmas is the only Christmas special and it can only be shown once, at 8:00, on CBS.
6. Everybody is allowed to say Merry Christmas but nobody is allowed to make jokes about being “allowed” to say Merry Christmas.
7. Candy canes: outlawed
8. Ugly Christmas sweaters will be tolerated in designated areas only.
9. You can’t have any of the same dishes for Christmas dinner that you had for Thanksgiving the month before.
10. Hallmark Channel must cease operations.

Whenever I see the words 'Mastodon Migration' on my screen, my inner voice reads it in a David Attenborough voice.

Buying a Twitter Blue Tick is the toupee of the 21st century.

So someone messaged me privately and asked how absolute this is.. like would we block an instance calling for genocide. I feel my response is import to reiterate here, so here it is:

Its not just about the authorities, it is about the people whose lives are at risk by that call to genocide having the right to see those posts and use that information to look out for their own safety... If someone is doxed, they should know, if someone is threatened, they should know, and they should be able to take action.

Someone saying violent things online doesnt guarantee some police officer will meander by and take them down. The law only tends to get involved once someone is reported, and sometimes not even then. No one will be reporting a site if no one can see or know it is there.

The question is, if someone is being physically threatened and having their life in jeopardy how are you helping them by blocking the privileges of the **victim** and disallowing the victim the right to see the threat placed against them?

In short, I refuse to take away rights from the victim simply because there is a violent bad actor out there. If the victim doesn't want to see it they simply need to import the block list and the problem is solved for them, so why not keep the power in the victims hands?

Just finished night number 3 of sleeping with a #CPAP machine. On my sleep study before using this, I was having an apnea event 24 times an hour. I'm averaging 1.2 events per night now.

I can't get over how much of a life changing feeling it is to wake up and actually be awake. I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner.

If you suffer from sleep apnea, it is worth talking to a doctor (preferably an ENT) to see if a sleep study is appropriate for you.

A cuneiform keyboard, for all your modern communications.

#Language #Technology

Initial impression of Mastodon…
(image source thanks to @jsit: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKrqzp-F420/)

The self-effacing founder of Mastodon, @gargron , on how "toot" happened:

"Probably not a lot of people know this now, but Mastodon's web app started out with "Publish". In 2016 a famous YouTuber jokingly offered to support Mastodon's Patreon forever if I changed the button to say "Toot" instead. Needless to say, this was a really early, and not very informed decision. The first glimpse of attention and financial support. As a non-native speaker I had no idea there was another meaning."

If I learned anything from this election it’s that Elon Musk doesn’t have much political pull.

He literally endorsed republicans to his 114m followers and they did significantly worse than they were expected to.

Looking at the power of the anti-Dobbs vote I want to briefly shout out the protest movement that America seems to have decided to memory-hole bc "something-something-Pussy Hats."

The Women's March was organized in SIX WEEKS & was the LARGEST SINGLE-DAY PROTEST IN US HISTORY.
1/

@freemo A timeline

@freemo @arinbasu @SteveZissou I’m very new here, but must say I’m loving this server! Excited to be part of such a great community which is not something I’ve felt on social media before! 🤩

Tell me these aren't dinosaurs!

a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) chick.