George Mari @GeorgeMari@qoto.org

Mastodon has the most thoughtful discussions I’ve seen on the internet.

Mastodon attracts the most intelligent users of any platform.

Real conversations. No "Brain Rot." People actually read. Less rage, more jokes. Better humor.

Every platform has users. Mastodon has thinkers.

My Commodore 64 Ultimate review: https://bigzaphod.com/blog/commodore-64-ultimate/

Joined #Fedi and Bsky on the same evening. Made basically the same intro post on both.

Woke to 67 followers on #Mastodon, several encouraging responses, and tons of faves/shares on intro post.

Bluesky: 1 follower, 1 reply, 5 faves, zero reposts.

Pretty evident where the real community is, wouldn't you say?

Thank you for the warm welcome! ❤️

In my next life, I'm going to set up a think tank full of politicians dedicated to telling journalists how to do their jobs better.

Help me, please! This is my Reddit thread. This is a crisis.

If you cannot provide me tech support, then please share this post for signal boosting.

Thank you.

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/1pqairt/linux_partition_crisis_i_need_data_recovery_help/

For just a couple of months in the middle of 2025, it was an OK time to build a PC
I would avoid building a PC right now, but if you can't, here's our best advice.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/for-just-a-couple-of-months-in-the-middle-of-2025-it-was-an-ok-time-to-build-a-pc/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

I really need a job. I've been looking for 5 years. I make about $60k/yr building the occasional web app for one company and a non-profit, but it isn't cutting it.

I am hard to classify. I've been a CTO or chief architect of small startups and small companies. I have a agile, plastic mind, and I can figure out pretty much any problem thrown at me. I've designed pci cards, I've tuned dye lasers, I'm a reasonably good audio engineer, I can make furniture and frame a room, I can do nearly anything. Most of the things I've done well I've done without prior specific expertise. I'm good when I'm in over my head.

I've led small teams, sure, but that's nothing compared to having led punk bands on tour across the country, bringing everyone home alive and having no-one spend more than a few hours in police custody. I have a wildly diverse set of experiences, which I can apply in useful ways.

Most of all, I want useful work, to not be tossed into the trash because I'm over 50.

#getfedihired

PS: I live in SF

The Ars Technica guide to “dumb” TVs
Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/the-ars-technica-guide-to-dumb-tvs/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

**PhD/Postdoc positions in programming languages and formal verification**

I'm taking on a faculty position at CISPA (Saarbrücken, Germany), and I'm looking for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to join me. I have a strong interest in topics such as separation logic, probabilistic programming, and (cryptographic) security. However, the positions come with academic freedom, and I'm happy to discuss other directions and ideas.

CISPA has announced a general PhD call (see below), but I encourage anyone interested to reach out to discuss further.

https://career.cispa.de/jobs/general-phd-call-51

When seven German journalist students do a better job of tracking down the sources of the drone flights over Europe than the security services...

https://www.digitaldigging.org/p/they-droned-back

I am building a new Linux disto called “Apt-get a Life.” It's an ultra lightweight distro that automatically removes all your installed packages & tells you to go outside before wiping out the disk 🤭

Clearly, ATS filters are not my friend. I've been applying for four months now, and nothing.

So, if you are a human being who wants to hire an experienced game writer, worldbuilder, and narrative designer (40+ shipped video games, 150+ tabletop game titles), cast your human eyes over my profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/graemedavis/. Or DM me, and I'll happily send you a human-written resume. Or we can talk, human to human.

(And if you're about to try and sell me an AI resume writing service, don't.)

Anyone hiring a frontend developer in Canada? Circumstances have led me to start looking for my next job sooner than I would have liked.

I excel at working on design systems, cultivating a frontend culture, building with the grain of the web, and creating inclusive user experiences. Reach out if you need help with any of these!

I have deep knowledge of the web fundamentals (HTML/ARIA, CSS, JS) and the frontend ecosystem at large (build tools, frameworks, design tools).

#GetFediHired #FediHire

They're Shipping! The C64 Ultimates are ready to go.📦 Commodore.Net shared this a few hours ago on Instagram 🥹 sorry but I had to make a copy 🫣❤️ #commodore64 #RetroTech #C64 #C64U #c64ultimate

Trump will deport an Afghani living in the US with Temporary Protected Status if he is *accused* of stealing $1000. But he’ll set a white dude free who was *convicted* of stealing $1.6B from American citizens to go commit more crime. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/us/politics/trump-david-gentile-commutation.html?smid=url-share

Migrating #Dillo from GitHub to our self-hosted server.

I wrote a post about the current situation with #GitHub and how we ended up self-hosting our own infrastructure to be robust against data loss. We now store all important data (including issues) in git repositories which are replicated accross #Codeberg and #Sourcehut.

https://dillo-browser.org/news/migration-from-github/

Do I know anyone whose employer would be interested in sponsoring a high school robotics team in Toronto?

My nephew's current fundraising strategy seems to be to ask family members for money, and as someone without a lot of money who also doesn't think that school extracurriculars should be restricted to students with well-off families, I was trying to think of what else I could do to help.

I personally think they should build robots that will fundraise for them. Maybe a lemonade-making robot that could staff a lemonade stand? But I guess they first need enough funding to get to the point of being able to design & build such a thing!

On 8 December, politicians in the UK will be debating a petition that reached almost 3 million signatories rejecting mandatory digital ID. If you’re based in the UK, contact your MP through Big Brother Watch’s tool to oppose the plans for a digital ID system. https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/campaigns/no2digitalid/#emailMP

Leak confirms OpenAI is preparing ads on ChatGPT for public roll out as it has around 1 billion users with all sorts of personal data.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/artificial-intelligence/leak-confirms-openai-is-preparing-ads-on-chatgpt-for-public-roll-out/

So, after stealing data from all books, artists, source repos, Wikipedia, Forum posts, & everything else created voluntarily by humans, it is now being sold back to the highest bidder with all your personal data Remember, they are also asking for government IDs & burning all plants resources they come with Ads. such a big idea!