Louis Ingenthron @LouisIngenthron@qoto.org

I made the transition to #Mastodon the day Elon closed his deal. Looking back, the difference is surreal.

On Twitter, my feed was full of political trolls pushing my buttons and pissing me off and making me question my faith in humanity.

On Mastodon, I get to read opinions from many of the same people I respected over there... but also I get brief, random windows into subcommunities like #Mosstodon, which is a delightful group of nature weirdoes and scientists posting pictures of moss they see out in the wild. It's so wholesome and positive that it restores my faith in humanity.

A good way to start a feed on a new social media site is doggo pictures, right?

Just did my first cross country (120nm) #flight at night in #VFR! KORL to KOCF back to KORL.

Most important lesson I learned? Don't #fly at night under visual flight rules. I should wait until I get my instrument rating if I want to fly at night.

#pilot #aviation

I love that #printer companies now sell "extra-large" ink cartridges that are the same size as regular size ink cartridges and have a quarter the ink that cartridges in the '90s had.

Oh really? Why, yes, that does sound like a fascinating morsel of information. Thank you so much, I'd be glad to click on the link to learn more.

Oh? It's a video? Go fuck yourself and everyone you ever knew. I'll go my whole life not knowing that fact before I watch a video about it. Burn in hell!

Just saw a website try to bring in external javascript from something called visualweboptimizer (as well as about 60 other sites).

Want to optimize your visuals? Cut out the javascript bullshit and just show the content in HTML/CSS.

It's incredible how many chat apps are capable of simultaneously thinking a message is unread while knowing that I've replied to it.

#Slack #Teams

Ah, yes, the age-old problem of people being assholes and the age-old solution of being a bigger asshole back.
QT: https://mk.absturztau.be/notes/9s7o6x3980gd0072

If you cruise down the left lane of the highway below the speed limit, you might be an asshole.

If you change lanes without signalling or having adequate clearance, you might be an asshole.

If the only time you drive over the speed limit is when you see a yellow traffic light, you might be an asshole.

If you use an exit lane as a passing lane, you might be an asshole.

If you can't maintain speed of traffic *and* you can't come to a full stop at stop signs, you might be an asshole.

If you're not attentive or empathetic enough to figure these rules out, yet you continue to drive on public roads anyway, you're definitely an asshole.

I don't know why I thought I could walk around for four hours outside on a Florida afternoon without sunscreen, but I'm paying for my hubris now, let me tell you.

7) I got to see the sky break itself on a beautiful Illinois farm! During the total eclipse, roosters were crowing, crickets were chirping, and the cows all started to bunch up and move towards the barn!

The ring of ethereal silver fire in the sky was pretty mind-blowing too.

6) I saw a truck with a double trailer (the kind with the hinge in the middle) completely lose control after a tire blew. After careening back and forth across two lanes of traffic trying to regain control, the structure of the back trailer gave up and burst open, spilling furniture across the highway. It was pretty spectacular, especially as it looked like nobody got hurt, but I feel sorry for that driver who had a veeeery bad day.

5) Professional truckers suck now. You used to be able to rely on their professionalism, but these days, they'll cruise in the left-hand lane at 5 under the limit and frequently look like they have to catch themselves from running off the road.

4) Trump 2024 flags/signs were shockingly rare (especially compared to 2016/2020). The few that remained looked like jury-rigged upgrades to dilapidated signs from previous election cycles.

3) Those of us who live in Florida take for granted just how good our roads are. Some states just don't give a fuck.