SecondJon @SecondJon@qoto.org

When reading Ready Player One I realized that my first programming was as a kid editing programs on a TRS-80 (or something similar). First among our friends to have a desktop at home where we'd dial into our local #BBS to play games, chat, and message with people from around the world, back when it didn't seem so creepy when you'd be asked "a/s/l" regularly.

Later with the Internet I wondered why companies were buying up and shutting down services like WBS and Geocities, and was sad that what we had left was corporately driven social media mega sites.

I've been doing software development for decades, professionally since my first year of undergrad where I studied #linguistics; but I think my real work is problem solving to make people's lives easier/better, software is just the tool I'm skilled with to do that.

I chose the QOTO instance because the rules seem open and free and friendly, the way the web should be... and because of the idea of helping bridge the gap and bring people of supposed opposite sides together to connect rather than be polarizing.

Exploring Mastodon, feels a bit like the pre-MySpace/Facebook/Twitter online world before the largest corporations took control and monetized us all, when we had our local #BBS or even online days with WBS chat and the like.

Liking it so far, appreciate the rules of the qoto.org instance

Thanks for the welcome, #@freemo Here's my #introduction .

I'm...
• a dad of a handful of kiddos, married, living in Colorado.
• a Christian in the Anglican tradition, and suppose I'm an unaffiliated conservatarian.
• a reader, working through the great novels as well as easier/fun books and nonfiction.
• a card and board game player and am happily teaching more to my kids as they get older.
• short on free time. I enjoy a philosophical pipe as I read and/or reflect, and occasionally get my guitar or bow/arrows out to learn new skills.
• a software developer... and have been for a very long time, now in the world of APIs and cloud development (CRM/SFDC).

Headline after headline drive a narrative, what we all think we know about what's happening in our own country or another is usually just the Avaliably Heuristic of what we recall from headlines.

Inventing claims discredit real issues. Telling fantasy stories about how evil The Other is like this actor has done isn't fighting against hate. It is hate and it stokes hate.

Sadly many in the major media outlets and in politics are happy to stoke hate like this a people divided is easier to gain power over.

Headline : Smollett staged attack because he was "dissatisfied with his salary,"
https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/jussie-smollett-arrested-chicago/index.html

'Never Trump' leader says final blow to movement may be far-left move by Democrats
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/never-trump-leader-says-final-blow-to-movement-may-be-far-left-move-by-democrats

Having kids who both enjoy board/strategy games AND have learned to read leads to a more fun weekend.

#whereisruth sighting by anonymous source at Supreme Court! No photos or even name of a source yet.

"Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the Supreme Court Friday for the first time since undergoing cancer surgery in December, a court official tells ABC News."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-returns-supreme-court-1st/story?id=61100304

Reality: Republicans are accused of sabotaging the a Green New Deal because they're going to bring it up for a vote.

Said seems weaker : Conservatives Accused Of Making Liberals Look Bad By Simply Reading List Of Things Liberals Believe

https://babylonbee.com/news/conservatives-accused-of-making-liberals-look-bad-by-simply-reading-list-of-things-liberals-believe

#shame

House Democrats Block Request to Vote on Bill to Stop Infanticide For a Fourth Time

https://www.lifenews.com/2019/02/12/house-democrats-block-request-to-vote-on-bill-to-stop-infanticide-for-a-fourth-time/

#uspol #democrats #infanticide

The people accusing US politicians of using aid to manipulate the people of Venezuela seem to be the same people salivating at the increasing promises of domestic government hand out proposals from the left.