ABrockwell @aebrockwell@qoto.org

A real “pro-life” movement would ban assault rifles while enacting Medicare for All, paid sick leave, universal childcare, and a living wage.

Hello Fediverse!

Wikipedia :wikipedia: is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system called MediaWiki -- at least that's what our Wikipedia article says (https://w.wiki/W).

#Introduction #FreeCulture #FreeContent #OpenKnowledge #wiki #CreativeCommons

The thing about Twitter is that it really lacks a lot of the features you'd expect from a true Mastodon replacement.

For example, there's no way to edit your toots (which they, confusingly call "tweets"—let's face it, it's a bit of a silly name that's difficult to take seriously).

"Tweets" can't be covered by a content warning. There's no way to let the poster know you like their tweet without also sharing it, and no bookmark feature.

There's no way to set up your own instance, and you're basically stuck on a single instance of Twitter. That means there's no community moderators you can reach out to to quickly resolve issues. Also, you can't de-federate instances with a lot of problematic content.

It also doesn't Integrate with other fediverse platforms, and I couldn't find the option to turn the ads off.

Really, Twitter has made a good start, but it will need to add a lot of additional features before it gets to the point where it becomes a true Mastodon replacement for most users.

#twitter #mastodon #twittermigration

👋 Hello #fediverse! I'm going into a meeting at 4ET to talk about our newsroom's social media options.

If you think our station and other NPR stations should have a Mastodon server and a broader presence in the #fediverse, pls boost this post. If you have thoughts, please reply, I want to hear them!

#compost #diy #dit #soil #degrowth #wasteLess

My wife found this one somewhere. This is why open-mindedness is the underpinning of the Scientific Method and people who lack it will never comprehend the Method. If the goal is the instant gratification of certainty and always being right, the Method will disappoint and the only recourse becomes self-delusion.

You folks were super enthusiastic about my posting more on Mastodon, so let's try this.

RT/boost and let's see if there's interest in a regular #Ukraine thread!

Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

For the last year, I've been tracking a notorious Russian unit known for its role in killing 100s of civilians.

This past month we published how we found them.

The media, at least those that are even bothering to cover it, are truly missing the forest for the trees. The disaster of the bird site is not its garbage performance and functionality “clunkiness.” It’s that is a goddamned misinformation fascist propaganda engine. That’s it. That’s the story. I’ve been trying to get journalists to cover it. Guess I have to do it myself.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/technology/elon-musk-twitter-changes.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

My heart is woven into the fabric of birthdays, long gone, where you grew and changed and grew some more. It rests in the corners of your room, where echoes of you still exist in the place where you spent your whole childhood.

Now it’s the shape of your eyes, almond and wide, looking up at me as I reach the tall places. My heart remembers your face as nourishment. You were a gift, my heart the recipient.

#vss365 #poetry

Sometimes, a political event galvanizes me to DO something, right away. The anti-democracy, pro-gun, and racist expulsion of two Democrats by the Republican-controlled state legislature prompted me to see whether we here on #Mastodon can join together to boost the political careers of the two men, #JustinPearson and #JustinJones. 1/2

Tennessee’s Republican-led House expels two Democratic lawmakers over gun reform protest. Contribute to the Legislators who were expelled. Stand up to Fascism and Racism.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dlcc-jones-pearson

“We are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you any different.”

This comes from an interview with Kurt Vonnegut. I’ve loved it for 20 years and you might too.

“I work at home, and if I wanted to, I could have a computer right by my bed, and I’d never have to leave it. But I use a typewriter, and afterward I mark up the pages with a pencil. Then I call up this woman named Carol out in Woodstock and say, “Are you still doing typing?” Sure she is, and her husband is trying to track bluebirds out there and not having much luck, and so we chitchat back and forth, and I say, “Okay, I’ll send you the pages.”

Then I go down the steps and my wife calls, “Where are you going?” “Well,” I say, “I’m going to buy an envelope.” And she says, “You’re not a poor man. Why don’t you buy a thousand envelopes? They’ll deliver them, and you can put them in the closet.” And I say, “Hush.”

So I go to this newsstand across the street where they sell magazines and lottery tickets and stationery. I have to get in line because there are people buying candy and all that sort of thing, and I talk to them. The woman behind the counter has a jewel between her eyes, and when it’s my turn, I ask her if there have been any big winners lately.

I get my envelope and seal it up and go to the postal convenience center down the block at the corner of Forty-seventh Street and Second Avenue, where I’m secretly in love with the woman behind the counter. I keep absolutely poker-faced; I never let her know how I feel about her. One time I had my pocket picked in there and got to meet a cop and tell him about it.

Anyway, I address the envelope to Carol in Woodstock. I stamp the envelope and mail it in a mailbox in front of the post office, and I go home.

And I’ve had a hell of a good time. I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you any different.”

https://richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2017/11/18/we-are-here-on-earth-to-fart-around-and-dont-let-anybody-tell-you-any-different/

@alaric

#ChatGPT #OpenAI

Another good piece here by Dr.Linda Mciver, the Executive Director of the Australian Data Science Education Institute, about not falling for the "AI" hype being pushed by the tech bros especially OpenAI calling their generative models "Artificial General Intelligence" or the other bros warning about "AI becoming sentient" 👇🏾

https://adsei.org/2023/03/12/theres-no-such-thing-as-artificial-intelligence/?amp=1

You know what's taboo, @nytimes? Fomenting discontent among members of the white nationalist militia movement and sending disgruntled thugs to the Capitol to interfere in the election certification process. But, go ahead, tell us more about how the rule of men takes precedence over the rule of law. #democracy #politics #Trump #indictment

👏👏👏
---
RT @davidfrum
Point of clarification, it's a banana republic when the president of the state commits crimes and DOESN'T face justice.
https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1641623732073426946

If you make a dad joke without being a father are you a faux pa?

Journalists, PLEASE put Trump indictment in its proper context:

It wasn't just a payoff to stop something sleazy from becoming public.

The reason they were so keen to keep it secret was to win a presidential election.

That is the issue: This was gross interference with a presidential election -- and it worked.

Keep this in mind when someone tries to say the American GOP deserves to 'have their say' and be heard as a rational choice. I defy that person to find the logic in the following:

In Missouri, a 14-year-old is too young to:

1. Vote
2. Drink
3.. Drive
4. See an 'R' rated movie without an adult.

But that same 14-year-old can:

1. Openly carry a firearm in the streets.
2. Be forced to give birth

Some things can't and shouldn't be both-sided.