@pluralistic Ha! Thanks for reminding me that an alternate name for a cell phone or tablet is "distraction rectangle"
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Distraction%20Rectangle
I managed to track down some seeds for an endangered native plant for some guerilla gardening.
I'm going to directly sew half and stratify the other half to start at home.
I got them from a botanical garden so I know no wild populations were impacted. I'm hoping to get enough of them established to collect seed for planting in new locations.
On the lookout for other species that I can get my hands on!
"Marley was dead: to begin with."
- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Still one of my favorite opening lines of a book.
The Better Urban Spaces zine is in progress! here's the working illustration for our cover. If you'd like to contribute, add some ideas to our organizing doc! There's a space at the end to leave an email for updates and get access to the WIP zine on Google Slides:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t-nXPQ3H83_wbHGM8NLt65xfDmFsWCswjRPUp42llCM/edit?usp=sharing
#zines #solarpunk #urbanism
@mibwright Ha, that was excellent, and also not what I initially expected. And it reminds me to read more Jemisin, which I've been meaning to! Tx again.
@mibwright I haven't, but I will immediately look for it! A promising title. :)
And thanks!
Gingerbread::::
3 cups all-purpose flour
▢ 3/4 cup dark brown sugar , packed
▢ 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
▢ 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
▢ 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
▢ 12 Tablespoons butter , room temperature, cut into 12 pieces
▢ 3/4 cup molasses (dark molasses)
▢ 2 Tablespoons milk
This is a decent and approachable 9 page overview on the challenges of content moderation. I commend it to all those who are working on #MastodonMigration issues.
My concern with this article is that while it mentions issues of race and culture, it treats them as a technical challenge instead of the fundamental issue that it is. The concern I want to raise it the inability of most content moderation systems to differentiate between what the paper terms bad-actors and people who have different cultural communication norms. Hate speech and harassment are most typically defined in the context of white "polite society" culture which ends up excluding BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other oppressed groups ability to express themselves.
#fediblock #TwitterMigration #moderation #HateSpeech #mastodon
Happy Wednesday, and solidarity to striking academic workers everywhere! #ucuRISING #UAWonStrike #CUPE3906 #BetterMac #Berkeley #AAUPTNS
I just finished this cute #romcom .
With The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks, Shauna Robinson wrote a declaration of love to book and literacy. This novel is a pure moment of pleasure for book lovers. I really enjoyed every part of it : It is a great story, with delectable characters.
#book #bookreview @bookstodon #bookstodon
How to keep Nazis out.
People fail to grasp what is being communicated in this metaphorical story.
Notice that the bartender does not respond by ignoring the Nazi. He immediately and swiftly confronts the Nazi and lets him know he's not welcome in the bar.
Further, the bartender warns that if you just ignore the Nazi, the Nazi will show up with more friends tomorrow.
If they are in your community, you need to confront them swiftly and decisively as the bartender in this story did.
Have you tried following someone and it says "pending"?
In theory this is meant to only happen when someone has manual follower approval switched on. If they have it switched on, there will be a padlock 🔒 next to their name on their profile.
However, "pending" may also happen if servers are overwhelmed and your request is in a long queue, or there is some kind of technical fault.
Don't assume someone is rejecting your follow if you see "pending". They might not even know it is happening.
A consciousness somehow associated with matter.
Posting about culture, philosophy, politics, AI Art Tools, NaNoWriMo, Software Development occasionally, the relationship of consciousness to matter.
Degrees in Philosophy and Computer Science, once had a US TS/SCI(redacted) clearance, radical-for-the-US politics, ex-Libertarian, zen-buddhist-pantheist-atheist.
Google employee, but I do not speak for Google in any way.
If your profile tells me nothing about you, it's less likely I'll follow you (back).
Header: abstract smoky patterns
pfp: Adorable weird piglet / delirium cultist... thing. In a hoodie.