ceoln @ceoln@qoto.org

Remember how my previous employer denied my WFH request so that I could flee the state of Ohio to take care of my trans kid while still working for a company I loved?

I just heard they did it to someone else today.

When you insist people come in to an office a few days a week because you want a "hybrid culture" not a "remote culture" and then tell them to just fuck off when all they want to do is get their kid somewhere safe that makes you an absolutely shitty person.

I'm done hiding who it was.

The company is #OverDrive, based in Cleveland. They make ebook lending software for your local library called #Libby. They say they care about their LGBTQIA+ employees and families but that is clearly a lie.

Ohio lawmakers are turning my home state into absolute garbage and companies like this one are playing along.

Tell your local library to #DropLibby

#Trans #TransRights #Ebooks #Libraries #Bookstodon

Nikki Haley:

-Said Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill “doesn’t go far enough”

-Would sign a federal abortion ban

-Pledged not to "expand Medicaid ever”

-Proudly called herself a “union-buster”

Don't let anyone fool you into thinking she’s some moderate alternative to Trump.

@girlonthenet It's hard to pick a favorite but this one has got to be the most "me" of them all, or very nearly. I got seduced by flattery into showing off my #porn #provenance #research skills and then writing a #tutorial about my methods.

"How To Find A Flying Fuck: Porn Provenance Research"
http://www.erosblog.com/2016/10/27/how-to-find-a-flying-fuck-porn-provenance-research/

Why the Reactionary Campaign Against Claudine Gay Is a Matter of Great Concern
 
We discuss the rightwing campaign against higher education and why the mainstream media is so eagerly joining the crusade against diversity and pluralism.
 
New episode of Is This Democracy:

🧵1/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/31-why-the-reactionary-campaign-against-claudine-gay/id1652741954?i=1000641292555

Google formally supporting Right To Repair is great. Even better is they are attacking parts pairing where companies like Apple & John Deere use software DRM to force customers to only use their stores first repairs.

More Apple shenanigans being exposed to regulators which harm consumers while enriching their bottom line.

https://www.404media.co/google-formally-endorses-right-to-repair-will-lobby-to-pass-strong-repair-laws/

Saw a most excellent heron today

Today I will be posting thoughts about Aaron Swartz, who died on this day in 2013. The academic community should be much more aware of him, and challenge the massive problem of academic publishing that we are all part of. Let's make it our mission to tell people about Aaron and what he stood for.

#academic #academicmastodon #academicchatter #copyright #publishing #openaccess #publicdomain

Aaron's Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz

@gratefuldread

When I got to the question about “quitting social media” I was like “why would I want to quit? I learn so much here? I have a great time!” — I think I’ve forgotten how miserable being on twitter was.

It’s so nice to have real conversations, and not always be on the verge of an ugly argument. Sometimes I even get to have a “beautiful argument” where I have to think about changing my mind— and there is space for that with a foundation of respect.

House Republicans can't decide if they'd rather impeach Hunter Biden or their own Speaker, again.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/us/politics/house-republicans-johnson-deal-shutdown.html

I very much feel this column on "slaying zombie projects"; I remember as a newly-minted PhD not understanding how it was possible to have a drawer full of unpublished data. I now have my own zombie data sets, and this take on how to deal with undead projects is a quite refreshing way to look at them.

Perhaps time to clean up some hard drives.

(sorry, its in Nature, thus not OA. Moral of the story: "do, or do not, there is no try")

#academia #science @academicchatter https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03958-8

📆 6 February 2024 10:00–12:00 CET
'W3C in Europe' will be a 2-hour online meeting with a mix of presentations and social small-group breakouts.

This is an opportunity for W3C Members and community located in Europe to learn who is involved in what W3C work in the area.
https://www.w3.org/events/meetings/6e0d77c5-06a4-47c5-a282-b44bdf1d7849/

BREAKING: Apartheidist supports apartheid. https://popular.info/p/musk-uses-megaphone-to-promote-misleading

The real headline here should be:

"Even after being purged with no explanation, prominent journalists cling to toxic platform hellbent on undermining a free press"

https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d948x/x-purges-prominent-journalists-leftists-with-no-explanation

Yesterday Trump claimed, via his attorney, that a President can legally sell pardons, sell military secrets, and order assassinations of his political rivals.

Why TF is this story not front and center in every news source?

Yesterday many left leaning pundits and journalists were suspended from TwitterX without notice. Some were subsequently reinstated after very public complaints from a few prominent individuals.

Vice: X Purges Prominent Journalists, Leftists With No Explanation >>> https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d948x/x-purges-prominent-journalists-leftists-with-no-explanation

We have seen this tactic before. Musk uses the ban hammer to enforce self censorship. The message is clear, step over the line and you will be silenced.

How can enduring this regime be worth it? 🤷

more...

The absolute gall of this question. A required question, mind you.

I will likely not be getting called in for an interview, but it was totally worth it.

#jobsearch #jobhunt #capitalism

Introduction to R.S., Author, Novelist Updated 9/3/24

I am a formerly published feminist SF author and a prosaist—which is what a poet is to poetry, but for prose.
I write #fiction stories that often address issues of gender at least peripherally. I'm aiming to short list for an Otherwise Award.
My genre tags are #sf, #sff, #sciencefiction, #fantasy, and #romance.
I'm a fan of rhetoric and elocution; I'm a prosaist, remember? Humor makes life and writing tolerable.

My community is #author, #writer, #writingCommunity, and #writersOfMastodon.
I post often to various writing hashtags, which are variously called games, prompts, or challenges: #pennedPossibilities, #wordWeavers (which replaced #writingWonders), #writever, and #writersCoffeeClub.
If you become confused about my gender, that's intentional. I write gender fiction, so if I revealed mine, it would add subtext to my stories. If you know or learn it, please keep it to yourself. Thanks!
#ActuallyAutistic, which explains how I can overly focus, seem obtuse, or end up running down rabbit holes. No worries. It's actually a superpower.
Click the following link to see a list of shorter stories I've written to post exclusively on Mastodon (#microfiction #flashfiction #tootfic). I retain the copyright on those stories.

https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110470537747067765

I'm trying to build a network of authors by entertaining you, and by sharing what I've learned through decades of doing it the hard way. My motto: There Shall Be Content! I want to help our writing community by helping authors overcome what keeps them from completing stories. I'm learning self-publishing as a business. I want to push back the loneliness that's part and parcel of this solitary profession.

I follow serious authors, which means people diligently writing or working at completing stories or articles or anything containing words with the intent to publish, whether that's #fiction, #nonfiction, #scripts, #comics or #manga, or #games. I will read your profile before following, so I expect to see some content before I follow back.

I boost posts that announce authors' work and publications. This means that I want my followers (largely artists, authors, and photographers) to see your work. We're all creatives here, trying to be/become professionals. Everyone needs to promote their work; I want to help you. Don't repeat too often. Since I follow so many people, my timeline is full. Don't feel bad if I miss something. PM me!

I'll follow an #artist upon seeing interesting work. This can be #photography or hand drawn/painted #art. I am partial to #charcoals and #pastel, appreciate #sketch art, but love #watercolor (because I can't do that!), or just really good visuals. If wowed, I'll discuss what's great in reply, or #critique if you're really close and I think I can help. I occasionally commission cover and interstitial art. I do fine art photography and have done wedding and event photography (https://sfwrtr.zenfolio.com).

Life and Everything Else: Did you entertain me? Did you make me think? I may follow you even if you're not a creative. You need not courtesy follow in return. I have a weird sense of humor, which follows since many of my characters are snide and cynical.

Favorites: My clicking the favorite button means something caught my attention, was particularly apropos to the idea, was entertaining, or somehow pithy. I work never to click favorite to acknowledge I've simply read a timeline post. If I favorite replies in a conversation, that could be an acknowledgment. If I reply to your post, I've definitely noticed something!

Hot Buttons: Feminist issues are a hot button for me. So are labor issues, where jobs are automated out of existence without figuring out how to provide former employees to support themselves. If you want to use #genAI, #chatGPT, or AI to replace writers or artists, or jobs, you're barking up the wrong tree, buster! I post those road apples under #theComingLaborApocalypse.

I believe Boosting is Sharing, so I sometimes wait a while to provide posts better visibility. I appreciate when people boost my posts when they affect them in return.

#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool

Whatever forces ate away at the social contract undergirding our democracy, they acted while we slept, not completely unnoticed but not unchecked either, until one day we had a reality-show president, QAnon, horse dewormer, and the sacking of the U.S. Capitol.
https://digbysblog.net/2024/01/09/maga-epistemolgy/

How to Melt Chocolate