Dave T-W @davoloid@qoto.org

Thinking about the history of #MonoBBS, I realise we've got a huge archive of data and (hopefully) some interesting comments from the MicroVotes section. This was started in 2003 and remains one of the most active sections, with 1672 votes over the years.

The Mono community grew in the 90's as people shared computer space in the unviersity labs, showed their mates around etc. It lasted because we made friendships in IRL locally, nationally and internationally, that persist today.

There's an barrier to entry now, in that telnet/SSH was the default way of accessing a lot of internet services including email. Outside of devs and CS students, I doubt many would know their way round an SSH client nowadays.

We discussed the idea of moving to a web-based system many times, but the unique interface is still superfast for reading, navigating and posting.

More on the history here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monochrome_BBS

Mono was started as a student project at #CityUniversity in London, then became an internal social network, before being opened up to externals and the wider world.

Makes great use of colour, fast to navigate, read and post, and included it's own ASCII animation language to allow for rich utilities, games and dynamic topic sections.

Monochrome (www.mono.org) is a #TelnetBBS which is still active after over 30 years.
Giving it a little boost here to see if there's interest. So if you were a fan of the #BBS and the communities that they fostered, have a look.

Out of curiosity, going to promote this a bit on Mastodon and see if there's a) any interest here, and b) whether we can actually bring new users into the fold. Have we lost all inertia? Is the community too set in it's ways?

Another great little tour round European #history and how #Ukraine is a nexus for many aspects of #language and culture.

I think my ND brain responds to the way Timothy Snyder makes asides and puns, and connects different threads of received history into a more substantial fabric.

Audio not great, as he says, definitely need headphones.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/at-the-origins-of-ukraine#details

There's often debate as to "what do we do when the lights go out" which seems inevitable as we get older. And "should we bother trying to keep it going?"

OTOH: 18 people created an account in the last year, though to my knowledge, there isn't an onboarding, welcome committee sort of thing.

Sifting through logs on an old Telnet #BBS. You might be surprised to learn that it's still quite active after 30 years!

* 182 individuals have logged on in the past year
* 101 in the past 3 months
* 68 in October

Since 6th October: 399 comments in 62 posts on different themes. 32 individuals so around half come on just to read and catch up.

Opening panel: “Ethics, human rights and social justice in AI”

More info on the AI Fringe events in London are here:
https://aifringe.org/

Interested in #AISummit but don't have a Bletchley Park AAA pass? Fear not!

Today and tomorrow (1st-2nd November) UCL #ComputerScience holding a panel as part of the #AIFringe events. In-person tickets all gone, but panels will be streamed. See below for info, introduction starts shortly at 10:30 UTC.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-ai-fringe-charting-the-course-for-responsible-ai-tickets-734666676807?aff=oddtdtcreator

Aah, it's not Biden, it's Kamala Harris paying us a visit to the AI Summit.
https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/11/01/uk-ai-safety-summit-heres-what-to-expect-and-who-is-attending-the-world-first-gathering

Just spotted another 2 Chinooks not on ADS-B, flew over North London with the MPS chopper escorting. Love that whomp whomp. Definitely some interesting birds coming in, fellow #avgeeks watch the skies!

Special visitor from the USA again? Chinook flitting between RAF Northolt and Regents Park.

I find Spotify great for discovering bands within a particular style, but typically they're only within that language. I'd love to hear more from other #languages as another way of practising and improving vocabulary.

Here's my playlist with some modern Spanish/Latino #music that mostly comes close to my typical listening.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5gOD2ZL2Xk4JUrZvi5xtrd?si=88967267af74489b

Any recommendations welcome.
#música