Derick Florian (he/him) @derickflorian@qoto.org

A pixel art study of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks

#mastoart | #pixelart | #art

"To make mistakes is human, but to really fuck things up you need a computer."

- Sengoku, Cybercity Oedo 808

I always have mixed feelings about trans awareness week and trans day of visibility, because most cis people who talk about it go exclusively for the "you are valid" angle instead of the "trans healthcare has collapsed entirely and we need to do something about that" angle. Like I appreciate the first one, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it reads as a little shallow when you don't also talk about the second. You get me?

You can just be a girl if you want. It’s okay. Or a boy, or something else, or no gender at all. You’re not too old, or too young, or too much, or not enough, or trespassing, or appropriating, or causing trouble. It’s okay. Really.

But the important thing is: do what you want, not what you think you’re allowed. Find the joy and follow that. You can experiment and you can change your mind. That’s okay too.

#TransAwarenessWeek

Quietly upgraded discuss.systems to Mastodon v4.0.1 while everyone was distracted by something involving 80% of microservices elsewhere.

Let me know if anyone runs into any problems.

I found out the other day that Numerical Control - ie CNC machines - were pushed by the US Air Force as a means to break shop floor unions. The early ones had no economic advantage but DID shift the type of labour from the floor to the office (who weren’t unionised).

Just a fun thought when one considers “software is eating the world” and AI/ML trends.

#Union #Tech #AIEthics

The four stages of Mastodon user:
* what’s a Mastodon
* I feel lost and alone how does this work
* oh wow this is actually pretty cool
* I have compiled a linux kernel

Chances are you have been using `ls -la` largely without knowing about its much nicer cousin, `ls -lah` 🥰 the `h` there is for "human readable" 😎 and yes I was today year's old when I figured this out! #Linux #Tips

Hey journalists! Mastodon is not a “platform”. Platforms were invented in the wake of the last financial crisis to consolidate power among specific companies by mining people of of their personal data for profit online. Mastodon does not consolidate, only connects. It does not amplify algorithmically, or mine people. Any “learning curve” should include reflection on why you ever accepted “services” aimed at data extraction as “natural” or even “social” to begin with. #twittermigration

What's inside your bank card

Autumn is a wonderful time of year, gazing over the datacenter, watching the green LEDs turn various shades of amber and red.

@derickflorian @thelinuxcast

My last corporate job actually switched everyone from Windows to their semi-custom Linux distro, but if I had to use windows now, I'd basically use it as a HAL to boot into a full-screen linux vm ;)

Being a great #engineer does not start with you being top at maths and science. It starts with you wanting something to be better in some way and then you finding an urge to seek out what that way is. I need enthusiastic and relentless seekers far more than I need equations.

If Akamai has bought Linode, is Linode still better than other options? I'm tired of assholes selling off companies to bigger assholes.

Additionally, in case this isn't obvious on the minifigboards.com website, all my stuff is open source: https://github.com/bwshockley/Mini-SAM has some details. As soon as the RP2040 board is proven out, I'll commit the files and add more details.

Over the years, these attacks escalated and evolved.

In 2021, Arkansas became the first state to legislatively ban gender-affirming care for minors.

The legislators behind the effort were fueled by religious right activism.

But they couched their approach in "just asking questions" about the standard of care that every mainstream medical organization in the country accepted.

I just read the New York Times piece raising doubts about gender-affirming care (although the article doesn't call it that).

Amazingly, the article does not mention religion, the Christian right, or contain any hint that a religious movement is driving the assault on trans rights in state legislatures.

It mentions Republican legislators and governors just twice.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html

When a comedian doubles and triples down on making transphobic and antisemitic jokes, it doesn't say, "I'm a philosopher king, and no subject is off limits," so much as, "Punching down to please the mob is my only shot at success."