*banned 4 MarkDown love* @design_RG@qoto.org

Thanks to the nice administrator who created this server, we can create an account without messing up a live and active server instance.

And learn without feeling embarrassed! 😜

Go on, find out how it is, write that first post. Hello World!!

(the admin who runs this site also has two other full fledge nodes, both open to registration, free service.)

The screen cap below shows my user profile 'home' with my first post.

Honestly have to say that I did not RTFM (read the friendly manual) yet, but am investigating the basics and posting things here as I find them out. 😉

after registering an account, the server has some extensive documentation to guide new users, see it at : https://tryfriendica.de/help/Quick-Start-guide

There's detailed info, you just need a quiet time to read, try things out and learn how this works.

@Sphinx If someone allows you to drive their vehicle occasionally, their insurance covers that vehicle, including any incidents while you are driving it.

If you moved into a home and would be driving their vehicle in a regular basis, adding you as a driver would be required.

so for now, you are ok.

Buying and registering a vehicle, you would need to have an insurance policy for it, so it can be licensed and you get plates. You could stil buy and transfer it to your name, without insurance, but the vehicle cannot be plated or use the roads.

It seems to be a quiet time today here at Qoto. 😺

Since there's not so many replies to be written, new posts to be followed, I am taking the time to look at another Fediverse network area I had seen mentioned. It's called Friendica.

Basic info: https://friendi.ca/about/

And it seems interesting - the main idea being that information on it is organized and displayed in a way similar to the Facebook site. Without all the algorythm massaging and massive advertising that floods the timelines there.

I am attaching a screenshot below, from the Friendica's Screenshots page. Visit and take a look around; https://friendi.ca/about/screenshots/

So, to start with, you will have an account, edit your profile, etc. And if you find new friends there, their posts will show in your timeline. Friendica also supports connecting to other networks and even places like Blogs, to export or import content.

I have looked at the directory of instances in the Friendica network and there's one specially for Trying it out.

Your account there will be deleted after a week or two of testing, by then you should know if you want a permanent account or not.

Try out Server -- https://tryfriendica.de/

@freemo

I was going to suggest spelling out the meaning of the acronym STEM in full words in the entrance area, maybe in the text that ends up showing in the joinmastodon.org website (and brings lots of new users looking for a home).

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are intense and interesting subjects, this instance is unique in offering a home for users who are into those, or just want to learn.

We need to keep the focus, or we lose relevancy, disgruntled users, etc.

Spammy posting originating from an instance also diminish the instance's street cred and reputation.

This instance is well run, hosted on stable server and with a focus that I find quite unique and important.

Too bad we don't have the "Pinned Threads"or Posts we had in Forums - that would be a good place to have general guidance information to keep things more or less in focus.
@johnlitt @arteteco @Surasanji

@SecondJon The impeachment process is very real, imo, so the hash used is propaganda.

But you probably know that, uh.

@mngrif Returning home?

Have a good trip, when time comes. 🛫 ✈️

@rodolpho hope that doesn't attract their attention to you, as in, "Uhm, who is this smart Alec? "

Best to fly under their radar, but if it a common and normal request in your area it sounds like a good idea!

@johnlitt
That is a good idea.

I am getting a bit worried about the impact on the instance of too many general, "spammy" posts, while the site's clientele might have joined originally due to the focus it has.

@freemo @arteteco @Surasanji

@freemo Surprised you find time and concentration to get into the books reading, with so much happenning in qoto and fediverse. Plus the news in general, which I haven't even been following closely as usual.

Have fun with the books! 😺

@chikara I will post a screen capture here for reference. I think the group of links you see there are standard accross places running the Mastodon software.

BTW, Mastodon is only one of the possible software packages in use around our new network = the Fediverse.

Federated Universe, in my free translation, I imagine the term came from that. Pleroma is quite similar to mastodon in terms of use, but has unique features. And there are other packages for discussion forums, video hosting, etc.

List of Pleroma sites if you want to take a look at one: http://distsn.org/pleroma-instances.html

I am not sure what the common name of that Footer series of hyperlinks would be, but refering to it as the Footer might help.

@Leodlion You are very welcome.

If you are new at using mastodon, there is a great guide here: https://lifehacker.com/a-beginner-s-guide-to-mastodon-1828503235

Now on to squaring off my programme...

Aha.... 😛

After many, many years, I punched my first card of this century. Note the custom text imprint...

made with https://www.masswerk.at/keypunch/?home=1

@EdS

Thank you, Ed! I will add the video you linked to my ever growing Tabs list, to be processed.

I found a nice image showing how each of the possible characters was encoded into a card, it's here: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/026-card.jpg

Some characters are one single punch hole (each character occupies one vertical column, out of the 80 possible in the card), some use two punch holes, which combined represent the character.

I was looking at images and found a nice one of the IBM Model 29 card punch, which is the one I personally worked with to create my first programmes in first year Uni classes. It was a solid, well built, last forever machine.

@retrocomputing @Full_marx

@Gauravpatel If you haven't used Mastodon before, there is an excellent guide on this page: https://lifehacker.com/a-beginner-s-guide-to-mastodon-1828503235

@johnlitt

@whirli Wonderful, glad you found a path to a happy server and a relieved admin! 😉

Always nice to have stable and reliable operations. Cheers! 🥂