Ian Kenway @iankenway@qoto.org

So this wonderful trade deal with Japan, the one which will kick start our recovery and form the basis of our global relationships, has resulted in a drop of 9% in volume of trade. Well done #Brexiters.

A new #introduction.
I’m a UK freelance book #indexer and editor – Society of #Indexers Fellow, #CIEP Advanced Professional Member, and Society of Authors Associate.
I work on arts/humanities books for authors and publishers – #biography #FilmStudies #history #LitStudies #music etc.
Beyond work, I like #comedy #CrypticCrosswords #dance #ducks #horror #pubs #Wales and learning #Welsh #DysguCymraeg.
See me also at #AmEditing #edibuddies #indexing #indexodon and https://baindex.org
Hello/helô!

If you're interested in your local history, one of my go-to websites is the National Library of Scotland maps archives.

They've got lots of old Ordnance Survey maps dating back to late 1800s available to view - and a really handy side-by-side tool so you can see current maps next to the old OS maps.

For an area like this (Merthyr) it's absolutely fascinating to see the changes - in the late 1800s it's just a mass of railway lines servicing the iron works

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16.0&lat=51.73727&lon=-3.37173&layers=6&right=osm

Every now and again, I will throw a question into the void without expectation of an answer-back. It evens out my #introverted nature (not a flaw by any means). I also have a tendency to fade into lurker mode on social media. This may change that (or not).

What are others currently #reading?

What am I currently reading? Paul Neman: An Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, The Maid, and The Justice of Kings (finishing up the first, just started the second, and the third is waiting for me)

Chemist Rachel Fuller Brown was born #OTD in 1898. She discovered the antifungal antibiotic nystatin while doing research for the NY State Department of Health, hence the name.

Rather than keep the profits from the drug, Brown (standing in the photo) and co-discoverer Elizabeth Hazen assigned nystatin’s patent royalties to the nonprofit Research Corporation of New York, to help support other researchers.

Image: Smithsonian Institution

@Elephantidae @freemo I am an example of someone who recently found Qoto from the join site. I think that the issue seems to speak to a serious question as to whether or not Mastodon is a decentralized federation or if from a practical standpoint, it has access determined by one person. And of course, I joined this instance because I felt it best met my interests, but also so I could interact with others in different instances.

Succumbing to the strategy of an attack by nefarious agents doesn't make Mastodon a safe or a welcoming place. All instances ought to see that as a vulnerability that needs to be combated.

@Elephantidae @freemo But isn't this the way that the Nazi's dominated in Germany historically? It wasn't "really" that most petty government officials saw themselves as doing terrible things. But by collective small actions and inaction they did serve the Nazi's goals. So effectively they were part of the Nazi machine. The danger they posed to others was that of real live Nazis.

Now, the fascists see the demolition of Twitter as a forum as a step forward for them. Thwarting Mastodon would be a next step. Not actively standing up to that would be a huge mistake.

@freemo I am sorry you’ve had to deal with this situation, but thankful for your efforts. I first heard of QOTO via the official mastodon app, so if I were first joining mastodon today I wouldn’t see this wonderful instance. I hope that Eugen will come to his senses and relist QOTO soon.

Thank you very much for all that you do in helping to run this instance.

🙇🏻

In 1959, police were called to a segregated library when a Black 9-year-old boy trying to check out books refused to leave, after being told the library was not for Black people.

The boy, Ronald McNair, went on to became an astronaut. The library is also now named after him

#Books #Review We All Want Impossible Things, by Catherine Newman is a wry examination of our very human foibles, told with intelligent, cheeky humor. Absolutely no one in the novel takes themselves too seriously. I fell in love with the characters in the first few pages. 

The book is about the active processes of living and dying, connecting and saying goodbye, seen through the prism of friendship, which in the end, is maybe the foundational connection that matters most.

@freemo
Honestly, I probably would have disengaged from the Fediverse/Mastoverse a long time ago - or at best had a mostly dormant account (like I do on the birdsite) - because of stuff like this, if not for #QOTO.

To my knowledge, this is the instance that comes closest to having the culture that Hacker News wants to have:

> Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents.

> Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.

(from https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

So, thank you, for creating an environment for those of us that want to have genuine and curious conversations.

9:00 am, and I'm supposed to be working now. But for the first time in my life I'm on strike. It feels really weird. But when you should be earning around 24% more than you actually are (based on 2010 pay), have had real terms pay cuts every single year for the last 12 years, and your pension benefits slashed, you get to a point where you have to think whether it's actually worth working for the money.
#UCURising

Don't mess with the #AngryLibrarians #ucuRISING #ucuStrike

How #tide has turned on #UK TidalStreamEnergy as costs ebb and reliability flows | #RenewableEnergy | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/23/tidal-stream-energy-costs-ebb-reliability-flows

#Environment #TidalPower #Renewables

@dichotomiker @freemo Nazis didn't persecute only jews. They persecuted and killed people that didn't think the way they did. Even people of their own nationality! They didn't care about the truth. Eugene and his staff show the same behaviour when they block people without given them any justification and the chance to defend themselves. I'm not saying he is a Nazi. I'm saying he isn't fair nor honest in the way he deals with others.

Email translations:

“I was under the impression”
Translation: I’m furious

“As per my email”
Translation: I’m furious

“With respect”
Translation: I’m furious

“Whilst I appreciate”
Translation: I’m furious

“As I’m sure you’re aware”
Translation: I’m furious

There's a huge #thunderstorm here in #Carmarthen - the lightning strikes seem to be temporarily blanking out the FM radio signal in a way I've never experienced before. Our power is fine but for a good ten seconds the music on the radio stops. The background static continues and nothing else in the house is affected!

On the picket line (in the rain) this morning trying to ask uni's for better conditions, pay and pensions for uni staff. Hard to see how we will retain staff or encourage students this is a good career choice if things continue as is. #ExeterUCU #UCURising #UCU #FalmouthUCU

Cottingham: Europe's biggest battery storage system switched on - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-63707463 excellent news; more please... #RenewableEnergy