Mark Tomczak @mtomczak@qoto.org

@ocdtrekkie What is the fundamental difference between quote tooting and just... Linking to someone else's toot via URL?

Every toot has a unique identifier, and the UI could even be made savvy enough to sub-frame that content in.

@ocdtrekkie Rarely do I see such a good performance turned out for such a mediocre script.

I *could not care less* about the mystery the writers wanted me to care about. I *could not wait* to see the next thing Jenna Ortega would do. Or Emma Myers. Or any other member of that show's brilliant cast.

@SwiftOnSecurity The thing I appreciated deeply about Google's view of site reliability (and fault-correction in general) was deep focus on the process.

The underlying philosophy was utterly practical: scale. Because having to teach every new hire how to not set themselves on fire with the tools ultimately does not scale.

@edbott Possibly because I left Twitter before quote-tweets came along, but I don't really understand what "quote-toots" would get us that just providing a link to the original toot doesn't.

#vscode Is there a configuration option somewhere to make the Explorer stop jumping to show the file open in a tab when you bring that tab to the foreground?

Nine times out of ten, I'm clicking on that tab because I want to select which subpanel to pop a new file open in, not because I want that tab.

If you're writing an online game, do yourself a favor and use the same language for client and server.

You'll thank you later.

@ceoln Basically that. I'm thinking someone could totally disrupt the local market and become a monopoly.

Zoning would definitely be an issue, but if they'll zone for the existing independent privately-owned gas stations, one can imagine they'll zone for all those stations to be owned by one person.

@ceoln My town has twenty. if you extend to the entire city, it's easily 50+.

Open question:

With modern technology, what stops a landowner from buying up 20, 30, maybe 50 lots in a town and installing unmanned gas stations? Just a couple of pumps and some security cameras, all wired to one dispatch building (which could even just be the owner's home). Employ only enough staff to handle the refueling trucks for a couple hours every other day, use the cameras and internal diagnostics of the pumps to know when maintenance is needed, and otherwise just sit back and collect revenue?

Are the margins so close on gas stations that you need the convenience store to make up the difference? If so, how much of that gap can you cover with a bank of vending machines?

@ocdtrekkie Fortunately, the passwords themselves, while in the hands of bad actors now, are encrypted and should be mathematically unbreakable (if I understand correctly, the encryption algorithm is good enough... Assuming, of course, they didn't screw anything up with the implementation).

But the immediate concern is that a lot of data wasn't encrypted, like the plain text domain names. So the data set serves as a giant map from users to the websites they frequent.

@LAGilman Arguably the "best" part is that the Unicode symbol shows nine candles.

Maybe it shows something different on Pence's machine. It _is_ Unicode.

@lauren The most important takeaway lesson here is the public probably shouldn't have become so dependent upon something that was, fundamentally, privately owned and operated.

Whether that lesson implies future government regulation, future government policy shifts, or simply new best practices for the average person remains to be seen.

@mattblaze That's a ridiculous way to behave.

People will use Mastodon the way they use it. Half of what I post is just links to my blog posts. Let people enjoy things and unsub if you don't care about the spam.

@mhoye @thomasfuchs @molly0xfff

You're right.

Sounds like Twitter's new policy is extremely screen-reader hostile.

@downey It really ought to be the law that discovery of a previously-unknown cemetery in Virginia triggers an automatic historic-site-treatment rules of operation.

It's Virginia. Every cemetery in that state has historical significance. Especially the unknown ones.

@lauren Interesting. I'm not sure how legal definitions work here when the alternative is an ecosystem of federated servers, not a single opponent.

@cstross That moment when you're browsing Mastodon and see Charles Stross's hello post and realize you just said "Holy s*** it's Charles Stross" with your outside voice...

@lauren Unlike Trump, Musk has actual money.

I'd wager he has more soft-power to throw around than Trump also, though that *might* be a toss-up. Trump's real power, as we have come to see, is in connections; we've watched people throw away careers and reputations defending that man for otherwise-inexplicable reasons (because Lord knows he doesn't actually get around to paying them).