Simon @spoltier@qoto.org

Read: "Curio" by Evangeline Denmark. Okay - this book rocks. It's a steampunk fantasy in an alt-history United States, and it was the most fun I've had in a while. A young woman under attack by her repressive society falls into a magic curio cabinet where the figurines are alive.

The worldbuilding in this book is just so cool. Completely unique history and concepts; everything is interesting.

#amReading #Bookstodon #books

1️⃣9️⃣ Here's the 19th post highlighting key new features of the upcoming v257 release of systemd. #systemd257

A relatively basic feature of systemd's service management is the ability to automatically restart a service in case it terminates unexpectedly, configurable via the Restart= setting.

In v254 we added the RestartMode= setting that allows to fine tune the mechanism to use for restarting the service, i.e. it adds a logic to optionally avoid marking the service as failed between…

Boost this toot if you're planning on sticking around Mastodon & the Fediverse whether or not it's more popular than Bluesky.

Scientific publishing reform thought inspired by US election.

Those of us who push for publishing reform can sometimes be a little - how should I put it - self-righteous. And I think this might be harming our efforts to engage with scientists who just see us saying that you can't publish in XYZ journal that they feel they need to publish in for their careers, and then instantly turn off.

I suspect that at least part of the US election result is due to the same attitude by the Democrats, although I doubt it's enough to explain the whole result.

I think we don't need to compromise our beliefs or suggest reforms that are weaker than we think are necessary, but maybe we need to engage a little bit more with people where they are at, and offer them something of value. This is the big thing that the Democrats failed at I think. They weren't offering to make life better in the short term. They were saying put us in charge and eventually maybe life will be slightly less worse, but it's hard to get that excited by that.

So what could we offer?

I think the big - maybe only? - success of the publishing reform movement is preprint servers. These offer something of immediate value and they've seen huge growth. Can we build something equally valuable that pushes the argument a little bit further?

I don't know that new journals built on open principles is enough, because new journals not from established publishers struggle to get enough recognition to count in researcher assessment. I've seen a lot of efforts founder for this reason. They offer a nice alternative but no reason for people to use it, and many reasons not to (submitting to a nice but low rank journal stops you from submitting the same paper to a less good but higher impact journal that will be better for your career).

What else can we do? I have some thoughts but I'd like to hear others' ideas too.

My statement on Bluesky. I'm there but I'll also be staying here. I get something very different from the two places. Bluesky is indeed like old Twitter, which is both the good and the bad thing about it. There's an infectious energy about the place, but also I can see already that it has the same hierarchical top down energy that old Twitter had. I've also already started seeing the sort of engagement farming outrage/controversy posting that made Twitter pretty tedious at times, which Mastodon feels much freer from. Mastodon also feels younger and more egalitarian

That makes Bluesky more useful for career reasons, and Mastodon just a nicer place to hang out.

I STILL have a spreadsheet full of #Steam #game keys (all legit!) and giving them away isn't just for Christmas any more.

I'm NOT doing this to get new followers. You DON'T need to follow me to get a key. This is about generosity when the world could really use some. The only thing I'd ask you to follow is the Wheaton rule: "Don't be a dick".

To avoid keyfarmers and resellers, I have some guidelines, though.

1. No new accounts. Sorry. You've got to have been here on Mastodon & obviously human; ie. no keyfarmers (If I don't know you, I'm checking profiles).

2. One game per person, but please pick your top three preferred games that you want to play.

3. First in, first served. If your first preference is gone by the time I get to you, that's why there's a 2nd & 3rd preference.

4. *DM* me with the row number, name, and preference order of the three games (my DMs are open)

Green: My keys
Blue: Keys donated by @McCovican.
Orange: Keys donated by @tojosan

Game listed multiple times = multiple keys.

We've given away ~100 games now, and I'll be adding new keys as I get them.

If you don't mind boosting this post; this is my small way of trying to make the world & Mastodon a nice place to be.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17uJVhaUJsFdQDTUbMa_swKiG_yphmhrmRHBB2MYz8V0/

#gaming #giveaway #MastodonGiving #Steam #PCGaming #Games

Our preprint has been viewed 1806 times.

@anthrocypher and I now have the opportunity to do the funniest thing and describe how much our work on developer productivity DISRUPTS developer productivity. Pls take my very serious survey for this purpose

https://forms.gle/pg3yk9jdHtjXaKKMA

The global energy transition will cost a lot less than we think
With estimates ranging from $3 trillion to $12 trillion, the cost to green the world's economy can seem inconceivable but The Economist argues the cost will actually be closer to $1 trillion annually - or 1% of global GDP. Most analysts overestimate energy demand and underestimate technological advances https://buff.ly/48ZReu1
#ShareGoodNewsToo

"The groundbreaking results were published in 1962. Wells died in September of the following year. A month later, Langmuir mentioned the late engineer in a speech to public health workers. It was Wells, he said, that they had to thank for illuminating their inadequate response to a growing epidemic of tuberculosis. He emphasized that the problematic particles—the ones they had to worry about—were smaller than 5 microns.

...What must have happened, she thought, was that after Wells died, scientists inside the CDC conflated his observations. They plucked the size of the particle that transmits tuberculosis out of context, making 5 microns stand in for a general definition of airborne spread. Wells’ 100-micron threshold got left behind. “You can see that the idea of what is respirable, what stays airborne, and what is infectious are all being flattened into this 5-micron phenomenon,” Randall says. Over time, through blind repetition, the error sank deeper into the medical canon.

The CDC did not respond to multiple requests for comment."

The CDC.

Did not comment.

About a 60 year old error that they perpetuate today with H5N1.

An error that even its abettor, Dr. Langmuir, admitted was wrong in the 1980s.

11/End.

‘We live in a climate of fear’: graphic novelist’s Elon #Musk book can’t find UK or US publisher - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/23/we-live-in-a-climate-of-fear-graphic-novelists-elon-musk-book-cant-find-uk-or-us-publisher "Darryl Cunningham blames fear of ‘legal consequences’ for reluctance to take on book, now only available in French"

americans are leaving for bluesky. they have enough of these central european wooly mammoths and their teachable moments. they want to be amongst themselves, living, loving, laughing the night away before ze bill comes. oh gott i am doing zis again am i not?

Has philosophy gone too far

Eating an incredible almond croissant that I had the foresight to buy for myself from a local bakery yesterday, and putting the FINAL copyedit touches on this bold, loud, wild paper that @anthrocypher and I are ABOUT. TO. SHARE. WITH. THE. WORLD. Stay tuned!!! 📝 🧠 🙌

Episode 128 of Oxide and Friends is up on the pod. @bcantrill got a bunch of us blogging 20 years ago with a presentation titled “Guerrilla Marketing”. I would love it if this episode inspired a few new blogs out there! https://share.transistor.fm/s/3c341973

Bye Bye Elon, bonjour journalisme indépendant ! Pour fêter votre retour massif sur Mastodon, découvrez notre travail en profitant de 3 mois d'abonnement pour 1€. L'offre est valable une semaine, mais chut il ne faut pas le dire aux autres 🤫
https://www.arretsurimages.net/?formula=offre-temporaire

Is there any decent open source weather app on Android? I don't mind throwing 2 bucks a month at Weatherbug, but I'd rather support a nonprofit/open project if there is one.