@gregeganSF is here!
100 Mastodon myths:
1. Mastodon is hard.
FALSE. It’s a "soft"ware. Not hardware.
2. You have to use Linux to post on Mastodon.
FALSE. FreeBSD and OpenBSD are also supported.
3. You need to learn to use the Vim editor before posting on Mastodon.
FALSE. There’s also an emacs plugin.
4. Mastodon is only for computer nerds.
FALSE. As you can see, we sometimes try to make jokes that everyone could understand.
(the irony of writing a Befunge program in your dwarf fortress directory is not lost on me either)
Beautiful blog post reviewing the cognitive capacity of multiple animal species. Their work focuses on #animalwelfare and #cognition. #cognitivescience #behavior #physiology
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/tnSg6o7crcHFLc395/the-welfare-range-table
emotional thread about activitypub, twitter, the fediverse, transphobia, bluesky, etc etc
There's so much I haven't said about the making of the fediverse, ActivityPub, this moment. And so much of all of this feels really emotional for me *personally*. How we got here. The making of the spec. The huge role transphobia is playing in Twitter falling apart paralleling the huge role that trans people played building the fediverse. What I am trying my damnedest to build for the future of decentralized social networks.
There's so much I'd like to say, but talking about it feels dangerous, forbidden, selfish.
Sometimes I do kinda feel written out of all this history, but maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe it's for the best.
I didn't realize how fucked up that is until the other day when I commented out loud that I was "lucky" that I didn't get BlueSky because, given what's happening with Twitter, I'd almost certainly be getting a ton of transphobic attention right now. And a friend pointed out how terrible it was that I was even put in a position to *think* that.
Heck, up until pointing that, that's a thing I never even mentioned publicly. There you go, now you know: I was, I believe, second in the running to run BlueSky. It's not a shock they gave it to Jay Graber, I think she's great. But... (cotd ...)
refugees, pol-
Like, the obvious way to disarm Turkey of the "refugee weapon" in negotiations is to _simply take in all the refugees_. It's so blindingly obvious to me that it really worries me that neither media nor politicians seem to be even able to conceive of it.
The EU is pretty rich, and will be even richer when we start taxing the billionaires much more heavily.
Taking care of people takes work and resources, but _we have those_.
ATTENTION MATH PEOPLE:
if someone studying ""computer science"" (blasphemous demon) comes up to you and asks if you want to learn about "lambda calculus", DO NOT ENGAGE! I REPEAT, DO NOT ENGAGE!!! this is how they TRICK poor innocent mathematicians into turning towards the DARK SIDE (computer).
it is NOT the calculus you know
it is EVIL
stay AWAY
It is said that during the uprising of Dresden in 1849, young Michail Bakunin instructed the revolutionaries to put paintings from the National Museum on top of their barricades. Human lives are cheap to the elites, but they'd be more hesitant to harm their own cultural heritage.
I kept thinking of this history during the past weeks, as climate activists have smeared (or glued themselves to) famous paintings. In the Netherlands, two activists have been sentenced to a month in prison just for that, even though they didn't damage any art works.
Last night #extinctionrebellion activists briefly interrupted a concert at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. They were violently dragged out by other concertgoers. (see https://twitter.com/NLRebellion/status/1587898706849927169?s=20&t=0RpQgT7zj3s987OlRkv60g).
As far as I am concerned, these climate activists once again prove Bakunin's point: the elites will only be affected (and willing to act!) when something they intrinsically value is being threatened. Which leads to two further conclusions:
Programmer and researcher,. Ended up working with all the current buzzwords: #ai #aisafety #ml #deeplearning #cryptocurrency
Other interests include #sewing, being #lesswrong, reading #hardsf, playing #boardgames and omitting stuff on lists.
Oh, and trans rights, duh.
Header image by @WhiteShield@livellosegreto.it .
Heheh, gentoo, heh, nonbinary, heheheh... I'm so easily amused sometimes.