volkris @volkris@qoto.org
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
volkris
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Made this to show my impression of the new #Thunderbird #logo. Suffice to say, it's not great.
#foss #opensource #software #marketing #branding #design #linux #freesoftware #libre
If #Biden were to try to issue additional debt without legal authorization, future presidents would be under no obligation to recognize those claims. In fact, it would be arguably illegal for them to pay out of the Treasury to retire such securities.
But also consider the complications of circulating a bunch of invalid notes alongside valid ones.
For example, a pension fund might report that it holds a million dollars in treasuries, but some of that is invalid... which part of it? How would auditing and public disclosure deal with that?
People pushing Biden to just unilaterally issue more debt miss how complicated that would be.
Through #ActivityPub, #Mastodon privacy settings rely on voluntary cooperation. You *request* that instances only share your content with the audience you specify, but there is no real way to enforce that.
This comes as a surprise to many users.
Me, I think I'd change the UI to call it "suggested broadcast"' rather than anything related to privacy so that users are more aware of where their content might end up.
Well, that's interesting. DM blocking on #Mastodon means your instance still receives the message, but it's simply not displayed to your face.
Just one of those quirky parts of #ActivityPub
volkris
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@drazraeltod Replies to a post should be metadata on that post. The post itself should have primacy. For someone to see a reply to my post, they should need to retrieve it from my instance. That would also allow me to moderate replies, delete them, and prevent posts from people I have blocked from being seen by others who follow me.
I am well aware that this is not how the ActivityPub design works, and I am here to tell you that in this way the design is bad, and the designers should feel bad.
volkris
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Sculptures of Dante and Homer from the front of the former Albany Academy in the Woodlands area of Glasgow. Dating from 1875, the sculptor is unknown.
#glasgow #sculpture #dante #homer #architecture #glasgowarchitecture #glasgowsculpture #stonework
The #DebtCeiling narrative that most have bought into is so backwards from how the federal government is actually designed, and so what's actually happening here.
And the reality is much more interesting and dramatic.
Fundamentally, this is a president requesting more power, power to borrow. Alright, what does he want to use to convince the Congress to expand his power like that? Well, his rhetoric has been to offer nothing: he demands that power without proposing anything in exchange for it, not even checks on how he's to use the power.
But to give his position SOME oomph he's been on a tear in the public, threatening to order the US Treasury, his executive branch department mind, to default on US debt, which would be unconstitutional and, IMO, impeachable.
Meanwhile, House Republicans have voted to give him expanded power to borrow, and they're the only group who have done so, and yet THEY'RE the problem? The only ones that have responded to the president's request?
Oh, and let's not forget that this president signed the legislation to put the US in this position in the first place, almost like he set the stage for this power grab.
It's quite the dramatic story, that most people seem to be missing.
volkris
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"Please Stand By - Jacking In..."
Last night at the spooky goth club, someone handed me a floppy disk with a zine on it! I'm living the dream, you guys. It was quite a journey getting it to run. Is there a decent HyperCard player (vintage 1991) that...
https://jwz.org/b/yj_2
volkris
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Friend texting me: I could SWEAR I saw you just now at the airport carrying a duffel bag.
Me: I am here! Terminal A?
Friend: No! Terminal D!
Me: Huh. Must be my duffelganger.
volkris
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"A trench of jostling anglerfish, gaping and preening and starving for lack of prey"
There's too much to quote here; this is brutal: Burning Down The House: The overheated register in which Silicon Valley types have tended to talk about Twitter -- as...
https://jwz.org/b/yj_1
volkris
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@Gargron Hi, I post sexual content of an educational nature - SexEd for adults. Please can you tell me if there is a mastodon server that allows sexual content? Or is it like LinkedIn where all sexual references must be covered up? Thanks for your help! Jane
Too rarely mentioned is that the #Title42 immigration statute, that's big in the news this week, is a law with certain guidelines, not just something one president made up that another can end.
One reason to emphasize this is, of course, so we can call for revamping of the law if need be.
And to hold presidents accountable for actually following these laws.
I think people complaining today about #CNN giving #Trump airtime should consider that it seems his performance served to show the country that he hasn't changed, and he's not being misreported on, we see directly from him that he really is just as awful and not worthy of election as he was last time he lost.
Had the event not been broadcast there would have remained a more doubt among people on the fence, that maybe his handlers finally got through to him that he has to act different if he wants to be president.
So it's a case of, Don't deplatform, instead let people show you for themselves how awful they are, so they can be judged with even more finality.
Also, I suspect it was a no win situation for Trump. Had he pretended to be moderate then his supporters would have gotten upset.
volkris
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Neato!: https://subtls.pages.dev/
This page produces an annotated transcript of fetching itself via HTTPS over TLS.
Maybe the hearing was a complete lie. Maybe all of the evidence is fabricated. Maybe this is nothing but a witch hunt.
But I really do think that there should at least be discussion about this congressional hearing on this platform, and even after specifically searching for discussion, I see literally two people talking about it.
Echo chambers are so dangerous to our society. It's really unfortunate that this platform seems to be embracing echo chamber effects, often very deliberately.
NEW - House Oversight reveals the nine Biden family members that received wire transfers from foreign nationals via shell companies. 1. Hunter Bide...
volkris
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Someone around here recently linked to this two-second explanation explaining why they wrote Bluesky.
With ActivityPub the Fediverse has us all counting on instances.
Sure, we can sort of change from one instance to another, but it's a kludge. We don't really move but rather start a whole new account and set up a note on the old instance pointing to the new one, IF the old instance decides to cooperate. See how tied we are to instances here?
I always thought this was a huge issue, a huge mistake in the core design of ActivityPub, one that can't really be changed at this point.
Bluesky does this better, putting the power in users' hands and allowing users to actually move from one node to another, decentralizing all the way down to the user.
https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto/issues/255#issuecomment-1287953987
No, separation of powers doesn't allow the president to unilaterally borrow money without authorization.
It's exactly the opposite:
BECAUSE of separation of powers, the Congress cannot stop the president from performing his constitutional duty to service the debt, as per the 14th Amendment, when when the Treasury has the cash to do so.
And it's just shameful that Biden has been using those threats to duck his 14th Amendment responsibilities to push for greater borrowing power.
volkris
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volkris
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🚨 MASTODON NOW HAS COMMENT THREADING! 🚨
This makes following a conversation much easier, especially in long threads with many participants.
It's a major usability improvement, and makes Mastodon much easier to use.
https://mastodon.social has comment threading right now, and only on the native web. This feature should be available on other servers and clients with a future update.
See screenshot as an example.
How do you feel about the addition of this feature?
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
