Nordstahl @Nordstahl@social.cleverlibre.org

If there's one benefit to being old enough to remember and be politically active around Sept 11, 2001, it's that I can smell the same whiff of bullshit around

"If you disagree with the actions of the Israeli government, you're anti-Semitic"

as I could around,

"If you don't support the Bush administration's War on Terror, you're anti-American and HATE FREEDOM."

War crimes are war crimes, bud.

That's my stunning political insight for the day. ✌️

#Ceasefire

5) The next class of user is the observer. This user rarely posts choosing instead to observe the conversation and consume posts from broadcasters. This class of user makes up a large portion of the broadcast follower base. They are more like a streaming audience than an engagement audience. They can be enticed into engage more in safe harbors like Mastodon.

breakfast

#nobillionaires

@vsp @chad @mike thanks VSP and team. Getting my feet wet but loving this mastodon thing alreadyzzz

⚡️🇬🇧If Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, he will be back 'for more' - UK foreign secretary (more) https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3795281-if-putin-is-not-stopped-in-ukraine-he-will-be-back-for-more-uk-foreign-secretary.html #Ukraine #UK #Press #News #russia #russiaUkraineWar #9yrInvasionofUkraine #BoycottMusk #AxisOfEvil
#NoEUPrezForHungary
#NoUSRepublicans2024

Picking raspberries. #raspberries #Australia

This is Smokey’s happy face #Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

Handmaid's Tale wasn't supposed to actually happen. Idiocracy wasn't supposed to actually happen. What's next? Maybe 1984 with Big Brother watching everything? Edward Snowden probably proved that actually happened already. Maybe Terminator happens next with AI. Probably. I mean there's really nothing stopping it from happening next.

A photo from the kitchen of the home I grew up in:

- the metal fixture on the bottom right is for laundry. We stick clothes out of the kitchen so they air dry (with poles). In 90F weather every day, clothes dry in hours. Almost no one has dryers

- red and white apartment building is another public housing apartment, just like the one I'm in

- tall gazebo in the top left: from the tall modern condos that house foreign / visiting university professors' families

#TootSea #Singapore

3) Social media broadcasters mostly cherry pick engagement from a large pool of responses from their audience. Mastodon engagement is again somewhat more resistant as responses trend toward quality over quantity. Although many acknowledge the quality of engagement, there's a false sense that it's less valuable. However, limited studies have shown more traffic is driven to outside media through these higher quality engagements.

3/ Reduce your need to earn, part 3.
#Permaculture #economics.

It’s with a heavy heart that I share we had to say goodbye to our bestcat Arwyn this morning. 18 years old and made of love and fluff. Arwyn loved everyone she met unconditionally and would take care of my wife and me whenever we were ill or sad. 6 months of cancer and her body could take no more. #cat #catsofmastodon #rainbowbridge

Jewish Americans should NOT be required to denounce Bibi, the war in Gaza & Israel, in order to be allowed to celebrate Chanukah in peace. This is not the USSR.

Never fails. I posted what I thought was a positive apolitical news item. It did get some hopeful, interesting feedback but 1st had to wade thru all the “Pfft! Reject! I know better than anyone” replies.

Is it really that big a part of human nature to have to knee-jerk challenge everything?

I won’t reiterate story bc I don’t want to have to rehash.

Btw, when I raise this, it’s not about “no criticism or debate!” but about GRATUITOUS criticism/bicker. I learn from criticism, not negativity.

Leaving the USA at SFO, I tested out "Opting out of facial recognition scans before boarding" procedure to see if it indeed exists and will be followed.

It didn't go very well.

The gate agent argued saying I couldn't opt out. I insisted that I'm allowed to, and they pointed to a sign on the wall explaining the "Biometric verification privacy policy". The sign says "Customers wishing to opt out may speak to a gate agent or CBP officer for a manual verification" clearly at the bottom.

The agent then told me I have to opt-out *in advance with CBP*. I pointed out that the sign says "or gate agent" and asked if she was a gate agent. She insisted again that I can't opt-out but by that point another agent heard the discussion, came over, and showed the first agent how to place my passport on the scanner and sent me through. I overheard her telling the first agent as I walked away, "If it's a US passport, it's OK."

A flight of probably 300 people, I'm definitely the only one who opted-out today and by the gate agent's confusion, I suspect I'm the only one who has opted out in a long time.

I'm in every system there is (and China already has my entire SF-86) so it's not that I'm some off-the-grid paranoid who doesn't want to be in "the system" - but for privacy rights to exist at all, it's important to use them when you don't need to and keep them available for people who DO need privacy.

As part of our #Squeecember celebrations, here’s Penny from when she was a tiny baby.

Hello Fediverse. I'm posting this tonight from my federated Flipboard profile! We're now testing our #ActivityPub integration starting with my account. You can follow me here to see all the stories I'm curating about things like startups, photography and of course, the #Fediverse. Curious to hear your thoughts on how this is working. We’ll incorporate your feedback as we make more progress on federating Flipboard. Stay tuned for lots more soon.