ceoln @ceoln@social.cleverlibre.org

This is all over my feed at the moment. I'll preface it by saying that Spencer McDaniel is one of the best popular history writers in the field, and if you're not familiar with his work, you should be. But he's not perfect ...

I think he's half-wrong on this one. Right that there's no evidence for the defense hypothesis, and that the most likely reason is simple balance. Very very wrong about the idea that the attacker has an advantage fighting up a staircase.

Striking upward with a spear or a sword is exhausting, and with an axe it's nearly impossible. Whatever advantage the attacker would gain by access to the defender's ankles would be *vastly* outweighed by the defender's advantage in energy for strikes at the attacker's head, neck, and torso. There's a reason why holding the high ground was the primary tactical goal for most of recorded military history, right up until guns took over entirely—and it's *still* an advantage in most cases, because the poor bloody infantry still has to slog to the top of the hill.

I've never fought on a staircase, but I've done SCA melee combat on very steep ground. Zero doubt in my mind that it's better to be fighting from above than below.

Of course it's quite true that once an attacker was inside the castle, the defender had failed in the main goal: holding the high ground of the castle walls! But not every successful breach ended in victory. It's usually worth trying to hold whatever advantageous position you can ... compared to the alternative.

https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/12/18/no-medieval-staircases-werent-designed-to-give-right-handed-defenders-an-advantage

Tired: Crossposting to Mastodon

Wired: Crossposting to Twitter

Hello world! I'm a Digital humanities engineer @EPFL, Switzerland. Studying urban history, historical maps & cultural evolution using digital approaches, computer vision & optimization theories. Looking forward to toots with y'all 😃

Tomorrow is the US #election so I want to share this:

I study Congress. Not by crunching numbers, but by sitting down with people who write legislation & make recommendations for how members should vote. Rs & Ds.

And despite what politics look like in our hyper-polarized, outrage-driven, sensationalized media environment (ie #Twitter), there are still so many smart good folks we never see working hard every day to make things better.

I’m hopeful for the future. Democracy depends on us. #Vote

I have been on here for one (1) day and here are my newbie Mastodon tips:

* Use hashtags to get a post seen. Capitalize for screen reader #Accessibility!
* The For You tab is useful for finding people to follow.
* Reposts are the way to boost. No algorithm means favorites don’t add visibility.
* Your server DOES matter - it affects the content & users you see.
* Moving servers was easier than it seemed but more complex than I wanted it to be.
* Post an intro to connect
* Asking for help works!

Ok we’ve got Jorts on board. Starting to think the Great #Twitter Migration of 2022 is gonna be a success.

@jortsthecat

Some thoughts on the "Lexodus" from Twitter to Mastodon

And why Mastodon is inherently more attractive to any liberal and how it is geared for constructive exchanges

https://davidallengreen.com/2022/11/from-twitter-to-mastodon/

We are doing a *virtual* workshop at the Boston Anarchist Bookfair on SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13th (next sunday!)

This was well in the works before this wave of new users. But now it is especially timely! We will be going over the zine - an anarchist introduction to the Fediverse AND doing a guided workshop on how to use Mastodon!!

Please boost! Please spread the word on and off of Mastodon! It will be online (probably Jitsi) so anyone can attend. Tell your Mastodon-curious friends. Tell all your friends who have just signed up. We'll explain everything as best we can, give you a super nice walkthrough and answer your questions.

What is the Fediverse?
How do I find my friends?
Why is it so quiet?
What is the difference between the Local and Federated timeline?
What is the best app to use?
Basically.. all the questions I'm seeing fly all over the timelines the past week or so.

More details to come, and maybe we can give the workshop again!

Still can’t seem to publish photos on mstdn.social - guess the server is slammed? Probably will be bumpy like this for few days?

Maybe this will attract my people? #Jastodon #Jmastodon

So who are the funny people on here I should be following? Looking for some #comedy and #comics and #parody accounts. Fill my replies with your favorites! Funny #cats and #dogs accounts welcome too.

Hey everyone! Been a minute since I posted here. I cannot promise that I’ll be extremely active, but I plan to start including at least my finished work 🐕

Looking for the #speechscience #linguistic #phonetics community here. Asking for my wifes research group, who think about joining the fediverse. Any special instances recommended?
Boosts welcome.

Hi Mastodon! We're the Project On Government Oversight, and we're excited to be here.

Follow us to get all the latest updates from our team of experts who are working hard to hold power to account.

#icymi It’s not just Elmo’s bird app which is 🗑 🔥 these days.

Meta could begin to carry out large-scale layoffs as soon as Wednesday, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The layoffs are expected to impact thousands of employees, the report said. 👀 #layoffs https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/06/meta-could-begin-large-scale-layoffs-this-week-report-says.html

About me:

I'm a 50-ish man, French-born, living in Spokane, WA, USA. Most people call me JBQ.

My hobbies: skiing (mostly monoski), video games (The Elder Scrolls Online), photography, board games, crafts (mostly pixel art), and coding for old consoles and computers (I'm Djaybee in that context).

At work, I'm a software architect in Big Tech, and I hope to retire from that grind before it's too late.

#spokane #introduction #videogames #boardgames #pixelart #ski