Nick @internic@social.cleverlibre.org

I'm writing this blog post and I don't want to. We're in dire straits and need your support. It'll be out before the end of the weekend.

If you can donate, we have channels:
PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=TUYC2QUKR2HQS
Credit Card: https://shop.mstdn.ca/products/mstdn-ca-server-proceeds-subscription

#mstdnca

Also, interested in input on where #kbin and #lemmy stand these days. I never did join an instance, but I'm looking to.

#Mastodon is really great isn’t it?!
If you could improve one thing on it, what would it be?

(Personally I’m leaning towards the possibility of having a “bespoke” algorithm in an additional timeline)

There were two Mozarts: Anna Maria & Wolfgang Amadeus.

The two siblings toured together. Both were prodigy pianists and composers.

Only one was remembered because of the other's gender. The forgotten Mozart was made to retire from music so her family could present her as marriable.

She died impoverished. Her work's gone.

I feel this matters when watching a wealthy man who mistreats his daughter and others' art argue that women should focus on trying to make genius men.

Happy Birthday to Arthur C. Clarke (Dec 16, 1917 – March 19, 2008), brilliant science fiction writer, science writer, futurist and inventor.

Here is a table from his 1962 book — "Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry Into the Limits of the Possible" - of science and technology predictions from 1970 to 2100.
1/n

In other news, Discourse, the free forum platform, is now joining the Fediverse.

Yep, Discourse forums will become compatible with Mastodon!

https://meta.discourse.org/t/activitypub-plugin/266794/116

I…. huh. 😒

WHO WANTS TO SEE MY QUADRUPOLE RADIATION FIGURE

When the tech platforms promised a future of "connection," they were lying. They said their "walled gardens" would keep us safe, but those were prison walls.

@pluralistic gets so much right with so few words

To revive (jk it's never gone just buried under administrivia and the weight of healing from general occupational hazards like researcher harassment) my love for science, I've been rereading the early and famous papers that helped us understand that smoking causes lung cancer. Famous beautiful examples of causal reasoning and difficult to remember how HARD IT WAS to tell this story back then. Profoundly poignant to see people use the weapons of evidence reasoning to create real health change.

Is there anything better than allowing yourself to rest and then having an important story/argument/problem just FULLY unravel itself in your mind 😍 this is a perfect example of why acting like knowledge work is about "maxing out total epic flow state" is BS

"Journalists have used scrapers to collect data that rooted out extremist cops, tracked lobbyists, and uncovered an underground market for adopted children".
https://themarkup.org/news/2020/12/03/why-web-scraping-is-vital-to-democracy

so, you’re saying you do some of your best work when you’re rested, taking time for self care, maybe making room to relax and free-associate a bit

“Yes obviously”.

have you considered operationalizing that insight

“No.”

ok but maybe

[corporate management busts through the wall like the koolaid man] ABSOLUTELY NOT

Digital document signing could get extremely shitty very soon.
@pluralistic
https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/e-signature-company-docusign-explores-a-deal-1bbbc848

Terror and hate were visited mercilessly upon two innocent Black women following Rudy Giuliani's defamation of their good names.

TODAY, a jury decided he must pay $148 million in compensatory and punitive damages to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

lawandcrime.com/high-profile...

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/civil-equivalent-of-a-death-penalty-rudy-giuliani-must-pay-defamed-election-workers-148-million-jurors-find-in-unanimous-decision/

If you're seeing dire news about the water & alfalfa lately in the US, I have good news for you.

The US's water problems have solutions!

One of the most powerful solutions: give serious attention & investment to agriculture in the southeastern US.

Let's talk about just one way to do that.

My oldest just brought in his Arduino and breadboard and said, "Look what I made! Press the button!"

I press it and it started playing "Never Gonna Give You Up" on the piezo speaker.

[Tech] workers, if your job offers a matching program for charitable giving, you can use their money to support something that matters to you. If that something is Signal, our tax ID number is 82-4506840.

The U.S. General Services Administration has launched Notify.gov! They've implemented GOV.UK Notify (developed by the GDS), which was subsequently reused in Canadia as GC Notify. Now the U.S. is reusing this public domain, open source system, making it available to state and local governments to communicate with the public about access to benefits. Wisconsin, Washington, Norfolk, and Montgomery County MD are the first four customers. https://www.gsa.gov/blog/2023/12/14/gsa-launches-pilot-partnerships-to-help-people-get-benefits-through-text-messaging

Mickey Mouse is about to enter the public domain! This is not a drill! US law paused the expiration of copyright for decades beginning in the late 1990s, but on January 1, 2024, copyrights issued in 1928 expire. The mouse is included.

@pluralistic has an excellent discussion of the legal history and what it means here:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/15/mouse-liberation-front/#free-mickey