Paul Sutton @zleap@social.cleverlibre.org

"Writers cannot build sustainable businesses if their connection to their audience depends on unreliable platforms that frequently change what you see or what partners they prioritize."

@zleap @Loukas There are many issues with mining minerals, just as there are with any type of mining. It also runs over indigenous people once again, whether it's the lithium triangle in South America, or Thacker Pass in Nevada, for which I did a deep dive. Greenwashing at its finest.
https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/showdown-at-thacker-pass

@zleap @Loukas Yes, the Big One ever lurks, for which there is no preparation. Similarly, no preparation in western states for the water crisis in the making for decades. Typical. There have been efforts to reduce municipal water use, like watering lawns, but those efforts are a drop in the bucket compared to agriculture. Arizona pumps its aquifers dry to grow alfalfa to feed Saudi cows, and Nevada is mining lithium, requiring 500,000 gallons of water for one ton of product. All quite insane.

I love clever uses of incentives and tech: Cities are using traffic lights near schools that start red and turn green if an approaching car isn't speeding.

If you're good, you get to keep driving. If you're bad, you have to stop and wait for the light to turn green.

The average speed on the road almost immediately dropped to the speed limit as people learned the rules.

Instead of punishing people with tickets after the fact, it creates the behavior the city wants.

https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/05/05/steal-this-idea-in-quebec-a-new-traffic-light-only-turns-green-for-safe-drivers/

Meet Daniel Perry

A self proclaimed white supremacist

A child predator who propositioned children online

a person who bragged about killing a black homeless man

Then declaired his intentions to purposefully kill a BLM protestor

Daniel ran a red light and drove his vehicle into a crowd

He was just sentenced to 25 years in prison.

*This* is the man Greg Abbott wants to pardon. Think about that.

Don't know what to say? Here's something basic ya'll can grab and amend as needed.
👇

Welcome to Mastodon!
Useful tags to get started:
#newHere
#WelcomeWednesday
#mastodonHelp

And an #introduction toot with tags for your special interests will help you find your peeps. I'm here if you have any questions.

"Just wanted to hop on a phone call with you and pick your brain about (x)" is just another way of saying "just wanted to have you do some consulting for us in your area of expertise, but we don't want to pay you for your time"

Data brokers are constantly tracking, collecting, and selling our personal information to the highest bidder. We have the chance now to stop them from continuing this. Write to the CFPB to let them know how this impacts you http://www.stopdatabrokers.org

Actually, no. It'll have a dedicated music room.

Ancient giant eruptions may have seeded nitrogen needed for life.

Science News reports: "The discovery adds evidence to the idea that, early in Earth’s history, volcanoes could have provided some of the materials that made it possible for life to emerge."

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/volcanic-eruption-nitrogen-lightning-life

#Science #Life #Volcano

@starchy Doesn’t that just turn it into instagram or facebook? I thought the whole point was that tweets were public and could go in articles and stuff? No papers will reference tweets if their readers have to login again to see them.

Canada will allow online passport renewal services this fall, new design unveiled https://bit.ly/3nM5i7l #CanadianPassport #IRCC #PassportDesign #OnlineServices #PassportRenewal #cdnpoli @cdnpoli

Can't wait for Twitter to start requiring logins to view anything just so people stop sending me links to tweets without context and expecting me to follow them every time

@UptownGirl

Prayers for you

Next speaker apparently has COVID so is presenting virtually (COVID is not over...)

Talking about Kepler-90, an 8(!) planet system, adds in radial velocity data to transit timing data. Sounds like there weren't any firm conclusions from this study, just a neat system (and I found this graphic hilarious and also quite powerful to show the problem with exoplanet systems generally: we're only probing a tiny part of them with current techniques!)

#DDA54

@eARCwelder 100% this. It's the very *structure* of Twitter and Twitter-like apps that encourages a certain type of user behavior that I view as fundamentally toxic.

For every person who is optimistic about Bluesky as a replacement for Twitter, I would challenge them to think about whether or not that team will overcome this fundamental issue with how Twitter / bluesky works.

(Maybe the team there will solve it?)

a totally insane thing about mastodon is that generally people on here are civil enough that I enjoy disagreeing with them and their disagreeing with me? because it feels like a discussion and not an attempt to invalidate the other person's right to exist / be employed?

WordPress plugin hole puts '2 million websites' at risk

https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/08/wordpress_plugin_vulnerability/

@supernovae @mekkaokereke @atomicpoet makes sense.The thing is safety is multilayered. It’s not as simple as a block. There’s a number of reasons why minority women do not feel safe. It’s always better to start there. Engage in good faith, be willing to be silent and just listen. It’s not about us or our feelings, it’s about them being heard and valued.

@davidslifka @supernovae @damonoutlaw @mekkaokereke @atomicpoet

It feels like the common thread in all of this is moderation. It seems like PoC need a server that isn't managed by white folks. Because they're not going to get the moderation outcomes they deserve from people who don't share their experiences.

What would it look like to have some full-time black mods running some instances? Would that be useful?