MOVED to cosullivan@mstdn.io ✅ 🇨🇦

We live only as long as someone remembers us. When did I die?
XMPP, Gopher, Gemini, email best.
SDF member since Nov 28 2014. #nobot #noindex #nofoĺlow #noquote #nobridge #noAI
STORYGRAPH: christinaoh
XMPP: christyotwisty@jabber.sdf.org

Public Key

npub1dhtj4urf84j0wrtxyd7rhxaezj0v3prx8q5fgyus56kjz7nfnsdqxaxcdr

NIP-05 Address

cosullivan@mastodon-sdf-org.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsxm4e27p5n6e8hp4nzxlpmnwu3f8kgs3nrs2y5zwg2dtfp0f5ecxspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds9tz70h

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1dhtj4urf84j0wrtxyd7rhxaezj0v3prx8q5fgyus56kjz7nfnsdqxaxcdr

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Last Notes

2026-08-22 23:43:12 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 I know the basic surgery is covered by insurance. I am correcting my myopia and my astigmatism so am going for a special lens.

2026-08-21 23:50:21 UTC

A gift to #MastoAdmins looking for IP addresses to block, to minimize bot registration attempts:
104.244.73.*
192.42.116.*
204.8.96.*

2026-08-21 23:45:18 UTC

@nprofile…vawh I can only assume your obvious-bot account was approved because somebody wants me gone.

2026-08-21 23:44:23 UTC

@nprofile…2jy7 I can only assume your obvious-bot account was approved because somebody wants me gone.

2026-08-21 23:42:36 UTC

I'll post, as a departing #moderator with deteriorating vision, that my Cataract Surgery fund is over 60% toward its goal of $1517.52 CAD. ($750 lens testing, $752.02 surgery, $15.50 bus/light rail/sea bus return fare as I need to stay very near the hospital overnight)

2026-08-21 23:39:47 UTC

When you switch instances, do you first prune your follows, then package the list as a csv, then export to your new instance
OR
do you package your lists first, port over to new instance, then prune?
Also, is 24 months' dormancy a reasonable criterion for giving a follow the chop?

2026-08-21 23:38:33 UTC

for the Americans who require an analogy about my frustration in advising internal moderator-bit users this PravdaNetwork and PortalKombat issue this instance and many others are experiencing: this is like months of warning Secretary of States that voting machines can be hacked and therefore should not be used, for fair and accurate election ballot tallies and records.

2026-08-21 23:30:31 UTC

2026-08-21 23:18:38 UTC

Active followers who've not muted me can follow @nprofile…jxq7. If you don't have a rotten avatar or go on about "The Meth Lab Downstairs" without CWs or hashtags (phonetic: you ess pole) and we have hashtagged interests in common I'll add you back

2026-08-21 22:49:04 UTC

I'll post, as a departing #moderator with deteriorating vision, that my Cataract Surgery fund is over 60% toward its goal of $1517.52 CAD.

2026-08-21 22:47:30 UTC

Time to write my Au Revoirs, my "Cheerio My Dear-ee-Os"
I've served this instance for over seven years.
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/117/135/915/712/662/518/original/b29aaa4ce2ce4790.png

2026-08-21 17:37:35 UTC

Friday's irritations:
- Canadian Lottery Results online properties don't use Vietnam IP addresses, and they would not request an account on a US-based Mastodon noncommercial server
- The longer I see my 2004 tournament rating from a defunct organization on the upcoming tournament entrants roster, the less I like it. The director, not the organization, did this. The current players organization has me unrated, which is correct because I joined in June 2026 and participated in zero tournaments.

2026-08-20 22:36:23 UTC

It turns out that the spouse of the woman I recognized yesterday is a #NewZealand #Scrabble Master, ranked in top five. As per his recommendation I'm watching his videos in awe of his tile-shuffle speed.
The eight of us: I played only women and had little to nothing to do with the men as the NZ visitors are well-known to the club and I am a n00body, but I am a female n00body who gave some frisson to the women players, to have a new same-sex opponent of unknown skill.
NZ Woman did not play.

2026-08-20 06:34:21 UTC

J'ai joué deux mots français ce soir: PAVANE (première match) et MATERIEL (troisième match)

2026-08-20 06:10:54 UTC

Saw someone at club tonight who participated in the #Scrabble New Zealand Women's Championship, my son and I viewed her streamed game. I was awestruck. Sure, her partner was at club too, and he's an expert with a few streamed games in Trans-Tasman and other tournaments, but somehow that didn't thrill me as much. I should see if he played David Eldar or any of the featured NZ players from that documentary...
I wish Canada had a women's national #Scrabble tournament...

2026-08-19 17:18:01 UTC

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@nprofile…qlpj in my experience, the difficulty is finding active accounts of people on a platform developed for short-form messages and link shares who can evaluate evidence-based, fact-rooted opinions contrary to promulgated narratives.
As an anglophone, I'd posit a large majority of users consist of narcissists, bots, and low-impulse-control, cognitively inflexible (i.e. dogmatic, ideologic) people with shattered attention spans.
Why post for the 0.00001% if you can't reach them?

2026-08-17 19:08:17 UTC

I have an assortment of fatigues: #adrenal, #cyberbegging, #irrationality, #moderation

2026-08-16 18:06:36 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 I've done more than enough for mastodon.sdf.org. I can't implement blocklists. If someone approves the NSFW AI-generated Bot I'm out of here -- not all moderators think to search IP addresses and disposable email domains, they can't verify if AI art is being scraped from other fedizens.
Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas; applies to account acceptance and accepting grifting, untrustworthy people as aid recipients because they are in a war-torn area.

2026-08-16 16:34:23 UTC

Fascinating how an instance can go down a half-dozen times at least and yet ten account applications are in the queue.
Of course all but one is a Russian bot.

2026-08-16 00:33:55 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 does the name of such an admin rhyme with lux?

2026-08-16 00:32:46 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 this concerns a Gaza resident aid recipient who violated three of five rules for he was "asked to stop DMing people" with his automated accounts and to delete those accounts a day ago. The accounts still exist, it seems he owns an ActivityPub server but a voluntary humanitarian aid member did not confirm or deny this when I asked.
If they keep him as an aid recipient, they lose my esteem. One needn't be pro-genocide to expect integrity from a humanitarian appeal & its aid recipients.

2026-08-15 17:26:44 UTC

I see a cyberbegging likely-admin still keeps a few clone accounts used to send automated DMs, close to 24 hours after an agreed deadline to suspend/remove them.
I also see that the forementioned is a listed recipient of a humanitarian aid appeal, although uni tuition is not the same to me as family subsistence where hospitals and infrastructure are rubble. Server hosting costs $$.
Either scope creep at the volunteer level, or 'greed over need' by the recipient. Still, tarnished reputation.

2026-08-14 19:22:40 UTC

I wish life worked like this: "you tolerated more stupid and thoughtless people than usual today. As a reward, here is $1502.60 so you can comfortably afford the lens implant you want for your needed cataract surgery."

2026-08-14 17:59:53 UTC

@nprofile…s4ce thank you for investigating and taking the action you could regarding lanternfield.org, thank you for respecting the truth of multiple reports, treating the secondary, tertiary, etc. DM account issue with the immediacy and gravity it deserves, and for sharing excerpts of an apology. You did all one could expect you to do.
During your investigation, did you find out if lanternfield.org truly is a single-user instance, with the admin sending out thousands of messages?

2026-08-14 03:50:06 UTC

#tfw your bestie across the miles joyfully tells you today is his parents' 60th anniversary, and today would have been your 32nd anniversary, but how much fun can you have with your spouse when your spouse is in an urn?

2026-08-14 02:37:47 UTC

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@nprofile…3eqn I recommend a domain block, and maybe even a fediblock.
Instance page is dodgy, and a search for "lanternfield.org" results in multiple clones when Profiles tab is selected

2026-08-14 02:16:12 UTC

#TIL that #fedizens genuinely believe no one in Mastodon's history ever created alts of another user for malice, harassment, disrepute, and grifting (e.g. GazaVerified impostors grifting via DM because they don't know rules) and other nefarious purposes.

2026-08-14 01:20:40 UTC

Second lanternfield.org #GazaVerified account DM'ing users from our instance. First secondary account (a no-no according to Gaza Verified), was the first one not enough?
This rule-circumvention besmirches what seems to me to be a genuine humanitarian appeal. I can't tell if these are impostors bent on sabotaging the appeal by DM spam, or if they're conniving beneficiaries. I don't question the GV motives but I question how rules violators lend credence to and maintain the appeal's reputation.

2026-08-13 01:01:31 UTC

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@nprofile…s4ce
https://metroholografix.ca/@mahmoudsw
AND
https://lanternfield.org/@mahmoudsw
Same person, as far as I can tell

2026-08-12 16:26:16 UTC

A genuine #GazaVerified account user doesn't create his own Mastodon server as a backup account, then make 2700 posts within a few days, at least some of them DMing randoms begging for money.
According to GV rules, such an account should not have even a backup account. Individual bot-scripted panhandling is also a rule violation.
Maybe that single-user instance lanternfield.org is worthy of a fediblock and defederation
@nprofile…s4ce

2026-08-12 00:10:35 UTC

I approved the obvious nonbot accounts because it's not fair to keep legit retrocomputing enthusiasts waiting, but I left the obvious bot account requests pending to show that identified problematic IP addresses, email domains, swiped profiles and AI nonsense as 'reason for joining' continue to arrive, despite the mailing list plea to implement relief via blocklists.
I'm at the end of my rope with endocrine issues, my energy is overdrawn and is needed elsewhere and my doctor is away.

2026-08-11 21:22:25 UTC

I approved the obvious nonbot accounts because it's not fair to keep legit retrocomputing enthusiasts waiting, but I left the obvious bot account requests pending to show that identified problematic IP addresses and email domains and swiped profiles and Markov chain nonsense as 'reason for joining' continue to arrive, despite the mailing list discussion.
I'm at the end of my rope with endocrine issues, my energy is overdrawn and is needed elsewhere and my doctor is away.

2026-08-06 06:22:20 UTC

I'm going to pray and cast a spell I find fast a fun activity I can do weekly with healthy, friendly, somewhat adjusted people (if they were well-adjusted they'd have no time for me).
I played Scrabble with friendly people, chatted with all the women players. It was like when I attended pen club for my first time days after my plastic surgery, one side of my face bandaged, but I didn't care because I loved to meet pen enthusiasts.
Someone there triggered my phobia though. I won't return.

2026-08-05 16:39:17 UTC

On a six-week hiatus, except for pruning my follow list from inactive or non-existent exchanges for eventual transfer.
I need a better experience than doomers and bot account requests and I am keen to carry the flecks of fediverse gold to maintained and low-traffic instance.

2026-08-04 18:09:59 UTC

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Also, OSPD eighth edition is coming out this fall. I pitched a fit about my third edition era rating ported over to a third generation ratings organization. An eighth edition so soon after my reemergence would incur another fit

2026-08-04 17:21:00 UTC

After September I might switch to the worldwide #Collins #dictionary wordlist for these reasons:
- higher game scores
- opportunity to play with and learn from non-North American players
- Thai experts barely speak English. Fluency doesn't matter when letters are board real estate values. I don't know #scots, but that wouldn't stop me from playing Scots words
- lower tourney entry fees and bigger cash prizes
- avoidance of Jingoist and xenophobic whiners
- fewer #lexicon updates
#Scrabble #CSW

2026-08-04 16:02:21 UTC

Osekhina Ojior in Division 2 playing #CSW at #WordCup2026 has 22 wins and 3 losses with a positive cumulative spread of over 2000 but Premier Division is the fixation of the YouTube stream and commentators. Nobody is Division 1 comes close to this juggernaut.
Ojior's performance is worthy of note and attention.

2026-08-04 15:57:05 UTC

One nice thing about widowhood is when one finds strongly skilled activity partners the same sex as your deceased spouse and no one is around to be jealous, another is no need to reciprocate by sharing an activity one has little skill or interest in

2026-08-01 16:46:21 UTC

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@nprofile…8a92 Nigel Richards did not respond

2026-08-01 16:45:03 UTC

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@nprofile…8a92 I saw a letter from some Icelandic organization challenging multi-language Scrabble champion Nigel Richards to memorize the entirety of the Icelandic dictionary and compete in an Iceland National Scrabble Championship

2026-08-01 15:36:41 UTC

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Early entrants list for #CSW24 has three unrated players, I wonder if they chose the expanded world lexicon to evade requisite membership in WGPO. I wonder if they know how much larger CSW24 list is.
I'm playing #WOW24 but I might transfer to #CSW24 if enough locals play it. Wonder where to get a Collins Word List print book in my pocket of North America. #Scrabble

2026-08-01 15:31:31 UTC

Watching #WordCup (correct spelling) stream with #WOW24 (WGPO) and #CSW24 (CoCo) lexica (wordlists for grown-ups). Checking words in my Hoot for Android app, I discover a wordlist of Deleted Slurs, some of Canadian origin, good in WGPO.
Not listing any here, but one is a past tense of French verb 'vendre', another is a UZsola brand that Joan Crawford used to promote.
WGPO has benefits of free membership and core value of accessibility accommodations for visually & mobility impaired.
#Scrabble

2026-08-01 02:45:24 UTC

My son just learned about #BedrockCity on the #BritishColumbia subReddit and asked me if I knew about it. Then he dredged up the cheap #Trillium Studio animations from the 1960s that were part of my Saturday morning cartoon regimen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov0OJbiMaAg

2026-07-31 01:52:27 UTC

One #Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone Armed Forces helicopter flew over us (we were south of #AlexFraserBridge), we suspect it carried a Very Important Peeson visiting from Ottawa (Ports of Vancouver area, North Vancouver-Capilano by-election) over the rush-hour crush
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_CH-148_Cyclone

2026-07-31 01:51:59 UTC

2026-07-29 20:30:48 UTC

I was excited to register for an upcoming tournament and am now eager to deregister now that the directors are using a rating I had decades ago from a players association that no longer exists to seed me.
I am not paying for humiliation. I can get humiliation for free.

2026-07-28 17:54:24 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 who knew you had Premier-Tier clout with her

2026-07-28 16:07:51 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 at present we plan to play locally and online. I expressed delight as the two local players who contacted me have high #Scrabble ratings so I will have quality sparring partners.
In turn they might be thrilled to rehab a dormant club/tournament player to the point they can have quality games against me.
Already one told me of an unrated one-day tourney planned for August.

2026-07-27 00:27:16 UTC

That spell I cast last week with Chinn of #WFMU's Anima Mundi seems to be working. Today I learn the #Scrabble player who lives near me won the local tournament in May, he seems like a worthy sparring partner.

2026-07-26 18:10:16 UTC

Submitted my complete and hoped to be correct solution to #PrivateEye #crossword

2026-07-25 23:24:24 UTC

I learned of this YT channel during the FIFA event. I wanted to know if in its 16-17 year history it used clips from the original Ranting Hitler Parody (hint: 1940 movie, funnier than HRP), and yes, it did in one video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWdx60jY2iU

2026-07-25 19:12:42 UTC

Preparing lunchtime #CharlieChaplin pancakes. I expect them to be so grand they'll leave me speechless.

2026-07-25 01:59:12 UTC

On a social media platform with mature, thoughtful people, I could ask why it is a queer woman of colour would not bother to vote when a candidate running is the one who served and served so lousily her uncle emigrated to another country with his family.
Yes this really happened.
No, I don't think a Dem candidate, a woman of colour, would create ICE and internment camps and vilify/oppress a top trading partner/neighbour
But this is Mastodon, so I won't ask.

2026-07-24 18:44:44 UTC

#nutrition advice for #chess players (and #Scrabble too -- sitting and overclocking the brain can lead to caloric deficit)
https://nextlevelchess.com/nutrition-in-chess/

2026-07-24 18:10:50 UTC

I reactivated my #Lemmy account.
There may be a Venn diagram of "55+ years or better", "active Lemmy users", "smolnet enthusiasts" and a handful of my favourite interests and hobbies, but I tell you if any unit populates all four circles, it is I, and I am so lonesome.

2026-07-23 15:23:09 UTC

Neal Stephenson on foyntsin pens:
https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/writing-by-hand-is-good-for-your
I regret not making Neal Stephenson's acquaintance when he and I lived in the same city, but he never came to the same fountainpen club meeetings I did

2026-07-21 17:06:11 UTC

Maybe I should ascertain that the mastodon-l list is still being maintained, or that what I wrote to it is easily understood and the argument for combating the bots is sufficiently sourced.

2026-07-21 16:16:53 UTC

#tfw one writes moderator notes on Moderation tab for team members, and a clear, emphatic, detailed and citation-rich warning about Russian disinfo bot registration swarms with pattern-matches and aspects to a moderators list, and is ignored maybe because one is writing while female. It's not as if I don't research an issue or I don't write in English so what else can it be in a multimember team?

2026-07-20 15:13:15 UTC

Sour Cream Hot Cakes
2 cups sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
¾ cup flour
beat egg whites until stiff, add yolks. Beat together; then add sour cream, soda and salt. Beat all together and add flour. This makes about 30 small pancakes.
#recipe #breakfast #CharlieChaplin

2026-07-20 15:07:46 UTC

Charlie Chaplin pancake recipe wows readership of subReddit r/OldCelebrityRecipes (recipe forthcoming, involves lots of sour cream, cakes to be small, as in half an adult human hand)
Batter is to be left to rise, and not to be part of an arsenal against enemy combatants
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/116/952/917/989/228/565/original/f26a0178f35a0ca2.jpg

2026-07-20 13:57:22 UTC

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@nprofile…dla5 story starts here: https://mastodon.sdf.org/@cosullivan/116948273027313062
Man replies to a comment, is name-called, name-calls back, is dogpiled and is suspended. Read the reason for joining, approved.
Dogpiling for past offense on past instance in form of three reports. I chat with account. I resolve those reports.
man makes 100+ innocuous posts and boosts on our instance.
I MAKE MODERATOR NOTE.
Two more dogpile reports filed, stug suspends the account.
Eitger he read my note and resolution or he didnt.

2026-07-20 06:39:32 UTC

Did you hear about the female moderator of six-plus years' volunteer experience whose notes about an account were disregarded by her peer(s) in favour of nameless dogpilers' vague reports?

2026-07-19 20:44:54 UTC

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@nprofile…r6nw i am reading a novel by a former immigrant who was denied US citizenship because, being half-blind, over 50, and a pacifist (his brother died in WW1), would not take an oath to take up arms against enemies

2026-07-19 20:32:07 UTC

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@nprofile…r6nw "I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician"
Charlie Chaplin

2026-07-19 20:27:58 UTC

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@nprofile…r6nw i avoid him and filter out the dystopia and fascism mentions. I lived in US for many years and came home in 2019 because the "freedom" and "greatness" were too much for me

2026-07-19 20:24:07 UTC

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@nprofile…r6nw i value your george herriman banner and perception of my malevolent southern neighbour

2026-07-19 19:16:15 UTC

IMHO, a user at our instance must be shown to violate one of our server rules, or be a Russian disinfo bot who slipped by a moderator, before we take action on a report.
Three reports against a new user, yet none references a status message made by that user on our instance, all are classified 'Other' and all reference one previous incident.
Looks like users dogpiliing for a past offense.

2026-07-14 23:04:39 UTC

Yay, concluded call TO Highway Patrol. Someone dressed like a geezer was following his personal 0.13 second rule between his car and ours, weaving left and right past the lane strips, for at least eight minutes.
We were rear-ended a dozen years ago by a nonagenarian who decided forgetting the difference between a brake and an accelerator pedal should not be an impediment to driving. Weeks of dorsal tissue treatment ensued.

2026-07-14 16:27:50 UTC

Hey #UK anglophones, help me fill in the last two clues in #PrivateEye #crossword please?
"Old fart, one who pulls president's erection" (5,,5)
I have the last five, TOWER, of the first five I have T_U__
Bling, perhaps offered by streetwise guy around church (6)
I have _R_O_H
boosts to #cruciverbalists welcome

2026-07-13 16:21:28 UTC

Is it a vain hope that somehow this instance's maintenance/upgrade period signalled to bots to drop the instance from their Mastodon account registration swarm operation?

2026-07-09 18:02:06 UTC

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@nprofile…8h55 i would love to have buddy reads on #TheStoryGraph
but the most active on the platform go through a dozen books a month, lots of them are genres outside my preference, and a large majority are 21st-century popular fiction.
If not for my transcontinental friend, I'd feel more isolated and underrepresented on social media as a reader of novels. My reading tastes are middlebrow at best, but I like to draw my own conclusions and inferences, I prefer descriptive over prescriptive.

2026-07-09 17:48:43 UTC

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@nprofile…8h55
Argument paraphrased: "Novels treat us like we're stupid. Are we?"
Link: https://youtu.be/JAHlrxx9XpY

2026-07-09 17:45:18 UTC

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@nprofile…8h55 the age of publishing literary fiction (in the US) is dead too. I know the irony of what I type here, but a few days ago I watched a YT video about the trends of immediacy and prescriptive text, and the disappearance of inference and challenge for the reader.
(I'll look for the link and paste it in a follow-up post)
Last year I engaged in buddy reads with a long-distance friend (who teaches literature), most recent novel published in 1982. He and I lean toward pre-2000 fiction.

2026-07-09 17:33:28 UTC

Dr. Raffael Boccamazzo speaks for me: "[In typical social environments] I am expected to function in a way that does not fit my operating system. I'm Linux in a Windows world... and the amount of RAM it takes to function in a way that is not native to my operating system is extensive and leads to a lot of CPU overheating."
#AuDHD

2026-07-09 00:46:08 UTC

As God and two other moderators are my witness, I don't understand why an instance moderator with six years' experience would consistently ignore our notes and boosted IFTAS warnings yet strive to be the most active in approving Russian disinfo bot accounts.
Yanks, this is your opportunity to mansplain.

2026-07-06 23:37:15 UTC

Another success: I am in tournament Training Mode, and I levelled up to 'BetterBot' as a sparring partner for #Scrabble. My ego is now ready to handle losing games.

2026-07-06 23:34:47 UTC

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings
Things I did today I am proud of:
- reset the toner drum of the Brother MFC* printer I bought secondhand
- reset the LG clotheswasher that reacted poorly to the DIY Tub Clean solution I applied yesterday
- downloaded, installed, then removed file by file of #Zyzzyva 3.4.2, downloaded, installed version 3.4.1 which does work with my Ubuntu 20.04 system
It's "Wreck and Tech", and I overcame, solo, successfully.

2026-07-01 18:26:00 UTC

I feel that these #PortalKombat bots have sneakier coding with cagier written reasons. I suppose a privacy-minded human registrant will have to elect 2FA, or a nondisposable email domain, or an IP address that isn't 100% abusive according to AbuseIPDB.
I let one in before my due diligence, suspended due to heavy caution, but recommended 2FA for a second opportunity in case it really was a human.

2026-06-29 01:34:47 UTC

Watching #MockTheWeek, Summer Special 4, and now I have a question perhaps some English-as-a-Second-Language speakers might have:
"Why 'Math' and 'Sports' on one continent, yet 'Maths' and 'Sport' on multiple continents?"

2026-06-24 17:47:29 UTC

In the last week I've seen a report against a true GazaVerified Mastodon account. Two weeks ago I reported a false GazaVerified account for Rules 2 and 5 violation.
GazaVerified's webpage on rules, particularly the section on verification, help us distinguish scammers from genuine needy families in Palestine
#FediMods
https://gaza-verified.org/guide/#rules

2026-06-18 19:12:24 UTC

@nprofile…dla5 you have my blessing, for what it is worth, to suspend https://mastodon.sdf.org/@badexojo as well: stolen profile, disposable email address, random-letters username, et cetera
Thanks for not being a #PortalKombat patron/facilitator/asset

2026-06-18 18:32:08 UTC

I like the #PortalKombat term for these coordinated disinfo actors. How do individuals submit Mastodon accounts that fit the #PortalKombat pattern?
At what point are instances with a moderator that consistently manually approves these accounts flagged as suspect by @nprofile…pvp2 https://about.iftas.org/library/suspected-portal-kombat-accounts/

2026-06-18 17:59:12 UTC

I like the #PortalKombat term for these coordinated disinfo actors. How do individuals submit Mastodon accounts that fit the #PortalKombat pattern?
At what point are instances with a moderator that consistently approves these accounts flagged by @nprofile…pvp2 https://about.iftas.org/library/suspected-portal-kombat-accounts/

2026-06-15 19:01:22 UTC

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@nprofile…xmf3 This pattern exists at an instance I used to moderate. I wish I knew how to get the admin and ALL ACTIVE moderators of the instance to be aware of this: moderator notes in the Moderation Tab and public messages don't work.
I'm assuming the admin and the moderator(s) choosing to ignore this Russian LLM/disinfo issue you and @nprofile…pvp2 correctly warn against want these accounts on the instance. I don't have the energy or time anymore to clean up after long-term moderators.

2026-06-08 01:52:31 UTC

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@nprofile…n6le Here's a screenshot to back up my assertion
https://mastodon.sdf.org/system/media_attachments/files/116/711/983/144/219/283/original/d072403f26ddf2af.png

2026-06-08 01:51:01 UTC

@nprofile…n6le Hi. I used to moderate a Mastodon instance. I saw that your profile was used by a suspected Russia LLM that other moderators allowed. May I ask you to report @Volilsezy@mastodon.sdf.org for impersonation? The other moderators don't read my warnings on IP addresses, nonsense usernames, and don't see a disconnect between 'Volilsezy' email address and Eric@ThatEricAlper.com, that's why I don't moderate anymore.

2026-05-31 03:32:04 UTC

@nprofile…fthr How do you ascertain that Findout.Media instance Server Rule #7 is not violated, say, in the hypothetical situation that a high-profile persona appears registered on your instance and rapidly adds dozens of accounts to follow, including low-follower ones?

2026-05-27 02:06:59 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 i need to recover my energy, bonhomie, and attention span.
A moderator in my time zone approves bot accounts. They are easy to identify: disposable email addresses, randomstring usernames, chatGPT verbiage forcreasons to join, and 80% of them use Tor Exit Relay nodes, two nodes represent 40% of bot account traffic.
The other moderators are 8 or 9 hours time difference. The errant/complicit moderator doesn't read my notes or posts and has moderated as long as I have.

2026-05-27 00:48:11 UTC

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I'm going with option one: move my account and automatically end moderating this instance, as options 2 and 3 require three improbabilities:
- that someone reads my warning of the issue
- that anyone cares enough to take action
- that blind allegiance to bot-scripted enshittification is not a treasured and ubiquitous US internet value

2026-05-26 02:52:17 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 I see no point in staying on SDF. A moderator is no better than an open registration agent and I **SHOULD** use my time better than undoing the equivalent of hosting and petting hornets, such as:
looking for LineageOS friendly phones,
telling my MP Bill C-22 promises calamity,
exchanging letters with my friends,
making true friends who see others as real,
updating my Gopher,
depleting my glycogen regularly.
Nobody is interested in new friends and sustained connections with me.

2026-05-26 02:02:33 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 those are two reasons for me to skulk off.
Third: my Portuguese pen pal echoed my cranky old fedizen gripe about how nobody seems interested in discussing shared interests. I starred his post. Nothing from him.
Fourth: sdf is a US property. The moderator welcoming the bots from abusive tor exit relay nodes is also US. I don't want my data scraped, and if USans cared about proper moderation I wouldn't have my attention fracked combatting ignorance and deteriorated competence.

2026-05-26 01:56:10 UTC

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@nprofile…r3l3 my indecision and sourness certainly contributed to your losing track.
I made an account at a province-themed instance. From that account I followed you and didn't care for the world news, and you either looked at my profile and chose not to follow, or didn't investigate my profile so I unfollowed.
The admin of that instance sent me a 100KB email about the instance. Wrote an introduction, he counselled.
I wrote two posts of hashtags. None was boosted.

2026-05-25 21:17:16 UTC

@nprofile…wsqa I am so relieved you are an actual person whose interests align with those of SDF. I wish more people on the Mastodon platform were interested in public Unix, the Gemini and Gopher protocols, and XMPP.

2026-05-25 16:52:52 UTC

I have three options:
1. Move my account, automatically disabling my moderator bit
2. Made a hashtagged fediblock post about mastodon.sdf.org because one moderator CONSISTENTLY approves, as in over 16 this past week, bot accounts, being as guarded as open registration
3. Request the moderator bit be disabled for that account
That account has moderated at this instance as long as I have, over six years.

2026-05-23 15:51:38 UTC

The original "Hockey Night in Canada" theme aired on the weekend morning francophone radio classical music programme.
"Exprimer l'esprit"... #Habs

2026-05-23 15:16:54 UTC

Someone eventually will notice the swarm of bot accounts, and check the Moderation tab, and will see who approved their registrations, and read the Notes made by someone suspended those accounts

2026-05-22 23:04:19 UTC

If you dream your English friend wins a paltry amount in the National Lottery, and you announce his seven-pound win to the Prince and Princess of Wales, who react as they did when Aston Villa FC won the Europa Cup, would you tell your friend?
Do you imagine your friend would take this as a sign to buy a National Lottery ticket, if you also told him you pulled the Wheel of Fortune Tarot card shortly after awaking that morning?

2026-05-22 16:19:33 UTC

I detect a second wave of bot acct registrations on mastodon.sdf.org, all from IP address 185.220.101.*, with nonsense usernames, AI-generated reasons for joining (some identical to those of other bots) and dodgy email addresses.
I take it these are consciously approved by others. I had been suspending them but I don't see value in being active on this instance, and don't see how these bots contribute positively when everything about them is inauthentic.
I am not admin so cannot block.

2026-05-07 22:39:15 UTC

Thank you St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Expedite, St. Anthony, and Praise God for saving my financial skin on Tuesday.
Brought to us by Psalm 49, which appeared four times as signs in my dream hours before my deliverance. My panic consumed me so much I was spent at 16h30. First time I dreamed of a Bible Book and Chapter as well.
I may reprise this when I know two people have been cured of their ailments, or when I pay in full for my new house.

2026-04-27 21:19:08 UTC

Presumptions that do not fail me:
Female presenting accounts with Nigeria IP addresses solicit through DMs private or public attention from users with human male presenting avatars
German-language account applications giving "AI video content aggregation discussion" slop reason have email domains of XXX NSFW websites
Questions:
Do these bots swarm the top 50 Mastodon instances?
Why are they not configured to apply to automatic account registration instances?
Is the time waste the aim?