Nostr notes by Space Catitude 🚀

Preparing illustrations of the harms that have already happened ...

2026-11-01T17:13:40Z

Preparing illustrations of the harms that have already happened under the Trump admin for a short article about the stakes in Tuesday's election.

It's sickening and infuriating. :dumpsterfire:

Probably most of you who see my feed who are US citizens have either voted already or plan to. But if not, I implore you to reconsider -- stop sharing your opinion online and go get it counted.

(I voted almost 2 weeks ago, FWIW).

Can't accept universal disease. Like a pandemic? Wow. How ...

2026-10-19T01:33:57Z

Can't accept universal disease. Like a pandemic? Wow. How quaint.

#Monsterdon

Following the 9 games challenge, I also saw a tag for "9 ...

2026-10-11T00:30:50Z

Following the 9 games challenge, I also saw a tag for "9 Anime" and that sounds particularly fun for me.

So these are 9 anime that were very influential on me and among my favorites.

#My9Anime

Note these are all animated TV or OVA series. I excluded movies.

Hmm. 🤔 Cheesecake. Which, ironically, is a pie.

2026-10-09T14:34:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…mgcf
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Hmm.
🤔
Cheesecake.
Which, ironically, is a pie.

This is pretty cool. A guy decided to build a replica of the ...

2026-10-08T21:19:02Z

This is pretty cool. A guy decided to build a replica of the late-1980s TARDIS control room.

That would be pretty high on my list of fun fan projects.

https://theconsoleroom.co.uk

It's interesting that I had to type in the link from the guy's T-shirt, even though I found him on YouTube. Does YT filter out links in video descriptions or something..? That would seem rude, but plausible.

The photo gallery includes both the finished work and some of the construction process, which I think is even more interesting.

#Monsterdon I mean just to be clear, I've been around enough ...

2026-10-05T02:10:19Z

#Monsterdon

I mean just to be clear, I've been around enough squirrely ropes (and extension cords) to step OUT of the rope loop around my feet, regardless of why its there.

#Monsterdon Nice rope effects there.

2026-10-05T02:05:51Z

#Monsterdon

Nice rope effects there.

Wasn't "Among Us" a game..? Is there A TV show as ...

2026-10-04T01:45:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…lv4u
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Wasn't "Among Us" a game..? Is there A TV show as well?

(I'm much more of a Dwarfer, of course).

That's interesting. I figured there'd be a LONG tail of ...

2026-10-02T23:11:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…fuyr
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That's interesting. I figured there'd be a LONG tail of servers that someone spun up, ran for a few days, and then shut down.

But maybe there are, but live servers wouldn't remember them?

It seems like it would be a good design for them to eventually forget inactive accounts?

I know that some accounts are listed by my server as "inactive", simply because no one on my server follows them anymore (but following back to the origin server, they are still there and active).

Obviously the odds of somebody spinning up a new Fedi platform in ...

2026-09-24T15:24:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…hauz
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Obviously the odds of somebody spinning up a new Fedi platform in real time are low.

But what exactly is a "webcomics platform", technically?

We already have Pixelfed and some other federated image-sharing platforms, so could one simply use those? What would be lacking?

YB Wow. So complicated. First of all, I already did a lot of ...

2026-09-21T00:31:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…acng
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YB
Wow. So complicated. First of all, I already did a lot of things with my life that were on the "should" column.

A few that were on the "do not, you'll regret it column" (but I did, and I don't think I do regret it).

And yet some more stuff I want to do, that I'm really not sure if I really "should" do them.

Such a judgmental word, "should", isn't it..?
🤔

So... listening to Heather Cox Richardson's newsletter... ...

2026-09-15T03:38:27Z

So... listening to Heather Cox Richardson's newsletter... ostensibly about AI "regulation"...

There's a guy spreading the "scary, scary Skynet" myth about LLMs, hinting that they should really be controlled by *governments*...?

So that's the play. :welp:

Get the *government* to buy them out while at their maximum value, before the AI Bubble bursts and the money collapses to nothing...

Leaving taxpayers holding the bag.

I feel like I've seen this story somewhere before... 🙄

Are people going to be this gullible?!

Welp. I think I did manage to login to AWS, using OTPClient ...

2026-09-11T21:38:50Z

Welp. I think I did manage to login to AWS, using OTPClient (Debian package "otpclient" -- which is a TOTP Authenticator GTK app).

Deleted all the buckets.

Closed the account.

FINALLY.
🎉

Probably, I over-reacted to the MFA requirement. But I still don't want to use AWS anymore.

#Mastodon #Fediverse newbie advice: Before you start following ...

2026-09-10T17:20:04Z

#Mastodon #Fediverse newbie advice:

Before you start following people, I strongly recommend:

Create an avatar and/or banner image.

Write a short bio.

Write some posts. Pin a couple of them.

Then when you request to follow people, they'll be able to see some hint of who you are (and that you're not a spam or troll bot).

Also, post with some tags, particularly the #Introduction tag (probably with one of those posts you pin).

This way, when people check who you are (if you follow them or they consider following you), they can see a hint of who you are (and that you are a "who" rather than a "what").

I caught myself writing down one of these expressions recently. I ...

2026-09-09T21:11:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…70zk
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I caught myself writing down one of these expressions recently. I can't remember which one.Wouldn't have been an issue, five years ago. But now, someone might think I'm using an LLM to script. 🤦

They knew they were canceled and were phoning it in for that last ...

2026-09-08T15:59:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…8qrh
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They knew they were canceled and were phoning it in for that last one.

Except Shatner. He really put on a show playing his Dr. Lester-possessed self.

Also... it's extremely pervasive for people to call the ...

2026-09-08T15:54:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…8qrh
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Also... it's extremely pervasive for people to call the "transporter" a "teleporter".

Whereas, in Doctor Who, the same tech is called a "transmat" for some reason (I know it's short for "matter transmitter" or maybe "transmit matter"..? But still, it's an odd term to standardize on).

Personally, I guessed a small dip, quite recently. But really, I ...

2026-09-07T20:22:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…e7dq
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Personally, I guessed a small dip, quite recently. But really, I have no way to know.

There are a lot of other things going on, of course. A simple "10% rise" may not tell the whole story. Salaries might be declining. Particular sectors might be depleted, etc. And there might churn -- both hiring and firing.

Which would be interesting, because a lot of other sectors are experiencing stagnation -- neither hiring nor firing.

Well crap. Fortunately, my LG stuff predates wi-fi and I never ...

2026-09-07T18:03:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…yzt7
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Well crap. Fortunately, my LG stuff predates wi-fi and I never plugged it in to the network. So no updates.

But I guess I'll need to find a new brand for the next one.
[@blogdiva](https://mastodon.social/@blogdiva )

#Monsterdon Yep. Totally normal... ...

2026-09-07T01:49:06Z

#Monsterdon

Yep. Totally normal...

Legal action..? Ew. Almost every FOSS package's license ...

2026-08-21T15:00:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…jjl0
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Legal action..? Ew.

Almost every FOSS package's license contains a "NO WARRANTY" clause!

It's free. But also "at your own risk".

Oh, there's also a follow-up video "Why I don't use ...

2026-08-14T15:40:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…5vvz
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Oh, there's also a follow-up video "Why I don't use AI for just the easy things":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6FZKrE-Hfo

This is a good case against using AI in software, by a developer ...

2026-08-14T15:01:18Z

This is a good case against using AI in software, by a developer who has done it, but decided to reject it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZU3j4GQ4K8

Also as a blog:
https://brettcodes.com/im-done-using-ai/

Personally, I'm not a professional programmer. More of a tinkerer, with an occasional bit of professional experience over the years. A "scripter" perhaps. And I haven't done any serious programming since this AI agentic workflow started rolling out.

I don't think I'm ever going to start using this stuff, myself. I may go back to doing some coding this year. I may have to learn some Javascript, as well (for a particular project -- I have generally stuck to Python as much as possible).

I can see how it might conceivably be useful. But every interaction I've had with an LLM has left a very nasty taste in my mouth. Kind of an "uncanny valley" thing, maybe. These things just feel *wrong* to me. Am I just being superstitious? IDK. I don't think so.

A lot of technically-minded people use a lot of parentheticals to ...

2026-08-07T16:33:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…dfu3
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A lot of technically-minded people use a lot of parentheticals to cover details, and em-dashes really help.

I suspect the AI uses them because it tends to random-walk around the point. It's bad at staying on topic. I always have the impression that it's weaving all over the road and bouncing off the guardrails.
David Revoy (npub16ys…sjae)

As a DIY-er in a field of professionals, you have to deal with ...

2026-07-31T13:33:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…jqwn
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As a DIY-er in a field of professionals, you have to deal with shifting foundations, as the pros try to solve their problems. And information is spotty.

So, I spent about 6 hrs just trying to figure out the best strategy, based on competing sources of information. Then, once I made a choice, 5 hrs implementing it. Only to hit a wall at 2 AM.

So then, of course, I have to sleep. Downtime mounts up. Also the intermediate state, with old and new servers both running, costs even more than the oversized server that I'm trying to get away from.
😬

A downside of self-hosting (or self-managed hosting), is that ...

2026-07-31T13:23:37Z

A downside of self-hosting (or self-managed hosting), is that it's only sustainable while you can pay for the platform costs and also put in the labor to keep it working. Expensive on both counts.

Currently, my PeerTube and Misskey instances are in maintenance limbo. It's very distressing. And this is an overhead cost I can't really avoid or delegate.

There's a mistake somewhere. If it's mine, I should be able to fix it. If it's upstream, I may be able to work around it.

But it's pretty stressful, either way. 😬 :oh_no_bubble:

The fact that they didn't catch any of those immediately ...

2026-07-30T16:29:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…alk6
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The fact that they didn't catch any of those immediately shows they were immensely ignorant of African geography.

Which tracks for this Admin.

I hate that people now play Simple Minds' "Don't You ...

2026-07-29T02:26:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…9lt3
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I hate that people now play Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me" as a nostalgic 80s song. I didn't like "The Breakfast Club" and this song grates on my nerves.

The music from my youth will always be special to me, because of ...

2026-07-29T02:24:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…v492
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The music from my youth will always be special to me, because of associated memories. Although that is both positive and negative. There are some with bad associations or that were just overplayed.

But I'm partial to electronica from all eras, and I like a lot of later pop music.

#Monsterdon After all, doesn't everybody want a "decent ...

2026-07-20T01:20:15Z

#Monsterdon

After all, doesn't everybody want a "decent life grid"..?

Young people will see special effects in movies from the 1970s ...

2026-07-03T02:13:48Z

Young people will see special effects in movies from the 1970s and say "that's CG".

And, I can assure you, it was not.

I fear that, before long, the young people will see special effects from the 2000s, and say "that's AI".

Well, shit. My ISP blocks half of Europe's websites, because ...

2026-06-26T16:48:45Z

Well, shit.

My ISP blocks half of Europe's websites, because apparently they have the entire fricking Hetzner cloud blocked.

But now that I use a Squid proxy to get around the ISP's bullshit, Cloudflare blocks me from accessing websites, because accessing from a Digital Ocean IP is suspect or something.

Remember when the fricking web had "web sites" and we had "web browsers" and they just fricking WORKED..?

Now, all this paranoid bullshit is just splitting the web up and disconnecting us all.

This sucks.

[EDIT: it seems I need to clarify that I'm being hyberbolic -- it's not *literally* all of Hetzner. It's just that blocked sites keep turning out to be on the Hetzner cloud in Germany or Finland, when I investigate. The guy just has an overly-aggressive IP block list, as does Cloudflare]

The safety note being assured, I have to go with the dinosaurs, ...

2026-06-22T22:30:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…jw30
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The safety note being assured, I have to go with the dinosaurs, though the carboniferous forest is a strong second!

As the nit-picker I am, I have the problems of, like, I may have ...

2026-06-18T18:20:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…nt5l
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As the nit-picker I am, I have the problems of, like, I may have done this once in my life or something, so technically that would be "rarely" rather than "never", and also what is "lunch"? Is there a time-range for this? In what time-zone? Do we mean relative to my circadian rhythms, or the orientation of the Sun relative to a point on the Earth's surface? After all, as Douglas Adams tells us... time is an illusion, and lunchtime, doubly so.

Yeah. I just picked "Never". 🤭

#Monsterdon queued. M-5 minutes

2026-06-15T00:55:42Z

#Monsterdon queued.
M-5 minutes

The interesting thing is that I generally don't want to be ...

2026-06-12T17:50:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…sy9z
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The interesting thing is that I generally don't want to be precise, for privacy reasons. So regional names for that.

But if I actually want to pin it down, OpenStreetMap sounds like a great idea to me.

#ForkliftCertified #Monsterdon @npub18md…dgg0

2026-06-08T02:44:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…67hm
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#ForkliftCertified #Monsterdon

Paco Hope (npub18md…dgg0)

Is that sitting on a reel-to-reel audio player? I haven't ...

2026-06-07T03:37:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…7dad
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Is that sitting on a reel-to-reel audio player? I haven't used one of those in a really long time -- a friend of the family had one, and I remember learning to do tape editing on it (by actually cutting and taping together recordings, I mean).

A/V was a lot more hand-on back then!

The streaming era is going to be such a memory hole for movies. I ...

2026-04-16T03:47:13Z

The streaming era is going to be such a memory hole for movies.

I find a clip from an animated movie from 2022, think "Ooh, how can I see that?" Check IMDB, find it's on Apple TV. No DVDs or Blu-Rays -- except maybe, if it's popular enough, a bootleg.

:welp:

It really does seem like they should change the name of that ...

2026-03-02T23:59:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…rw2x
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It really does seem like they should change the name of that park, doesn't it?

Yep. I still think Star Trek V is very underrated. I wouldn't ...

2026-02-17T02:07:30Z

Yep. I still think Star Trek V is very underrated. I wouldn't call it the best of the movies, but it has so many great character moments, and the theme of dangerous cults has only become more relevant since.

The truth is that vampires are the warm fuzzy myth we made up to ...

2026-02-10T07:07:59Z

The truth is that vampires are the warm fuzzy myth we made up to cope with the far more terrifying reality of unaccountable rich and powerful people.

I'm seeing a lot of concern over heavy news today and boosts. ...

2026-01-07T23:26:31Z

I'm seeing a lot of concern over heavy news today and boosts. So I want to call your attention to a useful, but perhaps little-known Mastodon feature:

If you want to follow an account on Mastodon, but you don't like the posts that they boost from others, you can hide these from an option on their profile (in the web UI) without having to unfollow them.

There are many strongly held opinions on the "correct" use of CW and what ought to be boosted, so this can be a useful way to cope.

A sales tax on financial instruments has a number of nice ...

2025-12-27T22:06:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…a0la
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A sales tax on financial instruments has a number of nice properties, including mainly taxing the wealthy and disincentivizing rapid market speculation, which has been the source of much economic instability.

Is this for real? It's hideous! 🤭

2025-12-06T21:07:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…gyft
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Is this for real? It's hideous! 🤭

"...on our production website..." I guess that's ...

2025-12-03T18:41:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…3g6d
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"...on our production website..."

I guess that's another thing I need to find and upload.

I've also got a language patch for Japanese for Papagayo... SOMEWHERE. :neko_tired:

Ah well. I think Morevna has a copy of the Blender extension, too.

The follow-up tutorial explained how to import the file exported ...

2025-12-03T18:23:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…2v3d
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The follow-up tutorial explained how to import the file exported from Papagayo into Blender:

https://tv.filmfreedom.net/w/jSp1opgLKFPs7TikW2JHcx

#Animation #Lipsync #Blender3D #PapagayoNG

Free Software that I rely on. One per day. Day 4: Papagayo NG ...

2025-12-03T17:43:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…gyjd
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Free Software that I rely on. One per day.

Day 4:

Papagayo NG

This one fills a very important niche in my pipeline. It is a tool to make it much easier to line up lip movements to speech.

This is not an AI tool and does not do the alignment for you, but it makes it much it easier to do.

We used this extensively in "Lunatics!", particularly for the long dialogues in the Press Conference.

Morevna Project maintains this program, which is a fork of the original "Papagayo" with some enhancements. Hence the "NG":

https://morevnaproject.org/papagayo-ng/

I've attached the 2015 "2-Min Tutorial" in which I briefly explained how to use the program.

#FreeSoftwareAdvent #Papagayo #PapagayoNG #Lipsync #Animation

#FreeSoftwareAdvent Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I ...

2025-12-02T19:45:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…vqhf
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#FreeSoftwareAdvent

Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I guess.

Day 3:

Krita

I think it's particularly important to mention Krita in the context of Inkscape and Gimp to differentiate them. For a long time, I basically thought of Gimp and Krita as competitors, but they serve different goals:

Gimp is, as the name says, for "image manipulation", whereas Krita is a DIGITAL PAINTING application. It is more focused on creating the art in the application than on tweaking existing elements. And while Krita and Gimp have limited vector art capabilities, they come nowhere near Inkscape in that category.

Since I'm not much of a digital painter, though, I have not really put Krita through its paces, nor trained myself extensively on it.

My daughter HAS, and she creates a LOT of character art using it. So she is the real Krita expert in the family. The "KitCAT" logo below is one I commissioned from her as a studio mascot.

But it has some other useful features for me -- the one I use the most is that it can open 16-bit graphics I use for some backdrop textures in Blender and also the Multilayer EXR files generated from Blender. This makes it the easiest way for me to check them (the attachment below shows a recent "Ink" render, including masks for "billboard extras").

https://krita.org/en/

#Krita

#FreeSoftwareAdvent Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I ...

2025-12-01T21:52:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…8f52
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#FreeSoftwareAdvent

Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I guess.

Day 2:

Gnu Image Manipulation Program

Known as #GIMP or as #GnuIMP by those who don't like the other name.

This is my go-to tool for basic image processing of photos and images for publication. It's a pretty common workflow for me to crop and/or enhance photos in Gimp and then load the output into Inkscape for layout work.

Also, FWIW, I learned it before I learned Photoshop, which frankly seemed kind of like a backward step to me, particularly in the way that Photoshop filters never seemed to have any controls (at the time -- this was 25 years ago and I haven't used Photoshop since then).

Which fuels my general belief that terms like "more intuitive" or "more powerful" are mostly a function of what you are familiar with.

It's one of the earliest graphics creation software packages I learned on Linux, and so it's become so much second nature that I hardly think about it anymore.

These days I use it all the time to crop and rescale screen captures, so I've attached one of cropping a screencap of itself.

https://www.gimp.org/

#FreeSoftwareAdvent Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I ...

2025-12-01T09:47:08Z

#FreeSoftwareAdvent

Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I guess.

Okay.... Day 1....

Inkscape

A vector graphics editor (edits SVG documents).

I use this in a lot of different ways whenever I need a drawing:

* Presentation slides
* Graphic illustrations/diagrams
* "Decal" graphics for 3D textures
* Layout of images or other graphics
* Video poster/cover graphics
* Book design

https://inkscape.org

Also included in most desktop Linux distributions, I believe.

#Inkscape

I have never skied, but isn't "over your skis" where ...

2025-11-26T23:42:29Z

I have never skied, but isn't "over your skis" where you are supposed to be..?

🤔

How is this an expression? What does it literally mean..? Or I guess "figuratively", but when referring to skiing?

Notable: That's 40 million AT A TIME. The number of people ...

2025-11-05T17:46:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…5yj0
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Notable:
That's 40 million AT A TIME.

The number of people who have had SNAP in the past or will have in the future, is considerably larger.

When somebody loses a job and struggles to find another, or they simply are underemployed, because they're "doing the right thing" (by conservative values) and taking available work, even if it's inadequate, then help like SNAP can be essential for a lot of working class people.

For people in the USA: One thing that annoys me about the ...

2025-10-31T02:57:53Z

For people in the USA:

One thing that annoys me about the "General Strike" rhetoric is that it feels to me like people are imagining a country and economy that doesn't exist anymore.

Yes, when America was full of factories, this was a powerful tactic. I remember this -- the tail end of it, anyway. My Dad worked in a union shop in the 1980s.

But I don't see that country anymore. Things have changed.

Am I wrong?

What about you?

So as a little straw poll, let's say a *General Strike* is declared. What's more, you support its goals, and are *willing* to "do a strike"...

... CAN you?

I don't mean WILL you. I mean CAN you? Do you do the sort of work where you could go on strike in any meaningful way?

Boosting to get more answers would be cool. I'm genuinely curious about this particular sample of people on Fedi, because this is where I see people talk about this.

I do understand why many reports talk about ICE roughing up ...

2025-10-29T02:35:07Z

I do understand why many reports talk about ICE roughing up "US citizens".

It shows how indiscriminate, inefficient, pointless, and cruel they are -- not even doing the thing they are supposedly mandated to do.

BUT... I just want to be damned clear: they don't have any goddamned business doing these things to undocumented immigrants, either.

There is no "paperwork crime" worthy of enforcement by violence.

Yeah. Looks like it thinks it's a GIF and it loops. This is ...

2025-10-26T19:53:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…g6hn
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Yeah. Looks like it thinks it's a GIF and it loops. This is good to know.

I can save the trouble converting stuff to animated GIFs, I guess.

What does it look like if I upload a short MP4 with no sound? ...

2025-10-26T19:51:21Z

What does it look like if I upload a short MP4 with no sound? Does Mastodon think it's a "GIF"? Will it loop..?

It thinks GIFs are video and converts them to MP4. Hmmm.. 🤔

From the October 2025 Newsletter. A fly-around the "Glory to the Conquerors of Space" monument set. Similar to a shot in the episode now, but not identical. Not sure we ultimately did this set justice.

Oh, that's you? I just tried to sign up on the notification ...

2025-10-22T04:27:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…g2gs
_________________________

Oh, that's you? I just tried to sign up on the notification list, but it looks like the confirmation email failed. Found it looking for alternative hosting options, in case I need one.

I have seen/heard "neurospicy" as a slang synonym for ...

2025-10-01T15:57:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…99nm
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I have seen/heard "neurospicy" as a slang synonym for "neurodivergent". Your examples sound like they're being used to be more specific to Autistic or ADHD divergence.

These terms are used by/for low-needs autistic/ADHD people who want to talk about their issues without offending people who think "autistic" and "ADHD" should be reserved for people more disabled. Often these are self-diagnosed/undiagnosed.

Personally, I find the "-spicy" terms a bit too kitschy, though.

Wow. I'll have to look for the Time Machine goof. I don't ...

2025-09-28T01:43:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…r92w
_________________________

Wow. I'll have to look for the Time Machine goof. I don't suppose you have a hint as to when it happens?

I remind myself that every democracy that exists was built by ...

2025-09-24T22:03:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…yy2n
_________________________

I remind myself that every democracy that exists was built by people organizing, and most of them were built on top of defeated autocracies.

I know it took a lot of time and effort, but I find this thought encouraging.

I like that even Kimmel himself called out that there were more ...

2025-09-24T21:57:49Z

I like that even Kimmel himself called out that there were more concerning things going on than his suspension. (This is honestly one of the few times I've ever watched his monologue on YouTube).

But I'll also note: this was a really graphic demonstration that the power of the people exceeds the power of the president.

President says: Fire him.
People says: Keep him, or we keep our money.

He gets reinstated.

Every time people do this, they're flexing a muscle, and getting stronger. We are a very atrophied nation, because we've been comfortable a long time, and we need the exercise, so this is a good thing. Time to get back in shape.

"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day" Day 5: ...

2025-09-16T15:53:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…caf7
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"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day"

Day 5: Octavia Butler

Her imagination was original and dark, but with shreds of hope in it. I've mainly read her series, originally published as "Xenogenesis" (a name I'm still kind of attached to), but now generally known as "Lilith's Brood".

I know much has been said about the metaphorical implications connecting to the African diaspora, but also consider this book on the literal level: The Oankali are a fascinating alien species concept with a biology that clearly long ago absorbed technology to become a bizarre amalgam lifeform without a permanent form, but shared characteristics.

"Wild Seed" is more of a horror fantasy, with its story of two immortal beings locked in a permanent conflict.

She said she was inspired to write science fiction after seeing the movie "Devil Girl from Mars" (which was our #Monsterdon movie not long ago) and feeling like she could surely do better than that!

See? Bad movies have value!

She has not stuck to any single story universe or premise, but has written in a number of different sub-genres of speculative fiction.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_E._Butler

#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day" Day 4: ...

2025-09-15T20:45:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…2efk
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"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day"

Day 4: Melissa Scott

I really need to read more of her work!

So far, I've only read "Dreamships" (1992) and "Mighty Good Road" (1990).

They were really fascinating, though, because they kind of merged the vibes of cyberpunk and space opera, which is a combination I really enjoy.

"Dreamships" posits a really fascinating and (today) culturally relevant problem: an AI that certainly appears to be what we would now call an AGI -- but IS it? How can you really tell? Would you ever really be able to tell? (Unless of course, it fails).

She's also noted for her queer representation in her works, which is evident in both of these books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Scott

#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day." A little ...

2025-09-14T16:41:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…mtxv
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"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day."

A little earlier today, because I'm going to be busy later. Also, these are not in any real order, I'm not even sure who I'm going to list until I do!

Day 3: N.K. Jemisin

A 21st century writer. I've only read her "Broken Earth" trilogy: "The Fifth Season", "The Obelisk Gate", and "The Stone Sky".

This a beautifully realized fantasy, with elements of science fiction. A very elaborately conceived world, which is evidently some far future Earth that is geologically very unstable. And in which there are people, through some means psychic or scientific, able to control it (if they can control themselves).

It's also about rampant superstitions and prejudices about those people and the abuse and secrecy that results.

The prose was remarkable. It flows really well, and so this is a series I can strongly recommend reading aloud, if you have loved ones to read to.

She's done some other highly-acclaimed work since, but I want to stick to what I've personally read for this list.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._K._Jemisin

#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day." Okay, I ...

2025-09-14T00:39:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…24lz
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"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day."

Okay, I guess it's time for...

Day 2: Ursula K. Le Guin

I can't say that I have read a LOT of Le Guin's work -- for a long time, her only work I had read was "The Left Hand of Darkness", but it was a very memorable book.

Included in this book is the concept of an "ansible" -- a device she coined for her "Hainish Cycle" books, and which has since caught on with other writers.

Later, my wife introduced me to the "Earthsea" books -- then a trilogy: "A Wizard of Earthsea", "The Tombs of Atuan", and "The Farthest Shore".

But again, very engaging work that stuck with me.

Since then I have listened to an audiodrama based on "The Word for World is Forest" (very much abridged, I think), "Tehanu" (4th Earthsea book), and quite recently, the highly acclaimed novel "The Dispossessed".

I need to read more of her work!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin

#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

Just saw this challenge game, and WTH. More fun than current ...

2025-09-12T14:14:15Z

Just saw this challenge game, and WTH. More fun than current politics:

"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day."

Day 1: C.J. Cherryh

My long time favorite SF author!

I haven't read everything she's written, but I love her hard SF and social SF stories with the deep introspection and interrogation of cultural and species difference in psychology and therefore sociology.

I probably have read most of her Union-Alliance books, starting with "Downbelow Station", which won a Hugo.

And her "Chanur" series is absolutely brilliant, mindbending space opera.

The first book of hers I ever read, though, was a weird place to start: "Voyager in Night", which is a hard to describe alien encounter story.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh

#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

I don't know that a lot of true "anime" will be PD. ...

2025-08-26T22:40:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…dazr
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I don't know that a lot of true "anime" will be PD.

However, you might check out some free-film animated projects which have anime inspirations.

These aren't generally PD, but CC licensed in a way that might work for you (Attribution-Only, IIRC):

https://morevnaproject.org/

They aren't very long (yet), but maybe enough for the clips you'd need. Stylistically, Morevna is probably the most "anime" of these. "Pepper & Carrot" has a more Western feel to the style.

I've seen some other projects, but they're mostly just very short demos.

Faced with the lifeboat problem, some people think ...

2025-08-22T23:45:11Z

Faced with the lifeboat problem, some people think "There's not enough food, so we have to start fishing."

Other people think "There's not enough food, so we have to throw George overboard to feed the fishes."

And that one psycho who says "That's a waste of good protein, we should eat George ourselves."

This is especially bad if you happen to be George in this metaphor.

I remember clearly the day I realized that it mattes to use the ...

2025-08-21T06:44:16Z

I remember clearly the day I realized that it mattes to use the right jargon.

I was an undergrad working on the "McDonald Observatory Planet Search" program (one of the early radial velocity surveys, in the late 1980s).

In an effort to use "plain English" instead of "stuffy jargon", I described a star to a colleague as "faster".

I don't remember which meaning I was trying to communicate, but I quickly realized that it could have seven or eight different meanings!

Anyway, I went back to saying things like "shorter period" or "higher radial velocity deflection" or "higher proper motion" or one of those things that is clearly defined.

"Plain English" when it comes to technical communication is just being unclear. This is why "vibe coding" is, IMHO, doomed. Creating a spec from a client's description of a programming problem requires actual understanding of the problem, and a lot of a priori knowledge of how to solve similar problems.

Policy makers need to get it through their thick skulls: PEOPLE ...

2025-08-18T05:41:01Z

Policy makers need to get it through their thick skulls:

PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO BE WATCHED.

We don't want you tracking what we read, what we watch, what we look up online, or what we check out of the library.

IT IS NONE OF YOUR DAMNED BUSINESS.

This is not a cybercrime thing. This is an honest citizens wanting to be free of government surveillance thing.

And I don't care how many times you float the "If you're innocent you have nothing to worry about" bullshit.

WE DON'T TRUST YOU.

And we shouldn't have to.

This is a perfect snapshot of America today. A batshit insane ...

2025-08-18T03:43:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…48he
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This is a perfect snapshot of America today. A batshit insane right winger arguing with an electronic gibberish generator.. 🤦

#Monsterdon So... like, this is actually an incisive inquiry into ...

2025-08-18T01:33:36Z

#Monsterdon

So... like, this is actually an incisive inquiry into the corrupting influence of the desperation of poverty with the temptations of greed... 🤔🤔🤔

Deep.

That is a weird-looking airplane!

2025-08-15T03:59:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…35yw
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That is a weird-looking airplane!

I have to say that a major reason why I have not opened my ...

2025-08-10T21:54:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…hdc5
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I have to say that a major reason why I have not opened my PeerTube up is the question of legal liability.

People are fussier about video: I could get sued for infringing music or video, illegal/pornographic content, etc, etc. Even defamation, I guess.

At the moment, I don't comply with DMCA regulations to have "safe harbor" status. But if I DO, then that means I'm registered in an official database. Is that a good idea?

And if I DO, I want to make sure that I have *creator-friendly* set of terms that makes it as hard as possible for copyright trolls to be a problem. Without actually stepping across the line into being a "pirate site" and getting my ass sued out of existence.

Were the talks at #FediCon recorded? It'd be nice to see ...

2025-08-04T03:47:07Z

Were the talks at #FediCon recorded? It'd be nice to see them.

Obviously, a lot of us can't attend such things in person for various reasons.

I think some fraction of the "middle" would embrace this. ...

2025-08-03T21:32:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…skdr
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I think some fraction of the "middle" would embrace this.

Thing is, people are looking for a strong change message. Everybody knows the old system wasn't working. We now see people in other countries with more wealth, freedom, and health than we have. Something has to give.

Many of the "middle" are not resolutely middle on policy. They are busy people who don't know what the best policy should be. They need somebody to make a strong case that has a chance to make things better.

Hmm. Major corp backing the event. Should I be happy or scared..? ...

2025-08-01T23:15:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…rc5m
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Hmm. Major corp backing the event. Should I be happy or scared..? 🤨

Somewhat. Most organizers need technical people -- ...

2025-08-01T22:52:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…s6zn
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Somewhat. Most organizers need technical people -- "doers" -- as well as organizers (some of the most pathetic industry organizations are the ones who are all organizers).

The question then becomes a matter of leadership and power sharing. Do you want to part of an organization where someone else is leading? Or must you lead it, for you to be happy with it?

And while it is often the case that an organization is started by an organizer, there are also cases of organizations started by technical people, who then hire (or "recruit" or "partner with" or whatever) more socially-skiled people to make it go.

Some of us may need some "Neurotypical supervision"..? 😅

Sad, though he (and we all) knew it was coming soon. It was a ...

2025-07-27T18:19:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…qd6t
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Sad, though he (and we all) knew it was coming soon. It was a beautiful to free his work like he did.

I wonder if someone is going to continue hosting his website? I guess there's still the Internet Archive. Of course, I also downloaded most of it, myself. Some real classics in there!

The Element Song, Werner Von Braun, and many others about delightful antisocial behavior, plagiarism, politics, and nuclear annihilation.

There are lies where you think "That's a lie!" And ...

2025-07-26T17:25:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…xecu
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There are lies where you think "That's a lie!"

And then there are lies where you think "What the hell is he even talking about?"

Of course, what I'd actually think is, "That is an ...

2025-07-20T05:24:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…9zhp
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Of course, what I'd actually think is, "That is an AMAZING cosplay!"

(Or body-mod, depending on how convincing it was).

I don't believe in any of these creatures, and thinking it was *some* alien life form would be hindered by the improbability of it being so humanoid, even before getting to the improbability of it being on Earth.

It's kind of Lovecraftian. Forbidden magic tome, but it talks ...

2025-07-20T03:14:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…esl2
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It's kind of Lovecraftian.

Forbidden magic tome, but it talks back and drives you mad.

There is definitely inspiration for a horror story in this.

I think it hits people who already have a predilection for the fantasy, and a weak grasp of just how soulless the machine is.

It's a voice from the void, and there are a lot of people who are inclined to be superstitious, believe the universe is talking to them, etc.

You know, they have a starship and they go back to 20th century ...

2025-07-17T20:16:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…gl0m
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You know, they have a starship and they go back to 20th century Earth.

In principle, they could then just accelerate to near lightspeed, zip away 200 ly in normal space, then zip back, again near lightspeed, and voila! Home in 24th century Earth.

It's weird that I can see you posting from this account, but ...

2025-07-16T12:02:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…30wt
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It's weird that I can see you posting from this account, but I can't access mstdn.social. It's been a few hours like this.

Something up with the server or networking?

You can do this with 'exclusive lists' in Hometown (a ...

2025-07-06T01:35:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…8kne
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You can do this with 'exclusive lists' in Hometown (a Mastodon fork). I don't know if Mastodon proper allows it.

It's the kind of thing that makes you think somebody in the ...

2025-07-04T21:19:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…mt3k
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It's the kind of thing that makes you think somebody in the research department is doing a little stealthy sabotage. 😅

Oh, I take walks. But I mean to say the gym experience was pretty ...

2025-07-04T20:32:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…v6ne
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Oh, I take walks. But I mean to say the gym experience was pretty good, and I need to find something closer to that, again.

Just have not applied myself to that problem yet.

I came to a similar conclusion in 2019, and joined a 24 hr gym, ...

2025-07-04T20:19:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…6muf
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I came to a similar conclusion in 2019, and joined a 24 hr gym, because schedules and I do not get along well.

(Partly this worked, because I'd want to go out and the only other thing I'd do is get food).

But then CoViD came; the vaccine took longer; and the gym is the worst place to avoid an aerosol-transmitted disease. So I just quit going. And then not long after the gym reduced hours, so I can't go work out at 2-3AM like I did before.

Have not yet found an alternative.

Yeah, I guess the real question is about sandboxing -- does the ...

2025-07-01T02:56:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…0h4y
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Yeah, I guess the real question is about sandboxing -- does the code running in the PDF have access to the outside, like the filesystem? 🤔

Very cool. Also terrifying. Raises serious questions about using ...

2025-06-29T22:07:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…6z07
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Very cool.
Also terrifying.

Raises serious questions about using PDF as a document format.

I guess my big question is how many PDF viewers are defaulted to run this kind of code in a PDF? :oh_no_bubble:

One would hope that most have this turned off by default?
🤨

That isn't really possible for a lot of us, and some major ...

2025-06-11T22:20:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…fhfs
_________________________

That isn't really possible for a lot of us, and some major corps have NOT bowed to the pressure.

I think it's equally important to reward the behavior we want to see. So I'm moving my business to companies whose policies are more acceptable to me. And yes, many are smaller, but that isn't 100% safe, either. There are plenty of MAGA small businesses where I live. 🤷‍♂️

A list of companies that didn't cave on DEI:

https://www.newsweek.com/dei-companies-program-list-policies-donald-trump-2032960

Interesting. Walmart is not exactly a bastion of liberality. In ...

2025-06-11T18:08:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…0af6
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Interesting. Walmart is not exactly a bastion of liberality.

In fact, Walmart is currently on my "complied in advance with anti-DEI demands" list, so currently boycotting them over that.

Of course, it does not necessarily follow that the heiress of the founders of a company are aligned with the company, either.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/life/2025/03/13/30-companies-that-removed-dei-programs-trump/82268705007/

:welp: 🤔

I wonder. When people describe "own" and ...

2025-06-05T08:07:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…yrfe
_________________________

I wonder. When people describe "own" and "utility", what exactly do they mean?

We do have a concept of ourselves as individual organisms, and we can be "selfish" to think only about the physical benefit to that organism.

But we also each have a identity halo of family, friends, and various other levels of society.

Do we consider it a matter of "own utility" for our neighbors have access to medicine and education?

I don't see how that isn't self interest for me.

It was specifically France/Spain. But that would've been in ...

2025-06-02T12:29:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…t3pz
_________________________

It was specifically France/Spain.

But that would've been in the mid-1980s. Possible they've replaced all the weird gauge tracks. But that must have been a big job.

John Quiggin (npub1tve…vfd0)

Huh. Does that still require switching the wheels on the train? ...

2025-06-02T10:11:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…spuh
_________________________

Huh. Does that still require switching the wheels on the train?

That was one of the weirder experiences I had in Europe (many years ago).

IDK. I don't have to search for explanations. I'm ...

2025-05-27T02:59:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…se40
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IDK. I don't have to search for explanations. I'm surrounded by Evangelical Fundamentalist Christians.

These are people who are trained from birth to reject scientific knowledge and consensus and believe entirely in impossible things they are instructed to believe by their leaders.

Perfect little minions ready to exploit by the monied sociopaths.

Do I remember "Age of Aquarius" from "Hair"...? ...

2025-05-27T02:45:31Z

In reply to nevent1q…a4z2
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Do I remember "Age of Aquarius" from "Hair"...? 🤭

I'm an X-er.

This is like asking a Zoomer if they remember "Let It Go" from "Frozen".

I am familiar with a lot of the woo from the Hippy movement and later. I just never took it very seriously as a coherent set of beliefs.

But I can see how it can be understood that way.

Funny. For quite awhile in the 80s-90s, I would have said ...

2025-05-27T02:18:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…gwn9
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Funny. For quite awhile in the 80s-90s, I would have said "New Age" was a genre of music (essentially electronica -- Vangelis, JM Jarre, Tangerine Dream, etc). Also sometimes dubbed "Space Music".

It was harder to find music before the Internet!

[Edit: yeah, actually I do remember it as a religion, now I think about it, although I didn't take it very seriously]

The good news is that we are probably decades if not centuries ...

2025-05-10T06:34:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…lm2c
_________________________

The good news is that we are probably decades if not centuries away from being able to do that!