Re #Introduction
While mostly occupied with #sciencefiction and #ttrpgs I do have a #political side.
I'll do my best to keep it out of your face.
Hmmm, an #introduction, well ... I'm an old man (55+, he, him) I'm a #nerd. Specifically: Looking forward to "Revolution of the Daleks" Been watching #DrWho since the mid-'70s (Pertwee/Baker) I've seen every episode of every #StarTrek barring recent seasons of Discovery and Below Decks. I like #TTRPG, with a fondness for Fate Core. I've had 1 Fate Accelerated setting published (see: https://fate-srd.com/fate-codex/time-horsemen ) There, that's a start.
This list of "8 Ways Social Media Distorts Our Realities" is sobering reading.
What's interesting is that most of the ways seem to be directly linked to the profit motive -- the pernicious effects arise from the infamous 'algorithm' (really, algorithms) created by social media business owners to increase engagement and the effectiveness of advertising. Non-commercialized social media (like Mastodon) might not be AS bad.
https://mailchi.mp/humanetech.com/8-ways-social-media-distorts-our-realities
@cadxdr we are old farts. We may as well just own up to it
https://federation.stream has been running for 7 days and has 75 subscribers!
It feels great to be able to help increase federation levels across the fediverse β€οΈ
If you're wondering what the heck the multicoloured pentagon thing is that you see a lot on here, it's the Fediverse logo (If you are unfamiliar with the Fediverse, see here: https://mstdn.social/@feditips/108215973331591896)
Well, it's sort of the Fediverse logo.
It's not official, but no Fediverse logo can ever be official because there's no central authority on the Fedi to declare anything official.
Anyway, it's the most commonly used logo for the Fediverse, and you can grab a copy for yourself at:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fediverse_logo_proposal.svg
It's declared CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) by its creator, so you can use it however you want without any restrictions.
The Crew-3 Astronauts Return From the Space Station on This Week @NASA β May 6, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhF2sYRr4jo #NASA #video #YouTube
Reminder that FIDO2 β Yubikey. FIDO2 is an open specification many brands support, and Yubico is one specific company that has some FIDO2 keys but also some tech that is more specific to their own products. Supporting open standard is generally better. Saying FIDO2 is better for our lexicon as well.
Currently listening to "Fall of civilizations" podcast π€
Really well researched stuff about all kinds of ancient civilizations (both rise and fall usually discussed). It's long 3h+ episodes. The latest is about the Vijayanagara in Southern India. I found it on PocketCast
https://pca.st/podcast/6b9669b0-ffd3-0136-324e-08b04944ede4
Here's the podcast website as well, though it seems to be a bit behind (listing ep 13 as the latest) https://fallofcivilizationspodcast.com/
covid, science journalist reviewing our current state
*sigh*
"America Is Starting to See What COVID Immunity Really Looks Like
With time and effort, we can build enough protection to blunt surgesβbut herd immunity remains out of reach."
Since resistance to COVID declines with time humanity will be living with periodic surges for a long time to come.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/05/omicron-covid-transmission-herd-immunity/629758/
abortion
Reminder that the so-called "pro-life" movement is not about protecting life. It is about sanctioning government violence to try to force women to give birth against their wishes. People have many different opinions about abortion and that's okay, but unless you truly believe women deserve to be jailed for having an abortion, you shouldn't be supporting the so-called "pro-life" movement and its extremist agenda.
Once knew a man who was far on the autistic spectrum.
He constantly talked about dates and calendars and watches. He was quite brilliant in his narrow interest. For example, he could instantly tell you what day of the week was on Jan 6, 1342.
One day as I was walking, he stopped me and asked, "Why does time happen?"
I thought he was joking at first, but he was very serious.
Then I realized, "Yeah, that's a big question!"βif I pondered that deeply, I'd be obsessed with date and time too.
PSA: please do not use "religion" when you mean Christianity, abortion
Attempting to get ahead of the inevitable backlash: US abortion bans are not an expression of *religious* freedom. They are an expression of certain *Christian* views.
In Judaism, there are many cases where abortion is halachically mandated: https://www.jta.org/2019/05/22/opinion/what-jewish-law-really-says-about-abortion (a good overview from an Orthodox perspective) Banning abortion infringes upon Jewish religious freedom, so please don't say "religion" when you mean Christian.
Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face
And stars fill my dream
I'm a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been