🏠Have you ever moved house?
Tear down is kind of like that, except it’s not all going to one place, some is time dependent, the truck’s turned up too early, and now it’s started raining. Also everything is muddy, can only be transported with a particular combo of people and vehicles, or has a visiting member of the local wildlife. HQ has a pigeon.
If you have any positive vibes for the tear down crew, leave them here and we’ll make sure they’re passed on this evening when they get a chance to read them.
#emfcamp #emf2024
I've been thinking a lot about centralization and decentralization over the last few days (well, decades, but this particular train of thought has been running for a few days.)
The thing about centralized platforms (for anything! social media, electricity generation, food distribution, government, business, etc.) is they can work really well.
You get a lot of benefits from centralization, a lot of deduplication of effort. Sometimes, in the case of things like power grids, centralization is so much more efficient than decentralization that considering the latter starts to feel ridiculous.
When built correctly, centralized platforms work very well.
But, they fail horribly. Really horribly, and on a scale and in ways that are only possible for centralized platforms.
HEPA filter, old/new.
When I’m thinking about good (somewhere between low- and high) #tech, I’m also thinking HEPA. Randomly fabricated fibers that randomise and trick the movements of particles.
Air purifiers are part of the #solarpunk future. Not only to be equipped for #wildwires. #airpollution
*Edit: great typo: #wildwires instead of #wildfires!
An interesting insight from a conversation about the Fermi paradox and Great Filter theories: what if our entire framing is just wrong?
The way we talk about 'advanced civilizations' seems inextricably tied to capitalism and imperatives of endless growth, rather than genuine techno-social advancement; its almost always about *scale*, rather than about capability, and that is a capitalist mode of thought.
What if the question isn't "how are we the only advanced civilization?", but instead it is "how are we the only civilization that hasn't figured out to make itself sustainable yet"?
What if the Fermi paradox is really just the question of our species' failure to prioritize correctly?
public health advisory, head lice, for queer hacker communities especially
I am now aware of 3 separate, geographically distributed cases of head lice infections among folks that are involved in a queer hacker community somehow.
This is beginning to look like a pattern, especially considering how comparatively rare these infections are among adults. So I wonder if we may have a little public health issue on our hands.
I don't know the exact scope, but if you belong to that community, *especially* in or around Germany, please check for head lice! They are generally not harmful, but become very itchy and annoying over time.
(Note: if you find lice elsewhere on your body, instead of your head, talk to your doctor first! Those are different lice, and may be carrying diseases depending on region. Do not try to DIY this.)
If you find lice:
1. Prefer using a lice comb, and conditioner or lice shampoo, to carefully remove lice daily over a span of 14 days. This can be self-administered, or by someone else, but follow the instructions that come with the comb. Available at local pharmacies.
2. If this does not work for you for some reason (eg. uncooperative hair), consider using Prioderm/dimeticon, available at pharmacies. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, this is somewhat finicky stuff to use.
3. If that doesn't work for your hair either, an experimental option (that we've had a lot of success with here) is DIY heat treatment using a hairdryer, drying out the lice and killing them. Heat the (dry) hair, especially near the scalp, as long as you can without hurting. Blow from *under* the hair. Repeat daily for 14 days, and comb what you can.
For any of these treatments, if you still find lice (alive or otherwise) after the treatment period, keep repeating the treatment until you don't. Do not skip days - you'll have to start over. Note that lice can be very small and difficult to see!
Many people struggle with image descriptions due to their own disabilities, neurodivergencies or even language proficiency, and I think minimising the effort it can take to write alt text only serves to shame those people and scare them away.
Let's instead focus on encouraging anyone who can't write alt text to use the #Alt4Me tag, and anyone who *can* write alt text to chip in with some #Alt4You.
ADHD
Reminder for my fellow #ADHD beings (or anyone else who is struggling) that *any* cleaning is better than no cleaning. If it takes under 2 minutes, do it now!
The counter you clean today is worth more than all of them we both know you won't clean tomorrow.
Already got stuff done today? Take a gold star (genuine)! 😊
⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Since I don't think some people are grasping how bad this is:
Bank Data;
Health Data;
Passwords;
Student Data;
Privileged Information (NDA's contracts, etc.)
Addresses
Unless a) your job has some version of windows that doesn't have these systems and tools in it, and b) work/life firewalls are PRISTINE, and I mean literally ZERO interconnections, even via email or calendars, the entire windows 11 OS, and any ecosystem of which it's a component, has just become a threat surface.
Unpopular opinion: It's 2024 and we still can't figure out a better way for blind people to know what's in front of them. I mean seriously. Surely someone out there can think of some better solution that's not dragging around a huge ass stick that takes up one of your hands anywhere you go. Seems at least somewhat inefficient for the time we're in, but that could just be me wishing I didn't have to drag a huge thing and lose the use of one of my hands just to uh, you know, do something any old sighted person can do freely with no issues. Hurray, blindy issues.
Dear Fellow White People:
when you are called out for bigotry, especially by someone who is themselves Black/POC, you are being given a *gift*. it is a measure of respect and trust being extended to you in hopes that you can, and will, *do better*. it is an opportunity to reflect and learn. you will probably feel defensive in the moment, but you *must* resist the impulse to make a quick knee-jerk reply. instead, *think*:
1. what are you being told?
2. what is the context, both in this particular situation, and historically?
3. who is telling you this?
4. what experiences has that person likely had in similar situations?
5. can you do better? how?
do *not* reply until you have gone through that checklist and answered those questions for yourself, at the very least.
we can, and *must*, do better. we have so much to learn, so much to *unlearn*. all of us, every single one--and yes, that includes me.
That's one difference between white transfems, and Black & brown transfems. We're already the centre of attention for being visibly not white, which attracts all kinds of harassment towards us. We're not learning what discrimination and bigotry look like for the first time when we transition, it's been a tangible part of our lives from the start. But now, we also have to reckon with new kinds of racist shit, on top of the misogyny.
Technical debt collector and general hype-hater. Early 30s, non-binary, ND, poly, relationship anarchist, generally queer.
- No alt text (request) = no boost.
- Boosts OK for all boostable posts.
- DMs are open.
- Flirting welcome, but be explicit if you want something out of it!
- The devil doesn't need an advocate; no combative arguing in my mentions.
Sometimes horny on main (behind CW), very much into kink (bondage, freeuse, CNC, and other stuff), and believe it or not, very much a submissive bottom :p
My spoons are limited, so I may not always have the energy to respond to messages.
Strong views about abolishing oppression, hierarchy, agency, and self-governance - but I also trust people by default and give them room to grow, unless they give me reason not to. That all also applies to technology and how it's built.