starless @starless@pixie.town

An awesome quote from @aurynn that I need to share, in a discussion we were having about automatic filtering/moderation:

"if your tool hasn't thought about how it will be used to create harm, and isn't built in such a way to reduce its ability to cause harm, maybe don't build the tool"

It's amazing how many people don't think like that.

Earlier this year, I was invited down to Texas by folk who asked me: "Do you think you could teach our assorted group of blind, low vision, and neurodiverse folk about lockpicking?"

Their results were terrific. 😁👍 This video was captured that day...

https://youtu.be/2tVpNzX963g

...and we are jointly publishing it as a way of sharing this lesson plan with you all in the hopes that more classes like this can be replicated by others. 🔓

This is one of my favorite pictures. It feels like it was taken yesterday… but it was taken in a Paris public garden nearly a hundred years ago. Everything feels modern: the composition, the casualness, the daring clothes, haircuts, and accessories.

The colors are original: this is an #autochrome, using the first process for color #photography invented by the Lumière brothers in 1903.

The women are unknown, but I can't help wondering how they fared a few years later in nazi-occupied Paris.

"Hemp is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world and can grow 4 metres high in 100 days. Research suggests hemp is twice as effective as trees at absorbing and locking up carbon, with 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of hemp reckoned to absorb 8 to 22 tonnes of CO2 a year, more than any woodland."

Techbros: *get extatic about untested and potentially useless carbon capture tech*

Actual scientists: "yeah just go on and plant hemp, that shit can capture carbon *fast* and store it forever in clothes and building materials"

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/24/could-hemp-be-a-key-tool-in-fight-against-climate-change

#introduction
I'm Artist Marcia X, one of the og's of the fedi. Helped mod the only Blk instance onhere before it was chased off.

I longboard, I'm a visual artist, scholar, I do as much DIY content/art stuffs as possible. I write, sell prints & started ur favorite tag on here 😎

Afro-Indigenous Puerto Rican Peruvian hard femme w the tea on the fediverse. Elephant memory

www.artistmarciax.com/shop

I also have a GFM bc I'm in need of assistance

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-marcia-get-stable

little message to whoever drops and breaks the sculpture in the future

In the replies of new Black folks on here discussing the harassment they’ve faced, and slurs they’ve had thrown at them, I’ve seen white users respond with suggestions that they should move to better moderated instances – I even saw one guy say ‘you should just move to a black instance’. The usual line they take is to (patronizingly) talk about how the protocol lets you move instances, and so you can just find an instance with policies that suit you.

IMO, this behavior is (and should be more widely seen as) anti-Black; users should be reporting it, and instance admins should be banning for it.

Firstly, it shifts the blame for the abuse solely to the recipients – ‘it’s your fault for not picking an appropriate instance!’ It also makes the commenters themselves feel all smart for knowing the ins and outs of the protocol (even when they often have no idea what they’re talking about), which is honestly just annoying as fuck.

Secondly, it sweeps the fedi’s historical + continuing anti-Blackness under the rug by making racist abuse into a technical discussion rather than a cultural one. It serves to assuage the consciences of those making such comments, because they can just point to the safeguards that are *technically* there, allowing them to forego self-reflection.

Cumulatively, the effect of these kinds of comments is to push Black users off the fedi, or onto instances that can be blocked/marginalized/attacked by white users. This is segregation, plain and simple, and it’s absolutely shameful.

SO! Fellow admins, I’m gonna be reporting such behavior + suspending accounts that do it from instances I moderate. I’m gonna encourage users to report this shit too so that I can take action. How about you?

The National Museum of African American History & Culture announces “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures” to open March 24

It will feature Octavia Butler’s typewriter, Nichelle Nichols’ Star Trek uniform, Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther suit, more

https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/national-museum-african-american-history-and-culture-announces-new-exhibition-exploring

#blackmastodon #blacktwitter

My grandmother began sewing ribbon skirts as part of her healing from the trauma of residential schools.
She and my mother have always been fantastic seamstresses, frequently making my Halloween costumes.

She's now moved on to making regalia, and this is her first Plains-style regalia dress.

#NativeAmerican #Regalia #Indigenous

we should hire the guy who does the voiceovers for the Chemical Safety Board youtube videos to make videos about CVEs

It’s easy for a bunch of people to sit around and theorize about growing pains when you’re not the one who has to wonder about what that noise is outside your house

MN transgender name change clinic! Free attorneys help you get started. Must register in advance, Zoom or in person! http://www.robinskaplan.com/resources/events/2022/12/lgbtq-legal-services-transgender-name-change-clinic

*walks outside to the dumpster, tosses in a fresh stack*

#fediblock #ItsAlwaysPleroma

qoto[DOT]org
refusal[DOT]biz
social[DOT]handholding[DOT]io
honkwerx[DOT]tech
youjo[DOT]love
letsalllovela[DOT]in
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arachnid[DOT]town
bae[DOT]st
lizards[DOT]live
fluf[DOT]club
djsumdog[DOT]com
stereophonic[DOT]space
social[DOT]076[DOT]ne[DOT]jp
tuusin[DOT]misono-ya[DOT]info
pl[DOT]anon-kenkai[DOT]com
pl[DOT]slash[DOT]cl

L.J.'s post about someone trying to tell her to replace her dish rack (as ergonomic keyboard rest) with something expensive, unobtainable and flimsy reminds me of how tech companies keep pretending to solve disabled people's problems when actually we tend to MacGyver stuff out of random household objects.

https://thebaffler.com/salvos/care-tactics-mauldin

From the only drag performer who was in Club Q at the time of the attack: https://twitter.com/unluckybanshee/status/1594914600536809472

I've launched a #Mastodon instance focused on #AudioDescription. This is a space where professionals and fans can come together to learn, advocate, and work together towards the goal of quality AD in all environs. The server is bare-bones right now, so your patience is requested as we build things out. You can also make an impact by boosting this news across your networks. To join, head over to https://adforward.org/auth/sign_up
#blind #a11y #LowVision

I'm a white person who's been on the fedi for 4 years. I witnessed the rise and fall of PlayVicious.social (aka "PV"), an instance that was thoughtfully moderated by an all-BIPoC team. it was a nexus of brilliant, creative, funny people who made the fediverse a better place. and then it shut down, and so many Black and Brown people gave up on this place as a result. it was a huge, huge loss.

why did that happen, you ask? I'm gonna let Ro (former admin of PV) tell that story, because it's come up again recently: https://ubiqueros.com/notes/97vj3h30hp
I was a w.e mod when this went down. it's all true; he's not exaggerating.

Hi everyone! I am an #antiracisteducator and public school advocate looking to connect with other folks who are making the transition to #mastadon. Please follow me if you are interested in understanding what is happening with attacks to our public education system. I was recently targeted by alt right provocateurs and political opportunists, and my story reflects what is happening in school districts across the country. I love learning and sharing info that supports our #CollectiveLiberation. 💗

I documented some of my recent experiments in reverse-engineering the Print Gocco, a Japanese DIY printmaking tool from the 1970s. You can read about it here: https://www.nobadmemories.com/blog/2022/05/printmaking-as-play/ #theWorkshop

I’m wondering if y’all can help me build a community of trans people of colour on the tag #TransPOC as i miss the wonderful people i knew on a different animal themed app.
After seeing reports of racism and bad moderation I guess i’m just trying to find my people. Boosts very welcome.

#Trans #Queer #LGBTQIA #LGBT #BlackMastodon #Black #POC