Mastodon Feed: Posts

Boosted by jwz:
kenwhite.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy ("Popehat Or Danger of Popehat") wrote:

/2 The Roberts Court 6-3 majority is best understood not as a genuine or legitimate independent adjudicatory body but as a ceremonial adjunct to the Trump government, like a First Lady or a second-born prince in a constitutional monarchy.

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

Christian outrage, ignorance, and Fox News fuels some of the most outrageous stupidity on the internet.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/10/17/english-do-you-speak-it-kelbie-murphy/

Boosted by jwz:
deanpreston@sfba.social ("Dean Preston") wrote:

San Francisco’s so-called “doom loop” was always a myth — a convenient story to blame progressives and usher in billionaire-backed "moderates." Now that they’re in charge of City Hall, the city’s unraveling. I wrote about how billionaire control is hurting San Francisco's working class.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/democrats-new-abundance-platform-isnt-playing-out-well-in-san-francisco

jwz wrote:

Democrats' New Abundance Platform Isn't Playing Out Well in San Francisco.

Dean Preston with a catalog of how Danny Bluejeans and his techbro chums really fucking suck at governing: With a new majority on the Board of Supervisors, along with control...
https://jwz.org/b/ykwr

Boosted by fribbledom ("muesli"):
aumetra@corteximplant.net ("violently gay :sterntastatur: :hex_non_binary:") wrote:

OH: "ChatGPT: Gaslighting as a Service" #shitopenlabsays

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your spooky 'net denizen"):
batsbatsbats@social.beeps.gay ("Hourly bats! 🦇") wrote:

Proboscis bat (Rhynchonycteris naso)

📸 Rhododendrites (CC BY-SA)

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
georgetakei@universeodon.com ("George Takei :verified: 🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽") wrote:

We are becoming a “papers, please” country, and no one should want that.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
dkl@23.social wrote:

Das Problem mit den 2D-Karten.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
rebeccawatson@mstdn.social ("Rebecca Watson") wrote:

Two years ago I reported on a study that found gerrymandering harms democracy, regardless of which side does it. Today I’m asking you to tell your reps to gerrymander the fuck out of blue states https://skepchick.org/2025/10/rigging-elections-to-save-democracy/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
karlauerbach@sfba.social ("Karl Auerbach") wrote:

D-party congress critters ought to begin drafting bills to dismantle DHS.

DHS, including its highly nazi-flavored name, was constructed by a Congress and president (bush) who were terrified after 9/11.

It is time to pull the pieces of DHS apart, retaining some parts, deleting other parts (such as ICE), and reshaping the rest.

There is a rule of thumb that suggests that if one wants to re-form an entity to change its internal culture that no more than 10% of the staff should be retained, i.e. that 90% should be discharged - and for ICE, firing 90% of its people would be reason for national celebration.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
noamzoam@mathstodon.xyz ("Noam Zeilberger") wrote:

Are you a PhD student registered in a US institution and interested in conducting part of your doctoral research (4-9 months) in France? Then consider applying for a Chateaubriand Fellowship! https://chateaubriand-fellowship.org/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
trabern@mas.to ("Sin of empathy 🕷️🧂🌈🫙⚖️") wrote:

I assembled a whimsical costume for #NoKings protest tomorrow. I am a woman over 50 who will look ridiculous and joyful but also determined.

To quote @josh0

Being afraid to protest is the clearest possible signal that it is necessary to protest.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
wendysiegelman ("Wendy Siegelman") wrote:

Teapot Dome. Watergate. They’re Nothing Compared to This.

With World Liberty, Trump created a vehicle for those seeking influence. If you are a head of state, it is in your political interest to buy Trump’s tokens or invest in his crypto ventures. by Jacob Silverman

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/opinion/world-liberty-financial-crypto-trump.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.uE8.Nqq1.CEQqsKYfPusD&smid=url-share

ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Werewolf ⁂🐧🌱☕ 🎃💀🕸🐺") wrote:

Me and Drew do another #Freebooters. This week we try a new format:

https://video.thepolarbear.co.uk/w/xkjXyr15LJFLP93kdb979v

Boosted by joeri_s@mstdn.social ("Joeri Sebrechts"):
ricmac ("Richard MacManus") wrote:

In the latest issue of Web Technology News (WTN), I look at a trend I'm monitoring very closely: after a decade of smartphone apps dominance, the web is becoming the default interface layer again. Of course, this time it's for AI. Check out the newsletter for the latest news on this & other open web topics. https://webtechnology.news/the-web-is-becoming-ais-interface-layer/

Fedi folk mentioned: @paul, @joeri_s, @bramus, @simon, @ben

Subscribe to WTN via email or RSS, or on the fediverse @feed. And please spread the word!

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

time to re-up this thread. US military ethics demand one say “no” to illegal orders. Southern Command and the Nation are apparently losing a leader with an ethical compass.

https://masto.deoan.org/@jsonstein/114254223462700449

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
TexasObserver@texasobserver.social ("Texas Observer") wrote:

"Greg Abbott ... prioritizes the agenda of billionaires against the people of #Texas. Texas public schools are part of our identity as Texans. They are enshrined in our constitution, and he has turned his back on them because he doesn’t care anymore. He’s been there too long. He stopped caring a long time ago." https://www.texasobserver.org/gina-hinojosa-campaign-for-texas-governor/

#politics #USpol #GregAbbott #elections #Democrats #news

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
kb9ens@mastodon.radio ("Tom - KB9ENS") wrote:

And done.. I checked in for #FediFridayWinlinkNet

#Winlink is a tool #HamRadio operators can use to send email over the air to any normal email address. Handy for when the grid is down, or you’re just away from signal. Remembering how it all works is perishable so we have a meet up weekly to practice.

Lots of background and links to software over here: https://winlink.org/

Follow #FFWN for details! H/T to @bud_t for organizing.

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

So much lunch.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/10/17/all-for-moi/

Boosted by ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Werewolf ⁂🐧🌱☕ 🎃💀🕸🐺"):
chris@video.thepolarbear.co.uk ("Chris Were but on PeerTube") wrote:

Setting up i3, Chris's new life with Vim, and can you really sell multi-pack cans separately?

https://video.thepolarbear.co.uk/w/xkjXyr15LJFLP93kdb979v

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your spooky 'net denizen"):
joepie91@slightly.tech ("Sven Slootweg 🔜 eth0 ("still kinky and horny anyway")") wrote:

I feel like we need some sort of explicit distinguisher between types of FOSS:

1. Corporate FOSS: projects that directly serve the interests of a single corporation and is governed by that corporation, but the source code is freely available
2. Public/Community FOSS: projects that are intended to be both governed and used by a wide variety of different people. Usually characterized by actively trying to promote the project to potential users in some way (including 'community evangelism'), and by actively trying to attract contributors of some kind.
3. Personal FOSS: people's own projects that are essentially fully controlled by them personally, and written for their personal use, just the source code is shared freely for others to use if they want to. Usually few contributors, or may not even accept contributors at all.

All of these have wildly different characteristics and governance structures, and users should have different expectations of them, so it seems reasonable that we should be treating them as different things, even if they are all nominally "FOSS"? And it would probably be helpful for projects to explicitly declare which of these they are, too, to set the right expectations.

#FOSS #OpenSource

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your spooky 'net denizen"):
MicroSFF@mastodon.art ("Micro SF/F by O. Westin") wrote:

There was a 'womp' sound from the yard. I looked out the window.

Where the large pile of leaves had been, a dragon sat.

"Oi!" I called.

"The hoard was unguarded," the dragon said. "I claim it."

Every damn year. It'll leave once the leaves lose their golden hue. Meanwhile, I can't order takeaway.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your spooky 'net denizen"):
researchfairy@scholar.social ("The research fairy") wrote:

C'mon let's stifle some innovation

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

The man has zero taste. He has anti-taste.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/10/17/he-is-embarrassingly-tacky/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
johnke@mastodon.ie ("John Kelly") wrote:

Every pro-AI presentation I've sat in has included some form of this graph

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
jkirkendall@wandering.shop ("Jon-o-lantern") wrote:

In case you're wondering what the commercial real estate market in DC is like now, we just negotiated a ridiculously low rate for my office suite, from $50/square foot to $40/square foot.

For the first time in 18 years, my office rent is dropping significantly.

Good for me, but not great news for the economy over all.

#DC #DMV #WashingtonDC

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
fsf@hostux.social ("Free Software Foundation") wrote:

You can use #FreeSoftware to get crafty, such as #Inkscape: https://inkscape.org/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
dangillmor ("Dan Gillmor") wrote:

Trump's insane tariffs are wiping out countless small businesses. His apparatchiks and big-business pals don't mind -- that's plainly one of their goals.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/17/how-much-trump-tariffs-are-costing-small-businesses.html

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
wdlindsy@toad.social ("William Lindsey :toad:") wrote:

"In honor of the October 18, 2025, No Kings Day demonstrations happening all over the country, I’m offering the first of three installments of 'The Patriot’s Glossary of MAGAtarian Doublespeak.' May it help illuminate the MAGA attacks on facts and reality, and may we hold onto the truth that will make us free."

#Trump #MAGA #truth #language #lies #fascism #MoralInversion #doublespeak #reality #HannahArendt #NoKings
/3

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Alice@beige.party ("Alice McFlurry :bc:") wrote:

My mom abandoned me when I was young because she thought being a yoga instructor was more important than being a mother and I remember watching her drive away as I stood in the doorway, crying “mamaste.”