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jwz wrote:

Christmas Throwback: EXERCISE VAGUE JOY.

It was ten years ago today that I decorated the Christmas tree in my building's heavily-surveilled lobby. Simpler times.

Happy Surveillmas!

https://jwz.org/b/yk07



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Boosted by jwz:
cstross@wandering.shop ("Charlie Stross") wrote:

My controversial take:

Linux desktops peaked with KDE 3.5.x. (Gnome is a ghastly abomination and KDE's been going downhill ever since.)

macOS desktops peaked with Snow Leopard (10.6). Everything since then has gone downhill in UX. (Honourable exception: filesystems and backup support. But those are below the desktop level ...)

Windows never had a peak to fall off and has been subterranean for decades. Put it out of its misery and start over from IBM's mid-80s CUI spec.

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Boosted by jwz:
nocontexttrek ("Star Trek Minus Context") wrote:

#StarTrek #MerryTrekmas

Star Trek The Original Series scene. We're in the ol' transporter room with the fun ceiling circles and trippy backdrop panels. Kirk and a lady officer, we'll call her Cheryl, are standing on the platform. He's turned towards and looking at her with some anxious energy it seems. She is looking straight forward, as if to purposefully not regard him. (Total power move) Closed caption reads: Lady officer Cheryl: "Don't you remember?" Kirk: "The science lab Christmas party. Yes, I remember."

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isagalaev ("Ivan Sagalaev :flag_wbw:") wrote:

@FediTree hi!

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Boosted by fromjason ("fromjason.xyz ❤️ 💻"):
ambiguous_yelp@veganism.social ("🌱🏴‍🅰️🏳️‍⚧️🐧📎 Ambiyelp") wrote:

@fromjason Maybe don't spend so much on candles? /s

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fromjason ("fromjason.xyz ❤️ 💻") wrote:

Also, me:

@dril Food $200 Data $150 Rent $800 Candles $3,600 Utility $150 someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying 4:06 PM • Sep 29, 2013

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fromjason ("fromjason.xyz ❤️ 💻") wrote:

I won’t include the link because I don’t want to broadly share this dude’s ideology. But I had to share this screenshot of the most dystopian AI-generated image in existence.

His whole deal is that we should centralize our digital identities and hand them over to corporations and governments. 🫠

AI generated image of a multicultural group of people holding a sign that reads:&10;&10;"People Trust Governments and Organizations"

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Boosted by isagalaev ("Ivan Sagalaev :flag_wbw:"):
hazelweakly@hachyderm.io ("Hazel Weakly") wrote:

The two hardest problems in Computer Science are

1. Human communication
2. Getting people in tech to believe that human communication is important

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ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Were ⁂🐧🌱☕") wrote:

Clear and aesthetically pleasing?!?! Now this is just nonsense.

An email which reads: "Hello! I've been following your content for some time now and particularly appreciate your clear, honest, and aesthetically pleasing way of presenting tech products. This style perfectly matches our brand."

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Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
kissane@mas.to ("Erin Kissane") wrote:

Happy holidays, fediverse!

I got you a megathrust earthquake, soil liquefaction, spine-tingling papers about the way our networks confound knowledge, and a PDF in a pear tree. It's my wrap on a year of trying to make sense of how we make sense of what's happening to us.

https://www.wrecka.ge/landslide-a-ghost-story/

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Boosted by taral ("JP Sugarbroad"):
revjss@sfba.social ("Jeff Spencer") wrote:

Good news you might have missed: Researchers in South Korea have developed a new eco-friendly recycling process that recovers more than 95 percent of nickel and cobalt from old EV batteries with almost perfect purity. https://interestingengineering.com/energy/recycling-nickel-cobalt-ev-batteries

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

“There is no such thing as Too Much Garlic” sayeth the Lord

🧄

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

Oh no. What do you do when your stud spider develops into a girl?

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/12/24/gawain-is-a-girl/

Female black widow

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Boosted by taral ("JP Sugarbroad"):
paulisci@mstdn.ca ("Paul Fairie") wrote:

The 2025 Headline of the Year Nominees

🧵

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jscalzi@threads.net ("John Scalzi") wrote:

Someone might have forgotten to get mailable Christmas cards this year, realized it was Christmas Eve and then in 20 minutes slapped together something in Photoshop with stock art BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN that the holiday sentiments expressed here are not in fact genuine and sincere

Me and Krissy and a bokeh-laden festive background, with the words "Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday from the Scalzis"

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Boosted by fromjason ("fromjason.xyz ❤️ 💻"):
404mediaco ("404 Media") wrote:

In the age of Spotify and AI slop, tapes remind us what we’re missing when we stop taking risks.

https://www.404media.co/why-i-quit-streaming-and-got-back-into-cassettes/

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Gargron ("Eugen Rochko") wrote:

@FediTree 🎄

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fromjason ("fromjason.xyz ❤️ 💻") wrote:

I remember buying this desk—my dream desk—thinking I’d keep it pristine with nothing on it but my laptop and a cold brew. Oh how foolish I was.

My cluttered desk with notebooks, books, drinks, candles, photos, a small doom box, etc on it.

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jscalzi@threads.net ("John Scalzi") wrote:

EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO READ MY BOOKS PLEASE DO AND THANK YOU

Also, there is a reason that in more than one biography I say I am "your dad's favorite living science fiction author"

RE: https://www.threads.com/@hreneeford/post/DSpWlaDlq4i

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fromjason ("fromjason.xyz ❤️ 💻") wrote:

Why I Quit Streaming And Got Back Into Cassettes:

"Thus the act of listening to music is transformed from a practice of discovery and communication to a hyper-personalized mood board of machine-optimized “vibes.”"

its-happening.gif https://www.404media.co/why-i-quit-streaming-and-got-back-into-cassettes/

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

TPUSA in general and Benny Johnson in particular are wretched hate-mongers who want to convince an audience of indoctrinated sheep to go out and kill people.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/12/24/benny-johnson-wants-to-kill-people/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1FeqYqICcE

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Boosted by ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Were ⁂🐧🌱☕"):
Opfoss@c.im ("Onslow Poly") wrote:

An eye-level, medium shot shows a person looking up at a rectangular white ceiling vent with both arms raised to open it. The image includes text on the right side that says, "Don't forget to leave cigarettes, shoes and a twinkie in the ductwork for John McClain on Christmas Eve."

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Boosted by ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Were ⁂🐧🌱☕"):
memes@wetdry.world ("memes 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️") wrote:

1980 - normal car 2021 - most ugly steel brick ever 1980 - normal headlights 2021 - flashbang

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Boosted by ChrisWere@toot.wales ("Chris Were ⁂🐧🌱☕"):
bleuje@mathstodon.xyz ("Etienne Jacob") wrote:

Attachments:

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jwz wrote:

Xmas movies.

Reminder that in 2022, the elves did their work in one night and gave us two perfect Christmas movies. In case you're looking for something to watch with mom.
https://jwz.org/b/yk05

Screenshot

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jwz wrote:

Die Hard sucks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Al864X%5FicY

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Boosted by jwz:
iso7010@hacksrus.xyz ("ISO7010 pictogram of the day") wrote:

P043 – Not for people in the state of intoxication

Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ISO%5F7010%5FP043.svg
Author: Wikimedia Commons user Jonas Steinhöfel
Public domain

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jwz wrote:

Unknown Xmas.
https://jwz.org/b/yk02

Screenshot

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baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason") wrote:

More reworkings. #photos #photography

A couple huddles together in conversation in between trees in a small Montréal park. In black and white which, again, emphasises the shapes and shadows
Same photo except in colour which gives the photo more emotional depth
A group of college students sit around a park table under a tree, in black and white.
Same photo of the college students except in colour, which gives it a greater sense of autumn

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baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason") wrote:

Another reason to revisit old work is that with digital photography you aren’t stuck with the choices you made at the time. Back in 2018 I was largely a black-and-white all-the-time photographer, but I’ve been looking over those photos and reworking them in colour. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t #photos #photography

A woman reading a book in the park at the root of Mont Royal in Montréal. In black and white which makes the shadows of the trees very distinct
That same photo of the woman reading, except in colour. This deemphasises the shadows and trees but emphasises the sense of summer.
A black and white photo of a silhouette of a boy standing under a tree
That same photo except in colour. The addition of colour makes the photo feel a bit less real.