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- blog.joinmastodon.org Highlighting journalism on Mastodon
Today we're launching a new feature that will highlight writers and journalists that are active on the fediverse when their their articles are being shared.
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‘Star Trek’ Alum Jonathan Frakes to Direct Sci-Fi Adaptation of ‘Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime’
variety.com ‘Star Trek’ Alum Jonathan Frakes to Direct Sci-Fi Adaptation of ‘Arthur C. Clarke’s Venus Prime’ (EXCLUSIVE)Jonathan Frakes has joined the producing and creative team of Arthur C. Clarke’s ‘Venus Prime’ series adaptation.
- www.hollywoodreporter.com Paramount Cuts Nearly All Content on Comedy Central, TV Land, CMT and MTV Websites
The sites, formerly home to a trove of clips and other related materials, now redirect users to Paramount+.
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Willie Mays - the 'Say Hey Kid' considered baseball's best all-around player - dies at 93
Rest in peace. Isn’t he a time traveler, though? I thought Starfleet Intelligence would have resolved this by now.
- www.bugeyedandshameless.com Prebunker Mentality
New research in combatting misinformation suggests the truth may have a future yet. But we're solving for the wrong problem.
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Anybody watching Resident Alien?
I added it to my watch list because Robert Duncan McNeill is an executive producer, and finally started on it yesterday. Definitely enjoying it so far.
I'm only partway through the first season, but it's basically "What if ET was kind of a jerk?" (or possibly "What if Dr. House was an alien?") If you've seen it, no spoilers please, but curious if anyone else has watched it and their thoughts on it.
- gizmodo.com NASA's Voyager Has Made a Full Recovery After Glitch Nearly Ended the Historic Mission
The iconic mission has resumed regular science operations for the first time since November 2023.
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Season one of StarTrek.website is in the bag! So we've added "V'ger", as a treat.
Like many other Lemmy instances, we turned one this week! If you enjoy the Voyager app experience but prefer to only login locally (not that there's any reason whatsoever to distrust vger.app) or not log in at all, we now have an option for you!
https://vger.startrek.website/
(actual footage of a vger.startrek.website user)
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A friendly reminder that we also have mlem ("old reddit") fronted installed too for those that prefer browsing in a familiar interface on desktop.
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We do plan on updating to Lemmy 0.19.4 sometime this month so keep an eye out for that!
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If you've noticed the site hitching lately it's because we were reaching our storage limit (again, oops) so we purchased significantly more storage that appears to be helping.
Big nuqneH to our Patreon supporters for keeping our little corner of the Fediverse on the air a whole year and also allowing us to add features like these frontends and wiki (editing is open to all!) If you'd like to pitch in we have just one plan and it's only $4.
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- gizmodo.com AI Detectors Get It Wrong. Writers Are Being Fired Anyway
AI is already stealing writers’ work. Now they’re losing jobs over false accusations of using it.
- www.hollywoodreporter.com No Deal: Shari Redstone Ends Talks On Skydance Offer for Paramount Global
The mogul had been reviewing the offer from the consortium led by Skydance and RedBird Capital.
- www.thedailybeast.com G/O Media Sells Off Gizmodo
The sale will keep the tech website’s entire staff intact, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller wrote in a company-wide memo obtained by The Daily Beast.
I'm not familiar with Keleops, but it's hard to imagine Gizmodo being worse off than it had been under the previous ownership.
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In honor of the late William Anders, here's a really great video on the "Earthrise" photo and how improbable it is that we have it at all
YouTube Video
Click to view this content.
- deadline.com ‘Pink Moon’: Blu Del Barrio Joins Cast Of Carol Brandt’s Queer Heist Drama
'Pink Moon': Blu Del Barrio Joins Cast Of Carol Brandt's Queer Heist Drama
- arstechnica.com New warp drive concept does twist space, doesn’t move us very fast
While it won't make a useful spaceship engine, it may tell us more about relativity.
>The researchers did indeed discover a warp drive solution: a method of manipulating space so that travelers can move without accelerating. There is no such thing as a free lunch, however, and the physicality of this warp drive does come with a major caveat: the vessel and passengers can never travel faster than light. Also disappointing: the fact that the researchers behind the new work don't seem to bother with figuring out what configurations of matter would allow the warping to happen.
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Variety - Top Marketing & Communications Executive leaving Paramount Global
variety.com Paramount Global’s Top Marketing and Communications Exec, Julia Phelps, Is LeavingJulia Phelps, Paramount Global's executive VP and chief communications and corporate marketing officer, is leaving the company.
More departures of former Viacom senior executives from Paramount Global in the wake of Baklish’s firing.
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Introducing c/DoctorWho!
We've been interested in hosting communities that aren't exactly Star Trek, but also make a certain kind of sense for this instance for a while. - Quark's was the first step, and now we've decided to pull the trigger on [email protected] - with the new season up and running, this seems like as good a time as any. Whovians new and old alike are welcome to stop by!
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Episode Discussion | Doctor Who | 1x01 "Space Babies" and 1x02 "The Devil's Chord"
"Space Babies"
Logline
Ruby learns the Doctor’s amazing secrets when he takes her to a Baby Farm in the future that’s being run by babies, but threatened by a bogeyman.
Written by: Russell T. Davies
Directed by: Julie Anne Robinson
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"The Devil's Chord"
Logline
When the Doctor and Ruby meet The Beatles, they discover that the all-powerful Maestro is changing history.
Written by: Russell T. Davies
Directed by: Ben Chessell
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This thead is a trial balloon to gauge whether there's interest in having ongoing "Doctor Who" discussion threads, or perhaps a local community.
- futurism.com Meet AdVon, the AI-Powered Content Monster Infecting the Media Industry
Our investigation into AdVon Commerce, the AI contractor at the heart of scandals at USA Today and Sports Illustrated.
- trekmovie.com Crowdfunded ‘Space Command: Redemption’ Released, Features Star Trek’s Doug Jones, Robert Picardo & More
Watch the release trailer for this series inspired by Star Trek.
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Early review: Doctor Who's Latest Era Is a Burst of Regenerative Energy
gizmodo.com Doctor Who's Latest Era Is a Burst of Regenerative EnergyAfter an introduction at Christmas, Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson's first trips in the TARDIS are fun, fresh, and buzzing with energy.
I'm just curious...is there any interest in discussing DW episodes in a startrek.website community?
- deadline.com It’s Official: Bob Bakish Is Out At Paramount Global, Trio Of Division Heads Form New Office Of The CEO
Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish is departing and a trio of top division heads, Brian Robbins, George Cheeks and Chris McCarthy, are stepping up..
- blog.joinmastodon.org Mastodon forms new U.S. non-profit
As part of our commitment to supporting the growth and operational capabilities of Mastodon, we have established a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity in the United States aimed at facilitating our efforts, including being able to receive tax-deductible U.S. donations.
- arstechnica.com NASA officially greenlights $3.35 billion mission to Saturn’s moon Titan
Dragonfly will push the boundaries of engineering and science as it explores Titan.
- www.theverge.com Newsletter platform Ghost adopts ActivityPub to ‘bring back the open web’
Interoperable social media is having a real moment
- www.wired.com North Koreans Secretly Animated Amazon and Max Shows, Researchers Say
Thousands of exposed files on a misconfigured North Korean server hint at one way the reclusive country may evade international sanctions.
- trekmovie.com NATO Explains Why The Theme For ‘Star Trek: First Contact’ Was Played At Sweden’s Induction Ceremony
This time it definitely is Swedish.
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The Delta IV Heavy, a rocket whose time has come and gone, will fly once last time.
arstechnica.com The Delta IV Heavy, a rocket whose time has come and gone, will fly once moreThe final Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch Thursday, weather permitting.
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Shatner celebrates his 93rd birthday on Jimmy Kimmel
YouTube Video
Click to view this content.
This is possibly the first interview I've ever seen where he looks a little less spry than we're used to, but my goodness the man doesn't quit.
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Apollo Global Offers $11 Billion to Buy Paramount Film and TV Studios
variety.com Apollo Global Offers $11 Billion to Buy Paramount Film and TV Studios: ReportPrivate-equity firm Apollo Global Management reportedly has submitted an $11 billion bid to acquire Paramount's film and TV studios.
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Jess Bush: Koons on the Moon? Artists’ crucial role in shaping humanity’s image on Earth and beyond
spacenews.com Koons on the Moon? Artists’ crucial role in shaping humanity’s image on Earth and beyondAs we find ourselves on the precipice of lunar travel, we must be thoughtful about how we as a society wish to proceed.
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“USS Callister” Sequel on it's way!
www.hollywoodreporter.com ‘Black Mirror’ Season 7 to Hit Netflix in 2025, Including “USS Callister” SequelThe news emerged at the Next on Netflix event in London.
- www.theverge.com SpaceX is cleared to attempt its third Starship test flight
This one will be a little different from the others.
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"Shields up!" An interesting look at real-life active-shielding technologies for spacecraft.
arstechnica.com Shields up: New ideas might make active shielding viableActive shielding was first proposed in the '60s. We’re finally close to making it work.
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I am extremely grateful to everybody involved with Lemmy. That includes you!
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/26272438
> # Hello! > > I am sunaurus, the head admin of lemm.ee. Ever since I created my instance, I have been following a lot of public and private discussion channels between different parties involved with Lemmy. As I’m sure many others have also noticed, the discussions in such channels sometimes get heated, and in fact recently, I feel like there has been a constant trend in these discussions towards a lot of demands, hostility, negativity, and a general lack of empathy between different participants in the Lemmy network. > > I am writing this post for a few reasons: > 1. I would like add a bit of positivity by expressing my gratitude towards every single person who has helped improve Lemmy. > 2. I want to speak up in defense of different people who have been receiving negativity lately. > 3. There are a few false rumors spreading on Lemmy, which I would like to try and counteract with very simple evidence. > 4. I want to remind everybody that at the end of the day, all of us care about building and improving Lemmy. We all have the same goal, and it’s too easy to lose sight of that. > > I will split up what I want to say in this post by different user groups - users, mods, admins and developers. I understand that many people belong to several (or even all) of these groups, but I just want to highlight the value of, and express my gratitude to each group separately. > > > ### Users > > At the end of the day, Lemmy would not be worth anything without the users. Users bring Lemmy to life by posting great content, getting involved in discussions in comments, helping surface interesting content for others through voting and even keeping the platform clean through reports. I am extremely thankful for all the users who have given me so much enjoyment on this platform. > > I believe that users often get treated unfairly on Lemmy based on what instance they are participating from. I’m sure so many of you have noticed comments around Lemmy along the lines of “Oh, another user from <instance>, I’m going to completely ignore your stupid takes”. I’ve also many cases of people treating users as second-class citizen if they are not on the same instance - for example, I’ve seen users who are active and valuable participants in communities on another instance receive comments like “why are you participating in our discussions, go back to your own instance”. In my opinion this is completely counterproductive to the whole idea of federation. > On a human level, I can understand it - you’re far more likely to notice or remember what instance somebody is posting from if you have a negative experience. As a result, as time goes by, people tend to develop negative views of each instance, despite potentially having had many positive interactions with other users of those same instances. > The message I want to put out here is that instances, especially bigger ones, are not monoliths - do not judge users based on what instance they are browsing Lemmy from, judge them by their actual words and actions. > > ### Mods > > There are some excellent communities already on Lemmy, and these communities are all continuously being built up and maintained by mods. Mods put in huge amounts of their free time and energy in order to provide spaces for all Lemmy users. They form the first line of defense against bad actors, they keep communities alive and often receive no praise, only criticism. I am very grateful to everybody who has dedicated time to building communities on Lemmy. > > Users rarely notice the lengths mods go to in order to keep communities running smoothly - mods more often than not only get noticed when users disagree with some mod actions. I believe mods deserve a lot better than this. Constructive criticism can of course be useful to improve communities, but it must be balanced with empathy and kindness towards people who have been putting in effort to provide something for users. Remember that there is another human being reading your words when you start writing about the mods of any particular community. Users who are not happy with mods of a certain community always have the opportunity to start their own community and run it as they like. > > ### Admins > > Admins provide two main key functions for the network: > > 1. Taking care of the actual infrastructure of Lemmy > 2. Working as a higher level defense against bad actors, in cases where mods are not enough > > I can tell from my own experience that being an admin of a bigger instance requires constant energy and attention. I don’t believe that there is a single medium-to-big instance where the admins have not put in hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of their free time, as well as in many cases, probably their own money. This is a service which admins provide for free, and it is necessary in order to keep the Lemmy network healthy. I have endless respect for anybody who is willing to put themselves in the position of a Lemmy admin. > > I have seen awful messages towards admins from all the other groups listed here, including other admins. These messages range from condescending and rude, to downright hateful. I have seen admins treated as useless and their work taken for granted. I have seen people getting frustrated with admins for not spending every waking minute on Lemmy. I have seen some users consistently spreading provably false rumors about particular admins in an effort to tarnish their reputation on Lemmy. > > > Before you take out frustration on admins, please remember that they are also humans who have been working tirelessly to improve Lemmy in their own way. > > Also, a reminder: the absolute best feature of Lemmy is that users are free to pick their instance - and as a result, users are also free to pick their admins. Even more than that, users can always become their own admins by spinning up their own instance. Yes, this requires dedication, effort, and research, but that’s exactly my point. It’s not easy running an instance, and mistreating people who do this as a free service is completely unacceptable. > > ### Developers > > Lemmy development has been lead by a few key maintainers, with a massive amount of smaller contributors. The software is constantly being improved at a very good pace, and everybody is able to benefit from this effort at no cost whatsoever. I am extremely grateful to everybody who has participated in the development of the Lemmy software, and other related software, as without you folks, none of us would even be here now. > > There seems to be a huge amount of people with very little appreciation of the work that has gone into the software. I’m sure many of you have seen countless messages where people express that the devs should be doing more in one way or another. “They should work faster”, “they should prioritize this obviously most important feature”, “they should be available 24/7 to offer support”, etc. I just want to take a moment here and acknowledge what core maintainers have already done for Lemmy: > > * Years worth of work on the code itself > * Offering support to the community and other admins > * Reviewing literally thousands of pull requests on GitHub > * Acting fast in stressful situations where the Lemmy network has been overloaded > * Not abandoning the project in the face of constant hateful users > * Sacrificing literally hundreds of thousands of euros in missed salaries which they could have been getting if they were working for a tech company instead of working on Lemmy > > I also want to take this moment to discredit some rumors which I have seen repeated too many times: > > 1. Rumor: Lemmy devs do not accept outside code contributions > > This is completely false - the maintainers are completely open to (and even constantly asking for) contributions. When somebody starts contributing, they will receive support and code reviews very quickly. I can tell you that I have experienced this myself several times, but that’s anecdotal, so let me also provide evidence: > > a. Contributors list for the Lemmy backend: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/graphs/contributors > > b. Contributors list for Lemmy UI: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/graphs/contributors > > Both of these lists include 100 different names, and that’s only because GitHub literally caps these pages to 100 users. Actually, the amount of different contributors is even bigger. If Lemmy devs did not accept and encourage outside contributions, then there would be no way for these lists to be so big. > > 2. Rumor: Lemmy devs work too slowly > > This is an extremely entitled and frankly stupid claim. I try to keep on top of the changes made in the Lemmy repo, and let me tell you, the pace of improvement is very good. > > I very firmly believe that if the network started downgrading to Lemmy versions from ~8 months ago, the whole network would just collapse, as none of the instances could keep up with the current volume. That is to say, we have come an extremely long way since last summer alone. > > Let me provide some more evidence. Take a look at the Pulse page for the Lemmy backend on GitHub: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/pulse. As of writing this, Lemmy devs have merged 18 pull requests in the week leading up to this post - that’s an average of 2.5 merged PRs per day. This is extremely good for a project with a small underfunded team. > > 3. Rumor: Lemmy devs do not prioritize the important issues > > There are two sides to this. First of all, there are endless users who turn to the Lemmy devs with what they believe is the most important issue and should immediately be prioritized - the problem is that almost none of these endless users have the same view of what the most important issue actually is! In that sense, it’s literally impossible to please everybody, because everybody wants different things. > > On the other hand, even when Lemmy devs do prioritize things which some users have been desperately asking for, I have on several occasions seen a dismissive response along the lines of “too little too late”. Basically, the demands made are often unrealistic and impossible to meet. > > If you are somebody who feels like Lemmy devs are not doing enough, I would ask you to please take a step back, look at the actual contributions which they have made, and consider how you yourself would feel if after making such a massive contribution, you would still need to listen to countless strangers on the internet tell you how you’re not good enough in their opinion. > > ### Conclusion > > Lastly, I am very thankful to anybody who took the time to read to the end of this post. Again, my goal is to try and defuse some of the hostility, as well as to put out a message of gratitude and positivity. I am very interested in the success of Lemmy as a whole, and that is much easier to achieve and maintain if we all work together. Thank you, I hope you're doing well, and have a nice weekend!