Vitamin D supplements. You're not gonna get much sunlight, and you need vitamin D not to get depressed.
The locals are used to seasonal depression. Foreigners tend to have a hard time with it.
Layers are key. Noting beats real wool.
Use mittens, not gloves. Gloves suck.
You cannot interact with microblog folks on Lemmy, unless they actively post something in a Lemmy community by tagging it. So if you want to combine microblogging with threaded discussions Mbin is the only platform that does both. Mbin lists followers publicly.
I think there are Mastodon forks (or configurations) that hide followers from the public though. But it will only ever be half hidden.
It's useful.
Let's say you see someone who posts stuff you're interested in. In a brief moment of absolute brilliance, you think to yourself "aha! Maybe this person follows other people whose content I would be interested in!"
So you check, and sure enough, there's a bunch of interesting people listed. So you follow them as well. Your social graph grows, you have a better time there, the people you follow get better reach and gets to enjoy pleasant interactions with you. Everybody's happy.
These social media platforms are designed to be public. If you want to do stuff in secret, do it somewhere else.
I guess I at least agree that we were naïve with regards to Dorsey and way too slow to realize Twitter was a threat. Looking back now it seems like it was bound to go to hell eventually, and if we look beyond the west it already went to hell a long time ago. And even in the west the tipping point was arguably years before Musk bought Twitter, it was just that people were too addicted to accept how dangerous it was.
So I guess you could criticize people for only realizing now how fucked up Twitter is. Then again, better late than never.
That's fantastic.
It seems clear the English speaking web has a preference for Bluesky. It would be interesting to know how much variation there is between users of other European languages. It seems to me the Germans are pretty active in the Fediverse, which makes sense considering a significant portion of them have been huge privacy nerds since the fall of the GDR.
Oh no, it's fine, we're just being softly threatened with the enabling of a Russian invasion of our eastern borders should we force Twitter to comply with our laws. No real problem here, keep posting.
I just saw this post over at Mastodon, and it seems to be a solid reminder why Victorinox deserves to be represented in this community:
A few weeks ago, I sent my 1985 Swiss Army Knife back to Victorinox for a broken blade replacement.
It came back today, fully repaired, cleaned, polished, lubricated and in a new box.
Total cost: £10 + return postage.
They sent the knife back with an invoice. I didn't have to pay a penny before the job was done.
A product that's been out of production for almost 40 years, repaired at very little cost by the original manufacturer.
I'm stunned. Happy, impressed, grateful and stunned.
I've only had my Swiss army knife for around half a decade, but I can confirm that they are still amazing.
Spoiler alert!!
Also, really beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Christian Democratic Union, no less.
Interesting take on Christianity.
Interesting take on Democracy.
I guess we just need the party to split in order for the irony to be complete.
I mean, I totally believe people who would find the act of milking a cow to be disgusting have no business drinking milk from the supermarket. We need to reflect on where food comes from, and if that changes people's habits that's probably a good thing.
In part, I think legislation should play a role here. When buying milk you should be able to know what kind of conditions the cows lived under and what they were fed. I don't think there's anything disgusting about cow milk as such. Induatrial farming, on the other hand...
I'm not telling you to shut up. But I am telling you that you're probably not convincing as many people as you'd wish by telling them that their culture and way of life is "gross".
Also, some of the best plant based food is totally gross. Fermentation is life.
If everyone made an effort we'd live in a completely different world almost over night. At least as someone who cares about sustainability side of it, that's what matters. But I appreciate that veganism consists of a bunch of different forms of arguments and motivations.
If you consider this to be the main reason not to eat cheese, you would particularly benefit from keeping it to yourself.
Thanks for not fucking up the planet any faster than you have to, and for being a better person than I am.
I've almost given up meat. I don't see myself ever giving up cheese. But I appreciate you guys and what you're (not) doing.
Failure to show harm?!
Well, shit, that opens the floodgates for a whole lot of copyright infringement.
Cool.
Absolutely. If America was ever great, the greatness existed in the work and legacy of FDR. Saying that he was one of the greats feels like selling him short.
When could it really?
I know it did, but I feel like we're just waking up from some 80-year trance where we idiotically thought the US was something we could depend on.
Even worse, he's a bad businessman. The kind you would not do business with unless you are trying to suck up to him for one reason or another. He famously does not honour his contracts.
So it's not even transactional in a functional sense. He's just a conman.
The baffling thing is how the hell did we end up relying so much on the US in the first place.
The last time the US was great was FDR, and even he had to fight like hell against America First in order to stand up against the nazis. Other than that there has been brief moments of impressive presidents, but they have always been up against a nation that seems infantile at best. JFKs greatest accomplishment - arguably second to Marilyn Monroe - was that he managed to keep his own secret service from getting a nuclear war started. Which is great, but it's great in spite of America.
I think I have over-estimated America on account of having my formative years during the Obama presidency. He seemed like the leader of the free world. But that was a brief exception in a historical perspective.
Now that we have come to.A point that it's obvious we cannot depend on America, I am only left with one question: How did we ever come to think that we could?
Is there as much enthusiasm for Trump online today as eight years ago?
I remember when Trump first won, the American-centered part of the web I would occasionally stop by seemed completely infiltrated with MAGA trolls. You had this feeling people thought it was edgy and fun - the worst kind of cultural moment seemed to be happening.
This time around I'm not so much on mainstream social media. And when I do check them out, it seems hard to understand what the vibe is as most content is AI or from professional content creators.
The closest thing I see to Trump supporters these days seems to be the enablers who endlessly repeat how they won't vote for Harris for some dumb reason or another - they simply cannot vote for a black woman president because it's not progressive enough, and all that jazz. But I don't ever see Trump supporters.
Of course they exist still. I have just chose social media platforms strategically to avoid toxic people.
So I'm wondering if the same enthusiasm for Trump that seemed to be boiling online in 2016 is still there today, and if this election only feels different because I'm self-selected into saner platforms. Or if it is really different this time around.
I get that it's an incredibly difficult question to answer, but I would love perspectives from people who have kept up an active use of mainstream social media, or otherwise have some insights I lack.
Norway takes Israel's UNRWA ban to the International Court of Justice
Norge ber den internasjonale domstolen i FN (ICJ) avklare om Israel bryter folkeretten. Mandag vedtok Israel nye lover som i praksis forbyr FNs hjelpeorganisasjon for palestinske flyktninger.
Norway asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to clarify whether Israel is violating international law. On Monday, Israel adopted new laws that effectively ban the UN aid organization for Palestinian refugees.
***
Norway, the UN, the USA and several countries have reacted strongly to the fact that the majority in the Knesset passed two new laws on Monday evening which will ban the UN aid organization for Palestinian refugees, UNWRA.
One law prohibits UNWRA from operating in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories from next year.
The second law stipulates that Israel labels the UN aid organization as a terrorist group and breaks diplomatic ties with the organization.
This means that the Israeli authorities are prohibited from having any contact whatsoever with the UN organisation.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) said in a press release yesterday that Norway strongly distanced itself from the decision.
Now the Norwegian government is going one step further.
Eide wants the UN's highest court to assess whether Israel is violating international law when they want to ban UNRWA's work.
\- No one is above the law and no one is above international law. The occupying power Israel has a duty to facilitate support for the people living in Palestine under occupation. Therefore, we believe this decision is simply illegal, says Eide to NRK.
According to the government, a number of countries have expressed support for the initiative, in addition to the United Nations Organization for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Doesn't think anyone can replace UNRWA now
Norway has long been critical of how Israel has operated in Gaza and the West Bank after the Hamas attack in October last year.
Following Israel's decision to ban the UN aid organisation, Norway fears that the consequences could be dramatic for hundreds of thousands of civilians.
The organization has provided aid to millions of displaced Palestinians for over 70 years. They have also continued to work, while the war has raged in Gaza.
Eide believes that the Israeli government is now making it difficult for the Palestinians to get vital help and basic services such as health care and school.
The Israeli authorities say they are working on other solutions that can replace UNRWA, but Barth Eide believes that is not good enough.
\- All the important emergency aid organizations are clear that they need the UN's emergency aid organization for Palestinian refugees. They are the ones who have the experience, they are the ones who have the expertise and those who have the entire infrastructure both in Gaza and the West Bank, says Eide to NRK.
He does not believe that anyone can replace the UN organization in the current situation.
- I do not believe that there is an alternative plan for this that can be put in place in time. The need and the crisis are now, not in the future. So this must be reversed, says Eide.
- Undermines the work on a two-state solution
Eide also believes that Israel's decision could undermine the work for a viable Palestinian state and a two-state solution.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, is well satisfied with Monday's decision.
\- UNRWA staff involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable, he wrote on X after the new laws were passed.
Israel has claimed that 450 UNRWA staff worked for militant groups in Gaza and that several participated in the terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October last year.
Several countries put payments to UNRWA on hold. Norway was not among them.
An independent commission of inquiry later determined that Israel lacked evidence. UNRWA also fired around 20 staff for having a role in the 7 October attack.
***
Via NRK, the Norwegian public broadcaster.
Nick Cave - Frogs (2024)
From Nick Cave's latest album, Wild God.
The song prompted a fan to ask Cave the following:
> what makes you decide whether a lyric is great or should be dumped cos it’s utter shit, cos, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, you walk a very fine tightrope between the two, my man.
Which Nick Cave chose to personally answer on his website. It's a fine read.
Kris Kristofferson, Songwriter Whose Poetic Lyrics Transcended Genre, Dead at 88
Kris Kristofferson, the revered songwriter whose poetic lyrics transcended genre, has died at age 88.
One of the all time greatest songwriters. There's not a single song on his first album (Kristofferson) that is not made for the history books.
Nick Cave recemtly referenced him (and his cleanest dirty shirt) on his newest album (Wild God, song Frogs), in a song that is all about life and death. Seems relevant somehow.
> Then I headed back for home > And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringing > And it echoed through the canyons > Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday
Backup over home network - seeking advice
I am currently using GNOME Backups (aka Déjà Dup Backups) to backup all my files to a "backups" folder in my Dropbox. This is not a good solution - first because I want to stop paying for dropbox, second because I don't want to keep everything in the cloud, third because everything is stored twice on my laptop and storage is precious.
I therefore want to manage back-ups locally instead. I would like to keep using Déjà Dup, as it has worked really well and effortlessly.
My initial idea is very bare bones. I could keep an old laptop running 24/7, connect a hard drive, and use SSH file transfer in Deja Dup in order to store everything on that machine. That said, I have a few concerns as well.
- Is this a good way of doing things? Should I be doing something else instead?
- I'm not always at home - will it be a problem if the Backup software cannot find the folder because it's not on the correct network, or will it have the sense to wait until it's connected to the correct wifi?
- Will the old laptop use a lot of power, or is it regrettable for any other reason? Is it possible to make it automatically hibernate for example during the nigthtime? Or to have it spend very little power unless anything is connected via SSH?
- Would it be better to get a dedicated device, like a Rasberry Pi or something? I don't have all too much faith in my old laptop not making noise with the fan running at random times.
It looks like my partner will be getting a new laptop running Linux soon enough as she has to hand in her work computer, so it would be good timing to get a proper solution into place.
Thank you in advance!
Alt Gr unresponsive on Ducky One Mini
I picked up a Ducky One Mini at a flea market yesterday, and after cleaning it extensively it seems to be working pretty well for the most part. I'm using it for writing and coding, so not having dedicated arrow keys will take some getting used to, but other than that it seems neat enough for the price I paid.
However, the alternative graphic button (on the right side of the space bar) is completely unresponsive. Pressing it just makes no difference at all. I used a tool that maps keyboard presses in Linux (xev), and it showed nothing when Alt Gr was pressed (just like the Fn button), so it seems no signal is being sent from the keyboard to the computer.
It could be that this is due to some setting made by the previous owner, or maybe there's something else going on. Maybe I need to update the firmware. Maybe it's broken. I have no idea.
The back-light behind some of the numerical keys is also disabled or broken, but it doesn't bother me much as I'm not a big fan of back-light anyway.
But if anyone has any suggestions what to try for the alternative graphic key it would be much appreciated! For now I have re-routed right super (Windows button) to be read as Alt Gr, but it's not very convenient when writing Latex and using a lot of curly brackets. :)
Geoff Berner - Sailor's Mournpipe (or: Kak Zey On) - 2024
> > > This song is also definitely not about anything going right now. No, it's a history song about people long, long ago who found themselves trapped on a ship of fools. > >
In Yiddish with lyrics by Michael Wex.
Geoff Berner is a Canadian musician and songwriter with a background in punk and klezmer, notorious for writing angry accordion songs about being antifascist and/or jewish.
Labour deselecting left-wing candidates and women of colour in first week of campaign
Attached: 1 image #GE2024 What have Labour done in their first campaign week? Deselected left-wing (not Israel supporting) candidates!! Diane Abbott (not sure but looks like it), now Doctor Faiza Shaheen, in Chingford, and more. This is appalling. Really angry. #UKPolitics EDIT: it’s become a bit...
Labour has decided to start their campaign with a bang, pruning women of colour and left wingers from the ballot due to reasons such as liking tweets sharing Jon Stewart videos. At the end of the day it boils down to support for Palestine.
Looks like Labour is doing what they can to make sure UK politics remains completely fucked even after the end of the Tory rule.
Interview with brilliant University of Chicago protester
Attached: 1 video Student protestors are portrayed as anywhere between naive and brainwashed. Now listen to this. Nothing naive here. #Israel #Gaza #Chicago #Palestine #StudentProtests
The police stormed the protest camp at the University of Chicago in the middle of the night, leading to a great interview with a student talking about, among other things, the cowardness of following orders.
On the Lemmy.ml posting warning
I noticed responding to posts in communities hosted at lemmy.ml gives the following warning:
> > > This post is hosted on lemmy.ml which will ban you for saying anything negative about China, Russia or Putin. Tread carefully. > >
While I see where this is coming from and I agree with the general sentiment, I'm not sure it's a great idea to include such a message. I basically read it as an invitation to be off-topic and to derail conversations in order to annoy the admins. While it comes from a point of good intentions, it can be disheartening for the people running communities on Lemmy.ml to receive comments about Russia from users basically trying to get banned, in communities that has nothing to do with this issue.
It's unfortunate, but a lot of valuable older communities are still hosted on lemmy.ml, and I think PieFed users should be encouraged to be constructive and on-topic users there as they should be everywhere else.
An alternative suggestion: Maybe it could be useful to remind people which community they are posting in? Like, "This community is dedicated to renewable energy. Please keep this in mind when contributing to the discussion". Then again, that would be a mess to implement in a good way.
User-sourced content moderation
Hi,
The CSAM scandal the other day got me thinking about the (often lacking) capability of the Threadiverse to deal with quickly with content moderation, and since PieFed has already been a bit experimental in this regard, I figured maybe this is a place where I could ask if an idea is feasible. Sorry if it's a bad match!
The idea is to identify trusted users, in the same way that PieFed currently identifies potentially problematic users. Long term users with significantly more upvotes than downvotes. These trusted users could get an additional option to report a post, beyond "Report to moderator": Something like "Mark as abuse".
The user would be informed that this is meant for content that clearly goes against the rules of the server, that any other type of issue should be reported to moderators, and that abuse of the function leads to revoke of privilege to use it and, if intentional, potentially a ban.
If the user accepts this and marks a post as abuse, every post by the OP of the marked post would be temporarily hidden on the instance and marked for review by a moderator. The moderator can then choose to either 1) ban the user posting abusive material, or 2) make the posts visible again, and remove the "trusted" flag of the reporting user and hence avoiding similar false positives in the future.
A problem I keep seeing on the threadiverse is that bad content tends to remain available too long, as many smaller instances means that the moderating team might simply all be asleep. So this seems like one possible way of mitigating that. Maybe it's not technically feasible, and maybe it's just not a particularly good idea; it might also not be a particularly original idea, I don't know. But I figured it might be worth discussing.
Integration with the broader Fediverse
Congratulations on having made such a great tool, even in its early phase! It seems very solid.
I'm curious about the long-term plans for the project: Is the idea to work strictly with the Threadiverse (similar to Lemmy), or are there plans to integrate more with the microblog platforms (similar to Kbin)? Any particular difference in approach to Fediverse integration vis-a-vis the two main platforms?