mcneely @mcneely@librem.one

It's not 'America' coming apart!

Its a schism between Americans who support a multicultural, multiracial, multilingual America that centers fair socioeconomic opportunity for all

& those that want a theocratic Christian evangelical white ethnostate that centers economic elites

Seeing lots of excitement about the #MIT instance (@mastodon.mit.edu) and ppl wanting to set up their own university instances. but very important--the MIT instance is entirely volunteer run and is NOT associated with uni admin. universities are massive PR machines (literally hedge funds with a bunch of academics attached) and will not hesitate to co-opt a grass-roots community associated with their brand. If you want to start your own uni instance, DO NOT let uni admin get involved!!

since a lot of folks are becoming newly interested in escaping corporate silos and moving to community-based services, are you aware of @matrix?

Matrix is to Slack and Discord, what Mastodon is to Twitter: a decentralized, federated network based on open standards/specs. It also supports full end-to-end encryption, just like Signal, so you can exchange messages privately!

If you find the fediverse interesting/inspiring, I recommend giving matrix a whirl. The quickest way to get started is to head over to https://app.element.io/ and make a (free!) account (although you can also join any number of other home servers, or host your own--they all talk to each other!).

If you _do_ end up checking it out, please do say hi! I'm @zkat:zkat.tech over there. I also manage a "space" (a group of channels, kinda like a Discord server) that you can join by clicking here: https://matrix.to/#/!tKdDSgQTxQzcOuTXqV:matrix.org?via=zkat.tech&via=matrix.org&via=envs.net

I hope this sparks your interest! I'd love to see you over there, too!

This probably describes me better than any intro

#introduction time!

I write JavaScript 9 to 5, but I mostly post about my contributions to #linux and #freesoftware projects.

I co-maintain #libinput and I'm a fairly active #linuxkernel hobbyist developer. Mostly adding input features and learning about graphics (DRM/KMS).

I'm also an #elementaryos user and casual contributor and I've contributed to many other projects, specially on the #GNOME and #wayland ecosystems.

Isn't it kinda weird that #Mastodon gets described as 'left-leaning' because we handle more strickt rules and don't tolerate things like bullying.. It could be me but I perceive this as 'normal'.

I mean you don't call people all kinds of names in a conversation on the street or in the store right? Even if you don't agree🤔

Somehow it feels the (online) standards for treating each other have declined so much over the past few years

Let them talk, we are a loving and happy community!

to clarify, what I mean is that this should put to rest the persistent and wrong idea that Trump and Trumpism speak for any kind of silent majority of American voters, rather than an anti-democratic minority bloc that is broadly unpopular but advantaged by structural factors

Someone in a group called Twitter “$8chan” 🤣

@fleaz @heath @homeassistant

I maintain the github.com/unixorn/works-with-home-assistant list on github. I'd love to see some PRs with any devices you're using that aren't on there, or even just issues if you want me to add them.

There are other lists out there, but this one restricted to things people have personally used and confirmed work (there's a section for stuff that doesn't work too) with #HomeAssistant

Why use a #cw for #news? Here is one reason.
doi: 10.1503/cmaj.1095928

"The impulse to consume negative news can be difficult to resist. 'We are evolutionarily wired to screen for and anticipate danger, which is why keeping our fingers on the pulse of bad news may trick us into feeling more prepared,' says Cecille Ahrens, clinical director of Transcend Therapy in San Diego"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8096381/#__ffn_sectitle

So, uh, Trump trying to figure out how he can jail journalists if he returns to the Presidency seems like it should, you know, be a big deal that should worry people quite a lot. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-imagines-journalists-raped-prison-1234626493/

#USPOL #ElectionNight2022
I am SO proud of Maryland’s new Gov-Elect @iamwesmoore. A superstar who is brilliant and dedicated. He is the first Black Governor in the history of the state and only the third Black Governor elected to office in the U.S. since Reconstruction. Wonderful! If you don’t know him learn about him!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/08/maryland-governor-results-wes-moore-dan-cox/

I've seen a lot of people asking about DMs here. I wrote an article about this today, but thought it'd be more useful to just say it in a post: Privacy is not the purpose of DMs. DMs are a courtesy to your followers. You’re communicating with another user directly because the information is of no value to anyone else, and there’s no reason to flood other people’s timelines with irrelevancies. Do not use DMs to discuss personal or sensitive information. (Use Signal).

If you need it and want to join, here is the BlackTwitter instance https://blacktwitter.io/about

#BlackMastodon
#BlackTwitter
#BlackFediverse
#BlackFedi
#BlackAcademics
#BlackDiaspora
#BIPoc
#black
#diversity
#DiversityEquityInclusion

#NewHere I think it would be a good idea if everyone, especially the ones that are here for a few more days told the first day-ers to follow @feditips. The locals are starting to give of some vibes of slight overwhelm, explaining CW's answering the same questions over and over...I'ts a bit much to take in all at once I think, on both sides. Life without algorithm is like culture shock, you have to relearn basic social rules.

We are excited to support #UpgradeToLinux, an initiative to help global users upgrade to #Linux for free improved #OpenSource, #security, and #sustainability! Learn how you can support the movement and connect with others by sharing your story at https://upgradetolinux.com

For all it's advantages and faults, #Mastodon was not built to be a *new* Twitter. It was built to be *not* Twitter.

That distinction is important.

Probably not a lot of people know this now, but Mastodon's web app started out with "Publish". In 2016 a famous YouTuber jokingly offered to support Mastodon's Patreon forever if I changed the button to say "Toot" instead. Needless to say, this was a really early, and not very informed decision. The first glimpse of attention and financial support. As a non-native speaker I had no idea there was another meaning.

It's *great* that mastodon traffic is building. But it's showing how following #hashtags is creating it's own problem.

My hashtag column in the Web interface is absolutely bursting with activity. So much so that it's hard to follow, and keep up. Lots of potential solutions, just pointing out this very good problem to have...