David Megginson

Former medieval philologist (Ph.D, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, 1993). Living on unceded Anishinabe Algonquin territory.

Header picture: Large reddish-orange letters spelling "Hintonburg", some lying flat on the sidewalk for use as benches.

Me: #tea #gardening #classicalGuitar #vegetarian #language #disabled #aviation #flightSim #slideRules #tech #Linux #Ottawa

Society: #socialJustice #nonViolence #aid #urbanism #accessibility #transit #standards #FOSS

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NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsykup60rh7mxa3tn4trlkyg02aqkccgw0fdqmm0tqddv77ru0uvucpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds37gvhj

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relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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Last Notes

2026-08-22 20:43:30 GMT

On the day Canada finally walked away from so-called "trade talks" with our dysfunctional southern neighbour, I'm celebrating with a very local tomato sauce. Everything here (except 1 tsp of salt) grew within 20m of the pot.
#gardening #Ottawa #CanadaStrong #food
https://cdn.mstdn.ca/media_attachments/files/117/141/101/299/673/388/original/807416e29d6232f5.jpg

2026-08-10 12:32:02 GMT

If you see an em-dash ("—") online, it means you're reading
a post from someone who cares deeply about typography and effective communication;
copy that went through an editorial-review process at a publisher; or
text generated by an AI-model that was instructed to recognise an em-dash in its training material as a sign of more dependable, authoritative writing.
It's a shame that no.3 has drowned out the others in ignorant "How to spot AI !!!" influencer posts—the em-dash is a useful bit of punctuation.
#punctuation #AI #emDash

2026-06-10 10:33:37 GMT

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@nprofile…rnn3 There's always AOSP, but point taken — pure AOSP is a rounding error in Android deployments.
in hindsight, something like this was always going to happen if a Linux variant became wildly popular: it's not as if the corporate jackels would ignore a money-making opportunity. The FOSS ethos isn't as scalable as the software. 😒
My approach is to prefer mobile websites over apps (via Fennec with privacy add-ons), download FOSS apps from F-Droid when possible, and use DuckDuckGo's App Tracking Protection for the rest. I almost never see an ad on my (unrooted) Android phone. And there's Termux for when I want a more typical Linux experience.
#Linux #Android #FOSS

2026-05-07 13:45:01 GMT

twenty per cent of everybody Zoë had ever heard say 'espresso' said 'expresso' instead, and here it was, up on this blackboard: 'expresso coffee.' But now she discovered that maybe she'd been wrong all this time, because whatever they gave her, it wasn't espresso.
— from Mick Herron, The Last Voice You Hear (2004)
#reading #language #coffee

2026-04-21 21:03:49 GMT

I love playing #classicalGuitar
I love #gardening
I love #tea
I love #publicTransit
I love #emacs
I wonder if just these 5 interests in combination are enough to identify me uniquely in the fediverse. 🤷

2026-04-03 22:49:46 GMT

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@nprofile…pfuj Plus, their toilets don't work and their laundry rooms catch on fire. 🤷

2026-03-28 18:03:35 GMT

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@nprofile…wwlr Yes, I grew up on a quiet residential crescent, and it was no problem for me as a non-disabled child and teenager.
It's a very different experience in a wheelchair or walker, when you know it will take you 10 seconds or more to vacate the road and make room for a car, and sometimes can't move easily to the side without risk of falling or getting stuck.
All it takes is one inattentive driver: you really have no opportunity to save yourself.

2026-03-27 11:56:04 GMT

"This a quiet residential neighbourhood, we don't need sidewalks," said every non-disabled, non-elderly, non stroller-pushing, car-owning resident. 😕
(Ottawa's Manor Park neighbourhood at the moment, but it happens all over. And shame on Counsellor King for pandering to them )
#Ottawa #ableism #accessibility

2026-03-21 00:22:24 GMT

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@nprofile…52nc linked to an article saying
It will have been more than three weeks since the US and Israel first attacked Iran when the first British warship finally arrives off the coast of Cyprus, a belated defensive deployment that has highlighted the lack of military capacity available to the UK.
And meanwhile, the most advanced aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy was limping back to Crete, defeated by a laundry fire and clogged toilets.
The huge gap between hawkish politicians' chest-thumping rhetoric and the drab, depressing reality on military deployment isn't limited to just the UK.
#nonviolence #military

2026-03-08 11:47:17 GMT

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@nprofile…59kg Part of the problem is that we set the expectation that the fedi would work just like a monolithic social media site. If we reduced that expectation just a little, the demands would go down a lot.
Users already accept (or fail to notice) that Mastodon's search and hashtag features aren't really global across the fedi.

2026-03-08 11:34:12 GMT

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@nprofile…59kg Yes, lots of details to work out for our use cases, but the pull model is what makes RSS so crazy powerful and scalable. Push models are resource hogs that approach exponential growth in a large network like the fediverse — the medium-sized site that hosts my account is constantly struggling to stay one step ahead of the fedi's surging resource demands.

2026-01-14 15:22:36 GMT

In 1948, a team of mostly-female German construction workers built Berlin Tegel Airport in the French Sector in only 90 days, after Tempelhof and Gatow were overwhelmed by the Berlin Airlift.
The Soviets refused to remove two of their radio towers blocking the approach, so French General Jean Ganeval simply ordered them blown up. Soviet General Alexander Kotikiv was furious: "How could you do such a thing?"
Ganeval replied "With dynamite."
#history #Berlin #airports #humour

2025-12-28 12:18:49 GMT

Little acts of resistance matter. For example, if your team, community group, etc is staying in touch through a Facebook group, ask (politely) if it would be possible to switch to an e-mail list instead. There's a good chance no one has ever even raised the point before.
The more groups move off Facebook, the fewer people will feel "stuck" there, and the less tempting it will be for other groups to stay.
#Facebook #socialMedia

2025-11-02 17:24:26 GMT

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@nprofile…s67t I spent many years looking for one for OurAirports, with no success. I can get METARs, TAFs, and NOTAMs, but not arrivals/departures.

2025-08-16 18:59:33 GMT

(This post is for non-Americans.) Folks, it's time to stop agonising over everything the Americans do, and focus instead on building a world that works without them. Let's accept that we can no longer rely on them for anything: trade, global security, aid, medical research, a model of democracy, tech innovation … anything.
Even if the U.S. somehow achieves peaceful democratic transfers of power in 2026 and 2028 — and there are many good Americans fighting hard for that — there''ll be years or decades of cleaning up and rebuilding shattered democratic institutions from the ground up. Write them out of the global script for now and move on.
#USpolitics #trade #war #science

2025-07-30 12:33:24 GMT

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@nprofile…kq0m Substack's apology is the worst part:
We discovered an error that caused some people to receive push notifications they should never have received,
So their actual concern is that their filter bubble malfunctioned???
In other words, "we're sorry that our algorithms misclassified some of our users as neo-Nazis and fed them the wrong recommendations." 🤦‍♂️
#substack #filtering #socialMedia

2025-07-13 17:54:53 GMT

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@nprofile…t5r6 That happened to me once, when I was visiting a different city to take care of a sick parent. The cashier (likely a university student) said "You look like you're having a hard day" and quietly packed everything for me.

2025-07-11 01:24:47 GMT

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@nprofile…t5r6 Yeah, my body doesn't regulate heat properly either after my spinal compression.
Sit in front of a fan with a good book. Like right in front.
Mix a little salt (and maybe lemon juice) into your water and keep drinking
Take a cool shower (if you feel safe doing so), or sit on the edge of the tub with your feet in cold water.
Accept that the body doesn't recover quickly from overheating. It might take a day or two of rest and self-care before it rebalances.
If that's not enough, you might want to get some proper rehydration salts from your pharmacy (discuss with the pharmacist first, obviously). And if you notice symptoms like a prolonged high heartrate, confusion, or dizziness, call 911 or get someone to take you to the ER.
Best of luck!

2025-06-23 19:23:19 GMT

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@nprofile…t5r6 Yes, I know someone in exactly that position. If they were in the fedi, seeing a CW on every food-related post would likely be at least somewhat traumatising. The hashtag is low-key but allows complete filtering (you don't even have to see the CW, much less the post).
@nprofile…4r6v

2025-06-22 00:19:17 GMT

To stay hydrated during the heatwave, instead of sugary sports drinks try plain tap water with a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
#dadAdvice #heatWave #health #lifehacks
(disclaimer: not a health professional)

2025-06-05 14:50:26 GMT

🍿 Watching the U.S. far right go from defining itself as Russia-phobes to defining itself as Russia-philes has been one of the more interesting experiences of my six decades on this planet. It's a more-complete pirouette than any ballet dancer could pull off.
More importantly, it shows that there never was any political principle behind all the Red scares and McCarthyism. They just needed an enemy to excuse their own abuses of power, and they've picked new ones now.
#USpoli #politics #Russia

2025-05-25 22:18:33 GMT

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@nprofile…gqp6 What about middle-aged cishet white guys who always have something to say?
Don't forget US!!! 😉

2025-04-30 21:31:28 GMT

The accessible garden is turned over, composted, raked, staked, and ready for May!
#Ottawa #gardening #zone5
https://cdn.mastdn.ca/media_attachments/files/114/429/037/831/154/031/original/f21d9d6191f9537b.jpeg

2025-04-22 22:07:00 GMT

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@nprofile…60cs I made it only about 1/3 of the way through watching the musical Hamilton, but it drove me crazy, all the braying about "liberty" by Patriot supporters on a British-controlled Manhattan Island that (in real life) was packed with Black refugees from the other side of Patriot lines.
For a musical with a mostly non-white cast, it was an egregious case of whitewashing history (presenting enslaver George Washington as a positive, heroic figure was just the cherry on top).

2025-04-11 21:16:05 GMT

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@nprofile…nz9s wrote
Another LinkedIn influencer explaining that if you write using em-dashes, he'll ignore you because you obviously used AI.
Seriously? This is a thing? I've been using en-dashes and em-dashes correctly since the 1980s.
On the other hand, being ignored by a LinkedIn "influencer" does seem like a benefit, so maybe I'll just stay quiet about it.
#AI #LinkedIn

2025-04-08 10:50:41 GMT

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@nprofile…s9xg And that's good news that the #deextinction advocates are full of 💩, because if they weren't , it would be catastrophic.
Imagine the ecological harm of introducing the woolly mammoths into the fragile Arctic ecosystem (for example). Species would be invasive over time as well as space.

2025-04-04 21:02:44 GMT

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@nprofile…fynq Yeah, they shot it at the end of the day, after most of the crew had gone home.

2025-04-03 01:46:59 GMT

Why senior management is never wrong.
2022: We need an AI strategy!
2023: Company spends millions licensing and integrating with AI.
2024: Nobody in the company wants to use the AI.
2025: AI use is now mandatory.
✅ KPI met: 99% of employees are using AI.
#AI #management

2025-04-01 12:24:38 GMT

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@nprofile…7wld Very true. Also, Internet jokes are pretty lame excuses for April Fool's pranks, so I guess it balances out (unlike the bucket of water I placed above your partly-open door … wait, did I type that out loud?).

2025-04-01 01:39:16 GMT

The tradition I learned, growing up in Canada, is that all April Fool's jokes have to happen before noon on 1 April — if you try one in the afternoon, you're the fool (I was surprised the first time I learned that rule doesn't apply in other countries).
Also, 1 April is the start of a new government budget year, so the joke's on us anyway. 🙂 🇨🇦
#aprilFoolsDay #Canada

2025-03-17 20:31:23 GMT

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@nprofile…0g46 It looked great until
so you can spin it up on your own server using an S3-compatible storage service
(Out of the Google Docs frying pan and into the Amazon Web Services fire. 😔 )

2025-03-12 12:50:07 GMT

It's wild reading 1930s novels and seeing how reliable rail travel once was in the UK.
"The ship leaves Liverpool for Spain at 7:00 pm."
"There's a train that gets in at 6:25."
"That will allow more than enough time for the five of us to arrive at the station with all our steamer trunks, arrange taxis, and get onboard."
😳
#rail #trains #novels #1930s

2025-03-06 16:45:46 GMT

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@nprofile…zfuh Since everything breaks sooner or later — mostly, sooner — I'll pick the approach that's easier to troubleshoot (clear box).
The clear-box approach can still have a happy-path default configuration for the most-common use cases; it's just that unlike the opaque box, it doesn't make other use cases difficult or impossible.
So I'd say it's a choice, at worse, not between two hells, but between initial annoyance and eternal damnation. 🙂

2025-02-26 18:08:36 GMT

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@nprofile…cyqk TBH, that's why I'm here and not on Bluesky. I'm not interested in the toxic, libertarian free-for-all I've experienced in other social media contexts.
I do agree with being gentle and not shaming new participants, but if we just became a federated version of Twitter or Threads or Bluesky, I think we'd have failed to offer the world a real alternative (even if we ended up with 100s of millions of users).
@nprofile…7mte

2025-02-23 12:59:05 GMT

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@nprofile…hved #GenAI does have an apparent personality trait; unfortunately, that trait is sycophancy.
Through complex word association, it acts like a billionaire's f**t-catcher, figuring out what you want to hear and then spoon-feeding it back to you.
Can you get rich? Be cured? Play guitar like Segovia? Are you smarter/sexier/more important than anyone else? The answer is YES! 🙄
#AI
https://cdn.mastdn.ca/media_attachments/files/114/053/304/377/913/322/original/6ada8779439292fe.jpg

2025-02-12 16:49:30 GMT

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@nprofile…fle4 As someone who started studying Noam Chomsky's Generative Grammar in the 1980s, I find the technology fascinating.
However, I find the way it's being trained, rolled out and monetized abhorrent, so I think in the end we agree.
It's like a dangerous virus that shouldn't have left the lab.

2025-02-07 17:41:14 GMT

The way to counter toxic nationalism abroad isn't by ramping up our own here in Canada. Instead, let's focus on patience, kindness, and supporting and protecting people in need, no matter where they live.
Despite the different flags and passports, we're all just humans riding a little blue dot around the sun. 🌎
#kindness #Canada

2025-02-05 12:01:45 GMT

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@nprofile…args So you don't want just a raw Linux server or VM where you can install and run a webapp; you're looking for a hosted CMS (WordPress or similar)?

2025-01-24 11:35:32 GMT

You're not helpless. Change comes from millions of small local actions, including yours.
For example, you can influence moving your community discussions off Facebook, whether they're neighbourhood "Buy Nothing" groups, announcements for your kid's sports teams, or monthly open-mic music nights.
When people want to participate in something they care about, they shouldn't be forced to use a toxic website as a condition of entry.
#community #activism #Meta #hope

2025-01-18 01:29:57 GMT

Is there a way in (Glitch-flavoured) Mastodon to hide all boosts from my timeline?
I do follow a few people whose boosts are actually interesting (and not overdone), but the vast majority of boosts are just spam clogging my timeline, and I'm getting tired of hiding boosts from one user at a time.
(Also, fellow fedizens, please stop overboosting. A boost is not a "like.")
#Mastodon #boosts #fediquette

2025-01-10 14:48:36 GMT

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@nprofile…kvnh There are also those of us who deliberately got in trouble at school.

2025-01-05 12:38:16 GMT

I appreciate this act of kindness towards a former colleague, but I wish those politicians would remember that they have to power to move everyone out of shelters.
#shelter #homelessness #ONpoli
https://cdn.mastdn.ca/media_attachments/files/113/775/757/515/114/655/original/a150f39767f57587.png

2024-12-06 20:00:54 GMT

I'm dismayed at the number of fedizens who suddenly pivoted 180° to encouraging and celebrating gun violence over the past few days.
How can we claim we're any better than the right-wing gun wackos if we start agreeing with them that shooting people is the answer to a social issue, as long as we approve the choice of victim?
Let's be better than that.
#nonViolence #socialJustice

2024-11-12 22:29:08 GMT

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@npub1dts…6798 I don't know -- it would be nice to travel somewhere warm like Helsinki when it gets cold here in Ottawa.

2024-08-18 00:49:21 GMT

Our new grandpuppy Ellie (9 weeks old).
#dogsOfMastodon #pets
https://cdn.mastdn.ca/media_attachments/files/112/980/262/220/085/561/original/8b9cfb7db16bf2ee.jpeg

2024-07-30 20:15:15 GMT

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@npub1v5a…5yax Thanks! What's the best way to fix that?

2024-07-30 19:32:24 GMT

My tomato plants have some leaves turning yellow and spotted (all ones without blossoms or fruit). I assume it's from a nitrogen deficiency, since they've grown so fast in the excessive heat and rain.
I've pruned off the yellowing branches to take some of the burden off the plants (which are still fruiting well). Will a generous helping of manure compost be enough to help, or do I need to give up on organic this season and buy some synthetic tomato fertiliser?
#gardening #tomatoes

2024-07-25 21:21:28 GMT

My first marigold has finally blossomed (started from seed in April).
#gardening #flowers #Bloomscrolling
https://cdn.mastdn.ca/media_attachments/files/112/849/213/979/950/269/original/234d0e8b82e39b04.jpeg

2024-07-22 20:18:12 GMT

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@npub16yk…gh74 Much of Canada is on unceded Indigenous land, and we settlers are starting (belatedly) to acknowledge that.

2024-07-20 13:46:56 GMT

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@npub1j8q…ma30 Very true! 🙂
Or to paraphrase, the fediverse is the world's biggest community of people who love computers deeply enough to be terrified of the way some people and corporations weaponise them.

2024-07-05 16:13:25 GMT

Focusing on percentage change is a popular way to BS people with numbers.
For example, if a company barely breaks even one year ($1 profit), then nets $140 profit the next year, that's a 14,000% increase in profit!
(but it means nothing)
#numeracy #numbers #business

2024-07-03 00:17:49 GMT

Shared by my mom (source unknown).
#gardening #tomatoes
https://cdn.mastdn.ca/media_attachments/files/112/719/675/255/710/800/original/d472543719520009.png

2024-07-02 02:20:57 GMT

This year's new, accessible garden is really delivering the produce. The extra-wide aisles (3 ft/0.9 m, enough for a wheelchair or walker) help with air and light as well, and because every part is reachable from a kneeling bench, it's easy to plant, trim, and control weeds.
3,000 lb (1,360 kg) of new soil helped as well, of course.
#gardening #Ottawa #accessibility
https://cdn.mastdn.ca/media_attachments/files/112/714/487/842/716/098/original/93511841eefcef7f.jpeg

2024-06-25 01:28:44 GMT

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@npub1vgs…4tgk Up here, Canada Geese aren't afraid of people (or dogs, or bicycles, or cars…) — they go wherever they want, and we just have to wait until they're out of the way.

2024-06-20 05:29:02 GMT

If I pay for a service on the web or through an app, I expect
zero ads
no tracking cookies
minimal direct marketing
no data "sharing" with partners without a separate opt-in (it can't be buried in the EULA)
human tech support (not an AI bot)
the ability to download all of my data and content whenever I want
strong measures to protect my personal info, and full deletion if I leave
If you're not willing to do all this, don't bother with your startup.
#userRights #startUps

2024-04-17 17:40:43 GMT

Gardeners in Ottawa (and elsewhere): do you have to put a cage around your zucchini to protect them from the squirrels?
My neighbour says he can't grow zucchini because the squirrels are so aggressive that they even eat the blossoms before the plants can fruit.
Last year, I got exactly one golden zucchini on my vine (first time growing), so I expect that's what happened to me.
#Ottawa #gardening #zucchini

2024-03-26 11:52:59 GMT

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@npub16kg…hh7t I'd be fine with paying a lot more for #chocolate if the extra money was going to the workers and growers.

2024-03-23 12:15:14 GMT

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@npub1yyx…qa5g (Same reason that most web sites run on Linux rather than Windows servers.)

2024-03-23 12:13:26 GMT

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@npub1yyx…qa5g What egos these billionaires have! Android took off only because Mr. Gates was briefly distracted? 🙄
Android is the top consumer operating system in the world: it (and thus, Linux) has also surpassed MS Windows.
Android took off b/c core AOSP is free, so it's available on inexpensive devices for the big part of the world's population that can't or won't pay royalties to Microsoft or Apple.
The founder of the Gates Foundation should have realised that.
#Android #Microsoft #FOSS

2024-03-14 18:25:06 GMT

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@npub1mmf…eknq I have no problem with that. Let's investigate the privacy and national-security risk of all big Internet companies known to spy on their users

2024-01-27 12:31:44 GMT

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 The deeper systemic flaw is that the US allows politicians to run their own elections.
In most other representational democracies, there are independent, non-patisan agencies to regulate and oversee #elections, like Elections Canada or the UK Electoral Commission.
In the U.S., whoever won the last election in a state gets to oversee the next one (at all levels), and that turns out more or less as one would expect when one of the players also acts as referee. 😕

2024-01-20 19:45:04 GMT

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@npub1v2k…j0fr The Italian raid on Royal Navy ships in the Port of Alexandria (1941-12-19) was the first successful combat deployment of mini submersibles, but the Japanese raid on US Navy ships in Pearl Harbour (1941-12-07) had made an unsuccessful combat deployment 12 days earlier.

2024-01-02 16:30:15 GMT

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@npub1hjg…dh78 Clearly the Fraser Institute needs to pay more to get an exec who knows when to be "unavailable for comment." 🙂

2023-10-17 16:41:44 GMT

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@npub16ws…sl6a No, please don't. Safety for disabled and elderly people — and our confidence to go out safely — also matters. We don't have to put one on hold to address the other.
I can cycle a bit at this phase of my recovery from spinal injury, so I belong to both groups, but I find it very frustrating that discussions about better cycling infrastructure (which I support) often consider accessibility for the disabled as a "let's leave it for later" thing. We have to drop the ableism.

2023-10-17 16:38:25 GMT

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@npub16ws…sl6a Yes, exactly. Most of the work is regulating cars better.
And ditto (to a lesser extent) for bicycles. The situation is not at all comparable with cars (who can do the most damage), but still, pedestrians — especially those of us who are disabled — also need safety limits on what cyclists can do: no adults riding on crowded sidewalks, no riding in pedestrian crosswalks or on pedestrian-only cross signals, no blasting through red lights at T-intersections at full speed, etc.

2023-09-11 17:43:05 GMT

Many people here in the #fediverse — an otherwise progressive place — are loudly pro-war, as long as the cause is just. That disturbs me.
My generation grew up listening to veterans of two World Wars and living in the shadow of the Cold War and nuclear annihilation. We learned how futile even a just war is. #Pacifism was a cornerstone of the Left. Has that changed?
I do want #Ukraine to get its territory back. I don't support military offensives (especially where civilian lives are at risk).

2023-09-01 23:36:01 GMT

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@npub1grx…uxfe @npub1u0h…d0tc @npub1jzp…ftjn It depends on your definition of "hard". It always takes me a long time (and extra downloading) to make Windows and MacOS boxes to work with our Samsung laser printer, while Linux just works out of the box.
OTOH, if you're already used to the Windows or MacOS user interface and standard apps, you're going to find anything new confusing (including MacOS or Windows).

2023-08-28 00:47:37 GMT

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@npub1ddp…2tax @npub1xl5…rqkr Once again, you're separating science from the scientists.
I could do the same and separate Christianity from the Christians — Rabbi Jesus preached tolerance, social-justice, and legal forgiveness, not jailing women for getting abortions and building walls to keep out immigrants and refugees — but that's hardly the point.
Scientists decide what to research; that is science. Christians decide how to act on their faith; that is Christianity.

2023-08-27 22:48:04 GMT

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@npub1ddp…2tax @npub1xl5…rqkr You're comparing the Platonic ideal of science to the messy reality of religion. There's no such thing as "pure" science any more than there is "literal" Christianity. They both get caught up in the very-human competition for status, power, and resources.
For example, why do scientists spend far more time researching heart disease than malaria? It's not for any scientific reason; it's because most people in rich countries aren't at risk from malaria.

2023-08-27 22:32:53 GMT

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@npub1ddp…2tax In that case, it was because of their religion, not despite it. The early white abolitionists in the UK and US believed that enslavement was incompatible with Jesus' teachings, and that inspired them to organise. While at the same time, others (e.g. in the U.S. south) were preaching that enslavement was god's plan.
Like science, religion is what people make of it.

2023-08-27 22:13:15 GMT

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@npub1ddp…2tax @npub1xl5…rqkr @npub1zdp…vqv8 Science and technology are human constructs, just like religion, so of course people use them all to get what they want.

2023-08-27 20:25:51 GMT

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@npub1ddp…2tax @npub1zdp…vqv8 I am alive today because science taught doctors how to treat me. Millions of people are dying or severely malnourished today because science taught engineers how to harness fossil fuels.
The best conclusion would be that religion is less extreme in both the good and the harm it can cause: it's never eliminated a disease, but it's also never created a nuclear weapon.

2023-08-27 20:21:43 GMT

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@npub1ddp…2tax @npub1zdp…vqv8 Thank you for your reply.
What you wrote is true of a subset of religious sects, but not most (and even fundamentalist sects evolve over time; just not in a good way).
Why not take an inductive/scientific approach to religion and see what's out there, instead of deducing from pre-determined dogma? 😉
(If you are a direct victim of one of those fundamentalist sects, you have my sympathy and my apology for the light-heartedness.)

2023-08-27 19:44:59 GMT

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@npub1ddp…2tax @npub1zdp…vqv8 Religions are neutral in themselves, like politics and science — it's how people deploy them that causes all the good or evil (they all have the potential for both).

2023-08-27 12:09:52 GMT

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 "Cult" in the original/historical sense of a group of people worshipping someone (e.g. the Cult of Dionysus) but not, as you say, in the modern sense that includes collective living, psychological manipulation and physical coercion (e.g. the Branch Davidian cult at Waco).

2023-08-20 12:07:01 GMT

Did you know that there's also a men's World Cup of soccer? We need a separate event because male players get injured so easily.
Fortunately, they usually get up and recover quickly when the ref doesn't award a penalty kick.
#WorldCup #Soccer #Football

2023-08-08 14:42:41 GMT

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@npub1gl8…q5y9 That's too much Canadian in one picture. You just need to make the beer Alexander Keith's for the Internet to shut down. 🇨🇦

2023-08-06 20:06:46 GMT

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@npub1h2n…nx0j Just so. There is significantly higher income inequality in the U.S., and if you're part of the 10% (or so), you'll earn a lot — with all the caveats we've discussed earlier.

2023-08-06 15:29:09 GMT

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@npub1h2n…nx0j Also consider that you have to pay US$50-75K/year to send your kids to a top university in the States, vs maybe US$3-6K/year for UofT or McGill here in Canada (up to US$15K/year for a professional program at UofT).
And you might have to have paid >$10K/year for private school to get them into those US universities, if your school district wasn't well funded.
And after they graduate, they'll lose their health insurance coverage.
Lots of hidden costs to chip away at an IT pay diff. 🙁

2023-08-06 15:22:34 GMT

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@npub1h2n…nx0j And I think you might be giving journalists too much credit for statistical literacy; some of them are talking about specific fields, but many/most of them just look at the mean.

2023-08-06 15:21:50 GMT

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@npub1h2n…nx0j That's very true, but it doesn't apply to most of the population, only to a privileged few (to which I belong, FWIW; I could have earned much more in the U.S., but I didn't want to raise kids there).

2023-08-06 15:13:16 GMT

False: Americans earn more than Canadians.
Mean (average) income in the U.S. was $73,370 in 2021, compared to $52,960 in Canada (73% as much).
However, median income in the U.S. (PPP) was USD $19,306 in 2021, compared to $18,652 in Canada (97% as much).
Mean income in the U.S. is likely distorted by a few uber-rich people; for pretty-much everyone, incomes are essentially identical between the two countries.
https://www.worlddata.info/average-income.php
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/median-income-by-country
#income #stats #Canada #USA

2023-08-05 22:28:23 GMT

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@npub1trd…ussx APfest or (better) FediFest.

2023-08-03 20:04:01 GMT

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 I haven't been to NYC since before the pandemic. Did things get bad at drug stores during it?

2023-07-17 18:27:47 GMT

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@npub1vyt…mgjn I'm glad for you, because that's what you wanted or needed. Many others need to gain weight (for medical or other reasons), so I personally try to talk about weight change, in either direction (I've had to do both in the past couple of years, in different phases of my medical journey).

2023-05-29 15:40:44 GMT

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@npub1t8r…rvnw You might already have it. Unfortunately, the Mastodon UI doesn't make the feature obvious.
https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-follow-hashtags-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse/

2023-05-29 15:33:59 GMT

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@npub1t8r…rvnw Follow or don't follow as you prefer, but I'm here! If you just follow the #Ottawa hashtag, you'll see all of my Ottawa-related posts regardless. (I'm a big fan of following hashtags.)

2023-05-27 16:16:55 GMT

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@npub1ldk…5msg I don't think we're managing to communicate, so it's probably best to stop. Cheers, and thanks for the discussion.

2023-04-17 14:52:17 GMT

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#[0] You mean don't run to hold the door or pick up something you dropped when you can do it yourself? I hear you.