Space Catitude 🚀

Fan of space, film, free/open-source software and free culture. Former pro astronomer. Writer, blogger, editor, visual artist. Occasional free-software developer. (Personal Account)

Lunatics Project: https://lunatics.tv
Prod. Log: https://lunaticsproject.org
PixelFed: https://px.filmfreedom.net/lunatics
PeerTube: https://tv.filmfreedom.net/@lunatics

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Last Notes

2026-03-02 23:59:03 GMT

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It really does seem like they should change the name of that park, doesn't it?

2026-02-10 07:07:59 GMT

The truth is that vampires are the warm fuzzy myth we made up to cope with the far more terrifying reality of unaccountable rich and powerful people.

2026-01-07 23:26:31 GMT

I'm seeing a lot of concern over heavy news today and boosts. So I want to call your attention to a useful, but perhaps little-known Mastodon feature:
If you want to follow an account on Mastodon, but you don't like the posts that they boost from others, you can hide these from an option on their profile (in the web UI) without having to unfollow them.
There are many strongly held opinions on the "correct" use of CW and what ought to be boosted, so this can be a useful way to cope.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/856/333/620/637/883/original/b6d37e0effd51db7.jpg

2025-12-27 22:06:39 GMT

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A sales tax on financial instruments has a number of nice properties, including mainly taxing the wealthy and disincentivizing rapid market speculation, which has been the source of much economic instability.

2025-12-06 21:07:26 GMT

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Is this for real? It's hideous! 🤭

2025-12-03 18:41:33 GMT

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"...on our production website..."
I guess that's another thing I need to find and upload.
I've also got a language patch for Japanese for Papagayo... SOMEWHERE. :neko_tired:
Ah well. I think Morevna has a copy of the Blender extension, too.

2025-12-03 18:23:46 GMT

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The follow-up tutorial explained how to import the file exported from Papagayo into Blender:
https://tv.filmfreedom.net/w/jSp1opgLKFPs7TikW2JHcx
#Animation #Lipsync #Blender3D #PapagayoNG

2025-12-03 17:43:41 GMT

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Free Software that I rely on. One per day.
Day 4:
Papagayo NG
This one fills a very important niche in my pipeline. It is a tool to make it much easier to line up lip movements to speech.
This is not an AI tool and does not do the alignment for you, but it makes it much it easier to do.
We used this extensively in "Lunatics!", particularly for the long dialogues in the Press Conference.
Morevna Project maintains this program, which is a fork of the original "Papagayo" with some enhancements. Hence the "NG":
https://morevnaproject.org/papagayo-ng/
I've attached the 2015 "2-Min Tutorial" in which I briefly explained how to use the program.
#FreeSoftwareAdvent #Papagayo #PapagayoNG #Lipsync #Animation
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/656/832/608/584/471/original/ef466f52de01b9dc.mp4

2025-12-02 19:45:00 GMT

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#FreeSoftwareAdvent
Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I guess.
Day 3:
Krita
I think it's particularly important to mention Krita in the context of Inkscape and Gimp to differentiate them. For a long time, I basically thought of Gimp and Krita as competitors, but they serve different goals:
Gimp is, as the name says, for "image manipulation", whereas Krita is a DIGITAL PAINTING application. It is more focused on creating the art in the application than on tweaking existing elements. And while Krita and Gimp have limited vector art capabilities, they come nowhere near Inkscape in that category.
Since I'm not much of a digital painter, though, I have not really put Krita through its paces, nor trained myself extensively on it.
My daughter HAS, and she creates a LOT of character art using it. So she is the real Krita expert in the family. The "KitCAT" logo below is one I commissioned from her as a studio mascot.
But it has some other useful features for me -- the one I use the most is that it can open 16-bit graphics I use for some backdrop textures in Blender and also the Multilayer EXR files generated from Blender. This makes it the easiest way for me to check them (the attachment below shows a recent "Ink" render, including masks for "billboard extras").
https://krita.org/en/
#Krita
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/651/656/566/899/663/original/3de7122de4e73390.png
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/651/666/962/295/582/original/86fe436b5deb6c0f.png

2025-12-01 21:52:51 GMT

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#FreeSoftwareAdvent
Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I guess.
Day 2:
Gnu Image Manipulation Program
Known as #GIMP or as #GnuIMP by those who don't like the other name.
This is my go-to tool for basic image processing of photos and images for publication. It's a pretty common workflow for me to crop and/or enhance photos in Gimp and then load the output into Inkscape for layout work.
Also, FWIW, I learned it before I learned Photoshop, which frankly seemed kind of like a backward step to me, particularly in the way that Photoshop filters never seemed to have any controls (at the time -- this was 25 years ago and I haven't used Photoshop since then).
Which fuels my general belief that terms like "more intuitive" or "more powerful" are mostly a function of what you are familiar with.
It's one of the earliest graphics creation software packages I learned on Linux, and so it's become so much second nature that I hardly think about it anymore.
These days I use it all the time to crop and rescale screen captures, so I've attached one of cropping a screencap of itself.
https://www.gimp.org/
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/646/506/647/094/904/original/ba3674d96f7003a0.png

2025-12-01 09:47:08 GMT

#FreeSoftwareAdvent
Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I guess.
Okay.... Day 1....
Inkscape
A vector graphics editor (edits SVG documents).
I use this in a lot of different ways whenever I need a drawing:
* Presentation slides
* Graphic illustrations/diagrams
* "Decal" graphics for 3D textures
* Layout of images or other graphics
* Video poster/cover graphics
* Book design
https://inkscape.org
Also included in most desktop Linux distributions, I believe.
#Inkscape
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/643/639/284/550/254/original/19504e3fc25d6f37.png
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/643/642/324/557/368/original/39048fa821cf262a.png
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/643/646/236/326/746/original/41de8e590b4ed190.png

2025-11-26 23:42:29 GMT

I have never skied, but isn't "over your skis" where you are supposed to be..?
🤔
How is this an expression? What does it literally mean..? Or I guess "figuratively", but when referring to skiing?

2025-11-05 17:46:05 GMT

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Notable:
That's 40 million AT A TIME.
The number of people who have had SNAP in the past or will have in the future, is considerably larger.
When somebody loses a job and struggles to find another, or they simply are underemployed, because they're "doing the right thing" (by conservative values) and taking available work, even if it's inadequate, then help like SNAP can be essential for a lot of working class people.

2025-10-31 02:57:53 GMT

For people in the USA:
One thing that annoys me about the "General Strike" rhetoric is that it feels to me like people are imagining a country and economy that doesn't exist anymore.
Yes, when America was full of factories, this was a powerful tactic. I remember this -- the tail end of it, anyway. My Dad worked in a union shop in the 1980s.
But I don't see that country anymore. Things have changed.
Am I wrong?
What about you?
So as a little straw poll, let's say a *General Strike* is declared. What's more, you support its goals, and are *willing* to "do a strike"...
... CAN you?
I don't mean WILL you. I mean CAN you? Do you do the sort of work where you could go on strike in any meaningful way?
Boosting to get more answers would be cool. I'm genuinely curious about this particular sample of people on Fedi, because this is where I see people talk about this.

2025-10-29 02:35:07 GMT

I do understand why many reports talk about ICE roughing up "US citizens".
It shows how indiscriminate, inefficient, pointless, and cruel they are -- not even doing the thing they are supposedly mandated to do.
BUT... I just want to be damned clear: they don't have any goddamned business doing these things to undocumented immigrants, either.
There is no "paperwork crime" worthy of enforcement by violence.

2025-10-26 19:53:12 GMT

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Yeah. Looks like it thinks it's a GIF and it loops. This is good to know.
I can save the trouble converting stuff to animated GIFs, I guess.

2025-10-26 19:51:21 GMT

What does it look like if I upload a short MP4 with no sound? Does Mastodon think it's a "GIF"? Will it loop..?
It thinks GIFs are video and converts them to MP4. Hmmm.. 🤔
From the October 2025 Newsletter. A fly-around the "Glory to the Conquerors of Space" monument set. Similar to a shot in the episode now, but not identical. Not sure we ultimately did this set justice.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/442/201/350/300/839/original/d1d16b8466582c8f.mp4

2025-10-22 04:27:15 GMT

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Oh, that's you? I just tried to sign up on the notification list, but it looks like the confirmation email failed. Found it looking for alternative hosting options, in case I need one.

2025-10-01 15:57:52 GMT

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I have seen/heard "neurospicy" as a slang synonym for "neurodivergent". Your examples sound like they're being used to be more specific to Autistic or ADHD divergence.
These terms are used by/for low-needs autistic/ADHD people who want to talk about their issues without offending people who think "autistic" and "ADHD" should be reserved for people more disabled. Often these are self-diagnosed/undiagnosed.
Personally, I find the "-spicy" terms a bit too kitschy, though.

2025-09-28 01:43:43 GMT

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Wow. I'll have to look for the Time Machine goof. I don't suppose you have a hint as to when it happens?

2025-09-24 22:03:02 GMT

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I remind myself that every democracy that exists was built by people organizing, and most of them were built on top of defeated autocracies.
I know it took a lot of time and effort, but I find this thought encouraging.

2025-09-24 21:57:49 GMT

I like that even Kimmel himself called out that there were more concerning things going on than his suspension. (This is honestly one of the few times I've ever watched his monologue on YouTube).
But I'll also note: this was a really graphic demonstration that the power of the people exceeds the power of the president.
President says: Fire him.
People says: Keep him, or we keep our money.
He gets reinstated.
Every time people do this, they're flexing a muscle, and getting stronger. We are a very atrophied nation, because we've been comfortable a long time, and we need the exercise, so this is a good thing. Time to get back in shape.

2025-09-16 15:53:48 GMT

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"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day"
Day 5: Octavia Butler
Her imagination was original and dark, but with shreds of hope in it. I've mainly read her series, originally published as "Xenogenesis" (a name I'm still kind of attached to), but now generally known as "Lilith's Brood".
I know much has been said about the metaphorical implications connecting to the African diaspora, but also consider this book on the literal level: The Oankali are a fascinating alien species concept with a biology that clearly long ago absorbed technology to become a bizarre amalgam lifeform without a permanent form, but shared characteristics.
"Wild Seed" is more of a horror fantasy, with its story of two immortal beings locked in a permanent conflict.
She said she was inspired to write science fiction after seeing the movie "Devil Girl from Mars" (which was our #Monsterdon movie not long ago) and feeling like she could surely do better than that!
See? Bad movies have value!
She has not stuck to any single story universe or premise, but has written in a number of different sub-genres of speculative fiction.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_E._Butler
#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

2025-09-15 20:45:49 GMT

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"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day"
Day 4: Melissa Scott
I really need to read more of her work!
So far, I've only read "Dreamships" (1992) and "Mighty Good Road" (1990).
They were really fascinating, though, because they kind of merged the vibes of cyberpunk and space opera, which is a combination I really enjoy.
"Dreamships" posits a really fascinating and (today) culturally relevant problem: an AI that certainly appears to be what we would now call an AGI -- but IS it? How can you really tell? Would you ever really be able to tell? (Unless of course, it fails).
She's also noted for her queer representation in her works, which is evident in both of these books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Scott
#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

2025-09-14 16:41:28 GMT

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"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day."
A little earlier today, because I'm going to be busy later. Also, these are not in any real order, I'm not even sure who I'm going to list until I do!
Day 3: N.K. Jemisin
A 21st century writer. I've only read her "Broken Earth" trilogy: "The Fifth Season", "The Obelisk Gate", and "The Stone Sky".
This a beautifully realized fantasy, with elements of science fiction. A very elaborately conceived world, which is evidently some far future Earth that is geologically very unstable. And in which there are people, through some means psychic or scientific, able to control it (if they can control themselves).
It's also about rampant superstitions and prejudices about those people and the abuse and secrecy that results.
The prose was remarkable. It flows really well, and so this is a series I can strongly recommend reading aloud, if you have loved ones to read to.
She's done some other highly-acclaimed work since, but I want to stick to what I've personally read for this list.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._K._Jemisin
#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

2025-09-14 00:39:02 GMT

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"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day."
Okay, I guess it's time for...
Day 2: Ursula K. Le Guin
I can't say that I have read a LOT of Le Guin's work -- for a long time, her only work I had read was "The Left Hand of Darkness", but it was a very memorable book.
Included in this book is the concept of an "ansible" -- a device she coined for her "Hainish Cycle" books, and which has since caught on with other writers.
Later, my wife introduced me to the "Earthsea" books -- then a trilogy: "A Wizard of Earthsea", "The Tombs of Atuan", and "The Farthest Shore".
But again, very engaging work that stuck with me.
Since then I have listened to an audiodrama based on "The Word for World is Forest" (very much abridged, I think), "Tehanu" (4th Earthsea book), and quite recently, the highly acclaimed novel "The Dispossessed".
I need to read more of her work!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin
#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

2025-09-12 14:14:15 GMT

Just saw this challenge game, and WTH. More fun than current politics:
"Name 20 female authors you admire, 1 per day."
Day 1: C.J. Cherryh
My long time favorite SF author!
I haven't read everything she's written, but I love her hard SF and social SF stories with the deep introspection and interrogation of cultural and species difference in psychology and therefore sociology.
I probably have read most of her Union-Alliance books, starting with "Downbelow Station", which won a Hugo.
And her "Chanur" series is absolutely brilliant, mindbending space opera.
The first book of hers I ever read, though, was a weird place to start: "Voyager in Night", which is a hard to describe alien encounter story.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh
#BookChallenge #Bookstodon

2025-08-26 22:40:27 GMT

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I don't know that a lot of true "anime" will be PD.
However, you might check out some free-film animated projects which have anime inspirations.
These aren't generally PD, but CC licensed in a way that might work for you (Attribution-Only, IIRC):
https://morevnaproject.org/
They aren't very long (yet), but maybe enough for the clips you'd need. Stylistically, Morevna is probably the most "anime" of these. "Pepper & Carrot" has a more Western feel to the style.
I've seen some other projects, but they're mostly just very short demos.

2025-08-22 23:45:11 GMT

Faced with the lifeboat problem, some people think "There's not enough food, so we have to start fishing."
Other people think "There's not enough food, so we have to throw George overboard to feed the fishes."
And that one psycho who says "That's a waste of good protein, we should eat George ourselves."
This is especially bad if you happen to be George in this metaphor.

2025-08-21 06:44:16 GMT

I remember clearly the day I realized that it mattes to use the right jargon.
I was an undergrad working on the "McDonald Observatory Planet Search" program (one of the early radial velocity surveys, in the late 1980s).
In an effort to use "plain English" instead of "stuffy jargon", I described a star to a colleague as "faster".
I don't remember which meaning I was trying to communicate, but I quickly realized that it could have seven or eight different meanings!
Anyway, I went back to saying things like "shorter period" or "higher radial velocity deflection" or "higher proper motion" or one of those things that is clearly defined.
"Plain English" when it comes to technical communication is just being unclear. This is why "vibe coding" is, IMHO, doomed. Creating a spec from a client's description of a programming problem requires actual understanding of the problem, and a lot of a priori knowledge of how to solve similar problems.

2025-08-18 05:41:01 GMT

Policy makers need to get it through their thick skulls:
PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO BE WATCHED.
We don't want you tracking what we read, what we watch, what we look up online, or what we check out of the library.
IT IS NONE OF YOUR DAMNED BUSINESS.
This is not a cybercrime thing. This is an honest citizens wanting to be free of government surveillance thing.
And I don't care how many times you float the "If you're innocent you have nothing to worry about" bullshit.
WE DON'T TRUST YOU.
And we shouldn't have to.

2025-08-18 03:43:29 GMT

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This is a perfect snapshot of America today. A batshit insane right winger arguing with an electronic gibberish generator.. 🤦

2025-08-18 01:33:36 GMT

#Monsterdon
So... like, this is actually an incisive inquiry into the corrupting influence of the desperation of poverty with the temptations of greed... 🤔🤔🤔
Deep.

2025-08-15 03:59:20 GMT

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That is a weird-looking airplane!

2025-08-10 21:54:44 GMT

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I have to say that a major reason why I have not opened my PeerTube up is the question of legal liability.
People are fussier about video: I could get sued for infringing music or video, illegal/pornographic content, etc, etc. Even defamation, I guess.
At the moment, I don't comply with DMCA regulations to have "safe harbor" status. But if I DO, then that means I'm registered in an official database. Is that a good idea?
And if I DO, I want to make sure that I have *creator-friendly* set of terms that makes it as hard as possible for copyright trolls to be a problem. Without actually stepping across the line into being a "pirate site" and getting my ass sued out of existence.

2025-08-04 03:47:07 GMT

Were the talks at #FediCon recorded? It'd be nice to see them.
Obviously, a lot of us can't attend such things in person for various reasons.

2025-08-03 21:32:40 GMT

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I think some fraction of the "middle" would embrace this.
Thing is, people are looking for a strong change message. Everybody knows the old system wasn't working. We now see people in other countries with more wealth, freedom, and health than we have. Something has to give.
Many of the "middle" are not resolutely middle on policy. They are busy people who don't know what the best policy should be. They need somebody to make a strong case that has a chance to make things better.

2025-08-01 23:15:22 GMT

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Hmm. Major corp backing the event. Should I be happy or scared..? 🤨

2025-08-01 22:52:52 GMT

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Somewhat. Most organizers need technical people -- "doers" -- as well as organizers (some of the most pathetic industry organizations are the ones who are all organizers).
The question then becomes a matter of leadership and power sharing. Do you want to part of an organization where someone else is leading? Or must you lead it, for you to be happy with it?
And while it is often the case that an organization is started by an organizer, there are also cases of organizations started by technical people, who then hire (or "recruit" or "partner with" or whatever) more socially-skiled people to make it go.
Some of us may need some "Neurotypical supervision"..? 😅

2025-07-27 18:19:17 GMT

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Sad, though he (and we all) knew it was coming soon. It was a beautiful to free his work like he did.
I wonder if someone is going to continue hosting his website? I guess there's still the Internet Archive. Of course, I also downloaded most of it, myself. Some real classics in there!
The Element Song, Werner Von Braun, and many others about delightful antisocial behavior, plagiarism, politics, and nuclear annihilation.

2025-07-26 17:25:32 GMT

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There are lies where you think "That's a lie!"
And then there are lies where you think "What the hell is he even talking about?"

2025-07-20 05:24:48 GMT

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Of course, what I'd actually think is, "That is an AMAZING cosplay!"
(Or body-mod, depending on how convincing it was).
I don't believe in any of these creatures, and thinking it was *some* alien life form would be hindered by the improbability of it being so humanoid, even before getting to the improbability of it being on Earth.

2025-07-20 03:14:33 GMT

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It's kind of Lovecraftian.
Forbidden magic tome, but it talks back and drives you mad.
There is definitely inspiration for a horror story in this.
I think it hits people who already have a predilection for the fantasy, and a weak grasp of just how soulless the machine is.
It's a voice from the void, and there are a lot of people who are inclined to be superstitious, believe the universe is talking to them, etc.

2025-07-17 20:16:11 GMT

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You know, they have a starship and they go back to 20th century Earth.
In principle, they could then just accelerate to near lightspeed, zip away 200 ly in normal space, then zip back, again near lightspeed, and voila! Home in 24th century Earth.

2025-07-16 12:02:46 GMT

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It's weird that I can see you posting from this account, but I can't access mstdn.social. It's been a few hours like this.
Something up with the server or networking?

2025-07-06 01:35:04 GMT

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You can do this with 'exclusive lists' in Hometown (a Mastodon fork). I don't know if Mastodon proper allows it.

2025-07-04 21:19:25 GMT

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It's the kind of thing that makes you think somebody in the research department is doing a little stealthy sabotage. 😅

2025-07-04 20:32:22 GMT

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Oh, I take walks. But I mean to say the gym experience was pretty good, and I need to find something closer to that, again.
Just have not applied myself to that problem yet.

2025-07-04 20:19:35 GMT

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I came to a similar conclusion in 2019, and joined a 24 hr gym, because schedules and I do not get along well.
(Partly this worked, because I'd want to go out and the only other thing I'd do is get food).
But then CoViD came; the vaccine took longer; and the gym is the worst place to avoid an aerosol-transmitted disease. So I just quit going. And then not long after the gym reduced hours, so I can't go work out at 2-3AM like I did before.
Have not yet found an alternative.

2025-07-01 02:56:00 GMT

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Yeah, I guess the real question is about sandboxing -- does the code running in the PDF have access to the outside, like the filesystem? 🤔

2025-06-29 22:07:11 GMT

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Very cool.
Also terrifying.
Raises serious questions about using PDF as a document format.
I guess my big question is how many PDF viewers are defaulted to run this kind of code in a PDF? :oh_no_bubble:
One would hope that most have this turned off by default?
🤨

2025-06-11 22:20:02 GMT

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That isn't really possible for a lot of us, and some major corps have NOT bowed to the pressure.
I think it's equally important to reward the behavior we want to see. So I'm moving my business to companies whose policies are more acceptable to me. And yes, many are smaller, but that isn't 100% safe, either. There are plenty of MAGA small businesses where I live. 🤷‍♂️
A list of companies that didn't cave on DEI:
https://www.newsweek.com/dei-companies-program-list-policies-donald-trump-2032960

2025-06-11 18:08:40 GMT

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Interesting. Walmart is not exactly a bastion of liberality.
In fact, Walmart is currently on my "complied in advance with anti-DEI demands" list, so currently boycotting them over that.
Of course, it does not necessarily follow that the heiress of the founders of a company are aligned with the company, either.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/life/2025/03/13/30-companies-that-removed-dei-programs-trump/82268705007/
:welp: 🤔

2025-06-05 08:07:49 GMT

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I wonder. When people describe "own" and "utility", what exactly do they mean?
We do have a concept of ourselves as individual organisms, and we can be "selfish" to think only about the physical benefit to that organism.
But we also each have a identity halo of family, friends, and various other levels of society.
Do we consider it a matter of "own utility" for our neighbors have access to medicine and education?
I don't see how that isn't self interest for me.

2025-06-02 12:29:29 GMT

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It was specifically France/Spain.
But that would've been in the mid-1980s. Possible they've replaced all the weird gauge tracks. But that must have been a big job.
@npub1tve…vfd0

2025-06-02 10:11:27 GMT

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Huh. Does that still require switching the wheels on the train?
That was one of the weirder experiences I had in Europe (many years ago).

2025-05-27 02:59:30 GMT

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IDK. I don't have to search for explanations. I'm surrounded by Evangelical Fundamentalist Christians.
These are people who are trained from birth to reject scientific knowledge and consensus and believe entirely in impossible things they are instructed to believe by their leaders.
Perfect little minions ready to exploit by the monied sociopaths.

2025-05-27 02:45:31 GMT

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Do I remember "Age of Aquarius" from "Hair"...? 🤭
I'm an X-er.
This is like asking a Zoomer if they remember "Let It Go" from "Frozen".
I am familiar with a lot of the woo from the Hippy movement and later. I just never took it very seriously as a coherent set of beliefs.
But I can see how it can be understood that way.

2025-05-27 02:18:09 GMT

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Funny. For quite awhile in the 80s-90s, I would have said "New Age" was a genre of music (essentially electronica -- Vangelis, JM Jarre, Tangerine Dream, etc). Also sometimes dubbed "Space Music".
It was harder to find music before the Internet!
[Edit: yeah, actually I do remember it as a religion, now I think about it, although I didn't take it very seriously]

2025-05-10 06:34:42 GMT

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The good news is that we are probably decades if not centuries away from being able to do that!

2025-05-09 22:29:20 GMT

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I'm pretty sure they're both "you you". Which then diverge from that point. We're just not used to that concept. Or ready for it, probably.

2025-05-09 21:12:26 GMT

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"Eclectic" decor is pretty much my forever style.
Is shiny? I keep. :raccoon_cool:

2025-05-09 17:19:10 GMT

Pay attention to the rigged-election stuff from Russia.
This will be the play in the USA, too.
I see a lot of people placidly assuming we'll have fair elections in 2026 & 2028.
Or that elections will be suspended.
No, that would be too obvious -- and also not feed MAGA's need for shallow reinforcement of their "mandate".
In authoritarian regimes, the purpose of elections is PR for the ruling party, to be obtained by any means necessary.
We have to protect our elections.

2025-05-05 08:36:35 GMT

John Oliver put together a good summary of the awful deportation policy for "Last Week Tonight". If you've missed any of this, this will catch you up.
I don't know that it succeeds as comedy, much as he may try. This is just so grim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2hN3JKZ-Go

2025-05-05 04:18:09 GMT

#StarWars #MayThe4th
Light sabers are very odd, physically. It's never clear what they are, exactly. Light, of course, doesn't work that way.
Not only is it weird that they extend and stop at a fixed distance, but also, they apparently can impact each other, like matter. A light beam will happily pass right through another, without effect.
Some kind of contained plasma is more likely. But that wouldn't impact rigidly, either.

2025-04-27 20:37:56 GMT

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I see you're talking about German politics.
But it's much the same game in the USA (and other places around the world, I extrapolate).
Racism sucks. And it's just exhausting to keep having to deal with it.
I sort of understand why it's re-emerging (I think, through a web of narratives and subtexts, it derives from an unacknowledged fear of climate change, scarcity, and despair of human ingenuity solving these problems).
But understanding isn't solving. :neko_tired:

2025-04-25 21:23:03 GMT

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I feel like Red Hat Linux has to be really hating this MAGA thing. They might end up having to change their name.

2025-04-19 23:06:38 GMT

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I don't think I mind stuff like that, as long as they ask first. Of course, it doesn't happen to me that often (it'd probably be my beard, if anything).
Kids do occasionally look at me funny around Christmastime... 🤭

2025-04-19 22:34:27 GMT

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There was one very enthusiastic, albeit slightly awkward guy, who appears to basically be a true conservative, who said this was his first protest.
He had the "NO DICTATORS IN THE USA" sign.
Infectious enthusiasm!

2025-04-19 22:32:07 GMT

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This was my sign from last time, so it's still mostly about the DOGE agency wipeouts, which seems like ancient history now, even though it was only 2 wks ago.
There were many "FREE ABREGO-GARCIA" signs. Some LGBTQ+ rights signs. "Rule of Law", "Due Process", "No Fascists", "Trump is a Traitor", "No Dictators in the USA", "Stop the ICE Kidnappings", and other grievances.

2025-04-19 22:26:49 GMT

There were about 70-75 people in Burleson, TX Hands Off protest today. Less than Apr 5th, but still a pretty good showing.
There were ZERO counter-protesters this time. Still some obnoxious people in passing cars, but they were outnumbered by people expressing support. A lot of people looking but not reacting -- I think they are often the most important.
The photographer did ask for permission. I assume he did for others as well, but to be on the safe side, I'm just posting the picture of me.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/114/366/955/599/516/770/original/52fad1a9ff231b42.jpg

2025-04-18 00:35:57 GMT

We've reached the part of this timeline where David Brooks is paraphrasing Karl Marx and Lisa Murkowski is calling for people to get out and protest in the streets.
:welp:
I may have to sit with that for a bit.
:kermit: 🍵

2025-04-17 23:58:40 GMT

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It's all about the framing.
In the Right Wing version of events, the bold Trump administration is a band of superheroes overcoming the criminal weakness brought on by woke communist Demo-rats and the scum they let into the country over the border, because they're spineless weak fools and have left us all exposed.
I know this is insane, but I'm pretty sure that's what they think.

2025-04-12 21:36:10 GMT

Human motivation does not operate as the simple gain-maximizing automaton theory suggests.
Systems based on that assumption are therefore flawed.
This has become even more prevalent when the work required rises beyond mere menial labor to creative effort. Multiple experiments have tested this.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/article/a-german-experiment-gave-people-a-basic-monthly-income-the-effect-on-their-work-ethic-was-surprising/
If we are to be rational, we must learn from this information and change our systems accordingly.
But the cynical faith in the selfishness of humans is hard to overcome.

2025-04-02 22:44:37 GMT

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It was a lot more fun in the past, when major news outlets didn't celebrate the holiday year-round. :welp:

2025-03-26 04:06:27 GMT

Evil bastards are hitting me where I live now.
Anyway, you can still get these comics. I made sure to save local copies. I probably should mirror some of this stuff.
https://nasawatch.com/education/you-can-still-read-nasas-deleted-first-woman-graphic-novels/

2025-03-20 05:38:43 GMT

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I guess this is a British movie? The only copies I find online are region 2.
I guess I'm going to have to get that all-region player.
It's disgusting the way they've managed to divide us.

2025-03-12 05:45:36 GMT

Haven't seen this in awhile. Fun little animated movie:
"Tokyo Cosmo"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SEXokSxZBI

2025-03-05 15:33:19 GMT

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I probably should see that movie sometime, but it's going to be weird now, in this age of tragically-misunderstood satire, where people look at a horror story that's meant to shock you, and think, "Yeah! Let's do that!" :welp:
(At least "The Producers" is *about* that tragic misunderstanding of satire?)

2025-02-27 07:00:23 GMT

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Modern Mars does have ice crystal clouds. Equivalent to "stratos" clouds on Earth, if I've got the meteorology jargon right. They're not really common, but there are photos of them from space, and I think maybe from the surface.
@npub1r70…4aal

2025-02-21 22:54:51 GMT

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It's a good story! :raccoon_cool:

2025-02-21 22:47:43 GMT

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A true "wandering shop" experience to be sure. Have you posted this before? Because I could swear I'd read it before... 🤔

2025-02-04 17:01:21 GMT

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I'm actually fine with newer filetypes that are longer, though I do feel a twinge of shame every time I use ".kdenlive" or worse, ".kdenlivetitle". Like I'm doing something sinfully indulgent! 😅

2025-02-04 16:58:05 GMT

It's been over 20 years since I used a system that required three-letter file extensions, but I still prefer "jpg" over "jpeg". 🤷‍♂️

2025-02-03 17:59:03 GMT

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Don't walkie-talkies work on a CB band..? It's been awhile, but I seem to remember them working on one or more of the lower CB channels. 🤔

2025-02-03 17:53:40 GMT

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These blind spots are odd, aren't they? Not much self-awareness.
But then hypocrisy is a constant companion of right-wing partisans. They want to control everyone else and do what they want, themselves, so it's not even really a contradiction for them.

2025-01-30 08:40:16 GMT

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Oh! I just realized the orange & white part is the paper sleeve and this is just a regular 45, but with an integrated adapter.
I originally thought this was the whole record and it was single-sided, like a CD.
Nevermind. :corgi:

2025-01-30 08:17:49 GMT

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Wow. I don't think I've ever seen that record format. Was that something special to the UK?

2025-01-12 00:17:38 GMT

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Yes!
"Get on the cart, ya toadies!"*
Shadows of the Butlerian Jihad coming.
[*H2G2 Radio Show, if this is too obscure]
[EDIT: okay, I'm assuming everyone knows the Dune reference]

2025-01-10 05:23:03 GMT

Companies using LLMs that pretend to be human customer service representatives are engaging in an unethical attempt to deceive customers.
This ought to be actionable in court. 🤔

2025-01-05 21:43:43 GMT

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Isn't it used in gangster movies from the 20s-30s?
Today, we might say "Feds".
Actually, the funniest thing to me was when I discovered that "Feds" meant police authority in British slang, where, of course, they *don't have" "Feds".
I learned this from "Attack the Block" (2011) -- which is sort of a sci-fi monster movie, actually, but stars John Boyega & Jodie Whittaker. Fun movie. Shame it's too recent for Monsterdon.

2025-01-04 02:10:43 GMT

Medical billing in the USA is utterly ridiculous.
You get a statement that says, bascially:
We billed $725 to your insurance.
Your insurance company said "nuh-uh", you can only charge us $50 for that.
Then the insurance company pays $40.
And then they still bill you $10.
So... $675 just vanished into the ether, but it's absolutely critical that I pay $10.
Because, we absolutely could not have the abomination of me getting something for free, just because I already paid for it, could we?

2025-01-01 02:46:44 GMT

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What I really wonder is: is there anything the Fediverse has to learn from AT Protocol?
It's clearly less meaningfully decentralized than ActivityPub, but does this confer advantages?
And are any of them transferable (without compromising the fundamental benefits of AP, I mean)?
I'm afraid, reading some of the developer comments that the answer is really "no".
But maybe the real lessons have more to do with attitudes and culture, rather than the technology itself?

2024-12-31 03:27:38 GMT

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Isn't it actually tea/juice of some kind -- kind of the same thing as "Arizona Iced Tea", but with the goth packaging?

2024-12-27 09:29:07 GMT

I guess I have an expectation that if you don't change anything, software should just work when you boot a system up again, after a few months of inactivity.
But this does NOT work for web software, because we have built in these global, centralized dependencies.
So certificates expire. Or software handshakes are out of date with some centralized repo, and somehow this is my problem, even though I haven't changed anything.
This just intuitively seems bad and fragile to me. :welp:

2024-12-21 03:26:19 GMT

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I have very fond memories of visiting and playing Scrabble and Moon (dominoes) with my grandmother. I'm a little sad because I don't really get the chance to play anymore.

2024-12-21 01:21:02 GMT

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Well, we've definitely contributed to their solvency today. My daughter wanted to do some Xmas shopping, and so here we are.

2024-12-21 01:13:11 GMT

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This one is pretty successful. I doubt it will disappear anytime soon.

2024-12-21 01:09:14 GMT

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Proximity to the books is comforting, though.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/113/688/140/427/971/873/original/303aa46aeb0dd338.jpg

2024-12-20 23:59:18 GMT

I'm in the mall.
Less than a week before Christmas.
Have I lost my mind?
:welp: :oh_no_bubble:
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/113/687/865/402/632/983/original/9becf143d141aa69.jpg