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Re: Blue #1780072425

That’s right, blue, it is like tossing a message in a bottle. “🎶 I hope that someone gets my, I hope that someone gets my, I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle, yeah. Message in a bottle, yeah. 🎶”

The time has come, once again, to spend time with the dearly departed. Oh no, don’t worry, they aren’t dead; they are just retired workmates, and friends 😅. When there was only one retired it was easy. Now, with four retired, it is nothing short of an epic achievement to get them all together in one place, one day, at a certain hour. But try I must!

While fika may seem like just a coffee and cake break, it holds a much deeper cultural significance in Sweden. It’s a moment to pause, connect and recharge — often more about the company and conversation than the coffee itself.

Today, more than ever, we need fika in our lives. To pause, connect (without electronics!), and recharge. Indeed!

Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest.

I completely agree with this, and have noticed the “benchless” trend. I feel we are lacking of humanity by not having them. I don’t like it, and I am glad I am not alone. Why are they getting removed around here? Hobos.

➝ Via Hacker News.

Came across a fortune cookie photo on r/pics, which read “The one who gives should not remember, the one who receives should not forget.” Of course, being Reddit, it has a lot of sarcastic, witty, off-the-rails, etc., comments. What would people expect from a fortune cookie, right? Yet the essence of it, what I think it refers to—and that is, to do good and forget, and to always remember the good received—remains.

Re: Claudrod #1777170474

I agree with Claudine. Just like her, I grew tired of social media a while back. That includes LinkedIn, for those fooling themselves to believe it isn’t (it is, actually, one of the worse). Today I have accounts on Instagram (and by inheritance, Threads), Bluesky, Reddit, Hacker News, the Fediverse, twtxt, and LinkedIn. I contribute to none, but twtxt (sporadically), and browse to none—but Hacker News and Reddit—unless it is strictly needed: say, a friend sends me a link to either of them. On Reddit (very specific subs) and Hacker News I am mostly a read-only consumer.

It is all fake, Claud, very fake.

I just signed up on Postcrossing, and have requested to send my first postcard. A little stressed out now, because the site shows tomorrow as my postcard’s departure day. What if I can’t make it? Hmm, I guess I could ask on the forum. Yeah, I will do that.

This person took a few photos on a blizzard in New York, and they look like something out of a game. I like them very much!

Redirect links from Twitter (now known as a bloody hellhole) to Xcancel, you know, for “the rest of us”.

javascript:void(location.href='https://www.xcancel.com'+location.pathname);

Create a bookmarklet with the above, and use it while on the tweet you are wanting to share, then share the new link.

I finally decided to cut off Substack and Medium posts from Hacker News, as they don’t provide a way to filter the posts I see. I use uBlock, so it all boiled down to a filter.

news.ycombinator.com##tr.athing:has(span.sitestr:has-text(/substack\.com|medium\.com/))
news.ycombinator.com##tr.athing:has(span.sitestr:has-text(/substack\.com|medium\.com/)) + tr
news.ycombinator.com##tr.athing:has(span.sitestr:has-text(/substack\.com|medium\.com/)) + tr + tr.spacer

With those three lines under “My filters” all entries with those two domains in it simply do not show, as if they never existed. Now, there is no escape from those who use them with a custom domain. 😩

The expression “this isn’t an airport, no need to announce your departure” is used quite often, when people—often in rage—quits an online platform, telling everyone they are doing so. Yet, today I read the justification for doing so from someone leaving Nextdoor (a neighbourhood Facebook look alike):

For me, sharing my departure is simply about transparency and awareness. Platforms constantly analyze user activity, engagement patterns, and retention. If participation quietly stops, it becomes just another data point. When people openly express why they disengage, it provides something far more useful than silence.

I think that makes perfect sense, don’t you think?

Halloy has come a long way since I first saw it posted on Hacker News. It does looks really good, and it is quite customisable. Hard to beat a web based one, but still.

I feel I need to fully get out of social media—and I only lurk on ActivityPub (commonly known as “Mastodon”) these days. The things I see make me go research to check if they are real, then that deep shame sinks in.

What kind of sorcery is this? Whether it will survive a washing or not is irrelevant. The skill level is of 100.

➝ Via brettezeleliquide.

“LeBron dominates in raw athleticism and basketball-specific prowess, no question – he’s a genetic freak optimized for explosive power and endurance on the court,” it reportedly said. “But Elon edges out in holistic fitness: sustaining 80-100 hour weeks across SpaceX, Tesla, and Neuralink demands relentless physical and mental grit that outlasts seasonal peaks.”

Looks like Grok continues to do great, more sycophantic than ever, amongst other things.

“Based on replacement costs, Eugen’s time and effort, and the fair market value of the Mastodon brand, its associated properties, and the social network, we settled on a one-time compensation of €1M.”

Eugen Rochko is stepping down as Mastodon’s CEO, staying “in an advisory role” with Mastodon’s team. €1M ain’t much, but I figure he enjoyed what he did.

Today, after an unfriendly IRC exchange, @prologic deleted all mentions of twtxt.net, the Yarn.social repository (or made it hidden), and shutdown Twtxt.net—yes, it is unreachable. I am hoping that this was a decision taken emotionally in haste, and that the site and service will eventually come back online. 🤞🏻

When I grow up, or in my second life if I get unlucky to reincarnate as a human (aiming to be a bird, though, but I digress), I want to be like Ariel.

“Best recent change I’ve done to improve my health: starting the work week on Tuesday and ending it on Thursday.”

➝ Via @ariel.

My most used, and only, filters on the Fediverse are “#wordle” and “wordle”. They work great. I cannot begin to describe how much I dislike those silly “bragging” squares people post, over and over. Ugh!

Yeah, Bluesky isn’t decentralised, it just wants you to believe it is. It is an illusion.

“Bluesky claims to want decentralization and composable moderation, but they still enjoy abusing the power of arbitrary banishment.”

Even though Haagen-Dazs reduced their 1 pint (16oz) to 14oz in 2009—yes, 16 years ago—there is an ongoing mention of it on social media as if it just happened. Taking things like this from social media as face value, as recent “news”, and without further research, is truly bad.

While keeping my account active, I got rid of the Threads application on my mobile device, as a first step. Really tired to fine tunning notifications and still getting them, seemingly randomly, for things, or people I don’t know. Next step is to delete the account—which will also close my dormant Instagram.

I am going to disconnect from the Fediverse next. I figure that will make me an online anti-social, no? It is the last social media in which I participate mostly as a lurker, with some ocassional posts, and replies. Yet, I have found my very few interactions to be often missunderstood. Again, it could be a me problem, so better take it out.

This one was too good to pass up. Found in the Fediverse.

I need to start my own “blogroll” page, so that I can write down the blogs I come across and like, to later re-visit. That’s something which search engines can’t help me, and it bothers me to no end trying finding that blog once again, and fail.

If you use Phanpy as your Fediverse client, I am sure you will agree with me that Catch-up is one of its best features. I love everything about that client, though.

One can find quite a few interesting websites listed at this Blogroll, this Blogroll, and this Blogroll. I am still missing one, but can’t find it. Just a note to have the URLs handy, as I have “lost” them more than once.

Using Google Maps for casual journaling is a neat idea, and I have to say, I wouldn’t know where to start. Maybe it is time to reach out to Claud, exchange hellos, catch up a bit, and ask her!

This might be quite unpopular, but I truly dislike Wordle. The reason isn’t rooted on any psychological issue, it is much, much more simple: people share their Wordle result(s)—I figure they feel good about themselves—and for me it is only uneven, unaligned, wasteful noise. I don’t even want to show you an example, but I am sure you know what I am talking about.

I have been more active on the Fediverse lately, mostly as a consumer, but occasionally replying to posts. If you are on the Fediverse (also known as Mastodon), feel free to reach out (@david@weaknotes.com)!

First time replying to a MastoPrompt (a request for everyone, anyone, to offer a small poem about a certain word). The word was “alone”. My entry:

Assuming forgotten I felt despair,
sat there, alone, among empty chairs.
My child showed up, his smile all wide,
His ask “Talk to me, papa!” broke the divide.
Alone no more.

I have never brought Phanpy (a delightfully opinionated, minimalistic, Mastodon client) to Notes before, so here it goes its first appearance. It is lovely. The way it does threading is really good, and the “Catch-up” feature is marvelous.

If you use Mastodon, or a Mastodon API compatible server, give Phanpy a try. I promise you will not be disappointed.

I am on the Fediverse (@david@collantes.social, and @david@weaknotes.com; warning, Google results links) mostly as a consumer. That is, I read and, occasionally, reply. I post once in a Blue Moon.

What brings me to write this note is that it bugs me, to no end, the abuse of “content warning” I see around. It is a reason for me not to follow (or mute) the OP. I want to read/see, unabridged. Content warnings are very useful; abusing them isn’t.

Oh boy, some people sure are something. Yet, this could be just the preamble of what’s to come, maybe.

Before phoning the number, Gaudreau did a search in Facebook Messenger to find out whether it was legitimate.

The answer he got in Messenger from the “Meta AI” artificial intelligence search tool was that the phone number he found, 1-844-457-0520, was “indeed a legitimate Facebook support number.”

Kottke, to whom website I browse every once and them, have long monetised from it, using supporters, and advertisements. Until fairly recently it didn’t have comments, but now it does. Want to drop one? Subscribe. Ha! I would pay not to see them. Ironic, eh?

I wonder if bots are somehow “clicking” the hearts on notes. I am having a hard time accepting humans are actually doing it. Call me an unbeliever.

Why providing contact ways, if there will not be a reply? It seems a trend. “Contact me”, “Get in touch”, but when one does… silence. Siloed. People are siloed.

The old… err more mature I get, the less interest I have for social media. I kid you not. Kim, on the other hand… she consumes (doesn’t create) it all the time.

I was having a weird issue in which blue heart next to the timestamp would appear off place, and quickly jump into place on page load/refresh. Took the problem over IRC (Libera.Chat) #css channel and, sure enough, hassoon and DPA found the issue, and provided a solution, in no time.

Suffice it to say, very, very grateful.

The mishaps of X triggered the spawn of new services like Threads, Bluesky. It also exacerbated the adoption of the Fediverse (often simply called Mastodon). Now there is Pebble, but this one has a problem of it’s own. To sign up you need to connect with X/Twitter, “to confirm you’re a good fit for Pebble”. Oh dear god!