leinir @leinir@computerfairi.es

Discussing the British Press, and I'm reminded of the time when I had a moderate amount of celebrity in the UK LGBT community, and the press tried to do a hit piece on me.

Now here's the thing. There's a cheat code, and I'm going to explain what it is:

They will contact you for comment.

If you say nothing, they will publish the piece and say you were offered the chance to comment.

If you tell them to fuck off, they will publish the price and say your response was foul and unprintable.

I did neither of these things. I told them that this piece wasn't journalism. It was ridiculous tittle tattle and represented everything that was wrong with a failing and dying industry more obsessed with clickbait than proper reporting. I asked them if they didn't have proper news to report, and said that they should be ashamed of themselves.

They're basically screwed at that point. "We contacted Ms Brown for comment and she said that this was ridiculous tittle tattle and that the reporter should be ashamed of herself."

They're not gonna say that.

I'm struck by something one of my history teachers once said about medieval castles. They weren't meant to be impregnable. They were meant to be annoying enough that an invading army would decide to investigate other priorities instead.

The piece never ran.

If you're a trans person in the crosshairs of the British press, make yourself an annoying target. They're on a deadline, and if you make them conclude that life is too short, they will leave you the fuck alone.

Like old magazines about computers? Why not subscribe to the Time Machine Subscription Service?

You get:

* 12 Computer / Console Magazines ranging from 1980 – 2004ish
* One sent each month
* Excitement of getting stuff in the mail

(I've basically got loads of old magazines to get rid of, servers to pay for, and though this would be a fun way of dealing with it)

More info here:
https://ramokromok.com/mags

This is what a privatised health service looks like.

No vaccine if you are poor, no vaccination program for the common good, just private companies making money from those who can afford to pay.

Covid booster jabs to be approved for sale to UK public
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/17/covid-booster-jabs-approved-for-sale-to-uk-public?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

IDK how to explain to people that it's not just about covid at this point. I haven't had a cold or flu or any kind of illness in years now. I haven't been sick since 2019. The way we used to live now grosses me out, and I simply do not want to return to it.

This is someting I wish I'd realized a lot sooner in life.

Bills like the UK's so-called Online Safety Bill and the just re-introduced EARN IT Act undermine safety by attacking end-to-end encryption. #noearnitact #makedmssafe

QT signalapp: Our position remains clear. We will not back down on providing private, safe communications. Today, we join with other encrypted messengers pushing back on the UK's flawed Online Safety Bill.

Lifehack:

Instead of wondering if something is normal, ask if it's harmful.

Dressing up as an anthropomorphic animal character isn't normal, but it makes a lot of people smile.

Being exceptionally talented isn't normal, but it sure offers a way to enrich your life as well as the people you care for.

To hell with normal. To hell with being afraid of being called weird. Furries figured this out decades ago. Many anime fans and gamers, too.

Yet, I hear people ask things like, "Is it normal to feel the way I do?"

I dunno.

Does it make your life harder? Then you might want to do something about it. Does it cause harm to others? Definitely do something to correct it.

But to cry when you watch movies? Or to want to cuddle so much that you lose any interest in actually having sex? Or to hate the world we inherited so much that it hurts, and so you channel it into helping others suffer a little less?

Who gives a shit about normal. That's human.

Are there any #linux people who do #musicproducion on #OpenSUSE? With a low latency kernel and all that jazz? Preferably with #bitwig and VSTs and all that crap. That's where I'm headed in the future so I want to know how much faff there is. Back in the day I used Ubuntu Studio which was great.

KDE Telemetry collects data on you, if you opt-in, and it has a clear description of what is collected, why, what the retention policy is and how you can switch it back off.

It's off by default, and distributors of binaries (e.g. distro's) can disable it entirely at compile time.

That's how it should be (policy is here: https://community.kde.org/Policies/Telemetry_Policy )

What an unforgettable #Akademy2023! Thank you to our sponsors, attendees (in-person and online), University of Macedonia, Akademy Team, and volunteers for making it a success.

For updates about #Akademy, keep an eye on https://akademy.kde.org/!

#event #opensource #floss #foss #tech #Akademy2024

“Tech experts are starting to doubt that ChatGPT and A.I. ‘hallucinations’ will ever go away: ‘This isn’t fixable’”

More accurately, AI researchers have always said that this isn’t fixable but y’all were too obsessed with listening to con artists to pay attention but now the con is wearing thin. https://fortune.com/2023/08/01/can-ai-chatgpt-hallucinations-be-fixed-experts-doubt-altman-openai/

The Times is right — e-bikes are a scourge and we must do everything we can to protect our fragile SUV-driving elites from these teen terrors. I propose we construct a nationwide network of separated e-bike enclosures to segregate these monsters from god-fearing motorists.

I’ve attached one such example from a European petrostate that has spent years valiantly protecting cars from the ravages of cycling. With work, we may be able to reduce the number of cyclist-on-motorist deaths to zero.

This week, I went over to Bluesky and asked people who'd left Mastodon why they left, and lots of people told me. I grabbed the replies and crunched them and wrote up a summary. I think it's really interesting and often kind of wrenching.

https://erinkissane.com/mastodon-is-easy-and-fun-except-when-it-isnt

#meta

I just wanna put this out there. If you're reading this, are AMAB, and have like any sort of feelings like a "feminine" side, or you find that you use mainly female characters because it feels more comfortable, you should explore the possibility of being trans/non-binary ASAP

When I was younger I started making female characters more than make characters and it like completed something in me, kind of. But it wasn't enough, there was always this feeling of "but Im not actually female". The idea of me being attract as a feminine person was impossible

But that was just society LYING TO ME, like it does to all of us. Because I am attractive, and I would have been even more attractive back then if I had known it was possible. I could have not wasted so much time STRIVING TO BE MASCULINE. I regret it now.

If I knew that I could be trans and it would be okay and I would be attractive and feel as good as I do now, I would have done this years ago. If I could have gotten on puberty blockers I would have. Society stole a huge portion of my life with these lies. Don't fall for it.

#transvisibility #transgender #nonbinary #lgbtq #amab #furry

I remembered that I made this cutie last year. I have a bad habit of making something then immediately moving onto the next thing without really reflecting on it or showing it off more than once.