@sean@scoat.es2025-10-14 22:40:37
Flip side of this: ~3 years ago, I got automated calls from “RBC Visa”. I ignored them.
Then my card stopped working.
So I called the number on the back of my card and said as much.
The agent gave me a hard time: “So you JUST IGNORED our calls about this?”
“No; I didn’t know they were you calling.”
“How did you not know they were us?! It says ‘this is RBC Visa’ when you answer!”
“That’s indistinguishable from fraud.”
He did not like that. He thought …
@mariyadelano@hachyderm.io2025-10-16 21:51:13
2/2 Reflection on #citizenship:
I do not treat the concept of “#democracy" lightly. I was born into the aftermath of centuries of totalitarian oppression that ended suddenly, leaving the nascent Ukrainian state of the late 90s and early 2000s floundering in the turbulent whirlpool of hopes and fears felt by millions of people who were finally allowed to ponder: how to build a free democratic state in the place of Soviet and imperial ruins?
I was taught the words "democracy", "citizen", "freedom", "voting", “liberty" (and more) by people who, less than two decades prior, weren't allowed to leave the borders of their country. I was told about self-determination by people whose political choices were ridiculed, punished, and eviscerated form most of their lives. The duty of governing ourselves felt to us ephemeral - a nice fantasy, akin to a fairytale or a utopia from fictional works.
And then I saw those same people fight with their bodies and souls once the previously unfathomable democracy was threatened. Protests in 2004, then again in 2014, then the unthinkable war against foreign invasion in 2022. Democracy no longer felt abstract or silly. It became as tangible as saying "I love you".
I write of Ukraine as I reflect on becoming a citizen of another country because the history and values of my adopted United States feel as real as the skin on my legs, the significance of its legacy lays as heavy as the weight of my waist-long hair, and the desire to uphold the freedoms of its Constitution burns my throat as harshly as dehydration after a long day in the sun.
People have asked me why I even want to join this country, when the present moment is shrouded in impenetrable darkness. And I answer: because I've felt the warmth of a newly lit fire of freedom breaking through shadows that for centuries looked like solid walls. I have seen kindness, and solidarity heal the fear and hate of oppression. I've seen liberty emerge from nothing but the human soul.
I am not a religious person, but I have faith. Faith in the ideals at the foundation of the American project. Faint but powerful recognition that "we the people" now includes me.
I love #America. And I hope to keep loving my home for the rest of my life.
@axbom@axbom.me2025-12-15 20:04:32
#RobReinerMovies
@fgraver@hcommons.social2025-12-15 04:32:48
I stopped buying books (or anything, really) from Amazon years ago, when it became apparent the working conditions at their many processing centres are appalling and they were actively busting unions. I have never regretted that stance, and I have always been able to find the books, etc. I need from other sources.
I hope more authors — and big name ones too — will follow this lead.
#BoycottAmazon
@threeofus@mstdn.social2025-09-16 09:55:17
1/ Deleting Facebook and Instagram from my phone has had a positive impact on my #wellbeing. I’m not really missing them. I realised that they mostly brought out negative emotions in me like anger and envy. I’m going to abstain from #porn next. I think porn has been damaging my relationship because it’s so…
@heiseonline@social.heise.de2025-10-14 06:51:00
@mapto@qoto.org2025-12-15 06:02:09
What does it tell us that AI scrapers are ignoring the more intelligent way of scraping data despite all the indications towards it?
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/12/stop-crawling-my-html-you-dickheads-use-the-api/
I don't think the answer is …
@pgogl@troet.cafe2025-10-15 19:13:49
#MünchnerRunde #BR #Aiwanger ist tatsächlich so dumm und meint, mit den Einsparungen beim Bürgergeld wären all die nötigen Investitionen zu leisten. Jeder zweite Satz enthält das Wort Bürgergeld. Früher hätte m…
@Mediagazer@mstdn.social2025-09-16 07:15:42
Former Univision anchor Jorge Ramos and his daughter Paola Ramos launch The Moment, a new English-language podcast targeting English-speaking Latinos (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/business…
@arXiv_csRO_bot@mastoxiv.page2025-09-16 11:52:57
ParaEQsA: Parallel and Asynchronous Embodied Questions Scheduling and Answering
Haisheng Wang, Weiming Zhi
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.11663 https://arxiv.o…
