@cdarwin@c.im2025-12-15 04:48:36
The extraordinary courage of Germany’s wartime ‘traitors’
With Nazi informers everywhere, any dissident risked betrayal
– and the prospect of being hanged ‘like slaughtered cattle’ for ‘defeatism’
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-ex
@heiseonline@social.heise.de2026-01-15 17:26:00
EuGH: Fluglinien müssen auch Provisionen von Online-Vermittlern erstatten
Werden Flüge annulliert, haben Passagiere Anspruch auf die volle Rückzahlung ihrer Kosten. Der EuGH sagt, das schließt Gebühren externer Buchungsportale ein.
@benb@osintua.eu2026-02-14 22:26:33
Russia’s external debt reaches $319.8 billion as wartime spending fuels borrowing binge: https://benborges.xyz/2026/02/14/russias-external-debt-reaches-billion.html
@wandklex@mastodon.art2026-01-09 14:03:49
Aufgrund des Wetters will ich dem Abholservice meines Logistikers derzeit nicht zumuten, mich extra anfahren zu müssen. Die nächsten Pakete mit #Kundenglücklichmachungsposteinlieferungsgeräusch gehen darum erst frühestens am Montag raus. Alle bei Kauf jeweils gültigen Lieferfristen werden dank von mir stets reichlich eingeplanter Puffer dennoch problemlos eingehalten.
@andres4ny@social.ridetrans.it2025-11-22 19:50:50
Wow. I've dealt with various toxic personalities in software development, but a good portion of the time those toxic personalities were at least extremely knowledgeable in their (often, very limited) domain.
AI, however, seems to be enabling toxic personalities *who are completely clueless*. Impressive!
https://github…
@mikeymikey@hachyderm.io2026-01-05 05:52:40
For fans of #Steam games where you can build -really- broken mechanics like Balatro or Slay the Spire (#deckbuilders, #roguelikes, etc. - "Make the numbers go UP!"), LOOTPLOT has been *extremely* satisfying for me
It's like: "what if Incredible Machine, but Ballionaire" - you randomly get access to a bunch of items that each have their own mechanics and trigger/play off each other, which you build out on a grid - but the grid itself can be manipulated by the items. Some of the interactions are absolutely wild.
Plays a little rough on CrossOver - I think the dynamic scaling plays havoc with texture calculation - but is still enjoyable all the same. (It's written in LÖVE - I really hope the author releases a macOS build!)
The sale price of $3.49 is crazy good for the enjoyment value I've gotten out of it
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3057190/LOOTPLOT/
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot2025-11-29 09:30:30
#WritersCoffeeClub Nov 28: In what ways do you see yourself reflected in your own work?
In one novel I've written, I based my main character on what I imagine I would have been like if not for the trauma of my childhood. He came out as very successful, but also extremely arrogant and entitled — not a likeable person.
@tiotasram@kolektiva.social2025-11-28 23:49:06
Just finished "Orsinian Tales" by Ursula K Le Guin. It's... good, but not nearly as anarchist as a lot of her other work. These are short fiction stories weaving mostly through a fictional Eastern European country during the cold war, although some stretch farther back into history.
As typical for Le Guin a bunch of male protagonists, and a few parts that might seem to excuse sexual assault, which I've always found an odd thing in Le Guin's work (the rape in "The Dispossessed" bothered me too; the lack of strong female characters in "A Wizard of Earthsea" also sticks out to me). On the other hand, I've read from an interview that she wrote "Earthsea" absolutely knowing her audience (teenage boys) and intentionally writing something that would sell, which speaks to true mastery of her craft (I think the opening of "The Word for World is Forest" demonstrates what an expert can do wielding an intimate understanding of pulp science fiction tropes with intent, for example).
In any case, she writes sublime similes and sparse characters who nevertheless seem to embody deep wisdom about the human condition. I feel that often enough just a few words or sentences in a story bear forth hefty wisdom while around them Le Guin constructs something like an austere painting in muted tones, full of rich details that one can easily miss.
#AmReading #ReadingNow
@krispijn@social.sargasso.nl2025-12-03 08:26:01
Folkert Jensma: "Ik durf te stellen dat aan de drie plagen die de verhouding burger-overheid de afgelopen jaren bedierven (gaswinning Groningen, toeslagen en overlast Schiphol) #Yesilgöz’ boetebeleid kan worden toegevoegd.'
@digitalnaiv@mastodon.social2025-11-26 08:51:04
Warum das Argument, man müsse in sozialen Netzwerken bleiben, um Opposition zu leisten, völliger Unsinn ist: Die Plattformen sind keine neutralen Orte, an denen sich »gute« und »schlechte« Argumente einfach begegnen und ausdiskutiert werden. Sie sind gewinnorientierte Unternehmen, die den Algorithmus gezielt darauf ausrichten, das zu verstärken, was Interaktion auslöst – und das sind oft extreme, polarisierende und emotional aufgeladene Inhalte.
