"We no longer live in the world where we can depend on ‘the good guys’ for our security because we can see both how fast they can turn on us and how good they never were in the first place" -- @…

This is a really good question from @…. The first thing I keep telling everyone in other cities who wonders how they can help, what they can do:
Get organized NOW. Meet your neighbors NOW. Get your neighbors set up with secure messaging NOW. Form multiple hyper-local neighborhood social groups NOW. Organize a block picnic or community craft night or repair workshop or whatever NOW. Get contact info for the human beings who physically show up for neighborhood events NOW.
Form all those local connections ASAP, so that they’re there when you need them. The hardest lines of communication to establish will be the ones with the people closest to you. If you get local lines open in advance, you’ll be in a far, far better place.
https://infosec.exchange/@mathaetaes/115731104851949153

@… if you need more accounts to follow this is a good place to start. https://fedidevs.com/s/NjQ5/

The best description of Brown University, from Bess Kalb. (And to be clear, the heirs and star's kids are invariably also in that carton.)
https://besskalb.substack.com/p/brown-america

@… I think they’re landing in a good place (on this issue)! But they probably need to update some of those previous red lined stances to reflect the current state of things

100 of the ~280 linden trees of #Mäkelänkatu in #Helsinki have been cut. Some of the last trunks are being removed right now.
Judging from the growth rings, some of these trees were about 50 years old and had their best days a few decades ago, but also some good summers recently. Trees rarely…

This is a tricky balance. Some level of skepticism and counter-culture is good and healthy, both for people and society. But when it goes too far, it always seems to end up in the same place.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2

Had Fun

Bought a car/micro-camper

Bought a van to do up as a micro-camper, and did a temporary rush job of that conversion myself while waiting in the list for the pro to do it.
Then the pro gave himself a health criss the week it was booked so I took apart my temp job and only got another temp kit-job in it's place.
Went out in it like four times during that and then broke my wrist and couldn't really use it or improve it.
Then had to take it apart even more to try
and figure out where the ad-blue hole was.
I will do a proper permanent job of the
floor and walls and ceiling and adjustments to the kit-job to make it the nicest it's been so far during the spring next year.
My assumption that the prior conversion
into a van and for wheelchair-access meant the microcamper conversion was half-done already turned out to be false.
If I buy a new one, it'll be one that has never been wheelchair adapted.
But it's going okay. Only scraped it once so far.
Fewer than aimed for or booked, but I broke my wrist and had to cancel the second half of the summer.
Went to a conference about money and computers and fringe decentralized social media and it wasn't as boring as you might expect and felt pretty much like a festival.
Exactly the target number! It's lovely.
Took 3 times longer than I'd hoped and
50% more money than I'd planned for really.
Still improvements to make but they will
be incremental and gradual over the coming year or two now.
It's been interest-only for 20 years so a big old lump sum payment that I never really expected to be able to make. Expected to have to sell and move at the end of the mortgage term.
But surprisingly the stocks ISA got high enough to pay it off after all, so I did that.
Cash-flow ruined by that and the bedroom but should start to feel a bit richer next year.

I saw an article about how good the food options are that are associated with churches. So I went to a Vietnamese place called O BACH across the road from Bunnings in Tuggeranong and had a pretty nice banh mi. Nice crispy bun!
Apologies, I neglected to photograph my food before it disappeared into my cake hole.
#food #canberra

After #Trump finally crashes and burns (I'm still saying I don't think he makes it to the mid terms, and I think it's more than possible he won't make it to the end of the year) we'll hear a lot of people say, "the system worked!" Today people are already talking about "saving democracy" by fighting back. This will become a big rally cry to vote (for Democrats, specifically), and the complete failure of the system will be held up as the best evidence for even greater investment in it.
I just want to point out that American democracy gave nuclear weapons to a pedophile, who, before being elected was already a well known sexual predator, and who made the campaign promise to commit genocide. He then preceded to commit genocide. And like, I don't care that he's "only" kidnaped and disappeared a few thousand brown people. That's still genocide. Even if you don't kill every member of a targeted group, any attempt to do so is still "committing genocide." Trump said he would commit genocide, then he hired all the "let's go do a race war" guys he could find and *paid* them to go do a race war. And, even now as this deranged monster is crashing out, he is still authorized to use the world's largest nuclear arsenal.
He committed genocide during his first term when his administration separated migrant parents and children, then adopted those children out to other parents. That's technically genocide. The point was to destroy the very people been sending right wing terror squads after.
There was a peaceful hand over of power to a known Russian asset *twice*, and the second time he'd already committed *at least one* act of genocide *and* destroyed cultural heritage sites (oh yeah, he also destroyed indigenous grave sites, in case you forgot, during his first term).
All of this was allowed because the system is set up to protect exactly these types of people, because *exactly* these types of people are *the entire power structure*.
Going back to that system means going back to exactly the system that gave nuclear weapons to a pedophile *TWICE*.
I'm already seeing the attempts to pull people back, the congratulations as we enter the final phase, the belief that getting Trump out will let us all get back to normal. Normal. The normal that lead here in the first place. I can already see the brunch reservations being made. When Trump is over, we will be told we won. We will be told that it's time to go back to sleep.
When they tell you everything worked, everything is better, that we can stop because we won, tell them "fuck you! Never again means never again." Destroy every system that ever gave these people power, that ever protected them from consequences, that ever let them hide what they were doing.
These democrats funded a genocide abroad and laid the groundwork for genocide at home. They protected these predators, for years. The whole power structure is guilty. As these files implicate so many powerful people, they're trying to shove everything back in the box. After all the suffering, after we've finally made it clear that we are the once with the power, only now they're willing to sacrifice Trump to calm us all down.
No, that's a good start but it can't be the end.
Winning can't be enough to quench that rage. Keep it burning. When this is over, let victory fan that anger until every institution that made this possible lies in ashes. Burn it all down and salt the earth. Taking down Trump is a great start, but it's not time to give up until this isn't possible again.
#USPol

Pot lights are a mistake, an architectural foible that’s ubiquitous because it makes a place look glamorous when you’re walking through thinking of renting/buying it. Looks good in photos too. And they’re fine for cooking or reading because you’re looking down. But for activities like conversation or chilling in front of the screen, they glare annoyingly. Nice glass wall or ceiling light fixtures are way easier on the eyes.

Anarcho-syndicalist. non-binary person. they/them, also bisexual.
I took down one of my Moomin posters and hung up my two favorite flags in my living room instead. It feels good making my own place look like me.
I know my mom doesn’t like it, but this is my apartment and I’m not going to hide who I am just to make someone else comfortable.
:bisexual_pride: 🏳️‍⚧️ :genderfluid_flag: :nonbinary_flag: :heart_trans: 🏳️‍🌈

Where should we recommend events & community host long videos that isn't YouTube?
* Vimeo - paid, embeds work, recently acquired is a bad sign
* @… - free, no embeds
* BunnyCDN - paid, lots of options including APIs, no embeds
* Peertube - self-hosted, no embeds
Full write up in the forum

'writing is more than just the process by which you obtain a piece of text, right? it's also about finding out what you wanted to say in the first place, and how you wanted to say it. this post existed in my head first as a thought, then it started to gel into words, and then i tried pulling those words out to arrange them in a way that (hopefully) gets my point across. ... i alone can get the thought out and writing is how i do that.'

Good. That report from NINE YEARS AGO needs to be examined closely and the recommendations need to be put in place. Ideally, we'd end the death penalty, given the state's record with putting innocent people on death row, but I'm not hopeful Oklahomans will ever come to their senses about that.

Think of this as a good place to start
— for you and your loved ones
— to expand your knowledge of indie news outlets
who are more deserving of your time and money than corporate, billionaire-owned media.
And feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.
https://www.thehandbaske…

Giving the gift of independent journalism: a guide
The Handbasket has subscription suggestions for almost everyone on your list.

Today I installed a water heater in a neighbor's RV because the built in hybrid one blew out one of the water connections. He happened to have a 20 gallon electric one sitting behind his place for a few years now. Took a couple hours of work, I'd say. He gave me $400.
I'm also almost finished cooking a turkey in the perfectly good smoker someone left by the dumpster a couple months ago that just needed the screws tightened and the bracket on the firebox side flipped 180 de…

Well, a little success, a little failure.
The box with a NeoPixel matrix on the back and a USB battery inside (and a microcontroller) works great!
But I did not bungee it to the bike rack so it flew off, hit the road, the lid broke off, and the MIK adapter also broke.
I bungee corded it into place and it's good now... but the box is busted so I'll have to come up with another solution.

"It's not that any of the other streaming services are good, but Spotify is almost certainly the worst. Do not trust it. Do not let it turn your enjoyment of music into stats and algorithmic playlists."
(Original title: Spotify Haters Club)
https://knru.polin.ski/spotify-haters-

Spotify Haters Club
You know something that is absolutely worth considering? Planning an exit from the culture-destroying, weapons-investing, ICE-advertisement platform known as Spotify, a place where music is seen only as a tool to destroy people's imaginations and flatten art into a homogenised, AI-friendly, beige churn of endless content to immiserate us all.

Day 30: Elizabeth Moon
This last spot (somehow 32 days after my last post, but oh well) was a tough decision, but Moon brings us full circle back to fantasy/sci-fi, and also back to books I enjoyed as a teenager. Her politics don't really match up to Le Guin or Jemisin, but her military experience make for books that are much more interesting than standard fantasy fare in terms of their battles & outcomes (something "A Song of Ice and Fire" achieved by cribbing from history but couldn't extrapolate nearly as well). I liked (and still mostly like) her (unironically) strong female protagonists, even if her (especially more recent) forays into "good king" territory leave something to be desired. Still, in Paksenarion the way we get to see the world from a foot-soldier's perspective before transitioning into something more is pretty special and very rare in fantasy (I love the elven ruins scene as Paks travels over the mountains as an inflection point). Battles are won or lost on tactics, shifting politics, and logistics moreso than some epic magical gimmick, which is a wonderful departure from the fantasy norm.
Her work does come with a content warning for rape, although she addresses it with more nuance and respect than any male SF/F author of her generation. Ex-evangelicals might also find her stuff hard to read, as while she's against conservative Christianity, she's very much still a Christian and that makes its way into her writing. Even if her (not bad but not radical enough) politics lead her writing into less-satisfying places at times, part of my respect for her comes from following her on Twitter for a while, where she was a pretty decent human being...
Overall, Paksenarrion is my favorite of her works, although I've enjoyed some of her sci-fi too and read the follow-up series. While it inherits some of Tolkien's baggage, Moon's ability to deeply humanize her hero and depict a believable balance between magic being real but not the answer to all problems is great.
I've reached 30 at this point, and while I've got more authors on my shortlist, I think I'll end things out tomorrow with a dump of also-rans rather than continuing to write up one per day. I may even include a man or two in that group (probably with at least non-{white cishet} perspective). Honestly, doing this challenge I first thought that sexism might have made it difficult, but here at the end I'm realizing that ironically, the misogyny that holds non-man authors to a higher standard means that (given plenty have still made it through) it's hard to think of male authors who compare with this group.
Looking back on the mostly-male authors of SF/F in my teenage years, for example, I'm now struggling to think of a single one whose work I'd recommend to my kids (having cheated and checked one of my old lists, Pratchett, Jaques, and Asimov qualify but they're outnumbered by those I'm now actively ashamed to admit I enjoyed). If I were given a choice between reading only non-men or non-woman authors for the rest of my life (yes I'm giving myself enby authors as a freebie; they're generally great) I'd very easily choose non-men. I think the only place where (to my knowledge) not enough non-men authors have been allowed through to outshine the fields of male mediocrity yet is in videogames sadly. I have a very long list of beloved games and did include some game designers here, but I'm hard-pressed to think of many other non-man game designers I'd include in the genuinely respect column (I'll include at least two tomorrow but might cheat a bit).
TL;DR: this was fun and you should do it too.
#30AuthorsNoMen

Series C, Episode 01 - Aftermath
MELLANBY: I'll wait up for Lauren. She won't be long. Sleep well.
DAYNA: Good night.
MELLANBY: Night. [Avon and Dayna exit. Mellanby dims the lights and sits]
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/301/404 B7B5

Yet condemning Iran huh? This is just crazy//Immigration agents deploy tear gas, pepper spray in Minneapolis as confrontations with protesters grow https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/immigration-agents-deploy-tear-gas-pepper-…

Immigration agents deploy tear gas, pepper spray in Minneapolis as confrontations with protesters grow
Many of the clashes between agents and protesters are taking place just blocks away from where Renee Good was fatally shot by and ICE agent last week.

As Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotš, said (and Gustavo Petro repeated):
“An advanced city is not one where the poor can get around by car, but one where even the rich use public transportation.” https://sfba.social/@markmetz/115493639268091062

I hope there's a special place in hell for all the MSc program directors that decided it was a good use of everybody's time to require recommendation letters.

I told you - she's one of dem Good Billionaires!
#AllBillionairesAreEvil

Taylor Swift Breaks Political Silence To Throw Support Behind Restoring Shōgun To Throne Of Japan
NEW YORK—In a heartfelt social media statement to her fans, singer–songwriter Taylor Swift broke her long-standing political silence Monday to support restoring an all-powerful shōgun to its rightful place on the throne of Japan. “Hey guys, Taylor here—I’m writing this post because I’ve been inspired by recent events to speak up about why we need to install an all-powerful military dictatorship in Japan’s imperial palace,” said the famously apolitical pop star, admitting that i…

Think of this as a good place to start
— for you and your loved ones
— to expand your knowledge of indie news outlets
who are more deserving of your time and money than corporate, billionaire-owned media.
And feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.
https://www.thehandbask…

Giving the gift of independent journalism: a guide
The Handbasket has subscription suggestions for almost everyone on your list.

This is a good idea. All genAI/diffusion images to be marked with a watermark. If you're in the UK, please sign the petition⤵️
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/736690

Petition: Require generative AI watermarks & ban using people’s likeness without consent
As AI generated content becomes increasingly realistic, we think laws should be put in place to prevent misuse. All such media should carry a permanent watermark or disclosure, alongside a blanket ban on using anyone’s likeness in AI-generated content without consent.

Any sufficiently advanced disaster preparedness is indistinguishable from revolutionary dual power. This essay is a bit of a transition between the theory I've written earlier, and more concrete plans.
Even though I only touched on my life on the commune, it was hard not to write more. These are such weird spaces, with so much invisible opportunity. But they're also just so unique and special. For all the stress and uncertainty of making sure you stayed on Lorean's (the head priestess), there were also those long summer nights with the whole community (except the old lady) gathered around a fire, talking and drinking. There was almost a child-like play to the whole time.
There were so Fridays I'd come home with a couple of gallons of beer from the real world, folks would bring things from the garden, someone would grill a steak, everyone who didn't cook would clean up, and we'd just hang out and have fun. So many evenings I'd go over to Miles place with a guitar, or with his guitar, and we'd pass it around over a few beers, talking about philosophy, Star Wars, or some book or other. It's hard not to write about the strange magic of that space.
My partner and I bonded over similar experiences, mine on a weird little religious commune in California and theirs as a temporary worker at Omega Institute. Both had exploitation, people on weird power trips, frustrating dynamics, but also a strange magic and freedom. Both were sort of fantasy worlds, but places that let us see through this one, let us imagine something that something else is possible behind the veil.
There are many such veils.
Perhaps it's fitting that this is more meandering, as a good wander can help the transition between lots of hard thinking and lots of hard working.
https://anarchoccultism.org/building-zion/evaluating-options
Editing feedback (especially typos, spelling, grammar) is always welcome, as are questions and even wider structural advice. I've been adding the handles of folks who provide feedback to the intro in a "thank you" section. If you do help and wouldn't like to be added, please let me know.

#Mastodon #Fediverse #Outreach #Ottawa #OttawaPlace #Media #politicians
I was reading this funny story about a Jeopardy! question that featured Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/who-is-mark-sutcliffe-ottawa-s-mayor-stumps-jeopardy-champ-9.7013496
It features a link to his X where he (manually) recorded the Answer/Question. So then I ended up on his X profile.
He has 33,000 followers.
He posted 12 minutes ago.
75 engagements - 0 likes - 0 boosts - 0 replies
1h ago
313 engagements - 0 likes - 1 boost - 1 reply
another 1h ago
354 - 3 - 1 - 0
another 1h ago
669 - 3 - 1 - 1
another 1h ago
570 - 1 - 0 - 0
2h ago
461 - 7 - 1 - 2
———
Like... what good is 33 000 followers if less than 1/3rd potentially see your post and you get nearly no real engagement?
My Theory: While Politicians think they are using X/FB because “that's where the people are”, the data shows that the "people" beyond clicking ‘follow' never actually see them or engage with that person. Instead, what the profile is actually used for is self promotion. A known place where the *media* can pick up the relevant happenings of a politician.
Which then begs the question. Would said Mayor of Ottawa be able to do exactly the same thing, and engage with the same or more constituents on ottawa.place?

Good news, European countries should buy European (or Canadian) where possible,
https://www.saab.com/newsroom/press-releases/2025/saab-receives-order-for-globaleye-from-france

Saab receives order for GlobalEye from France
Saab has today entered a contract with the French General Directorate of Armaments, direction générale de l'Armement (DGA), and received an order for two GlobalEye Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, including ground equipment, training and support. The order value is approximately SEK 12.3 billion and deliveries will take place 2029-2032.  

If you liked A Good Place then you will like Man on the Inside. Began watching it last night and really loving the series.

this week on the good ol’ #GratefulDead cast, we flip the side on “blues for allah” & get into “crazy fingers,” legit one of my favorite dead studio cuts, capturing a delicate place that virtually all live versions (outside 1975) miss. https://…

Series D, Episode 10 - Gold
SOOLIN: Why don't we wait in the Pursers Office?
TARRANT: What a good idea! [They enter the Pursers Office and check the monitor screen.] Any minute now.
[Entering the Space Princess hold.]
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/410/267 B7B4

Spending time in #Udupi #India, I've to be extra disciplined to eat healthy because #food is plenty and plenty of food is #unhealthy (but tasty). My success requires the understanding of both hosts and the serving personnel, and most days they take very good care of me.
Today was especially moving because I was at a place and people new to me, but they heard understood my needs, gave me a prime spot where they could monitor what was being served to me, and they made sure I got plenty of whatever I wanted; and nothing I didn't.
It's amazing how many people it takes for just one person to live well, and how generous, tolerant, and welcoming Udupi people are. 🙇‍♂️
Anyway, you should come visit: https://hachyderm.io/@smurthys/115546234528151408

Of course, my default will always be "keep things out of the government so those things can't be held hostage" but that's a longer term goal. First, understand the situation then figure out how to respond.
Now that everyone is good and scared, and realizing that a whole chunk of the population can suddenly go without food, I'm gonna remind everyone that the time to learn to grow food and forage is not *when the food runs out*. It's in the years before that.
Here's a fun place to start with foraging....
https://youtube.com/@blackforager

If you're free Wednesday night in SF, check out this panel on social housing at 518 Valencia. Sounds like it'll be good (I unfortunately can't make it):
Wed, Oct 22, 7:30pm
Social Housing: Challenging YIMBYs and NIMBYs
"What we’re doing on housing isn’t working. We’ve upzoned, streamlined, deregulated. And still, the crisis deepens. There is a movement waiting to be built—...rooted in care, solidarity, and the belief that everyone deserves a place to live.&qu…

Must Try Milwaukee: Pizza:
Chuck’s Place, in Thiensville, not Milwaukee? Eh...
Flour Girl & Flame - Good pizza! Need to try the Detroit style on the next visit.
San Giorgio - Good pizza! My last visit was ruined by an asshole though.
Classic Slice - Love it! Haven't been there in a while though.
Hup’s Pizza - Haven't tried... not convinced I should.
Wy'east Pizza - Haven't tried because my partner went without me and was not impressed.

Must Try Milwaukee: Pizza
Snag yourself a slice from one of these must-try spots.

Watched Star Trek Enterprise again - all Star Trek are leaving Netflix in Jan.
It really is one of the best Trek series imo. Last season a bit all over the place but it was really good.

I would pay good money to a place that gave me the opportunity to skeet-shoot drones legally

Yesterday I had an argument with my kids and after that my 8 year old daughter told me that we needed to talk. She took me aside and showed me a picture she drew of us.
"Remember when this was us a few years ago? That's us having a good time. And now look, this is us when we argue!"
She takes the drawing, crumbles it into a paper ball and hands it to me. 😵‍💫

#coffeeneuring ride 3, combined with #DrumAndBassOnTheBike
I visited a coffee place I used to have lunch at. It seems to have changed owners, but the coffee is still good.
The croissant, not so much.

#Blakes7 Series D, Episode 05 - Animals
AVON: Right. How's our armament situation?
SOOLIN: Good as it'll ever be. We couldn't hold off a Federation patrol with it, but we knew that already.
https://blake.torpidity.ne…

Series A, Episode 02 - Space Fall
BLAKE: Just wondered how good you really were.
AVON: Don't try and manipulate me, Blake.
BLAKE: Now why should I try and do that?
AVON: You need my help.
BLAKE: Only if you can open the doors.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/102/185…

Spreadsheets!!!
Filled in my #dasher tracking sheet today and added a chart!
This one shows most of the stores I've got orders from since I started tracking that more closely in March. (there is a 'long tail' of <5 orders on the right that is not included in the picture.)
No big surprises for me in here. McDs and Dairy Queen are the 'bread and butter' locations. Other good performers pop up as the number of orders declines including NoodleBox, Boston Pizza, and Walmart.
Little Valley and Panago are good ones on the less frequent side.
7-11 is frequent, but pay is terrible.
“Walmart SFS" is their package delivery vs. grocery. It's an anomaly. It does not allow tips, and the orders are generally 5-10 packages at a time per offer which is why it has the most orders, but the very little cash.
I'm also always considering these numbers geographically... as in, where is the best place to stage myself for the most pay. There is a 'north' and 'south' side of town and It's not a clear choice.
#PortAlberni #DasherLife #DoorDash #Uber #GigWork #Charts #Data #Spreadsheet #AppleNumbers