So after being in Mastodon land for two weeks, now, I'm still learning how things work and all, but generally, people just seem to be a little more willing to be friendly out here than ever on twitter or, now known as "it" in my circle. If you know braille you'll get the joke lol. People just seem cooller with each other, which is a far cry from all the twitter BS, keep up the good work around here
@luis@startrek2024 The Star Trek community here is fantastic. Mostly positive discussions about every episode, memes, #HangTrek, #AllStarTrek (everyone watches the same episode at the same time)
You laugh, but Nazi propagandists used Freud's specter of a savage Id within us all to make the most effective propaganda ever created. Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays read Freud's books on the subconscious, and created consumer culture. He coined the term "public relations" to disguise propaganda, installed a South American dictator, and convinced half the USA to start smoking and drinking out of disposable cups. Freud's bullshit is fucking dangerous.
"The nurse came in, and she showed Yale a small pink sponge on the ends of a stick, showed him how he could hold it to Charlie's lips to give him water
He fed him water, drop by drop.
He could feel it, all around him: how down the corridor, and down other hallways of other hospitals around Chicago and the other godforsaken cities of the globe, a thousand other men did the same."
"She thought of Nora, whose art and love were interrupted by assassination and war. Stupid men and their stupid violence, tearing apart everything good that was ever built. Why couldn't you ever just go after your life without tripping over some idiot's dick?"
So my entry in the @neilhimself Folio Society contest didn't make the cut as a finalist 😢 It's disappointing, but I gave it my best shot and am very happy with what I created ☠️ 🖤
I might still turn it into an art print for my Etsy shop with a portion of funds raised going to charity, like I did with the bookmark art I also did for 'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains'. If I do I will post about it here later on
@neilhimself thank you! Considering the quality of the finalists who were chosen, and all the artwork I’ve seen that didn’t make it, I don’t envy the decision makers either!
Are you alright with me turning my entry into a print sold for charity? I was thinking of making either UNHCR or UNRWA the beneficiary
1549 is considered the foundation date of the Russian foreign office, but until the 18th century Russian tsars preferred to permanent diplomatic representatives abroad. Major reforms were only introduced under the reign of Tsar Peter I.
However, a change in attitude towards foreign #diplomats already followed the dynastical change in the 1610s: restrictions were eased. Moreover, the tsar began to welcome permanent representatives from other territories and to establish permanent diplomats himself. (3/4)
By intensifying interaction with other #courts and rulers, Russian #diplomats became cultural brokers who contributed to the transfer of people, objects and ideas from Europe to Russia.
Petrova argues that the introduction of the European diplomatic rank system and ceremonial was aimed more at demonstrating the superiority of Russian rulers than at creating equal relations with other powers. (4/4)
The /c/cybersecurity community on Infosec.pub has new icon and banner artwork courtesy of @bolo ! It already makes the space look nicer if you ask me 🎨 😄
I keep dusting off a story I originally started as a short when I was in high school. I’ve rewritten the easiest completed parts a couple of times, and continue to add to it over time. I was fully planning on diving in to finally finish it this summer. Now I’m thinking once again about putting it on the back burner. I’ve got 2 competing ideas floating in my heads. One I know I can wait on. The other is what’s intriguing me. /thread #writingcommunity#authorsofmastodon
Ultimately, after the third book is out I’d like to go back to edit all of the stories together chronologically. Above the chapter numbers I’ll put the names - Tyler, Lauren, or April. Right now the world is building faster in my head than I can write. I have a major concern about the third book, and ultimately the compilation of all 3 into 1. /thread #writingcommunity#authorsofmastodon
My New Roommate is a #NewAdult book, and has some heavy and graphic sex scenes, including with April. The Challenges of Being Me is #youngadult and Lauren is very wholesome, which she also was in the first book. April’s story will have to be sex-heavy too, as that was a plot point of the first book. In your opinion, is it ok to have 1 #YA story sandwiched between 2 more explicit stories? #writingcommunity#authorsofmastodon@bookstodon@mastodonbooks
Me: "Why would people assume ill intent because of being asked questions questions? I thought people liked to be asked questions? Shows interest, makes them the center of attention..."
Other Me: "They don't like them when they assume hidden agendas."
@masukomi this sounds super familiar to me. For a long time I assumed that people just didn't like smart women, but then I began to realize that it might be more than just that
@rachelnabors yeah. I don't remember if you've mentioned taking an autism assessment test, but if not: https://embrace-autism.com/autism-tests/ It's WAY under-diagnosed in AFAB folks. If you're autistic, learning what autistic self-care looks like is literally life-changing.
also the "@actuallyautistic" group regularly has people discussing WTFs they encounter like this. I like it, if for no other reason than being reminded that "it's not just me". ;)
@huuishuu cool story. Still shitty. It's never okay to demand others withhold their political message for your own comfort. If you have a problem with the message, you are free to ignore the content. Nobody is forcing you to participate.
The whole issue with LLM models right now is that they are notoriously difficult to control. If it were up to Google, every single response would include a reference to some sponsored content - but they can’t do that without completely destroying the usefulness of the output and besmirching the sponsor’s brand.
Of course, as time passes, we’re going to refine this technology, until we have enough control to implement these terrible/profitable ideas. Like any aspect of life under capitalism, we can really only enjoy it while it lasts.
I hope at that point we have enough capable alternatives. Like, hopefully around the time they add ads is also the time when open-source models and apps have caught up again.
“ One look at this chart should be sufficient to understand why the Great Crash of 1929 was both great, and a major cause of the Great Depression which followed it, and why levered speculation, rather than rational calculation, dominates the behaviour of asset markets.”
“ Finance, and banking, and macroeconomics, are therefore integrated topics: they cannot be treated as separate domains, as Neoclassical treats them. My focus in this book is on how macroeconomics and the theory of banking need to be overhauled, and a similar overhaul is needed of finance theory.”
“ I won't attempt that here, but fortunately, that process has been started by a group of mathematicians in the London Mathematical Laboratory. They are developing what they call "Ergodicity Economics" to replace the existing theory of finance.”