The Cairo Geniza is a collection of 400,000 documents found in a synagogue in Egypt that span the Middle-Eastern, North African, and Andalusian Jewish history between the 6th and 19th centuries CE, and comprise the largest and most diverse collection of medieval manuscripts in the world.
@baruch and you can access over 18.000, 4.000 of which have keywords 🤩
"Thanks to generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, over 4000 documentary Genizah manuscripts (e.g. letters and legal documents) have been associated with key terms - such as ‘cheese’, ‘pirates’, or ‘ gambling’ - as well as names, dates and places drawn from over 100 years of published scholarship on the Collection." https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/genizah/1 #JewishHistory@histodons
@Kay@bookstodon yes I love the #bookstodon tag, one of my favorite tags on Mastodon. I don't really have an issue finding books to read though, it's kind of the opposite actually. I have too many I want to read. 😅
I've been thinking about getting a hardware security key and have heard of yubikey before; but I want to see what my options are and if they are worth it in your opinion.
My current setup is a local KeePassXC database (that I sync between my PC and phone and also acts as TOTP authenticator app), I know that KeePass supports hardware keys for unlocking the database.
I am personally still of the belief that passwords are the safest when done right; but 2FA/MFA can greatly increase security on top of that (again, if done right).
The key work work together with already existing passwords, not replace them.
As I use linux as my primary OS I do expect it to support it and anything that doesn't I will have to pass on.
PS: what are the things I need to know about these hardware keys that's not being talked about too much, I am very much delving into new territory and want to make sure I'm properly educated before I delve in.
When I did some research on hardware keys I was between Yubikey and Nitrokey. I ended up going with Yubikey because KeepassXC supported it.
Something to keep in mind is purchasing a backup key. I bought one for my wife and we use each other’s as a backup.
For KeepassXC it does not support registering multiple keys (at least not that I have figured out), so I have a copy of my database where it uses my wife’s key as a backup.
It's 4 January, the anniversary of Louis Braille's birth. Every year at this time, I like to reflect on a man who was a teacher in his lifetime, and who in the years after his death has taught us lessons of empowerment, resilience, and self-determination.
Every day, I am grateful for the gift of literacy he gave me and millions like me who are blind. In the last year, I have benefited from that gift by labelling and identifying items.
I have referred to copious notes in meetings as part of my job as a CEO. Also in that role, I know that if I take the time to proof a document with Braille, it will be accurate all the way down to picking up extraneous punctuation that I might miss with text-to-speech.
It has helped the global community of blind podcast listeners as I read aloud with fluency the many contributions that come into my Living Blindfully podcast. One of the most wonderful things about that podcast is when I hear from people who were denied Braille as a child, or who became blind later in life, who have told me that my reading Braille on the podcast has encouraged them to embark on their own Braille reading journey.
I've delivered presentations to audiences around the world, some of those were large audiences, and read my speech notes in Braille.
Best of all, Braille allows me to read stories for my granddaughter, just as I read to my own children when they were little.
My life would be very different, and very much the poorer, without it. And my story is not unusual. The data are clear that blind people who know Braille have a far higher chance of finding employment.
The story of the Braille code shows us that the best people to develop solutions for blind people are blind people ourselves. Louis Braille designed, then refined his code, and taught it to other blind people. There was a period where the books containing his code were burned. The Braille code was driven underground because some sighted people felt threatened by its otherness. They insisted that blind people should conform and read raised print, even though it was inefficient. Thankfully, the Braille code prevailed. That lesson is just as applicable today.
Some think Braille is no longer necessary because blind people have talking books and talking computers now. This view is wrong and harmful. To people who say these things, I say we'll give up Braille when sighted people stop reading print and use audio exclusively too. Braille is our equivalent to print. When something is under my fingertips, I remember it more clearly. It is the same as being a visual learner.
And Braille is more vibrant than ever, thanks to an exciting range of Braille displays. It is also a tool of profound significance for those who are DeafBlind, for whom audio isn't an option.
So once again, a toast to Louis Braille the man, and Braille the code which in New Zealand we capitalise to always remember his genius and his sacrifice.
@JonathanMosen this is great stuff, I especially thought about this snippet:
"Some think Braille is no longer necessary because blind people have talking books and talking computers now. This view is wrong and harmful. To people who say these things, I say we'll give up Braille when sighted people stop reading print and use audio exclusively too."
Braille and also print both allow for a VERY flexible reading velocity based on your capacity to understand the respective words!
📖 The Fragile Threads of Power, by @veschwab. What a promising start to this new trilogy! So much of what I loved from the Shades of Magic universe is still here, but also a lot of novelty and very strong characters building. ✨ https://kevinplattret.com/reads/the-fragile-threads-of-power
How would commercial translation and transcription models perform when faced with genuine news content, exacting journalists and the pressing demands of a newsroom? We devised a quality assessment to help BBC journalists decide.
No good deed goes unpunished. As Ume discovers when she rescues Shiomi. Neither Shiomi nor the jealous, vengeful ghost that stalks her appreciates the act. Something they both make clear. As for Ume’s partner, Tomo, he is less than thrilled at the intrusion of an unpleasant third into their relationship. “I know I told you to find someone who would appreciate your advances, but I really question your taste.”
Come, follow Ume-san, Shiomi-san, and the increasingly exasperated Tomo as the three explore their attraction for each other in a world where creepy things wait and watch from the shadows.
I looked at the cigarette in my hand, thought, “What the hell?” and took a puff; “Ugh, unflavored.” But I’d finally gotten a kiss from my konbini girl, a secondary kiss, but a kiss.
Come, follow Ume-san, Shiomi-san, and the increasingly exasperated Tomo as the three explore their attraction for each other in a world where creepy things wait and watch from the shadows.
Sorry, had to redraft. My app is not having fun with the edits.
A thought I've been chewing on after a particularly vivid dream: I wonder if the minotaur in the maze was a symbol of the internal human struggle between our needs in both a wild and a built world and how those structures, like cities, are overwhelming and oppressive while simultaneously being isolating and entrapping. Or perhaps a symbol of domesticates being trapped between two worlds...
"Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh;
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky."
Now the Day Is Over
Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist Sabine Baring-Gould died #OTD in 1924.
He is remembered particularly as a writer of hymns, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers", and "Now the Day Is Over". He also translated the carols "Gabriel's Message", & "Sing Lullaby" from Basque to English.
Samantha Hill: "Für #Arendt war die politische Emanzipation der Bourgeoisie der Grundstein des modernen Nationalstaates, in dem die politischen Gesetze von den privaten Interessen der Geschäftsleute bestimmt wurden, die es für nötig befunden hatten, den Staatsapparat zu übernehmen, um das Militär für ihre kolonialen Unternehmungen einzusetzen. Diese Kooptation der Nation und ihre Umwandlung in einen Nationalstaat durch private Wirtschaftsinteressen war der Kern ihres Verständnisses. Und was sie betonte - und wofür sie kritisiert wurde - war das Argument, dass der Antisemitismus vom Nationalstaat politisch benutzt wurde, um seine politischen und wirtschaftlichen Interessen zu fördern.
"Arendt hat dieses Argument nie aufgegeben. Tatsächlich griff sie es in ihrem umstrittensten Werk, Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963), wieder auf, in dem sie Ben-Gurion vorwarf, einen "Schauprozess" zu veranstalten, um das Leiden des jüdischen Volkes auszunutzen, anstatt den wirklichen Verbrecher, Hitlers Cheflogistiker Adolf Eichmann, für seine Verbrechen zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen. Natürlich sei Eichmann antisemitisch gewesen, aber sein Hass auf das jüdische Volk sei nicht sein Hauptmotiv gewesen. Vielmehr sei es seine banale Hybris gewesen, die ihn dazu gebracht habe, in den Reihen des Dritten Reiches aufzusteigen. Das sei die Banalität des Bösen, und sie definierte die Banalität des Bösen als die Unfähigkeit, sich die Welt aus der Perspektive eines anderen vorzustellen."
In 1944, #Arendt "stressed that the return of the governments in exile corresponded to a restoration of national structures[:] collective security, sphere of interest, national alliances - which had played a decisive role in preparing for the war and bringing it about. "There is nothing to expect from restoration", Arendt concludes, since it is also the restoration of what led to the Second World War and the "German problem".
"Meta's fediverses", federating with Meta to allow communications, potentially using services from Meta such as automated moderation or ad targeting, and potentially harvesting data on Meta's behalf.
"free fediverses" that reject Meta – and surveillance capitalism more generally
The free fediverses have a lot of advantages over Meta and Meta's fediverses, some of which will be very hard to counter, and clearly have enough critical mass that they'll be just fine.
Here's a set of strategies for the free fediverses to provide a viable alternative to surveillance capitalism. They build on the strengths of today's fediverse at its best – including natural advantages the free fediverses have that Threads and Meta's fediverses will having a very hard time countering – but also are hopefully candid about weaknesses that need to be addressed. It's a long list, so I'll be spreading out over multiple posts; this post currently goes into detail on the first two.
Opposition to Meta and surveillance capitalism is an appealing position. Highlight it!
Focus on consent (including consent-based federation), privacy, and safety
Emphasize "networked communities"
Support concentric federations of instances and communities
Consider "transitively defederating" Meta's fediverses (as well as defederating Threads)
Consider working with people and instances in Meta's fediverses (and Bluesky, Dreamwidth, and other social networks) whose goals and values align with the free fediverses'
Build a sustainable ecosystem
Prepare for Meta's (and their allies') attempts to paint the free fediverses in a bad light
Reduce the dependency on Mastodon
Prioritize accessibility, which is a huge opportunity
Commit to anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-colonial, and pro-LGBTQIA2S+ principles, policies, practices, and norms for the free fediverses
The free fediverses should work together with people and instances in Meta's fediverses and on Bluesky whose goals and values align with the free fediverse
Many of the Meta advocates I've talked to share the free fediverses' long-term goal of building a sustainable alternative to surveillance capitalism -- and the same is true for people on Bluesky. So there are likely to be situations where some of the people and instances in Meta's fediverses and Bluesky wind up as situational allies to the free fediverses.
A few areas where collaboration could be very useful:
A key principle of organizing is meeting people where they are.
Moderation on decentralized networks is a shared challenge.
Bringing concepts similar to Bluesky's custom feeds to the fediverses, and more generally focusing on human-focused and liberatory (as opposed to oppressive) uses of algorithms in decentralized social networks designed from the margins.
Meta's fediverses, Bluesky, and the free fediverses are all vulnerable to disinformation.
Transitive defederation -- defederating from instances that federate with Threads as well as defederating from Threads -- isn't likely to be an all-or-nothing thing in the free fediverses. Tradeoffs are different for different people and instances. This is one of the strengths of the fediverse, so however much transitive defederation there winds up being, I see it as overall as a positive thing -- although also messy and complicated.
So the recommendation here is for instances to consider#TransitiveDefederation: discuss, and decide what to do. I've also got some thoughts on how to have the discussion -- and the strategic aspects.