@Retired dude named "Ben" and escapee from GA and G+. Sir Maniac of Colorado.
Joined Oct 2018
Pinned toot
FYI - use "nitter" instead of "twitter" for references to tweets.
https://nitter.dark.fail/about
Just replace twitter.com with nitter.dark.fail or another nitter site to link to tweets. Here is a list of sites...
https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances
Pinned toot
@The717
Well, there are guides like
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2018/08/mastodon-quick-start-guide/
where you are already halfway through it.
Or this guide which has a little more detail
https://docs.framasoft.org/en/mastodon/User-guide.html
The other thing I would recommend for the web interface is to point at things to see the text hint & click them if it seems right. You can click on links, hash tags, profile names, icons, and so on.
Pinned toot
A more concise explanation of the "Fine People Hoax"
https://twitter.com/SengMerrill/status/1296971911185006592
I might have to pin this one....
Pinned toot
The "fine people" hoax and how to combat it
https://blog.dilbert.com/2019/04/30/the-fine-people-hoax-funnel/
Scott Adams has had several discussions about this hoax and has found the rebuttals following a specific order. Here's that order and what you can say at each step. It includes links to relevant information as well.
Just one story from "Not the Bee"
Pinocchio Joe has said
"There's not a single thing a man can do that a woman can't do as well or better. Not a single thing."
Well, here is an example...
https://notthebee.com/article/there-is-no-meaningful-distinction-between-men-and-women/
Skip forward a minute if you want to avoid seeing the 20 odd attempts by the woman before the one attempt by the man.
Yet another Space-X piece of debris was found
https://www.koin.com/local/oregon-coast/possible-space-debris-washes-ashore-near-waldport/
This time near the Oregon coast. The item isn't small - about five feet long and had a sizable dent in the sand where it was found.
A pair of stories from "Not the Bee"
First, Jordan Peterson talks about leaving a bad job
https://notthebee.com/article/watch-jordan-peterson-explain-in-2-minutes-why-youre-taking-risks-by-not-taking-risks/
A couple minutes about risks - give it up, there is risk everywhere.
Second, CNN uses the wrong photo for a Masters golf story...
https://notthebee.com/article/whoooops-woke-cnn-used-a-pic-of-the-wrong-asian-golfer-on-their-homepage-masters-coverage/
Using a photo for Hideki Matsuyama
https://www.masters.com/en_US/players/player_32839.html
instead of a photo for Si Woo Kim
https://www.masters.com/en_US/players/player_37455.html?promo=bio_players
Yeah - they do look similar but perhaps that is a racist assessment.
I guess I missed this "April Fools" joke but I'll admit I laughed a few times reading it. There are links to expanded views of the printed paper.
But now everything is racist so it is bad if you make fun of any racial group.
Three stories from "Not the Bee".
https://notthebee.com/article/cnn-asks-if-fonts-can-be-racist-and-of-course-their-answer-is-yes-/
Can fonts be racist? According to CNN - yes. Lots of examples from CNN plus a few from NtB (about the M5M).
https://notthebee.com/article/here-it-is-the-tweet-of-the-day-2/
The "best tweet of the day" - from a conservative black blogger about gun sales.
(search using her handle if you want to see her writings)
https://notthebee.com/article/rory-just-hit-an-errant-shot-at-the-masters-and-the-ball-hit--his-dad/
And yes, it is Masters week. The M5M covered the ceremonial first shots & a hole-in-one but not Rory's errant shot.
Yet another example of partisanship by scientists (and not science)
https://humanevents.com/2021/04/08/partisanship-in-science-the-last-pillar-collapses/
In this case the American Chemical Society published a story in their flagship publication praising Biden and painting the Republicans (including Trump) as the bad guys.
More examples from Nature, Scientific American and so on.
A story of the Suez Canal excavator...
https://philebersole.wordpress.com/2021/04/09/excavator-operators-heroism-goes-unrewarded/
An interesting story. I'll also note the guy hasn't been paid for the hours (21 / day) worked nor was he able to attend the celebration after the ship was moved out. The celebration was four hours away & he was told about it 90 minutes before it started.
Next on 9News decided to do a story about "Dexter" - a three legged dog in Ouray CO. Apparently this dog has a YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmhF_wr20d6Y5a5O-UK7rwA
The main trick this dog does is walking on the hind legs - like a person.
From "Reclaim the Net"
First, a pair of tech items
https://reclaimthenet.org/new-york-vaccine-pass-privacy/
New York vaccine pass app is riddled with functional and privacy problems.
https://reclaimthenet.org/brave-introduces-built-in-rss-reader/
Brave is adding an RSS reader to the browser it releases. In iOS now and on the desktop soon.
The last one is a little more social
https://reclaimthenet.org/wapo-using-the-term-cancel-culture-is-cultural-appropriation/
Basically a WaPo story basically claims that the phrase "cancel culture" is cultural appropriation from blacks. Again, up is down and left is right....
A handful from "Not the Bee"
First, an incredible helicopter rescue
https://notthebee.com/article/this-dutch-cargo-ship-was-about-to-capsize-in-a-wicked-storm-watch-the-crazy-helicopter-rescue-of-all-12-crew-members/
Second, a devotional that says in part "Dear God, please help me to hate white people.” Really?
https://notthebee.com/article/this-devotional-has-a-prayer-that-literally-says-dear-god-please-help-me-to-hate-white-people/
Third, Sen Gillibrand is roasted over an "infrastructure" definition
https://notthebee.com/article/sen-gillibrand-tried-redefining-infrastructure-to-justify-bidens-2-trillion-spending-spree-and-got-absolutely-roasted/
And last, another Biden / Trump comparison about the kids in cages
https://notthebee.com/article/remember-that-thing-about-kids-in-cages/
Other Colorado energy companies affected by the Denver cold snap and Xcel Energy.
https://coloradosun.com/2021/04/07/colorado-rural-customers-pay-for-february-freeze/
Lots of fingers pointed at Xcel - failed to provide any warning, the size of the increase, no relief on graduated paybacks, and so on.
Matt Taibbi has found a few organizations that are "censored" by Google.
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/meet-the-censored-the-us-right-to
The primary story is about "The US Right to Know". A chart about a page down shows the traffic drop off in Dec 2020 - to about 40% of prior levels. A "core" search change was made at Google but no explanation why the reduction or how it can be restored.
A humorous outcome for a sad story - a "paper cowboy".
https://apnews.com/article/paper-cowboy-rides-out-quarantine-in-australia-hotel-ff7b6aa06d18fcb03187703c8138cfc1
An Australian returned home after his father's funeral in the UK to face a two week quarantine. Bored, he started to take the paper bags apart & made a horse & cowboy outfit. Posting pictures on line got him some internet fame.
Mask mandate relaxation
https://sentinelcolorado.com/orecent-headlines/masks-no-longer-required-in-outdoor-gathering-spaces-in-tri-county-region/
No masks required if outside in the Colorado area covered by the Tri-County rules. No six foot limit, etc.
I expect I will see some people who still wear masks outside during my walks.
Perhaps we should start spreading "Pinocchio Joe" memes. This one is from Ben Garrison.
https://grrrgraphics.com/pinocchio-joe/
It would serve the M5M and Democrats right to see so many false statements by Joe after they roasted Trump for four years.
Some dudes having a bad day...
https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/06/webnx_data_fire/
On Sunday, a data center near Ogden UT had an interrupt to facility power. Ok, fine - UPS generators started and one caught on fire. Not Ok.
The fire spread to part of the server room as well and several racks were drenched in water.
People are apparently still working to bring everything back up. Apparently several customers will get a generous credit - one day free per 15 minutes of down time.
MLB All Star game going from Atlanta to Denver.... Let's look at a couple views of this move.
(1) "Not the Bee" notes a few things about the two areas in this story
https://notthebee.com/article/mlb-is-moving-its-all-star-game-to-colorado--where-they-already-have-voter-id-laws-and-oh-its-also-much-less-diverse-than-atlanta/
It notes that ID is required to vote (link to SoS page) in CO, less diversity in Denver, and other points.
(2) Local NBC 9 News "Next" starts with "debunking" voting claims
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk_h31BtKLY
which has some "facts" to back it up but doesn't really do the job.
A couple items for consideration.
Last day of skiing for me. The picture is similar to one from a few months ago and very few skiers on the mountain. Clouds, a little snow, some clearing, and later a cold wind picked up. Very unusual for spring skiing.
The drive back was uneventful until I got near home. 40 MPH winds, rain with a little hail mixed in. A real mess on the freeway.
Three items from "Reclaim the Net"
https://reclaimthenet.org/copyright-notice-for-reporting-on-the-mandalorian-piracy/
This first one is pretty amazing. A news report about piracy of a film was hit with a DMCA take down from the film maker. Really?
https://reclaimthenet.org/stelter-fauci-celebration-of-facts/
Pay to see a "festival of fact checking" sponsored by PolitiFact with Brian Stelter & Anthony Fauci participating. No republicans invited - you wouldn't want the wrong answer now....
https://reclaimthenet.org/forbes-privates-video-being-used-to-debunk-60-minutes-desantis-claims/
Forbes was hosting the full video of CBS & DeSantis - now "private". Why?
Some 2020 election analysis...
https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2021/04/05/expert-analysis-of-antrim-county-michigan/
Antrim County in Michigan had issues with their voting system (from Dominion). Root cause appears to be incorrect electronic information was loaded - inconsistent with the printed ballots. The analysis notes things that were fixed as well as things that are still wrong.
A set of recommendations at the end as well.
Retired dude named "Ben" and escapee from GA and G+. Sir Maniac of Colorado.
Joined Oct 2018
