Most people likely know me as a musician first and foremost.
Recently however, I started a podcast with my wife about various topics, none of which are music-related. A different side to me, and a side to my wife I didn't know existed until a few weeks ago.

I found out she's an incredible speaker despite being mic-shy.

StroongeCast On youtube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaj…

Our website: onj.me/media/stroongecast

StroongeCast

Playlist for the StroongeCast podcasts with husband and wife team, Andre and Kirsten Louis. RSS feed: https://onj.me/media/stroongecast/index.php?xml_feed=y

^YouTube

"What else do we forget about the pandemic? We forget how mesmerised we were as nature rebounded, how clean the air was in the absence of industrial scale human activity. We forget that carbon emissions fell at the sort of pace required to avoid cataclysmic climate change. We forget that no-strings cash payments saw child poverty in America plunge to record lows, that the UK slashed homelessness with schemes that found homes for people sleeping on the street.

We forget that there really was a sense of global solidarity, that the reflection demanded by a pandemic opened up spaces for us to consider truly radical and permanent change. Remember build back better? There really was a sense that the coronavirus, as we all knew it then, could be the catalyst for a better word.

It couldn't last because of capitalism. This isn't some glib statement, it is literally why such promises could never be fulfilled. Because such promises required redistribution and structural shifts to economies that billionaires don't want shifting."

donotpanic.news/p/five-years-o…

Five Years On: A Covid Retrospective

As we approach the five year mark of the first known case of covid-19, as we contemplate a half decade of watching a novel virus rip through our communities, our countries, our world, I wanted to do a retrospective on the pandemic.

^{Nate Bear (¡Do Not Panic!)}

🤔 What's scarier?

A. Someone reading all your emails.
B. Knowing they can do it forever without you noticing.

🌟 Protect your inbox from hackers (and quantum computers) with Tuta Mail.

✅ Quantum-safe. Private. Yours.

@RaccoonForFriendica a couple of potentially interesting news for the project:

• we've had the app officially accepted on F-Droid 🎉🎉🎉
• I've setup the Kover plugin to calculate the test coverage, generate a report at each build and upload it to Codecov to monitor how I'm progressing with unit testing (the value is still low but I'm going to work to improve it);
• I received a contribution yesterday night on accessibility, which I had been working on in a recent PR, and this is definitely an area where the app will be improved in the near future.

Thanks to pvagner for the contribution! Have a nice weekend and #livefasteattrash #procyonproject

Self Hosting is an Unhelpful Term

Mathew Duggan has a brilliant post called "Self-Hosting Isn't a Solution; It's A Patch". In it, he (correctly and convincingly) argues that compelling people to run their own computer services is a complex and distracting crutch for the current problems we face.

It's expensive to self-host, there are moderation problems, and the difficulty level is too high for most people.

But, in my opinion, I think he misunderstands something about self-hosting because, as a term, it is both misleading and unhelpful. When people say "Defund The Police" what they mean is "Move funds away from miliary style policing and give it to trained mental health professionals" - what people hear is "Abolish the police and let anarchy reign".

The ability to "Self Host" doesn't just mean "run this on a Raspberry Pi in your cupboard and be responsible for constant maintenance". Yes, you can do that if you're a masochist, but it isn't restricted to that.

To me, "Self-Hosting" means "I am in control of where I host something". I currently pay a company to host this blog. It has previously been hosted on Blogger, WordPress, my own VPS, and a variety of other services. Tomorrow I could decide to host it with a big company, or I could run it from my phone. I get to choose. That's what "Self-Hosting" is - a choice in where to host.

Similarly, Mastodon allows me self-host my account. I can have my content on one of the big servers and let them do moderation, storage, and maintenance for me - or I can move my account anywhere I choose. To a server in my cupboard and back again.

Email is similar. I know people who've gone from CompuServe, to HoTMaiL, to Gmail, to their own domain, then to OutLook. Their address-book moves with them. Forwarding rules ensure incoming email is routed correctly. They can choose to actively moderate spam, or outsource it. They can pay a company to host, keep backups in their basement, or watch adverts in return for services.

I agree with nearly everything Mathew says in his post. It is absurdly privileged to think that running your own services is something normal people want to do and are capable of doing. Strong regulation helps everyone, people want simplicity, and ecosystems can be fragile.

But witness all the people moving over from Twitter to new networks. Do they care where their data is hosted and how it is maintained? No! But they want to move their social graph with them. And when BlueSky and Mastodon collapse, people will want to move again.

In the UK, I have the ability to move my phone number between hundreds of providers. If I'm particularly techy, I can even run my own infrastructure and route the number there. People love the fact that they can leave crappy service providers and move somewhere cheaper or with with better customer service or whatever it is they value. I think that's a form of self-hosting; I get to choose who provides my services.

Similarly, I believe people have a desire for "self-hosting" which is difficult for them to articulate. They want to move their data around - be it old photos, a social graph, or a username. Most of them don't really care about the underlying technology (and why should they?) but they do care about continuity of service and being able to escape crappy service providers.

So, that's my reckons. Self-Hosting means you can choose where to host, and I think most people can find value in that.

What do you think?

#fediverse #ReDeCentralize #SocialNetworks

7 myths about “defunding the police” debunked

Howard Henderson and Ben Yisrael argue that far from being a radical movement, 'defund the police" is a well-researched, evidence-based policy proven to save lives and reduce a reliance on law-and-order policing.

^Brookings

neviem čo by som k tomu, zaujímavé asi

youtube.com/watch?v=L1mwNHq2tR…

The Present™

A frustrated man becomes hypnotized by a meditation infomercial and engages in a surreal battle for control of his mind. S T A R R I N GJake BradyDante Berna...

^YouTube

Ah, Backdoors bei Verschlüsselung sind in gewissen Kreisen sehr beliebt, habe ich gehört...

Justizministerkonferenz: Ermittler sollen Zweitschlüssel bekommen, um Autos einfacher verwanzen zu können
netzpolitik.org/2024/justizmin…

#privacy

Justizministerkonferenz: Ermittler sollen Zweitschlüssel bekommen, um Autos einfacher verwanzen zu können

Strafverfolgungsbehörden haben angeblich Schwierigkeiten, unbemerkt in Autos von Verdächtigen zu gelangen. Die Justizministerin von Baden-Württemberg fordert deswegen, dass Autohersteller einen Zweitschlüssel herausgeben müssen.

^{netzpolitik.org}

Buschmann ist weg, da wittert sie ihre Chance:

Nach FDP-Ausscheiden: Faeser will Vorratsdatenspeicherung durchdrücken
heise.de/news/Nach-FDP-Aussche…

#vds #vorratsdaten #privacy

Nach FDP-Ausscheiden: Faeser will Vorratsdatenspeicherung durchdrücken

Innenministerin Faeser (SPD) will noch vor der Bundestagswahl das umstrittene anlasslose Protokollieren von IP-Adressen mithilfe der CDU gesetzlich verankern.

^{Stefan Krempl (heise online)}

#flohmarkt needs an #accessibility review to leave beta phase.

Is there someone in the #fediverse who can help on #a11y?

Boosts highly appreciated!

codeberg.org/flohmarkt/flohmar…

Accessiblity overhaul

Okay, this is a big one and ongoing effort. So definitely not doable in a single PR. Let's find accessiblity issues on flohmarkt: * not keyboard navigateable * not properly labeled for screenreaders * mediocre color contrast * more?

^Codeberg.org

Můžeme si hrát na ekology a stavět rodinný domky s dokonale vzduchotěsnou obálkou, obalený 20 cm izolace, s tepelným čerpadlem a solárníma panelama, ale stejnak vždycky nejlíp vyjde bytovka.

Navrhuju, aby se tepelný ztráty přepočítávaly na počet obyvatel, protože by to zmírnilo požadavky na zateplení bytovek. Krom toho, že by to výstavu zlevnilo, otevřelo by se víc možností jak fasády řešit esteticky. Teď většinou končíme u polystyrenu/vaty přetažený omítkou a konstrukcí obludně obalenejch.

Hledal jsem, na co koukat na Maxu, když mi dali tu slevu a když už mám všechno dobré dokoukané. Nakonec jsem s přemáháním pustil seriál Rome (2005).

To zas bude znásilňování dějin, říkal jsem si. Po stránce historicity jsem ale nejpozitivněji překvapen: hlavní linie příběhu +/- sedí, herci odpovídají věku postav, dvě hlavní postavy (dva muži z lidu – vojáci) mají alespoň jména odpovídající reálným postavám. Dokonce jsem se i něco doučil (Brutova matka Servilia byla Caesarovou milenkou; Caesar nebyl prcek jako Napoleon, Stalin nebo Goebbles, ale byl opravdu vyšší postavy než tehdejší průměr) a mnohé připomněl (sebevražda Catona Mladšího a Metella Scipiona).

Ocenil jsem satirické prvky (Caesar nebyl biologickým otcem syna, kterého měl s Kleopatrou VII 😁).

Neocenil jsem rétorické výkony senátorů, které jsou redukovány na jednu dvě vzletné věty. Jako chápu, že by na to nikdo nevydržel koukat, ale nechat toho Cicerona mluvit aspoň 5 až 10 minut teda mohli. 😀

csfd.cz/film/221026-rim/prehle…

I love me Kindle Paperwhite. I bought it 6 years ago for under 80 Euro and I'm getting so much value out of it. 😍

Unfortunately it and my Di2 charger are the last remaining items in my possession that use Micro USB. 😡

Day two of #ArchSummit is about to start.

#ArchLinux

‘Tis the season for in-person gatherings. Be kind this holiday season by hosting Covid-safer events. Here’s some guidelines and checklists to help you plan your events with Covid precautions.

covidsafescouts.com/community.…

#CovidSafeScouts #CovidIsNotOver #CovidIsAirborne

I am not old and grumpy and I love the War Games and aything that helps bring more people discover it is a good thing. I am not old and grumpy... #DoctorWho #DoctorWhoDay

doctorwho.tv/news-and-features…

Seeing as how I'm in 60s #DoctorWho in my #DoctorWhoRewatch (currently struggling to understand what's going on in the remaining #TheDaleksMasterplan eps), I thought my #DoctorWhoDay should see me rewatch Josh Snares' missing episodes series. I heartedly recommend.

youtu.be/saQa6PR6Z44?si=HeUVSH…

Doctor Who - The Missing Episodes | Part 1 | Marco Polo, Reign of Terror & The Crusade

Today we discuss Marco Polo, The Reign of Terror and The Crusade. Also, we discuss John Cura and his tele-snap process to take images of episodes on broadcas...

^YouTube

By the way, the Perseverance Mars rover from NASA has it's 1337th day (sol) on the planet today!

I found out about this by browsing the raw images from its cameras, which all can be found here: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multime…

Images from the Mars Perseverance Rover - NASA

Raw images of Mars taken by the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Mars helicopter in Jezero Crater.

^{mars.nasa.gov}