Eric the Cerise

Just a geek ... linux, foss, privacy, yada.

An American in Essen, formerly The Hague, formerlier Sopron, formerliest Milwaukee.

Joined the Fediverse 2018/01/18.

cishet white guy, they/them/he/him

New here ... more to come.

Public Key

npub17azv0qt0crmghsm2d09xpe9yvn97ge7x3f6jpu79e0nfa50m3rfq4y06g6

NIP-05 Address

ErictheCerise_at_kolektiva.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs0w3x8s9hupa5tcd4xhjnqujjxfjlyvlrg5afq70zuhe5768ac35spz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43q8469wr

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub17azv0qt0crmghsm2d09xpe9yvn97ge7x3f6jpu79e0nfa50m3rfq4y06g6

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Last Notes

2024-09-01 19:53:49

#OldSchoolCool
#BobDylan
#TheTimesTheyAreAChangin
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JxvVk-r9ut8

2024-08-13 18:03:50

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@npub18ry…cyge
MoFos DDoSed my coffee maker last week.
What's the world coming to?
Saddest part, this isn't 100% sarcasm.

2024-08-13 08:18:16

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@npub1n67…g989
Dogs be like, "Cool! Have at 'em!"

2024-08-10 20:53:50

Watching an Amazon Prime sci-fi thing now, called "Upload", near-future setting, but actually created back in 2020.
Has this retro decorative campaign poster in the background of Episode 01...
"Oprah / Kamala 2024"

2024-08-07 11:08:14

#JoeBiden created a #TruthSocial account back in October. Now it belongs to #KamalaHarris ... they've got almost 300,000 followers.
...on TruthSocial.

2024-08-07 10:46:25

Lotta stuff floating around about #TimWalz now. Here's my top 2 takeaways.
1. He actively supported #LGBT kids, before it was cool — and before he even had a political career.
2. He trolled Kristi Noem with a picture of him feeding his dog an ice cream cone.
Bonus: Turns out he just *looks* old; he's actually only 6 months older than Harris.

2024-08-06 11:22:14

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@npub1hpc…hjn3
It seems like quitting Twitter would have been the no-brainer Step 0 of this "to your last-breath" opposition, but even that seems too much for the vast majority.

2024-07-19 08:18:23

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@npub1gfd…7gg6
"You'd think that people would've had enough of stupid software.
I look around me, and I see it isn't so.
Some people want to fill the world with stupid software..."

2024-07-18 10:21:45

I would like to donate $180M to Biden's Presidential campaign—or, actually, Sanders', but—to make a point...
Until I can do this (or, better, Elon can't) the US does not have a democratic electoral system.

2024-07-17 05:46:56

Damn, this is a good read.
That time the #NRA aggressively lobbied for stricter gun control laws ... and #RonaldReagan obliged.
https://www.history.com/news/black-panthers-gun-control-nra-support-mulford-act
(Shamelessly retooted from this Congressman's toot-stream, 'cuz it deserves a stand-alone toot.)
https://mastodon.social/@SeanCasten/112796611014245803
#BlackPanthers

2024-07-15 18:44:03

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@npub1uw8…88kr
Aren't there now more Starlink sats than all non-Starlink sats that have ever been launch in the history of Humanity?
If not, we're close...

2024-07-15 15:24:06

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@npub12l3…qgjv
French immigrant, regretting the move more with each passing day.

2024-07-14 05:19:26

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@npub1yxu…zts4
I know this makes me an extremist, but until the entire Internet is retooled around an Opt-In philosophy, I refuse to play.

2024-07-14 04:47:40

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@npub1nvp…agzg
Out of context, this sounds a lot like you got a taxi to drive you from Poland to Vermont.

2024-07-13 08:47:21

So, apparently with v128, #Firefox is further enshittifying (it's been a long, slow decline).
I spent this morning switching all of my devices' primary browser over to #Librewolf ... I've used it in the past. It was already good years ago; looks even better today.
Supports FF Sync, most plug-ins, stays abreast of FF upgrades, more.
Check it out.
They do not do mobile, but as an alternative, they recommend #Mull .

2024-07-12 17:42:17

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@npub1nn8…8sed
Wait, srsly for us guys.
I assume y'all don't actually have lemon-lime hygiene products (well, maybe douches?) ... but what is the actual joke here?

2024-07-12 08:30:55

At this stage, the primary requirement from both #Biden and #Trump voters, is a heartbeat.
That's a serious problem to be discussed ... after Biden is re-elected.

2024-07-11 16:42:51

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@npub1ph0…e6wu
I totally get this, except ... geese? rly??
Chickens, rabbits, alpacas, emus, almost anything before geese.
Have you seen the memes? Geese are mean. Might as well work Customer Support.

2024-07-07 18:14:07

Vive la France!
Vive la liberté!

2024-07-02 21:35:20

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@npub1nn8…8sed
On average, 15 people die on the Titanic every year.

2024-06-26 07:43:47

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@npub1uhc…zpg4
FWIW, I don't call it ad blocking. I use tracker blockers. It's a security thing.
If They ever get back to putting non-tracker ads on websites, I'll be fine with it.
Maybe that's just me?

2024-06-23 05:19:47

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@npub1dq0…glnl
This isn't true. Mars has a crappy atmosphere; jazz would certainly improve it.

2024-06-19 17:03:42

Someone asked for recommendations for black folk to follow on here.
No secret that Mastodon is less inclusive than it could/should be in this regard.
I follow several black people, and just went thru my list to find a few to recommend...
THEY'RE ALL GONE!
Well, most of 'em. Quietly, one by one, they just got tired of trying, and moved on.
We white folks suck at this.
From one of my favorites, gave up on us a year ago. I miss her.
https://mas.to/@ThisPlaceAgain/110477841506898436

2024-06-19 05:09:54

You know that "frog in boiling water" thing isn't real, right?
The frog will get out of the water when it gets too hot.
But we use it as an analogy, all the time, for the increasingly insane stuff we continue to accept in our lives and societies.
Are frogs smarter than us?

2024-06-19 05:02:43

My New 'Thing'...
From now on, any time I read a good article ... like, really good ... I'm gonna actually click on their "please subscribe" link, and see how much it costs.
Any subscriptions <$10-15/year ... I'm gonna actually subscribe.
I can afford $10/year.
Just decided this while reading this "Peak Denialism" opinion piece from Scientific American ... they want $24/year; that's too much for me ... but the article is still hella good.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weve-hit-peak-denial-heres-why-we-cant-turn-away-from-reality/

2024-06-09 12:55:59

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@npub1fe5…fxl4
The life of chickens are similar. Three rules.
1. I wonder if I can eat this?
2. I wonder if that can eat me?
3. I wonder what they're eating over there?

2024-06-08 07:11:36

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@npub16gl…syzj
I'm vegetarian, and I'm still going with the chicken; easy decision.

2024-06-08 07:09:19

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@npub1rj7…9qtx
Average is mean. Don't be average; be median.

2024-05-26 05:37:17

#AskFedi #Wiki
People who use personal wiki software ... personal notes, project management, markdown blogging to convert to html later, etc.
What do you use and why is it awesome? (and,,maybe, why isn't it?)
I use #ZimWiki , which has been very good for me, bundled with encfs encryption for syncing between clients.
Except ...
I still haven't found a way to work with it on mobile Android. Yes, there are solutions, but what I've seen is very awkward.
So, looking for alternatives.

2024-05-24 07:11:37

My cousin has 7 (9?) of his favorite sci-fi spaceships tattooed on his arms ... the Enterprise, the TARDIS, the Millennium Falcon, Serenity, etc.
Whenever he meets someone, they get a pop quiz. If they know all of the ships, he's made a new friend.

2024-05-23 17:07:30

Hey ... am I reading this right?
Did SCOTUS just rule that gerrymandering to discriminate against Blacks is unconstitutional, but gerrymandering just to discriminate against Democrats, that's cool?
https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/may/23/south-carolina-redistricting-case-supreme-court

2024-05-23 09:33:55

So, #Bing is down, and everyone just (re-)discovered that their own alternate, artisanal search tool is just Bing under the hood.
Here is a page where someone ( Seirdy ) has collected a bunch of search services that use their own indices (not just Google, Bing or Yandex reskinned).
I'm already using a few, but several are new to me.
https://seirdy.one/posts/2021/03/10/search-engines-with-own-indexes/
Welcome to the Brave New Post-Google Internet!

2024-05-22 13:02:12

If your website is not a #Google website, and it needs gstatic.com to work, then your website is broken.
If your website is not a #Google website, and it needs googlesyndication.com or googletagmanager.com or googleapis.com to work, then your website is broken.
If your website doesn't work w/o connecting to a Google service ...
you see where I'm going with this, right?

2024-05-22 10:33:07

For people considering #Linux.
I tried to switch 7-8 times, many different versions, always bumped into one problem or another.
#LinuxMint Cinnamon is the version that "clicked" for me, very similar to older #Windows , and it JustWorked™.
For a decade now, I've been 99% Linux, use several different versions, but I still like Mint, especially for newcomers.
Switching is *really* simple these days. Getting used to it is a bit harder, but really not that bad at all.
Holler if you want help.

2024-05-22 07:03:57

#InfoSec 101
I just tooted an offhand snarky bit of "security" advice.
"Have you tried turning it off, and then just leaving it off?"
I want to add, however, that *for real* "off" does not actually mean off. With many, many devices, "off" means a sneaky low-power mode that continues to pull power, to continue silent surveillance and/or continue to "phone home".
If these are the reasons you are turning something "off" --
you need to actually unplug the bitch.

2024-05-09 06:55:06

Regarding the #StackExchange #Enshittification ...
The collective user knowledge in StackExchange is under a #CreativeCommons license ... they *cannot* take it away, and we have every right to copy and move all of that knowledge to another platform.
Here are the sites we should have been using, all along.
This is my recommendation; please add your own recommendations below —
https://codidact.org
https://meta.codidact.com/posts/279384

2024-05-09 05:50:01

Damn. I just can't get over this.
Students at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland started a solidarity protest, against the Israeli govt invasion of Gaza.
It took the university administrators just 5 days to learn the lessons from Columbia, etm...
then they considered the students demands...
found them to be reasonable...
and they just agreed.
Higher education worth having.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/08/trinity-college-dublin-agrees-to-divest-from-israeli-firms-after-student-protest

2024-05-08 20:40:43

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@npub1wl6…8zu5
I also see Scoobie ... plus something that looks like a drunk Terminator in the background.

2024-05-08 13:10:07

#AskFedi
Okay ... I am working on developing a counter-culture #RobotsTxt (robots.txt) file that excludes the major search engine crawlers ('cuz fuck them), but allows for assorted hobbyist, experimental, small-web-focused and other non-corporate crawlers ... I'm looking at search engines like https://wiby.me/ and https://search.marginalia.nu/ and https://stract.com/ and the like.
In the interests of not re-inventing the wheel, does anyone know of any good examples, or resources along these lines?
Thanks in advance

2024-05-08 11:59:35

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Yeah @npub1w73…2zce ,
I'm not sure if I'm reading/understanding it correctly, but I suspect this is the issue for me, as well.
Does kolektiva.social support post search?

2024-05-08 08:16:36

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@npub1tps…9rmt
Your scream has been automatically forwarded to the Void.
Please continue to scream, and an operator will be with you shortly.

2024-05-08 04:24:11

Also, I always fave all #Trans selfies.
I am a cishet white guy, and I'm still afraid of putting my face out on the Interwebs.
All #TransFolk that are brave enough to post selfies get a Star from me, as a treat.

2024-05-08 03:09:37

I would like to reclaim the word #Crypto .
It used to mean #Cryptography , before it got co-opted, and it should again.
For my part, I have never (?) used it in reference to #Cryptocurrencies .
I invite you to do the same.
I'll be tooting again in 5-7 years, about the correct meaning of #AI .

2024-05-07 18:12:41

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@npub1nn8…8sed
They're everyone's favorite part.
Also, the cans were way overloaded with peaches; apparently those were the cheapest "filler" fruits.
Also, yeah ... when did this stop being a "thing"?

2024-05-06 16:45:19

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@npub1jpp…u59l
My takeaway was that the only real monsters in the world are entitled old white men trying to get their way by any means necessary.

2024-05-06 13:17:46

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@npub1ay7…taak
I'm just repeating here ... someone posted that some of us understand why the comparison is necessary, and the rest of us are the reason it's necessary.

2024-05-06 13:07:31

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I *still* haven't finished reading this ... it is both long and dense. And even when I am finished, I will be going back and re-reading, and researching concepts and references made in passing, and following the many links to many other resources.
Seriously, take the time. This article is ... it just *is*.

2024-05-06 08:23:44

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@npub1k4q…3lsq
Being poor, and being rich.

2024-05-06 04:02:06

So, I did a thing yesterday.
http://MakeYourOwnWebsite.net
IDK how far I'll get, but the plan is to write up and collect a bunch of simple, easy-to-follow advice on how (and *why*) to make, host, and maintain your own website(s), for fun and *not* for profit, and how to connect with others doing the same.
And, just in case this project gets interesting, here's a hashtag.
#MakeYourOwnWebsite

2024-05-03 04:56:09

Just FYI ... I'm on a "media fast" ... I won't be reading or interacting here for a month or two. May be back after that, maybe not, depending on how it goes.
If anyone close is really missing me, try DMing me. I'll probably see that pop up, and get back to you in a day or two.

2024-04-30 05:29:41

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@npub1ldc…useu
You're not wrong, but also, the quality of most Search Engines has plummeted.
Relegated to Page 47 of your search results, or worse, not indexed at all, is not *actually* gone, but effectively...

2024-04-27 04:16:56

Your irregular reminder.
Websites don't need cookies to work.
None of them. Ever. At all.
"Essential cookies" is oxymoronic.

2024-04-26 17:24:28

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@npub1zu7…c2ee
My new favorite descriptive chart-thingie.
Using this bitch for every-damn-thing.
Addendum: Looked at your bio for this. Followed you for your bio. That's some good stuff, there.

2024-04-25 08:41:48

Hey ... everybody posting variations of
"This is amaz-balls!"
"This is huge!"
"This changes everything!"
etc.
And just posting a link w/o saying what "This!" is...
KNOCK IT OFF!
If you're gonna take the time to post about it, at least include the title of the article/video/whatever.

2024-04-23 11:13:33

Hungarian politician names ...
The mayor of Budapest — and very nearly the guy to run against Orbán in the last election — is Gergely Karácsony.
That is — I kid you not — George Christmas.
The new opposition leader is Péter Magyar ...
That's Peter Hungarian.
His last name is, literally, the Hungarian word for "Hungarian".
What's up with that?

2024-04-23 08:53:25

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@npub1afz…wdvg
Don't forget peer review and, most importantly, replication...
Edit ... or is the proper term "reproducibility"? Regardless, other citizen-scientists will also need to be shat upon.

2024-04-22 09:29:05

Happy Earth Day, to all who live there.
#EarthDay
https://kolektiva.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/314/164/498/409/238/original/f1191442f8de564f.jpg

2024-04-22 09:14:35

In today's installment of "WTF is wrong with people?"
The US Supreme Court is now deciding whether it is Constitutional to punish people for being homeless.
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/22/1245575331/supreme-court-weighs-whether-cities-can-punish-unhoused-people-for-sleeping-outs
I don't even care how They rule (I mean, I do, but...); how fundamentally broken must a society be, to even have this debate?

2024-04-22 07:24:55

#Evolution is not a theory; it is a scientific fact.
"The Theory of Evolution" is shorthand for "The Theory Explaining How & Why Evolution Happens" ... not "if".
Fight me.

2024-04-21 19:33:09

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@npub1nn8…8sed
Serious question ... what're those things in front-right? Crab legs? Frog legs?

2024-04-20 04:01:57

It's worth mentioning, repeatedly, that #Swatting doesn't work in the EU, because the cops here hardly ever break into people's homes and then kill them.
"Swatting" isn't the problem...

2024-04-18 06:51:56

Tech Bros,
The Fediverse makes you trans.
Linux makes you trans.
There's no money to be made here.
Go back to your Windows Twitter-verse, before it's too late.

2024-04-05 15:24:13

This hurricane season, they're gonna run out of letters.
Nominally, it begins on June 1st, but they are already seeing "conditions" now.
Americans, adjust your plans and expectations accordingly, and maybe, you know, vote for the guy that actually believes in #ClimateChange .

2024-04-05 11:21:49

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@npub1jqc…3mpt
Wait ... aren't you German? In Germany?
What's this "we" shit, Kimosabe?

2024-03-24 12:23:39

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@npub1ua7…rrg3
And clever people train them to light candles and pipes and things.

2024-03-08 06:26:29

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@npub1qk5…jlda
Going that route, I've never used 'em, but IIRC, dried Mullein stalks work for hand drill firestarters, too; the soft spongy core turns into good material for the starting coal.
... at least, I think that's Mullein. Hope I'm not mixing up plants here.

2024-03-08 05:15:25

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@npub1qk5…jlda
Among many medicinal uses, the plant is also among the best "natural" toilet paper alternatives, if one is ever squatting in the bush.

2024-01-11 10:26:15

This post should be boosted daily, not just by me.
It should be at the top of the JoinMastodon page.
https://mstdn.social/@rysiek/109306419120230778
Bookmark it and any time someone says something stupid about Mastodon culture, remember you bookmarked it and reboost it.

2024-01-09 20:08:41

The Problem with Trolley Car Problems
I started out saying this as a joke, but gradually, over time, I've come to realize it's actually accurate.
The true solution to almost all "trolley car" problems is to find who keeps tying people to the tracks.
In trolley car problems, the people tied to the tracks always represent some disadvantaged sector of society — poor people, homeless people, no healthcare, minorites, etc — or even just (pardon the expression) "regular" lower class people.
And the "problem" is always "do you let those people be run over in order to save a billionaire, or a corporation, or the banking industry, or some sector of the economy, etc.
And again ... why are those people tied to the tracks in the first place? What is wrong with our economy/society/legal system, that we have those people stuck in those disadvantaged positions?
So the next time you see a trolley car problem — even the comedy/shitpost/joke problems — ask yourself, "who are those people tied to the track, and how did they get there in the first place?

2023-12-15 09:02:09

I find your lack of faith ... disturbing.
#CatsOfMastodon
https://kolektiva.social/system/media_attachments/files/111/583/620/593/244/841/original/498a2674c3663721.jpg