MateRhyu @materhyu@scholar.social

A chi non è capitato?
#humor #truestory #vitaquotidiana

from an interesting article #amreading about The Potterization of Science Fiction: https://hugoclub.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-potterization-of-science-fiction.html

"One of the fundamentally troubling assumptions behind the born-great protagonist is the anti-democratic idea that the lives of some people simply matter more than the lives of other people. If we accept that Harry Potter is destined to be the only one who can do the thing that’s important, then why should we care about the life of Ritchie Coote? Likewise, if Aragorn is destined for the throne then we have to accept that all other Men of Gondor would be incapable of managing the kingdom (let alone Women of Gonder). There is a direct link between the idea that one person can be born great, with the ideas that underpin racism, classism, and sexism. See also: the equally flawed “great man” theory.

Just as troubling an assumption is the idea that greatness is unearned; those who are great have not thought about it, have not put in effort to attain greatness, have not practiced whatever inherent part of their nature makes for greatness. It wouldn’t matter if Húrin the Tall graduated at the top of his class in urban planning at the University of Dúnedain, he’d still be incapable of managing Minas Tirith, and would be doomed to repeat Denethor’s mistakes. This is an idea that breeds complacency as we are taught by the stories we consume that greatness is achievable only through parentage. That is, one’s efforts to improve their lot in life are largely irrelevant, as is the society that supports the achievement of greatness at all."

I cannot stress enough how important it is to understand that Apple, Google, or Amazon can simply _decide_ to remove access to anything you've "purchased", including many physical goods (if they are internet-connected and running proprietary software), and you have absolutely no recourse.

Around 4,000 years ago, the Khoisan of southern Africa built stone dams along the shoreline as a fishing technique.

During high tide, seawater would flow into the areas behind the dams.

Later, the water filtered out between the stones. Fish got stranded in the pools behind the dams. This made them easy to catch.

As far as I know, coastal communities are still maintaining and using these structures.

Learn more about ancient fishing techniques: https://newsletter.eleanorkonik.com/fishing/

https://peertube.uno/videos/watch/39f04ed0-f57f-4db1-9050-9e3e3c5f984c

Ciao, fuggita dall'ambiente di odio, mala-informazione ed algoritmo oligarchico dei social, approdo qui.
Speriamo bene! 😄

San Donato, manifestanti contro il Passante bloccano lo svincolo della tangenziale: “How dare you”?

"Fermatevi!" è l'appello delle realtà ambientaliste a nove giorni dalla seduta del Consiglio comunale che dovrebbe dare il via libera all'opera. Prorogate intanto a lunedì le misure emergenziali anti smog.

https://zic.it/san-donato-manifestanti-contro-il-passante-bloccano-lo-svincolo-della-tangenziale-how-dare-you/

Altro concetto importante è quello di meritocrazia. Nata da un romanzo distopico del 1958 del sociologo inglese Michael Young, questa idea è incredibilmente diventata positiva proprio nella scuola. Come si può pensare che la meritocrazia sia qualcosa di negativo? Sembra qualcosa di assurdo. Ma in realtà, l'idea di selezionare in base all'intelligenza è una pura distopia (come racconta il romanzo di Young, che invito a leggere) e fa aumentare ulteriormente le disuguaglianze già esistenti.

A thread on my game Neofeud about my life as an impoverished Hawaiian, social worker and STEM teacher for other poor/homeless, living in slums beneath billionaire mansions. My experiences refracted through the lens of satirical cyberpunk.
https://octodon.social/@silverspookgames/105991409235206008

some (more) orb stuff for y'all!
taken from one (1) blue hellscape

haskal

We've been discussing how the transphobic spammers are finding targets and a current hypothesis is that they're using a scraper to find the string "trans" in people's bios. For instance it seems I got on the list for having "translator" in my bio.

So if you want to try and prove or disprove this hypothesis and possibly mess up their scraper, I suggest putting the word "trans" somewhere in your bio. Since it's easier to adapt the scraper to get get around trans being part of a word (like "translator" or "transistor"), it might be helpful to add both the words "trans" and "transgender." Example sentences:

"I support transgender rights. Trans rights = human rights."

"I may not be trans but transgender hating script kiddies are too incompetent to tell the difference."

Obviously do this ONLY if you're okay with potentially getting on the trans list. If you don't want to receive spam I suggest turning off DMs and notifs from accounts you don't follow.

If we can't stop the harassment at its source yet, we might be able to dilute or grow the list past usefulness, and hide our trans friends through sheer numbers so they can't be as easily singled out.

♲ @wikileaks@twitter.com:

Reporters Without Borders @rebecca_vincent: "What is happening to Julian Assange will have historical implications for journalism and press freedom internationally" #FreeAssangeNOW