Peertube?

Decentralised. Federated. activity pub. Self Hosted. Open source.

A few years back, I moved into an old farmhouse in the countryside. It was peaceful, except for the noises that would come from the attic every night, a soft thumping like someone walking around. After a couple of sleepless nights, I finally mustered the courage to check it out.

I climbed up to the attic with a flashlight. It was full of dusty old furniture and trinkets, probably from previous tenants. As I was examining a pile of old newspapers, my flashlight caught something - a pair of eyes glowing in the dark, staring right back at me. I nearly dropped the flashlight in shock. As I shone the light in the direction, I found an old portrait of a woman. The eyes were eerily lifelike. I convinced myself it was just the way the light was hitting it.

The noises didn’t stop, but I learned to live with them. But the weirdest part was when I left the house a 6 months later. The movers came to get my stuff, and I told them to leave everything in the attic, I’d Grabe those items myself. I mainly needed movers for the big heavy stuff. Later, when I returned to pick up some remaining items, the portrait was gone.

To this day, I still can’t figure out where it could have gone, why just that. Probably some completely logical explanation, but it still gives me chills when I think about it.

Lemmy is a federated social network, similar to Mastodon, where anyone can create and run their own instance. This means it's not centrally controlled by one entity. The reasons for having many instances include:

1. Decentralization: This reduces the power of any single entity over the entire network and prevents any central point of failure. If one instance goes down, others are unaffected. This design also helps resist censorship because content moderation is handled individually by each instance.

2. Community autonomy: Each instance can form its own unique community with its own rules and norms. This can promote diversity of thought and freedom of expression, as different communities can have different standards and policies.

3. Privacy and security: Having separate instances can provide a higher degree of privacy and security. The admin of an instance only has access to data from their instance, not the entire network.

Regarding the concern of popular instances becoming like Reddit, it's worth noting that decentralization inherently provides a counterbalance. If an instance becomes too dominant or its policies become unpopular, users can migrate to or create a new instance. In the end, the federated nature of Lemmy allows for a much more democratic and user-driven online community.

Sometimes, it's surprising how life unfolds. I remember back in my second year at boarding school, we were all set to return for another term, standing on the train station platform. Fooling around, we missed the train.

With no other options and perhaps a bit of youthful audacity, we took dads old ford and we ended up driving it all the way to school.

The car broke down, we almost got caught. Then crazily, we crashed into a famous tree on campus.

However, as wild as that was, missing that train might just have saved us.

We later found out that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened around the time we were meant to be on that train. A deadly monster, a Basilisk, was slithering around the castle, able to kill just by meeting your gaze.

Who’s to say we wouldn’t have bumped into it, had we made that train? With our track record of stumbling into trouble, it seems more than likely. It’s a chilling thought.

Xoxo Ron

I made this post, because I have gone through anxious and depressive states where I have completely overlooked it for weeks.

Sometimes it just falls from the priority list. Can be hard enough getting out of bed some days.

It may seem like a simple little thing. But often they are the hardest.

✌️💛

Finally a thought I am prepared for. Haha

I'm sorry, I have to disagree. While I understand that the novel can have multiple interpretations, what speaks to me most is the concept of "society" itself being the monster in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."

Consider Victor Frankenstein, whose pursuit of knowledge alienates him from the society that should nurture scientific curiosity. He describes his isolation, saying, "I had worked hard for nearly two years...but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." (Chapter 5) The societal norms that make Frankenstein's endeavors "forbidden" and "unearthly" indirectly contribute to his downfall.

Now, let's think about the creature. Born innocent, its transformation into a destructive entity is catalyzed by societal rejection. The creature's interaction with the De Lacey family highlights society's instinctive fear of physical difference. The blind De Lacey is kind to the creature, demonstrating that without the bias of sight, acceptance is possible. But when his sighted family members encounter the creature, they react with fear and violence.

Rejection after rejection, the creature finally voices its anguish: "I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?" (Chapter 17) This lament encapsulates how societal prejudice and rejection can breed monstrosity.

In reading the novel, I see the destructive power of societal norms and prejudice, where both Victor and his creature, misunderstood and ostracized, spiral into destructive paths. To me, society's inability to accept, understand, and empathize is what manifests the true monster in "Frankenstein."

Perhaps it's just my own personal experiences with society, feeling like an outcast, or at least not fitting into social norms, coming through in how I interpret the novel. However, I strongly believe that Mary Shelley's work invites us to question who the real monster is, and I find society's role in shaping the narrative impossible to ignore.

Not this again….. Count Babylonian style. Thumb trace each section of the fingers in your left hand. Count the multiple with your right. 5 * 12 = 60.

Base 60.

1. Support Human-Created Content: Supporting human-generated content involves more than just consuming the content. You can proactively participate in crowdfunding campaigns, subscribe to creator’s newsletters, or even become a patron on platforms like Patreon. This not only provides direct financial support but also signals to other consumers and platforms that human-generated content is valuable. If you’re an influencer or have a substantial online following, your endorsement of human-generated content can help create a broader cultural shift.

2. Digital Literacy Education: Start by learning about digital literacy yourself and then share this knowledge with others. This could mean setting up workshops in your local community, offering online webinars, or mentoring a younger person. Use these opportunities to highlight the difference between human and bot-generated content, teach the basics of how algorithms shape online experiences, and foster a critical approach to online information consumption.

3. Regulate AI and Algorithms: You can get involved in the legislative process at various levels. This could mean everything from writing letters to your local and national representatives, to participating in public protests or movements. You could also consider volunteering for organizations that work on these issues or even pursuing a career in tech policy.

4. Transparency: Advocate for laws that would require tech companies to disclose their use of bots and AI. Write op-eds, start social media campaigns, or coordinate with organizations that are working towards this. Additionally, as a consumer, you can also ask direct questions to companies about their use of AI and their transparency practices.

5. Promote Ethical AI Practices: Do research into which companies adhere to ethical AI practices, and consider giving them your business. You can also use your online platform, if you have one, to highlight these companies and their practices. Your recommendations can influence others to do the same.

6. Use and Develop Tools: If you have coding skills, you can contribute to open-source projects that aim to develop tools for identifying bot-generated content. You can also participate in hackathons or online coding competitions focused on this problem. If you’re not a developer, consider supporting these initiatives financially or advocating for their wider use in your own network.

While these actions can help mitigate the “Dead Internet” scenario, it’s important to keep in mind that the internet is a vast and complex ecosystem. It’s influenced by many factors, from the technology that underpins it, to the actions of users and tech companies, to legal and cultural norms. It will require a collective effort to shape its future.

While hippos are known for their speed both on land and in water, they would face insurmountable difficulties during a the biking portion.

Hippos have short, stout legs relative to their bulky body size. Even if we entertain the hypothetical scenario of a hippo magically being able to ride a bike, these short legs would severely restrict their pedaling efficiency.

Their weight, coupled with the slow biking speed resulting from their short legs, would most likely cause any lead from the swimming and running stages to dissipate rapidly.

Additionally, despite their intimidating size and strong jaws, hippos are not carnivorous by nature, but rather herbivores with a diet primarily composed of grasses. While they can be aggressive if they perceive a threat, they don't typically target humans as food. Therefore, the scenario of a hippo eating a competitor during a the other stages is extremely improbable.

All things considered, a relatively fit human athlete would still have a considerable edge in a triathlon competition against a hippo.

I’m hosting one right now. Lemmyunchained.net

But in will have to Limit Users at some point.

I dont Think people properly understand they can be on any server. And join multiple communities. And it all Show up in their Feed. They don’t Need to worry about “which community has the Most Users”

The use of base-60 for time and base-10 for most other things originates from different historical and mathematical practices. Base-60, or the sexagesimal system, is thought to have originated from the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians who used it for their astronomical calculations. This system has 12 divisors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60, allowing it to be easily divided into halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, sixths, tenths, twelfths, and more, without resulting in fractions. This versatility has made it useful for timekeeping and angle measurement, both of which continue to be used to this day.

Conversely, the base-10 system, or decimal system, likely derives from the fact that humans have 10 fingers, making counting in this system intuitive and easy to learn. The base-10 system has fewer divisors: 1, 2, 5, 10, meaning it can only be cleanly divided by 2 and 5. While this system is less flexible for representing certain fractions, it’s more straightforward for counting and calculation, leading to its wide use in daily life, mathematics, and scientific calculations.

The integration of base-60 and base-10 systems hasn’t been widely adopted due to the significant societal change required. During the French Revolution, a decimal timekeeping system was attempted, with a day consisting of 10 hours, each hour containing 100 minutes, and each minute made up of 100 seconds. However, this system lacked popularity and was soon discarded.

Despite this, decimal watches exist today. These watches follow the concept of decimal time, dividing a 24-hour day differently, with an “hour” on a decimal watch being longer than a traditional hour, a “minute” being longer than a traditional minute, and a “second” being slightly shorter than a traditional second. They are typically seen as novelty or specialty items, appreciated by those who prefer the mathematical simplicity of a base-10 system. But due to the wide prevalence and deep entrenchment of the base-60 system in societal, technological, and legal systems, traditional timekeeping remains dominant.

(Source: I saw it on QI once - a British pub quiz style tv show)

I really want a decimal watch, just as a talking piece.

But I’m sure it would be a nightmare for actually keeping track of time.

If they are going to capitalise on our content and data, are they going to start paying out to users like YouTube and other platforms?