garius

garius, 9 months ago to history

To understand Musk's renewed obsession with X and focus on financial services, you REALLY need to understand the X/Confinity merger that became PayPal.

And, particularly, the Peter Thiel-led coup that kicked Musk out as CEO/Chief Strategist.

Here's how that happened. 1/🧵 #history #technology

garius, 11 months ago to random

If Putin needs advice on how to stop an armed column advancing on his capital, he could ask the Ukrainians.

garius, 9 months ago to Cats

As a kid I was scared of the dark.

One night, my mum asked me what was scaring me and I mumbled something about ghosts or monsters coming at night.

"Oh don't worry about those," she said. "The cats chase them way. That's why they're awake when we're asleep."

I've loved that idea ever since. That at some point ancient humans and cats struck a pact:

We feed them and provide them with places to snooze in daylight. They protect us from the things that lurk between worlds at night. #cats

garius, 9 months ago to history

I'll do a thread tomorrow on the X dot com/Paypal merger because I think it's really important to understand how that went down to know why Musk is STILL salty about how X died (and about Peter Thiel) now.

But in the meantime, here is a quick, but telling, story called:

That Time Elon Totalled his McLaren F1 While Trying to Show Off in Front of Peter Thiel /1 🧵 #history #technology

garius, 3 months ago to random

So apparently:

"I thought they opened themselves, these days"

Isn't what you're meant to say when the stewardess asks you if you are familiar with the procedure for the emergency exit door.

garius, 7 months ago to history

On 8th Oct 1952 the worst civilian rail disaster in UK history happened in London. 112 would die. 340 would be injured.

That accident, and the actions of one woman from Florida have saved THOUSANDS of lives since.

Because that disaster would help lead to the creation of paramedics. /1 🧵 #healthcare #history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU60PgAjh0E&t=7s

garius, 1 year ago to random

On 9th May 1386 the Treaty of Windsor was signed between Portugal and England, uniting the two countries in a perpetual alliance.

It remains the oldest remaining alliance in the world.

In WW2 it would TWICE play a quiet but critical part in the allies' victory over the Axis, to the watching disbelief of Roosevelt and the Americans.

Here's how the treaty came about, was lost, almost got cancelled, then helped Britain in its darkest hour. /1 🧵 #history #histodons #portugal #uk

garius, 1 year ago to animals

Realised I've never shared Napoleon the feral kitty's story here, so here we go.

This is Napoleon, and this is the story of his nine-month journey from a hungry, desperate feral street cat to snuggly duvet monster. /1 🧵 #cats

kitty happily curled up in the nook of my arm on a bed.

garius, 1 year ago to random

Glass Cliff Theory holds that once the boys network have decided a CEO job is too hard or the company unsalvageable THEN they give it to a woman. And when she fails they blame it on her.

So if/when Space McAfee boasts about appointing a female CEO to Twitter, remember that.

More on Glass Cliff Theory from the university of Exeter here:

https://psychology.exeter.ac.uk/cic/about/theglasscliff/#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20glass%20cliff,Minister%20Teresa%20May%20and%20Brexit.

garius, 7 months ago to Cats

A thing I like about cats is that they have no filter.

If a cat loves and trusts you, it's not because they are inclined by breeding to do so. It's because, despite their innate narcissism, they have decided you are worthy of attention.

If a cat thinks you are a good person, and worthy of a snuggle, it is in spite of them. It is begrudging. It is beyond earned.

If a cat loves you then you HAVE to love yourself. It's practically an order. You have been found worthy. It's not your choice. #cats

garius, 10 months ago to random

"Never laugh at someone for being interested in something you find weird or boring. That just means you don't know enough about it yet."

Something my (now sadly deceased) mum said to me when I was a teen.

Always stuck with me.

Truer now, in the era of social media, than ever.

garius, 5 months ago to random

ME: Fuuuuuuck this hangover
THE CAT <bonk>: Oh no. How sad. Anyway. You should feed me.
ME: I feel like death
THE CAT <bonk>: Feeding me would help.
ME: How would that help?!
THE CAT <bonk>: I meant it would help me.
ME: Can you PLEASE stop doing that.
THE CAT <bonk>: Doing what?
ME: Headbutting my head
THE CAT <bonk>: oh THAT
ME: I literally just told you I have a hangover.
THE CAT <bonk>: And I told you feeding me would help
ME: How?!
THE CAT <bonk>: The headbutting would stop. That's one way.

garius, 10 months ago to random

Help! Hoping the tech Fediverse can step in to help here.

I'm Vice-Chair of London Seaward, an Independent women's football club in the FA National League in England.

A tech sponsor's pulled out. That sponsorship (£3k - £10k range) covers our analytics and streaming which allow us, as an independent women's football club, to compete with clubs 10x richer.

If you're a firm looking for the EASIEST promo/CSR win ever, shout me!

Watch this to see why we're a unique club https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlNArPc7kLg&t=1s

garius, 6 months ago to random

"When I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go, it would be nice if Friends were listed far behind the things I did to help other people.

I know it won't happen, but it would be nice"

RIP Matt Perry, major funder of sober-living and addiction support services, and addiction awareness campaigner.

garius, 9 months ago to random

Still one of the greatest paragraphs of all time.

garius, 1 year ago to random

On 5th May 1945, the SS launched an assault on Itter Castle in Austria.

Defending the castle were a mix of US Army and Wehrmacht soldiers, and French politicians, celebrities who had been prisoners of war.

It remains one of the most unique battles of WW2, and the only major documented instance of the US Army and Wehrmacht fighting side-by-side.

Here's how this remarkable series of events unfolded /1 🧵 #history #histodons

garius, 10 months ago to random

One thing I've noticed is that people who say "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it" in meetings, tend to be the most surprised when they come to the bridge.

garius, 1 year ago to random

Crazy that a law designed to let the Met Police do what they want without consequence is being used by the Met Police to do what they want without consequence.

I don't see how anyone could have predicted that.

garius, 2 months ago to random

If you have good Javascript/JSON skills, good server-side/OOP knowledge and experience problem-solving and lateral thinking to get the most out of a CMS, then I currently have a lead developer role open in my team at the University of Greenwich.

Spread the word!

Normal work structure is two days on campus (more if preferred).

Daily tasks are a fun mix of fresh development and coming up with leftfield solutions to whatever the academics throw at us.

https://jobs.gre.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=4413-E

garius, 5 months ago to random

🎄 XMAS CREATOR BOOST TIME 🎄

Every year I try to boost awesome creators doing things that might make cool presents.

If you are a creator, reply with:

• a description
• a picture
• a link

And I will boost you.

If you are NOT a creator, buy the cool things and boost this thread!

Merry Xmas everyone.

garius, 2 days ago to random

Rebranding myself as an eco-friendly alternative to ChatGPT.

Ask me a question and I'll mansplain an answer to you, while consuming much less water and energy.

garius, 1 year ago to random

So to confirm, because Johnson was too tight to pay his own legal fees, the Cabinet Office got to see his diaries. Because they're officially the client.

Which means that in the process of defending him from one set of crimes, they found evidence of ANOTHER set of crimes, for which they've now had to refer him to the police.

God these spin-off series of the Tory Shitshow are getting hard to track.

garius, 1 year ago to random

If you have an 'old' Twitter account you don't want deleted for archive or impersonation reasons, then it's probably worth logging back in once and following Elon.

Bet you cash money the Twitter devs will write any delete queries in the next few months with an 'unless they follow Elon' clause.

Do YOU want to be the one explaining to the Narcissist-In-Chief why his follower count dropped?

(Also download the archive of your old tweets if there is good reason to preserve them for the future)

garius, 6 months ago to random

Fact of the day:

ISO3103 is the International Standard covering the serving of tea. It's there to ensure consistency in taste testing.

Key points:

• Pot should be porcelain or earthenware
• Milk should be added AFTER hot water

Ireland were the only country to object on its submission, noting there was no provision for pot-warming in the specification.

This was overruled.

garius, 7 months ago to london

URGENT: An elderly neighbour is facing eviction due to house payment issues with her lender caused by her (pending-divorce) husband.

Are there any UK charities/agencies/others I can put her in contact with to get help? Particularly/urgently in writing a Stay of Eviction request? #london #law