The problem with federated alternatives to centralized services (and also one of the main problems with centralized services which lead people to look for an alternative) is Discovery.
Etsy and Twitch and YouTube provide an audience, supposedly. With the right pitch (and the right advertising dollars) you can get your own slice of that audience. (For as long as the algorithm graces you, and as long as you're willing to stomach the other things your viewers will be algorithmically suggested.)
It still tickles me that the TERFS and Transphobes tried to claim Terry Pratchett as their own, and everyone who actually knew him, including his daughter, and co-author Neil Gaiman, was like WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, you couldn't be further from the truth.
#ClimateDiary Anyone else struggling to see any prospects for turning things around? I will keep on trying to do what I can. Of course. But 2024 is challenging.
Last year did a post about how I wasn’t motivated by hope but by #DesperateDetermination. I now realise i got that wrong. Hope isn’t just fluffy “things will be alright”. Hope is some flicker of belief that you and others can change things; I did, actually, have “hope”. Less now, but will keep going.
@bencurthoys thank you. I am a bit sceptical about World in Data and their relentless green growth “capitalism will solve this” agenda. But i guess should give the book a go.
So there's an award-winning film named Snow In Midsummer that's widely discussed in Taiwan and elsewhere at the moment, it's about Malaysia's 13th May racial riots, an event that my mom experienced firsthand and which is only discussed in hushed tones. Not sure if it'll ever be aired in Malaysia.
He didn't live to see that, but he was there for the election before and I remember there were a lot of tension the day and night of, and the day after... and i do remember hearing that Najib tried to stir violence/chaos (I was already in the U.S. at that time)
The wildest bag someone recommended from this post is the TomToc Navigator. It's 40L, but only weighs 2.8 lb, has water bottle holders, compression straps, great laptop/iPad compartment, and one massive clamshell bucket for clothes. And it's only $80, which concerningly cheap
@christianselig I’ve been using the 17L model of that bag for daily stuff and short work trips and I love it. It has all the high quality stuff I look for in the bag and my go-to recommendation for people now.
✅ Signs telling me what seats are reserved
✅ Luggage racks designed to actually be useable
✅ 13 carriage train that needs a dwell time of just 1 minute in major stations
✅ Staff providing useful information about connecting services
✅ No superfluous announcements about forgetting luggage or minding the doors
✅ Freight trains too!
@phil No. The large dwell times in France are because TGVs have too few doors and too little luggage space. The network is more reliable - on high speed lines - because there are a lot fewer trains, so a lot less can go wrong. Sure, DB dwell times might be too tight, but design also matters.