ApathyTree

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

Games that require active servers are also not meant to be sold forever, and imho all those games should be digital only. I wish they didn’t have discs, because as a used game buyer, I have to really hope the dude working the counter is gunna tell me the servers for the game are already shut down 6 months after release… I’ve bought 2 games with inactive servers so far. Can’t play them at all unless I find someone hosting a private server who is cool with me joining to see if I even like the game, which is wildly unlikely.

I don’t buy online games for this reason, and it’s getting harder to know which ones require online to function at all. They all say “require online for network features” but don’t specify when the whole game is network features? Minefield.

Gaming is getting so damn difficult. I miss just walking in, finding a game, buying it, and knowing it would work, even if the console isn’t hooked to Wi-Fi.

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

Basically my understanding of the fear is this:

Meta joins.

Meta makes friends with everyone because they are playing the long con. They act nice to start, play by the rules, etc. nobody thinks they are nefarious.

Meta develops features that users want on top of the existing framework. These features are things everyone actually wants, not what meta wants because meta is hooking people -give them what they want so they use it, then walk it back later, perhaps silently as a “bug” that just never gets “fixed”- perhaps they suppress aspects of the platform, like make the community/individual finding hide the instance it’s on to make it feel more like centralized social media, perhaps they release entirely new features that enhance the experience. Either way, they make small changes because they can, which lowers the experience of those who interact with it because it’s intentionally buggy with FOSS versions. They likely have FOSS versions running so they can test compatibility to make sure they provide a slightly better experience (why wouldn’t they?)

Users join the meta instance for the enhanced features because they don’t actually care about how the fediverse works, they want a seamless experience (which currently the fediverse does not really offer, none of us can say otherwise)

Meta becomes the biggest instances of activity pub, but with enhancements that make other instances super buggy.

Nobody wants to be on the buggy instances so they switch to meta if they don’t care about privacy.

Meta pulls plug. Fediverse dies (they hope) or at least goes back to only being used by the small subset of the population that would never consider the giants to be options. They pulled all the people they could from what already existed.

Now whether or not that’s actually an issue for a platform that actively wants to be “counterculture” (which fedi absolutely does) is yet to be seen… but we already know what meta wants, which is money, and FOSS and money aren’t really compatible. Just on principle. So what meta wants and what they are doing are at odds currently, and I think it’s only a matter of time before they show the hand they have to play.

But I think that’s what the “defederate immediately” group is hoping to prevent. We all joined because we are sick of the hostile takeovers (even if the media companies technically have every right to do so with their own product) and to prevent being beholden to one of the major players. If everyone defederates immediately, meta won’t be able to actually embrace, because they aren’t being embraced back. At that point all they can really do is fork the software, but they would probably scrap it. It’s not exactly a great platform for a company that has their own.

Importantly, why else would they adopt it? What value does free and largely unmonotizeable software actually have for meta? If they wanted to for themselves, they could easily build a Twitter clone. They didn’t. They adopted a free open source platform. Why? What value does that hold for them over just making their own, if they don’t feel threatened by the alternative?

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

The fact that nobody has yet commented on her elbow hyperextending makes me feel a lot better, actually. Granted, not many comments.

My physio was super surprised/concerned that my elbows, when measured, hyperextend about 18 degrees (a bit further than chick in photo) so I thought it was weird and uncommon or something, where prior I thought that was totally normal even if really inconvenient for wrestling.

But maybe not so uncommon? I know women tend to be more flexible in general, and during late stages of pregnancy secrete a hormone that increases flexibility, but I don’t know that I’ve known others with the same hyperflexability for no reason.

(I know that’s not what this pic is supposed to be)

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

Idk how well this would work for this use, but you could look into using 3M VHB tape (vhb stands for very heavily bonding).

It works similar to those pull release command hooks - same type of tape, but there’s a foam layer to account for uneven surfaces. So when you are ready to unmount it, you pull the tape to stretch it out and it loses adhesion.

It’s used a lot for mounting signs to buildings/glass (often with silicone as well, because that’s more permanent).

If you want to try it, I would suggest testing an area near the bottom and let the tape sit in and set up for at least a week before you pull to remove and see what happens with it.

I’ve used it on interior walls with no issues (great for hanging mirrors and stuff) my only concern would be the texture on the wall preventing a proper pull.

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

I made the mistake on the r site of naming my account for what I used it for, which was wasting my own time. It was intended to serve as an active reminder that I could be doing better things with my time. I had about 50/50 split If people thought I was a troll or not, though, so I didn’t bring it with me.

I wanted to go with a different but similar theme, and a lot has changed in my life and frankly, I’ve grown rooted and apathetic. The username is a reminder to be better.

This probably won’t be the account I end up using long-term, but it’s a good one for now, as I learn everything.

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

I snapped so many of those discs into tiny fragments to make mirror murals back in the day. They were absolutely everywhere.

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

I kinda feel like if they worked, in the 23 years since originally promised there would have been at least one prototype…

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

I’m a light participator. I’m looking for a community to call home, but I’m not highly social, so I don’t comment a ton. Maybe once I find the right communities to subscribe to, but for now I mostly browse all looking for new appealing communities, and comment where it might add value.

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

Something that helped me was realizing that names are hard for everyone.

Unlike faces, which a lot of people also struggle with, names are completely arbitrary. They don’t help you identify a person at all unless you already know them. Facial features at least help you recognize someone but “Tim” or “James” could be 20 people you have met this year alone.

Everyone is bad with them, so just admitting to it is actually either a huge relief or at least understandable to the other party, like your experience. I find it’s typically the former, and after they share their name again, they confirm they have mine right, or ask in kind because they also forgot. It’s a human moment.

ApathyTree, 11 months ago

I’m totally in favor of socialized social media. Since shortly after the blackout I’ve been looking into the fediverse (it’s all very confusing, depending what order you find things in, though the new user guides are making it a lot more friendly), and the whole idea of being able to choose what sort of communities you interact with, having control over what happens directly? Fabulous.

I’m really looking forward to the mobile apps that are being worked on, but ultimately I hope the people who suck take forever to show up here, when things are already well established as far as general behavioral practices between communities, and the shitty people have to find a bubble universe and leave everyone else alone.

ApathyTree, 10 months ago

The first page I found was the main fediverse page, then I found mastodon (I’m not a Twitter user, so it wasn’t where I landed). Looks like y’all have some decent iOS apps, at least, and this Reddit implosion and the whole meta wanting to use the app hub thing (don’t know what that is but read about it) should bring a lot more traffic to your side of things as well! Hopefully that’s a good thing for everyone! And not just like bots..