@Uraael@blahaj.zone

Uraael

@Uraael@blahaj.zone

I am Uraael.

Pronounced "Yu-RAYL" it's the name of my Soul which exists outside our dimensons of space and time, waiting for me in the car.

Note: what you see in the name box is whatever amuses me that day. Just call me Uraael.

Quiet Scottish Geek. Veteran Defender of Social Justice, Privacy and Human Freedoms. Gentle soul undergoing Kintsugi. Country boy at heart.

I am romantically entwined with @MariaTheMartian, my Twin Flame. ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ. We used to joke that our Love could melt servers...and then Firefish actually died. Um, sorry about that.

FEDIVERSITY:
Proud #Sharkey user since Nov '23
Proud #Firefish user since Feb '23
Proud #Fediverse user since Sep '22.

#Hashtags #Geek #SciFi #Scotland #Politics #Computing #Linux #Software #Music #Writing #PCGaming #Emulation #MentalHealth #AFinerWorld #Humanism #SocialJustice #TransRights #Feminism #AntiFascism #RacialEquality #LGBTQIA+ #MFM #Art #ShinyThings #FreePalestine #HaveANiceDay #OponionsLikeOpinionsButMoreLayered

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

afewbugs, to random
@afewbugs@social.coop avatar

"Just use Linux" is much like "just ride a bike" or "just shop at a refill store" - accessing the non default option can be time consuming, expensive or unavailable locally. We need to recognise you need a certain degree of privilege to have the capacity to complicate your life voluntarily. We need to be trying to make the better, harder thing more accessible, not blaming people for not using it.

Uraael,

@InsertUser @afewbugs @Mux

but the feeling of having your hands tied because everything you can access with a mouse is so shockingly limited is very real.1/3

I got that feeling trying DE's like Gnome and XFCE. Here on KDE it's much better. And yesterday I just installed yakuake, a terminal client that actually respects the mouse as a tool and makes it useful.> The impression Linux users have of what a normal user needs seems to fundamentally confuse someone who wants things to be easy on a day to day basis with someone who never has to do anything remotely involved ever.

There are plenty Linux folks out there fully cognisant of what being a lay user means, despite their personal knowledge or tolerances. I freely admit there are the Elitists, though, who tends to come at it with a fair amount of condescension. Personally I love a bit of tinkering but my god not every day; most days I want things to be easy so I can get work or play done without having to bury myself in tedious forums for hours. And I've helped enough people with IT issues throughout my life to know that some folks will struggle even using a mouse, something I count as being part of my body these days.

Take Games. I had a chat with a chap about that a couple of weeks ago. I was selling the wonders of Proton but this person had WINE in mind with all it's fussy fiddly setup and actually accused me of being so comfortable with tinkering that I couldn't see it any more, and calling THAT my definition of Normal. But I fought through that to tell him that no, I genuinely did mean it was an ABC, install-and-play experience, discrete from the tinkering he was imagining.

It's great that your Granddad used it, btw. Kudos. And yes I get that even casual users occasionally need something more specialised but I have to say that's the case with Windows users too, and that ain't always easy or straightforward.

skinnylatte, to random
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

โ€˜Fahrenheit is what humans feelโ€™

No, Fahrenheit is what Americans feel

Uraael, (edited )

@skinnylatte Cultural centres with a strong self worship component often assume they are ubiquitous. America is possibly the biggest example but in Scotland, people from the city of Glasgow tend to believe their particular culture and outlook is the Most Widespread/Well known and even the Most Scottish. Scots from other regions often have to remind them otherwise.

In the UK we also have to contend with a British/English form of this as well.

There's also a similar form of it among fans of celebrities - deny knowing a face or voice, e.g. Taylor Swift, and you'll often be asked the "have you been living under a rock?!?" question or similar shocked exclamations.

Uraael, to random

I โ™ฅ๏ธ MissCalcHajFireShrimpSharKey

Uraael, (edited ) to random

Quick, Americans are sleeping! Post something you love about the country you live in!

The Forth Rail Bridge!

From Wikipedia:

The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, 9 miles (14 kilometres) west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in 2016), and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was designed by English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. It is sometimes referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge (to distinguish it from the adjacent Forth Road Bridge), although this has never been its official name.

Construction of the bridge began in 1882 and it was opened on 4 March 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay, the future Edward VII. The bridge carries the Edinburghโ€“Aberdeen line across the Forth between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry and has a total length of 8,094 feet (2,467 m). When it opened it had the longest single cantilever bridge span in the world, until 1919 when the Quebec Bridge in Canada was completed. It continues to be the world's second-longest single cantilever span, with a span of 1,709 feet (521 m).

NB: I can't speak for all Scots here (says who?) but I've never called it "The Forth Bridge". To me it has always been the "Forth RAIL Bridge", no doubt a reaction to the "Forth ROAD Bridge" sitting next to it.

The fact that the areas' third and newest bridge isn't called a Forth anything Bridge but instead is the "Queensferry Crossing" makes my thematic heart sad.

Fun Fact: before the application of rust-proof paint the Forth Rail Bridge used to be in a constant state of being painted, the engineers working along from end to end and starting over due to the fact corrosion would be eating through the paint at the starting point by the time they finished at the other. Sisyphus would have said "Sod this, I'm off".

Attribution: The photo I've shamelessly used and abused is by an incredibly talented lady called Marie Gardiner. @mariegardiner.

#๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ

Uraael, to random

Literally just wrote a reply post about how rampant Capitalism destroys people's love of tech and here's browser company Opera, under Chinese ownership since 2016, now apparently involved in predatory loan sharking.

I used to use and love Opera back when the Nowegians owned it. They were good people, and as soon as they started making Vivaldi, Opera's spiritual successor, I was there in a heartbeat. That a "consortium" of financiers could drag a once-proud browser into the muck is just another day in Late Stage Capitalism.

RE: https://fedi.absturztau.be/objects/36b3b29c-77d5-4190-a141-d12bc856d65d

Uraael, to random

So the big question becomes: where do blogs move to after Wordpress?

RE: https://octodon.social/users/jalefkowit/statuses/112005522820467704

Uraael, (edited ) to privacy

With the Kolektiva.Social Security Alert ringing around the Fediverse [TL;DR - An unencrypted backup of their Instance database is in the hands of the FBI after a Raid], now is a stupendously good time to talk about Privacy and your software choices in regards to it.

Before we start: Do not assume you are safe and private on the Fediverse. Keep any incriminating conversation to properly secure channels. DMs here, like on Twitter et al, are NOT encrypted.

A great starting point is the website Privacytools.io. There, you'll find categorised lists of recommended software, vetted by an active community. It's NOT perfect. I'd argue a few of their choices (Disclaimer: I'm fundamentally argumentative by default. Hi, Mum! โ€‹:blobcat_wave:โ€‹) and could make a few suggestions they've not covered, e.g. InviZible Pro for Android mobiles (NB: get it from F-Droid, Not Giggle Play). But generally it's in the right ballpark on most things.

Pro-tip: navigate to software links via your chosen search engine (it will recommend a few of those too) - Ublock Origin and other good ad-blockers will complain about their referrer links.

Some personal software choices:

  • Vivaldi / Librewolf (Browser)
  • Vivaldi.net (Email)
  • Linux (OS, any distro)
  • Signal (instant Messaging)
  • Mega / Internxt Drive / Nextcloud (Cloud storage)
  • Bitwarden (Password Manager)
  • Syncthing (File sync)
  • Neo Store (Client for the F-Droid app store on Android)

My Privacy-focused Browser Extension choices:

  • UBlock Origin
  • Disconnect
  • Privacy Badger
  • Decentraleyes
  • ClearURLs
  • Canvas Fingerprint Defender

Feel free to recommend your own choices in comments. Or disagree with/question mine! One thing I will never tell you is that I have everything right. You might know better. โ€‹:blobcat_wink:โ€‹

Uraael, (edited ) to random

Last post before I go have some lunch and do some decorating: this is also something I love about : emoji reactions.

Just look at that little row of life and colour beneath Chris' post there. Once again it takes something from traditional Social Media, a numerical count of reactions behind one icon, and transforms it into something much more human, much more expressive. With the number of custom emojis available on some platforms (here on Blahaj.zone I have literally thousands) it's a communication artform all by itself.

reginasbread, to Women
@reginasbread@homo.promo avatar

throwing javelin are so hot.
no javelin throwers in my area ๐Ÿ˜ข

Uraael,

@reginasbread HeartSpear.com: Helping you meet Hot Javelin Throwing in Your Area!

Uraael, to UKpolitics

Dead 10 years (almost 11, Anniversary fans) and Margaret Thatcher is legit HAUNTING fedi timelines. Will we never be rid of the Undead Old Baggage?

Uraael, (edited ) to random

Vivaldi dropping another update to their fabulous browser, now version 6.6. Come raise a brief, appreciative eyebrow over these with me:

๐Ÿ”นUse your favourite Extensions in Web Panels

Big one for me, this. Without the extra protection and conveniences afforded by extensions (entering passwords, etc) this feature was useless for me. This opens it up for possible use again. ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

๐Ÿ”นGet an Instant overview of website permissions

...Instead of scrolling through a cramped pop up or diving into deep settings. Nice. ๐Ÿ‘

๐Ÿ”นFaster Translations with Vivaldi Translate

To be tested, but very welcome if they've sorted the Automatic Detection out that routinely fails to recognise commonly spoken languages. A BIG plus for this service over rivals is that there's no user-tracking whatsoever, and no third parties involved. (Tentative ๐Ÿ‘)

๐Ÿ”นDark Mode? Set your preferred website colour theme

Potentially huge if I can ditch The Dark Reader extension I keep fighting with. (Tentative ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘)

๐Ÿ”นFind your messages with an Improved Mail Search

Lol, I wasn't unable to find my emails before, they've done themselves a disservice here with their wording, but I definitely appreciate finer-grained and more accurate results. ๐Ÿ‘

๐Ÿ”นMigrate your data of Notes and Reading list

And last but by no means most...nice to have but I can't see an obvious use case for it. ๐Ÿค

Link to Vivaldi 'What's New' page

#Vivaldi #Browser #Mail #Update #Software #Linux

Uraael, to music

MEGA CATCH-UP POST โ€‹:blobcat_approach:โ€‹

Day 18: From the Year You Were Born
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu9a29UR2dU

FUNKtastic!

Day 19: That Makes You Think About Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUJuwNxNUWQ

Unsettling...

Day 20: That Has Many Meanings To You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ_NDYayxdw

RAWK. ๐Ÿค˜

Day 21: You Like With A Person's Name In The Title
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY5zaDZq0sc

I feeeel so goood.

Day 22: That Moves You Forward
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNFzfwLM72c

To be played at my funeral. ๐Ÿ•บ

Day 23: You Think Everyone Should Listen To
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnkTuHP9q3o

Norse.

Day 24: By A Band You Wish Were Still Together
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6c02zS-pbQ

Chillcool.

Uraael, to random

See what beautiful Federation happens when you realise certain malignant entities, naming no mastodon dot art, have been weaponising Fedi blocklists against Admins and Instances?

I watched Firefish.social and its admin be crucified in the court of public opinion by that person and her clique and it represented an ugliness I considered leaving the Fediverse entirely because of.

I am therefore delighted to see some restoration of sanity and this Instance choosing to stand for principled moderation over .art's ongoing malevolence.

RE: https://tooters.org/users/tooters/statuses/111111753242582151

Uraael, to Software

Feels like a great time to recommend Newpipe for Android.

https://newpipe.net/#download

Youtube without the hassle of adverts. Extended Privacy. Useful extra features like background playback, and more.

Find it on the FDroid app store.

Uraael, to FediPact

Letting a paedophile babysit your children makes about as much sense as letting Meta federate with the Fediverse. Oh, they're charming and seem sincere? That's makes it all better, then. Sorry I fretted.

Meta are provably Evil, a place where evils of all degrees throng like flies around shit. If Gargron et al won't reconsider or even adhere to their own guidelines about problematic servers, then their servers should also be cast out to live among the Truth.socials, because they're effectively saying they don't give a steaming pile about what the Fediverse stands for or the users therein.

RE: https://mastodon.ar.al/users/aral/statuses/112168710600332531

aral, to Israel
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

So Iranโ€™s mullah regime can go jump off a cliff as far as Iโ€™m concerned (and the sooner the better for the sake of the Iranian people) but itโ€™s amazing to read articles in Western media where itโ€™s not even mentioned that Iran retaliated because Israel bombed their freaking embassy.

Also, little reminder: Israel โ€“ hand in hand with its buddies, the US, UK, Germanyโ€ฆ โ€“ is busy carrying out the genocide of the Palestinian people.

Uraael,

@aral A LOT of media folks also using Israel's refusal to take responsibility for the April 1st bombing to kind of sort of imply Iran acted without just cause. Watching the spin makes me physically ill.

But yes, fuck Iran also. The enemy of my enemy is still a Human Rights abusing terrorist nightmare. Anyone on the Left cheering them on needs to be given a flight to visit the country.

Uraael, to random

I am depressed at the Scottish news today, our First Minister quitting before he was pushed out.

The SNP as a generally united force was the only thing holding back the tide of shit coming at us from Westminster, TERFs and other right wng malignancies. Trans Rights blowing up as an issue in the UK (Fuck you, American Christo-fascist dark money) struck a blow that cracked the party along ideological lines, and yet Sturgeon still managed to kept it mostly together, though you could definitely see sharks circling the bloodied waters. With her gone, feeding began in earnest.

Hamza was an average pick being the best of the options presented. But with him gone pretty much all hope of the SNP delivering another referendum or even maintaining the support for progressive policies like Trans Rights is now in serious jeopardy.

Kate Forbes, his hotly tipped replacement, is a christian fundamentalist and TERF sympathetic. If she gets the job all bets are off and I predict within a year we'll be having conversations in Scotland about those pesky abortion rights as well as watching things get worse in Scotland for the Trans community.

Uraael, (edited ) to paganism

Wishing everyone in the Fedi a very happy Beltane! โ˜บ๏ธ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅโ˜บ๏ธ

Let's give the Summer a proper pagan welcome.

I've been to a Fire Festival in Edinburgh before and it was great fun. ๐Ÿ˜

https://beltane.org/about-beltane/

Uraael, (edited ) to random

Head swimming with X-Men 97 thoughts.

Next week, when the last episode of the season airs I think I'm going to have to splurge tens of thousands of words on how incredible and wonderful and impossible this show has been. It's not just the greatest piece of X-media since the comics, it's one of the best shows I've watched in many years, with only Andor coming close in recent memory.

My family, who have not watched this yet, are simply not prepared for it. I defnitely wasn't: it hit me "like a hay-bailer with a jet engine attached" (lol @ rare writing mis-step). It is on another level over and above its forebear. Its timing could not have been better, and that's as much by fate as by design.

But sadly I think we've had our 'Endgame' moment in that this experience will be almost impossible to duplicate. Many of the shocks and surprises we've seen worked (I'll speak for myself here) because they were so unexpected. While the original series played loose with the source comic timeline (With Dark Phoenix in season 4 there should have been many events before we saw The Phalanx Covenant in season 5, for instance), this new series has gone berserk with it, to tremendous effect. It actually led me to ponder if Time itself was being manipulated by someone in-universe but there's been little evidence so far, though Bishop's disappearance being kept visible suggests this might be a simmering plot point for season 2....

Or perhaps it'll completely surprise me again. I'd be delighted to be wrong.

Uraael, (edited ) to microsoft

Fucking hell, Microsoft. There really is no depth you won't sink to, is there? Distinct whiffs of brimstone now.

I was happy enough to be off the platform myself (Deliriously happy, to be accurate) but I think it might be time to start gently suggesting other folks leave as well: Friends don't let Friends use Windows.

RE: https://mastodon.social/users/nixCraft/statuses/112476175069427958

Uraael, to Morrowind

#Morrowind

At this point I have about 100 mods installed (via Vortex, via SteamTinkerLaunch) and some new shaders in OpenMW and this 2002 game is looking mighty sweet, if'n I do say so myself.

I'm a moderate Modder. I don't particularly like vast HD texture overhauls that give everything noisy 'grain' at the expense of the under-stated original look but in some cases they can work wonders, like in the armour you see in the second screenshot I've posted.

I bloody love OpenMW's new Shader capability, though. God-rays suit Morrowind thematically. The enhanced point-source lighting is MWAH. And those Mist/Fog shaders do absolute wonders for the atmosphere of the game. It's so great being on a mountain peak and suddenly a whole area vanishes as the mist thickens...

#OpenMW #Shaders #Modding #Linux #Vortex #SteamTinkerLaunch

Uraael, to music

Jamie Woon - Night Air

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL0pTo9Z_XU

reginasbread, to random
@reginasbread@homo.promo avatar

sometimes, I hit "bookmark" instead of "star" when I want to like a toot, and then I try to figure out why certain posts are in my bookmarks. I mean, they're all bangers, but why did I bookmark a post about wanting to be stuck in a cabin with a bunch of hunks?

Uraael,

@reginasbread Knowing you, you probably thought the hunks could be a good source of information about older women in their friend circles. โ€‹:blobcat_bouncefast:โ€‹

Uraael, to StarTrek

Jonathan Frakes is the best thing Star Trek has ever produced. Change my mind*. ๐Ÿ˜œ

[*I am in no way serious. It's ALL brilliant.]

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/jonathan-frakes-star-trek-director-strange-new-worlds-lower-decks-crossover-1235680140/

reginasbread, to random
@reginasbread@homo.promo avatar

oh my god, I'm so tired of The Internet Discourse around "The Idea of You". why are people not embarrassed to talk about how Anne Hathaway "defies age"? she. is. 42. not 82! so cringe. we're supposed to be over this.

Uraael,

@reginasbread I see that kind of backhanded praise as Het code for "I'd still fuck her, DESPITE....". People (and let's just say Men here) unable to comprehend the power and majesty of women beyond the mystical ability to provoke a hard-on. Frustrating AF.

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