@jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

jrm4

@jrm4@mastodon.social

John R. Marks, IV, Technically an attorney; practically I teach IT at FSU for a living.
I run a nonprofit that teaches stem; for a while my company Vivergent managed the official website for the Black News Channel, RIP.

Huge FOSS/Linux/Free Software guy as well. Harvard undergrad, Columbia law.

Also I like the old school rappity rap.

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

supernovae, to random

deleted_by_author

    •
    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @supernovae

    black person here and THIS ALL DAY.

    I am regularly accused of "siding with Nazis" for still being on Twitter.

    These clowns don't understand that -- yes, I do encourage people to look elsewhere, but Twitter is still a deeply important part of black networking, whether casual or organizational.

    Then people have the nerve to condescend about it, as if WE'RE not the ones who are EXPERTS at navigating spaces owned by the bad guys.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @randulo @supernovae

    Oooh, you hit it.

    Correct, no one actually has illusions about its management

    A TON of condescending goofballs here at Mastodon, however, are absolutely certain that people like me don't get it. Just have NO nuance on this at all.

    "You don't seem to understand, it's run by a wannabe Nazi, and Nazi's were very bad for Jewish people"

    like biiiiitch you think I don't know that? I've done my homework, you haven't done yours...

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @boby_biq @randulo @supernovae

    Oh no, I don't mind engaging.

    If anything, the opposite. I have a resilience to this sort of thing (i'm 46 and went to an all white school for 1-12th, this is nothing..) When I step away from the computer (never do social media on a phone) I forget about all of it

    Bigger picture, I want to see Mastodon thrive because I know it's the better model. Probably why I stick around for all of it.

    It's ..fun? that's a weird way to put it, but yeah

    jrm4, to random
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    Fascinating thing I'm seeing:

    White people here who are like "You have to leave twitter because nazis" are nearly exactly like a certain type of American white liberal -- specifically the type whom when you say e.g. "Nashville" or "Georgia" they think "Red State Rednecks! F that whole place!" -- grossly and stupidly ignoring the massive black populations in those places who don't merely survive, but often thrive...

    StillIRise1963, to random
    @StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

    If you think they're above crashing the economy, you're wrong.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @Hey_Beth @MHowell @StillIRise1963 @CStamp @andrewpazniewski @statmonkey

    Enormous difference between that and CNN.

    You can still talk to other people on twitter.

    You can speak against Elon and twitter; help people move, inform and assist in the process

    without saying childishly dramatic and incorrect things like "you are complicit"

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @StillIRise1963 @Hey_Beth @MHowell @CStamp @andrewpazniewski @statmonkey

    I wish that was the nuance I saw.

    No, I have personally been labelled a Nazi, here, for staying on twitter for now because there are still lots of good (often black) folks there.

    GWillow, to random

    Twitter somehow gets worse week by week--right now it is an unusable swamp of right wing conspiracy theory, wave after wave of racism (there is currently an "invasion" underway at the southern border that must be stopped by lethal force) crypto bros, and bots selling high-follower accounts. Amazing really.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @GWillow

    100% And frankly, I think it's the wrong message.

    The correct message is:

    "Hey COMPANIES. You see all this dumb Eli-Lilly, blue checkmark BS that Elon caused?

    Note how you don't HAVE to deal with this crap when it comes to your own website and email. You just OWN YOUR OWN or pay someone good.

    That's what Mastodon/The Fediverse is -- like Twitter, but you can own/run your own thing, or use whichever one YOU want."

    jrm4, to random
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    The Monarchy feels like professional wrestling to me; it's obviously fake, goofy and ridiculous -- but also I really don't want it to go away because it's gotta be an outlet for some latent weird crowd impulses that would probably f*** up the world unchecked

    jrm4, to fediverse
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    More thoughts on content warnings, etc.

    The reason why these conversations are turning out so dumb: It's not that we shouldn't consider what is and isn't generally appropriate-

    It's that the way its done is overdramatic and screws up the conversation.

    People use wildly overblown terms like "anguish" and "trauma" -- either of which, if social media gives you this, you need to stay off of social media.

    The thing we're discussing here is etiquette, not "safety."

    Adam_Cadmon1, to random
    @Adam_Cadmon1@mastodon.online avatar

    deleted_by_author

    •
    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @Adam_Cadmon1

    Count me in as a black person who thinks most content warnings, including especially for things like this, are a bad idea.

    I'm even more confident in this idea now that I've seen it play out in Mastodon.

    White people will mostly use them to ignore reality. Sorry, not doing it for you or anyone.

    I'm old enough to remember rodney king being a revelation and I have no desire to go back to that.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @Adam_Cadmon1

    To literally encourage people not to do that. That is why I responded.

    atomicpoet, (edited ) to fediverse
    @atomicpoet@mastodon.social avatar

    I don't think it's wrong for other Fediverse projects, besides Mastodon, to exist.

    Especially since so many of them predate Mastodon.

    , which is what is based off, predates Mastodon by two years!

    Friendica started in 2010.

    GNU Social is even older.

    It's wild to me that so many folks believe Mastodon = Fediverse.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @atomicpoet

    I'm sorry, too many people on Mastodon are like "I like a small closed community"

    and I'm like

    you're literally doing it wrong. that's NOT what this was built for. please stop pushing this idea and get out of the way, the use case is TOO IMPORTANT

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @atomicpoet

    oh i missed your context.

    Yes sure, do ALL the apps.

    I got NO problem with people being like "I'm not on mastodon i'm on key"

    Whatever gets activitypub (or something like activitypub) to be the thing!

    rysiek, (edited ) to random
    @rysiek@mstdn.social avatar

    This is your irregular reminder #Adobe are fucking dicks:
    https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3xk3p/adobe-tells-users-they-can-get-sued-for-using-old-versions-of-photoshop

    > Adobe Tells Users They Can Get Sued for Using Old Versions of Photoshop

    We need #FLOSS tools to get to the point where they can replace Adobe tools. Open alternatives are great, but they are sadly not there yet to replace Adobe tools for professionals.

    And won't be unless projects like @inkscape get enough funding to develop to a point of being viable alternatives.

    Yes, it is in no small part about the money.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @rysiek @inkscape

    I get downvoted to hell over at hacker news for the following regularly, let's see how this tracks here

    The childish GIMP people blew a huge opportunity to really give Adobe a run some time ago by keeping its ridiculous, likely ableist name, and they keep doubling down on it.

    Guess it's all about Krita

    eosfpodcast, to internet

    Frankly, I’m tired of new social media platforms that launch with “invites only.” It’s giving a “all the cool kids are here!” vibe. Now people are begging for invites and even trying to sell them. History repeats and folk learn nothing. I’m content here on Mastodon.

    Question for fellow Black Mastodon users: What’re your feelings about ?

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @eosfpodcast

    The reason I complain so much about THIS place is because I want it to get better, because it to me is objectively the best way to do this; in the same way that the best way to do personal messaging is email.

    Convenience is nice, but in the long run you have to remember the power/politics.

    jrm4, to random
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    for whatever reason, Met Gala posts are showing in my feed and I ain't seen one plasma rifle or big-ass katana, worst cosplay con ever

    futurebird, to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    A lot of people don't know the difference between capitalism and ... having markets and shopping and little coops and companies in non-super-essential economic sectors that operate independently.

    Markets existed before capitalism and will exist after.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @futurebird @TruthSandwich @SoftwareTheron @floatybirb

    Increasingly, I'm feeling like we'd all be better off if we dropped the word "Capitalism" entirely.

    There is commerce. Some of it exploits people, some of it doesn't. Step-by-step, let us examine commerce and try to reduce screwage

    jrm4, to random
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    Honestly, watching Biden (an extremely powerful white dude who nonetheless was perfectly able to know his role next to Obama) dunk on folks tonight makes me severely annoyed with everyone on whatever side who got s*** to say about him, like okay what have YOU done. Solid guy.

    atomicpoet, to random
    @atomicpoet@mastodon.social avatar

    Mastodon is a case study for why software and protocols built to help one marginalized community may end up alienating another marginalized community.

    This is why intersectional examination of prejudice is so important.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @msilpala @atomicpoet @shelenn

    It's that (usually white) people here often advocate for the use of CW's to prevent them from seeing what they feel is objectionable content.

    Problem is, truth hurts. So yes, it's not fun seeing e.g. police in the US brutalize black folks, but it should be clear that "please use hashtags to keep this off my timeline" is emphatically the wrong move.

    atomicpoet, to random
    @atomicpoet@mastodon.social avatar

    Jack Dorsey explaining exactly why no single company should own a social media platform.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @atomicpoet I think it's simpler than a lot of this.

    Jack Dorsey isn't smart

    Another lucky failboy, IMHO.

    E.g., I know a lot of people here aren't into crypto, but many of us who get the tech understand that, like it or not, bitcoin's still the early model-t version, and Jack still thinks its viable

    atomicpoet, to random
    @atomicpoet@mastodon.social avatar

    There's no Mastodon slump.

    Sign-ups continue to increase -- albeit, not at the same rate as in November -- November was a spike.

    While Monthly Average Users (MAUs) decreased since November, it's increased again this month (according to @Gargron).

    But what's more interesting is that Half Year Average Users (HYAUs) is at a peak.

    And we're very close to breaking 1 billion posts per month!

    See chart.

    https://mastodon.fediverse.observer/stats

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @atomicpoet @Gargron

    I find it weird that I nearly never see the following argument:

    HEY BIG ASS COMPANIES, WANNA NOT DO A ELI-LILLY?

    GET ON MASTODON WHERE YOU HOST YOUR OWN THING. LIKE YOU ALREADY DO WITH YOUR WEBSITE AND MAYBE EMAIL

    jrm4, to fediverse
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    Gonna check out since it seems to be getting a buzz.

    Broadly I strongly disagree with much of Mastodon and I believe "retweets" and reposts are essential to social media/microblogging, whatever

    They're an extremely effective form of alternate news media and it would be a shame to lose that.

    Green_Footballs, to random
    @Green_Footballs@mastodon.social avatar

    Where the fuck did this weird idea come from that we should welcome Nazis into our midst and “debate” them?!

    What’s wrong with people who think like this? These are NAZIS, goddammit.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @Green_Footballs

    Actual Nazis?

    Or people like me? I got called a Nazi HERE because I dared to suggest that it's okay to remain on Twitter for now.

    Again, a big ol' excuuuuse me for recognizing that a whole lot of black folks are still doing good things over there despite the dipshit in charge...

    Teri_Kanefield, to random

    I have the smartest readers. One of my readers just put this into the comments:

    "The weakness of a democracy is that in order to be a democracy it must tolerate the inclusion of those who would destroy democracy.”

    For decades I have been publishing books. Blogging and social media is so much better. In the old days, I did a book tour and talked to groups. Now I get real interaction with smart readers.

    Thank you all!

    https://terikanefield.com/the-dominon-fox-settlement-and-the-hunger-for-justice/

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @Teri_Kanefield @johnwehrle @staidwinnow

    I'll take it further -- I think you can expand this general direction beyond law and apply it here.

    Mastodon folk are a little too ban-happy and are ready to label anything objectionable as "fascist"

    (and I'm saying this as a very left leaning black person; e.g. no, I'm not a fascist for staying on twitter for now. many of my people are still there, and I'm trying to get them here)

    Lundemo, to random
    @Lundemo@mstdn.social avatar

    Anyone below the age of 50 who says Mastodon is too hard to use forfeits the right to say OK Boomer or complain about being grandpa's tech support ever again.

    jrm4,
    @jrm4@mastodon.social avatar

    @Lundemo

    I've been teaching IT for about 15 years, and there is no longer much of a predictable correlation between age and tech/usability skill and/or knowledge.

    It's just random now.

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