@randulo I totally feel you :-) More and more people just want it to end. Which might be a sign, that the Hype might cool down at the end. Guys saying: "Its enough!" comes before we can see it in the data ^^
So you are not alone proclaiming that the hype is over/should end now :-) https://disconnect.blog/ai-hype-is-over-ai-exhaustion-is-setting-in/
ABOUT FASTMAIL
When Fastmail first opened they offered a pay once, lifetime account. We had two.
One day they announced they were not going to honor that and they'd close our accounts if we didn't subscribe. I would argue that they could have at least offered to forward an existing email address to somewhere else. They offered nothing.
If you're lucky enough to live a long life, it's sad to lose friends and family, one by one over the years. But it's even worse to find an old photo of someone long gone, or think of some memory, and want to share it with a common acquaintance, only to remember that they're gone too.
@sarajw right now I'm able to reflect on life, have ideas, think about stuff rather than filling my time with filler. I'm curious whether after 80 I'll still be capable of that. I feel like, yeah, it's time going to waste in a waiting room, but it is still TIME. I think it's less of a waste of my own brain. I'm not judging, to each his zone.
While I'm scrolling on my phone, I'm doing any one of:
Having a conversation with a good friend or family member, reading the news, reading a novel, playing a casual game, participating in social media, educating myself on a piece of history I hadn't yet understood, watching a video about an interesting math conundrum (thanks Veritasium), or something completely frivolous, editing some code, or answering questions from colleagues.
Different social networks attract different kinds of people, even when they all look a lot like Twitter. I know a few people who are on several, like me. I continue to maintain that Mastodon has more food for thought than the others and is more useful for getting answers. I honestly believe there's more sincerity here. Of course, it's partly because of the number of instances which bring a diversity of thought and lifestyle.
I just closed my accounts on two others, Spoutible and Post. Both were majoritarily US political ranters without word filters. On Mastodon, you can decide to never see certain words or names. This is a huge thing. Even Twitter has word filters.
Finally, there are large lists of accounts by profession, such as scientists and other academics, the arts, journalists, etc. These can be imported with a few clicks. Another huge feature of Mastodon. https://fediverse.fans has an interest-based list.
Or, there's this great list: https://nathanlesage.github.io/academics-on-mastodon/
From John Mayall interview in Guitar World Magazine, June, 2020. This is why I put Bluesbreaker in my pseudo. There are about 30 guitarists that are in the "club".
If you haven't read @kissane 's article about Meta and have questions about Threads and federation with Mastodon, then run, don't walk, and read the whole thing carefully.
I like to thank everybody for a going to look at Shane's bandcamp & encouraging him. That's fantastic. Appreciate your support very much. We've been working together on this music or the thousands of miles in separate us. I'm pretty impressed with the progress he's made so far. My personal favorite of what he's posted so far is this one: https://shaneryden.bandcamp.com/track/relax