@toolbear@union.place
@toolbear@union.place avatar

toolbear

@toolbear@union.place

🧔🏻‍♂️ bearded 🐻 burly 👨🏻‍💻 geeky 👨‍❤️‍👨 gay

A @toolbear valence shell focused on #Solidarity, #CollectiveAction in myriad forms, and #TechUnions.

he / him or they / them

ALT TEXT

Avatar: late middle aged bearded man (brown & grey); happy-excited / happy-surprised expression.

Header: Actress Kim Cattrall as Lieutenant Valeris in STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (1991). A young Vulcan woman stands on the Enterprise bridge, crew & readouts in the background. Wide, colorful shot.

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

toolbear, to random
@toolbear@union.place avatar

#LichenSubscribe #Mosstodon #SilentSunday

toolbear, to random
@toolbear@union.place avatar

Any #paywall blockers keeping up with Bloomberg in this arms race? Paywalled and #Bloomberg uses countermeasures to prevent the #InternetArchive from archiving the news for historians and posterity.

I've soured on (probable) Russian oligarch funded Archive(.)today

https://mastodon.online/@parismarx/112379513078483068

skinnylatte, to animals
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

Cookie’s vet just called back with her new test results. Everything she had which was previously 2-5x more than normal (all liver related) have all come back to well within normal. The vet now recommends keeping her on this medication and routine for as long as possible (instead of euthanasia)! There was a moment a few weeks ago when we didn’t know if she’d make it, or what her quality of life would be. She’s really surprised everyone with her will to live well.

toolbear,
@toolbear@union.place avatar

@skinnylatte happy news! Relief from bad news still has an emotional toll for me and I find myself needing a recovery window to decompress. She looks good. Yay.

bookish, to Rutgers
@bookish@historians.social avatar

We (sort of) won! Hats off to the students who kept the peace despite provocation and the colleagues who negotiated without losing their cool. Wins: will partner with ; 10 scholarships for students from Gaza (OK, drop in the bucket); new MENA program, and more. @inquiline your ex-colleagues came through heroically. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/02/rutgers-university-of-minnesota-protest-agreement

toolbear,
@toolbear@union.place avatar

@tkinias
I saw a post within the last few days suggesting we stop calling them "cops" and instead call them "violence workers".

Now I'm mentally rewriting "cops" and "police" so that becomes something like "protestors have been met with violence workers" and that's 🔥 to me

toolbear, to random
@toolbear@union.place avatar

Be when you think the moment calls for disorder. You cannot upset the status quo entirely with order.

intransitivelie, to random
@intransitivelie@beige.party avatar

I don't tell stories about my spouse often because I don't feel like they're my stories to tell. But they have struggled with mental illness, which is a bit like saying that Tokyo has struggled with Godzilla. When we first met they were totally unmedicated (it's okay, so was I) and were not doing well, apart from their life totally falling apart.

Some days, the only thing I had was begging. I would cry and say, "Please," through the tears because I had nothing else to do or say. Sometimes it was please don't leave, sometimes it was please don't give up, sometimes it was just please, to them, to god, to whatever.

It's not good. It's very much not good. It tears a piece of yourself out and uses it to power the invocation. Humans aren't meant to beg abjectly, or maybe we are but we don't know how to do it properly. We're not meant to live at rock bottom. I'd argue that we're not actually meant to reach rock bottom, that when we do, it represents a failure somewhere. I don't hold with the idea that one has to hit rock bottom to recover. But that's neither here nor there.

I don't know where my rock bottom is in many ways, for which I'm profoundly grateful, but I do know what it'll take to make me debase myself, to throw pride out the window and beg. I know that I would beg for my life, all other things being equal. I would beg for other people's lives. My pride is worth relatively little to me. I don't say this as a mark of pride, by the way. One should value oneself enough to care about debasing one's coinage, so to speak. I don't really. I'm not worth very much to myself and that's another sign that there was a failure somewhere.

I don't have a moral to this story. Just something that was brought to mind for reasons which are probably apparent if you follow me.

toolbear,
@toolbear@union.place avatar

@intransitivelie
Thank you and your spouse for sharing. This helps me 🫶

toolbear, to socialism
@toolbear@union.place avatar

I will also ask on the message board I joined, but I'm curious about the answer from Fedi folks. I see mention of within LibrarySocialism circles. What is the connection? Did one spring from the other? Common cause? Rebranding for better optics?

The possibility of that last one has me cautious. If this is another TESCREAL offshoot then I have concerns. I don't get that vibe from the SRSLY WRONG folks behind the forum, but I'm also brand new to this.

toolbear, to random
@toolbear@union.place avatar

This heuristic seems correct and useful:

"If someone talks about population decline, they are a white supremacist."

Context: https://goblin.band/notes/9srdcne5frbx9wmp — @javi

scalzi, to random
@scalzi@mastodon.social avatar

As a follow-up to the previous post about the Rabbit, and how its functions could probably be done on/with a smartphone:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/30/24145838/rabbit-r1-android-app-pixel-6a

toolbear,
@toolbear@union.place avatar

@scalzi
Waves of uninspired #PlayDate knockoff energy emanating from this thing's industrial design alone.

I love that Panic has inspired interest in novel form factors and human input devices (like the PlayDate crank or that R1 wheelie thing). But I have a deep dislike of cheap immitations.

toolbear,
@toolbear@union.place avatar

@GammaGames
Good to know. Thank you. I can't decide if that supports or refutes my accusation. Probably refutes it unless an even more cynical interpretation turns out to be correct. I'll wait to learn more.

Regardless, yay to the PlayDate inspiring novel designs and Teenage Engineering getting continued work.

@tomhannen
Yes, indeed. I would feel flattered mostly, I think, were it me.

grimalkina, to random
@grimalkina@mastodon.social avatar

deleted_by_author

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    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @grimalkina
    I'm reminded that human babies can count. They know the difference between none of something, one of something, and doublings thereafter. They can tell when they've been given more or less than another baby. We're born with a sense of justice and fairness.

    Yes, we can be selfish little beasties, but I suspect a part of us knows we're being unjust when we do that. Or would when we see clearly.

    toolbear, to Russia
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    routinely has enemies killed, enabled by the . unexisted a whistleblower. Deans of journalism at universities who decry attrocities are silenced.

    This is what living in a state feels like. had it worse in the '90s than we'll have it, but it's the same gameplan: mob corruption, dismantle everything, sell it for parts.

    There's no escaping a lot of suffering now. We've been abdicating democracy to unworthy champions. Time to buckle up and do the work ourselves.

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    Wasn't a freak crash of Trump casino executives 👉 https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/11/nyregion/copter-crash-kills-3-aides-of-trump.html

    Didn't "fall" down her stairs 👉 https://people.com/ivana-trump-death-preventable-friend-says-exclusive-7560997

    "The real threat is a mafia state autocracy offering up America to the highest bidders, both foreign and domestic." 👉 https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/last-chance-ride

    DeJoy is a dismantler. Buttigieg is a '90s gay Republican. The USPS and NTSB are failing. Compare to the vibrant FTC and remember what to expect from a functional government that serves the public.

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    None of this is inevitable. I think the odds are in our favor, but there's no landslide victory of the righteous in my forecast.

    The first step is imagining better futures. Never give that up. Make your imagination part of the final inch nobody can take from you.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pQb9WM3VVg

    Touch grass and soil (it's diverse!) if you can.

    skinnylatte, to animals
    @skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

    Cookie absolutely BEGGING for her meds (compounded into chicken treats)

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @skinnylatte
    There are compounding pharmacies for pets?! Yay.

    tess, to random
    @tess@mastodon.social avatar

    I think consistently referring to counter-protestors as "zionists" is probably misleading; I suspect that while there may be many genuine zionists doing violence to pro-Palestine protestors, there are also probably a bunch of fascists mixed in there who are very much not "zionists" in the traditional sense (other than perhaps that Israel's continued existence provides a potential avenue to ethnically cleanse the US of Jews).

    Using that broad brush actually plays into the fascists' agenda.

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @tess
    "Just thought y'all might like to know."

    The plainly stated context is really helpful to me. Thank you.

    Susan_Larson_TN, to LGBTQ
    @Susan_Larson_TN@mastodon.online avatar

    + Can’t Be or at , New state.

    New from the strengthens for and in for the first time in 25 years.

    https://www.them.us/story/lgbtq-employees-cant-be-misgendered-denied-bathrooms-federal-rules

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @Susan_Larson_TN
    Hooray! About time. More Hoorays!

    stefan, to workersrights
    @stefan@stefanbohacek.online avatar

    Happy !

    https://map.workingclasshistory.com

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @stefan
    I was recently introduced to the concept of "4/4/4" and "Monday Abolition" that I find to be complimentary to the 8/8/8 movement.

    https://srslywrong.com/podcast/444-the-4-4-4-movement/

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @stefan yes, me too :)

    parismarx, to apple
    @parismarx@mastodon.online avatar

    Apple is cutting Vision Pro production as it fails to meet sales targets.

    Analysts expected it to sell 700-800k units in 2024, but it could now be as low as 400k. A lower cost model could now be pushed beyond 2025, if it ever arrives.

    https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/23/24138487/apple-vision-pro-cut-shipment-forecast-kuo-rumor

    toolbear, (edited )
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @parismarx
    My guess is that the $3,500 asking price for a developer preview disguised as a finished headset was too high for most of the imagined target market.

    EDIT: to be fair, the person I know who has a VisionPro says it's better than a developer preview. I'm being cynical.

    alahmnat, to random
    @alahmnat@woof.tech avatar

    Speaking as someone with a million things they want to work on, but who has been bouncing off the edge of burnout since early 2020, the new “UBI doesn’t mean people will stop working, they’ll just work on what they want to” talking point is just so very, very exhausting.

    If someone needs (or hell, wants) to take a UBI benefit and use it to pay bills while they sleep 14 hours a day and do nothing else because the demands of capitalism have destroyed their brains, that should be fine too. UBI should not be an excuse to perpetuate hustle culture.

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @alahmnat
    In Library Socialism the notion of Irreducible Minimum (once we understood it) really spoke to husband and me.

    My Library Socialism sources say similar concepts are featured in historic and modern Indigenous cultures.

    If @beep doesn't cite Irreducible Minimum directly, he describes essentially that when talking about union members having union protection (I guess with dues paid) but no other expectation.

    Learning these (recently) has strengthened my belief in UBI.

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @alahmnat
    I was once on the fence / ambivalent about UBI. I don't know if these would help reach someone who was in oppostion (but open minded) or if they need to be moved closer to where I eventually got to on my own which was already pretty receptive to the idea of mutual aid, reperations, redistribution of wealth, etc..

    Sharing in case it helps, but not trying to offer advice.

    cstross, (edited ) to random
    @cstross@wandering.shop avatar

    New blog entry: The Radiant Future! (Of 1995)

    http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/04/the-radiant-future-of-1995.html

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @cstross
    > …What survivors from the glorious-future-that-wasn't would you like to memorialize in this shared fictional nightmare?

    VRML. VR chat catches on; it works well enough over the 9600 baud network and chatting with blocky avatars across the globe is novel enough that the VR market never goes fully bust.

    And Java. Except it's called Oak. It runs on cable set top boxes and VR headsets and DVD players.

    Monkey's paw: global disinfo and political polarization via VR chat; OakWorms malware

    kmmfoo, to random
    @kmmfoo@friendsofdesoto.social avatar

    @jf_718 @thejacenallen I applaud your optimism.

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @thejacenallen @kmmfoo @jf_718
    I genuinely applaud Jeff's optimism. I've cultivated a lot of Biden-critical voices in my circle. The best of us include meaningful calls to action.

    We can also de-emphasize the celebrity tier national races while reinvigirating interest in state and local progressive governance including small stuff like councils and school boards, because it isn't small.

    https://statesproject.org/ is my goto fix 1/3

    toolbear,
    @toolbear@union.place avatar

    @thejacenallen @kmmfoo @jf_718
    It's reasonable to imagine organizing folks to make political plans now for a 2018-style grassroots Blue Wave invested in local races; where Biden rides their coattails. That would be a sign of healthier U.S. democracy and feels like a great gameplan in 2024.

    Energize and motivate the voters. If you must chastize, direct ire at your reps in office right now. That does move the needle. I have to believe it does. 2/3

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