This is the same criticism that was made of cryptocurrency's claim to fame regarding decentralization, consensus, and resilience to authoritarian takeover.
"If you take all these different parts of your identity, all the games you play, all the things you buy, all the groups you join, and stick them into one system, that's a central system. It doesn't matter how many servers that system spans, you've pooled all that data in one place."
And ultimately we can make the same criticism of the Fediverse itself. It's nice that there are different platforms, different instances, different communities... but it's still just one entity at the end of the day. This is especially apparent with the spam wave we just saw. Misskey, Mastodon, Lemmy, even kbin was not invulnerable. You don't need to attack them individually, you can attack them all at once, and then they will naturally spread your attack to other instances for you.
@skinnylatte I too fantasize about buying an old house in the remote, picturesque Japanese countryside and renovate it with modern amenities and high speed internet.
But that's a fantasy, while the reality would be almost exactly as you describe it. How would you communicate with and pay the tradespeople you'd need to hire, assuming young enough tradespeople even exist to do to work, then assuming that they'd even want to talk to you? How would you handle local building code, which has it's own centuries long history you'd need to unravel, all of which would be completely different to those from your hometown? And then how would you get citizenship and work in the country you just bought property in?
Kbin seemed tio take a nice long sleep there. I almost assumed it had fallen over for good. I Really hate the generic, undated 'over the next few days we are working on servers' mesesage.
Oh wow, what a day for the fediverse huh? Kbin's infrastructure went down, Lemmy.ml's certs expired (or so Firefox told me), and a ton of Misskey servers got hacked and started botspamming everyone.
i've spent most of my life on the outside looking in. america has always been a place of fantasy for me. there has been this image i've built up from growing up consuming american media (hollywood, youtube, tales from my parents); an image of absolute freedom and limitless possibilities.
it took me two and a half years of living here for that image to be shattered. there is, in fact, no place on earth that offers what so many emigrants seek. the issue lies in the fact that such a place cannot exist, because it would be akin to finding heaven on earth. unrealistic expectations are what cause people to move to a completely foreign land, with no hope of ever learning the language or integrating into the culture, for the chance at a new life. it would therefore be naive to try to find a place that ticks all of the boxes we create for ourselves.
but america comes so tantalizingly close. in every corner of this land, from the wildest mountains, to the densest cities, there exists the illusion of absolute freedom. the presence of the government is confined to administrative buildings, blacked out ford explorers, and the occasional newsflash from washington. government is an afterthought. there is no suffocating presence.
i think about government a lot. it's a reflex you learn from living in an authoritarian country. no matter the subways they try to bribe you with, you always need a backup plan to flee, to get your loved ones out. little schemes, an eye for a good golden parachute. it eats up brain cycles and is a source of constant, everchanging stress. it gnaws at you quietly in the background, tainting your future. you only realize that there are spikes in your collar when the chain gets yanked.
which is why i bought into the american image so much. i wanted to completely ditch the collar. and i got frustrated when it was replaced with a comfy, pink one instead. no matter how distracting tax filing, nutrition labels and making rent is, my old reflexes kept kicking in. i have a much bigger hamster wheel to play with. but i can still see the bars of the cage.
this country is FUCKED UP. but in a refreshing, and exciting way. no matter how hard i work the wheel, i know i was simply not born in the right class to unlock the complete freedom childhood me dreamed of. and this realization is what made me realize i desperately want to stay.
you don't need complete freedom to be happy. in fact, it would only drive you mad. i'm happy with the overcrowded hellhole that is new york, the stars (multiple) in the night sky i can't count, the thirty year fucking mortgage, the cute boys with curly hair i've hit on and the red haired asshole i gut punched when i was completely drunk out of my mind. i'm happy with worrying about majors and minors, how i should structure my 401(k). because this country is HUGE.
you thrive at the ignorance of your handlers. when the bureaucratic machine can't possibly even begin to figure out what box to put you in. when you only remember the four layers of government cake when it's time to do your taxes. it's this that draws me in.
the way the culture is so completely ignorant of the world it lives in. it is an almighty privilege to call your government traitors and live to type the end of your sentence.
i love this place. i really do. and even though i am legally obligated to gtfo 30 days after my graduation day, i'm waiting for may 4 with bated breath. come hell or high water, i am going to get my green card and stay. this is my country. and i'm not going to let some power-tripping locals try to say otherwise.
it's contradictory, naive, and stupid. and even if i have to unceremoniously fly god knows where on day 29, i know i will be back. because this is my american dream.
@Gina Depending on your budget and how portable you need it to be, you could look at some entry-level streaming/podcasting mics and couple it with whichever headphones feel most comfortable to you. The two below both come with their own stands while taking up minimal desk-space.
Bluesky federation goes live (bsky.social)
Google pauses Image Generation in Gemini (newshint.in)
Unvaccinated Florida kids exposed to measles can skip quarantine, officials say (arstechnica.com)
On Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of the school's 1,067 students were reportedly absent.
‘Ruining my career’: calls grow for Japan to change law on married surnames (www.theguardian.com)
Japan is the only country in the world that requires spouses to use the same name, but after decades of inaction, appetite for change is building
Police arrest LockBit ransomware members, release decryptor in global crackdown (www.bleepingcomputer.com)
Vudu’s name is changing to “Fandango at Home” (www.theverge.com)
Controversial benchmarking website goes behind paywall — Userbenchmark now requires a $10 monthly subscription (www.tomshardware.com)
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Murder victim Kelly Wilkinson repeatedly visited police in fear. They said she was ‘cop shopping’ (www.theguardian.com)
Exclusive: Family calls for inquest, saying Wilkinson visited police ‘almost every day’ before she was murdered by her husband in 2021
So blimey - what happened there?
Kbin seemed tio take a nice long sleep there. I almost assumed it had fallen over for good. I Really hate the generic, undated 'over the next few days we are working on servers' mesesage.
Diablo 4's latest microtransaction controversy is a $30 portal recolor: "You can get Palworld for this price" (www.gamesradar.com)