@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org cover
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

contrapunctus

@[email protected]

New main account of @contrapunctus@en.osm.town avatar contrapunctus (Akkoma > Mastodon!)

A lonely anarchist living in fascist #Delhi #India. Pan polyam enby who adores gender nonconformists and androgyny.

Obsessive #OpenStreetMap contributor, teacher, mapping party organizer. Other #OpenData projects I contribute to are #BeaconDB, #MangroveReviews, and #WikimediaCommons.

#FreeSoftware contributor and #Privacy activist. Fighting centralization (WhatsApp, Discord, Telegram, BlueSky, Signal, etc) in favor of federation - #XMPP, #Fediverse. I like #CommonLisp, living programs, and structural editing; I've also written some #EmacsLisp and #Scheme.

I'm unemployed and make less than $1/week for my contributions. Please support my work on Liberapay - even $5/month would help a lot!
https://liberapay.com/contrapunctus/
If you don't like PayPal, here are some more options -
https://contrapunctus.codeberg.page/support.html

Fan of #cooperatives (like https://prav.app/ ), #PublicTransport, #Bicycles, #CargoBikes, and #Velomobiles. #FuckCars.

In a past life, I was a classical guitarist (ATCL), operatic singer, and musical theatre artist (composer, actor, director).

Profile picture is a selfie of myself. I'm wearing a camel-colored traveler's hat, a grey OpenStreetMap India T-shirt, and a grey-and-turquoise 3M 6502QL reusable half-mask #elastomeric #respirator with grey-and-purple 3M P100 7093 enclosed filters.

Header image is a group photo of the participants from the 16th OSM Delhi Mapping Party in Rohini. It shows nine men and four women in a park, some sitting and some standing, smiling at the camera.

#nobot #noindex #noarchive #nosearch #nobridge

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

People: "If you want people to use free software, you need to make it better!"

Me: "Free software may never be as good as monopolist software, but we should boycott monopolist software all the same."

Abusive relationships are abusive, regardless of the "qualities" of the abuser.

@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

Does choice of server affect the reach of your posts? (Assuming you use the same hashtags.)

Obviously you don't want to be posting from a server that's blocked by vast swathes of the network.

But are there any other factors?

contrapunctus OP ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

@evan 😐

contrapunctus OP ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

@EveHasWords Thanks, that's actually what I was suspecting! 😀 And thanks for the tagpush.app suggestion too, I hadn't thought of that.

@deersyrup@yiff.life avatar deersyrup , to random

This post is only visible to gay ppl

contrapunctus ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

@deersyrup Oh dear. Dear me.

@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

Just heard about the latest centralized * Discord replacement, and my first reaction was...

Programmers not NIH'ing new clients or entire protocols, and improving existing clients which are Almost There™ instead challenge (impossible)

FFS people, help improve Movim instead!
🫩

* Like, have we learned absolutely nothing from , , , , , etc? The common factor is ...Centralization Guarantees Enshittification.© 😐

(also mistakenly called and )

@a_puma01@meow.social avatar a_puma01 , to random

Fuck seagulls

contrapunctus ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

There's a next month in , and I'll be giving a 30-minute talk about "Āzād (Libre) Maps and Why You Should Use Them". (As you may have guessed, my subject is and 🙂)

https://pleroma.debian.social/objects/4f4fb2e9-476d-4a0e-8d73-604ee3b55aa9

There will also be an mapping party to learn how to contribute, and to have fun improving the map together!




(sometimes misleadingly called or 🙂)

@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

Many of us in only seem to be able to speak loudly and angrily.*

And many of us in India only seem to pay attention when someone speaks loudly and angrily.

*I admit to lapsing into this at times.

@Dawn@chaosfem.tw avatar Dawn , to random

God, going out to trans spaces is fucking horrific for older trans women.

Shoot me.

contrapunctus ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

@Dawn I'm not even trans, but to be way too old compared to everyone else at events is some real hard-hitting shit, and something I've had to deal with it lately.

Can't finish reading this thread because I'm getting choked up and teary-eyed.

@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

Software freedom activism is like telling passengers that the cruise ship are on is sinking, and it's high time they got to the lifeboats.

The lifeboats might not have all the creature comforts of the cruise ship, and there might be some unfamiliar nautical lingo and hard rowing involved, but they are the only ones which can be counted upon for the important job of keeping you afloat.

And next time, maybe don't board a leaky ship, no matter how shiny it looks or how many luxuries it has or how many others are on it? 🤭

" " " "

@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

A few days ago, I mapped these indoor details of Chāwrī Bāzār Metro Station by eyeballing them and using the indoor mode in .

My Liberapay
Other donation methods

The stairways of this shaft look really interesting...like something out of Inception, or a Quake 3 Arena map...I'll try taking a photo the next time I'm there.

The stairs are still a little incomplete - I was getting tired of standing around, and I probably looked hella sus to any security that actually cared to look.

I kinda wanna map the "corridors" as areas, if only to get prettier rendering in IndoorEqual and OsmAPP ( know, I know, lying for the renderer and all that)...but I'm not sure about the correct tagging...need to re-check the Simple Indoor Tagging schema...

Screenshot of Vespucci, an OpenStreetMap editor for Android. The satellite imagery and OpenStreetMap data for the Gate No.1 building of the Chāwrī Bāzār Metro Station are shown. In this screenshot, Vespucci is in Indoor Mode, showing data from the ground floor. The entry and exit gates are drawn as dashed yellow lines. After entering, one turns left and then down a staircase/escalator. There's a surveillance camera pointing down the escalator. Similarly, there's a staircase/escalator leading up to the exit gates. The transfers menu of Vespucci has an orange bubble saying 164 - the number of changes pending upload.
Screenshot of Vespucci, an OpenStreetMap editor for Android. The satellite imagery and OpenStreetMap data for the Gate No.1 building of the Chāwrī Bāzār Metro Station are shown. In this screenshot, Vespucci is in Indoor Mode, showing data from the first basement level. The entrance staircase and escalator from the ground floor continue down to a corridor on level -1, which is connected to level -2 by another staircase and escalator. The exit staircase and escalator are connected to a corridor on the opposite side, and there is a staircase and escalator from level -2 connected to it. Interestingly, there's no way to directly go from the exit corridor to the entrance corridor or vice versa. This is also true on the next two basement levels. It reminds me of this one scene in a Megaman Battle Network game, where the protagonists can see another platform and a character on it, but can't understand how he got there, as there's no (direct) connection between the two platforms. The transfers menu of Vespucci has an orange bubble saying 164 - the number of changes pending upload.
Screenshot of Vespucci, an OpenStreetMap editor for Android. The satellite imagery and OpenStreetMap data for the Gate No.1 building of the Chāwrī Bāzār Metro Station are shown. In this screenshot, Vespucci is in Indoor Mode, showing data from the fourth (and lowest) basement level. The subway platforms are shown as two black rectangles. Two staircases and two escalators connect this level to level -3. This is actually the only place in this shaft where you can directly walk from one "platform" to the other, but I just realized that I forgot to add that connecting footway. The two escalators on the ground floor lead directly to this level. There are also two benches here (shown as dashed yellow lines). The only mapped surveillance camera at this level points towards the entry corridor. The transfers menu of Vespucci has an orange bubble saying 164 - the number of changes pending upload.

Screenshot of Vespucci, an OpenStreetMap editor for Android. The satellite imagery and OpenStreetMap data for the Gate No.1 building of the Chāwrī Bāzār Metro Station are shown. In this screenshot, Vespucci is in Normal Mode, so data from all indoor levels is shown. The indoor footways and steps (most colored orange, while some with fixme keys colored pink) form a dense circuit diagram of sorts. The transfers menu of Vespucci has an orange bubble saying 164 - the number of changes pending upload.
ALT
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , (edited ) to random

I feel for this user - I'm a fellow ADHD sufferer and their distress is all too clear to me - and I tried to help them in the replies.

But on the other hand, I'm utterly enraged at the broader problem, and all the people who aren't taking action today, choosing instead to wait until the water is past their neck.

This is the latest example of why we shouldn't use / / and platforms like , , , , , , , , , , and others.

There's a whole-ass history of centralized platforms having the same class of issues. When are y'all gonna stop ignoring the problem and start exercising the power you have?

It's as simple as quitting centralized platforms, switching to platforms like and , and telling others to do the same.

Create your communities there, and tell others about them. Move all your activity there. Onboard your friends and family. When there's no other way to reach you, they will move.

Keep up the social pressure, and never relent.

Here's a user's guide to XMPP, for whoever needs it.

And developers? Get involved, improve the protocols, the clients, the servers...heck, I'm pretty sure a lot of features and fixes are popular/longstanding enough to make it feasible to crowdfund your patches!

Screenshot of Fedi post, with the display name and handle hidden. Text - Well, this is depressing. My country has silently blocked #Discord and now I can't access my ADHD support group for body doubling. Someone called his internet service provider and they told him the telecom commission has blocked the app and isn't allowed to announce it in the media. I can't even access any free VPN sites, those have been blocked too. Discord has been my crutch for the past few months and the only way I've been functioning. So depressed. Can't find any free alternatives.
ALT
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

Let's try this again.

Server A users are not posting or boosting anything that is objectionable to Server B.

But Server A is federating with servers Server B does not like. [1]

How does this affect Server B in any way? Or, why would Server B cite this as a reason to defederate from Server A?

Is it merely a case of association fallacy? ("Server A federates with Bad Servers, therefore Server A must be a Bad Server.")

Or are there any legitimate problems Server A is causing for Server B?

[1] Usually because they find defederating to be too extreme for most situations, with too much collateral damage to innocent bystanders...so they use other means to block bad users.

EDIT: removed FediBlock hashtag

contrapunctus OP ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

@IngaLovinde Thanks for this detailed explanation, it was just what I was looking for. 🙏

@AnarchoNinaWrites@jorts.horse avatar AnarchoNinaWrites , to random

Naw brey, I'm seriously daring you. My real name is in the wind; feel free to come visit. Cause once you in my house... ain't no pig coming to save you. But you ain't about that life, you just got me mistaken for a shrinking flower who doesn't know what a fucking powerless loser you are. But hey, if you want me to make you famous - come on down. I'm yer huckleberry.

Of course, you'd have to leave Mom's house to do so and we both know that ain't happening...

contrapunctus ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

@AnarchoNinaWrites Getting Bullet Tooth Tony from Snatch vibes here 🤭

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGodlHtdZ0U

@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

@GrapheneOS I like how this issue has never been a problem with . 😅

https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/115012285317476330

For anyone looking to take a look (or another look) at XMPP, I wrote the The Quick and Easy Guide to Jabber/XMPP for new users.

There are plenty of active communities on XMPP, you can find them on search.jabber.network/tags

contrapunctus OP ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

@GrapheneOS @alrs It's always a question of whether the project has the courage to push people to a better direction, or whether it's just going to go with the flow of whatever people are doing. (Packaged as "we have to be where the people are.")

You make an channel, make it the sole official chat medium, and help onboard people...and people will use XMPP.

The more the people and projects who do this, the sooner we bring the world to the standard, reliable, modern, and silo-free chat protocol.

(And the more the people who use it, the more funding and developer love the protocol and the implementations will get.)

@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar contrapunctus , to random

TIL there's a "native" in F-Droid! And it utterly blows away the web version and the "installed" PWA in terms of responsiveness... (I tested these with Fennec)

What magic is this, @MapComplete ? 😳

@lritter@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar lritter , to random

used to be phone cell
now is cell phone
life is weird!

contrapunctus ,
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar

@lritter "phone cell"? 🤔

@JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange avatar JessTheUnstill , to random

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    contrapunctus ,
    @contrapunctus@fe.disroot.org avatar