@stragu@mastodon.indie.host cover
@stragu@mastodon.indie.host avatar

stragu

@[email protected]

I like the weird, the kind, the beautiful. Sustainability, plants, the Commons, open research, citizen science, RStats, maps, active transport.
Open research software training.

BIPOC + trans lives matter.

🚫: fash, racists, terves, antivax, NFT + cryptocurrencies, gadget-loving techbros, admirers of the rich. 😘

(Banner: sunset over Meanjin. AWAWB. Profile pic: portait by my 8yo rat.)

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@Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar Daojoan , to random

JD Vance wrote an entire memoir about how poverty destroyed his family and then joined the party whose entire platform is making poverty worse. Incredible arc.

stragu ,
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@Daojoan I keep misreading JD Vance" as "Vance Joy" and its always a short moment of deep disappointment in an unsuspecting Australian musician.

@w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

The White House web site now includes a “media bias” tracker with a leaderboard and an offender hall of shame. https://www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/

stragu ,
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@w7voa I love that one of the categories is "left-wing lunacy" as if that's a clearly defined concept 😂
Let me guess: "right-wing lunacy" does not make an appearance in the dataset.

stragu ,
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@w7voa


Screenshot of the White House's "Media Bias" website with the text:

"Offender hall of shame

A record of the media's false and misleading stories flagged by the White House. Scroll for the truth."

Below, the logos of The Washington Post, CBS News, CNN, MSNBC, with a red "Exposed" stamp on each of them.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random

If a phone still works fine, it’s not “device hoarding” to keep using it. It’s common sense.

Screenshot of a CNBC headline that reads: “How device hoarding by Americans is costing economy.” The subtext says Americans are holding onto devices longer than ever, which may be smart for consumers but can reduce productivity.
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stragu ,
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@georgetakei you have to be a certain kind of ghoul to rephrase "using a device while it works" as "device hoarding".

@simonv@piaille.fr avatar simonv , to random French

Grâce à @joyousjoyness j'ai commencé mon premier carnet de croquiscrolle. J'essaie de m'améliorer en dessin en remplaçant le scroll par des croquis.

petit sketchbook avec des dessins au stylos pour essayer de dessiner des cyprès et des platanes
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stragu ,
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@simonv @joyousjoyness merci de me rappeler que j'ai acheté un carnet exactement pour ça.

@stragu@mastodon.indie.host avatar stragu , to random

Would be really cool to have something baked into to directly suggest alt text to media when it is missing on other people's posts, as an evolution to . With dedicated notification. Apps could support the feature with a neat side-by-side media and alt text field, and one-click "accept suggestion" in notification.
I'm using @Tusky and even though I enjoy suggesting alt text, not being able to write the post with the image clearly visible makes it too difficult.

@stragu@mastodon.indie.host avatar stragu , to random

Some recommendations to get off Spotify, the company that would rather fund the military industrial complex than musicians:

(Yes I know they're not exactly the same, nothing is!)

@stragu@mastodon.indie.host avatar stragu , to random

completely normal movie so far

stragu OP ,
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so what's the moral then

@kenSwinson@indieweb.social avatar kenSwinson , to random

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    stragu ,
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    @kenSwinson so beautiful!!

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

    ask a LLM for a uniformly random number between 0 and 100 in a fresh context, record the distribution. unless the service does some hackery, you won't get a uniformly random distribution.

    stragu ,
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    @lritter ha I was about to joke about "ChatGPT as a password manager" before reading this. And thought that there's definitely people doing it by now.

    vkc , to random

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    stragu ,
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    @vkc 💚

    @homegrown@social.growyourown.services avatar homegrown , (edited ) to random

    recommendation, there's a rogue server cloning lots of real accounts so it can impersonate them. There is no legitimate reason for such behaviour, admins should suspend it ASAP:

    mastodon.arell.ai

    Admins might want to suspend the main domain:

    arell.ai

    This would be good in case the owner tries the same stunt on a different subdomain. Blocking the main domain also blocks all of its subdomains.

    (via @thomas , thread at https://metalhead.club/@thomas/114878505580336321 )

    stragu ,
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    @homegrown @thomas all admins, please see above, arell.ai is an extremely sketchy domain to block ASAP as it seems set-up to impersonate and deceive at scale.
    If you are not admin, let your admins know.

    stragu ,
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    @homegrown @thomas I've reported it to the registrar, fingers crossed it also gets yeeted from there.

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , (edited ) to random

    Yesterday was my first bad day on Mastodon, and what happened to me could happen to you, so let me explain what went down, and how I got blocked by a lot of people.

    In March, I wrote a post critical of Musk (picture 1). I then asked another Mastodon user (Harriett) whom I have found friendly, if she would help me translate a Danish phrase to English, and linked to the Musk post where the phrase would be relevant.

    But yesterday — 4 months later — that blew up in my face. Here is how…

    1/7

    The original post which caused all the trouble. Here I am asking Harriett if she would be so kind to help me translate.
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    stragu ,
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    @randahl how does the bridge work? Did you willingly opt into it? Or do our posts get bridged to BS automatically as soon as someone who opted in interacted (e.g. boosted) with them? Is there a way to properly opt out?
    (Sorry, you're probably sick of talking about it and I'm asking lots of questions...)

    @stopthatgirl7@famichiki.jp avatar stopthatgirl7 , to random
    stragu ,
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    @stopthatgirl7

    "The chatbot has gone from "Woke Grok" to "MechaHitler" in a matter of weeks[...].
    Meanwhile, xAI recently locked in a $200 million ceiling deal with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and announced plans to integrate Grok into Tesla vehicles."

    Will that be the Tesla model 770?

    @transworld@masto.ai avatar transworld , to random

    I Work With Grandparents Of Trans Kids. I'm Constantly Stunned By What I Hear Them Say.

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/grandparents-transgender-kids-support-group_n_68386babe4b0e2e0f9a1d8d0/amp

    stragu ,
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    @transworld what a heart-warming write-up. Thanks for sharing. We need these.

    @Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar Daojoan , to random

    “Masterclass in brand building” is a bold take when the starting point is being Hailey Bieber with 54M followers, married to a global pop star, and already a household name.

    Call it what it is: a celebrity-backed rocket ship, not a startup success story.

    A LinkedIn post by Tim van der Wiel discusses Hailey Bieber’s sale of her skincare brand, Rhode, for $1 billion to E.l.f. Cosmetics ($800M upfront plus a $200M earnout). It highlights Rhode’s rapid growth from zero to $212M in sales in three years, driven by its 54M Instagram followers and strong Gen Z appeal, resulting in $248M of earned media value. Tim emphasizes Rhode’s identity as a social-first, product-led, community-driven brand. He notes that Bieber will remain as Chief Creative Officer, which he sees as crucial to the brand’s long-term success. The post concludes by calling Rhode a “masterclass in modern brand building.”
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    stragu ,
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    @Daojoan hey that ding-dong's blurb just cured my insomnia!

    @davidrevoy@framapiaf.org avatar davidrevoy , to random

    I am very happy to announce that I will be a guest at the @geekfaeries Festival 2025!

    The festival will take place at the castle of Selles-sur-Cher (France) on June 6, 7 and 8. This year I'll have a permanent booth with chairs and tables dedicated to drawing. Come with your sketchbook if you want training and tips, I'll be around to help. I'll also be giving workshops, and I'll be bringing my laptop to do screen projections and live painting with Krita on the castle at night.

    Illustration: the silhouette of the young witch Pepper flying on a broom with her cat Carrot at night in front of the Castle of Selle-sur-Cher, France. CC By-Sa David Revoy, paint-over a CC By-Sa Wikimedia photo of the castle of Selles-sur-Cher by Van-Hoytl
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    stragu ,
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    @davidrevoy @geekfaeries sounds like a wonderful setup! Bravo :)

    @briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

    My wife and I have gotten into the habit of asking each other at dinner what was the best thing that happened to each other that day. She now likes this tradition so much she's expanded it into three things, which I contend makes the whole thing more of a mental exercise, but I usually manage. I have found though that it makes me take closer note of the good things that happen during the day, so I'm not left with "uh...." when it's my turn. It also helps punctuate the positive at a time when there's a whole lot of the opposite.

    stragu ,
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    @briankrebs we do "one up, one down" with the kids at dinner. But I'm tempted to ask for more ups than downs now.

    @dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar dangillmor , to random

    "Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not)" is perhaps Mike Masnick's most important TechDirt post -- which is saying something given how long he's been publishing this essential-reading blog.

    https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/why-techdirt-is-now-a-democracy-blog-whether-we-like-it-or-not/

    stragu ,
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    @dangillmor great article, thanks for sharing.

    "They operate under the dangerous delusion of the “great man” theory of innovation — the false belief that revolutionary changes come solely from lone geniuses, rather than from the complex interplay of open systems, diverse perspectives, and stable institutions that actually drives progress."

    vkc , to random

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    stragu ,
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    @vkc here's some of these 💜 💜 💜 💜 💜 💜 and some of these ✊ ✊ ✊ ✊ ✊ ✊ and some of these if you are so inclined 🤗 🤗 🤗 🤗 🤗 , to you and your wife.

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

    petition to rename "width" to "widgth" for monospace consistency with "height" and "length"

    stragu ,
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    @aeva depgth

    stragu ,
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    @aeva or maybe phonetically constant with width hight lenth depth girth