After writing this post I reflected a bit more on types of conversations, and made a little graphic to illustrate my transportation metaphor for the internet: Some are walking, some jogging, some biking — traveling independently at varying speeds low enough to pay attention and stop to interact. Some are traveling at high speeds loudly polluting; they interact with others by honking, crashing, or running over. It is pointless for a pedestrian to converse with the blare of a car horn.

Since others have fully covered the Q portion of your comment I came to say that that cool saucer separation that’s so bad ass happens like 3 times max!

I get that maybe it’s “expensive” or awkward to write or something from the production standpoint that makes it underused, but seriously, is it “expensive” in-universe?! Because they spread that shit out more sparingly than me buying pine nuts!

Other show reference alert: it’s a lot like on Deep Space 9 how rarely Odo changes. If I had that fucking power I wouldn’t hold back! Let’s see, can I squeeze any more complaints in? I never understood the premise on Bewitched that Darren & Sam wouldn’t want to use her powers to make things better constantly! Ok I’m done. For now.

I’m still learning good communities for me so I clicked for suggestions for myself. Came to talk about different types of posts. When I saw your title I knew I’d want to read the whole discussion. Some posts are like that, and those are the ones I want to spend time on because every response contributes. Some posts are a practical question with a narrow set of answers. If it’s not a question I share, and it it already has several responses, there’s probably no point in me contributing. Some posts are open minded discussions where it’s so interesting to absorb the views that others share, and maybe join in. Some posts are fights. Those aren’t worth participating in.

I’m sure I’m leaving a lot out. And maybe others don’t make these calculations at all. I just happened to notice, as I was scrolling topics, the criteria I use for deciding whether or not to click and read.

Anyone else have these thoughts? Or disagree?

Vivaldi on laptop, Orion on iPhone — but as of last week Orion is crashing multiple times a day (after months of use without issues).

I almost hate to say it because of the user base here, but I was wondering if I could block or hide certain terms as I can on Mastodon. I’m tired of seeing so much about Reddit. Some of it’s fun and interesting schadenfreude but it also feels to me a bit like obsessing over an ex. Healthier for me to stop caring.

I dislike Notes because it is used in so many other ways also. Notes in other contexts are very often private. Post, Blog, and Microblog are all clearly shared. (I realize some might wonder, “How could anyone think that creating a new item called Note is private?!” I simply offer the feedback that the term Notes is used elsewhere to connote notes to oneself, and would prefer not to add any potential confusion.)

Since you mentioned “boring” — Probably the most out of step thing about me is that I think boredom is healthy. I think constantly stimulating stories (and consumption habits, relationships, news…) are interfering with the hard, slow work of sustainable existence. (I just realized I’m almost quoting Dr. Wong! Sorry lol)

I crave entertainment and distraction. And I admit my huge flaw of falling into a lecturing tone. Sigh. I don’t mean it. I only want to control me. It’s just that for most of my life I’ve been pretty unhappy and dysfunctional & I see links between my past state and a desire for escape and constant entertainment. Is this still about kissing in movies? Maybe. We are just sharing opinions on the internet. Getting feelings out is good.

Gonna go watch Andy Warhol’s “Sleep” now…

I consider them part of normal human behavior and therefore natural in movies. If anything I might think more intimacy should be portrayed on screen. But this question and many of the replies let me see that I am not necessarily typical in my view that sex, love, and kissing are no big deal in media.

I’m curling up to a movie right now on Hooplah & last night watched one on Kanopy, two streaming services I get free with my library card.

I think it just takes time. In my opinion the best growth kinda can’t happen while you’re looking at it. (Watched pot.) What made me feel warm fuzzies about this place was when I had a question about something IRL & knew I would ask it on here in the relevant community. Realizing that the same process will happen over and over, by many different people and without the distraction of spam and garbage… that makes me smile.

(at least, normal enough)
Perfection!

List of Fediverse admins pledging to pre-block Meta instances: https://fedipact.online

It will be possible to have accounts on multiple instances, those that block Meta or federate with Meta. Then see what happens.

This, for sure. I live in the US and wanted to learn to understand Celsius so I switched my phone to use it. Internalizing a system works where translating/converting does not. I quickly learned that I feel comfortable in temperatures in the 20s. Since I feel comfortable in Fahrenheit temps in the upper 60s to mid 70s I can guess what the conversion is for most temps, but I don’t have to do it to understand that I like how 22 C feels.

Similarly, if you’re traveling and having to use a foreign currency I prefer to establish an idea in my head of cheap, reasonable, expensive than stopping to convert every price exactly. A “reasonable price” is relative to the item and location, of course, and should also affect my perspective.

Absorbing a new system by this method works fairly easily for temperatures and money, but less so for other measurements. I don’t have as fine-tuned a sense of what ounces, pounds, or grams feel like as I do units of temperature. And I am always adding or subtracting 12 to understand time when expressed as 13h and up.

During the brief period when the US was encouraging metric system understanding there were many highway speed limit signs expressed as 55 mph / 88 kph. Every time I need to make that conversion I think of 5/8 because of that sign. And I usually just make guesstimates that work well enough.

I like learning new things. The generation before me in my family turned off their brains long ago and now suffer dementia. I work to keep my mind active. Learning other units of measure is one example.

Finally I’ll say that I WISH I could get to a point of understanding languages this way without translation.

I’m not currently using RSS, it’s been years. And yes I also felt overwhelmed. I have same problem with Podcasts on my iPhone and honestly email. Just like in most cases I don’t want to be pushed content. My brain feels bad for not keeping up. The best use of RSS that I can imagine for me would be following a small number of original content creators who post erratically in multiple platforms. It’s another reason I love the fediverse so much bc we can slap /feed on the end of many addresses to pull that content elsewhere. And again I’m not currently using RSS lol. I’m just saying that I might use it for passionate follows. I think it’s a useful tool for getting people free of the big bad platforms.

Why do I see my image in preview and not in the post? 😫

Agree with @Burp @Overcast and @BedSharkPal
Caveat: I’m an artist; I build ice cream castles
But
Humans are feelings creatures not rational ones. Everyone can relate to bad feelings using the corporate platforms. That’s the hook imo. To offer more respect, more honesty, and just better feelings here in the Fediverse. I think it feels good here but there’s room for improvement.

Now, I did read the entire blog editorial. I have been guilty of some of the issues identified in it. I joined Mastodon in October and quickly became an evangelist (I only use that word negatively lol). I’ve also lost some enthusiasm. I’ve struggled to figure it all out. I’m changing my habits. Etc. I still don’t know what will work best for me but I know it won’t be any of my existing accounts on Twitter, or Meta. It will more likely be something within the fediverse because it feels better.

A lot of the points in the editorial & a lot of the criticisms in these comments I agree with. (A lot, not all. Some people complain illogically & there’s no point in answering. They’re just going to be sad/mad until they aren’t.) It’s all good food for thought. I don’t see any reason in denying or arguing when someone has a bad experience here. Holding hands and making it better together is my preferred way forward. Oh yeah, I’m not just an artist. I’m a gay artist. Despite all the shit I still believe in spreading love. Ok gonna go barf now.