Mark Cornick @mcornick@tilde.zone

Hi, I'm Mark. Profesionally, I'm a long-time UNIX/Linux admin and developer, currently in the DevOps space. Unprofesionally, I'm a widower and stepfather, I DJ on #tilderadio and #aNONradio, I hang out on pubnixes, I watch soccer and hockey, and I generally don't take any of this too seriously.

You are welcome to follow me; you don't need my permission. I can't promise you quality content, discourse, or anything else if you do, though.

It is my intention to respect all who don't demonstrate that they are unworthy of such respect. If I get something wrong when talking to you, please don't assume bad faith. Let me know and I'll try to do better. Thanks.

#introduction

These are a few thoughts from someone who uses Mastodon somewhat sparingly, but still finds it useful and worth checking in on. My views are likely shared by some and shunned by others. Consider them just one old dude's opinion.

First, not an opinion: The Twitter sale isn't final yet. There's a lot of hoops to jump through, including lots of stuff having to do with Twitter being a public company, meaning the SEC is going to be involved, and we all know how much Musk gets along with the SEC. Plus he could still change his mind (especially if he finds out his FrEeSpEeCh NoLiMiTs utopia isn't going to sit well with a lot of Twitter's advertisers.) I know it's a Mastodon tradition to dunk on Twitter and slam it at every opportunity, but maybe this isn't fait accompli. Maybe save the grand pronouncements and dramatic exits until it is.

If you still use Twitter, use Twitter! If you don't, don't! And don't be ashamed either way! Twitter is useful to certain people for certain things, myself included, and if you find it useful for whatever purpose, great. You have certainly considered the drawbacks and tradeoffs if you've signed up for a Mastodon. Everyone's tolerance for that sort of thing is different. Know your limits, stick to them, and don't let anyone try to force theirs on you. Mastodon, and Twitter for that matter, are different things for different people, and different people should approach them as such.

Ever since the announcement, people on Mastodon who are afraid of Twitter's worst-of-the-worst coming over have been making a lot of posts which are variations on "these are our rules and norms, if you don't like them, go away." This is understandable. People are protective of things they care about, and communities are things people care about. And a lot of people consider Mastodon a community that they want to defend and protect. All that said... while this type of attitude might discourage some of the "undesirables", it will attract others who want to sow chaos and be jerks; and while this attitude will encourage people who are thoughtful, interesting, and have no problem with the rules, it will discourage worthy individuals who are afraid of stepping on land mines. It's fine to have rules and enforce them. But consider whether a gentle "hey, we don't do that here" (adding "we do this instead" where appropriate) is more effective than "these are our rules and we will not hesitate to yeet you back to Myspace if you even think about breaking any of them." You're never going to stop all of the jerks. Let's not make our policies focus on keeping out jerks, but instead on attracting and keeping in unjerks.

That's all. Welcome to all the newcomers, and continued greetings to those who've been around a while.

Слава Україні!

"Whereof one cannot toot, thereof one must remain untooting."

No Giant Steps this week. Instead, I am closing out the SDF 35th anniversary marathon with a two-hour Very Special Episode starting at 2300 Thursday. I’ll be playing a variety of fun stuff from across the spectrum of genres. I’m also thinking of taking requests on com/IRC. Be there!

After two weeks off while I moved homes (a process that was only finished today... yeesh) live Giant Steps is back this Friday at 0000 UTC on aNONradio and tilderadio. Mixed bag this time - a little bit of a lot of styles. Maybe you'll enjoy all of it. Or some of it. Or none of it. The important thing is that it will once again be LIVE.

https://anonradio.net/
https://tilderadio.org/

Once again, I say to the lawmakers of this country the same thing I say every time a school gets shot up: take your thoughts and prayers and shove them up your fucking ass. The blood of those kids and that teacher are on your hands. *Your fucking hands.*

Doing this is really no better than the days of "Best viewed with Internet Explorer" badges.

That "suggestion" (I've seen it in a few places) to put a <script> tag in your HTML page that replaces all the content in your page with a "disable JS" message is terrible, elitist, terrible, unfriendly, unwelcoming, and also terrible.

You may think you're doing the newbs a favor, but all you're doing is making it harder for them to both (a) view your page and (b) view 99% of the other pages on the net.

I'm not saying you have to use JavaScript on your page. You probably don't need to. But you definitely don't need to tell people to intentionally break their browsers for the non-SmAlLwEb just to read your stuff.

And if you're doing it just to be an edgelord, fuck off. Edgelords are assholes.

Radio show news: Starting tomorrow I will be moving out of my house to a new place. I don't think I will have time to prepare shows in between everything else I need to accomplish as part of this, so I'm calling time on Giant Steps until June. Thanks for listening and I hope to be back live very soon.

Back after a long day of celebrating my Fedi-less stepdaughter’s college graduation. So proud of her. But oh so very tired.

Hi, I'm Mark. Profesionally, I'm a long-time UNIX/Linux admin and developer, currently in the DevOps space. Unprofesionally, I'm a widower and stepfather, I DJ on #tilderadio and #aNONradio, I hang out on pubnixes, I watch soccer and hockey, and I generally don't take any of this too seriously.

You are welcome to follow me; you don't need my permission. I can't promise you quality content, discourse, or anything else if you do, though.

It is my intention to respect all who don't demonstrate that they are unworthy of such respect. If I get something wrong when talking to you, please don't assume bad faith. Let me know and I'll try to do better. Thanks.

#introduction

Those of us who were around for the first dotcom bubble remember Fucked Company as our disaster porn of choice.

@web3isgreat is filling that role for the current bubble. Train wreck after train wreck. You can't stop looking.

How to be a hockey fan:

Be sure to always yell "SHOOT IT" whenever your team has the puck, because the players don't know when to shoot, and also they can definitely hear you down on the ice. Totally.

Well hello there, we’re on the air

Late night thunderstorm. Dog is scared of thunder. Dog is awake and circling the floor. Thus I am now awake. Though not (yet) circling. #yawn

Scared is alright.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73LJV8CBdM0

These are a few thoughts from someone who uses Mastodon somewhat sparingly, but still finds it useful and worth checking in on. My views are likely shared by some and shunned by others. Consider them just one old dude's opinion.

First, not an opinion: The Twitter sale isn't final yet. There's a lot of hoops to jump through, including lots of stuff having to do with Twitter being a public company, meaning the SEC is going to be involved, and we all know how much Musk gets along with the SEC. Plus he could still change his mind (especially if he finds out his FrEeSpEeCh NoLiMiTs utopia isn't going to sit well with a lot of Twitter's advertisers.) I know it's a Mastodon tradition to dunk on Twitter and slam it at every opportunity, but maybe this isn't fait accompli. Maybe save the grand pronouncements and dramatic exits until it is.

If you still use Twitter, use Twitter! If you don't, don't! And don't be ashamed either way! Twitter is useful to certain people for certain things, myself included, and if you find it useful for whatever purpose, great. You have certainly considered the drawbacks and tradeoffs if you've signed up for a Mastodon. Everyone's tolerance for that sort of thing is different. Know your limits, stick to them, and don't let anyone try to force theirs on you. Mastodon, and Twitter for that matter, are different things for different people, and different people should approach them as such.

Ever since the announcement, people on Mastodon who are afraid of Twitter's worst-of-the-worst coming over have been making a lot of posts which are variations on "these are our rules and norms, if you don't like them, go away." This is understandable. People are protective of things they care about, and communities are things people care about. And a lot of people consider Mastodon a community that they want to defend and protect. All that said... while this type of attitude might discourage some of the "undesirables", it will attract others who want to sow chaos and be jerks; and while this attitude will encourage people who are thoughtful, interesting, and have no problem with the rules, it will discourage worthy individuals who are afraid of stepping on land mines. It's fine to have rules and enforce them. But consider whether a gentle "hey, we don't do that here" (adding "we do this instead" where appropriate) is more effective than "these are our rules and we will not hesitate to yeet you back to Myspace if you even think about breaking any of them." You're never going to stop all of the jerks. Let's not make our policies focus on keeping out jerks, but instead on attracting and keeping in unjerks.

That's all. Welcome to all the newcomers, and continued greetings to those who've been around a while.

*checks weather report*
*goes outside to walk dog without gloves*
*gets blasted with wind*
*can’t feel fingers*

Taking a wait-and-see on bird site’s new direction as eel site. Have a feeling I won’t have to wait long to make up my mind.

There will be no live Giant Steps show this week due to another commitment I have IRL.