Notices by Ciara (ciarani@mastodon.green)

There's a lot going on in the world. Here's a rock wearing a lichen hat and feather boa.

Our library has opened a stick library. I needed you to know this.

A Like to say Nice!

A Like to say Well done!

A Like to say Thank you!

A Like to say I see you and that sounds rough so I don't want to write words that you have to spend energy replying to

A Like that's a wee wave because I've just wandered into the Fedi-café and I see you're here too

A Like that would've been a boost but your photo has no Alt Text

A Like that would've been a boost but you used 17 hashtags

'Voiceover artist Gayanne Potter said the artificial announcer, marketed as an imaginary character called Iona, was trained using her voice.'

”I was horrified. The quality of it was dreadful. It's hard enough for people in the creative industry to sustain careers but to be competing with a robotic version of yourself just adds insult to injury.

If ScotRail want to do the right thing, I'm happy to do their voice announcements. At least I know how to say Milngavie."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4q7984nq1o

#AI

‘I dropped Facebook, Gmail and WhatsApp, among others, in favour of Mastodon, Proton and Matrix. I still spend lots of time on the black mirror in my pocket. The difference now is that what I’m looking at feels honest, relevant, funny and informative. I built this feed myself. There are no sneaky codes with ads and algorithm-driven provocations. I can move or shut it down any time I want. This is the kind of internet I want my children to have.'

Fine piece by @fritjof

https://www.information.dk/debat/2025/05/findes-aegte-sociale-medier-frie-sunde-onlinefaellesskaber-staa-facebook

#SilentSunday

They are 3D-printing a new street in our neighbourhood

#Aarhus

People have shown a kind interest in this sliver of Danish coastline, so in case anyone would like to turn their head and look in the other direction: here’s the view from the same spot, now looking to our left, facing North. This is Grenen, the literal tip of mainland Denmark, where two seas visibly meet.

#Skagen

#SilentSunday

None of the sunsets or flowers I saw this week was as lovely as these ugly patches of tarmac. This is the old Aarhus County Hospital. The council is developing it into a mixed-use neighbourhood. While excavating, they discovered that 2 huge emergency generators in bomb-shelter operation rooms still work perfectly. So they dug them up, threw tarmac in the hole and donated them to Ukraine. Now they ensure electricity in a hospital in Odessa that had been plagued by power cuts.

#Aarhus
#Ukraine

You mean well, I know, all of you who read what I wrote, but are now telling me to install Linux anyway. Please just let me have this today, friends. Please don't make me tap the sign.

https://mastodon.green/@CiaraNi/114001805605468618

Maybe there isn't A Tipping Point, but several. Like milestones on the long road to freedom. I've just reached one.

#AI
#Enshittification

Happy 19th birthday to my bicycle. I take absolutely no care of you. I leave you out in the rain. I ram you through snow and mud and up and down kerbs. I make you drag stuff too heavy for you. I rarely remember to feed you with oil and air. I fling you onto trains and into hedges and into any space you fit, or don’t. And yet you always work, cost little to maintain and nothing to run. And you give me easy exercise. And I will never be too old not to think Wheeee! as I freewheel you downhill.

I just realised how old my bike is and that made me realise how few parts I’ve ever had to repair or replace. A brake cable, once. A couple of spokes. A new saddle, but only because I wanted a different kind. And all hail its dynamo lamp - not only does it not need batteries, but it works faithfully, has never as much as blinked a single time in almost 20 years of use, and I have yet to replace the bulb. In the age of enshittification, this feels remarkable.

'How delightful. The MAGA and Measles ship is in town.’

Overhead at the harbour as a group of cruise ship passengers passed by, cameras and tourist brochures in hand, speaking loudly with American accents.

@aral @overholt Worth every cent

My favourite thing in the whole Fediverse is when I get a notification that someone has edited a toot I favourited or boosted months ago. Like, something in that toot has been bugging them for half a year. A comma that could've been a semi-colon. A spelling mistake they belatedly spotted. Some good information they wish they'd put in the Alt Text. And thanks to the magic of Mastodon, they can just fix it now, all these months later. I feel happy for them, knowing they can sleep soundly again.

So many ordinary people in the United States are taking to the streets, turning up to protest at politicians’ meetings, contacting anyone of influence they can, are organising and doing and acting. But the media (there and here) are mostly ignoring them. The revolution will not be televised, it seems. And it’s distressing to see so little (if any) institutional backing or protection for the people. It's not new, but it's alarming that the US doesn't have a functional organised opposition party.

@aral This has made me think, not for the first time: our species doesn't deserve all that the planet and evolution has given us. We deserve what's coming and I hope all the other species are very happy and thrive on Earth once we're gone.

Casual conversations at ordinary social gatherings these days make us sound like conspiracy theorists.

‘What’ll happen first, an American civil war or a world war?’

‘Who can recommend a good solar-powered powerbank?’

‘It’s hard to store 27 litres of water and emergency food in a small flat.'

‘Are we still worried about the climate or will the world order collapse first?’

‘How much cash did the government say we should keep stashed?’

‘Ooh wait till you see my new hand-crank radio!’