Notices by Guitarsophist (jredlund@social.linux.pizza)

@cstross I had cataract surgery about a year ago. For about three weeks it was amazing. The world was brighter, sunlight was whiter, and I needed glasses only for reading. Then the floaters came. Apparently, the changes in eye pressure caused by the surgery often cause stuff to get knocked loose. You get used to them after a while, but they are always maneuvering, usually right where you are trying to look.

Teddy invents space yoga!

#caturday #catsofmastodon

@Noahharvey I'd recommend either _The Left Hand of Darkness_ or _Lathe of Heaven_. The latter is an easier read. A man finds that whatever he dreams comes true and when his therapist discovers this, they try to use his power to improve the world. All of their attempts go awry in every more complicated ways.

In LHoD, a representative of the Ekumen, a sort of Federation of Planets, is trying to convince Gethenians to join. Gethen is an ice world. The inhabitants are human, but "ambisexual," in that they only become either male or female when it is time to reproduce. Each individual can become either sex. On this world, LeGuin puts a thousand year old monarchy next door to a Marxist oligarchy, so a lot of political fun is had. Our main character is very idealistic, but a bit dense. It takes him quite a while to figure out that the character he sees as his enemy is trying to help him.

@VisualInspiration #writingcommunity #microfiction

As the weekday crowd flowed through the market square, a wiry graybeard carrying a battered wooden drum threaded through the shoppers. He sat in a corner between a noodle shop and a tattoo parlor, unrolled a worn square of carpet, and sat down to play. He had no tip jar, upturned hat, or cup. He was not there to play for coins.

A crowd has a rhythm and a flow. A scene has a rhythm too. Every person has a heartbeat, a walk, and pace of thought that adds up to a rhythm. All these beats align and syncopate into a rhythmic symphony of movements that extends through time and is carried beyond the place by those who walk away.

The drummer was there to alter that symphony.

The first groove was in concert with the rhythm of the crowd. Those who were out of step began to adjust, to conform. The drummer introduced variations and little fills, altering the flow. Individuals in the crowd felt energy and positivity. Then the drummer saw the one he sought, a councilor to the king, dressed as a commoner but still haughty. The drumming locked in on that person's gait. A counter rhythm appeared, modeled on that gait, that consciousness. The councilor's steps changed, subtly, then gradually more. The drummer had power now.

A change in rhythm can stop a heart. It can kill. But it also can change the flow of thought. The councilor began thinking along a different path of arguments, still thinking as he walked away from the square.

It wasn't music, it was politics. Or was it both?

@SrRochardBunson I used to try to convince my kids that milk came from bicycles. They never believed me. I taught them critical thinking at an early age.

@georgetakei Tortoises love dandelions! So do rabbits!

@georgetakei And also bicycles!

@Zotmeister @becauselangpod @pluralistic Those are good, but "enshitification" is nearly perfect because it sounds academic, implies a slow process, and clearly has shit in it. It is high register academese wrapped around low register street speak, a literal shit sandwich.

@becauselangpod @pluralistic The New York Times bowdlerized it into "enjunkification," which is both sad and amusing and has other potential meanings they might not have thought of. But perhaps they rejected "endickification" as too obvious.

@ewdocparris

This is the most ambitious water project in the galaxy. The Romans built aqueducts 100's of miles long, even using reverse siphons across valleys. But this aqueduct is a stargate! The water is from Amphlibobius, in the Dilap sector, and is transported through the stargate here to Analaptis IV, a desert world.

Hey, don't go near! Watch out for those machines on the left! They destroy any life forms that come through the gate. Only water comes through. Watch your step! Oh no!

@ewdocparris

You know the thing about this hat is you can't take it off. Once you in you can't get out. Once you in, you in, you know what I mean? You are integrated into the system, the great beyond, the tranquility, the acceptance, the whiteness of thought and behavior. I can't take it off. But I can resist. I can speak out. I can out think this oppressor and direct my pixels to the resistance. But in the mean time, I'm gonna play this game on this screen. You with me? Power to the people!