Notices by Scotsbear 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🐻 (uraael@kitty.social)

I've been frequenting RockPaperShotgun since 2009. I've drifted a away a bit in latter years, evolving and growing after the company was sold to an SEO-focused news org. But I still count myself as a solid fan of the sites, especially when as a Gaming website it has never shied away from "Political" issues, like this one today:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/video-game-publishers-are-starting-to-use-anti-dei-as-a-marketing-meme

You can normally tell a Political thread just by the count of user comments left beneath - normally in the multiple-centuries instead of in mere dozens. This one has panned out predictably; some brand new accounts swooping in to make trouble, some well-meaning but dumb comments being taken to task and a LOT of anger.

Worth a read if you've got any room spare for the ongoing "Culture War" under a microscope. Plus, it's always fun when a games publisher outs themselves as unworthy of your money.

#Gaming #RPS #DEI #Brouhaha

Some spectacularly baroque and engrossing retro gaming on offer today: the remastered editions of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 and 2 are out now from your favourite digi-stockist. If you've never encountered this series before, play it for the dimension-shifting levels, the elaborate plotting, the metroidvania progression, and three of the world's finest voice actors at the very peak of their powers plying your ears with verbal honey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5qzpSrd-ko&t=76s

#PCGaming #Linux #LegacyOfKain #MichaelBell #SimonTempleman #TonyJay

I'm sorry, random American lady: you can't tell my beloved you're a fan of Scotland and then say you have some "Scotch Plaid" at home.

BEHOLD my withering stare of Gonnae No Dae That!

#Scotland #ScotchIsADrink! #TartanNotPlaid

@killyourfm@layer8.space @thejackimonster@wehavecookies.social

Herding cats would be easier, lol.

Taking a breather (has been a long day). I will come back to this, though. Even if we can get enough of us in the Fedi talking it might spark some other ideas for broader reach.

@killyourfm@layer8.space

Choice paralysis, eh? On that one I've often thought a simple carefully structured questionnaire/website might actually work wonders. e.g.:

Command line or GUI? GUI
focuses on Distros with great UI tools

Does the thought of not having any updates to anything for six months freak you out? Yes
*filters out fixed-release Distros*

DE's. Do you like tweaking things?" No:
*narrows to Gnome-focused Distros, or Distros with Gnome spins*

Aaaand so on. There's got to be a way to do that that is easy to understand and doesn't bamboozle folks.

Perhaps we even start Grading distros according to certain criteria, so they can display a CERTIFIED AWESOME FOR NEW USERS! badge, or something.

Random thoughts. Idk. Need food.

@killyourfm@layer8.space As a recent convert to...well, no, let me change that to recent adoptee of Linux (I've always been favourable to Linux even when I wasn't using it) I think technically we're pretty much there apart from the more specialized use-cases you invariably see haunting 'Move to Linux' threads. (But muh fotoshop/vijyo editing!)

Changing people's minds will be the nut to crack. There's also a lot of crusty stereotypes and old junk information out there that needs destroyed.

But an even bigger challenge than that will be readying some Linux spaces for the influx of more casual but more demanding users. Still pockets of Elitism out there that we'll need to either abrogate or funnel folks away from.

Gonna have a think myself for some solutions to this.

@kaia@brotka.st @zackwhittaker@mastodon.social I watched the video to check what apps they recommended: Whatsapp and iMessage?

That's pretty much confirmation those apps are backdoored.

@jacklaridian@social.horrorhub.club Oh, there was an awesome video some years ago where some parents took this kids games and console and drove over them in the backyard with...I want to say a grass-cutter? One of those rideable ones? Shards of plastic flying everywhere, lol. He was apoplectic. Can't even remember what he'd done, but yeah any kid of mine caught gratuitously disrespecting people would not have an easy life for a while. 😁

@jacklaridian@social.horrorhub.club You can't sez faire-r than that. (Sorry 😊)

You make a good point about age. For many there was clearly a rush of power to the hormone-soaked brain. I suspect the Griefers and Abusers in online gaming are predominantly that demographic: the stories of people spewing rape threats online only to be uncovered and revealed to their appalled parents is a favourite genre of mine.

This will be my second Pinned Post.

Someone threw my use of anonymity up at me the other day, while objecting to a comment I'd made (it happens: I don't always get it right.). The implication was clear: Anonymity is harmful.

Respectfully, I disagree, and want to open this up for conversation because I think for some it's become frozen as Anonymity = Bad. General discourse around Troll behaviour seems to have cemented this idea in people's minds: "If you're not showing your whole identifiable/verifiable birth-self (#Truther) then you're doing it for nefarious reasons", backed up by cod-psychology around that mask liberating people to be their inner asshole.

This emphatically does happen but it's not always the case.

I've had more battles online than I can count, coming up for a quarter of a century's worth. I'm opinionated and like to set people straight - particularly if there's clear harm involved in someone's words or actions. Racism, Misogyny, TERFism...I've scars from fighting against all of them.

But I'm also quite a private person. Some people I clash with are pretty much evil (or behaving that way). I feel that requires protection; I need a level of protection. Over the years I've become very comfortable with creating a shield persona that keeps me safe. My Internet Name, Uraael, is part of this. I am Birth Name online only in certain circumstances, usually where I can't avoid it.

But this does not mean I change who I am, or how I deal with people. Perhaps I'm a touch bolder online? Perhaps conversations are easier to follow and interact with here instead of neuro-divergently puzzling them out in meat-space? These aren't things I have much control over, much as I might wish otherwise. But by and large I try hard to remain authentic to who I am everywhere.

Extrapolating outward, there could be any number of perfectly legitimate reasons why a person might want their identity shielded. The LGBTQIA community is a perfect example. Being who they/we are can have unpleasant and even life-threatening real world implication. Providing yourself some cover therefore makes perfect sense. If you don't need that then I'd suggest you enjoy a level of privilege that many others don't (my accuser was a white cishet male...), and would ask you consider what it's like in their world for a second before passing accusative judgement.

You might have to work a little harder to really truly know who I am but my heart and soul are right there every day in my posts and replies. Judge not a book by it's shiny animated cover.

Peace.

#Anonymity #Protection

The fact BlueSky shortens to BS feels like an object lesson in how not to name things. The same lesson Paramount/CBS learned with Star Trek: Discovery and the Committee for the Liberation of Terrifying Organisms and Their Rehabilitation Into Society should really have put their finger on earlier.

#BlueSky #STD #RedDwarf

@madeindex@mastodon.social @me_the_fl00f@cybre.club

It's shutting down at the end of the year:

https://info.firefish.dev/notes/9xsukr38m3komd63

@rakoo@blah.rako.space @Gargron@mastodon.social @graue@social.coop @michaelcoyote@mastodon.social If Calckey had been ready in Nov 2022 I think it would have have seen a much higher retention rate than Masto.

I get really frustrated by how Masto dominates conversation, even in the Fedi itself. People don't seem to realise they have alternatives that don't mean starting over somewhere else.

@michaelcoyote@mastodon.social @graue@social.coop @Gargron@mastodon.social

Yearning for the day when disgruntled Masto users lift their eyes to the better software the Fedi already has...

...but, no, when they do lift their eyes it's to external platforms funded by venture capitalists.

So frustrating.

Tiring of #Bluesky chat so here is my current gaggle of honking thoughts before I fly south for winter. Geese imagery for the win. Honk.

* I will not be joining Bluesky. Tried it last year: it's not for me. Long Live The Fedi.

* I am also largely resistant to Human Herd behaviour. Hot Right Now = me swerving to avoid. I don't trust crowds. FOMO makes an enemy of contentment.

* If you find Bluesky better for you, awesome. My highest wish for people is that they find where they're happiest. You do you, with my blessing.

* Just go in eyes open, is all I'm sayin'. It's a centralised, VC funded enterprise, and if you don't know what Enshittification is look it up. The future trajectory of that service does not look promising. Twitter is the lesson from history that some of you are choosing not to learn.

* The Fedi has problems, large and small. We know, ok? But if you're heading for Bluesky, don't be a dick and savage the place loads of your audience still think of as Home.

* Bluesky looks attractive but I see lots of folk making comparisons to Mastodon, the least well-featured of the Fedi social media clients. Give a Misskey fork a try (Cherrypick or Sharkey 👍) and you might see differently. We have Quote Posts, Bubble Game, MFM, emoji reactions and Achievements. 😁 Drive is also really neat. Honourable mention: Akkoma is great too.

* Starter Packs are a great idea the Fedi should explore (we're almost there, just need to tweak Implementation). Cross-pollination is healthy. Fear and ideological bias should be beneath us.

* I'm not averse to bridging to Bluesky. Curious to see what benefit it could bring. But also good to know that link can be severed at will.

* Basically, enjoy what you love and be kind to each other. It's not difficult. Love and Light.

@stadsplanering@mastodon.nu @elduvelle@neuromatch.social @RustyRing@mastodon.scot @jonny@neuromatch.social @mastodonmigration@mastodon.online @james@social.howellcloud.org @mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io

Every other social media platform in the Fediverse has quote posts. You can get that for yourself, today, as easily as opening an account on Sharkey or Akkoma or Cherrypick or....

@jacklaridian@social.horrorhub.club ...is that Angelica Houston??

We are building a religion, a limited edition
We are now accepting callers for these pendant keychains.I am tired of the Russell brand.

This is for you, sir grift of nodnol. The free gift of a disc for the desert island I wish would find you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezoOnI95BpE

#RussellBrand #RightWing #Berk #DesertIslandDiscs #CakeAreSoGood #TheCakeIsATruth

RE: https://mastodon.social/users/br00t4c/statuses/113312419600267565

@br00t4c@mastodon.social

Well, Diddy or didn't he?

@silver_huskey@fandom.ink @damagecontrolblog@mastodon.social @Dio_Senrab@mastodon.social

I can't say enough about Scavengers Reign. What an incredible rare jewel it is. I didnt know Warners had already cancelled it, but omg I expected it. Here's hoping the second life fairy visits soon.

And Furiosa is, as you say, a little bit of a masterpiece. Between this and Fury Road I'm a little bit in awe of Miller's seemingly effortless mastery of his craft. Just a thoroughly enjoyable romp through an extraordinary life, one of my fave films of recent times.

Great write up, both of you. And bless you for continuing the textual tradition; I'm too old and ornery for podcasts and youtubery! 😁