Notices by Curmudgeon (jetton@mastodon.online)

Amidst the current American hellscape, want to share one bit of good news.

I can see well again.
Just had cataract surgery.

An amazing difference.

I can read books without a magnifying glass.
Read the computer without having to always enlarge the screen.
Drive even at night.
Walk the dogs at night without headlamp and feeling the road with my cane.

And at night I looked up and saw all these little white specks in the sky.

Stars. I can see stars.

@overholt

When offered for sale to the British Library the Keeper of Manuscripts replied he was not interested because he'd already got one.

Monty Python before Monty Python.

@overholt

Not only in English, but not even Middle English. Not even Early Modern English.
But Ye Olde Soundeth Moderne Englishe.

🎵 🎵
I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain
A glorious feelin', to be Public Domain
🎶

US Public Domain Day 2025

https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2025/

@mmasnick

Have you thought of an alternate rule set where the winner is not the person with the most users and influencers, but instead success is measured by more interaction, less toxicity, and few influencers, with a stable modest number of users. With bonus points if resistant to attack by being a federation of sorts of small groups.

I think there is a real life example but the name eludes me at the moment.

@ai6yr @mattblaze @CStamp @VirginiaHolloway @joy

Klaatu barada nikto.

There has been speculation that the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO was the work of a hired professional.

Killing people is wrong.
Killing people just for monetary gain is even worse.
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To be fair, I guess that applies to the gunman as well.

The US government has produced a useful pamphlet explaining fascism.

Might be useful to give to relatives who support Trump.

#fascism #USpol

https://archive.org/details/ArmyTalkOrientationFactSheet64-Fascism/mode/2up

Don't waste any time mourning. Organize!

Joe Hill, 1915

@mekkaokereke

What I find strange is that the same people that (rightly) called out Trump for his "Black jobs" statements then blithely talked about "Black voters" as if they were a homogeneous group.

McSweeney's has a handy list of things that Trump did last time around, in case you've forgotten a few.

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-atrocities-1-1-056

Before one gets too upset about Elon Musk spending $45 million per month to elect Trump, remember it's only a scant one-tenth of one percent of his Tesla bonus.

Loki wants his photo shared too.

#DogsOfMastodon

This French book of prayers is unique in that it is not printed, but is woven in silk on a Jacquard loom.
It was programmed on several hundred thousand punch cards over two years.

#Books #Bookstodon

@jameshowell
Now I feel better about my 4 years in grad school. Never got a PhD but certainly obtained my PTSD.

They forgot to send me the diploma though.

@NanoRaptor

This was the first (and only) of a planned series of Quadrilateral Macs.
Notice that the right side is taller than the left and that the top is wider than the bottom. This rather daring departure from the norm was not received well (except by optometrists who had a sudden influx of patients demanding new glasses).

Trying to find the best cardio exercise? Maybe Google search can help.

So Elon Musk needs 46 billion dollars to stay motivated.

Maybe Tesla should ask employees whether they prefer:

A. Give Musk 46 billion and he stays

B. Musk leaves and everyone gets a $340,000 raise.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/06/tesla-chair-says-elon-musk-needs-46-billion-pay-plan-to-stay-motivated/

Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker on Hitler's rise to power in 1932.

How this was facilitated by conservatives who thought they would be in control, and by the press that normalized his behavior.

I had always thought it facile to compare Trump to Hitler. I no longer think that.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/25/takeover-hitlers-final-rise-to-power-timothy-w-ryback-book-review

Why was this never mentioned in school?