Ernest Worthing @ejworthing@octodon.social

@craigmaloney @cwebber

I always wear long pants. That way, if I get teleported to Italy, people won't give me dirty looks. Or at least they wont' give me dirty looks for wearing shorts.

There once was a rhetorical man
Who said, “Flatter the public I can.”
He boned up on knick-knackery,
All four forms of quackery,
And for Ruler of Athens he ran.

Outline Plato’s theory of true and false arts, and explain how a false politician would use the “knacks” to gain power in a state.

https://robertpaulwolff.blogspot.com/2018/05/what-i-am-doing-today.html

@h @mayel

I only write nonfiction. Fiction writing sounds like a different process.

For me, scattered bits are sometimes a necessary first step.

@h

If you don't know what you want to say, try writing something about why you don't know what you want to say.

@h

When I am struggling to finish writing something for public consumption, it helps to write something on the same topic that will be for my eyes only.

Try writing by hand on paper. Or try using a piece of software you won't use for the finished product. (I finish things in LibreOffice or Word. I often start in Emacs.)

Try getting an idea out of your head without worrying about style or grammar. Outline or use incomplete sentences.

Positive review of the #librem 13v2 in Linux Journal:

https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/review-librem-13v2

I can confirm that the Librem boots very fast, and that it runs cool enough to type with it on your lap comfortably.

I have not experienced the quirk the author reports with the backslash key.

On "predictive policing" in Los Angeles:

"Critics claim that this essentially creates a cycle where anyone who has any history with the criminal justice system can now be subjected to increased surveillance for the foreseeable future, even if they’re not suspected of having any connection to a recent crime."

https://injusticetoday.com/the-lapd-has-a-new-surveillance-formula-powered-by-palantir-1e277a95762a

Some people use the word "socialism" to mean public ownership of the means of production.

Some people use the word "socialism" to mean any economic system with a strong social safety net and public policies that reduce economic inequality (e.g. progressive taxation).

Is Sweden, home of Volvo, Ericsson, and H&M, socialist? That depends on your definition of "socialism."

It's fine to use the word in either way, but be clear about how you're using it.

Possibly of interest:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/socialismmovie/socialism-an-american-story/

A lot of sci-fi plots involve humanity sending settlers to another planet because we've ruined Earth.

If human failings will inevitably lead us to ruin Earth, the same failings would lead us to ruin any other planet we settle.

There is hope for human life thriving on other planets only if there is hope for human life thriving long-term on this planet.

We have to solve our problems *here*.

The distress signal "Mayday mayday mayday!" comes from the French "m'aidez!" (help me).

It has nothing to do with socialism or with northern hemisphere spring festivals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayday

May Day! May Day!

Data on book translations from and to different languages:

http://language.media.mit.edu/visualizations/books

Incredibly, the number of translations *to* Old English, Middle English, and Middle French is more than zero. Hundreds of books have recently been translated to Latin!

@Elizafox @sydneyfalk

I do not believe what I am reading in this thread!

Document #3-6-4:19:18