ProdigalFrog

You sound just like like my AI parents :(

\s

1

Gnome 3, despite being simple by design and relatively easy for us techy folk to adapt to, is likely still quite a radical departure for someone who understands absolutely nothing about computers besides what they had to learn to do their jobs.

Explaining Computers did a good video on Zorin, where he shows it can be more Windows-like. Linux Mint is another good option, but it wouldn't be too different from the Windows themed KDE you tried, IMO.

I think with people such as you described, where change is feared so much, it probably is best to stick with the most familiar possible layout, and to not share more information about the differences than absolutely needed. Perhaps the initial Gnome 3 shock made them shut down even when KDE was introduced instead? Hard to say. Good on ya for trying, though.

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 18h ago

Besides the Big Picture section (which I wrote myself), all other sections were written collaboratively by me and my co-admins in a self-hosted Etherpad that our sysadmin hosts, where we can see each other type in real time (if we happened to be working on it at the same time, I could visually see a co-admin slowly write or rewrite a part they were working on). We put a lot of effort into formatting them because each section would be pinned on our instance for our users to see for an entire month. Even still, we would find typos or mistyped links after they were posted and correct them.

I was the person to start adding emojis to distinguish between sections, and I went to the effort of putting in the emoji flags for the union section since that part in particular is added to the end of every monthly post as a resource for our users.

Our instance is explicitly anti-AI, I have posted Anti-AI documentaries and articles multiple times across the threadiverse, and I have personally created communities such as !pixelart@retrolemmy.com where the rules explicitly do not allow AI generation.

At no point was AI used in any form in the writing of those sections.

2

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 1d ago

They aren't bullet points, they're markdown spoilers that expand when clicked to avoid a wall of text. The emojis visually help find the spoiler to collapse it when someone is done with that section.

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 1d ago

Microsoft has pretty much lost most of their experienced employees, they're sitting on a mountain of spaghetti code with tech debt that goes back to windows 3.11 to maintain compatibility, they've fired their QA team, and their absolutely out-of-touch leadership is trying to force the surviving employees to use AI anywhere they can for developing the OS to pump up the numbers of AI users to prop up their insanely huge AI gamble so shareholders don't lose faith.

They're acting confident because they haven't had to respond to a credible threat to their monopoly for 30 years, and that arrogance combined with everything mentioned above will most likely be their ultimate demise. The corporate system they have created and perpetuated is no longer capable of righting the ship, both technologically and organizationally.

They made a statement years ago now about how they were going to respond to the success of the steamdeck by creating a handheld mode for windows, but they never did, and Valve ate their lunch and allowed Linux to gain a foothold among gamers. They probably couldn't manage building that handheld mode (it's been so many years now, but I read a post from a Microsoft employee detailing how it could take something crazy like a week of work just to add a new menu entry to a drop-down without it introducing major breakages elsewhere).

They haven't been able to develop a killer app or feature for Windows in over a decade, and I don't think there's anything else under their sleeve. I believe we are actively witnessing the downfall of an ossified giant, just as the once great Commodore fell due to incompetence and extreme corporate greed.

They already use Linux for their server division (azure). Eventually, if Linux is able dominate on the desktop in the next decade, they may shift to selling their own Linux distro with a 100% windows compatible container/VM instead, an inversion of their current model of selling Windows with their optional WSL (windows subsystem for Linux).

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 1d ago

Quite good video, cool to see that Germany reuses so many glass bottles like the US used to do back many decades ago!

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 1d ago

Thanks for the info. I guess they're ruining emojis in lists as they did with em dashes. I suppose in the future I'll remove them to avoid the connotation.

1

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 1d ago

The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin is a great classic sci-fi novel, if you're looking for more :)

1

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 1d ago

There was a cartoon recommendations thread a few days ago, it has a huge list in it: https://feddit.uk/post/47788425

2

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 2d ago

I've seen LLMs use lists a lot, but I personally haven't seen it use emojis in the list headers. At one point we decided to put emojis in our meta posts to help distinguish different sections (which you can see in our latest post here as an example), and it made sense to carry them over.

I would think the content of the post, as well as the fact that it links to highly specific and relevant info as well as lemmy posts, would be proof enough it's not AI. Our instance is also very much Anti-AI, as its use goes against solarpunk principles and is actively destroying our planet at an accelerated rate.

16

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 2d ago

What about my post leads you to believe it's AI? That it uses spoiler tags for formatting? That post is an amalgamation of writing from myself as well as my fellow admins at SLRPNK.net for our community to read in our monthly meta posts. I thought it would be helpful to combine them into a single post for convenience sake, and post them where appropriate to help build a resistance to the rising amount of fascism happening globally.

1

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 2d ago

There's a number of ways we can build counter power, and not only does it materially help our situation, it also reduces the feeling of helplessness and despair dramatically, and you'll likely meet some friends along the way.

Here's a handy guide on how to get involved in that sort of stuff.

Part 1: The big picture 🖼️

The protests are good ways of meeting like-minded people in your community to form connections, as well as spreading awareness of local mutual aid groups so more can join or form ICE resistance groups who can join an encrypted chat to coordinate, alert neighbors, and talk strategy. It also is a good place for unions or union members to encourage others to unionize their workplaces, which can also ultimately work toward a national general strike, which is our most tangible and powerful collective action.

The country would be brought to its knees if suddenly deprived of profit and labor, allowing us to directly demand real changes (such as ending the war in Iran, ceasing support for the genocide of Palestine, and Abolishing ICE).

The General Strike was extremely effective in Chile in 2019, and had they not fallen for the trick of liberal reform, they would've had a successful revolution on their hands with virtually no bloodshed.

There are some concrete steps all of us can take toward enacting that hard-core general strike to make it more viable and bearable for us all. (the titles below expand if you click them).

Part 2: Learn First Aid ⛑️

Violence is being used against those who resist and it will only continue. It extremely important to have the skills to be able to keep yourself and others alive if they get hurt.

Tacticool Girlfriend provides a great introduction to building a personal first aid kit, called an IFAK, which can deal with things like bullet wounds and other serious bleeding wounds. I also want to emphasize her recommendation of only buying medical gear from reputable sources (not Amazon!), such as North American Rescue to avoid fakes that could cost you your life.

But you'll need to learn how to use that equipment, too. The best resource for that is to take a local Stop The Bleed class, which are pretty widely available in most places. They may cost a small fee, but can also sometimes be free. Alternatively, if you cannot access a local class, this video by PrepMedic will give you a solid understanding of how to use Tourniquets and Gauze for wound packing.

Injuries are less harmful if they are tended to early. Learning first aid can help conserve resources when healthcare becomes unaffordable. Having several medics in case of harm by police is an extremely powerful morale booster during a protest that may become a police riot. When you become comfortable with the basics of first aid, riot medicine is the next suggested step.

Part 3: Establish or join local Mutual Aid networks ✊

If you haven't already, get to know your neighbors. Mutual aid is a willingness to support and grow your community. This can include informal networks through friends, tenant/renter organizations, solidarity groups, and industrial unions.

These are groups using direct action to solve each other's problems. Building strong communities makes it difficult for fascism to take root. The actions of the government are going to hit every community hard, and the ones who build trust in each other and work together are most likely to survive. We've been building a list of resources in !inperson@slrpnk.net to help you on your way. Also check out this handy guide to find existing groups in your area.

This isn't only for your own community protection. Your ability to organize today will change the political landscape tomorrow. When revolution occurs, the social organizations that show the greatest resilience through the regime are the ones typically calling the shots when the dust settles. When it comes to elections, get out the vote drives are useless if most of the voters are fascists. At some point, you have to do grassroots political education if you don't want fascist candidates winning elections. Mutual aid networks are excellent forums not only for teaching each other good political ideas, but demonstrating them in practice.

There's also some projects you can do that help build community (and can be fun in themselves!), for more info, go here, and scroll down to the "Fun Projects to Build Community) section"

Part 4: Join a Union to help prepare for a General Strike 💪

If you aren't in a union (or even if you are, it's worth dual-carding), consider joining the IWW to unionize your workplace (bonus: you'll get higher wages, better benefits, and more time off if you succeed!) to make a general strike possible.

Once you are in a union you and your coworkers will need to pressure your leadership to prepare for a general strike, as well as pressure them to organize with other unions to enact a general strike. This is especially true if you are in a more traditional union that isn't the IWW. Your local shop may need to organize directly with other unions if your union leaders are too cowardly to do so.

Most unions have a strike fund that can supplement your income during a general strike to make it more financially bearable (you should also save as much money as you can reasonably do, so it can also be used to keep yourself afloat during a strike). A General Strike is officially planned by the UAW for May 1st 2028, but it was planned before Trump was elected, and by then will be too late, so prepare now for one that may start sooner.

You can contact the IWW with the link below:

🌍 US/Global: IWW (Français) - (Español)

And for our international friends, you should join one as well, as fascism is gaining momentum globally. If your country isn't listed below, just contact the IWW directly in the link above, and they'll help you set up a new local branch.

🇦🇷 Argentina: FORA
🇦🇺 Australia: ASF-IWA
🇧🇷 Brazil: FOB
🇧🇬 Bulgaria: ARS, CITUB
🇩🇪 Germany: FAU
🇬🇷 Greece: ESE
🇮🇹 Italy: USI
🇮🇪 Ireland: IWW Ireland
🇳🇱 🇧🇪 Netherlands & Belgium: Vriji Bond
🇪🇸 Spain: CNT
🇸🇪 Sweden: SAC
🇬🇧 United Kingdom: UVW

Part 5: Adopt Security Culture and Digital Camouflage 🛡️

Sometimes benign seeming efforts can turn into unexpected personal data collecting traps. Like an obscure website for exchanging contact info with other students turning into a global ad-tech surveillance network (Facebook), or innocent seeming online personality tests being use to harvest character profiles. Even Etsy, Reddit, Tinder, and Duolingo are feeding information to US Government Agencies like ICE.

Security culture is commonly used to describe the general awareness of such potential traps and how it can affect groups or entire communities. This goes beyond mere individual privacy efforts, as without joint efforts these often fail to work.

Especially in activist circles, security culture is paramount. For opsec reasons not everyone in the group might be aware of what clandestine efforts others are involved in, but with a general security culture many potential data leaks can be avoided.

Movements are made by the volume of their participants, and the easier and less dangerous it is to participate, the more people will get involved. As more people get involved, individual involvement becomes even less dangerous, creating a virtuous cycle.

We'll start it off with some General Advice:

Mentally wall off personal uniquely identifying info from your online presence, actively build a habit of opsec so that withholding information is your default mental state
Be careful about who you meet online
Use different, unrelated usernames, passwords & emails for every account. And try not to connect to those accounts with your real IP address (use Tor or a VPN)
Be mindful that anything done online leaves a trail
agents provocateurs may seek to find patsies willing to perform an ill-advised illegal activity in order to legitimize police repression. If someone is trying to pressure you, especially if you don't have a long and proven history with them, be extremely wary.

For a full guide on what encrypted communications platforms to use, and how to stay off the radar, read the Digital Camouflage section within the Monthly Meta post here (you'll need to scroll down. I'd add it here, but it won't fit in this comment).

I'd also highly recommend Full Spectrum Resistance to anyone who wants further info on how to resist (audiobook version here).

20

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 2d ago

There's actually quite a lot we can do about this, and not only does that materially help our situation, it also reduces the feeling of helplessness and despair dramatically, and you'll likely meet some friends along the way.

Here's a handy guide on how to get involved in that sort of stuff.

Part 1: The big picture 🖼️

The protests are good ways of meeting like-minded people in your community to form connections, as well as spreading awareness of local mutual aid groups so more can join or form ICE resistance groups who can join an encrypted chat to coordinate, alert neighbors, and talk strategy. It also is a good place for unions or union members to encourage others to unionize their workplaces, which can also ultimately work toward a national general strike, which is our most tangible and powerful collective action.

The country would be brought to its knees if suddenly deprived of profit and labor, allowing us to directly demand real changes (such as ending the war in Iran, ceasing support for the genocide of Palestine, and Abolishing ICE).

The General Strike was extremely effective in Chile in 2019, and had they not fallen for the trick of liberal reform, they would've had a successful revolution on their hands with virtually no bloodshed.

There are some concrete steps all of us can take toward enacting that hard-core general strike to make it more viable and bearable for us all. (the titles below expand if you click them).

Part 2: Learn First Aid ⛑️

Violence is being used against those who resist and it will only continue. It extremely important to have the skills to be able to keep yourself and others alive if they get hurt.

Tacticool Girlfriend provides a great introduction to building a personal first aid kit, called an IFAK, which can deal with things like bullet wounds and other serious bleeding wounds. I also want to emphasize her recommendation of only buying medical gear from reputable sources (not Amazon!), such as North American Rescue to avoid fakes that could cost you your life.

But you'll need to learn how to use that equipment, too. The best resource for that is to take a local Stop The Bleed class, which are pretty widely available in most places. They may cost a small fee, but can also sometimes be free. Alternatively, if you cannot access a local class, this video by PrepMedic will give you a solid understanding of how to use Tourniquets and Gauze for wound packing.

Injuries are less harmful if they are tended to early. Learning first aid can help conserve resources when healthcare becomes unaffordable. Having several medics in case of harm by police is an extremely powerful morale booster during a protest that may become a police riot. When you become comfortable with the basics of first aid, riot medicine is the next suggested step.

Part 3: Establish or join local Mutual Aid networks ✊

If you haven't already, get to know your neighbors. Mutual aid is a willingness to support and grow your community. This can include informal networks through friends, tenant/renter organizations, solidarity groups, and industrial unions.

These are groups using direct action to solve each other's problems. Building strong communities makes it difficult for fascism to take root. The actions of the government are going to hit every community hard, and the ones who build trust in each other and work together are most likely to survive. We've been building a list of resources in !inperson@slrpnk.net to help you on your way. Also check out this handy guide to find existing groups in your area.

This isn't only for your own community protection. Your ability to organize today will change the political landscape tomorrow. When revolution occurs, the social organizations that show the greatest resilience through the regime are the ones typically calling the shots when the dust settles. When it comes to elections, get out the vote drives are useless if most of the voters are fascists. At some point, you have to do grassroots political education if you don't want fascist candidates winning elections. Mutual aid networks are excellent forums not only for teaching each other good political ideas, but demonstrating them in practice.

There's also some projects you can do that help build community (and can be fun in themselves!), for more info, go here, and scroll down to the "Fun Projects to Build Community) section"

Part 4: Join a Union to help prepare for a General Strike 💪

If you aren't in a union (or even if you are, it's worth dual-carding), consider joining the IWW to unionize your workplace (bonus: you'll get higher wages, better benefits, and more time off if you succeed!) to make a general strike possible.

Once you are in a union you and your coworkers will need to pressure your leadership to prepare for a general strike, as well as pressure them to organize with other unions to enact a general strike. This is especially true if you are in a more traditional union that isn't the IWW. Your local shop may need to organize directly with other unions if your union leaders are too cowardly to do so.

Most unions have a strike fund that can supplement your income during a general strike to make it more financially bearable (you should also save as much money as you can reasonably do, so it can also be used to keep yourself afloat during a strike). A General Strike is officially planned by the UAW for May 1st 2028, but it was planned before Trump was elected, and by then will be too late, so prepare now for one that may start sooner.

You can contact the IWW with the link below:

🌍 US/Global: IWW (Français) - (Español)

And for our international friends, you should join one as well, as fascism is gaining momentum globally. If your country isn't listed below, just contact the IWW directly in the link above, and they'll help you set up a new local branch.

🇦🇷 Argentina: FORA
🇦🇺 Australia: ASF-IWA
🇧🇷 Brazil: FOB
🇧🇬 Bulgaria: ARS, CITUB
🇩🇪 Germany: FAU
🇬🇷 Greece: ESE
🇮🇹 Italy: USI
🇮🇪 Ireland: IWW Ireland
🇳🇱 🇧🇪 Netherlands & Belgium: Vriji Bond
🇪🇸 Spain: CNT
🇸🇪 Sweden: SAC
🇬🇧 United Kingdom: UVW

Part 5: Adopt Security Culture and Digital Camouflage 🛡️

Sometimes benign seeming efforts can turn into unexpected personal data collecting traps. Like an obscure website for exchanging contact info with other students turning into a global ad-tech surveillance network (Facebook), or innocent seeming online personality tests being use to harvest character profiles. Even Etsy, Reddit, Tinder, and Duolingo are feeding information to US Government Agencies like ICE.

Security culture is commonly used to describe the general awareness of such potential traps and how it can affect groups or entire communities. This goes beyond mere individual privacy efforts, as without joint efforts these often fail to work.

Especially in activist circles, security culture is paramount. For opsec reasons not everyone in the group might be aware of what clandestine efforts others are involved in, but with a general security culture many potential data leaks can be avoided.

Movements are made by the volume of their participants, and the easier and less dangerous it is to participate, the more people will get involved. As more people get involved, individual involvement becomes even less dangerous, creating a virtuous cycle.

We'll start it off with some General Advice:

Mentally wall off personal uniquely identifying info from your online presence, actively build a habit of opsec so that withholding information is your default mental state
Be careful about who you meet online
Use different, unrelated usernames, passwords & emails for every account. And try not to connect to those accounts with your real IP address (use Tor or a VPN)
Be mindful that anything done online leaves a trail
agents provocateurs may seek to find patsies willing to perform an ill-advised illegal activity in order to legitimize police repression. If someone is trying to pressure you, especially if you don't have a long and proven history with them, be extremely wary.

For a full guide on what encrypted communications platforms to use, and how to stay off the radar, read the Digital Camouflage section within the Monthly Meta post here (you'll need to scroll down. I'd add it here, but it won't fit in this comment).

I'd also highly recommend Full Spectrum Resistance to anyone who wants further info on how to resist (audiobook version here).

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 2d ago

I think you are confusing terms. Scraping a website means to download copies of its pages. Mirroring means taking those scraped page copies and re-hosting them on your website. Since you said you were doing both of those things, that would mean you would be mass scraping the site to rehost (mirror) on yours.

If you are not doing either of those, then you are not mass scraping or mirroring. It sounds like instead you just scraped a few pages of piefed, and then modified the CSS/HTML of the page itself for your own purposes?

If so, that's not as bad as I thought.

However, I can guarantee you that no one here is interested in joining an isolated reddit clone that isn't federated with Piefed or lemmy, and which is explicitly designed to eventually allow you to throw ads on it for passive income. That is precisely what we all were trying to escape when we left reddit for the fediverse.

3

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 3d ago

But you're scraping piefed.social to fill your site with content so you can monetize it, while increasing hosting costs for piefed for your own gain.

ProdigalFrog @slrpnk.net 3d ago

You can narrow it down by platform. https://fedidb.com/software/lemmy

But that doesn't account for piefed users, which I think is around 6k monthly?