@aral@mastodon.ar.al cover
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

aral

@aral@mastodon.ar.al

I make small things.

My posts are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)

🍉🌻 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

#SmallWeb #SmallTech #web #tech #privacy #humanRights #personhood #democracy #aral #fedi22 #searchable

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

“Choice.”

Qwant search for foo at 09:18: Qwant is temporarily unavailable.
Ecosia search for foo @ 09:17: There was a problem loading search results for “foo”
Two astronauts staring at Earth from space. Front astronaut: “you mean it’s all just Bing?” Rear astronaut, aiming gun at front astronaut: “Always has been.”

DenisCOVIDinfoguy , to AusCOVID19 group
@DenisCOVIDinfoguy@aus.social avatar

🇦🇺 Australia: COVID keeps killing more people every month than flu does in a year.

“In other words, there were three times as many confirmed Covid-19 cases as influenza cases,” Adrian Esterman, professor of biostatistics at the University of South Australia, told TND.

“And the death rate associated with Covid-19 was about four times as high as for influenza.”

He said it was “completely crazy that face masks are not mandatory in all health care, hospital and aged-care settings”.

@auscovid19

Source: https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/2024/05/22/covid-kills-more-people-than-flu

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@DenisCOVIDinfoguy @auscovid19 Funny, I can get a flu jab here tomorrow but if I want a Covid booster, I have to wait over thirty years.

aral , to Microsoft Windows
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

Folks who might be looking to move from Windows to Linux: another option, if it’s financially feasible for you and you don’t want to mess with installing Linux, is to sell your Windows machine and buy a Linux one.

Yep, they exist.

Folks like @starlabs in the UK, @tuxedocomputers in the EU, and @system76 in the US sell Linux machines that just work out of the box.

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

“We cannot apply international law only when it’s convenient.”

– Senator Bernie Sanders, US Senate.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pEDoCaYSwVw

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

“In one of those moments that you can’t believe is not satire, Antony Blinken met with Arab-American leaders and warned them that if Palestine got statehood, the US would defund the United Nations and potentially the World Food Program, plunging the developing world into starvation. It wasn’t enough for these fascists to starve innocents in Palestine, they’re now threatening to do it across the world. They would really rather kill millions more than stop doing genocide.”

https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/blinken-suggests-the-world-food-program

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@rimu Update: primary source (see link in article):

https://x.com/halalflow/status/1792944530389393422

Person making the claim (Bilal Hammoud) was at said meeting with Blinken:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/18/politics/antony-blinken-arab-palestinian-americans-gaza/index.html

Gilad Erdan had also mentioned the idea:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israeli-envoy-says-us-must-cut-united-nations-funding-if-palestinian-statehood-endorsed/

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Miro_Collas @adachika192 @palestine Confirmation from a white person? Is Bilal inherently untrustworthy because he is an Arab-American? I’m having real trouble understanding this.

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/112483833537369574

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Miro_Collas @adachika192 @palestine I didn’t realise it was a card. My question is what makes an Arab-American who was in the actual meeting sharing his recollection of his first-hand experience at the meeting an untrustworthy primary source. I don’t think I’ve gotten an answer to that question.

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu I don’t know. You’re the senior news editor. Why don’t you follow up and see? Isn’t that your job?

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu No, that clearly is also your job as your news organisation routinely quotes IDF spokespeople without questioning whether they are lying or not.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=france24%20idf%20spokesperson%20said

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu And here you have one so take it for exactly what that’s worth. Seriously, go ask Blinken if the guy is lying or not then report back. That’s be useful. That’s your job. You’re the journalist.

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Miro_Collas @adachika192 @palestine 👋

adachika192 , to palestine group
@adachika192@hcommons.social avatar

https://x.com/BlackJewishA/status/1792955370433917162

From X post of Black-Jewish Alliance, call for rally in on June 7th, in front of German Embassy.

Theme: Why does love Genocide?


@palestine

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@adachika192 @happymilk @palestine Alt text: Flyer:

JOIN OUR SHABBAT RALLY AND ACTION FOR PALESTINE
FRIDAY 7TH JUNE
FROM NAMIBIA, TO THE HOLOCAUST, TO GAZA, WHY DOES
GERMANY
GENOCIDE?
PROTEST, PRAYERS, POLITICAL EDUCATION
BLACK
Embassy of Germany,
JEWISH
6pm
23 Belgrave Square,
ALLIANCE
SW1X 8PZ

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

No good ever comes out of VC.

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

If you don’t understand:

  • The profit motive.

  • Slowly boiling frogs.

  • Institutional corruption (the influence of corporate finance in political decision-making – i.e., lobbying and revolving doors).

You will keep getting surprised over and over gain by what corporations and the politicians bought by the corporations do.

molly0xfff , to Privacy
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

back in my day we called this spyware

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@molly0xfff Yep. (https://ar.al/notes/spyware-2.0/)

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

It’s not enshittification, it’s crapitalism.

(Updated by popular request) :)

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

Capitalism: a social system where the rich live and the poor die.

Ireland’s two-tier cancer drug system: ‘I can give one drug to one lot of patients, not to another’

https://www.irishtimes.com/health/2024/05/20/irelands-two-tier-cancer-drug-system-i-can-give-one-drug-to-one-lot-of-patients-not-to-another/

kde , to KDE
@kde@floss.social avatar

If you don't use Bing with Edge, Microsoft will tell you your computer needs repairing.

https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/windows-operating-systems/microsoft-now-says-your-pc-is-in-need-of-repair-if-youre-not-using-bing-with-edge

They are not wrong.

To mend your machine:

  1. Ditch Windows
  2. Install Plasma
  3. Your computer is ready.

https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/

@kde

A laptop running the laters version of Plasma, Plasma 6.

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@kde @kde Guess what, Firefox does the same thing (a refresh will reset your privacy settings and your default browser, all of which affect Mozilla’s revenue streams) but they’re a tad sneakier/cleverer(?) about it.

(Firefox is not private by default so getting you to reset your settings is how they try to influence you to return to their preferred configuration.)

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@dajix @kde @kde It’s deceptive. They know exactly what they’re doing. That’s why they also ask if you haven’t used your browser for a while.

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Aaron @kde @kde Yes, to non-private defaults. Let’s put it this way: if Firefox’s defaults respected your privacy, Mozilla would go bankrupt tomorrow.

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Bro666 @kde @kde Which would make perfect sense if I had said “Plasma forces you to use Firefox.” Would you like any other straw men to rile against?

w7voa , to Random stuff
@w7voa@journa.host avatar

As President Biden speaks to the Morehouse College commencement ceremony in Atlanta someone is holding aloft behind him a flag of the DRCongo while one graduating student has turned his back and draped himself in the Palestinian flag.

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@w7voa Oh, the arms dealer thinks the genocide is heartbreaking. That’s sweet.

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

To those Americans getting offended that their president and country are being criticised for arming a genocide may I just remind you that there is something a tad more offensive than being criticised for arming a genocide which is arming a goddamn genocide. Get some fucking perspective.

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

Joe Biden could still turn this around and not lose to Trump by defunding Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. If he doesn’t, there will be only person to blame for Joe Biden losing to Trump in six months and that’s Joe “I am a Zionist” Biden.

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@StillIRise1963 Yes, Trump winning will fuck everyone over. And if Trump wins, the only person to blame is the one who knows exactly what to do to win and steadfastly refuses to do it because he will not stop enabling a genocide.

If someone is torturing a puppy on live television and you tell to him to stop if he wants to be elected and he doesn’t and he loses, he’s the only one to blame for losing whether or not the other guy will shoot the puppy dead when he wins.

aral OP ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@StillIRise1963 I’m not white. I’m from the part of the world that Americans of all skin colours have historically shown no reticence in bombing. The part of the world where a genocide is being carried out right now using American bombs.

And yes, if it comes down to whether an American should vote for Biden or Trump in six months then, yes, vote for Biden.

But the third way is to make Biden see he will lose unless he stops funding this genocide and, y’know, stop a damn genocide.

JackTheCat , to Random stuff
@JackTheCat@mastodon.scot avatar

Mhairi Black: Promising change is another empty pledge from Labour | The National

https://www.thenational.scot/politics/24329119.mhairi-black-promising-change-another-empty-pledge-labour/

aral ,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@MadeyeTheCarnaptious @JackTheCat Alt text: Photo of Keir Starmer surrounded by quotes from newspapers:

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer drops pledge to scrap tuition fees
Sky News, 2 May 2023

Sir Keir Starmer vows no freedom of movement under plan to 'make Brexit work'
The Independent, 4 July 2022

Keir Starmer refuses to commit to public sector pay rises
Daily Record, 27 June 2023… (1/3)

aral , to Random stuff
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

Who is worthy of your criticism?

davidrevoy , to Random stuff
@davidrevoy@framapiaf.org avatar

My treasure

A webcomic in four panels (no speech bubble) Panel 1: In a cave containing a treasure with a lot of gold, a young adventurer is chased by a monster: a treasure with big teeth. She drops all the gold items she had on her escape. Panel 2: While climbing a mountain of bones and skulls to reach the exit of the cave, the adventurer throws a bone to the monster. It is startled. Panel 3: Like a brave dog, the monster returns the bone to the adventurer, happy to start over. The adventurer has a think about it. Panel 4: Later, in a city, the adventurer walks proudly and happily with her new "dog" (the monster's treasure) on a leash. This one is a happy one. Mini Fantasy Theater, by David Revoy (www.davidrevoy.com) License: CC-By-Sa
ALT
  • Reply
  • Expand (74)
  • Collapse (74)
    • + HauntedOwlbear
    aral ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @davidrevoy Gorgeous :)

    arstechnica , to Random stuff
    @arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

    GM adds the ability to power your house from one of its new EVs

    GM's Ultium-based EVs can power your house during an outage.

    https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/05/gm-adds-the-ability-to-power-your-house-from-one-of-its-new-evs/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

    aral ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @arstechnica Makes sense, it’s about the size of a one-bedroom flat in a European country.

    aral , to Random stuff
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    If your democratic process leaves you no option but to vote for genocide, your democratic process has already failed.

    aral OP ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @cferdinandi @josh You don’t have to convince me of it, I already know it.

    What I don’t see are the same liberals telling people to vote Biden no matter what on the streets demanding Biden stop the genocide and moving heaven and earth to reform the two-party system. Folks seems resigned to just vote every four years until some flavour of Trump wins and it’s game over. Ditto in the UK and parts of Europe.

    aral OP ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @josh @cferdinandi All I’m saying is that if it was over 35,000 Americans killed and over 15,000 American kids murdered because of guns that Biden sold, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The sad truth is that dead Brown folks on the other side of the world just doesn’t tilt the scales the same way.

    (And the students protesting don’t have tons of privilege and they are, perhaps more than anyone right now, having an impact.)

    aral , to Random stuff
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    • is carrying out in .

    • Context! You must go back… all the way to October 7.

    • Sure, let’s go back: let’s go back 76 years to May 15, 1948, to the ; the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people where 750,000 people were “expelled from their homes or made to flee, at first by Zionist paramilitaries through various violent means, and after the establishment of the State of Israel, by the Israel Defense Forces.” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba)

    • No, no, not like that.

    mike , to Random stuff
    @mike@flipboard.social avatar

    The antidote to AI destroying the web is to strengthen human connection and to make those connections a fundamental part of the open web. Quickly.

    aral ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @mike That’s the idea behind Small Web (TL; DR: peer-to-peer web) :)

    https://ar.al/2020/08/07/what-is-the-small-web/

    aral , to News from fediverse
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    Interesting: I just tried following someone on mastodon.ie with an unlocked account and it got turned into a follow request.

    Has mastodon.ie silenced me?

    If so, I’d like to know why.

    CC @mastodonie

    PS. This won’t affect you if you’re already following me. It will mean my posts would get hidden from the public timeline and wouldn’t show up in trending posts, etc., on your instance. Hence “silenced.”

    aral OP ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @pre That’s one possibility, I guess.

    davidho , to Random stuff
    @davidho@mastodon.world avatar

    Is this a safe space to point out that the largest direct air capture plant in the world — designed to remove 36,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year — is a time machine that takes us back 28 seconds in a year? 🥲

    https://wapo.st/3UTqMwC

    aral ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @davidho But they sell carbon credits so rich folks can continue to fuck up the planet with a clean conscience so it must be ok.

    aral , to Random stuff
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    If you design a system such that you cannot differentiate people from corporations and bots and that’s your defense for calling all of them “users”, you’ve designed a system that conflates people – who are mortal, have feelings, can feel pain and be hurt and who have human rights that must be protected – with the very entities that oftentimes exist to exploit them.

    Design for people. Call them people. All else is secondary.

    taylorlorenz , to Random stuff
    @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social avatar

    Pro-Israel counter-protesters at UCLA previously took part in anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-vaccine events across Southern California.

    Some of the pro-Israel counter protesters are also associated with local Proud Boy and Three Percenter militia chapters and fundamentalist Christian churches.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/10/college-campus-protests-far-right

    aral ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @taylorlorenz Noscitur a sociis

    aral , to Random stuff
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    Folks, if your strategy is to vote multiple times (at ~€1/pop) to try and influence the Eurovision Song Contest outcome against Israel: please don’t.

    Financially rewarding the EBU will only make them look successful. You don’t buy all the beer at the fascist bar to teach them a lesson.

    aral , to Random stuff
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    You don’t have a cost of living crisis, you have capitalism.

    JoSuus , to Random stuff
    @JoSuus@todon.eu avatar

    Eurovision desperately trying and failing to keep the Song Festival free from politics proves what every marginalized person already knows: Everything is political. Life is political.

    aral ,
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    @JoSuus Apolitical means political in the interests of the powerful.

    aral , to Random stuff
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    Hello, I am new startup!

    I’m funded by venture capital and free to use.

    Please come and make me valuable by using me. Make my numbers go up!

    Once you do, I’ll have everything I need and I can do whatever I want with the time and effort you’ve put into making me successful.

    Not happy? Fuck you, I don’t need you anymore (network effects FTW, amirite?)… I’m laughing all the way to the bank.

    Goodbye!

    …

    Hello, I am a new startup…

    When are we going to learn to say “no” at the start?

    aral , to Random stuff
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    Capitalism is an economic theory that posits that a relative handful of greedy fucks gorging themselves is how we provide adequate nutrition to the population at large.

    aral , to Random stuff
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    Dear @EU_Commission,

    Wild idea: how about you don’t poison us for profit?

    “The European Commission is planning to allow for wide-ranging exemptions from a proposed ban on substances known as PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals’, to protect key industries, German newspaper Welt reported on Wednesday.”

    https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-commission-eyeing-exemptions-forever-chemicals-ban-welt-reports-2024-05-08/

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • Mordhau
  • WatchParties
  • Rutgers
  • steinbach
  • Lexington
  • cragsand
  • mead
  • RetroGamingNetwork
  • mauerstrassenwetten
  • loren
  • xyz
  • PowerRangers
  • AnarchoCapitalism
  • kamenrider
  • supersentai
  • itdept
  • neondivide
  • space_engine
  • AgeRegression
  • WarhammerFantasy
  • Teensy
  • learnviet
  • bjj
  • khanate
  • electropalaeography
  • MidnightClan
  • jeremy
  • fandic
  • All magazines
    •