Todd Vierling

I'm moving! To @tv@ap.duh.org on my own domain's single-user instance.

If you follow me, then you should automatically get your follow moved over there, and a follow (or follow request) from there.

Thank you so much @david@tech.lgbt for keeping this instance going ❤️ I'm a little sad to go, but it's time to have a self-contained place for my own data.

1984: watched TV on a big screen from barely a few feet away and only mono audio

2004: watched TV on a big screen from a sofa distance with surround sound speakers

2024: watched TV on a small screen from a few inches away and mono audio (only one half of the BT earbuds in)

Not sure if regressing, or just lazy 😆

It's one of those days when I realize I'm looking through code that goes back over 30 years, and the fact that I've used that software for that long.

My industry is not just maturing, but *aging.* There are plenty of young hungry hackers working on application development, but operating systems, compilers, and other lower-level programming tends to skew older now.

These days, anytime I encounter a young geek who is genuinely interested in low-level software development, I encourage the hell out of them. Somebody needs to take up the torch when my generation retires, because modern infrastructure depends on all these things.

People keep suggesting that I use an official #Mastodon app fork on my Android devices (like #Moshidon or #Megalodon) because they are feature-rich. And they are — but all of those are STILL missing a fundamental feature #Fedilab gives me (even though it isn't as pretty as the others):

Threading cues!

Complex threads look like absolute crap in all the official app forks, and they become virtually impossible for me to follow. Fedilab, and also to an extent #Tusky, have thread depth indicator lines that make it possible to see at a glance who is responding to what post.

I honestly consider this an #accessibility feature that should exist in any client. Thread depth indication has been a standard feature of social media going back to the web forum days before "social media" was even a phrase online.

It's about "protecting the children," right? No, it never has been, and this is mask-off, overt proof. Politicians openly talking about banning all #gender affirming care for #trans adults.

Scoop by @ErinInTheMorn@mstdn.social, thank you so much for making this more widely seen.

I originally was going to CW this but ... No, not this time. This needs to be seen and needs to make people uncomfortable, because this is fucking #genocide in action.

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/ohio-michigan-republicans-in-released

#transgender #HRT #transphobia

Saw a post on bsky today which emphasized the shrinking scope of safe spaces for #queer (and in particular, #trans) people in the US, and it got me thinking. (https://bsky.app/profile/ellebreaksloose.bsky.social/post/3kjsp5w56ik2w)

A lot of White folks didn't know of the existence of the "Negro Motorist #GreenBook", a safe travel guide for Black folks in the 20th century, before it was showcased in the TV series Lovecraft Country.

But queer folks have had safe #travel guides for decades too, thriving into the 2000s, even though they had felt less necessary in recent years. There's a project to preserve some historical guides at https://mappingthegayguides.org/ and a rough modern-day equivalent is https://iglta.org/.

While big cities tend to be safe haven for queer people, states around some of them are quickly becoming hazardous again. Perhaps it's time for a more-detailed Queer Motorist Guide (not just a "vacation guide") to help us travel more safely across this country.

I *hate* that it's come (back) to this.

#transgender #SafeTravel

COVID response is the other #genocide I'm living through now.

It reminds me of how #HIV/AIDS was treated — except that those tossed aside now are the #immunocompromised and #disabled.

#COVID damaged my heart, and a second infection at full blast could kill me.

I get vax boosters. I mask in public, and go to restaurants only infrequently. I don't really attend large events anymore. I continue to test regularly. I have to protect myself because no one else cares anymore.

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/covid-isnt-going-anywhere-masking-up-could-save-my-life

Doing a new system build in 2023, it feels so weird to have a mid-tower case with absolutely no front-facing drive bays anymore

Ah, #queer community infighting. Lately I've been getting more interactions like this from some #cis gay folks who are falling for the #LGB anti- #trans propaganda. To paraphrase:
___

me: I love that your life is good, that the activism work we've done has made it safe for you to exist and love the way you want, and you deserve respect for your identity and self-expression, and connections to the communities you feel a part of.

them: Yeah!

me: And other people deserve your respect for their identity and self-expression, and connections to the communities they feel a part of.

them: ...not like that!
___

If some particular #LGBTQ+ folks don't feel that they are part of a greater community, then that's fine for them, they don't have to be.

But that respect goes both ways. You don't get to treat others as less deserving because their lives don't look like yours.

(edit: removed two sentences to make it clear I am not rejecting anyone; that's the whole point.)

@wyri@toot-toot.wyrihaxim.us @Mabande@mastodon.social @mac@jawns.club I've spent a few work days, here and there, telecommuting from a picnic table in a National Forest wilderness area. (No electricity for miles, but plenty of LTE signal.) This one is an hour (one-way) commute, but when I've put in the time, this particular office has been worth going to for the day.