@megmac@social.treehouse.systems

Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 29, 2026

Something that I'm realizing as I bike a lot more this year is that I think I pretty much value good bike *crossings* over a lot of bike *lanes*. I feel like these get conflated into one project a lot, but honestly intersections scare me more than side by side traffic.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 27, 2026

Replying to @AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca

@AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca crazy that that short of a storm backed things up so much :o

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 26, 2026

Lmao matchbox car movie. Mattel really learned all the wrong lessons from The Barbie Movie. Like, impressively so.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 24, 2026

Gonna go to a local trans-people swim night put on by pflag tomorrow night. I miss swimming regularly, and Swimming While Trans is just like.. this whole complicated thing. So this should be nice.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 23, 2026

Hey people who know Montreal, if you were gonna stay in Montreal with your partner for a fall weekend, and you'd mostly be intending to get around by transit, where in the city (that there are hotels) do you think would be a good place to stay? Assume we're mostly interested in foodie kinds of things, as well as like.. Nice places to walk around outside. We'd consider renting bikes too. Not so much outright full on tourist traps. Boosts welcome! #montreal

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 22, 2026

My central computing conspiracy theory is that "general computing for normal people" was largely a solved problem by the 90s, through things like Excel, visual basic (and HyperCard before it), Flash, and comprehensible html (along with web design tools that were deeply flawed but extremely usable like Front Page and Dreamweaver), and the industry has spent every year since ripping us farther and farther away from it by forcing effective software development to happen only in enterprises contexts. And the only reason they're letting people have something like it again through "AI" is that they(*) think they can wrap it up in subscription fees. If "open models" "win", look for the gates to shut, the MCP descriptions and AGENTS.md files to evaporate, etc. Just like how the app APIs evaporated from Facebook and Twitter when they were no longer useful. Look for corp llms to require enterprise licences with lock-in clauses and to refuse to work if you hold them wrong. Because we've been here before. They'll do it again. If you're betting your farm on this stuff you should have a plan for this. (*) "they" are not a shadowy cabal of evil mustache twirling guys in a smoky room, "they" is all the humans responding to the incentive structures around tech and venture capital as an industry.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 16, 2026

https://tickets.fringetheatre.ca/ The physical guide (my preferred way to browse) doesn't come out until the 29th, but Edmonton Fringe show listings are up on the website now! If you go to some shows I might be the one scanning your ticket! :) #yegfringe #yeg

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 16, 2026

The only thing worse than bad, unvetted, ai subtitles is bad, unvetted, ai subtitles that have been burned into the video itself.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 11, 2026

Replying to @megmac@social.treehouse.systems

And here we go again lol Really glad I was feeling too groggy to go out an hour ago!

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jul 11, 2026

Ahhh there's the classic 5 minute prairie evening thunderstorm I know and love....

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · May 09, 2026

Replying to @AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca

@AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca @eclectech@things.uk I voted for the first two, but if I knew a better word for the second option I'd probably use it. To me there's a material line at whether "I can quickly pop back home to get something I forgot" that matters more than the specific bed I'm sleeping in though.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · May 05, 2026

Replying to @AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca

@AmeliasBrain oh wow that's a wild bus trip you took last night :o

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 28, 2026

Replying to @keithzg@fediverse.keithzg.ca

@keithzg @ned I think it's probably already pretty weak. Decades of single party rule will do that whatever the legislation says. Ontario is just on its way to finding that out.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 28, 2026

Replying to @ned@beige.party

@ned can we foia the prompts? I bet that would be pretty revealing.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 23, 2026

Replying to @dyckron@cosocial.ca

@dyckron@cosocial.ca I thought conservatives hated participation trophies?

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 22, 2026

Replying to @reallyflygreg@mstdn.ca

@reallyflygreg @AmeliasBrain @Daveography I think vertical solar panels can take in a bunch of reflected light as well, especially if the building is tall. If your panels are roof mounted it basically never makes sense to aim them north but the calculation is different for opportunistic vertical.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 21, 2026

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 18, 2026

Replying to @megmac@social.treehouse.systems

@AmeliasBrain more serious thought from a patio today: I think it's really more about the sun and wind than temperature. Even 10c can be really comfy if the sun is out in full force, and 20c can be miserable if it's cloudy and windy.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 18, 2026

Replying to @xethos@mastodon.xethos.net

@xethos@mastodon.xethos.net yep! Filmed and set in red deer and Edmonton. It's Before I Change My Mind, a queer coming of age movie by local queer icon Trevor Anderson. I definitely recognized some red deer landmarks even aside from much of it being set in red deer college, where my parents taught. I'm not sure what grade school they filmed in though. (Funnily enough I found out about it because the lead actor was in the Malcolm In The Middle revival as the youngest sibling of the family)

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 18, 2026

Kind of funny to be watching a movie set in Red Deer and get taken out of it for a minute because they get takeout from a Chinese restaurant and you can see that the sign on the outside is The Lingnan.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 17, 2026

Replying to @AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca

@AmeliasBrain it was "wearing a long skirt and a light sweater but regretting the latter" patio weather lol

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 17, 2026

Replying to @AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca

@AmeliasBrain I ate on a patio last weekend so as far as I'm concerned it's been patio season already, last couple days aside :)

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Apr 02, 2026

I think one of the most hilarious things about the American psyche, such as anything like that exists, is the inexplicable belief in a "timeline for war".

Like killing people is a thing you can do on a neat little schedule, where the other side just does exactly what you predict they'll do, which is for some reason always "give up and surrender" or "go so crazy that they can't effectively fight back."

The media inevitably demands this fairy tale, that can't possibly exist, and a fairy tale answer is of course given, and some people believe it unconditionally and others will use it as some kind of gotcha in a political game that's as nonsensical as the killing itself is.

But it will never work out that way. And playing along is no better, whether you think the timeline is realistic or are going to use it to score points that it wasn't met, as if all the death would be worthwhile if only the killing had proceeded as scheduled.

It's exhausting.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Mar 16, 2026

Replying to @megmac@social.treehouse.systems

@silverface@cyberpunk.lol Oh also Boy Meets Girl (2014), which is a fairly cute romantic drama/coming of age story about a trans girl.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Mar 16, 2026

Replying to @silverface@cyberpunk.lol

@silverface@cyberpunk.lol there's a movie doing the festival circuit right now called She's The He that's supposed to get a wider release this year (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She%27s_the_He) And there's Bit, about a trans girl who falls in with a bunch of vampire women. For docs there's Will & Harper, by and about a friend and collaborator of Will Farrell's coming out process. And Chasing Chasing Amy about a trans guy's self discovery through the controversy around chasing amy.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Mar 13, 2026

Replying to @forth@neuromatch.social

@forth@neuromatch.social I think it all depends on how well ventilated it is, which makes broad analysis hard. Tbh, I think because time spent on it tends to be short it's not as high risk as most people think *if* it's not too busy and ventilated well, but I'm not aware of research about that. That's just my gut feeling. I keep an aranet with me so I can spot check ventilation and develop an intuition of risk over time, personally.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Mar 12, 2026

Replying to @jenniferplusplus@hachyderm.io

@jenniferplusplus@hachyderm.io @cwebber@social.coop yes! This is a thing I keep coming back to in how I feel about what's going on. The effort here is to build the ultimate "rent a shovel" service where the entire economy is dependent on an oligopoly of cloud providers to functionally do work. I can live with a lot of things I don't like, but that's basically anathema to me.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Mar 07, 2026

Replying to @linux_mclinuxface@fosstodon.org

@linux_mclinuxface @AmeliasBrain yeah same. I make very good pay but I also pay for 5 adult's worth of food and every grocery bill is still shocking to me.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Mar 06, 2026

Replying to @AmeliasBrain@mstdn.ca

@AmeliasBrain @linux_mclinuxface I think it's probably just a really bad time to try to convince anyone of any income level that they should spend more on groceries. The sticker shock of 2022-24 or whatever is still pretty fresh.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Mar 06, 2026

Replying to @jrose@social.belkadan.com

@jrose@social.belkadan.com @ireneista@adhd.irenes.space I mean, they're not going to be paid well for it for long either way if all they want to do is manage a computer doing their job for them. That's just not a job that is worth what we get paid, frankly. The problem is they're going to take the rest of us down with them.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jan 09, 2026

Replying to @vga256@mastodon.tomodori.net

@vga256@mastodon.tomodori.net please post again when you've gotten them to carry it and I'll buy it through them :)

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jan 08, 2026

Replying to @vga256@mastodon.tomodori.net

@vga256@mastodon.tomodori.net @Chigaze@mstdn.ca my brother in law (who is local) self published a book (I think through Amazon) and we were able to get Audrey's to buy a few copies and buy one through them. @Mustbetuesday@sunny.garden might know or be able to find out more details.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Dec 29, 2025

Replying to @mcc@mastodon.social

@mcc@mastodon.social I was just thinking the other day about how Streisand's own Streisand Effect will never be topped because hers will be remembered every time someone else does one for a very long time. It's also lolsob funny how quaint hers was in hindsight, for all that.

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Nov 17, 2023

Replying to @futurebird@sauropods.win

@futurebird@sauropods.win last night I discovered that I've let my workbench get so messy if I put a magnetized screwdriver on it it ends up with wire poop stuck all over it. :/

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Meg @megmac@social.treehouse.systems · Jan 14, 2023

Replying to @ariadne@social.treehouse.systems

@ariadne@social.treehouse.systems i.. was somewhat involved in early steps towards starting something like this (but not on tv) a long time ago. Didn't go anywhere because the person who would have been bankrolling it lost interest but tbh i think it'd be kinda fun.

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