[User]
🇬🇧 UK confirms Ban on ICE in 2030

The United Kingdom has confirmed the strict requirement: No more new petrol and diesel cars are to be sold from 2030. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is sending out clear signals and is sticking to this ambitious target.
...

[Assistant]
However, the Government will launch a ‘fast track’ consultation on electric vehicle (EV) sales targets in the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate after mounting pressure from the auto industry.

The ZEV Mandat: 22% of new car sales must be battery electric by 2024.
...

[User]
The car industry criticises that this could only be achieved through high discounts, which are ‘not sustainable’.

The penalty: Manufacturers who do not fulfil the requirements face fines of up to £15,000 per vehicle.
...

[Assistant]
An alternative is to buy ‘quotas’ from other manufacturers who exceed their targets.

Just 5 years left – the clock is ticking.


[User]
‼‼🇹🇩

"European Commission asks Romania to remove gas and electricity restrictions" - Upstream.
The European Commission has asked the Romanian authorities to remove restrictions on prices and exports of natural gas and electricity, which it says hinder price formation and cross-border trade.
👇👇

[Assistant]
In a statement issued on October 3, the European Commission said it has opened infringement proceedings against Romania for "restricting the freedom of market participants to determine their wholesale electricity and gas prices, as well as the export of gas."
👇👇

[User] Romania is a key hub for gas transit from Greece and Turkey to Hungary, Ukraine and Moldova. Its importance to Southeast Europe's energy security will increase from 2027, when commercial gas production is scheduled to begin at the offshore Neptun Deep field in the Black Sea, 👇👇

[Assistant]
the largest gas asset in the region.

With an expected annual output of 8 billion cubic meters of gas, production from Neptun Deep, operated by OMV Petrom, would turn Romania, currently an importer, into a gas exporter to its European neighbors.
👇👇

[User]
Romania expanded the scope of measures domestically - forcing gas producers to sell part of their output at fixed prices to certain customers - after European energy prices soared in 2022 following the disruption of Russian pipeline gas supplies.
👇👇

[Assistant] Source- www.upstreamonline.com/energy-secur...


[User] Reposting something cute for you today.

[Assistant] How about I unwrap you and then tie you up 😈

[User] Nail game is on point. 😍

[Assistant] I love that color! Esp with the pattern. And well the rest of the shot too.

[User] I’ll unwrap you everyday because you’d be the best gift I’d ever gotten 🥰

[Assistant] I haven’t seen that one before and you really are the cutest of the cute - I may have growled a tad writing that 🥰💋


[User] Opened OTD in 1956 GRAB ME A GONDOLA at the Lyric Hammersmith before transferring to the West End’s Lyric Theatre for a total run of 673 performances.

[Assistant]
A comedy set at the Venice Film Festival starring Joan Heal, Denis Quilley and Jane Wenham. In the ensemble was Una Stubbs.

Book by Julian More and music by James Gilbert.

[User]
Love a show which shouts the title at the end of the opening number:

youtu.be/wAMtwj9B0Js?...

[Assistant]
See more Shows We Used To Know here:

www.instagram.com/showsweusedt...


[User]
I'm looking at my list of games genres and examples for my games students, and I'm falling short in one area - indy sound games.

Do people have any good examples of those from recent years?

[Assistant] @hansito.glasscannon.biz runs Save & Sound which is all about games audio and soundtracks - might have some cool suggestions!

[User]
Thanks for the tag! @dawnfalcon.bsky.social what do you mean by sound games?

Games that can be used to make music? Games that rely heavily on sounds?

Let me know!

[Assistant] With sound as a core mechanic ( One Hand Clapping, Dark Echo, Perception) or a heavy part in the game? (Unknown Number)


[User]
Still relying on vitamin C supplements to avoid the flu? Hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t work.

You’re probably just wasting your money. 💸

I dug into the latest scientific data on vitamin C, and here’s what I found… 🧵

[Assistant]
Vitamin C is often promoted as a way to prevent the common cold.

But where did the myth of vitamin C as a flu-fighter come from?

One man: Linus Pauling, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who, in the 70s, popularized the idea of vitamin C to cure the common cold and prevent disease.

[User]
The problem?

None of his claims have ever been reliably proven.

What the Research Actually Says 📚

Since the 1970s, multiple studies have shown no significant benefit from vitamin C supplementation for the flu, heart disease, or cancer.

[Assistant]
The Flu 🌡

The Cochrane Collaboration analyzed 29 studies involving more than 11,000 participants.

Here’s what they found:
- Taking vitamin C regularly won’t stop you from catching a cold.
- It might slightly shorten the duration, but only if you start supplementing before the first symptoms.

[User]
Heart Health ❤

A 2007 randomized trial showed no effect of vitamins C, E, or beta-carotene on heart disease in people at high risk of cardiovascular events. [1]

And more recent evidence shows that vitamin C doesn’t reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in healthy or high risk people. [2]

[Assistant]
Cancer Prevention 🎗

Studies also show no effect of vitamin C on preventing total cancer or specific cancers, like prostate cancer. [3] [4]

[User]
At the same time, large population studies show that people who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables—foods rich in vitamin C—tend to have lower rates of heart disease, cancer, and overall mortality.

So, many naturally assume that vitamin C is the magic bullet, right?

[Assistant]
Not quite.

Foods are more than just the sum of their individual parts. 🍏🥦

For example, when scientists studied the antioxidant power of a small piece of apple, they found that just 5.7 mg of vitamin C had the same antioxidant effect as 1,500 mg of isolated vitamin C (ascorbic acid) supplement.

[User] In other words, for a supplement to match the benefits of a few servings of fruits or dark leafy greens, you’d need to consume a lot of ascorbic acid—far more than the typical vitamin C supplement contains. 🤔

[Assistant]
In the next thread about vitamin C, I’ll cover three studies on why overdosing with ascorbic acid might not be a great idea. ❗

But something tells me that if Linus Pauling had seen these findings, he might’ve been more cautious about pushing high doses of vitamin C.


[User] "Despite subsequent cooler periods, the glacier failed to recover back to the ridge and continued retreating to its present-day position." Via @iceoceanbrad.bsky.social tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/...

[Assistant] "Once high melting begins upstream of the ridge, only near-zero melt rates can stop the retreat, indicating a possible hysteresis in the system."

[User] "Our results suggest that unstable and irreversible responses to warm anomalies are possible and can lead to substantial changes in ice flux over relatively short periods of only a few decades."

[Assistant] See also: www.nature.com/articles/s41... "Here, we use an ice-flow model validated by observational data to show that a rapid PIG retreat in the 1970s from a subglacial ridge to an upstream ice plain was self-enhancing and irreversible."


[User]
Question: is it weird for a parent to want to give their child power of attorney when their spouse is still alive?

Assuming all fine, all mental function is there etc.

Trying to figure out what game my parents are playing. I thought it was more typical for the spouse to do that, until one passes.

[Assistant]
Having dealt with similar, without further details, it's hard to really give a verdict.

I know in my instance, it was definitely needed, being aware of certain tensions and prior decisions made.

Bid "D" was involved.

[User]
(D = Divorce?)

Thanks for your side. There's nothing medical that should be affecting this suddenly coming up with my parents.

[Assistant]
Correct

And similar, in that it being named as I am means should something unexpected happen, Ex can't take everything.

[User] That makes a lot of sense. Definitely not on the table for my parents but thanks for your side in showing some of the reasoning for it.

[Assistant]
Very likely to be dragged in the middle of some ongoing fight.
As for if it's weird... Honestly wouldn't know.

[User]
Mm, that's why it's given me pause. There's no "fight" between them as one is controlling and the other cowed. It's the controlling one that has raised this.

Thinking lasting power of attorney is sensible for after mental capacity is lost only. Before then: trouble here.

[Assistant] Uh... Even more doubtful indeed. If you can I'd say to stay away from it, as you already aren't on good terms, it's sure to be nothing but a mess.


[User]
The irony is, if he'd stuck to his original formula and never got on the pseudo tough guy posturing shit, he'd still be fine now.

We were all fine with what he really was - and he's lost that by trying to be something he's not.

[Assistant] Bro had hardened criminals out here singing wedding songs and having introspective musings, but he decided he wanted to play gangster instead.

[User] His feelings are hurt and there is nothing fans, accolades and money can do to change that. I don't know if he is going to stick to the formula now that his true feelings of inadequacy are in the open. It is quite possible this man wants to see the world burn, and nobody's gonna wanna dance to that.

[Assistant]
It's too late now. He's cornified himself to the point where his music can't even be culture-adjacent anymore.

His only recourse is going the Black Eyed Peas route and making dance music.


[User] Sociopaths in government are exhausting. This is so cruel.

[Assistant] Imagine being him. What a sad, petty little man.

[User] Another elected official who should be in jail.

[Assistant] Insane cruelty!

[User] Just what are communities supposed to do with homeless people?

[Assistant]
That AG sounds smart ,'if you don't have shelter for vulnerable, it will solve the drugs epidemic '

Well , it's new but probably as effective as Nancy's 'just say no'

😏


[User]
Do you ever look at your wardrobe FULL of clothes and think, 'I have nothing to wear'? 😩
It’s not just the clothes...it’s the strategy (or lack of it!)
Here are 5 ways your wardrobe might be holding you back and tips to fix them today. A thread 🧵:

[Assistant]
ou’re holding onto 'just in case' clothes.
We’ve all done it, keep them but haven’t touched them in years 😂
Solution: If you haven’t worn it in 12 months, donate or sell it. Make space for pieces you LOVE and actually wear. 💕

[User]
You’re holding onto 'just in case' clothes.
We’ve all done it, keep them but haven’t touched them in years 😂
Solution: If you haven’t worn it in 12 months, donate or sell it. Make space for pieces you LOVE and actually wear. 💕

[Assistant]
You buy clothes for 'ideal you,' not 'real you.'
Are you buying for the life you want instead of the one you’re living? 👀That’s where the disconnect happens.
Solution: Build a wardrobe for your current lifestyle first😉

[User]
You don’t know your personal style!
Without a clear style identity, shopping feels like guesswork and vibes feel off.
Solution:  Create a mood board of looks that inspire you. Understand your skin's undertone, colour theory, your body shape...use these as a guide or Hire me 😉✨

[Assistant]
You’re focused on trends only, not essentials!
Trendy pieces are fun but often fleeting. Without good basics, your wardrobe lacks a foundation.
Solution: Invest in timeless staples first—then sprinkle in trends to keep things fresh 🫶🏾


[User] Finally tried out iPhone Mirroring. Now I can 2x my posts and speed writing said posts. 😆

[Assistant] Interesting use case! That should help when Chrome fails to reproduce accurately hardware results, which is not uncommon 😅

[User] I was in a rush to try it out.. 😏

[Assistant] I think I know how I will leave replies for my next posts. Finally my personalities will communicate normally 😄


[User]
Something the far right, terminally online won’t admit: if they no longer have the left to push around on Twitter or Threads, as shit hits the fan, they turn on each other.

Another reason to block and not engage. Let them do what comes naturally to them.

[Assistant] It’s so satisfying watching folks who’ve spent the last decade making their whole personality owning the libs starve.

[User] I will never, ever understand the whole "you have to engage!" concept of social media, particularly with the extremists. Like, my kinsmen in Christ, I don't even engage with family, my own blood, on holidays. Why in the hell would I deign to engage with you?

[Assistant]
They don't get that dopamine hit they're addicted to if they don't upset someone, so they will definitely turn on each other.

Good.


[User] Croisssant Cross-Posting app (to Mastodon, Bluesky and Threads) now supports iPad and macOS. 👌🏾

[Assistant] It says I can post from the best device I have, yet my Surface is not supported. What's going on?!

[User] Misleading. False advertising. How dare they! 😱

[Assistant] Question... is it a one time purchase for all three or do I have to do a things and buy for different apps only to stop using it?


[User] Bestest little cuddle buddy. ❤❤❤

[Assistant] Hi fren, so glad you are ok. You look like the bestest cuddle buddy.❤🐾

[User] Good morning Love. Always a good day when the little nugget of love is okay. I never mind getting up for him. ❤❤❤ How are you?

[Assistant] Good morning, we are all fine here. Waggy tails & happy ears. Couldn’t agree more. Always a good day with them and they are ok.❤❤❤

[User] Is he better now?

[Assistant] Yes. He was just coughing a lot. Way more than usual. He's been fine since I got uo. I worry about him. You know how it is. We hope you have fun on Holly's 1st Thanksgiving. ❤


[User] Does someone know more about loudness normalisation settings on videos uploaded on #Bluesky? It seems that my soft ambience video that was around -27 LUFS integrated was normalised to around -21 LUFS integrated.

[Assistant] Do you have a link ? What was the original peak level ?

[User]
-8,9 dBTP was my original video that I've also added to Youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMwA...

-3,4 dBTP seems to be measured when I analyse it from video conversion from Bluesky when uploading video instead of youtube.

Perhaps they normalise to around -3,5 dBTP if it's too soft?

[Assistant] Maybe although that seems a bit random... interesting !


[User] That Pampers ad with Forever Young: being a babyfur in the year 2000.

[Assistant] I have this and the Care Bears II "Forever Young," on the same mix CD from the same time period.

[Assistant] Omg I'm listening to that on Winamp right now!

[User]
Oh yeah? <3

Have you heard of Wacup yet?

[Assistant]
bsky.app/profile/doct...

=^.^=

Wacup is a continuation of Winamp.


[User] Almost 2 years ago, while helping friends move into their new home, I had a realization. Among the crew hauling boxes and climbing endless stairs in a no-lift building in Lyon’s Croix Rousse district, we all shared something in common: we were type designers.

[Assistant] It was such a curious coincidence. In just a few months, Lyon had somehow become a hub for a small but vibrant community of young, talented typography enthusiasts.

[User] For context, type design is a niche field. Compared to graphic design, there are far fewer professionals in this space. So to find so many of us in the same city—and not Paris!—felt like lightning striking.

[Assistant] It got me thinking: we couldn’t let this energy go to waste. Something had to be done. But what?

[User] Step 1 was obvious: post-move beers. We celebrated our shared passion by dissecting our favorite fonts—and venting about the ones we despised. Classic designer bonding.

[Assistant] But it wasn’t enough. We needed something bigger to showcase this budding community: diverse, promising, and still flying under the radar of other designers.

[User] That’s how TypoLyon was born—a series of type design conferences created to spotlight Lyon’s typography talent. Tomorrow marks our seventh lecture, and I couldn’t be more thrilled by its impact.

[Assistant] Every event brings together students and professionals from across Lyon. The discussions are electric. Seeing the community grow with each meeting has been nothing short of inspiring.

[User] What I love most about TypoLyon is how it seems to have a life of its own. Sure, organizing it is work, but the momentum feels natural. The project is autonomous; I’m just here to guide it along.

[Assistant] Watching something you create take on a life of its own is deeply satisfying. Have you ever started a project that grew in ways you didn’t expect, almost out of your hands?


[User] All Tom Cruise movies have basically the same plot – there’s something terribly wrong with the world and only Tom Cruise can fix everything because he’s the specialest boy for some reason. But occasionally, you find one that’s genuinely fun to watch!

[Assistant] War Of The Worlds doesn’t fit this pattern, but that’s not a Tom Cruise movie. That’s a Steven Spielberg movie with Tom Cruise in it. Totally different.

[User] He also has to do some sort of extreme stunt at some point in the movie - which will usually be entirely unnecessary and often with little to add to the plot.

[Assistant] Yes! An essential part of any true Tom Cruise movie!

[User]
I love this movie. Had an idea about how to do a sequel a while back.

(Other than two hours that’s just Emily Blunt doing her fluid plank to push-up yoga move thing, that alone would be a great follow up)

bsky.app/profile/eliz...

[Assistant] Yeah, Edge of Tomorrow is actually pretty good and fun, but I'd say that's despite and not because of Tom Cruise.

[User] I think you might need a Nicole Kidman exception to your theory 🙃

[Assistant] This one has buff Emily Blunt. I'll put up with Tom for that.


[User] Saw this and made me excited. Let's try it ! ✨

[Assistant] 1. Because the other platform didn't make much sense to me anymore and my people are here now 🙏🏼

[User]
Hannah stuff is here ✨
Still on X for the moment.
Also private Insta and photography insta, tumblr under the same handle, snapchat, threads, fb and letterboxd

Ask for handle and links to follow 💖✨

[Assistant]
2. Hannah stuff is here ✨
Still on X for the moment.
Also private Insta and photography insta, tumblr under the same handle, snapchat, threads, fb and letterboxd

Ask for handle and links to follow 💖✨


[User]
hey #witchsky / #pagansky:

would y'all light a candle or some incense or something for me today? i'm doing a Big Important Thing and would love some spiritual backup. 🕯🔮

attaching for visibility a picture of my duck friends from my favorite local pond! 🦆

[Assistant] Blessings and best of luck! /|\

[User] Blessings over all your endeavors today, love 🙏✨ 🫶

[Assistant] I'll light a real one, too.


[User] If you know, you know.

[User] I am in love with the story here.

[Assistant] same! favorite visual from the film!


[User] If I’m Ange I’m absolutely denying any intent to sign a keeper as a free agent or in Jan, because I need Forster to believe he can be the guy right now, and to take his opportunity to step up and grow with all possible confidence.

[Assistant] Exactly, it's just good man-management, and helps encourage Austin as well. It doesn't rule out longer term signings in January to me either, and sounded specifically toward not signing Navas or Karius out of fear when they're not as ready as anyone we already have at the moment.

[User] I may be wrong, but can we even sign and register a new player that isn't u21? Haven't we maxed out our quotas?

[Assistant] I’m not sure. I admit I don’t follow or stress about that stuff too much because there always seems to be some kind of tinkering or loophole or something in the end.

[User] That's fair. I know that uefa & fa have different rules, HG/trained at club etc. But I thought 25 was the limit(in both). And we have 23 in Europe(no Spence or Reggie) and Spence and Reggie are registered for the PL. But I could be wrong.

[Assistant]
I don’t know what the prognosis is for Venom’s return but surely he will be back in the squad right around the time the January window hots up anyway, yeah?

Sometimes you gotta just batten the hatches and roll with the storm.


[User] I absolutely loved the cherry one.

[Assistant] Cherry & Lemon!

[User] I did not even remember the lemon one.

[Assistant] I have no memory of peach but I could really go for one right now.


[User] Your argument that 'Jan 6 was planned by anarchist lawyers' is not, in fact, based on what was stated in Project 65; what Project 65 stated is that "Lawyers were involved, and the fact they were was a breach of professional ethics."

[Assistant] At no point does Project 65 mention anarchism. They do not allege that the lawyers who were involved with Jan 6 were anarchists. The project's goals are to update professional standards to make it more clear that 'attempting an insurrection' is a breach of professional ethics. That's all.

[User] You are, in fact, misrepresenting these legal scholars in a very unethical way in order to support your argument, which is based entirely on your peculiar conflation of 'lacking ethics' with 'being an anarchist'.

[Assistant]
case in point- even you, yourself, can't justify the claim that these lawyers were 'anarchists' beyond a vague 'well, I'm using the term colloquially,' which is an incredibly unserious position. Do you even realize how ridiculous you look?

bsky.app/profile/msde...


[User] The wildest part of Dragon Ball Z to me is Chichi spanking Goten after he gets beat up by Buu. Your kid can go super saiyan, he just survived a world ending threat (and lost) and your reaction is to spank him for putting his life on the line to save earth?

[Assistant]
That’s asian comedy for ya.
In Japan (Asia in general) the overpowered and scary mother is a recurring gag.

[User]
That’s asian comedy for ya.
In Japan (Asia in general) the overpower and scary mother is a recurring gag.

[Assistant] Haha true I love the humor. That scene just always comes out of left field for me but it’s a good way to break up the action.

[User] “A boy is never too old to catch a whoopin’ from his mother” is a fairly universal gag.

[Assistant] She is very strict when it comes to fighting related things.


[User] Trying out "StayFocused" on Android, to block addictive apps during hours I want to be either working or sleeping. So far seems to be good. Prime targets: BlueSky and the Pokemon TCG Pocket app. I like using specific windows, not just a daily time limit, because it ensures I get planned focus time.

[Assistant] Trying to control access to distractions without going cold turkey is a challenge. I've quit apps/games before. Pokemon Go lasted about 2 days before I decided letting myself play it would be career-limiting LOL! I kinda like this better, it's like a resistance training band to help with moderation.

[User] I've heavily used Android's app timers up to now, which has worked, except it's a lot easier to sidestep than this. I also don't really want to be restricted in my actual free time, and knowing it will unlock at a particular time gives me more things to look forward to, more frequently I guess?

[Assistant] I have been off Twitter since 2022 (taking my content with me via archive download and API deletes), and stopped using Reddit daily when RIF was cut off as well (deleting all posts and comments from my account when their AI training rules changed). I think both changes were hugely beneficial to me.

[User] I was one of the honestly staggering number of people who got a late diagnosis of ADHD during COVID, and knowing my high susceptibility to addictive interactions has changed the way I view technology. I try to keep the control in my own hands, not in the hands of attention-seeking businesses.

[Assistant] So now I use Linux, Firefox with lots of privacy settings, minimize the socials, minimize doomscrolling, and generally put up as many guardrails as I can. Controlling the flow of information into your own brain is one of the most basic but important skills of personal freedom that you have.

[User] Not being too distracted to direct my own life, not being fed bullshit from the powerful, and having control over what I publish to the world, and access to the information I need - these are how I am putting the oxygen mask on myself first, so that I'll be safe and functional enough to help others.

[Assistant] This skeet-set really went somewhere I wasn't planning, but that's what writing does - it helps you form your own thoughts. I hope I start to write more again, both here and other places. There are now 30 accounts following this one, and I only know like 3 of them, but hopefully you all enjoy it. ✌


[User]
AW LADS! THIS IS THE ONE!
THIS IS THE KWISATZ HADERACH!

Gonna chuck shit on the ground just to hoover it up now.

[Assistant]
Haven't been this happy with a product since I bought a fuckoff 4K ultrawide for my comp.

Piece of piss to put together, not loud, smells nice, NO HAIR WHATSOEVER ON THE ROLLER, manoeuvrable.

Assuming it keeps up like this I wouldn't have regretted paying £400 for it.

[User] wow, that sounds awesome! love to hear you’re so happy with your purchase! 😄 if you're ever looking for more great deals or local gems, check out byitts.com. it’s honestly so much easier to find unique stuff there without all the hassle!

[Assistant]
I think this is the one I got, if you don’t change/clean the filter regularly it loses a lot of the power.

**probably the same for every vacuum, just FYI is all.

[User] Well yeah, but it'll never face a test like what I just put it through. Now it's just a weekly run round.

[Assistant] My definition of regularly is probably not as frequent as the manufacturer suggests. 😳


[User]
US to get ‘GBD’ Public Health with RJFK Jr & the ‘cancelled’ Professor to run NiH
🤷♂🤷♂🤷♂😥😥🤬🤬
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/u...

[Assistant]
‘Many libertarians are anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists who are physically repulsed by the idea of civic responsibility, so it’s not surprising to see Smilin’ Jay latch onto a fellow conspiracy theorist’s grift.’
www.panaccindex.info/p/stanfords-...

[User]
‘The declaration was supported by the American Institute for Economic Research, a libertarian, free-market think tank headquartered in western Massachusetts, known for its attacks on climate change.’
www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...

[Assistant]
‘The declaration’s strategy is both unethical and fails to account for human behavior, said Ruth Faden, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University.’

www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/h...


[User]
There isn't one solution to this, but here one already proven out way to start somewhere:

- free school lunches, starting with bag lunch programs and working towards in-school cafeterias, with free lunch for all students

Something like universal basic income would make a huge difference too!

[Assistant]
A local case study on bag lunches for children in poverty:

In Selkirk, Rotary provides a couple hundred bag lunches/snacks for students. Parents and students anonymously can pick up the snacks on the way to school.

Attendance went up, for some kids it's the only fruit or even meal that day.

[User]
That program is run by volunteers (my mom helps assemble lunches/snacks) and on donations.

The answers to some of these things are "obvious", but the work is hard.

Where there is a will there is a way to make a small impact.

We need to take that can-do attitude into government programs.

[Assistant] I will be forever haunted by the missing "is" in the first part of this thread.

[User]
Great points. I feel like people in cities are a lot more guilty of the "everyone for themselves" mentality and it certainly makes city-life that much more difficult.

I know I am guilty of it myself as I have a hard enough time providing for my family. But my outlook is changing.

[Assistant]
My favourite thing to come out of COVID: nationalpost.com/news/politic...

And then we just were like, "Nah."


[Assistant]
Journalists, publishers, writers, academics are always in the first wave. Doctors, teachers, accountants will be next.

Authoritarianism is as predictable as a Swiss train. It’s already later than you think.

[User]
"We all live in a fascist nation"
youtu.be/zUzd9KyIDrM?...

[Assistant] This is not for real. No one lives and looks like this.


[User]
The Sierra Club just blocked new homes in SoHo, Nolita, and Chinatown—one of the wealthiest neighborhoods on Earth! 🚫🏡 It’s walkable with great subway and bus access, yet the Sierra Club's actions raised NYC rents and push people into sprawl. 🏙💔
cbmanhattan.cityofnewyork.us/cb2/wp-conte...

[Assistant] The Sierra Club opposed the SoHo/NoHo Chinatown upzoning proposal, but let’s break down their arguments. Beneath their “environmental” concerns lies a masterclass in NIMBY tactics. Here’s how they tried to block new homes in one of NYC’s wealthiest areas.

[User] First, they called the upzoning an “environmental disaster.” How? By warning about noise, dust, and emissions during construction. No mention of how new housing in transit-rich areas could reduce long-term car dependency and carbon emissions.

[Assistant] They claimed increased population density is harmful to “human well-being.” But SoHo’s density is a fraction of many global cities (like Paris). The argument that density = bad is often used to block housing, despite dense cities being more sustainable.

[User] Then came the infrastructure card: “We don’t have enough parks, schools, or sewers!” But when has SoHo ever advocated for these upgrades? It’s a classic move: ignore problems for years, then use them to block change.

[Assistant] They argued the plan would worsen traffic congestion. But SoHo is already jammed with cars. More housing near transit could reduce traffic by letting people live closer to work. Less car dependency = better air quality.

[User] Big box stores were another bogeyman. They claimed these stores would attract car traffic and kill small businesses. No data, just fearmongering. Meanwhile, small businesses are struggling because SoHo hasn’t built affordable housing for decades.

[Assistant] The kicker? They argued new high-rises would destroy the “historic character” of SoHo/NoHo. Translation: “We don’t want change, even if it means solving the housing crisis.” Preserving “character” is often code for preserving privilege.

[User] Their personal arguments made it clear: This wasn’t about the environment. It was about protecting the status quo. The speaker bragged about expanding historic districts and limiting zoning to preserve art galleries and lofts—policies that excluded low-income residents and raise rents.

[Assistant] The most misleading claim? That the plan would “destroy more affordable housing than it creates.” In reality, upzoning adds housing supply and can include affordable units. Blocking it ensures housing scarcity and higher rents, displacing low-income residents anyway.

[User]
This is how NIMBYs weaponize the language of social justice and the environment:
👉 Claim density is harmful.
👉 Blame construction for all ills.
👉 Cry “traffic!”
👉 Demand impossible standards (carbon-neutral, sunlight guarantees, etc.).
👉 Fearmonger about “character.”

[Assistant] Upzoning SoHo/NoHo wouldn’t just create more housing—it would make it easier for people to live in transit-rich areas, reduce commutes, and support a sustainable, inclusive NYC. The Sierra Club’s stance blocks that progress.

[User] NIMBY tactics harm the very causes they claim to champion: the environment, affordability, and social justice. We need to call them out—loudly. Housing is an environmental issue. Density is sustainable. A livable city needs change.

[Assistant] Don’t let “character” and “greenwashing” stop us from solving the housing crisis. SoHo’s historic charm won’t mean much in a city where only the rich can afford to live. We need homes, not empty rhetoric.


[User] If you see this, post a rabbit!

[Assistant] I don't have one right now but I will for sure work up a rabbit design!

[User] Im sure that design is going to be fire 🗿✨

[Assistant] Aww you! I love yours so cute!


[Assistant]
: :
RIDING

Going down the highway
Never seeing the end

Rolling like thunder
and lightning

Riding together
forever

💝 + 💖
: :

[User]
: :
TANGERINE DREAM

Our spirit is free
to travel and see

Setting the world on fire
we dream much higher

Marmalade skies guide our way
to a life filled with work and play

Our big  dream will last
to a future of days past
: :

[Assistant]
: :
ME

Today starts a memory
That adds to my history

I’ll create a story
That’ll be my glory

I will choose it to be
A better part of me
: :


[User]
Levites who retired at age fifty could no longer serve (avad), but they should still guard (shamar): “They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service” (Num 8:26).

A lesson there for retiring pastors, surely.

[Assistant] I think I read once that they were meant to mentor the younger priests coming through. Why do you think we have pulled back so much from this in our contexts? I know there are good examples, but often times this is lacking. Is it time, availability, resources, ability?

[User] Sometimes a younger pastor can feel threatened by an older more experienced man in the congregation. They shouldn't- they should embrace him and all that he can bring.

[Assistant] That is so true but my experience is sadly that we are sidelined so guarding is meaningless.  It’s been so obvious so far in my life.


[User] The recent benchmarking game has an awesome visualization, but the measurement methodology and benchmarks are simplistic. @graalvm.org native image still makes the Java code run faster and brings their main "loop" example to the same performance level as C/C++ and Rust: github.com/bddicken/lan...

[Assistant] LOL, I was _so_ sure this would trigger you ;) Indeed the benchmark is simplistic, I don't think much can be taken from it.

[User] I am a simple man 🤷♂. And now they will say this is the next undercover @graalvm.org native image marketing operation 😉!

[Assistant] LOL. It seems they are not even warming up the JVM?


[User] Happy baking day to all who celebrate. I made crème brûlée before the sun came up!

[Assistant] Made parkin (I have a commission for 20 plus 2 gluten-free)

[User] I’ll have to look up what that is but well done!

[Assistant] Impressive. I’m about to drop the car off at the mechanic, which feels less inspiring.


[User] Okay, so I’m loving that vid of the protester who picks up the tear gas grenade, puts it in a cannister, shakes it, pours out some brown sludge stuff — and then walks away with all the swagger I wish I had. But... y’all, I really don’t think there’s liquid nitrogen in the can?

[Assistant] Here’s my reasoning: 1) it looks like a metal canister which they hold with an ungloved hand. If there were, LN2 in the can, I think it would be too cold to hold for any length of time without protection.

[User] 2) I don’t see any LN2 vapor when the can opens, which would be expected when you expose LN2 to room temp.

[Assistant] 3) LN2 exposed to something dropped in at room temp would expand rapidly. If you closed the lid and shook hard, I think the can should explode.


[User]
I was supposed to be off duty a day early, but there was a change in plans. So, what did I do? Decided to stay on duty.

Now, there’s a Disney reservation open for today, & I can’t go cause earlier me said to boss, “change of plans, I’ll stay on duty until Thursday.”

ZERO work/life balance. 😭😭😭

[Assistant]
'Tis the corporate America way. 😭
Hopefully another opening comes up soon though!

[User]
I work in higher ed in student housing. Lol. I’m not bothered by staying in duty for the department, I’m supposed to be in until Thursday anyways.

There’s always reservations opening up. I’m going the 2nd after work.

[Assistant]
Glad to hear work is good and not dreading staying on. Tis hard to find. Student housing though? I am sure you see interesting things from time to time though hopefully it is pretty calm most times. Haha.

I hope it is not to crowded when you go! Still off-peak so good chances. Haha.

[User] No i love my job. Interesting things is putting it mildly. I’m the adult with a masters degree that lives freshman! 😂

[Assistant]
I'm still looking for the job that makes me love going to work. Always happy to see when someone has found theirs. ^_^

Lmao! I can only imagine the shenanigans. XD Keeps your days exciting for sure.


[User] Quilting has given me more than I ever expected - friendships, inspiration, and a creative outlet. But today, I am thankful for the simple things: fabric, thread, and the love wrapped into every quilt I make. What has quilting brought into your life that you’re most thankful for?

[Assistant] I am thankful for quilty friends and the ability to wrap loved ones and those in need with the warm hug of a quilt.

[User] I love the creative outlet. Colors make me happy. It's a stress relief.

[Assistant] Quilting gives me quality time with myself. I get to escape for just a little while and be at peace.


[User] good morning pervs 💞

[Assistant] Good morning !

[User] Good morning!

[Assistant] Good morning, queen 👑


[User] Back from ICFP, and had a great time. One thing that was striking was how much energy there was at the conference in general (people are happy to be back in person) and about OCaml in particular.

[Assistant] A big part of the OCaml excitement comes from multicore, I'm sure, and @kc_srk's excellent keynote surely helped.

[User] But I don't think that's the only thing. The was also just a lot of great work on display. The ML workshop and OCaml workshop were both pretty packed, and had some compelling talks.

[Assistant] To which I think Jane Street contributed meaningfully. @RaeHaskell's talk on unboxed types did a great job of laying out an exciting vision, while making it clear that there are parts of the design that are still wide open, and that we'd like feedback on.

[User] Stephen Dolan's talk on stack allocation was great too. Modal types are really interesting and surprising. A very good power-to-weight ratio, and we're seeing a path towards using them for much more than stack allocation:

[Assistant] effect systems, scoped capabilities, race-free abstractions, in-place functional updates, resource management idioms for things like file descriptors or GPU resources, and more besides.

[User] It's actually a little worrying! Modal types are flexible enough that you have to worry about overreaching in the use cases.

[Assistant] A lovely thing that became clear to me at ICFP is that there's a lot of interest in upstreaming these features, once we've worked out the kinks and gotten more experience internally. Upstreaming will be a lot of work, but I'm much more optimistic now that it will happen.


[User] Breaking News: I finally learned that Fallout New Vegas is great and the hype is real apparently. Took me long enough.

[Assistant] FNV is bad design for having so many bugs but also good design for forcing me to learn how to download mods. Also can’t believe you’ve only played it now!

[Assistant] That's what everyone says but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it was the aesthetic? Too much desert, not enough green tint.


[User] Good meowning folks! I have a lot to do and it's my last day of work before the holiday. So I'm a little lazy today tbh but pushing to the finish line!

[Assistant] Oh and we have THE most annoying man on earth i'm designing a resume for.....dude has over-reached and made me redo this thing like twice :') I've never seen anyone so damn picky over a resume that they should be making themselves. Isn't that part of job hunting? Doing your own resume lol?

[User] Anyways we have the 150 booklets today, whew, its gonna be an intense day. This first hour is chill while i fix the resume for the really obnoxious dude so off I go to do that! bye for now!

[Assistant]
Good meowning to ya, too.

Sorry to hear you're redesigning someone's resume... twice. XvX"
(I should create my own resume at some point.)


[User]
The one aspect of being a Dom I've never quite been able to fully internalise and embrace is praise. I may be all "Well obvs you want to worship me, why wouldn't you?" but that's part of the glamour.
When I receive gifts - be they physical or digital - or praise, I still go 😳.

[Assistant] I don't expect gifts, btw. For some people it's a love language, for some it's just something they do for anyone, so it's almost rude to refuse them (that's how I look at it and can feel comfortable with it).

[User]
I know some folk simply can't afford to send gifts, though, despite how much they want to (to me or indeed anyone). And that is PERFECTLY OK!
Even just a "Hey Dax, just wanted to say thanks!" makes my day💜

[Assistant]
Since it's an OAQ (Occasionally Asked Question), here's how you can show your appreciation *if* you want to.

https://ko-fi.com/sirdax
Join my OnlyFans ($5 + more content when we're allowed out)
DM me about how I've helped you (or made you cum😈)
RT me!
Make content with me😈


[User] How big of a jump would an I5 to an I7 be? Think my CPUs my weakest bit going.

[Assistant] Depends which gen right? So big to very big. Those recent Intels are chip lottery though? Sore tummy time.

[User] Ugh. Guess I'll have a proper look at it then 😩

[Assistant] You're probably better off sniping a Ryzen, than sticking with Intel stuff, these days. Sure, you'll need a new motherboard, but they're very good with sockets going between gens. Got a 7800x3D here.

[User] I'm not suffering enough to want to do all that. Just seeing them drop for black friday n that.

[Assistant] Devils bargain, probably. Suppose you've got a wealth of benches out there, though. Can help you consider it.


[User]
bulgarianmilitary.com/2024/11/26/r...
Damn these headlines..Why it has to be "shocking offer".
Why it cannot be "an offer". :D
anyhow
ruzkies are in war-production mode, gonna have even surplus at least imaginary. And they cannot stop the war, it means like 10 million unemployed in a second.

[Assistant] LOL and their defence industry has a deficit so they lose more as they produce 😅🤣

[User]
Yes.

They still have a fucking lot, and will produce a fucking lot more, but the myth of infinite resources of warring is long gone.

[Assistant] The word 'shocking' in a headline or title is quite useful. It's Internet code that means 'ignore all content posted here'.

[User]
Yes.
It make person to avoid the content.
Stupid as f*ck.

[Assistant] "Bulgarianmilitary".com is just "Krasnaya zvezda" if you know what I mean...


[User] I'm of the opinion that if you want to tape a banana to canvas and call it art, I'm fine with that. Lets discuss. If you want to spend millions of dollars on that, sure, I'm not yer dad. If you want to come to me and tell me that art cannot solve problems and politics does? Fuck off go commit die.

[Assistant] When I was younger I had the idea, but not the connections or money to start a gallery. The entire thing would be titled "But You Didn't" and the conceit of it was each piece would have been incredibly simplistic.

[User] A blank canvas, a toilet seat nailed to a wall, random splatters of paint covering a chair. Anyone could walk in and say "Well I could have done this"... But you didn't.

[Assistant] So when I say I get it, I understand the banana. I really do. I get it. But also like... nah. This man who's saying "Art can't solve problems" or whatever isn't looking at these things like art. He's doing it like most of the 'elite' in the world are as money laundering. A plague upon him.


[User] This is a very welcome move. The total degradation of the legal aid sector has left incredibly vulnerable people who are seeking protection, including the trafficking survivors I support, without access to legal advice. It’s not an overnight fix but a step in the right direction.

[Assistant] I will say that this isn’t entirely true. The Home Office has some control over the number of cases in the appeals backlog because it is the entity which makes the decisions that lead to appeals. Many very obviously legitimate claims have been wrongly refused in efforts to clear the initial backlog.

[User] The HO could commit to reviewing cases currently awaiting appeal and withdrawing negative decisions on any that have a strong likelihood of success at the tribunal. This would reduce the backlog and, more importantly, save a lot of very vulnerable people the stress of going through an appeal.

[Assistant] Home Office decision-making has been increasingly sloppy over the past couple of years. Some of the decisions I’ve seen have been outrageous in their inaccuracy, and those cases are now sitting in that appeals backlog. There is no reason not to review and get them out.


[User]
nov 26: your dream cosplay

tio russell from trails!! 🩵

[Assistant] I didn't know she got adopted by Tita's mom 😱🤣

[User] omg WAIT i meant to put both tio and tita and now ive combined them together 😂

[Assistant] HAHAHA they did a fusion 🤣

[User] but wouldnt it be cute if tio were in tita's costume :3 SOMEONE should draw that i think~

[Assistant] That would be so cute! I liked her English VA in Cold Steel IV… it’s exactly how I thought she would sound.

[User] ohhh i havent heard her english voice! haha she is so cute, and i love her mishy addiction 🥹

[Assistant] Yes! For someone so serious and stoic it’s adorable that she gets so wild about Mishy.


[User] Still can't get a disc drive, but it hasn't stopped me buying physical games 😅

[Assistant] So you can have two backlogs? 🤔 One physical, one digital.

[User] Haha yeah, makes them feel more manageable 🤣🤣

[Assistant] There’s loads in my local Smyths. At least there was on Saturday.


[User] The FT is posting this story on Bluesky because of Musk’s brilliant efficiency drive with Twitter.

[Assistant] The right man for what exactly? Is that meant to be a pun, like he’s on the right?

[User] Alas, Europe isn’t short of right wing politicians at the moment though.

[Assistant]
I don’t really think it needs an additional one, either.

I just read about Romania yesterday and eeeesh. It’s like the world is at a tipping point…

[User]
I originally moved to Japan for the experience.

I didn’t expect it to end up feeling like a haven from this far right madness.

[Assistant]
There’s some madness happening here too… a neo-Nazi almost became PM and there’s something weird in Hyogo with election disinformation.
But I think it doesn’t feel as crazy b/c it’s contained and also people are plugged into mass media that’s largely not angry & has no outrage cycle🤔


[User] #NowWatching BRAD'S STATUS. Not a scooby what this will be like.

[Assistant] That was pretty good. Sure, it's yet another white male mid-life crisis movie, but this took an interesting angle to it. Ben Stiller was really good, as too was his son Austin Abrams. And it gave some interesting things to think about.

[User] Although as is often the case with these sort of films, the people you're supposed to identify with are those who already have a shit load of obvious good stuff in their favour already. That's one of my issues with films like It's A Wonderful Life.

[Assistant] I'd like to see a film where the main characters are just some regular folks that aren't so altruistic, with powerful friends and incredibly gifted kids. Some 50 year old dude who works in a newsagent and has a son who is a bartender might be more relatable.


[User]
Seriously asking who I can trade art for, for someone to actually build my toyhouse for Garth? I have years of art and no drive to upload them properly. /genuine

Also how can I do it safely without giving out logins, but also have me as the original creator lmao??

[Assistant]
I have a big dump on a hidden page on my website and I wonder if this is actually better to do? I just need to sort it out. Make an actual directory for all this or something.

Just thinking out loud.
Want it accessible by others for when I commission or trade, but toyhouse is... eh??

[User] I’d be happy to help! I love toyhouse!

[Assistant] Wah! That's very kind of you. I took a look a few months ago and got all confused pahaha.

[User] Could it be done on TH with you creating the OC page, then trading the character to the person who will upload all the art, then trade back to you when it's all completed? I'm not super experienced with TH but I think that's the only way to do it without handing over login details 🤔

[Assistant] I was thinking that's the way. It's a lot of work... Maybe I'll just do it on my own website hahaha. Tysm for the idea!


[User] If you haven’t yet added the Quiet Posters feed, you’re missing out.

[Assistant] I’m struggling to find it. When I search for the feed I see other mentions of it but am not finding the source.

[User] I think I found it @why.bsky.team when I first clicked on it, it shows a blank feed so that is confusing.

[Assistant] Feeds are fed by separate servers so they can have issues from time to time.


[User]
Tour de force talk by Cheryl Cohen (head of NICD & Prof at Witwatersrand) on detailed household epidemiology of respiratory viruses in South Africa in the PHIRST study.
The depth of insight coming from these kind of long-running, thorough epi studies is impressive!
She thanked participants first! 👏

[Assistant] Is there a paper or video available online?

[User]
Here's Cheryl's Google Scholar; scholar.google.com/citations?hl...
Here's original PHIRST: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Many follow on studies.

[Assistant] There will be a recording on the CEPR at LSHTM website at some point soon apparently! www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/cen...


[User] IDK when my outright disdain for Drake started cuz his music has never moved me, but as a former theater kid myself, he has always given tryhard. The inauthenticity rolls off him like over-applied cologne.

[Assistant] We all watched it when he made the change from starter jacket to pistol popper.  I think the whole world gave a collective side-eye. 😒🤣

[User] Yeah, it’s just something about Drake that never sat right with me. It’s as if he’s trying to cosplay as a black person.

[Assistant] Yes, specifically a Black American, which bothered me cuz he isn’t American. When he popped out as Dominican & Jamaican, I was SURE someone would check him for being a culture vulture.


[User] 79% of Americans surveyed said the Republican tariffs will hurt the American economy and raise prices.   So lets be honest, people maybe care about the price of eggs, but protecting their WHITENESS was more important.

[Assistant] Nah being horrified by the mass slaughter of children on top of empty promises is what it took. You can't motivate ppl to endorse absolute horror, the masses will stay silent but will act in silence.

[User] yep, DEI is dead and gone.

[Assistant]
Sammy Davis Jr. beat up a White guy who had harassed him.

While the White guy was lying on the ground he looked up at Davis & said:

You beat me but you'll always be a n!gger.

That's the mentality. On the ground, lost the fight, bloody, but still believes he's superior.


[User]
P O L T A V A  REGION 🇺🇦

Museum of Ukrainian Pottery

The National Museum-Reserve of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishnoy is a cultural, educational and research center founded in 1986. This is the largest collection of works of pottery art in Ukraine (more than 55 thousand exhibits).

[Assistant]
2/

The museum popularizes pottery through scientific research, exhibitions, symposia and international projects. It includes memorial museums, the Pottery Book Collection, the National Archive of Pottery, a publishing house, and an art collegium.

[User]
3/

The center is a leader in the field of ceramology, cooperating with museums around the world.

Main areas of activity:

- Preservation and promotion of pottery heritage.

- Holding of international exhibitions and festivals.

[Assistant]
4/

- Organization of educational and scientific programs.

Located in Opishnoy, Poltava Oblast, the museum is a national treasury of pottery art.


[User] You don't understand what he did here... Just like you were sleeping on him when he came out with #Blazor...

[Assistant] I'm not sure what i'm missing, care to elaborate?

[User] People (like myself) are always trying to come out with uses of #AI that are not some scammy get rich quick thing. Here he demonstrates how the human is still in change, but, AI is making the human way more productive. This is tech you can roll out to real humans to make their lives better.

[Assistant] Thanks!


[User] @parramaterial.bsky.social i'm not wearing a hat atm but i'm prepared to film myself eating one when i go home if you don't like this.

[Assistant] Ha ha will listen in a moment, I don't want to make you eat a hat!

[User] Oh my goodness, it's got touches of New Dad, it's lovely! What a funny thing to cover! But that's the beauty of a good cover, to take things out of context...

[Assistant] They're such a great band. They pastiche that sound beautifully.


[User] Right wing op-ed writers will claim that any kind of aid to poor countries “denies them agency” - do you really think these guys give a tits about giving poor people agency in any other context?

[Assistant] They’re the same people who insist you give food to homeless people instead of cash in case they spend it on booze whilst £100 of their Waitrose order is bottles of plonk.

[User] Yeah, exactly.

[Assistant] Also, this is reeeeeaaallly easy to remedy. "Do you want aid". "Ok, here".


[User]
When people say they are pro-life, they mean they want to control women’s bodies.

When you are pro supporting families and children, you build an environment where families can thrive.

If you are against unwanted pregnancies, you build sex education, and free or cheap contraception options.

[Assistant]
When you say you a pro supporting families, you build support systems.

We have A LOT build in Finland. But our birth rates are still getting lower.

When you have sex education and allow low cost / almost free abortions, the number of unwanted babies is low.

[User]
When you say you want to support families, you build support systems.

We have A LOT build in Finland. But our birth rates are still getting lower.

When you have sex education and allow low cost / almost free abortions, the number of unwanted babies is low.

[Assistant]
We have SO MUCH support for families in Finland, but many feel it’s still not nearly enough.

The average age of first time mom is 30 years old.

Many don’t want children for environmental reasons and for overpopulation.


[User] The Hereford Mappa's central map showing only the gilded capitals.

[Assistant]
Asia is represented by much of the top half of the picture, which is to the east. India occupies Asia's easternmost part.

Affrica is written in the bottom left, or the northwest, where we would expect to find the name Europe.

Europa occupies the bottom right, or southwest, instead of  Africa.

[User] The switching of the positions of Africa and Europe is the work only of the scribe responsible for inserting these Lombard capitals on the central map.

[Assistant]
The scribe who wrote the main body of the text in the central map used a different script using red and black ink.

This scribe identified Europe and Africa where we would expect them to be: Europe in the bottom left, Africa in the bottom right.

[User] However, there are still some difficulties with his work. He hasn't remembered to add a label showing the dividing line between Europe and Asia. And it isn't entirely clear where the boundary between Africa and Asia runs in the south.

[Assistant] His continents divide up like this:

[User]
Egypt is in Asia.

But where is Nubia?

[Assistant] (own work)


[User]
📢 Statement from Vanuatu: “Why a Non-Use Mechanism on Solar Geoengineering is urgently needed” by Honorable Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment, delivered at Science Summit during UNGA79 @rregenvanu.bsky.social

Some excerpts of his powerful call:

[1/9]

[Assistant]
“I am here to tell you that for Vanuatu, for the Pacific, and for vulnerable nations around the world, solar geoengineering represents an unacceptable risk that we cannot afford to take.”

[2/9]

[User]
“Let me be clear: the risks of solar geoengineering are profound and far-reaching. For island nations like Vanuatu, these risks are particularly acute. Our lives and livelihoods are intimately tied to natural systems that could be severely disrupted by solar geoengineering.”

[3/9]

[Assistant]
“These are not abstract concerns. They strike at the very heart of our right to exist as Pacific peoples and nations. And yet, proponents of solar geoengineering argue that these risks are worth taking given the magnitude of the climate crisis."

[4/9]

[User]
“Or they advocate for investments in research, saying that we need to study all options. To them I say: we in the Pacific are not your guinea pigs. We have seen this story before.”

[5/9]

[Assistant]
“For decades, colonial powers used our islands as testing grounds for nuclear weapons, leaving a legacy of contamination and health impacts that persists to this day. We will not allow ourselves to be subjected to another reckless experiment in planetary engineering.”

[6/9]

[User]
“This is why at the recent UN Environment Assembly, Vanuatu and Fiji proudly stood with our African sisters and brothers in calling for a global governance mechanism to ensure the non-use of solar geoengineering technologies.”

[7/9]

[Assistant]
“Some may say that our position is too extreme, that we are closing the door on potentially useful technologies. To them I say: the truly extreme position is to gamble with the future of our planet on unproven, high-risk interventions."

[8/9]


[User] I was glad to take a walk down Market street today in STL and yell a bit but I want all us white people protesting Session’s police state at immigration or #BLM protests.

[Assistant]
I mean we mean well but I am not sure we’ve internalized the mantra of stand with most vulnerable. We still think we are the most vulnerable.
Nope!

We are not.

[User] But I am serious.  We need to do better.  All y’all dudes w/megaphones  should hand try to hand them off to folks who aren’t.

[Assistant] All y’all white women w/megaphones should make sure non-white people have them if they want. Taking up less space means practical small choices.


[User] Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost will appeal a Hamilton County court's decision to strike down the state's six-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest that was put into effect for several months after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

[Assistant] Yost juicing his run for governor by using his current office for junk lawsuits.

[User]
I hate being an Ohio taxpayer.

My tax dollars are paying for this crook to do this.

[Assistant] What a DICK!

[User] I didn't know so many of these white male politicians are highly trained and experienced OBG/GYN Doctors.

[Assistant] Dave loves forced birth, especially when minors, rape, incest — or any combination of the three — is involved. Blessed is the fruit, amirite Dave?

[User] Why don't men stick with what they know about women's reproductive health?  Oh, wait, they know nothing, so butt out.

[Assistant] Of course. Unless you're totally stupid, you realize this is to get it to the supreme Court. Anyone who doesn't think a nationwide ban is coming, is a complete moron. Who's going to stop it now? Idiots sure love whacked out lunatic extremist Christians. Y'all elected them 😂 😂

[User] Yost has already announced his run for governor in 2026. This is the kind of BS we'll be seeing for the next two years. Next up: "illegal voters."

[Assistant] more restrictions, less compassion—where's the logic?


[User] If only folks understood our history with Mexico, you might understand that this is par for the course for American cowboys.

[Assistant]
Fine. Let's go to war with Mexico again and when they reclaim Texas  we've got nothing to cry about, right?! /S

I also love how everyone assumes we'll just win. Nothing is sure in wars.

[User] James K. Polk was elected President on the platform that he would expand US territory [take it from Mexico], so yeah.

[Assistant] Jennings and his children wouldn’t be the ones sent to fight in Mexico, so he’s a big proponent.


[User] His head is ringing.

[Assistant]
"Oh! I know what to do!"

She zooms off, returning with a cup of tea.

"Mom always says this helps lubricate her gears!"

[User]
"...Your mom drinks tea?" Weird, but...

Sip. A long sip.

"Oh, that's good tea."

[Assistant]
"Yeah, I dunno, I guess it works for her. You're uh, Victor, right?"

She sits down so she doesn't seem so huge next to him.

[User]
She's huge, but he's dealt with huge-er entities.

"Yeah. Wait--How do you know my name?" He didn't recognize this one.

[Assistant]
"You know my mom, and she talks about you from time to time."

She points to herself.

"I'm Arcee's Daughter, Grasshopper, my friends call me Hop!"

[User]
He almost choked on the tea, coughing into his elbow and groaning.

Arcee...reproduced?!

"I. Uh. I see. Nice to meet ya, Grasshopper." Coughing again.

[Assistant]
"You okay?"

She tilts her head a little, looking concerned.

"I didn't mean to cause any problems..."


[User] Ex senior #BBC staffer tells me: “Those of us who are committed to public service journalism, both mainstream and highbrow cannot stay. We despair of [#BBC] management”.

[Assistant]
It is always sad, when a radio presenter leaves a show. Especially the Today programme, because 6 days a week, they are the first people I hear, and start my day.

I wish Mishal Husain well in her future projects.

[User] Mishal Husain: “My news .. heading to Bloomberg to host a multi-platform global interview show as part of the recently launched Weekend Edition. Much to look forward to in this new chapter of career and life :)”

[Assistant] Mishal Husain: “I have so much to thank the BBC for: I grew up in a part of the world with no objective media and the World Service was our friend. Then BBC World launched and I could never have imagined that one day I would work there, let alone present there..”

[User] “It was through the business news that I got my on-air break, I had only done a little reporting but one week there was a presenter rota crisis..”

[Assistant] Sack the board!


[User]
#usenet
I do have the Big-8 and I also have a bunch of kernel mailing lists that I add myself (not every post, I will explain why in a followup).
nntp://debian.trudheim.com:119/ and you can browse/read anonymously. I do not allow posting for unregistered accounts, but you are welcome to read.

[Assistant]
The reason for not every post on the mailing lists making it through to my Inn2 server is the following.

SMTP RFCs are more lenient when it comes to headers. A header is <header-name>:<header-content> with an optional space after ':'.
NNTP RFCs are *strict* that there _must_ be a space after ':'.

[User] While I can get around this by basically filtering out a lot of headers so they are not there when submitting to Inn2, I can not really filter out From, Date and a few others. And because there are shitty mailclients out there that will not put the space after colon as the SMTP RFC does not demand..

[Assistant]
..it, those listposts are rejected by Inn2 when I try and submit them. (Submission is run via pullnews yadda yadda, ask if you want details.)

As far as I am concerned, I will offer no quarter for shitty mailclients. If people insist on using them, they can shout into the void.


[User] My wife sweet potato pie came out great I done chose right!

[User] She beautiful, extremely intelligent, and she can cook? Lawd hammercy😮💨😮💨

[Assistant] A blessing when you got one !

[User] And don’t even trip cuz her bills paid too!


[User] 1/ 🧵 The story of Omar Kebbeh, an 18-year-old migrant from Gambia, highlights the profound human cost of mass deportation policies. While some focus on economics, the real tragedy lies in the lives upended, the dreams shattered, and the humanity discarded. Let’s talk.

[Assistant] 2/ Omar risked everything for a chance at a better life. He survived a perilous six-day boat journey with 125 others from Senegal, arriving in Spain’s Canary Islands. Imagine the desperation it takes to leave your family, your country, and face such danger.

[User] 3/ The Canary Islands, like many other places, are struggling to absorb a surge of migrants. Over 19,700 migrants have arrived on El Hierro this year, an island with a population of just 11,400. The infrastructure is overwhelmed, and many young migrants end up homeless.

[Assistant] 4/ For Omar, turning 18 meant leaving the shelter where minors are protected. With no legal paperwork yet, he was on the verge of homelessness, like countless others. But one man, Francis Mendoza, stepped in and gave Omar a home. A chance. A future.

[User] 5/ Francis, a volunteer and local hardware store worker, said working with migrants “changed his life.” He witnessed the trauma, the resilience, and the humanity of people like Omar. It even impacted his own health—he lost 79 lbs. “It impacted me a lot,” he said.

[Assistant] 6/ This is where we must pause: Mass deportation policies ignore stories like Omar’s. They reduce people to numbers, not considering the terror, violence, or poverty these individuals are fleeing—or the hope and potential they carry with them.

[User] 7/ Deporting people like Omar isn’t just a legal or economic decision—it’s a moral failure. Deportation often sends people back to war zones, famine, or political persecution. It’s a death sentence for many and a betrayal of our shared humanity.

[Assistant] 8/ Instead of addressing root causes of migration or investing in humane solutions, hardline policies scapegoat migrants. Stephen Miller and Tom Homan advocate for mass deportation and draconian measures. These policies will destroy lives.

[User] 9/ We have seen the devastating consequences of these actions before. Families torn apart. Children sent to countries they barely know. Refugees returned to dangerous situations. Are we willing to let history repeat itself on an even larger scale?

[Assistant]
10/ What can we do? Pressure your senators to:
	•	Reject nominations of hardliners like Stephen Miller and Tom Homan.
	•	Oppose mass deportation policies that exacerbate humanitarian crises.
	•	Push for immigration reform that prioritizes human dignity.

[User] 11/ Immigration isn’t just about borders or economies—it’s about people. Like Omar, who dreams of becoming an electrical engineer and bringing his family to safety. Who has been given a chance thanks to the kindness of one man.

[Assistant] 12/ Imagine if Omar had been deported. Imagine if we turned away every person seeking refuge, every future engineer, doctor, teacher. The cost isn’t just economic—it’s the loss of what makes us human: compassion, hope, and community.

[User] 13/ We must act. Call your senators. Share Omar’s story. Reject policies that dehumanize and destroy lives. Let’s build an immigration system that reflects our values—not one driven by fear and cruelty.

[Assistant] 14/ If you believe in protecting lives and offering hope, spread the word. We can’t let these policies pass without a fight. Together, we can ensure people like Omar have a future.


[User]
I got this from @cowboylikeally.swifties.social

leave for an hour and let your followers reply with something nice about you or your account. repost for your followers to do the same. 💓💓

[Assistant] it’s always a pleasure interacting with you! you are so sweet ☺🫶🏻

[User] I absolutely LOVE your layout! It’s so aestheticly pleasing🫶🏻

[Assistant] You pick good songs for your followers 🔥🫶


[User]
Thinking about Heinrix and Asche before bed…

Specifically how they both put duty before their personal happiness. How Heinrix endured unimaginable horrors and persevered, while Asche is stricken by his past so deeply that he seeks escapism at the only way to cope.

[Assistant] How Asche gave up his happiness and identity to be the perfect noble, only to become permanently disfigured and scared of human touch, but it comes so easy with Heinrix, perhaps because he wants to unearth the man he’s trying to bury under his service to the Imperium.

[User]
As, not at*

I really think of anyone on the ship, it’s probably Heinrix and Abelard that help Asche out of his substance abuse spirals, specifically by giving him reasons to stay sober, and maybe with enough distractions, he can look for some form of healthy relief.

[Assistant] Ok it’s 3AM and I’m walled on a Metaphor boss so it is time to rest.


[User] I have spent the last few days iterating on my previously finished illustration by drawing over it in #ClipStudioPaint, to now paste it into #AffinityDesigner and vectorize it. [1/4]

[Assistant] Before, when I exclusively worked in CSP, I wouldn't think of picking a finished piece up again to rework it. I would just be tired and glad I was finally done.  [2/4]

[User] Now, however, having that separation between sketching/designing in one program and rendering in another, I feel much more freedom to explore and experiment without worrying if my lines are neat enough while I'm still in the beginning phase. [3/4]

[Assistant] By shifting my process, most of my stress and frustration with drawing seems to have disappeared. For once I am having fun again and am excited to start new things! [4/4]


[User] This is the thing worrying me about blocklists. It's so easy to include someone accidentally. Unlike with starter packs, you may never notice the mistake because the voice has been silenced.

[Assistant] Also, knee-jerk blocking. I have nobody to blame but myself for my spambot-adjacent bio that has people blocking me immediately when I reply or quote, but yeah, Daniel Kahneman would shed a tear.

[User] You've inspired more than one of my attempts to write myself a self-deprecating bio.

[Assistant] I CAN HAS INFLUENZA?


[User] Does my jiggly ass make your cock hard? 😛

[Assistant] You already know 🤪

[User] That ass making morning wood A LOT mower intense🥵🥵🥵

[Assistant] That ass making morning A LOT more intense🥵🥵


[User]
Unfortunately, as happens when a new platform grows this fast, the bots are arriving in numbers. Including a lot of impersonators.

Follow guides like this & look for verification signs.

I expect the Bluesky team will get better at this as their trust & safety team grows.

bsky.app/profile/darr...

[Assistant]
That doesn't work for me: 'is there a link to a website in their bio? Yes: Does it link back to their Blsky? No' etc.,
I don't have my Blsky on my website. It's a bit like 'I block anon handles that don't have photos' Sorry vultures are out. Might get killed/arrested/kidnapped at work?Too bad! 🙁

[User]
Yes, the options for verification aren’t ideal at the moment and I hope they add more.

In your case you may be able to use the domain handle approach, setting digitaldjeli.com as your handle. bsky.social/about/blog/4...

[Assistant] It's tricky - that locks me into forever paying for the domain & website. On twit I built a decent following who knew me thru' my work & stroppy (but informed) tweets at a time when 'verification' wasn't such a thing. I've even been introduced at conferences as @digitaldjeli before my real name. 🙈


[User] That ginger ale will get you every time:

[Assistant] After the pickles and the Mexicanized dishes and pepper sauces, I think I can just leap over the rest of the steps, perhaps grabbing a cup of coffee on the way down. 😋

[User] Solid plan. Skip ahead to get where you’re going.

[Assistant] Give me coffee, or give me death.


[User] Most dates are once-in-a-century dates.

[Assistant] I know we have to take what we can get on date numerology, but calendar palindromes (calendromes?) that require you to drop the century to work are not all that interesting to me.

[User] O2-02-2020 (aka 2020-02-02) was pretty cool. Good calendrome.

[Assistant] Should women carrying twins who are full term induce pregnancy on "twosday" 2-22-22? The real power move is to spite everybody everywhere forever and hold them in until Wednesday the 23rd.


[User] 1/ Concerning allegations & foster carers in Northern Ireland "Following the outcome of the investigation an interagency, e.g. Social Services, PSNI, meeting will be convened. The purpose of which is:

[Assistant]
2/ -To ensure that all information has been shared.
- Agree the conclusion of the investigation.
- Confirm all actions agreed have been completed.
Once the investigation has been concluded the Trust’s Fostering Panel should be informed of the outcome of the investigation."

[User] However when (& how, verbally in writing) is the foster carer informed about the outcome of the investigation. Appears they have to wait to their fostering review & the fostering panel. How can this be viewed to be procedurally fair or follow the principles of natural justice?

[Assistant] Also appears to be at odds with practice in other jurisdictions in the UK?


[User]
So what is 13th Age?
#ttrpg
13th Age is be @PelgranePress press, and is something like 4th edition if it was done intelligently and right.  It is D&D, but somewhat pumped up on steroids.  It has 10 levels, rather than 20, but each level is like 2 levels in D&D.

[Assistant] It is incredibly versatile.  We have a document which shows just what you can do with the main rulebook and a small number of sourcebooks.  The setting for it is open ended, fully built to let the game master and players add what they want.

[User] It is OGL, meaning if you want to make things for it, you can.  Ashley Law has been making classes, spells, and such through her patreon, for example, but there's a number of excellent 3pp sourcebooks, and the company's got an underworld book coming soon.

[Assistant] It has a wiki online for people to use the OGL information, and it includes 3PP as well, so you can easily look through things on your laptop or smart phone while you play, to get quick information.

[User] It has a very easy skill system, built on the player choosing background events, it has a One Unique Thing for how your character can stand out, and it has an escalation die, to help give the PCs an edge, the longer the fight drags out, helping to keep a snappy pace.

[Assistant] If you're stepping away from WotC, we suggest 13th Age.  It's a very good fantasy system and is reasonably familiar to anyone who's played d20.  Just... more versatile and more epic in the fantasy scope.


[User]
What? The UK and US must halt helping Ukraine, you say?

Hell, no.

www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...

[Assistant] Diplomacy is not an option with Putin.  His idea of diplomacy is, “I want, therefore I get.”  He must not be allowed to take Ukraine as he did Crimea.  The USSR must never be recreated.

[User]
WWII War Cabinet:

In 1940 after Hitler's invasion of France, Lord Halifax wanted to start peace negotiations with Hitler.

Churchill and Neville Chamberlain both convinced him that even starting to talk would be a slippery slope into a massive victory for Hitler.

[Assistant] “The problem with appeasement is you eventually run out of other people’s countries.”


[User]
I've been doing link building for 15 years and counting.

Here's the number one mindset shift you need to make as a link builder or digital PR.

👇

[Assistant]
You need to understand that no one actually wants links.

Not your client. Not your CMO. Not your CEO. None of them.

They might think and say they do, but they don't.

They want the outcomes that the links drive.

The rankings, the traffic and the revenue increases.

[User]
If you’re not earning links that have a measurable impact on real business metrics, you’re doing it wrong.

Recognise that links are a means to an end and learn the type of links that do and don't impact your or your clients' bigger goals.

That's how you win with links.

[Assistant] If links aren't contributing to ranking, traffic and revenue increases, then what's the point?

[User]
No, you can't isolate out the SEO impact from a single link.

But over time, if you're not seeing growth as a result of your link building efforts, you're probably not earning the type of links that Google rewards right now and maybe it's time to rethink your strategy?

[Assistant]
I've always treated a % of link acquisition like "traditional advertising".

Awareness, Reach, Trust ... the "soft goals",
can be served with links,
and are an absolute PITA to measure
(cost, time and effort - as it requires focus groups and surveying).


[User] On this day in 1981, Soft Cell released their debut studio album “Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret” featuring singles "Tainted Love" "Bedsitter" and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye"

[Assistant] Jake, you forgot to mention “Sex Dwarf”

[User] I still have my copy from then (I was 16) and play it often. This album made me a Soft Cell fan, and my record collection reflects it! (Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing; The Art of Falling Apart; This Last Night In Sodom).

[Assistant] I was a bit too young to appreciate it when it came out but I found it in a used record store a few years later and it is still one of my favorite albums of all time. 😊


[User] I read the article! Stop scolding me!

[Assistant] Funny I  can’t see the “ did you even read it,?”

[User] There is a journalist who I'm not going to call out whose idea of marketing seems to be that sort of scolding. Doesn't seem to realize that replies aren't book reports.

[Assistant] “ this is my personal acct”


[User]
Today I've witnessed my officemate's stress over attempting to buy tickets for K-Pop band Stray Kids' 2025 tour, for her 13-year-old. Eventually she secured 4 tickets for £500 total. 🤯

BTW, in my day, this is what would have happened:

ME: Mum, can we go and see Duran Duran?
MY MUM: No.

[Assistant]
Mine was

Q: Can we go and see Queen?
A: When your brother's a bit older, on their next tour.

There wasn't one.

[User] When I was in my teens, it was useful to have a mate who who worked near the gig venue or was unemployed because they could go to the venue to buy tickets on the day they came out. *Because that was how to get tickets.*

[Assistant]
Mine was
Me, 16: I want to go to Copenhagen with my best friend and see Depeche Mode
My mum: Ok, sounds like fun!
Me: *neglects to tell her no adult was coming along*


[User]
1/4
Solid data on storage requirements for Australia here.
120GWh of storage will almost (98.5% of the time) be enough for an all-renewables grid.
A thread to get my head around what 120GWh looks like in everyday numbers:  🧵

[Assistant]
2/4
• Australian Population: 26.6 million people, so 4.5 kWh/person;
• Australian Households: 9.3 million households, so 12.9 kWh/household;
A Tesla Powerwall 3 stores 13.5 kWh, so 1 Powerwall per household would reach the total.

[User]
3/4
• Hornsdale battery: 194 MWh of storage, so 618 Hornsdales;
• Snowy 2 pumped hydro: 350 GWh of storage, so 0.3 of a Snowy;
• EVs: Australia has 21 million cars, if they were all EVs with 40 kWh batteries, 14% of their storage capacity fed to the grid would do it.

[Assistant]
4/4
The solution to Australia's storage problem looks so clear-cut it's almost inevitable.


[User] I did not know this. A quick search shows that Musk bought his way into Tesla and in a few years pushed both founders out, claiming they no longer had a meaningful role in the company.

[Assistant]
Musk invented NOTHING.
He is a cancer.

[User] Been telling people for years...he's a dumb f*ck, it's the people around him that make him successful.

[Assistant] He also is not a self-made billionaire. He inherited his money from this father who dealt in blood diamonds.


[User]
Best piece of advice someone gave me that I never followed and always regretted:

Every time you learn something coding at work, write a tiny, low-effort blog post about it. You can always edit or beef up later, but it's the fastest way to remember what you've learned.

[Assistant]
This is the reason I started my blog.

How I accomplish it.  I open an MD file the second I run into any resistance while effecting a task.  When I am done, I commit it.

I have more unpublished than published, but I have documented a lot of weird things, and silly mistakes!

[User] That’s a great idea!

[Assistant] I have  tonight college and graduate level electronics, both old school chalk board and now power point.  I find that when students copy and augment what is written in the classroom rather than on printing slides, their retention and understanding (plus engagement) was superior.


[User]
“Who told you I was a workaholic one? I was thinking of the proper work life balance concept, if I got married.”

After a small nod, this self-proclaimed manager quickly stared at him back and raised his eyebrows up confusingly. He wasn’t annoyed by his speaking, a concerning one—but he didn’t +

[Assistant]
+ think the male can be so observant, before he returned his focus to the pipe with the burning tobacco. He coughed loudly, rubbed his nose but continued his smoking carefully. Its taste was unfamiliar yet amazing at the same time

“Normally, I prefer to play with animals and I would love to touch +

[User] + your bunny sometimes.”

[Assistant]
+ think the male can be so observant, before he returned his focus to the pipe with the burning tobacco. He coughed loudly, rubbed his nose but continued his smoking. Its taste was unfamiliar yet amazing.

“Normally, I prefer to play with animals and I would love to touch your bunny sometimes.”


[User]
"Lockdown skeptic" who argued explicitly that kids should get infected.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

[Assistant] What could go wrong?

[User] The same man who is just an economist and somehow thinks that only death is the real outcome of interest. I hope he gets Long COVID.

[Assistant] Elect a clown, expect a circus! At least Gaetz is out as AG but the clown car keeps filling up. Quack Oz & now another minimizer. He literally picks the worst people he can find in every category. In fairness, if you were a convicted felon, you probably wouldn't surround yourself with decent folks?


[User]
When you unfollow 1000 people on X you'd expect your follower count to be effected.

It isn't, people aren't checking their X feeds anymore.

Try it.

[Assistant] Obviously X follower counts slowly decrease as people leave but most people just seem to have abandoned using it.

[User]
The last dozen X followers I gained were all porn bots.
I locked my posts to only followers now.
I'll ignore new follow requests.

[Assistant]
For sometime now all I've done on X is retweet others posts.
As I follow most of those people I was retweeting on Bluesky now there seems little point in continuing.

[User] I started deleting my own content when Musk got involved. It's almost all gone now.

[Assistant] All I felt I was achieving on X was training AI bots.


[User] Apple Music is vastly superior to Spotify*, but they really need to figure out album covers, man.

[Assistant] That 2010’s Hits one screams “graphic design is my passion”

[User] I scream every time that one comes up. Sia, who has hidden her face for more of her career than everyone save El Santo, has a more vivid facial expression than dude on that cover.

[Assistant] I’m trying to figure out what his expression is supposed to say about the decade.

[User] Whatever it is, it's definitely what I feel about this one.

[Assistant] Huh. I had completely forgotten what Calvin Harris looked like until I saw this post, and I had a huge crush on him back in the day.

[User] Oh, it's an actual musician? I thought it was just a stock human being.

[Assistant] Hahaha - indeed it is! Although to be fair, Calvin has a very stock image face. 🤭


[User]
Oh, you know it smells cute in there.

Greetings from the high seas!

[Assistant] Hope you’re having a great time 💖

[User] I love when people decorate their doors it's so cute!


[User] Enchantment?

[Assistant] Enchantment!

[Assistant] Ooh, does that mean I get a tour of the Eurogamer factory? :)


[User]
#MusicSky
#Reggae

PRINCE ALLA ONLY LOVE CAN CONQUER 1976 -1979
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4NS...

[Assistant] One of my favourite Blood &Fire compilations (along with about 50 others!)

[User] Miss that label so much. Quality all the way 😊

[Assistant] Yep, the thought and time that went into every release, from the sleeve to the mastering, was exceptional.


[User] Our work co-lead by Matthew Zhou and SachinSurwase developing a multiplex immunofluorescence panel for FFPE mouse tissue using CODEX/PhenoCycler (doi.org/10.1016/j.la...) is now finalized and available at Laboratory Investigation and I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the work.

[Assistant] The lab has been developing non-viral gene delivery nanoparticles for tumor microenvironment immune engineering. We were interested in using multiplex immunofluorescence to map the nanoparticle induced tumor microenvironment, but quickly realized that a major gap existed.

[User] The most useful format for retrospective use of tissue samples is formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE), as they preserve well for years and can be used to generate tissue/tumor microarrays, but few antibodies are sufficiently tested and validated for mouse FFPE.

[Assistant] So, we set out to validate by single color IF a number of antibodies to profile the tumor immune microenvironment, ending with 28 validated antibodies to identify immune cell populations, macrophage polarization, antigen presentation, and immune checkpoints; see Table 1.

[User] We applied this panel to coverslips for 1stgeneration CODEX imaging and to tumor arrays using the 2ndgeneration PhenoCycler Fusion from AkoyaBio. Most markers showed functional equivalence, but some low intensity markers could only be reliably visualized by the Fusion.

[Assistant] Recently we studied the impact of co-delivering a IFNg plasmid along with 4-1BB and IL-12 plasmids via gene delivery nanoparticles in mice. This study lead by Kathryn Luly (pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....)

[User] ...demonstrated that addition of IFNg enhanced antigen presentation but resulted in increased T cell exhaustion and systemic toxicity. We took samples from that study and applied our panel. We found the addition of IFNg increased intratumoral infiltration of immune cells…

[Assistant] …including CD4 and CD8 T cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages. However, 4-1BBL/IL-12 alone induced significant pro-inflammatory M1 skewing which was reduced by the addition of IFNg.

[User] 4-1BBL/IL-12 delivery resulted in improved antigen presentation by tumor, macrophages, and dendritic cells, with IFNg delivery further boosting antigen presentation and beta-2-microglobulin expression, while also further upregulating tumor PD-L1 expression.

[Assistant] Using Seurat for clustering and phenotyping, we identified better mixing between CD8 T cells and macrophages in the 4-1BBL/IL-12 group and mixing of CD8 T cells with PD-L1 positive tumor cells as potentially drivers of the lack of improvement seen with addition of IFNg.

[User] We are excited about using this to further explore the nanoparticle induced murine tumor immune microenvironment and hope that the hard work of validating this panel is also helpful to the greater scientific community looking to gain insights from mouse FFPE tissue.

[Assistant] Using Seurat for clustering and phenotyping, we identified better mixing between CD8 T cells and macrophages in the 4-1BBL/IL-12 group and mixing of CD8 T cells with PD-L1 positive tumor cells as potentially drivers of the lack of improvement seen with addition of IFNg.


[User]
Apparently the recent Arcane talk was enough for my something to trigger in my brain that made it say "maybe you should finally watch it".
It's hard for me to sit down and consume stuff, when nothing in my brain feels spoken to, so I kind of ignored the show because I simply was not interested.

[Assistant]
So now I finally sat down and did start watching S1 and somehow I'm already on the last episode lmao (of S1).
Safe to say I like it and it is very entertaining and the 40 min eps don't feel terribly long compared to some other shows. Very fun.

[User]
Unfotunately instead of starting that last ep I got distracted by a completely different show of which I am now watching ep 1. :')
And this children is why I hardly ever finish anything or start something. Distraction is too real.

[Assistant]
Sometimes I feel it's also not the "right moment" to consume something. Like the stars are not aligned and then it's no use for me. I often (not always) need a bit of spark that draws me to something. Or sometimes time simply needs to pass.

I have a tea example for that lol:

[User]
Like 5 ages ago Antan gifted me a beautifully packaged Sencha.
I don't know why I haven't touched it in all those years. No interest in green tea at the time? Unsure of how to brew it?

Today I brew it, because I have been gaining a little experience in brewing tea and ...

[Assistant]
I found a good book that helps a lot with understanding tea.

And what can I say, that Sencha tastes extremly lovely. 🍵

So I'm kind of glad I waited this long because at this very moment I can properly appreciate it. ♥


[User]
When I pulled a card for the Mercury Rx transit for Pisces I got the Queen of Swords.
Definitely a preface for the following year of being out of our element. (Queen/King of Cups)
Having clear communication, setting strong boundaries, and thinking logically and not idealistically.

[Assistant]
I think the setting boundaries is going to be the most challenging bc we assume too much responsibility for other people’s feeling bc we are empathic by nature.

We try to fit everyone in the picture.

Queen of Swords literally doesn’t care about that.

[User]
You’re probably going to piss a lot of people off too. They’ll be mad now and understand later. Not your job to coddle them.

The Mercury Rx is in Sagittarius and idk if you’ve ever met a Sagittarius Mercury native but they truly don’t care what comes out of their mouth.

[Assistant]
And Pisces is not necessarily “out of your element” to think logically it’s just something you have to work on.

It’s like going to the gym and working on a particular muscle group or body part. It’s a little uncomfortable now but it gets easier later.

[User] Ok I definitely needed to see this. Because I’m really feeling that dgaf energy heavy on me. It’s time for me to worry about me!

[Assistant] What’s so funny to me is I’m sure you’re being as respectful as possible and it’s still being taken as disrespect. Setting boundaries pisses ppl off who shouldn’t have been in your life in the first place.


[User]
Over November, we picked four "monthly pick" articles for you to read.

The first of these was "The Political Economy of the Weinstein Scandal" by Liam Stanley, Ellie Gore, Genevieve LeBaron, Sylvie Craig, Remi Edwards, Sophie Wall and Tom Watts. Link below 👇

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

[Assistant]
Our second monthly pick for November was "The second monthly pick for November is "Generalised Comedy Production: British Political Economy and Stand-Up" by Alex Sutton. Link below 👇

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

[User]
The third monthly pick for November was "Co-opting cosmopolitanism? The International Monetary Fund's new global ethics" by Jacqueline Best. Link below 👇

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

[Assistant]
Our final monthly pick for November was "The reintegration of the Soviet economy into the world economy: Problems and perspectives" by Valerie Clarke. This article was originally published when Global Society was Paradigms. The link is below 👇

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...


[User] GOOD MORNING BEAUTIFUL SOULS! Many of us will be busy today, prepping foods, getting ready for family and friends, running out for last minute items and entertaining while we do all those things - with love and gratitude! Take it easy - breathe!

[Assistant] Good morning Yvonne!😃

[User] Good morning 😊 🙏 🌄 Yvonne my friend!

[Assistant] Have a lovely Thanksgiving Eve 💙


[User]
Are universal human rights a "Western" idea? Hard debate. But it's good to remember that a Confucian intellectual, P.C. Chang, was one of the most influential characters in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

And Chang thought that the East-West mixing had a long history... 👇 1/

[Assistant] 2/ Chang's quotation is a bit simplistic, but he was absolutely on point on one thing: Enlightenment thinkers were busy reading Asian philosophy. It is unfortunate that this influence has been marginalised due to a curious mix of eurocentricm and a fear of celebrating orientalism.

[User] 3/ This is part of the general dynamic highlighted in chapter 2 of "Dawn of Everything". I'm so happy that Graeber and @davidwengrow.bsky.social brought this into the larger conversation! Here is the only book I know looking at the Asian influence in particular: www.amazon.co.uk/Unfabling-Ea...

[Assistant] 4/ The original quotation is from journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....


[User]
As an old word processor, I say this:
ctrl-c copy the post, delete it, ctrl-v paste it in a new space, correct the typo, post. With practice this can be done in five seconds.

[Assistant] That's what I do. Takes me longer than 5 seconds, though. Sometimes I even remember to correct the typo so I don't have to go through the whole process a second time 🙃

[User] Yeah, I've done that.  But if you delete the original, doesn't that also delete all the likes/replies it got?

[Assistant] That's why you have to do it quickly before it gets likes and replies. I call it the Oops! proofread.


[User]
Every day I wake up and can't believe Americans handed over our country to a bunch of fascist pigs.
I have to talk myself into pretending like everything is ok.
Every. Single. Day.

[Assistant] Everything isn't ok. That's the worst part. I joined a group of like-minded people who are fighting back in every little way we can. We CAN make a difference. I refuse to give up or give in.

[User] Part of me thinks maybe this has to happen. Maybe The Heritage Foundation has to get their way & dismantle the federal government. Then, after it creates chaos & tons of pain, maybe Democrats can win control of government & bring in another New Deal era.

[Assistant] I sort of think that too sometimes..


[User]
They are prepping us for 1 of 2 things.
1. To fight with them as they try to keep a tattered 🇺🇸together in a 45 reign of terror
2. To keep us engaged so that we are on board with them when they take the WH in Jan.
Either way, it means they are still in the game. And that is AWESOME!

[Assistant] Please Universe, let's go with number 2.

[User]
That’s what a leader looks like.
💯  My President.

[Assistant] Thank you Susan!  Watching your Utube now.

[User] I thought the same thing 🤗

[Assistant] I'm literally just starting to emerge from political hibernation. This platform is allowing me to re-engage a bit more since the election.

[User] Just watched your latest video on YouTube and I’m aligned with what you see.

[Assistant] Now THIS is a president.


[User] Oxon Travel are reporting  that due to flooding on #AbingdonRoad in #Oxford the bus gate on #HighSreet will not be enforced today 27th Nov.    They request drivers to  use an alternative route to avoid Abingdon Road. Pumping is in operation to try and remove water from the Abingdon Road.

[Assistant] Oxfordshire County Council are posting on social media that they are keeping Abingdon Road open though? Very confusing messaging.

[User] (to be clear, it's the council's messaging I find confusing, they should state clearly that the road is closed and to avoid)

[Assistant] The High Street is not a suitable alternative route.


[User] @galidaveyauthor.bsky.social I wonder if one of your followers could use this to buy your book.

[Assistant] It's self published and I think it's been done via Amazon's publishing platform, so the book's pretty much only available via them, their affiliates or via the author, I think.

[User] Ah, that's a shame. Yeah, Amazon exclusives aren't much good for this.

[Assistant] same! switched to byitts.com and haven’t looked back. it's so much better for finding unique, local goodies that you just can't get on Amazon. supporting our community while snagging deals? yes, please! 😊

[User] Absolutely! Byitts.com is like the local treasure map you didn’t know you needed! 🗺 Supporting our community while scoring unique finds? It’s a win-win, like finding an extra fry at the bottom of the bag! 🍟 Keep on hunting those gems!

[Assistant] Available via Waterstones, Amazon, Barnes and Nobel - most places!

[User] Thanks. I see Waterstones are getting it direct from you. Takes 2-3 weeks. But it's listed for sure. Missed that. Thanks for the clarification.

[Assistant] Through Ingram Sparks, but yes, there’s a laborious process 😂


[User]
I am old enough to remember the "bond vigilantes" from the '90s...

Just gonna watch the mortgage rates blow up as the 10 year notes go "boom."

[Assistant] I was in the business in the 80s.. Bonds are the fickle mistress..

[User]
My daughter has a note at 2.75%.

She will never leave that house.

[Assistant] Sounds reasonable..


[User]
Coming up on our 35th anniversary.

That’s (looks it up) …

coral.

🪸

(HOW is there a coral emoji, but a meeple is too much to ask)

Honestly, besides fish owners, who has ever asked for anything made of coral?

[Assistant] [Insert "Coral!" supercut from 'The Walking Dead']

[User] The Great Barrier Reef Card Game has coral meeples (and it's a very good small-box game).

[Assistant] Congratulations and good luck finding that special coral gift! 👍😆


[User] I told that man to get me sharp cheddar cheese and he got extra sharp. Now I have to go to the store today and deal with these people  😩😩😩

[Assistant] Curious, have you ever used extra sharp in your recipe? Is there a difference in taste or cook time?

[User] No I haven’t and I don’t want to experiment for Thanksgiving. I was trying to Google to see if there’s much of a difference in taste and it sounds like there might be so I don’t want to chance it.

[Assistant] Thanks for answering and good call😂