Peter Oliver @mavit@bergamot.social

Choosing a Mastodon server isn't like choosing an email provider, because, back when email was new and unfamiliar, you didn't choose. You just got given a mailbox by your university or employer or ISP.

By the time that independent email providers were really taking off, you had clear, concrete reasons for your choice, such as price (Hotmail), brand recognition (Yahoo!), features (GMail). But Mastodon servers all look kind-of the same, so how do you select one?

@sil It exists as a website: profile pages are visible (provided you disable tracking protection in your browser): https://www.threads.net/@zuck

@sil Is there a complicated sign-up process?

@SimonB The boring but correct answer might be, "whichever one you already know".

Digbeth's freshest street art.

@sil The European Broadcasting Union is not connected to the EU, though, despite having two of the same words in its name.

@sil I haven't seen this meme template before, but shouldn't it be Roddy Piper from They Live?

@bigcalm Fried chicken is the obvious fast-food omission. Slightly more left-field short-order options: burrito, noodle bar, bao, sushi/bento. Technically, sandwich shops/bakeries/pastie stalls, etc., sell takeaway food too, but I guess that's not what you're looking for. All that said, most cuisines are available for delivery nowadays, via the apps.

Iron Horse has been groomed and moved.

@alex Are their demands set?

@bigcalm It's a good filesystem, but, assuming you're using Linux, do you really want to be booting from something that isn't included with the mainline kernel? You might end up having to reinstall if your distro decides it's too much hassle to continue supporting.

@quardbreak Thanks for the heads-up. I'll look into dropping the `twitter-` from `twitter-twemoji-fonts`.

@bigcalm They're popping up all over, but I imagine @sil is talking about the one just off Victoria Square. There's been one near the Custard Factory for a while.

This year, a song I like won a Grammy, and a film I liked won an Oscar. Is this what it’s like to be middle-aged? Am I middle of the road now?

I dread the day that manufactures of hotel smoke alarms catch up with the rest of the electronics industry by discovering the ultra-bright blue LED.

Brand meeting: "Let's make our card purple, so it stands out from all the other cards in someone's wallet!"

My wallet:

@sil Some people, in far away places, will try to tell you that pancakes can be eaten for breakfast. Those people do not put lemon juice and sugar on their pancakes, and can be safely ignored.

@cjk @sil I did exactly this last time I changed editor. That was [checks notes] decades ago, so I'm still waiting to reap the benefits.