Chris Trottier

Putting the sauce in awesome! This is my fully-managed family Akkoma + Mangane server.

I primarily talk about the Fediverse, movies, books, photography, video games, music, working out, and general geekiness.

I’m a proud husband and father.

Location: Richmond, BC, Canada

Public Key

npub1e9xty8eww57a3npv2vfl5cel567cd0k4stqu89aa6l0undk0pr8shxmsz2

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsvjn9jruh820wcesk9xyl6vvl6d0vxhm2c9swrj77a0h7fkm8s3ncprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntkhms9u

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1e9xty8eww57a3npv2vfl5cel567cd0k4stqu89aa6l0undk0pr8shxmsz2

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Last Notes

2026-09-10 04:25:25 CEST

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Seeing that, it's no wonder classical music fans were thrilled about the invention of the CD.

2026-09-09 08:06:20 CEST

Double Feature – Billy Bathgate starring Dustin Hoffman, and Blaze starring Paul Newman. Both crammed onto the same Blu-ray disc.
The main reason I bought this was Billy Bathgate. It’s a gangster movie about a particularly infamous ’30s mobster, played by Dustin Hoffman.
Problem is, Billy Bathgate—the guy whose NAME is on the movie—is boring as hell. Loren Dean plays him like this “gee willickers” kid who’s dumb as a bag of rocks. The movie tries to juice things up by throwing Nicole Kidman at him as a love interest, but there’s just no chemistry there.
And the mobsters themselves seem so… I don’t know.
Like they’re attending a dentists convention.
Sure, Dustin Hoffman slaps people around for a bit, but mostly he just seems angry that he’s stuck in this movie.
This thing was ATROCIOUS to sit through.
Blaze seemed better. It’s about a 1950s state governor dating a stripper.
Problem is, I just can’t watch movies about American politicians anymore.
So after half an hour, OFF it went. I doubt I’m going back.
And the Blu-ray itself stinks. You get the movies. That’s it. No subtitles. No sound adjustments.
Into the thrift-store donation pile it goes.
https://atomicpoet.org/media/3832b1ec24df37c796acd210a28ef9222ef00982ac873eb83bbb8c32942cb6cf.jpeg

2026-09-08 00:27:57 CEST

I have several portable CD players, but this KLIM Discover is my favourite.
First off, you can SEE the disc spin.
Most CD players hide the damn thing. But in a world where music increasingly comes out of nowhere and lives nowhere, I like seeing the physical media actually doing the work. The disc is right there, spinning its guts out.
Also: wood grain.
I grew up with wood grain TV sets, turntables, and video game consoles. So yeah, slap fake wood on some electronics and apparently I’m already halfway sold.
Then the features start getting ridiculous. One headphone jack? Fine. TWO headphone jacks? FM radio? Sure. FM transmitter too? Plays MP3s? Records to MP3?
What the hell did they cram into this thing?
It also has a demonstrably better DAC than my Sony Walkman CD player. The Sony gives me ear fatigue, which is why I stopped using it. This one sounds markedly better—as long as I stick with wired headphones.
And then there’s the killer feature: a built-in rechargeable battery.
No digging around for AA batteries. No opening the drawer and finding two dead ones staring back at me.
That alone is one hell of a quality-of-life improvement.
https://atomicpoet.org/media/1fac23f33c406ddea3c68751addbd9ad57d3c5d091661da79c359bf5d4258ae7.jpeg

2026-08-18 18:51:16 CEST

Well, I just saw something rotten.
A VR game where a guy crawls into a cave, gets stuck, and dies there.
Nope, I don't like this at all.
Too tight. Can’t turn. Can’t back out. Rock on your chest. Rock on your ass. Nothing but dirt and your own stupid breathing.
Now my nerves are buzzing like flies.
I need brain bleach. I need grass, wind, sky. A big dumb meadow with NOTHING over my head.
And spelunking? Forget it. Earth can keep its holes.

2026-08-13 04:35:08 CEST

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I disagree. 1996 was way edgier than now.

2026-08-13 02:14:23 CEST

Censorship is getting ridiculous.
Just saw a billboard for Odoo:
“Business software that doesn’t s*ck.”
S*ck?
We’re afraid of “suck” now?
This is a word with the raw sexual menace of a vacuum cleaner. Straws suck. Mosquitoes suck. Bad movies suck. Kid Rock sucks.
Nobody died.
If you’re that scared of the word, just say “awful.” But no! Odoo wanted edge. A little danger. A little switchblade in the advertisement.
Then they replaced the blade with a butter knife.
“Doesn’t s*ck.”
Baby, you sucked the suck right out of suck.
Now I want MORE censorship. Censor everything.
Bic*cle.
Gl*ss.
H*ppy.
That last one is good because nobody knows whether I’m experiencing joy or warning them about hippies or describing a taste in beer.
Enough with this coy little typographical striptease. If you want to say the word, SAY THE GODDAMN WORD.
Give me the vowels.
Give me the consonants.
Give me language with its pants off.
And if somebody clutches their pearls?
Let ’em clutch.

2026-08-06 08:55:37 CEST

Often times, I get people asking me, "Chris, why do you still have an MP3 player?"
Well, there's practical considerations. My smartphone only has 64GB of storage. That phone has to store apps, photos, videos, documents, voice memos, and health data. Putting *all* my music there makes little sense.
"But dude, streaming exists."
That's nice until you're in a dead zone. Or you're in the mountains. Or you're on the ferry. Or on an airplane. Or really, just don't want to be interrupted because the Internet has given up the ghost.
However, the other reason is that I simply like MP3 players. And it's for the same reason I like vinyl, cassettes, and CDs. The medium itself is the point.
Leaving your phone at home and carrying your entire music library with you while out on a walk? Just put shuffle on, and go where the wind takes you. That's freedom.
#note1ehf…ges8

2026-08-06 08:40:06 CEST

Innioasis Y1 is on the left, FiiO X1 is on the right.
The FiiO is my old standby. I’ve had it for 10 years. I still use it all the time because it supports micro-SD up to 256GB, has lineout, plays lots of lossless codecs, and a great DAC.
But it also has flaws. For one thing, the lineout shares a port with the headphone jack—which puts you at risk for serious ear damage if you’re not careful. Also, a mechanical wheel is not a clickwheel, so it’s not exactly iPod-like. Finally, there’s no Bluetooth—which, though flawed, has real conveniences.
The Innioasis does not have the storage capacity of the X1 because it has no micro-SD slot, this is true. And there’s no lineout. But its DAC is pretty decent, has an actual clickwheel and uses Rockbox for its UI. This makes it pretty close to a modern iPod. And what’s more, it’s got better battery life than the X1—which was never great to begin with.
I likely will never get rid of the X1. Too many memories. So much wonderful music on that device. It represents a decade of my life.
But damn, isn’t it nice to have something like an iPod again.
https://atomicpoet.org/media/1dce1de23aa6ee7efa02b5f65141bea94acd180c45945ec9f77bd353f6b776fb.jpeg

2026-08-04 20:09:14 CEST

Today, Vancouver Whitecaps are taking on Atlante FC of #LigaMX.
I'm quite excited about this because *any* excuse to take on a Mexican pro #soccer team is positive in my books.
Mexico has, by far, the best soccer league in North America.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/competitions/leagues-cup/2026/matches/vanvsafc-08-04-2026/
#MLS

2026-08-03 06:48:10 CEST

This is how I remember the 2000s, and it's strange that this music is mostly forgotten.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiqpkTFjsMQ

2026-07-24 19:56:56 CEST

Now watching the movie Tommy to figure out if it’s better than the album.

2026-07-24 04:19:05 CEST

Today is the last day I’m hearing The Who album “Tommy” on vinyl which, though it has some good songs, is way too long because of all the god damn filler.
It’s an hour and 15 minutes long.
Like, I get that this is one of the first rock operas ever made. But just because you were first and sold gazillion copies doesn’t mean it’s not hard to sit through.
The story isn’t particularly good. It’s full of hippy dippy mystic bullshit. The main character is deaf and blind—but not really because it’s psychosomatic? Come on!
However, I haven’t seen the movie. And from Jay I hear, it’s much improved. So maybe I’ll see it later and see if that’s true.

2026-07-07 08:18:56 CEST

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I have not yet been to Africa. Some day, though.

2026-07-01 13:38:24 CEST

When people look at me, they often think, “God, what a fattie…”
Let me tell you, this fattie can routinely lift a fridge—no problem.

2026-06-24 20:56:52 CEST

Who's ready for Canada vs. Switzerland?
I know I am. All we need is a tie and we finish on top of Group B. Not that this will be easy because it's not—Switzerland is a tough team.
#WorldCup #soccer

2026-06-20 02:05:52 CEST

After Tiger-Cats' impressive defensive at the 10-year line, Lions is forced to go for the field goal—which is a success.
Things aren't out of hand for BC yet, but they're going to need more than field goals if they're going to beat Hamilton.
BC Lions 3-14 Hamilton Tiger-Cats
#CFL #football
#note1suy…nga3

2026-06-20 01:53:23 CEST

Oh man! After a crazy long bomb pass from Hamilton, they instantly get another touchdown!
Good God! That was disgusting! I can't believe how that just happened!
Hamilton is wrecking us, and we're not even halfway through the first quarter!
BC Lions 3-14 Hamilton Tiger-Cats
#CFL #football
#note13tr…ufz3

2026-06-19 00:00:34 CEST

LET'S GO!!!
CANADA VS. QATAR!
#WorldCup #soccer

2026-06-14 19:16:55 CEST

Today’s tea is Texas Natice Yaupon Tea.
The package is a misnomer because this is not tea. It’s yaupon. And I’m excited as hell about yaupon.
You see, yaupon is the only plant native to North America that naturally produces caffeine.
It’s been consumed as a beverage by indigenous people for eons. Hell, this particular yaupon I’m holding was harvested and packaged by Native folk. There’s even a badge on the box that says “Made/Produced by American Indians”.
Yaupon should be huge. It’s a nice hardy plant that grows all over the southern USA. So why isn’t it in everyone’s pantry?
Because white people have suppressed it in favour of coffee and tea. Ridiculously, William Aiton—a British botanist acting in the interest of the royal botanical gardens—officially named the plant “Ilex vomitoria” just so everyone would think it’s disgusting when it’s clearly not.
Promoting a free, native, and abundant caffeinated alternative growing wild in the Americas? The British couldn’t have that happen. That’s a threat to their bottom line.
Now tea, something you import and must pay taxes on, that’s the mark of civilization. No way this will come back to haunt the British. Nope, not at all.
Nevertheless, the naming gambit worked. It hurt the commercial prospects for Yaupon.
The final blow came with the U.S. government’s forced removal of Cherokee, Creek, and other Southeastern tribes off their ancestral lands during the Trail of Tears. This severed many indigenous peoples’ connections with yaupon.
But you can’t keep a good caffeinated beverage down. 15 years ago, yaupon has been reclaimed by American farmers leading to a resurgence. And Native Americans are leading the way. You can’t keep now order it easily online.
This particular yaupon is USDA certified, regenerative organic certified, and kosher. And while as a Canadian, I’m not too fond of the USA right now, I will always support my indigenous brothers and sisters who are making something great.
One neat thing about yaupon is that, unlike tea, it has no tannins. Which means it’s incredibly forgiving to brew and doesn’t get bitter. You simply cannot over-steep it.
So today, I’m putting in 1tsp of yaupon into a pot, adding boiling water, and steeping it for 5 minutes. I may try gongfu some day, but again, this is not tea. I’m therefore going to see what a solid infusion gets me.
https://atomicpoet.org/media/52bfe4c9f10ea0d37252a1c11dcf635f43d7790e97452995d7de34a795fa7cf0.jpeg

2026-06-14 04:04:42 CEST

What?!
How did Morocco tie with Brazil?
It was 1-1 after full-time. This is not the script I grew up with.
#WorldCup #soccer

2026-06-10 22:07:58 CEST

So here's a better look at my Bada Mountain Big Tree Fate Cheng pu'ehr tea.
First, this is the cake. You can tell it's a sheng (raw) pu'ehr because the leaves are lighter than a shou (ripe). Although at 11 years old, it's mostly brown, there's some red, being, slight traces of white.
When you have a cake, the fun is is cracking it open with a pick. So stabbed my gold pick horizontally from the inside, put in something like 5g of leaves into my super tiny brownish-red clay teapot—reserved *only* for pu'ehr.
After two infusions, the leaves expanded big time—as you can see here.
Two infusions in, I noticed that the liquor was still pale. Almost the same colour as a white tea or oolong. Did I screw up by breaking this open after 11 year? Should I have waited longer?
After giving this a good long taste, carefully letting it swish around my mouth for awhile, then letting everything linger after a swallow...
...No, I most definitely did not screw up.
This is where I want to be. This is what sheng pu'ehr can give you that shou pu'ehr cannot. I'm talking about natural youth.
Because, sure, I might not want to drink this at 5-years-old. But at 11-years-old? This is has crisp and a whole lot of snap. Not earthy like a shou, but it tastes like autumn leaves that have settled on the ground for awhile—something you'd sweep up mid-November.
Now when you have a lot of things going on like I do—big life things I have to contemplate—it really means something to be able to settle down, take a breather, let gongfu have its way.
You see, some things are only worthwhile if you give it time and attention. You'll miss out on a whole lot if you only ever look for a quick pick-me-up. Drinking this pu'ehr is like going on a hike, spending some time watching chipmunks grab a few nuts, listening to the birds make their calls. That's what this is all about.
The other thing—never let price fool you. Sure, I bought this 200g cake for $14.99. So you think, "What's the catch?"—which is a valid question to ask if you don't know your vendor.
But Daniel and I have now known each other for 17 years. He's never done me wrong. And every single one of his teas have been exceptional—no matter the price.
So thanks, Daniel, for a stellar Wednesday afternoon.
https://atomicpoet.org/media/85f313195d43de9f1f5d7427ad8431aa04dfe36481e3581dd6077005fb905be8.jpg
https://atomicpoet.org/media/64d8d1e53589990686cb1f0a0bbde4ba1fa14e77455d21f8934277b226cddb54.jpg
https://atomicpoet.org/media/6d09df26cc1ab4febd708cbb566ce1370336175085b708bc79179df7bfd8d278.jpg
https://atomicpoet.org/media/9bf542c055d162718ebc96549a567b70e36d2e3bd3acfc97de2a72800da36719.jpg
#note1g4c…l7sd

2026-06-01 08:37:08 CEST

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Something dark is invented: pu’ehr.

2026-05-30 18:03:17 CEST

Today’s tea is Hong Kong-style tea, which is actually 100% Ceylon black tea—but not the kind you likely know.
In my attempt to drink all the tea in my house, I’m now imbibing in one of the most ridiculous teas I own. Let me explain.
This tea is ultra fine. So fine that it causes particulates to fly when you open the lid. But I assure you this is neither matcha nor instant tea powder.
No, you are supposed to steep this. But not for long. You cannot go gongfu with this. Nor can you go Western-style with a teabag. In Hong Kong, they use a filter that resembles pantyhose to work with this.
I, of course, do not have such a filter. So I just tried an experiment: using an Aeropress—making this exactly how you make coffee.
And it actually worked. Because, you don’t want to steep this for long. Even at 30 seconds, it’s strong.
So I dumped two teaspoons into the Aeropress. Then I added boiling water. I timed for 30 seconds, then I used the Aeropress plunger to compress the finely ground leaves.
What’s hilarious about this is that it made an even more compressed puck than my coffee.
But how does it taste? Let me tell you, even at 30 seconds, you do not want to drink this by itself. Milk is absolutely required.
So I put in 2tbsp of condensed milk. And finally, this thing worked well as a beverage. Which is totally fine—nobody in Hong Kong drinks this without milk.
Now many of you wonder if I hate “strong” teas, preferring delicate green and oolong instead. But this—this absolutely puts your English Breakfasts and a builder’s brews to shame. It is so strong that even a 30 second steep makes it stronger than coffee.
I’m not joking. In fact, in Hong Kong, they often combine Hong Kong-style tea with coffee to make a mutant beverage known as yeunyeung. And believe it or not, the coffee takes the edge off of tea.
I actually quite like this tea a lot. But it’s because it’s an example of Chinese people—colonized by the British—looking at English tea and going, “You think that’s a knife? No, this is a knife.”
Trust me, this tea will knock your socks off.
https://atomicpoet.org/media/354cda028d4c0b86622030a0a9cd374d57bc2ad42e9504c9dd9db84de0935c64.jpeg

2026-05-21 03:42:35 CEST

MONTREAL VICTOIRE WIN THE WALTER CUP!!!
First Canadian team to do it!
What a game! What a series! Both teams putting it all out there!
Montréal Victoire 4-0 Ottawa Charge
#PWHL #HNOM #hockey
#note1hhq…tfgw

2026-05-20 01:31:44 CEST

I'm *still* working on #Fediverse talk for @[email protected]. Nevertheless, I'll be structuring my talk into five sections:
1. Who I am (former Hootsuite employee no. 8)
2. How I discovered the Fediverse (a chance email from @npub1764…nuj0)
3. When I joined the Fediverse train (choo! choo!)
4. How the Fediverse works (open source, protocols, servers, clients, etc.)
5. Why the Fediverse can change the world—and also your life
I'll be speaking for an entire hour, and then fielding questions for a half hour.
#note1m4v…r7wy

2026-05-20 01:23:04 CEST

This Saturday, I'm speaking at @npub17wg…f4my about the #Fediverse.
It will be held at Burnaby Public Library at 2PM-4PM.
Want to attend? Here's where to register:
https://luma.com/ahm1hi2s
#VanLUG

2026-05-19 02:30:15 CEST

When I first started talking about #PWHL three years ago, few people gave a damn about pro women's #hockey.
And now we've made a bustling community on the #Fediverse, full of people rooting on the Walter Cup Finals.
However this game goes, remember that.
#note1dhm…z5cl

2026-05-19 02:16:52 CEST

MONTREAL SCORED!
Midway through the 3rd period, Hayley Scamurra finally gets one past Ottawa goalie Gwyneth Philips!
Victoire just over 10 minutes away from glory!
#PWHL #hockey #HNOM
#note1vxk…9c6f

2026-05-18 00:06:26 CEST

Game 2 of Toronto Rock vs. Halifax Thunderbirds for the #NLL Final.
If Toronto wins, they’re 7x pro #lacrosse champions.
But this game is being played in Halifax, and Thunderbirds want to force game 3.
Live thread incoming!

2026-05-14 06:23:22 CEST

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It’s the first Bubsy, and let me tell you, it’s a rabbit hole. Bubsy has a certain reputation.

2026-05-13 00:13:25 CEST

Not so long ago, girls were falling behind in school.
So the education system changed to fix the gap. But they overshot so that now the gap has gone in the opposite direction.
The unintended sociological consequence of this is that education itself has become devalued since—I hate that this is true—associations of femininity lowers social prestige among boys.
I’m not saying the answer is to disincentivize academic success amongst women because that’s robbing Petra to feed Paul. But if you want to beyond this zero sum gender trap, you got to deal with the problem of male status.
#note199k…5hff

2026-05-12 23:58:05 CEST

I’ll make this less of a mystery.
Boys are falling behind in school because academic success is associated with femininity, the social mobility is small relative to women, and anti-intellectual currents among men are high.
If you’re low income, a college education puts you into debt. And you can make money quickly by fitting a pipe and swinging a hammer.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/boys-falling-behind-in-school-9.7195214

2026-05-11 20:01:35 CEST

Fujinokawa is an absolutely unit of a man.
He looks small, but that's an optical illusion. Actually, he's 1.77m (5'9½") and 123kg (271lbs).
But the reason why he looks so small is because almost all his mass is muscle, not fat. And this is because he wins, not from momentum, but from speed and technique.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujinokawa_Seigō

2026-05-05 08:54:50 CEST

When I was a kid, I used to imagine all the great things I was going to do when I get older—I wanted to make a big dent in the universe.
I'm older now. I've realized great things are a trap. No one dents the universe.

2026-04-23 18:42:35 CEST

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That’s the point. They’d never put “sun landing” in the official documents. You have to read between the lines, the redacted lines, and the lines that mysteriously aren’t there.

2026-04-15 05:18:31 CEST

JD Vance really thinks he knows more about Catholic theology than the freakin’ Pope!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/vance-warns-pope-careful-talking-theology-rcna331881

2026-04-01 20:11:55 CEST

"Passenger" by VELS.
This Thai-Gaze song almost has a Radiohead feel to it with a tinge of Nine Inch Nails. Lots of stabbing synths and roaring guitar. And the vocals are so perfect.
Why is this so obscure?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkVIOLyR_io
#note1acp…wts2

2026-03-22 23:49:30 CET

Malls ain’t dead.
At least not in Vancouver. These are centres for great eats, wonderful toys, and electronics.
And of course, tea. So much exceptional tea.
https://atomicpoet.org/media/6cd24edaf0bc3738117da02b649c6f16bb1c8298f85943c742060847e091091d.jpeg

2026-01-29 21:19:38 CET

USA is blatantly working to break-up Canada.
Not only is the Trump administration in talks with Alberta separatists, they're actively working to destabilize my country.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-teams-secret-meetings-with-group-plotting-to-break-up-canada-exposed/

2025-11-14 17:17:26 CET

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You’ve read my entire post. What do you think I’m saying?

2025-11-10 02:00:01 CET

Check out this wild moment from the Canadian Premier League Final match!
Not only is this blizzard conditions, they’re playing in -8C!
And the game’s not done. They’re snow plowing the field!
https://atomicpoet.org/media/d27f0d0bcf6bb5059f421da702bf04a0cd28bfaad8a803205d8c098bb218f1d9.jpeg
#note15l5…axuf

2025-11-05 00:02:01 CET

So I actually did go down the groyper rabbit hole today, and I have many more questions than answers.
And what answers I do have make so little sense, I don't think they're answers at all.
#note1ssy…z3au

2025-11-04 20:21:41 CET

The market is down today because Michael Burry revealed he’s shorting Palantir and Nvidia.
Sure—he was right about the 2008 housing bubble. So maybe there’s something to this.
But he’s been wrong plenty of times too. He shorted Tesla in 2020, and that went nowhere. Believe me, I would’ve loved for him to be right. Yet $TSLA is worth far more now than it was five years ago. That pains me to admit—especially since I still think Tesla shouldn’t be worth more than GM or Ford—but I don’t set valuations.
Then in 2021, he warned of “the greatest speculative bubble of all time in all things,” predicting the S&P would crash 50%. In reality, the S&P only dropped 18% in 2022—a correction, not an apocalypse.
His biggest miss, though, was claiming “index funds were a bubble analogous to sub-prime CDOs.” That never happened. Anyone who followed that advice and cashed out would’ve missed massive gains.
I’m not saying he’s wrong this time. He could be right. He did call the Great Recession and made a fortune doing it. But since then, he’s gotten a lot of things wrong.
Right now, the markets are fearful—and I get it. Sentiment moves prices more than fundamentals. But ironically, it’s not fearful markets you should fear. It’s greedy ones.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/michael-burry-of-big-short-fame-discloses-bets-against-palantir-and-nvidia-160833044.html

2025-09-30 00:07:21 CEST

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To be specific, $50 to become a member and then a subscription is to keep the instance sustainable indefinitely. But this assumes we have a minimum of five member-owners.
Obviously, the more member owners we have, the more per-member cost falls. And actually, my slide deck models all of this out.

2025-09-25 06:03:32 CEST

Two more reasons to avoid the word "bro" when addressing someone:
1. Even if meant positively, it’s exclusionary
2. Assumes gender, magnifying the risk of misgendering

2025-09-23 06:45:49 CEST

This is terrible.
I updated Vivaldi, and now it’s rendering this ugly, unreadable font across multiple webpages—with no apparent way to fix it.
Looks like I’ll be switching to a different browser.
https://atomicpoet.org/media/c5bfa666cae46e3a9efa654849a756b981c2a12d5969e7260213598fe958a04b.png

2025-09-03 22:12:08 CEST

Today’s cassette is “Drums & Wires” (1979) by XTC.
Everyone knows “Making Plans for Nigel”—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This entire album is solid gold. You’ve got rack-rabbit rhythms, pumping basslines, and guitar tones so jagged they could slice concrete. It’s post-punk with teeth.
And yeah, it absolutely belongs in your Walkman while you strut around the neighborhood.
@npub1xxv…c285
https://atomicpoet.org/media/8b37e7ee7800065aa0c763378f5c582c32f68ca589a092a5388c37a883f5f46e.jpeg

2025-08-25 19:16:46 CEST

This post was removed from `[email protected]` for "rage-baiting".
When is obvious humour rage-baiting?
Is this SNL sketch "Papyrus" rage-bait? Because I thought that was funny and wanted to make a video game equivalent to it.
Anyway, this is yet another sign that I should make my own video game community on Piefed---which I've already done.
https://piefed.social/c/videogames
#note16n6…znpg

2025-08-03 22:27:44 CEST

Peak comedy.
A certain Fediverse rabble rouser geared up for a big, dramatic block—ready to slam an entire server in public.
But plot twist: the admin they wanted to humiliate had already blocked them.
Their grand performance? Cancelled before opening night.
Desperate for a stage, they did the next best thing: they @’d… the admin’s static website.
Yes. A static HTML site. Which, shockingly, did not respond.

2025-07-31 20:32:18 CEST

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Everything influences everything. What’s strange is how often the most hardcore fans have no idea where their genre even came from.
Take metal. How many metalheads still believe it descended from classical music? Sure, some of it’s technical—but the actual lineage goes straight back to the blues. That’s the root. Not Beethoven. Not Bach. Blues.
And now we’re seeing the same historical amnesia with RPG fans. To them, RPGs are so Japanese, they might as well be sumo.

2025-07-14 02:32:10 CEST

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Trust me, Microsoft cares *way* more than Apple does simply. Xbox Game Pass is a better deal on PC than on Xbox itself.

2025-07-04 22:24:41 CEST

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Here’s a simple question: what is the most low stakes physical thing you think you can do that would also be enjoyable for you?

2025-06-08 22:51:14 CEST

PSA: If you’re eyeing a Switch 2 but hate overpriced games and paid online, do yourself a favor—get a Lenovo Legion Go instead.
Yeah, it costs a bit more upfront. But you get way more: more storage, a bigger and sharper screen, and detachable controllers that double as a mouse.
Best part? Cheap games. Free multiplayer. No Nintendo tax. You’re free.

2025-06-08 21:44:31 CEST

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That’s the age lots of girls buy make-up. My daughter is buying some right now.

2025-06-03 00:25:33 CEST

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Yeah, there tends to be two responses:
“The cup is empty. Fill it.”
Or:
“Be empty like an empty cup.”
But I think the larger question is: what is being?
Ontology, in other words.

2025-04-01 07:13:35 CEST

I’m calling it right now—this is not an outlandish scenario. if Mark Carney leads the Liberals to victory, Western separatism is about to explode. Alberta and Saskatchewan’s conservative leaders will paint him as the ultimate Bay Street elite, parachuted in to impose “globalist” policies on the West. Right-wing media will turn him into their new Trudeau, fueling outrage and paranoia. What starts as political posturing could spiral into an international crisis. Here’s how it happens:
1. **Liberals win a majority.** The usual backlash follows. Alberta and Saskatchewan’s conservative establishment declares it an existential threat. The same crowd that spent years screaming about WEF conspiracies and vaccine tyranny shifts seamlessly into full-blown separatist rhetoric.
2. **Danielle Smith and Scott Moe manufacture a “unity crisis.”** They claim the West is under attack, that Ottawa is out to crush them. Right-wing media kicks into gear, pushing secession as the only way to “save” Alberta and Saskatchewan. The grift expands. Separatist movements that were once fringe get airtime, money, and credibility.
3. **Referendums get triggered.** Alberta and Saskatchewan hold votes on secession. The campaigns are chaotic, fueled by misinformation and American-style culture war nonsense. Federalists warn about economic collapse. Secessionists paint a fantasy of unregulated oil wealth and new alliances with the U.S. It’s a bitter, ugly fight.
4. **The referendums fail—but problems continue.** No supermajority. No legitimate path to secession. But it doesn’t matter. The damage is done. The provinces are more divided than ever—rural vs. urban, Indigenous nations vs. the oil sector, moderates vs. the radicalized. The West is now permanently in crisis mode.
5. **Trump escalates.** He calls the results “rigged.” His base eats it up. Suddenly, Alberta and Saskatchewan are framed as victims of a stolen vote, just like Trump’s 2020 election lie. The far right pushes for “intervention.” And then? The unthinkable. American forces start “monitoring” the border, Trump-aligned voices openly discussing annexation. Canada, utterly unprepared, stares down the worst political crisis in its modern history.
This isn’t a conspiracy theory—something similar happened to Ukraine with Putin. All it takes is one election, a few bad actors, and a handful of reckless decisions to make this a reality.

2025-02-25 21:25:45 CET

The Verge just interviewed @npub1764…nuj0, Research Director at @npub1tuh…89y4, and co-author of #ActivityPub. And he shares some big news:
* The W3C is working on end to end encryption for activity pub
* The W3C is also working on group standards that have interoperability across the #Fediverse
* Evan predicts a big 100M+ user network joining the Fediverse, and it’s *not* Threads
https://www.theverge.com/the-vergecast/618904/electric-cars-robotaxis-activitypub-fediverse-vergecast
@npub170p…q7td

2025-02-21 20:35:30 CET

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Hopefully! I tend to look at that road map with a grain of salt. Again, this is not me wagging my finger at Mastodon. I'm certain that once Mastodon transitions to a non-profit it will have a more transparent governance structure.

2025-02-10 21:00:34 CET

The #Fediverse can almost replace Big Social. There’s a few services that need to be built. Specifically:
* Pinterest alternative
* Snapchat alternative
* Yelp alternative
#PeerTube also needs a generalist English language server that’s easy to join. This might be asking a lot, but I have ideas.

2025-02-10 18:38:41 CET

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I’m saying no one is all powerful, and old powerful men cannot defeat time.
I am a very literal person. There is no “read between the lines.”

2025-02-08 03:43:20 CET

A certain well-known person (who I shall not name) recently implied that only “techbros” code for the #Fediverse.
That person is sadly mistaken.
#Sharkey is coded by a woman. #Frequency is coded by a woman. Most of the co-authors of #ActivityPub are women.
Stop spreading the myth that only men build the Fediverse.

2025-02-06 19:40:52 CET

One of my favourite punk rock songs.
If you watch anime, you probably know this.
https://youtu.be/AUEW81BSMEE

2025-02-06 00:50:17 CET

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Until 2023, Mastodon would not display Markdown *at all*. But then this changed sometime in the summer of 2023.
At one time there was also plans to support native Markdown input, but then Eugen changed his mind.

2025-02-04 22:19:26 CET

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Dennis, out of curiosity, are you still involved with Diaspora?

2025-02-04 19:29:20 CET

It’s wasn’t so long ago that #Mastodon made up 90% of MAUs on the #Fediverse. Hell, it so dominated Fediverse usage that, for most people, Mastodon *was* the Fediverse.
But now Mastodon’s percentage of MAUs stands at 58%. And it’s probably lower because the second most popular Fediverse software distribution, #Misskey, doesn’t accurately report MAUs. So what happened?
I suspect four things:
1. Mastodon validated the concept of a Fediverse, which prompted more devs to build for #ActivityPub
2. As Big Social alienated their userbase, some of this userbase sought Fediverse alternatives. This is what drove popularity of #Lemmy and #Pixelfed.
3. #Bluesky became the default alternative to #Twitter instead of Mastodon
4. As Mastodon users became aware of a greater Fediverse, many migrated to other Fediverse software
Obviously, Mastodon is alive and kicking. It’s not going anywhere. Its continuing development is critical to the success of the Fediverse.
But at the same time, the success of Mastodon led to the success of other federated projects. And it works the other way around too. The success of other federated projects is also Mastodon’s success.
So really, lower MAUs for Mastodon is actually a giant win for the big pachyderm.

2025-02-04 08:09:10 CET

What would goth/smooth jazz sound like?

2025-01-29 17:58:12 CET

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A desire for power and control.

2025-01-28 20:20:33 CET

Meta has banned mentions of Linux on their platform—despite, you know, Facebook’s product depending on Linux.
This is a good time to encourage #Linux devs and users to set up communities on #NodeBB, #Mbin, #Lemmy, #Friendica, #Discourse, and #WordPress.
And enable #ActivityPub for greater visibility.
https://www.techradar.com/pro/facebook-is-blocking-linux-topics-and-channels-with-no-apparent-reason

2025-01-15 02:51:50 CET

This is wild! @npub1kqc…7wgd did a poll and asked people how they are paying for the Fediverse.
2,841 people responded back. And of those, 62% said they’re paying for the Fediverse in some form or another.
Someone did the math, and it turns out 1,761 people are contributing $5.5 million to the continuing operations of the Fediverse. Or put another way, that’s $66M/yearly.
And again, that’s just from 1,761 people!
https://stefanbohacek.com/blog/how-much-does-the-fediverse-cost/

2025-01-10 23:06:19 CET

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Short form reels aren't new. They've literally been with us since video was a thing. But now because of smartphone usage, they've been revived.

2025-01-03 23:44:19 CET

Here’s why Akkoma is my favorite social media platform and why I love it substantially more than Mastodon, Blue Sky, or Threads.
## Number one: A default 5,000-character limit.
Not a 120-character limit, not a 300-character limit, not 500—it’s five thousand. This gives me a lot to work with. It lets me make detailed, nuanced posts with lots of information.
Some people will say, “Well, if you’re using 5,000 characters, it’s no longer microblogging.” And you know what? You’re right—it’s not. It’s blogging. And as it turns out, I prefer blogging over microblogging because I have a lot to say.
Now, could I split up my thoughts into a big, long thread on Mastodon, Blue Sky, or Threads? Sure, I could, and I’d probably get a lot of engagement from that. But it’s also a lot of work. It takes just as much effort to split a post into 20 smaller posts as it does to just write out my basic thought in one go. So why not just put all the information in one post? It makes things a lot easier for me, and I suspect it might even make things easier for you when you’re scrolling through your timeline.
## Reason two: The user interface.
Akkoma has a lot of different interfaces. I personally use one called Mangan, which feels very much like old-school Twitter. But overall, Akkoma’s interface across the board is more like a microblogging platform than a blogging one.
I’ve never liked the UI on WordPress, Blogger, Medium, or Substack. They’re always very design-oriented, made for people who want everything to look perfect. But what I want is something that displays text well, with maybe a few pictures at the bottom of the post. That’s it. The number one thing I liked about old-school Twitter was the interface, so why not use that same interface for long-form content? It’s easier on the eyes, more streamlined, and gets rid of all the fluff.
## Reason three: Markdown.
Like I said, I don’t need everything to look perfect. But I do like some formatting—bold text, italics, headings, things like that. It adds nuance. It tells people which words are important in a paragraph.
Sometimes, if I have a long post, I like to split things up to make it easier to read. Sometimes I like to use bullets. And sometimes, just for fun, I might want to do a strikethrough to be funny. I’m not asking for the world here. I’m not asking for flashing text or embossing. I’m just asking for basic formatting, and Akkoma gives me that.
## Reason four: Emoji reactions.
One thing that’s always bugged me about most microblogging platforms is that you can only like something. But what if I don’t want to like it? What if it makes me angry? Or sad? Or disgusted? Sometimes I don’t want to write a whole comment saying I’m disgusted. Sometimes I just want to use an emoji.
Akkoma lets me do that. It gives me the ability to not just like something but also to be angry, sad, or disgusted. I can display the full range of reactions I have when I encounter a post.
## Reason five: Quoted boosts (or what they used to call retweets on Twitter).
If you’re on Threads or Blue Sky, you have this feature. But if you’re on Mastodon, you don’t. And most Mastodon users would yell bloody murder if quoted boosts were added. I’m not going to get into the politics of that, but here’s the thing: the rest of the Fediverse doesn’t have to follow Mastodon’s lead.
You can do quoted boosts on Misskey. You can do them on Friendica. And you can definitely do them on Akkoma. And to be frank, I use quoted boosts every single day. Most Mastodon users don’t even know that quoted boosts are a thing on the Fediverse because they’ve only used Mastodon.
Now, some people on Mastodon might get very angry about this. The orthodox view on Mastodon is that quoted boosts are somehow abusive. But let me tell you something: I’ve been using quoted boosts for years. I’ve managed communities that have access to quoted boosts. Nobody has ever complained. I’ve never seen a massive problem with quoted boosts, either on my servers or on anyone else’s.
So a lot of this panic over quoted boosts is, in my opinion, much ado about nothing. Does that mean Mastodon should add quoted boosts? That’s really up to the developers. But if quoted boosts are critical for your social media usage, the Fediverse has options for that, such as Akkoma.
## Final thoughts:
There are plenty of reasons to love Akkoma, many of which I haven’t even touched on here. From an admin perspective, it’s low-resource, easy to manage, and great for moderation. But for regular users, these five features—character limits, UI, Markdown, emoji reactions, and quoted boosts—are more than enough to make Akkoma stand out.

2024-12-31 21:51:23 CET

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As a short-term bet, that’s not bad. But long-term, that eats away at customer satisfaction and is a detriment to the overall health of the platform.
If you don’t serve the basic human need of providing connection, then your social media platform fails.

2024-12-19 21:00:49 CET

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For as long as interest rates remain high, money will stay in giant tech stocks because they sure as hell aren't moving to bonds.

2024-09-09 05:58:13 CEST

Mad Caddies - Rock the Plank
https://atomicpoet.org/media/d80e7b7c7c15631b6164776ecd938a9d1d31494a78dfcfda1e44e175f8a6e0f8.jpeg
#note1l9j…n677

2024-09-07 22:07:52 CEST

I hate it when someone I don’t know waves at me and acts like we know each other.
Especially when my wife is standing right there, and she’s like, “Who is that person?”
And I’m like, “I don’t know!”

2024-08-19 09:37:47 CEST

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Trust me, I find it strange people are buying pickles solo. I’ve never seen this until now.

2024-08-10 20:48:02 CEST

I explicitly want to receive content from Threads and Bluesky.
And one of the big reasons is that, without Threads and Bluesky, the Fediverse is dwindling.
Look at the stats. MAUs have gradually fallen. Mastodon has half the amount of active users that it had a year ago.
Now I like the Fediverse as it is now. Most of the people I talk to are great.
But how long are you all going to hang around when there’s fewer and fewer people to talk to?
A social network’s general usefulness is only as good as the amount of people using it.

2024-07-20 01:35:10 CEST

Wow! 😲
CrowdStrike's CSO sold $1.5M worth of stock right before the outage today!
I repeat, the Chief **Security** Officer sold $1.5M worth of stock!
https://www.barrons.com/articles/crowdstrike-insiders-sold-stock-cac5e509?siteid=yhoof2