SoCal neolib who likes board games, videogames (in moderation), and being a dad. Formerly Senior Editor with Blizzard Entertainment, laid off on 7/2/2025. Watch your back. Conserve ammo. And never, EVER, make a deal with a dragon. Numquam Pacisce Draconem Astra Praestolantur Neminem In Tenebris, Elucete My opinions are entirely my own and do not reflect any employer past, present, or future. I am not an atomic playboy. Posts self-destruct after two weeks.
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npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Profile Code
nprofile1qqstxx4qhrqnnk27su4qf8ld3wdh5jnxqv603mtkkerfu828ejz60gsprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wdejhgqgkwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8qunfd4skctnwv46q8rljh6
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2026-08-27T19:12:25+02:00 Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Instinctively, this reads to me as "a near-Cabinet-level DOJ official did some nasty stuff we can't keep a lid on, so we're preëmptively claiming it's all cool." That, or Blanche fucked some goats. Honestly about 50/50 on that one. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti > What if he loses California to Mexico in a bar bet? Wake up babe, new vision of utopia just dropped npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I still find it alarming just how quickly Ai-generated "content" has rendered mainstream platforms unusable. YouTube is all slop. Image search is all slop. Legacy social media is all slop. It's like a nuclear carpet bombing has wiped out the internet, and only the humble cockroach that is the fediverse appears resistant. And yeah, there's slop here, too, and if I see you boost genAi nonsense that's my cue to unfollow, but for the most part this place is alright. Keep being weird. It works. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti This is what basically all of the internet was like twenty years ago, AND IT WAS SPECTACULAR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE-1RPDqJAY npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti We humans like to think of ourselves as pretty dang clever, but a clear-eyed review of history suggests that our species produces maybe a handful of freakishly intelligent people per generation, and the rest of humankind is about as smart as a particularly gifted donkey. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I like "swarm." Has the right connotation, like an insect infestation. "Satellite swarm" has a nice alliteration, and it's kinda fun to say. Though I wonder if there's a way to emphasize the point that these are all *temporary* satellites and that their ultimate fate will be as heavy metal pollutants smeared across the sky after they combust during reentry. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti That the one where Channing Tatum plays a space elf? npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti That's an excellent suggestion, yes! Much harder to take them down when they're already in orbit, so we should target the rockets that carry them up during the launch phase, very good, lemme put that on the board. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Alright people, ideas please. How do we take down those idiotic space mirror satellites? npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I like boardgames because the whole game is in the box. Once you buy the game, it's yours to keep. You only pay once. It's incredible. I like tabletop role-playing games because the core sourcebooks contain everything you need to run an infinite number of games. All the tools to build your own stuff are right there, with just one purchase, forever. I like video games too, but I miss when buying one actually meant you owned it. #boardgames #ttrpg npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Someone fed our dog a cooked lamb bone and I am fucking LIVID. Vet appointment first thing in the morning. "Oh, she loves these, we used to feed her these as a treat." What the absolute fuck. How haven't these people killed their dog yet. It takes like 10 fucking seconds to look this shit up. DO NOT FEED COOKED, BRITTLE BONES TO DOGS. Unfuckingbelievable. #Dogs #DogsOfMastodon #DogsOfFedi npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Back in 2004, I dropped out of college to pursue a career in video games. I got incredibly lucky. I worked alongside some truly great people, and also some real shitheels. The wonderful humans FAR outnumbered the terrible ones. I had a really good run, which came to an end last year with a layoff. That sucked, but I was able to find a new job with a company I like and people who inspire me. Looking at the unending series of gaming layoffs, I don't even know where to begin. #GameDev npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti It feels me with PROFOUND JOY to think someone went through the trouble of building this thing. "You don't understand, Martha! This is what I must do! I must mount a ludicrous number of horns onto a vintage truck and rig them to play Breakfast Machine from the 1985 movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure!" "But why, Cedric? Why must you do this?" "Because it will be dope, Martha. Because it will be dope." npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Also in '29, raise top marginal tax rate to 90%. Create a wealth tax. Restore voting rights. Release the full Epstein files, redacted only to protect victims, not perpetrators. Push states to sign on to the national popular vote interstate compact. Coerce them if necessary. Reinstate the fairness doctrine. Weaponize the courts to do so if necessary. Rebuild USAID. Also make it a priority to reunite every last family that was separated. And that's just for 2029. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti What'll it take? Retake the House and the Senate in '26. Spend '27 by removing all republican hardliners from committees. Cripple the DHS in any way we can. Get very loud about ending support for Israel's genocide and ending our wars. Make the '28 elections about the '26-'28 economic meltdown. Pin that shit on the entire republican party. Win the White House, hold Congress. In '29, follow through re: Israel, Iran. Pack SCOTUS. Rescind all contracts for SpaceX. Prosecute *everyone.* npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti The fucking Rationalists are a blight. Yudkowski doesn't hold a degree, isn't an expert, and has no fucking clue. All he did was write an atrocius Harry Potter fanfic and move in the same circles as Silicon Valley billionaires. He's a charlatan cut from the same cloth as L. Ron Hubbard, except Hubbard actually did stuff (albeit badly). npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Oh so Plattner is basically Fetterman 2.0, huh. Y'know, Janet Mills doesn't have any Nazi tattoos or a history of terrorizing her partners. As far as we know, she's never beat the living daylights out of someone much smaller and weaker than her in a blind, drunken rage and then later tried to blame it on PTSD and make herself out to be the victim. But I'm sure that oyster-fucking son of a bastard will do *great* if he gets put in a position of power. For fuck's sake, America. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Compassion, I think, is a plant that only grows in soil that has seen fire. Nobody makes it out of childhood without getting burned; everybody's got a wounded soul. When those wounds heal, they become scars, and when the shape of your scar matches the shape of another's wound, recognition begets connection. I think the worst things people do to each other come from injuries of the spirit that never got a chance to heal. That's probably the most important part of being a parent. Hug your kids. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti It gets especially heartbreaking when you listen to Reagan-era White House press briefings. They were laughing, making a big joke about how this disease was killing gay people and how anyone who wanted to do something about it was probably gay, too. That whole administrations was a cabal of cretins, all of them. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Reminder: Not jumping into a random thread and being needlessly caustic is always an option, and I wish more people would exercise it. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti First of all, what a loser. Second, why do those chodes always try to make awesome things sound bad? Like, soy is genuinely delicious AND good for you. Being a soyboy or -girl is rad as hell. Or "social justice warrior." Yes! Fuck yes I would like to fight in the name of social justice, that sounds dope! Now I'm hungry for tofu. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I wonder if maybe from a strategic perspective, the most effective talking point isn't the scientifically accurate "We don't have sufficient data about what will happen" but the media-friendly "The pollution from all those artificial chemicals in the air is causing permanent damage to the atmosphere, and we can't even begin to calculate the full scale of the devastation." Technically correct while still using simple scare words. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti We had a garden, and we paved it. via https://reentry.codl.fr/@apod/statuses/01KQ6K0BST72RQDF70WRPQERFN https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/116/474/871/151/165/215/original/c78247e3a015d697.jpg npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti AP reports the president has been teleported to a nearby Waffle House. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti > So, in how many political systems have you actually qualified to actually cast a vote? Three so far, working on the fourth one. And I do agree with you, not voting IS making a political statement. That statement is "I don't vote, so all you candidates can safely ignore me and continue to try and court the votes of people who actually show up to cast a ballot." Like, that's how voting works. This isn't complicated or controversial. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti This makes me think he's really dead, and whoever is running the account is getting in some last laughs. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Maybe they're quiet because he's dead and they feel awkward about being the ones to break the news to the American public? 🤞🤞🤞 npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I've translated different RPG systems to different VTT environments. It works, but it never feels *natural,* because these systems were originally designed for table play, not virtual play. So I'm thinking about this in terms of a system that exists first and foremost as something that plays extremely well on the VTT, *and* can also be played at a table with pen and paper. It's an interesting design challenge, and as far as I'm aware, no one has tried anything like this before. Could be fun! npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti So I've had this idea... Virtual tabletops have been around for a LONG time. Roll20, Foundry, D&D Beyond, and others, all fine options. I'd even consider old-school MUDs part of the VTT lineage. But something always felt *clunky* about these. They never *fully* manage to hide the seams where things have been glued together. Some things that are easy to do at the table are extremely difficult to do on a computer. My idea is, what if I designed a #TTRPG specifically for the #VTT I'm building? npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti HOLY SHIT I JUST HAD THE BEST BUSINESS IDEA! I'm GenX. I'm not afraid of making phone calls. I should start a service where people can pay us GenX freaks to take care of annoying phone calls! Like a reverse call center! npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/ambition #Comics https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/116/205/932/249/768/535/original/cd0749cdbab62849.png npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti The only way to make required ID for voting fair would be if in the same act they also made applying for any kind of government ID free and convenient. But even then, it'd still be an unnecessary bit of legislative chicanery. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Fediverse, help me test a preconceived notion I have about y'all with a quick #poll. The most important part of cooking is... npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti "Ah yes, finally I will find happiness in my bespoke man-cave!" *one night of rain* "...shit." npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Alright, let's play. We all know the guy is going to lie his blubbery orange ass off during the #StateOfTheUnion address tomorrow. Which of these will be his biggest lie? npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Cynicism and Vigilance My wife got me a cheap digital projector as a gift, with the intended use as a way to project TTRPG maps onto the table. It was a really nice, thoughtful present, and it set off every single alarm bell in my head. The website she bought this from screamed "scam." The hardware we received is flimsy and cheap. The projector asked to be connected to our wifi and to install apps on our phones. This all is sketchy as fuck. So, I looked into this device. 1/n npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti #AccidentalRenaissance npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Simply put, free and open-source software is the means of production in the information age. That's why the monied class is doing everything they can to destroy this ecosystem and replace it with tools controlled by the ultra rich. They hate the fact that we have seized the means of production. Cloud architecture, SAAS, centralized social networks, Ai, it's all class warfare. All of it. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti There are many different types of programmers and software engineers, and they all sit on various points along a number of axes. One such axis concerns name length for variables and constants. One one end of that axis, you'll find things like "int torps;" on the other end, you'll find things like "uint NumberOfCurrentlyActiveTorpedoes" Personally, I like long and descriptive names, but experience shows I'm in a small minority. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti The other day, I was talking to a friend about how our world is an unsettling blend of *Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World,* and *Nineteen Eighty-Four.* I can't believe I have to now add *The Hunger Games* to the lineup. The fucking Hunger Games! Well, at least we're still a long ways away from *The Night Land.* npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Justice for John Mastodon! npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti We tell our kids that "Santa" is the spirit of kindness and generosity that lives in all of us, and we all have the capacity to be someone's Santa. So in that sense Santa is real, but his marketing is just a bit over the top. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti On February 4, 1912, inventor Franz Reichelt leapt from the Eiffel Tower, wearing a parachute of his own design which he (incorrectly) believed would allow him to land safely. Instead, his parachute almost immediately wrapped itself around him as he plummeted. His body struck the frozen ground at full speed, killing him instantly. This tale about a delusional man confidently trusting in faulty technology with disastrous results is about company leadership trying to replace workers with LLMs. https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/115/662/708/029/551/566/original/ae3d2f9de4840ab1.jpg npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I don't want a lot for Christmas There is just one thing I need I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree I just want this for my own More than you could ever know Make my wish come true All I want for Christmas is the full, unredacted Epstein files https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/115/642/308/694/657/336/original/6ed10bb6b0d3f504.jpg npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Alright, I'm gonna need to know what game this is! npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti There's this person whose posts the LinkedIn algorithm keeps showing me, and all his stuff is about "bad game programming/good game programming," and all his "good" code is objectively terrible. I don't have an IT degree (dropped out before I could finish) and even I know that stuff is jank. But ohhh boy, the software engineers are NOT kind to this fellow. I can't figure out why LI keeps showing me this stuff, other than perhaps to make me feel more confident about my own code? npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I love it when the dog is dreaming and her legs are going like she's running. It's both wild and wonderful that animals dream. What a shame it'd be if our kind were the only ones who did. Sweet dreams, little one. #DogsOfMastodon https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/115/572/255/861/269/382/original/d5eafa3eb6e17d44.jpg npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti You really gotta wonder about the internal configuration of someone who keeps engaging in affairs with gross, old, married, republican politicians, and then pretends to be an impartial reporter. Fucking ew. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti There's this sinking feeling that between the Panama Papers and the Epstein Files, such a large part of the monied élite is embroiled in monstrously evil shit that a complete and utter rejection of the entire fucking apparatus of power is the only sane response. It all makes a pretty god damn convincing point in favor of taxing wealth above a certain threshold at 100%. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti From what my coworkers who survived the layoff that got me are telling me, A.I. ain't replacing shit, management just asks the remaining people to do more. The layoffs are driven by A.I., just not in the way it's presented. The chips are expensive, so people are getting laid off so the company can buy more chips. We're headed into the dumbest crash imaginable. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti God, if there were a fediverse alternative to LinkedIn, I would switch in a heartbeat. Huh. Now THERE'S an idea... npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti "Our numbers stink like donkey piss. We need to do layoffs." "Because we sunk all that money into A.I. and it's turning out to be just an overblown fad that's never going to be profitable?" "I see you've read my secret internal memo." "But if we come out and say that our whole A.I. strategy is built on sand, that'll tank our stock." "What if we say we're doing layoffs because A.I. is so great that we don't need those folks anymore?" "Oh clever, I like it! Copilot, draft an email for me..." npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti "Nah bro, this tech is only going to get better bro, just trust me bro, everything's going to be A.I. bro, you're not gonna hafta lurn anithung brah, computors r guna mak gams fr brah" npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Things I don't want billionaires to own:<li>Newspapers</li><li>TV networks</li><li>Websites with more that 1000 MAUs</li><li>Film studios</li><li>Book publishers</li><li>Museums</li><li>Theme parks</li><li>Islands</li><li>Political parties</li><li>Airlines</li><li>Cellphone networks</li><li>Email platforms</li><li>Game studios</li><li>Satellite launch capability</li><li>Radioactive materials</li><li>People </li> Things I'm okay with billionaires owning:<li>Bicycles</li><li>Their own mistakes</li><li>Fancy clothes</li><li>Lots of books</li><li>A GeoCities page</li><li>A little condo downtown</li><li>A pet hamster named Willie</li> npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Letting people contribute vibe-coded pieces to open-source projects as long as they clearly label their stuff as such is a little bit like letting people bring peanut butter and literal human feces sandwiches to the cookout as long as they clearly label their contributions. Even if I stay away, your nasty-ass shit's still gonna stink up the whole god damn cookout. #AI npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Got to explain to a couple of normies how the A.I. bubble is part 2001 DotCom bubble, part 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Like in the dotcom bubble, the tech will still be around afterwards but valuation is utterly out of whack; like the 2008 crisis, there's a mountain of bad debt piling up that's going to get toxic very, very soon. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti #3GoodThings<li><p>Hmmm...</p></li><li><p>Uh...</p></li><li><p>Well, shit.</p></li> npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti There are a lot of popular themes in post-apocalyptic storytelling that you see over and over: "War never changes," "People are the real monsters," "Man's hubris will be our undoing," "Civilization is defined by people, not laws," etc. I think a theme we need to explore more in times like ours is *"Nobody is coming to save you."* It's up to us. We can't sit and wait for a hero to swoop in and save the day. We each have a part to play, and every little thing helps. All we have is each other. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti You have more self control than I would in that kind of situation. Bon appetit! npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti So, uhhh, we have a dog now? She's a rescue. A schnauzer poodle mix, her fur was pretty matted and flea-bitten, so one of the first things we did was get her groomed and washed. That trim produced a pronounced mohawk, so my wife thought it might be cute to dye her mohawk pink. Turns out dyeing a dog is not trivial, so now she's got a pink mohawk and slightly pink fur overall. She doesn't seem to mind, but people (especially kids) are delighted to see this pink dog. #DogsOfMastodon https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/115/347/979/560/028/461/original/96f8c7fd6121ae6a.jpg npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti *reads the artist's bio* Wait, hold up, you made this using only free, open-source tools?!? That's even more impressive. If you don't mind me asking, what's your preferred drawing software? I've been using Photoshop since forever, but I've been itching to move to something else. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Oh god this is the best thing I've seen all year! npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Not pictured: The third kid, Blort, who was lucky enough to end up with fish top and horse bottom. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti If your only tool is tariffs, then every problem starts to look like *they're all laughing at you, buddy, because they know what you are, they've always known, just like your dad could see right through you and your pathetic facade, yes the old man had your number didn't he, except you wished he'd laugh, but instead he filled your heart with poison and bile, and here you are, misbegotten homunculus, and they're all laughing at you* a trade deficit, doesn't it? What were we talking about again? npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti The realization that I am under no obligation to interact with assholes has saved me so much headache. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti During the reign of Stalin, the Soviet leader tried several times to assassinate Yugoslavian president Tito. Fed up, Tito eventually sent a letter to Stalin, which read in part: > *"Stop sending assassins to Belgrade. We've already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb and another with a rifle [...] If you don't stop sending killers, I'll send one to Moscow, and I won't have to send a second."* No further assassins were sent. That is the language Russian leaders understand. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti That whole immigration raid in Georgia where ICE killed a multi-billion dollar project and 8,500 good jobs is like some shit straight out of Ozymandias. *Nothing beside remains. Round the decay* *Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare* *The lone and level sands stretch far away.* npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Like, the people who voted for trump obviously want to burn this place to the ground, hoping that from the ashes they'll build a new nation, with people like them at the top. But the people who threw away their votes on a third party or by staying home also seem to want the system to end rather than get marginally better each election. And history has shown that great resets never end up like those people think they will. It's always mass death and pointless suffering. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I was listening to a podcast about Pol Pot, and something occurred to me. A key part of the atrocities carried out by the Khmer Rouge was the idea that they needed a big reset to bring about their utopia. They wanted what they believed was best for everyone, and to get there required destroying all that had come before. Which in practice meant killing A LOT of people. I see similar ideas for a great reset in America. And that scares me. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore When a fish bites your thigh so hard you fear you'll die, that's a moray When you think you might try something different this time, that's a foray When a passage is wide with a slab made of pine, that's a doorway When an elk in the wild flips your car on its side, you're in Norway npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti With uBlock Origin on desktop, I can create a custom filter that nukes the Shorts carousel. From orbit. It's the only way to be sure. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti That's the quiddest pro quo I've ever seen. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Listen, I'm not some super smart foreign policy wonk or whatever, but I think that the most important thing about the Alaska summit between Putin and the other guy is that we really need to see the Epstein files. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti There's a quote from M.A.S.H. that I like. War is war and hell is hell, and between the two, war is worse. There are no innocent bystanders in hell. War is full of them. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I mean, look at this thing. This is what the internet used to look like. https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/114/979/835/727/755/911/original/a6c3075ef2c58595.png npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I miss the old World of Warcraft website from around 2006-2007. We had a lot of fun working on that one. It was a nightmare and a half to maintain, but it sure looked epic. Lemme see if the Archive will serve up a screenshot. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti > We are coming for you As soon as we finish updating this firmware. And then install those server patches. And resolve those merge conflicts. And troubleshoot these new error messages. But as soon as we're done with that, ya better watch out, world! npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti He can come join us here on the Fediverse. I get the sense he'd be welcomed with open arms. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti The people who filmed The Apprentice have footage of the guy saying truly, genuinely heinous shit that would make him persona non grata even among his conservative enablers. THAT'S the footage I want to see unearthed. Still, every little bit helps. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Mamdani really is the best example of what happens when voting doesn't suck and people actually show up and vote. This is what everyone who feels marginalized and left behind should look at and think, "Huh, maybe my vote DOES matter." Biden won by 50,000 votes. The hamberder guy won in '24 by less than 150,000 votes. Literally every vote matters. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I think it was @npub1xw7…r9m5 who made a pretty good point recently about Democrats and messaging: Democrats focus their messaging on people who actually turn out to vote. So when you focus on reaching the people who do show up at the polls, that's gonna skew how you message. If conservative voters show up and liberal voters stay home, then Democrats adjust their messaging to swing more conservative. I don't AGREE with that strategy, but I understand it. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti > China wouldn't intentionally destroy its agriculture sector Well, today you're gonna learn something new! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Welp, after 21 years with Blizzard Entertainment, I was laid off today. What an incredible journey. I got to be part of challenging, exciting projects, and I played a part in shaping the company's voice for over two decades. One thing you learn living in California is that the most intense growth usually follows after a wildfire. Some plants even require fire to release their seeds. So we'll see what comes next. If you need an editor on your team, hit me up. #GetFediHired npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti At this point, I only use LI as a cover in case anyone demands to see my social media accounts. It's where I post all my anodyne, inoffensive shit. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti It's 1991, and a republican president is embroiling us in a bullshit war in the Middle East. It's 2003, and a republican president is embroiling us in a bullshit war in the Middle East. It's 2025, and a republican president is embroiling us in a bullshit war in the Middle East. https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/114/724/351/125/667/689/original/f0e2d799577256e0.jpg npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti The shitgibbon in chief looked super tired during his failparade yesterday. That fucker kept nodding off. If they can't keep him perky even when all the cameras are on him, I assume he's basically a cantankerous zombie when the cameras are off. Caught in a state of permanent rage, confusion, exhaustion, fear, and disgust. GOOD. I'd say he can rot in hell, but it appears as though he's already there. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Just watch, soon as the trump wealth transfer bill goes through, they'll pull out of L.A. and claim mission accomplished. And if the bill is defeated, they'll queue up their next evil scheme. Good god I'm tired. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Back in '21, after we had the vaccine, there was a subreddit with a very simple premise: find social media posts of people who were anti-mask, anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown, then find the social media posts from when those exact same people caught COVID and died. Even as they were dying, most of those people couldn't admit where they'd gone wrong. Even death wasn't enough to open their eyes. In case you were wondering if we'll ever be able to reach some of the people who got us into this shit. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I'm ALSO not suggesting that if you're a national guardsman driving one of those trucks, maybe you get turned around and take the wrong exit. Happens all the time. We got a really confusing road network. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti No I'm not saying "rioters" should block major freeways in the area. That's definitely not what I'm saying. Whatever would give you that idea? npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti So they're sending in 2,000 national guard to L.A. to deal with the "riots?” Be funny if they got stuck in L.A. traffic and didn't get there until the party's already over. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti If you ever find yourself in a meeting where people are fawning over A.I. and there's a Q&A section, and you have a question that you think might be a bit critical, ASK THE QUESTION. Signal to others that it's not only okay but actually important to be critical of blind acceptance of these tools. There are other people in the room who are just as uncomfortable as you, I guarantee it. Normalize A.I. skepticism. #AI npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Masked "law enforcement" people who don't have to identify themselves are L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y the secret police, aka Geheime Staatspolizei, aka GeStaPo. What the frick. That should *never* be tolerated. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I took my son to the Nixon presidential library, we toured the whole place, spent ample time with the Watergate exhibit, then we read Hunter S. Thompson's obituary for Richard Nixon, which can be found in its entirety here: https://archive.ph/rbwXl Nixon did good things. But the lesson my son learned is that people are complicated, and a few good deeds do not excuse a lifetime of being a rat fuck cheat and a crook. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Honestly, same. Comments from people on other platforms have become completely intolerable to me: bland, boring, big dumb, and benighted. Mastodon is my preferred kind of unhinged. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti "I only use organic, small-batch apps lovingly hand-coded by my local cruelty-free software collective. They have a stand at the farmers market where they sell their apps on 3.5" floppy disks. All their work is done in Assembly, so you know there's no artificial middleware bloat." npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti Any fan of boardgames and tabletop role-playing games who voted for this bullshit or didn't vote at all should have all their games replaced by Monopoly. #TTRPG #Boardgames https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mastodo-neoliber-al/media_attachments/files/114/355/223/332/568/651/original/57a766cc1ceacf14.webp npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti If I know anything about Russian psyops (I don't know a lot about Russian psyops) it's that in '26 we'll see a lot of messaging along the lines of "Democrats haven't earned my vote because they're not resisting hard enough" or "what's the point in voting D if they're not doing enough to stop trump" or "it's their fault we're in this because they ran Biden and then Harris, so I'm voting third party this time." It's the kind of propaganda that has just enough truth in it to be effective. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti God, the '90s were such a good time. Communism was defeated and the constant threat of mutual nuclear annihilation no longer loomed on the horizon. When you did something stupid and embarrassing, there was no permanent record of it, so you could just be you without worrying about provoking the ire of perfect strangers half a world away. Air travel was breezy and awesome. The weather was way less extreme. Sure, the rot had already taken hold. But for a brilliant moment, things were looking up. npub1kvd2pwxp88v4ape2qj07mzum0f9xvqe5lrkhddjxncw50ny9573qrtpsl0 Legit_Spaghetti I smell an opportunity here... what if we do a reverse Steve Bannon and convince a generation of insufferable, disillusioned young men that they'd all be getting laid if only we had open borders, free trade, equal rights, a thriving biosphere, and vibrant pro-labor institutions?