@Loukas@mastodon.nu
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

Loukas

@Loukas@mastodon.nu

Journalist, teacher, Londoner, Stockholmer.

Editorial worker at Freedom news.

Writing about autism, ADHD and disability.

Profile image description: me on a balcony
Background image description: dry grass reviving after winter

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

Why blowing up the dam was a losing move for Russia

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

Allowing anyone to buy a gun because of a paragraph about a "well-regulated militia" feels like allowing anyone to buy novocaine if a constitution would say healthcare is a basic right.

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

Turkey state media upset by Stockholm demonstration

AndersGottlieb, to random Danish
@AndersGottlieb@krigskunst.social avatar

There has been many explanations to why #Russia decided to invade #Ukraine. Here is an ethnic Russian who was born and raised in a very pro-Russian environment in Sevastopol who gives his view on the question:

https://medium.com/@nikolayyurlov/why-is-russia-invading-ukraine-9b05b0384b6

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@anderspuck @chowderman @martinvermeer @osma @AndersGottlieb in a similar vein there was a funny article by the War Nerd in 2004 or so saying how the USA should actually invade Saudi.

But in both cases the triggers seem to be far more about cultural needs within isolated elites (think-tank neocons or people at the top of a power vertical) to try to assert some kind of show of dominance, because of fears of decline.

Loukas, to internet
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

Unfortunately #Reddit is the latest #socialmedia giant to try to put up higher walls around its walled garden.

With new high prices to access its API, a lot of third-party apps will be priced out.

And the bots that reply with lord of the rings quotes every time you say a name on #LordOfTheRings memes will also be banished:(

https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/13yh0jf/dont_let_reddit_kill_3rd_party_apps

OutOnTheMoors, to random
@OutOnTheMoors@beige.party avatar

I've spent 17-18 years investigating scams and other problematic online behaviour. Some of it was by running clout-chasing fake amplification social media accounts, but most of the early work was into individual scammers and hackers.
This occasionally involved paying them for services and tracking the money (with the scammers) or the infiltration routes (with the hackers).
In 2011 or so, they all started charging in bitcoin, so I bought $100 of it to pay them. Soon gave up because (as advertised), bitcoin was horrendously difficult to trace.
I had about $25 left, which I forgot about for years.
If you ever wondered how I funded my later research ... 😂

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@OutOnTheMoors how much did 25 become?

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

Aljazeera just straight-up publishing Erdogan state propaganda.
https://squeet.me/display/962c3e10-8ee72cf7-1f356a66fcfbaa30

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

It's a tough situation in #Kosovo. The Serb minority in the north is working with #Serbia to make this region as separate as possible.

So they have resigned from all local government jobs and boycotted the local election.

So the people who 'won' the elections were from the Kosovar majority. And then when the Kosovo central government moved to install these mayor's, backed by armed security, the local Serbs rioted, meaning injuries on both sides.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65748024

jon, to random
@jon@gruene.social avatar

Musing

What’s the EU vs. Musk/Twitter end game?

Twitter is leaving the voluntary code on misinformation. But in August the Digital Services Act kicks in, and as a large online platform at the very least Twitter has to have report frameworks in place

If it doesn’t it can be fined 6% of turnover

Does Musk fold?

Or he thinks the risk is low, and a long legal case is worth fighting, and defies EU? But his actions make him more a pariah, steady user flow away from Twitter in EU?

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@jon @MarcinW so maybe Elon musk's plan is similar to Putin's - he thinks he can outlast mere weak politicians because he has absolute power and resources.

Also I'm guessing musk mainly sees twitter as something that makes him a player in USA politics and Restofworldia is a secondary issue for him.

glynmoody, to random
@glynmoody@mastodon.social avatar

wow, the graphic showing which candidate won which province says it all - https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2023/may/28/turkey-election-results-presidential-vote-round-two cities, west and east for Kılıçdaroğlu, rural areas for Erdoğan... #Turkeyelections2023

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@glynmoody the victory of flyover Turkey.

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@glynmoody @simon_greenwood it's widespread but it's a desperate adaptation, attempting to dip water from a drying well. As we see by how it only delivers these marginal victories; often not even winning the popular vote.

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

"The Spanish Trump," Díaz Ayuso, sweeps Madrid as the conservative and far-right surge in local #Spain #elections

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spain-holds-regional-elections-ahead-year-end-national-vote-2023-05-28/

dgar, to random
@dgar@aus.social avatar

Humans!

Please don't send us any more unsolicited nude pics with instructions on how to get to your house.
It's creepy.

Sincerely,

The Aliens.

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@dgar "we noticed you in the galaxy and we liked your vibe"

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

”Burger King, owned by Restaurant Brands International, and Carl’s Jr., which belongs to CKE Restaurents, are both still open in Moscow."

Which companies are leaving Russia and which are staying? Here's a look | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/what-companies-left-russia-5f7ec93e6bee1ffe1758811d2f450fb3

fingolas, to fediverse

For weeks at least as many people have been coming to heise.de via our account @heiseonline on #Mastodon as via our account on #Twitter.

I have said this multiple times already, but this was in part based on an assumption, now I have another clear sign supporting this. That's because our account in Twitter was largely silent since Tuesday (no, it was probably our fault and not that of #ElonMusk). But that means, that no one came to our current articles via our own posts own #Twitter and instead only via others who shared them. The numbers dropped significantly and no matter how I look, what's left is about 30% of our normal numbers. Coincidentally, we already had such an outage on an earlier Wednesday with an identical result.

So if I want to compare how many visitors come only (!) via our accounts on #Mastodon and #Twitter, I have to subtract 30% from the sum of all visits via Twitter.

The following picture emerges (mind you, these are the visits only via @heiseonline and the Twitter account to messages in our newsticker; our brands @heisec etc. are not included): Visits via both our accounts run almost parallel and have been for months. This confirms once more what I have been writing in the past.

Absolute numbers remain quite low, though. But that's another story.

This Thread in German:
https://social.heise.de/@mho/110429490556083418

CC: @aral
@fediversereport
@donmelton
@pallenberg
@Gargron
@tchambers
@mike
@atomicpoet
@Loukas

Visits via #Mastodon and via #Twitter with a third line showing the extrapolated visits only via our Twitter-account (70% of the total). That matches the number of Mastodon very good.

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@fingolas @aral @atomicpoet @Gargron @tchambers @heiseonline @heisec @fediversereport @donmelton @pallenberg @mike so the absolute numbers via twitter are also very low now?

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

I just went to an exhibition at a Swedish school about the year 2053.

Among the things the pupils expect to have happened by then:

Plastic to be banned.
Meat to be banned.
New building to all but cease.
Most people living in collectives.
Football fields to only use real grass.

I think most adults can learn from the conclusions that children, unburdened by baggage, draw about the future.

#ClimateDiary

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

I think the process is that - Swedish children learn that x is destroying the biosphere. Swedish children draw the conclusion that, well, x has to be stopped, obviously.

Adults will tend to say "nooo, but it's more complicated than that". But to quote Granny Weatherwax:

"When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they mean they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth."

#ClimateDiary

jacqui76, to random

In three, two, one.....John Major is a Lundy! Clutching of pearls and nashing off teeth will now begin! #NIpolitics

https://bird.makeup/users/darranmarshall/statuses/1661626312794963969

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@jacqui76 thank goodness you already explained to me what that means a few months ago:)

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@jacqui76 the mission of the Irish to civilise the islanders to the east of them continues after 1,500 years.

Loukas, to random
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

The flying poll has ended - 57% say only fly when essential. Which then leads us to a discussion of what is 'essential' :)
https://mastodon.nu/@Loukas/110423448209830685

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@elduvelle ships that are just ships have far lower emissions than planes, but cruise ships have all the emissions associated with being a floating hotel :)

dansup, to random
@dansup@mastodon.social avatar

Instagram Import and Account Migration isn't that far away either!

  • Import your IG account
  • Migrate your account between Pixelfed instances
  • Migrate your Mastodon, Pleroma, Misskey accounts to Pixelfed

Special thanks to @NGIZero for funding Account Migrations in @pixelfed

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@dansup @NGIZero @pixelfed i will definitely import my Instagram when I can

UnconventionalEmma, to random
@UnconventionalEmma@spore.social avatar

I knew fast fashion was awful.

I didn't realise the scale of the problem.

"Today, three-fifths of all clothing ends up in landfills or incinerators within a year of production—a statistic that translates into a truckload of used clothing dumped or burned every second."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/chile-fashion-pollution

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@UnconventionalEmma I find this extra sickening because 200 years ago Ghana had a flourishing and advanced textile industry that was destroyed on purpose by the British so the African west coast would be a market for Manchester cloth instead.

kravietz, to random
@kravietz@agora.echelon.pl avatar

RDK (Russian Volunteer Corps) today posted videos from an undisclosed location in a forest, where their biggest worry seem to be flies and mosquitoes. They prominently display two unharmed MaxxPro vehicles and one trophy BTR.

Yesterday's #Russia videos of "destroyed RDK vehicles" at the same time caused lots of critical comments due to numerous inconsistencies suggesting they were brought from elsewhere and posed for videos.

Two MaxxPro vehicles and BTR in a dense forest, soldier spraying himself with a repellent

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@t_mkdf @chowderman @kravietz no, all we can say is the Belarus regime is very fragile and so there could easily be a lot of chaotic violence there. So it's very sensible for all of us nearby to prepare based on that assumption.

debcha, to random
@debcha@mastodon.social avatar

Per Ursula K. Le Guin, my tentacles are coming out of it in all directions, but the useful pigeonhole is that I’m an engineering professor at a tiny college. I get to talk about materials science with artists, metacognition with engineers, and embodiment with educators.

A big tentacle right now is a book, HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS, due out in 2023.

I have an art practice and practice boxing, connect people, ideas, and dots, and work with glass, zines, and fiducial markers.

Loukas,
@Loukas@mastodon.nu avatar

@debcha welcome!

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • thenastyranch
  • magazineikmin
  • mdbf
  • GTA5RPClips
  • everett
  • rosin
  • Youngstown
  • tacticalgear
  • slotface
  • ngwrru68w68
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • khanakhh
  • megavids
  • tester
  • ethstaker
  • cubers
  • osvaldo12
  • cisconetworking
  • Durango
  • InstantRegret
  • normalnudes
  • Leos
  • modclub
  • anitta
  • provamag3
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •