oxjox

It strikes me that someone asking if using a toaster oven as a space heater is “anti-inadvisable” is very much not someone who should attempt such an action.

ProtonMail, Nebula, Backblaze, Parcel, BigNews, Glass, my local paper, local coffee delivery.

I pay for Apple iCloud too but I'm trying to figure out how to get away from it.

I use both. I'm a member of a local instance on Mastodon. On Bluesky, I follow more mainstream outlets.

I'm not on board with having one account to interact with the fediverse. I like the compartmentalization of using one account for some things and another for other things. I also see value in diversification in case something goes wrong or takes too long to be improved or repaired. However, I also see substantial value in all social networks communicating with each other so you can choose a platform that aligns more with your wants and needs while still getting the information that's relevant to you.

I just wish more "mainstream" outlets would get on board with the fediverse - either Mastodon or Bluesky. I really think towns and cities should invest in Mastodon instances where local government and other agencies could engage with the community (who may be members of other instances).

The "mainstream" outlets I follow on Bluesky are: Media Matters, The Conversation, Washington Post, BBC (unofficial), MacRumors, AP, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, etc.

The local outlets I follow on Mastodon are mostly twitter bots via bird.makeup: the local police department, the mayor, the newspaper, sports reporters, etc. I wish more bars / restaurants, music venues, local blogs and reporters were on the fediverse (looking forward to cross-posting from Threads).

I'm actually using RSS a lot more than either Mastodon or Bluesky because so few outlets are accessible on the fediverse.

I've been in the home automation business for over 25 years. Can confirm that smart lighting is the absolute best investment.

I've installed and programmed lighting systems for over $100k but have personally spent less than $250 for Ikea devices for my apartment. Just the ability to dim and set the color of the lights at certain times of day is key for me.

Controlled Lighting isn't only about convenience, it's about setting a mood. You can set a warm dim scene to be more calming or a bright white scene for cooking or cleaning.

Is it truly because you’re not face to face or is it really because at your core that’s the real you.

Yes.

You're the real you when not face to face.

I would like to see more investment in informative media. Social media has been one of the best sources to get information about local events, news, and alerts.

Speaking from an American’s perspective, I would like to see federated networks organized similarly to the United States. There should be one main federal instance, then a sub instance for states, eventually down to micro instances for neighborhoods or zip codes.

My complaint about “corporate social media” has been its need to make money from advertising driven by engagement. This means I miss tons of posted information by family, friends, businesses, bands, restaurants, record shops, farmers markets, city council members, police departments, reporters, etc.

I still want to connect with these users but getting them on board with the fediverse is an uphill battle if they’re only in it for the memes. Creating a platform that makes some tangible sense to people, I think, would drive more adoption. If you want to connect with your city, join cityname.state.US.verse. This wouldn’t exclude the creation of other networks like I dunno… nestle.corp.verse or tiktok.social.verse.

MacGyver
The Secret City
Mr. Wizard

Great question. I could list dozens of shows that were favorites, or have special meaning to me, or that I watched the most, or ones that had a more longterm impact on who I am. But, specifically about impacting my world as a young person, I'll say these three.

Honorable mentions: Looney Tunes, Cheers, MASH, Family Ties, The Young Ones, Doctor Who, You Can't Do That on Television, Ren and Stimpy.

How do you decide on which news sources to read?

If a news outlet has indicated to me that they care more about ad revenue than reporting news, I avoid them.
If the only way an outlet feels they can get readership is with use of clickbait headlines, I avoid them.
If the headline is something like "you'll never guess why ___ hates this" or "the reason you can't blahblahblah" or some other salacious bullshit or they have a super cringe thumbnail on their YT video, I avoid them.
If a writer misconstrues the words of a celebrity or political leader for their own narrative, I avoid them.
If their bias prevents them from reporting the facts of an event, I avoid them.
"Avoid" does not mean never visit. It means I try not to and if I do I proceed with caution and skepticism with the intent to get another source.

If I'm searching for a news story, it's probably because I came across it on social media (Lemmy) or a blog and want to get credible information. Or because someone here is quoting a story and I have a hunch they're misinformed. I use DuckDuckGo and generally get decent reputable results at the top. At its face, I will never trust Google for fact checking. If I end up at a wiki page, I often check their sources.

I have an extensive list of reputable and/or diverse outlets in my RSS reader. The only "mainstream" American sources are NYT, AP, NPR, and Reuters. I've been using BigNews as my RSS reader for a year or so now. I really like its simple interface and ability to subscribe to newsletters. Newsletters are sometimes the best way to get a blurb off the news without subscribing to something like NYT. If I'm compelled enough, I'll run a paywalled article through archive.is.

I don't feel that people publishing on substack or medium, etc are reputable outlets for general news. That's great for specific topics, opinions, and focused reporting.

The only news I pay for is my local newspaper. In addition to local reporting, they curate AP articles.

While I do have Ground News installed on my iPad, I only use it as a widget to let me know what's going on. The sources it uses are generally not that great. Either the site is severely biased or the site is riddled with ads and pop ups. Basically every time I go to read an article it's full of shit. I'll give it credit as a substantial aggregator but it's still pulling from sources that use click bait headlines. It's not any better than social media.

Thank you.

I'd like to know seven years after when.

Thanks.