Alex: CW “U.S. Poltics” (sensitive)

U.S. Poltics

Alex: “People need to drop Facebook r…”

People need to drop Facebook right now. They should have done it a long time ago, but now is better than later.

I keep hearing the excuse that leaving Facebook is too hard because your friends and family are there. That's the problem!

You may not fall for disinformation, but your presence gives others a reason to be there. Don't be a part of the problem. Don't be a part of the reason that others stick around and absorb disinfo.

Get out now, and find another way to stay in touch.

Alex: “https://theonion.com/trump-exe…”

https://theonion.com/trump-executed-1850257714/

Alex: “Mind you, I know enough about …”

Mind you, I know enough about compression to know what I was buying when I invested in this solution, but a significant consumer of LTO tapes are video producers and other media professionals, and they are never going to get the capacities advertised front and center because they are based on an absurd assumption that probably only applies to enterprise use cases.

Alex: “If you're backing up audio, vi…”

If you're backing up audio, video, or photos, you're going to have to assume native capacity. If there was some magical way to compress h264/h265 video down 2.5:1, people would be using it.

I can't imagine what the LTO Consortium thinks people would be backing up if they need the kinds of capacities supported by modern LTO tapes.

Just print the native capacity, and let me worry about compression. They print "45TB*" on the front of their 18TB LTO-9 tapes, and that feels like a scam.

Alex: “I've been embracing LTO tapes …”

I've been embracing LTO tapes as a personal long-term backup solution, and so far I'm very impressed by the cost efficiency for a very large amount of data storage. $0.004/GB is phenomenal.

But these "compressed" storage capacities are wild. "Assuming 2.5:1 compression"? That's a hell of an assumption. I guess if I were backing up 6.25TB of text or code or something I could pull that off on a 2.5TB tape, but c'mon now, it's just SLDC (LZS) compression. It isn't magic...

Alex: “Nobody shit or pissed on the f…”

Nobody shit or pissed on the floor of the Capitol building this time around. Turns out that's a partisan behavior.

Alex: “Sony just casually reveals tha…”

Sony just casually reveals that they track every button you press on your PS5: https://kotaku.com/ps5-unplug-turn-off-welcome-hub-sony-design-resume-1851733029

Alex: “Sorry, but if you use Threads …”

Sorry, but if you use Threads as your primary social network, I don't trust your reporting on the Fediverse. I was on-the-fence about #fediblock for a while, but Threads is such a catastrophe it's truly mind-boggling that the WeDistribute folks are endorsing it as a first class Fediverse participant.

Just caught some harassment from their admin for saying that Bluesky has misinformation on it (true). Don't get me started on Threads (where the election was "hacked at the tabulation level").

Alex: “lmao, the WeDistribute Admin h…”

lmao, the WeDistribute Admin has their Facebook profile linked in their bio. #fediblock

Alex: “The same procedure as last yea…”

The same procedure as last year?

Alex: “I figure in 10 years when LTO-…”

I figure in 10 years when LTO-9 becomes affordable on the secondhand market I can consolidate my tapes down 7:1.

Alex: “My data hoarding has reached u…”

My data hoarding has reached unprecedented new levels. 100TB of LTO-6 tapes (native) ought to help expand and protect my collection. At $4/TB, I'll never delete a file again in my life.

Alex: “Just fell to temptation and qu…”

Just fell to temptation and quoted a Democratic Strategist for Obama and Biden who was doing a misinformation about corporate responsibility while giving a multibillion dollar corporation free PR for a thing they never did.

That post, like everything I post there, will end up deleted as I convince myself again that I want no participation on #BlueSky.

Alex: “The only time I ever want to p…”

The only time I ever want to post on #BlueSky is to respond to misinformation, and BlueSky has no shortage of that.

I just want to say, the Mastodon community doesn't have this issue. You folks stay grounded for the most part and while I may not post as much as I used to, this might be the only place I can tolerate anymore.

I just try to remember: Bluesky is filled with people who thought Mastodon was too hard, and who mostly didn't leave Twitter until years after the Musk takeover.

Alex: “I powered up a Windows 10 lapt…”

I powered up a Windows 10 laptop yesterday for the first time in a while. Updated it and rebooted it first for good measure.

Started a huge file transfer overnight, and what did I find in the morning? That's right, a freshly rebooted computer that interrupted my file transfer to install more updates.

I have no idea how anyone tolerates Windows anymore. This is unheard of for a Mac or Linux user.

Alex: “I only have three requests of …”

I only have three requests of the Democratic Party moving forward:

1. Acknowledge the gravity of the situation without apology. Call Trump a Fascist, call Republicans Nazis. Their promises alone warrant it.

2. Mobilize now to energize voters to vote for you again in the Midterms and beyond, but with something other than Neoliberalism or just "not being Nazis".

3. If you can't do 1 or 2, get out of the way. Not being Trump clearly wasn't enough to for Hillary or Kamala, so put up or shut up.

Alex: “So Tears for Fears recently re…”

So Tears for Fears recently released a new album. The album cover is pure AI slop.

I am... disappointed.

Alex: “Actually, no, this looks like …”

Actually, no, this looks like a real effort to come back online. I think I'm just getting different responses from different endpoints on their CDN right now.

Fingers crossed that the collections are coming back today. I have really missed the Archive!

Alex: “Er, that was short lived. Gett…”

Er, that was short lived. Getting the error page again. At least it's clear that they're trying!