andeux - Network

Everyone on bluesky was gloating about twitter being down on the first day of #NFL free agency.Now bluesky seems to be down too.

Everyone on bluesky was gloating about twitter being down on the first day of #NFL free agency.
Now bluesky seems to be down too.

Toffee wondering if the #CatSleepingContest participation trophy comes with extra treats. Well, a girl can dream.

Toffee wondering if the #CatSleepingContest participation trophy comes with extra treats. Well, a girl can dream.

Interstellar Space is a xmas album.

Interstellar Space is a xmas album.

This flower-like mushroom sprung up in our front yard.Any ideas what it is?#fungi

This flower-like mushroom sprung up in our front yard.
Any ideas what it is?
#fungi

I can never think about Dead & Company without considering this conversation with my friend Bob from about a year ago.Him: OK, so how...

I can never think about Dead & Company without considering this conversation with my friend Bob from about a year ago.
Him: OK, so how many former members of the Dead are in Dead & Co.?
Just Weir and Mickey now.
Right, two. And how many former members of Ratdog are in it?
Let's see, Weir, Jay Lane, ... and Chimenti?
Right, three. Three to two. So why aren't they calling it Ratdog & Company?

#DeadAndCo

Also as I said above, bsky is still more a monolithic platform than an open protocol so far. That actually gives it an advantage over fedi...

Also as I said above, bsky is still more a monolithic platform than an open protocol so far. That actually gives it an advantage over fedi in some of those user-experience issues, but makes me worry, longer-term, about the VCs and how they might eventually try to change bsky to try to make a return on their investments.

At least for now, I expect to stay active on both platforms (with more focus on music and tech here, and more focus on sports there), and see how things develop.
(5/5)

On the other hand, there is much I still prefer about fedi. With the smaller number of people here, and the technical barriers to entry...

On the other hand, there is much I still prefer about fedi. With the smaller number of people here, and the technical barriers to entry helping to select for a certain type of user, discussions (on certain topics) can develop a little more slowly, and often more thoughtfully, once you find the right people to follow for your interests.

In my case, I particularly enjoy the music crowd that I have found to follow here (many on either heads.social or shakedown.social). I think it's much harder to find the same sort of dialogue on bsky (even with some of the same people participating!) just because it's noisier there.
(4/x)

As for the #bridgy thing between #bluesky and #fediverse , it is a good idea but1) Not enough people use it, especially on the bsky side. Of...

As for the #bridgy thing between #bluesky and #fediverse , it is a good idea but
1) Not enough people use it, especially on the bsky side. Of 117 people I am currently following after a couple of days there, only 9 are following the brid.gy account. But I think 6 of those are people who I know also have a separate active fedi account anyway.
2) Fedi's discoverability problem is even worse for bridged accounts. Even for those bsky accounts that do enable the bridge, they may not show up in search on your instance until you send a private message to the brid.gy account with their bluesky address (...which you may not even know unless you already have your own real bluesky account).
So, on the whole, a good idea, but barely useful in practice. And since it requires active opt-in, I doubt that will change.
(3/x)

The main thing is it is much easier to find people to follow there, and to set up a feed for yourself, for a number of reasons:1) More...

The main thing is it is much easier to find people to follow there, and to set up a feed for yourself, for a number of reasons:
1) More people there total. (duh)
2) Search works. Although in principle it is a decentralized open protocol like the fediverse, in practice it is a single platform. So searching (by name, handle, or content) just works. On fedi, people have to opt in to search, and even then it is a crap shoot whether something makes it to your server.
3) The user-curated lists, feeds, and starter packs (I am not even totally clear on exactly how these differ from each other) make it very easy to find an already curated list of people for whatever your interest. This is probably bsky's best original feature.
(2/x)

Like millions of others, I recently signed up for an account over at #BlueSky. And while most of those are people just leaving "the...

Like millions of others, I recently signed up for an account over at #BlueSky. And while most of those are people just leaving "the birdsite" in my case it is after two years here in the #fediverse.
And (maybe also like millions of others) I have a few thoughts about the things that are better over there, and the things I still prefer here. 🧵 (1/x)

'A person who merely refuses to learn what can be known is not a skeptic, but rather an ignoramus; a person who raises questions but...

'A person who merely refuses to learn what can be known is not a skeptic, but rather an ignoramus; a person who raises questions but does not seek their answers is not a skeptic, but a bullshitter.'

'As a copy matter, "skeptic" certainly costs less column space than engaging with the question of whether Kennedy's anti-vax fear-mongering reflects the cynical calculus of a scumbag grifter or the sweaty but sincere raving of a dumb guy with grave mental illness, or both, or what.'

https://defector.com/what-the-fuck-is-a-vaccine-skeptic

https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/historic-print-shop-berkeley-visual-pioneer-market-19907303.php#berkeley

https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/historic-print-shop-berkeley-visual-pioneer-market-19907303.php
#berkeley

Department Of Grift & Expropriation

Department Of Grift & Expropriation

I have seen several posts making various points based on the premise that turnout was down about 15M from the 2020 election.That premise is...

I have seen several posts making various points based on the premise that turnout was down about 15M from the 2020 election.
That premise is completely wrong. There are probably around 7M votes that have not been counted in California alone. It will take another few days before we know what the totals look like.

On a personal note, some twenty-five years later, I had listened to the dead a little and seen them live once, I finally "got it"...

On a personal note, some twenty-five years later, I had listened to the dead a little and seen them live once, I finally "got it" in the same semester that I took a history of jazz course, and discovered that same era of jazz - Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Eric Dolphy. Something about all that music just started speaking to me, and the Dead hit me in the same place. (5/5)

As a side thing, though, it is interesting that prankster Ken Kesey was also apparently a Coltrane fan. My favorite part of "Sometimes...

As a side thing, though, it is interesting that prankster Ken Kesey was also apparently a Coltrane fan. My favorite part of "Sometimes a Great Notion" is the letter from Lee Stamper to his friend back east, talking about playing "Africa/Brass," and the line "Does one ever play Coltrane for the uninitiated without subconsciously hoping for the worst?" That was published in 1964, which would have been before Lesh joined the Warlocks and they started playing the acid tests. (4/5)

To the extent that the Dead's approach to improv, which in turn has influenced so many subsequent musicians, can be seen (perhaps overly...

To the extent that the Dead's approach to improv, which in turn has influenced so many subsequent musicians, can be seen (perhaps overly simplistically) as synthesizing approaches from bluegrass and post-bop modal jazz, none of it ever could have happened without Phil getting the rest of the band into Coltrane. (3/5)

While I have heard both Weir and Kreutzmann cite Coltrane (and bandmates McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones) as major influences before, and others...

While I have heard both Weir and Kreutzmann cite Coltrane (and bandmates McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones) as major influences before, and others like Branford Marsalis and Henry Kaiser make connections between the Dead's Dark Star and Coltrane's Love Supreme, I'm not sure I fully appreciated what a seminal moment getting turned on to Coltrane by Lesh was for the rest of the band, and how profoundly that shaped their approach to improvisation from their earliest days. (2/5)

Reading all the tributes to Phil Lesh one of the things that struck we was how often the importance of introducing his bandmates to John...

Reading all the tributes to Phil Lesh one of the things that struck we was how often the importance of introducing his bandmates to John Coltrane was cited. It is the very first thing Bob Weir has to say about Lesh, while Bill Kreutzmann mentions it in his second paragraph. It is also noted in articles by Jon Pareles in the New York Times and Stephen Thomas Erlewine in the Washington Post. (1/5)
#GratefulDead #JohnColtrane #PhilLesh

Seattle’s famous 12th man. #BillsMafia

Seattle’s famous 12th man.
#BillsMafia