Notices by Technology Connections (techconnectify@mas.to), page 3

lol, the "oil is good actually" people are so desperate that they're apparently going to fixate on the gearbox oil in a wind turbine as evidence they're not "actually green"

@alcinnz I /wish/ they bothered to tinker with stuff, learn how it works, and empower themselves to tackle more than they do. But many people don't see gathering that knowledgebase as worth their time, and I don't blame them.

(and actually, that's another angle here - those who already have the expertise tend to not realize that's what it is: expertise)

I'm like those people with computers. I know my way around them quite well, but I am happily hiring professionals to manage my needs.

@alcinnz I do! In fact I'm envious of folks like yourself who are comfortable with code. I barely know anything in that regard - and I'm working to attain a low-level understanding of computers that I currently don't have.

But I stay realistic about who wants to know this stuff. It's... not a lot in the grand scheme.

When it comes to software, I'm more like the homeowner who can't troubleshoot anything in their home and happily hires professionals to fix stuff. Those people can still own homes

@alcinnz Oh sure, it's not everyone who wants to, but there's too many out there who are dismissive of "normie" problems.

I don't use Linux mainly because I use commercial software which doesn't work on Linux, and usually when I bring this up I get told to stop using the commercial software I use and embrace open source everything which... no. You ain't winning many hearts and minds with that argument, I'm afraid.

@notjustbikes I see you've already gotten several "this isn't actually a problem, just..." responses.

Personally, I don't want an algorithmic timeline - I only ever used the chronological timeline on Twitter and hated whenever it switched on me.

However, Twitter did some things much better, like auto-collapsing threads.

Mastodon folks would be better off working to understand this than simply frame all problems as personal and thus the duty to solve them is entirely your own.

@cprovias People who like to tinker with things have a really hard time understanding that that's not "normal"

Average users do not want to deal with the peculiarities of Linux, but Linux tinkerers don't want the boring world of a distro everyone uses.

So I don't see that getting fixed, honestly.

@alcinnz these comments apply to literally anything we do which uses energy. I don't know why you assumed I'm talking about cars specifically

@alcinnz ...I am?

Like, this seems so forking obvious. You don't even need to "believe" in climate change to realize how much stupider it is to keep the status quo up.

It's only seen as "easy" because it's familiar. Interrogate it just the teeny tiniest bit and maybe you'll find the absurdity.

I still cannot get over how people equate extracting resources to build a thing which will let us do something for decades to come with extracting resources which we promptly set on fire so we can do something for a moment.

I started playing with my water heater. In doing so, I discovered there's a lot more going on with them than I realized.

New video!
https://youtu.be/Bm7L-2J52GU

In response to a troll, I shared the latest energy mix numbers. And folks - I didn't realize we were this far already!

Anybody who still says crap like "you mean your coal-powered car?" is just woefully misinformed.

I mean, I knew that, but I didn't realize it was quite this extreme.

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3

Hello, people of Mastodon!

While I finish up making a thumbnail and putting chapter markers in place, feel free to take a look at my Connextras video about stoves.

https://youtu.be/eUywI8YGy0Y

I made a timely video.
https://youtu.be/PnJZSk4JHFM

Y'know that discomfort when you're with someone who's getting all worked up over something that really isn't a big deal?

That's basically what it feels like every time I look at Twitter. A lot of social media seems to be a contest to see who can get the most worked up the loudest - and that ain't healthy for anybody.

I did it, guys! I got blocked by somebody on Mastodon!

It's never felt realer.

It's actually pretty interesting as a phenomenon. Basically toots just kept not loading, but I could still see that person's profile.

Now suddenly it's "unavailable"

Anyway, I'm just a dirty capitalist because sometimes I toot about electric cars and think they're neat.

@netscape "because if you ever post anything about a car, you must be pro-car-dependency"

My uncle worked at a computer company, and I've always wanted to see how they are made. So I asked him to show me an assembly line and he replied with a bunch of weird letters and stuff.

Oh hey look, another charging network in the works that's open to all EVs. Weird what can happen when there's a real charging standard that every* automaker agrees on.

*except That One

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/01/mercedes-benz-to-build-an-ev-fast-charging-network-starting-in-the-us/