Well, I told my elected official to protect public media, and not rescind the funds previously approved for it, I got this response from my Congressperson, Troy Nehls:
I appreciate learning of your policy concerns. Your input is critical in guiding me on how to best represent my constituents.
As you may know, H.R. 1216, the Defund Government Sponsored Propaganda Act, would prohibit federal funding for the National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) due to their partisan bias.
So, instead of telling me he understands how important funding is to the vital service that is public broadcasting, he told me about a separate bill that would defund public broadcasting "due to their partisan bias".
Uggghhhhh. I hate this world.
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
Sign your names or you’re a toaster, American cyber pros. https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-leads-prominent-security-experts-urging-trump-administration-leave-chris-krebs
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
Studio Ghibli has uploaded hundreds of beautiful still images from almost all of their films, including all of the major ones. These individual artworks are free to download “by individual fans to further enjoy Studio Ghibli films”. https://kottke.org/25/04/hundreds-of-free-images-from-studio-ghibli-films
Dan Jones shared 8 months agoI Just Got Into Harvard. My MAGA Grandparents’ 6-Word Reaction To My Acceptance Devastated Me. “We are not your culture war — we are your kids. We are the future.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/harvard-acceptance-maga-grandparents-response_n_6806a994e4b052543c13a41a
Dan Jones shared 8 months agoWebsite For MAGA-Friendly Businesses Backfires As People Use It For Boycotts. “Social media posts about PublicSquare have gone viral as Trump critics use it to find companies not to support.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/publicsquare-trump-critics-boycott-businesses_n_680900d2e4b00850c6839b0b
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
From Dani Davalos on Pinterest https://pin.it/2X8aZPUzw , the most beautiful thing I have seen so far today.
Caption
A cartoon version of Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa". The wave has googly eyes to look like the Muppet Cookie Monster, and chocolate chip cookies are scattered across the water.
It seems that IMDb doesn't know exactly what to do about trans actors.
For cisgender actors who have appeared under different names than the one they're currently known as, they will include that name in their credits. For example, look at Samuel L. Jackson's page and you'll see a few credits in the 80s and early 90s where it says "(as Sam Jackson)" to acknowledge that he was credited under that name.
Understandably, they don't seem to do that for trans actors with their deadname. But what they do do is inconsistent.
For example, if you look at Elliot Page's page, you will not see "(as ...)" anywhere on his credits from before his transition.
However, if you look at Lux Pascal's page, you'll see "(as a different name)" next to all her credits from before her transition.
So, for Lux, they acknowledge that she was credited under a different name without stating her deadname, but for Elliott, they don't even make that acknowledgement.
I don't know if maybe Elliott asked them to make that change, or they just don't have a consistent policy.
I don't know which option is better, but I am glad that at least they aren't including the deadname.
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. ~ Lucille Ball
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
🌶️ Fedi hot take 🌶️
I saw several toots posted in the past 24 hours that said: "yeah, Bluesky was down, but the same thing could have happened to mastodon.social, home of 15% of accounts on the Fediverse."
You know what I did when mastodon.social went down? (I remember it happened a couple of months ago during a routine upgrade)
Well, when the INSTANCE mastodon.social went down, I simply switched to my GoToSocial account and checked out from there what people were posting. Maybe I even logged onto my Pixelfed account.
People on Bluesky couldn't do something like that because Bluesky is FULLY CENTRALIZED.
You can't compare apples and oranges.
End of my hot take sorry if I have offended friends who are super enthusiastic about Bluesky, but I can't just politely nod and stay silent. Bluesky enthusiasts, please read up about the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog
I want the Open Social Web to succeed... but I will always give the side eye to Bluesky and Threads. Sorry not sorry.
On a more positive note: I just wrote about some new projects I'll start soon to promote the Fediverse: https://elenarossini.com/2025/04/my-fedi-activism-q2-2025-edition/
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
Pack-bonding with everything, including rocks and pencils.
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Screenshot of Joseph Fink and greg Stolze discussing fucking AI. It reads: JF: It turns out this whole time that the Turing Test was the wrong way to think of it. Thinking a chatbot is alive is not a test of how good the chatbot is, but of your own ability to think of other human beings as real and complete people. GS: I heard some professor put googly eyes on a pencil and waved it at his class saying "Hi" I'm Tim the pencil! I love helping children with their homework but my favorite is drawing pictures!" Then, without a warning, he snapped the pencil in half. When half his college students gasped he said "THAT'S where all this AI hype comes from. We're not good at programming consciousness. But we're GREAT at imagining non-conscious things are people".
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
Caption
An edited three panel comic by safely endangered. In the first panel the Mario Bros meet their mother. Mario is named Java and Luigi is called C#. The mother eclaims „Hey it‘s-a the Java Bros.“ In the second panel Luigi/C# asks sadly „Mama, why-a you never remember my name?“ In the third panel the mother put‘s their hand on the shoulder of Luigi/C# and says „I‘m-a sorry Microsoft Java.“
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
I cannot explain to you why this is good, but the sky is quite good.
Caption
A night sky fades from black to purple to white along the horizon, filled with countless silver stars. Along the straight line demarcating earth from sky, a forest slopes down slightly from left to centre, standing out barely against the distant glow. Below, a still lake reflects back the forest and horizon’s light.
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
Dan Jones shared 8 months agoAs part of their Smithsonian purge, the Trump regime is dismantling and removing the Woolworth’s lunch counter (a key artifact of the Civil Rights Movement) from the NMAAHC and returning other artifacts to their owners. https://blackpressusa.com/the-smithsonian-purge-trump-team-removes-artifacts-of-black-resistance/
Dan Jones shared 8 months agoA set of Australian twins went viral this week for speaking in unison. They’re not unique — Werner Herzog is filming a movie called Bucking Fastard right now starring Rooney & Kate Mara, which is based on the synchronously speaking Chaplin twins. https://kottke.org/25/04/twins-speaking-twins-speaking-in-unison-in-unison
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
3081. PhD Timeline
3081. PhD Timeline
title text: Rümeysa Öztürk was grabbed off the street in my town one month ago.
(https://xkcd.com/3081)
(https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/3081)
Caption
Single panel comic. Title: US Ph.D. program timeline A vertical series of 7 tick marks with the first labeled enrollment. Shortly after the first mark there is a series of actions with arrows between them. On the side there is also a bar showing coursework that starts shortly after enrollment and ends anywhere from after the second tick mark to after the 4th with research starting anywhere from after the second tick mark to after the fourth and continuing indefinitely. The actions are between 1 & 2 Meet with advisor at the start of 2 research proposal at the start of 3 qualifying exams in the middle of 3 propose dissertation from 4 to 5 research and write dissertation from 5 to 6 is says submit dissertation and at the start of 6 it says defend dissertation, however both of these are scribbled out in red ink a red arrow after the research and write dissertation action goes to "get grabbed off the sidewalk outside your home by masked government agents" which has a second red arrow to "be whisked out of the state before a judge has time to intervene" a last red arrow just leads to a series of question marks
This is apparently Trump's version of diplomacy: talking to other world leaders like you're an angry kid on the playground on fake Twitter.
Caption
Screenshot from Truth Social showing a post by @realdonaldtrump, which reads "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!". It shows that the post was made April 24, 2025 @ 7:24 AM. The post has 6.84K "Retruths", 34k likes, and 3023 replies. Donald Trump's avatar is his face with the American flag superimposed on it, and next to his name is a red check mark.
Happy Shakespeare's Death Day, to those who celebrate.
If you'd like to celebrate, consider doing a small performance of your favorite death scene from one of his plays for your family and friends.
Dan Jones shared 8 months ago
Huh. I wonder how sighted people like it.
If you get it, boost it.
Caption
Lavar Burton yes/no meme. The text boxes for both images is, in reality, blank with no text at all. If you want to enjoy the meme, you have to read it here. Top image, Lavar rejecting the idea: Text in Meme Bottom image, Lavar thinking it's a good idea: Meme in AltText