Thank you, Chris!

@evacide Has Apple ever notified anyone when the state sponsored hacking was done, or was suspected to have been done by the US?

The Mercator map projection keeps generating controversy, because it is completely fucked up. Greenland looks like it's the size of South America (it's about the size of Algeria). Antarctica looks like it dwarfs all of Eurasia (it's a bit smaller than Russia). Africa looks like it's a lot smaller than it actually is, and the centre of the world (at least longitudinally) is conspicuously Greenwich in England.

It has one redeeming feature (and all the aforementioned was *not* considered politically incendiary back in the 1500s!), and that is that a straight line on a Mercator map corresponds to a straight bearing on the actual globe. So it's incredibly useful for navigation - especially when this involved compasses and sextants and paper, rather than GPS trackers and satellites and computers.

But *because* it so greatly distorts the sizes of landmasses, it's probably not the best choice for eg. a school classroom world map, where it mostly creates misconceptions and its main quality has little use.

Here is my favourite alternative, the Dymaxion projection, which balances right on the knife edge between "utterly brilliant" and "batshit insane".

Internet Archive is hiring a software dev, US-based:

https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=12261ced-819c-4d6d-af85-ffea690b6521&ccId=9201102651278_3&jobId=616952&lang=en_US

#GetFediHired

I tried to write "Hi handsome" in a text message to my husband, and my phone suggested instead:
Hiiii hangover!

@libreoffice https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/08/21/there-is-no-best-interface/ Was this blog post written with the help of AI?

RE: https://mastodon.nl/@nrc_nl/117213353020963121

"géén kampen, returnhubs". Newspeak anno 2026. Nee, dit zijn deportatiekampen in limbo. Een Europese Guantanamo Bay voor mensen nergens naar toe mogen.

#NoBordersNoNations #StopDeportations

RE: https://indieweb.social/@alineblankertz/117213171269530213

Warum ich zum ersten Mal seit fast 20 Jahren nichts in mein Blog schreiben kann und was Trump damit zu tun hat:

@GhostOnTheHalfShell @ChrisMayLA6 @economics_that_works

sure social problems, human needs or wishes/dreams dont get created by technology, but a widely deployed technology can enable something that was formerly a theoretical ideal solution that just wasnt feasible.

...and because we dont built tech that enables us to have communities and ppl in charge, silicon valley tech billionaires build their tech that tips path of least effort or resistance in their favour so they control things more

@suearcher @Aprazeth @MiaMarkTwo I've done it myself a bit by stabbing it with a knife when there was no tin opener available but it's not something I recommend from a health and safety perspective 😂

RE: https://turtleisland.social/@Yehuda/117213905488848259

The GIS nerd/professor in me always wants to point out that the Mercator projection is still extremely useful in the right circumstances, but it absolutely should be phased out for making maps of the globe.

The projection is very good at retaining shape and angles, and so is good for localized maps and is extremely good for navigation. The Mercator *shapes* of Greenland and Africa is far more accurate.

But how important is shape really when studying a map of the earth, where one of the most important lessons is comparisons between regions?

Now . . . let's talk about this whole "seven continents" nonsense. (Boy do I ever have a Take on that. . . )

@gretathunberg

Unhinged blocked dude just sent another tranche of emails, from new addresses, accusing me of "bullying" because I blocked him here. I don't think that word means what he thinks it means.

I assume he meant to accuse me of violating his first amendment rights.

A 1667 proclamation posted by the Lord Mayor of London ordering constables to apprehend anyone pulling down the proclamations posted by the Lord Mayor of London.

I may have discovered a potential flaw in the plan.

@fediforum Here ya go:

I've been going to Fediforum since the first one. The community is so welcoming and and the organizers are very organized and encouraging of open dialog and debate. I look forward to every Fediforum to reconnect with my Fedi-friends and colleagues.

@MikeDunnAuthor @rick I feel Rage Against the Machine already covered this...

@MAJ1

If you've not read, strong recommend Dungeon Crawler Carl and the Bobiverse series. Always cheers me up or gets me nice and lost so my brain can switch off.

Beaming love and power at you. You don't have to be anything you don't want to be or have the spoons for. We love you just the way you are. Hope you're having a terrific evening or whatever time it is in squirrel-land.