Jules she/her

Devon,🇬🇧,🇪🇺,🌍

Born @ 341ppm

Frantically waving a Linda McCartney sausage and a bike pump in the face of the howling void of chaos and despair.

I don't CW the following but use filterable hashtags #UKpol #food #alcohol

I block accounts sharing unCW'd images of dead children.

Profile: a white woman with blue hair & glasses, smiling in a woodland in winter. Header: a Hotbin composter I painted with flowers and insects & the words "Kiri's Compost Collective"

Website: https://tangledbankforaging.uk/
Just my toots: Jules she/her (npub13pt…fuyd)">https://justmytoots.com/Jules she/her (npub13pt…fuyd)
Pixelfed: https://pixelfed.de/i/web/profile/716627172200514055
I once read a romantasy book by accident: https://www.mastoreader.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsocial.coop%2F%40afewbugs%2F115464250259772906

Public Key

npub13pt0ylxgs99kelt7zad95r3zq8wzkddsfsksmnewgf0wzvs05t2s3dfuyd

NIP-05 Address

afewbugs_at_social.coop@momostr.pink

Profile Code

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Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub13pt0ylxgs99kelt7zad95r3zq8wzkddsfsksmnewgf0wzvs05t2s3dfuyd

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Published at

2026-04-17T16:27:52Z

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Last Notes

2026-03-22 19:22:13 UTC

I really enjoyed this by @npub14t3…u3pf about the conversations that happen when you're travelling at human speed and not all isolated in your individual vehicles, and the importance of an acknowledgement and apology https://www.mattpedals.bike/conversations-with-strangers/?

2026-03-14 09:00:11 UTC

Someone just told me Peter Thiel was gay, which I didn't know, so off I went to his Wikipedia page to check. And there are paragraphs and paragraphs on his batshit insane theology/philosophy whatever it is. And I really resent the fact that because this guy is insanely rich and powerful we have to devote this much attention to making sense of the sort of nonsense that if someone random startled rambling it to in the pub you'd finish you drink as fast as possible and move somewhere else instead of devoting time and energy trying to make sense of it.

2026-03-13 12:35:03 UTC

#ShareFest #Totnes
Sat 18 April, 10am to 4pm, Totnes Civic Hall
This free and family-friendly event aims to showcase a wide range of projects that encourage a more resourceful, collaborative and sustainable lifestyle.
Activities include:
#RepairCafe
Bike Repair and Maintenance
#ClothesSwap
Skillshares <- this one's me teaching basketry
Pay What You Feel Cafe
Plant & Seed Swap
Community Singing
Tool Sharpening
Tech Amnesty
Craft Making
Children's Activities
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sharefest-totnes-tickets-1983361764428
#Devon #HeritageCrafts #AncestralSkills #SolarpunkSunday
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/221/885/151/281/549/original/c5a357505de29451.jpg

2026-03-12 08:09:56 UTC

I was carrying some bulky tools on the train this morning, and the guy on the other side of the aisle just randomly offered to put them next to his seat which helped a lot. And it got me thinking that our basic impulse when we see each other struggling is to help one another isn't it, to offer to help when someone is carrying something heavy or awkward or to hold doors for people with their hands full.

2026-03-11 08:49:35 UTC

"Last week, European policymakers decided that plant-based foods should no longer be marketed with terms such as “chicken”, “bacon” or “steak”. The fear seems to be that shoppers might accidentally buy veggie bacon thinking it came from an actual pig. The change applies to the UK too, because of our trade agreement with Europe...
In fact, consumers are far less confused than critics suggest. A YouGov survey in late 2025 found that 92% of Britons said they had never bought, or could not recall buying, a plant-based sausage or burger thinking it contained meat. "
In my experience if there is any confusion it's more likely to be in the other directions, my wife's Mom once accidentally bought lactofree cheese not vegan for us.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/11/plant-based-foods-honest-meat-cow-muscle-eu-rules-ban-veggie
#Vegan #Vegetarian #PlantBased

2026-03-08 16:38:48 UTC

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Universities arise - my university has a plant based catering first policy, and that didn't just happen because people spontaneously decided to form a campaign

2026-03-08 16:37:20 UTC

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Taking veganism as an example, I can't speak for anyone else (my wife was a vegan-for-the-animals vegan first) but I went vegan first for the climate as an attempt to reduce my impact on the planet. We have both sort of converged on each other's issues over the years, but I don't think individual choices are meaningless because they're often the starting point for collective action. It's not just about what you as an individual do or don't choose to eat (buy/consume/spend your time on), sharing information on what you are doing and meeting other people doing the same is sort of what campaign networks arise out of and how people learn about issues from each other. In my experience people tend not to just wake up one morning, think "ooh I care about this" and take on an organising role cold, they start developing concerns about something and start meeting up with and learning from people who have the same concerns. And out of that campaigns like, say, plant based

2026-03-08 16:08:51 UTC

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so many things are statistically meaningless if only one person does them though, voting, giving blood, giving up flying, going vegan, picking up litter, going on a protest march... They only become useful if enough people do them, so sharing quotes and memes that discourage people from doing them is actively making them less effective.
I'm not arguing that voting is all we should be doing. And yes at the moment it does feel like all we have are bad options, but I still think if you can't get a good option like potentially the Greens a bad option like Labour will do less harm than the Tories, who in turn will do less harm than Reform so it's worth trying to stay as low down the hierarchy of harm as possible. And yes it is important to join a political party to influence their direction, campaign for electoral reform or organise progressive primaries while we're still stuck under FPTP say, but not everyone has time or energy for that whereas voting is easier

2026-03-08 12:31:07 UTC

I hate that "If voting changed anything they'd make it illegal" quote. Yes it's probably not going to change much, but the fact that governments have been actively working over the years to make it harder for trans people, people without fixed addresses or people who can't afford photo ID to vote suggests they're worried it'll change something, and by discouraging people from voting you're actively helping them with this.

2026-03-03 08:37:40 UTC

UK slashes climate aid programmes for developing countries
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/02/uk-slashes-climate-aid-developing-countries
#Ukpol #climatejustice

2026-03-02 10:58:49 UTC

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I also got to attend a workshop on how to make rushlights. Rushlights were recorded as having been made in Britain by the native inhabitants by Roman chroniclers, and remained in use in the poorest households as a more affordable alternative to candles into the 19th century.
They're made by stripping most of the epidermis off the soft rush Juncus effusus, leaving only a thin strip to provide structure but exposing the inner pith. The rushes are then dried, soaked in fat and burned for light. Traditionally pig or mutton fat would have been used, but as candles became more widely commercially available it was apparently quite common for families to buy one candle and melt it down to make 30 rushlights, as a less messy alternative to rendering their own fat. You can use vegetable oil as I did here but solid fats are less messy.
#HeritageCrafts #AncestralSkills
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/159/207/513/767/328/original/c77b892e3b236e34.jpg
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/159/207/485/343/281/original/9224a20db8a8ac0d.jpg
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/159/207/521/574/296/original/e0c3685a6be21a95.jpg

2026-03-02 10:46:49 UTC

Anyway the reason I've been travelling through London being bewildered by hipster cafes is I went to the Institute of Outdoor Learning's #Bushcraft conference this week and taught a couple of besom broom making workshops.
#HeritageCrafts #AncestralSkills
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/159/159/745/690/861/original/892f473f0124da20.jpg
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/159/159/745/324/966/original/062d8db84d6fc5b1.jpg
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/159/159/755/730/007/original/befc7bf41651ad55.jpg
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/159/159/762/810/132/original/428e717ef12d8739.jpg

2026-02-25 17:25:14 UTC

Reluctantly wading in to The Great Mastodon Snail Tapping Controversy Of 2026: for those not caught up on the biggest issue of the day, an AI generated infographic was shared around encouraging people who wished to relocate snails to tap their shells first and only move them once they had retracted into their shells, rather than pulling them off whatever surface they were attached to by their shells.
1/🧵

2026-02-22 18:31:19 UTC

My brother just sent me this message and I feel like he's accidentally summed up the entire philosophy of Mastodon.
(Still trying to lure him on here but he doesn't do social media)
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/115/706/390/493/349/original/460bfa46559f4dc6.jpeg

2026-02-22 17:43:45 UTC

Okay that #GreenParty political broadcast with #ZacPolanski is a bit cringe, and I'm saying this as someone who hates the word cringe - the fact that he's sitting in what looks like his Nan's living room and talking about Coronation Street does come across a as a bit "this is how I've been told regular people live".
However I will put forward the hypothesis that as a gay man he might actually watch Corrie, which is officially The Wokest Soap™️, created by a gay man, with queer characters of every stripe of the rainbow who sometimes get to go on nights out to Canal Street to much cheering from fans who like spotting the exact staircase where they were exuberantly sick on alcopops back in the early 2000s on TV.

2026-02-15 14:16:32 UTC

I attempted to eat a packet of crisps on the train
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/075/058/980/629/113/original/6978d0c0d278b4a7.jpg

2026-02-15 14:05:11 UTC

The doctor who made national headlines when a nurse objected to sharing a changing room with her because she was trans has now left the NHS. Good job transphobes, you haven't just made this woman's life a misery you've cost the NHS a doctor
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2lyq5dn9xo

2026-02-15 12:22:01 UTC

Food firms urge Europe not to ban calling non-meat products ‘sausages’
"A ban would mean, for example, bean burgers sold in Europe having to be relabelled as “patties” or “discs”, while the Welsh breakfast staple Glamorgan sausages – made of cheese and leeks – would probably become Glamorgan “tubes”."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/13/food-firms-urge-europe-not-to-ban-calling-non-meat-products-sausages
#Food #Vegan #Vegetarian #PlantBased #MeatIndustry

2026-02-12 10:05:13 UTC

RE: https://mstdn.social/@sodslawyer/116056688380387248
One of the greatest strengths of the English language is any noun can be an insult if delivered in the right tone.
#note1y2e…rjdn

2026-02-11 18:53:45 UTC

Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent
"The scheme recouped more than its net cost of €72m through increases in arts-related expenditure, productivity gains and reduced reliance on other welfare payments"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/10/ireland-basic-income-for-the-arts-scheme-becomes-permanent
#UBI

2026-02-08 13:17:58 UTC

RE: https://social.coop/@afewbugs/116024480824605919
Thinking about my dahl recipe, which I learned while doing fieldwork in The Gambia a decade ago from a doctor from New Zealand of Indian heritage who was also working out there. Good food really does connect across cultures and across the world, and our personal libraries of recipes are a record of the people who have passed through our lives aren't they. I've lost touch with the doctor, and with my ex's Mum who taught me to cook rice properly. I learned how to cook for groups and make a balanced salad volunteering in Sweden at a summer camp for immigrant and refugee children when I was 18. How we cook is a living memory of everyone we've shared food with over our lives.
#Food #vegan
#note18tn…ptzn

2026-02-06 19:36:28 UTC

So just to prove vegans don't subsist entirely on expensive steak substitutes 😂, here's tonight's dinner, stir fry with Cufu (pumpkin seed tofu, https://www.turnbullscufu.co.uk/). I realise this isn't the best example of vegan food not having to be expensive because that is considerably more expensive than soy tofu, but I promise we eat a lot of beans too and I'll post next time I make some.
#food #vegan #PlantBased #VeganFoodUK
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/025/354/328/645/783/original/af50d77f9130b58b.jpg

2026-02-06 15:51:18 UTC

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so my go to is some anglicised version of dahl, with apologies to anyone from the Indian subcontinent who might be about to read this. Fry up an onion and garlic with curry powder then add boiling water, stock ( I use Marigold bouillon) and your pulse - red lentils or split mung beans take about 45 minutes in a pan, yellow or green split peas take more like an hour and a half unless you have a pressure cooker which makes things much faster. You can also add chunks of root vegetables or squash - we get a weekly veg box so this is a good way of using whatever came this time. You can just leave that boiling away, add greens about ten minutes before it finishes for a bit of colour and stir a spoon of mango chutney through before serving for a bit of tang

2026-02-06 15:09:13 UTC

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noted, more curries incoming 😂 Is there anything specific you want tips on replacing?

2026-02-06 14:06:33 UTC

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I knew I was going to get at least one comment assuming this is what we eat every day, this always happens when I post a special meal and people see that but not our regular boring food. Vegans don't eat steak substitutes every night because they are expensive, just as I imagine non vegans don't eat steak and blue cheese sauce every night. 95% of our meals are based around tofu, beans or lentils not meat substitutes, but you don't see that because we don't post every curry or stir fry we make or everyone would be bored to tears
#Food #Vegan

2026-02-06 13:13:03 UTC

@npub1ht7…cqgt made the most incredible celebration dinner last night with Juicy Marbles steaks (https://juicymarbles.com/) and La Fauxmagerie Brixton Blue cheese sauce (https://lafauxmagerie.co.uk/) and if I hadn't known I honestly would not have been able to tell these weren't animal products from the taste and texture. There really is no need to eat meat* when vegan alternatives are this good.
*unless obviously you have a health issue that requires you to.
#Food #Vegan #PlantBased #VeganFoodUK
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/023/852/027/057/217/original/cdeed727e16367e0.jpg
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/116/023/852/326/143/822/original/0252c882a949b4a4.jpg

2026-02-01 15:01:48 UTC

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I don't know what the news article you read was but was it based on this paper? https://www.nature.com/articles/417452a If so I have access to that through my university, let me know and I can send you the pdf

2026-02-01 12:15:51 UTC

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do you remember what they were trying to engineer the mosquito to do? Be sterile or disease control or something?

2026-01-27 07:40:44 UTC

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Anyway I once received a shipment of flies and was taking them to the insectary through what I thought was an empty dark corridor while muttering "Heheheheh new fliiiieeses!" delightedly to myself when I ran into someone and I have honestly never seen anyone look as terrified of me

2026-01-27 07:39:11 UTC

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when I was doing my PhD the insectary was in the basement (coincidentally it's also in the basement at the university I'm currently at, presumably they design things this way to keep the weirdos away from the normal people). I used to take a shortcut through the maintenance bit to get there.

2026-01-26 10:48:42 UTC

The Great Quake and the Great Drowning - how Indigenous societies of the Pacific Northwest passed stories down over generations to survive the tsunamis and earthquakes that occurred only every 500 years or so.
https://hakaimagazine.com/features/great-quake-and-great-drowning/

2026-01-21 09:56:51 UTC

Hello new followers, I hope you're not too disappointed if you came here for the feminist analysis and mostly get boosts and bad jokes instead. I realised it's about time I did a new introduction post so hi, I'm Jules, I live in Devon with my wife, 5 cats and 3 giant African land snails and grow plants for science for a living. I'm doing my best to make the world a better place, mostly by composting, cycle campaigning and trying to live as sustainably as possible and practical.

2026-01-20 16:08:29 UTC

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So we've strayed a very long way from Nextcloud's task manager, but the older I get the more I see "Who does the dishes after the revolution?" as one of the first questions that should be asked in any progressive space. I've seen at permaculture camps where the men wander off to form a drumming circle while the women set up the cooking rotas and compost station. I've seen it at the meetings where the men stand up and give inspiring speeches while the women organise drinks and take the minutes

2026-01-20 15:51:54 UTC

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See also: "But women naturally notice mess and dirt in a way men don't." No, women learn to notice because we're shamed for not noticing and keeping on top of things in a way men aren't. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0049124119852395

2026-01-20 14:18:51 UTC

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Oh and before anyone says "Oh but women are good at recurring maintenance tasks because they're naturally good at multitasking": 1) saying this will earn you a block. 2) No, we're not, we had to learn to be. That's why I need a task manager to tell me to keep on top of things like that. If you're willing to put in your share of the work to maintain a healthy, functional environment both at home and at work you can learn too

2026-01-20 14:06:21 UTC

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If you build a task manager without the facility to do recurring tasks that tells me a) you're not the one doing the recurring maintenance tasks and b) you either don't recognise the importance of maintenance tasks or you haven't even noticed that they're being done around you to allow you to do the big one off production of a European open source task manager, say.
Come on, it's 2026. Do better men. And it is mostly men.

2026-01-20 14:03:02 UTC

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Guess which one usually gets handed to which gender. Men tend to get the one off high profile, highly regarded tasks (build the shed or the kitchen or the database), women tend to get the recurring tasks (clean the house, make sure the invoices are paid on time) that don't get the respect the one off tasks get but without which the big one off projects couldn't happen.

2026-01-20 13:59:36 UTC

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The first type is the one that tends to get celebrated, awarded and rewarded, the second type are necessary for everyone to stay healthy and everything to keep ticking over, to create an environment in which the first type that impresses everyone can happen. At home we call these housework or care work, in a professional context we call them routine maintenance or "glue"

2026-01-20 13:55:50 UTC

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If any @npub1rk6…hv4q developers happen to be reading this and want a feminist perspective, actually especially if they're reading and don't want a feminist perspective: there are two types of tasks, one off achievement tasks like build a website, write an article, paint a room where once it's done it's done, and recurring maintenance tasks: do the laundry, change the sheets, water the plants.

2026-01-20 13:22:25 UTC

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Because if there isn't I am developing a very strong suspicion that NextCloud developers aren't the ones who do the housework in their households

2026-01-20 13:19:27 UTC

Is there a way to set recurring tasks (daily, every Wednesday etc) in #NextCloud tasks?
#AskFedi

2026-01-19 09:42:13 UTC

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I really wish Brexit had taught the rest of the world that if some idiot in power threatens to do something monumentally stupid it can actually happen. People seem to keep expecting some actual adults to step in and say "Oh but obviously that can't really happen, we'll sort it out" and they don't. People like this are surrounded by sycophantic grifters who have no interest in the common good or the long term, they'll facilitate anything that helps them suck up
#UKpol #Politics

2026-01-18 14:49:12 UTC

"Aren't they so cute?" I say to my wife of the two cats snuggling together, at precisely the moment one chooses to stretch out a paw and smack the other in the face for absolutely no reason.

2026-01-16 15:16:23 UTC

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I've seen more people genuinely apologise for a misunderstanding on here and then make up and move on than I have in all my time on algorithmic social media put together, where the incentive is to instead dunk on each other in an ever escalating argument for the clicks of spectators

2026-01-15 15:11:17 UTC

RE: https://theforkiverse.com/@thordis/115899088808397580
I like the designation Elder Millennial and am sticking with it, because it suggests I am some eldritch abomination beyond the comprehension of mortal man that crawled from the void on uncountable tentacles to eat avocado toast and get nostalgic about Geocities.
#note16r5…q09z

2026-01-10 12:46:18 UTC

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honestly I suspect the fact that a lot of donors in Europe have just celebrated Christmas and now have no money left has more to do with it than people thinking it's now safe. It sucks and obviously doesn't really help anyone now but I suspect donations will pick up again after January payday

2026-01-10 11:57:00 UTC

World’s richest 1% have already used fair share of emissions for 2026, says Oxfam
"Richest 1% took 10 days while wealthiest 0.1% needed just three days to exhaust annual carbon budget, study shows"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/10/world-richest-used-fair-share-emissions-2026-oxfam
#ClimateJustice #PrivateJets #BlameYachtsNotDinghies

2026-01-08 15:12:43 UTC

Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if the number of hours of human effort that had been poured into the marketing industry to encourage dissatisfaction and aquisitiveness has been devoted to encouraging connection, compassion and creativity instead?

2025-12-29 15:13:46 UTC

It turns out that hitting milestones like getting a proper job and getting married didn't actually make me feel like a Proper Adult. What has made me a Proper Adult was looking up the Christmas holiday bin days in advance and putting them in my calendar. You may all admire me now.
#UKBinChat

2025-12-24 14:17:37 UTC

And lo, a decree was issued from upon high, that adults across the land must travel back to the place where they were born to fix their parents' computers.

2025-12-24 11:25:38 UTC

Many years ago when I was a student my landlady told me she had a tradition of reading #TerryPratchett's Hogfather every Christmas, and Lords and Ladies every summer solstice. And that remains the most sensible tradition I've ever heard of, so I adopted it immediately and have been doing it ever since

2025-12-23 20:09:23 UTC

Hills I will die on: YouTube tutorial videos are for learning things you do with your hands, like crochet or replacing a dishwasher seal or opening electronics. Any skill that just involves your brain not your hands is better taught in writing, with illustrative pictures if necessary.

2025-12-22 17:55:21 UTC

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My thanks to @npub13pv…4xud for informing me that someone did once, in fact, actually pull the plug out of a canal! https://mulberryhall.medium.com/odd-this-day-5b1cfd1fdb32

2025-12-22 13:00:48 UTC

Today in "infrastructure isn't meant to do that" news from Normal Island, a canal has fallen down a hole.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2lvq0yk9dko

2025-12-22 08:08:51 UTC

My banking app just sent me a popup review prompt asking if I was enjoying using it, and someone needs to sit down with the person who wrote that text on this their first day on planet Earth and explain that enjoyment is not why humans use these things

2025-12-20 15:16:01 UTC

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like I'm 100% behind breaking stigma about neurodiversity, showing that different ways of thinking and being in the world are equally valid and should be accommodated by society, but I really think we're taking things too far if we're going into meltdown positivity territory. Different ways of being a human are great, and we should shout about that in a society opposed to the idea, but the things that actually hurt us, the people who experience them, are objectively bad and we shpuld

2025-12-20 14:22:38 UTC

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I'd say it was a bad thing because it's exhausting and takes a long time to recover from, as well as having an impact on those around you, which is why it's important to learn to recognise those things before they get to meltdown

2025-12-19 20:55:37 UTC

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sorry to request this of you in a difficult time, but could you contact @npub1p09…m5vl or @npub1nv8…za59 about getting verified through Gaza Verified. Once you do that I would be happy to boost your fundraiser

2025-12-16 18:22:23 UTC

The only tiny positive I can see of the near ubiquity of AI "illustrations" out there at the moment is that I and many other people are now reluctant to share posts if we can't be sure the image isn't AI. Want people to know your post has real art on it and get it shared? Why not credit the artist and link to their work!

2025-12-14 18:16:34 UTC

This is adorable, straight woman accidentally signs up for a gay man's running event, has a great time https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/09/04/ruwi-viral-gay-run-club-gayns

2025-12-11 08:30:00 UTC

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And that's how they get you I guess, there are a lot more people out there who feel they don't know enough about vaccines or animal agriculture or renewable energy to form an opinion so are just going with "Eh, sounds plausible" about bigger issues than a star's opinions

2025-12-11 08:20:17 UTC

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And I don't really have enough background knowledge to know that wasn't true, and honestly didn't have enough background interest to look into it more deeply, so my response was basically to think "Eh, sounds plausible" and move on. I don't think I actually spread the idea myself in conversation, but honestly I might have done.

2025-12-11 08:18:22 UTC

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But I may be the only person in the world who is actually pretty indifferent to Taylor Swift, beyond a vague annoyance at her private jet use. And while I think I'd be able to distinguish between a bot account in this sort of campaign and an actual person, so wouldn't pick these ideas up directly, they have so effectively managed to saturate the general discussion that people like me who don't know much about Taylor Swift have heard that she's a white supremacist in passing

2025-12-11 08:14:29 UTC

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I find this fascinating and rather scary because I think I rather arrogantly assumed I was too clever to fall for disinformation campaigns. (If you're completely honest with yourself, I suspect a lot of people on here feel the same). And on issues I actually know something about - climate, veganism, vaccines - I reckon I probably wouldn't.

2025-12-11 08:11:59 UTC

Coordinated social media disinformation campaign sought to suggest #TaylorSwift was a white supremacist
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/dec/10/online-attack-taylor-swift-promoted-nazi-ideas-research

2025-12-09 11:55:15 UTC

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a much missed friend of mine used to say "there are disabled people, and there are people who aren't disabled yet". She adjusted the amount of threat she put into it according to the person she was talking to

2025-12-06 18:26:23 UTC

One of my favourite Mastodon things is you have people with account names like CapitalismMustFall@SmashThe.System posting about gardening and baking biscuits and people with names like ANiceCupOfTea@Friendly.Cafe cutting the power lines to arms factories

2025-11-29 16:36:29 UTC

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Some pictures from today's EcoCrafternoon. For some reason having the bike repair station next to the piano amused me greatly, and I now feel all bike repair sessions should have a musical accompaniment.
#SolarpunkSunday
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/633/948/457/141/653/original/56aebff8018314f8.jpg
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/633/949/126/170/873/original/6826060be13f23ab.jpg
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/633/949/397/761/727/original/ffe0b54ac2f1e8be.jpg

2025-11-29 12:42:10 UTC

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Getting set up for my workshop at #Crediton EcoCrafternoon.
#Devon #Exeter #HeritageCrafts #signWriting
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/633/022/392/252/044/original/0df78d108253fb66.jpg

2025-11-28 18:32:23 UTC

Currently messaging my wife from opposite ends of the train carriage as we failed to get seats next to each other after being separated by a feral pack of surprisingly aggressive carol singers.

2025-11-26 11:11:44 UTC

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https://social.coop/@afewbugs/114199652872517017

2025-11-25 07:31:32 UTC

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started on librem.one because I was briefly interested in Purism hardware, noped out when I discovered they somehow federated with Gab

2025-11-24 11:51:18 UTC

I shall be teaching #CoilBasketry at #Crediton EcoCrafternoon this Saturday (29th November), which I'm actually rather annoyed about because it means I can't attend the other workshops myself which look amazing. Bike maintenance! Drop spindle! there's also a craft material exchange. Come along and do all the cool stuff I can't.
https://significantseams.org.uk/creditons-eco-crafternoon-is-now-open-for-workshop-bookings
#Devon #Exeter #HeritageCrafts
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/604/495/579/792/596/original/56a23e8dc8365bc5.png

2025-11-21 12:43:36 UTC

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and a generation of kids paid the price for this, and we absolutely owe it to them to make up for it and compensate it instead of calling them snowflakes and cutting disability benefits. But we also owe it to the next round to figure out exactly how the damage was done and what can possibly be done to mitigate it, because we're going to have to do this again to another generation eventually the next time this happens

2025-11-21 12:41:25 UTC

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But back at the beginning it was an existential issue for the whole of society - if we hadn't locked down in the UK I genuinely don't think the structure of our society - our health system, our system of government, our culture - would have survived the level of mortality we would have seen

2025-11-21 12:40:21 UTC

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like at this point, following absolutely heroic efforts from scientists to understand transmission and develop vaccines, Covid prevention has become a social justice issue that predominantly harms the most disabled and vulnerable and society has decided those people are economically not worth saving so can safely be ignored.

2025-11-21 12:31:32 UTC

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But instead of learning from it we seem to be determined to do the exact opposite and dismantle disease prevention and mitigation efforts

2025-11-21 12:30:47 UTC

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because everyone seems to be treating Covid like a one off, but it will be our first global pandemic not our only one as nothing that caused this one (increasingly mobile human populations interacting with increasingly stressed and unhealthy animal populations) has changed, and in terms of all the infectious diseases out there covid actually has relatively low mortality so crazy as it sounds we were lucky that this was our first.

2025-11-21 12:27:59 UTC

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what worries me so much about this is dithering and delaying and mismanagement of the response in general has completely poisoned public opinion towards lockdowns and means people probably won't accept one the next time a pandemic comes around. Which is terrifying because in the initial stages it's the only tool we have to slow things long enough to get a handle on how transmission is occuring and figure out how to tackle it

2025-11-21 12:25:02 UTC

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we didn't know at the time what we know about preventing transmission so lockdown was the only option, but if we'd done it about two weeks sooner we probably have managed to have a much shorter one and only had to do it once if we'd then prioritised opening up the socially necessary parts of society like schools over trying to stimulate the economy with Ear Out To Help Out

2025-11-20 12:16:04 UTC

With the health risks of #UltraProcessedFoods back in the media spotlight https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/18/ultra-processed-food-linked-to-harm-in-every-major-human-organ-study-finds, it's worth pointing out that while these studies are often used to demonise processed #PlantBased meat and dairy alternatives a recent review found that they are often healthier than their less processed animal based alternatives, as well as being easier on the planets.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13668-025-00704-6
https://mailchi.mp/2315fc7163dd/what-is-the-most-sustainable-cheese-18257525?e=2150896682
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550923000143
#Vegan
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/581/895/478/906/109/original/bb66c4b97aacd740.png
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/581/896/196/065/151/original/14a454b163c3e76a.webp

2025-11-16 13:49:56 UTC

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good on you, every reduction however small you make in the consumption of animal products saves water, emissions and suffering. I recommend Fork Ranger https://www.forkranger.com/ to people used to cooking with meat who want to learn new ways of making meals

2025-11-15 09:28:20 UTC

I had a dream last night about 3D printing with chocolate and now can't get the idea out of my head that it might actually be possible if you had the printer at freezer temperature. So I'm releasing the idea into the wilds of Mastodon in case it inspires any of you maniacs with more knowledge and resources than me.

2025-11-13 10:44:50 UTC

Today I learned that my colleagues refer to the method I discovered for easily inserting a temperature probe into compost as "Jules's wiggly worm trick", and while I suppose I always wanted a scientific method named after me I wish it hadn't been this one

2025-11-11 20:42:08 UTC

I would like to thank Apple for giving me the best laugh I've had in ages by a) releasing a product so ridiculous it was immediately christened the iScrotum by the internet b) causing my wife, an IT professional who should really have known better, to Google "i scrotum" in search of a picture and be startled by the predictable results
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/532/997/815/892/640/original/3e14fe5a558ecbae.jpg

2025-11-09 12:56:54 UTC

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I also feel guilty saying this, because the initial phases of the pandemic were horrific and terrifying and a lot of people including me lost people to it, but there are bits of it I miss - I do now understand the people who said that World War Two was the best years of their life because they had purpose. For the first time in my life the world made sense, everyone's highest priority became not money or status but taking care of each other. We created building

2025-11-06 08:28:11 UTC

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the other part of this is that humans are social primates not lone predators. Evolution did not optimise us to be the perfect fit for every situation we encounter as individuals, we're adapted to live in groups where we all have different skills and specialisations so the whole group is able to deal with more different scenarios than an individual could. This has now gone a bit wrong when the society we've created needs us all to fit one mould for success

2025-11-02 12:42:02 UTC

I don't think you should let any animals sleep in your dog Daily Express
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/480/146/820/851/693/original/54f7f36b1288ee8c.jpeg

2025-10-31 15:34:13 UTC

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Anyway lunchbreak was abruptly curtailed by the need to rescue a colleague. Further updates if and when I can summon the will to keep reading.
https://social-coop-media.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/115/469/505/379/210/366/original/92a99847200eca83.png

2025-10-31 15:03:28 UTC

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There's also a ghost now. I don't think she wants to fuck the ghost.

2025-10-31 15:03:06 UTC

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She has now convinced him to leave the sister in her care by swearing not to teach her magic and then immediately started to teach her magic, which counts as one of the most sensible decisions she's made so far. If I'm lucky he won't come back.

2025-10-31 14:59:27 UTC

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He and our heroine shared a moment when their hands touched and their eyes met while repairing a torn map together by candlelight, but this nascent intimacy was shattered when she discovered that this man (who I feel even the most inattentive reader must have noticed is more muscular than average by now, there really is no need to keep going on about) had prevented his ten year old sister from learning she had magical talent to protect her, adding paternalism and gaslighting to his many flaws

2025-10-31 14:55:20 UTC

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I must confess there are two wolves inside me at the moment, one of whom wants to continue reading out of spite and the other of whom is reminding me that I only have so many reading hours in this my one and only life and I could be spending them reading far better books than this. For the moment though I'm glad spite is winning because in a twist I didn't see coming our apparent hero has fucked off to attend to his brooding and manly affairs somewhere else.

2025-10-31 14:51:52 UTC

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So, updates: Brickhouse McHardAbs has been knocked off his horse, causing his kilt to ride up and revealing both the corded muscle of his thighs and the fact that the author clearly has a thing for men who don't skip leg day. I have to give her credit for gender flipping a trope more commonly associated with anime girls in pleated skirts though.

2025-10-30 17:36:47 UTC

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But ideally she should defer finding him for a bit because her 21st birthday is in 3 weeks now, at which point the familial curse will claim her magic. And magic is clearly very important to everything she values in life or she wouldn't have started on this quest in the first place and OH MY GOD WOMAN why are you wasting so much time lusting over a monosyllabic lump of muscular concrete and an upper class prat with eyes like Paul Hollywood???

2025-10-30 17:33:45 UTC

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I just want to shake the heroine and tell her to fuck one, fuck both of them if she wants and get it out of her system. And then go and find a nice guy who talks to her respectfully, takes responsibility for his moods and actually respects her chosen career which is clearly very important to her.

2025-10-30 17:30:39 UTC

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Seriously, it's 2025. Mainstream genre fiction has finally acknowledged that women enjoy sex. We haven't quite got as far as accepting that women have vulvas rather than "slick folds", but I'm optimistic. If we could bury this idea that being treated disdainfully is a massive turn on that would be great.

2025-10-30 17:28:16 UTC

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But it's okay because they both have tragic backstories, which excuses them being arseholes to her instead of getting therapy so they don't take out their issues on random women on quests that they stumble across. Seriously women, however driven or fully written, being responsible for fixing men who haven't done any emotional work on themselves has to be one of my least favourite tropes in fiction.

2025-10-30 17:25:18 UTC

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And then the second one shows up with raven locks and solidly muscled thighs and it's game over really. And the elegant sophisticated noble one treats her with snobbery and disdain, and the rugged one with the muscles that are definitely not liquid, gas or plasma has an issue with magic so doesn't respect her chosen profession, and the fact that both of them treat her like dicks only serves to make her fantasise about them more for some inexplicable reason.

2025-10-30 17:20:43 UTC

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Female protagonist with a personality and agency? Brilliant! Complex world building and magic system? A universe where the fundamental rules of reality are different and a puzzle to work out, but human motivations are the same? I love that shit. But then the first guy shows up with features so delicate they would almost appear feminine were it not for the intensity of his aquamarine gaze and my heart sinks.