Graham Downs

South African Christian, husband, Software Developer, and author of the urban fantasy novella, Memoirs of a Guardian Angel.

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Last Notes

2026-03-27 10:08:48 UTC

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@nprofile…easl I was recently advised by someone to stop using the wink emoji, because it doesn't mean what I think it means, and it can come across as really offensive. I, too, used to use it far too much.
The wry smile sounds like a good substitute. Perhaps I should try it. :-)

2026-03-24 04:43:48 UTC

@nprofile…jvsu Are you okay? I see monoceros has been down for some time now (every time my trends bot tries to access it), but I'm hoping that's either due to some security thing you've put in place, OR that it's coming up periodically, enough for you to check messages.... :)

2026-03-20 04:43:34 UTC

You can see Autumn is upon us. I've just been outside putting the bin out, and there's just this carpet of orange all down the street. It's beautiful! 🍂 #Autumn

2026-03-08 11:30:45 UTC

Another English quiz, where you have to pick between apparently "confusing" words. Honestly, I've never found them confusing, but I can sort of understand how some people do, I guess.... :/
https://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-correctly-use-these-confusing-words/index1.html?utm_source=Mastodon
#English #quiz

2026-03-03 06:29:46 UTC

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@nprofile…6a27 I use Dokuwiki for our group D&D campaign, and it works pretty well.
Or if you want proper discussions, maybe a web forum?

2026-03-02 06:00:37 UTC

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@nprofile…w7wz Morning, Sozha. Have a wonderful day! I hope you meeting goes well. :-)

2026-03-01 10:10:29 UTC

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@nprofile…54d6 Was she wearing a rock dress?

2026-02-25 06:59:04 UTC

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@nprofile…rx5g @nprofile…e762 To me, I think it reminded me the most of IRC. Which I used to be very active on. In fact, I met my wife on IRC, so really fond memories. And there you had multiple interconnected servers (the day I met my wife, she was chatting from the CT server and I was chatting from the JHB server, of a well-known South African IRC network which has long-since shut down). :-)
I've also heard it compared to email. You may have an @gmail.com email address, but you can still communicate with an @yahoo.com one.
It just feels... completely intuitive to me.

2026-02-25 06:52:14 UTC

Just reading through the replies on X to @nprofile…e762 's recent tweet about how they're going to be focussing more on Mastodon in future.
There's a lot of anti-Mastodon sentiment on X. Some downright hatred of the platform on principle.
And some of it is from people who've tried Mastodon and really don't like it, didn't gel with it, can't get to grips with the UI or find the general sentiment of the community distasteful.
Which is all fair enough. But a lot of it stems from a complete lack of understanding of how the platform works. Some people think you have to have an account on every server where you want to follow someone, and you have to swap between those servers all the time in order to interact with them.
Others have never heard of Mastodon before, and after clicking on the link to LibreOffice's profile on Fosstodon and trying to create an account, they see that that instance is currently accepting new members by invitation only, so they give up and ask, "Why do you want us to join a platform that requires invitations."
EVEN THOUGH the message about Fosstodon being invitation-only explicitly tells them they can pick a different server, and they'll still be able to follow anyone on Fosstodon or anywhere else on the network.
Why is this stuff so difficult for people to grasp?! I'm not trying to flex or anything, but I joined this place in November 2022, and the concept of "pick a server and follow anyone on any other server" was a no-brainer for me. It was actually one of the drawcards.
I don't understand why people find it so confusing. Why it's such a mental block to people. I just don't. :(
#Mastodon #SocialMedia

2026-02-24 07:37:28 UTC

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@nprofile…56c7 That's called the Oxford Comma. It's a topic of huge debate and nobody can agree.
Those who are against it ("apples, grapes and oranges" -- no comma) say it's a waste of a character and can be confusing, and best case, it feels like a little mark on the page that they should try and rub off.
Those who believe you should always use it (like myself) say that the sentence can be confusing without it. That without it, "grapes and oranges" feel like they're a single list item, apart from apples. Worse, it can drastically alter the meaning of the writing and cause people to make terrible mistakes based on their mistaken interpretation.
But I don't want to sway you; it's up to you. For my money, I'm firmly in the Oxford Comma camp. :-D

2026-02-24 07:04:47 UTC

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@nprofile…56c7 The general rule of thumb is for numbers less than 10, write them out, and for numbers 10 or over, you can use digits. Also for years and times, modern writers use digits.
In antiquity, you'll find authors ALWAYS write out the words, even for years and times ("The year nineteen-hundred-and-eighty-four" or "a quarter to three in the afternoon"), but over time that trend changed, first with years and times -- whereas all other numbers, even those under 10 -- were written out, and then eventually to the current convention of writing out any numbers under 10.
If you're specifically going for an old-timey or "classic" feel in your writing, then write out all numbers. :-)

2026-02-24 06:45:16 UTC

@nprofile…6wcc This instance is really struggling today. If I catch it up for two minutes at a time, it's a lot. Then it's down for 10-15 minutes, up for another 2 minutes, down again, up again.... Are you guys busy with maintenance or something? :)

2026-02-24 06:40:57 UTC

Maybe the days of the old COBOL greybeards earning more money than the rest of us devs can dream of is nearing an end? :/
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-02-24-ibm-posts-steepest-daily-drop-since-200000-after-anthropic-says-ai-can-modernize/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#VibeCoding #AI

2026-02-23 07:47:37 UTC

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@nprofile…gtjj @nprofile…kyza South Africa is the same. Huge, nationwide strikes, almost always resulting in much intimidation of people choosing not to strike, or people patronising the company that the strikers are employed by. Severe injury and death of people just trying to live their lives.
Not to mention the property damage, with people standing on highway bridges throwing rocks at cars (and more severe injury and death because that causes accidents).
You are describing exactly what happens in South Africa every strike season.
And it seldom results in any long-term benefits for the strikers -- even if they do get their way -- or the companies (which frequently go out of business because they cannot afford to meet the workers' demands), or the economy, or... anyone, really. Except the unions, who just sit there quietly taking their membership fees. :-(

2026-02-22 14:57:52 UTC

Interesting little English test, apparently "from the 1950s". I aced it, and it told me that apparently, only 5% of Americans can score this high. Good thing I'm not American, eh? ;-)
https://www.playbuzz.com/terrystein10/can-you-pass-a-basic-english-test-from-1950?utm_source=Mastodon
#English #quiz

2026-02-21 07:36:40 UTC

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@nprofile…rcxm 100%. I cannot possibly imagine why I wouldn't want to be searchable. Why would you post publicly on social media if you don't want your posts to be found and read by as many people as possible?

2026-02-20 07:36:27 UTC

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@nprofile…p25k I definitely do get a feeling, yes. And I don't have peripheral vision, so you can't say -- like I've often heard -- that it's something you've unconsciously noticed out of the corner of your eye.
And it's never not been true. When I get that feeling, I'll look around and my wife will be standing there, for example. Not actively *watching* me, necessarily. Just in the room and she sees that I'm deep in thought or something and doesn't want to give me a fright by speaking or something.
So maybe it's that I unconsciously *heard* her enter the room? I dunno. But I definitely get a feeling when someone's watching me.
It's one of the reasons why I can't stand open-plan offices. I hate the idea of people walking up behind me, or even standing a distance away behind me, looking at my screen or watching me work or something. It freaks me out.

2026-02-19 06:21:47 UTC

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@nprofile…8pur I must be honest, I know that's common advice, but it has simply *never* occurred to me to leave the tap running while I brush my teeth. Who would do such a thing?
It takes two minutes to brush my teeth. Put toothpaste on the toothbrush, turn on the tap to quickly moisten it (half a second or so), brush to completion, turn the tap back on, rinse mouth, turn the tap off again.
I just don't see how it would be in any way helpful to leave the tap running. Or have I just been brushing my teeth wrong my whole life? :P
@nprofile…easl

2026-02-10 09:13:32 UTC

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@nprofile…hvu0 It's got to do with the rule-of-thumb that a person needs to be exposed to a message 7 times before they take action. So if you see an add for a product, even without sound, and even for a split second before deliberately turning your attention, that's 1.
If you're browsing the web and you catch a banner ad for the same product, that's 2.
Reading an article and the author mentions that product in passing (even in a negative light)? That's 3.
Driving along the highway and see a billboard for that product, even if you don't consciously take note of it? That's 4.
In the supermarket and see that product stacked on the shelf? That's 5 -- but you're not ready to buy, yet.
On your way home, you turn on the radio and catch an ad for that product, but by that time you're so sick of hearing about it that you change the channel immediately? That's 6.
Turn on the TV and watch a YouTube video, and your ad-blocker fails momentarily and you see an ad for that product? That's 7, even though you spend all your time waiting for the "Skip" button to become enabled.
Something happens in your life that means you urgently need something like that product? Now that particular product is the first and perhaps ONLY one that sticks in your mind, it's cheap enough, and you need a solution urgently, so what do you do? You go out and buy that product.
Yes. Yes, it works. And it works to the *benefit* of the consumer, too. At least, as a consumer, that's what I've often found. :-)

2026-02-04 07:55:03 UTC

I often feel for people who struggle to sleep, I really do. I can fall asleep anywhere in thirty seconds flat, and sleep for eight hours.
I can even take a two-hour nap in three in the afternoon, and still go to bed by ten and sleep all the way until when my alarm goers off at five.
My conscience is clear, I guess. ;-)
#sleep

2026-01-31 15:05:10 UTC

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@nprofile…6aac thats like saying the popular perception of vampires being incredibly sexual beings doesn't work because a vampire, having no blood flow, wouldn't be able to have an erection. ;-)

2026-01-30 07:03:43 UTC

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@nprofile…rcxm I don't think there's any contradiction there, funnily enough. "Write the book that you want to read" is a common enough peace of writing advice, and it comes from the fact that lots of really famous fiction writers of yore say they started writing because they couldn't find anything they really thought was worth reading. :)

2026-01-30 05:09:52 UTC

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@nprofile…34cz "Time you enjoy wasting is never wasted." :-)
I don't know where you are in your journey, but I'm very lucky to be in a position where I don't *have* to make money from my books. I make a little here and there, and it's a nice warm and fuzzy feeling, but I have a day job which I very much enjoy and don't really want to give up.
If you're a full-time author struggling to make ends meet, or an aspiring full-time author desperate to leave a soul-sucking job they hate, I can understand that the stress levels must be very high. I can definitely empathise with that, because I've been stuck in jobs that really didn't do it for me too. In all situations, however, I think you should endeavour to have fun, because when you're having fun, you're relaxed, and when you're relaxed, you're at your most creative. Stress kills creativity.
Just my 2c. And I fully realise that it's easier said than done. :/

2026-01-30 05:01:35 UTC

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@nprofile…34cz I must admit I kind of enjoy the marketing. Which isn't to say I'm very GOOD at it, but I love putting a message out into the world and watching the numbers. Seeing who interacts with it and where they're from. Watching them share it, talk about it, comment on it.
And I enjoy dreaming up new ways to promote myself, thinking about how this or that keyword in my title or description is going to affect discovery. Analysing covers and colour schemes and comparing them to others in the same genre, and reading up on the psychology of how certain visual elements influence certain people in certain ways.
It's a significant part of the author experience, for me. And I think I'd miss it if I didn't have to do it....
Having said that, let me re-iterate that I'm not very GOOD at marketing. I just find it just as pleasurable as the actual writing, sometimes. :-)

2026-01-28 10:48:59 UTC

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@nprofile…0u4x "Fungal" Yeah, I like that way of looking at it. :)
It also depends on your definition of/criteria for "virality". I once wrote a poll <https://mastodon.africa/@GrahamDowns/112196095295343527> that got 7264 votes, 2.5k boosts, 347 favourites, and 96 replies, but I can't remember how long it ran for (a week?). I'd personally consider that pretty viral.
I think if a toot reaches the top of the "Trending Posts" for your instance, I'd probably consider that "viral" too. And that's happened with a couple of my posts over the years.
Obviously, what it takes to get there depends very much on how big/active your instance is. On mine, I think it's in the region of 10 or so boosts in a few hours....

2026-01-28 07:38:12 UTC

I've discovered something interesting about Mastodon: back in the early days of Twitter, before algorithms, when it was just a reverse-chronological feed, and hashtags and lists were been touted as pro strats that everyone should use, there was this rule of thumb that the average tweet has a lifespan of about three hours.
Meaning that if you posted something, and it hadn't taken off (seen significant engagement) within about three hours, you could assume it never would.
And I kinda liked that. I enjoyed the *immediacy* of Twitter, that "you snooze, you lose" aspect of it. It was about what was happening right now. Not what happened yesterday or last week or last month. I missed that a lot after they introduced surfacing algorithms.
And it's one of the things that drew me to Mastodon, back in November 2022. The promise of that same immediate thrill ride: there's no point in scrolling back. Just open it up and see what's happening.
But Mastodon is a bit different. Often, I'll post something, maybe get a boost or a favourite or something within the first 10 minutes, and then nothing. Oh well, it's gone now. And then two or three days later, BAM! I'm seeing boosts and favourites and replies to that post all over the show. Hell, I'm still seeing boosts and favourites and replies to toots I posted two YEARS ago.
I guess it has a lot to do with how Mastodon users in general (or maybe just those who follow me) seem more inclined to follow/search for hashtags, or organise their followees into lists. Maybe I'm on some lists with few other people, and the creators of those lists check them regularly? Or maybe -- and perhaps this is because there are markedly fewer people on here that it's actually feasible -- people are more likely to scroll back to see what they've missed. Even if they do only visit once every 2-3 days or less.
It just seems to be quite a different paradigm. People here seem much more free to use the platform in the way that suits them.
#Mastodon

2026-01-27 16:37:28 UTC

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@nprofile…zm8m Yeah, no, I don't know about that, hey. I really really don't want to go back to a time where Telkom was the only entity allowed to provide fixed-line services. And I'm very, very grateful that Eskom's monopoly is slowly being dismantled.
And I really really don't trust our government (ANY government, in truth, but our government in particular) to do anything to the benefit of the people. I'm scared out of my wits about what's going to happen with the NHI.
I guess if government had a service and it competed on equal footing with private services and they didn't get any advantages over any other, then I'd be okay with that.
Anyway, the point is that in this case, there IS money in it. It's true that the company that plops down the tower doesn't have the skills or resources to offer last-mile access. It's not their core business. But I think the point is that some other business could come in, *partner* with the providing company (be it Starlink or Rain or Amazon Leo or whomever) and run the cables and provide support to get that "last mile" access going. There's definitely money to be made there. It just needs someone to take the initiative and assume the risk.

2026-01-27 08:50:15 UTC

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@nprofile…l0np Yeah, we don't do that sort of thing. If it's not in the calendar, it doesn't happen.
Next time you have a client who wants to meet at "7ish", send a meeting invite for 7:00 exactly. Even if he doesn't actually accept, it will serve as pressure for him and he'll be reminded 15 minutes before.
We've found it a good strategy to avoid situations like the above. It forces people to commit.
I mean, sometimes he'll still only pitch 30 minutes later, and I guess there's nothing you can do about that, but the formal meeting invite sitting on his calendar still forces him to take it seriously, I think.

2026-01-27 05:41:45 UTC

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I like what they're saying about the *rural* connectivity, though. Farms, villages, outlying schools.
The reason why those places still don't have reliable access is because a service comes along, plops a tower on the outskirts of those places, and then dusts off their hands and considers their job done. But that's not enough: we need people to come in and connect those towers and other access points with the last mile, making sure that Internet access gets into every house in the village, every classroom in the school, every building on the farm. But that's not what Starlink's going to do either. So we need local providers to *partner* with Starlink and provide and support that last mile connection. That's where Starlink *could* provide lots of value.
#Starlink #SouthAfrica

2026-01-27 05:18:22 UTC

With all this hype about Starlink in South Africa, TechCentral asks, "What's so special about Starlink?", "Will it *really* be affordable?", and "How big is the potential market exactly?"
https://techcentral.co.za/starlink-hype-vs-reality-in-south-africa/276730/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
Spoiler alert: if you compare it with the prices in our neighbouring countries, you'll see that it's targetted at LSM7-10, meaning actually a very small percentage of South Africans would be able to afford their entry level service. And most of them wouldn't need it anyway because they already have established Internet connections via FTTH or fixed-wireless.
The market for Starlink in South Africa is actually very small.
#Starlink #SouthAfrica

2026-01-25 05:02:44 UTC

It's Covenant Service this morning at church. Once a year in the Methodist church, those of the congregation who are willing stand together and recite this prayer: https://share.google/Bu2u6nwHDzz8WLc7T
(We never judge anyone who is not yet willing or ready. We figure maybe they will be next time)
#Methodist #Covenant

2026-01-24 08:12:20 UTC

Alberton has had no power now since Tuesday afternoon due to a substation fire. The current ERT is 18:00 today. Holding thumbs! #SouthAfrica #electricity

2026-01-07 10:33:38 UTC

I know in the beginning people complained a lot, but I must say I've been rather impressed with Google's AI Search, where you can click under the AI Summary to actually start a conversation and ask follow-up questions, and unlike ChatGPT, those conversations aren't saved between sessions.
It feels a lot less... sycophantic than ChatGPT. It doesn't constantly validate you, or apologise profusely if you correct it, nor does it just agree with whatever you say for the sake of agreeing with you. If you have the wrong impression about something, it will tell you. If you ask a question and the answer is flat-out NO, it will tell you. If it can't find verifiable information about something, it will tell you.
I feel like -- while not impossible -- it would be a lot less likely to hallucinate by making stuff up than ChatGPT is (other types of hallucinations are probably not particularly less likely).
At lease, that's the impression I get.
#AI #LLMs

2026-01-05 06:49:41 UTC

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the very first television broadcast in South Africa: https://techcentral.co.za/television-turns-50-in-south-africa/275887/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica #TV #SouthAfrica #history

2026-01-04 09:23:09 UTC

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@nprofile…easl I know. But when I asked the question, I was still thinking that I was going to counter with the fact that some "foods" have zero nutritional value. Like marshmallows.
But then I talked myself out of that position by reminding myself that sugar is still a nutrient. And now I agree with you. :-D

2026-01-04 09:20:51 UTC

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@nprofile…easl "... contains nutrients ..." is what I was getting at. Although I would've put it as, "provides some nutritional value."
Although I guess even marshmallows count as food, then: even if effectively all they contain is sugar, sugar is a nutrient and your body does need it. It's just that there are way better sources of sugar out there. Still, eating a handful of marshmallows -- even a whole bag of marshmallows -- every once in a while isn't going to kill you. But doing it every day is probably not a good idea. 🤔

2026-01-04 09:14:47 UTC

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@nprofile…easl Define "food".

2025-12-31 08:46:57 UTC

The YouVersion "Verse of the Year" this year is Isaiah 41:10: https://www.bible.com/bible/296/ISA.41.GNBUK?utm_source=Mastodon
It is a popular verse, but I wonder how many people read the entire chapter. That's my problem with these daily verse thingies: they tend to encourage picking and choosing and taking things out of context....
#Bible #VerseOfTheYear

2025-12-26 07:14:32 UTC

Happy Day Of Goodwill, South Africa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day#Day_of_Goodwill
Most of the rest of the world call it Boxing Day. And we did too, pre-1994. But now we call it the Day of Goodwill instead, for reasons: I think we just wanted to get away from the negative connotations around the term "boxing day". That is, the whole idea that people have servants who they force to work on Christmas, but whom they in their magnanimity allow to take the day after off, boxing up food for them to take home to their families. "Yes, Massah! You're so kind, Massah! How very gracious of you, Massah!"
Most everyday South Africans still call it Boxing Day, though. :-D
#BoxingDay #DayOfGoodwill #SouthAfrica

2025-12-20 08:03:51 UTC

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@nprofile…zn69 agreed. Expenses are necessarily higher in December, though. For all the reasons I mentioned and more. People come to visit and suddenly there are extra mouths to feed. Or you want to cook something special, and the ingredients are more expensive than your normal fare. And don't forget that ALL your expenses are going to go up in January and February because that's just how it works. My Internet is going up 7% in Feb, for example. And if you didn't get an increase, then you're going to have to find that money somewhere, so you start thinking about that now already.
If you get a bonus/13th cheque, then yeah, use that. But not everyone does, and if they do, many people bank on it to help them get through the month anyway (often they've been living on credit for much of the year and this is their chance to pay some of that debt off before they start accruing it again). 😛
Or they've been banking on their bonus all year long to do something big they've been putting off, like fixing a leaking roof or replacing broken tiles, etc.
So they do that. Which is good, and productive, and a responsible use for that bonus, imo. But they STILL want to go drinking with their friends, buy their kids expensive presents, take the family to see the latest Christmas movie or theatre production (and buy all the overpriced snacks their hearts desire)....

2025-12-19 20:51:49 UTC

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@nprofile…zn69 most people, particularly people who are less financially educated (for want of a better word) struggle with this. Have money, will spend. And particularly around this time of year when you have to buy gifts and the temptation to go out with friends and stuff is higher. It's the festive season, so people want to be... Well, festive. People are on holiday, the kids are bored. All that stuff. Remember it's high summer here. And everything costs money. People want to get paid early in December, for that reason. But the problem is, they often don't think beyond tomorrow. :/

2025-12-19 11:39:47 UTC

I got paid today. Which is nice... but it does mean I have to be extra EXTRA careful with spending for the rest of the month, because there needs to be enough for debit orders by 2 January.
It's all too easy to go, "Oh, we've got money, let's order takeaways," or "Let's eat out tonight!"
I still maintain that getting paid early in December is one of the biggest causes of the so-called "Januworry", and why so many people end up taking loans out before next month is even halfway through. Be careful, everyone!

2025-12-12 11:00:20 UTC

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@nprofile…y8mx @nprofile…4t3x I was born in 1980, the first half of 1980. So I believe that technically makes be a Gen Xer, not a Millennial.
But I read once that there is a term for those people born "on the cusp", who have a lot in common with both generations and not too much in common with either. I think they call us "Xennials". :-)
Millennials were originally meant to be the people who started their working lives after 2000. Well, I started mine in 1998, but a) I was a year earlier in school, and b) I never went to university. If I had finished school a year later, and gone to uni before starting work, then I probably wouldn't have begun my career until at least 2002-2003.
So yeah, "on the cusp". I'm difficult to define. :-)

2025-12-11 05:54:44 UTC

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@nprofile…0rku I've been there. It can be nice, actually, if you work in an office and all your colleagues are taking leave. Traffic is a breeze, and you get peace and quiet all day.
I think I still prefer to be on leave, though. :-)

2025-12-11 05:16:01 UTC

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After 15 December, you can't get a car registered. You can *buy* a car, but it will be registered in January as a 2026 model. :-)

2025-12-11 05:12:48 UTC

Tomorrow is the last working day of 2026 for 99% of non-emergency, non-hospitality, non-consumer-facing employees in #SouthAfrica (for the people I mentioned above, tomorrow ironically marks the start of their *busiest* time of the year).
Traditionally, the building suppliers and panel beaters shut down on the 15th, on account of the 16th being a Public Holiday (the Day of Reconciliation), and everyone else follows suit. But because the 15th is a Monday this year, most people are just finishing tomorrow and taking Monday off as well.
#December #Christmas

2025-12-06 08:27:55 UTC

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@nprofile…pr07 Or simply... unfollow? Maybe that's a reasonable first step. :)

2025-12-02 08:01:58 UTC

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@nprofile…ffua The Bible said a lot things that, if taken literally, would be balked at by modern science. Our understanding of it has changed over time, our interpretations have changed, some things we used to take literally we now understand as metaphor, and other things we've come to realise we made a mistake when we originally translated it, etc... I mean, if science tells us a thing can feel pain, I interpret that to mean it's conscious, and I interpret consciousness to imply life. But I could be wrong, because I'm no scientist. That's why I said "life, or at least potential life."
Yeah, I also feel like nobody takes the decision to abort lightly. I remember a character explicitly saying as much on Law and Order:SVU -- "Nobody CHOOSES to have an abortion. They do it because they feel they have no other choice."
For a long time, that was what I assumed. But with the latest batch of arguments I've heard people talk very differently. I still think that's true of *most* women, but I think some might actually take it quite lightly. And that makes me sad. Although it shouldn't, because as stated, it's none of my or anyone else's business, it still does.

2025-12-02 07:49:39 UTC

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@nprofile…ffua I obviously have an opinion about this, and naturally, it's affected and shaped by my overarching beliefs. And I know it's a controversial issue (and I know that's an understatement, to put it mildly), and I accept that you could argue that as a man, I don't really have a right to an opinion on the matter.
As a Christian, I believe that all life is sacred and should ideally be protected as far as possible. And I believe that a foetus is a life. At least, a potential life. At least, science tells us that at a certain point, it can feel pain. Which means it's conscious. But in any event, it's a life that has a potential to grow up to cure cancer or become president or do anything else, and I can't help but think what if my mother had aborted me? That was never a possibility, but what if it had been, if my parents had known then already about my disability? Or maybe they'd just decided they wanted to. Or whatever.
However, I also obviously accept that the human rights of the mother take precedence over the human rights of the foetus, and I also accept that there may be lots of reasons -- social, economic, medical, and otherwise -- where it would be better for the mother to have an abortion. And I don't think we should list those reasons out either, or make them legal conditions or anything like that, because every situation is different, and as you say it's irrelevant to anyone not actually making the decision in that specific case, and it's nobody else's business.
But I'd still like to think that every decision to abort is a carefully considered one, made with an understanding that at the end of the day, if you do this, you're ending a life.
I hope I'm explaining *myself* well enough. :)

2025-12-01 08:55:49 UTC

It's more truthful. LOL
Similar to that "crying laughing" emoji. I don't use that emoji, because I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have actually *cried* laughing IRL. It just doesn't happen. :P
#memes
https://cdn.mastodon.africa/media_attachments/files/115/643/462/047/580/223/original/6aadf643f240e434.png

2025-11-26 08:58:34 UTC

@nprofile…adjk Just FYI, in case you weren't aware, all requests were returning Gateway Timeout for a while this morning (maybe an hour, from 09:00-ish). :-)

2025-11-25 06:29:24 UTC

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@nprofile…zn69 @nprofile…y8mx Exactly: Sir and Ma'am pretty much regardless of age.
And all my colleagues have always been first name basis, whether they're the CEO of the company or a fellow team member or the tea lady or whatever. Although I noticed that my POC colleagues would still call their superiors Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms <lastname>. I found that quite old-school, but I respected it.
Oom and Tannie, definitely an Afrikaans thing. My foster daughters (who are Afrikaans) both call me Oom Graham, even when they're speaking to me in English. I don't mind because I know where it's coming from... although that might not *just* be an age thing; I am technically their uncle, so they might call me "Uncle Graham" if they were English. :-)

2025-11-25 05:42:32 UTC

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@nprofile…8dzj Oh, no, that's definitely still true for the Afrikaans people I know. I guess, "Oom" would be the equivalent of the American, "Mister". As in, "Hey, Mister!" :-)
And I will admit to feeling very weird the first time I got called "Oom" (I was in my early twenties).
So Afrikaans "Oom" is absolutely an age thing. I'd almost go so far as to say it's the opposite of "Sir" in the sense that it's purely an age thing, whereas (to me) "Sir" is purely a respect thing.

2025-11-25 05:19:20 UTC

People complaining on the #radio about being called "Oom" (Uncle) and "Tannie" (Auntie) and "Sir" and "Ma'am", and how it makes them feel old...
To be honest, I have no problem with being called "Sir". Sir and Ma'am are purely #respect things, IMO, and have nothing to do with #age; you can call someone 20 years younger than you "Ma'am" (and I do).
"Oom" and "Tannie", on the other hand.... :P

2025-11-24 06:09:15 UTC

Wow, I see Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is back on the Billboard Hot 100 this week (at position 10)! :-O #music

2025-11-20 08:59:13 UTC

It's that time of year again. If your password's in the top 20, change it. Now. :P https://techcentral.co.za/study-confirms-south-africans-love-weak-passwords-almost-as-much-as-boerewors/274443/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#SouthAfrica #passwords #infosec

2025-11-19 09:01:53 UTC

If you live in or around Johannesburg, it's probably best to stay home this weekend. The #G20 is going to mess up the traffic royally. #SouthAfrica

2025-11-16 09:25:38 UTC

There is something weird to me about seeing #history posts from the 80s and 90s. Obviously it's a fact of life as I get older, and the older I get the younger everyone else gets so the more it's going to happen, but yeah. It's difficult to comprehend the idea that so many people alive today weren't born back then and therefore have no first-hand experience of those days.
It's like all these "classic" song lists. I used to say that no song released during my lifetime can ever be called a "classic".
But then, people 20 years older than me feel the same about songs released in the 70s (and 20 years from now, they'll be including songs released in the 2010s or even 2020s on those lists).... :-)

2025-11-10 06:51:14 UTC

#StrangerThings season 5 is coming on 26 November! I simply cannot wait!! :) https://gadget.co.za/strangerthings05m/?utm_source=Mastodon #TV #fantasy #DnD

2025-11-07 10:29:56 UTC

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@nprofile…xgcl Happy birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day. <3

2025-11-07 08:13:37 UTC

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@nprofile…krge @nprofile…ffua Not to re-open this can of worms (although this comment probably will) but if Ryan had just gone ahead with making it opt-out by default, it would be SOOOO much better.
But the FRediverse had a coronary and he was forced to make it opt-in instead. So nobody knows it's possible, and if they do, they couldn't be bothered. :/

2025-11-07 07:53:01 UTC

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@nprofile…ffua Incidentally that streamer still thinks Mastodon is pretty shit. He's now on Bluesky.
Which is better than nothing, but I keep trying to tell him that jumping from one billionaire controlled social network to another isn't really going to solve anything. I can't even get him to bridge his account so I can follow him from here.
Oh well, each to their own. Was nice knowing you, bye! ;-P

2025-11-07 07:47:35 UTC

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@nprofile…ffua I don't think I'd heard about it yet back then. I think the very first time I heard about it was when one of the streamers we watch on YouTube said, "Some people have tried Mastodon, but they say it's really shit."
But I'd been on-and-off looking for an alternative to Twitter long before Musk bought it, and me finally joining Mastodon didn't *really* have anything to do with Musk buying Twitter... except that I heard of it because people were discussing alternatives in the wake of Musk buying Twitter. :)

2025-11-07 07:43:20 UTC

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@nprofile…ffua Happy birthday, Tats! (If I read that subtext right)
I hope you have a wonderful day.🎂

2025-11-07 07:39:47 UTC

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Actually based on the hashtag, I see that a LOT of people are also celebrating their three-year #Fediversary today. 7 November 2022 was a popular day for joining, it seems....

2025-11-07 07:31:40 UTC

Ooh, my calendar just reminded me it's my three-year #Fediversary today! I first joined this amazing place (on the c.im instance) on this day back in 2022. 🥳

2025-11-03 10:36:28 UTC

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@nprofile…jx3s Or they're *deliberately* being patronising and sarcastic towards you because they have something against you. :/

2025-10-30 07:00:52 UTC

“Puns are the highest form of literature.”
Alfred Hitchcock #quotes
I agree 100%. I love a good pun. Way better than sarcasm, that's for sure. Sarcasm's only purpose is to belittle people. :P #language #puns

2025-10-29 11:15:15 UTC

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@nprofile…6jgx Phone yes, pretty easily.
The CPAP machine is probably running on AC power, and solar panels use DC power. That's what an inverter is for. But if you connect your solar panels to an inverter, and then connect your appliance to the inverter, you can run any appliance off solar.
Which is exactly the setup that so many people in South Africa (myself included) have. :)

2025-10-29 08:36:14 UTC

Prank idea: bring a big bolt to a fair, then get on a rollercoaster with a person who looks terrified.
When the ride starts, hold up the bolt and say, "Hey! Where did this come from?!" :D
#pranks

2025-10-28 11:04:13 UTC

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@nprofile…gh7w Our first Personal Computer at home was an Atari....

2025-10-28 06:55:15 UTC

Did you know that the first ever video game was demonstrated on 25 August 1950? The game was called "Bertie the Brain". #VideoGames #DidYouKnow #history

2025-10-27 12:12:01 UTC

Whether you're on the breadline or one of the "wealthy", the cost-of-living crisis hurts everyone. According to Daily Maverick, the average South African spends 57% of their monthly earnings on transport and electricity, and only 16% of the population currently belong to some sort of medical scheme....
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-10-26-cost-of-living-crisis-all-local-households-across-income-levels-affected/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#SouthAfrica #CostOfLiving

2025-10-24 06:49:04 UTC

Daily Maverick is trying to find the best small town to live in in #SouthAfrica. Nominate yours and they could be eligible for a certificate and a mention in their newsletter: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-10-22-nominate-best-small-town-to-live-in-south-africa-2025/?dm_source=MastodonAfrica

2025-10-23 05:06:23 UTC

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2025-10-22 09:16:18 UTC

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@nprofile…8dzj Fair. And same.
I do still really want to hear these speakers, though! :-D

2025-10-20 06:37:01 UTC

So, I've been all-in on my idea of "smart glasses", ever since Google Glass, and I was devastated when they killed the project. I still think they'd be an absolute boon to people with visual disabilities, like myself. But yeah, as the article says, they just keep failing, and not because of the tech, but because some people can't handle the thought that some people might be wearing them: https://techcentral.co.za/why-smart-glasses-keep-failing-its-not-the-tech/272999/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
Now, those people might have a point, especially when it comes to the changing room at the gym and stuff. But there's got to be a way of allaying those people's fears while still allowing people like me to wear them. :/
#privacy #accessibility

2025-10-16 12:07:46 UTC

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@nprofile…f9ft IRC is always good :-)

2025-10-15 05:24:48 UTC

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@nprofile…6jgx Sounds like you deserve to treat yourself. Have an amazing evening! :)

2025-08-24 08:04:09 UTC

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2025-08-19 07:51:08 UTC

This article opens with what we all know, but what many in other countries can't understand: "Most South Africans already run their businesses on #WhatsApp". And it's true, you simply cannot conduct any from of trade -- either as a business or a consumer -- without it. But it's about to become even more entrenched: https://gadget.co.za/whatsappcommerce14t/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
And of course, Meta will think this is a wonderful idea, and either buy them for an obscene amount of money, or build their own native service and put these guys out of business. #SouthAfrica

2025-08-18 16:58:03 UTC

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@nprofile…4pm3 @nprofile…y96e you may be on to something there. Personalised, targeted advertising can be useful because it strives to show you ads you're most likely to interact with based on your established interests, location, previous browsing and purchasing habits, and a whole bunch of other data points. As opposed to print ads and other traditional linear broadcast ads which are very "scattergun" in their approach, based on the general assumptions about the sort of person who would be watching this particular broadcast at this particular time, or reading this particular publication.
In fact, all online advertising used to be generalised like this too.
But while personalised, targeted advertising may be useful, and some consumers may find it valuable (I do), it has the unfortunate side effect of tracking people so that you can understand their habits and preferences. And that's not something many users are willing to tolerate. Plus, advertisers are well known for ignoring and coming up with sneaky ways of bypassing users' "Do Not Track" preferences and things, which isn't cool.
So if it's not the ads that you object to, but the tracking, then I can get behind that. How about something like this: if a user has "Do Not Track" on, or has otherwise expressed that they don't want personalised ads, then just show them any random ad from the collection, and don't track when they click it (other than for purposes of charging the advertiser for the click). Otherwise, feel free to use all the data you have to show them the one you think they're most likely to be interested in, as normal.
Would you be okay with something like that? 🤔

2025-08-18 05:38:02 UTC

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2025-08-16 10:12:31 UTC

A man is suing #Microsoft over their planned ending of support for #Windows10. He's demanding they continue support for the operating system until fewer than 10% of Windows users are still on Windows 10: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2874147/microsoft-faces-lawsuit-over-windows-10s-end-of-support.html?utm_source=Mastodon

2025-08-09 09:43:34 UTC

What would #GTA be like if it were set in #SouthAfrica? This fan-made trailer is pretty good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux3txaIVonQ&utm_source=Mastodon #VideoGames

2025-08-01 05:55:20 UTC

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@nprofile…szjp Yeah, when the corporation gets large enough that their implementation of something effectively becomes the de facto implementation and anyone who doesn't comply gets shafted, that's not good either. It happens for a different reason and more gradually, but you're right, when it does happen it's even more dangerous.
At least governments say, "You know what? We're going to screw everyone over because from now on, you're allowed to do this, that, and the next thing, and you're not allowed to do that. Because we said so. Good luck working around these ridiculous, pointless regulations designed to make your lives as difficult as possible. Mwahahahaha!" :P
It happens quickly, so innovators have to adapt QUICKLY.
When corporations do it it's a slower process. More of a boiling frog thing.
I agree BBSes were super cool, but I don't think they'd survive in today's regulatory landscape. Remember signing up to them and giving them your phone number, and having the SysOp call you personally on that number to validate you were who you said you were?
Good times! Times from The Wild West. *sigh*

2025-08-01 05:00:57 UTC

People always talk about this or that being "the wild west" (meaning there are no rules or regulations and people can do whatever they like) as though it's a bad thing.
In the late 90s and early 2000s, the Internet was "the wild west". Email was "the wild west". Now, AI is "the wild west". Online gambling is "the wild west". Porn is "the wild west".
Well, guess what? I *like* the wild west! As soon as you start regulating something, as soon as governments and policymakers and lawmakers get their grubby hands on something, it becomes a million times less cool, and a million times less innovative.
#HandsOffOurInternet
https://www.pa.org.za/blog/r2k-hands-our-internet-campaign

2025-07-23 04:57:02 UTC

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2025-07-16 06:44:06 UTC

People are far too quick to rate books these days. I constantly see people saying that to them, one-star means they didn't finish the book, and four or five stars is "I liked it".
First of all, I would never rate a book I hadn't finished. It'd be disingenuous. Secondly, if I rate a book at three stars, you can basically consider that a recommendation: I reserve five stars for books that are absolutely flawless, and probably fewer than, say, one or two percent of all books I rate get it.
Remember in the days before the Internet and "community reviews" where receiving a single star from a review publication was considered a great honour?
#books #bookreviews @nprofile…9vtz

2025-07-13 07:25:11 UTC

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2025-07-09 04:57:16 UTC

Heard on the radio:
"Studies have shown that 80% of dogs do not like being hugged."
"Well, you know what? I don't like picking up hot poo from the lawn, but we all have to make sacrifices."
#DogsOfMastodon #humour

2025-07-03 06:46:38 UTC

Female frogs fake their deaths to avoid mating with male frogs they do not find attractive. #trivia

2025-06-24 05:19:10 UTC

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@nprofile…xx6a LOL Yeah, ChatGPT does seem to love those, doesn't it? :D

2025-06-20 12:09:18 UTC

My dad passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. Rest in peace, Daddy. ❤️

2025-06-15 09:06:22 UTC

If you use #linux, you probably use sudo all the time. If you're using @nprofile…lfze, you might not be using it for very much longer, because it looks like they might replace it soon: https://thenewstack.io/ubuntu-25-10-replaces-sudo-with-a-rust-based-equivalent/?utm_source=Mastodon #ubuntu
(h/t @nprofile…3awy)

2025-06-13 07:04:04 UTC

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@nprofile…xx6a Oh my word! Happy Friday the Thirteenth.
Sheesh. Good luck!

2025-06-10 06:38:56 UTC

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@nprofile…fkj4 Much better! :-)

2025-06-10 06:02:28 UTC

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@nprofile…fkj4 That'll fit on a 720kb stiffy, or a 1.2mb floppy. But not a 360kb one.
You can do better. ;-)

2025-06-10 05:55:58 UTC

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2025-06-02 12:12:46 UTC

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@nprofile…3wy7 Similar to the "Can't see all replies" on a thread (or at least, similarly frustrating, and caused by a similar reason), is the issue that, when viewing a remote profile -- say because you're evaluating whether they're worth following -- you don't see all their posts. In fact, if nobody on your instance follows them yet, you likely won't see ANY of their posts.
I think when viewing a profile that exists on another server, it should always load all posts from the profile's home server, and not only the ones that have been federated to yours. The average user doesn't understand, nor should they be expected to care, how federation works.