Advice

I was on X earlier (I am so sick of the 'formerly known as Twitter' thing--either call it X, or Twitter, or something else, but there's no need to do that, as we all know by now if we're on the Internet). I've really debated just closing my account because in my honest opinion, Elon Musk is at the very least an odious egotist, and I won't get into what his worst epiphets might be. I have accounts on Threads and Blue Sky, but I haven't really established them well yet. But I have a really simple handle (@eilir) and I'd like to keep it on the chance he might stop ruining it and sell the platform.

So what would you do/what have you done?

Here are those interesting articles:

This is so cool--over 20 volumes of an Assyrian dictionary, worked on since 1921, and it's also available for free online. :) The language geek in me just wants to squeal in delight:

Dictionary of dead language complete after 90 years

Almost 90 experts from around the world took part, diligently recording and cross referencing their work on what ended up being almost two million index cards.

The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary is 21 volumes long and is encyclopaedic in its range. Whole volumes are dedicated to a single letter, and it comes complete with extensive references to original source material throughout.

-and-

Archaeologists Unearth New Dead Sea Scrolls Cave

Archaeologists have unearthed a new cave associated with the famed Dead Sea Scrolls, filled with ancient storage jars and lids off the Judean cliffside, marking the first successful excavation of its kind in 60 years.

Until Wednesday, researchers assumed only 11 caves contained scrolls. But the discovery of a twelfth cave cements a longstanding belief among archaeologists that looters stole the artifacts in the mid-1900s, referencing pick ax heads found deep inside a tunnel at the new cave's rear as proof.

Hidden along the cave's walls, excavators found numerous broken jars and lids. Among the other findings were fragments of scroll wrappings, leather and string

So sad that it was looted. They were probably hidden away in private collections or possibly destroyed, and that is a tragedy in either case.

Oh, by the way, I took a quiz on Yiddish words and their meanings. It didn't turn out too badly, for a goy:

100% -- You Would Make Your Jewish Family Proud. Ay yay yay!! Your family would be so proud of your Yiiddish! You totally grew up in a Jewish family and know all of the primary Jewish-isms! You've seen your share of big bar/bat mitzvahs bashes and you use these slang words very frequently. You are NEVER shlepping and we are very verklemptov over your score!! Congrats!

Also...just in time for Valentine's Day--

The Rude, Cruel, and Insulting 'Vinegar Valentines' of the Victorian Era

The Victorians had the 'polite insult' down to an absolute art. Reminds me of someone I know. :)

-and-

Apparently I should look for romance in Alabama--I love Byron's poetry. But no, I live in the state of couples' tattoos. Really, that's a thing?

Most Popular Valentine's Day Gift Searches Per State

And finally, this made my day yesterday...

“Donaeld The Unready” tweets as if Trump is a mad medieval king

“Make Mercia Great Again!” The new Twitter account Donaeld The Unready casts Trump as a medieval king, obsessed with draining the East Anglian fens, building shield walls and the bad monk Bede.

Sorry I didn't post last night

I didn't get home till 12:30 or 1 am, having gotten A from work and before that I was over at YKWIA's helping him with various things until time to go pick up A. I was so terribly tired. I woke up late this morning (had to be over to pick up my friends for an appointment), but they're there now and I have a little time for myself. I should be working on the house, or cooking a quick meal, but instead i had a banana and popcorn for lunch and I'm on the computer just for fun this time.

On Facebook I found a post on a Twitter account that is truly hilarious. Medieval Reactions takes art from hundreds of years ago and pairs them with modern interpretations. Here's more about them in the article I read, along with some of their posts. My favourite is 'When your mate uses fabric softener', even (or maybe because) it's a little blasphemous. Be sure to check them out. I definitely went ahead and followed them.

Gee...

I was catching up on Twitter and was amazed at the sheer number of hateful comments being directed to the SCOTUSblog account.  Mind you,  the blog is in no way affiliated with the Supreme Court - - they just report and analyse the decisions. But they were handling the hate with aplomb,  tongue firmly in cheek,  so yay for them.

Creepy

Last night I had a surprise. Four days after my period ended, I started back. This is the second time this year that I've had that sort of thing happen (last time was two days on, two days off, two days on, whereas this was four on, four off, then starting back again). I've also gone 35 days without one, am sometimes very hot, especially at night even with a fan, and have some other symptoms of perimenopause (that period leading up to menopause, which is technically only accomplished after an entire 12 months without a period). In frustration, I turned to Twitter, writing:

Anyone have good tips for dealing with #perimenopause? Looks like at 47 it is my time to start going through the 'change of life'.

Now I got a response from someone through Twitter, which I expected. What I didn't expect was to get a robocall on my unlisted cell phone today on menopause. As far as I know, my cell phone is not associated with me publically online. Even my online résumé only has my e-mail. But that's what happened. I didn't recognise the number (it just said unknown wireless caller), so I rejected the call, but listened to a bit of the voicemail later. Granted, it could have been mere coincidence, but I find that unlikely. I may do a little digging and see if I can explain it. Just doing a Google search, I can't find a correlation between my name and number online, and when I look up the number that was displayed, it turns out to be a spoofed number. But it was definitely weird, and not a little creepy.

So terribly sad

18-Year-Old Girl Tweets 144 Times before Committing Suicide: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Of course, the thing about Twitter is it's kind of a crap shoot whether a tweet is noticed by someone following you, especially if the person follows a lot of people or agencies. And then there's the fact that it's sometimes hard to figure out who to report a suicide note to, what jurisdiction, that sort of thing. But she used her real name, and 144 tweets over 6 hours--that might be a little different.

This girl obviously felt that no one could stop her pain, and that the world failed her. And, it seems, it did. I am saddened by the death of someone so young, so troubled. I hope if her allegations are true, then the case will be reopened and the person who essentially killed the spirit of this young girl gets the justice deserved.

They have a point

We do somewhat odd things online we would never do in person.



Thanks to YKWIA for showing it to me today.

:)

Be sure to click on the link (http://bit.ly/m0rP3i) if you're not easily offended. If you are, well, don't.

RT @Scramasax77 @almightygod What should I give my heathen friend for his 30th birthday? -- One of these: http://bit.ly/m0rP3iless than a minute ago via TwitBird Favorite Retweet Replyalmightygod
almightygod

Hee Hee

Neil Gaiman Laughs Off Minnesota Politician’s ‘Weasel’ Slam

When reports started popping up in the news and on Twitter that a Minnesota politician had called Neil Gaiman a “pencil-necked little weasel,” all the best-selling author could do was laugh.

“I woke up this morning and people sent me links to the story and someone quoted it on Twitter and I thought, ‘That’s mad, a real politician can’t have actually said that,’ and then I went to the article and read it,” Gaiman told Wired.com, still snickering at the thought. “I expected him to carry on [in] the article saying that I was a stupid stupidface and that he would be meeting with his friends behind the lockers.”

What the politician failed to realise is that Neil Gaiman is immensely popular on Twitter, with over 1.5 million followers (including me). So many were heading to the link that was tweeted (the politician had posted Neil Gaiman's blog on his website AND apparently claimed copyright on it), that the post crashed for most of the day. I wasn't part of that mass action, but I have to admit, I am amused by it. I don't think it was an intentional move like a denial of service attack, but rather it suffered from not being able to handle its sudden 'popularity'.

Well, the cobra's back where she should be

Not that she ever left the Bronx Zoo Reptile House. Or did she? @BronxZoosCobra has garnered over 200,000 followers in a week or so--amazing by Twitter standards, many celebrities would kill for that--and now has a location of 'I'm at the Bronx Zoo. For now.' Whoever has been tweeting has a wicked sense of humour. One of the post-capture ones: 'The secret to surviving on inside is to find the biggest snake in here and take him down. That earns you respect in the yard.'

My favourite tweet he/she did:

Dear @CharlieSheen, know what’s better than tiger’s blood? Cobra venom. #winning #snakeonthetown Also I’m 20 inches long. Just sayin’.

:)

It was inevitable--someone's having a bit of fun :)

Bronx Zoo's missing cobra 'speaks out' on Twitter

A tongue-in-cheek Twitter user giving "updates" on a missing deadly Egyptian cobra now has some 35,000 followers.

The 20in (50cm) venomous snake escaped from New York City's Bronx Zoo on Friday, and is yet to be found.

In one tweet, BronxZoosCobra says: "On top of the Empire State Building! All the people look like little mice down there. Delicious little mice."

In its Twitter account, The Bronx Zoo - which has some 6,000 followers - admits it is currently "the snake's game".

Incidentally, the snake now has over 101,000 followers, but on the upside, the Bronx Zoo gained about 1,000. :) The zoo is confident that the snake is still in the reptile house, hiding in a non-public area.

Ah, that so did not work

I'm looking at my Twitter feed and there's this tweet from CNN:

It is not clear that #Egypt transition is "immediate, meaningful or sufficient," Obama says http://on.cnn.com/g5fxoXless than a minute ago via webCNN Breaking News
cnnbrk

Only one trouble: if you click on the link, you get:

Spider-Man replacing Human Torch on new 'FF' team

That's a pretty odd oops. Okay, let me go see what really DID happen today with the crisis in Aegypt.

Social networking has been a major player in this crisis, and continues to be

One of my friends, who never really saw the point of things such as Facebook and Twitter, admitted the other day that he had no idea that they could help topple governments. So far the Aegyptian leader still seems to be in place, but that could change. In the meantime, Internet and even cell phone use have been cut off by the government. For those who can get to a regular phone, there is some help for trying to get messages of what is going on to loved ones and to the world, also using the social networking tool Twitter:


Techies make way for stranded Egyptians to be heard

For those stuck in Egypt without the Internet, Google, Twitter and SayNow have teamed up to create an innovative voicemail system: Call a number and leave a message, and the system blasts it out into the universe in the form of a tweet with the hashtag #egypt.

Links in the tweets go to the actual voicemail, and volunteers are translating the tweets.

I hope that this can end peacefully and that it will not usher in some ultra-conservative religious party in a grab for power. I'm also keeping a co-worker in my thoughts--she is from Iraq but some of her family went to Aegypt looking for stability, so I'm sure this is tense time for her.

This shows the power of Twitter in the hands of public servants--at it best

This is a great use of Twitter. For those of you who think it's all 'I'm eating a chocolate bar now', be sure to read:

I will dig you out.": "It began with a simple “let me know” Tweet a few hours after Sunday’s blizzard dumped more than two feet of snow on New Jersey’s largest city. Soon, Tweets by Newark residents were providing Mayor @CoryBooker with critical real-time information as he directed the massive cleanup.

Booker is no stranger to Twitter. He has logged nearly 5,000 Tweets and gained more than one million followers since joining in 2008. In the last four days, he’s demonstrated to his community tangible examples of individual engagement that may have even inspired others to act in kind.

Patrolling the streets of his city with a Blackberry in hand, Booker responded to a report of a woman in labor – arriving to aid the expectant mother before EMS could get to the scene. As residents reported unplowed streets and stuck cars, the mayor dispatched city plows and tow trucks, often showing up himself to help shovel or push.

Booker is setting a great example for how local public officials can use Twitter to better manage crisis. His effort did not go unnoticed. Check out Vanity Fair’s list of the “10 Most Valiant Snow-Rescue Tweets from Cory Booker,” and coverage from the New York Times, Washington Post, Time, or this piece by Frank Reed for more.

PS I tweeted a this story on my feed hoping @JimGrayLexKY (our new mayor) will read it.

Well, if they haven't figured it out

I just posted this on Twitter:

A little late for National Coming Out day, but there's a great hashtag: #STR8againstH8. (Can I still tweet it if I'm bi?) :)

After hitting the button to post, it occurred to me that my Twitter posts go directly to my Facebook account. Now, on my Facebook profile it does say that I am interested in both men and women, but that's easy to overlook, whereas a post is not.

My mother, aunts, uncle, and cousins are all on Facebook, and while I haven't actively hidden my sexuality, it hasn't really come up, seeing as I haven't dated since 1994 and never seriously enough after my divorce to bring anyone home to meet the family.

So, while it was a bit late, I guess if they didn't know already, I kind of came out to my family via Twitter/Facebook. Ah, social media. :)

PS Whereas Monday was Coming Out Day, today (October 12th) is the 12th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, who was murdered for being gay. Please keep him and the others who have lost their lives due to hate in your thoughts today.

This man was terribly mad (in both senses)

and it's a shame his mental illness drove him to violence and eventually led to his death during a standoff.

Suspect had long protested Discovery programming: Website talked of his wanting networks to expose civilization 'for the filth it is'

James J. Lee, the suspected gunman who held three hostages for hours at the Discovery Communications building in Maryland on Wednesday, apparently had a long history of contempt for the company, which includes the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel and Planet Green networks.

His website, SaveThePlanetProtest.com, was essentially a screed against Discovery, urging the company to expose civilization "for the filth it is" and to puts its focus on "how people can live WITHOUT giving birth to more filthy human children since those new additions continue pollution and are pollution."

Then, almost as a business-like afterthought, it said: "A game show format contest would be in order."

It's an interesting but very sad look into the actions of someone who was obviously insane. Fortunately the hostages are safe, the situation is resolved, and everyone except the gunman could go home at the end of the day. But I wish he could have gotten help before it went this far.

I glanced at one of the televisions in the hospital lobby this afternoon, which was how I found out about the story. But it demonstrates the usefulness of Twitter, as the tweets spread the news and pictures long before the media got involved. We truly live in a world where information spreads like wildfire. Of course, the quality of the information is anybody's guess.

Great tweet :)

Via Joe.My.God, a great blog I discovered today.

:)

And yes, you can follow @AlmightyGod on Twitter.

One of the strengths of Twitter

is that it can disseminate information very quickly via normal, non-smart phones. (That is, incidentally, why there's a 140-character limit.) One feature they're releasing now allows you to text directly to Twitter to follow or unfollow an account. This could be very good in an emergency situation. An example given on a Twittown posting is this: Something major happens in New York City and news of the disaster is spotty. You text 'follow NotifyNYC' to receive tweets from the city's office of emergency management. They're also making it possible to receive tweets directly to your phone for a particular user, just by texting it on or off. Together that means you can take a normal phone and in less than a minute start receiving texts from authorities no matter where you might be. There is no need to have access to a computer or Internet connexion. That's pretty useful. And I read somewhere recently that in cases like Katrina, when cell phone service was otherwise iffy, text messages tended to make it through better than voice calls. Of course, if you're like me, with a limit to text-messages per month on my cell phone plan, it needs to be used judiciously. But it so makes sense in an emergency.

For the record, I like Twitter...but I'm not blind about its faults

and neither does this 'movie trailer' parody:



:)

Heh, heh, heh

Neil Gaiman and a bunch of other folks have been coming up with Lovecraftian ice cream flavours on Twitter. Which is funny, because ice cream is particularly popular in Arkham in our game of Call of Cthulhu, and we're convinced it 1) has mind changing properties and 2) it is derived from the milk of Shub-Niggurath. :)

My favourite so far is 'At the mountains of mintyness' by @davidmulqueen.