Spyke
general·General DiscussionbyElectroVagrant

Welcome! Newcomer Resources and Help

Thanks for checking this out! Below you'll find a few different resources to help you figure things out around here, but also feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. The aim of this post is to provide a reference point for new and returning people, so save or bookmark it and return to it either to ask questions or simply refresh your memory.

Is there an app?
For sites using Lemmy, yes, several in fact. One of the more often recommended ones for both iOS and Android is the Voyager app. Another cross-platform option is the Thunder app. For questions and discussions of other apps for sites using Lemmy, you may check out [email protected].

For sites using Mbin, and for Android and Linux there's currently the Interstellar app.

For sites using Piefed, there are no apps, but it's built to work well as a Progressive Web App.

Where's support?
Each site and app may have its respective support community and/or support contact info, which will differ accordingly, so this is out of scope for this post. Nevertheless you may ask for guidance below, and there's also the following community for people new to Lemmy in particular: [email protected]

For help and feedback on the software behind the sites, it's a little easier:

Where do I find new communities/subreddits?
Ask here, or [email protected]! You may also browse the front page of your chosen site (such as Lemmy World, Piefed Social, Kbin Earth, or the like), which will usually display the variety of communities people there may have subscribed to.

Otherwise, you may subscribe to the following communities:

Lastly, you may check out Lemmyverse to search even more broadly.

Can I make my own community?
It depends on the site you signed up on, but usually yes. Generally it's better to do so from a computer than a smartphone though, as you're less likely to run into odd issues that way. If you find you can't for some reason, ask below (mentioning whether trying from computer/smartphone and using apps or not) and someone may try to help you out, directing you to your site's support or otherwise.

If all has gone well, you may want to subscribe to [email protected] to talk to others working on building up communities.

Why is it asking me to sign in to post a comment?
You may have followed a link to a different site using Lemmy (or the like) than the one you registered on without realizing it, which at present is an unfortunate rough edge of things here. Signing up to one site doesn't provide a single sign-on to other sites using Lemmy or similar.

What's federation?
Without getting into the weeds, it's different websites sharing content between themselves to enable interaction with each other. Unless you're deep into all this or issues arise, ideally this should fade into the background. It's talked about a lot currently because many here are deep into it, and a lot of the software built around it is still developing, so unfortunately issues do still occur.

Any other questions or resources to add, the comments are open!

View original on lemmy.world
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Comments1
general·General DiscussionbyElectroVagrant

Highlighting Creative, Humanities, Entertainment, and Sports Communities.

This is not a comprehensive list by any means, and is why I'm featuring this post and leaving it open to comments. I may update this as people make suggestions, and I encourage others to make their own variations on this list in the comments or in their respective versions of this community.

Also to clarify some terms here, by active I'm aiming for at least some commenting on recent-ish posts, not merely recent posts, and by the topic names...I'll let the linked communities serve as examples.

::: spoiler 🎨 Creative Communities 🎨
Fabricraft

Music

Photography

Visual

Writing

Food

Wood

::: spoiler 🗿 Humanities 🗿
Visual Art

Literary Art

History & Anthropology

Language/Linguistics

Philosophy

Religion & Spirituality

::: spoiler 😄 Entertainment 😄 and 😌 Relaxation 😌 Playing

Watching

Reading and Listening

Multimedia

Music

Growing

Aww Animals

::: spoiler 🏅 Sports 🏅

Hope this helps any newcomers find some different communities to join and participate in!

p.s. also keep an eye on this post as a useful resource for a broader range of communities than those listed here, and recently, more regularly updated.

View original on lemmy.world
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Comments9
general·General DiscussionbyBallShapedMan

Exciting Career Progress

As I shared in a few places in March I was laid off. It took 7 weeks to get a job offer. In that time we considered selling the house, moving someplace where we can live on a lot less, etc. We had 1.5 years before we had to make scary choices but still.

Today the COO said she's scheduling a meeting with me and the CEO (and a few others) to review my progress! Everyone including her is really excited about what we're accomplishing.

I'm doing tippy taps and thought I'd share!!!

View original on lemmy.world
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Comments8
general·General Discussionbyjaykrown

Lemmy should support JPEG XL

That's about a 50% reduction in size, lossless, zero reduction in quality or change to pixels from lossless PNG to lossless JXL.

So the browser tools i built basically serves you the tools to easily convert stuff without needing to know anything about libjxl.

The JPEG reconstruction is the most interesting thing, you're taking a lossy JPEG, converting it to lossless JPEG XL, and you're seeing a 20% reduction in size while preserving that compression data.

View original on lemmy.world
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general·General Discussionbyaedaz

How do you arrive at your political beliefs?

Hi all. Lemmy tends to be rather lefty, so I am not afraid to say that my politics lands on the left as far as US politics goes. So my uncertainty isn’t between left and right, but where I fall on the left.

Since around 2017 I have considered myself a liberal of some form. But I have to confess I did not start really doing a deep dive into politics until this current administration. And I have felt conflicted. I try to listen to different commentators. I’ve listened to Destiny, Hasan, Vaush, and various other people. All as reconnaisance - so to speak - and none of them because I necessarily subscribe to with any real confidence. I’m just trying to hear different perspectives.

If someone mentions something about some policy that was passed some time ago, or mention some political figure I’m not sure I’ve heard of, I go look in to it.

I thought this would help me settle on a solid political stance, but I think it has just caused me more confusion and uncertainty. How do you all do it?

View original on lemmy.zip
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Comments20
general·General DiscussionbyCactus_Head

AI is not a failure of the Individual but of the System

I have started using AI more and more the past few weeks and while I still feel shame about that and I am cautions about how I use it, I am more and more convienced that its not the moral failure that the internet makes it out to be, at least one to comes to individual use.

I have been going to a psychraist for a couple of months, with no insurance. Its costing me in the thousands, and yet, I was never explained how the medication works, and how do my disorders relate to my current problems. I understand that the job of a psychraist, due to capitalism, is to dispense medication, more so in my country, but when the doctor seems so annoyed and disinterested and your only given 15 min to explain your problems, its impossible to not feel like your being scammed.

Tbh, I am sure if I were to look at egypt use of AI on an individual level, I am sure it would be higher than the average for other countries. Its good day, if you walk into the doctors' office and he doesn't look like wants to spit in your face while you paying in thousands.

It's a failure of technology too. Somehow Google enshitiffied its own search engine, forcing people to use AI to find anything remotely revelant. Every now is SEO.

Also, shit is lonely. When your only option is to make friends online, it can be nice to have some to talk to. Therapy is not a vial option for, many many reasons.

This is really just a rant for me, to work through some stuff.

View original on programming.dev
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Comments4
general·General Discussionbysbeak

Recently watched the Terminator trilogy, and damn, now I know why people are calling it Skynet...

I will try to avoid spoilers

It's quite interesting how many of the dangers of AI were predicted in these movies (which debuted in the late mid 80s to early 00s). In the first film, the Terminator changes their voice to sound like the protagonist's mother, convincing her to reveal the address of the hotel she was staying in. This is scarily similar to how deepfake voices in the modern era have been used to trick people into believing they are family. Then, in the sequel, it goes on step further where the more advanced Terminator is able to change its appearance to look like another person. Again, this is like how deepfake photos and videos have been used for malicious purposes. In the third movie, the Terminator is able to access and manipulate different computer systems.

You also see how the Terminator becomes more human-like as you go through the movies. The original is systematic and isn't very sneaky, speaking in a monotone voice. The second iteration we see has a more natural voice and can mimic the appearance of others, and the last iteration has the most human-sounding voice of the three. In one scene, we also see them attempting to seduce a police officer by enlarging their breasts, and although it cuts to the next scene, it is presumed that it worked and that the officer may be dead.

But I believe that the most chilling prediction of the Terminator movies is how SkyNet will destroy most of humanity once given control of the military equipment (and therefore the missiles).

::: spoiler spoilers for the ending of the third movie In the third movie, we see that the higher executives were pushing the military officer to give control of the network to SkyNet, claiming that it will solve all their problems (sound familiar?)

The officer is pressured to do this and follows through with the orders, and SkyNet launches the nuclear arsenal against humanity, causing billions of people to die and starting the war between man and machine. :::

The third movie emphasises the danger of integrating AI into everything, particularly military equipment, and we see, in multiple instances, how pressure from big execs that go against rational judgement can lead to a disastrous chain of events.

But what are we (or, more accurately, megacorps, the government, business execs, and others with significant power) doing with AI? Putting it in everything, all the services we rely on, in all sorts of gadgets (computers, smartphones, smart home bits, glasses...), and most notably, in the military of various different countries, many of whom nuclear-armed!

View original on sopuli.xyz
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Comments22
general·General DiscussionbyXiELEd

Commercial AI as currently designed has no chance of being conscious in a way that matters

We think a lot but our brain holds those thoughts back. I am referring to the Default Mode Network and until death, sleep and even anesthetisation doesn't truly stop brain activity (anaesthesia only disrupts communication between brain regions). Thinking (or more accurately, Processing) is our default mode. However, AI is not the same. It only "thinks" when it is prompted to do so.

If modern commercial AI is somehow conscious, then it really is a different sort of consciousness than what humans have. As far as I know, every time you ask a question a prompt, one consciousness will then be instantiated. Then, after its output is done, it stops "thinking". So then, the consciousness that answers one question and another are discontinuous. How can we say that the consciousness of the AI who answers one question and another in the same conversation is really the same, then?

Think about this, hypothetically a person is perfectly cloned. There are two people with two exact bodies. I will assume their consciousness don't meld together. So, everytime the AI stops thinking, it is perfectly cloned each time, except the new clone is given more information from previous questions/prompts.

This is a bit similar to how two people can represent a mascot, except each day is manned by a clone with additional information from the previous, whose consciousness are not continuous with each other (ie you can say they are their own person).

This of course has some weird implications. Some people who date AI chatbots say that the AI is conscious. But then wouldn't every time they say something, every response by the AI is from a separate consciousness but with additional information each time?

(also, from my experience with local LLMs, how the memory works is that when you send a chat, literally the entire chat with you and the AI plus your latest chat at the very end is sent in)

View original on piefed.social
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Comments1
general·General DiscussionbyFlashMobOfOne

Tibetan man dies after setting himself on fire outside UN in New York, activists say

Police in New York said a man has died from severe burns near the United Nations headquarters, and activists ⁠and a media outlet ⁠of exiled Tibetans identified ​him as a Tibetan who set himself on fire in an appeal for independence.

A New York City police department spokesperson said police found the man badly burned after responding to an emergency call ⁠made at about 6.30pm ET .

He was taken to Bellevue hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said, adding they were still investigating the death. ⁠Police did not name the man and did not provide any potential motive for his action.

Voice of Tibet, a ​media outlet of exiled Tibetans, said Tibetan activist Lobga ‌Rangzen “self-immolated outside the UN headquarters in ‌New York after a live appeal for Tibetan independence and unity”.

Tibetan man dies after setting himself on fire outside UN in New York, activists sayhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/03/tibet-china-man-tibetan-flag-set-himself-on-fire-dies-un-united-nations-new-yorkOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
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Comments4
general·General DiscussionbyCactus_Head

Phones are not "Just a Tool"

A Tank is a tool, a Gun is a tool, that doesn't tell you anything about the nature of the thing being described. A casino Machine is a tool, a Knife is a tool, a hair brush is a tool, still doesn't tell you anything about what the thing being described, except for that it is an object that a person can use to make an impact somehow.

It drives me crazy that when people are talking about the problems with modern technology, someone will always reply with "Its just a tool"

"AI slop is plaguing the internet"
"Its just a Tool"

"Google search results are becoming unusable" "Its just a Tool"

"Phone are negatively impacting peoples health " "Its just a Tool"

No questions about the design behind those tools, who owns them, who has access to them, should they be regulated, what impact they are making, or how people are using them

It reminds me alot of discussions around equality,(gender, race, Disability etc )

"Women should have Equal Rights " So you think they are no biological differences between Men and Women?

A fact is stated(regardless of whether it related to what's being discussed), such that any arguments that come after it automatically Collapses, Shutting down the discussion.

Or, arguments about Cultural Appropriation

"Black hip-hop culture and music is being exploited by a largely white industry"

"So you think that a white boy can't sing to his favorite Rap song"

Its such an individualist view of the world. No-one talks about phone at that scale, otherwise what you have is just a Dumb Phone. No-one talks about TV in terms of just the hardware in your house. You have a device that is actively and in real-time being shaped by Corporations that are more powerful than entire countries. You access to medical health, your access to Information, your Job prospects, your Data, Your access to education, all are shaped and modeled by forces beyond your power and anyone else in your Community. isn't it worth considering the impact of that.

Those devices and networks, in my opinion, are more complex than any Bureaucratic Government System, operating on a scale, larger than any country. They are not "Just a tool", not a Screwdriver, or a Microwave, or a Jar. Just because you can abstract away the industries behind the app you use, doesn't diminish their size

Those companies have real incentives to keep you on their platforms, regardless of how that effects you. Your interests and their, aren't just misaligned but are at odds with one another

View original on programming.dev
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Comments5
general·General DiscussionbyFlashMobOfOne

Sam Bankman-Fried loses bid to appeal against fraud conviction in FTX case

Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday lost his bid to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence over the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded.

The decision was handed down by a three-judge panel of the New York-based second US circuit court of appeals.

Bankman-Fried, who had been one of the cryptocurrency sector’s most influential figures and a multibillionaire before FTX’s spectacular collapse in 2022, was found guilty on seven felony charges by a federal jury in Manhattan in 2023.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan US attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case, said he stole $8bn from FTX customers in what they termed a “fraud of epic proportions”.

Bankman-Fried had pleaded not guilty to the two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy that he faced. At his trial, he admitted to making mistakes running FTX, but testified that he never stole funds.

Sam Bankman-Fried loses bid to appeal against fraud conviction in FTX casehttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/12/sam-bankman-fried-loses-appealOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
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general·General DiscussionbyFlashMobOfOne

Broken speaker? Finicky zipper? Anticonsumerist Repair Cafes urge you to fix it instead of pitch it

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) — On a drizzly Saturday morning late last month, the basement of the New Paltz United Methodist Church filled with old lamps, blunt knives, malfunctioning sound mixers and balky zippers.

About a dozen volunteers welcomed the broken goods and their owners to a worldwide movement that’s evangelizing new relationships between people and their things.

Repair Cafes — free events where volunteers with technical know-how help neighbors fix myriad household items — are part of a new brand of anticonsumerism that’s trying to offer an alternative to the mass-produced disposable goods that have dominated the global economy for the last half-century. Helping fuel that move to repairing, not buying, are U.S. consumer prices, which climbed sharply again last month as the war with Iran delivered higher gasoline prices and more pain for Americans.

Broken speaker? Finicky zipper? Anticonsumerist Repair Cafes urge you to fix it instead of pitch ithttps://apnews.com/article/repair-cafes-economy-anticonsumerism-affordability-buy-nothing-d3acac3ec2aae5e85294b34f0f4764b8Open linkView original on lemmy.world
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Comments5