Spyke

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lemmy·LemmybyLeigh

Killing Community

This article perfectly explains why large social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit) are trash.

What you’ll get is a place where everyone is a stranger, where being a jerk is the norm, where there is no sense of belonging, where civility and arguing in good faith is irrelevant because you’re not talking to someone, you’re performing in front of an audience to make the number next to your comment go up so you can briefly feel something that almost resembles belonging and shared values.

https://www.marginalia.nu/log/82_killing_community/Open linkView original on lemmy.ml
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technology·TechnologybyLeigh

A Tale of Unwanted Disruption: My Week Without Amazon

It’s beyond wild to me why anyone would have any kind of “loyalty” to Amazon. I’m also somewhat astonished at how popular it’s become to hook everything in your house up to the Internet, including door locks. I understand these aren’t new observations or concerns, but it still surprises me how people go “all in” on anything corporate, and anything smart home. (I say, posting from one of the many Apple devices in my Apple-only home. Well, I’m fairly agnostic about my servers, at least, running a mix of Rocky and Ubuntu, depending. Whatever gets the job done.)

Seems like corporations the last couple of years have been leaning HARD into giving people reasons why they can’t be trusted.

https://medium.com/@bjax_/a-tale-of-unwanted-disruption-my-week-without-amazon-df1074e3818bOpen linkView original on lemmy.ml
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technology·TechnologybyLeigh

A Tale of Unwanted Disruption: My Week Without Amazon

It’s beyond wild to me why anyone would have any kind of “loyalty” to Amazon. I’m also somewhat astonished at how popular it’s become to hook everything in your house up to the Internet, including door locks. I understand these aren’t new observations or concerns, but it still surprises me how people go “all in” on anything corporate, and anything smart home. (I say, posting from one of the many Apple devices in my Apple-only home.)

Seems like corporations the last couple of years have been leaning HARD into giving people reasons why they can’t be trusted.

https://medium.com/@bjax_/a-tale-of-unwanted-disruption-my-week-without-amazon-df1074e3818bOpen linkView original on lemmy.ml
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horror·HorrorbyLeigh

Hellebore, a small press devoted to British folk horror and the occult

I saw Grady Hendrix recommend this on Facebook (sigh, yes, Facebook...I know, but plenty of people--like Grady Hendrix--still use it) and thought it looked fascinating.

Founded in 2019 by writer and editor Maria J. Pérez Cuervo, with art direction by Nathaniel Hébert, HELLEBORE is a small press devoted to British folk horror and the occult. As well as the magazine of the same name, HELLEBORE has published a travel guide (The Hellebore Guide to Occult Britain) and a card game (The Magical Card Battle of Britain). A World Fantasy Awards finalist in 2022, HELLEBORE has been featured in Fortean Times, Starburst Magazine, Rue Morgue, SFX and others.

Hellebore, a small press devoted to British folk horror and the occulthttps://helleborezine.bigcartel.com/Open linkView original on lemmy.ml
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asklemmy·AsklemmybyLeigh

Would there be interest in having someone maintain the infrastructure/scaling/security/load balancing of a Lemmy instance, while handing off the moderation duties to someone else?

I'm nearly of a mind to start a couple of Lemmy instances and front them with a load balancer--I have the resources and technical ability to build a Lemmy instance for scale--but I have zero interest in moderating the thing. I don't want to deal with the headache of everything that goes along with that, and don't want any responsibility for the users or content.

Would anyone be interested in a 'Lemmy Infra as-a-Service,' where I keep things running but hand off the management keys to you?

View original on lemmy.ml
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photography·PhotographybyLeigh

Enjoying the New England sunset in a vintage MG

I was riding my bike a few weeks ago and came across this couple parked in their old MG, watching the sun set. They allowed me to take a few pictures of them. Wish I hadn't cut off the back part of the car in the composition, but alas.

Taken with a Canon EOS R7, 18mm, f/5.6

(Also I know this is my 3rd upload in the past couple of days, but I'm trying to help get this community going!)

View original on lemmy.ml
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horror·HorrorbyLeigh

Valak, the demon from The Nun and The Conjuring series, scared the hell out of me

These kinds of monsters are totally cliche, but even as a veteran horror fan and late-30s male, this one still creeped me the fuck out. Anyone else?

Supposedly Valak first appears in The Lesser Key of Solomon: https://allthatsinteresting.com/valak

Solomon features King Solomon of Old Testament fame who was renowned for his wisdom. At some point around the second century B.C., the idea spread that the king’s realm of knowledge had also included certain secrets of astrology and magic. The grimoire bearing his name lists the 72 demons that the king supposedly vanquished during his reign, providing readers with their names and instructions for expelling them should they come in contact with such spirits themselves. Valak, which is sometimes also spelled Ualac, Valu, Volac, Doolas or Volach, is the 62nd spirit listed in Solomon, according to which he “appeareth like a boy with angels wings, riding on a two-headed dragon.” His special power, according to the text, is finding snakes and hidden treasures while leading an army of 30 demons.

I don’t believe in any of that and I’m not at all religious, but it’s creepy and interesting to me anyway!

View original on lemmy.ml
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