I love how chill and helpful everyone is here.

I'm so inspired by the Fediverse, the social options we have these days are just magical.

A decade ago, Diaspora got press because they were going to build an alternative to Facebook. But there was hype and then there was disappointment.

Now, everybody knows how terrible legacy social media is. Everybody knows. Sure, most people are still stuck there. But these vibrant alternative places exist! The options are exciting! It is so much better than it's ever been!

Just keep building. This is great, and it's only just started.

It always gets me that Matthew Broderick killed two people in a car crash and got off with a $100 fine. I love Ferris Bueller's day off, and I think he's really talented, but like this happened just after that movie, and he just did not seem to be held to account for it.

This is what I'm excited about. My parents are in the market for new laptops, I'm going to see if they will take a framework running popOS and make the switch to Linux. It's incredible that this option is now so approachable.

Does anyone else feel like 'my brain-washing has been completed' when they find themselves upvoting obscure loss menes?

Jeez that is brutal.

I swear there was a game with areas exactly this.

A Cryptocurrency reporter, born in 1994, lost $200,000 when Celsius went bankrupt. Her post about that went viral. Later she interviewed SBF while he was under house arrest. She disclosed some of the records he shared with her to the NYT.

Saved you a click.

Riven

Not in America so viewing you as on the front lines of this present catastrophe.

Please do everything you can to avoid further entrenching resentment.

It looks like your country is so bitterly divided. I've visited once, and my impression was then that there is a lot more grey than any media or the internet conveys.

If you're living close to someone who supported that maniac, please do what you can to build bridges so that they can find a way back to sanity. I get that it's not fair and that responsibility should fall on them. But realistically I think you need to be the adult in the relationship.

Please do what you can to build bridges and be compassionate, curious. Own your own sense of moral outrage and dignity, but give these people space to make their mistakes and learn from them, without your judgement. Direct your hatred and anger against the acts that upset you, but be gracious and kind in your relationships. Allow your mother in law to be wrong. Honour whatever is good in her.

Don't be a player hater!

If she says something racist, don't just let it stand. But where you can, see if you can draw out her reasons. See if you can uncover the true fears behind the scapegoating. Just let her be heard, without judgement. Be curious about the person. And where you can do so with humility, share your own beliefs and what is important to you. But share in the interests of being known, not of flag bearing.

Give yourself space where you need. It's OK to feel strongly, and to be upset. But please, do the work to build bridges, don't let your family be divided by an utter madman.

It's a strong sentiment but I really don't want to see him martyred.

I want to see him fail and fail hard. I want to see his hubris snap back on himself. I want the cameras that he loves so much to capture the moment he sees how he lost because of moves he made. Let reality unmake him, not some unstable hero with a gun.

I'm sorry for how your father treated you, and did not value you.

Adam Young has a great podcast, the place we find ourselves, and there's a great episode titled your kingdom (find it here) .

He has this powerful idea that, 'by harming you, evil unwittingly prepared you to rule your kingdom better than if you had not been abused.'

By building community in response to a hurt you feel keenly, you are following this principle.

I wish you all the best.

Umm, wow!

Feel like this comment deserves more attention.

Would you share any of those photos?

Incredible.

As a non anxious person who recently missed a flight, thanks for this. This is my guide for 2026.

I've always thought it was a very modern horror story how sweets for children are made from gelatin, from animal death, basically.

I still eat them though.

Relevant video: https://vimeo.com/180163754

Are you trying to start a fight?

Feel like his handle 'the functional melancholic' is almost too apt.

It is a cynical view he reports, though with a relatively uplifting message. It's funny, despite the misanthropic presentation, the strongest emotion that came across for me was earnestness.

Is it worth watching? That depends. If you are in a place where you feel miserable about the state of the world, particularly America, which you have every right to be! Then yeah it is worth your time (sped up, he talks slow) because it is a message of encouragement.

He also suffered two gunshot wounds.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/dec/14/nsw-police-responding-to-reports-of-shooting-at-sydneys-bondi-beach-follow-latest?page=with%3Ablock-693eb26c8f08b246d57a62d7#block-693eb26c8f08b246d57a62d7

I'm enjoying Bluesky too, but yeah, reddit sucks so much since the API changes. When was that?

I don't even remember anymore.

Look, we debated all this a decade ago. Can venture funded social media stay good? Now we know! Back then, the alternatives were more difficult to find and use. Lemmy and mastodon are here, and they're so easy. It's great. Keep building.

This is just too sad.