I'm really loving how Mastodon has become a refuge for all the grizzled seafarers on the ocean of the internet. They pop up in my feed and their bios all say something like
"I've been online for longer than the internet. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. 56k modems on fire in the light of Usenet. I watched IRC forks glitter in the dark near the Gateway 3000. All those moments will be lost in slop, like tears in rain. Time to deshittify."
Unless those refugees are Jews, then it's basically like being on Twitter or Facebook circa 2017.
@serge I initially had a harsher response to this, then I went through your feed, and I'll instead simply say this:
I get where you're coming from, but your post was extremely off-topic, and I think is more likely to cost than gain you allies. You can agree or not agree with how Mastodon has a disproportionate number of grizzled tech veterans, but I don't think that's the right context to bring Zionism into the chat. And if you were actually around in 2017? Honestly, I'd *take* 2017 Twitter or Facebook over 2025 *anything*. So I'm not even entirely sure what your point was
I'm pointing out that there's a high degree of antisemitism on the Fediverse.
I didn't bring up Zionism. I talked about antisemitism, and I can assure you that there's plenty of antisemitism thrown at Jews who have either never expressed an opinion on Zionism, or who have expressed anti-Zionist views.
I was on Twitter in ~2008/2009, so yeah I was on twitter in 2017.
My point was that antisemitism and harassment of Jews was widespread then,. and that's about the level that the Fediverse is now.
@Duckbill4994 @bmp @[email protected]
I think so. I also think the first amendment doesn’t apply to this anymore, so watch yourself. It’s not nice out there.
Saying that the Israeli government is doing bad thing is not antisemitic, unless it's said in an antisemitic way.
Having criticism doesn't give one carte blanche to express that criticism any way they like.
For example, someone might have disagreed with President Obama on issues of foreign policy, but that does not then give them the right to use the N-word.
Too many people are using criticism of the Israeli government to call for murdering Jews, as just one example, or by making comparisons of Jews to Nazis, both of which are antisemitic.
There is plenty of Israeli governmental policy criticism, including from me, but not expressed without antisemitic hate speech.
> Saying that the Israeli government is doing bad thing is not antisemitic, unless it's said in an antisemitic way.
Easy agreement here,
> Having criticism doesn't give one carte blanche to express that criticism any way they like.
Same here. Normal discourse only.
> For example, someone might have disagreed with President Obama on issues of foreign policy, but that does not then give them the right to use the N-word.
On the same page as of yet!
> Too many people are using criticism of the Israeli government to call for murdering Jews, as just one example, or by making comparisons of Jews to Nazis, both of which are antisemitic.
Calling for murdering Jews is indeed classic anti-semitism.
Comparing Jews to Nazis is anti-semitic as well, **BUT** drawing clear parallel's between the Israeli government and Nazi Germany in the light of genocide (and in the case of Israel sometimes even worse then genocide) should be permitted. As it's clear and present. It's a way of saying that the Israeli Government should know better.
> There is plenty of Israeli governmental policy criticism, including from me, but not expressed in a hateful way.
I disagree here. I currently have a dislike for the Israeli Government because of their hateful way's. Saying I cannot be hateful back to them is odd.
And just to be sure; the PLO and later Hamas are no picnic either. (Not part of the talk here, but wanted to have said it)
<fake Yorkshire accent>
56k modem? Luxury! When I were a lad ...
🙃
@TheLancashireman Yeah, I've already had a mate saying "Pah! 2800 baud rate was all we had".
I'm not actually sure how fast(slow) my first connection was, because after I finished my MA in 1991 I was offline for about 8 years and missed all the very slow bits!
2800 baud, you speed freak 1200\75 BBC Micro Prestel was my first online experience.
@cascheranno @Mark62 @Janeishly @TheLancashireman
110 Baud?... we'd get 1/2 baud if we were lucky... and that was my gran talking to my friend's gran over the "speaking telegraph" (once the operator had connected them) and talking in boops and beeps, and passing that on to me to type into the cardboard box we used as a computer!
[Apologies, clearly I've watched *that* Monty Python sketch too many times.]
@level98 @cascheranno @Mark62 @Janeishly @TheLancashireman 300 baud. X.25. 5 bit baudot. Paper tapes.
I was (honestly) almost crushed to death by a cabinet full of punch cards...
@rrb @level98 @Mark62 @Janeishly @TheLancashireman
(Bows) Senpai!
Freshman cs let us optionally do cards. From then on, sometimes I’d see stacks. Tap eluded me so I consider it a ‘someday…’ list item. And as a kid, my friend’s dad taught in tech so we used to raid the punch machine cabs => great gobs of beige confetti.
I'm too young for all this, but I worked with someone who was carrying a program on punched cards in a tray.
Tripped.
Full face on the floor.
Cards still in perfect order.
Hardcore, she was.
@Niall @shawnhooper @Janeishly
That's why it's fake 🤣
@Janeishly @TheLancashireman our first one was a Teletron modem hooked up to the Commodore 64, doing 300 baud, or 1200/75 (handy for downloading!). Later, on my first Mac, I spent a couple of hours fetching Netscape 2.0 over a 2400 modem.
Good times.
56k was high speed! With it you can even download a full photo in "high resolution" (with a little patience).
At the early 300 bauds you could literally see the bytes one by one as they came in.
@Janeishly @PizzaDemon
Oh god, HP products used to be -so good-! And like, cheap! The desktops were bricks that just worked, the printers you could drop off a truck mid printjob and they'd be fine.
And...now...
@Oggie @PizzaDemon Exactly! The printers! So good!
Meanwhile my laptop before this one was an HP because there were no suitable Asuses (Asusii??) when I came to buy one. When it got stolen from my car I was annoyed, because expense, and hammering a new Windows machine into shape always takes about a fortnight, BUT I was also sniggering at the fact that someone was now trying to use my piece of shit HP machine that had been crap since I bought it.
@Janeishly @PizzaDemon
Very much that gene wilder Wonka gif 'oh no, wait, come back'.
But i'm sorry you lost the laptop if only because it IS such a pain to set it all up again
@Janeishly That's not the list of things a real old timer on the Internet would bring up. We would talk of goats from Christmas Island, girls hanging out in tubs, and the sharing of cups.
That is, we would...if the filters didn't instantly block such conversations.
I feel so seen.
Jay Thoden van Velzen ☁️🛡️
Janeishly
Serge from Babka
Benjamin Pollack
Amateur Human
Mark ☸
PC
etsy
GabeMoralesVR
חנן כהן • Hanan Cohen
Dave
Mark62
D2
Level 98 🇺🇦
mirth
RRB
DeterioratedStucco
Shawn Hooper (he/him)
derptron
fedops 💙💛
Raven 
Griff
baconandcoconut
Raglan Niall 
gio
Vertigo #$FF
Axel Gutmann
Max
mirabilos
Scott Cain
Cazfan He/Him
ezaquarii
keith
David Fleetwood - RG Admin
Andrés Hirunatan 🐌
sbi
Flaming Cheeto
Oggie
Kerr Avonsen (she/her)
Jake in the desert
rogerggbr
Russ Sharek
sungo 
Raeyn
GeePawHill