American recommendation letters: “This candidate is the most brilliant person alive. I will never in my entire life have a student as smart as this one again.”

European recommendation letters: “This person completed the requirements for my class. They are currently alive.”

Let’s start the year by reflecting on the colossal waste of resources in Bitcoin mining:

During 2022 Bitcoin consumed 161 TWh of electricity in total, exceeding a country such as Sweden.

Related CO2 emissions were ~90 Mt; again negating the entire global net savings from EVs.

#JohnMastodon is proof that things *CAN* go viral here on Mastodon, but the key is that *YOU* are the algorithm. The reason that the John Mastodon meme showed up on other people's timelines is because so many users boosted the posts.

The lesson here is: please don't just favourite something if you really enjoyed it; BOOST it so that other people can enjoy it, too! This is the only reason why I bother to create as large a social graph as I can on Mastodon—to act as an amplifier. You can, too!❤️😉