Hello #fediverse, I'm Rolandas!

I'm a programmer by trade, currently on a long break from a regular job. I haven't used social media in any serious capacity for 17 years, but with all excitement about fediverse I'm willing to give Mastodon a try :-)

I'll write about whatever comes to mind, but mostly it'll be about personal projects (I'm building an RSS reader), music production (very new to this, been learning a ton), free software, internet, privacy, and some other things.

#introduction

✨ A Little (About) Joy ✨

While living in Taiwan, I explored #Japan, #Bali and #SouthKorea! I immersed myself in new cultures, loved the food and gained new perspectives. It truly opened my eyes to the beauty of the world!

Have you traveled abroad? What was your most inspiring trip?

#intro #AAPI

This might not look like innovation, but it is.

In a marriage of old and new, in the interior of the province, they've found a really good solution to protect sheep from the soaring temperatures.

They're grazed under the solar panels. The scrub they consume keeps down wildfire risk as well. #solar #renewables

https://www.diariosur.es/malaga/rebano-1500-ovejas-cuida-planta-solar-teba-20260618231506-nt.html

What are some ways to improve your home feed?

I started following some hashtags but now my feed is full of bot posts, big site articles, other languages etc. The signal-to-noise ratio really declined.

Do I just replace my hashtag follows with more specific tags or hide every bot account? I found the language filter settings but they only apply to public timelines. Are carefully designed filters the answer?

#question #fediverse #feditips

I am custodian & digitiser of a collection of old slide photographs of the UK. I thought this one seemed appropriate to post for the summer solstice.

It was taken 60 years ago, when visitors just wondered around the stones, rather than the more controlled experience you get today.

For the record, this has been edited (by hand) to remove identifiable people from the photo, so a small part of the stone has been patched.

#silentSunday #summerSolstice #stonehenge

Any recommendations for an introductory textbook on social theory?

I am preparing a syllabus for myself to catch up on social theory, chiefly from Marx up to post-colonial/structuralist stuff, as relates to history in particular and humanities an social sciences in general, as it's an area I'm sorely lacking in.

I've some particular interests like Marxism, feminism, and Bourdieu, but I am thinking perhaps following a textbook would be more productive and would be less likely to lead to blind spots.

If you know of a good "introduction to social theory" syllabus that's very welcome recommendation too.