This is unreal. The 2026 code4lib conference has been cancelled unilaterally by Carnegie Mellon University because the Department of Education raised issues with the diversity scholarships (which have been constant for at least a decade, if not longer):

> An applicant must be a member of a group not well-represented within the code4lib community, including but not limited to: women, people of color, LGBTQ+, ability/disability, non-binary gender identities, etc.

https://lists.clir.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind2512&L=CODE4LIB&P=19235

https://2025.code4lib.org/general-info/scholarships

Pro tip: clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:

...?si=[tracker_ID_here]

This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.

Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.

Mastodon isn't perfect.

But the fact a social network exists that is completely free to use

has no venture capital investors

has no shareholders to answer to

has no growth targets

with a web interface with zero tracking cookies

and mobile apps with zero trackers at all

with ten thousand server administrators who donate their time for user safety

is - in my opinion - mindbogglingly cool, given the state of the world we live in. Not everything has to be shit. People make things better.

Started making this year's Christmas prints featuring a Neon Tetra.

#lincout #mastoart #printmaking #art

Hello!

30 trillion cells in my body are human, whatever that means, and 38 trillion are various bacteria! There are a bunch of viruses too which are currently impacting my functionality!

I am 68 trillion microorganisms in a trench coat which results in a sort of self-propelling, self-replicating digestion tube, but I am paid to act as if I am a clean, rational, thinking machine!

This is very stressful for all 68 trillion of us, so sometimes we complain about it on the internet.

Plastic recycling* doesn't exist**

Your personal carbon footprint* doesn't exist**

Carbon offsets* don't exist**

Carbon capture* doesn't exist**

Green growth* doesn't exist**

__________
* At the scale necessary to matter in the slightest

** Is and always was an intentional deception perpetrated by industry and those complicit with them to avoid any meaningful change or regulation

Britain's oldest tree says fuck you to JK Rowling and, after being a male for thousands of years, began producing female fruit.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-s-oldest-tree-the-fortingall-yew-is-undergoing-a-sex-change-a6717796.html

#science #sex #jkrowling #terfs #sexisnonbinary #TransRightsAreHumanRights