I’m making more space by filling some in
Howdy [subscriber:firstname | default:yall],
This is the Wolfpaw Weekly. Don’t remember signing up or don’t want this anymore? It’s easy to unsubscribe.
It’s been quite a busy week here at the dog digs. We’ve had more people move in with us, since We’re all moving in together during the pandemic. I’m happy for the additions, but it also means that I’ve lost my private office and setup that I’ve carefully curated for years. In between moving everything around, clearing out closets and selling/donating furniture and other bulky items I’ve not gotten a lot of work done this week.
We still have a lot to do, but it’s become much more manageable. I’m looking forward to a better 2021 for many reasons, in part because of my hopes for a stronger, more grounded set of relationships and household.
This has also been a huge news week, which I shied away from so early on last week but that I’ve got a lot of articles and podcasts to share about this week. Enjoy!
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This is a very good dog, like all border collies are.
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On building empathy – Angela Jin
I enjoyed watching Angela and Allie on this week’s WP AMA discussing community building. The process of community building, engagement, and most of all moderation are challenging topics to cover. I think that it all has to start with empathy, and the breakdown of a lot of communities stem from a lack of empathy.
I didn’t comment on the failed coup attempt last week, but it was consuming most of my thoughts for a few days. A lot of views on it that I’m seeing flip back and forth between, “they were doing it for the clout” to, the troubling reality that thousands of people have violent plans that they can clearly pull off if they so choose.
We Worked Together on the Internet. Last Week, He Stormed the Capitol. – Ben Smith, NYT
Here’s one of those, “he doesn’t even believe this but wants interactions” views. I don’t know why Ben Smith didn’t use Baked Alaska’s preferred stage name, when that’s clearly what this is about.
UFO internet has been going into overdrive with some released documents that the CIA has already put out. The expectation is that the FBI and others will be releasing their files on UFOs within the next few months. What if we’re not alone but they just don’t want any part of this mess down here?
Every Deleted Parler Post, Many With Users’ Location Data, Has Been Archived – Dell Cameron, Gizmodo
The lack of real security around Parler was almost astounding. It’s been reported that @donk_enby put together a team in such a rapid fashion to scrape dozens of terabytes of Parler data in part because security and coding around the platform were so shoddy.
I mentioned these internet connected chastity cages in a previous newsletter, where security researchers warned that they were susceptible to hacking. Well guess what, people are hacking them and demanding Bitcoin to unlock them. What if someone discovers a new kink from this?
I use Telegram all the time. My preferred texting platform is Signal, but thanks to custom sticker packs and group chats, it is by far the most popular chat app for furries. There are a lot of good groups that meet via the platform! I just hope that the new influx of users isn’t mainly based around far-right WhatsApp/Twitter/Parler ex-pats and brings the platform lower.
The Emoji That Nearly Weren’t – Jennifer Daniel
Apparently there may not have been new emoji in 2021 due to the pandemic. But the Unicode Consortium used the idea of ZWJ sequences to make some new emoji. And they are very good. More inclusive, and more specific of feelings that they are meant to evoke.
New 2021 emoji from top left to lower right: face in clouds, face exhaling, face with spiral eyes, heart on fire, mending heart
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Welcome To My Life | Cartoon Network Studios Shorts
This came out a few years ago, but I was reminded of it this weekend by a friend sharing this video with me. I love these little CN shorts that focus on treating one another better.
Sci-Fi Short Film: “Here Comes Frieda” | DUST Exclusive
If sci-fi is gonna be dark and dystopian, may as well get it over in seven minutes.
I haven’t played this game (I haven’t played most games that Jacob Geller talks about), but I can appreciate the beauty, the music, and the depth of thought put into the game. I’d consider watching a stream at least, if not playing it because I am bad at playing games for long times.
Food Theory: MrBeast Burger Is NOT What You Think…
I don’t know how I feel about ghost kitchens. I mean it makes a lot of sense and it can be an efficient use of resources. But every time we find ways to make capitalist institutions more efficient, people are hurt.
plants outside vs. plants inside
This is absolutely plants in my house.
A Bigger Badder Bowser – Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury – Nintendo Switch
Ignore what I said about the Disco Elysium video. I am probably gonna play this. No reason, just because.
*Looks at giant Bowser*
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Multiple Atari 2600 Muppets games exist, but this one has to be the best without even playing it. HT to Chris Wiegman for this.
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Keeping Native Languages Alive with Anton Treuer – Factually! with Adam Conover
I appreciate more people discussing and thinking about the idea that language diversity is important and valuable. This was a very good discussion, and the guest is unsurprisingly very intelligent.
#171 Account Suspended – Reply All
Another conversation about Trump and QAnon accounts getting suspended from most social media platforms. I’m annoyed that it took this long, but glad that it happened. I feel discussion about it should be just that though: discussion. I could type a long screed about it, but I want to bounce ideas off of yall and get feedback.
Content Hell, Part 2: When Exactly Should We Have Banned Trump? – The Content Mines
another another conversation. This one touches on the idea of socialized social media, which is something that I think could be very valuable, if hard to properly manage and moderate. Managing social media is very hard as is. This would make it even harder. But maybe that’s worth putting in the work if we’re going to continue down this path.
Has JK Rowling destroyed Harry Potter Fandom? – Our Opinions Are Correct
I’m personally not so huge into Harry Potter that I’d built a lifestyle around it, but we have plenty of HP stuff around the house and I read the books and watched the movies. I’m already ok with being done with it, but doubly so now that more people are seeing what us queer folks have seen for nearly a decade of JKR on social media. Like the bannings above it’s frustrating that it took so long, it’s not going to solve a problem, but it’s still good that the reckoning is happening.
Remember to share the stuff that you liked this week, or let me know what you think of my shares. See yall in a week and stay safe! 💝
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