Joel Berger
@teknomantik.old-home.net
Here for people, not "protocols."
Nerdy guy with opinions, mostly that people should care about each other. Dad of two awesome young humans, sysadmin for the money, overly-distracted anime fan, baseball and hockey enjoyer. He/him.
⚾ #Rockies
🏒 #GoAvsGo
Nerdy guy with opinions, mostly that people should care about each other. Dad of two awesome young humans, sysadmin for the money, overly-distracted anime fan, baseball and hockey enjoyer. He/him.
⚾ #Rockies
🏒 #GoAvsGo
Reposted by Joel Berger
This is Lil Cat.
She’s in Mendocino. A little shy. VERY sweet. 8 years old. And was well loved.
Can anyone give her a soft spot to land?
That face!
If not, can you share?
www.mendocinohumane.org#sl_embed&pag...
She’s in Mendocino. A little shy. VERY sweet. 8 years old. And was well loved.
Can anyone give her a soft spot to land?
That face!
If not, can you share?
www.mendocinohumane.org#sl_embed&pag...
February 16, 2026 at 2:07 AM
This is Lil Cat.
She’s in Mendocino. A little shy. VERY sweet. 8 years old. And was well loved.
Can anyone give her a soft spot to land?
That face!
If not, can you share?
www.mendocinohumane.org#sl_embed&pag...
She’s in Mendocino. A little shy. VERY sweet. 8 years old. And was well loved.
Can anyone give her a soft spot to land?
That face!
If not, can you share?
www.mendocinohumane.org#sl_embed&pag...
Reposted by Joel Berger
Also, for those who are following the adventures of the Little Whistle Federation That Could, we just passed 700,000 whistles shipped total.
Of those 700,000 whistles, more than half of them were shipped in these 14 days of February.
Of those 700,000 whistles, more than half of them were shipped in these 14 days of February.
February 15, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Also, for those who are following the adventures of the Little Whistle Federation That Could, we just passed 700,000 whistles shipped total.
Of those 700,000 whistles, more than half of them were shipped in these 14 days of February.
Of those 700,000 whistles, more than half of them were shipped in these 14 days of February.
Reposted by Joel Berger
Reposted by Joel Berger
CU Denver stole almost $6k of my scholarship award last year and said they had no student research funding (I only wanted $300 for my thesis). They also pulled transcription software from a friend (that was a disability accommodation), exacerbating their health issues and delaying their graduation.
My employer, Univ. Colorado will pay OpenAI $2M/year under the banner of “equity”. That’s 54 full scholarships / year. Plus, our IT will be able to read our chatGPT logs, and our chats can be requested under public records law. No thanks. Surveillance is not equity
www.axios.com/local/boulde...
www.axios.com/local/boulde...
CU signs $2M OpenAI deal for ChatGPT access
Students and faculty will gain access to ChatGPT Edu starting in March under a three-year deal.
www.axios.com
February 15, 2026 at 12:06 AM
CU Denver stole almost $6k of my scholarship award last year and said they had no student research funding (I only wanted $300 for my thesis). They also pulled transcription software from a friend (that was a disability accommodation), exacerbating their health issues and delaying their graduation.
Reposted by Joel Berger
incredible how white men are given the benefit of the doubt when anything coming from marginalized groups are treated with utmost suspicion and distorted beyond recognition
February 13, 2026 at 5:05 AM
incredible how white men are given the benefit of the doubt when anything coming from marginalized groups are treated with utmost suspicion and distorted beyond recognition
Reposted by Joel Berger
there's a lot of reason to doubt him!
1. the Nazi tattoo!
2. keeping the Nazi tattoo!
3. lying about the Nazi tattoo!
4. only covering up the Nazi tattoo after backlash!
5. he's written racist and misogynist things on the Internet!
6. HE'S SEEKING MORE POWER & HAS EVERY INCENTIVE TO LIE
1. the Nazi tattoo!
2. keeping the Nazi tattoo!
3. lying about the Nazi tattoo!
4. only covering up the Nazi tattoo after backlash!
5. he's written racist and misogynist things on the Internet!
6. HE'S SEEKING MORE POWER & HAS EVERY INCENTIVE TO LIE
February 13, 2026 at 5:13 AM
there's a lot of reason to doubt him!
1. the Nazi tattoo!
2. keeping the Nazi tattoo!
3. lying about the Nazi tattoo!
4. only covering up the Nazi tattoo after backlash!
5. he's written racist and misogynist things on the Internet!
6. HE'S SEEKING MORE POWER & HAS EVERY INCENTIVE TO LIE
1. the Nazi tattoo!
2. keeping the Nazi tattoo!
3. lying about the Nazi tattoo!
4. only covering up the Nazi tattoo after backlash!
5. he's written racist and misogynist things on the Internet!
6. HE'S SEEKING MORE POWER & HAS EVERY INCENTIVE TO LIE
Reposted by Joel Berger
Republicans rebranded their original SAVE Act to the SAVE America Act, but its goal is the same. They want to stop Americans from using their RIGHT to vote.
I was a no then, I’ll be a no now.
I was a no then, I’ll be a no now.
February 12, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Republicans rebranded their original SAVE Act to the SAVE America Act, but its goal is the same. They want to stop Americans from using their RIGHT to vote.
I was a no then, I’ll be a no now.
I was a no then, I’ll be a no now.
Reposted by Joel Berger
Gabriel Landeskog blows up a defenseman on the forecheck during his first shift of the Olympics.
He’s back.
He’s back.
February 11, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Gabriel Landeskog blows up a defenseman on the forecheck during his first shift of the Olympics.
He’s back.
He’s back.
Reposted by Joel Berger
She/Her
February 11, 2026 at 6:53 AM
Reposted by Joel Berger
The pronoun labeler, which was by far the most useful labeler on the site, was deleted by its creator. But thanks to @ripperoni.com there’s a new one available. I highly recommend it. It’s a great way to share your pronouns or see someone else’s pronouns at a glance.
bsky.app/profile/pron...
bsky.app/profile/pron...
bsky.app
February 11, 2026 at 6:39 AM
The pronoun labeler, which was by far the most useful labeler on the site, was deleted by its creator. But thanks to @ripperoni.com there’s a new one available. I highly recommend it. It’s a great way to share your pronouns or see someone else’s pronouns at a glance.
bsky.app/profile/pron...
bsky.app/profile/pron...
As is often the case, rahaeli has good insight. I'll mention that I still think Discord's decision sucks, and I absolutely don't recommend sending in your ID, but it sounds a bit like they're trying to do their best with a really shitty situation.
While this absolutely sucks, we are going to see a lot more places implementing universal global age verification over this next year, because the number of states and countries legally requiring it has gotten to the point no one can keep up anymore.
Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month
February 10, 2026 at 11:05 PM
As is often the case, rahaeli has good insight. I'll mention that I still think Discord's decision sucks, and I absolutely don't recommend sending in your ID, but it sounds a bit like they're trying to do their best with a really shitty situation.
Reposted by Joel Berger
There's a super-viral post going around on here with replies and quotes disabled that is just a rip-off of someone else's image from more than a decade ago. See old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinte... for what *might* be the original source but it's hard to say.
Tried to take a photo of a grasshopper on my windshield, but it looks like its giant and destroying the town
Posted in r/mildlyinteresting by u/AhoffNYC • 4,722 points and 333 comments
old.reddit.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:10 PM
There's a super-viral post going around on here with replies and quotes disabled that is just a rip-off of someone else's image from more than a decade ago. See old.reddit.com/r/mildlyinte... for what *might* be the original source but it's hard to say.
Reposted by Joel Berger
Team USA Curler Rich Ruohonen:
"We'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention what's going on in Minnesota...I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a constitution... and what's happening in Minnesota is wrong. There's no shades of gray. It's clear."
"We'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention what's going on in Minnesota...I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a constitution... and what's happening in Minnesota is wrong. There's no shades of gray. It's clear."
February 10, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Team USA Curler Rich Ruohonen:
"We'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention what's going on in Minnesota...I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a constitution... and what's happening in Minnesota is wrong. There's no shades of gray. It's clear."
"We'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention what's going on in Minnesota...I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a constitution... and what's happening in Minnesota is wrong. There's no shades of gray. It's clear."
Reposted by Joel Berger
The wealth of the enshittifier class stands atop a tower made of bricks labeled “it’s a solved problem”, “you just need to read a HOWTO”, “it’s open source so you can fix it yourself”, and *especially* “I don’t understand why anyone would want that”.
February 9, 2026 at 8:30 PM
The wealth of the enshittifier class stands atop a tower made of bricks labeled “it’s a solved problem”, “you just need to read a HOWTO”, “it’s open source so you can fix it yourself”, and *especially* “I don’t understand why anyone would want that”.
Reposted by Joel Berger
Or most anything else, to be clear. Part of the reason it's important to fight for good policy is that in most use cases it's genuinely difficult to replace things like this when they choose to bow to bad policy.
Discord gives you free voice chat, free file storage and transfer, persistent history, federated direct messaging, powerful mod tool support, and a huge third party app ecosystem, and setting up your own server takes two clicks.
So that’s your table stakes for getting people to move back to IRC.
So that’s your table stakes for getting people to move back to IRC.
February 9, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Or most anything else, to be clear. Part of the reason it's important to fight for good policy is that in most use cases it's genuinely difficult to replace things like this when they choose to bow to bad policy.
Reposted by Joel Berger
If you're going to share that "24 alternatives to Discord" link that's floating around, read it first. Most of these are not viable for the average user.
February 9, 2026 at 4:23 PM
If you're going to share that "24 alternatives to Discord" link that's floating around, read it first. Most of these are not viable for the average user.
Reposted by Joel Berger
February 9, 2026 at 3:04 PM
I initially quoted this with a call for @colorado.gov to decline his invitation as well ... only to find out that Polis himself was also excluded. You know, Jared Polis who's Jewish and openly gay.
So yeah, when the animus is this clear, it's time for Democratic governors to say no thanks.
So yeah, when the animus is this clear, it's time for Democratic governors to say no thanks.
Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) says he was uninvited from a bipartisan White House dinner for governors
"As the nation’s only Black governor, I can’t ignore that being singled out for exclusion from this bipartisan tradition carries an added weight — whether that was the intent or not"
"As the nation’s only Black governor, I can’t ignore that being singled out for exclusion from this bipartisan tradition carries an added weight — whether that was the intent or not"
February 9, 2026 at 7:14 PM
I initially quoted this with a call for @colorado.gov to decline his invitation as well ... only to find out that Polis himself was also excluded. You know, Jared Polis who's Jewish and openly gay.
So yeah, when the animus is this clear, it's time for Democratic governors to say no thanks.
So yeah, when the animus is this clear, it's time for Democratic governors to say no thanks.
Reposted by Joel Berger
The *only* response to this is all the other governors drop out.
Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) says he was uninvited from a bipartisan White House dinner for governors
"As the nation’s only Black governor, I can’t ignore that being singled out for exclusion from this bipartisan tradition carries an added weight — whether that was the intent or not"
"As the nation’s only Black governor, I can’t ignore that being singled out for exclusion from this bipartisan tradition carries an added weight — whether that was the intent or not"
February 9, 2026 at 5:24 PM
The *only* response to this is all the other governors drop out.
Or most anything else, to be clear. Part of the reason it's important to fight for good policy is that in most use cases it's genuinely difficult to replace things like this when they choose to bow to bad policy.
Discord gives you free voice chat, free file storage and transfer, persistent history, federated direct messaging, powerful mod tool support, and a huge third party app ecosystem, and setting up your own server takes two clicks.
So that’s your table stakes for getting people to move back to IRC.
So that’s your table stakes for getting people to move back to IRC.
February 9, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Or most anything else, to be clear. Part of the reason it's important to fight for good policy is that in most use cases it's genuinely difficult to replace things like this when they choose to bow to bad policy.
Reposted by Joel Berger
Discord gives you free voice chat, free file storage and transfer, persistent history, federated direct messaging, powerful mod tool support, and a huge third party app ecosystem, and setting up your own server takes two clicks.
So that’s your table stakes for getting people to move back to IRC.
So that’s your table stakes for getting people to move back to IRC.
February 9, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Discord gives you free voice chat, free file storage and transfer, persistent history, federated direct messaging, powerful mod tool support, and a huge third party app ecosystem, and setting up your own server takes two clicks.
So that’s your table stakes for getting people to move back to IRC.
So that’s your table stakes for getting people to move back to IRC.
If you're going to share that "24 alternatives to Discord" link that's floating around, read it first. Most of these are not viable for the average user.
February 9, 2026 at 4:23 PM
If you're going to share that "24 alternatives to Discord" link that's floating around, read it first. Most of these are not viable for the average user.
Reposted by Joel Berger
"if we abolish ICE how will we handle undocumented immigrants" well I'm ineligible to run for office for so, so many reasons but I've got a step-by-step plan for anyone who needs it:
1. help them get some documents
1. help them get some documents
February 7, 2026 at 10:55 PM
"if we abolish ICE how will we handle undocumented immigrants" well I'm ineligible to run for office for so, so many reasons but I've got a step-by-step plan for anyone who needs it:
1. help them get some documents
1. help them get some documents
Reposted by Joel Berger
This is a FANTASTIC time to primary your local D electeds from the left.
We’re looking at another very big Dem overperformance tonight—in a Trump+13 district. Dem Chasity Martinez is up 61-39 with more than half the vote in. Notably, like in TX last weekend, the e-day vote has been even *better* for her than the early vote. voterportal.sos.la.gov/graphical
February 8, 2026 at 3:09 AM
This is a FANTASTIC time to primary your local D electeds from the left.
Reposted by Joel Berger
If you have a LARGE follower count, pls know that Scott Horton is a chronic thief of posts. He also gets things very wrong and won't take posts down. No matter how nicely you ask.
Please unfollow him and do not repost.
Although he steals everything, Horton was recently verified by Bluesky.
Please unfollow him and do not repost.
Although he steals everything, Horton was recently verified by Bluesky.
Check the words. Check the time stamps.
Fucking clown shit.
Fucking clown shit.
February 8, 2026 at 12:32 AM
If you have a LARGE follower count, pls know that Scott Horton is a chronic thief of posts. He also gets things very wrong and won't take posts down. No matter how nicely you ask.
Please unfollow him and do not repost.
Although he steals everything, Horton was recently verified by Bluesky.
Please unfollow him and do not repost.
Although he steals everything, Horton was recently verified by Bluesky.