Reader

Some of you may not know (or do know) I have a lot of original worlds that I have created as a writer and one of the worlds has nudity in the art. This made it Not Safe For Work and have always worried that someone would click on the blog, get hit in the face by the nudity and get in trouble. I also did not want to leave writefreely so I decided to see if I could hack it so I could add my own NSFW filter so that if someone landed on the page, they would be good and have a chance to surf away.

I succeeded. Here is what I did and the code that I wrote. (Be warned, the Javascript is probably pretty ugly. I'm not used to writing in it so it's pretty hacked together.

NOTE: This only works if you are self hosting. I have not played with write.as since I don't have a subscription there.

Step 1 – Get the Template Files

You'll want to access your server, go to your writefreely directory and then into templates. Download the following files:

• chorus-collection.tmpl
• chorus-collection-post.tmpl
• collection.tmpl
• collection-post.tmpl

Step 2 – Add the code

Please note that you'll want to do these steps with each template file that you had downloaded.

Add the following CSS code right before the </head> tag in the template.

<style>
	.nsfw-wrapper {
		position: relative;
		display: inline-block;
	}

	.nsfw-wrapper img.nsfw {
		filter: blur(20px);
		transition: filter 0.3s ease;
		cursor: pointer;
	}

	.nsfw-wrapper.revealed img.nsfw {
		filter: blur(0);
	}

	.nsfw-overlay {
		position: absolute;
		inset: 0;
		background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.45);
		color: white;
		font-size: 1.1rem;
		font-weight: bold;
		display: flex;
		justify-content: center;
		align-items: center;
		pointer-events: none;
		border-radius: 4px;
		transition: opacity 0.2s ease;
	}

	.nsfw-wrapper.revealed .nsfw-overlay {
		opacity: 0;
	}
</style>

After that, scroll down to the </body> tag and add the following javascript code.

<script>
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
	const nsfwImages = document.querySelectorAll("img.nsfw");

	nsfwImages.forEach(img => {
		// Create wrapper
		const wrapper = document.createElement("div");
		wrapper.classList.add("nsfw-wrapper");

		img.parentNode.insertBefore(wrapper, img);
		wrapper.appendChild(img);

		// Create overlay
		const overlay = document.createElement("div");
		overlay.classList.add("nsfw-overlay");
		overlay.textContent = "NSFW — Click to Reveal";
		wrapper.appendChild(overlay);

		wrapper.addEventListener("click", () => {
			wrapper.classList.toggle("revealed");
		});
	});
});
</script>

AGAIN! You'll need to do that with all four files that you downloaded above.

Step 2 – Add Fediverse tag (OPTIONAL)

While in there, you can also add the meta tag you can use so that mastodon can recognize your blog when seen by a mastodon client. Until the next patch from Writefreely comes out.

<meta name="fediverse:creator" content="@USER@FEDIVERSE.SERVER">

Step 3 – Add the class to your image!

Okay. This is the part was a bit finicky. I attempted to use the method of attaching the class to a markdown link but it never worked for me. I had to use the whole html code to get it to work but you'll add the class nsfw to your link.

<img src="path/to/image" alt="image_alt" class="nsfw"/>

Step 4 – Restart your Writefreely instance

This is a must because when the program launches, it caches the template files. You won't see the changes if you don't restart it. If you're on ubuntu, you're command should look something like this:

sudo systemctl restart writefreely

After that you should be good! It should look something like this!

Ending

There you have it. There might have been an easier way to do that but with two days of experimenting, this was the best I could do. Of course, make sure to back up those *.tmpl files because with each patch from writefreely, there is a good chance they could be overridden and put you back to square one.

Hit me up on mastodon if you have any questions!

So, not sure if this has been all put into one spot but last month I had issues with my docker. After running the weekly patches upgrading my machines to keep them current, all of a sudden all my dockers began to shut down and was throwing an error stating:

unable to start container process: error during container init: open sysctl net.ipv4.ipunprivilegedport_start file: reopen fd 8: permission denied: unknown

Thanks for the wonderful people over on r/docker, it was discovered that the problem was due to the release of Containerd.io 2.2.0-2. For some reason, this software does not work with the docker. This was discovered a month ago as of this post and there doesn't yet appear to be a fix.

If you are having issues, this is what I did. If you already have the newest version of containerd installed and getting the error, you can run the following:

sudo apt install containerd.io=1.7.28-1~ubuntu.24.04~noble

This will downgrade you back to 1.7.28-1 that works with the docker. Of course, I'm using Ubuntu so if you are not, you'll want to find the correct name for it. After this, put a hold on the containerd until they can fix it. I used the command:

sudo apt-mark hold containerd.io

This way I can keep getting the other updates without having to downgrade this every time.

I hope they figure this out cause I hate being out of date.

Tags: #uspol #politics

Even when I wrote the title for this post, I could feel how much that the sentence failed to capture the feeling everyone who wasn't a fascist was feeling. The 2024 #election did not go the direction that a lot of people thought. I mean, look at how much the #gop was fighting to change laws, to purge voter rolls, and all the other nefarious plans to steal the election. They thought they were going to lose as much as the #Democrats thought they were going to win. Everyone was caught off guard.

Since then, I have watched the hastags on the #fediverse, followed some of the content of YouTubers that I trust and caught up on a lot of the talk on corpo social media. There is a few things I found that surprised me.

Everyone is Standing Together

I think the thing that surprised me the most is that across the internet among the communities I follow, there have been an outpouring of support for the vulnerable groups that are going to be targeted by thew new regime coming in. Support links, advice, mentions of communities they can hide in. I did not see anything like this in the 2016 election.

I'm confident it is because we know what we're getting into but instead of just fury, there is also the helping of one another. That brought me to tears more than the loss of the election.

In a country that I had thought had lost this, I was happy to see that I was wrong. I'm doing better today because of the kindness and camaraderie that I have seen.

All is Not Lost

I know I say this and it has been only three days since the election loss. But I think it is something that needs to be said. We all had a lot of hope that the healing that President Biden had been bringing to this country after the damage Trump inflicted would continue under Vice President Harris. No, she was not the best choice but she was the only choice we had in time and I think the best chance of trying to win. She ran a good campaign and I'm proud of have had a sign for her and voted for her.

The reason I say there is hope in these coming times is because of the following things:

• Even if the GOP have a trifecta (control of the House, Senate, and White House), the cowardly Republicans are going to still play it safe when it comes to their own seats. They are still at the whim of their voters and things like Project 2025 have been detested by Americans on both sides of the line. I'm thinking that they may start small to see how much they can get away with and we have the ACLU to fight them tooth and claw. (The ACLU is always looking for donations to help the good fight).
• We only have to wait two years before we can vote again to remove the assholes from power. The House of Representatives come up once every two years and if you remember, the Trump Economy and situation was so bad, that the GOP lost so many seats. Also in the 2026 mid terms, not only are the 435 House seats not back open, 35 Senate seats will also and more than half of them held by Republicans.
• You are still here. I don't want this to sound hokey but you are still here. We were beaten, we are angry and disgusted at what our fellow citizens chose. But we are still here to fight for the rights of people to be safe, to be themselves, and for women to have full autonomy of their bodies. Right now there is nothing we can do but the time is coming to fight back again.

It will be dark Before it Becomes light

I won't lie to you or ramp my optimism up to 1000%. What is coming is dark and we are about to go through some bad times again. Unlike 2016, we know how bad of a leader Trump and his sycophants are but this time, we're dealing with someone who looks as if they are in the throes of dementia, who cares nothing for anyone but himself, and ready to appoint Nazis to positions of power.

Don't give up! We have been lucky that many of the fascists in Trump's circle are stupid. I mean, they wrote their entire plan out in a manifesto and published it for the world to see. They gave us the blueprint on how to block them.

But even stupid fascists are dangerous. We will need to keep putting pressure on our representatives and senators to make sure they don't stray (or give into their worst impulses if you live in a red state) and continue to point out that we are up against actual Nazis and that we will not accept a Christo-fascist theocracy. I believe in separation of Church and State and it is our right to speak, believe, and live the way we want to.

Hang in there! We'll get through this together.

I don't know how else to say it. I'm 40 years old, witnessed the Financial crisis of 2008, watched the rise of Authoritarianism in 2016, the Great Plague of 2020, and the implementation of fascism in 2025. I'm tired.

It is shocking how much has changed over the years since I was a teenager to the age I am now. Shocked of not only how cruel people have become but how so much progress in society has been lost.

I grew up with family telling me that we were to love our neighbors, good traditional beliefs, and the importance of religion just to see them put on those fucking red hats and somehow delude themselves into thinking God and the MAGA movement were one in the same.

Though I was on the fence when it came to Religion (ultra conservative family, really hard to shake some learned behaviors), they made me renounce my religion and do a completely 180 dismissing traditional beliefs to embrace what I have come to learn is a much more honest, freeing, and loving existence.

I did not realize how much narrow mindedness existed in the way I was raised. The hate I used to spout as a stupid teenager. I was saved thanks to my loving, bi wife who was the antithesis of how I was raised.

I'm not trying to be political. I'm just trying to understand how so much hate could win again after so much work of trying to be considerate and create a world where everyone could co exist.

That was the goal as a millenial. We were going to be the ones to break the norms, to create a better world due to the previous generation abandoning us. We made the crack, Gen-Z started to push through but this hate, this inequality burned them out and they feel as hopeless as I do.

The thing I am sure of is that I'm not done fighting. I may be older and do not have the same energy as I used to but I'm an old soldier. I supported the mission in Afghanistan, I cried when I saw those people I tried to help put back under Taliban control. I'm not giving up. I will fight this fascist dictatorship any way I can.

I'm just tired.

If you've spent any time with Japanese media, you've likely encountered the story of a character being pursued by multiple members of the opposite gender. This is the hallmark of the harem genre, which has become both popular and somewhat controversial over the years (Ayers). While the concept may seem familiar, especially with its historical roots, the harem genre in Japanese media is quite different from its Western associations.

In the West, the term “harem” typically suggests the image of a group of women collected for the pleasure of nobility, sometimes linked with the idea of a brothel (“Harem”). However, in Japanese culture, the meaning is less about possession or sexual fantasy and more aligned with feelings of affection and romantic interest. The harem genre is considered a form of moé (萌え), a term used to describe the strong emotional attachment or affection felt towards characters in anime, manga, video games, and other media directed at the otaku community. Moé can refer to affection for any subject, but in the context of the harem genre, it captures the romantic attention the protagonist receives (“Moe (slang)”).

In the Japanese context, a harem typically involves three or more characters of the opposite gender who are romantically or affectionately interested in the protagonist. While most harem stories feature a male protagonist surrounded by female pursuers, there are also examples where the roles are reversed or where the characters are of the same gender (“Tropes”). This emotional and romantic dynamic, rather than a purely sexual one, is what defines the harem genre in Japan, making it distinct from the traditional Western view.

Classical Literature and Early Influences and Early influence on the Genre

The idea of romantic entanglements and relationships involving multiple love interests isn't new to Japanese storytelling. Long before the modern harem genre became popular in anime and manga, these themes were explored in classical Japanese literature. One of the best-known examples is The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century. Often called the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji revolves around the life of Hikaru Genji, a nobleman known for his numerous romantic relationships. Genji’s love life is complex, as he juggles affection for several women, each with her own distinct role in his story. While the tone is serious and deeply emotional, these entangled relationships are early examples of the kind of romantic complexity we now see in the harem genre.(“The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica”)

The Tale of Genji digs deep into the emotions and societal rules surrounding love and desire. Genji’s relationships aren’t just casual affairs, they involve a lot of emotional and social intricacies. For example, his secret love for his stepmother and his encounters with women from various social classes bring out themes of jealousy, obligation, and heartache. These themes where the protagonist is surrounded by multiple romantic interests, leading to complicated situations—are very similar to what we see in modern harem stories. Even though The Tale of Genji doesn’t have the lighthearted or comedic tone typical of today’s harem genre, it laid some of the groundwork for exploring relationships in this way. Besides The Tale of Genji, other early Japanese works also played with the idea of love triangles or multiple lovers. For instance, stories like the Ise Monogatari and Tosa Nikki tell tales of protagonists caught up in romantic relationships with more than one partner. These stories, like Genji’s, dealt with the emotional complexity and social consequences of such relationships, something that’s still present in modern harem narratives, though often with a more humorous or exaggerated twist.

When we compare these classical works to today’s harem genre, we can see a big difference in tone. The older stories were more about emotional depth and navigating social expectations, while modern harem anime and manga tend to lean more into comedy, fantasy, or even fanservice. Still, the basic concept of a central character being pursued by multiple romantic interests has remained a constant theme throughout the ages.

Post-War Era and the Rise of Manga/Anime

The modern harem genre really began to take shape in post-war Japan, especially through manga and anime. After World War II, Japan underwent a lot of cultural shifts, including changes in how stories were told in popular media. Manga and anime became huge platforms for exploring all kinds of new themes, including romance. As Japanese society began to rebuild, there was a shift in cultural norms and expectations when it came to pursuit of a marriage partner. (von Feigenblatt 643) Japanese culture at the time focused on stability with family building instead of any love or attraction between the partners but with the introduction of western ideals, young men and women who survived the war began to prioritize compatibility over what was previously expected. (von Feigenblatt 644)

One of the most influential early examples of the harem genre in manga and anime is Urusei Yatsura (1978-1987) by Rumiko Takahashi. The story follows a young man, Ataru Moroboshi, who finds himself caught in a chaotic love triangle with an alien princess, Lum, and several other women. What makes Urusei Yatsura so important is how it introduced comedy and the unexpected circumstance into the genre. Ataru’s constant misunderstandings and the attention he receives from multiple women—each with unique quirks—became a blueprint for future harem stories. The combination of humor, romantic tension, and a bit of chaos made the series wildly popular and set the tone for how the harem genre would evolve.

As we moved into the 1990s, interactive media like visual novels and dating sims became a big part of the harem genre’s development. These games allowed players to step into the role of a central character who could interact with multiple love interests, choosing different paths and outcomes. Dating sims let players experience the fantasy of being pursued by various romantic partners, each with their own storyline. This interactive element deepened audience engagement, as fans could shape the romantic narrative themselves. These types of games made the harem dynamic even more popular, and they helped solidify the genre’s place in Japanese pop culture.

The Modern Harem Genre and Its Popularization

By the 1990s and early 2000s, the harem genre experienced a major boom, solidifying its place in Japanese pop culture. During this period, key works like Love Hina (1998-2001) and Tenchi Muyo! (1992) set the foundation for what would become the standard tropes of the genre. Love Hina is often credited with popularizing the idea of a male protagonist surrounded by several female love interests, each with distinct personalities and backgrounds. The story follows Keitaro, a clumsy, well-meaning guy who becomes the manager of an all-girls dormitory. As expected, romantic tension, misunderstandings, and comedic situations arise as the female characters develop feelings for him. Similarly, Tenchi Muyo! follows Tenchi Masaki, who finds himself in a similar situation when a group of alien women move into his home, creating chaos and romantic tension.

Both series helped to cement the harem genre’s defining characteristics. At the heart of these stories is the dynamic between a central, often average male protagonist and multiple women who are romantically interested in him. The genre typically blends romantic tension with lighthearted comedy, often through misunderstandings, awkward situations, and, at times, suggestive or ecchi elements. This combination of humor and romance is key to the genre's appeal, allowing it to reach a broad audience. The formula often creates a sense of escapism, where viewers can enjoy the fantasy of being the center of attention in an otherwise impossible romantic situation.

As the genre grew in popularity, subgenres and variations began to emerge. One of the most notable offshoots is the reverse harem, where the roles are flipped, and a female protagonist is surrounded by multiple male love interests. Examples like Fushigi Yûgi, Fruits Basket and Ouran High School Host Club brought the genre to women. In these stories, the female protagonist faces a similar dynamic—navigating romantic attention from multiple male characters while dealing with comedic and dramatic situations.

It did not take long for authors and mangaka to begin blending this moe with other popular styles like taking the seinen action stories and blending them to create action harem. This is where the romantic plot is interwoven with high-stakes battles and supernatural elements. High School DxD light novels and following anime are a prominent example of this subgenre as is believed to be one that popularized this type.

Conclusion

The harem genre has evolved significantly from its early roots in classical Japanese literature to become a defining element of modern manga, anime, and visual media. What began with stories like The Tale of Genji, which explored complex romantic entanglements, has transformed into a genre that offers both humor and escapism, reflecting deeper cultural ideals about love, relationships, and societal roles. From the post-war emergence of manga and anime, with pioneering works like Urusei Yatsura, to the rise of interactive visual novels in the 1990s, the genre has continually adapted to meet the changing tastes of its audience.

Harem stories have left a lasting impact on contemporary media, not just in Japan but worldwide. The genre’s appeal, particularly in the way it creates fantasies of choice and agency in relationships, has resonated across cultural boundaries. It has also inspired variations like the reverse harem and action-oriented harems, ensuring its broad reach and lasting popularity.

References

• Ayers, Nelson. “Demystifying the Enduring Popularity of the Harem Genre.” 33rd Square, Urban Walkabout Ltd, 4 Nov. 2023, www.33rdsquare.com/demystifying-the-enduring-popularity-of-the-harem-genre/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “The Tale of Genji | History, Summary, and Importance.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Aug. 2024, www.britannica.com/topic/The-Tale-of-Genji
• Tropes, Contributors to Tv. “Harem Genre.” TV Tropes, 30 Sept. 2024, tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HaremGenre. Accessed 22 Oct. 2024
• von Feigenblatt, Otto Federico. “A socio-cultural analysis of romantic love in Japanese harem animation: A Buddhist monk, a Japanese knight, and a samurai.” Journal of Asia Pacific Studies 1.3 (2010): 636-646.
• Wikipedia contributors. “Harem.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 22 Oct. 2024. Web. 24 Oct. 2024.
• Wikipedia contributors. “Moe (slang).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Oct. 2024. Web. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024

Wow. When I sat down this evening to just work on one of my #programming projects, I did not expect to see Snopes start posting on their feed with an absolutely absurd story of how they spent six weeks trying to claw back control of their hijacked #Twitter account. Spoiler alert: the experience involved Grok, probably the dumbest AI out there that was actually able to help.

From their statement on March 9th, 2025, a Snopes employee found themselves locked out of the company’s X account. Their CEO checked the site email and—bam—a fresh message from Twitter: “someone new” had just logged in. Unfamiliar location. Then, moments later, another email: “Twitter two-factor authentication is good to go!”

I know if I got this message, my blood pressure would have been through the roof.

They reported their CEO scrambled to reset the password using the “forgot password” link. Success—sort of. While the password was reset, the hacker had already enabled two-factor authentication (2FA). From what they were saying, it was a good thing they hit the reset password as it appears to have blown the hacker out of the account also before they could do any damage.

And so began the long, painful quest to get anyone at X to actually care.

Step one: submit help tickets—”We’ve been hacked” form, “Can’t access 2FA” form—you name it. Silence. Days turned into weeks, and the sound of crickets was deafening. Snopes even shelled out $1,000 for X's Verified Org plan—even though they already had the status for free—hoping it would unlock this mystical “Priority Support.”

Nope.

The actually saving grace here from what they said was Grok. You read that right. Grok of all things. After providing some stupid assistance, it actually pointed them to John Stoll, the head of Twitter's news who actually got to Customer Support and got their account back.

So, what did we learn?

• Always use two-factor authentication. Convenience isn’t worth six weeks of hell.

• Twitter’s customer support is a joke. Even $1,000 a month can’t buy you a human response.

• Networking is useless if no one answers. LinkedIn was a ghost town.

• Grok is as helpful as a Magic 8-Ball. It spat out obvious nonsense before accidentally pointing to the right person.

• John Stoll is the real MVP. He seems to be the only person at X actually was willing to help.

In the end, Snopes’ saga exposes Twitter’s abysmal security and support. It wasn’t money, forms, or AI that saved the day—it was a lucky DM to the one guy who bothered to help.

The moral? Don’t count on Twitter to help even if you're a paying customer, even if you're hacked and the Head of News is the only way to get a hold of customer service.

God. They're fucking stupid. If you want to read Snope's full saga, you can do so here with their leading toot!

I know they're called X now. I don't care. Until Space Karen stops deadnaming his daughter, I won't stop deadnaming his company.

Tags: #infosec #code

Not much of a preamble for this one. My friend was struggling getting Postgresql to work with a column storage engine because the directions were opaque and useless. I started helping her out but discovered that MariaDB is the same way. After a day or two of research, I wrote a bash script that does the install of everything and when I tested it on my own machine, it worked!

NOTE: This script is written and tested on an Ubuntu machine. You may have to tweak it for others.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

set -e
exec 2>error.log

log_error() {
    echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') ERROR: $1" | tee -a error.log
}

trap 'kill $SUDO_PID' EXIT

echo "This script will install MariaDB and the MariaDB extension Column Store."
echo "Do you wish to proceed? (Y/N)" 

read -r proceed_time

if [[ "${proceed_time^^}" != "Y" ]]; then
    echo "Exiting script..."
    exit 1
fi

echo "Starting installation of MariaDB..."

# Check sudo access
if ! sudo -v; then 
    log_error "Sudo access denied. Exiting."
    exit 1
fi 

# Keep sudo alive in the background
( while true; do sudo -v; sleep 60; done ) & 
SUDO_PID=$!

# Update package lists
if ! sudo apt update; then
    log_error "Failed to update package lists."
    exit 1
fi

# Install MariaDB
if sudo apt install -y mariadb-server mariadb-client; then 
    if systemctl is-active --quiet mariadb; then
        echo "MariaDB server installed and running."
    else
        log_error "MariaDB server installation failed or not running."
        exit 1
    fi
else
    log_error "Failed to install MariaDB."
    exit 1
fi

# Prepare to install ColumnStore
echo "Preparing to install the MariaDB ColumnStore engine." 

mkdir -p columnstore
pushd columnstore || exit 1

# Download and set up the MariaDB repo
if ! wget -q --show-progress https://downloads.mariadb.com/MariaDB/mariadb_repo_setup; then
    log_error "Failed to download mariadb_repo_setup."
    exit 1
fi

chmod +x mariadb_repo_setup

if ! sudo ./mariadb_repo_setup --mariadb-server-version="mariadb-10.6"; then 
    log_error "Failed to install Maria Repo."
    exit 1 
fi 

# Update package lists again
if ! sudo apt update; then
    log_error "Failed to update package lists after adding MariaDB repo."
    exit 1
fi

# Install ColumnStore dependencies
if ! sudo apt install -y libjemalloc2 mariadb-backup libmariadb3 mariadb-plugin-columnstore; then 
    log_error "Failed to install ColumnStore dependencies."
    exit 1
fi 

# Verify ColumnStore installation
if ! sudo mariadb -e "SHOW PLUGINS" | grep -q "COLUMNSTORE"; then
    log_error "ColumnStore plugin installation failed."
    exit 1
fi

service mariadb restart

popd

echo "Installation complete."

It has been awhile since I have had the opportunity to sit down and write a blog post. Things have been hectic and some projects just fall by the wayside. One of the things I promised to do is write a blog post about my experiences running a single user instance.

 You’re all on your Own

After spending about a month on Infosec.exchange and learning the ups and downs of mastodon, I decided that the biggest thing I wanted to do was own my own instance where I could control my entire social media presence. Instead of existing on someone’s server, I wanted my own. So, I set up a single user interface.

One of the biggest challenges is not federation but re-connecting to everyone and seeing all the posts again. One of the major things that helped me is that I had already followed 100+ people so when I migrated my account, I was able to automatically re-follow all of them allowing my feed to fill up.

One of the impacts that never crossed my mind is that you immediately lose the use of the local feed portion of mastodon. If you were on a different instance, you could use that to see what was being talked about on the instance you inhabited but if you exist as a Single User Instance, all that page has is your own toots. You lose a major portion of finding new content to engage with.

What this does is make more effort required to explore other instances and follow people so that you can get a varied feed.

 If you don’t engage, you don’t exist.

Engaging and communicating becomes even more important because nobody can use their local feed button to find you and you will more than likely be drowned out in the federated feed. To engage and to be found and to talk with other people requires much more exploration and actually responding to posts with your thoughts and opinions so that more people see your handle.

I’m not saying that one should go and spam for attention or participate in clout chasing. I am simply pointing out the fact that the ability for someone to stumble on to you is much harder. You can join a relay but sometimes what you post is outweighed by the flood of what is sent to you.

This also means that the use of hashtags becomes critical. I have discovered it’s a fine line between two little hashtags and too much. 

Actively Managing your server is a Must

There is no one else on your instance that is blocking inappropriate or illegal servers, cleaning out the databases and media folders using the tootctl CLI. All the day to day managing to keep yourself up and running will be handled entirely by you.

(This won’t really apply if you are hosting with a site that promises to take care of that for you but many SUIs I have seen are hosted on their own machines).

It got so bad that I had to write a bash script to automate a lot of the cleaning for me weekly and still have to check on it to make sure it ran correctly, I don’t have to adjust the speed, etc.

This can become doubly worse if you follow a large relay and that relay can swamp your server, run you out of space, and when that happens, your instance goes down.

The safety and security of your server and your feed is one hundred percent on you.

 Need a Script?

I’ve actually offered the script I use for any Ubuntu servers on my public git. I’m still working on it but might give you a good place to start cleaning!

 https://gitlab.com/JonathanS223/mastocleaner

 Until next time!

 

It took me a while to put this piece into words I could convey instead of wild ravings of a madman. If anything, it's a message to myself at the least.

We Are NOT Someone's Product

I don't know about you but there is an unspoken pressure, an expectation for us creative types to produce. This feeling that you aren't good enough if you can't keep writing, drawing (or any other craft).

This feeling ate at me when I couldn't meet my self imposed deadlines. The feeling that something had to go out the door so that I looked successful. It’s a subtle and suffocating feeling which grabs you in a way that you don't realize it until you're deep in it.

If anything, it feels like we have become a product that keeps generating content for our fans. It took awhile for me to realize it but that's not what art is. That's not why I began as a writer.

Creativity isn’t a Factory Line

I have learned the hard way that art doesn't come from some factory line. Art, and in my case writing, is an extension of me and I spend true emotion and my soul on each piece and I mean every piece. From the sophisticated scifi stories I love to the trashy to trashy short stories.

I have found that I have been pushing myself to just “write another story” so that there is something out. Those works feel souless.

The last short story I wrote felt so souless that an AI detector thought it was written by AI. That was the worst insult.

Over the decade we have been told that we need to hustle, to produce to become successful. We have embraced a form of capitalism that is just eating us artists up and I'm empty.

Reclaiming the Meaning of our Art

I'm not giving up writing. I don't want anyone who is reading this to think I am throwing in the towel on any of my projects. I love my projects, every single one of them but I have come to the realization that I needed to step back. I need to look at what I am doing and change how I see the things that I do.

I need to write from my heart again and stop pushing out drivel. In hindsight, it is just insulting to what started me out in this journey.

Why am I writing this? If anything, it's a stream of conciousness on what I have been thinking. Maybe I could inspire or let another writer or artist know that they aren't alone. It is okay to step back, look, and re-affirm why they are doing this. I did and I think I'll be better for it.

Tags: #essay #nonfiction

It has been a while since I have written a blog, but today, I got pretty pissed (if the title didn't give that away) and I wanted to write it out instead of just fuming throughout the house.

As some readers may recognize, my title may allude to something familiar, something you might have experienced yourself: the vermin and filth of the Collectible Card Game world.

What Happened

It was shopping day, and as much as I did not want to leave the house (I'm American and still recovering from Thanksgiving), I had to go get groceries or my children would start screeching again for their granola bars and oatmeal.

While meandering about like a lost puppy due to ADHD, I stumbled across stocked Pokémon cards at Walmart, which was not common due to players and the aforementioned scalpers hitting the racks within hours of delivery.

It had been about three months since I had bought any cards, as I love the game but don't really get much time to play it. I like to keep a low-tier competitive deck ready to go for that one day I might be able to go to a local tournament or something.

I grabbed six sets since they were only $3.78 (normally, at this Walmart, they price them $4.99 like Magic cards) and happily headed home. Once I got the groceries put away, the monsters fed their granola bars, I curled up in my office to take 30-ish minutes to open each one and savor the fun of seeing what's in there and maybe, just maybe, find a V, VSTAR, Rainbow Secret, or even a Gold Rare. I never hold out hope because I know the odds on it.

At the moment, the pull rate for a Gold Rare is 1 in every 82 booster packs of Paradox Rift

When I opened the first container to pull the booster pack out, I noticed that the top had already been ripped. My first thought was: “Dammit, I wasn't careful tearing the cardboard,” but then I opened the second and found the same thing.

That sinking feeling hit as I took the last four, flipped them over, and found that someone had popped the back to pull the booster pack out without damaging the cardboard, sliced open the top, slid the cards out, and checked them. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks and made me quite upset.

Someone had gone through the six packs I had bought already! That meant 1) if they found any of those good cards, there would only be 8 or 9 cards in the pack, and if all 10 were there, they were never any to begin with. That meant that at that very moment, I knew there was going to be nothing in my packs either way.

I still went through and opened each one of them and counted the cards to see, and in this case, each one had their 10 cards plus their basic energy and QR code (I haven't even checked to see if those are working yet).

I got cards, but it wasn't enjoyable to open. The feeling of excitement and mystery that I was hoping for with this rare purchase was gone because someone decided to try and steal the good cards without paying.

They chose profit over the excitement of discovering a wonderful, beautiful card you didn't truly expect.

Whoever it was, that damn scalper stole that feeling from me.

Profit and the Collectible Card Community

If I was a child, I would have cried. The sheer disappointment in my soul had made the inner child weep. I'm not ashamed to admit it. In this life, there are many joys one can have, and cards are one of the few that I have.

Since the Great Plague of 2020 and the mad rush of venture capitalists and those who wanted to make a quick buck started buying up every booster in existence, the true wonder and value of a card has been lost.

People just open packs to see if one of the special cards is in there, and when they aren't, they discard them. They don't take the time to admire each one, including the common cards that get overlooked.

It is so much worse to me to take this to another level and secretly try and steal the cards, find nothing, and leave them on the shelf so that a true lover of cards goes through what I did.

I'm tired of people joining a hobby or participating in a cultural phenomenon just to make money.

Don't get me wrong! I have no problem with true collectors who buy cards and sell them online because the difference is that they're not in this just for the money. They aren't looking for a Hyper Rare to make a hundred dollars but are looking to share that card with others, to find that card a good home.

I do it. I've sold a few of my high-priced cards at a lower price because I knew the purchaser was going to give that card a good place, like their own collection or in a deck where it truly belongs.

This might come off as childish, and maybe it is. It is beside the point. It just made me realize that late-stage capitalism has infected so many things that you can't escape it anymore. Even a hobby that I love has been poisoned, and I don't see any way to stop it. I don't want to have to now examine every single booster I buy for tampering or to see if someone has tried to steal from it. There are signs that it's finally coming to an end, but we'll see.

I just want my hobby back.