Ben @Horst@hex.bz
NYC state of mind. I design software applications and prefer open source, open standards, and decentralized systems.
I took the last plastic bag for paper recycling out of its cardboard box. Then I put the box into the bag. And thought about it for a moment.
RT @bnjbvr: Exciting project! Plume is a FLOSS social blogging engine that uses ActivityPub to federate with other instances, written in @r… source: https://twitter.com/rustlang/status/996397622033375232
Hearing a crow caw, I looked up in the sky above the back garden of my Queens rowhouse. A very large brown bird with spread feathers at the tips of its wings and a white-feathered head glided by, with the crow in pursuit. Wow, this was a bald eagle! The first I have seen in #NYC, much less right above me in my own garden!
Just saw a smoking trash can, as if it were about to burst into flames. Pedestrians looking at it quizzically as they walked by. Two cops carefully placed around a building corner calling it in over their radios. Then a homeless bottle collector bravely peers over and reaches inside to look for recyclables. #NYC
The tombstones merge into the skyscrapers of the skyline behind. As Johnny Cash sang, “we’ll all be equal under the grass.”
https://hex.bz/media/JQFstLoBrbJY1cDXUjQ
When you see an urban environment or neighborhood without any cars, parked or moving, clogging it up, it’s so much better and makes you wish it were always so.
We see them so frequently that we are no longer aware of their presence.
https://apple.news/AbCHv8isESoqa_4DciU8P0w
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/urban-farms-in-paris/index.html
Looking forward to this happening in all the world’s cities! #urban #sustainability
Want truly alternative search results?
Use Searx rather than (US-based, Amazon AWS-reliant, centralized) duckduckgo!
Searx subverts data from search engines while protecting your privacy in a truly decentralized matter!
https://searx.me for main (often saturdated instance)
https://stats.searx.xyz/ for a list of instances.. and better, deploy your own! <3
People have joked that congress members should wear logos disclosing their donors, like in Nascar. It would be cool to see one crowdsource a fundraiser where small dollar donors could all get their names embroidered on the congressperson’s blazer. Like when Mozilla listed contributors on its NY Times fullpage ad. #politics
New rooftop #solar panels have been operating for about two weeks and have generated over 136 kWh so far (with snowy, cloudy and rainy days common). I’ll have to wait for my electric bill to see how much it has declined!
#Huitlacoche has a soft texture and tastes a little like corn pudding with some mushroom flavor. Had a quesadilla with it last night and would eat it again! #food
My rooftop solar installation is scheduled for this coming Monday. Just in time before the foolish new tariffs, it seems.
If you’re visiting older relatives over the holidays, you may want to remove harmful disinformation sources from their homes.
Use this guide to block the Fox “News” channel on their cable boxes - https://www.controlwithcable.org/tv-parental-controls-2/
#Snowden is working on #Haven, an open source phone app to monitor physical security - https://www.wired.com/story/snowden-haven-app-turns-phone-into-home-security-system
http://allthequeenshouses.tumblr.com/
The idiosyncrasies of Queens, NYC, are part of what makes it so wonderful!
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever. We control life, Winston, at all its levels.” -1984
