A reminder that we all have terrible days, Charles Darwin too.

Sometimes I just sit down and realise:

• Tinkering with Linux eventually resulted in my dream job
• Many FOSS tools I use are made by awesome individuals, most of them working on things on their free time
• I trust my devices more now that I use these tools
• Since I run tools like Nextcloud myself, I can trust that my data is not being misused
• I have knowhow to help my friends and family to keep their data safe (sometimes I wish they would follow my advice but anyway lol)
• Since I dont use corpo social media, none of the crap around it concerns me
• I am just generally happier since I do not have worry about any of the techbro nonsense

Makes me feel oddly sated. Calm.

Is any of it perfect? No. But I take these always over the user-hostile corpo solutions.

So people who work on all of these free tools: Thank you. :)

When talking about the energy consumed by LLMs don't be fooled by arguments focusing solely on the direct power consumption of these models, because they are externalizing a lot of it. Browsers are now doing proof-of-work calculations to access many websites, because websites need to protect themselves from AI scrapers. That takes power! Let that sink in: every computer, tablet or phone on earth is now consuming more power *every time it accesses a webpage* because of "AI".

Started contributing again to #Wikipedia - for the moment, having fun with only the tiniest of edits!

Chinese scientists have just confirmed that a butterfly hatched out of a crysalis on a recent suborbital mission.

It wasn't the first butterfly in space, though.

They seem to do OK, which means they could become important space pollinators.

https://spacebotany.uk/blog/butterflies-in-space/

@globcoco 😅, for sure!

@richard The LibreOffice update means traditional word processor users can easily produce a .md, making it easier for less techy users to contribute to a blog or website that uses Markdown.

Great stuff!

@richard Yes, so much better using MD files than fixing the problems when people copy and paste from MS Office directly into Wordpress or similar! 😅

Markdown FTW!

@globcoco No, I haven't! Not yet in any case!

@globcoco Oh ... long list! 😅

@globcoco I don't solely use LibreOffice. But I never use Microsoft Office any more, for sure.

@Martranslations Linux is usually very easy to install and the installation process well-explained on sites you download it from.

Of course, the alternative to installing Linux on a new computer that came with Windows is to buy a computer that already comes with Linux.

I have a Framework laptop, but there are also some great European companies that sell Linux computers, for example, Slimbook (Spain, @slimbook), Tuxedo (Germany, @tuxedocomputers), and Star Labs (UK, @starlabssystems ).

@Martranslations @OmegaTOfficial I can use most client formats in #OmegaT (SDL Trados, Xliff, etc.), and MemoQ can export and import a bilingual format, or be used in a webpage.

@globcoco There are inherent limitations to Markdown. It's intentionally a simple format, and for good reasons. However, getting it to look how you want it is, or course, possible downstream, using, for example, a bit of nice CSS or HTML.

@Martranslations Ooo, well, I'm sorry about your laptop. Actually, installing Linux on it might actually solve its problems! 😅

If you're intent on buying a new one though, I, of course, highly recommend Linux! 🤗

And to replace MemoQ, @OmegaTOfficial !

@globcoco That said, the advantage of Markdown is that it's an excellent format, because it's lightweight, functional, interoperable, and well-protected from obsolescence, since it's just a text file, rather than a complex document format that might not be compatible with other software in the future.

@globcoco Well, if you are used to using a standard word processor (like Microsoft Office), or a WYSIWYG editor, you can work the way you normally do in LibreOffice, and then easily export your work as a .md. In this case, you don't have to worry about any Markdown formatting rules.

@globcoco Ah!

@globcoco It as simple as 'Save as Mardown (.md)', or opening a .md directly in LibreOffice. Great stuff!

@globcoco Sure, I understand that.