/blog

For the past two years I have been using the screen protector that came preinstalled on the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Yes, it picked up a few small scratches and a little dink near the top of the device but it was still in excellent condition all things considered.

Until a week or so ago.

The last several days saw deeper scratches, a couple of lumps and a split due to impacts – it's almost as though the protector knew it didn't need to try any more as a new phone was coming. I finally removed it yesterday.

Or maybe it's me that's been cavalier in my actions knowing that this device will be replaced in a few days, less careful with it than I usually am.

Now that Truth Social is "live" (technical issues and massive waiting list aside) and will be compared to the likes of Parler, here's an idea:

• develop a public debate platform called 'Parley' ¹
• those self-identifying as from either side of a "this v that" divide join a moderated discussion
• discussion topics crowd sourced and voted on
• limit the discussion to only a few delegates
• discussions moderated by a panel so not biased by a single viewpoint
• abusive behaviour results in instant kick
• discussion set for a specified time
• go at it, sensibly, intelligently, measured, argument & counter argument
• try to parley and find some agreement or, at least, understanding
• there is no winner or loser, no voting, just an attempt to find some middle ground or acknowledge alternative positions

With online polarisation as bad as it is would a service like this be viable? How difficult would it be to establish moderation panels and have them be trusted by participants and audience alike?

Well, here's something new!

This post was submitted via email. I've set up an email filter to pipe mails (under certain conditions) to a PHP file that processes it and submits the contents as a post.

While testing, I have it set to mark posts as drafts but may change this in future once I'm sure everything works as expected.

One weird thing is that I sometimes get an error back saying the mail could not be delivered when it quite obviously has. Something to figure out later.

Update: the delivery errors have stopped so that's a win.

Bookmarked: Life may actually flash before your eyes on death - new study - BBC News...

A team of scientists set out to measure the brainwaves of an 87-year-old patient who had developed epilepsy. But during the neurological recording, he suffered a fatal heart attack ...

in the 30 seconds before and after, the man's brainwaves followed the same patterns as dreaming or recalling memories