Blue guarding the homestead. #caturday

To the Apple fans fixated on defending Tim Cook, who have been clogging my replies on Mastodon and Bluesky over the past few days following my story on @macstories (https://www.macstories.net/stories/are-pride-wallpapers-and-a-watch-band-enough-in-2025/). Here is my response to you:

In 2014, Brendan Eich, creator of the JavaScript language and now CEO of Brave Software, was appointed as CEO of Mozilla. I will quote his Wikipedia page for you (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Eich#Appointment_to_CEO_and_resignation), and you will very quickly understand why:

> The appointment triggered widespread criticism due to Eich's past political donations – specifically, a 2008 donation of $1,000 to California Proposition 8, which called for the banning of same-sex marriage in California, and donations in the amount of $2,100 to Proposition 8 supporter Tom McClintock between 2008 and 2010.

The news of Eich's donations led to major protests inside the company and among Mozilla's supporters, volunteers, and users. Most notably, half of Mozilla's board stepped down. Which ultimately led to him resigning, just 11 days later:

> After 11 days as CEO, Eich resigned on April 3, 2014, and left Mozilla after public outrage. In his personal blog, he posted, "under the present circumstances, I cannot be an effective leader".

I would argue that Tim Cook's donation is an even worse offense than Eich's. Cook made his $1M donation to President Trump's inauguration fund while it had already been public knowledge for years that he would immediately start his mandate by rolling back LGBT rights in devastating ways.

I think it would be more than fair to call for his resignation for the same reason that it was fair to call for Eich's resignation back in 2014. And yet, it seems that a majority of people are choosing to dismiss Cook's donation and subsequent stance regarding Trump's administration as either necessary, pardonable, or irrelevant.

I've got a quick favour to ask. If you're reading this post on Mastodon (or the Fediverse), please click boost.

How come?

I recently moved across to my own self-hosted single-user server (using GoToSocial.org). For a bunch of reasons, including visibility across the Fedi, it would really help out.

#Fediverse #FediHelp #gotosocial #mastohelp

Here are a couple of my partial solar eclipse shots, taken with a fair amount of cloud cover. I’m pretty happy with the results, considering that I only used a relatively cheap Baader solar filter on my telescope and the weather conditions. The equipment I used is in the alt text.
#partialeclipse #partialsolareclipse #solareclipse #astrophotography #midwales #wales

Just a hand held iPhone shot of tonight’s crescent moon and Venus over Presteigne on St David’s day. Looks like the long exposure has captured some Earthshine too.
#moon #venus #earthshine

@misterprickles Thank you, hopefully I’ll get more time in 2025 to take a few more photos. 🤞🏻

Another one of my rare photos of something bright in the night sky. The beautiful crescent Moon and Venus. A single frame at 1/200 of a second (iso 400) to bring out the detail of the Moon, much brighter viewed with the naked eye. #moon #venus #astronomy

@imyke @jsnell It’s my favourite non-tech podcast, I’ve played through their entire back catalogue at least once.

Boost this toot if you're planning on sticking around Mastodon & the Fediverse whether or not it's more popular than Bluesky.

I'm glad to see so many people boosting the reach of @nileane's story. It’s an important one that has resonated with a lot of folks.

Of course it has attracted trolls too. That emphasizes Niléane's point, too, though not in a way I like.

At MacStories, we say what we mean and we mean what we say. We stand behind every post by every writer. If you don't like the message, the solution is simple. Don't read MacStories. We're good with that.

@nileane's story:

https://www.macstories.net/stories/lgbt-and-marginalized-voices-are-not-welcome-on-threads/

No really, the woman in charge of 60,000 sewage spills last year alone, says it’s right she got a £3.2 million bonus taking her pay to £13 million a year. The water scandal is the most corrupt use of public funds in history. They should all be in jail 

#brexit #ToryLies #tory #tories #ToriesOut #toryscum #politics #ukpolitics #bbc #news #EU #Sunak #toryracists #GeneralElectionNow #BrexitBenefits #jeremyhunt #water #watercompanies #thameswater #waterscandal #severntrentwater

A majority of British voters now believe Brexit was a mistake.
A mistake our children will be paying for, for years to come. A selfish, short-sighted decision, rooted in racism and xenophobia. The world is in a dangerous place, what a time to be isolated.
https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/04/11/why-most-people-regret-brexit

@Erased_Citizen
He didn’t fall off his satellite dish, so got my vote.

Remember, the country didn’t actually VOTE for any of this.

Understanding this is fundamental.

It’s not “how are people still voting Tory?!”

But “how is the minority Tory vote still controlling our destiny?!”

Overhauling our system of elections is the key to ALL change.

@SherBeareth Thank you. 😊

@simonharper Thank you. It was nice to find the time to dust off some of the expensive equipment I’ve accumulated. 🔭

Hoping for a few more opportunities in 2024 for astronomy and astrophotography, here’s my first shot/s of 2024, the conjunction of Jupiter and the Moon. Two exposures used, to try and capture a few of Jupiter’s moons, combined in Affinity Photo. Equipment used in the alt text. #astronomy #astrophotography #jupiter #moon

Powys: Street lights off in Wales' first dark sky community

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67941824

#darkSkies
#Presteigne #Wales #Cymru #Powys
#darkSkyCommunity #streetLighting

Presteigne Street lights off in Wales' first dark sky community.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67941824
Thrilled with my home town’s approach to street lights, gets pretty dark in my backyard after midnight. #darksky #wales #presteigne #astronomy

Tesla to add recorded “banging” noises to the Cybertruck so that the Coast Guard can more easily locate wreckage.