Business cat has important kitty business to attend to (sleeping 20 hours a day) :neocat_flop__w_:

The street that my mum lives in is a one-way street, but wasn't marked as such on #Google Maps. This caused many drivers to drive the wrong way. I have tried to edit it on Google Maps (there is such functionality), but to no avail. No matter how often I submitted a change (with photos of street signs!), Google said "Sorry, we could not verify it".

Solution: Edit the street on #OpenStreetMap! A few months after I did this, Google seems to have stolen the data, as it regularly does, and now the street is correct in both datasets!

Like, they did a special platform announcement and everything. For a four-minute-late train. I fucking love this country.

The train I'm on was running later than any other train I've personally seen in Japan before... four whole minutes! 😅

Yo, real talk—what the fuck are we gonna do when the internet gets shut off?

We've seen it in #Gaza, in #Iran, and when Elon “I-play-God” Musk blacked out Starlink in Ukraine. Every time shit gets heavy, the state or some oligarch clown just pulls the plug. It ain’t just a glitch—it’s strategic, it’s repression, and it’s a fucking reminder that most of our comms infrastructure is in the hands of fascists, corporations, or both.

I’ve been working with indigenous comrades who rely on #Starlink to stay connected in remote areas. And yeah, it’s wild that you can be deep in the bush and still shitpost from a mountaintop—but that signal still runs through a pipeline owned by a Nazi tech bro.

We need to be talking more about mesh networks, autonomous infrastructure, all that good shit that anarchist tech nerds have been yelling about for years. Decentralized, resilient, community-controlled comms aren’t just cool—they’re necessary for survival.

Let’s keep this convo alive and start building the lifelines before the next blackout. Shit’s coming fast.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/activists-are-designing-mesh-networks-to-deploy-during-civil-unrest/

@aphyr Damn, at least in Japan there's a little landing at the bottom to put stuff and take your shoes off. 😬

They're putting blue food coloring in everything.

A short story

https://blog.foxtrotluna.social/theyre-putting-blue-food-coloring-in-everything/

Speaking of tactile paving, the stuff is literally *everywhere* in Japan. Every train station uses it to indicate the safe distance to stand at platforms, most major thoroughfares with sidewalks have it, and even most government buildings and some other indoor public spaces like malls have metal tactile flooring inside. And in the curb-cut effect, it helps everyone, whether by indicating the common walking lanes (vs. bicycles) or by providing extra clearance and traction in wet weather.

This station doesn't even go as far with low-vision accessibility as some others, as it's not uncommon to hear audio announcements near the restrooms indicating which door is to the left, to the right, etc., either motion-activated or on a continuous loop.

Re the post about Japan's accessibility the other day: this is the restroom setup at our new local station. This is just an unstaffed outdoor station on a smaller line, but it has a full braille map of its facilities, and tactile paving leading right to it. The center bathroom has various facilities for different needs like an ostomy sink and private changing table, which is also very common here. And even in the gendered restrooms there are things like urinals with support bars.

#accessibility

My new flower yukata from Robe Japonica

God, this bubble burst is going to be so brutal

Today’s gay knowledge is:

Fuck Tree

The Fuck Tree is a sessile oak tree on West Heath on Hampstead Heath in north London. It is located in an established gay cruising area. It is noted for its slender trunk which facilitates gay sex.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck_Tree

UPDATE: a Google Maps panoramic view of the tree.

アパートGET

Gilead has announced that lenacapavir, the game-changing HIV prevention drug just approved by the FDA will cost $28,218 USD per person per year.

Researchers say a generic version could be made for just $25 per person a year.

Capitalism kills.