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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 4th, 2023

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  • I think the so-called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are a major problem of our time, because they are often defined incorrectly or misunderstood. All too often, decision-makers seem to think that the pure number of followers, for example, or engagement metrics such as likes would indicate that an account or post is successful. However, this is often not the case when other important metrics are taken into account. In e-commerce, for example, a large number of followers or high engagement figures in themselves mean nothing at all: it is not uncommon for e-commerce companies to invest a lot of money in social media management and for the KPIs of their accounts to rise accordingly - but still not sell anything via this channel (that means that the investment is not worth it, of course, because the costs are disproportionate to the sales generated; the ROI is often not good at all). I think a similar situation can be assumed for many science accounts on Mastodon, for example. Although the number of followers maybe not very high here because there are less active useres, the quality of comments can still be a lot higher. But unfortunately this cannot be quantified, or at least not easily. I therefore think that everyone should first think about what they want to achieve with their social media accounts. It then makes sense to define suitable KPIs instead of being impressed by what can be considered an indicator of success elsewhere and in a completely different context.


  • Yes, Dali would have been great as the emperor.

    But Jodorowsky’s unfinished Dune project still had a significant influence on several major science fiction films and media, despite never being completed:

    1. Alien (1979)
    • Dan O’Bannon, who worked on Jodorowsky’s Dune, later wrote the Alien script
    • H.R. Giger’s designs for Dune inspired his work on the Xenomorph
    • The Alien Xenomorph’s design has roots in Giger’s Harkonnen Castle concept for Dune
    1. Star Wars (1977)
    • George Lucas was reportedly influenced by the Dune storyboards and designs
    • Jabba the Hutt’s appearance may have been inspired by Baron Harkonnen’s design
    1. Blade Runner (1982)
    • Ridley Scott hired Dan O’Bannon and Moebius, who had worked on Jodorowsky’s Dune, to help create the futuristic world
    1. Contact (1997)
    • The opening space sequence was allegedly inspired by Jodorowsky’s planned opening for Dune
    1. The Incal (1980s graphic novel series)
    • Jodorowsky and artist Moebius recycled many concepts from their Dune work into this influential comic series

    Check out the documentary “Jodorowsky’s Dune” (2013). It explores how the pre-production work and assembled team for this unrealized film went on to influence much of modern science fiction cinema. It’s worth a watch.






  • Oh, wow. Thanks for the in-depth explanation - very interesting. I had never really looked into the technical details. Well, I suppose I’m lucky that my reasonably new smartphone still has a 3.5mm audio jack, so I can continue to use my now rather old, but in my opinion still pretty good, headphones. It wasn’t that easy to find a new smartphone with an audio jack, but then it looks like I’ve actually done everything right when it comes to listening to music.


  • Hi-fi stereo systems with amplifiers, speakers and cables.

    I could be wrong, but I think that old stereo systems generally have way better sound quality than Bluetooth systems, soundbars and the like. Physical media such as CDs or even Flac files (etc.) are of course impractical compared to streaming, but the audio quality is much higher.

    However, since you can also stream audio without any problems, I would recommend every music fan to buy a used stereo system with high-quality speakers from the 2000s or even from the late 90s - in my opinion, excellent audio quality at a low price.