04 July 2025
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As the weather is now cooler my brain starts slowly to
work again.

Since the last weekend we had always temperatures around
30 - 37 degrees C, it was... not pleasant, and if i think
that we are not really in the part of the year when it is
traditionally getting really hot (that would be around
August to September) i a am not really happy looking
forward.

Last weekend, at the beginning of the heatwave, we
visited a local airshow.  Glider aerobatics, oldtimer
biplanes... junior really loved it and my wife couldn't
stop filling the memory of her smartphone with an enormous
amount of photos and videos. I myself also enjoyed
it... and a small part of the airshow containing model
planes triggered that itch of the modeler in me that has
not participated in the hobby for years. Well... perhaps
in fall or winter i may be able to finish the model i have
sitting in its carton in the barn for some time now. I
bet junior will also have fun.

Over the last few weeks i did a little... how should i
call it? "Anthropologic" study in the different parts of
the wider net. I revived accounts on X, reddit, in the
Fediverse and even on Facebook and Discord. I tried to
blend in to different groups and tried to get a feel for
the "vibe" of the various communities.

Somehow the current state of the net feels weird. We have
walled gardens with more or less thriving and active
communities, partly even communities that are catering
to the same interest, but are more or less completely
oblivious to their counterparts on other platforms. Even
stranger: As i tried to blend into different, competing
political groups i noticed that there is really no attempt
to at least try to understand their opponent. Be it far
left, far right or even centrist... all others that are
not fully subscribing to the groups ideals are evil persons
that are "lost" and mostly unredeemable. Perhaps "strange"
is not the right for it, "frightening" would fit it better.

The thing is: Even in the groups that i would put either
on the far left or the far right, besides the obvious
political stuff, the people i met online share very much
the same daily problems and challenges their respective
counterpart on the other side of the spectrum also have,
but it seems - at least from my limited perspective i got
as a fairly new member in this communities - that there
is really no option for just talking to the other side,
leaving politics mostly aside and interact as human
beings. Personally i find it a really sad situation.

After spending this much time in the surface web, and
especially in the rather hot parts of it i can feel
the impact on my mental health. I really feel somewhat
drained and exhausted, a feeling i hadn't encountered
since i started to step away from reddit. I think this
is the best point to start my participation in the small
web july mentioned over there at fab's phlog. I think a
bit of digital detox is the best way to bring the brain
of this gopher bag to a somewhat more relaxed state.