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Ralph Brandi

@thereisnocat.com

2.4K followers 300 following 4.4K posts

He/Him Retired web developer. Amateur photographer (mostly film). Leftist. Amateur genealogist. Of all the places my ancestors came from the place they came from the most is Ukraine. Slava Ukraini! https://www.thereisnocat.com/

www.thereisnocat.com

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Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 1h

That’s why my next car will be an EV. I have loved driving my Audi A4, but maintenance costs have been a challenge.

Reposted by Ralph Brandi

Ralph Brandi @pixelfed.thereisnocat.com · 1h

Cable Cars

Took the Smartflex 3445 to Seaside Heights on Monday morning. I wanted to test some lenses. Surprisingly, two of the three I brought would not focus to infinity, the Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar-S 180mm and the ancient Bausch & Lomb 7-1/2 […]

[Original post on pixelfed.thereisnocat.com]

Ski lift-style cable cars soar over dunes next to the boardwalk.

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Reposted by Ralph Brandi

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 4h

Make sure you read the report about how Stephen Miller deported Waco's favorite Mexican restaurant owner.

www.texastribune.org/2025/10/07/t...

A picture of Sergio Garcia and George W and Laura Bush. It is signed, To Sergio Garcia with best wishes.

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Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 13h

I learned a lot from those posts, mainly that I have a whole lot more to learn, but I at least have some idea of how this network works now.

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 13h

💔

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 15h

Just saw a post by The Bats (great band from New Zealand) elsewhere about an upcoming biography of Chris Knox, an amazing musician. We got a custom version of his song “Not Given Lightly” for our wedding. He had a stroke several years ago and doesn’t make music any more, but he was fucking awesome.

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 15h

I just figured the designers were incompetent. It’s impossible to write proper alt text for an image that is 48 pixels on a side, or whatever ridiculously small dimensions they use. I was a web developer for 31 years and hammered on the importance of alt text for all 31 years. Using it for AI sucks.

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 17h

It’s pretty easy if you have access to a server that supports Node.js. Instructions are at https://atproto.com/guides/self-hosting . I had some issues because one of the other sites I host there used the same port, but I got it sorted. No interface with the atproto server, but my apps talk to it ok

Self-hosting - AT Protocol

Self-hosting a Bluesky PDS means running your own Personal Data Server that is capable of federating with the wider ATProto network.

atproto.com

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 18h

🥺

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 18h

I wound up moving off bsky.social as well. Set up my own atproto server on a Linode server that also serves my static Instagram and Twitter archives. Seemed to work well.

Bluesky

Social media as it should be. Find your community among millions of users, unleash your creativity, and have some fun again.

bsky.social

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Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 18h

Been there, done that.

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 18h

Some people get fucking nuts about cameras. Sorry it was your day for this.

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Reposted by Ralph Brandi

Shelley Powers @burningbird.net · 19h

Those who have condemned the Illinois State police for seeming to show up to support ICE should take 10 minutes to read this court document by the Broadview Police Chief

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Reposted by Ralph Brandi

Ralph Brandi @pixelfed.thereisnocat.com · 20h

Open Studio

Catskill is an arty town. Pentaz 17, Harman Phoenix II, ECN-2 development.

#BelieveInFilm #halfframe

A yellow three story building. The first floor has an art studio with the words “Open Studio” painted as a sign above the windows and door, with each letter hand painted in a different whimsical style. A woman in a long dress stands in front of it.

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Reposted by Ralph Brandi

Ralph Brandi @pixelfed.thereisnocat.com · 22h

Cool Stuff

This maybe should have been taken in color. Leica R4, Kodak Plus-X (expired 1994, exposed at EI 80), Rodinal 1:50.

#BelieveInFilm

Two hand painted signs stand on the ground up against a tree. The left one says “Cool Stuff” and the right one says “Local Art &”.

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Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 22h

The CEO of BlueSky started punching down at people who asked about why some prominent anti-trans users weren’t banned for violating the terms of service. She gotnpissybwhen called on it and suggested that users should go on a posting strike. So I did. Since then she’s tripled down, so new server 4me

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 23h

Just answered that. Looks like I’m logged in to my new server.

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 23h

Okay, I force quit the app after that, and then when I reopen, I’m logged in.

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Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 23h

I get an error message that BlueSky service is already defined, which disappears quickly and leaves me with a never ending spinner.

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 23h

Moved my account off of bsky.social because of the attitude of the CEO toward the community. Since I started my posting strike, she only doubled and tripled down. Fuck it. I spun up my own server. We’ll see if I stick with it or just ditch BlueSky altogether.

Bluesky

Social media as it should be. Find your community among millions of users, unleash your creativity, and have some fun again.

bsky.social

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Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 23h

👍

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 23h

@boostblue.bsky.social @jaxonevans.bsky.social Is it possible to log in to an alternate server with Boost Blue? I migrated off of bsky.social but would really like to still use Boost Blue. I don’t see a way to point to a different server.

Bluesky

Social media as it should be. Find your community among millions of users, unleash your creativity, and have some fun again.

bsky.social

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 4d

Also on Pixelfed at https://pixelfed.thereisnocat.com

PixelFed

Pixelfed is an image sharing platform, an ethical alternative to centralized platforms. This is a single-user instance.

pixelfed.thereisnocat.com

Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 4d

I think I’ll take you up on that.

I will not post to BlueSky again until @jay.bsky.team apologizes for punching down and commits to protecting communities like the trans community.

You can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected] and on Glass and Flickr as thereisnocat.

Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 4d

You could try a poster’s strike. I hear that works

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Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 4d

I think I just may do that this weekend. No posts to BlueSky. If I get used to it, maybe I’ll extend it longer.