I moved here two years ago. My tactic for initial pronunciation lessons has been to ride the SkyTrain and adopt the pronunciations used for station announcements.

Based on that, it’s “LOW-heed”

They haven’t said why. I’m assuming that federation with outside entities would present some logistical problems for them w/r/t their privacy obligations in Europe. If that’s right, I suspect the whole ActivityPub thing could be “delayed” indefinitely.

They previously announced that they would federate with ActivityPub, but yesterday we learned that it won’t happen for “three months.” With all the European regulatory issues and other factors, I’ll bet it will be a lot longer than that. In fact, I’d be surprised if we ever see full federation capability.

Tusky is best for those who are newer to Mastodon. Visually it’s very clean, straightforward to use, and largely free of bugs (it helps to have been around for so many years).

For users more familiar with Mastodon, I’d go with Fedilab. Despite a few bugs, it’s the most customizable option, with so many features you can tweak to your own tastes.

Don’t go for the belly, it’s a trap! Will only end in claws and bloodshed!

I think @tchambers put it well on his Mastodon post: no need to preemptively block, but “stay vigilant with eyes wide open and a finger on the block button.”

Kbin is really only one instance (kbin.social - the only alternatives are alt language instances, I think?

Nah, there are like two dozen instances that are still accepting signups, and most of them are not language-specific in any respect.

Doesn’t really solve the question of “how do I pick an instance,” just substitutes one set of instances for another

I can’t speak to the newer models (and have heard bad things about the company’s customer service lately), but a Rad Power Bike from a few years ago would probably be decent for most uses.

Probably good to specify some additional things so people can help: What country do you live in? How far is your commute? Do you need options for cargo (baskets, a rack for panniers, etc.)? Any preference for stepover frames vs standard? Does bike weight matter (lighter ones tend to be more expensive)? Storage options (apartment or house/garage)?