Mastodon Social Media – A Challenge to X (Formerly Twitter

Mastodon is free and open-source software for running self-hosted social networking

services. It has microblogging features similar to Twitter, which are offered by a large

number of independently run nodes, known as instances or servers, each with its

own code of conduct, terms of service, privacy policy, privacy options, and content

moderation policies.

Each user is a member of a specific Mastodon server that can interact seamlessly

with users in any other server. This is intended to give users the flexibility to select a

server whose policies they prefer but keep access to a larger federated social

network. Mastodon is powered by the ActivityPub protocol, making it part of the

Fediverse ensemble of services such as Lemmy, Pixelfed, Friendica, PeerTube, and

Threads.

Mastodon was created by Eugen Rochko and announced on Hacker News in

October 2016.[9] It gained significant adoption in 2022 in the wake of Twitter’s

acquisition by Elon Musk. The project is maintained by the German non-profit Mastodon gGmbH. Mastodon

development is crowdfunded, and the code does not support advertisements.

Functionality and features

Mastodon servers run social networking software that is capable of communicating

using W3C’s ActivityPub standard, which has been implemented since version

1.6.[14] A Mastodon user can therefore interact with users on any other server in the

Fediverse that supports ActivityPub.

Since version 2.9.0, Mastodon has offered a single-column mode for new users by

default.[15] In advanced mode, Mastodon approximates the microblogging user

experience of TweetDeck. Users post short-form status messages, historically known

as “toots”,[16] for others to see. On a standard Mastodon instance, these messages

can include up to 500 text-based characters, greater than Twitter’s 280-character

limit. Some instances support even longer messages.

Users join a specific Mastodon server, rather than a single centralized website or

application. The servers are connected as nodes in a network, and each server can

administer its own rules, account privileges, and whether to share messages to and

from other servers. Many servers have a theme based on a specific interest. It is

also common for servers to be based around a particular locality, region, ethnicity, or

country.

Mastodon includes several specific privacy features. Each message has a variety of

privacy options available, and users can choose whether the message is public or

private. Public messages display on a global feed, known as a timeline, and private

messages are only shared on the timelines of the user’s followers. Messages can

also be marked as unlisted from timelines or direct between users. Users can also

mark their accounts as completely private. In the timeline, messages can display

with an optional content warning feature, which requires readers to click on the

hidden main body of the message to reveal it. Mastodon servers have used this

feature to hide spoilers, trigger warnings, and not safe for work (NSFW) content,

though some accounts use the feature to hide links and thoughts others might not

want to read.

Mastodon aggregates messages in local and federated timelines in real time. The

local timeline shows messages from users on a singular server, while the federated

timeline shows messages across all participating Mastodon servers. Users can

communicate across connected Mastodon servers with usernames similar in format

to full email addresses.

Here is a link for update: https://joinmastodon.org/

History About Bamburgh Castle.

Bamburgh Castle is a castle on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland. It is a Grade I listed building.^[2]

The site was originally the location of a Celtic Brittonic fort known as Din Guarie and may have been the capital of the kingdom of Bernicia from its foundation in c. 420 to 547. After passing between the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons three times, the fort came under Anglo-Saxon control in 590. The fort was destroyed by Vikings in 993, and the Normans later built a new castle on the site, which forms the core of the present one. After a revolt in 1095 supported by the castle’s owner, it became the property of the English monarch.

In the 17th century, financial difficulties led to the castle deteriorating, but it was restored by various owners during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was finally bought by the Victorian era industrialist William Armstrong, who completed its restoration. The castle still belongs to the Armstrong family and is open to the public.

Built on a dolerite outcrop, the location was previously home to a fort of the indigenous Celtic Britons known as Din Guarie^[3] and may have been the capital of the kingdom of Bernicia, the realm of the Gododdin people,^[4] from the realm’s foundation in c. 420 until 547, the year of the first written reference to the castle. In that year the citadel was captured by the Anglo-Saxon ruler Ida of Bernicia (Beornice) and became Ida’s seat.^[5]

The castle was briefly retaken by the Britons from his son Hussa during the war of 590 before being retaken later the same year.^[6] In c. 600, Hussa’s successor Æthelfrith passed it on to his wife Bebba, from whom the early name Bebbanburh was derived.^[7] Vikings destroyed the original fortification in 993.^[8]

Aerial photograph from 1973 showing the position of the castle, northeast of Bamburgh village

The Normans built a new castle on the site, which forms the core of the present one. William II unsuccessfully besieged it in 1095 during a revolt supported by its owner, Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria. After Robert was captured, his wife continued the defence until coerced to surrender by the king’s threat to blind her husband.^[9]

Bamburgh then became the property of the reigning English monarch. Henry II probably built the keep as it was complete by 1164.^[10] Following the Siege of Acre in 1191, and as a reward for his service, King Richard I appointed Sir John Forster the first Governor of Bamburgh Castle.^[11] Following the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Neville’s Cross in 1346, King David II was held prisoner at Bamburgh Castle.^[9]

During the civil wars at the end of King John’s reign, the castle was under the control of Philip of Oldcoates.^[12] In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses, it became the first castle in England to be defeated by artillery, at the end of a nine-month siege by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, the “Kingmaker”, on behalf of the Yorkists.

The Forster family of Northumberland continued to provide the Crown with successive governors of the castle until the Crown granted ownership (or a lease according to some sources) of the church and the castle to another Sir John Forster in the mid 1500s, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.^[14]^[15] The family retained ownership until Sir William Forster (d. 1700) was posthumously declared bankrupt, and his estates, including the castle, were sold to Lord Crew, Bishop of Durham (husband of his sister Dorothy) under an Act of Parliament to settle the debts in 1704.^[10]

Crewe placed the castle in the hands of a board of trustees chaired by Thomas Sharp, the Archdeacon of Northumberland. Following the death of Thomas Sharp, leadership of the board of trustees passed to John Sharp (Thomas Sharp’s son) who refurbished the castle keep and court rooms^[16] and established a hospital on the site.^[17] In 1894, the castle was bought by the Victorian industrialist William Armstrong, who completed the restoration.^[18]

During the Second World War, pillboxes were established in the sand dunes to protect the castle and surrounding area from German invasion^[19] and, in 1944, a Royal Navy corvette was named HMS Bamborough Castle after the castle.^[20] The castle still remains in the ownership of the Armstrong family.^[18]

After the War, the castle became a Grade I Listed property. The description included this comment about the status of the building in 1952 and its history:^[21]

Castle, divided into apartments. C12; ruinous when acquired by Lord Crewe in 1704 and made habitable after his death by Dr. Sharpe … Acquired by Lord Armstrong, who had extensive restoration and rebuilding of high quality by C.J. Ferguson, 1894-1904. Squared sandstone and ashlar.

The History About Seaton Delaval Hall In Seaton Delaval.

Seaton Delaval Hall is a Grade I listed country house in Northumberland, England, near the coast just north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Located between Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval, it was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1718 for Admiral George Delaval; it is now owned by the National Trust.

Since completion of the house in 1728, it has had an unfortunate history. Neither architect nor patron lived to see its completion; it then passed through a succession of heirs, being lived in only intermittently. Most damaging of all, in 1822 the central block was gutted by fire, and has remained an empty shell ever since.

The 18th-century gardens of the hall are Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The Delaval family had owned the estate since the time of the Norman conquest. Admiral George Delaval bought the estate from an impoverished kinsman, Sir John Delaval in 1717. George Delaval had made his fortune from capturing prize ships while in the Navy, and had also served as a British envoy during the reign of Queen Anne. In 1718, he called on architect Sir John Vanbrugh to advise him on how to modernise and enhance the existing mansion. Upon viewing the site, Vanbrugh felt he could do nothing, and advised complete demolition of all except the ancient chapel near to the mansion, which is now the parish church of Our Lady.

His advice was taken and the construction work was completed in 1728, two years after the death of the Admiral. The resulting new mansion was the last country house Vanbrugh designed, and it is regarded as one of his finest works. On completion, the Admiral’s nephew Francis Blake Delaval (the elder) inherited the property, and moved in immediately.

Unsigned painting of the south front of Seaton Delaval Hall, probably by William Bell. The southwest wing at left may never have been built; the southeast wing at right was destroyed by fire in 1822.

In 1775, the Newcastle portrait artist William Bell made two paintings of the Hall, depicting the north and south fronts. Bell also painted portraits of many of the residents of the house at the time, earning him the patronage of Lord Delaval, a younger son of the above-mentioned Francis Blake Delaval.^[3] These paintings can normally still be seen in the Hall, but not during the current building work.

In 1822, the central block was gutted by a fire said to have been caused by jackdaws nesting in the chimneys of the section of the south-east wing closest to the main house. This wing was subsequently demolished, and various openings can still be seen, now glazed, showing where it joined the central block.

The house was partially restored by the architect John Dobson in 1862–63, when the central block was re-roofed, although it remained a shell internally. The effects of the fire remain clearly visible in the great hall, originally 30 feet (9.1 m) high but now open to the roof, with blackened walls and muse statues.

During the Second World War the Hall was used to house German prisoners-of-war, who worked as labourers on neighbouring farms.

More modern times.

Further restoration was completed in 1959 and the early 1960s, including replacement of windows in the central block, restoration of the upstairs gallery in the main hall, and paving of the floors on the piano nobile.

From 1968 to 1984 “medieval banquets” were held in the original kitchen of the hall.

However, the house was to remain unoccupied until the 1980s when, after a period of 160 years, Edward Delaval Henry Astley, 22nd Baron Hastings moved into the west wing. It became his permanent home until his death in 2007.

Subsequently the new 23rd Baron Hastings, Delaval Astley, wishing to preserve the future of the Hall and encourage greater public access, began discussions with the National Trust. On 1 September 2008 the National Trust launched an appeal for £6.3m to bring the hall, with its gardens and grounds, into the Trust’s custody.^[6] In December 2009, the Trust announced that its appeal had been successful,^[7] and the purchase having gone through, the Hall opened to visitors again on 1 May 2010.

In October 2021, Seaton Delaval Hall was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of a £35-million injection into the government’s Culture Recovery Fund, specifically for its sea-walk walls and corbels.

The style of architecture is known as English Baroque, based on the Palladian style introduced into the UK by Inigo Jones. Vanbrugh developed the style from the more decorated and architecturally lighter continental baroque popular in Europe.

The design is of a centre block portico, or corps de logis, containing the state and principal rooms, between two flanking wings. The wings have a centre projection of three bays, crowned by a pediment, either side of which are 7 bays of sash windows above a ground floor arcade.

The west wing originally housed secondary and service accommodation. Damaged in an earlier fire but restored to the original plan, it is distinguished by a great colonnade and boasted a lofty vaulted kitchen, now a salon. The east wing contains the stables, a sixty-foot chamber of palatial design, with stalls and mangers of stone fit. They were reportedly inspired by the stables at Hopetoun House near Edinburgh, designed by Robert Adam. In 1768 Sir Francis Blake Delaval wrote thus to his brother: “I am putting up the grand stable on a plan we saw at Lord Hoptoun’s when we were in Scotland, with stone divisions of the stalls.” So pleased was he with the results that Sir Francis held a dinner party in the new stables.

Between the two wings is a cour d’honneur, a great open courtyard 180 feet (55 m) long and 152.5 feet (46.5 m) broad.

While the exterior is still a perfect example of English baroque at its finest, the interiors of the state rooms remain unrestored from the fire.

John Delaval, the last male heir of the Delavals, who died young. Painted aged thirteen or fourteen by William Bell.

Also in the 400 acres (160 ha) estate park is a stone mausoleum, about half a mile east of the hall, which once had a majestic dome, now gone, but which retains a portico resting on huge monolithic columns. The mausoleum is surrounded by a circular ha-ha, a stone-faced ditch. It was erected by Lord Delaval to his only son, John, who died in 1775 aged 19, “as a result of having been kicked in a vital organ by a laundry maid to whom he was paying his addresses”. No-one was ever buried in the mausoleum, which was never consecrated, and the unfortunate John Delaval was buried in St Peter’s Doddington, Lincolnshire.

The mausoleum is now ruinous and its lead roof has gone. Also to the east in the walled garden is a south-facing orangery, designed by the architect William Etty, who collaborated with Vanbrugh. It has five glazed arches separated by Doric demi-columns. The statue in the forecourt in front of the house is a lead figure of David, with empty sling, lightly poised above the crouching form of Goliath, who has his thumbs doubled inside his palms. This is an 18th-century copy, possibly by John Cheere, of a 16th-century Italian marble by either Baccio Bandinelli or a follower of Giambologna. The statue has been repositioned from one of the corner bastions of the garden.

A large obelisk commands the fields to the south of the hall; the stub of a second can be found on the north side of the road running past the hall, next to the turning for New Hartley. This second obelisk marked the site where Admiral George Delaval was killed in a fall from his horse in 1723, before his new hall had been completed. Only the pedestal of the obelisk survives, half-hidden by trees; it is uninscribed.

From the steps of the house on a clear day, The Cheviot and Hedgehope Hill can be clearly seen on the northern horizon, some forty miles away on the Scottish border. Also visible to the northwest are the Simonside Hills.