What happened to Texas Cold Hardy Palms (Joseph Rossi)

[MarcusH]

11 minutes ago, PAPalmtrees said:

Yeah exactly, I first joined there was a lot of people I used to love reading their posts but they just stopped posting. It Makes me a little sad

A couple of users that I know kind of disappeared on here but I know they're well. Sometimes people go through different phases in life,  can be personal problems or just lost interest.  That's how life goes.  

[PAPalmtrees]

6 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

A couple of users that I know kind of disappeared on here but I know they're well. Sometimes people go through different phases in life,  can be personal problems or just lost interest.  That's how life goes.  

Exactly! that's just how life is sometimes.

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, MarcusH said:

A couple of users that I know kind of disappeared on here but I know they're well. Sometimes people go through different phases in life,  can be personal problems or just lost interest.  That's how life goes.  

That's what happened to me on my sabbatical. Man, things were BAD. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Yep , life moves along , things happen , and interests change . After losing some of my strength and mobility for the last 2+ years I dropped out of a couple of cycling forums . Now I spend most of my time in my garden with my palms and posting here . A sudden health issue or change can be personal and tough to talk about. My palms became close friends and I even started collecting more again after years of just letting things grow and not much attention due to my riding and surfing. I started riding again , my surfing is behind me now , but gardening is my thing , and shorter rides on my bike. 
         The ebb and flow of life ! Harry

[tarnado]

21 hours ago, Jubilation said:

I found this website by googling palms that interest me and palm care.

Yeah, in the past few months more and more of the Big Search engines just point directly - and almost solely - to AI-generated (i.e., stolen) content and 'slime.' Getting to the root of the information is still kinda possible on Google, but Bing is completely borked for trying to get good info that isn't a) one link to Wikipedia and b) 20 links to AI-stolen content. Then you can't even dig deeper!

[Silas_Sancona]

14 minutes ago, tarnado said:

Yeah, in the past few months more and more of the Big Search engines just point directly - and almost solely - to AI-generated (i.e., stolen) content and 'slime.' Getting to the root of the information is still kinda possible on Google, but Bing is completely borked for trying to get good info that isn't a) one link to Wikipedia and b) 20 links to AI-stolen content. Then you can't even dig deeper!

Bing / Edge = steamy, slime covered piles of hot garbage to be avoided at al costs..  

Overall, agree,   definitely annoying that one now has to carefully weave thru techno trash piles to get to desired info / content but,   ..it's out there,  if you avoid AI ( = Am Idiot ) generated trash  and aren't afraid of buckling down and doing actual  research ..the only kind that matters ... and takes time / determination,  and sharp as a tack critical thinking skills.  Emphasize the Critical  part. 

As much as sitting and reading thru a book might drive me nuts at times,  glad to have them as back up info sources for specific stuff,  if needed. 

Side note thought,  ...Would hate to be a teacher atm..   Me?   ..if i found -any- of my students using Am Idiot for completing any of their assigned course work,  i wouldn't hesitate to call them out, by name,  escorting them out of class,  in front of everyone else,  with a big " I Failed  ..Completely  "   sign slung around their necks as they' reach the outside side of the door.   

 

[JLM]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Bing / Edge = steamy, slime covered piles of hot garbage to be avoided at al costs..  

Overall, agree,   definitely annoying that one now has to carefully weave thru techno trash piles to get to desired info / content but,   ..it's out there,  if you avoid AI ( = Am Idiot ) generated trash  and aren't afraid of buckling down and doing actual  research ..the only kind that matters ... and takes time / determination,  and sharp as a tack critical thinking skills.  Emphasize the Critical  part. 

As much as sitting and reading thru a book might drive me nuts at times,  glad to have them as back up info sources for specific stuff,  if needed. 

Side note thought,  ...Would hate to be a teacher atm..   Me?   ..if i found -any- of my students using Am Idiot for completing any of their assigned course work,  i wouldn't hesitate to call them out, by name,  escorting them out of class,  in front of everyone else,  with a big " I Failed  ..Completely  "   sign slung around their necks as they' reach the outside side of the door.   

 

I enjoy researching just about anything to do with plants, and I never come out of multiple hours of researching without having learned at least something that I didn't already know.

I know I'm not nearly as active as I use to be here, but that's just part of having a full time job. The rest of my time goes towards taking care of the garden, with not much time left over to use here. I more so just lurk in the background most of the time, but I try to chime in periodically, especially in the Florida winter thread.

As far as social media goes, all I use is X/Twitter. People may not like the guy that owns it, and there's a lot of toxicity on that platform, but is the toxicity really any different than other big name platforms? I don't think it is. I have my feed set up in a way where I only see the important stuff, I don't make it a point to find toxic spaces. With that being said, my X/Twitter experience is almost always good.

I don't like Facebook, and I wont touch Instagram or TikTok with a 10 ft pole. So that's my review on those.

[Silas_Sancona]

21 minutes ago, JLM said:

As far as social media goes, all I use is X/Twitter. People may not like the guy that owns it, and there's a lot of toxicity on that platform, but is the toxicity really any different than other big name platforms? I don't think it is.

If you use Cyborg Ellona's platform,   ..which is your choice of course,   you  ..and anyone else choosing to utilize it..   are -intentionally-  turning a blind eye to everything else associated with it / him? / her?..   There is no excusing that which is inexcusable. 

Will give you a  up for not falling into the Ticky Ticky trap.   We'll see whether or not you sign up to have chips installed in your head. 

 

...Regardless,  hopping on the X,   ....wetf it is ..or might morph into tomorrow... wagon is as bad as purchasing  anything  off Amazon,    ..or use of Apple products.     <--- On that note,    grew up attending assemblies in elementary and middle school where Steve Wozniak was a regular guest.  From a kids perspective, he seemed like a cool guy with some cool stuff to say / inspire through.   Rumor has it he lived in a prominent home up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, easily in view above my neighborhood 24 - 7- 365 that was frequent rumor mill fodder throughout and just after high school. 

...I may have been several years from owning anything computerized att but knew when he bailed on Apple,  what would follow = heaps of self - serving, corporate greed,   and flashy trash.   Hard pass.   ..Always happy to participate in Apple product burning festivities though,  lol. 


If i were to ever extend my reach social media wise again, have toyed with the idea of Blue Sky  but..  Not thrilled with Jack cowering to Ellona.    Again,  no excuses,  no matter how much $$ one might stand to gain.  

One thing i do applaud is the efforts by other countries to reign in use of Social Media,  esp. by anyone under 15..  Too bad we're apparently too afraid of the machine here ...right now at least. 



 

[tarnado]

2 hours ago, JLM said:

all I use is X/Twitter

I know we have gone far afield from Joseph Rossi/Texas Cold Hardy Palms, and the digression was partly my fault. However. I wanted to add:

Leaving Facebook and Meta was a breeze compared to leaving Twitter. I was an addict, really. I did leave, though. I set up a Bluesky account (as @tarnado.bsky.social) ... I post some palm stuff from time to time. I'm very happy there, unlike Mastodon (which I also tried out).

Peace be with you all. The world beyond our forum here is ... well, I love it here and I appreciate you all a great deal.

[Silas_Sancona]

12 minutes ago, tarnado said:

Leaving Facebook and Meta was a breeze compared to leaving Twitter.

Funny you mentioned this..  Before it's soul was sold & sacrificed at an alter deep in some tomb,  i came pretty close to giving X / Twitter/ whatever a shot but heard the same exact thing about leaving, should i decide to.  Glad i didn't give into that temptation,  ha ha. 

Agree too that dropping FB was a sinch.  Only thing i should have done that i didn't do,  was yank all my pictures i'd posted there before bailing. 

Mastadon always seemed ..odd..   No idea why but,  wasn't shocked when it kind of faded from view.  

Anyway,,,

 

[JohnAndSancho]

On 2/23/2026 at 4:57 PM, tarnado said:

Yeah, in the past few months more and more of the Big Search engines just point directly - and almost solely - to AI-generated (i.e., stolen) content and 'slime.' Getting to the root of the information is still kinda possible on Google, but Bing is completely borked for trying to get good info that isn't a) one link to Wikipedia and b) 20 links to AI-stolen content. Then you can't even dig deeper!

This is the first time I've seen Bing referenced in anything other than a joke in about 5 years, but yeah - I do miss when Google was a search engine and not an AI toy. 

 

I'm not gonna quote all of the social media posts, but I am on Twitter and if you like me on here you'd hate me on there. The toxicity is real there and it's where I get to vent about stuff I wouldn't dare bring up here. 

I just recently started an Instagram and I was briefly on TikTok and I won't publicly disclose why I left here, but I'll post it on Twitter. 

 

I was on Bluesky but they actually banned it in my state because our govt decided they needed ID verification like porn sites, but - I can see the toxic crap on Twitter all day long even if I was like 8 years old. I'm glad to see the EU cracking down on it, but the ads on Instagram are so accurate they're scary. On the plus side I did get free diabetic supplies and did get put in contact with a lawyer to help me with SSDI, but they also seem to know I'm older, single, and they seem to know what kind of women I'm attracted to and I'm targeted by AI bots that fit that mold lol. 

 

I just wish there was a way to pull the regulars back from Facebook and bring them back here.