Erlend

Bullish on kindness.
Founder of Spicy Lobster studios and Weird inc.
https://blog.erlend.sh/weird-web-pages

Public Key

npub14ch0zfh9cwswwgp65f7jxrk3yzu0z5xk6rueaf3cchrvreqnfzys6z2e8a

NIP-05 Address

erlend_at_writing.exchange@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs2uth3ymju8g88yqa2ylfrpmgjpw832rtdp7v75cuvt3kpusf53zgpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcjavkcm

Publishing to

relay.nostr.band

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub14ch0zfh9cwswwgp65f7jxrk3yzu0z5xk6rueaf3cchrvreqnfzys6z2e8a

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Last Notes

2024-09-11 17:26:00

How #Lemmy could interop with #Mastodon, as imagined in Frontpage + Bluesky:
“When you post on Fp, we propose that a mirror post will also be created in your Bluesky account. When you comment on Frontpage, we propose that a mirror reply will be created in your Bluesky account.
Conversely, when you reply to one of these mirrored posts in Bluesky - we will show it as a reply in Frontpage.
Additionally, Bluesky likes will be translated to Frontpage votes and vice versa.”
https://lemmy.world/post/19654283

2024-09-09 12:22:33

I handwavingly predict that the most stable #misskey fork will be whichever one decides to rebuild its foundations atop of #fedify, thus freeing up the dev(s) to focus on the client-side innovations that the #forkeys have always excelled at.

2024-09-01 17:24:42

Is anyone aware of a #bufferapp alternative for the #opensocialweb & #fediverse?
I’ve found some open source network-agnostic poster interfaces: postiz-app, postybirb, moxpost..
..but none of them specialize in open protocols like ActivityPub, ATProto etc.

2024-08-29 06:47:16

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@npub1vx0…ku9p here goes 👀
edit: are federated replies only visible to logged in users?

2024-08-10 11:06:16

> (…) split the index, which is to say the part of Google Search that scrapes the web and makes that content searchable, from the search user interface, and manage that index as a public utility that different search services could rely on and pay for, an idea that was suggested in a recent paper.
That would be incredible. There’s also an efficient-resourcing argument to be made here, because many sites are hit hard by swarms of crawlers, all collecting the same data.
https://mastodon.social/@robin/112933151964297678

2024-07-18 07:43:57

I no longer feel comfortable boosting posts from pure meme accounts unless they’re exceptionally well known or have authenticated themselves somehow, e.g. with a two-way link to the memer’s personal account.
In this day and age it’s just too easy fully automate this type of account as a bad actor with the intention of posting misinformation somewhere down the line, once the account looks legit enough.
#meme #misinformation #bot #safety

2024-07-12 15:48:48

From @npub10al…rvqa:
https://whtwnd.com/bnewbold.net/3kwzl7tye6u2y
A relay of the entire Bluesky network can be run for $153/month. That’s mighty impressive!
Many #ActivityPub hosters are paying this amount for member counts in the low thousands.

2024-07-03 22:02:50

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@npub1ftd…4cve I’m going there for the #ipfscamp from 11th to 13th, will you be there for that?

2024-06-27 17:41:39

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@npub13w7…mktw sounds right, yup. What your ‘own server’ is exists on a spectrum of course, depending on how much upkeep/security you wanna be responsible for yourself.

2024-06-20 07:48:33

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@npub1g8e…qdqf there’s much more evidence to the contrary:
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/evidence-that-llms-are-reaching-a
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/facing-facts

2024-06-15 15:28:12

oy, dear #UX fedizens:
We're in the process of adding a basic tagging system to our app. This feels like one of those things we have some pretty established conventions for already in order to make tag-entries exceedingly user friendly on both desktop, mobile et.al., soo
got any good resources for 'Best Practice of Tagging UX'?
#design #webdev

2024-06-12 14:45:10

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“And so here's what we're going to talk about:
Local-first Beyond Local Data
Home Cooked vs Industrial Software
My Pitch for Barefoot Developers
Why Language Model Legos Need Glue
How We Can Bake Local-first Into Everything.”
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/112/604/184/739/432/598/original/a7c9acf813ecdf27.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/112/604/185/011/772/034/original/afab8d1241b9cdd0.jpeg

2024-04-06 16:20:06

https://blog.erlend.sh/weird-netizens
To free ourselves from feudal identity fiefdoms, we must simultaneously de-centralize and re-centralize identity.
Decentralize ownership.
Recentralize agency.
By de-centralizing the ownership of identity away from platform monopolies and back to individuals, we can re-centralize the agency of personhood.
The central authority of ones digital identity must be the individual. That's how we regain our digital sovereignty.
#NomadicIdentity #IndieWeb

2024-04-01 15:53:40

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@npub1htm…5ul7 is it open source?

2024-03-23 12:48:51

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@npub1pmt…d4ts fascinating! I’ve been hoping someone would explore exactly this:
https://writing.exchange/@erlend/112121718112283325
Sounds like it doesn’t necessarily ease the burden of implementing did:[something] for ActivityPub though. Do you consider it a dead end as far as practical utility goes?

2024-03-22 22:41:37

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Latest by @npub1hyk…3p33 came in clutch!
https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/21/involuntary-die-hards/
> The older you get, the more complex your social connections grow. A Gen Z kid in middle school doesn't have to worry about losing touch with their high-school buddies if they switch platforms (they haven't gone to high school yet – and they see their middle school friends in person all the time [..]). Middle-schoolers don't have to worry about coordinating little league car-pools or losing access to a rare disease support group.

2024-03-22 22:20:16

https://blog.commune.sh/beyond-discord/
Like any other major network incumbent, Discord cannot simply be side-stepped altogether; appropriate off-ramps are required.
#Matrix bridging enables an incremental, non-disruptive transition from the old to the new.
We invite anyone interested in the development of #CommuneApp to join our newly opened space: https://matrix.to/#/#home:commune.sh
The first half of our product rollout starts next month, as we begin publicly testing our uniquely community-oriented Matrix client.

2024-03-19 10:55:47

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@npub1df0…7gmw sure, but that doesn’t make it vendor-locked. If others are free to host their own deployments, there’s no lock-in there.

2024-03-19 10:37:54

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@npub1df0…7gmw what makes it vendor-locked?

2024-03-19 09:47:26

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@npub1df0…7gmw while I’m clueless about this stuff at the low level, it seems to me like did-plc is Good Enough for a starting point that works *today*.
It is transitory by design, so whichever next-stage direction the Bluesky devs take it in can be diverged from if it doesn’t align with the requirements for #NomadicIdentity in the fediverse.
I’m afraid that if we wait around another year++ for the perfect solution to come along, Good Enough alternatives will be deeply entrenched by that time.

2024-03-05 16:03:15

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@npub19lt…qfjk I sent them an email to make them aware of this conversation:
> Your company might have a rather unique opportunity to position itself as one of the few independently owned TLD registries still around, which is a very appealing prospect to people in the resurgent fediverse and indieweb.
Would be really cool to have an especially fedi-friendly TLD registry around.

2024-03-05 15:03:33

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@npub19lt…qfjk .tel is pretty cool! They seem to have a rather dev-oriented background as well, although that doesn’t appear to be part of their modern persona.

2024-03-05 13:18:55

Is there any TLD registry (not registrar) and accompanying domain name extension (.com, .net and so on) out there that’s owned by a small/independent, i.e. trustworthy business? Feels like they’re all owned by some creepy mega-corp.
.blog owned by Automattic and .club owned by an individual are decent examples. I wonder if there are even better alternatives.
#lazyweb #SmallWeb #askfedi

2024-03-04 17:15:22

https://blog.erlend.sh/credit-your-genai
It's bad enough that GenAI mashes together thousands of similar drawings and repaints them at your behest with the signatures of its contributors scrubbed out, their record of work erased. Don't add insult to injury by omitting any credit of the machine assistance whatsoever, as if this work was painted by your hand.
Whenever I see an uncredited image online, I assume foul play. Every uncredited image is non-consensual exploitation of art.
#ai #genai #art

2024-02-10 13:31:27

https://blog.commune.sh/what-is-commune/
Commune has been in sporadic development for three years. A lot has happened in this time, so for old-timers and newcomers alike, here's a comprehensive summary of our past, present and future as we head into 2024 with renewed focus and conviction.
We're also soft-announcing our newest initiative on the path to production readiness: Our backend is being rewritten in #rust 🦀
https://github.com/commune-os/commune-rs
Foundation set by @npub1mry…qted
#OpenSource #CommuneApp #matrix

2024-02-09 09:22:55

From @npub1hyk…3p33 in https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/08/permanent-overlords/
The authors [of the paper "Coopting Disruption: Has Big Tech disrupted disruption itself?”] propose a four-step program for the would-be Tech Baron hoping to defend their turf from disruption.
1️⃣ First, gather information about startups that might develop disruptive technologies and steer them away from competing with you, by investing in them or partnering with them.

2024-01-11 23:03:02

@npub17cu…rcg7 we are in dire need of a non-commercial content license made with the #opensocialweb in mind.
The CC org could spark a lot of generative dialog by simply *drafting* such a license in the open, long before calling it Done.
I don’t know how to put this in generalized legal language, but I know what I oppose.
I do NOT consent to my content being used in:
- for-profit #advertising
- for-profit LLM/SMM #ai training
- for-profit profiling
My content belongs to the NC-SA #commons

2023-12-16 16:29:12

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@npub1t8u…c7sk
> Artificial Intelligence has the potential to uplift all of humanity to an unprecedented quality of living
If not now, when?
> Decentralized technologies from the blockchain/crypto/web3 ecosystem will create a fairer, more inclusive economy
If not now, when?
I wonder how much longer we’re supposed to wait until these technologies that currently serve only to enrich the mega-wealthy somehow trickle down to the general public.
Also, since when was a16z not ‘Big Tech’? Ridiculous.

2023-12-11 20:23:25

https://blog.beeper.com/p/beeper-mini-is-back
Kudos to #Beeper for their competitive compatibility hijinks as of late.
No doubt they’re intentionally building a case for regulators. They’ve forced Apple’s hand, effectively showing that cross-platform comms is a matter of willingness, not technical limitation.
Seeing as Apple’s company policy is provably anti-competitive, we the users rely on state-mandated policies to overrule them in favor of adversarial interop.
cc @npub1hyk…3p33
#SeizeTheMeansOfComputation

2023-11-28 12:13:02

Partially in response to the excellent juxtaposition of Effective Altruism/Accelerationism by @npub1xkg…gph9, @npub1hyk…3p33 writes:
“But the superintelligence true-believers and their criti-hyping critics keep dragging us away from these important questions [about pro-social automation] and into fanciful and pointless discussions of whether and how to appease the godlike computers we will create when we disassemble the solar system and turn it into computronium.”
Amen! 🙏
https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/27/10-types-of-people/

2023-11-08 18:14:00

There’s a major convergence of OAuth/OIDC support across #fediverse applications, #Matrix is going all-in on it as its root default, and other social web protocols are tagging along as well.
Like the separation of church and state, it seems prudent to keep the management of our digital identities separate from our social network servers.
Domain-based OIDC accounts, especially when self-hosted, serve the function of a minimum-viable #nomadicidentity
https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/autonomous-identity-for-the-pluriverse-based-on-oauth-oidc/3675?u=erlend_sh

2023-10-13 08:21:57

@npub1psa…xhme in this new world of apub-enabled WordPress blogs, there’s going to be a need for Good Practice material on how to participate in the #fediverse via ones WP blog.
I imagine there are different ways to go about it, some of which can be configured explicitly in the plugin settings while others come down to user conventions.
Things like:
- Whole blog as AP feed
- Segment out specific microblog for AP feed
- Comments only
- Connect with existing Masto/AP account
- Tumblr integration?

2023-10-12 14:38:01

A simple #ActivityPub <-> #Bluesky interop MVP I don’t see mentioned a lot is the ability to fully oEmbed an apub/atproto post on its opposite platform. This would allow for a kind of quote-posting across networks.
If that could somehow be combined with a WebMention to inform me that my apub post has been shared elsewhere and vice versa, we’d have significantly greater cross-border connectivity than the status quo.
A Bluesky dev has responded with interest:
https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto/discussions/1716#discussioncomment-7261438

2023-09-05 20:22:23

https://blog.erlend.sh/group-convergence
Stubborn holdouts of the increasingly off-putting Twitter/X and Reddit commonly point out how their open source alternatives don't really offer any cool new features.
You know what will never happen? Twitter and Reddit being in direct, seamless interaction with one another. With groups FEP-1b12, #mastodon #Lemmy & friends are at the precipice of a brand new social networking experience defined by app symbiosis.
Friendship is the “killer feature” of the #fediverse! 👯

2023-09-04 07:32:19

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@npub1e78…sa4p I’d love to see some science done on the prevalence of climate denialism in the #fediverse.
My basic hypothesis is that climate deniers don’t get nearly the same amount of attention on here, because there isn’t a corrupt advertising incentive (controversy = eyeballs = money) to add fuel to stupid fires.

2023-08-31 20:37:18

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@npub1df0…7gmw I suggest you start tagging these with #rust and #ActivityPub ;)

2023-08-30 19:27:37

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@npub1u27…3qfq I’m on here to socially network with people of shared purpose ☺️

2023-08-27 08:32:42

https://blog.erlend.sh/transitioning-r-rust-to-the-threadiverse
Three months ago I submitted a post to the #Rust sub-reddit called 'Building a better /r/rust together' wherein I hailed #Lemmy as a fitting successor.
Today we have 3+ moderately active Rust spaces on the threadiverse. To counteract community fragmentation, we need the ability for #ActivityPub groups (Lemmy 'community' or #Kbin 'magazine') to follow other groups.
Help needed from fedi-curious Rust developer out there: Implement FEP-d36d for Lemmy as drafted by @npub1ug7…vaes

2023-08-25 07:52:35

Several years in the making, GitLab is now very actively implementing #ActivityPub! 🙌
https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/11247
The end-goal is to support AP for merge requests (aka pull requests), meaning git.alice.dev can send a merge request to gitlab.com/Bob/project.git
First bite-sized todo on the implementation path there is ‘subscribe to project releases’.
Smart move by GitLab; through ActivityPub they’re getting a distributed version of GitHub’s social layer.
@npub1gsm…5y8l #fediverse #GitHub #git

2023-08-23 17:02:49

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23836358/meditation-mindfulness-enlightenment-science-contemplative-buddhism-spirituality
> In a 2021 paper, Laukkonen and his colleague Heleen Slagter suggested that one way to think about the depth of meditation is the degree to which the mind is engaged in abstractions or conceptual thought. They describe meditation as a process of deconstructing engrained habits of mind “until all conceptual processing falls away, unveiling a state of pure awareness.”
‘(…) like discarding clothes that no longer fit.’
#meditation #mindfulness #science #spirituality

2023-08-21 23:41:50

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@npub1qu2…uj0d I could have misunderstood, but in reading some of these defed announcements I got the impression that Lemmy.world had actually. just defederated from specific Communities (subs) of dbzer0, not the entire instance.
Which, if that’s the case, is a really cool feature of Lemmy and the threadiverse at large, as it allows for more granular degrees of defederation.

2023-08-21 23:41:50

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2023-08-15 16:37:46

https://blog.erlend.sh/every-greenfield-oss-project-should-join-mastodon
Joining the #fediverse is a lot like installing your first Linux distro. Nothing is quite as easy as what you're used to; seemingly simple tweaks lead you down deep rabbit holes of community-curated knowledge spread across unofficial wikis and old-school bulletin boards.
But somehow it doesn't feel all that laborious. That's because you didn't install Linux to save time. You entered the world of Linux because you got the sense that *something is happening over there.*

2023-08-15 16:37:46

2023-08-14 06:33:16

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@npub1lj7…zczx @npub1xzm…eykm while I love your writeup (great crash course in product design!) I do think this is the iterative process working as intended. Discourse & @npub1j2u…c034 rolls out feature in a fairly similar manner:
https://blog.codinghorror.com/complaint-driven-development/

2023-08-09 16:54:50

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@npub1k08…6xvn as long as I get #NomadicIdentity I’m good. I don’t need the fediverse to be a reliable storage of my data; that’s what my website/blog is for.
I think of my fedi posts as letters I send out into the ether.

2023-08-09 16:54:50

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2023-08-07 18:43:34

The Matrix is one of my all time favorite movies. The notion of uploading new knowledge to your brain in a matter of seconds always amazed me.
That kind of technology seemed so distant from our present world. But really, this tech already exists in the form of the written word.
Reading a book might seem laborious in comparison to plugging a USB drive into your brain, but having a lifetime’s worth of knowledge distilled into a few hours of tea-sipping is trippy enough.
#bookstodon #books 🍵

2023-07-29 11:35:22

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Any #matrix network hosts on the #fediverse interested in testing Commune?
https://writing.exchange/@erlend/110712778752844998
Commune is an extension of Matrix to make rooms web-public and threads-enabled. Layered unobtrusively on top of your existing Synapse server; most of the setup can be left up to us.
We’d like to eventually be a plug-and-play extension for any Matrix network, including Matrix.org 🌐
..so as a first step, we wanna work on interop with the smaller #IndieWeb networks as our earliest adopters.

2023-07-15 12:55:15

In light of growing moderation challenges at both #BlueSky and #Threads , here’s a @npub1hyk…3p33 classic:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/04/pick-all-three/
> The Moderator's Trilemma goes, "Large, diverse userbase; centralized platforms; don't anger users – pick any two."
> Rozenshtein proposes a solution: federation. De-siloing social media, breaking it out of centralized walled gardens and recomposing it as a bunch of small servers run by a diversity of operators with a diversity of content moderation approaches.

2023-07-14 13:55:37

Communal Bonfires; creating space for group-scale discourse.
https://blog.erlend.sh/communal-bonfires
Today we're pre-releasing Commune, our first foundational step towards a community platform built specifically for alignment with digital gardens.
Cyber-ecological messaging anyone?!
It's an evolving piece of software serving as the primary bonfire component of the overarching Community OS concept.
https://github.com/commune-os/commune-server
#fediverse #opensource #threadiverse #community

2023-07-07 08:06:53

@npub1094…2wum is there a good guide for #ActivityPub admins out there who want to learn all about defederation, blocking, invite-only etc.?
Feels like a canonical resource on ‘Determining your instance’s availability on the fediverse’ is missing and much needed with the advent of #threads and #BlockMeta
Federation happens on a spectrum between complete federation and complete defederation. Admins as well as tenants need to be educated on the impacts of different #fediverse configurations.

2023-06-28 20:20:32

At this rate there’s going to be two networks: the open #fediverse and the gated #defediverse.
Which is fine, I guess. It’s your instance; do as you’d like.
I for one am here to make myself available on the public address book of the World Wide Web.
I’m not interested in preemptively blocking calls from people who aren’t in my very privileged position of being able to operate my online persona on indie infrastructure.
Free time, education and economic safety brought me to #mastodon.

2023-06-27 13:43:54

https://blog.erlend.sh/lemmy-frontend-alternatives-are-popping-off
The Lemmy UI works fine, but alternatives are still much needed:
* lemmy-ui is styled like legacy Reddit, which isn't everyone's preference. (I personally have no need for the sidebar.)
* Inferno is a rather niche framework that raises the bar-to-entry for some prospective contributors.
* Alt-frontends make for a healthier app ecosystem.
If you're in the market for a new #Lemmy frontend, you've got plenty of promising options in the making!
#fediverse #opensource
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/616/459/210/471/524/original/89e0d6f255558fe5.png

2023-06-21 08:36:09

Sync, one of the most popular #Reddit apps, will be transitioning to support #Lemmy instead of shutting down.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SyncforLemmy/comments/14ee1ul/sync_for_lemmy_is_happening/
This is a MAJOR win for the #fediverse and exactly the type of @npub1rky…0xq2 maneuver I was hoping to see 🎉
Further discussion is happening here:
https://lemmy.world/c/syncforlemmy
Will it be open source?
https://lemmy.world/post/373898
I’m guessing that’s too much, too soon. As a gentler stepping stone, I’m more in favor of a shared-source approach: https://polyformproject.org/licenses/noncommercial/1.0.0/

2023-06-18 17:03:26

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Yes, this is inspired by Dunbar principle and that sort of thing.
My hypothesis is that our shared network will be healthier if next-gen server libraries optimize for this number. Again, that by no means needs to exclude even 1000x scale. But solving for 100-200 people **first** makes a big difference in how a service product is designed.

2023-06-18 16:29:24

I suspect the ideal size of an #ActivityPub server to be around 100-200 people. It’s very possible to scale way past that size, though it becomes exponentially harder to do in a responsible manner with every 10x 100x 1000x multiplier of co-tenants.
Let’s not fight our current state of evolution as a tribally oriented species. We don’t make very good hive-minds of our collective consciousnesses yet, but the #opensocialweb glue of the #fediverse will get us there eventually.

2023-06-11 21:03:13

/u/rust can be remade for the #fediverse with @npub1nnp…rny7, and we’re mobilizing a growing number of #rust folks interested in doing just that.
https://users.rust-lang.org/t/building-a-better-r-rust-together/95194
Come talk to us about what can and is already being done!

2023-06-04 23:37:41

By @npub1hyk…3p33 in https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farbenizers
“Meanwhile, in Nuremberg, 24 Farben [factory] executives were tried for their war crimes, and they cited their obligations to their shareholders in their defense. All but five were acquitted on this basis.
Seen in that light, the plunderers of today's PE firms are part of a long and dishonorable tradition, one that puts profit ahead of every other priority or consideration.”
Holy shit. The ‘Shareholder Defense’ can even get Nazis off the hook? Wild!

2023-06-04 08:03:18

With the Reddit rug-pull, this would be the perfect time for Imgur to announce plans for #fediverse compatibility.

2023-05-28 21:33:50

Hearing some people say “the #fediverse is more quiet these days” as if it’s a bad thing. A bit of quiet does us good.
But more than going quiet, I think the fedizens are getting *focused*. We’re starting to narrow in on what we wanna be about in this place. As a unified collective, but also as decentralized floating islands, autonomously self-organized.
We are discovering the boundaries and powers of (de)federation and its effects on network health.
I like where this is going. Keep playing❣️

2023-05-25 07:31:15

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@npub1j43…jvze @npub1r55…sezn is on the right track here. It’s unencumbered by encryption and federation, but still made for multi-server setups. That’s the best starting point for greenfield communities.
From there, Matrix features can be layered on top with ‘Linearized Matrix’ https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3995

2023-05-22 16:35:01

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@npub16hz…7cxf open source is fully compatible with subscriptions and direct payments.
In fact, it’s arguably a better fit than closed software. With open source you’re not just paying for access to a premium service (usually managed hosting by domain experts), you’re also paying for ongoing maintenance of the free software that ensures your right-to-exit.
Hundreds of open source cloud companies operate this way: WordPress, Ghost, Sentry, Discourse.. the list goes on: https://www.coss.community/cossc/global-vc-funding-into-coss-24b-raised-from-jan-2020-to-august-2022-3pc6

2023-05-22 08:21:53

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When #facebook first came out with React, I was super suspicious. I’d been directly affected by their XMPP/Jabber bait & switch, and was expecting a similar play. But React turned out to be one of the most popular open source projects in history, in large part thanks to Fb’s custodianship.
The product dynamics of #P92 is closer to XMPP than React, but on the other hand #ActivityPub is an inherently more connected and coordinated (albeit loosely) network than XMPP was, because it’s one big room.

2023-05-22 08:07:06

#P92 is equal parts scary and exciting. What gives me hope is that while the product is dictated by the deeply untrustworthy #Meta company, it’s being developed by engineers who are amenable to the #OpenSource ethos, as evidenced by React, Docosaurus, RocksDB, PyTorch, LLaMA etc.
If you believe in the #fediverse like I do, you’ll see we have a far more compelling story for fellow techies to come along with. If we make it easy for them to do the right thing, it’s harder for Meta to do wrong.

2023-05-20 09:25:06

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@npub1hyk…3p33
> In other words, the Venture Predator constructs a pile of shit so large and impressive that investors are convinced that there must be a pony under there somewhere.
> [VCs] are risk-tolerant and need to cash out over short timescales. What's more, VCs' longstanding boasts of their ability to identify companies who have invented new, super-efficient ways to do boring things like "rent out office space" or "provide taxis" gives the pile-of-shit pony-pitch a plausible ring.

2023-05-20 09:16:29

Via @npub1hyk…3p33
> What's a Venture Predator? It's "a startup that uses venture finance to price below its costs, chase its rivals out of the market, and grab market share."
> The predator sets $m or $b of dollars on fire chasing "rapid, exponential growth" all in order to "create the impression that recoupment is possible" among future investors, such as blue-chip companies that might buy them out, or sucker retail investors who buy in at the IPO, anticipating years of monopoly pricing.

2023-05-18 19:02:05

My top recommendation to the @npub18qs…0s8s team and all other #Fediverse instances fighting the influx of spam: Learn from @npub1j2u…c034 about the concept of Trust Levels and consider implementing it asap.
https://blog.discourse.org/2018/06/understanding-discourse-trust-levels/
This is perhaps the most under appreciated feature of Discourse and I’m amazed it’s not more mainstream.
While not necessary for an initial implementation, this system can also be applied to a federated environment, as put forth by @npub1vrj…sw7w
https://meta.discourse.org/t/federated-reputation/203679

2023-05-15 10:50:08

https://blog.erlend.sh/assembling-community-os
An open social web is possible, and it is in no way an understatement to say that our interpersonal relationships as well as democratic institutions will be far better off for it.
Digital autonomy begets individual freedom begets fairness & equality.
The hopeful possibility of this moment lies in the open-social web protocols which make up the foundations of a comms & coordination ecosystem owned and operated by the general public.
#fediverse #opensource #OpenWeb

2023-05-08 14:32:11

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@npub1hyk…3p33
> .. follow them. Users can automatically update all of those people in instances when they quit a server and go to another one.
> One of the reasons that people still use Twitter, even though its quality has been manifestly degraded, is because they like the people who follow them and who they follow. It’s of value to them; that plays into Musk’s calculus. He’s trying to find an equilibrium where he’s enshitifying the platform to the point where it is almost useless to you but..

2023-05-08 14:31:08

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@npub1hyk…3p33
> The people who made it were ideologically committed to decentralization and technological self-determination, and they made it without interference from large firms that otherwise would’ve found it relatively easy to capture the process.
> So, it’s a very good standard and it has a lot of very good characteristics. One of them is that it has the right to exit built in. The standard ensures any user can export not just the list of people they follow, but the list of people who..

2023-05-08 14:29:20

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@npub1hyk…3p33 thoughtful words about #mastodon and #activitypub ✨
> The second part of your question, “Is there something better coming?” I think it’s Mastodon; and I think it’s Mastodon for a bunch of reasons. One is that the Mastodon standard was developed when the tech platforms were totally disinterested and didn’t have their fingers on the scale. ActivityPub, which is the standard that governs Mastodon, happened in this moment of reduced scrutiny and interference.

2023-05-06 13:07:02

https://blog.erlend.sh/juicy-clients
If I'm peeking into an #ActivityPub instance, show me its preferred UI form.
..on mastodon.social, show me the #Mastodon
UI.
..on calckey.social, show me the #Calckey UI
..on bookwyrm.social, show me the #Bookwyrm UI.
..on mitra.social, show me the #Mitra UI.
..on pixelfed.social, show me the #Pixelfed UI.
(..on bluesky.social, show me the #Bluesky UI.)
@npub1vl7…2stc is currently furthest along on the track to becoming a juicy client. Gobo by @npub166j…hd4f is also exciting!
🍹

2023-05-05 13:33:13

https://write.as/openindie/sense-making-in-federated-discourse
We lack tools to meaningfully move critical conversations forward in the #fediverse . I'm seeing fedizens talking past each other, repeating questions that have already been answered multiple times, and making false statements.
Our shared purpose is to break down systems of oppression, such as surveillance-based social media. In reinventing that tired old game, only mechanics that function in service of our pro-social agenda should be carried over into the new.

2023-05-01 15:41:33

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@npub15c8…fal0 nothing unreasonable about that at this early stage imo. I don’t think the core mastodon team is gonna be working on a bridge any time soon either.
Interop work is typically a community effort until a strong enough real world use case gains traction.

2023-05-01 15:30:13

@npub1ztp…zha0 from #bluesky core dev:
“Since this is coming up, I have nothing but appreciation for Mastodon and ActivityPub. We had another approach we wanted to take and that’s it.
It’s pretty normal for people to root for their communities but it’s not zero sum and we should be rooting for every baby turtle to make it off the beach.”
In response to bridging:
“Right now I’ll keep track of what community efforts yield on this.”
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/294/139/071/997/006/original/502d69d82c1c0f5c.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/294/139/372/808/350/original/f3fde7a70a54dc95.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/294/139/488/714/036/original/6e13bae35727b0ed.jpeg

2023-04-30 13:36:53

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@npub1uqj…jnvy @npub1g0h…q66a Love this direction!
Sounds quite similar to what I've got in mind for my 'Weird web pages', except yours is more of an all-in-one (dynamic app) approach whereas we're starting with a lightweight (static, local-first) aggregator.
> from my reading of its design docs, I believe Takahē should be able to support both AT #bluesky and ActivityPub at the same time.
Very excited to see where this goes! I'm hopeful Elk will join the fun: https://writing.exchange/@erlend/110286022480202952

2023-04-29 18:01:45

The titanic is sinking and we’re out here quarreling over which life boat is more seaworthy.
Anything that floats will do!
The doom-cruiser is also on fire and the captain - pretending everything is fine - is closing cabin doors from the outside.
For now let's just make sure everyone gets safely off the ship, shall we?
Once the rescue operation is over we'll get to work on tying our various makeshift rafts together into an increasingly cohesive super-fleet.
#fediverse #bluesky #nostr

2023-04-25 22:17:53

https://blog.erlend.sh/fragmentations-in-the-fediverse
Drawing preemptive lines in the sand is not conducive to a healthy #[0]. In fact, it could very well be its downfall. Large scale separation is antithetical to the social fabric of the world wide web.
Can we take a breather here?
Hostile VC takeovers are very far down the list of problems facing our nascent community of fedizens. Onboarding and retention on the other hand is easily in the top 3.
We need:
Account migrations
Account aliases
Account sovereignty

2023-04-20 07:30:31

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/19/1071789/openais-hunger-for-data-is-coming-back-to-bite-it/
We the content creators of the open internet should not consent to black box systems like AltmanAI to use our data for its own enrichment.
I will only allow open source AI systems - participants in the Creative Commons - to use my data. Closed systems that don’t participate in the ecosystem of the #[0] should be expressly disallowed from training on open data shared in good faith.

2023-04-15 00:55:46

https://blog.erlend.sh/fediverse-is-social-media-unionization-for-journalists
For today's independent #[0] , federated networks of instances ( #[1] ) built on top of open protocols ( #[2] ) is the only trustworthy outlet as far as social media feeds go.
“The medium is the message”
Reclaim the medium!

2023-04-12 16:15:23

The type of #[0] I’m missing the most on the #[1] & #[2] et.al. is a URL search.
Once I can search for links and see all posts containing it, I can much more easily boost link originators, as well as look for alternative takes.
This is especially important for #[3] , as I always prefer boosting the signal of the original publisher if they have an active fedi account.