Evan Prodromou

He/him. Board member at CoSocial.ca.

Director of Open Technology at Open Earth Foundation (OEF).

Founder of Wikitravel, StatusNet, identi.ca, Fuzzy.ai. CTO of Breather, TRU LUV and MTTR.

Creator of pump.io. Co-creator of GNU social.

Co-chair of the Social Web Working Group at W3C. Co-author of ActivityStreams 2.0. Co-author of ActivityPub. Co-author of OStatus.

Grad student in CS at Georgia Tech.

This network has been my life's work. Thanks for making it.

Personal: https://prodromou.pub/@evan
Work: https://social.openearth.org/@evan
Premium: https://prodromou.pub/@evanplus
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@evanprodromou

Public Key

npub176495h5jd2deymed6taalm3mwgcg9k9qf6z03vac2wp84htwvzvs66nuj0

NIP-05 Address

evan_at_cosocial.ca@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs0d2j6t6fx4xujduka977lacahyvyzmzsyap8ckwu98qn6m4hxpxgl8usuu

Author Public Key

npub176495h5jd2deymed6taalm3mwgcg9k9qf6z03vac2wp84htwvzvs66nuj0

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Last Notes

2024-10-08 02:41:45

#CeaseFireNow still, again, again, still.

2024-08-18 01:58:34

What percentage of people who you block do you eventually unblock?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-08-08 04:00:59

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If you are a US resident, and you want to reply, leave a comment.
.

2024-08-08 03:59:41

Non-US-residents only, please.
Are you interested in US politics?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-08-07 01:07:26

Are environmentalism and human flourishing compatible?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-08-06 18:01:49

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there are literally hundreds of examples of ethnic nationalist extreme right regimes to compare Kahanists against. You can compare to Slobodan Milosevic, Nasser, Marie Le Pen. These are all more accurate examples and harder to deflect.

2024-08-05 03:13:14

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humorism?wprov=sfla1

2024-08-05 03:12:56

Which is your favourite humour?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-08-04 16:25:54

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Happy Ĥ Day!

2024-08-04 02:27:32

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I wanted to make it clear that it's entirely possible to handle this case with followers-only or other private addressing. I updated the page on replies on the ActivityPub primer to explain it. I hope it helps for you!
https://www.w3.org/wiki/ActivityPub/Primer/Replies

2024-08-03 19:48:12

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yes it does; you have to a) use HTTP Signature authorization and b) have access to the post.

2024-08-03 19:47:00

I love ActivityPub so much.

2024-08-03 18:44:01

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you don't need signatures. Just fetch the replies collection. The OP can use 'Add' or 'Accept' activities to indicate that an object has been added to the replies.

2024-08-03 16:47:11

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looks like it's going well! Just keep at it.

2024-08-03 04:05:26

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https://media.cosocial.ca/media_attachments/files/112/896/120/448/201/375/original/0817132162462d40.mp4

2024-08-03 02:08:49

When will there be a permanent moon base?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-08-01 02:23:24

I am not travelling right now because of my accident and I won't be at #DWebCamp this year.
I hope everyone has fun and does good work.

2024-07-29 21:19:33

How important is dark mode to you?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-07-27 18:09:30

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Actually this would be a good poll.

2024-07-27 18:00:16

I think Republicans should definitely keep complaining about how deeply unfair it is for poor old Donald Trump to have to compete against supercandidate Kamala Harris because that is a great fucking message.
https://www.vox.com/scotus/362186/supreme-court-biden-ballot-harris-lawsuits

2024-07-27 16:44:31

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I'm a strong yes. I love the Olympics. A great chance to delve into the world of interesting amateur sports for an hour or two and walk away knowing more about culture and people in other parts of your country and the world. I like the structure, the politics, the rules, the kooky traditions, the gossip. And it tries to tell a story of a world where attention is globalized and the competition between nations is kindhearted, respectful and low stakes. I wish more of the world were like the Games.

2024-07-26 11:32:33

Will you watch the Olympics?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-07-26 10:49:42

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Anyway, tl;dr is that I'm getting better and better. Probably not as fast as I'd like, but steady progress. I've been incredibly lucky and I'm very grateful.
Thanks in particular to all the people here who've expressed well wishes and shared kind words. I haven't replied directly to everyone, but please know that it meant a lot to me.

2024-07-26 10:46:30

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The next big challenge is dealing with insurance, hospital bills and lawyers as I sort out who pays for what. It is greatly complicated by the fact that I'm a Canadian who had an accident in California.
My wife has been taking good care of this part of the accident for a few weeks, but it's becoming a bigger part of my life.

2024-07-26 10:43:49

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In my life, I was overextended. I had my job at Open Earth Foundation, a grant from Summer of Protocols for adding E2EE to ActivityPub, and editing work for my book on ActivityPub for O'Reilly Media.
Everyone has been really accommodating that I had to take time off. I've been little by little taking on more responsibilities as I heal.
I am cooking simple meals one-handed at home. I walk 1-2 km per day for exercise, and I've eaten out at restaurants 3-4 times.

2024-07-26 10:37:11

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My wrist is still in a brace and I can't type well or hold anything in my left hand.
My ribs still hurt, but I'm able to get through most of my day. I've been gradually reducing my use of painkillers. Daily I'm taking about 25% of the dosage I took when I was released.
I'm seeing a physical therapist and a psychotherapist to work my way back to something like my normal life.
I also regularly visit a doctor and a dentist.
They say it takes at least 6 weeks to heal broken ribs. I'm hopeful.

2024-07-26 10:28:48

Four weeks ago today, I was hit by a truck while crossing the street in Healdsburg, CA.
I was hospitalized for a week in Santa Rosa with 9 rib fractures, a broken wrist and facial bone fractures. I learned how to walk, shower, dress and care for myself while in excruciating pain.
On release, I stayed with my generous and caring brothers and their families in the Bay Area, until doctors cleared me to fly.
I've been home in Montreal for almost two weeks. My wife and kids take great care of me.

2024-07-25 15:00:11

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The Fediverse isn't about connecting software packages. It's about connecting communities and people.
If you make a Fediverse explainer, try to show some real communities as the nodes in the network, rather than using software packages and their logos. Companies, local governments, universities, families, friend groups, individuals.
You can explain what software makes those networks possible in your next slide.

2024-07-25 14:57:15

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There are 20,000+ Mastodon servers alone. Thousands of WordPress and Pixelfed servers.
The idea that the Fediverse is about connecting 5-6 servers, one for each kind of data posted, is really misleading.

2024-07-25 14:55:48

I don't like Fediverse explainers that show the logos of different Open Source software with networked edges between them.
Mastodon <-> Pixelfed <-> Lemmy <-> Peertube
It perpetuates the idea that there is one service of each of those packages running, and the point of the Fediverse is to connect those services. And that each one is a substitute for a commercial service.

2024-07-24 01:49:06

I agree with Rashida Tlaib.
https://tlaib.house.gov/posts/tlaib-statement-on-war-criminal-netanyahus-address-to-congress

2024-07-23 22:28:30

Is Kamala Harris better for Gaza than Joe Biden?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-07-22 17:48:49

For choosing the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, is it more important to be quick, or to have a fair process?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-07-22 15:01:43

How would you rate the management of Joe Biden declining the Democratic presidential nomination?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-07-21 19:55:48

Who moves against Harris first?

2024-07-18 17:19:11

Loved this talk with @npub1mce…eskf about the Fediverse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzoVGUdYhvQ

2024-07-17 20:58:20

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I think you may have skipped the part where Elon Musk is donating $45M per month to the Trump campaign.
Using X generates revenue for X Corp, which makes money for Elon Musk, who contributes money to help Trump win.
Overseas X users still generate revenue for X.

2024-07-17 20:36:24

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hey, these are all tough choices. And if someone feels like the good work they do on X outweighs the revenue they're generating for the Trump campaign, awesome. Just being cognizant of that tradeoff is important.

2024-07-17 18:30:28

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I disagree. By using X, anywhere, you're generating revenue for X Corp.
https://cosocial.ca/@evan/112803170944998276

2024-07-17 02:06:50

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why does it matter which country you are in?

2024-07-12 05:20:05

One thing about having a serious injury is that you're outside of normal life. It's easy to dissociate and become enveloped in the depressing painful world of your injury.
Visits from friends and family over the last few weeks have been a lifeline to me. They make me feel connected to my real self and my real life.
If you have friends or family who are in the hospital or recovering at home, take time to visit. A 30 minute chit-chat may not seem like a lot to you, but it will to them.

2024-07-10 01:59:46

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There are 10 million American voters who think 80 is a great age to be.

2024-07-10 01:56:21

Conspiracy theory: the age issue was planted by the Biden campaign to peel away sympathetic seniors from Trump.

2024-07-09 17:27:54

"Publishing platforms should include comments from the Fediverse on the content page."
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-07-01 21:59:16

Hey Fediverse friends. I had surgery for broken wrist today. it went well , but painful recovery. Occupation therapy and rest this afternoon. Ready to chill.

2024-06-29 19:21:09

Hey Fediverse friends. 👋🏼
I am in the ICU right now. I was hit by a car while walking to a cafe yesterday morning and I have 9 broken ribs. It hurts a lot.
My wife and brothers are taking great care of me. I'm very lucky. The hospital is great.
I should be out of the hospital next week and back online later in the week.

2024-06-21 03:14:05

Happy June Solstice to all who live on a planet with an axial tilt

2024-06-20 13:56:16

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The UI for ActivityPub apps should use this `replies` collection when showing the replies to a post. (Many of them currently just search for replies locally.)

2024-06-20 13:56:02

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So, I'm a strong yes.
Every ActivityPub post has a `replies` collection that contains all the replies to the post. The definitive version lives on the original poster's server.
The OP should be able to either approve replies before they're added to this collection, or remove them from the collection if they're added automatically.

2024-06-19 13:22:38

Should the original poster be able to remove replies to their post?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-06-18 23:37:02

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So, can he squeak through? I'm not sure. I really hope for this and other reasons that the current round of ceasefire talks work.

2024-06-18 23:35:57

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I think one big problem is that those very committed progressives are also the people who donate and volunteer. If they aren't out there getting out the vote, it's even worse. There's a multiplier effect to losing committed supporters.

2024-06-18 23:34:30

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I guess the gamble the campaign has is that they can win anyway. Maybe the people most disaffected are Arab Americans and very progressive people in deep blue states, where he can afford to lose some votes.
Although the poll above is from battleground states.
Maybe there's some other factor that makes is less critical than it seems.

2024-06-18 23:32:43

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It's clear that the Gaza war is hurting Biden.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democratic-divide-gaza-war-campus-protests-hurting-biden-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2024-05-16/

2024-06-18 23:30:38

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OK, so, this is interesting.
I'm qualified yes. Here's my reasoning.

2024-06-18 14:05:32

For devs only:
what are your favourite programming and technology podcasts?

2024-06-17 23:08:58

Can Joe Biden win the presidential election in Nov 2024 without a ceasefire in Gaza?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-06-17 21:12:46

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Mastodon, at least, uses the data for trending posts and topics. I'm not sure if you count that as AI or not.

2024-06-17 21:06:28

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91% positive response. That's wild.
Some folks on the Fediverse can get pretty upset about bulk aggregation and reuse of public posts, especially on a remote server which they didn't opt in to.
Maybe the high positive is because it's been this way for a long time. Or maybe it's because there's a qualitative difference with other bulk reuse. Or maybe there's some implied consent, when you let someone from a remote server follow you, that everyone else on that server can see your public posts.

2024-06-16 18:49:15

How do you feel about the Fediverse feed?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-06-15 17:36:18

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interesting! Could you explain further?

2024-06-15 15:22:55

The Fediverse can grow when new people join existing federated social networks, or when siloed social networks implement federation.
Which is better?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-06-15 14:16:32

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thanks for the link!

2024-06-15 13:03:36

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I've never seen this. Could you link to where you found out about it?

2024-06-12 22:34:50

I just put my first royalty cheque in the bank for the ActivityPub book. Thank you to everyone who's read the early release version. It means a lot!

2024-06-10 23:33:53

Should your social network platform tell you who has viewed your profile?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-06-08 01:55:00

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there's nothing in there about it. Instances aren't even a thing in the spec.

2024-06-07 22:08:32

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are you talking about aggregation on a personal level, like when I bring my Instagram, Reddit and WordPress feeds all into Twitter?
Or aggregation like when two or three big companies keep buying up the new startups?

2024-06-07 12:38:19

We have a plan.
It's not complicated, but it's hard.
It means treating every single human being as if they have rights.
If we can't figure out what to do, we have to go back to the plan.

2024-06-06 20:07:37

The term "the Fediverse" refers to:
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-06-05 23:13:08

Tomorrow I'll be participating in a webinar on #privacy and the #fediverse organized by Privacy Laws and Business. I think it's an important issue -- I hope we spend more time talking about this topic.
https://www.privacylaws.com/events-gateway/events/fediverse2024/

2024-06-05 14:50:08

Do you use a Creative Commons license?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-05-30 18:05:05

Our voice phone systems are seamlessly federated. You can call people across carriers, over national boundaries, instantaneously, and the only friction is slightly more numbers to dial.

2024-05-29 16:56:56

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It is? Are we talking about the same thing? I'm thinking of the schema.org microdata markup added to HTML pages. I get that it's "linked data" but I don't think it's JSON-LD.
https://schema.org/docs/gs.html

2024-05-29 16:51:25

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That's not JSON-LD, though.

2024-05-29 15:00:44

So, as far as I can tell, ActivityPub is by far the most popular JSON-LD application on the Internet, with billions of actor, activity and content documents published and linked.
Is there any other application of JSON-LD that comes even close in terms of documents published, number of interoperable implementations, and importance in people's lives? I don't think VCs are even within 4 or 5 orders of magnitude.

2024-05-27 19:38:57

Is there an Internet Media Type for social microsyntax, the plain-text source format that is used to convert @-mentions, hashtags, and URLs into links in HTML5? I've been unable to find one, and have fallen back to text/plain.

2024-05-27 00:46:16

THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW AI IS STEALING IT FROM THEM IN TURN.

2024-05-26 16:42:11

"ActivityPub servers should use IPFS as storage for public binary files like images, video, and audio."
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-05-26 03:39:14

Another ActivityPub question! I haven't seen a good description of using the `provideClientKey` and `signClientKey` properties. We've had a couple of questions in the AP GitHub issues about how to use them. Where did they come from? Does any AP server have a working implementation? They seem very mysterious.

2024-05-26 02:31:22

One of the things we talked about in the Social Web Working Group was how to include binary data in the ActivityPub objects, like an `Image`. One proposed technique was to base64-encode the data and include it in `content`; another option was to use `data:` URLs in the `url` property of the object. Do any ActivityPub processors currently include inline images or other binary data?

2024-05-22 04:27:50

(I just sent this to the White House.)
Mr. President,
I heard a speech by you at a dinner last night about the War in Gaza where you insisted that "it's not genocide."
Let me first point out that if you have to say that about anything, it's probably really bad. You don't have to say that about a baseball game or a Christmas parade.

2024-05-17 15:13:42

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Thanks especially to people building software, making art, telling their personal stories, inviting friends or organizations, joining groups, making jokes, thinking hard, making connections, liking, reading, listening, watching, administering, moderating, supporting, sharing, being kind, making friends, answering questions, and otherwise laying down the careful and intricate network of connections between people, software and content that is slowly but surely changing the world.

2024-05-17 15:06:08

Sixteen years ago tomorrow I published the first post on the fediverse.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080618164355/http://identi.ca/notice/1
It's still visible on Identi.ca today, although the URL format changed a few years ago, and the redirect plugin stopped working a few years after that.
https://identi.ca/evan/note/Y0QwGyc1QYilqqawkDrQlg
Thanks to everyone who made identi.ca a great place to be, and thanks to everyone who's expanded the fediverse since then.
#Fediverse16

2024-05-15 10:51:37

It's Nakba Day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba_Day

2024-05-14 13:34:49

All
Eyes
On
Rafah

2024-05-14 10:59:16

Do you say "Fediverse" or "Social Web"?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-05-03 03:21:24

One very cool, very normal thing that non-war-criminals do is threaten collective punishment in retaliation for potential indictments on human rights violations
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/01/us-israel-palestinian-authority-icc-arrest-warrant

2024-05-01 15:50:46

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People have a slider on the spectrum between privacy and openness. It's OK for different people and groups to set that slider at different places. I'd say that for a tightly-bound community, disabling federation or using allowlist federation may meet their needs for privacy.

2024-05-01 02:17:09

Very happy to announce that [@tomcoates](https://me.dm/@tomcoates) and I have been given a #SummerOfProtocols grant to develop an end-to-end encryption (E2EE) protocol for #ActivityPub DMs, including a reference implementation and a report to submit to the W3C SocialCG.
https://forum.summerofprotocols.com/t/sop-2024-pig-and-pog-grantees/1270

2024-04-30 12:44:56

What is your relationship with your instance owner?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-04-28 20:34:05

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thanks to you both. I am not as certain that the question is as far outside the window of acceptable discourse as you are. I tried to give my reasoning here:
https://cosocial.ca/@evan/112349765171533755

2024-04-27 15:48:24

"Displaying Palestinian symbols like the keffiyeh, watermelon, or Palestinian flag is antisemitic."
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-04-25 12:51:15

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what about masto.host?

2024-04-19 22:08:15

Who has to recognize Palestine as a state for *you personally* to recognize Palestine as a state?
#EvanPoll #poll

2024-04-09 23:12:49

This is cool. New social app, integrated with ActivityPub.
https://www.lyrak.com/blog/introducing-lyrak

2024-04-02 01:25:27

OK, I put up a proposal on #SummerOfProtocols for an #ActivityPub extension to implement end-to-end encryption of private messages.
https://forum.summerofprotocols.com/t/pig-end-to-end-encryption-in-activitypub/440

2024-03-30 17:31:08

Friends, I need your help. I'm working on the Far Horizons chapter for the #ActivityPub book, where I discuss future applications for AP. I've got dating, enterprise software, job search, IOT, marketplace, and others.
What's a far-out application of ActivityPub you've thought of that I might not have?

2024-03-25 20:28:56

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In particular, I'm looking for something where I can write several notes all at once, one in response to another, and then publish them with one submit.

2024-03-25 20:28:05

Is there a Mastodon client that makes writing threads (sequences of notes) easier? I use Phanpy for desktop and mobile right now.