Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Running oliphant.social out of my closet.

I do a lot of #MastoAdmin stuff. I publish an opinionated incredibly long server blocklist and don't like nazis.

When I'm not #writing #code in #golang and #javascript, I like #dragons and #books and writing #fantasy novels and playing #dnd and other totally grown-up stuff like that.

I have a #dog and feed #squirrels. #Vegan for the animals and environment.

I set my post default to Unlisted instead of Public and you probably should, too.

He/Him

Public Key

npub18dz0l4nmhusj90pcjy4uwfm4qnjvzkwa3jrjptgqv32ldckadxgqs08982

NIP-05 Address

oliphant_at_oliphant.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsrk38l6eam7gfzhsufz278ya6sfexpt8wcepeq45qxg40kutwknyqpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qzaaput

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub18dz0l4nmhusj90pcjy4uwfm4qnjvzkwa3jrjptgqv32ldckadxgqs08982

Show more details

Last Notes

2024-05-02 14:33:12

If you want to protest for the right to ban abortions, it's free speech, man, they have the right. Zero cops will be deployed for that, just suck it up.
But if you want to protest against war, what the hell are you doing? Your freedom of speech doesn't include the right to advocate for an end to senseless killing! That extreme danger necessitates the deployment of fully armed and armored storm-troopers bearing helmets and riot shields.
My simmering anger continues over them continuing to treat us like children with the stories they'd have us believe.

2024-04-25 21:36:58

All this election year nonsense:
"Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"
"Well, personally, I made more money this year than I did four years ago, so that must be the President's doing!"
People can vote for literally anything based on such myopic standards.

2024-04-23 19:59:30

I was almost 30 years old before I realized that the "US Chamber of Commerce" is not any official US governing body but is just a big lobbying group for big business that could disappear tomorrow and literally none of us would care and would probably be better off.

2024-04-22 17:28:26

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@npub1grx…uxfe I'm sure Chris Rufo will have some 'other side' takes that are not just oft-rehearsed propaganda bombs. Let's call him in so we can get some 'perspective'.

2024-04-19 21:39:08

I am old enough to remember all those gloaty, "Look out fediverse, unless you build quote posts you're gonna lose out to Post News" hot takes.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/19/24135011/twitter-alternative-post-news-shutdown

2024-04-16 15:22:23

Just a reminder that if you use tear gas on a battlefield, it's a war crime.
In the USA, it's an invaluable part of the police's arsenal in suppressing dissent.

2024-04-16 15:04:27

When we call it a fascist, white supremacist social media site, that's because it is.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/x-twitter-elon-musk-nazi-extremist-white-nationalist-accounts-rcna145020

2024-04-07 23:13:58

Someone joining Threads doesn’t mean they’re federating. They still have to opt-in.
And even then, at this stage, even if they do, they are only broadcasting.

2024-04-02 16:30:50

Cops heroically murder a kidnapped 15 year old girl in their attempt to rescue her.
Dragged their feet for years refusing to share the footage of the event, letting people believe it was her father that killed her.
But nope, it was the cops.
Crime solved, nothing to report here.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/01/california-police-video-shooting-15-year-old-girl-savannah-graziano

2024-04-02 13:28:39

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@npub120z…33r2 So to qualify for being a thing people can look up to know more about…. First people have to know about it?

2024-03-27 16:58:18

Does Threads accept reports?
I'm guessing....no. Not unless you log into Threads with a Threads account.
This is another aspect where its being (presently) a broadcaster and lacking bidirectional interaction with the fediverse is a problem.

2024-03-14 14:20:42

I swear, every time I hear about a project involving blockchain it was like they had a good idea first, and then wondered how they could cram it into blockchain.
Also, goddammit media, "decentralized" doesn't mean "blockchain."

2024-03-14 14:11:45

When Obama was running for President, there were a bunch of white evangelical preachers in the US South claiming that:
Obama was not Christian, but in fact a secret Muslim
Obama wanted to ban Christianity when he became President
My mother would tell her friends that these were ridiculous claims, but they'd turn to her and say, "Well, it's on the church website" as if that settled the matter.
Just in case you're curious about how ready the American electorate is to swallow absolute garbage during an election--garbage that can be disproven in about 5 seconds of Googling.

2024-03-11 19:44:55

"America is divided!"
White people are divided. Everyone else understands the fucking assignment.

2024-02-29 15:42:45

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@npub1grx…uxfe Voting Rights act needs nationwide ranked choice/IRV or else we'll never kill the two party monopoly.

2024-02-27 20:40:38

In case you're wondering about the current scoreboard for capitalism and climate change:
https://phys.org/news/2022-08-rainwater-unsafe-due-chemicals.html
That's well past losing. That's just running up the score.

2024-02-23 15:36:51

Bluesky: It's not federation, it's just sparkling user data distribution.

2024-02-12 16:19:44

A bridge to Bluesky will be coming online soon.
Sharing this not as an endorsement, just as an FYI.
Re: https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://snarfed.org/2024-02-12_52106
For those who want to opt-out, you can add #nobridge to your profile bio.

2023-06-24 20:47:07

https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/601/148/555/657/795/original/864bca5804d3db43.png

2023-06-24 07:03:36

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@npub1ygr…cg6z I know what you mean.
And I've listened to it so many times. It slips particularly deep into the brainpan after the third or fourth listen.
I find myself quoting lyrics from the album in conversation to people who have no idea what I'm talking about.
"We're here to pick lice off of each other and assimilate" was one.

2023-06-24 06:19:38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVRM5nZUxyE

2023-06-22 05:48:51

One day I'll be an older, crustier version of myself clinging to my deathbed and I'll motion my loved ones closer and whisper:
"Fuckin' magnets, how do they work?"
And they'll all groan and tell me to hurry up and die.

2023-06-21 17:53:02

There's a word for this. It's on the tip of my tongue. What is it? Don't tell me, I know this...
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/583/475/717/248/145/original/1efb02844cf76be0.png

2023-06-21 06:14:37

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@npub16nf…q6as But not deadnaming or misgendering. We have to make sure we remove those offenses from the policy, so we can be absolutely sure people can say them.
This guy is such a dickhead.

2023-06-21 05:52:42

How I imagine it goes.
ICC Panel: "So, scientist, how many parts per billion of carbon did you discover?"
"Fuck tons."
"Mmm, yes. And what did you find is the ideal target?"
"There isn't really any safe target, but perhaps 1 part per billion."
"I'm concerned. Will your solution to this problem, to get us back in ideal targets, will it affect global trade?"
"There's no way it can't. We have to re-think the entire way we build and distribute and plan--"
"Well that's a non-starter, Mr. Doom and Gloom. We'll set a target of 17,000 parts per billion--"
"--But that's suicide--complete, total, irreversible ecological sui--"
"Thank you, Doctor. That will be all. Always nice to hear your report."
*five years later*
"Can you believe that scientist?"
"All this time, we were a captive audience, couldn't he have let us know how dire the situation was?"
"I guess there's nothing to be done for it--"
In Unison: "BUT CONTINUE TO PROFIT!"
(All laugh, wink, and make shooting gun gestures at each other. Freeze frame, credits roll, audience claps.)

2023-06-20 14:45:59

So I did the math awhile back, like roughly how much it costs, per-person, to run on Mastodon.
It's ~$8/mo per person.
Just for irony.
Tip your server admin.

2023-06-20 00:59:54

If there was a server with checks notes 5 million people in it, an entire cross-section of humanity and the server was known for fueling violence around the world, misinformation, and mainstreaming toxic right-wing propaganda....
I'd block it, too.
The fact it happens to be Meta is rather incidental, I'd say.

2023-06-19 03:58:47

Yeah, okay, I don't want to federate with Meta. I'm on team "They can fuck right off" and me and my little server will largely have not much impact on Meta in and of ourselves.
But a frothy all-caps death wish against someone who chooses differently is all kinds of fucked up.
So let me disavow that shit right now.

2023-06-18 16:00:40

"Well of course he's under federal investigation, tried to overthrow the government and become President forever, sent secret police to urban centers to terrorize and 'disappear' the populace, broke numerous laws, laughed at ethics, and ramped up violence against political outgroups, committed federal crimes--
"But the alternative is far, far worse. We can't vote for Joe Biden again because he might, I dunno, pass another infrastructure bill."
Me, watching incredulously in the next election, the thought process of millions of dopes, walking like lemmings off the cliff.
If I'm making political predictions, Trump doesn't win.
But in between now and then, I get to watch in dismay as entirely too many people vote for that motherfucker.
Whatever the final vote tally will be, however many votes he ultimately receives, it will be too many.

2023-06-17 18:31:46

I'm bad with money. I'm just not this bad with money.
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/560/980/655/747/729/original/d6da981c5399f139.png

2023-06-17 17:27:59

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"It's not as polished, though"
Of course it's not.
Kbin and Mastodon are spit and bubble gum, MacGuyver in a closet hacking out a working solution whereas the big names have development budgets counted in millions of dollars.
This has been the hardest thing to explain to people. Yes, there's the case where a lot of features probably should have been prioritized (in retrospect) but it's not a failing of the platform that it wasn't available with full feature parity to a company that spends millions of dollars a year developing and enhancing their website and spreading the load across a large server infrastructure, with hundreds (literally hundreds) of employees who do nothing but write code. For a living. Full time.
The 'in our spare time, after our day job' volunteer DIY army has done amazing shit here in the Fediverse, but (in my opinion) you come off like a bit of a dick when you ask why the volunteer-led hobby software doesn't have the hot shit features of a bigger platform.
It's fine to recognize the shortcomings of the software, but just realize it comes with certain tradeoffs.
For instance, you know something else we don't have here?
The rights to sell all your data or charge you for API access.

2023-06-17 17:21:26

The path of least resistance states that some big company owning social media isn't a problem, until it is.
If things seem competently run, you'll give them a shot, start posting, entering a bunch of personal data, tell your friends.
I think it will be harder to convince people to do that going forward. We've had a sort of 'social media reset' the past 6 months or so, and if anything, it seems to be accelerating (as all the big platforms start doubling down on really bad ideas.)
Ultimately the web is transient, and stuff can change over time, and a site that was once trusted can lose that trust.
Better, I think, to exist on a platform where no one owns you, your data is exportable (and importable, some places) and your follow graph can move with you.
You get to watch flameouts and personalities and bad admins in realtime here, too, lots more of them than just one.
But you're ultimately not beholden to any of that. You can move until you find your people, and your followers come with you.
That's just not a thing anywhere else.

2023-06-17 17:14:23

No one is going to keep using this app if people don't stop [_____].
Silly answers only.

2023-06-10 17:03:55

Like I don't know how to describe how absolutely chilling it is to have lived under literal tyrannical authoritarian fascist rule, where the idea of President was, "I'm President so I can do whatever I want with ultimate power."
And zombies across the USA went, "I like this guy. Let's vote and fight to make sure he gets that unlimited power, please."
It's like living among terrorists.
I do not trust how easily led they are, or their ability to be activated by the most base appeals to the angry lizard brain.

2023-06-09 02:32:29

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@npub1nxt…055a I came here to say I hope your liver is strong because your country needs you.

2023-06-08 16:27:44

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@npub1cmg…rzd2 @npub1psy…pasy Nice!
To the Handy Links it goes.
https://writer.oliphant.social/oliphant/mastodon-handy-links-page#servers

2023-06-07 15:15:50

Prepare yourself for schadenfreude.
Bang up strategy there, bud. Really worked out for you and your network's reputation.
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/503/582/475/051/375/original/c1bf93cba51b372c.png

2023-06-07 04:49:43

A little tip about any anarchic space.
If you show up there complaining a thing doesn’t exist, someone might hand you a hammer and suggest you build it.

2023-06-07 04:45:47

Y’all are a bunch of boosty little boosters, aren’tcha?

2023-06-04 20:45:46

"Why are you blocking us?" said NaziFuckFace1488.
"Yeah, you cuck," replied CovidIsFake99.
"It's like you want to police the internet" added LoliGirl16.
"Why can't you let people just maintain their own blocklist, you fucking f*******?" asked FreeSpeechZoneWarrior9000.
"We didn't even DO anything...well...not to you, anyway." suggested Dramadmin.
"When you do that it shows you're scared of other people's beliefs," sneered StopTheJewishCabal.
"Go ahead, block us! I fucking dare you! Haha, you blocked us, I knew it! Wait, how could you block us? That just shows how ridiculous you are!" said ConfusedToddler.

2023-06-03 22:10:22

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@npub1ate…wkt8 Yeah, it's not that we can't have real, difficult conversations here.
It's just that bigots aren't invited to participate.

2023-06-03 21:54:18

If I don't shove horrible content in front of your face, then you won't engage and if you don't engage I don't know how we'll get the people here who want to engage with outrageous content, so therefore please don't get rid of any outrageous content, we need all the outrageous content for the people motivated to 'engage' but who will not engage without outrageous content--
All these amateur social media managers telling us what we should host in the name of 'engagement.'
Seriously, no, seriously, in all seriousness, kindly grab the nearest vegetable, write "engagement" on it, and go fuck it.
We don't need to recreate the anxiety factory. The rage-click engine.
Some of us are here precisely because this place prevents that kind of shit.

2023-06-01 14:28:06

I was about to ban the right-wing Roman Catholic instance that was lamenting Chik-Fil-A's new policy where the queer community gets treated like people.
But alas, I'd already blocked it and I only get the satisfaction of doing that once.

2023-05-27 19:10:14

Like I don't know how to tell you this, but if "a certain culture of people" being like "I don't like that and tolerate that toxic bullshit in my life, nor do I trust people who would enable it" is going to destroy your idea of the fediverse, then fuck it.
Because people will always do what they want. It's the first rule of people, and the Internet. And herding cats.
People will, ultimately, do what they want. You can't be upset that they don't all largely go the way you want them to go and have their own independent choices.
You insisting that there's a certain "culture" here is just that:
This is what it looks like when people have the freedom to say "fuck no."
And it turns out there's a lot of those kinds of people with not just the freedom, but the willingness to say fuck no.
And do the job that our permissive "everything is just an opinion, man" society has refused to do.

2023-05-27 15:40:54

Motherfuckers soon start realizing that we've curated a left-leaning space and one reason it's so nice and pleasant here (relatively-speaking) is that we've ostracized and treated right-wing fascist provacateurs like the cancer they are.
Unlike literally every other space that presumes they deserve respect, consideration, and a platform--
This space has realized that if you let the nazis in, you end up with a nazi bar.
And I don't see that changing any time soon, and it's one of the best things about this place.
Admins moving en masse to suspend Newsmax account and basically ban all its horseshit from their server is an example of this.
Unlike every other place where these opinions are elevated and boosted to foster outrage and 'engagement' here we can treat that shit like the cancer it is.
And hold anyone accountable who platforms it.
We don't do the whole "both sides are equally valid positions" shit here.

2023-05-26 17:30:05

I enjoy how people are spending so much time making algorithms as if the increased engagement of the fedi isn’t already proven: a result of a transparent algorithm that pushes direct to your followers with no stops in between.
But you can’t monetize and sell “more reach” that way, your reach is already maximized, so for capitalism it’s a nonstarter.

2023-05-16 01:05:30

Y'all, I am preparing to read a complete avalanche--nay, a collapsing star--of bullshit.
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/375/664/371/986/653/original/2a8f2aba2b757227.png

2023-05-15 17:22:53

A bit annoyed about this. See this screenshot?
Now compare it to what the docs says it is for and tell me if you notice a distinct gap between what we're telling users and what we're telling developers.
https://docs.joinmastodon.org/spec/activitypub/#discoverable
This is the setting that federates, not the "opt out of search indexing" which is for search engines (like Google) indexing only.
With this setting off or posting Unlisted, none of your posts should be searchable by full-text indexing from other servers, because the current universeodon search patch respects this setting.
The annoying part is that the Mastodon UI makes it sounds like you're opting only into profile discoverability, whereas on the backend it is telling developers to use it as an opt-in for search.
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/373/843/915/584/466/original/5e5805b10e204843.png

2023-05-09 17:48:11

"To me, Bluesky currently feels like a simpler time on the internet. It’s a feeds-based social network with a community of at least 20,000 people, meaning there’s a lot of activity and conversation, but so far, I haven’t seen much toxicity or people racing to slam dunk people in quote tweets. It feels like a platform where people are just hanging out and chatting with each other."
slaps hand to face
It's beta software with a hand-selected, invite-only group of people.
Shall I tell you about how those of us with invite-only servers rarely have any moderation challenges on our own server, and why that is?

2023-05-07 23:47:36

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@npub1pqk…z65u If you're looking for better accessibility, Mastodon still has that edge.
I feel like that's a big gap for the accessibility-minded fediverse, but hope it's addressed soon.
Would also be nice to have a server-level silence option, or the ability to read in Mastodon-format server blocklist files. (They already read other file formats from Mastodon like follower lists.)

2023-05-07 22:58:12

Bringing over followers between servers. Do this on the web.
This works between Mastodon servers and even between Mastodon and Calckey.
On Mastodon, go to "Import and Export" and choose "Export"
As shown in this screenshot go to the 'CSV' link next to "Follows" and click it to download a CSV file (which can be opened and viewed in Microsoft Excel or a similar program).
(continued in step 2...)
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/329/866/244/342/867/original/d4c198118f97dea7.png

2023-05-07 20:40:17

Currently in the process of witnessing a 'banned' server that effectively got pre-banned out of a concern that it was going to attract members of another banned server--is now unbanned, because that never actually happened.
I realize everyone wants this process to be clean, have clearly-delineated lines, to be a reassuring thing with some "Big Daddy" governing body in charge--
And that will never, ever happen.
Some servers have a rigorous process, some don't.
Get to know your admins and mods, that's my advice.
"Yes, but other mods and admins can be erratic and make bad defederation choices, too, and that still affects me on this server!"
...Yes? I'd like you to propose an alternative.
One that would actually work.
What you're missing is the comforting certainty that there's Somebody In Charge. And that this Somebody cares about you, cares about the money they can make off of you, and certainly cares about the 'content' you're producing for them so that they can both mine you and others for precious, precious moneybucks and sell you to their advertisers.
Well, sorry to break it to you, but there are Many Someones In Charge and no one--not anyone--literally no one at all--can tell them all what to do.
Ever hear the expression about herding cats?
That's the decentralized anarchy at the heart of all of this, and what makes it work is communities talking with each other openly, and being able to disassociate from communities that do not suit them--or that might be actively destructive to them.
I sincerely doubt you'll be able to propose an alternative that doesn't ratchet up the centralization and tyranny.

2023-05-07 17:45:27

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@npub1pqk…z65u I've noticed an uptick in people misusing groups and hashtags in order to increase visibility of their (unrelated) thing.
I wonder if they realize they are just advertising their need to be banned?

2023-05-06 01:33:44

Mastodon wasn't really ever the "only game in town" but it was the only game polished enough that a lot of people could probably figure it out.
But I think Calckey is now a side-by-side contender. Like at this point, I wouldn't recommend one over another anymore from a user experience standpoint. I think Calckey actually looks more approachable in some ways.
Though I haven't looked at server moderation capabilities of Calckey yet, and that's one of my remaining concerns.

2023-05-06 00:50:41

This is just your reminder that unlike any other social network I could mention, nobody owns this place, nobody is in charge, nobody is monetizing your behavior or trying to trick your rage glands into engagement.
You have every right to be here.
Post like it's your home.

2023-04-25 07:38:48

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#[0] Okay, so it's not that there's no receipts.
It's that you don't count them as valid receipts.
An unwillingness to block racism which was also mentioned in the screen shot (not just child porn) is enough for a lot of people to put you on block, too.
And for anyone who might be watching this thread, now you know why even though I could pull the public reasons for blocks and I could include them in the blocklists for download, I don't.
Because that's a trap.
Because I'll be asked for receipts.
I'll provide the receipts.
Then I'll be told no, let's debate the receipts. Those aren't real receipts. Those receipts are a lie. Find better receipts.
So maybe I come up with more receipts, but those won't be valid, either, and so on and so forth.
So I provide the lists with no receipts. On purpose. Like a status report. Here's the current status of blocks. If you want more info, go to the sources of those blocks, or search #[1], do your own diligence, etc.

2023-04-25 07:21:17

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#[0]
I mean....
"Qoto is a prime example of that, a highly moderated pro-lgbtq instance with absolutely no record or receipts of wrong doing"
No record of wrong doing? No receipts?
https://social.pixie.town/@joepie91/109433103633543373
I'm also attaching just one snapshot from a mailing list.
It's simply not accurate to say there are no records or receipts of wrongdoing.
I can certainly see why some would block or silence your instance in light of that.
I realize you don't like these other instances, but most of those instances are willing to provide receipts when asked in good faith.
Everyone can say a source is bad or good or trusted or not trusted.
I'm very, very much aware this is all subjective and requires some subjective judgments, and you will never attain complete objectivity on this earth with any blocklist.
And that's been my point all along.
You should not trust me or my blocklists at all. You should go out and make your own. I tell people how to do that.
However, if they trust me or one of the sources more than the others, maybe, they can exercise their own initiative and their own discretion (for which I have the utmost respect) and import one of the blocklists.
I don't infantalize server admins and act like they are children who will import all of the blocks on a list without thinking about it, without ever checking in on some of those instances to double-check our work, who will not listen to users on their server and undo a block.
I'm assuming these are savvy admins who are looking for a list populated by instances promoting a strong anti-fascist, anti-racist, and anti-harassment position with the receipts to back it up.
We take a very strong stance with regards to tolerating bad behavior, palling around with right-wing trolls, or the like.
That's probably not for everyone. But I can only do so much here, and put forth so much effort, and I'm making a very good-faith effort to try to do that, and include the voices of experienced admins who have been around the block much more than me, who have handled bigger moderation issues than I have, and who share a similar intolerance for intolerance.
For those who want to do it themselves, there's a tutorial on how to do so.
https://writer.oliphant.social/oliphant/how-to-sync-up-blocklist-changes-from-trusted-sources
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/258/179/087/759/001/original/35ba4628ee028b8c.png

2023-04-25 06:18:37

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#[0] The T3 list is half the size it used to be, before I required at least 2 matching sources to make it onto the T3 list.
It went from about 2500 blocks to 1200.
Adding consensus reduced the false positives considerably (see the "max" list for an enormous list that includes all blocks that I would never recommend anyone import).
Qoto isn't suspended, just silenced on the T0 list, so at least it's not defederation.
I've got some insight into how these blocks are determined. Lax federation policy with bad actors or untrustworthy sources plays a role, but so many times it comes down to the behavior of the admin of the instance, and what sorts of content or sources they boost or follow, what actions or positions the admin takes.
The admin sets the tone for their instance, so if the admin is known for boosting content from poa.st or gleason, for instance, that's reason enough for some (although not all) to suspend, or silence. Out of an abundance of caution for users on their server.
Mastodon.art, artisan.chat, rage.love, these are highly-moderated spaces whose members consider federation to be a privilege not an entitlement, and will often make a risk assessment that might seem a bit extreme to you, but it's all got a basis.
For the most part, there is zero tolerance for any right-wing/fash content, "free speech zones" that refuse to moderate their users, etc. They do research and look for connections and endorsements between admins to get a sense of the character of an instance, as well as posts.
There's a lot of rigor that goes into it, and most of the time what happens is someone recommends a block, and some follow up with their own investigations or checking of
the receipts, and then they'll execute a block, or a silence, or do nothing as they see fit. (I do nothing quite often myself, but the stakes are much lower for me as I don't support a lot of users.)
Anyway, I "picked" servers that were willing to publicly go on record and provide their blocklists for download--I only do this with permission--and these comprise server admins who are part of our Discord chat that shares information among the various admins (some 50 or so) who have a particular moderation philosophy.
We don't weight according to number of people on the instance, because the people on the instance don't make block decisions, the admins do.
Look, I personally haven't had any issues with people on qoto. I've got a few followers from qoto who are pretty awesome, so I've always been hesitant to apply any kind of block. I did do a silence against qoto for a little while, but ultimately relaxed it.
None of the other admins have come after me for it or told me that because I federate with qoto I can't be trusted or anything like that.
In any case, I just added another source today, and hope to get a few more.
These are just the sources I have today, ultimately I'd like to get twenty, thirty, maybe even fifty different sources.
Once that happens, no individual admin will have too much power over the resulting blocklists. Effectively with a large enough pool, we should be able to get to an 80% consensus that perhaps more closely looks like something you'd be willing to accept.
If you think about it this way: My sources are admins who take blocklists, fediblock, and user safety very seriously, so of course they ended up being the first sites with blocklists available and curated and basically ready for import.
They were just the first, though. Eventually others may volunteer their blocklists as well and I'll be able to weight them as well into the final results.
I do disagree about one fundamental thing. I personally think in the early days of setting up a server, it's better to over-defederate, than to under-defederate.
I started out with no suspensions and it took me exactly 30 seconds to receive hate speech after I'd spun up a new server. Some of the worst stuff I'd ever heard in my life. I didn't want that ever to happen to anyone else again.
That's the entire reason for the blocklist.
Imperfect? Probably.
But far, far better than what was available when I started.

2023-04-25 05:40:42

CalcKey seems to be surging. Seeing all kinds of new mofos out there.
Right on.

2023-04-25 03:42:50

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#[0] Wait, wait, wait....
m.s. doesn't have ElasticSearch enabled?

2023-04-25 01:29:47

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#[0] #[1] #[2] #[3]
Worth noting: Doesn't CalcKey have a migration tool to migrate Mastodon accounts to it?

2023-04-24 21:54:38

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#[0]
There are 3 Tier 0 lists. Seirdys (tier0.csv), the Gardenfence list, and then the "Council" Tier 0 list. (tier0-council.csv)
The last one, tier0-council.csv requires 80% agreement.
That's the list that has qoto on it. Seirdy's list actually is curated a bit, and certain sites (like qoto) are given special consideration and removed from his list.
But I didn't want a list of special considerations, I wanted a hard 80% check among sources that have agreed to provide their public blocklist.
In my experience, it's not simply about whether or not they federate with sites that are blocked. It's whether they federate and interact, where the admin regularly boosts or posts hateful or transphobic/racist/fascist content.
The admin of berserker.town, for instance, regularly posts transphobic, misogynist, ableist, and fatphobic comments.
Detroit Riot City has been on fediblock multiple times, independently of anyone I regularly talk to.
And dude, this is just a hard no.
From their about page alone I'd recommend them at T0.
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/256/010/414/956/361/original/bd52329c586d7c28.png

2023-04-24 18:20:48

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#[0] I'd be curious what you think are the good actor instances on the list.
Qoto....is blocked by 80% of us, well blocked or silenced in some cases, but I take the most lenient, so silenced.
I assumed that 80% agreement would constitute a pretty solid Tier 0 list among trusted sources, as it's what 80% of server admins think should be blocked. It's just mathematical.
Obviously I'm not among that 80%, but I understand their reasoning.
But beyond qoto...what are the good faith actors on the list who shouldn't be there?

2023-04-24 18:05:03

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#[0] Realize that different instances have different moderation strategies, so ideally you'd have to first look at my trusted sources and see if you agree with their style of moderation.
Also, defederation isn't permanent. And starting with T0 is better than starting with 0 blocks on a brand new instance. They can always investigate each one of these and re-federate later if they think the list is in error or made a bad judgment.

2023-04-24 18:03:25

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#[0]
Seirdy has a "Fedinuke" list that's a subset of T0. Mostly no ambiguous blocks there, easily defensible without receipts in most cases.
https://seirdy.one/pb/FediNuke.txt
I also provide the 100% blocks list, which identifies everything blocked by all of us:
https://codeberg.org/oliphant/blocklists/src/branch/main/blocklists/100.percent.csv
Either of those would be a shorter list, which is why I provide all kinds of things.

2023-04-24 17:49:57

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#[0]
So I don't rate things into tiers by "how big is your blocklist" anymore.
The current tiers are based on agreement among sources.
I break that all down here.
https://writer.oliphant.social/oliphant/the-blocklist-algorithm
I also put down a direct tutorial on how anyone can do exactly what I've done, pulling from their own trusted sources.
https://writer.oliphant.social/oliphant/how-to-sync-up-blocklist-changes-from-trusted-sources
Hopefully that at least means that even if people don't trust my lists, they are empowered to create their own or see how they are built.

2023-04-24 17:17:22

Okay, I said get excited about Tucker getting fired, I didn't say get too excited.

2023-04-23 19:03:05

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#[0]
Correct me here...isn't he also doing BlueSky?
Is he trying to launch two social networks at once?
So confused.

2023-04-23 07:14:45

You don't need no adblocker on Mastodon (or pretty much any fediverse product) because there's no ads.
And you don't need to block trackers or analytics or worry about information about you being sent to third parties.
If you check your adblocker you'll see 0 things. If you check for trackers for the usual suspects: Google, Facebook, etc, which are nearly ubiquitous on the web, you will not find them here at all.
Do you have any idea how rare that is nowadays, especially on a social media platform?

2023-04-23 02:03:37

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Everyone gave him too much of a pass on that. Like I've never understood how it was that he thought blue checks were just a status symbol being given away for free and not the company protecting its ass against a defamation suit, which was the whole reason they added the checkmark in the first place.
So I choose to believe he fired everyone who could have explained that to him before they could explain it, and he's just gone forward with that harebrained idea for the past several months now and maybe will only finally learn when the unverified (real) New York Times is scooped by fake news from the verified (fake but paid) New York Times.

2023-04-23 01:45:29

Musk looks down at old notebook he just found on the floor. It belonged to the compliance officer he'd fired along with the rest of the compliance staff.
Flipping it open, it contains notes, perhaps notes the compliance officer was bringing to his desk.
His eyes settle on one note in particular:
"Mr. Musk, we never added verification as a status symbol. We added verification because we didn't want to get sued."
Musk looks far away for a long moment staring at nothing. "Oh," he says quietly to himself. "I can see how that would make sense."

2023-04-22 18:23:08

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#[0] lol - wow

2023-04-22 15:24:06

If you're still on Twitter and wonder why it feels so icky, read this.
https://apple.news/Aenc6tnkKT_KH9ezH2Ee4lA
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/04/musk-twitter-shame-amplification/673814/

2023-04-19 02:30:20

This is a shout out to the Fedi Council. You know who you are.
For not putting up with any shit.
For working together with other servers to share information, expose bad actors, and create a safe and productive space for everyone.
I could not provide blocklists and be so aware of the moderation challenges that large servers face without you.
I have learned so much from the people of the fediverse, but the lessons I've learned from you have been invaluable.
So...thanks. :)

2023-04-14 20:31:04

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My theory is this: It's not complicated.
It's just new.
And people immediately respond to new things with fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

2023-04-14 20:25:17

I realize I'm a techie and so maybe everything seems easy to me, but please someone explain to me what's complicated about Mastodon.
You go to a website, you create an account, you post content.
Surely we all understand this basic transaction about how websites work.
The narrative that "Mastodon is complicated" always hits me like the Barbie from the 60s with a pullstring who made comments like "Math is hard! Let's bake a pie!"
In other words, ridiculous.

2023-04-12 04:21:41

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#[0] "Likes don't do anything, we're here to broaden our audience and that requires BOOSTING you fool. How dare you send me a favourite, that doesn't even do anything."
Mute

2023-04-12 04:19:46

Literally every time someone starts acting entitled about followers or follow counts or how many people are boosting versus liking their posts I mute them for 3 days in the hopes that they'll be off that soapbox again.
You can't ask to speak to the manager of the fediverse. We all got Mute for a reason.

2023-04-08 01:28:55

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#[0] aha, I should have known better

2023-04-08 00:34:30

Damn Substack, what did you do, post Elon's assassination coordinates or something?
I know it wasn't platforming racists or something like that, because that's not a bannable offense there.
https://media.oliphant.social/oliphant/media_attachments/files/110/160/380/286/182/379/original/56099685cf629295.png

2023-04-07 04:06:52

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#[0] #[1] My dog eats v-dog. 😊

2023-03-22 15:15:19

"Mastodon doesn't have a search tool."
It has a search tool. ElasticSearch. Lets you search your own posts, any mentions you've received, anything you've favorited or bookmarked.
"No, I want it to have a more robust search tool."
Well, we're adding a search tool to Mastodon that will let you search everything your site is federated with.
"That's not enough, I want to search everything"
So you want to search every server, even servers which you might not be federated with, you want to do a lookup against all their content and do you have any idea how much data that is?
Like even when we're all given the magical "everything" search we keep expecting from our days of searching a single database for all the tweets that exist it's not going to work the way you want because of the tech involved, and because--primarily--NO ONE HAS ALL THE DATA.