ocdtrekkie

Privacy advocate, sysadmin, geek. Born and raised on the mean streets of the Chicago suburbs. Contributor to the Sandstorm.io self-hosting project.

#tfr

Public Key

npub1swrat28nhzglrjpm2tdun7mzwx9h6gqhs8mfnmcdujw2znaq0qesxxftm4

NIP-05 Address

ocdtrekkie_at_mastodon.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsg8p744rem3y03eqa49k7fld38rzmayqtcra5eaux7f89pf7s8svcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qz9thwden5te0v35hgar09ec82c30wfjkccte3td0sz

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Author Public Key

npub1swrat28nhzglrjpm2tdun7mzwx9h6gqhs8mfnmcdujw2znaq0qesxxftm4

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Last Notes

2024-09-02 20:13:47

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@npub1dts…6798 I have privacy-related questions about living in entirely glass houses.

2024-09-02 18:37:04

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@npub1nk4…us2w This is so inspiring to just... do something random.

2024-08-20 03:18:54

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@npub1dts…6798 The part of this story I'm missing is whether or not this Pad Thai was spicy enough or not.

2024-08-19 02:25:48

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@npub1dts…6798 There's a few places I've wondered about after seeing both seemingly always empty but open for business for numerous years on end.

2024-08-11 17:10:42

Alright, I found a weird #ethernet cable that doesn't appear to be either a straight-through OR a crossover cable. But it's factory-made.
Green, BlueStripe, Brown, GreenStripe, Blue, BrownStripe, Orange, OrangeStripe
to
Brown, BrownStripe, Green, GreenStripe, Blue, BlueStripe, Orange, OrangeStripe
#networking fans... what is this cable?

2024-08-04 16:46:46

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@npub1src…fms4 I saw that. What isn't explained is why the government wouldn't just... literally create its own digital money. Because it's not like the US government, I don't know, prints their own paper money or anything.

2024-08-04 16:39:25

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@npub1src…fms4 Yes but this pales in comparison to the number of "tech lobbyists" on payroll to keep Google and friends from being regulated.

2024-07-28 06:34:33

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@npub198t…hasj On a Linux OS you can still do this, you just need a way to get the file between machines. You'll note some discussion of policies.json here: https://mozilla.github.io/policy-templates/

2024-07-28 06:21:36

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@npub198t…hasj In the Windows business world, Group Policy is managed by Active Directory servers, and synced to member PCs. Though essentially what it is doing is setting Windows registry keys.

2024-07-24 00:25:00

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@npub1ahq…wjwd It's stunning people still believe Elon can commit to anything. He and Trump are truly alike in that.

2024-07-20 23:56:42

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@npub1gfd…7gg6 It's complicated because this is... not a scenario you'd generally plan for. There's a good chance you wanted to protect your disaster recovery plan and put CrowdStrike on your backup infrastructure!

2024-07-18 12:29:59

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@npub1wuw…pjs5 I believe this is less "what if" and more "it's already been done".

2024-07-18 03:52:24

So we're banning Kaspersky because it can be used by the Russian government for cyberattacks... kinda makes this sound like they want to get some last minute marks while they still can... https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/17/kaspersky_goodbye_gift/

2024-07-14 00:38:25

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@npub1gfd…7gg6 To be clear, Grammarly is a keylogger. There is no setting to make it not one. It should be removed, full stop.

2024-07-10 06:05:34

So now that I'm writing my own PC monitoring software, I have to shoehorn this thing into every possible use case, of course. I have some niche features which only are useful to me personally, but I'm also building some tools to configure parts of Windows often abused by scammers: I'm giving myself a little Swiss army knife to protect folks around me from scams.

2024-07-06 03:06:46

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@npub1u3t…c6ug Unfortunately nothing Trump says can be taken as true, and the folks organizing 2025 would be able to easily manipulate him even if he wasn't lying, so... *shrug*

2024-06-29 16:12:15

Hey guys, I just need to throw something out there: The folks who insist on breaking the web for inane reasons like "this completely uncompromised certificate expired less than one day ago" and not making people safer. They're building a fragile house of cards designed to place more reliance entirely on them. And the effect is largely that people from ordinary users to engineers, disregard certificate warnings as a matter of routine.
PKI controls the entire web and it's in insane hands.

2024-06-26 02:47:33

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@npub1ahq…wjwd It's super weird too when a friend you had respected for really deep understanding of the Christian faith takes a hard and deep inexplicable belief that Trump is somehow "Christ-like". Blew my mind.

2024-06-07 18:57:02

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@npub1c0m…xqjl It's wild "best inventions of 202x" doesn't apparently require they release it before awarding it.

2024-06-07 02:56:48

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@npub1rv4…ft5j This seems like a very convoluted way to break Windows Recall.

2024-05-24 02:02:44

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@npub16uk…pv7k My preferred 2FA backup is to physically print the QR codes on paper. Very hard to hack my backup. ;)

2024-05-22 16:33:22

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@npub1zj4…fyjh This is where I am with Android. Probably macOS too, but, stranger things have happened.

2024-05-22 02:25:52

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@npub1u3t…c6ug That's just embarrassing. The number of things you have to be 18 to do in comparison is just wild.

2024-05-21 00:06:35

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@npub1u3t…c6ug I mean, the US is not exactly well-known for recognizing the Hague to begin with. The law applies to thee but not to mee has been sort of our go-to approach, unfortunately.

2024-05-17 13:20:52

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@npub1efv…4jx2 My favorite part is him saying the last bubble was useless but proudly maintaining the current bubble will be the fourth industrial revolution. Introspection only helps you so much, it seems.

2024-04-10 03:52:36

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@npub1u27…3qfq I think it's great that people are realizing if their social media app isn't talking to the fedi they needn't bother making it.

2024-04-06 00:06:26

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@npub1u3t…c6ug It's frustrating (but not surprising, tbh) that an American had to be killed before we cared.

2024-04-02 03:03:07

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@npub1dm5…5sqe Probably works with ungrounded plugs but I'm going to go with "horrifying antifeature".

2024-04-02 02:04:31

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@npub1s2r…7gng The biggest threat to the Internet Archive remains Brewster Kahle himself. I've yet to see any of the self-awareness he needs to remedy that fact.

2024-03-30 01:42:23

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@npub1u3t…c6ug There's nothing better for business than when customers literally have to buy your product no matter the price in order to not die!

2024-03-25 01:33:41

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@npub15x4…3p3l The article points exactly at the problem: Section 230. As long as tech companies can't be held liable, they're not going to fix it. It makes them too much money.

2024-03-22 00:55:57

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@npub1eee…e209 You are really *this* sour about your pet monopoly getting sued? Like, I'm an iPhone user because there's literally no actual other options, but anyone who doesn't understand they are breaking the law either doesn't understand the law or is getting paid not to.

2024-03-21 01:27:40

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@npub1u3t…c6ug Just promise us it won't be the last time you run for office.

2024-03-19 01:28:59

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@npub1u3t…c6ug Dropped my ballot in the box earlier today here. 🎉

2024-03-13 18:37:11

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@npub10dx…jdjc @npub1ahq…wjwd I mean moving a lot of sand is expensive, lot of labor and machinery and time. It was 14,000 tons of it.
But I have to ask if they could've spent less than 10% of that asking an expert if it would work.

2024-03-09 00:09:03

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@npub1yk6…4zz4 They demolished a huge corporate office building here in my area that is like only a couple decades old, and I have never been in it but I have feelings about it being missing.

2024-03-07 16:33:02

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@npub1vqm…ccpx Expect AI-generated sites to learn people are doing this and start also providing "old" articles.

2024-03-04 04:08:53

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@npub1u3t…c6ug My biggest question is how you plan to win the general election in an area as purple as Naperville, where Republicans *often* win our elections. Will throwing Bill Foster, a centrist but a Democrat, out of the race hand the district to a Republican?

2024-02-25 01:01:20

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@npub1836…8jp6 @npub163w…kltl But do you keep a Zip drive handy just in case?

2024-02-17 00:32:14

Watch how fast companies will roll back chatbot initiatives when they realize they're actually liable to honor the arrangements they make. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/air-canada-must-honor-refund-policy-invented-by-airlines-chatbot/

2024-02-08 02:10:37

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@npub16uk…pv7k I bet that employee doesn't have nearly as much of their net worth tied to Google's stock price. Rather than upvoting this extremely wealthy awful person, the moment he said he was a shareholder, everyone should've discarded his opinion out of hand. The problem, of course, is everyone just wants to be as wealthy as he is.

2024-02-08 02:05:30

Incredible top HN comment on a thread about how Google sucks now: "As a shareholder, user, and former employee, I think Google is great actually."
Like, at least you let us know how completely bought and paid for you are before letting us know your shill opinion?

2024-01-07 19:07:50

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@npub18r7…xrw4 That'd be nice. I mean HSAs at least didn't have *expiring money* when I was eligible for that. The entire system feels unnaturally Republican. (It's sorta weird they were so opposed to it!)

2023-12-26 21:11:08

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@npub18r7…xrw4 I mean for a hotel room in a lot of cases this is okay, kinda like how barn door bathrooms are usually okay in a master suite or something.
But yeah, I've also been in hotels with kids and it feels less correct then.

2023-12-19 23:32:03

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@npub18r7…xrw4 Seems like maybe he shouldn't be the only candidate the Republicans are seriously trying to run, no?

2023-12-13 09:40:20

The only difference between Steam and Ticketmaster is that Steam hasn't tried to maximize value extraction *yet*.
#monopoly #steam

2023-12-12 02:58:12

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@npub1lrv…tth9 This is the difference between a bench trial and a jury trial. A judge can be convinced of a legal technicality that the company's definition of a market is accurate and fair. A jury is going to look at the fact that they operated like crooks and rule accordingly.

2023-11-28 04:16:01

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@npub1ahq…wjwd I mean, Chicago definitely froze over, it's like 18 degrees here.

2023-11-15 22:24:00

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@npub1su4…a0dw Aaaaand NOW we know why Google is so upset. Samsung is going to be asking for a big pay raise next year.

2023-11-08 01:40:07

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@npub1u3t…c6ug Wait are you running in Bill Foster's district?

2023-09-30 00:03:18

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@npub19lt…qfjk I remember once being blown away that mutual friends I knew in the UK never met up because it'd be like an hour long drive, and I was discussing this in the context of "if I travel to the UK".

2023-09-26 14:10:23

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@npub1ahq…wjwd When even this Supreme Court says you're being too racist...

2023-09-25 23:47:19

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@npub10ut…n47s I have done nothing but teleport bread for three days.

2023-09-25 14:51:36

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@npub1463…00qn I kinda like that idea.
@npub1z62…wqxu What do you think?

2023-09-21 14:17:57

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@npub1wuw…pjs5 JXL is still very new, Google actually *removed* support from it from Chrome. Though Safari just added it with iOS 17 which launched this week.

2023-09-21 12:44:25

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@npub1wuw…pjs5 Bad Google format pushed at the expense of better ones (JXL) which also just had a major security vulnerability.

2023-09-21 05:37:05

So far I've only noticed one effect of disabling WebP in my browser: YouTube thumbnails apparently can't fall back to decent image formats.
#webp #youtube

2023-09-19 12:50:21

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@npub19lt…qfjk I really need to replace the battery in my UPS...

2023-09-14 04:22:04

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@npub17td…apfk On one hand, great! Though this is another reminder just how far behind open source can lag behind sometimes. Bitlocker was like... 2009 or something?

2023-09-12 17:58:59

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@npub1xzm…eykm I mean, I'll be getting one just because my 11's screen is starting to fail and the battery is starting to wear down pretty badly.
Nobody needs a phone anymore before their old phone starts failing.

2023-09-12 17:22:58

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@npub1xzm…eykm Corporations trying to be funny either goes really well, or really, really badly.

2023-09-10 18:02:44

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@npub19lt…qfjk Few domains are more likely right now to get you blocked on sight, I imagine.

2023-09-03 03:56:08

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@npub19lt…qfjk USB labeling is ridiculous, USB 3.1 should offer speeds well above 480 Mbps, but it doesn't have to. Technically cables built for like 3.0 or 3.1 can state they support 3.2 but only at the speed that the older version was rated for. It's a complete mess.

2023-09-01 18:34:22

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@npub1gfd…7gg6 I will go back to a 2G Nokia before I'd go back to an Android ever again. Windows 10 Mobile was still my favorite phone experience.
I don't really want to buy heavily into the iPhone ecosystem because of the proprietary nonsense, but it's incredible how much Stockholm Syndrome people have with Google and Android. It's absolutely terrible.

2023-08-27 19:14:17

Isn't this just... water? The store is selling the ability to wash your vegetables for $7 a bottle!
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/110/963/170/294/676/389/original/6407d0abe2fcb9d1.png

2023-08-26 22:44:07

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@npub19lt…qfjk This probably just will be used as a tool to find and report users using slurs and the like who also enable search.

2023-08-26 21:48:35

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@npub19lt…qfjk It will still only search posts your server knows about, so bigger servers will definitely still carry the advantage here. But the searchable profile property is federated.

2023-08-25 02:55:36

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@npub1c9n…5q09 Ah, yeah. I definitely wouldn't *post the picture*, everyone has to see his face enough.

2023-08-25 02:51:12

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@npub1c9n…5q09 I mean you can just filter "Trump" and "Republicans" and it's mostly as effective. I like the CW culture when voluntary, but people trying to enforce it was a huge problem.

2023-08-23 01:27:18

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@npub1vqm…ccpx @npub1g7t…n6x7 Indeed it is.
#verycool

2023-08-20 16:58:58

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@npub1zj4…fyjh Pre-auth RCE on a security edge device... the stuff of nightmares. Happy Sunday to everyone who owns one!

2023-08-15 02:14:30

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@npub15x0…0cx8 @npub1asa…n9sr @npub1xrj…9q43 @npub1fl6…kwvj From a practical standpoint, because it's the law, and being reckless and stupid and refusing to recognize it puts the IA's entire body of work at extreme risk.

2023-08-09 14:21:04

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@npub17lg…9uux They are absolutely catching up to Microsoft's core competency of badly naming products.

2023-08-09 14:04:07

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@npub17lg…9uux GoOgLe ApPs FoR bUsInEsS was the best brand name for it, let's be honest.

2023-08-09 13:42:34

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@npub17lg…9uux I love how the advice here is more or less "don't run Exchange", but obviously now we know Microsoft can't secure their cloud for crud either. (And just lol Google Workplace.)

2023-07-28 16:24:13

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@npub1trd…ussx I would argue if you constantly find yourself on the side of evil, you should strongly stop and ask why that is, not sit confident in your righteousness while defending villains.

2023-07-28 16:09:50

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@npub1r37…xrlz @npub1trd…ussx I read the email threads at the time: Elastic was very willing to work with the OSI to fix any issues with SSPL. The only reason the original SSPL went live as-is was because the OSI didn't care to work with it at all. It seemed to me the OSI did not believe it was their job to help make open source development sustainable.

2023-07-09 22:26:44

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@npub15x4…3p3l Makes sense. Russian troll farms have to consider $8 an incredible bargain compared to spending months building a following organically.

2023-07-09 16:57:14

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@npub19lt…qfjk Is that USB cable from a Blackberry?

2023-07-09 01:31:08

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@npub1lrv…tth9 It's likely they are... for self-serving reasons. It will help them comply with the DMA in the EU. This is the beauty of open standards combined with effective regulation.

2023-07-08 23:09:07

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@npub1t5m…9guy Always impressed when stores market stuff this way. Make me laugh, I am way more likely to give you money.

2023-07-07 20:33:51

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@npub1nd0…nvf8 @npub1ru6…eq27 @npub1aj2…v3aj This is fiction. While there's a radical core of smaller servers who are obsessed with preemptive defederation, most servers, and most users, are not going to be preemptively defederated.
And while a few people who are not admins have made some rumors about fediblocking m.s, that remains not an actual thing even amongst all the servers who are blocking Threads.

2023-07-06 00:11:19

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@npub1094…2wum @npub1jwy…ex2x @npub1vjy…09ts You expect something substantive about... nothing existing? Nothing exists. He has told you.

2023-07-06 00:00:36

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@npub1094…2wum Can you stop using your huge platform to spread crazy misinformation? Like, nothing like this has ever been even close to substantiated, and these sorts of bull---- rumors are regularly scaring newer users who aren't versed in the latest fedi dramas enough to know the authors are making it up.

2023-07-04 05:40:01

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@npub1xp9…amfw @npub1a3x…d4r8 The honest truth is we are really deep into people both having strong opinions they will not be divorced of any at cost, and a lot of misinformation being thrown out there that helpfully supports those positions.
The honest reality: Server admins have the right to defederate stuff. And if they defederate too much stuff, people will leave their instances behind anyways.

2023-07-03 19:14:32

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@npub1m0g…642v @npub1456…jxxe If you see a post from mostr.pub, you can click the little three dots (...) on the post, and "block domain mostr.pub".

2023-06-10 23:10:39

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@npub1a84…wlgu Kagi is worth paying for, if you can afford it. It has some really neat tools to customize what domains rank higher or lower in your results, lets you make custom bangs for lookups on other sites, etc.
Otherwise I interchangeably will use DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, or Bing.

2023-06-06 23:40:22

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@npub1xzm…eykm It boggles the mind this wasn't optional. Why not let people keep their # if they want to?

2023-06-05 17:20:03

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@npub17ge…hgsu Spoiler alert, use a CW, jeez!

2023-05-25 03:47:52

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@npub1yk6…4zz4 You can have the job. It's clear you're more committed to it than I would be.
But I'd let the people see Batgirl.

2023-05-25 03:43:45

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@npub1yk6…4zz4 I think you, and, and 37 of our closest friends could probably do a meaningful impersonation of David Zaslav for a million a year each, don't you think?

2023-05-25 03:38:55

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@npub1yk6…4zz4 The fact you have to install Max and unstill HBO Max is wild. And the fact that I had to install HBO Max and uninstall HBO GO like two years ago is also wild.
Like, I understand rebranding the product, but why torch your entire install base every two years?

2023-05-15 16:49:47

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@npub1yk6…4zz4 At least if everyone else defederates, I can see your pictures! :D

2023-05-08 01:13:09

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@npub1pqk…z65u It's actually been there for a while, I'm friends with the developer. But the model and approach of Yarn is a bit different, so there's both technical and social differences in the connection.
For example, Twtxt users tend to practice "slow social", Yarn doesn't implement notifications, by choice.

2023-05-07 20:19:37

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@npub1su4…a0dw I loved their Surface model but I stopped using it because I was super concerned it was going to crack the screen, and people online indicated my fears were justified.

2023-05-02 19:16:41

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@npub1pqk…z65u @npub1w7a…tpn3 @npub1gsm…5y8l Indeed, it's silly to create your own standard unless you're trying to accomplish something significantly different or significantly improved from the existing one. Right now a single app has chosen an incompatible federation protocol they wrote themselves.

2023-04-30 04:04:29

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@npub1pqk…z65u You probably did a favor to all of dotsocial.

2023-04-24 20:29:22

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#[0] #[1] Agreed. So many of these expansive malls just look stunning and insanely cool. It really does suck how difficult it is to imagine a different reuse for this sort of space.

2023-04-20 00:36:12

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#[0] #[1] #[2] Ads will come. (Some are already here, both from legitimate companies and spammers.) There's nothing inherently wrong with that. The key difference is that ads on the fediverse are... just ordinary posts. We can block them, or block entire instances, at our leisure.
The core difference here is the control is held by users, not corporations.

2023-04-18 02:01:30

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#[0] Currently 9 team members listed on https://joinmastodon.org/about though I'm not sure if all of them are formally employees.