Neil Brown

Internet, telecoms, and tech lawyer.

I run English law firm https://decoded.legal.

Linux / FOSS, legal stuff, and puns. Terrible puns.

He/him. Cishet, lucky husband.

#NoBot / #NoSearch / #NoIndex / #NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoTheresNoLimit

Public Key

npub1waxkzn4ulrap2d5qtluxhkl8wcl5lye7y9sg79958s43j9hnsspsqdx0yw

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neil_at_mastodon.neilzone.co.uk@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs8wntpf67037s4x6q9l7rtm0nhv060jvlzzcy0zj6rc2cezmecgqcpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhx6mmnw3ezuur4vgt4enq3

Publishing to

relay.nostr.band

relay.mostr.pub

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npub1waxkzn4ulrap2d5qtluxhkl8wcl5lye7y9sg79958s43j9hnsspsqdx0yw

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Last Notes

2024-11-02 06:06:30

What also struck us over the next three quarters of an hour is that Linux and open source in general seem to be huge components of the movie special effects industry – to an extent that we had not previously realized.
An eye-opener for me too, from @npub1fpe…th5v
https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/01/aswf_foss_oscars/

2024-10-31 08:38:25

Is now the best time ever for Linux laptops?
As I’ve said, ad nauseum probably, I like my secondhand ThinkPads.
But I’m not immune to the charms of other machines and, as far as I can tell, now is an amazing time for Linux laptops. ...
There seems to be quite a range of machines, at quite a range of prices, with quite a range of Linux and other non-Windows/macOS operating systems available.
...
https://neilzone.co.uk/2024/10/is-now-the-best-time-ever-for-linux-laptops/
#FOSS #Linux #tech

2024-10-22 20:19:06

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I went with archivebox. If I like it, I'll switch the storage to an SSD.
Installing archivebox was easy.
I spent most of my time correcting my own notes on Let's Encrypt and renewal hooks, and remembering how to automatically toggle my firewall to temporarily allow inbound http/https traffic to let Let's Encrypt do its thing.
Documentation updated for future me!

2024-10-18 06:00:28

tl;dr: if someone expresses a problem or concern with their computer, responding with “install this Linux distribution” is very, very rarely a helpful response.
Signed,
A fellow Linux user
#FOSS #UnsolicitedAdvice #Linux

2024-10-15 16:40:45

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@npub1qpq…l99g https://ledes.org/

2024-10-15 16:23:33

An odd thing for a site about checks notes legal billing formats to say.
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/113/312/360/088/604/009/original/6059d7fd3c354a15.png

2024-10-11 08:43:36

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@npub1fzz…vupn It was a short term deal, now back to normal price, AIUI.

2024-10-07 19:37:24

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@npub1ewr…a20y FWIW, the audio books Sandra buys from Audible have all been one file. But the DRM free audio books I have bought have been one file per chapter. And, personally, I prefer the one file per chapter approach.

2024-10-03 08:23:10

Close...
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/113/242/521/961/273/967/original/f6207af9ea6b01e5.png

2024-09-28 09:52:29

I appear to be in the unlabelled "let's use your phone's speaker" carriage on this train.

2024-09-18 13:14:35

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@npub12fd…cful How strange?!

2024-09-18 07:12:05

New blogpost: Am I (still?) in Mozilla's target audience?
I have used Mozilla’s software - Firefox and Thunderbird in particular - for many more years than I care to remember.
...
I used to think that I was in Mozilla’s target audience.
Now, I’m not so sure.
https://neilzone.co.uk/2024/09/am-i-still-in-mozillas-target-audience/
#mozilla #firefox #thunderbird #blog #FOSS

2024-09-17 08:37:42

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@npub1juc…duaj
naibsel rats dlog?

2024-09-16 11:55:45

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@npub1urx…qlek
I've set a cronjob to fix it, but it only runs at 23:59 tonight, sadly :(

2024-09-14 10:20:12

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@npub1sps…2pjj Yes, Signal looked very blurry.

2024-09-13 07:40:44

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@npub1k06…zyu9
Why the Delta.Chat link, out of interest?

2024-09-13 07:23:34

Does anyone know of a repository / collection of science fiction or similar short stories licensed under Creative Commons licences, or CC0, please?
#books #scifi

2024-09-13 05:57:33

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The explanatory notes give a really rather nice, concise, precis of the law of personalty in England and Wales (a topic which I don't think is covered well enough in many undergraduate law degrees!):
https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/56208/documents/5089

2024-09-13 05:54:06

New UK legislative proposal, to do with "things":
A thing (including a thing that is digital or electronic in nature) is not
prevented from being the object of personal property rights merely because it is neither—
(a) a thing in possession, nor
(b) a thing in action.
All clear?
(https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3766/publications)

2024-09-12 07:58:20

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@npub15wv…9lex
I look forward to hearing about how, after years of neglect by the previous potato-based administration, you plan on reforming crisp flavours.

2024-09-12 07:54:22

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@npub15wv…9lex
Like Downing Street, but in a parallel dimension?!

2024-09-12 07:42:59

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@npub1juc…duaj
I first used Thunderbird cough in late 2003/2004, I think! And I still use it now, in conjunction with mutt.

2024-09-12 06:15:02

the NCA is about to start identifying [sextortion] as a crime in its own right. It will be called financially-motivated sexual exploitation and given its own unique crime code...
By all means share nudes with other consenting adults but, please, be careful, and think carefully - long and hard, so to speak - about when, and with whom, you do so.
Sextortion is a horrible, life changing, crime.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq82lyg5vpjo

2024-09-10 14:20:11

One of my least favourite business tasks - but I do it, because I have a business to run - is chasing unpaid invoices.
I'm lucky that this is rare, but it happens.
I will have invariably tripled-checked that I haven't missed the payment, but I still hesitate before sending an email chaser.

2024-09-09 19:08:35

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@npub13dc…5aw9 What is it like to type on?

2024-09-09 18:35:25

It doesn't surprise me massively, given the FOSS-heavy nature of my feed, to see only a few positive comments on Apple's product launch floating in a sea of distain.
Personally, short of a device with a decent physical keyboard, I am struggling to think of what a company could do to a phone to make me think "yes!". They are all so mundane.

2024-09-09 16:19:46

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@npub1s2l…q5gu Thanks!

2024-09-09 16:13:20

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@npub1p3d…n9yt Thanks!

2024-09-08 20:22:04

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Perhaps a sub-set of Wikipedia, via Kiwix?

2024-09-08 20:18:13

Recommendations, please!
Is there a self-hosted modern day equivalent of encyclopaedia-on-a-disk, Encarta?
Not a mirror of Wikipedia (too big), but something much smaller, and so commensurately less broad / deep, but still a useful reference tool?
I wonder whether looking for an old copy of Encarta might be a starting point (for anything before 2008, at least!).

2024-09-08 19:48:25

The latest Thunderbird update has broken the QuickMove addon, which I use to file email rapidly using my keyboard and, well, I am lost!
My inbox is clearly destined to be a mess for a while.

2024-09-06 10:44:39

What I have: mouse click to focus.
What I could have: focus follows mouse.
What I want: focus follows Neil's brain, on the window I meant to interact with, irrespective of where the mouse is or what I've clicked.

2024-09-03 19:11:37

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If someone had unsupervised access to my YubiKey and replaced it with an identical one, they’d basically have unfettered access to my YubiKey until I next tried to use that specific key and noticed it wasn’t working.
At best, a couple of hours. But more likely, days.
So a pretty bad position.

2024-09-03 19:09:26

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@npub1ahl…7l3x If someone simply swapped the key out, they’d probably have a couple of hours at best, and several days more likely, before I’d notice.

2024-09-03 18:52:34

Hmm... I think that I would have assumed that, if someone had had unsupervised physical access to one of my YubiKeys, the key was compromised anyway.
I.e. irrespective of this new vulnerability.

2024-09-01 18:08:31

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@npub1gzw…t758 Canal bar?

2024-09-01 12:28:17

I have found a useful bag in the garage, from last time we did headshots for the website.
£30, from eBay!
Now to see if I can get the creases out with a steamer.
From the background but, honestly, probably from my face too.
And to work out where the lights and reflectors should point...
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/113/062/290/523/152/737/original/229f2cd21b4f0deb.jpg

2024-08-31 11:52:01

Okay everyone, what do you need to know?!
I will consult my new (from 2002) book.
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/113/056/484/655/878/266/original/46194d6a853bfb30.jpg

2024-08-29 18:49:37

I've tidied up my rack, to make some space for a new router.
I won't be switching immediately as I'm not 100% sure how to make it all hang together, especially with my FTTC backup line and SIP, but one step at a time!

2024-08-27 15:10:40

What if, rather than pointlessly trading barbs and soundbites with each other, the governing party, the opposition, and other parties all worked together to improve things.
Like, an opposition to test and improve policies - a critical friend - rather than just complaining and attacking. And a ruling party which listens to constructive feedback.
sigh

2024-08-24 14:53:29

Delicious!
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/113/017/562/306/479/088/original/95d66a947cd89bd3.jpg

2024-08-19 07:50:44

I'm having a week off this week, as I've had very little time off this year and I could do with a break.
Time between starting my day off and doing work: 1h37m.
I am not good at this.
(But it was my choice, not someone asking/chasing, and I'm glad I did!)

2024-08-18 16:12:52

Those of you who blog: what do you / how do you manage your draft blogposts and notes for future blogposts?
At the moment, I have a directory of textfiles with notes in markdown, and it is fine, but I wonder whether vimwiki or logseq might be worth a look.
(Obsidian is not a sensible option for me, given its licence; great if it works for you, but it's not for me.)
#blog

2024-08-18 10:39:58

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I really should sort out some kind of display case for my old phones and computers, as I'm building up quite a horde museum.

2024-08-18 10:24:00

Who wants to see my new phone?!
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/982/526/274/405/162/original/afea52987ad82981.jpg
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/982/526/274/024/334/original/44ea03317bed6ab7.jpg

2024-08-16 18:26:19

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@npub14x8…7fe6 Yep! The quality is just superb, and they only took 2.5 hours.

2024-08-16 17:48:05

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They are not finished yet - hair and arrows still to do, and some touch-ups - but another nice set of models from my printer.

2024-08-16 17:45:49

My weekend is off to a good start, with a small gang of goblins for a DnD campaign.
#DnD #Minis #Wargaming
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/972/940/810/367/612/original/c225b05ead1d2d25.jpg

2024-08-16 07:43:48

Today's t-shirt. How many connectors/adapters do you recognise? Which can you name?
(From @npub1tx7…zs7h)
#quiz #game #connectors
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/970/572/378/201/566/original/1a27baadbb2c25dc.jpeg

2024-08-14 12:26:58

It is always a bad idea to toot advice in absolute terms.

2024-08-14 12:14:55

Openreach Reveal UK Plan for Symmetric 1Gbps FTTP Broadband
I wonder just how much this will eat into the leased line business, since this is likely to be a fraction of the cost.
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/08/openreach-reveal-uk-plan-to-launch-symmetric-1gbps-fttp-broadband.html

2024-08-13 16:57:29

A nearby pub only has one glass, which is clearly a single pint of failure.

2024-08-10 20:13:45

I'm in that slightly strange place in which I don't see other people's "likes" of my own toots (because I filter those out of my notifications), but I also "like" lots of people's toots each day, in the hope that they see it and smile.

2024-08-09 20:37:00

I've turned off my laptop computer, I'm about to put down my handheld computer, and then I'll read for a bit on my eInk computer.

2024-08-08 16:29:29

As if Sandra were not lucky enough simply by virtue of being married to me, today I took her on a surprise hot date to look at some old computers.

2024-08-07 19:20:34

I had an evening to myself, so I started to write that blogpost about Matomo, Plausible, and other JaveScript-toting analytics services, and the UK rules on "cookie consent".
I live a rock and roll lifestyle, of that there is no doubt.

2024-08-06 14:44:55

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@npub14x8…7fe6
You don't need some nagging you, but - as someone who can both relate and who is a bit worried - please, look after yourself.

2024-08-05 16:54:36

[S]olicitors named as potential targets for violent protest
I can't help but feel that "protest" is a weak choice of word there.
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/society-sounds-alarm-as-solicitors-named-as-potential-targets-for-violent-protest/5120563.article

2024-08-04 13:10:18

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@npub1shx…gv62 And how long are your days?!

2024-08-02 20:29:46

Whoop!
A successful evening of setting up dovecot with mail-crypt, and - the trickiest part by a long way - getting Thunderbird to accept a self-signed certificate.
The dovecot config was easy compared with wrestling with Thunderbird.

2024-08-01 18:07:28

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@npub15eu…lcpr Yep, PGP is not a workable option for me here.

2024-08-01 16:16:42

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@npub1z3u…eq3s Nope :)

2024-08-01 16:06:18

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@npub1z3u…eq3s The rules say nothing about third parties :)
Or, indeed, cookies...

2024-08-01 12:14:00

I should probably do a blogpost somepoint about "GDPR-compliant" Free software web analytics packages which use JavaScript, analysing their assertions that using them doesn't require consent...

2024-08-01 11:25:51

WireGuard to port 53 FTW!
(443 as an alternative option, when 53 is problematic.)

2024-07-31 12:46:06

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@npub1y5h…7m3c
I've had a few people ask about exactly this kind of thing!
(And I don't do wills / probate...)

2024-07-31 09:01:22

Gen Z swerves traditional broadcast TV as less than half tune in weekly
I am amazed that it it is anywhere close to 50%.
I can't remember the last time that I watched "traditional broadcast TV".
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-habits-adults/gen-z-swerves-traditional-broadcast-tv-as-less-than-half-tune-in-weekly/

2024-07-30 17:33:29

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A ThinkPad 600E, from 1998!
And a T41, from early 2000s.
Nice!

2024-07-30 11:48:42

A friend has very kindly given me a couple of old ThinkPads!
I haven't had a chance to see what they are yet, but I am guessing 20ish years old or so.

2024-07-29 17:31:25

Is there a TLD with rules which require (exclusively or not) IPv6 records?

2024-07-28 20:27:15

Sandra has been away over the weekend, and she is due back in a bit.
So, being a loving husband - hers, as luck would have it - I have put a couple of chocolates on her pillow.
But not the mini Bounty from the Celebrations box, because I am not a monster.

2024-07-28 19:35:25

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@npub10pt…n606 draw.io?

2024-07-28 17:32:58

Be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it.

2024-07-28 09:41:15

I must confess that, running my own instance, I'm not entirely sure what, if any, value there is in adding hashtags to my toots, even when my toot visibility is "public" rather than "quiet public" (which is my default).
Perhaps it increases searchability for someone on another server, if the toot promulgates to that server?

2024-07-28 06:23:13

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@npub1mhv…cqa8 Aha! Thank you.
I wasn't sufficiently specific in my post, that I am looking for something which runs on Linux, but this may well be helpful to others.

2024-07-27 13:40:24

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@npub14x8…7fe6 Oh, rubbish! :(

2024-07-24 15:42:06

The lady sitting behind me on this crowded train is coughing and spluttering.
She is not wearing a mask. She might have good reason for that, or she might not.
Either way, I am, for whatever good that will do, but I'm still crossing my fingers that she doesn't have anything bad.

2024-07-24 15:28:56

Oh, your blog doesn't have dark mode or RSS?
That's a shame, but thank goodness I can readily fix that:
https://neilzone.co.uk/2024/04/making-other-peoples-websites-look-how-i-want-them-to-look/
Indeed, I have DarkReader on pretty much all of the time, so I nearly always get a dark mode version of sites, and they are nearly always more readable for me as a consequence.

2024-07-24 10:39:23

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@npub182s…q6t5 Thank you!

2024-07-24 07:57:53

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@npub1avz…8av6 Yes. And I've had multiple kernels there before. So I don't know what changed, or whether I did something...

2024-07-21 20:50:50

I like my resin 3D printer, but I wish I could spend more time 3D printing and less time fixing my 3D printer.

2024-07-20 16:40:25

Every year for the past three years, I've wondered whether one or more larger fedi instances would shutdown over a lack of funding.
So far, I've been wrong, and I've been so pleased to be wrong.
But I can't help shake the feeling that it is only a matter of time.
Big instances generally means pretty big server bills, but not necessarily big or regular donations.

2024-07-20 14:52:29

Ouchie.
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/819/380/183/256/178/original/c019bc65cf7f15cf.jpg

2024-07-19 16:26:49

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@npub14x8…7fe6
It would depend on context.
Non-FOSS? Closed source?

2024-07-19 08:41:42

Today, I am working on decoded.legal's own ISO 27001 implementation.
I genuinely wonder how useful this will turn out to be, but it seems worth looking into.

2024-07-19 06:38:05

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@npub1wsn…plfz
as an Android user I have to have a Gmail account nevertheless.
I'm an Android user, and don't have a Gmail address, but perhaps it is a requirement for "stock" Android?

2024-07-19 05:34:36

links built with the Google URL Shortener in the form https://goo.gl/* … will no longer return a response after August 25th, 2025.
Why do people still use Google’s services for anything they care about?!
For short term convenience, I get it, but…
https://developers.googleblog.com/en/google-url-shortener-links-will-no-longer-be-available/

2024-07-17 14:11:31

Here's a random thing: yesterday's blogpost about Microsoft reactions and attempting to suppress them using a postfix header was more popular than I had anticipated.
In the sense that more than two people read it.
Even more random: someone has a service which converts to text to audio, and uploads it to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfaLRSggX_A

2024-07-16 11:31:47

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@npub1y5h…7m3c Good, isn't it :)

2024-07-16 11:26:58

New blogpost: Attempting to stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email from me by adding a postfix header
Over the past few months, I’ve noticed that an increasing number of replies to email that I’ve sent are “reactions”.
Here's how I have (attempted to) stop these from clogging up my inbox, by signalling to Microsoft that I don't want them in the first place.
https://neilzone.co.uk/2024/07/attempting-to-stop-microsoft-users-sending-reactions-to-email-from-me-by-adding-a-postfix-header/

2024-07-16 07:20:32

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Heck, I'd block ads offline too, if I could.
I used to be a Wired print magazine subscriber.
One of the reasons I gave it up was that it was just chock full of ads.
I'd literally open the wrapping and shake the magazine, and ads would fall out.
But not the ones printed into its pages.
Sure, many publications are ad delivery vehicles with some content to keep the reader's attention - I'm not singling Wired out - and I don't want that.

2024-07-16 07:13:20

I am genuinely amazed by the number of people here (especially here!) who defend online advertising.
Especially those who posit that people who block ads are acting in an ethically questionable manner.
To each, their own, sure - they are welcome to their opinions, and an ad-infested web - but what a strange hill on which to die.
Blocking ads and trackers, and preserving one's attention, is self-care.

2024-07-14 19:34:32

I've been in the fediverse for ages now, and this is one of the weirdest interactions I've had.
I have been found "guilty" of the heinous charges of - checks notes - "talking about the thing I tooted about", being some 40 year old videos about computing in the early 1980s.
So grave is my crime that I must be shamed publicly:
https://qoto.org/@freeschool/112786456345681329
Harmless, but weird!

2024-07-13 18:24:49

I've found something good to watch tomorrow!
From 1982, a BBC series on what computers are, and what they can do:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5dIcOXx3Exc&t=829s

2024-07-13 16:26:10

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@npub1gzl…kk4u Thank you!

2024-07-11 11:59:01

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@npub1dxg…lv39 Hmm... So an improved "oof" then :)

2024-07-11 11:53:47

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@npub1dxg…lv39 Oof :(

2024-07-10 19:29:48

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@npub1cwa…d7ak
If it makes your feed better, do it!

2024-07-10 19:21:30

Did you know that you can mute people for defined periods of time (on Mastodon; not sure about other systems).
So if someone is tooting a lot, in a limited period of time, about something you don't care about, and isn't using hashtags to help filtering, you can mute them for 24 hours, or longer.
After that, they are automatically unmuted and back in your feed.
Very useful when it comes to sportsball.
You do this from the user's profile: mute the user, then configure the mute options.

2024-07-10 18:22:16

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Oh well, perhaps this is the motivation I need to give LibreWolf a go:
https://librewolf.net/installation/debian/