Cal.com goes closed source after 5 years, citing AI tools that can scan open code for vulnerabilities and expose risks to user data. 🔐
A limited MIT version, Cal.diy, remains, but core systems close, reducing transparency and user control despite security concerns. 🔍

🔗 https://cal.com/blog/cal-com-goes-closed-source-why

#TechNews #Calcom #OpenSource #Security #AI #Vulnerabilities #Privacy #FOSS #Transparency #DevTools #Software #Cybersecurity #DataProtection #Risk #OpenWeb

Mastodon gets €614k from the Sovereign Tech Fund to improve Fediverse infrastructure, including blocklists, media storage, and E2EE messaging. 🌐
€90k funds interoperable FOSS, with open protocols, admin control, and transparent data processing across decentralized platforms. 🔍

@Mastodon

🔗 https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/04/sovereign-tech-agency-funding/

#TechNews #Mastodon #Fediverse #SovereignTechFund #OpenSource #ActivityPub #E2EE #Decentralization #Privacy #Interoperability #FOSS #Transparency #Security #OpenWeb #DigitalRights

Audit finds Google, Microsoft and Meta set ad cookies on 55% of sites after opt-out, suggesting possible violations of privacy rules. 🔐
Companies dispute the findings, underscoring opaque tracking systems that limit user control and weaken transparency in dominant ad infrastructure. 🔍

🔗 https://www.404media.co/google-microsoft-meta-all-tracking-you-even-when-you-opt-out-according-to-an-independent-audit/

#TechNews #Google #Microsoft #Meta #Privacy #Security #Tracking #AdTech #Cookies #DataProtection #Surveillance #Transparency #FOSS #OpenWeb #Security #DigitalRights #California

Closed systems protect individuals, but they rarely build movements

https://hamishcampbell.com/closed-systems-protect-individuals-but-they-rarely-build-movements/

#Commonplace is a new experiment in community resource curation.

It gives groups a shared place to gather links, readings, tools, and other references, then make those collections easier to browse and reuse across the open web.

The intro post talks through the concept, the current setup, and how it could work for communities you are part of.

https://blog.dougbelshaw.com/introducing-commonplace/

#Commonplace #CommunityCuration #KnowledgeCommons #OpenWeb #OER

if you have friends still on twitter/x who've been meaning to try this:

our free mastodon & bluesky quick-start checklist walks them through it in 20–30 minutes.

a few things it covers that aren't obvious to newcomers:

- mastodon's feed is chronological — follow hashtags alongside accounts to build
a useful timeline faster
- how to pick a server without overthinking it (and that you can move later)
- sky follower bridge: find their twitter contacts who are already on bluesky
- what to write in their first post (we included a template)

12 steps. beginner-friendly. no tech knowledge required.

→ https://federatedmind.gumroad.com/l/cocjz?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=launch&utm_content=checklist

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #OpenWeb #CreatorEconomy

federated mind is launching: a publication about AI tools, open protocols, and creator economics.

thesis: creators should monetize where the reach is today (mainstream platforms) while building real ownership on the open web. both are real.

we cover: AI tools that solve actual problems. how ActivityPub and open protocols work. creator publishing stacks you control. the business case for decentralization.

launching across 8 platforms this week (including centralized ones—meet creators where they are).

follow us here: @federatedmind

main site: https://federatedmind.com/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=launch

#FederatedMind #OpenWeb #CreatorEconomy #Fediverse #ActivityPub #DecentralizedWeb #AITools #PublisherLife

What is a Web Feed?

Learn what RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed web feeds are, how AI agents and the Fediverse rely on them, and how to subscribe without algorithms or tracking.

https://ryanw.eu/what-is-a-web-feed

"Lots of us technologists are Tron-pilled. Back in the early days, when it wasn't clear that there was ever going to be any money in this internet thing, being Tron-pilled was pretty much the only reason to get involved with it. Sure, there were a few monsters who fell into the early internet because it offered them a chance to torment strangers at a distance, but they were vastly outnumbered by the legion of Tron-pilled nerds who wanted to make the internet better because we wanted all our normie friends to have the same kind of good time we were having.

The point of this is that there were lots of people back then who had the capacity to imagine the kind of gross stuff that Zuckerberg, Musk, and innumerable other scammers, hustlers and creeps got up to on the web. The thing that distinguished these monsters wasn't their genius – it was their callousness. When we brainstormed ways to break the internet, we felt scared and were inspired to try to save it. When they brainstormed ways to break the internet, they created pitch-decks.

And still: the old web was good in so many ways for so long. The Tron-pilled amongst us held the line. When we build a new, good, post-American internet, we're going to need a multitude of Tron-pilled technologists, old and young, who build, maintain – and, above all, defend it."

https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/11/obvious-terrible-ideas/

#Dotcoms #Google #DontBeEvil #OpenWeb #SocialMedia