I am Not Migrating Back To IRC

So, with this whole Discord surveillance age verification situation, I am seeing lots of talk on every social media platform, including Discord ironically, about moving back to IRC. I am not going back to IRC. Though, I do not really have a valid interest in it, because I use Discord just to monitor occult cults and extremist groups, lol. So, it is not like I would be really displaced, anyway. I would just need to figure out a new exploit or hack.

I’m a Computational Biologist, so I am half in Biology and half in software engineering. I tend to look at technology and evolution as analogous to one another. Software, dynamical systems, and evolution are analogous. Evolution functions like a survivorship process. Lineages that leave more descendants become more represented over time where drift, mutation, recombination, and migration all perturb the system. It’s a stochastic dynamical system.

Speciation is a change under isolation. Once gene flow is cut off, divergence accumulates. Eventually, compatibility breaks, creating a divergence. A fork. You can think of it in a version control system like this: you stop merging upstream commits. You accumulate independent changes, and at some point the codebases are no longer interchangeable.

With evolution, even when traits resemble ancestral forms, they arise through new mutations in the current system. It’s a forward, not backward, branch. So from an evolutionary and software engineering perspective, progress happens by forking and optimizing what exists. That means you will not get progress by trying to migrate everyone back to legacy infrastructure.

I’m not migrating to IRC because it is not progress or evolution. It is technologically regressive. Regressive attitudes are why we are essentially in a weird, industrial, cyberpunk version of the 1930s right now. Hoping old-school forums make a comeback and that everyone migrates back to IRC is a technological and societal regression. It’s the same nostalgia-driven impulse that MAGA rides on. It’s not evolutionary or progressive. It’s regressive and backward. So that triggers all the alarm bells in my head, because this is sort of how we got here. Donald Trump rode in on a regressive platform of nostalgia and populism. Roughly 10–12% of Bernie Sanders supporters in 2016 voted for Donald Trump under that wave.

Trump’s 2016 rise was driven significantly by populist themes such as critiques of establishment politics, nationalism, economic resentment, and appeals to voters dissatisfied with the status quo in both parties. Anyone paying attention in 2026 should see the cycle repeating itself. This weird form of technological regression is a techno-populist version of it. America never learns is lesson, does it?

Currently, I am on Matrix, albeit I use it more or less for bridge and puppeteer bot purposes. To me, it’s like going back to using muskets when everyone else is using AK-47s. The solution is not to make more regressive pieces of technology. They are least effective when you are essentially in a guerrilla, stochastic war with your own fascist government.

Your BlueSky Feed Is Porn You Didn’t Ask For Because Your Friends Are Gooners With a Severe Porn Addiction

A common complaint I see people make on Bluesky is: why am I being served so much porn or things I am not interested in? They will incorrectly believe that the algorithm is broken. It’s not broken. You didn’t know the people you knew as well as you thought you did. Porn addiction is a thing, and porn addiction is especially common with weebs. You’re seeing deranged shit because people you follow have porn addictions and are into deranged shit. So, though you may not be consuming porn, people in your network are. That activity kicks into your feeds.

The issue I have with that is that it essentially normalizes being sex pests in a space on the Internet. That sets the expectation that it is good—attractive, even—to act like that elsewhere. That expectation alienates relationships. Bluesky creates a cultural space that offers an unrealistic, bizarre representation of social relationships, which isolates and alienates the users who stay on there consuming erotica and porn like they do.

So, user repos in Bluesky have a property for likes. Bluesky’s underlying AT Protocol stores likes as first-class structured records in each user’s AT Protocol repository. In the AT Protocol lexicon, a like is an app.bsky.feed.like record type. Unlike a simple boolean flag on a post, it is its own record with a creation timestamp and a subject field that holds a strong reference to the liked record.

That strong reference is composed of an AT-URI and a CID. The AT-URI identifies the exact record in the network by DID, collection, and record key. The CID is a cryptographic content identifier that uniquely identifies the exact content of that liked record.

These like records exist under the app.bsky.feed.like namespace in the user’s repo. Bluesky’s repo model is built so that these repos are hosted on a user’s Personal Data Server and are publicly readable through the AT Protocol APIs. Because of that, the like record and its fields can be fetched, indexed, and used by any client or service that can query the protocol.

The protocol exposes operations like getLikes. This returns all of the like records tied to a particular subject’s AT-URI and CID. It also exposes getActorLikes. This returns all of the subject references a given actor has liked. Those API calls return structured like objects with timestamps and subject references directly from the public repository data.

Various feeds hosted by different PDSs use the likes property to construct the feeds that you see. Since the likes of people you follow are included in your social graph, along with your own likes, you’re going to get served the porn they are consuming. Because likes are public and anyone can write an algorithm to see everyone’s likes, you can clearly see just how much porn people are consuming.

Honestly, what started to turn my stomach about the people on Bluesky is how they behave across different contexts. If you look through the records of the posts they interact with, you’ll see them engaging with political posts in the replies like a normal person. Then, when you look through their AT Protocol records, you see hours and hours of them interacting with every kind of porn imaginable. I am not exaggerating. Hours of likes for porn posts within 1–10 minutes of each other. Am I sex-negative? A prude? No, this site is filled with furry, gay bara porn, lol. You can have a drink without being an alcoholic. The problem with these people is like people who can’t have one drink without drinking the whole fucking day; they can’t consume porn in healthy ways.

I think people assume that their feed is customized for them and based on their likes. No—feeds are generalized based on what everyone likes and then served to your subgraph. It’s not just about who you follow; it’s about who they follow. So if you follow someone who follows a lot of people with porn addictions, you will see porn. Bluesky isn’t weighting the algorithm to do this. Basically, it’s the people in your social network with furry, hentai, or trans porn addictions who are driving it.

The Virulent Infection of BlueSky by Extremely Online, Brain-Rotten Zombies from X Continues

So, it appears a new migration from Twitter to Bluesky is underway. It appears to be some of the most virulent former 4chan users possible. Yep, I got off Bluesky just in time, lol. I’ve been keeping tabs on a particularly virulent and toxic subgraph on Twitter for years. It pretty much stayed off Bluesky because they couldn’t act like abusive dumpster fires there. Welp, looks like they’re becoming more active on Bluesky. It’s not looking good over there.

That they are on the move says something. It’s sort of like how the US is suddenly a place that is hospitable to measles. It was all but eradicated here.

My husband likes to say that you can tell where not to be by where I am looking from somewhere else. I like fires. So if I am observing your platform or community from a distance, you probably don’t want to be there.

Edit:

I had originally posted the above on a now-defunct federated blog. It got blasted to Mastodon. Someone replied and asked what I think is causing this. I debated actually answering, then decided that I’ve had enough of the dumpster fire that is social media. I decided not to wade through social media tech discourse into what will mostly likely be an Internet argument with a complete stranger. I am a techie dragon, and I engage with things to learn how they work so I can tinker with them. I only engaged with tech discourse to get my hands on how the tech works. There’s nothing in it for me to be part of larger conversations. Arguing with random strangers on social media is not an epistemically useful format. I do think I should answer, though. Just on my blog.

I treat social media like I do an addictive substance. I do not believe in abstinence, but I do believe in harm-reduction paradigms, so when I see everyone overdosing on social media, I pull back and shut down a lot of accounts. The Fediverse instance where the first part of this blog post was posted has been taken down, moved to this blog, and this section appended to it.

I often use the word weeb pejoratively. Here, I am using it categorically. There really isn’t an “official” name outside of otaku or weeb culture. I am at the fringes and intersections of it as a furry. My husband is a millennial weeb. With that being said—

The migration is in large part because Bluesky is capturing the otaku/weeb niche of X. X hosted networks that were ecosystems of “anime fans.” These included anime and manga artists, doujin and hentai artists, VTuber fans, NSFW illustrators, fandom shitposters, niche fetish communities, and other chronically and extremely online content creators and influencers. That culture relied heavily on timelines, informal networks, and discovery through reposts, replies, and algorithmic amplification.

Elon Musk pretty much destabilized X’s ecosystems and social networks from multiple directions at once. Algorithm changes made reach inconsistent. Moderation created anxiety and uncertainty about what would get suppressed or unintentionally “viral”. Bots, engagement farming, and blue-check reply spam actively poisoned fandom conversations.

Bluesky is the memetic and cultural progeny of early imageboard cultures. I conducted a phylogenetic analysis of the memetics, which you can check out here:

Bluesky is a competitor of X for otaku and fandom communities. Bluesky has a lot of the aspects of old Twitter dynamics around which fandom culture evolved. Recently, Bluesky introduced something big in those communities: going live. Since X is no longer habitable for weebs, they are moving to Bluesky.

For example, the AT protocol already has PinkSea:

https://pinksea.art

And, of course, there is WAFRN:

https://app.wafrn.net

I cope and deal with issues via personal, private sublimation and not so much exhibitionism of my art or consumption of art. So, while I do make comic books and do a shit ton of weeby art, it’s for the purpose of sublimation, so I’m not too interested in being a part of a community. That’s a large reason I am not active in those spaces. I’m quite cynical, in general, so I am suspicious of any community — and I mean any community, at all. Honestly, I am mildly contemptuous of mass participation or any sense of belonging. So, my art stays private, because it is created for me – and just me.

[Перевод] Document PiP vs window.open

Всем привет! Меня зовут Максим Иванов . Сегодня я хотел бы провести небольшой исторический экскурс и объяснить, почему Document Picture-in-Picture — это не просто способ отображать видео в формате « картинка в картинке », а новое и любопытное API, которое потенциально может заменить привычный всем window.open. Возможность выводить видео в режиме PiP появилась еще в сентябре 2018 года в Chrome 69. С тех пор прошло более семи лет активного тестирования и развития. В 2019 году подобный механизм появился в Safari, а к 2020-му — и в Firefox. Теперь, когда почти каждый браузер умеет открывать видео в отдельном плавающем окне, возникает логичный вопрос: могут ли браузеры с той же легкостью открывать в отдельном окне интерактивный HTML-контент, а не только видео? И если да, то каким образом? Давайте поговорим об этом ниже.

https://habr.com/ru/articles/953340/

#pip #document #js #iframe #DocumentPictureInPicture #web #web10 #web20 #open

Webrings und Blogindexe – Internet wie aus einer besseren Zeit

https://blog.sengotta.net/webrings-und-blogindexe-internet-wie-aus-einer-besseren-zeit/

Als ich letztens meinen Blog umgestyled und die Activity Pub Integration richtig eingerichtet hatte bin ich mehr durch Zufall auf zwei sehr bemerkenswerte Projekte gestoßen. Das eine Projekt ist UberBlogr, ein sogenannter Webring, das andere Greatblogs was so etwas wie einen kuratierten Blog Index darstellt.

Beide Projekte sind mir sehr sympathisch weil Sie meiner Meinung nach eine Version des Internets repräsentieren die besser war als das was wir heute haben. Denn seien wir ganz ehrlich: heutzutage ist das Internet nur noch selten ein Ort an dem man gerne verweilt. Dominiert wird das heutige Web von den riesigen Plattformen gewinnorientierter Unternehmen die oftmals als Echokammer des Hasses und der Diskriminierung dienen. Wertvollen Content findet man dort meiner Meinung nach nur noch selten. Auch die Creator die dort unterwegs sind tun das vorrangig für die Klicks, die paar Minuten Ruhm, oder ganz simpel für das Geld. Nicht vergessen zu liken und zu abonnieren sage ich da nur.

Vor 10-15 Jahren war das noch ein wenig anders. Viele Leute unterhielten einen Blog, viele suchten Communities in Foren. Gibt es das heute alles nicht mehr? Doch das alles gibt es auch heute noch, auch wenn Foren es heutzutage echt schwer haben, nicht zuletzt aufgrund von rechtlichen Bestimmungen. Was ich in den letzten Tagen gemerkt habe ist das diese Form des nichtkommerziellen Web’s, des Indiewebs wenn man so will, einfach nur schwer zu finden ist.

Denn in Suchmaschinen taucht dieser Content selten auf den ersten Seiten auf, wonach will man auch suchen? Es geht ja eher um Insperation. Oft entdecke ich neue interessante Blogs einfach durch Zufall. Zum Beispiel beim Surfen durch das Fediverse, oder durch Projekte wie UberBlogr und Greatblogs.

Wie bereits erwähnt ist UberBlogr ein Webring Dienst. Ein Begriff mit dem ich bis letzte Woche nicht viel Anfangen konnte da dieses Konzept schon seinen Niedergang erlebte als ich gerade mal im Internet ankam. Es wurde von den Suchmaschinen verdrängt. Im Endeffekt kann man es sich wie eine Kreisförmige Verlinkung der Webring Sites untereinander vorstellen. Mittels Hyperlink kann man sich durch die Webring vor und zurück bewegen. Ihr findet diese Links auch auf meinem Blog wenn Ihr in den Footer schaut. Die Blogs senden neue Inhalte per Ping an den Dienst der die neuesten Beiträge dann via RSS Feed oder Mastodon Bot ausspielt. Abonniert man diesen Feed sieht man gleich wenn im Webring was neues passiert.

Greatblogs ist eher wie ein Index in welchem man seinen Blog anmelden kann und welcher dann nach Prüfung hoffentlich freigeschaltet wird. Auch diese Website listet dann neuen Beiträge auf. Hier werden die Blogs auch gleiche thematisch eingeteilt und man kann auch einzelne Kategorien als RSS Feed abonnieren.

Ich habe in den letzten Tagen über diese beiden Projekte viele neue interessante Blogs gefunden und ich bin echt froh das es diese Art des Internets überhaupt noch gibt. Privatpersonen die über das schreiben was Sie interessiert,was Sie beschäftigt. Seiten die ohne tonnenweise Werbung auskommen, die einen nicht tracken als gäbe es kein Morgen mehr, weil es auch nicht nötig ist. Weil der Author halt die 5€ im Monat für das Webhosting oder den VPS in die Hand nimmt und keine Gewinnabsichten hat.

Ich hoffe das es in der Zukunft noch mehr von diesem Content gibt und das die Projekte wachsen. Ich weiß auf jeden Fall das ich auch versuchen werde das Konzept des bloggens (und die technischen Hintergründe) meinen Kindern weiterzugeben, auf das Sie nicht nur konsumierende Zombies werden.

#blog #blogging #fediverse #greatblogs #indieweb #uberblogr #web10

@bjoern

I gained access to my account on thunix.net and am enjoying getting to play on the CLI forums and hardcoding my static web page. This is the Web 1.0 I missed out on in the 90's.

#thunix #web10