It should come as no surprise that I post some content on one network (a high level point) when the much more detailed points were here already by myself and others.

That's not "licking one's wounds" that existing concurrently in multiple spaces.

The fediverse lives by donations from billionaires and grants from the EU, whilst relying on hundreds or thousands of unpaid people's labour in running the infrastructure, moderating the network, developing the software.

If y'all are really throwing rocks at other protocols and projects, I suggest you get your house in order first. The more this goes on, the more you'll loose talented people who don't want to deal with this for far too little money.

Oh, and thank the individual contributors more, because they're secretly the lifeblood of projects.

The UK has announced plans to fast-track legislation requiring “age verification for VPN use”. The correct term, however, is not age verification but identity verification.

A law like this would require everyone to identify themselves in order to use a VPN. This would pose a risk to whistleblowers, violate human rights, and represent yet another step toward an authoritarian society.

The #FDroid website has a new banner on top to remind visitors that #Google did not change course and #Android will be locked-down in under 200 days.

If you care about the freedom to control your devices and care about the privacy of you data, please contact your representative and make your voice heard.

https://keepandroidopen.org/ (thanks @marcprux) has the resources to guide you.

We know users will rarely visit the site so the Client(s) will get a banner soon too.

Thank you for your support!

I really wish legitimate companies wouldn't use third parties (and associated third party domains) to send out things like feedback surveys.

"Hi, we're from this company you trust and other company you don't know! Submit feedback to enter our prize draw to win money!"

It's indistinguishable from a phishing scam. And if a customer questions it and gets told they're legitimate emails, they're not going to question it if one arrives in their inbox that *isn't*

High Speed Rail Alliance: "Cal high speed rail is the most important rail project in the US right now. Construction on the 171-mile initial line is underway. This & the new Vegas to LA line will create a tipping point for great trains across the country. Which is why they are trying to obstruct them & why we need to fight for Cal high speed rail, both in California and nationally..."

Californians take action here:
https://www.hsrail.org/blog/act-now-show-your-support-for-great-trains-in-california/

Americans at large sign here: https://www.hsrail.org/blog/petition-support-california-high-speed-rail

The only way to *truly* billionaire-proof the internet is to a) abolish billionaires and b) abolish the system that allows people to become billionaires. Short of that, any levees we build will need constant tending, reinforcement, and re-evaluation.

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/23/defense-in-depth/#self-marginalization

1/

The 645 souls on this ship have been flying for months. Packed in this tiny space they are low on supplies, with illness already spreading among them.
Desperately fleeing the destruction of their homeland, they have finally arrived at your border.

What would you do?

#spaceship #scifiart

Like if you have a bunch of perfectly spherical individuals running around in a frictionless vacuum sure it makes sense.

But in the real world where you have like… actual networks to deal with, and partitions, and security patches, and spammers, and CSAM, and… to deal with.

We need to consider the degree to which this fetishization of single user servers is meaningfully coherent as a strategy.
https://hachyderm.io/@hrefna/113899314270714595

Decentralization and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere

https://privacy.thenexus.today/decentralization-and-erasure-blacksky-bluesky-and-the-atmosphere-2/

There's been a lot of discussion about whether or not Bluesky and the ATmosphere (the ecosystem using the AT protocol) are decentralized. Blacksky runs three feed generators, a moderation service, and a work-in-progress personal data store (PDS) as well as providing a starter pack. And the vision for Blacksky "extends beyond any single platform".

That sounds pretty decentralized to me!

But as far as I can tell, nobody else in the discussion is talking about Blacksky as an actually-existing example of decentralization. What's with that?

#bluesky #blacksky #decentralization