One of the things I appreciate about Mastodon is the ability to prune my follower list. If I am followed by an obvious bot, I can just remove them. I don't catch every one, but it works well enough.

I was set to request to follow for awhile, but I always felt bad if I missed a few days and couldn't approve people.I also felt I had to vet more deeply which meant more work. The pruning option is a nice balance for me.

Spare me the holier-than-thou techs, always quick to tell you how they never used this or that.

I've worked with end users in clubs, schools, and nonprofits most of my life. People who don't have deep tech skills, but who are doing good work with the tools they can afford or understand. I don't care how technically skilled you are. Your little privileged club is meaningless if only people like you can join. If you can't help, then just shut up.

Subject line from a spam email I got from some random AI service. The subject, though, definitely didn't hit the way they wanted.

My first thought was, "Good! Let's keep it that way!"

I meet online with a small group of people with different tech backgrounds and experiences to discuss technology and tools every other Thursday. Basically, I show them cool things in open source, answer questions (with the help of others with experience), offer secure tools, demonstrate self-hosted options, and (where possible) help them consider options that are less tied to corporate surveillance.

Today, we discussed plans for 2026, and several attendees want to install and run Linux this year. They will be sending me system specs. Next meeting, I go over options, discuss distros and what will meet their needs (the specs and needs will be diverse so one size will not fit all). Then we plan an install party. 😄

In the scheme of things, it isn't much, but it is something. I will take my wins where I can.

I think the term retro-tech has become a little overloaded. Sure there is the very real attempt by companies to capitalize on nostalgia, but retro-tech has also become a shortcut for technology that is resilient, simple yet powerful, free from corporate control, and often more accessible (if sometimes more complex). Nostalgia may still be a part of it, but the central idea is that you can shape and control your technology and what you see and do with it.

After all, there are plenty of examples of crappy retro-tech out there. For me, the focus is on tools that worked, but often lost focus not because of technological reasons but economic and social ones. Indeed, some of these tools persist because they actively resist that centralizing control that pushed them into disuse. If we start from those pieces, refine, build with those ideals in mind maybe we find ourselves in a better place.

It is not about standing still, it is about carving a new path forward.

Durry is a local MN band whose work I have always enjoyed. Their newest song, "Told You So," definitely speaks to conversations I have had with former friends and family.

https://durrymusic.bandcamp.com/track/told-you-so

Sometimes a great discussion and listening to others' insights really helps make the day.

Technical projects are always political projects, but as someone who works in tech, the humanities, and in human services I find hope in that.

It is a reminder that while it is true that many of our modern technologies are built to serve reactionary and fascist ideologies, resistance to those ideologies can also be technological. In some cases, they may even have to be. Developing and building solutions that center, celebrate, and support humanity in all of its guises and forms is still an exciting thing, especially now.