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Yimbys for Harris $100k
Reblog via StarrWulfe (JLGatewood)
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR HARRIS/WALZ!!
Support better neighborhoods/affordable housing/sustainable development!!
Why does it seem like Atlanta’s transit agencies continually aim lower and lower when it comes to planning?
I was this many years old when I was told it was going to be an extension of the Red Line rail service from North Springs Station, about 5 miles away. Now all we get is a noisy, smoggy bus island in between 8 lanes of speeding traffic.
Nah, this ain’t it chief.
In honor of Father’s Day, I’m going to engage in one of my favorite past-times: $#!+posting dad jokes. 😏
If you’re a dad (or you have a dad– I guess that’d be everyone here except my immaculate conception, clones, androids and the asexual reproduction homies) please add to the ensuing and possibly annoying thread. Consider yourself warned for irony, cringe and general rando post fun & mayhem.
–Also go wish your dad a Happy Father’s Day before you forget 😜
Let’s get it started:
- I was going to get a brain transplant, but I changed my mind
- Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? ...He's all right now...
- I've been trying to come up with a dad joke about momentum . . . but I just can't seem to get it going.
Invasion of the street car snatchers
We have a ready-made 150-year-old vacant right of way around central Atlanta begging for rail-based transit… And the mayor is considering “slow moving people movers” and “pods” instead of connecting the downtown circulating streetcar to it (which it was why it was built)
Please watch this video and feel my frustration and rage right now. 😡
New Fediverse Bluesky bridge in beta testing
The bridge has been built and the switch has been turned on! Even though there was a lot of struggle and strife, arguments, and knockdown-drag-outs, @snarfed.org@snarfed.org, AKA Ryan Barrett persevered by taking into account everyone's opinions on what a cross-fediverse bridge between the ActivityPub powered landscape dominated by Mastodon and the ATProto protocol that powers BlueSky. It's important to many people including myself that all networks in what I call the Open Social Media Services (OpenSNS) collection of decentralized federated networks be able to talk and interact with each other; else we might as well just go on creating big-ass tech silos that eventually will wall people off based on pre-existing factors like ethnicity, geography, culture at best and/or consolidate power to just one group of people or companies at worse. But I've talked ad-nauseam about this in other postings already; it's time to talk about how this thing works!
1️⃣ Getting ready to cross
Whether you're coming from ActivityPub/Mastodon and friends or ATProto/Bluesky, the first part is the same: You need to follow the bot that will register your OpenSNS username with Bridgy's servers. This will count as an intent on your part that you wish your posts to be popped over to the other side.
- For 🐘 ActivityPub accounts interacting with 🦋 ATProto, follow
@bsky.brid.gy@bsky.brid.gyandyour bridged ATproto username is
@[username.server.tld].bsky.brid.gy - For ATProto accounts interacting with 🐘 ActivityPub, follow
@ap.brid.gyand your bridged ActivityPub username is@[username]@bsky.brid.gy
🚧 At some point there's going to be a message that will also let you know you've done this right after you registered sent to your existing account in the form of a unlisted message, but for now just head over to your new user page manually:
🐘 for ActivityPub users, your bridged user page is
https://fed.brid.gy/ap/@[username]@[server name].[tld]- 🦋 for ATProto users, your bridged user page can be found at
https://fed.brid.gy/bsky/[username]
There, you can even add followers and check logs to see if something isn't working properly with syncing.
2️⃣ Let's hop across the bridge
At this point things should be up and running and you really don't have to do much; the system will poll somewhere between every 5~10 minutes looking for new posts to translate to the other side from you. Of course it's in early beta right now, so it's polling whenever Ryan gets around to it while he makes changes and works out the kinks. I recommend having an account on your target SNS site just so you can see the output and make sure it shows up correctly. There's also a handy RSS output in your Bridgy userpage that you can subscribe to and keep track of things as well.
It's a simple bridge really-- you post in one place and it translates and posts it in the other place. If you get activity on that post in the other place, it rolls back to you wherever you are.
3️⃣ Following across the bridge
If you want to follow someone else in the other place, you need to know how their username translates just as in 1️⃣ above. Here's some examples:
- You're a Mastodon user wanting to follow my Bluesky account
@starrwulfe.xyz, then you need to search for@starrwulfe.xyz@bsky.brid.gyin your user search engine on Mastodon or in the app, just you'd do for a normal user. - You're a Bluesky user wanting to follow my Mastodon account
@starrwulfe@social.vivaldi.net, then you need to search for@starrwulfe.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gyin the Bluesky users search field.
There's a bit more to it, so please read the docs to get a good understanding:
4️⃣ Construction Notices
This is a very early beta. I outlined the core feature set, but there are some such as more interactive onboarding and opt-in notices that aren't in production yet. Also polling is being done manually by Ryan as he works out kinks in the program and scales things up. Expect lots of changes in the next few weeks as use cases roll in and traffic is shaped. You can be a part of the process though by filing issue comments on the Github for the project:
5️⃣ Enjoy the scenery!
I'd like to thank Ryan for taking the time out of his... well life really. Bridgy has been a free service he's operated to enable the crossposting across different social media and blogs since 2017. This blog is half powered by it whenever someone comments via Bluesky and Mastodon! He charges $0 and while he insists it's a negligible cost to keep the infrastructure up, his rapid response to problems and ability to chat about how it works anytime has gotta be a serious time weight, passion project or not. This endeavor is very much appreciated and highly valued by me and lots more, I'm sure. 🙇🏾♂️
Also, be sure to catch his Flipboard/Dot Social interview if you'd like to know more about the project and the rollercoaster ride around it.
Bicycle safety tech "gadgetbahnery"
[embed]www.youtube.com/watch
I'm all for new tech but all that's really needed are Dutch style separated bike lanes and protected signal crossings if they really have this kind of money to burn. The vast majority of both cars and cyclists aren't going to download a "watch out for bikes" app, this is silly and a waste of time and money. But wait-- this is not the end-all-be-all DOT approved solution getting shovels into dirt; it's just a tech showcase:
The tech behind it is kind of neat; giving cyclists some kind of transponder that will work with the "smart roads" systems of intelligent streets conditions networks. These are the different components that measure and relay auto traffic and post congestion info to those big signs over the roadways, or into your favorite mapping apps. But why are all the news outlets covering this technology exhibition as if it's the thing to solve the larger problem though?
We suburbanites really need to remain laser focused on real shovel-in-the-dirt ideas that can save lives and enable alternative transport modes like safe cycling and building better modal transitions and pathways for example. Prepping for a once-a-season bike race is one thing, but being able to use a combination of my bike and a bus to get across Gwinnett County without killing or injuring myself would be pretty cool...
Since I would love to have Telegram be a first party “citizen” of the Fediverse, the network of open social media network apps and sites that are connected with ActivityPub, I formally opened a suggestion for it to be added somehow if possible via the Telegram user suggestion portal.
I think it would be great if every Telegram user was able to tie into the #fediverse via making @username@t.me handles and using group chats/channels equate different conversation activities vis-a-vis Lemmy, Flipboard and Discourse.
Japan has good neighborhood streets
I've been telling people for years how the narrowness of the streets in Japan is probably the best traffic calming device I've ever seen and works on almost every mode of traffic from large truck down to pedestrian. In the States, we build roads way too wide for their intended use, then complain later when we see people driving on them like mini freeways. The street I lived on in Japan was about 10 meters wide; the one I live on now is about 20. (Thats 30 and 60 feet respectively for us 'Muricans)
I had to take the regular driving course to get licensed here as well; this is something different as well; if you want to drive in Japan, you spend US$3000 to go to driving school for 3-5 months. That never happens in the US, even for commercial truckers. The other thing is how the laws are enforced. Japanese traffic police are very good at their jobs, especially motorcycle and bike cops. The painted sharrows and Dutch style bike edge lanes are very recent, like in the last 5-10 years or so; what's more at work here is just a long history of Japanese traffic law being very strict especially beginning in the mid 1990's when it on-street parking was made illegal nationwide (something also not talked about by almost anyone, but is very noticeable to anyone coming to Japan.)
I'll die on this hill: Laws are only as good as their enforcement, adherence and understanding. Learning to drive, ride, and even walk as a pedestrian in Japan is something that is reinforced and understood by the vast majority and that's the main reason why you see things the way they are.
Japan still has significant progress to make in terms of car versus bike/pedestrian safety. A few years ago, a dear friend of mine was fatally struck by a car while crossing mid-block on a busy road in Nagoya. He was on his bicycle, and although I'm not fully aware of the details, the police indicated that the primary cause was his decision to cross a major road at night outside of the crosswalks, on what is known as a "stroad". Such incidents are often attributed to "user error", and it's uncertain if any design changes could prevent these types of accidents. Nonetheless, it's somewhat consoling to know that this is the only traffic fatality I've experienced in Japan, compared to six I've known in the US over a similar period of about twenty years. I lived in Nagoya for three years about 13 years ago and it's known for being the place with the most traffic safety issues per capita in Japan due in part to its wider than average boulevards and a relatively lower public transit coverage plus higher car dependence and sprawl when compared to Osaka and Tokyo metros (which is still way better than the typical American city anyway). This is Toyota and Mitsubishi's hometown after all. Even still, there are places like Sakae and Hisaya-Odori Park along with lots of underground pedestrian plazas that serve to help keep the center of town first class for pedestrians and separate from car traffic.
By implementing road diets to narrow streets, creating space for multiuse trails, encouraging lower speeds through design rather than solely by law, and designating residential areas as "living streets," we can enhance pedestrian safety and reduce wear and tear on vehicles. This is something that doesn't need to be done in one go; it can be done in phases as streets come up for reconstruction, can be done with just a little bit more money than said maintenance, and has been successful in the vast majority of places it has been implemented. I've been reading books like Building the Cycling City and even the Amsterdam Red Book for urban mobility to gather some of these points. I cannot stress enough how much better life in the suburbs would be if we made better use of the space we have by ceding a chunk of it away from automobiles and back to human beings.
Last Week Today! S2024E9
Was a busy (two) week(s) since the last one, so let’s catch up with happenings:
🎂 March 20th and 31st marks “Birthday Week” with the fam, as it’s BoyType and MonkeyGirl’s turns to celebrate getting one year older. And me and SuperWife’s time to be broke AF. BoyType wanted a miniPC for his birthday to tinker on so he combined all his loot and bought one on his own after making sure it could FortNight OK; he wanted to be able to play with his schoolmates. (Don’t tell him I was going to make sure he could play on my Xbox when he told me the first time, but this is a better way since I want him to learn to troubleshoot technology.) MonkeyGirl wanted cashola plain and simple. The big issue this time was me trying to pay lots of bills and have some cash left for our trip and then some foolishness happened that delayed me hooking her up with her gift for a few days, annoying the newly minted 11-year-old. I said, “get used to having deferred dreams for the sake of necessities, especially in this family,” which is a lesson she needs to understand as she learns how to manage money. In my own childhood, my parents were constantly using my allowance stash like a petty cash pot to cover bills and things that would come outta nowhere, so I got used to waiting well past my allowance days to “make a withdrawal;” at least until I was able to get a bank account. She’s got her own account we monitor, and a lot more scratch in it than I did when I was 11– I’m making sure it doesn’t burn a hole in her pocket now.
🎌 One of my BFFs came back home for a visit with his wife and kiddo. He’s from Atlanta, spent lots of time in Japan and both moved back at the same time in 2008. He’s still there in fact, settling down for the long haul and I had done the same until we came back in 2021 (but I’ll tell that story another day.) They wanted to know what it’s like to stay in a RV so we set BigHank up for a driveway camp for them. Other than the water pump being broken because stupid me didn’t winterize it well enough, it made a good guest house for them. So glad to see him again and catch up with everyone. Of the things I miss the most about JapanLife, kicking it with my friends is the biggest.
🤦🏾♂️ After our guests left, we had one day to prep for our spring break trip to Jacksonville. Thanks to the aforementioned water pump issue, we wanted to get it fixed before getting on the road, and in our haste SuperWife and I didn’t properly lock the cargo “basement” hatch. To make a long story short, our spare tire slid out of there along with a few items all just 300m up the road but by the time we noticed, of course it was gone. Who could pass up a perfectly good commercial grade tire & rim just lying on the corner of the road like that? I’ll be buying a replacement before we head on our next journey in May; until then, are there any Pick-A-Part specials for these things?
🏖 We made it to Jacksonville Beach without any troubles actually. I’ll be posting a more detailed trip report in the next few days, but here are some snaps for your consideration: [gallery type=“rectangular” link=“none” ids=“543910,548926,543868,541099,542056” orderby=“rand”]
And that’s all I got, see ya next week! 👋🏾
Of course we picked the only day it’s raining down here to be camping at the JAX beaches. Well we’re gonna still make the most of the time off!
But our campsite is a flooded mess at the moment so I guess it’s a movie day inside the camper for now.
Last Week Today! S2024E7
🤦♂️ OK, I skipped out on hella posts for this category. I know, I know… I'll backfill them later, but I really hadn't done much of anything noteworthy I guess so there wasn't the motivation to post one of these… Which is not the point of course, so I'll just shut up and get on with this installment. Just watch out for the backfills if you're keeping up with this on the socials or RSS or email or whatever.
🩺 I had my yearly physical exam, and it went well except for the one note under intensive fasting glucose being 101mg/dL which to make a long story short, prompted my doctor to admonish me about getting enough exercise or else worry about diabetes being a thing. Other than that, I'm just as healthy as ever.
🏋️ It's no secret that since returning Stateside from Japan, I haven't really been getting enough exercise, walks, runs, all that jazz and have low-key been stressed and a bit depressed. I have zero motivation to go to a gym; I don't like doing routines so much to begin with, but I really don't like being in a room with total strangers trying to figure out how to make my body do stuff to burn fat. It literally makes me even more stressed out than just jogging/riding a bike by myself. SuperWife and I had been going to the gym together at first, but her job changed, and our schedules fell out of alignment for that; I lost my motivation about a year later and here we are. I tried going to the little gym in my area, but my job no longer subsidizes gym membership, and probably more influential, the guy that runs it keeps asking me to join a "boot camp" class. I don't want to join shit, I don't want to be around people, leave me the fsck alone, I'm already anxious as hell just being there. So I stopped going.
🚲️ Excuses aside, I'm just gonna go and buy myself a bike and do what I used to do overseas that kept me fit in the first place. I used to cycle all over the place. I can't walk or take trains like I did there but I'm going to try to at least bike around here and get out more. Did you know I once went almost a whole week without leaving my house a few months ago? (Working from home has its downsides too!) I miss Japan for my social life and urban living more than anything; it kept me on the "life gym" plan where my mind and body constantly got a workout every day without effort. Just living my daily JapanLife kept me fit. Now I actually have to actively work on it. I appreciate any tips on keeping motivated and healthy from y'all out there reading this please.
🚸 Moving on, the kids are doing well. I just realized we'll have 0 mini-mes that will be in elementary school after this school year. Little Monkey will be a middle schooler. When dafuq did my cute little simian who learned to climb up my back like a ladder and sit on my shoulders get to be on the precipice of teenagedom?
🚗 At the other end of the scale, The Big One just passed her written Drivers Exam and is now permitted. I really wasn't ready for this one. It's not like she's chomping at the bit to drive (kinda opposite actually – she frequently takes our fledgling bus system around here) but it's always good to have another driver in the family in case something happens. I wish I had the cheddar to get a hoopty for her and Boy-Type (he'll be at a permittable age this time next year 😨) to drive… But even if I did, we can't afford the insurance on a 16 year old right now I'm sure.
🎨 Speaking of Boy-Type, his drawing skills are getting very good. Fingers crossed for him to be the next Akira Toriyama or Hayao Miyazaki. I'll settle for him just being that guy that paints to cool murals in trendy shopping plazas and shops like his uncle does back in Tokyo. Getting paid to do what you like to do is the shit. One of the classes at the arts high school he'll need to pay attention in is Creative Business Management. I hope he soaks it all up when the time comes.
🦸♀️ SuperWife is out here doing her thing and will attend a intensive technical training bootcamp style class this summer since she'll have more time for that while the school district is on summer break. I think she'd make a great tech support technician or level 1 project lead; her time management is better than mine and that's always been half the job for me. I can't wait to have crazy "vim vs emacs" type discussions with her. LOL
🏁 Lastly, I'm looking forward to spring, warmer temps, and getting back out in the RV. We're set to head down to Jacksonville, Florida for a few days during the first week of April and I can't wait. I love being on the road with the tribe and I feel we're at our best together out in the world exploring like this. We've hit daylight savings already and 25ºC/80ºF was hit for the first time last week too. Just gotta hang on a bit longer to shake these winter doldrums!
Throwback Post #1: Waxing Nostalgic on Blogs and Smartphones
As a few-times reporter in the bustling world of full-time journalism, I found solace and expression through my personal blogging. The keyboard was my faithful companion as I clickity-clacked out my thoughts, observations, and narratives. Back then, my blog was not merely an online diary; it was a sanctuary where I unwound the string of my day-to-day musings and expressed the long-form versions well before 240 character limited social media sites were a thing.
As a journalist, my professional life brimmed with structured stories where I plied my trade, each article meticulous in its pursuit of impartiality and substance. In stark contrast, I like blogging because it cultivates my of creativity, offering me a place where my voice dances freely without the restraints of newsroom protocols... Within restraint of course, coz' I didn't wanna get fired either! Usually my blogs were there to expand on something I wrote professionally and jump into the comments with my homies and chop it up about whatever. Or put a thought into the world to be expanded/pitched/seen/delt with later.
Well, life threw a curveball, and bam! Digital disaster struck. My precious data backups got hit by some unexpected corruption. (That, and I was hella lackadaisical with the 3/2/1 method to backing stuff up sometimes.) Those digital memories, once crystal clear and at my fingertips, just poofed into oblivion😵🌪️💔.
Yet, the universe works in mysterious ways. Occasionally, as if by serendipity, the fabric of the internet yields treasures from the past. An old post surfaces—a ghost from the bygone days of fervent blogging, offering a glimpse into my former self.
ThrowBack Posting to Rediscover the Past: The Journey of a Journalist and Blogger
Today I'm starting "Throwback Posts" as a category on this here blog thang. Each salvaged post is a time capsule, a fragment of the 'me' that once was, now presented anew on my current platform. Reposting these entries is also an act of preservation, solidifying my experiences and lessons learned for historical context and aides in digital garden cultivation.
Through these rediscovered writings, I invite you to embark on a retrospective journey with me. Let's check out some of my aged scrawlings, now ready to be appreciated once more—or criticized and mocked in a new age! 🤦🏾♂️
The Case For The Blackberry KeyOne
📆 Originally published May 09, 2017
Remember Blackberry? Some of y'all may have had one back in the day; the phone with a keyboard and all that. What if there was an up-to-today's-spec version though? What if instead of bastardizing their hardware with crappy software while trying to keep up with iOS and Android, they simply got down with the program and rolled onto Android?
Wonder no more. This is the Blackberry KeyOne. Here's a video to tell you about it better than I can right now...
Ok, but why would I want one of these things? Well for those keeping track at home, some of you know I have a OnePlus One that has a battery that can't make it through HALF A DAY now 'coz it's 3 years old. I also have a Samsung Galaxy S4 that's 4 years old. But it has a replaceable battery that's 6 months old... too bad its processor and 1gig of memory is OUTDATED and stutters on pretty much every app now.
Truth is, I was supposed to upgrade last year to The Next Big Thing, but... well we all know how that turned out...
And the upgrade from my OnePlus One to the Two to the Three wasn't impressive enough for me to try and "win the lottery for the right to buy" (although thank goodness OnePlus doesn't have that system anymore...
In the interim, I've had a bit of a revelation into how I actually am using my smartphone over the past year and it's really helped me see why a device such as the Blackberry KeyOne is a better fit for me.
More than anything else, I type A LOT on my devices. Whether I'm looking up an address here in Tokyo, using Telegram or FB Messenger to contact friends, respond to emails from work or drop some Reddit bombs here or there, I am usually poking around my keyboard...and I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. I'm one of those folks who hates "typing" on glass. My first smartphone was a Palm Treo 600. With a keyboard that had tic-tac keys. Then I got a Windows Mobile Treo 750. Then Apple ruined it for everyone with the iPhone and here we are 10 years later where every damn phone makes you swipe, slide, or poke the damn glass. I can't get used to it either; I type in two, sometimes three languages. Ain't no damn swipe-typing in Japanese! Just once I'd like to go back to the HTC TYTN days where I had a slide-out keyboard so I can Get Shit Done again.
2. I am doing more emergency sysop-ing on my smartphone. Damn you Android for being so open and flexible! Stupid Termux app and its ability to offer a miniscule chroot environment so I can SSH into stuff and fix errant config files and reset user passwords while I'm listening to Kendrick Lamar on the Keio Line in Tokyo rush hour and damn my clients who know I have that power! (But thank you for paying me for it!) Seriously, if you muck around the Linux server world like I do, then Termux is a lifesaver. Basically a small Ubuntu core distro, it turns your Android smartphone into a real toolkit. But you'll need special virtual keyboards to be able to do the stuff you're used to -- unless you already have <ALT><SUPER> and <CTRL> keys on yours... But the KeyOne's hardware keyboard can turn one of the <SHIFT> keys into a <CTRL> key. Then I can assign the volume rockers to do <ALT> and <SUPER> duties if needed. Job done.
3. I want just once to walk out the house without needing to remember to bring the damn portable battery pack. Again, eff you iPhone for starting the trend of non-and removable batteries. Special mention goes to Samsung for bucking the trend right up to the bitter end when vanity and flashiness usurped the functionality of being able to swap the battery out or better yet, getting one of those big-ass-double-wide battery packs. Back in my Treo days, I had 3 batteries for my phone, and I'd carry them in my pockets... regular trouser pockets... so when the thing was about to give up the ghost, I could power down, swap, power up and keep on truckin', all in about 2 minutes. Now I gotta carry around a battery pack, and a charger and USB cable... And OF COURSE my ol' ass phone does NOT have quick charge! Problem solved with the KeyOne though; it's Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor and 3505mAh battery pack has shown it can go 2 days with normal use. Plenty of time for me to Instagram my JapanLife all day then get back to HQ and my charger without missing a beat. A dead phone is as good as no phone here.
4. I even have to do all this stuff AT WORK too now. I currently work on a college campus that's blanketed in the warm, sweet embrace of free Wi-Fi connectivity (if you're a faculty or student!) and it's actually way easier for me to message my students, post on the class page, look up my notes and other stuff on the fly from the device in my pocket, rather than wait and do in on the PC in between sessions. I'd go so much quicker though if I had that keyboard though...and my battery wasn't at 15% already!
OK, so those are the major reasons for me thinking I'll go and grab this thing for now. $549 for a decent phone I'll keep for at least 2 years ain't a bad price to pay to be rid of some of my pet peeves of smartphone usage.
Messing around with Bluesky post embedding codes
Per , I’m testing some ways to embed Bluesky posts into my Wordpress powered site here. As I find other ways, I’ll add them here.
Simple Blog Card using a shortcode and plugin: [simpleblogcard url="bsky.app/profile/k…"]
Bluesky.lol snippet creation using javascript:
Skyview.social snippet creation using iframes:
On the subject of Connecting Federated Social Media Networks
The past few days on the Fediverse have served to remind me a few things:
- The internet is as smart and as ignorant (and everything in between) as the macrocosm known as "human civilization" reflects upon it.
- Sometimes the victims will become the victimizers in any given situation, usually without them being aware of it.
- Upon pointing it out to said type above, instead of working to acknowledge and understand, they will double-down under the guise of righteousness, again unwittingly using the exact playbook that they had been persecuted under at some point in the past.
- As usual, any attempt by a rational third party to diffuse whatever situation breaking out on the internet will lead to a wider conflict/argument/brigade session where everyone winds up digging their heels in and missing entirely the point.
- And finally, as usual, there's a 95% chance it was started by someone who was all to ready to be triggered by anything and everything so they could start some shit on the internet at that moment.
OK, with that preamble out the way, let's get into the latest drama related iconically to trying to bridge this patchwork, fledgling open social media landscape. As you may be aware, there are two federated decentralized social media protocols that are pretty big right now; ActivityPub and ATProto. Per my previous notes on both:
- ActivityPub is a federated social networking protocol that enables users to interact across different servers and platforms used by popular projects like Mastodon, Pleroma, and PeerTube. It's been around since 2017 and is born from previous projects like Statusnet and Ostatus. It's in full federation right now, mainly serving as the underpinning to Mastodon, a microblogging server.
- ATProto is a newer protocol developed by Bluesky, a public benefit company born from the ideas from former Twitter engineers. The protocol's main advantage is that it provides true account portability and can scale up with search and discovery. Since it was originally developed to be the successor to Twitter, it also has hooks for composable moderation and algorithms. It's not federated at the moment, but the only instance using it, the self-titular Bluesky (bsky.app) says "its immenent. Indeed, the company just took down the waitlist and opened up registration to everyone worldwide a few weeks ago.
So what the hell happened?
In short, someone built something that can connect both networks together in a sense and a bunch of people who likely don't really know the technology's underpinnings instead proceeded to blow up their victim status to trigger everyone else and brigade the developer who was asking for constructive dialoge and ideas before he got too far in the development process.
Now I must note, I've been using Ryan's Bridgy site and suite of crossposting tools ever since I got into the Indieweb movement as it ticks all my boxes for making my content go all over the web and whatever comments and discussions take place out there, I can track and archive them on my site without worrying if I'll get taken down, or the site goes dark. Bridgy already has bridges for Mastodon, Reddit, Facebook, and even supported Instagram and Twitter before they became… drunk with power. I am eagerly awaiting the day when I can sit on Bluesky and follow Mastodon folks or sit on Mastodon and comment on Bluesky posts… Or better yet, tag everyone in both places from this blog right here. ActivityPub and ATProto are open source and its pretty easy to make tools like this unlike feeling around in the dark with undocumented APIs that may get shut down at any second; That's why we can't do this with Instagram!
It's no secret the fediverse is the social media of choice for those who feel voiceless and vulnerable on the other "big" networks; you can gain a sense of community and comradery on an instance with others sharing the same experiences. However, it is still a social network.
- Social: relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other.
- Network: a system of devices, or entities including people and animals that are connected and can communicate with each other.
So in regard to having a bridge to connect the two together… Yeah, it's kind of a no-brainer and I thought everyone else was looking forward to having it like myself. Boy was I wrong:
You need to make this opt IN not opt OUT. It absolutely fucking sucks that you want to force the majority of decentralized posts here into content for Jack fucking Dorsey.
Cyrus (still a bit spooky tbh) (@Cyrus@zirk.us)
honestly fuck you. Do you really expect everybody to have enough space in their bios to opt-out of your fucking bs? How many opt-out bs am I supposed to put there?
Joshix 🦣 (@joshix@fosspri.de)
My Take:
I honestly don't get the vitrolic knee-jerk posts I saw coming left and right from some corners of the fediverse, then I started noticing the pattern: It's mostly people not understanding what the goals of both ActivityPub and ATProto are as a protocol and their equating it to Mastodon and Bluesky as "psudo-corporations" that have some level of control… And even perhaps Ryan's attempt to bridge both protocols with free and open source software that is literally already working to bridge other social networks as I type this, as some imaginary invasion mob coming to victimize them on the internet. 😓
Allow me to say this as a member of a marginalized group of people in real life who has had my share of internet trolls come at me: (I'm a Black man from the USA, and I have yet to lose my Black Card, am a refugee repping #BlackTwitter into the Fediverse on both Bsky and Masto so I think I can speak on some things.)
- Get out of your feelings. The animosity is unwarranted and uncalled for. This is the internet and it wasn't designed for you to have your entire-ass identity tied to it. This is truely the reason social media is some bullshit sometimes. The internet is supposed to be a communication tool, not some MMORPG for y'all to live your whole existence. If anything, your IRL personality should extend INTO it, not the other way around. Dude could've just cut the bridge on, posted Github links and lol'd all the way to the way to the next project and there wouldn't be much you or I could say; the fediverse has no Ts&Cs to violate!
- Attempt to learn the technology before you postulate whatever opinions around it. Don't come up with some off-the-cuff hot take on how you think the bridge is suddenly going to aim 3 million users of Network A at your posts on being a furry/inanimate-curious who happens to be in a cross-species relationship with a hubcap from a 1993 Chevy Corsica that happen to be publicly available on Network B. That's not how network bridges work. Understand that whatever you've posted publicly anywhere is subject to someone reading it and deciding to give you a like or give a hateful comment. They don't need a bridge to do it; they can already just make an account on the network you're already on and fuck with you. It's actually easier for them and less traceable!
- We already have bridges now. Consider this post is on my own personal blog powered by Wordpress. It's being cross-posted POSSE-style to wherever you're reading this or got referred from, whether it was through an automatic script, or I manually cut and pasted over. My blog is already acting as a bridge and there are many others like it. It's been that way in the past, and someone was bound to create this technology. If it's not @snarfed, then it'll be someone else. But mark my words, it's gonna happen.
- Learn the difference between protocols and applications. Bluesky is an application on the ATProto protocol. Mastodon is an application on the ActivityPub protocol. Both are facets of the wider fediverse. Don't conflate these things. This blog is an application on BOTH those protocols and also does webmentions and other cool things. Once ATProto is fully federated and opened, it's only a matter of time before I can snag an ATProto plugin in the same manner as the ActivityPub one and have it not even need to rely on a "translator" like Bridgy for that part. (If I just lost you with the technobabble, now you see why it's important to seek to understand this technology before reacting to some perceived threat.)
- You're not in a walled garden on the fediverse. You're in the open and as such you more than anyone should understand and respect the right to choose. The power here is in your hands and you have the ability to block, but your right to do so ends at the tip of your own nose and doesn't come anywhere near mine. Also realize both ActivityPub and ATProto were designed for openness first; if you seek privacy and isolation, then you need to grab Signal and create some rooms there with some buddies away from the open internet.
- Assholes exist everywhere. Don't conflate the tech of one place with the ability to keep bigots, fascists, bullys, and jackasses from your timeline. Moreover, don't shoo away people that are trying to do things that are inevitable anyway from doing it correctly! Understand federation is going to happen with or without your input if not by this project, by someone else. There's no hiding, there's no "safe place" except the one you create and control yourself within or without these places.
Letting you connect to other people you care about is not unethical or immoral. You have a lot of options for whether you want to participate in the BS bridge–either by managing your follows directly, by blocking users from that domain, or by blocking the whole domain. This is how federation works. You have absolute control over who you interact with.
Evan Prodromou (@evan@cosocial.ca)
I'm approaching this line of thinking from my longtime use, contribution and propagation of FOSS/open-source software and the use of my actual social media of choice, the indieweb which is best summed up here:
The #IndieWeb is for everyone, everyone who wants to be part of the world-wide-web of interconnected people. The social internet of people, a network of networks of people, connected peer-to-peer in human-scale groups, communities of locality and affinity.
tantek.com
Also, one more thing:
The most important lesson, I've ever learned about online privacy is this one: If you want something to be private online, don't put it online in the first place.
DavidB (@DavidBHimself)
Updates & Errata
Pardon the typos, grammar bombs and double negatives in my "stream of consciousness" manner of writing this particular post. My years of journalism prowess still requires fresh eyes and a fresher cup of coffee. Being that this is my blog and not a column in a major publication, I'm a bit lax so 🤷🏾♂️ ...fuhgeddaboudit!
🆕 Some other posts I've been reading that align with my opinions and have some additional references, and deeper information:
Bluesky takes the velvet rope down 🦋
Bluesky has opened up and requires no waitlist now, so if you were searching for a Twitter alternative, then here you go:
[simpleblogcard url="bsky.social/about/blo…"]
Once registered, find me here:
[simpleblogcard url="bsky.app/profile/s…"]
For reference:
| Feature | Bluesky | ActivityPub/Mastodon | Other SNS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decentralization | Yes | Yes | No |
| Open-Source | Yes | Yes | No |
| Account Portability | Yes (ATProto was designed with this in mind.) | Yes (but it varies with the app/site you're working with | No |
| Moderation | community based | community based | Centralized |
| Focus | Text, photo (video on roadmap) | Various | Varies |
| Customization | High | Very high | None |
| Access | Just made public | Most instances public but some are not. | Public |
[simpleblogcard url="[techcrunch.com/2024/02/0...](https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/06/bluesky-is-now-open-for-anyone-to-join/)"]
[simpleblogcard url="[www.engadget.com/bluesky-i...](https://www.engadget.com/bluesky-is-ditching-its-waitlist-and-opening-to-everyone-140026198.html)"]
[simpleblogcard url="mashable.com/article/b…"]
My take:
It's basically what Twitter was supposed to become before Elon Musk bought the place and turned it into a festering cesspool. And while I'm more of an ActivityPub/Mastodon/Indieweb enthusiast, there's no reason not to have a Bluesky account since the two will talk to each other in the very near future thanks to folks like @snarfed.org@snarfed.org and Brid.gy.
Besides all that, it's so new, you can still smell the wet paint and fresh drywall over there, so you can move in and create your own space quite easily now... and if it gets enshittified, then no love lost, right? Whatcha got to lose?
Inconsolable Tangential War Victims
It’s very hard to ignore the amount of suffering going on by people who just a few years ago were living an idyllic life just like me; worried about having enough time/money to simply have a few days off to spend with wife/husband/kids/parents/family/friends… Or just sitting in a cafe and sipping a coffee or tea and enjoying a book or something. Now just endless war and death for what? Someone in a palace far away with some random agenda decided whatever and now their entire vicinity is rubble. People just getting massacred because its Tuesday. I tried to refrain from saying something about this, but my mind won’t rest.
My ancestry commands my fingers to talk about how my mama grabbed my shoulders as we watched the latest horrors coming from both Gaza and Ukraine last week. “Those people were already living in an open prison. Now they have nothing. It’s nothing but kids playing in fucking rubble, and they kill the children. It reminds me that bullshit I grew up in,” my mother ranted. She’s 78 and feisty AF. Anything… The tiniest little shred of a scrap that makes her remember segregation, Jim Crow and the humiliations she, my family and Black folks in general went through in her childhood and before sets her all the way off. And all the imagery coming in from that part of the world is looking like a 2024 “Let’s make Apartheid great again: Genocidal Tendencies” double feature for her.
“See, I remember they didn’t mind you spending up all your money in their big fancy department store downtown, but don’t let you have to go to the bathroom. Even a 6-year-old little black girl still has to pee in the alley behind the store, but oh they take that greenback quick. These people aren’t allowed to go to a hospital on the other side of the wall, but I bet their taxes are paying something for that. I bet their taxes probably funded that wall, those police and bullets that kill them too!” My mama was on a roll, and it might not seem as if her raging actually has a connection to the suffering going on here and now in 2024…
But suffering knows suffering, and that’s the point. Looking at videos of dead kids that were playing foosball in the street a minute ago, looking at sacks of dead bodies being unearthed from mass graves. Seeing 5-year-old boys with soulless eyes dazed because literally their entire household was killed except them… If I had the same memories my mom (and dad) had, I’d be channeling them too. The movie is the same, the characters are just a bit different. It’s even worse for me since I don’t have those memories first-hand, but I have parents, had grandparents, and have felt those aches in the collective memory with every song, prayer and hand-laying in those times we Black folks commune together. I do know what it’s like to see a friend who spent literally the last 6 hours of their life in school with me, ate lunch with me, played basketball with me, and died from a stray bullet 3 blocks from our school because someone just had to shoot at somebody they didn’t like and hit everyone and everything including my friend but totally missed their intended target. Repeat this a few times with some other neighborhood friends, 3 cousins, and so on… So, tangentially I guess I also know a bit of what a war feels like, and the unfair pain and suffering caused by someone else who I’ll never get a reason from let alone an apology. And if I feel this pain, then surely the people causing it must have a hatred so deep that their own sadness is consumes it and makes it do these horrible things.
If we do nothing to stem the outpouring of hatefulness, it won’t stop until it’s consumed all of humanity.