# Twtxt is an open, distributed microblogging platform that # uses human-readable text files, common transport protocols, # and free software. # # Learn more about twtxt at https://github.com/buckket/twtxt # # This is an automated Yarn.social feed running feeds v0.1.0@72e53a9 # Learn more about Yarn.social at https://yarn.social # # nick = @aral@mastodon.ar.al # url = https://feeds.twtxt.net/@aral@mastodon.ar.al/twtxt.txt # type = rss # source = https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral.rss # avatar = https://feeds.twtxt.net/@aral@mastodon.ar.al/avatar.png#adhtks6dfuyznp4bh2sbrsqbaf5zyn4wbabgij4rk3cjctxvr6ta # description = Public posts from @aral@mastodon.ar.al # updated_at = 2023-03-25T14:59:05Z # 2022-11-19T10:54:28Z ****
[@badgermind](https://mathstodon.xyz/@badgermind) Robin! :) How lovely to see you here. Welcome to the fediverse! Hope you’re keeping well :) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109370098874364508) 2022-11-19T10:48:47Z ****
I’m beginning to see quite a few “this is a positive space, there is no place for negativity here” style posts (especially by newer folks) so I want to hopefully clear something up:

This is also a space to be protected. From fascists, bigots, etc., and also from corporate capture (unless you want to watch it turn into what the greater web turned into. Some of us lived through that once. Would be nice not to again.) Opposing such things—and vocally if need be—is not a negative; it is a positive. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109370076509786642) 2022-11-18T18:53:18Z ****
BREAKING: [#Twitter](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/Twitter). Footage of [#ElonMusk](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/ElonMusk) takeover leaks.

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usYvefDzOqQ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usYvefDzOqQ)

[#LeeroyJenkins](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/LeeroyJenkins) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109366319430387958) 2022-11-18T17:23:43Z ****
Welcome to the fediverse…

![:drake_dislike:](https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/custom_emojis/images/000/010/715/original/ea422239911ae962.png) Corporations

![:drake_like:](https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/custom_emojis/images/000/010/716/original/2509b6079b5e87f9.png) People

[#TwitterMigration](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/TwitterMigration) [#fediverse](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fediverse) [#corporations](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/corporations) [#people](https://mastodon.ar.al ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109365967164071936) 2022-11-18T15:30:03Z ****
Funny when you think I was hanging out with Daniel ages ago without a clue who he was or what he’d done.

And to think how important his work is to the Small Web (and to privacy in general in the digital and networked age)…

PS. He also happens to be a lovely, humble guy and a very engaging and funny presenter. You can do far worse than to watch his talk from the conference we met at:

[https://projectbullrun.org/surveillance/2015/video-2015.html](https://projectbullrun.org/surveillance/2015/video-2015.html)

[#cryptog ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109365520184638161) 2022-11-18T15:16:05Z ****
Nice to see Node.js moving ahead with experimental ed25519 support in its implementation of the Web Crypto API without waiting for browser implementations. Can’t believe it‘s taken this long.

[https://nodejs.org/api/webcrypto.html#ed25519ed448x25519x448-key-pairs](https://nodejs.org/api/webcrypto.html#ed25519ed448x25519x448-key-pairs)

(Though it looks like it might be implemented in browsers sometime this decade too… [https://github.com/w3c/webcrypto/issues/196](https://github.com/w3c/webcrypto/issues/196))

Until th ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109365465269017803) 2022-11-18T11:04:07Z ****
I still think the talk I gave at The Conference in Malmö is one of my favourites, even though it was seven years ago.

If you want to understand why we do what we do and see how our work at Small Technology Foundation started and has evolved over the years, it’s well worth a watch (if I say so myself) :)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbfvEBfHO-M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbfvEBfHO-M)

(Apologies for the YouTube link.)

TL; DR: a summary/review of it from Wired at the time: [https://www.wired.co.uk/article/ar ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109364474542694702) 2022-11-17T19:59:29Z ****
If you missed the live stream of Small is Beautiful today, you can now watch the recording:

[https://small-tech.org/videos/small-is-beautiful-24/](https://small-tech.org/videos/small-is-beautiful-24/)

(We talked about [#TwitterMigration](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/TwitterMigration), the fediverse, and Small Web. We were also joined in the studio by [@erikkemp](https://tukkers.online/@erikkemp) who shared his experience in running a Mastodon instance in the Netherlands during the last few weeks.)

[#SmallIsBeautiful] ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109360917348063468) 2022-11-17T18:22:13Z ****
[@erikkemp](https://tukkers.online/@erikkemp) Oh, Erik, it’s you :) Sorry I didn’t recognise you in the stream when you joined :) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109360534863954579) 2022-11-17T15:36:31Z ****
We’re going to be live at 5PM Irish Time (UTC) with Small is Beautiful, discussing [#TwitterMigration](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/TwitterMigration), fediverse, and Small Web. Join us! :)

Details: [https://small-tech.org/events/#next-stream](https://small-tech.org/events/#next-stream)

Watch live: [https://owncast.small-web.org](https://owncast.small-web.org)

You can also follow our Owncast instance from your Mastodon/fediverse account from the second link using the Follow button :)

[#SmallIsBeautiful](https://masto ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109359883297159716) 2022-11-17T14:29:31Z ****
[@ferreiros](https://mstdn.party/@ferreiros) May I just say that I love the hashtag in your bio. Welcome to the fediverse! :)

[#peopleNOTusers](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/peopleNOTusers) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109359619847492619) 2022-11-17T11:39:49Z ****
Note: I’m talking about design, not decoration.

What’s the difference? Have a watch: [https://vimeo.com/281704944](https://vimeo.com/281704944)

[#design](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/design) [#decoration](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/decoration) [#technology](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/technology) [#BigTech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/BigTech) [#SmallTech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallTech) [#BigWeb](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/BigWeb) [#SmallWeb](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallWeb) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109358952607827421) 2022-11-17T11:38:13Z ****
Simplicity in design is a revolutionary act.

[#technology](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/technology) [#design](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/design) [#simplicity](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/simplicity) [#complexity](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/complexity) [#SmallTech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallTech) [#SmallWeb](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallWeb) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109358946277332572) 2022-11-16T15:01:17Z ****
OK, so the new edit feature in Mastodon 4 is really nifty :)

(It doesn’t lose replies, favourites, boost, etc. like delete + redraft did and you get a history of edits.)

[#mastodon](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/mastodon) [#design](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/design) [#experience](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/experience) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109354082499281117) 2022-11-16T11:52:21Z ****
[@laura](https://mastodon.laurakalbag.com/@laura) (Also, if you want to, you can join us live in the studio tomorrow if you have questions or just want to chat. We’ll give out the studio URL during the stream. Just have your camera, microphone, and headphones ready.)

[https://owncast.small-web.org/](https://owncast.small-web.org/)

[#SmallIsBeautiful](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallIsBeautiful) [#liveStream](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/liveStream) [#SmallTech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallTech) [#SmallWeb](https ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109353339518702627) 2022-11-16T11:50:27Z ****
Join [@laura](https://mastodon.laurakalbag.com/@laura) and me tomorrow at 5PM Irish Standard Time (UTC) for our monthly live stream, Small is Beautiful.

Topics: [#TwitterMigration](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/TwitterMigration) and The Small Way: Authentication

Details: [https://small-tech.org/events/#next-stream](https://small-tech.org/events/#next-stream)

Watch live at: [https://owncast.small-web.org/](https://owncast.small-web.org/)

You can follow our Owncast server from your fediverse account to get updates when ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109353332051156942) 2022-11-16T11:01:26Z ****
Me: Ooh, Mastodon 4.x has translations.

Also, me: Ah, you have to edit a file on the server to enable them, which I can’t do with the managed hosting I have.

Another little smell that it’s designed for folks who run their own servers, not those who outsource that/smaller/single instances.

It’s not impossible to expose these things in the admin interface (also character count limit and even the flag to mark your instance as a single-person instance).

[#mastodon](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/mastodon) [#design](https: ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109353139359389613) 2022-11-16T10:58:01Z ****
I usually have Mastodon in the browser taking up one-half of my screen and since the 4.x updates, I’m having to run it at 67% in order to see the timelines and write a post at the same time. (Either that or expand it to fill the full width of my screen.)

Quite a regression (for me at least) in terms of the responsiveness implementation.

Also wondering why it doesn’t pick up my system colour scheme setting by default. 🤔

[#usability](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/usability) [#mastodon](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/mastod ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109353125935681366) 2022-11-16T10:53:19Z ****
If you use GNOME and want a way to type emoji that works in all apps (not just those GTK apps that happen to implement the emoji picker), check out the Emoji Selector extension.

(Use to invoke it from any app or use the top bar icon.)

[https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1162/emoji-selector/](https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1162/emoji-selector/)

[#GNOME](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/GNOME) [#emoji](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/emoji) [#usability](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/usability) [#exper ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109353107421223264) 2022-11-15T20:05:20Z ****
“‘We are consulting closely with Poland and other allies. Estonia is ready to defend every inch of NATO territory. We’re in full solidarity with our close ally Poland,’ the foreign ministry said.“

[https://inkl.com/a/VPRnZVIMzxM](https://inkl.com/a/VPRnZVIMzxM)

This is not looking good.

[#russia](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/russia) [#ukraine](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/ukraine) [#poland](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/poland) [#war](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/war) [#nato](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/nato) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109349615719237045) 2022-11-19T12:17:03Z ****
Ask not what the fediverse can do for you – ask what you can do for the fediverse.

(With apologies to JFK.)

[#fediverse](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fediverse) [#TwitterMigration](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/TwitterMigration) [#community](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/community) [#commons](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/commons) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109370423603288307) 2022-11-19T12:49:24Z ****
When I visit someone’s [@pixelfed](https://mastodon.social/@pixelfed) profile, I only see a “login” button, not a “follow” button that I can use to (remote) follow them from anywhere else on the fediverse.

Similarly, I don’t see any way to comment from my own fediverse instance (just “Login to like or comment.”)

Am I missing something?

(I know I can copy the URL into my instance’s search feature but that’s an entirely hidden gesture.)

[#federation](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/federation) [#fediverse](https://mastod ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109370550823605307) 2022-11-19T13:10:31Z ****
It feels like we need a standard remote follow flow for fediverse apps that exposes the functionality in profiles and replies, etc., to encourage federation and discourage the creation of app silos.

This might include standard copy/interface elements (a standard fediverse remote follow button and instructions that perhaps even mention browser extensions that make this seamless using intents).

CC [@dansup](https://mastodon.social/@dansup)[@Gargron](https://mastodon.social/@Gargron)

[#fediverse](https://mastodon.ar.al ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109370633851917706) 2022-11-21T07:46:30Z ****
Ode to Not Watching the World Cup

[https://inkl.com/a/xoMGApHvVXv](https://inkl.com/a/xoMGApHvVXv)

[#Qatar](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/Qatar) [#WorldCup](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/WorldCup) [#HumanRights](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/HumanRights) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109380684360899142) 2022-11-21T10:41:10Z ****
Today I learned you can show the git status for a specific directory simply by specifying it. e.g., for the current directory:

git status .

[#git](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/git) [#dev](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/dev) [#devTips](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/devTips) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109381371172938922) 2022-11-22T07:52:28Z ****
“Members of seven European teams, including England and Germany, wanted to wear them, but abandoned the plan after football’s world governing body said they could be punished with yellow cards.”

[https://inkl.com/a/oqBbNkUyXxy](https://inkl.com/a/oqBbNkUyXxy)

Goodness forbid you should suffer \*checks notes\* A WHOLE YELLOW CARD for standing up for human rights and social justice. May I just say, fuck these spineless teams and fuck FIFA.

[#fifa](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fifa) [#football](https://mastodon.ar.al/ta ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109386370131897988) 2022-11-22T08:14:16Z ****
We’re all for human rights, social justice, and democracy in the West unless, of course, it negatively impacts our wallets, comfort, or the enjoyment of our preferred leisure activities.

[#fifa](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fifa) [#football](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/football) [#lgbtq](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/lgbtq) [#equality](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/equality) [#capitalism](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/capitalism) [#corruption](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/corruption) [#worldCup](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/wo ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109386455882478515) 2022-11-22T08:24:08Z ****
“Every Iranian player risked something when they chose not to sing. The English FA, when they decided that Harry Kane would not wear the OneLove armband under pressure from FIFA, were not prepared to risk a booking for their principles. Compared to what the Iranian players have just done, it will rightfully be seen as a shameful and cowardly act.”

[https://inkl.com/a/avEXQpSAxrA](https://inkl.com/a/avEXQpSAxrA)

[#fifa](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fifa) [#football](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/football) [#lgbtq](https: ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109386494696242656) 2022-11-22T08:34:50Z ****
Can someone at Apple please tell the Safari team that their browser is broken?

[#rss](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/rss) [#web](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/web) [#browser](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/browser) [#apple](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/apple) [#safari](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/safari) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109386536728660815) 2022-11-23T12:48:03Z ****
May 2015: “…we’re not going to stay in a country where we might be forced to backdoor our products (and possibly not even be allowed to tell anyone about it)”

[https://ar.al/notes/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish/](https://ar.al/notes/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish/)

Nov 2022: “Internet services used every day by British consumers would be obligated to scan all public posts and private chats against government-specified criteria … If these services don’t want to do it, they could pack up and leave the UK.“

[ ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109393194727354283) 2022-11-24T12:20:11Z ****
[@fedisearch](https://social.tchncs.de/@fedisearch) Hi there, how are you funded/what’s your business model? Is the code free and open or proprietary? Thanks. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109398747469165977) 2022-11-24T19:08:02Z ****
Hey, I have an idea, why don’t we make the keyboard shortcut to bookmark a page in a web browser the same as the shortcut to exit a terminal session. That won’t get confusing at all. After all, no one ever has the wrong app selected…

PS. Bonus points if you can pick a letter that doesn’t actually appear in the word “bookmark.”

[#design](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/design) [#petPeeves](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/petPeeves) [#terminal](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/terminal) [#browser](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/browse ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109400351199722498) 2022-11-24T19:27:01Z ****
It’s pretty cool that you can play with the first ever web browser (Tim’s WorldWideWeb) on the CERN web site in your, umm, web browser.

[https://worldwideweb.cern.ch/browser/](https://worldwideweb.cern.ch/browser/)

[#www](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/www) [#web](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/web) [#browser](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/browser) [#WorldWideWeb](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/WorldWideWeb) [#CERN](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/CERN) [#TimBernersLee](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/TimBernersLee) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109400425835710461) 2022-11-24T22:18:20Z ****
Seeing Big Tech folks jump into the fediverse and – without so much as a “how do you do, fellow kids?” – roll up their sleeves to write the rules, dream up commercial services, and pontificate about how advertising should run on it. 👀

[#fediverse](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fediverse) [#BigTech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/BigTech) [#corporateCapture](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/corporateCapture) [#warning](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/warning) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109401099531148797) 2022-11-25T08:24:42Z ****
Clinicians refuse to treat women associated with patient advocate group

[https://inkl.com/a/xoRQVGsvVXv](https://inkl.com/a/xoRQVGsvVXv)

How are these bastards not immediately stripped of their medical licenses?

[#ireland](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/ireland) [#CervicalCheck](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/CervicalCheck) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109403483824210023) 2022-11-25T08:47:17Z ****
If you see a surveillance capitalist affiliation proudly displayed on someone’s profile here on the fediverse, ask “are you proud to work for them and why?” “Do you realise this space exists in reaction to the toxic, exploitative, and extractive spaces created by surveillance capitalists like your employer?”

[#surveillanceCapitalism](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/surveillanceCapitalism) [#fediverse](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fediverse) [#corporateCapture](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/corporateCapture) [#activism](https ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109403572625268048) 2022-11-25T08:51:12Z ****
Everyone’s gotta eat (although the choice for most privileged folks with in-demand technical skills isn’t between a six figure salary and stock options at a surveillance capitalist or starvation – there are many other types of businesses and organisations) but being proud of perpetuating surveillance capitalism is another thing. Then you’re also doing PR and legitimising them.

[#surveillanceCapitalism](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/surveillanceCapitalism) [#fediverse](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fediverse) [#corporateCa ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109403588019327828) 2022-11-25T08:57:55Z ****
I remember seeing Halliburton employees hiding their badges at a tech conference because they were ashamed of it. (Not conjecture, by the way, I asked them why and that’s exactly what they told me.) And that’s exactly as it should be. They, at least, had some situational awareness. I can’t say the same thing for folks who proudly work at surveillance capitalists now parading themselves on the fediverse like prized peacocks.

3/n

[#surveillanceCapitalism](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/surveillanceCapitalism) [#fediverse] ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109403614450186172) 2022-11-25T09:05:15Z ****
To those folks proudly affiliated with surveillance capitalists, I say: Read the room. The room exists despite the best efforts of the corporations that employ you. Your affiliation to them affords you no legitimacy here. On the contrary, it’s a mark of shame. So perhaps do not be too proud of it. Perhaps don’t flaunt it. Perhaps approach this space in your capacity as individuals. Perhaps listen. Perhaps try a bit of humility.

4/4

[#surveillanceCapitalism](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/surveillanceCapitalism) [#fedive ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109403643295218379) 2022-11-25T18:42:15Z ****
![:kitten:](https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/custom_emojis/images/000/134/702/original/3630b351addf5d80.png)

Meow! Kitten now has its own emoji.

(I’m so easily amused.)

(Here’s wishing you all a lovely weekend.)

[https://codeberg.org/kitten/app](https://codeberg.org/kitten/app)

[#kitten](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/kitten) [#SmallWeb](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallWeb) [#customEmoji](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/customEmoji) [#mastodon](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/mastodon) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109405912131227690) 2022-11-25T19:03:33Z ****
Mastodon media storage graph for the past year. I wonder what happened in April and then again in November… 🤔

(I’ve still got media going to AWS from when I set up the server myself even though it’s with [@mastohost](https://mastodon.social/@mastohost) now… because, lazy.)

[#twitterMigration](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/twitterMigration) [#scale](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/scale) [#storage](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/storage) [#mastodon](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/mastodon) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109405995884072763) 2022-11-25T19:07:51Z ****
…Forgot to write in the alt-text: the line goes from almost the horizontal axis – way under 60GB (zigzagging around the 15GB mark) – in December of last year to over 140GB now. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109406012816005090) 2022-11-27T08:28:44Z ****
Freedom of speech means you have the freedom to speak, not the freedom to compel anyone to listen to you.

[#freedomOfSpeech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/freedomOfSpeech) [#freeSpeech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/freeSpeech) [#humanRights](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/humanRights) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109414824331833201) 2022-11-27T08:51:18Z ****
If you’re setting up your own fediverse presence at your own domain, don’t make the same mistake I did and call it mastodon.my.domain. Give it a generic name like social.my.domain, activity.my.domain, fedi.my.domain or something similar. You don’t want to tie an endpoint for an open protocol to a single implementation or perpetuate the myth that [#Mastodon](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/Mastodon) is the [#fediverse](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fediverse).

(Yes, you can migrate to a different subdomain later but it’s not ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109414913051016081) 2022-11-27T10:18:31Z ****
Just made my follower and following lists private and wondering why that isn’t the default on [#Mastodon](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/Mastodon) (and why I didn’t do it sooner). I actually wish it didn’t even show the counts. Why should anyone care how many people follow you? I know we’ve been conditioned into curating social graphs to be exploited by others (not to mention the potential for targeted abuse) and evaluating our self-worth based on a series of numbers but we don’t have to perpetuate those practices in our ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109415255986493319) 2022-11-27T10:48:08Z ****
If you don’t know what I mean when I say “surveillance capitalism” or “people farming”, here’s a quick overview I did for the BBC a little while ago:

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/surveillance-capitalism-has-led-us-into-a-dystopia/p06p0tdy](https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/surveillance-capitalism-has-led-us-into-a-dystopia/p06p0tdy)

(Where we differ with Shoshana, who coined the former term, is that she sees it as a corruption of capitalism, whereas I see it as the natural evolution of capitalism in the digit ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109415372484947300) 2022-11-28T08:50:48Z ****
Post is a Marc “Anti-colonialism has been economically catastrophic for the Indian people for decades. Why stop now?”Andreessen et al. funded “Twitter alternative” by the ex-CEO of Waze.

It’s the same Silicon Valley bullshit that gave you Twitter.

Remember, the only time you can kill a VC-funded Silicon Valley startup is at the start, before it gains network effects. The way you kill it is to not use it and warn everyone you know not to use it.

[#post](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/post) [#twitter](https://mastodon.ar ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109420573408401991) 2022-11-29T11:00:23Z ****
In case you’re ever worried that programmers are cleverer than you, just remember that JSON.stringify(Infinity) === 'null'

[#dev](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/dev) [#JSON](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/JSON) [#JavaScript](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/JavaScript) [#wtf](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/wtf) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109426745222961668) 2022-11-29T11:13:02Z ****
Also quite loving the fact that Uint32Array.from([Infinity])[0] === Uint32Array.from([0])[0]

[#dev](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/dev) [#JavaScript](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/JavaScript) [#numbers](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/numbers) [#wtf](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/wtf) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109426794972514152) 2022-11-29T11:19:19Z ****
The reason I’m running into these edge cases is because I’m adding TypedArray support to JSDB – my in-process Node.js database that writes to a JavaScript append-only log ( [https://codeberg.org/small-tech/jsdb](https://codeberg.org/small-tech/jsdb)) – and, given all the gotchas with float and BigInt arrays, I think I’m just going to limit it to Uint8Array support. My use case is to easily persist public cryptographic key material in its native form in Kitten ( [https://coderberg.org/kitten/app](https://coderberg.org/k ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109426819705397749) 2022-11-29T11:30:18Z ****
So this is a hilarious 4 minutes: wat

[https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat](https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat)

Thank you, [@kukrak](https://101010.pl/@kukrak) and [@faoluin](https://chitter.xyz/@faoluin) – how had I not seen this before? :)

[#wat](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/wat) [#dev](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/dev) [#wtf](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/wtf) [#JavaScript](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/JavaScript) [#ruby](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/ruby) [#video](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/video) ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109426862895705046) 2022-11-29T11:49:21Z ****
Well that was a reply fail\* but I think I’ll just leave it be :)

\\* Which I seem to find rather easy to do on the Mastodon web interface for some reason. Have to look into exactly why that is… ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109426937779019069) 2022-11-29T11:47:43Z ****
¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109426931361033322) 2022-11-29T14:38:53Z ****
[@Codeberg](https://social.anoxinon.de/@Codeberg) Heads up: looks like the site is down. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109427604420235446) 2022-11-29T14:41:37Z ****
I’m not saying developers shouldn’t be allowed to name things but developers shouldn’t be allowed to name things :)

[#forgejo](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/forgejo) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109427615147679197) 2022-11-29T14:46:09Z ****
[@Codeberg](https://social.anoxinon.de/@Codeberg) Looks like it’s back :) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109427632986110791) 2022-11-29T14:45:15Z ****
(Or, more precisely, you shouldn’t choose names or create logos/icons by committee. A discussion forum/online voting isn’t a substitute for practicing design. I’ve rarely – if ever – seen anything good come of out of one.)

[#design](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/design) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109427629433501502) 2022-11-29T16:33:09Z ****
**Content warning:** When’s a proxy not a proxy? #JavaScript

* * *

\> a = new Proxy(new Array(5), {})

Proxy [ [ <5 empty items> ], {} ]

\> a.fill(42)

Proxy [ [ 42, 42, 42, 42, 42 ], {} ]

\> b = new Proxy(new Uint8Array(5), {})

Proxy [ Uint8Array(5) [ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ], {} ]

\> b.fill(42)

Uncaught TypeError: this is not a typed array.

FML.

[#TypedArray](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/TypedArray) [#Proxy](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/Proxy) [#JS](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/JS) [#JavaScript](https://mastodon.ar.al/t ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109428053745571550) 2022-11-29T19:34:44Z ****
So my little Kitten\* moo cards also make very cute bookmarks :)

\\* [https://codeberg.org/kitten/app](https://codeberg.org/kitten/app)

[#kitten](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/kitten) [#SmallWeb](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallWeb) [#SmallTech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallTech) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109428767746538536) 2022-11-29T20:27:19Z ****
Ok, so I just re-read what I wrote and… oh gawd

🤦‍♂️ ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109428974494740864) 2022-11-29T20:26:10Z ****
Having dinner at a restaurant and Obama’s Elf just came over the speakers.

I feel the interwebs has effected me more than I’d like to acknowledge. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109428969965508424) 2022-11-30T08:14:23Z ****
Remember the days when “conservative” just meant “hates poor people” not “full Nazi?” Ah, simpler times. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109431754814688844) 2022-11-30T09:03:23Z ****
A thing is as much what it is not as what it is.

[#design](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/design) [#life](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/life) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109431947522708424) 2022-11-30T12:43:32Z ****
**Content warning:** JSDB, JavaScript, and TypedArrays

* * *

So after a deep dive into TypedArrays in JavaScript, I’ve decided I can’t really implement support for them in JSDB ( [https://codeberg.org/small-tech/jsdb](https://codeberg.org/small-tech/jsdb)), they’re just too inconsistent with every other data type in the language (can’t be proxied, etc.) If you need to persist them, serialise them to a hex string of some sort and persist that.

[#JSDB](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/JSDB) [#TypedArray](https://mastodon.a ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109432813187972499) 2022-11-30T15:58:40Z ****
Wait, what?… you don’t mean that your all-important secret for your Small Web site is going to be… A STRING OF EMOJI?!\*

(Why yes, yes it is…) ![:awesome:](https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/custom_emojis/images/000/010/725/original/38dd73cee0f6cc9b.png)

\\* Or, if you want to take all the fun out of it, a base256 encoding of your ed25519 private key that is purposefully impractical to write down somewhere or type in so you’ll be forced to practice good security hygiene and store it in your password ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109433580433098303) 2022-12-01T12:20:24Z ****
Small Web sites will require JavaScript to sign in.

Why?

To protect your privacy.

We use public-key authentication (which I’m implementing as we speak) so your secret is never stored on the server and you only enter it in places you own and control.

(I can already see some folks up in arms about this because JavaScript Bad™ so I just checked in the initial copy for the page that gets displayed if JavaScript is off.)

[#SmallWeb](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallWeb) [#Kitten](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/Kitten) [#S ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109438384515426960) 2022-12-01T12:28:33Z ****
(One of the reasons the sign-in page is a separate page is so that, in the future, we can use an external tool – say a browser extension – to verify its source for folks for whom supply-chain attacks, etc., might be part of their threat model. Although they should ideally not be relying on third-party hosting to begin with.) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109438416547252022) 2022-12-01T19:20:03Z ****
This little tangerine had an operation today so now we’re all cuddled close for emotional support. He just fell asleep, poor thing. Breaks my heart. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109440034661223788) 2022-12-02T10:12:07Z ****
You can’t spell fediverse without diverse. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109443542382762353) 2022-12-02T10:10:43Z ****
When posting stats about the number of people (not “users”) joining the fediverse (not “Mastodon”), please also post about the number of instances.

If 400,000,000 people join BigTech.social tomorrow, that’s not a win. That’s how you recreate Twitter.

So let’s focus on what matters. Sure it‘s great that the fediverse is becoming more popular but the character of that popularity matters. How it scales matters. Avoiding corporate capture matters.

[#BigTech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/BigTech) [#fediverse](https://mast ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109443536903998072) 2022-12-03T10:57:16Z ****
If your [#Twitter](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/Twitter) handle is four or fewer characters, you don’t have to worry about someone registering your account and impersonating you, etc., if you deactivate your account. Since 2010, Twitter only accepts account handles longer than four characters.

So if you see a certain petroleum company in Germany (owned by bp) rocking my old handle at any point after tomorrow you’ll know they’ve done a special deal with Elon “Power To The People” Musk.

[#TwitterMigration](https://masto ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109449382199244897) 2022-12-03T17:02:20Z ****
So it looks like every Small Web site will have the identity\* of the person who owns it easily accessible from /id. In fact, it appears you can easily access your public SSH and PGP keys too (from /id/ssh and /id/pgp).

Seems these are just automatically generated for every Small Web site.

I wonder what sorts of uses folks will find for them?… I mean besides having signed and end-to-end encrypted messaging as basic primitives on the Small Web. ![:awesome:](https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/custom_em ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109450817736609183) 2022-12-05T13:32:49Z ****
Y’all should be far more worried about Omni Consumer Products than Skynet is all I’m sayin’.

[#fearTheRightDystopia](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/fearTheRightDystopia) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109461318473668066) 2022-12-05T17:12:45Z ****
You might see posts from me talking about the technical details of what I’m working on but what I’m building isn’t about tech for tech’s sake…

What is it for? To protect personhood and democracy in the digital network age.

Here’s a talk I gave six years ago – when I was working on the precursor to what has evolved into the Small Web project.

[https://yewtu.be/watch?v=BNuqzuDc48I](https://yewtu.be/watch?v=BNuqzuDc48I)

[#SmallTech](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallTech) [#SmallWeb](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/SmallWe ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109462183300697349) 2022-12-05T17:19:04Z ****
(It’s also likely one of my favourite talks in terms of how I started it: “I must warn you that, in my talk, I will most probably offend some of you and I want to ask you to embrace those special moments…”) :)

[#privilege](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/privilege) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109462208181870904) 2022-12-06T11:29:15Z ****
(And yes, sometimes I’ll actually extract the text and write the image description in the thread for you but that actually takes me longer to do than it would take you – as I usually have to split it into several posts whereas alt-text has a much higher character limit – and it’s still not the same thing as it requires someone to read the thread in hopes of perhaps discovering what the mystery image is about.) ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109466494925734620) 2022-12-06T11:25:42Z ****
Folks, I want to boost your lovely posts, I really do but I won’t if you don’t write image descriptions (alt text) so people who use screen readers can also experience them.

It doesn’t take long to write one.

And if you’re posting an image of text and you have an iPhone, you can select the text from the image with a long press and copy/paste it.

Even Linux has apps that do this (like Frog: [https://tenderowl.com/work/frog/](https://tenderowl.com/work/frog/))

[#accessibility](https://mastodon.ar.al/tags/accessibilit ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109466480993807633) 2022-12-06T13:46:38Z ****
I feel I must apologise for calling Marc Andreessen a festering bum hole. It was acutely unfair to actual festering bum holes to be compared to that man. ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109467035115482194) 2022-12-07T10:14:02Z ****
“There is a real possibility that we're basically walking around as virus-controlled meat bags," explained Dr. Travis Thomson, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who specializes in junk DNA and indirectly endogenous retrovirus control. "We are aware of ourselves, but the only reason why we're aware of ourselves is to help the viruses that control us by making up part of our genome."

[https://inkl.com/a/mqYnVESMxJM](https://inkl.com/a/mqYnVESMxJM)

[#biology](https://mastodon.ar.al ... ⌘ [Read more](https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/109471861472353509) 2022-12-07T10:58:53Z ****
**Content warning:** The weird and zany world of HTML links

* * *

Ran into this old friend yesterday:

Say you’re including a script in your page at /my-page:



(Want another quirk? Try writing that as