"Every Activity Pub server duplicates content. Without it there'd be no seeing posts from anybody on servers other than their home server. It's literally the thing that makes the protocol work. If being on a protocol that specifically is designed to duplicate content isn't permission enough to duplicate content then the Fediverse goes poof. Zilch. Zero. Nada."
So a thing happened and I'm kinda flabbergasted. There appears to be a campaign to shut down the Mostr (Nostr <> ActivityPub bridge). Dunno how big it is, but apparently at least one DMCA complaint has been filed.
Not quite true, literally or otherwise. The protocol doesn't require caching. For performance reasons, most, if not all, ActivityPub server implementations cache remote content, but they could also just dereference the remote URIs when remote content is accessed.
@eyeinthesky > they could also just dereference the remote URIs when remote content is accessed
They could. But arguably they're still duplicating content. They're just doing it every time someone wants to get the same post or profile through the bridge. So from a user POV nothing is different, it just increases resource consumption for the bridge *and* the origin server.
Yes and no. From a legal or technical standpoint, all this is true. It is legally allowed, technically necessary. But this doesn't mean it's ethical and that it doesn't violate consent.
I can walk up to two people speaking in "public" to eavesdrop on their conversation. But just because I can, doesn't mean it's right. I can scrape endless pfp images from WhatsApp through their contacts API. But doesn't mean it's right.
So no, just because it's possible it doesn't mean "permission enough". It' just means that it's necessary and people have accepted the risk. Explicit permission is something different entirely. This is about consent, a human property, not about technological or legal constructs.
Bridges are a bit different than scraping content or listening into a conversation. A bridge that bridges Activity Pub to AT/Nostr acts like any other ActivityPub instance, requesting a copy of the bridged user's profile in the same way another ActivityPub native server would. Same with Friendica (that I'm using right now to reply), it requested a copy of your post over Activity Pub, despite being native to DFRN (although, unlike Bridgy Fed/Mostr, Freindica bridges internally via plugin instead of using a dedicated standalone bridge). I'd argue that using a protocol designed for federation, on a server that defaults to federating with any instance not proactively blocked, is rather explicit permission to federate.
However, since it's just federating normally, it's easy to stop. If you block the bridges (at the user level or instance wide) they won't federate, just like any other Activity Pub instance. While I think bridges are important for the ecosystem, the beauty of something that's not centralized is that you can choose exactly what you do and don't want to interact with.
Absolutely, there's this difference. But I'd argue it can only be consensual if whatever happens is somewhat "expected". And depending on the service in question, this isn't always the case. Some people go to the Fedi because they don't want to have their stuff on AT...
@ljrk > I can walk up to two people speaking in "public" to eavesdrop on their conversation
That's not a valid metaphor for Public posts on a federated network. It's more like 2 people speaking on a stage using microphones, connected to a global livestream.
If you don't want strangers to listen to your conversation, that's easy! Just get off the stage. If you want to have a private conversation in a public space that people won't eavesdrop on, that's what Direct posts are for.
@ljrk > it can only be consensual if whatever happens is somewhat "expected"
That's like saying that striking up a conversation with someone at a speed dating event isn't consensual, if that person didn't expect to be spoken to at the event. If people choose to go into a situation, not expecting things that can be reasonably expected, that's on them. Not on everyone else for not being mindreaders.
But none of that will help if people refuse to learn about the options available and how to use them. Or insist that everyone else magically know what they intended, even if their app usage choices suggest the opposite.
Coda: If I stand in the street wearing a "free hugs" sign, it's reasonable for people to expect a free hug. Say someone hugs me, and I claim it was non-consensual because I only expected my friends to take up the offer made on the "free hugs" sign. Is that reasonable on my part?
When you post something as "Public" (instead of "Followers only", or "Private mention", to use the current Mastodon app terms), that's like the "free hugs" sign. People can reasonably expect to take that literally.
> unlike Bridgy Fed/Mostr, Freindica bridges internally via plugin instead of using a dedicated standalone bridge
At the risk of splitting hairs, I think you're stretching the definition of "bridge" beyond breaking point there.
A bridge connects any instance to any instance (of whatever it is they bridge). An AP plugin adds native federation to a single instance, allowing it to connect directly with any remote service federating over AP. Two quite different things.
Ich habe gestern in der Mediathek eine sehr differenzierte Phönix Runde - Diskussion mit Netzlehrer @blume_bob@hostux.social zum Thema Verbot von Social Media für Kinder und Jugendliche gesehen. Ich war positiv überrascht, wie konstruktiv das Gespräch war. Trotz unterschiedlicher Ansätze ging es allen Diskutant*innen um das Wohl der Jugendlichen. Solche Diskussionen braucht es viel mehr im Fernsehen. Was ich nicht verstanden habe: Eigentlich haben alle am Tisch den Algorithmus als Gefahr definiert und man schien sich einig, den Kindern und Jugendlichen etwas anderes anbieten zu müssen, wenn man sie schon einschränken würde. Aber niemand kam auf den Gedanken nur Algorithmus gestützte Plattformen zu verbieten. Das wäre für mich plausibel, denn der Algorithmus ist es doch, der süchtig macht, Verhalten negativ verändert. Warum kam niemand auf den Gedanken, den Kindern und Jugendlichen das Fediverse näher zu bringen. Hier, wo sie sich um Kontakte bemühen müssen, wo sie Hilfe bekommen, wenn sie Fragen zur Technik haben, wo es Menschen gibt, die Wert auf fairen und freundlichen Umgang legen. Man könnte im Unterricht Instanzen für Schulen basteln, wo die Schüler*innen die Möglichkeit hätten intern und öffentlich zu kommunizieren, wo sie ihre eigene Netiquette zusammen erarbeiten, wo sie sich um den Betrieb kümmern, die Moderation. Man könnte es sogar für einzelne Klassen machen. Das wäre doch das Angebot. Nicht Social Media verbieten, sondern nur den Gebrauch von Algorithmus basierten Plattformen. Vielleicht auch eine Instanz für Kinder und Jugendliche allgemein.
Ich habe keine Ahnung, warum man das nicht macht und das Fediverse empfiehlt. Ja, recht hast du mit Verbot von Süchtig machenden netzwerken und deren Algorithmen - macht man mit anderen Drogen doch auch Und außer Polemik fällt mir nichts ein
Big Tech tells us it can't exist without forever chemical (PFAS). A pity these chemicals are killing us.
"It is estimated that 836 kg/yr of volatile PFAS are emitted from US landfills in uncollected gas with a 95% confidence interval (2.5% to 97.5% of the distribution) of 15–5,590 kg/yr. This estimate is comparable to ∼600 kg of PFAS released annually into landfill leachate."
Anyone got any good Linux photo editing software/library management to recommend? I'll install Immich on our NAS, but I want to be able to edit my OM-1Mk2, Fuji X100VI, and Fuji GFX files (raw) locally, if possible... might be a a big ask.
frankie: give me what you're eating me: it's bread frankie: cool. give it here me: you dont like bread frankie: i want this more than i have ever wanted anything in my life me: too bad frankie: ok. i get it. i see how it is. ...what's that?! me: what? [frankie takes a big bite of bread then spits it out] me: ah you hairy bastard! well now you see all the good that did you frankie: actually i changed my mind can i have more
frankie: i love you. i love you. i lo-o-o-o-ove you me: you're hungry frankie: no. noooo. i just love you soooooo much me: frankie: a bit. im a bit hungry yes. but also i love you me: frankie: i am on the brink of death
me: you still have food frankie: that is patently untrue me: look frankie: i am looking! me: [i pick up the bowl, shake it, and set it down] frankie: holy shit
crissy: help! help! someone please! help! oh god! help me!!! me: what's wrong?! crissy: hah you fell for it again me: dangit haven't you heard of the boy who cried wolf? crissy: do i look like i have the cognitive architecture required to parse human speech to you? me: yeah yeah... crissy: dumbass
crissy: help! help! someone please! help! oh god! help me!!! me: what's wrong?! crissy: look at the size of that roach! me: holy shit! [after a protracted battle the evil is defeated] crissy: wow great job me: thanks for nothing. you could have killed it yourself you know crissy: crissy: why
me, lying in bed: crissy, next to me: me, lying in bed: crissy, next to me: me, picking up my phone: time to browse the internet crissy, pressing her face to mine: LOOK AT ME RIGHT NOW
[in bed, i am the little spoon to crissy's big spoon as usual. Frankie jumps on the bed] frankie: good evening, ladies me: you have been fed. you have been fed and you know it frankie: jeez way to assume the worst me: sorry frankie: you know i dont appreciate-- [pukes on the bed]
[i accidentally step on crissy's tail in the middle of the night] crissy: ow! me: oh no! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! crissy: it's okay. accidents happen me: I'm sorry! crissy: i love you me: i love you tooo
[i leave for two days then return] crissy: ah you backstabbing bitch you have a lot of nerve showing your face around here me: i love you crissy: fuck yourself and die
frankie: biscuits? me: no frankie: but i looooooove you AND im not hungry this time! honestly! me: no! frankie: you let crissy make biscuits me: crissy can make biscuits without sinking her claws into my boobs frankie: okay but have you considered - how big my eyes are me: hrm... i have to admit you have a point...
me: what are you doing? crissy: ....not honoring the trust between us. me: there it is. you knew you weren't supposed to do that but you did it anyway crissy: I have no excuse. I've disappointed you, and I've disappointed myself
me: what are you doing? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? frankie: sup me: damn it can you at least have the decency to pretend to be ashamed? frankie: ashamed of what?
Uno studio dell'Università della Finlandia Orientale rivela che gli americani imprecano di più sui social, mentre gli australiani sono più creativi con le parolacce.
Vesta da zentilomo — Dizionario "Vesta da zentilomo" from the Dizionario del Dialetto Veneziano by Giuseppe Boerio. #Dress #VenetianNobility #Venezia #Venice
Vor ziemlich genau sechs Jahren kam die Diagnose „Merkelzellkarzinom“ Aggressiv und unheilbar. Es folgten sehr schlechte und gute Zeiten. Seitdem hat mein kölner Heinzelmännchen alle zwei Wochen Immuntherapie. Unser Wunschessentag. Die Therapie wurde gerade neu erforscht und entwickelt Wäre er ein halbes Jahr früher erkrankt, hätte er es nicht geschafft. Einen Aufenthalt auf der Palliative Station macht ihn vom Rollstuhl abhängig. Was ich mir dieses Jahr wünsche? Noch ganz viele Wunschessentage
Awful things have been happening around this country and world lately, and so many this weekend alone. Trying to remember there are beautiful things too, like this photo Bob Anderson sent of an amazing Montana sunset with snow, ice and the Crazy Mountains.
From Wikipedia "...the community's present name stems from a time when it had a sanatorium to work with tuberculosis patients." Ah yes, that'll make people want to visit.
I was looking for grammar/spell-check language servers to use in Neovim and came across Harper (writewithharper.com/)
Turns out it also has extensions for Firefox/Chrome. I don't use Grammarly, but for people who do, could be a nicer, more private alternative — it's local-only and open-source.
So I’ve been thinking about the problem of ownership. Mainly, how much of this “stuff” matters.
In my house, I have a big collection of video games, music, books, and movies. Various physical formats—some of them obscure.
If I die, I know all this stuff gets liquidated.
The only exception, I’m sure, will be the vinyl—because this is something I listen to with my child every day and it’s her library as much as it’s mine.
The LaserDisc movies, though? It will be the first to go. Same with my collection of sci-fi novels.
I’ve tried to get other people into this stuff. No dice. Not a single care about these things I very much care about.
And I suppose, big picture, they don’t matter. It’s just stuff. But it’s also stuff that very much touched my life.
A Belarusian variation: Protests after the election. A bus stops, riot police storm out of it, and start beating the first guy they see. 'Stop!' he cries. 'I voted for Lukashenko!' Cops: 'Bullshit! No one voted for Lukashenko!'
Concertbezoekers en een agent achter de dranghekken bij een concert van de Lionel Hampton Big Band in de Houtrusthallen in Den Haag, Ed van der Elsken, 1956
ByteDance’s large language model Doubao announced on December 1 the launch of a mobile assistant and a partnership with ZTE to introduce the “Doubao AI
The Eye
in reply to Strypey • • •Strypey
in reply to The Eye • • •> Every Activity Pub server duplicates content
@eyeinthesky
> they could also just dereference the remote URIs when remote content is accessed
They could. But arguably they're still duplicating content. They're just doing it every time someone wants to get the same post or profile through the bridge. So from a user POV nothing is different, it just increases resource consumption for the bridge *and* the origin server.
lj·rk→⁽³⁹ᶜ³⁾
in reply to Strypey • • •Yes and no. From a legal or technical standpoint, all this is true. It is legally allowed, technically necessary. But this doesn't mean it's ethical and that it doesn't violate consent.
I can walk up to two people speaking in "public" to eavesdrop on their conversation. But just because I can, doesn't mean it's right. I can scrape endless pfp images from WhatsApp through their contacts API. But doesn't mean it's right.
So no, just because it's possible it doesn't mean "permission enough". It' just means that it's necessary and people have accepted the risk. Explicit permission is something different entirely. This is about consent, a human property, not about technological or legal constructs.
Nate
in reply to lj·rk→⁽³⁹ᶜ³⁾ • • •Bridges are a bit different than scraping content or listening into a conversation. A bridge that bridges Activity Pub to AT/Nostr acts like any other ActivityPub instance, requesting a copy of the bridged user's profile in the same way another ActivityPub native server would. Same with Friendica (that I'm using right now to reply), it requested a copy of your post over Activity Pub, despite being native to DFRN (although, unlike Bridgy Fed/Mostr, Freindica bridges internally via plugin instead of using a dedicated standalone bridge). I'd argue that using a protocol designed for federation, on a server that defaults to federating with any instance not proactively blocked, is rather explicit permission to federate.
However, since it's just federating normally, it's easy to stop. If you block the bridges (at the user level or instance wide) they won't federate, just like any other Activity Pub instance. While I think bridges are important for the ecosystem, the beauty of something that's not centralized is that you can choose exactly what you do and don't want to interact with.
lj·rk→⁽³⁹ᶜ³⁾
in reply to Nate • • •Strypey
in reply to lj·rk→⁽³⁹ᶜ³⁾ • • •(1/2)
@ljrk
> I can walk up to two people speaking in "public" to eavesdrop on their conversation
That's not a valid metaphor for Public posts on a federated network. It's more like 2 people speaking on a stage using microphones, connected to a global livestream.
If you don't want strangers to listen to your conversation, that's easy! Just get off the stage. If you want to have a private conversation in a public space that people won't eavesdrop on, that's what Direct posts are for.
@nate
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •(2/?)
@ljrk
> it can only be consensual if whatever happens is somewhat "expected"
That's like saying that striking up a conversation with someone at a speed dating event isn't consensual, if that person didn't expect to be spoken to at the event. If people choose to go into a situation, not expecting things that can be reasonably expected, that's on them. Not on everyone else for not being mindreaders.
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •(3/3)
I think there is UX work that can be done to make it clearer what level of visibility a post has, and to give people more granular control;
codeberg.org/fediverse/fediver…
But none of that will help if people refuse to learn about the options available and how to use them. Or insist that everyone else magically know what they intended, even if their app usage choices suggest the opposite.
Mapping all possible posting scopes
Codeberg.orgStrypey
in reply to Strypey • • •Coda: If I stand in the street wearing a "free hugs" sign, it's reasonable for people to expect a free hug. Say someone hugs me, and I claim it was non-consensual because I only expected my friends to take up the offer made on the "free hugs" sign. Is that reasonable on my part?
When you post something as "Public" (instead of "Followers only", or "Private mention", to use the current Mastodon app terms), that's like the "free hugs" sign. People can reasonably expect to take that literally.
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •Me:
> If you want to have a private conversation in a public space that people won't eavesdrop on, that's what Direct posts are for.
FYI The Mastodon web app currently calls them "Private mentions". Some apps now call them "Only people mentioned" (eg Moshidon).
#FediTips
@ljrk
Strypey
in reply to Nate • • •> unlike Bridgy Fed/Mostr, Freindica bridges internally via plugin instead of using a dedicated standalone bridge
At the risk of splitting hairs, I think you're stretching the definition of "bridge" beyond breaking point there.
A bridge connects any instance to any instance (of whatever it is they bridge). An AP plugin adds native federation to a single instance, allowing it to connect directly with any remote service federating over AP. Two quite different things.
@ljrk