ceoln @ceoln@qoto.org

Set of people who are all "We reverse engineered this CPU with an undocumented ISA and found a vulnerability that allowed us to flip a single bit in an HSE to obtain a key that allowed us to encrypt a payload that gave us arbitrary code execution on the ISS" and simultaneously also "It's literally impossible to prevent this single fucking guy from showing up at the event we run"

For anyone who still thinks we shouldn’t prosecute Trump and his co-conspirators because their January 6 insurrection failed, consider this: there is no such thing as prosecuting a successful insurrection.

Ugh, I really tried to stay out of #fediverse drama but I guess I have to say a few things. Most of you know me as a #firefish core team member, so I think I owe it to the admins of almost 500 firefish servers out there and to the almost 5000 members of firefish.social.

So, yeah, if you haven't noticed, things aren't looking good for firefish. Its owner, Kainoa, has practically abandoned the project, which had its last stable release out on July. My last message to them was a week ago, and I haven't heard back since. Firefish.social, besides the other severe technical problems it's had due to mismanagement in the last few months, now also has serious federation issues. I hope Kainoa is well irl, but this is irresponsible and unacceptable.

I hear some of you saying "but you're in the core team too, don't try to put the blame elsewhere!". So I have to explain what being a core team member in firefish meant. Kainoa invited me, Namekuji and a few others to be part of the "core team", but kept all decisions and responsibilities. We didn't co-own this. We never shared donations. We were just volunteers, who were honestly trying to make it a great project. This didn't work well due to concentration of power to one person, who didn't keep their promises. I don't mean to be harsh to Kainoa, I mean we knew they were only 19 when they started the project. Still, it's a bummer to anyone who chose to trust and support Firefish. This includes myself.

I don't know if it's early to consider firefish a dead project, but it sure seems like that for a few months now. Maybe it can be resurrected, idk. It's all up to Kainoa.

In the meantime, Namekuji and I are starting #Catodon, which will have some differences with Firefish, and will include many changes I had discussed with Kainoa but were never implemented. If you decide to stick with us, we promise to be serious about this. I strongly believe in the fediverse and its potential, and I want to build a great platform for it. This was my goal when I chose to be involved in Calckey/Firefish. It's still my goal with Catodon, only this time I can stand behind it 100%, as the project will be co-managed by Namekuji and me. If Firefish left you with a bitter aftertaste, we hope we can build a better relationship and prove ourselves worthy of your trust. Catodon will go public in a matter of days, possibly even hours. We'll have more to say about its direction then.

In the meantime, I just wanted to share my apologies for any inconvenience regarding Firefish, as I'm still technically a core team member, whatever that means. But frankly, I tried so hard to make things go differently - but there's only so much you can do when it's someone else's project. I'm really sorry for how things went.

But this is not the end of the fedi journey for me. I'm super excited about the chance to do some things right this time with Catodon. Life goes on, I guess! Hope to see you soon on our #codeberg repo, so we can start a new creative adventure together =)

​​ xx

If Santa didn't bring you a copy of my new book, "Computing the Climate: How we know what we know about climate change", you can just buy it yourself.

Buy it directly from Cambridge University Press, and use the code 101901 at the checkout to get a 30% discount *and* free shipping. But hurry - this offer is only valid for the next 10 days.

Please spread the word - encourage your friends, family, and co-workers to get a copy!

https://lnkd.in/gBZX5Vzb
#ComputingTheClimate

imo, @mmasnick is one of the most informed and nuanced tech writers working today. I often wonder what he’d be writing about in earlier eras when huge tech changes came daily, and people like Einstein, Edison, Fuller, Mumford, Goddard, Clarke, Asimov and Sagan were saying and doing things worthy of notice and critique almost as often.

New Year’s Message: Moving Fast And Breaking Things Is The Opposite Of Tech Optimism

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/29/new-years-message-moving-fast-and-breaking-things-is-the-opposite-of-tech-optimism/

In Poland they threaten a “harsh reaction” if the Russian provocation with a missile is repeated.

"Repetition of such attempts will provoke a stronger response from the Republic of Poland, as it is a test of our effectiveness and our approach to defense. I can assure you that we are able to respond quickly and effectively if this happens again. I have told the Chargé d'Affaires to stopped testing the borders of our state"
#AureFreePress #Ukraine️ #Russia #Putin #EU #NATO #Poland

I wrote about new options for supporting my work without supporting Substack.

Addressing the unfortunate business why this might be necessary using the power of song, because nobody gets out of this newsletter without singing the blues.

https://armoxon.substack.com/p/adventures-in-support-the-newsletter

Read @mmasnick's end-of-2023 post on the ineffectiveness and self-sabotage of naive tech optimism.

"I recognize that part of seeing through to that kind of future, where innovation comes faster and more widely distributed than it would otherwise be, is to not fuck it up in the process."

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/29/new-years-message-moving-fast-and-breaking-things-is-the-opposite-of-tech-optimism/

"Generative AI Will Be A Huge Boon For The Public Domain, Unless Copyright Blocks It"

...status of generative AI creations as being outside the copyright system means that many of them, perhaps most, are available for anyone to use in any way.

...without the shackles of copyright, these creations can form the basis of collaborative works among artists willing to embrace that approach, and to work with this new technology in new ways.That’s a really exciting possibility

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/28/generative-ai-will-be-a-huge-boon-for-the-public-domain-unless-copyright-blocks-it/

It’s that time of year. Here, in no particular order, are my top 5 books read in 2023.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Bad Actors by Mick Herron
Wool by Hugh Howey
Julia by Sandra Newman

Honourable mentions to The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, both of which were re-reads.
#Bookstodon #Reading

modern society is so divorced from our food sources that most people who eat pop tarts have never actually killed one themselves

programming tip: when you first open a programming file often the lines of code are all mixed up, so you should sort them (":%sort" in vim) before getting started on your work

Let’s be clear. Palestinian journalists said this since Day 1 and those who believed them were ridiculed or called antisemitic.

Now the NYT confirms “Israel claims it protects civilians, but a NYT investigation found at least 200 times Israel dropped its most destructive bombs in areas it designated as safe for civilians in Gaza.”

That’s no accident—it’s policy. Where is the accountability? #CeasefireNOW

Donald Trump removed from Maine primary ballot by secretary of state https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/28/maine-trump-primary-ballot/

"The evidence here demonstrates that [Jan 6 Insurrection] occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President. The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government, and [Maine law] requires me to act in response.”

#law #lawfed #lawfedi #Trump #Insurrection #Jan6 #Maine #FourteenthAmendment #lawprof

hypercolor levels are 93% and falling

(93%) ■■■■■■■■■□