This edition of Last Week in Fediverse seems to be a President’s edition; Barack Obama turns on fediverse sharing for his Threads account, and Brazil’s president Lula joins Bluesky. Lots more going on this week, lets dive in:
The News
IFTAS, the nonprofit organisation for Trust & Safety on the social web, has put out a guide for the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The guide caters towards ‘small and micro services’ that has member accounts in the EU, which is the large majority of fediverse servers. It is a practical and easy overview of what is expected if you are the operator of a fediverse server, and highly recommended if you are a server admin to check it out. Most requirements in the DSA that are applicable to ‘small and micro services’ (platforms with less than 50 employees and less than 10M EUR turnover) are on how to provide ways of communication with authorities and how to handle their requests. The requirement (art 13) in the DSA that might give server operators the most difficulty is that platforms that are located outside of the EU, but ‘serve EU users or make their services available in the EU are required to have an EU-based
legal representative to manage compliance and communication with EU authorities.’ It seems a significant number of fediverse servers are currently not in compliance with this requirement, and no clear direction yet on how to get there.
Sora is an iOS and MacOS client for the fediverse (for Mastodon, the Forkeys as well as Bluesky), which has been pushing the boundaries with what is possible with 3rd party fediverse clients. The app features a custom For You algorithmic feed, and the developer recently showed during FediForum how people have complete control over their algorithm. Now the developer is back with another update, this time adding P2P video calling to the client. A gif in the announcement post shows how it works. You can schedule a meeting, which send a link for the other person’s fediverse account to join. Both people need to use Sora to use the feature. The developer stated that if there is enough interest in the feature, he will work on making the feature available as a web client that does not require Sora.
Flipboard has reached another major milestone in their process fully federate Flipboard and have full interoperability with the rest of the fediverse. There is now two-way interaction with fediverse accounts and Flipboard accounts that are federated. CEO Mike McCue explains: “Now when a federated Flipboard user curates, people in the fediverse can reply, favorite, boost or follow those Flipboard users who will in turn see that activity in their usual notifications tab. Even better, Flipboard users can directly reply to people in the fediverse — and very soon they will also be able to follow each other.” Furthermore, Flipboard has enabled federation for another 11000 magazines, creating increasing the amount of curated content that is available in the fediverse.
Lyrak is a new social platform that focuses on real-time news and revenue sharing with creators that was announced this week. In the announcement post, Lyrak also stated that fediverse integration will be added to the platform ‘soon’. For more information on Lyrak, Sarah Perez has more extensive look, over at TechCrunch.
Russia’s censorship agency blocks access to the lgtbqia.space server in Russia. The admins of the lgtbqia.space server got a notification by the Russian agency demanding that they remove an account from their server. The account is for a ‘blog about LGBTQ+ people, literature, sports, humor, etc.’ The admins refused to comply, after which the server is now inaccessible in Russia.
During FediForum, Newsmast showcased their new project Patchwork. In a new update, Newsmast says that they ‘are looking at rolling out a Beta version in the coming months, with features like easy opt in or out of networking with Threads & Bluesky, spam management and content filters.’
A blog post on using Mastodon to follow on Threads accounts, from the perspective of someone who has mainly been using Threads. The blog showcases how third party clients are a major selling point for the fediverse.
Meanwhile, Threads invites developers to sign up for API access, but it seems the API can only be used for posting into Threads, as well as analytics. It rules out the possibility of building full-featured third-party clients as you can with the rest of the fediverse.
Some news from Bluesky
Brazilian president Lula has opened an account on Bluesky, Brasil247.com reports. The news comes after an escalating conflict between X and the Brazilian Courts. Elon Musk publicly refused to follow orders by the Brazilian court to block certain accounts on X, and a Brazilian judge has ordered an investigation of Elon Musk for obstruction of justice. President Lula opening an account on Bluesky is a direct response to the ongoing conflict between the Brazilian government and X, and indicates how governments are starting to be fed up with the situation at X. President Lula used his first post on Bluesky to say that 38 slaughterhouses will be authorised to export meat to China. (?)
The Links
Mastodon is hiring a new core team member for back-end development.
An update on BridgyFed, the upcoming bridge between the fediverse and Bluesky, and the work to make it fully opt-in/consent based.
Fediverse Event planning tool Mobilizon has transferred ownership recently, and the new team, Kaihuri, will give a presentation of the new version next week on Monday April 15th.
A reading of the Canadian Online Harms Act, from the perspective of fediverse admins.
An update on radio free fedi, who have launched their new website as well.
📨 Latest issue of my curated #cybersecurity and #infosec list of resources for week #24/2023 is out! It includes, but not only:
→ 🇺🇸 🇨🇳 The US Navy, NATO, and #NASA are using a shady Chinese company’s #encryption chips
→ 🦠 🏢 #Ransomware Group Starts Naming Victims of #MOVEit Zero-Day Attacks
→ ☁️ 🪣 New Supply Chain Attack Exploits Abandoned #S3Buckets to Distribute Malicious Binaries
→ ☁️ #XSS Vulnerabilities in #Azure Led to Unauthorized Access to User Sessions
→ 🇨🇳 🦠 #Barracuda ESG zero-day attacks linked to suspected Chinese hackers
→ 🇷🇺 🇺🇸 Russian national arrested in Arizona, charged for alleged role in #LockBit ransomware attacks
→ 🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Russia-backed hackers unleash new USB-based malware on #Ukraine’s military
→ 🇺🇸 💰 LockBit Ransomware Extorts $91 Million from U.S. Companies
→ 🇷🇺 🇺🇦 #Microsoft identifies new hacking unit within Russian military intelligence
→ 🦠 Fake Researcher Profiles Spread #Malware through #GitHub Repositories as PoC Exploits
→ 🎣 👟 Massive #phishing campaign uses 6,000 sites to impersonate 100 brands
→ 🇨🇳 Chinese Cyberspies Caught Exploiting #VMware ESXi #ZeroDay
→ 🩹 Microsoft #PatchTuesday, June 2023 Edition
→ ☁️ Microsoft: Azure Portal #outage was caused by traffic “spike”
→ 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 #China's cyber now aimed at infrastructure, warns CISA boss
→ 🇰🇷 🇨🇳 Ex-Samsung executive alleged to have stolen tech to recreate chip plant in China
→ 🇨🇭 🗄️ Swiss Fear Government Data Stolen in Cyberattack
→ 🩹 🔐 #Fortinet fixes critical RCE flaw in #Fortigate SSL-VPN devices, patch now
📚 This week's recommended reading is: "The Cyber Effect: An Expert in Cyberpsychology Explains How Technology Is Shaping Our Children, Our Behavior, and Our Values — and What We Can Do About It" by Prof Mary Aiken
Subscribe to the #newsletter to have it piping hot in your inbox every Sunday ⬇️
So this is the pictograph to the left of the really crisp one seen in my last post. Sadly, this one has not fared well over the centuries. The left side of it has mostly been washed away by water running down the cliff face. I enhanced this one quite a bit so we could see some of the detail. When it was fresh, I think this one would have really been spectacular! It has many more elements to it than the last one I posted.
Forget this guide because their control recipe is less than perfect. This recipe is perfect. Fight me. I didn’t perfect it, America’s Test Kitchen did. Kudos to them.
I call this recipe perfect, not only because it makes the exact kind of cookie I crave, but because it can go from stored ingredients to finished cookie in the time it takes to prepare (without the hassle of softening butter) and it will make your house smell heavenly the entire time.
Buy good (and fresh) ingredients, you can’t make perfect cookies with rubbish ingredients.
Perfect Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
INGREDIENTS
1-3/4 cups (210g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 (3g) teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (197g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar
3/4 cups (160g) packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon (9g) table salt
2 teaspoons (11.2g) vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1-1/4 cups (296mL) semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup (177mL) chopped pecans or chopped toasted walnuts (optional)
PREPARATION Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
Heat 10 tablespoons (140g) butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl.
Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies the edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.
Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.
Give these cookies away. Seriously, they are too delicious. Your waistline and your neighbors will thank you. Just don’t give any cookies to the ignorant fucks whining about units. They got the conversion all wrong anyway.
A bit of a quieter news week, especially after last week’s business with Threads’ open beta for federation and Fediforum, with a variety of smaller news items. So let’s dive into this week’s news:
The News
Fediverse event planning platform Mobilizon transfers ownership, from Framasoft to Kaihuri. Framasoft (who also develops PeerTube) has been developing Mobilizon for the past few years, and feels that they have achieved their vision. The Kaihuri association has obtained funding from the NLnet organisation for futher developement.
@Oliphant has maintained the Oliphant’s blocklists over the last few years. He has been working together with IFTAS on the upcoming FediCheck project. FediCheck is a Web service from IFTAS that allows service providers to review and subscribe to external sources such as the IFTAS CARIAD database for automated updates. @Oliphantsays about his blocklist project that “project I’m doing is an “interim step on the road to something better.” FediCheck is the “something better”, at least so far as what I can contribute.” As such, future work on the Oliphant blocklist will be minimal, and more information on this will be out soon.
Mastodon’s upcoming new release will feature ‘severed relationship’ notifications. Mastodon CTO Renaud Chaput explains that these notifications will appear when a moderator or admin blocks a user or a whole domain and this action caused you to loose some follows or followers. Screenshots how this will look like available here. There will also be new ways to filter your notifications. The new update, version 4.3, is expected to be released in the next 6 to 8 weeks.
A short update on statistics about Threads: Threads’ legal department denied the request to share NodeInfo data, according to Daniel Supernault, who maintains fedidb.org. Mastodon’s CTO Renaud Chaput meanwhile indicates that mastodon.social knows about 2800 Threads accounts who have turned on federation. While the mastodon.social server does not know about all Threads accounts, it does provide a good indication of roughly the amount of Threads accounts that have turned on federation.
WeDistribute wrote about the decision by the maintainer of fedi.garden to only list instances that do not federate with Threads. The article has a good explainer of the situation, but what stands out to me is that this is another small step towards understanding the fediverse as multiple fediverses instead.
John Spurlock has given an extensive write-up of the current state of work on ActivityPub and podcasting. It is a subject that deserves significantly more attention, something that I hope to get to soon. For people who are interested in a deep dive on the subject, the write-up by Spurlock is excellent.
Sora, an iOS fediverse client for Mastodon, the Forkeys as well as Bluesky keeps pushing the boundaries of innovation in fediverse clients. Last week on Fediforum the developer showcased how Sora has client-side algorithmic feeds that are customisable.. The latest update is a ‘fediverse watch tab’, a scrolling feed of fediverse videos.
The Links
FediTest, a framework to help fediverse developers test, has some new information about the feedback they’ve received.
After the Wise Wolf crushed the vampire night stalker, we come to the last match of Round 2, and a fitting match to end this round with. Today, an archetypal ara will face off against an archetypal loli.
** 6. Lum / Urusei Yatsura **
Lum won against a popular gyaru, having a more potent popularity and status that is firmly established long before there was even a Fediverse to host this tournament. She is THE classic anime girl to end all anime girls. That does not mean she is automatically the Fediverse's best anime girl, though being the classic brings a massive home field advantage. Another thing people have forgotten is that Lum is a monster girl and an alien, who wants to remain faithful to Ataru despite him being a womanizing manslut for most of the series.
There are still some doubts about Lum. She won as many votes in her match as Liru did in the Shinobu versus Liru match. Marin was also an easy opponent to beat, being new and being seen, rightfully or wrongfully, as a "flavor-of-the-month" girl. Shinobu does not have those disadvantages. Shinobu, while being seen mainly as a loli, has an Ara mode that is quite the looker. And obviously, being a monster girl is not an advantage when the other girl is a monster girl too.
"Lum will cook you dinner if you vote for her," says Poast's ElTigre. Though this may not be a home advantage for Lum. Shinobu is said to do wifely chores for you too.
When the Chief Lum Appreciator on the Fediverse, the Portegeuse lenged RealRaul, was asked to comment on this match, he gave only this response: "LUM! UUOOOOOOH!"
** 11. Shinobu Oshino / Monogatari **
Shinobu, or know by her vampire name KISS-SHOT-ACEROLA-ORION-HEART-UNDER-BLADE, performed very well against a surprisingly strong opponent. Showing off her kawaii aura and perfect charms, Shinobu defeated the werewolf with one of the highest vote counts under the current voting system.
Her biggest obstacle is dealing with the long standing impact Urusei Yatsura had and continues to have on otakus. The second season of Urusei's remake is still airing, while there was only an annoucement of something Monogatari-related in the last few months, and not necessarily a project Shinobu will appear in. Still, that's not as big a disadvantage, if you look at both Konata's and Osaka's performance.
Shinobu's husbando, kvit from the Vampire Maid Cafe, likes to remind everyone, "Beautiful, fun, vampire girl. I do hope you'll vote for her in the upcoming #BestAnimeGirlTourney match." Oh she is very cute! Thank you friend! :bebe:
Salty Apollyon, also known as rlier23 on Baest and Varis, has one simple word in support of Shinobu, "Sex!"
Karna of Poast has a weakness for cute and sexy vampires in simple dress, "The young adult shinobu in a white dress is kryptonite bros. UOOOOOOH!"
She's so adorable :ChikaHappy: it's crazy how even after 4 years I still get butterflies in my stomach from seeing her. That's true love right there <3
Serie: Was wir unseren erwachsenen Kinder 2045 nicht werden erklären können #24
2023 hatten wir noch immer keine Steuer auf #Kerosin erhoben, um damit zum Beispiel Jedem in Deutschland über 100€/a #Klimageld auszubezahlen, weil ... "Malle ist nur einmal im Jahr"?
I came across this 1989 pamphlet summarizing US Immigration law. The "PROBLEMS" list has 33 reasons the US might deny visitors/immigrants or require certain permits/visas/authorizations.
#24 is marked "[Repealed]". What was it, and when did Congress repeal it?
DO NOT #update to #ubuntu#24.04 on #LXC if you use #proxmox, the containers will NOT start. I believe this is something that needs to be fixed by the proxmox team as they seems to be checking for ubuntu version manually in a startup script
The film was popular in the U.S., debuting at #24 on "Variety"'s list of top films. It eventually grossed over $1 million, making it one of the highest grossing films of 1972.
According to the Amercian Film Intitute's Catalog entry for this picture, William Marshall's Mamuwalde was the first black vampire to appear in films.
In the beginning, Mamwalde refers to a Doctor Duvalier. At the time, Haiti was ruled by Doc Duvalier, a voodoo practitioner. #HistoricallyAccurate
Cookie experiments (i.pinimg.com)