Artists have finally had enough with Meta’s predatory AI policies, but Meta’s loss is Cara’s gain. An artist-run, anti-AI social platform, Cara has grown from 40,000 to 650,000 users within the last week, catapulting it to the top of the App Store charts....
I think it would be great for new social things like this to just speak ActivityPub. They can build up their own user experience and culture while joining a larger network. I don’t have a problem with the software itself being non-free if the protocols are and they commit to supporting account migration.
Even if somebody wanted to make an unmoderated ATProto app, I guess they could? Good luck with the app stores and regulators and users
ActivityPub provides the option to do just that. Anybody can spin up a server running Mastodon, Lemmy, Pleroma, etc… and moderate it however they like. There are a multitude of clients in app stores and an unmoderated server won’t affect that because they’re generic clients like web browsers. There are countries such a server could be hosted in with minimal regulations.
As for users… you’ll probably get some and they’ll probably be horrible. Most people will probably block your server.
Have the admins of lemmy.world ever given a reason for this decision?
Yes. This post gives their thoughts around the time Threads started talking about federation and it’s pretty much “let’s wait and see if this results in problems”. They note a high probability of problems leading to defederation if a significant number of Threads users start posting to Lemmy communities.
I am happy with this approach. I want my Lemmy server to federate with every compatible server unless and until that server becomes a source of problems. I do not want it to preemptively or transitively[1] block anything. The great thing about federated systems is that people who are not happy with that approach can join a different server with policies that better match their preferences.
[1] A transitive block is blocking a server because it doesn’t block a third server.
Four years ago there were refrigerator trucks full of corpses and a mob was storming the capitol to overthrow the government on behalf of a would-be dictator.
Nothing resembling either of those things has happened yet this year, so I think in a lot of ways we’re all better off regardless of our individual circumstances. Only the second one has much to do with who’s president though.
It Has Been X Days Since a Techbro Asshole Released a Fedi Scraper/Indexer.
There is an extreme amount of hostility from a certain segment of the (mostly Mastodon-using) Fediverse community toward anything that does anything with Fediverse content “without consent”. Trouble is, there’s no machine-readable mechanism for determining what people have consented to in most cases, and certainly no standard for it.
If your computer sends my computer an image and some text via ActivityPub, without any further communication, may I…
Put it on a website visible to the public?
Send it to other peoples’ computers to do the same with?
Search for it later?
Display it next to advertisements?
Display it on a service I charge people a fee to use?
Keep it after your computer asks mine to delete it?
Some of those things are what Mastodon does normally, but could be understood as copyright violations because the protocol doesn’t transmit any licensing information. Others, like search indexing are almost certainly legal, and the protocol is silent about them, but a few people will get very angry at anyone who visibly handles them differently from Mastodon. Meanwhile, how many people are quietly running servers with search indexes that aren’t even aware of Mastodon’s new opt-in/out search features?
Pixelfed has started attaching licenses to content, but I think we might need more sophisticated, machine-readable licenses.
I’ll refrain from writing the uncharitable version of my reaction to the idea that the Fediverse should be some small, close-knit community forever and instead say that people who want small, close-knit communities based on ActivityPub are free to create them. Mastodon and other major server software supports allowlist-only federation.
People using servers with open federation should expect that their posts will reach an ad-hoc, informally-specified, bug-ridden, slow implementation of half of ActivityPub running on a jailbroken smart light bulb, and that it will behave differently from vanilla Mastodon.
What’s really bizarre is that Google had the chance to be a dominant player in messaging when they made Hangouts the default SMS client on Android. Instead, they backpedaled and let Hangouts wither into obscurity. I’m mostly glad they screwed that up, but also puzzled.
Google is probably trying to get around the cardinal rule of network security: you can’t trust the client.
Their RCS client probably doesn’t make sending a huge volume of messages (i.e. spam) easy, and more automation is possible with root. Yes, it’s stupid, but it’s not completely without purpose.
This may be controversial, but I don’t care what kind of AI-generated images people create as long as it’s obvious they’re not reality. Where I worry is the creation of believable false narratives, from explicit deepfakes of real people to completely fictional newsworthy events.
migrating everything - including podcasts - to YouTube
If only there were other apps for podcasts on Android, it would be a viable operating system.
Google is kind of crap, but Android has a lot more built-in escape hatches than iOS does. People don’t seem to use them as much as I’d hoped, but they’re available.
If a topic is in any way controversial, there’s a good chance it will get removed, when I’m sure the same content wouldn’t get removed on Reddit. I know it depends on subs and instances but I mean more generally, and for example AskLemmy vs AskReddit. Reddit seems to have more leeway for things, whereas Lemmy doesn’t and...
<span style="color:#323232;">2 days ago mod Removed Post What are the best sweet vegetables and savory fruits?
</span><span style="color:#323232;">reason: rule 3 and 5
</span>
I imagine the moderator feels that you are flooding the community with nonsense as described in the rule about spam. It’s likely that moderators in communities with fewer posts and fewer voters take a more active role in removing content they feel is low-quality, while post volume and voting would hide such content from most users in a higher-volume community.
I understand the argument for servers blocking Threads/Meta. It doesn’t strike me as the right choice for every server, but it’s clearly a good choice for some servers. Threads doesn’t moderate the way many fediverse servers would like their peers to, and Meta is generally an ill-behaved company. Blocking it is appropriate for servers emphasizing protection for vulnerable users, and inappropriate for servers trying to be big and open. The fediverse is great because people can choose what’s right for them.
I do not, however understand the argument for blocking servers that do not block Threads and I think the article could be improved with a more thorough explanation. Maybe there’s something I’m missing about the mechanics at work here, but isn’t one’s own server blocking Threads enough to keep Threads users from being able to interact?
It gets worse: everything you post to Lemmy is sent to multiple other servers automatically. Those servers may be in jurisdictions that have very different privacy laws than the server you post from, or that hosts the community you’re posting to. You have no legal agreement with those servers.
We’re not done though. The ActivityPub standard makes delete optional, and other servers could be running anything, not just Lemmy. Some of them are probably running somebody’s janky pet project that implements half of ActivityPub, poorly, on a jailbroken smart light bulb or something.
Lemmy should implement proper post deletion, possibly with a delay to allow moderators and admins to inspect deleted posts, but expect anything you share via ActivityPub to follow the once on the internet, always on the internet rule even more than in the past.
is Metastasis is allowed in the fediverse it will consume the fediverse
How?
I’ve seen the article about Google and XMPP, but I don’t agree with its analysis. It wasn’t easy to find service providers offering XMPP accounts to the public in 2004. I do not believe that Google embraced, extended, and extinguished a thriving ecosystem; there never was a thriving XMPP ecosystem.
There is a thriving ecosystem for federated microblogging, and federated discussions. While I’m sure Meta would like us to join their service, I’m not sure how allowing their users to interact with us will have that effect, nor how blocking that communication protects against it.
It hosts Nazis. I don’t use that term hyperbolically; I’m talking about accounts with swastika emojis in their display names saying things like “the holocaust wasn’t real but it should have been”.
The path for said custom emoji is emoji/custom/windmilloffriendship.png, which I do not wish to link directly.
Technical characteristics like Android making it hard or impossible for third-party app stores to auto-update, as well as restrictive agreements with phone manufacturers and carriers are pretty damning. Google deserves to lose based on that, however,
their devices sometimes warn that the “file might be harmful” and require settings to be changed to allow “unknown” apps
Chrome on Windows warns that a .exe download might be harmful. Chrome on Linux warns that a .deb download might be harmful. We have a long history of malware using drive-by downloads or trying to pose as non-executable file types as evidence that these features are in the user’s interests. At most, some rewording of “unknown” sources might be in order.
In general, I see no problem with law enforcement reading information someone posts publicly on social media and using it against them if it constitutes evidence of a crime or intent to commit a crime. I do, however see some issues with this.
One of them, not mentioned in the article is that the US government is demanding that visa applicants tell the government about all their social media accounts. Being forced to reveal a pseudonymous account is a privacy issue. In addition, the software is looking for ‘“derogatory” comments about the nation’, which is a free speech issue.
Here in South Europe people mostly use Viber. Edit: I was very unaware about situation in Southern Europe as I’ve learned from this post… Most people in Croatia use Viber!
SMS via Google Voice for some very stubborn Americans
Everyone I know in Europe uses Signal or Whatsapp, often both. Sometimes when I suggest to Americans who live in the US that they should use one of those, they counter that I should buy an iPhone and use iMessage.
I think the way Mozilla has handled extensions for Firefox on Android for the past few years is really shitty, but I’m glad to see it moving in the right direction.
Humans who run instances are real people who have jobs and mortgages and kids. I also like having piracy communities around to balance the greedy ass corporations trying to control media and copyright…I’m glad to know they are there if I need them or feel like screwing around with it. I just wonder if the people ranting all...
A bit of looking makes me think the admins have a legitimate concern here. Platform immunity in the EU isn’t quite as strong as it is in the US in general, and it’s specifically weaker with regard to copyright.
A successful copyright lawsuit (maybe even an unsuccessful one) could bring down the whole .world network, which hosts multiple federated services for many people. There could be personal liability for the admins as well. The admins should try to protect against outcomes like that, and the EU should probably strengthen its platform immunity laws.
Back in the day - rooting Android phones and installing custom ROMs were such a big part of Android. I remember so well using titanium backup and Greenify and Cyanogenmod and the list goes on....
Necessary is a matter of perspective, and what it is you need your device to do. Mine is that if you don’t have root (or equivalent) on a computer, you don’t really own it. That’s a philosophical point more than a practical one - I’d want root even if I didn’t currently have a use for it.
Practically, here are some things I use root for in 2023:
Advanced charge controller - limit battery charge to extend service life. Some devices have a built-in option now, but it’s usually only a single switch for 85%. I usually set it to 60%.
Backup of apps with their data (Neo Backup), to install onto another device or after a factory reset - I don’t think there’s a way to do anything like this without root.
Mounting remote devices for access by arbitrary apps using EasySSHFS - I don’t think there’s a good equivalent.
Accessing exfat format external drives, like the SD cards in my camera using MiXPlorer’s built-in filesystem drivers. Android is an asshole for not supporting more filesystems. It’s Linux; the support already exists.
Hosts file ad blocking - DNS ad blocking is a viable alternative now.
If something blocks me from using it with root, I’ll give it a 1-star review on Google Play and probably not use it even if I can get around the blocking. If my bank starts using more effective blocking, I will probably change banks.
A social app for creatives, Cara grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)
Artists have finally had enough with Meta’s predatory AI policies, but Meta’s loss is Cara’s gain. An artist-run, anti-AI social platform, Cara has grown from 40,000 to 650,000 users within the last week, catapulting it to the top of the App Store charts....
Jack Dorsey claims Bluesky is 'repeating all the mistakes' he made at Twitter (www.engadget.com)
Biden is using the 'are you better off today' question to contrast himself with Trump (apnews.com)
The U.S. crime rate is still dropping, FBI data shows (www.nbcnews.com)
Content Nation Backlash Highlights Mastodon's Toxicity (wedistribute.org)
Google is silently blocking RCS messages on rooted Android phones and custom ROMs (www.androidauthority.com)
TL;DR...
Disturbing AI Images of Children Found for Sale on Shutterstock (petapixel.com)
Someone used Shutterstock's AI image generator to create them.
Apple is officially dropping iPhone support for web apps in the EU - The Verge (www.theverge.com)
Apple being Apple again. Just why does anyone actually like that company?
Why do posts frequently get removed on Lemmy when Reddit would not remove them?
If a topic is in any way controversial, there’s a good chance it will get removed, when I’m sure the same content wouldn’t get removed on Reddit. I know it depends on subs and instances but I mean more generally, and for example AskLemmy vs AskReddit. Reddit seems to have more leeway for things, whereas Lemmy doesn’t and...
Instances in the free fediverses should consider "transitive defederation" from instances that federate with Meta (privacy.thenexus.today)
cross-posted from: lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/7477620...
Warning: You cannot delete posts or comments on Lemmy. It stays up forever, and is in direct violation of GDPR and other national privacy laws.
Title says it. Apparently lemmy devs are not concerned with such worldly matters as privacy, or respecting international privacy laws.
Lemmy MAUs climbing back up! You love to see it. (lemmy.zip)
41% of fediverse instances have blocked threads so far!!! (tech.lgbt)
Top 50 defederated instances (lemmy.basedcount.com)
Elon Musk on X antisemitism controversy: “Don’t advertise. Go f*** yourself” (arstechnica.com)
deleted_by_author
A Jury Will Decide If Google's App Store Is an Unjust Monopoly (www.wired.com)
US immigration agencies read visa applicant's social media (www.theregister.com)
Its not your ex ;)
What app you americans use for personal conversations?
Here in South Europe people mostly use Viber. Edit: I was very unaware about situation in Southern Europe as I’ve learned from this post… Most people in Croatia use Viber!
78 desktop extensions available for testing in the Firefox Beta and Nightly Android builds (blog.mozilla.org)
People bitching about Lemmy.world blocking piracy instances sound like spoiled teenagers with no consideration of consequences
Humans who run instances are real people who have jobs and mortgages and kids. I also like having piracy communities around to balance the greedy ass corporations trying to control media and copyright…I’m glad to know they are there if I need them or feel like screwing around with it. I just wonder if the people ranting all...
Is Rooting still as essential as it used to be?
Back in the day - rooting Android phones and installing custom ROMs were such a big part of Android. I remember so well using titanium backup and Greenify and Cyanogenmod and the list goes on....