Notices by holga (hpk@chaos.social)

Back when i studied #cryptography in the 1990ties, my wonderful professor gave an intro lecture and one of his first points was: "Security" by itself does not exist. You have to state the property you want to secure, and describe the attack model. Moreover, claiming #security as a generic absolute feature marks someone who does not really know what they are talking about. Can't get rid of remembering this lecture ;)

There are two types of countries when it comes to accountability of top politicians -- Brazil https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/brazil-fernando-collor-just arrested a former head of state and France are known to not shy away from prosecuting former top politicians. On the other end of the spectrum, Germany, the UK and the US consistently fail to prosecute top politicians and corruption at the top. That's at least my rough view. Maybe there is a scientifically done survey?

all humans on planet earth can stand next to each other on *Mallorca*, a small island in the Mediterranean sea. It'd be a bit cozy (2-3 people on each square meter) but it's useful to have this scale in mind when someone talks about "overpopulation".

@feld if that risk of endangering e2ee exists I don't get why there is not more fuzz about the take it down bill. Is it because news channels, rights and privacy groups and journalists are overwhelmed by the many fundamental shifts happening at once ?

@feld but does it also affect eg signal's stories?

@feld really a bit weird that no one talks about it? Can't claim to fully understand the take it down act but it sounds like potentially having far reaching implications.

Dear @ThePSF ...

having been engaged with #Python through co-creating #pytest #pypy, giving talks and trainings i appreciate that the PSF has long been a champion of diversity and inclusion! Are you aware that these days many non-USians are canceling their US travels? The German foreign ministry warns about travel to the US if you are pregnant or don't have your passport carrying a birth gender marker, then this: https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigration/2025/02/28/german-tourist-held-indefinitely-in-san-diego-area-immigrant-detention-facility

Maybe better update the #Pycon webpage accordingly?

@feld how did you get to the 10 dollar figure pee deleted post? Seems high for maybe 30 thousand network requests?

Do you remember February and March 2020? I was walking around the neighborhood today at 5am just as I was five years ago. A feeling of impending dramatic mass-scale changes rising. This time it's a political, a self-inflicted pandemic but no less severe and profound in terms of mass-psychological shifts. What is the equivalent of masking up today? Maybe it's about turning away from macro politics and engaging in micro politics and mental health care with neighbors and friends, in solidarity?

@asymco share the sentiment (made jokes about musk a decade ago that weren't appreciated) but then again, it invokes all kinds of satisfied "I told you so" attitudes which I really dislike, even when feeling them myself. I do admit that I didn't see the full fascist turn as it is evident since some years now btw. The real shocker is realizing how many people go along now .... Loyalists to power, hoping to get a share

Turns out that computing power does translate to political power. See inauguration pictures of tech billionaires and political office holders. The old "we come from cyberspace, your ruling does not apply to us" stance aged badly or needs to be followed up, reworked. Computing is political. Which networks and algorithms are at play and who runs and controls them does matter. It created billionaires who then double as political state-aligned actors, usurping politics or getting usurped.

@feld um, how do Amish get the news?

Most new interesting projects in the social media or messenger space get started by few or even single people. That's totally fine. But if years into development, with a sizable user community, a very hyped project is still centered on a single person with no cooperative dev community to speak of I consider it a warning sign. Mid to long term it is not (only) individual genius but cooperation abilities and practises that allow evolving a sustainable alternative app or service.

@Daojoan while I am sympathetic to many of your points, I regard your ascribed "cynical" behaviour as only superficially cynical. It's often a disguise for confirming the status quo. Not sure if you have the patience or interest to engage but here is a quite different take on "cynics" https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/alejandro-de-acosta-cynical-lessons

@tth @nic must break a lance for those who oppose banafrog by using shinapples instead. Has more peeesh and baaash. Ftw!

Cars to germans are what guns are to americans. Ideologically and psychologically charged no matter the costs or deaths.

How honest is Germany discussing the ICJ case from South Africa against Israel? So much that Namibia condemning Germany's statement to ICJ is not reported in mainstream even though it suffered genocide beginning of the 20th century from Germany ..... https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/14/namibia-condemns-germany-for-defending-israel-in-icj-genocide-case
But of course the new king of Denmark is top news ....

@tinydoctor "can not remember" indeed also means the act of remembering. Remembering a situation of my life, a conversation, is not "knowing it" but living through it again, partly and from there sensistivities rise as to the present. There is no "item" to know and then suddenly everything is different.

Spaces become public through conflict.

It's the conflicts and how we are cooperating around and through it what could make the #fediverse meaningful on larger scales. Don't measure by "number of users", rather appreciate interactions and enjoy other's takes and life signs like you would do in real life.

Oh and protected spaces are totally ok.
There is no imperative to "open up" to toxicity. As they say, free speech does not mean everyone needs to listen.

Meanwhile EU borders kill people on a daily basis. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/21/dozens-of-people-drown-after-dinghy-sinks-near-canary-islands
Still remember how in school I learned about the west/east Germany border where around 140 people were killed in 28 years and it was considered a very evil thing (I grew up in the west). Many times more died just in June 2023 on EU borders. The EU border is orders of magnitude deadlier than the Berlin wall.