Notices by Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)

@rl_dane
> Looks neat!

I don't want to get too excited yet, because the last time I got hyped about a new fediverse app it turned out to be made by auto-generating code. But the fact that the code declares itself alpha, and not ready for production use, suggests a more traditional coding practice 🤞

Today show host:
"What is your appeal going to be to the people of Clacton?"

@CountBinface:
"I'm not Nigel Farage."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJHvzs6IPxc

Priceless!

#CountBinface

I've probably posted this before, but I think it's worth restating for those who haven't seen it;

“In fact, artificial intelligence is something of a red herring. It is not intelligence that is dangerous; it is power. AI is risky only inasmuch as it creates new pools of power. We should aim for ways to ameliorate that risk instead."

#DavidChapman, 2023

https://betterwithout.ai/scary-AI

#AI #AIRisk

@clacke How much work would it be to soft fork Delta Chat, and maintain a version with an interface based on the classic UX?

2 options come to mind;

1) maintain a patch-set that mods the interface code in each new version of DC to create releases of the fork

2) start with the version just before it started downgrading the email client use case. Backport any critical security patches. Release. Rinse, repeat, very time a new DC version comes out.

@clacke Is this a good argument for cleanly separating backend code from interface code and having them talk to each other through a documented API? Seems like it is to me, but I'm aware that's a rank amateur's hot take.

@clacke The impression I get is that the changes were made to discourage the 'Delta Chat as email client with optional E2EE chat' use case, in favour of the 'all chatmail, all the time' use case. But you could be right.

And in today's edition of staring into the abyss in growing horror;

"On Monday, Ashley St Clair, the mother of one of Musk’s children and a victim of Grok deepfakes, told the Guardian she felt 'horrified and violated' after Musk’s fans undressed pictures of her as a child. She felt she was being punished for speaking up against the billionaire, from whom she is estranged, describing the images as revenge porn."

#AmeliaGentleman, #HelenaHorton, 2026

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/11/how-grok-nudification-tool-went-viral-x-elon-musk

#Grok #ElonMusk

@icedquinn
> some people are trying to cope with the enshittification of bandcamp in this way

Quite a few it seems, and they've all started to find each other and look at ways to interop and amplify each other's work;

https://the.socialmusic.network/t/collective-projects-for-rethinking-music-streaming/830

It wouldn't be strictly accurate to say #TIL about @fairplayer, but I still want to encourage everyone to check it out;

"A free, decentralized music player, without opaque algorithms or ads, that can be managed democratically."

https://fairplayer.org/

#FairPlayer #MusicStreaming #streaming #music

@aral
A satellite that reflect sunlight is Bond villain stuff. I'm not particularly creative, but my head is fizzing with unscrupulous or malicious uses it could be put to. I don't want to share any, in case it gives them ideas 😬

@simon_brooke

@clacke I'm really pissed off with these decisions breaking my use case. When I have the spoons, I'm just going to set up a standard email client, and get anyone who is willing to install an E2EE chat app to use XMPP or Matrix.

But honestly, I'm really starting to understand why most people just surrender to the status quo. The admin involved in evaluating and setting up replacements is already high, and then every now and then stuff like this happens.

"The option “Move automatically to DeltaChat Folder” as well as other legacy options will be removed in the next weeks.

...

Only if you share the same email address for chatting and classic usage, which is discouraged since some time, the encrypted messages in the Inbox may be annoying."

https://delta.chat/en/legacy-move

This is news to me @delta.

(1/?)

#chat #E2EE #DeltaChat

The whole value proposition of Delta Chat for me was that it gave me a chat-like interface for my personal email account, plus E2EE with anyone I could convince to use it too. No more it seems. This decision by DC devs forces me to either put up with encrypted gobbledygook in my inbox or switch to another email app.

Most of the family and friends I convinced to try DC have since uninstalled it. I have maybe one contact still using it. So I'm afraid it's the end of the road for me and DC.

(2/?)

A public service message from the Baby Boomers of NZ;

If you're a kiwi and not yet retired, it's very important that you don't vote in the general election this November. Only Boomers really understand how complicated things like government policy, infrastructure and public services work. If you want to do well in NZ in 2026, find some Boomers and do what they tell you.

(1/?)

If people younger than Boomers vote, they're only going to vote for irresponsible young people parties like the Greenies, the Mowri Party, and TOP. Parties full of naive young people who don't understand how the world works.

For example, they don't understand that being rich confers on people a near magical ability to create wealth. The more you don't tax them and let them own stuff that used to be everybody's, the more wealth they create. It just seeps out of their pores if you let it.

(2/?)

This is a bellwether of where calls for "AI" regulation are at in Aotearoa;

"AI is being hyped by major tech companies worldwide, who often overstate the capabilities of their products. And for every positive article or press release, there is another news story highlighting AI harms."

*But*;

"We all want New Zealand to prosper. And we agree that AI has a major role to play. But it must be used in a safe and responsible manner."

https://regulateai.nz/

(1/?)

#MOLE #AI

A years or 2 into my time on that anarchist email list, some of the links people shared led to a newish service called EGroups, where anyone could start their own email lists;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EGroups

It was later bought by Yahoo! and merged with YahooGroups, and a couple of decades later, deleted. My first experience of a startup funded by Venture Capitalists, and the startup lifecycle described in @Rushkoff's 'Throwing Rocks ...', and @aral's talk about unicorns shitting on lawns.

(3/?)

I was a bit too late to the internet party to get on UseNet. By the time I got regular net access in the late 1990s, email lists ('listservs' in the jargon of the time, or sometimes 'email loops') were the place to be.

I cut my online debating teeth on a well-established anarchist anarchist list, run using the Majordomo software. This was a fantastic resource, including anarchists from a number of countries, and a source of regular news about new ways other activists were using the net.

(1/?)

It was through that anarchist email list that I learned about the plans for an Independent Media Centre for the 1999 protests in Seattle. Along with the accompaning Indymedia site, which became the focus on my media activism for most of the 2000s.

From there I also learned about the Nothingness situationist email lists;

https://www.nothingness.org/about.html

(FYI list links are currently broken, but the page gives a favour)

As well as a bunch of other activist email lists hosted in various places.

(2/?)

@hakui
> having to click through to see the rest, instead of just getting tagged in every reply part is an additional step for me and i'd prefer the latter

I hear you, I'll do my best to remember. But I have ADH... oh look a squirrel! Urrgh, where was I? Oh yeah, feel free to remind me if I forget ; )

I think the best solution, as @p says, is not to use Mastodon for serious discussions. I really need to document the various alt accounts I've had kicking around, and see which ones still exist.