Notices by James M. (jamesmarshall@sfba.social), page 2

@evan @mattblaze somehow I missed this blog post when you wrote it. Glad to know you're thinking about it. I'm very interested in making the fediverse more secure for users, including e2ee messages. With support for e2ee *group* messages, support for private posts could be added, and lots more people would feel safe coming here.

@georgetakei so sorry to hear this. 😥 They've both led such inspiring lives.

@evan the dynamics in Netanyahu's coalition seem remarkably similar to the Republican-led House in the US. I hope the coalition falls apart and Netanyahu is removed. No lasting peace is possible with him in power.

@evan I agree, and I'm pushing for a ceasefire myself. However, it leaves some major open issues: What about the hostages? and How can Israel ensure hamas doesn't attack more, as is hamas' stated intention?

I'm genuinely looking for answers to these, but haven't seen any ideas. I'm guessing that if reasonable solutions were offered, there would be more support for a ceasefire within Israel, which is probably where it matters the most.

I'm *not* saying the current bombing and invasion of Gaza help either of these issues; in fact, I think they make both issues worse, and are breeding immeasurable, global anti-Israel sentiment. But I do think those are understandable questions asked by those who aren't supporting a ceasefire. Yes, it would all be easier if Netanyahu hadn't treated Palestinians so badly in the past, but we can't change the past.

Long-term peace seems impossible as long as either hamas or Netanyahu is in power, since they both actively oppose peace. They have that in common. :(

@Antigrav @evan yes, I agree that Palestinians should have equal rights as Israelis. There are many things that need to be done in the long term. But I'm asking more immediately: If we want a ceasefire now, then how can we a) get the hostages back, and b) prevent hamas from attacking again in the future? If we had good answers to those questions, I think support for a ceasefire would increase. They are valid concerns.

Be careful about collective punishment, as you seem to equate Zionism with Israel and Judaism. Many Israelis and Jews elsewhere have been speaking up for Palestinian rights for decades. Also, make sure you appreciate what they're dealing with-- hamas is very literally calling for the extermination of all Jews worldwide, as they always have, and do not recognize Israel's right to exist. Worst of all, hamas has a lot of support from Iran and other anti-Israel countries.

If you don't think Israel has a right to exist: Both Jews and Palestinians are indigenous there.

@georgetakei the media is failing so badly right now. :( We have a major party of actual fascists openly fighting tooth and nail to end our democracy, and all the media is focusing on is this blown-up Biden age issue, without mentioning Trump's age and health.

It's almost like many in the media would be just fine with fascist rule.

@evan you don't think so? I'm thinking of the (IMO outsized) commercial influence there's been on RFCs in the last 20 years, and the goog's exertion of control over the Android ecosystem despite it being based on Linux. I guess not exactly EEE, but still, corporate control over things that were previously more open. I mean, I'm glad more of Big Tech is coming here, I just don't trust them at all and I think we should watch them carefully.

@evan that's what I'm hoping. I worry a little about EEE.

@evan I'm strong yes, but one person pointed out that they want to be able to post from an account their employer does not control, for various reasons. Maybe they keep separate personal and professional accounts, and when they change employers they can migrate to their new employer's instance to take their followers with them?

@evan ultimately I play to have fun, but some games kind of rely on players trying to win, or else the game dynamic/balance doesn't really work. So with those cases I usually try to win just to keep it fun for everyone, but I don't mind losing.

Tangent: If you make losing funny even for the person who loses, then losing loses its sting.

@evan activists who organize citizens, including spreading the word.

@evan that would be nice, but I don't think ChatGPT will be it. It gets a lot wrong, often in subtle ways that take an expert to spot. I think trusting it is a recipe for disaster.

@evan oh right, fediverse search. Sorry.

@evan at least partially. I believe the default choice for power in Berkeley is either mostly or fully renewable.

@evan @elipariser @vanderwal sorry for the necro, but regarding Evan's Triangle-- what if, for wide distribution, you use the tape tree concept? That is, the sending server distributes to a much smaller number of intermediary servers, each of which sends to a fraction of the recipient list? It would be non-trivial-- for one thing, the intermediaries would have to know which recipients they're responsible for-- but I'm not convinced it's not possible. Not much load on any one server.

@evan what's the topic?

@evan servers do little but pass encrypted messages among themselves and clients.

@evan my app has the client encrypt messages in layers to hide non-adjacent nodes from each other, kinda like Tor but at a higher protocol layer, and with multiple recipients. Replies and reactions to a post have to be routed through the OP's device, which then distributes them to the OP's friends. In this way, the social graph is hidden from servers.

@evan yeah, that's the question, thanks.

From the #ActivityPub spec, it seems like servers must know your social graph as an inherent part of the protocol. Is this correct?

I'm writing a privacy-centric social media app that hides your social graph, and I'd like to adapt it to AP but that seems impossible. Possible approaches include:

a) embed an AP server in the client app to do the AP server role (is this realistic?)

b) continue with my own protocol and build a bridge to AP

Any other ideas? All thoughts welcome!

@evan
@cwebber