Notices by James M. (jamesmarshall@sfba.social), page 3

@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

@evan I would like to see modular apps, such that someone could plug in a different UI or other part of the app.

In my own app, a theme consists of an HTML template set, a CSS file, and an image set. A designer could create an entirely different UI, which could then be selected by a user. (The themes will have to pass security checks.)

@evan wait, Plurk arranges posts horizontally? That's what I do in my app, trying to get away from the infinite scroll. I didn't know others already did it!

@evan bikini wax?

@evan
I've heard from Black folks here say that hastag-BlackTwitter there is a literal life-saver for many, and is used to keep the community quickly well-informed of relevant issues, e.g. killings by police. Unfortunately, there is not anything nearly as effective here, yet. I'd love everybody and that community in particular to migrate ASAP, but it will take at least a little time. How can we help?

@evan
I'm extremely interested to know if you can make private posts with ActivityPub and/or Mastodon. As you may know, I've written an app that does private posts, but I'd rather join forces with an existing project if there is one. Such an app/system could complement Mastodon well, if Mastodon can't do it.

@evan
Co-op household? Co-op business? Co-op store?

@evan
Social media was a natural and necessary development once humans got a working network.

It has to be controlled by the users, not some merely profit-seeking corporation, in order for society to be healthy and just. In practice, that means decentralized, and federated seems to be a solid working model of that.

It is NOT sufficient for a healthy and just society. It's a step in the right direction, but there's a lot more work to be done as a society.