#mastodon #fediverse

https://mastodon.cloud/@TheAdmin/116880479865941905

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“John Oliver just broke down how US police surveil everyone: plate readers logging every car for 30 days (35%+ of alerts false), ShotSpotter mics that mistake fireworks for gunfire, Stingrays faking cell towers․ Worth a …”

https://infosec.exchange/@indigoprivacy/117038201712780759

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“John Oliver just broke down how US police surveil everyone: plate readers logging every car for 30 days (35%+ of alerts false), ShotSpotter mics that mistake fireworks for gunfire, Stingrays faking cell towers․ Worth a …”

https://mastodon.social/@indigoprivacy/117038201687022329

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

@wjmaggos @drahardja @kaspi

storytime:

me and an account on one server got into a heated spat once

i got limited there, still am

and yet now this user and i follow each other

because we did the human thing of "fuck you" "no fuck you" and then patched things up

but the mods don't care

i hate that fragmentation shit on the #fediverse

mods need to be cooler heads, or time out their limits/ suspends

but this has NOTHING to do with the "ackshullay let's have nazis" bullshit you are shilling

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Too many ⌗humans across the world live in ⌗dictatorships or ⌗neofeudalist ⌗surveillance states․
Let’s continue debating what is reality and what is not, as long as the real problem lays unaddressed․”

https://mastodon.social/@ashtime/117038075790370588

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

Nice!

"Mastodon is currently considered *the* alternative to Twitter. SURF [the IT cooperative of Dutch education and research] and Universities of the Netherlands are therefore jointly exploring how a Mastodon environment for education and research in the Netherlands can take shape."

https://www.surf.nl/en/mastodon-pilot-for-research-and-education

#fediverse #mastodon #SocialMedia

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Michigan Weighs Limits on How Long Flock Data Is Kept ⌗ALPR ⌗Surveillance ⌗Privacy ⌗FlockSafety deflocktheusa․com/michigan-weighs-limits-on-how-long-flock-data-is-kept/”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117037558320227204

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“🕵️ Latest from ⌗Surveillance ⌗Technology Oversight Project (S․T․O․P․) ⌗NYC 'BREAKING: S․T․O․P․ Argues Texas App Store Accountability Act Should Be Struck⌗Surveillancestopspying․org/content-input/stop-argue…”

https://privacysafe.social/@yaleprivacylab/117035945830695471

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“⌗MissKittyPolitics believes the flurry of ⌗device and ⌗OS updates are government prompted․ She believes the ⌗surveillance level is higher than it's ever been․ You do not have ⌗privacy if you have ⌗co…”

https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hc7tndm7gduompba65aps75k/post/3ms7zn5rrbk2x

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“⌗Review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day – A ⌗Hero for the ⌗Surveillance State?At first, ⌗Spider-Man: Brand New Day looks like another emotional ⌗superhero ⌗story․ Peter Parker has lost everything․ No one reme…”

https://anonsys.net/display/bf69967c-446a-7121-4309-4b3320115978

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“China’s Surveillance Satellites?

NASA still has more advanced satellite networks, I hope․This report provides a concise summary of US Space Force assessments regarding Beijing’s 510+ ISR satellites, counterspace capabi…”

https://thenewmars.wordpress.com/2026/08/03/chinas-surveillance-satellites/

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Trump says U․S․ attorney ‘choked’ by dropping Reflecting Pool vandal case
Trump claimed surveillance footage proved the pool's new liner had been vandalized and argued that Jeanine Pirro, a close political ally, should …”

https://mastodon.hongkongers.net/@glnational_mirror/117033511505759624

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

@briankrebs

Hahaha, my friend keeps telling me about this "tweet" which keeps making rounds around on #socialmedia mostly #reddit and now I am seeing it on #mastodon and he's available on #fediverse #bluesky 😎

https://bsky.app/profile/theselongwars.bsky.social

Spaziergang zum Mittagessen in Taipeis Beitou Distrikt. War ne Spitzen-Idee bei 41 Grad! 🙈

Moin #Fediverse und euch einen gesunden Start in diesen Sonntag. Alles wird gut!

Alt...

Eine steile Steintreppe führt zwischen Gebäuden und dichter Bepflanzung nach oben, markiert durch ein braunes Hinweisschild zum „Hiking Trail“. Auf der linken Seite befindet sich ein Gebäude mit auffälliger roter Fassade und traditioneller Onsen-Symbolik.

Alt...

Eine belebte Stadtstraße in Taiwan, die von zahlreichen bunten Geschäftsschildern auf Chinesisch und geparkten Motorrollern an den Bürgersteigen geprägt ist. Im Hintergrund erheben sich moderne Hochhäuser unter einem sonnigen, leicht bewölkten Himmel.

Alt...

Eine schmale, ruhige Nebengasse in Taiwan, gesäumt von älteren Backstein- und Betongebäuden mit üppigem Pflanzenbewuchs. Am linken Bildrand parkt ein Motorroller vor einem geschlossenen Rollladen, während im Hintergrund eine Person die Sonnenseite der Gasse entlanggeht.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“deflock․org/ An open-source project mapping license plate readers․ These systems continuously record your movements without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion․ ⌗deflock ⌗flocksafety ⌗alpr …”

https://mastodon.social/@gtbarry/117032447815778244

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“I feel iLamps are not going to be used in a way that is in the best interest of the people․ If they were then there would be a lot more publicity about them․ It was the same case with the Flock cameras․
⌗Surveillanc…”

https://mastodon.social/@jensenbutton/117032417427118682

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Arch froze AUR after a 3rd malware wave (1,900+ pkgs)․ A GrapheneOS panic-password became a federal 'destruction of evidence' charge․ AI mines the commons free; builders ship open AMD firmware, GOG on Linux, a Rust X se…”

https://app.wafrn.net/fediverse/post/7a1b143c-62c2-4fce-8695-b035c3b037fd

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“4 New License Plate Readers Spotted Near Charlotte, NC ⌗ALPR ⌗Surveillance ⌗Privacy ⌗FlockSafety deflocktheusa․com/4-new-license-plate-readers-spotted-near-charlotte-nc/”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117031896034501102

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

Please help boost this if you can.

Thanks!

#mastodon #fediverse #fediblock @katzenberger https://tldr.nettime.org/@katzenberger/117032355562237286

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“John Oliver just released an incredibly well researched episode about police surveillance technology․ He goes thoroughly through all the details, while keeping things at a level that's accessible for regular people to u…”

https://defcon.social/@riverpunk/117031329489894485

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

RE: https://stefanbohacek.online/@stefan/117032687069009056

so #Bluesky is NOT, and never will be, part of the interoperable technologies of the #fediverse.

duly noted.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sturmsucht/117025930463084597

"Normal People enjoying normal Things"

This blog post by @sturmsucht sharing his experience with traditional #SocialMedia and the #Fediverse is pure gold. If you've been in both worlds you'll enjoy the read, and the transitioned you've made already, while agreeing violently with your head... 👌🏻😍

"Social media on big tech platforms isn't about sharing what we love and connecting with others anymore"

#SovereignByDesign #DigitalAutonomy #DigitalSovereignty

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Police Surveillance Technology - Last Week Tonight August 1st 2026 youtube․com/watch?v=lnBPhelCdWE ⌗technopolice ⌗surveillance”

https://mamot.fr/@ligaturerecords/117030340406778539

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

Autumn Gnome - Available Here: https://1-lisas-baker.pixels.com/featured/autumn-gnome-lisa-s-baker.html

#autumn #fall #gnome #mushrooms #fantasy #fairytale #autumnleaves #art #arte #artwork #wallart #homedecor #artforhome #artforsale #buyintoart #artprints #canvasprints #mastoart #fediart #fediverse #creativetoots #gnomeart #autumngnome #cute

Alt...

Whimsical autumn gnome with a long white beard and oversized rust-colored hat, surrounded by fall leaves, woodland mushrooms, acorns, and earthy forest tones. This cozy storybook-inspired artwork features warm oranges, browns, golds, and cream colors, making it perfect for autumn décor, fall decorating, woodland themes, cottagecore interiors, and seasonal farmhouse decorating.

#COMMUNITY and #MOVEMENTS NEED DRIVERS (#PEOPLE / #PIONEERS !)

SOCIAL MEDIA AS COLD SOFTWARE WITHOUT THE PEOPLE WORK,
ISN'T SOCIAL BUT 1-WAY.

#FEDIVERSE is not pioneering social more than 1-WAY media storage upload / #software space.

Am I right?

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“⌗China ⌗CCP ⌗Surveillance ⌗Privacy ⌗Flock ⌗GiftArticle nytimes․com/2026/08/02/world/asia/china-surveillance-foreigners-database․html?unlocked_article_code=1․2VA․H7et․3DN62Meyj254&smid=url-share”

https://mastodon.social/@7sleepersmusic/117027823349449580

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Steganography 101 by Benn JordanWhen our government is spying on everything we post, we probably will still need to hide stuff․WIth good steganography, hidden messages in plain sight will survive also social media compr…”

https://mastodon.green/@gimulnautti/117026957947726952

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

@gabboman @jcm

In theory you can do anything you want, and in practice people do that too. As long as you don't break anything that #ActivityPub specs prescribe, the #ActivityStreams vocabulary is just a 'toolbox' of #SocialWeb primitives you can use as building blocks in your solution. The only issue arises if you want your mechanism to have #interoperability with other #fediverse solutions. They should either ignore, or understand it, and not break. Writing a #FEP is the best-practice way to walking the path of adoption of your approach.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“⌗BennJordan shows how to store things in other things․ Use of this is probably good to know in these days of ⌗surveillance on local, state, and national levels․
youtu․be/fhoJK02oD_E”

https://mastodon.social/@tomwsmf/117026896827711145

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“🕵️ Latest from ⌗Surveillance ⌗Technology Oversight Project (S․T․O․P․) ⌗NYC 'Read our latest op-ed with ﹫shahanafrombk․bsky․social: New Yorkers shouldn’t have to trade their faces for a game, groceries, or …”

https://privacysafe.social/@yaleprivacylab/117026840348745927

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“⌗ALPR ⌗Surveillance ⌗Moorhead ⌗Privacy ⌗FlockSafety https://www․deflocktheusa․com”

https://privacysafe.social/@profdiggity/117026740185735783

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Arch froze AUR after a 3rd malware wave (1,900+ pkgs)․ A GrapheneOS panic-password became a federal "destruction of evidence" charge․ AI mines the commons free; builders ship open AMD firmware, GOG on Linux, a Rust X ser...”

https://app.wafrn.net/fediverse/post/3ff5d410-59cf-4a7d-b0dd-32551d247e12

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“﹫tagesschau Smart glasses are a direct violation of individual privacy and personal autonomy․ Covering the camera lens with a sticker changes nothing when the device continues audio capture and intimate data harvesting,...”

https://mastodon.social/@2k115/117026246212297544

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Surveillance Daily: August 2, 2026 ⌗ALPR ⌗Surveillance ⌗Privacy ⌗FlockSafety https://deflocktheusa․com/surveillance-daily-august-2-2026/”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117026233684575042

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

@evan

And in Activitypub I'm sure there are a lot of features specific to code handling that likely aren't supported. That's why it seems to me that unless either protocol has a major rewrite with this specific usecase in mind, that we're going to have to Frankenstein this.

#Activitypub #Git #Coding #Decentralization #Fediverse

RE: https://mementomori.social/@rolle/117027629460304330

I'm on the fediverse to avoid this kind of BS.

Keep the #Fediverse human.

Not whatever #Bluesky is.

#CurrentMood #AI

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Baytown Officer Resigns Amid Flock ALPR Misuse Probe ⌗ALPR ⌗Surveillance ⌗Privacy ⌗FlockSafety https://deflocktheusa․com/baytown-officer-resigns-amid-flock-alpr-misuse-probe/”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117026233525549675

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

"Starting Sunday in #EU, #AI #chatbots, receptionists, #media must reveal they are not human"

https://nltimes.nl/2026/08/02/starting-sunday-eu-ai-chatbots-receptionists-media-must-reveal-human

This is excellent

But:

Laws require enforcement

Or they are just feel-good declarations that rot the rule of law: a corpus of laws without bite means the law has no meaning. A dangerous precedent

So *how* do we fight AI. Especially on #socialMedia

You have to understand it's an existential threat. Not to #Mastodon/ #Fediverse, but *all* social media... all media

1/2

Alt...

an abstract image of "AI"

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“What are legal rights when neighbour's CCTV or Ring doorbell points at your house

https://web․brid․gy/r/https://www․mirror․co․uk/news/uk-news/what-legal-rights-neighbours-cctv-37505045”

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-legal-rights-neighbours-cctv-37505045

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“﹫masnick.com We should NEVER trust anyone who supports sweeping ⌗surveillance measures on the purported basis of "child protection". Never trust them at any time, on any topic. No matter how "progressive" they sound otherwise.Whoever said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" must never have heard of child protection.”

https://zeroes.ca/@dedicto/117026010848621590

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“RE: https:// ec.social-network.europa.eu/﹫E UCommission/117024814378891853 Okay. Now ban it and ban the AI ⌗surveillance that you're trying to impose by playing dirty...”

https://mas.to/@gruby/117025822900283595

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“"Flock says that in optimal conditions, its cameras accurately read more than 96% of license plate characters. Hundreds of pages of records from the Roseville Police Department show a different picture. In 2023 and 2024,...”

https://tldr.nettime.org/@remixtures/117025604260830997

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“📷 7 new license plate readers just reported around Moorhead, MN. Newly mapped by volunteers — see what's watching. ⌗ALPR ⌗Surveillance ⌗Moorhead ⌗Privacy ⌗FlockSafety https:// deflocktheusa.com/flock-...”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117023762945924315

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“https:// futurism.com/future-society/fl ock-surveillance-atlanta-fbi-data-crime-case-solve

# Flock # Surveillance Cameras Are Actually Horrible for Fighting Crime, FBI Data Shows”

https://mastodon.social/@jamesbritt/117023524569477915

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“"ShieldFont is not an anti-AI project," S&A's founders Isaque Seneda and Gabriel Abrucio stress. "We’re simply against the idea that publishing is the same as consenting. We saw how existing opt-out protocols such as rob...”

https://urbanists.social/@MissGayle/117022184509575744

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

@SecondJon @frayoshi @freemo Respect:

1/ #FREEMO was personal & discussed to the end.

2/ BUT .... HE DIDN'T IMPLEMENT A CORE PART OF HIS OWN INSTANCE TO DEEPEN THE #QOTO METHOD:

Questioning
Others to
Teach
Ourselves

SAME ON "#MASTODON SOCIAL"
(IT'S 1-WAY POSTING / 0-REPLIES MOSTLY)

#COMMUNITY and #MOVEMENTS NEED DRIVERS ! PEOPLE ! #PIONEERS !

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT JUST COLD #SOFTWARE / #USERS.

#FEDIVERSE NEEDS more than media storage / #software space.

#QOTO = good idea to try elsewhere

@dendrobatus_azureus

Even the #fediverse is filled with pretty bleak, depressive energy nowadays. :/

I wish I didn't know so many of the things I've learned here about the world. :P

Also, ALT text translates with the rest of the post, which can be helpful for images which contain only foreign language text.

Hubzilla is the most incompatible ActivityPub software in Fediverse. You do just lot of things wrong, to put it mildly.

Here are the facts:

Mastodon was launched in January, 2016.

Hubzilla was launched in March, 2015. Counting an earlier incarnation named Red, it was created in May, 2012, when Friendica's creator re-wrote his own fork of a Friendica fork of his own.

Mastodon implemented ActivityPub in September, 2017, when the spec wasn't finalised yet.

Hubzilla implemented ActivityPub in July, 2017. Two months before Mastodon. Hubzilla was the first software to ever implement ActivityPub.

Hubzilla implemented ActivityPub strictly by the book. It has always tried to stick as close to the official W3C ActivityPub spec as possible.

Mastodon, in stark contrast, has always been stretching the ActivityPub spec until it broke. Not only that, but it has always been adding stuff outside the spec. First it did so to take over certain features from StatusNet which was its original protocol. More recently, it did so with the very intention to break compatibility with the rest of the Fediverse and make everything that isn't Mastodon look broken. And people like you keep falling for it because they think they know for a fact that Mastodon is the ActivityPub reference implementation.

The whole Fediverse has to break the ActivityPub spec just to be able to federate with Mastodon.

yes, the Hubzilla author is writing Streams, with nomadic identity, but it also means, that he understands, that Hubzilla approach is kind of dead-end.

Mike Macgirvin, creator of Friendica, Hubzilla, (streams) and Forte created his post-Hubzilla server applications because he kept advancing the Zot protocol. And he couldn't implement these advancements into Hubzilla because they bore the chance of breaking compatibility with what already existed.

(streams) is not a completely new development, nor is it a straight Hubzilla fork.

(streams) is a 2022 fork of Roadhouse.
Which was a 2022 fork of either the third Osada or Mistpark 2020 or Redmatrix 2020.
Which were 2020 forks of Zap (or each other, but at least one of them was forked from Zap).
Which was a 2018 fork of either Hubzilla itself or the first Osada, which was a 2018 fork of Hubzilla.

Osada and Zap were created to develop Zot6. In its early stages of concept, Mike expected Zot6 to be incompatible with everything else. Mind you, he didn't see that as something bad. Advancing Zot was necessary because the then-current version of Zot was less than optimal. And Mike's vision was a decentralised, nomadic network named the "Grid", entirely based on Zot. The Grid would have been vastly superior to the existing Fediverse in every way possible.

So the issue with his early draft of Zot6 was that it was quite incompatible with non-nomadic protocols. Nomadic Zot6 content could not be translated into non-nomadic protocols like the diaspora* protocol or ActivityPub.

Thus, developing Zot6 on Hubzilla was out of question. Zot6 would have broken too much on Hubzilla. Besides, Hubzilla was bad as a platform to experiment on due to its wealth of supported protocols and other features, all of which would have had to be made compatible with Zot6.

And this is the real reason why Mike created Osada and Zap. From how I see it, and how I remember what he talked about back in the day (I was there, yes), he first forked Osada from Hubzilla. Then he ripped everything out that he didn't need, including support for all protocols except for Zot itself, ActivityPub, RSS and Atom, including the CMS stuff like articles, planning cards, notes, wikis and webpages, etc. Then he modified what was left against his early version of Zot6.

Then he discovered that a cloned Osada channel couldn't properly send content via ActivityPub.

Then, shortly afterwards, he forked Osada into Zap. He removed nomadic identity from Osada which kept ActivityPub and ActivityPub support from Zap which stayed nomadic.

The idea was to have a nomadic, cloned channel on Zap as your main channel that would only connect to Hubzilla, Osada and Zap, and to have an additional, non-nomadic channel on Osada that would serve as a "gateway" between nomadic Zap and the non-nomadic ActivityPub Fediverse.

Of course, this was highly impractical. But by 2019, Mike found a way to make Zot6 compatible with non-nomadic protocols. So, in early 2019, Mike discontinued Osada and forked a new Osada from Zap which only differred from Zap by having ActivityPub support while still being nomadic. This enabled Mike to have one development platform for Zot6 in conjunction with non-nomadic protocols and another one on which ActivityPub did not stand in the way.

Later in 2019, both Osada and Zap got stable releases. At that point, Osada and Zap were identical in code. Both had ActivityPub support. It was included into their cores now and no longer an add-on like on Hubzilla. They only had two differences. One was the branding. The other one was that Osada servers had ActivityPub activated by default, and Zap servers had ActivityPub disabled by default. Keeping Osada around was unnecessary now, so ActivityPub was activated by default on Zap, and Osada was discontinued. Zot6 was so stable that it was soon backported to Hubzilla.

Mike wasn't done yet, though. He now wanted to develop Zot8. Again, he did not want to develop protocol changes on stable production software that people potentially daily-drove.

Thus, three new forks emerged in 2020: another Osada, Mistpark 2020 (a.k.a. Misty) and Redmatrix 2020 (named after the Red Matrix, the name that Hubzilla bore from late 2012 to early 2015 between being created as Red and being re-branded into Hubzilla). Mike used them to develop Zot8. They were identical in all but brand identity.

This was fully intentional on Mike's part to confuse the hell out of the brand fetishists that were growing more and more numerous in the Fediverse. His goal was for people to declare Osada or Misty or Redmatrix the best Fediverse software and superior to everything else, just for him to tell them that Osada, Misty and Redmatrix are absolutely identical. In fact, the three remained identical to Zap in features.

Zot8 never got stable because Mike kept advancing it further and further. In early 2022, he was at Zot11. But Zot11 was so incompatible with everything else, including previous Zot versions, that Mike declared it a new protocol of its own and renamed it Nomad. In order to test-drive it, he forked Osada or Misty or Redmatrix into Roadhouse. After all, there were people who were daring enough to daily-drive production channels on Osada, Misty and Redmatrix, albeit only few. Roadhouse was still identical in features to Zap, Osada, Misty and Redmatrix.

It was now possible to crossgrade between Zap, Osada, Misty, Redmatrix and Roadhouse by simply rebasing the server code.

Later in 2022, he created a new fork of Roadhouse itself. The reason for this was not further protocol advancement. No, this time, it mostly had branding and licensing reasons.

First of all, he wanted to make that fork as easy for others to fork and adopt as possible. Everything he had developed so far was under the MIT license (he himself had relicensed Friendica under the AGPLv3 in 2011, but he didn't actually develop on Friendica; he developed on a fork named Free-Friendika that was still MIT-licensed and then backported the changes to the Friendica repository, and Red was a Free-Friendika fork). This new repository was released into the public domain. At first, the whole thing was never primarily intended to be installed on servers as it was, but rather to be forked as the base of something new.

At least the core and Mike's own add-ons were. What third-party add-ons from Hubzilla times were still there got to keep their maze of licenses. This was intentional on Mike's part, too. It would make it impossible for commercial players to scoop up the whole thing and relicense it into something non-free and commercial without breaking any licenses, or without pumping tons of money into their legal department to work around that maze of licenses.

Also, Mike removed any and all naming and branding from the software. He absolutely intentionally made it nameless. You've read that right. He did this for two reasons. One, whoever wanted to fork it would have to give the fork an individual name and an individual branding. Two, this was to mess with brand fanbois and brand fetishists even more: This thing had no brand to gush over to begin with.

Furthermore, Mike removed all nodeinfo code that he could possibly get away with removing. Again, this was intentional. One intention was to stop this software from automatically joining the "my Fediverse project is bigger than yours" and "my server is bigger than yours" rat races. He intentionally did everything he could to keep this software away from The Federation, Fediverse Observer, FediDB and the like.

The other intention was for the case of commercial players looking for free code to steal. If this software had really taken off and left its stats proving its popularity everywhere, some big commercial player would have been likely to try and steal this software, make it commercial and non-free and release it as their own original creation. So his intention was for them to not even be able to find it in this case. (This, by the way, was the reason why he relicensed Friendica under the AGPLv3, and why he hardly ever spoke about Free-Friendika: Now that Friendica was growing popular, he didn't want big commercial players to scoop up code of his under a license that they could change to non-free.)

This server application became the first and only one in the Fediverse with no fixed server type identifier, in fact, with none at all by default. It has one text field for the server name, just like Mastodon and Friendica and Hubzilla and the like. But it has an additional field where the server type, i.e. the identifier for the software, can be entered. If none is entered, it's derived from the server name. Mike used to have a server that identified as "Y" because, as he said, "Y is not X."

While the application itself is nameless (for it still is), the code repository did require a name of sorts. Mike named the repository "streams".

Now, the community needed something to call that nameless software when they spoke about it. So they unofficially established "(streams)", complete with parentheses that make sure that this is not actually the name of this software. Those who say, "Streams," with a capital S and no parentheses, and who use that term as if it's an official name, usually sincerely believe that this is the official name.

Mike himself uses "streams" without the parentheses because even he needs something to call his own software by. Before Forte was made, he preferred talking about the streams repository without directly mentioning the software. And he himself denied that (streams) is even a project. It's just a bunch of code that runs.

As far as I know, it was now possible to freely crossgrade between six different server applications because they were still identical in features. Only that Mike also had six server applications to take care of now.

So on December 31st, 2022, Mike discontinued Zap, Osada, Misty, Redmatrix and Roadhouse. Admins who ran either of these on their servers were recommended to rebase their servers to the streams repository. In this case, by the way, the old branding was kept. I've seen a server that still had "zap" as its subdomain which indicated that it was set up as a Zap server, that had Misty branding, but that actually ran (streams).

From then on, Mike dedicated his time to maintaining and developing only the streams repository. He still occasionally helped Hubzilla out, though.

In 2023, the Mitra creator and developer silverpill approached Mike. The goal was to make Mitra nomadic. I guess earlier attempts using a blockchain and crypto technology didn't come to fruition, so it had to be Mike's way which had proven itself stable for more than a decade. However, Mitra was to remain based on ActivityPub.

It was in this exchange that Mike realised that ActivityPub could indeed be used for nomadic identity if a few things were added to it. One outcome was FEP-ef61 "Portable Objects" which introduced decentralised IDs (DIDs) that would not be bound to any one server domain.

Instead of creating a whole new server application to play with, Mike simply made a "nomadic" branch in the streams repository (even though the software was already nomadic) in which he implemented support for nomadic identity via ActivityPub. Support as in (streams) understanding it while internally still using Nomad for nomadicity.

In June, 2024, Mike considered the "nomadic" branch reliable enough and merged it into the "dev" branch.

In July, 2024, Mike merged the "dev" branch into the "release" branch which caused DIDs as per FEP-ef61 to be rolled out to existing production servers. On accounts created on this new version, channels would have a DID internally. On accounts greated on any previous version, even new channels would keep the old ID system for the time being. This way, existing accounts and channels weren't messed with.

However, what had worked under supervised and restricted lab conditions completely blew up under real-life conditions. Again, I was there on (streams) with a pre-DID account and two channels on it. I still have them. (streams) channels wouldn't federate with anything anymore. It had become impossible to send anything anywhere. What Mike was facing was nothing short of an enigma because not even he knew what was going in.

So he started tinkering. In mid-August, Mike forked the streams repository into something named and branded Forte. He did so so he could rip the Nomad protocol out while still keeping the entire functionality. He had to get rid of Nomad because he had discovered that (streams) got confused juggling all the many IDs it had to deal with, so he had to weed out the Nomad and Zot6 IDs to make things easier. But he couldn't possibly have done that on (streams) proper.

This way, Mike created the very first Fediverse server software that uses ActivityPub for full nomadicity, including cloning.

By the end of August, things got back to normal. But Mike, having spent every free minute in the last few weeks to get (streams) back into working condition, was burned out. He sent an open message around in which he declared that he would completely retire from Fediverse development, and both the streams repository and Forte were up for grabs.

But nobody was found who could take over either. (streams) and Forte probably had way fewer than 100 users combined. Those few who would have been able to maintain either didn't have time. One did have time and was willing to do so, but he didn't know how to code. He eventually did start teaching himself, and he occasionally contributes merge requests, but there was no way he could take over as the only dev for either, much less both. So Mike had to go on, whether he wanted or not, albeit at a somewhat slower pace.

This is why Mike is still developing (streams) and Forte to this day.

By the way: The reason why Mike "abandoned" his old software was because he needed to invest all his time into protocol development and advancement. Mike isn't the one to constantly maintain stable server software unless he absolutely has to.

In 2011, he handed Friendica over to two new developers so that he had time to create the Zot protocol.

In 2015 already, he handed Hubzilla over to two new developers so that he had time to explore the advancement of the Zot protocol. He still contributed to Hubzilla's development.

In 2019, he wanted to hand Osada and Zap over to the community, now that they were stable, so he had time to develop Zot8. But the Osada/Zap community was so tiny that he couldn't get a new dedicated developer team together.

In 2024, he wanted to hand (streams) and Forte over to the community because fixing (streams)' huge identity bug, which led to Forte's creation, had burnt him out. He wanted to quit. But, again, he couldn't because (streams) didn't have a single user who had both the time and the knowledge to take over as the new main dev.

Consider this: Gargron was a young man when he made Mastodon. I think he was still at university. Mike Macgirvin made Friendica, he had some three decades of professional work in IT and software under his belly. Gargron was at the beginning of his career. Mike had quit and moved from the USA to the western Australian outback where he has been living as a farmer ever since. He might actually be older than Gargron's parents.

while nomadic identitity would be cool thing, currently it does not exist

Nomadic identity does exist. Not as a vague idea, not as a concept on paper, but as a stable, production-grade feature that has been used to its full extent for well over a decade now. Just because Mastodon doesn't have it, doesn't mean the Fediverse doesn't have it. And just because Mastodon doesn't recognise it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

The Fediverse has loads of features which Mastodon users want "the Fediverse" to have. It has features which many Mastodon users have never wanted "the Fediverse" to have such as quote-posts, introduced by Mike Macgirvin on Mistpark in 2010. It even has features that are completely and utterly unimaginable for Mastodon users, and it has had even these since as early as 2010, 2012 or 2015.

Nomadic identity was invented by Mike Macgirvin in 2011 with the Zot protocol.

It was first implemented by him in mid-2012 when he rewrote Red against Zot. This means that Hubzilla itself has been offering full-blown nomadic identity since 2012, almost four years longer than Mastodon has existed.

This very Hubzilla channel that I'm commenting from right here, right now, is actually nomadic. It is cloned across two servers: hub.netzgemeinde.eu and hub.hubzilla.de. And it has been since before Elon Musk announced to take over Twitter in early 2022. When I sent you this comment, it was automatically sync'd over to hub.hubzilla.de. When you sent the comment that I'm replying to, it was automatically sync'd over to hub.hubzilla.de. The clone has actually been of great help at least once.

Unfortunately, non-nomadic software identifies cloned channels as fully separate accounts with fully separate identities. But rest assured: @Jupiter Rowland on hub.hubzilla.de is my clone. It's the live, hot, real-time, bidirectional backup of the main instance of my channel, @Jupiter Rowland on hub.netzgemeinde.eu that you're following now. They're both one and the same channel with one and the same identity, jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu, even though Mastodon is unable to see it as such. Go check both. You'll see they've got all the same content in them, including comments from others. Including your comment. How else can jupiter_rowland@hub.hubzilla.de possibly have one of your comments under a post if you've only sent that comment to jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu if it weren't for nomadic identity?

Even nomadic identity via ActivityPub is available as a stable, production-grade feature in stable, production-grade software right now as we speak. Forte was the first to be fully nomadic via nothing but ActivityPub, as of mid-August, 2024. Tootik, based on Gemini instead of the World Wide Web, is fully nomadic at server level, too. Mitra is fully nomadic by means of the Minimitra client.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Fediverse #Mastodon #MastodonCentricity #MastodonNormativity #QuotePost #QuotePosts #QuoteTweet #QuoteTweets #QuoteToot #QuoteToots #QuoteBoost #QuoteBoosts #QuotedShares #QuotePostDebate #QuoteTootDebate #ActivityPub #Zot #Zot6 #Zot8 #Nomad #Friendica #Red #RedMatrix #Hubzilla #Osada #Zap #Mistpark #Mistpark2020 #Misty #Redmatrix2020 #Roadhouse #Streams #(streams) #Forte #Tootik #Mitra #Minimitra #NomadicIdentity

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“I found this amazing CPDP panel about the usage of # surveillance # spyware in the # EU . I apologize that it's a YouTube link, but it's worth the effort to paste it into NewPipe! https://www. youtube.com/wat...”

https://mastodon.social/@usernomnomnom/117021400464803499

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Andy Burnham says Britain’s £1.8bn Digital ID programme is dead. The official record tells a more complicated story. One Login, GOV.UK Wallet, private verification firms and statutory data-sharing powers remain—alongsid...”

https://mastodon.social/@thomaster/117021327580468217

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“A Surveillance Treaty in Disguise: Canada Signs UN Cybercrime Convention https://www. michaelgeist.ca/2026/07/a-surv eillance-treaty-in-disguise-the-trouble-with-canadas-quiet-decision-to-sign-the-un-cybercrime-conv...”

https://mastodon.social/@h4ckernews/117020732195996925

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Surveillance Daily: August 1, 2026 # ALPR # Surveillance # Privacy # FlockSafety https:// deflocktheusa.com/surveillance -daily-august-1-2026/”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117020571267606922

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Reaction Videos Are Waking People Up to Flock Cameras # ALPR # Surveillance # Privacy # FlockSafety https:// deflocktheusa.com/reaction-vid eos-are-waking-people-up-to-flock-cameras/”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117020571138935382

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

Adding another #sketching / #drawing to #fediverse

Alt...

Abstract black ink drawing of intersecting curved and straight lines, creating a pattern of variously shaded sections on a white background

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“All about the safety of the kids¹ they said,
All about the safety of users² they said,
All about the safety of the citizens³ they said,
All about the money, control & power⁴ they left unsaid. ¹ https:// mastodon.s...”

https://mastodon.social/@madeindex/117020377752142280

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

I was reading a thread on Reddit bemoaning how every website has gotten progressively worse, and I’m thinking, my Mastodon instance’s software has only gotten better and new features are getting added regularly, all without them selling my data, manipulating me with algorithms, or shoving endless ads in my face (amongst other things). I see similar activity on other instances and Fediverse platforms. So, there is another way, now there only has to be the will to follow it.

#Fediverse #OpenWeb

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Reflecting Medusa's Surveilling Gaze, w Jasmine Guffond, Andric Spaeth

Wed-05-Aug 17.00-18.30 CEST Coming to you live from a world marching towards boiling point. Caught on camera, caused and broadcast by interwoven t...”

https://kolektiva.social/@radioagainstrepression/117019824437633278

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“https://www. anthropic.com/news/position-op en-weights-models Of course # bigtech wants to control:
* The release of competing open models
* Distillation (stealing) of their models which were built on stolen da...”

https://mastodon.social/@vurk/117019381930029468

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“📷 6 new license plate readers just reported around Newman, CA. Newly mapped by volunteers — see what's watching. # ALPR # Surveillance # Newman # Privacy # FlockSafety https:// deflocktheusa.com/flock...”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117018103203683776

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Flock Cameras Got the Wrong License Plate 71% of the Time in California City https://gizmodo.com/flock-cameras-got-the-wrong-license-plate-71-of-the-time-in-california-city-2000793483 # AI # Privacy # Surveill...”

https://gizmodo.com/flock-cameras-got-the-wrong-license-plate-71-of-the-time-in-california-city-2000793483

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

#Orange #Pincushion #Protea by Kaye Menner #Photography Wide variety #Prints & lovely #Products at:

https://kaye-menner.pixels.com/featured/orange-pincushion-protea-by-kaye-menner-kaye-menner.html

#flower #floral #orangefloral #nature #macro #homedecor #mastoart #fediverse #fediart #fedigiftshop #giftideas #wallartforsale #Art #artforsale #BuyIntoArt #AYearForArt #Artist #FineArtAmerica #PhotographyFeed #VisualArts #CreativeArts

Alt...

My photograph of this vibrant Protea flower captured in a garden in the north of Sydney, NSW, Australia. A vivid orange protea flower in full bloom, showcasing intricate patterns and textures. The lush green leaves add depth to the composition. A vibrant orange pincushion protea (Leucospermum) takes centre stage in this striking close-up, its long, graceful styles radiating outward like a burst of golden fireworks. Tiny droplets of rain cling delicately to each curved filament, adding sparkle and highlighting the flower's intricate structure. The soft green foliage in the background provides a beautiful contrast, allowing the vivid orange bloom to stand out with remarkable intensity. Rich in texture, colour, and natural detail, this image celebrates the extraordinary beauty and architectural elegance of one of nature's most distinctive flowers. They belong to the Proteaceae family, making them close cousins to true Australian plants like banksias, grevilleas, and waratahs. THE FINE ART AMERICA LOGO WILL NOT APPEAR ON PURCHASED PRINTS OR PRODUCTS.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“What did Meta expect exactly when its entire existence revolves around stealing and selling user data, and more recently, feeding its AI monsters? By default, that meant Meta was never going to learn anything from the Go...”

https://infosec.exchange/@AAKL/117015740977213600

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

It's a strange feeling, building something with no one to answer to but the people using it.

No walls to raise. No data to harvest. No quarter to hit.

Just a network of communities that actually belong to the people in them.

#ActivityPub #SocialWeb #Fediverse #AtProto

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“# Police Accused of Misusing # Flock # Cameras Across 12 States https://www. newsweek.com/flock-camera-poli ce-arrests-12263782 # Crime # Data # Personal # Threat
# Cybersecurity # FBI ...”

https://techhub.social/@techandcoffee/117015319638011430

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“The Trump Administration Has Approved A Secret $9 Billion AI Fund For Spy Agencies

https:// media.privacyinternational.org /w/kEbuGSMDNnM6Fj4t3rdohB”

https://media.privacyinternational.org/w/kEbuGSMDNnM6Fj4t3rdohB

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Inside the growing police use and misuse of Flock’s license-plate reader cameras ALPRs can be used to find any vehicle that has passed a camera and is not limited to cases involving felonies or missing children, and the...”

https://mastodon.social/@gtbarry/117015189994166560

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“https:// deflock.org/ An open-source project mapping license plate readers. These systems continuously record your movements without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion. # deflock # flocksa...”

https://mastodon.social/@gtbarry/117015066843582448

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“RE: https:// mastodon.social/@nixCraft/1170 14608627289209 As # AI and # surveillance continues, adversarial attack, environments, and activities will become the norm.”

https://mastodon.social/@GreatBigTable/117015065160644000

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

adding another #sketching / #drawing to #fediverse

Alt...

Abstract black ink drawing with intersecting geometric shapes, spheres, and lines in a dense, overlapping composition on white paper

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Knoxville Lawmaker Signals Possible ALPR Bill # ALPR # Surveillance # Privacy # FlockSafety https:// deflocktheusa.com/knoxville-la wmaker-signals-possible-alpr-bill/”

https://mastodon.social/@deflocktheusa/117014909244039407

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

#mastodon #snac2 #fediverse #books #watches #privacy #games #youtube

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“https:// overcast.fm/+AALdYckuclU Naomi Brockwell always produces a good podcast/ youtube video. This one certainly makes you think we are turning
full circle on # privacy and # surveillance . It often ...”

https://defcon.social/@Paulf/117014577926408767

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“@ echo_pbreyer Being forced to have digital fingerprints of your files compared to a database is like having to provide fingerprints of all your visitors to your nearest police station, so they can "check" whether y...”

https://tldr.nettime.org/@penguinrebellion/117013922598633383

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“STOP Filming Strangers | shira https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKnY_nqM_oM # Meta # MetaGlasses # Surveillance”

https://gotosocial.plutar.ch/@plutarch/statuses/01KYV024408CNT7G5DJXP6Y24X

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Delaware Flock cameras: Protest, praise over AI plate readers 20 police forces in Delaware use license plate readers License plate readers supplied by Flock Safety and other…
# NewsBeep # News # Headlines # a...”

https://newsbeep.org/@newsbeep/117011882492999425

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🏠 FediHome v1.24.0 is out.

🔒 Two security fixes — worth updating for
🔔 Checks for updates on its own now
🔐 Offers a real password, not a 64-char key
🧹 Notifications clear themselves

Self-hosted. MIT. Yours.
https://github.com/TemujinCalidius/FediHome

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #SelfHosted

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“cam over 🧿 https://www. wewillfreeus.org/candid-revolt/ # Portland # oregon # flock # surveillance”

https://kolektiva.social/@alissaazar/117011405808297943

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“#Abortion #Texas #Flock #Surveillance #DeFlock

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:slvrwyq6xhuovz27qctcpxqz/post/3mrvhs5m2ys24”

https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:k6icdendy255kankozfy3ezd/post/3mrvidhbqt22l

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.