Notices by Shawndroid (shawndroid@mastodon.technology)

@ap236 Thanks for checking!

@ap236 If you go to my profile on the instance of Mastodon I use, can you see my 'lists' that I have added people to? Or only my Followers and Follows?

(For example, I have one list called 'People I know' and another list.)

@ap236 Why do you have a ✅ in your name? Why a 🇩🇪 and ☢️?

I think that email is a failed service. It's federated in such a way that it's rife with abuse. And as they keep adding ad hoc ways to fix it, it disrupts personally hosted mail solutions.

Turns out the phone system is pretty much the same.

After discussion decentralization and federation with @indi I've started looking up more about security and privacy. What are the good and bad about federated services?
https://infosec-handbook.eu/blog/federation-myths/

@indi It criticises advertising companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter from a human perspective, seperate from data security aspect.

http://humanetech.com/problem

The solutions page is interesting, if off the topic we were discussing to some extent.

@indi on a related topic, have you heard about the Centre for Humane Technology? I have found their suggestions to be very interesting.

@indi But I disagree they must solve decentralization first. It's not their priority, and I think they may be on the right track. Current social networks perform much harm. From how they make money to how they manipute us to how that effects us to how other actors use it to manipulate us.

Having a less addictive and more private, secure social network is a good thing. It getting popular would be a better thing for this world. Even without decentralization.

@indi Also those mockups are the working product, which went live today to backers as alpha. I might get an account in the next few months as the invite non-backers.

@indi If it gets popular they will look in to decentralization and SOLID.

To make a killer app I buy that they need to be able to iterate quickly to try features. Decentralization would inhibit that, stop data control and leave the network open to bots.

Do you see the value in these things?

What OSS system could be the base?

Do you see how I might be more concerned with the human cost of social networks over making a perfect social network not many people use?

@indi I am starting to like the lead guy's arguments against decentralization for data control (the ability to delete your content) and to innovate. All these systems seen to have solved decentralization and yet cannot seem to innovate.

Your not wrong. It just seems like it doesn't matter or it would have happened already.

@indi that's a good point. And yet, the issue is that all the focus is on an difficult issue people don't care about. In the mean time privacy, security and the mental space of citizens are being exploited and manipulated.

Which do you prefer more? The tech angle or the human angle? I think there is value to social networks but harms in how the popular ones are organized.

What base would you recommend they could start with?

@indi I guess I value privacy, security and less manipulation over decentralization, federated services and portable profiles.

@indi In other places they have made good points about how complicated decentralized SN are for regular folk to setup or find interesting content on. I agree with them. I will never get my friends and family to actually use it.

While the underlying tech would allow for features to be built on top, it's limited if other people cannot interact with it. I think MeWe and OpenBook might be in the right track to delay decentralization. Wire too. Though OB is OSS and GDPR export ready and EU based.

This article makes the point that a major reason non-creepy social networks fail is they are made by tech geeks like me that focus on under the hood tech and not making a fun experience with good new features.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/11/openbook-is-the-latest-dream-of-a-digital-life-beyond-facebook/

@mindstormer619 No friends? That has always been my MO.

Hello! By way of #introduction I am a computer programmer and newish father who is interested in #Nintendo, network security and privacy, and #StarTrek. It's been a good year for me.

How are you?

I've been really enjoying #NineParchments from #FrozenByte on the #Nintendo Switch. I don't typically play twin stick shooters or run & guns. Would I find most this fun?

First patch is in, which fixes some common complaints.

Bitcoin is very unstable. Just like everyone said is the problem with money whose supply you cannot control. Rapid deflation, which would happen on the gold standard too. Though, more slowly I hope.