End-to-End Encrypted Messages Over ActivityPub

One important pattern in social networking is end-to-end encryption for direct messages. This is a structure in which the native or Web clients encrypt the message on the user's device, and no intermediate actor -- neither user's servers, nor any network node -- can read the message. This wasn't a big part of our planning … Continue reading End-to-End Encrypted Messages Over ActivityPub →

Re-designing the Mastodon User Interface for Better Personal Relationships

I did research as part of my graduate work in human-computer interaction at Georgia Tech. I focused on incremental improvements to the Mastodon user interface to focus on personal relationships. I'm presenting the prototypes and data that I developed here in summary. There's also a 45-minute video where I go over the research in detail … Continue reading Re-designing the Mastodon User Interface for Better Personal Relationships →

Speed and Scale

My organization, the Open Earth Foundation, started a kind of book club a few months ago. For the first event, we read through the IPCC’s 6th report on climate change. We enjoyed the conversation so much, we decided to continue the practice monthly. We missed a month, so I picked a book that I thought … Continue reading Speed and Scale →

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union

One of my friends, Aran, just started playing Disco Elysium, the game my son and I have been playing together for months. It's a role-playing game set in the run-down neighbourhood of an occupied city in an alternate world. You play a detective for the local police investigating a murder who is in such a … Continue reading The Yiddish Policemen’s Union →

At Confoo This Week

I'll be at confoo.ca this week, representing Open Earth Foundation. This is my first Open Source event representing OEF, and the first time I've been to any event in quite a few years. What are your best tips for a good conference?

PersistentVolume on Docker Desktop for Mac

So, my team is using Kubernetes for deploying a complex app in a developer environment on our desktop. We use the Kubernetes ("k8s") built into Docker Desktop. We need persistent storage, so we use a PersistentVolume with local-storage type. Initially, we thought we should put our data directory in a well-known directory, like /var/local/ or … Continue reading PersistentVolume on Docker Desktop for Mac →

Gangsters of Capitalism

I finished this audiobook last week, and I'm taking a few minutes to write down my thoughts before I forget them. It's a hard thing to remember to do! The book is called Gangsters of Capitalism, by Jonathan M. Katz. Superficially, it's a biography of the American Marine officer Smedley Butler, best known, I think, … Continue reading Gangsters of Capitalism →

Everything for Everyone

I received this book as a gift from my friend Heather Kelley for my birthday, but I just got around to reading it. Her note on the gift said, For my own birthday this year, I am giving friends copies of this book which I loved, and I hope it inspires you. I sent her … Continue reading Everything for Everyone →

Entangled Life

I finished Melvin Sheldrake's "Entangled Life" today. The book covers how fungus interact with humans and the rest of life. It's a great read; each chapter discusses different aspects of fungus. The writing is personal, multi-faceted, kind and curious. One chapter is about lichens, the complex symbiotic forms of algae and fungus that adapt so … Continue reading Entangled Life →

Twitter now prohibits links to other social networks

Here's a quick one for my friends still on Twitter. There is a new policy against promotion of alternative social platforms . If you have not moved to Mastodon yet, do it now. It will be much easier to use tools to make the move now, while many in your Twitter social graph are still … Continue reading Twitter now prohibits links to other social networks →