Darnell (Seize The Day)

Note: Scene from The Hunger Games

It is awesome to see how much progress Ghost has made in integrating ActivityPub.

After embracing the Fediverse months ago, Ghost has now volunteered Mastodon as tribute (aka a testing buddy).

For Ghost to be a successful member of the ActivityPub ecosystem, it needs to work well with Mastodon, PixelFed, Buttondown, Flipboard, Lemmy, WriteFreely, Misskey, Threads, and many more.

Now that we've got many of the foundations in place, we're going to shape our roadmap from here around building compatibility for Ghost with 3rd party services first — before we even think about how Ghost integrates with other Ghost sites. Shaping our product and our code architecture around testing against real, existing products is going to ensure that we're on the right track. [...]

First up: We're going to focus on getting Ghost to work (well!) with Mastodon.

Why Mastodon? Mainly because Mastodon has the most active users of any ActivityPub platform, so it will give us the largest footprint to test against — and it will also immediately provide the largest existing audience for Ghost publishers to tap into. So there's real value. (Ghost ActivityPub Blog)

Testing against active platforms is critical, as it will help ensure that Federation works both ways instead of partially, which could frustrate users.

For example, Loforo is the second most active blog platform in the Fediverse. However, ActivityPub implementation is only partial (other platforms can see Loforo, but Loforo can not interact with them yet, similar to where Threads is right now).

Folks interested in following Ghost's progress can follow them within the Fediverse at @index@activitypub.ghost.org & unless you are afraid of Pugs, you will find their content hilariously entertaining (despite being slightly technical).

Image credit: Ghost

👨🏾‍💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day

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This is really bad. I was witnessing chaos amongst my fellow travelers (I am thankfully not in the air right now), & it appears that Crowdstirke's update to Microsoft powered machines is resulting in Blue Screens Of Death across numerous airports, banks, & various other businesses worldwide.

Businesses worldwide are experiencing widespread outages, including Windows “blue screen of death” errors, many of them said Friday. The problems are affecting various sectors, from banks, food chains, brokerage houses, news organizations to airlines.

Many customers have reported being unable to restart their computers due to the issue. This outage comes shortly after Microsoft confirmed service problems with its Microsoft 365 apps late Thursday, which affected several airlines including Delta and United. (TechCrunch)

I came across this info via @TechCrunch@flipboard.com & @techcrunch@threads.net & the problem is worse than what people are realizing. Here is a report from @verge@mastodon.social with more details regarding this outage and a potential solution for businesses attempting to fix (albeit temporarily) the issue & save themselves from massive downtime.

The US Federal Aviation Administration says all flights from Delta, United, and American Airlines are grounded due to a “communication issue.” Berlin airport is also warning of travel delays due to “technical issues.” Many 911 emergency call centers in Alaska have also been impacted by the issues.

“We have widespread reports of BSODs on Windows hosts, occurring on multiple sensor versions,” says CrowdStrike in a support note issued at 1:20AM ET today. CrowdStrike has identified the issue and reverted the faulty update, but that doesn't appear to help machines that have already been impacted.

In a Reddit thread, hundreds of IT admins are reporting widespread issues and the workaround steps involve booting affected Windows machines into safe mode and navigating to the CrowdStrike directory and deleting a system file. That will be troublesome on some cloud-based servers, or even for Windows laptops that are deployed and used remotely. (The Verge)

Although I no longer use Windows Machines (my iPad Pro is my computer now), virtually every company I know (including the one I work for) does, which means it is probably chaos in corporate America 🇺🇸 right now.

As far as the financial markets go, investors are punishing both CrowdStrike & Microsoft in pre-market trading right now.

Businesses would be wise to consider alternatives to Microsoft to avoid a similar fiasco in the future.

👨🏾‍💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day

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After months in development, Lumaa has launched their Threaded for Mastodon app on the App Store, albeit it is limited to iPhone & Apple Watch (sadly no iPad app is available yet).

Overall, the app provides a clean layout for Mastodon that may appeal to non-techies, & the app even supports multiple accounts.

Aside from the user interface, Threaded provides some of the basic functionality one would expect to use in a Mastodon app (posting, polls, etcetera).

Threaded does not entirely mimic Threads user interface completely (which is wise for legal reasons), but it is enough to appeal to those who enjoy using Meta's latest social network.

However, Threaded lacks some of the features I deem necessary for a Fediverse app nowadays, such as an ability to translate posts, easily report offensive posts to admins (note: I could not find a way to report any posts within the app), & a timestamp on posts which most social media apps have nowadays (including Threads & Mastodon.

Overall, this is an excellent start by @Threaded@mastodon.online & I look forward to future updates.

👨🏾‍💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day

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Note: See updates at the end of the article.

After opening up the opportunity for their users to embrace the Fediverse on their accounts, Threads has banned the flagship instances of Mastodon (Social), Misskey (IO) & Bookwyrm (Social), as all three now appear on the Moderated Servers List for bad instances.

I can already hear the Fedipact folks screaming “EEEEEEEEEE” in my ear, along with “I told you so!” & sounding the alarm about Meta moving into the second phase of assimilating all things ActivityPub (do not ask me what the first phase is).

Misskey appearing on the ban list is puzzling, as Misskey (IO) provides a publicly accessible feed in the same way Threads does, as both highlight content from the domain when a person visits the site while logged out (props to @pcottle@threads.net from Meta for revealing how I can view Threads public feed).

Hopefully @syuilo@misskey.io (creator of Misskey) can delegate the task of contacting Meta to an admin, as the Meta ban seems to have been mistakingly applied to the primary Misskey instance. (Note: Many other instances are being blocked for the same reason, so admins should check the list to see if they are on it).

Community Violations‽ Huh‽

Although Misskey's block can be declared an oversight, it is unclear what violations Meta is accusing Mastodon (Social) & Bookwyrm (Social) of doing.

While I doubt @mouse@bookwyrm.social (creator of Bookwyrm) would care about a capitalist mega corporation blocking them (Bookwyrm is anti-corporate), @Mastodon@mastodon.social would probably not be thrilled that Threads blocks them.

It would be wise for @mosseri@threads.net (CEO of Threads) & @Gargron@mastodon.social (Creator of Mastodon) to figure out how to resolve the issue between their instances, as something as simple as a Fediblock could quickly result in many Mastodon & Misskey instances retaliate by blocking Threads out of solidarity with the flagship instances (which is something Meta does not desire).

Related Note: Threads is still muting all Pixelfed instances, as the platform does not provide a publicly accessible feed by default.

Update: Meta has removed Mastodon (Social) from the block list! After news started spreading about the Flagship Mastodon being banned, @shubhankar_91@threads.net (who works at Meta) informed everyone that Threads was investigating why Mastodon was added to the list.

Also, it appears as if mentioning username handles from @threads@threads.net on WriteFreely is currently not working (I am @darnell@threads.net for what it is worth). Previously it did work, which is odd. Hmmm...

Update 2.0: Meta has removed Misskey (IO) from the block list! I am glad as they never should have been on it.

👨🏾‍💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day

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I was excited to find out Threads was finally allowing the rest of humanity to activate ActivityPub (which had previously been limited to users located in the United States 🇺🇸, Canada 🇨🇦 & Japan 🇯🇵).

Starting today, people using Threads in 100+ countries can turn on sharing to the fediverse. 🌎 (via @zuck@threads.net on Threads, discovered via @mark@tapbots.social on Mastodon who linked to The Verge)

However, folks residing within a nation that is a member of the European Union & several countries within the Schengen Area will not partake of the Fediverse festivities as Meta is excluding them from the fun.

Note: Sharing to the fediverse is only available for Threads users who: – Created a Threads profile – Are 18 or older – Have public profiles – Are located outside the European Region

(via Instagram Help Center)

I suspect Meta is delaying Fediverse support for European Union Threads users due to the Digital Markets Act, which (for better or worse) complicates launching new technologies within the European Market for non-European companies.

Other companies like Apple have previously announced that they would not launch new technological features within the European Union, & Meta might be mimicking Apple's approach to avoid being fined by the EU.

Meta has declined to state when Fediverse support will be available for European Threads users. However, EU residents can checkout viable alternatives like Mastodon, Misskey & Pleroma (which are available to use without geo-restrictions).

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After all of that fanfare regarding the VisionPro, it appears as if Apple is realizing most people will not pay for an expensive product upfront that they can not justify using.

Apple has told at least one supplier that it has suspended work on its next high-end Vision headset, an employee at a manufacturer that makes key components for the Vision Pro said. The pullback comes as analysts and supply chain partners have flagged slowing sales of the $3,500 device.

The company is still working on releasing a more affordable Vision product with fewer features before the end of 2025, the person involved in its supply chain and a person involved in the manufacturing of the headsets said. Apple originally planned to divide its Vision line into two models, similar to the standard and Pro versions of the iPhone, according to people involved in its supply chain and former Apple employees who worked on the devices. [...]

Augmented reality is one of Apple's biggest bets. The company aims to eventually replace the iPhone with lightweight glasses, and the Vision Pro is the first step in building consumer and developer interest in that effort. (The Information)

If Apple truly desires to replace the handheld iPhone with face-wearing glasses, they need to normalize the habit of wearing augmented goggles in public.

However, without a high-end product, Apple will be limited in what features they can launch, dooming the augmented reality devices to the realm of gamers & geeks.

Making VisionPro Accessible Again

While Apple should launch a cheaper version of VisionPro (note: would they call it merely Vision instead of Vision Pro‽), the Cupertino giant should consider relaunching an LTE (Long Term Evolution) version, capable of utilizing the latest 5G speeds.

Attaching wireless capabilities to the device would enable carriers to sell VisionPro via their various installment payment plans, allowing more people to afford the device without breaking their bank accounts.

Wireless carrier installment plans are how tens of millions of individuals (including yours truly) can afford expensive iDevices, & if Apple had included a wireless option, VisionPro would have been a modest hit amongst the masses.

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Image: Fedify Icon

If you have not subscribed to Ghost's hilarious adventures of activating ActivityPub upon their open-source blogging platform, you are missing out on some much-needed (geek‽) humor.

In their latest update, Ghost explained their latest strategy in integrating ActivityPub within their blogging platform. Instead of building ActivityPub within the core software (easier said than done), they are embracing the idea of creating a separate app with the help of Fedify.

When we first built Ghost we made it so you could publish to the web and run a blog. A few years later, we added the ability to deliver those same posts as email newsletters. Same content, new format. [...]

So, Ghost itself doesn't send email newsletters. Instead, it relies on an external service called Mailgun. Ghost offloads the newsletter content to Mailgun along with a list of intended recipients and then says “Seeya later sucker, I'm off for lunch.” Mailgun then goes through the process of carefully delivering each message, recording analytics, errors, and any replies.

When it comes to our ActivityPub service, we're essentially looking to build the same sort of thing. An external piece of software which Ghost can offload content and a list of recipients to, and then say “Seeya later sucker, it's time for my massage.” The ActivityPub service will then carefully handle sending, receiving and storing everything needed to communicate with the wider fediverse. [...]

As we touched on very briefly last week: The very first newsletter subscriber to suggest building ActivityPub as a service was Hong Minhee, the maintainer of an open source project called Fedify.

Fedify is a framework specifically designed for building ActivityPub services. You could think of it as a bit like Rails or Laravel, but specifically for fediverse apps. It's what we've decided to use to build Ghost's ActivityPub service. (Ghost ActivityPub Blog)

While integrating ActivityPub at the core is desirable, it is not always feasible, especially for platforms with thousands of databases & not enough resources to troubleshoot every issue that arises when adding a new feature.

Creating a separate application to handle Fediverse communication & integration will be easier for the Ghost team, as it would allow them to activate ActivityPub faster without breaking their code, bank accounts & brains in an attempt to Federate their platform.

Image: Ghost Icon

Both WordPress (via the WordPress ActivityPub Plugin by @pfefferle@mastodon.social) & Drupal (via the Drupal Module by @swentel@realize.be) have adopted a similar strategy, & hopefully other blogging platforms who viewed adopting ActivityPub as too daunting will consider this option as well.

Side Note: This is one of the reasons why Meta decided to create a separate Fediverse app called Threads, as @zuck@threads.net explained previously that integrating ActivityPub support for Instagram & Facebook was too complicated. Instead, they will allow users to auto-post from Facebook & Instagram to Threads.

Currently, there are five significant blogging platforms that have embraced the Fediverse (WordPress, Drupal, Micro.blog, WriteFreely & Minds), as well as a few upcoming challengers such as Loforo (a potential Tumblr alternative), & Goblin (created by @javi@goblin.band, a former Tumblr employee).

I do wish more blogging platforms would consider adopting ActivityPub support, as it would help them remain relevant in the social space, as well as avoid the fate of Post News.

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I remember @dansup@mastodon.social mentioning this last month (original post was deleted), but Threads by Instagram continues to mute the entire Pixelfed community as well as other Fediverse instances (also known as servers) over one simple rule.

Server guidelines

A server may be added to our server blocklist if it doesn't comply with our guidelines for communicating with Threads. [...]

We'll also block a server if it doesn't have a:

• Sufficient privacy policy; or
• Publicly available policy to restrict access to users under the age of 13; or
• Publicly accessible feed (Emphasis mine, via Instagram Help Center)
  

For those unaware, a publicly accessible feed is merely a stream on a local instance where anyone can view all of the public chatter on the server. Mastodon sums it best with this description:

To allow you to discover potentially interesting content, Mastodon provides a way to browse all public posts. Well, there is no global shared state between all servers, so there is no way to browse all public posts. When you browse the federated timeline, you see all public posts that the server you are on knows about. There are various ways your server may discover posts, but the bulk of them will be from people that other users on your server follow.

There is a way to filter the federated timeline to view only public posts created on your server: The local timeline. Mind that “local” here refers to the server, not to a geographical location. (Mastodon Documentation)

Pixelfed has a local timeline, but it is not publicly accessible to Threads, which explains why the site is muting the entire Pixelfed ecosystem and any other Fediverse instances that decline to allow Threads to access the public timeline without permission.

The Pixelfed creator Dan may resolve this issue by allowing instance admins to create a publicly accessible feed to allow their respective users to communicate with the greater Threads community.

However, in hindsight, it might be wise to leave it off by default, especially with numerous tech companies scouring the web to train the synthetic brains of artificial intelligence programs (Meta included, props to @r_alb@mastodon.social for alerting me about this).

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If you have never heard of Loforo before, do not feel surprised. I first came across them on FediDB which listed them as a Mastodon instance. However, upon visiting the website, it is clear that it is not powered by Mastodon but by its own code (at least from the outside).

My best description of Loforo is an ActivityPub Tumblr alternative whose vibe reminds me of the early days of Tumblr before the platform sold its soul to Corporate America.

Although the site does not have an official app, you can log into Loforo via your favorite Mastodon client (I used the official Mastodon app, as well as @MonaApp@mastodon.social to login), which makes me believe they are using Mastodon's API's within the code of their blogging platform.

Thus far, you can upload texts to the platform but not images through the Mastodon clients. I can also follow my Loforo account, but I can not reciprocate the following. Also, mentioning other Fediverse accounts outside the platform is not currently possible (a bug, perhaps‽).

On the website, you can upload images, videos, etcetera, to the platform to your heart's content.

Another surprise is that Loforo is the second most active ActivityPub blog platform in the Fediverse, behind only WordPress.

Here are Loforo's stats according to FediDB:

Here are WordPress's stats (who holds the Fediverse blogging crown):

Here are WriteFreely stats (note: This site is proudly powered by WriteFreely, via Write.as):

Here are Micro Blog's stats:

Suggestions For Improvements‽

If I could offer any suggestions to the Loforo team, it would be:

• Encourage the creation of third-party apps or launch an official app on iOS, iPadOS & Android. This app would be able to upload images & videos to the site, something currently lacking via the Mastodon apps.
• Resolve the Fedi mention bug, allowing people to mention other accounts in the Fediverse. However, I would make this an “opt-in” feature, similar to what WordPress has done (via a plugin or switching on a setting).
• Allow custom domains, either for a small monthly fee (which could help add extra funding to the site) or for free (only do the latter if it does not dramatically increase the cost to Loforo)
• Allow custom themes for Loforo, & allow their community to market premium themes. Free themes could be offered at no charge to the creators, while premium themes would require a small cut to the Loforo crew (I suggest a 90/10 split, with the 90% going to the theme creators).

Update: If anyone has any more suggestions, feel free to mention them to me at @darnell@one.darnell.one (as I would love to see them).

Is This The Tumblr Alternative The Fediverse Has Been Waiting For‽

With Tumblr not expected to join the Fediverse anytime soon, many folks have been seeking out an alternative to Automattic’s (the company behind WordPress) social blogging platform. Currently, a former Tumblr employee is creating a platform called Goblin as a Tumblr replacement, but the site is not ready for the masses.

I do believe that if Loforo can implement some of the suggestions I mentioned above (mobile apps, custom domains, resolve ActivtyPub bugs), they will quickly find themselves not only inheriting Tumblr's fallen crown but surpassing WordPress as well (at least in the Fediverse).

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