@polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

polotek

@polotek@social.polotek.net

Web developer, movie buff, and pretty much the best guy you know. Married to
@operaqueenie

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

molly0xfff , to random
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

PSA: Paying for a subscription on the crypto version of OnlyFans using a public blockchain does not give you "true privacy", regardless of what the models there might say.

The allure of Only1 extended beyond a different option for sharing exclusive, gated content. Jaylene highlighted the platform's unique features compared to traditional platforms like OnlyFans. "I like the fact that Only1 being on-chain allows the customer to have true privacy," she said. "From a creator's perspective, the biggest issues with traditional platforms such as OnlyFans are issues with payment processing. Only1 solves this issue as the payments go directly to your wallet, providing creators with peace of mind and full control over their earnings."
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    • polotek ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    @molly0xfff it's wild to me that this community still talks about "privacy" as a feature.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    A lot of frontend teams are very convinced that rewriting their frontend will lead to the promised land. And I am the bearer of bad tidings.

    If you are building a product that you hope has longevity, your frontend framework is the least interesting technical decision for you to make. And all of the time you spend arguing about it is wasted energy.

    I will die on this hill.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Oh no! You mean they didn't ask permission first so we could yell at them about "community norms"? How unexpected!
    https://social.wake.st/@liaizon/112603447990005434

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Imagine having 8 billion people on this planet and telling a single individual that they need to get better at "multi-tasking". Like, why tho?

    hrefna , to random
    @hrefna@hachyderm.io avatar

    One idea I've toyed with before that I think is really interesting is the idea of having a persistent inbox but an offline processor

    So think of it like this:

    You have a queue that sits online with a webserver in front. The queue has some logic (the kind you can configure with RabbitMQ) for deduping and routing, but is still just a queue.

    That's the only persistently online piece.

    (@jenniferplusplus mentioned this earlier as well, this is not unique nor original to me as a thought)

    1/

    polotek ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    @hrefna I really like this.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I'm looking at mastodon some more today and probably tomorrow. On our last episode, we reached a milestone of getting a local mastodon build up and running using docker. The docker part is important, because my goal is to get two local instances running and have them talk to each other. I'm thinking that's the easiest way for me to be able to inspect the ActivityPub protocol more directly.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    What are some high level questions people have about how mastodon works? Maybe I can use those for guidance as I explore. I'll share any answers I'm able to uncover.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    We got solar on the house last year. It wasn't necessarily about saving money for me. It became important to me to take a concrete step towards combatting climate change.

    But something else started to dawn on me too. The fact that I'm now generating my own power, from an essentially unlimited source, is a truly radical act. I've been thinking a lot about creating a society centered around abundance instead of scarcity. It's not just theoretical.
    https://assemblag.es/@theluddite/112496059286904697

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I'm gonna use this tool where no ones in charge, I don't pay for anything, and there are no real restrictions on how it's used.

    Things happen that I don't like

    no one could've seen this coming.

    https://toot-lab.reclaim.technology/@djsundog/112480508051075965

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Just a reminder. I'm still exploring mastodon and the fediverse from a more technical perspective. I haven't quite gotten around to figuring out what "closed by default" looks like. But I still think it's a better use of time and energy than being mad when bad things happen on your completely open and unrestricted network. I'll share whatever I'm learning when I do get there.
    https://social.polotek.net/@polotek/111932297792406262

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    We're probably going to have to repeat this a lot and keep talking about it. But we don't actually have a ton of practice for how to manage things in a world without corporate control structures. Managing spam is one of the many things we take for granted now. Companies just do it for us, because not doing it devalues their business.

    In the fediverse, all of these responsibilities are decentralized. It's going to matter a lot that nobody has to make themselves responsible for fighting spam.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I know I sometimes start out by being snarky about these things. I can't help it. I am actually looking forward to seeing more discourse about all of the things we took for granted in corporatized social media. I believe we can figure out how to give ourselves those benefits again without the same compromises. But it takes work. And the first step is getting over that thing where wander through the world without caring about how these things actually get handled.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    My current feeling is that we need more parts of the ecosystem to be "pluggable". I should be able to pay for spam protection on my instance even if other people don't care enough or don't have the funds. But right now I'm not sure where it would plug in. I haven't noticed where the services I pay for even address it.
    https://front-end.social/@ppk/112480843260215805

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    That part.
    https://hachyderm.io/@evacide/112452473407557731

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Me: I think I need more flexibility than what mastodon offers right now.

    Them: What do you mean? Mastodon is super flexible! What do you need?

    Me: Well I don't like X and I'd rather have Y.

    Them: Oh, yeah it definitely doesn't do that. But you're sort of wrong for wanting that anyway. Glad I could help!

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    “We have a culture of vibrant, open discussion that enables us to create amazing products and turn great ideas into action,” he said in the memo, which the company posted online. “But ultimately we are a workplace and our policies and expectations are clear: this is a business.”
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/22/google-nimbus-israel-protest-fired-workers/

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I'm not an activist. I could be. I probably should be. Ultimately my life choices have carried me in a different direction. I say that only to acknowledge that I'm not in the trenches. And so whatever I have to say about the tactics and strategies of activism should be taken with a healthy grain of salt. But as a person who supports these causes, I do have some thoughts that I think are worth discussing.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    First and foremost, it's important to understand that what tech activism is up against. These aren't just big companies. These are the biggest companies that have ever existed. They have more resources and more power than most nation-states. So being unable to move them isn't any kind of failure in my mind. It has always been a tall order.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    At the same time, I am asking myself what leverage we have as tech workers. What levers can we pull that can actually cause pain or damage to these behemoths?

    More importantly, is that what tech activists set out to do? My assumption is that the goal of direct action is to cause pain to the powers that be. That's what makes a demand and not a request.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Google is gonna get some pad press for firing these workers. But that's just not enough. We know that the news environment is pretty broken. Fast news cycles that have to constantly chase new stories ensure that none of this stuff will stick long enough to make a dent. The awareness does matter. But only if it eventually calls a wider group to action. And I'm not sure how that is achieved in this current environment.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    The question I'm sitting with is what other kinds of pain can tech workers cause. I was talking to some folks recently and had a revelation about tech workers power. Walkouts aren't going to work as intended. Because nothing breaks when we don't show up. In software tech, we spend a tremendous amount of time and effort building systems that can keep running 24/7. Even while we sleep. That's the goal. It's one way we measure success. So walkouts aren't the right kind of leverage.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    @hrefna @sgf no offense, but I feel like we have to agree that there's nothing special about SREs. The feeling is valid, but it's not unique. Lots of people care about the impact of not doing their job. I mean teachers still have to choose to strike when it means literally leaving thousands of kids with no education. This is hard for everybody.

    It's more likely that tech workers just aren't actually impacted enough to reach that breaking point.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    @hrefna @sgf yeah I think this is the right framing. Thanks.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I've been thinking about something a lot today. I think it's a microcosm of a big problem with the way many average people move through the world.

    Why do so many software engineers hate paying for software?

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I know that most people's first pithy thought is "they think they can build it themselves". But I don't buy it. Most software develops know how hard it is to build solutions that actually feel polished and usable. Our laptops are literally graveyards of projects that never get completed.

    What I'm saying that if anybody in the world understands why good software is worth paying real money, it should be us. But that's often not the case. Why?

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    This question goes deeper for me. As a person who has managed engineers for many years. Engineers definitely think they should be paid for their labor. And in fact, many of them are underappreciated and deserve a raise. But when you ask those people who is supposed to pay for the software so they can get a paycheck, they don't have an answer.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I could pick on devs more, but that's not really the point I'm making. I don't wanna fight about that specific thing.

    Instead, I was having a larger conversation. It's easy to talk to the average person and have them tell you how they wish things were different. But it's harder to dig deeper on whether those same people make sure their own actions reflect what they want to see in the world.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    The other thing that happens when you talk to people is they feel helpless. Nothing is working the way they want. But they don't think their own actions have any impact on anything. And as a result, they don't do the thing that might help. It feels like we've lost that art of "I'm gonna do my part, even if it's small."

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    FWIW, here's where I had the conversation about paying for software a while back over on the bird site. I got a mix of responses. By there was definitely a lot of "I can't believe you actually pay money for things!"

    Screenshot of a tweet by me: "So there's something I've been meaning to share. Recently I did an inventory of all of the digital services that I pay money for. This is part of investigating how to be profitable in a tech business. Let's not bury the lede. I spend about $2700/yr on software."
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    • polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Don't forget to be who you wanna see in the world. Do it all the time. Do it even if you think it doesn't matter. It actually does.

    The money I pay for software is part of somebody's raise. It's part of some dev being able to have their own small business instead of being jerked around by a big company. It matters.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    This is an interesting question. And I want to give a thoughtful answer. The reality is that the backend has all of these same problems. They have also experienced an explosion in complexity. I think the outcomes are different mostly because they have more support. The reality is that cloud vendors have assumed a ton of the complexity and the risk on the backend. So engineers aren't drowning to the same extent.
    https://mastodon.social/@floby/112107065645789780

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    The problem is still there though. For example, scaling a database to handle terabytes of data and millions of users is still really hard. Most companies have a team that can't actually do that. But they don't have to. They can use RDS or Aurora. And some really experienced engineers at Amazon will do it for them.

    But these companies still experience the same grinding to a halt when they find the edges of what comes out of the box with AWS. Maybe it's just coming much later than with frontend.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Last week was my first time really looking into what settings are available to admins who run their own instance. I was a bit surprised to find there isn't much there. At least through masto.host. I don't think they hide settings though. Only some of the deeper technical stuff.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    As I continue to educate myself about how mastodon and ActivityPub currently works, I found myself asking a basic question. How do I see the list of servers I'm currently federated with?

    I expected to see a list of servers that I federate with. There is a view that looks like it should show that list. Under the moderation tools. But it was empty.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Not weird at all. We have been trained out of wanting to understand and control our own experience. But it's actually very cool and empowering.
    https://mastodon.social/@Palleas/111998749838523835

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    So here's my best theory. I know that another implicit way to enable federation is if a user on my instance follows a user on another instance. My instance will start pulling those posts in automatically and putting them into that user's feed. It looks like that kind of implicit federation is not shown in the tools? That's very surprising to me.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Feel free to tell me what I'm missing here. I'll follow up later this week and share what I'm learning. I want to understand this for two reasons.

    1. I want to learn more about the moderation tools and what controls mastodon gives to instance admins.

    2. I still want to understand more about how federation impacts the performance of the system.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    FYI @mastohost

    I'm once again experiencing very slow read and write times since I dropped back to the lowest paid tier. Please let me know if there's something you can do.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Well there you have it folks. If you actually use mastodon and people wanna talk to you, then the lowest tier plan is not gonna work for you.

    No offense to masto support, but I wish we could've gotten here sooner. Instead I had people swearing to me that it shouldn't be a problem.
    https://mastodon.social/@mastohost/111998917873143310

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Here's the snapshot of my sidekiq status again. The take away here is that there was no huge spike this morning. This is normal usage. It still produced upwards of 15K jobs that need to be completed. That's just doesn't feel like a reasonable design for this kind of system.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I still maintain that the at protocol means that bluesky should be included in the definition of "the fediverse". I know it will take people some time to come around on that. And certainly bsky still has some promises to deliver on. But the actual fediverse will be so much messier than what people have in their heads right now. The lines will all be blurry and gray. By design.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Me, clearly and explicitly: "I have this idea. It's unpopular today, so I'm sure it'll take people a while to come around on this idea..."

    Other people, immediately: "No! I absolutely disagree with you at this point in time!"

    Me: "Yes, I know. That's why I... you know what, it's fine. Thanks for stopping by."

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Let me find a way to critique without being acerbic. I don't like how people popup to tell me they disagree about how to define the fediverse. But that's not important

    What I do think is important is how hard people work to gatekeep and squeeze down the actual promise and potential of the fediverse. It's exactly the kind of pedantic myopia that reminds us that the nerds will not lead us to the future we want. That's not what they do.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    What bothers me more is how much of nerd culture is not self-aware about how much their ethos is about policing. Keeping people out or forcing them to conform. Many of these folks fancy themselves as anti-establishment. But the energy is constantly doing cop shit. They just wanna be the establishment.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Let me be clear. This doesn't mean we shouldn't try to resist bad actors. We definitely need to keep some people out. But I think that's a smaller group than people think. And it's also beside the point. What I mean is folks who show up to preemptively police shit that doesn't even matter.

    Like, I'm just some guy. It's really okay if I just think some thoughts out loud about the fediverse. You really don't have to make it your mission to fight with me about it.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    Okay. I guess I'm gonna make this account a little more annoying. I'm gonna spend a little time each week exploring my mastodon experience and talking about how to make it better.

    I say "annoying" because I'd rather be interesting than just useful. And I think this kind of content is the opposite. Potentially useful but overall not the most interesting. (It's okay if you disagree. We don't have to talk about it)
    https://social.polotek.net/@polotek/111966798276024291

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I'm still thinking about how mastodon should be a hot bed of developer a activity trying to improve the platform. But it's not. Partly because of a small minority of users who flame anyone who tries to do anything. And partly because control of the core was captured by a small, insular group of people who don't know how to foster collaborative growth. So much potential being wasted.

    polotek , to random
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    I keep having a specific kind of exchange about this mastodon/bluesky thing. It goes something like this.

    Me: I have a bunch of concerns around what actions people are taking if they care about their privacy on here. Yelling at one guy is not sufficient.

    Them: Of course he's wrong! You must be saying you don't care about privacy at all!

    It's pretty frustrating.

    polotek OP ,
    @polotek@social.polotek.net avatar

    And just to end on my original theme. I think you really should seek a better understanding of how to enable a "closed by default" model on your mastodon instance. If you're concerned enough about your privacy to go yelling at random people, then it's reasonable for you to go do the work to wrap your head around that. Because no one else is actually incentivized to do it for you. Again, that's what the fediverse is. Nobody is in charge.

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