Mauve 👁💜 @mauve@mastodon.mauve.moe

Distributed Press ( @distributed ) is drafting a new FEP for #ActivityPub for "Peer-to-peer Identities". The general gist is that objects (such as Actors and content) can link to alternate versions of themselves, which can be hosted elsewhere, such as #IPFS. If the server goes down, data can be served from there instead.

You can read the draft proposal here: https://codeberg.org/fediverse/fep/src/commit/3efef8bffd9581a116135be4953ccb2ebdf4f482/fep/1024/fep-1042.md

I've just been told that Apple are transitioning to cleartext iBoot images. We already knew there wasn't anything naughty in iBoot (decryption keys had been published for some systems/versions, plus it's tiny anyway and doesn't have space for networking stacks or anything like that) but this means that, going forward, the entire AP (main CPU) boot chain for Apple Silicon machines is cleartext, as well as SMC and other aux firmware that was inside iBoot for practical reasons.

The only remaining encrypted component is SEPOS, but it's optional and we don't even load it yet for Asahi Linux. All other system firmware other than iBoot and the embedded SMC/PMU blobs was already plaintext.

That means that there is no place left for evil backdoors to hide in the set of mutable Apple Silicon firmware. All updates Apple publishes going forward can be audited for any weirdness. 🥳

(In practice this doesn't really change much for the already-excellent privacy posture of Apple Silicon systems running Asahi, which have always been way ahead of anything x86 since there's no Intel ME or AMD PSP equivalent full-system-access backdoor capable CPU, but it helps dispel some remaining paranoid hypotheticals about what Apple could potentially do, even if already very unlikely.)

The constant disappointment of devices like smartphones, for me, is that having a permanently-internet-connected computer full of sensors that I keep on me at all times should be a thing that I can treat as an assistive tool that is integrated into my sense of self, constantly taking in information, processing that in workflows I've created, and sharing that with me

in other words, it should be a programmable extension of the perception of the body

and the entire ecosystem around smart phones is very meant for Not That

Why are big Instances bad for the Fediverse?

It's quite simple:
bigger instance -> more moderation work -> need for bigger team -> harder to find consensus within the moderation team -> less strict moderation

Also:
bigger instance -> more different ideologies among userbase -> harder for other instances to decide to block that instance / or greater impact on federation if big instances are blocked

Additionally small instances can't easily block big instances, because doing so would impact their own userbase a lot and drive even more people to large instances.

So big instances mean a lot more work for smaller instances, because they have to deal with much more individual bad actors instead of just FediBlocking them in bulk.

All Fediverse softwares should have a 2k limit for monthly active users, so all instances automatically temporarily close registrations when that limit is reached.

#FediverseMeta #BigInstances #FediModeration #FediMods #FediBlockMeta

Hello, world!

We are FAFO, a non-profit semiconductor and analytical chemistry research lab in Munich.

We exist to bring together people and tools necessary to advance not the cutting edge of manufacturing, but the cutting edge of making bathtub semiconductors and other Weird Hacks in your local hackerspace.

We've just rented out our first location and brought in a gorgeous 1980s JEOL T330A SEM. Restoring it to working condition is our first project, and this is where we'll keep you posted.