aftergibson

Can't you install docker compose on your own hardware and follow this? https://snikket.org/service/quickstart/

If you're looking for something that's a little less hassle and has some very sane defaults, try https://snikket.org/

I think this is more an argument for protocols over products. I wish XMPP had remained as popular as it has. The standard has now only slowly evolved, but it probably could have continued to meet the needs of our society as a compliment to email.

Just buy an old kindle. Mod it and get koreader running on it. Then put it in airplane mode and load books via USB from whatever source you like.

Its great hardware.

I look forward to Parliament’s long-worded “no.” These petitions often seem more about managing dissent than enabling meaningful change.

A secure, optional digital ID could be useful. But not in today’s UK. Why? Because the state has already shown it can’t be trusted with our data.

- Snoopers’ Charter (Investigatory Powers Act 2016): ISPs must keep a year’s worth of records of which websites you visit. More than 40 agencies—from MI5 to the Welsh Ambulance Service—can request it. MI5 has already broken the rules and kept data it shouldn’t have.

- Encryption backdoors: Ministers can issue “Technical Capability Notices” to force tech firms to weaken or bypass end-to-end encryption.

- Online Safety Act: Expands content-scanning powers that experts warn could undermine privacy for everyone.

- Palantir deals: The government has given £1.5 billion+ in contracts to a US surveillance firm that builds predictive-policing tools and runs the NHS’s new Federated Data Platform. Many of those deals are secret.

- Wall-to-wall cameras: Millions of CCTV cameras already make the UK one of the most surveilled countries in the world.

A universal digital ID would plug straight into this ecosystem, creating an always-on, uniquely identified record of where you go and what you do. Even if paper or card options exist on paper, smartphone-based systems will dominate in practice, leaving those without phones excluded or coerced.

I’m not against digital identity in principle. But until the UK government proves it can protect basic privacy—by rolling back mass data retention, ending encryption backdoor demands, and enforcing genuine oversight—any national digital ID is a surveillance power-grab waiting to happen.

I'm certain it's worked well in other countries, but I have zero trust in the UK government to handle this responsibility.

Yeah, I guess this "transformation" couldn't be more transparent, but I guess most folks have short memories.

I'm so burnt out from "trying to do more" I'm actively procrastinating because I have no more emotional energy due to circumstance. You might be in the same boat. Giving yourself a break is okay too,you might then get bored of it and do something cool.

Of course. Were in the burning VCs cash by the truckload phase. And inference isn't getting cheaper. I'd argue this is the worst its ever been in terms of over extending a business and they might not be able to enshitificate fast enough.

I’m sick of half-measures around getting off iOS and Android. If you’re an open-source app developer building for Android, please reconsider and put some of that energy into Sailfish.

You have the power to help turn a passionate subset of people away from Android, and now is the best time to do it. Instead of scattering effort into a dozen fragmented experiments, let’s rally around the best bet we have right now: SailfishOS. I'm not at all affiliated with Sailfish, just someone pissed off and am trying to point folks at the most mature alternative out there. I know it has its problems. I know there's even better alternatives that even less people use but seriously, rather than fragment the frustration around android right now, please, just try to rally around a serious legit alternative. We might actually make meaningful change here but it needs focus.

Intro for developers: https://docs.sailfishos.org/Develop/

Getting started guide: https://sailfishos.org/wiki/SailfishOS

Let’s push for something truly independent

It was only a matter of time. The run lasted a good while.

I'm not going to submit to this crap. I'm sick of it. Nor I am going to IOS. It'll be a Linux phone for me or a dumbphone with tethering and a laptop.

There's plenty of examples where important people framed an inevitable future and then it didn't pan out.

Somewhat objective proof of "progress" will inevitably win out, yes inevitable framing might help sell the vision a bit, for now, but it won't be the inevitabism that causes it to succeed but its inherit value towards "progress".

The definition of "progress" being endlessly more productive humans at the cost of everything else.

I'm still rocking an iPod(albeit without Rockbox/podzilla) for Podcasts and music. Of all the devices addictive smartphones have replaced, I can't shake this one.

https://shanedowling.com/consuming-content-like-its-the-90s....

Well that's just neat, thanks for sharing!

I had the same thought! I've been attempted to cobble together a solution to do essentially this over the years!

I think the closest thing I've gotten to the Linux + E-Ink dream(for me at least) is the Pinenote with a bluetooth keyboard. It's been a surprisingly enjoyable portable device(nice wireless keyboard doesn't hurt either) and it's powerful enough to do some nice simple stuff, then disconnect they keyboard and it's back to being an book/newsfeed reader.

When I see these comments I always think of the Dropbox announcement and “but I can just do this with an ftp server”, however in this case it’s a staggeringly small feature set to be charging(or considering charging for something). Maybe as a desktop app with some means to sync with a todo app, but by itself I can do this with any bit of tech.

The great sort of news you want to hear while drinking your morning coffee and living in Kent to the east of London.

Does anyone else find the wording of this is really strange and mildly unprofessional?

This is one of those amazing single feature utilities that does one thing incredibly well and goes completely unnoticed as it’s so good but also unremarkable. I should try to be more grateful for these brilliant creations.

Some feedback:

- It's a very cool idea, and massive congrats on the launch!

- This has been done before, but a slick looking open source version is very cool! Have you looked at the concept of now pages, as this might lean into that? https://nownownow.com/about

- Personal dashboard builder is a poor term for this, as it implies a dashboard for personal data/usage.

- Link in bio is also a poor term, I suspect it's not a popular / well-known term. Personal Homepage is probably the best I can think of. Or now page perhaps?

- This GitHub readme says very little of substance, which gives me... "unfinished side project" vibes.

Best of luck with it!

This is precisely what I was hoping for. This really isn't a dashboard for personal use as the title implies.

"We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate."

Wasn't on mine (account created in 2009).

Hey me too! Seems fun so far.

Nicely done.

Hopefully they can turn Standard Notes into a product I’d be willing to return to. I like the company ethos, but the product was too clunky. The configurable editors all seemed to be of a poorer quality than opinionated competitors.

Ultimately, I think the entire approach of this article undermines its success. A person has depression, lack of focus and anxiety and this manifests itself through screen addiction.

Screens are ubiquitous, cheap and effective forms of distraction that generally do a good job guiding you from your problems and making those underlying problems worse.

Tackling the underlying issues should be the focus and the “digital” aspect of it should be relegated to being symptomatic and not a root cause. I say this s as someone who wrote “ditching my dumbphone” blog posts a decade ago.

Yes as far I can tell it's down.

Good idea! I've just added an (albeit messy) side by side.

Thanks for the suggestion!