WebApps is my #OpenSource #Android app I am most proud of. Many years in the making, it allows you to save websites as apps, with privacy-enhancing features similar to uMatrix.

WebApps sandboxed browser https://github.com/tobykurien/webapps

Analysis of how Google's FLoC can hurt users.

"FLoC is meant to be a new way to make your browser do the profiling that third-party trackers used to do themselves"

Google’s FLoC Is a Terrible Idea
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/googles-floc-terrible-idea

Not super proud of this, but when it's a choice between tossing out an old tablet because of a broken USB charging port, or an ugly fix to save it, I'll do the ugly fix.

#MakersGonnaFix #diy

This article explains why a few kilobytes of macOS updates ends up as gigabytes of downloads and 45 minutes of updating.

Users are losing out against Big Sur’s sealed System
https://eclecticlight.co/2021/02/28/last-week-on-my-mac-users-are-losing-out-against-big-surs-sealed-system/

'People often ask: “What’s the next Covid?” An attack on our digital infrastructure is a leading candidate.' and other interesting insights in this great read.

Yuval Noah Harari: Lessons from a year of Covid
https://www.ft.com/content/f1b30f2c-84aa-4595-84f2-7816796d6841

I have added a section to my #gemini capsule

gemini://tobykurien.com

for aggregating what people are saying about Gemini, e.g. tweets, toots, and now also the Gemini mailing list, where most of the announcements and spec discussions take place. You can now browse this on Gemini itself!

Gemini mailing list archive on Gemini
gemini://tobykurien.com/cgi-bin/mailing_list.py

"Culture I/O is a website about utopia as seen through the haze of the dystopian present. You’re laughing, but we’re serious. There’s a manifesto. That’s how serious we are."

Culture I/O — The Road to Utopia
https://culture.io/manifesto

New blog post! In which I attempt to cure my #doomscrolling

My war on doomscrolling
https://tobykurien.com/war-on-doomscrolling/

FreeHacker is an ezine "created to help the spread of DIY culture in cyberspace". A good, if somewhat short read.

FreeHacker: Issue 2
https://anarchistnews.org/content/freehacker-issue-2-available-download

This Sojourner #pwa is a beautiful way to browse and bookmark talks from the #fosdem '21 schedule.

Sojourner
https://fosdem.sojourner.rocks/search/

Few years ago I moved my personal projects from #Git to #Fossil, and can recommend it. It is easy to host (single binary file), feature full (bug tracking, wiki, forum, etc), and all the repo data is stored in a single sqlite db (easy to backup). You can also allow anonymous access so that people can collaborate without creating accounts. That's 2 files you copy into a machine and you have your entire source control and repo up!

Fossil: Fossil Versus Git
https://www.fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/fossil-v-git.wiki

My #Gemini capsule is up! It includes my #gemlog which is generated from my website microblog, which is also syndicated as tweets/toots via #IndieWeb. Very cool that all these technologies can play well with each other and are easy to script to my liking.

Toby's Gemlog
gemini://tobykurien.com/microblog.gmi

A well written blog post (from a Google dev advocate) about using machine learning for baking, resulting in inventing a new dessert. Much 'maker' spirit, such wow. #ai #machinelearning

Baking with Machine Learning
https://sararobinson.dev/2020/04/30/baking-machine-learning.html

"This means in two to five years we may be able to surf the internet or talk on our 900 MHz phones while walking down the sidewalk in nearly any city whose occupants own Amazon or other competing devices."

We may Soon have City-Spanning 900 HMz Mesh Networks
http://cheapskatesguide.org/articles/900mhz-mesh.html/

Some thoughts on the #Gemini protocol:

1. Gemini is to the web what reading a book is to watching TV. The former is focussed, simple, requires some effort, and may be more rewarding. The latter may be more compelling but also full of distractions and advertisements.

2. Gemini is just text and links, which HTML can easily do, but by removing features (like CSS, JavaScript, and inline media), Gemini guarantees that your experience will be simple, fast, and user-respecting. No complicated issues like browser fingerprinting, popups, tracking, XSS, etc.

3. Gemini might be a good fit for disseminating information in low-bandwidth long-range mesh networks like Meshtastic, which might become part of our apolcalyptic/dystopian future.

4. Gemini is a good format for scraping web content or generating content for displaying on devices like DIY smart mirrors, Raspberry Pi tablet screens, Smart watches, etc.

Curious? Try this link below which uses a web proxy to display some random feeds from Gemini sites.

Capcom Gemini Aggregator
https://proxy.vulpes.one/gemini/gemini.circumlunar.space/capcom/

"These all use some form of local radio signal. Some, such as Briar, may use short-range Bluetooth and Wifi, while others use radios such as LoRa that can reach several miles with low power. ... Every item on this list uses full end-to-end encryption" #offline #messenger #lora #meshnetwork

Roundup of Secure Messengers with Off-The-Grid Capabilities
https://changelog.complete.org/archives/10205-roundup-of-secure-messengers-with-off-the-grid-capabilities-distributed-mesh-messengers

Awesome talk about the ideas and possibilities behind the Beaker Browser, a peer-to-peer browser. #beakerbrowser #decentralizedweb #dweb

Imagine This: A Web Without Servers (2018)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ_WvfF3FN8

"On the Internet, your rate of learning is limited not by access to information, but by your ability to ignore distractions"

The Paradox of Abundance - David Perell
https://perell.com/note/the-paradox-of-abundance/

Bumper harvest of cherry tomatoes from my #aquaponics #diy

You may be in a quandry about deleting WhatsApp, because EVERYONE is on it. How quickly we forget that this was true of Mixit and BBM. We've moved before, we can move again, the businesses will follow. #deletewhatsapp #deletefacebook