Posts by darius@friend.camp
(DIR) Post #AwGghtYPKaPi6u1ZPk by darius@friend.camp
2025-07-18T18:45:35Z
2 likes, 2 repeats
So ARPANET had a famous "Flag Day" where they switched over to TCP/IP in 1983; it required a simultaneous switchover of all host machines to the new protocol. And I know that "flag day" has since referred to big changes like that in networked systems. I assumed the name referred to some bitwise flags set in packet headers. Turns out, the term comes from Multics, when similar coordination was required for an encoding change. It happened on actual US Flag Day 1966!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_day_(computing)
(DIR) Post #AxF0B6czYBfjfcE1IG by darius@friend.camp
2025-08-15T21:32:39Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
For a sneak preview of my followup to the Fediverse Schema Observatory, there's now a project page on the lab website for the ActivityPub Fuzzer:https://asml.cyber.harvard.edu/activitypub-fuzzer/Basically it lets an ActivityPub server developer test compatibility with simulated messages from Fediverse software known to the Observatory (dozens of software projects and hundreds of versions!). The dev can do this entirely in a local dev environment.The project is still in the works but I'll be releasing the code soon.
(DIR) Post #AyZbzJuB2U6YEuGVeK by darius@friend.camp
2025-09-25T16:57:16Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
I'm sure other people have noted this but at some point we went from talking about "social network sites" to talking about "social media sites".At first, the network was the thing that mattered. Then, the media was the thing that mattered. A quick Google Trends query shows the shift might have happened around 2012:https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=%22social%20network%20site%22,%22social%20media%20site%22&hl=en
(DIR) Post #AyagQ1MAhhLZVQJ5V2 by darius@friend.camp
2025-09-25T23:01:28Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
I've learned recently that there are adults who do not know that 1mL of water weighs 1g. If you didn't before, now you know.
(DIR) Post #AyagQ5AyVGldLr6CbQ by darius@friend.camp
2025-09-26T00:01:49Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
I would posit that if you are the kind of person for whom "at standard temperature and pressure" matters in a statistically significant way, either due to the need for precision or the extreme environment in which you operate..... you probably don't need me to remind you that 1mL water weighs 1g
(DIR) Post #AybNLy757IkaJjYwue by darius@friend.camp
2025-09-26T15:12:44Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@flesh @eragon @lanodan ok I like megagram and will add that to my lexicon. When I'm feeling silly I like to refer to the millifortnight (approximately 20 minutes)
(DIR) Post #AybRD9M2LuqUOLbmVM by darius@friend.camp
2025-09-26T14:28:04Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Thanks to the fediverse I have now been reminded many times over that the conversions that help me make my coffee every morning would completely fail me under non-Earth gravity conditions, or inside a hydrothermal vent, or if the water I'm using is in solid or gas form, or...
(DIR) Post #AybRDDPNHRtMxrCVGK by darius@friend.camp
2025-09-26T14:41:08Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Me: puppies are cuteFediverse: on the surface of the Sun a puppy does not remain cute for very long
(DIR) Post #AymRgjIxuDiV1iprl2 by darius@friend.camp
2025-10-01T20:27:04Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
Do you know about the "peering" structure of the Internet?Massively simplified: you might know that when your computer talks to a computer on the other side of Earth, it's not a direct connection. Your data is bouncing between many different nodes and connections to get there.Well, entities OWN all those computers and those wires. It costs time/labor/money to maintain switches, fiber, etc. Peering is when companies say "I'll let your traffic use my hardware if you let mine use yours."(1/2)
(DIR) Post #AymRgoEtYmQqKXyBbk by darius@friend.camp
2025-10-01T20:27:13Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
It creates these fascinating and weird economies. According to this 2016 study, 99.93% (!) of peering agreements are> "handshake" agreements in which the parties agreed to informal or commonly understood terms without creating a written document.https://www.pch.net/resources/Papers/peering-survey/PCH-Peering-Survey-2016/PCH-Peering-Survey-2016.pdfIn a sense the entire Internet runs on "trust me bro" and an understanding that it's good for business if data flows. There's not much legislation or even contractual agreement around this!!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peering(2/2)
(DIR) Post #AymRgsx02k5WwUdSuO by darius@friend.camp
2025-10-01T20:31:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Like in a very real way the only reason we have internet infrastructure is because it's run in a cooperative model. And yeah you can quibble, it's about mutual benefit, it's as mercenary as anything, etc etc, but I also always go back to David Harvey who talks about the fact that huge corporations and ruling classes are actually very good at behaving in solidarity with one another, and it's where a lot of their power comes from.
(DIR) Post #AymrQDAOE1OFWhbmvg by darius@friend.camp
2025-10-01T18:02:59Z
2 likes, 1 repeats
Extremely pleased to announce the release of the ActivityPub Fuzzer! This is a tool that runs in a local development environment and (partially) emulates known ActivityPub software. It can even create a fake local "public fire hose" shaped like what you might see if you hooked your in-development software up to the real Fediverse.I built this because I wanted ways to test in-progress fedi software for compatibility without actually making it live and breaking things.https://asml.cyber.harvard.edu/2025/10/01/introducing-the-asml-activitypub-fuzzer-improving-testing-in-the-fediverse/
(DIR) Post #AymrQI384RYMfdFYo4 by darius@friend.camp
2025-10-01T18:12:21Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I am VERY much open to feedback on this project. It is in very early days and I'm sure there are a million great features that could be added. The project's Github is the best place to file feature requests:https://github.com/berkmancenter/activitypub-fuzzer/
(DIR) Post #AyqsSHKqZf9jcYtBYm by darius@friend.camp
2025-10-03T21:51:31Z
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If I were a famous politician I would legally change my name to TKTK just to mess with newspaper editors
(DIR) Post #Ayr6FeCLeqde7fmjdg by darius@friend.camp
2025-10-04T05:12:27Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
All's love in fairy war
(DIR) Post #AzFHArzghStYkdpGZk by darius@friend.camp
2025-10-15T21:13:57Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@tomjennings I don't know, what happens if you put a wig in a washing machine???[pauses for punchline delivery]
(DIR) Post #B0wMnZQEkk1VhQ4omu by darius@friend.camp
2025-12-05T13:43:29Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@cwebber @trwnh @datarama my Christmas lights do a nice job of blinking forever after I configure them!!
(DIR) Post #B2299w6vpwkbLjACVk by darius@friend.camp
2026-01-06T18:33:50Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
My favorite thing on Bluesky is a labeler made by the Social Technologies Lab at Cornell Tech.https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:oubsyca6hhgqhmbbk27lvs7cIt surfaces metadata on posts. Most useful to me is "This person posted more than 50 times yesterday."It recasts a post like the one pictured. It reminds me to look at their profile and figure out if they are a real person, and are they terminally online, or engagement farming, or what. Then I might block/mute because I don't need people like that in my lifeworld.
(DIR) Post #B229A0zJhgd8TYdgps by darius@friend.camp
2026-01-06T18:40:12Z
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To be clear I'm not saying these people are bad. I just don't want them floating around my informational and social feeds. The last thing I want to do is engage with someone who is a Full Time Poster
(DIR) Post #B27wTEimjb987DV91c by darius@friend.camp
2025-12-29T17:36:27Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
> delphitools is a collection of small, focused utilities that respect your privacy and work entirely in your browser. No data leaves your machine, no accounts required, no tracking. Just tools that do what they say.https://tools.rmv.fyi/