Don Thompson @guardeddon@social.cleverlibre.org

Nokia Sets 800Gbps World Record for Transoceanic Fibre Optic Speeds https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2023/10/nokia-sets-800gbps-world-record-for-transoceanic-fibre-optic-speeds.html

Like a cool, comforting salve from the chaos of the world. The latest episode of Cockpit Casual on a double A320neo repo operation from India is perfect from start to finish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3MCFL81MTk

Hey everyone, I wanted to give you a heads up that I've recently migrated my account from firefish.social to firefish.city. I thought I'd share a bit of background on why I made this move.

So, just to fill you in, firefish.social was actually the continuation of calckey.social, which I purchased last year. The reason behind this was that I was getting a bit frustrated with the number of people joining my original Calckey server, vancity.social, simply to try Calckey (now known as Firefish). You see, vancity.social was meant to be a community for Vancouver residents on the Fediverse. However, with so many non-residents creating accounts, I had concerns that it would lose its intended purpose.

To address this, I decided to buy the calckey.social domain so that there could be a general server for Calckey. This way, vancity.social could serve Vancouver residents, while calckey.social would be a place for those interested in trying out Calckey.

I shared this plan with the Calckey project and they were actually facing similar issues with other servers. They reached out to me and asked if we could collaborate on running calckey.social, and I happily agreed.

Well, to my surprise, calckey.social became a lot more successful than I ever anticipated. And its successor, firefish.social, continued that momentum. It's now the biggest Firefish server out there.

But now, I feel like firefish.social has outgrown me. It has different goals and needs, which is totally natural as things evolve. So, just like a proud parent, I'm saying goodbye to what feels like my child, with hopes that it will flourish and grow further in the future.

As for me, I'm moving on to a fresh new Firefish server. Similar to my personal server, atomicpoet.org, this new one will remain small and won't have open registrations.

There are a couple of reasons behind my choice to move to a new Firefish server. Firstly, I truly believe that the beauty of the Fediverse lies in the creation of new servers and the interconnectivity between them. It thrives when there are countless servers, each with their own unique communities.

Secondly, I simply enjoy the atmosphere of a small server. I've been operating atomicpoet.org, through #SpaceHost, for almost a year now and I find the cozy feel of a smaller Fediverse server quite appealing. Of course, this is purely a personal preference.

Lastly, I want to mention that I will continue supporting the Firefish project by making my monthly donations of $150. I hope that the development team keeps adding amazing new features to enhance the Firefish experience.

Thanks for taking the time to read this update, and if you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to reach out.

DRM ruins efforts at historical preservation. If all of our media is locked up in digital streaming platforms -- which will go under eventually -- how will it be preserved for future generations? Live DRM-free instead: https://u.fsf.org/1aj #EndDRM #DRM

Wow, have #Monzo gone down hill.

I have someone that does not know the difference between a card payment and Direct Debit (froze the card in response to request to refund a direct debit).

They do not know what a direct debit is, calling them "subscriptions".

They are not able to understand the payments have gone through and need refunding.

They don't know the direct debit guarantee.

This is terrible. I have asked to be transferred 4 times now.

Mozilla is looking for a Senior Staff Software Engineer to work on their
@Mastodon + @elk server at mozilla.social

Don't hesitate to apply even if you don't tick all the boxes! https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/careers/position/gh/5416617/

CoffeeGeek is Leaving Twitter.

CoffeeGeek is ceasing its participation on the Twitter / X platform, moving our main social media interaction to Mastodon. Full details as to why, below.

https://www.coffeegeek.com/news/coffeegeek-is-leaving-twitter-x/

I spoke with @Aditi_muses of the Hindustan Times about Signal's commitment to privacy in India and everywhere, the challenges of committing to privacy in the context of a tech industry driven by surveillance, and why metadata is not an afterthought.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/we-will-not-conduct-a-kyc-for-our-users-signal-president-meredith-whittaker-101696448237663.html

Devonian sandstone outcrop, Auchmithie

It was a grey day with occasional drizzle falling, so I concentrated on the impressive sandstone outcrops and made this long exposure photo of the incoming sea lapping around.

Prints etc: https://shiny.photo/gallery/auchmithie

#longexposure #landscapephotography #seascape #naturephotography #scotland #photo #blackandwhite

Some admins are sharing the balance sheet of the costs of running an instance.
It's so refreshing to see transparency on the internet and very helpful to understand what takes to make an open instance.

The anti-science movement is "organized, it’s well-financed, and it’s politically motivated. It’s doing a lot of damage to the country and to American science and scientists. And now it’s become a lethal force." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccine-scientist-warns-antiscience-conspiracies-have-become-a-deadly-organized-movement/