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I don't know why this lad is building a subterranean city for cats, but I'm all for it.

Big news: The archive of my old weblog, The Functional Art, is back online: www.thefunctionalart.com The blog won't be updated anymore, though. In the next 2-3 weeks I'll share some news about resuming the newsletter of my upcoming big project: openvisualizationacademy.org #dataViz #dataVis 📊

The degree to which transphobes have managed to capture UK institutions will never not be astonishing to me.

I updated my "Complete guide to Bluesky" post again 🙂 I added some new things that happened since November, e.g.: trends, verifications, new photo & video apps, and new settings mackuba.eu/2024/02/21/b...

Cool blog of how @aendra.com built @xblock.aendra.dev her automoderation tuned screenshot classifier AI model and pipeline, including all the manual work behind it. www.aendra.com/xblock-summe...

Again I ALWAYS advise to use group and algorithmic moderation with GREAT caution and usually only in warn mode as I do, but @xblock.aendra.dev as a screenshot labeler is working pretty well. It rolled-up screenshots you can click to view if you want. Works great and very safe.

Bluesky and the fediverse have constructed a narrative of how growth of the networks happen: when Musk does something particularly evil or stupid, people migrate in a wave looking for an ethical alternative. But what happens when that pattern breaks down? connectedplaces.online/growth-narra...

Our next event has been announced! We'll be returning to Newspeak House on Wednesday, 23 July from 7 pm to 10 pm. RSVP here! lu.ma/15mefous?tk=... We're currently looking for shorter (5-15 minutes) and longer (15-30 minute) talks. Cool new project? Big new idea? We want to hear about it! DM us!

Where to work in London when it's too hot to think? My top 10 pitch-ups with WiFi, air con and relative peace in my Substack this week. open.substack.com/pub/helenbar...

Words don't come close to describing just how profoundly bad an idea this is.

One last selfie before I head back to the hotel and then the airport. Thank you Oslo, it's been brill. 💚🏳️‍🌈 (I cannot believe it's this light out at 2:45 am)

Happy Pride Oslo! #oslopride

Anthropic let Claude run a vending machine business at their HQ. People tricked it into buying a bunch of tungsten steel cubes that it sold at a loss. www.anthropic.com/research/pro...

ig has finally figured me out. im getting combined skateboarding and bowling content, and whatever the hell this is (perfection is what it is)

Done with the rough pitch up. Gonna let it settle before I fuss with it more and get it properly in tune. But holy hell is this ever an improvement on previous status quo, so glad I got it done.

Finally got around to reading this post and it's excellent.

Hard agree. My plan so far has been to bring the Mastodon people along in one big tent but so often when I mention public social media infrastructure people shake their head sadly and say "Oh, yeah, Mastodon… That's never going to work." We need to somehow unpoison the well.

I think there's something to this idea; I wonder if there's a way to make it more broadly connected to larger international development goals. ATProto pushes back against censorship. It creates space for marginalised communities. It protects journalism. We need allies outside the tech space.

I think also differentiating ATProto from Twitter is important because some part of me also feels Bluesky being perceived as Yet Another American Tech Company when really it's not! What we're doing with Northsky is a good example of how ATProto is uniquely suited to these challenges. #igf2025

The last panel was really indicative, so much of what's going on in the ATProto space directly addresses common needs, but Bluesky didn't get a single mention (Mastodon, however, got a single dismissive nod). #igf2025

I'm pretty adamantly against what I refer to as "protocol development as blood sport" but Bluesky/ATProto really needs to be more vocal about how we're *not* like Mastodon/Fediverse because nobody so far has mentioned the latter as a serious contender when the former actually is? #igf2025

🌍Are you at #IGF2025 this week? We're & you can catch us tackling: 🔹 Is a people-centred internet still possible? 🔹 Accountability in digital plumbing 🔹 Real multi-stakeholder governance 🔹 Digital markets, #AI & #HumanRIghts More details 👇 Please connect. Let’s shape a better #internet, together!

Excellent point by Abdallah Alsalmi, that shortwave radio and other older communication media are protected by international law but the internet isn't in the same way and so governments are allowed to censor or shut it off; call to action to energise local IGF fora. #igf2025

Ændra, are there any events you'd be sorely interested in attending but can't that I could try to 'attend' in your place? If you like, I'll send you a transcript and/or my notes afterwards. I know these things become permanent videos on YouTube, but having two heads on it may be more efficient.

That does sound fascinating. Is that the one that's streaming from Workshop Room 2?

This session on meaningful digital access is already super interesting. I should really consider rendering my news feeds in a super low-bandwidth manner using Graze's Contrails feature... 🤔 #igf2025

I've created a custom feed for #igf2025, all posts with the hashtag will show up here and you can pin it: bsky.app/profile/did:...

A quietish week, only 36 #Manuscripts from the Vatican www.wiglaf.org/vatican/2025... Includes a 13th C NT, 11th C Menologium, more 17th C papal stuff, Sistine Diaries and Ethiopic liturgy. Several humanistic texts, including one by one Raniero Fioravanti, unknown to me #MedievalSky #Skystorians

In this week's Vatican digitization roundup by @aaronm.bsky.social, I noticed a 15th-c. Aeneid on paper, dense with marginal commentary in the earlier books. The main script is humanist-ish and the big, pale blue initials are very pretty. digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Ott...

A must-watch if you haven't seen this, #bookhistory and #printinghistory people.

The Peterborough Psalter and Bestiary (early 14th c.). Among the most sumptuously decorated manuscripts held by the Parker Library. Digitised by @stanforduniversity.bsky.social: parker.stanford.edu/parker/catal... Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 053 @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social

Angels from the Heidelberg Coptic Magical Papyri Project. Michael accompanied by his two Powers, intended to be copied onto an amulet. P. Heid. Inv. Kopt. 686. (KYP M166), 10th century #Medieval #Manuscripts #Angels #Papyrus #Coptic @anestudieswue.bsky.social @dfg.de

Evolution from complex interaction networks, owing to limited genetic resources, to simpler, larger networks favouring regulatory simplicity (and thus evolvability)

À propos of nothing, the rapid evolution in design of the cover of Radio Times’s ‘Christmas number’ between 1964 and 1967 is both a paradigm of the decade in question and a trip in its own right.

As 2024 winds down, I want to shoutout @detchibe.bsky.social for the thousands of pages they scanned throughout the year; specifically the publications focused on the Japanese coin-op industry. I'm truly thankful for their hard work on getting all of this material scanned in for everyone! :)

🕹️ Mega CD 📚 Game Pia 1 👤 @detchibe.bsky.social

Beyond honoured to be included among so many other fantastic writers and pieces. Researching and writing on Yakyuken was a joy and I am eternally grateful it has been as interesting and useful of a history as it ended up being! If you haven't already, I'd be delighted if you read my findings 💛