Chris Trottier @atomicpoet@mastodon.social

Hey folks, I've been quiet for a bit. Reason is, I started a new Mastodon instance (mastodon.thedecentralists.com). In a couple of weeks, this account will be migrating over there.

Just to let you all know what's going on, my company (Peer Social) is going all in on the decentralized web (dweb). We're starting with Mastodon and The Matrix. After that, it's Pixelfed and Peertube. Membership will be open to all.

Today's tea blend is dried blueberries and mango, hibiscus, and lemongrass.

The EFF understands that self-sovereign identity is an important human right. This is why I'm so excited to be working on Peer Social! https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/08/digital-identification-must-be-designed-privacy-and-equity-10

Not very good.

My tea blend today: Ceylon black tea, goji berries, cherries, cranberries, blueberries, and rose petals.

Is it any wonder that the biggest proponent of surveillance capitalism and a centralized web is also a closet Nazi? This is why we must do everything to build self-sovereign identity (SSI) -- so that no one with power and money can catalogue and categorize you. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/peter-thiel-donald-trump-white-nationalist-support?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc

Beware! Without warning or notice, Twitter destroyed 2 years of community building. It was hard work -- it could happen to you! Luckily, there are options. On this episode of the Decentralists, we discuss what we're doing next. https://www.buzzsprout.com/995260/5384995-hot-topix-still-banned-from-twitter

If you work in #socialmedia, it's time to do a rethink. Yes, #decentralization is here. That means a big tidal shift.

We're seeing this right now in the emerging Fediverse. The W3C's new open protocols mean the age of proprietary social APIs may be a thing of the past. What does this all mean? In this presentation, I answer that question. https://www.slideshare.net/atomicpoet/the-decentralized-web

It's funny how angry people get about The Asylum. Nerds just generally really hate it when something "off brand" is similar to the blockbusters they love. But from where I'm standing, sometimes you want to see what can be done with 1/100th of the budget -- Asylum films typically cost $500,000.

If you're not familiar with The Asylum, they pretty much specialize in mockbusters and schlock. Their most famous productions are Sharknado, Z Nation, Atlantic Rim, etc.

If you watch an Asylum film, expect a low budget, terrible CGI, and lots of camp. For all their quirks, they're consistent.

Today, I'm watching two Asylum-produced movies about dragons. The first one is simply called "Dragon" and it's a mockbuster of Erogan. The other is Merlin and the War of the Dragons. Both movies came out in the '00s. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1294699

Today, I saw The Legend of Hercules. It got bad reviews. But way more satisfying than The Last Legion.

Why? Because it knows what it is. It's a big dumb movie with spectacle. It exists so viewers can state at sweaty bare-chested men committing acts of violence. This film is shallow but it commits to bring shallow.

Good film? No. Bad film? Not whatsoever. Just an incredibly mediocre flick featuring glistening pecs. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1043726/

Have you ever seen The Last Legion (2007), starring Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth? Of course you haven't. You watch good movies. Cinema that doesn't insult your intelligence.

Not me, though. I'm always on the hunt for trash -- which is why I'm starting an upcoming podcast devoted to bad movies.

But what is The Last Legion? It's a crappy attempt to link the Fall of Rome with Arthurian epics. Not that this is an entirely original premise either. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462396/?ref_=tt_urv

I needed a Microsoft Office alternative. Ultimately, I chose SoftMaker Office 2021 because one purchase entitles you to five licenses for Windows, Mac, or Linux. Oh, and it's CAD$54 for an outright purchase.

Yes, I realize LibreOffice and Calligra Office are free but their interfaces are awful.

Just a reminder. Instant coffee is no replacement for actual real coffee. This happens to be a lesson I must re-learn yearly.

And comparing social networks to operating systems is apt. At the end of the day, a social network is an operating system. This isn't an analogy. Social networks are literal operating systems.

If I were to compare Twitter to the Fediverse right now, it's like comparing Windows NT to Linux back in 1995. Sure, Twitter is big, but it can't stop the power of open source and grassroots development efforts.

Sure, social networks like Facebook will continue to build proprietary APIs because they've spent 16 years developing them. That's a sunk cost. But all sunk costs eventually become fallacious.

At this point, building a social network with entirely proprietary APIs is like building a website without HTML, CSS, and XML. Theoretically, it can be done. But why?

If I were to release a new social network tomorrow, would I build a new suite of APIs? Or would I just implement open source protocols?

I know what's easier and more scalable.