Struggling for a Real Alternative

For the last 5 years conversations have been about, the #Fediverse, #Web3 and more recently the pushing of #mainstreaming into the #openweb native path. But despite this, the fediverse is still a notable outlier in the digital landscape. This is in part because unlike the dominant tech trends, which emerge from Silicon Valley and the … Continue reading Struggling for a Real Alternative

#Techshit Hype – #NothingNew

The is nothing new to pointing out that our #fashionistas #mainstreaming crew push tech mess. Remember when drone deliveries were going to revolutionize shopping? When every major news outlet unthinkably reported that we’d have autonomous quadcopters dropping off toothpaste and Amazon boxes on our doorsteps? Or when 3D TVs were the future of entertainment, pushed … Continue reading #Techshit Hype – #NothingNew

It’s not easy, and it’s not as simple as clicking “sign up” and walking into a ready-made community

Q: Very interested in what you have to say. I’ve been trying to find a place in the #Fediverse that’s not in thrall to big tech. How do I join up? #OMN #OpenWeb. Hungry, feed me! A: This is harder than it should be, and that itself is a telling sign of where we are … Continue reading It’s not easy, and it’s not as simple as clicking “sign up” and walking into a ready-made community

The #GeekProblem: Why Open Development Is Stuck in a Dead End

It’s no sin to have to submit to the #dotcons overlords—we all do it, whether we like it or not. Just recently, I found myself installing that vile spyware known as #WeChat because this was the only way to talk to the people I needed to talk to. That bitter swipe to hide the app … Continue reading The #GeekProblem: Why Open Development Is Stuck in a Dead End

The #geekproblem is too often soft blocking change and challenge in tech

The #geekproblem has been an ongoing issue in the development of radical and open internet paths. This is particularly evident in the influx of #mainstreaming users into the #Fediverse, bringing with them behaviors that, for us #openweb natives, are easy to recognize as part’ish, a mix of good intentions and ingrained habits that common sense … Continue reading The #geekproblem is too often soft blocking change and challenge in tech

The #Open Path vs The #Closed Path – Why Simplicity Matters

The #mainstreaming success of #Bluesky means we have a crew who keep pushing the idea of creating a “native” #AP federated codebase/platform that captures its simplicity and ease of use. The problem they focus on is complexity vs. accessibility, the #open path is inherently more complex than the #closed path, and that’s a good thing … Continue reading The #Open Path vs The #Closed Path – Why Simplicity Matters

The problem with centralized data

The hidden centralization crisis in #openweb tech, and how #OMN fixes It. One of the often overlooked issue in #openweb technology is that our data remains dangerously centralized. Even in supposedly decentralized systems, vast amounts of critical information still rely on a handful of corporate-owned data centres. This fragile setup means that a single accident, … Continue reading The problem with centralized data

The Fediverse is a step

Let’s do a brief breakdown of the core structural problems of centralized platforms and how they warp social interaction. This ties directly into the #geekproblem, #4opens, and the broader issues of #dotcons and digital feudalism. Key issues: The #openweb Alternative? The #4opens and #OMN offer a radically different path, where trust replaces control, decentralized, transparent … Continue reading The Fediverse is a step

Security is a social problem first, a tech problem second

The #geekproblem locks us into hardcoded #feudalism, power structures baked into the code itself, with server admins as kings, users as serfs. To break this, we need to build trust-based paths first and let security emerge from that, rather than bolting it on after the fact.What actually needs to be secured? But rather than obsessing … Continue reading Security is a social problem first, a tech problem second

A shift back to radical values and paths

Much of academia post-1990s is just a shadow of the #deathcult, stripped of radicalism and repackaged into careerist, bureaucratic loops. It became another self-referential path, detached from real world struggles. The privatization of knowledge through paywalled journals, corporate funding, and NGO capture made sure of this. The same thing happened with #FOSS and #opensource, once … Continue reading A shift back to radical values and paths