Tag: boatingeurope

The Voyage of the Volga: The Wager

INT. THE OXFORD UNION – EVENING

A worn wooden interior lined with old photos and leather books. The clock above the bar ticks with naval precision. A few posh students sip pints and argue about lectures. Rain patters against the windows.

PRESENT:

HAMISH CAMPBELL, calm, steady, with a glint of wild vision behind measured words.

STUART, a skeptical undergraduate engineer.

RALPH, an economic prof who’s seen too much red tape.

FLANAGAN, a wannabe cryptocurrency trader with a cynical grin.

SULLIVAN, a journalist looking for a story.

DAN, a scruffy but sharp mechanic, quietly nursing a mug of tea.

STUART
(holding up a chart)
Hamish, you’ve lost it this time. You can’t sail to Iran on an inland route. Europe isn’t a bathtub, you know.

HAMISH
(flatly)
You can, if you know the canals. London to the Baltic Sea, then down the Volga—across to the Caspian. From there, it’s a short hop to Iran.

FLANAGAN
(snickers)
That’s not a voyage, that’s a labyrinth. Half those waterways are closed, half forgotten.

RALPH
And the tugboat? You’re taking that scruffy old thing—what’s it called?

HAMISH
(smiles faintly)
The Volga.

SULLIVAN
You named the boat after the river you’re trying to conquer. Poetic—but absurd.

HAMISH
It’s not absurd. The inland waterways are the old arteries of Europe. We’ve just forgotten how to use them.

STUART
You really think you can make it all the way to Iran by river and canal?

HAMISH
Yes. And I’ll prove it.

A silence falls. Rain grows heavier against the windows.

FLANAGAN
Prove it how? A blog post? A film? Another myth for your #openweb friends?

HAMISH
(smiling thinly)
A patron campaign.

STUART
A wager? What are we betting on?

HAMISH
That I can make the voyage. No corporate sponsorship. No closed tech. Just the tugboat Volga, open charts, and Dan here.

Dan looks up, startled, tea half-spilled.

DAN
Wait—me?

HAMISH
You said you wanted a break from working life. This is it.

SULLIVAN
You’re both mad. I’ll sign up for the Patreon—what—five hundred pounds says you won’t get past the Keal canal.

FLANAGAN
Make it a thousand to reach the Helsinki.

STUART
(laughing)
And ten thousand if you actually touch Iranian soil!

Hamish calmly pulls a slim laptop from his backpack and slides it across the table.

HAMISH
Let’s make the pledges official.

They type, close the laptop, and stands, buttoning his jacket.

HAMISH (CONT’D)
The river doesn’t care about politics or doubt. It just flows. All we have to do is follow it.

He checks the clock — 8:45 p.m.

HAMISH (CONT’D)
Come on, Dan. The tide’s waiting in London. Time to move.

EXT. IFFLEY LOCK – NIGHT

The tugboat Volga rocks gently under the amber glow of the Isis Farmhouse lights. Ducks gather along the bank. Rain glistens on the solar panels. Dan loads supplies while Hamish inspects the digital charts.

DAN
You really think this old tub can make it to Iran?

HAMISH
If it can float, it can travel. Trust the river, not the #dotcons online.

He starts the engine. The tug hums to life.

HAMISH
Next stop—the North Sea. Then the world’s forgotten backwaters.

They push off into the mist as Oxford recedes behind them, the city lights reflecting faintly on the black water.

FADE OUT.

TITLE CARD:
“The Voyage of the Volga has begun.”

#boatingeurope

The #OMN is a simple project

Composting the #techshit is about:

  • Raw waste → The constant flood of mainstreaming, broken promises of #dotcons, bad-faith #NGO capture, shallow “innovation theatre.” This is the smelly mess we are swimming in.
  • Shovel work → Activists and communities don’t just sit in the mess. We turn it over, exposing the rot, adding oxygen. This is critique, transparency, and the #4opens in action.
  • Aeration → Sunlight + openness turns stink into something useful. Lies are exposed, corruption made visible, hidden power structures dragged out.
  • Soil of change → The same waste that poisoned us becomes fertile ground for new growth, but only if we do the work of turning it. This is how trust-based networks sprout, how #OMN emerges.

What it means in practice

  • Don’t delete the shit – we compost it. Bad actors, bad processes, and bad tech are made visible and contextualized.
  • Don’t hoard the shit – silos just trap the stink. Share, federate, distribute — so communities can add their own oxygen.
  • Don’t wallow in the shit – critique alone is not enough. The point is to grow fertile alternatives.

The composting metaphor says: yes, we’re drowning in #techshit, but we have the tools to turn it into the soil for something humane, resilient, and alive. #KISS

The #OMN is a simple project. But simplicity is deceptive, what makes it difficult for many #fashernista and #mainstreaming people is not the code, not the servers, not even the logistics.
The difficulty is that the #OMN is rooted in a different path of human nature.

It isn’t designed to fit the old path of #stupidindividualism. It isn’t built to serve the greed of #dotcons. It isn’t here to bend the knee to the #deathcult.

The #OMN is designed as a transition tool, a bridge to a different path, commons, trust, a living path. Once people arrive, they can build what they like. That’s why the #OMN isn’t just tech, it’s a toolkit for social change and challenge.

#KISS. Keep it simple. Keep it real. I’ve been building this bridge for 20 years, agenst a strong counter flows, we were all pushed off the path when we handed our voices to the #dotcons. When #openweb culture gave way to #stupidindividualism, I was ready to give up.

So I bought a boat and sailed away. #boatingeurope. Not a metaphor – survival. But then came the ActivityPub reboot. The #openweb with the #Fediverse rose again. I came back. Because there was hope. There still is.

And now – five years into this reboot – we face the next predictable crisis: #mainstreaming, the sell-outs, the “respectable voices”, the NGO parasites. It’s normal. It happens to every alt project. And now it’s happening here.

The solution? Compost the mess. Not to attack individuals – most of them aren’t important. What matters are the paths they push us down. Because their “common sense” is the true danger. These are the paths that turn living networks into dusty, dry creeks.

That’s why I keep writing the #hashtag stories: to make these hidden paths visible. So we can see what’s going on. So we can choose differently. Compost the #techshit to grow something real.

OMN projects are tools for YOU to change and challenge the world we live (and die) in

I started by saying the #OMN is a simple project, let’s illustrate this with the #OMN Process

  1. Gather

People, projects, and content come together.

Anyone can publish by trust, share, and tag media.

Use open standards (#4opens, #openweb).

No gatekeepers, just openness mediated by trust.

  1. Describe

Content is enriched with metadata -tags, descriptions.

Human-readable and machine-readable.

Stories are linked by meaning, not silos.

  1. Share

Feeds are syndicated (via RSS, ActivityPub, etc.).

Content flows across the network.

Local projects display, remix, and reframe.

  1. Distribute

Decentralized hosting: many small servers, not one #dotcons.

Mirroring + redundancy = resilience.

No central point of failure.

  1. Contextualize

Communities add their perspective, framing, and translation.

Different views can co-exist on the same story.

Keeps the commons diverse and contested, not controlled.

  1. Compost

Bad ideas, #mainstreaming, and #NGO co-option are made visible.

Instead of only deleting, we contextualize and critique.

This “compost” becomes fertile ground for better growth.

  1. Grow

New media projects emerge from the toolkit.

Each can shape the #OMN path to fit their community.

A living, adaptive commons.

Principles in practice, KISS → tools stay simple, human-readable, small pieces that fit together. #4opens → open data, open code, open process, open standards. Trust-based networks → rooted in commons, not control. Resilience → many weak ties are stronger than one big silo.

The #OMN is not an app you install. It’s a set of processes + tools to move us from isolation to commons, from #dotcons back to #openweb.

https://unite.openworlds.info/Open-Media-Network

A path we need for the #openweb

The #NGO crew can be poison, not because they’re bad people, but because of how social structures and agendas shape behaviour. For the social health of the #openweb, we need to be mindful of what we take in. Just like in nature, some things are toxic in large doses. “Nice” doesn’t always mean “good.” There’s no contradiction here.

“Don’t drink from the #mainstreaming.”

But remember, shit makes good compost! Instead of just being cynical, let’s grow something better from this mess. A healthy #openweb world is still possible.

The Real Problem, is that too many people have been stuck in the #dotcons feedback loop for too long, lazy consumption feeding corporate control, which in turn dulls critical thinking, making people even more dependent. The illusion of #mainstreaming “ethical” alternatives all reinforce this cycle.

This post isn’t aimed at anyone in particular, but if you feel called out… well, maybe think about why.

Q: Why does this matter?

Because right now, #fashernistas (trend-chasers) and their projects are flooding into the #openweb space. Some of these projects are good, but many are just recreating the #geekproblem, building things that look different on the surface but are more #techshit repeating the same mistakes.

We use the #4opens as a litmus test for these projects:

  • Open Data – Who controls it?
  • Open Source – Can it be independently verified and improved?
  • Open Process – Who gets to decide?
  • Open Standards – Can it be freely networked and flows built upon?

If we don’t actively promote and support real alternatives, people will just step to more of the next “ethically marketed” #dotcons. If we don’t do #PR, they will, and they have far bigger budgets.

Q: What’s the deal with #hashtags, they empower people to break out of controlled algorithms.

  • Click a hashtag → See real conversations outside your curated bubble.
  • Follow a hashtag → Keep up with a movement, not just what a platform wants you to see.
  • Use hashtags → Help build DIY, horizontal networks that weaken centralized control.

Example: Try clicking on #boatingeurope

Simple truth: Hashtags can be used to give you more power, and take power away from the algorithmic walls of the #geekproblem and #dotcons. They help connect ideas, people, and actions outside #mainstreaming corporate control.

Not using them? That’s fine, but why actively reject something that makes change easier? Social transformation isn’t painless, but it’s doable. A simple first step is to just start using shared social hashtags, and when you get pushback, stick with it.

Nobody said social change was easy.

The #mainstreaming progressive are finally moving to what I have been saying in the hashtag story. They are talking about the #blocking of left paths by our #fashionisters, we do need to work at shovelling this mess to grow the seeds we need for change and challenge.

There are piles of shit from this mess.

Biography

I’ve been part of the #Fediverse since its earliest days, helping to build it from the ground up. The #OMN ran five instances for the first four years, supporting communities as they explored decentralized social spaces. I’ve organized events, facilitated discussions, and continuously worked to nurture the Fediverse’s growth as a living example of what the #openweb can be. You can explore more about this journey here.

My involvement in grassroots media and open technology stretches back to the birth of the web itself. I was part of the early internet experiments that challenged #mainstreaming narratives and built alternative channels for expression and connection. Projects like Undercurrents, the UK’s radical video collective, pushed past and back against corporate media control, documenting grassroots struggles and amplifying unheard voices for change and challenge.

From there, we launched #Ruffcuts, distributing activist films on copyleft free to distribute CD-R’s long before YouTube or streaming platforms existed. Soon after, #Indymedia emerged as a global decentralized federated media network, proving that open publishing and collective moderation could empower movements worldwide. This work eventually evolved into #visionOntv, an early attempt to build a peer-to-peer video distribution network, harnessing the power of collective storytelling to counter the corporate narratives.

After campaigning agonist climate change for 20 years I bought a lifeboat (an apt metaphor) to sail through Europe with #Boatingeurope, I connected with diverse communities, sharing media tools and spreading the message of #DIY media. These projects were all part of the same thread, a continuous push to create #DIY spaces where people can connect, collaborate, and tell their own stories without #mainstreaming gatekeepers.

The history of the Fediverse carries valuable lessons from these past experiments: the tension between decentralization and fragmentation, the struggle to balance grassroots governance against the creeping influence of #mainstreaming commercialization, and the ongoing need to keep human connection and community at the centre of technology.

By learning from the past, we cultivate a more resilient, cooperative, and truly #openweb path, one that resists the extractive logic of the #dotcons and embraces collective action and care. The path ahead isn’t easy, but the roots we’ve already planted run deep. Let’s keep growing, composting the mess, and building the future we need. 🌱

What am I doing now?

Conversations on this subject

A. It sounds like you’ve got a detailed plan — good luck in your work!

Q. As I outline in my posts, our work isn’t going anywhere because the grassroots have been hollowed out. My focus now is to build bridges to the #mainstreaming in an effort to make compost to refill the grassroots soil. What I argue for, in a practical sense, is that we’ve already spent 20 years working in alternative paths, and this approach likely still works.

We have a rare opportunity with the current bridging of the #openweb back to mainstream through #ActivityPub. This moment is crucial, and it would be a disaster to squander it, especially in an era defined by #climatechaos and the global hard shift to the right. Please keep this in mind when organizing events for the #SocialWebFoundation (#SWF). The bridges we build now shape the future.

Q. If our worlds keep getting smaller, we risk losing the very alternatives that could save us. Do you think some of them understood what I just said?

A. Absolutely they do. They just don’t give a rat’s patootie. They ran the numbers. A human extinction event is unlikely. Forecasts indicate that the remaining resources will support them and their progeny at their existing levels of luxury in perpetuity. The rest of us can just go take a flying leap at a rolling doughnut.

I don’t have the focus or energy any more to push these projects into being so the next step is to abstract them into the ideas and flows then put them out there for the next generation, I am happy to mentor, have an expedition boat to convert #boatingeurope thinking about writing a book to sum up the content of this site, and the 40 years of history, process, and development that has shaped it.

What do I think?

The path I am and have pushed is rooted in a few #KISS principles: a return to grassroots governance, prioritizing community-driven technology, and composting failed ideas for new growth. Then the common sense that to enable this, we need to develop tools and frameworks that uphold transparency, empower collective action, and keep the focus on sustainable, open alternatives.

https://unite.openworlds.info

I believe to try and balance much of the current mess, people should focus on grassroots activism and building alternative systems to combat the current social, ecological, and technological mess. With a strong emphasis on open processes (#4opens), collective action, to challenge the #neoliberal status quo (#deathcult) through direct engagement, rebooting independent media, and creating sustainable, community-driven alternatives to #mainstreaming mess. The path is agen #KISS to reclaim agency and work toward positive, systemic change from the grassroots up.

You can explore more at https://hamishcampbell.com

I am thus critical of #NGOs and #mainstreaming paths, as they compromise their radical potential by seeking funding and approval from larger institutions and establishment hierarchies. This too often leads to co-optation and dilution of “native” grassroots values of, turning them into tools for maintaining the status quo rather than challenging it. We need to actively resist this corruption and ensuring that alternative, community-driven projects thrive without becoming fatally entangled in the mainstreaming mess.

Read more at https://hamishcampbell.com

I have extensive experience navigating radical activism and grassroots media projects. Having been involved in open technology movements, such as #Indymedia and #OMN (Open Media Network) and more recently the Fediverse and ActivityPub movement, emphasizing trust-based, DIY approaches. Thus, the critique of the #NGO sector for undermining radical efforts through the influence of funding and institutionalization, having witnessed how NGO paths often lead to stagnation and failure.

For more details, visit hamishcampbell.com.

My #boatingeurope life reflects a life outside the #mainstreaming, a simpler “native” more sustainable #DIY lifestyle, away from the chaos of every day #deathcult worship. Living on the water is a metaphor for self-reliance, resilience, and independence, while offering life connected with nature. The lifeboat is a metaphor for #climatechaos, I sailed away ten years ago, after campaigning agenst #climatchange and ecological destruction for 20 years, continuing the path to live outside conventional structures, a little away from the stress of activism. However, the world is round, so have since returned, re-engaging with tech activism, a remainder that retreat won’t solve the broader systemic issues facing the world and the people that live in it

For more details, visit https://www.youtube.com/@BoatingEurope

I see a core tension between alternative cultures and the mainstream: the mainstream demands that alternative cultures conform in order to be effective, while the alt paths intentionally resist this push, aiming to remain distinct and radical. This clash creates a deeper issue – #mainstreaming voices tend to block and reject the need for a bridge between these two spaces. The failure to recognize the importance of building such bridges leads to division and stagnation, perpetuating the current social and political mess. The root problem lies in mainstream “common sense” blocking and an intolerance toward the very idea of bridging these divergent paths, hindering progress from both sides.

#hamishcampbell

https://opencollective.com/open-media-network/projects/hcampbell

Looking at the Izmir ship scrapyard

We visited the ship scrapyard, to see what they had in terms of lifeboats and boat parts. The problem was that the boats were old, worn and damaged from being removed without any care from the scraped ships. As Northam Europeans, the 3ed party sellers were asking for unrealistic prices at the same level as the better/newer boats in the UK, just converting the UK web prices to euros. This makes it unrealistic to buy a boat here.

#boatingeurope #lifeboat

It’s interesting to look at all the new #openweb native social media applications

This is my expirence:

To be updated:

Introduction

Hamish Campbell is an #openweb organic intellectual and a core contributor to the #OMN (Open Media Network). He publishes at http://hamishcampbell.com, where he documents decades of radical media work, social tech projects, and reflections on activist culture. You’ll find him across the #Fediverse, on the #dotcons, and #YouTube – pushing for open dialogue around politics, technology, and media.

Over the years, Hamish has been central to meany grassroots tech and media initiatives, including:

  • Undercurrents – video activism documenting direct action and alternative culture.
  • Ruffcuts – Copy left (before, Creative Commons) licensed video CD-ROMs project distributed across UK and global activist networks.
  • UK Indymedia – part of the global Indymedia network, building open publishing platforms for activist journalism.
  • VisionOnTV – producing and distributing social movement video through peer-to-peer networks and open tools. Now in its fourth generation of FOSS tech, the project has been running on and off for nearly 20 years.
  • The PeoplesTV Project – creating low-cost, live-edit, and video aggregation tools for real-time, mobile grassroots reporting.
  • 4opens – a framework for ethical #FOSS tech development, demanding openness of code, data, standards, and governance.
  • OMN (Open Media Network) – building a trust-based federated media infrastructure for alternative publishing.
  • ActivityPub and the Fediverse – working with native protocols and community to develop open, decentralized publishing tools and outreach them. 
  • OGB (Open Governance Body) – prototyping grassroots governance models tailored to activist and Fediverse cultures.
  • Rebooting Indymedia – re-energising grassroots media infrastructure with fediverse tech and horizontal process. This Fediverse tech got to roll out before covid but did not survive the pandemic
  • MakingHistory – a new project under active development, exploring collective memory and storytelling.

Hamish approaches all of this through a political lens – believing that code is ideology made real. He is sharply critical of tech shaped by capitalism, which he sees as systemically extractive, closed, and hostile to real social change. His approach to “humane coding” centres on designing systems that embrace complexity, emergence, and care – tools that reflect human relationships rather than enforce control.

Beyond the tech world, Hamish has been involved in hundreds of activist campaigns and alternative life experiments. He’s written academically on vagabond culture and hitchhiking, and has produced and edited over 1,000 videos and documentaries in the last 20 years.

For the past decade, he has lived aboard a semi-off-grid lifeboat, navigating Europe’s canals and coasts, a real-world metaphor for the digital values he champions: autonomy, resilience, and mutual aid. #BoatingEurope

Why would you be the right person to build the #OMN

The social change/challenge project of an organic intellectual is an act of love and a gift economy. Each toot and each hashtag is a gift. The #OMN hashtag story is designed to make people who often unconsciously worship the #deathcult (an obvious metaphor for #neoliberalism) and have internalized the last 40 years of the dead philosophy of #postmodernism uncomfortable.

The idea is that from these small openings, people can try to step outside this mess and challenge the status quo. To build the #OMN, we are looking for the tiny minority who can still think outside this mess and are willing to challenge the #mainstreaming narrative. The project is a call to action for those who want to create a more equitable and just society.

#boatingeurope at anchor for a few days on the Medway. Metaphorically, am  taking the piss outa #stupidindividualism. The reality picture would have 4–5 boats rafted up with a disparate crew having a barbi.