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Carl is a lightweight BitTorrent client with first-class Tor anonymity
19 days ago
- Carl is a lightweight BitTorrent client that features Nostr-based discovery and built-in Tor anonymity.
- It does not require accounts or collect telemetry; user identity is managed via a local Nostr key.
- Connects directly to peers when privacy is not a priority, with trackers and DHT enabled.
- Routes all connections through a proxy and uses remote DNS resolution via socks5h:// to prevent leaks.
- Downloads over Tor and seeds as a .onion hidden service, keeping the user's IP address invisible.
- Searches a decentralized relay network for torrent events (NIP-35) without centralized censorship or logging.
- Automatically switches off DHT and UDP trackers when a proxy or Tor is enabled to maintain privacy.
- Treats peers, pieces, magnet links, SOCKS proxies, and onion addresses as copyable elements.
- Provides detailed transfer views, including segmented progress bars and have/missing heatmaps.
- Enables quick clipboard access to info-hashes, magnet links, and .onion addresses.
- Distinguishes trackers, DHT, and Nostr peer-announce sources for clear peer origin tracking.
- Offers visual indicators for proxy/Tor traffic confinement and relay connection status.
- Allows easy file sharing as a hidden service in two clicks, with prominent address display.
Private Messaging App Isn't WhatsApp or Signal, It's Delta Chat
13 days ago
- Delta Chat is a decentralized, open-source, end-to-end encrypted, and anonymous messaging app that does not require a phone number or email address to sign up.
- The app previously operated through existing email infrastructure, but now provides users with a random email address and handles all backend processes, enhancing privacy and convenience.
- Features include audio/video calls, group chats, read receipts, disappearing messages, file sharing, and multi-device login, with strong encryption preventing spam.
- Setup involves downloading the app, creating a profile without personal information, and adding contacts via QR codes or invite links.
- Delta Chat offers advantages over competitors like WhatsApp and Signal due to its anonymity, decentralized structure, resistance to blocking/censorship, and data export ease, though adoption among contacts may be limited.
Mastodon, the Only Good Choice
12 days ago
- The essay argues that now is a good time to leave declining social media platforms, recommending Mastodon as a better alternative.
- Mastodon is decentralized, akin to email, with no single owner, no ads, and allows migration between servers without losing followers.
- Users report more meaningful interaction and conversation on Mastodon compared to other platforms, despite potentially smaller follower counts.
- The platform supports diverse content, including sex-positive and NSFW material, with content warnings to manage visibility.
- Moderation is server-based, with tools like defederation to combat abuse, encouraging a healthier community environment.
- Mastodon features link previews, good search functionality, and a variety of open-source client apps, enhancing usability.
- Its algorithm prioritizes chronological posts from followed accounts, avoiding engagement-driven feeds, with potential for future improvements.
- Funded by nonprofits and community support, Mastodon lacks profit motives, making it resilient and sustainable compared to venture-backed platforms.
- Bluesky is criticized for centralization and reliance on venture capital, which may lead to enshittification through ads or business pressures.
- The essay concludes that Mastodon is the only viable decentralized, non-owned social media option offering a fun and interactive experience.
Damaged Earth Catalog
14 days ago
- The Damaged Earth Catalog promotes a shift from remote power structures (government, big business, formal education, church) to intimate, community-based power.
- It focuses on communities conducting their own education, finding inspiration, shaping their environment, and sharing knowledge.
- The catalog seeks and promotes practices supporting this transition, listing various approaches such as Appropriate Technology, Low-Tech, Permacomputing, and Degrowth.
Why Org Social is the ethical Fediverse alternative
3 days ago
- The Fediverse has structural issues including concentration (e.g., mastodon.social hosting 40% of accounts), human cost (volunteer burnout), and complexity (ActivityPub is hard to implement).
- Org Social is a decentralized alternative based on a plain text file (social.org) that users host themselves, allowing full ownership, simplicity, and no reliance on instances.
- It addresses ethics through design: simplicity (easy spec), accessibility (human/machine-readable), decentralization (no central instance), richer format (Org Mode features), user ownership, censorship resistance, human sustainability, and honest privacy (all public).
- Limitations include no embedded media, no private messages, everything public, reliance on relays for better UX, and a technical barrier for self-hosting.
- Conclusion: Org Social reduces social networking to a user-owned text file, eliminating Fediverse problems as a design consequence rather than a promise.
I joined the IndieWeb, here's what I learned
2 days ago
- The IndieWeb is a people-focused alternative to the corporate web, started in 2010, emphasizing owning your data, better connectivity, and control.
- Silos (walled gardens) are centralized corporate platforms that restrict access, claim rights over content, and often disappear, taking user data with them.
- IndieWeb principles include owning your data, using visible data, making and using what you need, documenting and open-sourcing, prioritizing UX, modularity, longevity, plurality, and having fun.
- Key technical standards: your own domain as identity; microformats2 (h-card, h-entry) for machine-readable HTML; rel='me' for verified identity; Webmention for cross-site conversations; IndieAuth for domain-based login; Micropub for publishing; WebSub for real-time feeds; and Microsub for decoupled reading.
- Publishing strategies: POSSE (publish on your site, syndicate elsewhere), PESOS (publish elsewhere, syndicate to your site), and backfeed to bring interactions back to your site.
- The IndieWeb coexists with the Fediverse (bridged via Bridgy Fed) but critiques RSS/Atom for maintenance issues, promoting h-feed instead.
- Getting started involves obtaining a domain, setting up hosting, creating pages, syndicating, adding microformats, validating with IndieWebify.me, and joining the community.
- The author implemented Webmention, h-entry, h-card, and rel='me'; discarded Micropub, WebSub, and h-feed due to personal workflow and design constraints.
- Key advice: use plain HTML for durability, create permanent URLs, commit gradually, plan for extreme longevity, and have fun with your website.

Hasty Briefsbeta

#decentralization

Carl is a lightweight BitTorrent client with first-class Tor anonymity

Private Messaging App Isn't WhatsApp or Signal, It's Delta Chat

Mastodon, the Only Good Choice

Damaged Earth Catalog

Why Org Social is the ethical Fediverse alternative

I joined the IndieWeb, here's what I learned