Aral Balkan @aral@mastodon.ar.al
- Small Technology Foundation
- https://small-tech.org
- Site.js
- https://sitejs.org
- Better Blocker
- https://better.fyi
I make Small Tech.
Joined Apr 2017
Our primary Internet connection is down because… *cue rural Irish music* someone cut the fibre-optic cable while cutting the hedges. Second year running.
Just learned about “preliminary tax payment” in Ireland – which means that you pay next years’ taxes in advance (yes, you read that right, so we’re going to be paying twice the tax we owe this year). PS. Only for people like us who pay taxes (Jeff, you can breathe easy, my man).
Hopefully, if we can demonstrate the usefulness of what we’re building, one day we will amass the social and political will to allow us to remove that capitalist bullshit element from the system.
TFW even though your service is a homespun technology platform for the common good that uses cryptography, integrates multiple APIs, etc., the most complex part is the capitalist bullshit you’re forced to include in order to continue surviving. What a world we’ve created… 👏 👏 👏
So say you’re pricing an online subscription at €5 (VAT inclusive) in the EU. You’re breaking the law because you’re actually charging different prices for different countries with different VAT rates (from €4.35 to €3.94 for 15%-27% VAT)… ain’t the Single Market a gas?
Summaries of relevant law: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/pricing-payments/indexamp_en.htm
Aral Balkan
boosted
@aral
The hole on the inside of my guitar bag supports this message.
The €U (aka The Single Market) really is a beautiful project.
Imagine… a huge mall, 27 countries wide. Shelves brimming with only the best European values for sale. And free shipping on orders over €50*
* for a limited time only, terms and conditions apply.
Aral Balkan
boosted
Some very wise words from @aral that we ALL need to hear no matter what domain we happen to work in. In this case he's referring to making Web Applications accessible to "normal people"
47:20-48:17
Aral Balkan
boosted
"Hyperscalers [like #Facebook] have the same criteria of success as cancers. -- Why do you want to replicate #hyperscalers in Europe?"
Watch this invaluable rant of @aral in front of the European Parliament.
https://video.lqdn.fr/videos/watch/70f2128c-8c06-4cc4-8a5a-bf77e765c8fd?title=0&warningTitle=0
Today’s reminder to always remember to turn the crimped end of a guitar string to the side after changing your strings is brought to you by my poor stabbed thumb.
✅ Just submitted small-web.org for inclusion in the Public Suffix List: https://github.com/publicsuffix/list/pull/1086
Why?
Aral Balkan
boosted
I have started adding #smalltech foundation videos to my own #peertube instance so that they are discoverable in that realm of the internets. Spread the good word!
Small Technology Foundation are:
@aral @laura
https://peertube.davidpeach.co.uk/video-channels/small_technology_foundation/videos
I was going to create a YAML-based scripting engine to automate site/app installation for Site.js but it seems Phillip Markert has already pretty much built most of what I need for me with Hyperpotamus.
Check it out here, with instructions on command-line interface (CLI) use:
https://github.com/pmarkert/hyperpotamus
And here’s a basic example of how to use it as a library in your own Node projects:
https://github.com/pmarkert/hyperpotamus/issues/43#issuecomment-671274743
“« usbkill » is an anti-forensic kill-switch that waits for a change on your USB ports and then immediately shuts down your computer.”
https://github.com/hephaest0s/usbkill
Via cron.weekly #144
In case you missed it, I wrote a little something about the Small Web on Friday.
What’s the Small Web?
Exactly.
Read on… ;)
Aral Balkan
boosted
@john @aral ?_? You should read the next phrase: "Since that’s not going to happen from day one, we are doing our best to build a bridge from here to there within the limits of the capitalist system we find ourselves in. Our goal is to prove its feasibility and then ask entities like the European Union to support it in the interests of their citizens and the common good."
Plus, "independent" doesn't imply being non-resident or non-citizen, does it?... We can be independent and united.
Aral Balkan
boosted
Researchers from Dublin reviewed the Google Play Services that are mandatory for Covid Tracing Apps on Android. Every 20 min they transfer:
- IP adress
- phone #
- email
- IMEI
- SIM #
https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Doug.Leith/pubs/contact_tracing_app_traffic.pdf
➡️ So it's illegal, intrusive and affects large parts of the population
So I just got this message from someone on Mastodon:
“@aral I noticed some harsh language in several of your recent posts. When did you go on holidays last time? By the way, there is a broken link in your article due to a typo. All the best...”
That person is now blocked.
If you feel the need to tone police me, here’s a hint: go fuck yourself.
Aral Balkan
boosted
What is the Small Web? by @aral
« On the Small Web, we do not have the concept of “users”. When we refer to people, we call them people. »
- Small Technology Foundation
- https://small-tech.org
- Site.js
- https://sitejs.org
- Better Blocker
- https://better.fyi
I make Small Tech.
Joined Apr 2017
