When you're reading a thread full of content warnings in Mastodon, do you get annoyed at having to open each warning one by one?

There's a really easy way to open all the warnings in a thread at once:

1. Go to the thread
2. Click on the eye-shaped icon in the top right corner to toggle all warnings open or closed

That's it!

#MastoTips #FediTips #Mastodon

#Lemmy is an open federated alternative to Reddit and is currently early in development. You can follow the project at:

@LemmyDev

There's also the open federated #Prismo, which is in a more advanced state of development:

@prismo

You can try Prismo at:

https://prismo.xyz

(If you copy a Prismo user or post address into the Mastodon search box and click search, you can interact with it.)

(Thanks to @gaja for info about Lemmy.)

#Alternatives #Fediverse #ActivityPub #Reddit

France's largest free software organisation @Framasoft has just launched a crowdfunding campaign for an open federated events tool, Mobilizon:

https://joinmobilizon.org/en/

Mobilizon would replace Facebook Events and similar closed services.

It would use ActivityPub, so people would be able to organise events on the Fediverse.

You can also follow its Mastodon account here:

@mobilizon

#Mobilizon #DeleteFacebook #Events #Alternatives #Fediverse

If you're on Mastodon and know the web address of someone on the Fediverse, you can use this to follow them.

1. Copy their profile's web address into the Mastodon search box (see screenshots).

2. Click search, this should bring up a link to the profile and a follow button next to it.

3. Click follow!

This works with many kinds of Fediverse addresses including PixelFed, PeerTube and others. Try it!

You can also use this technique with web addresses of individual posts.

#MastoTips #Fediverse

Just heard that China has now blocked all access to all editions of Wikipedia. Apparently Turkey has done this too.

Fortunately, there's an app called #Kiwix which lets people download, browse and search the whole of Wikipedia (and many other wikimedia sites) entirely offline on their computer or phone.

You can follow them here:

@kiwix

Their official website is here:

https://www.kiwix.org

(Thanks to @Khrys for the China news)

#Alternatives #OffTheGrid #Wikipedia

I've updated the switching.social poster, to make it as simple and easy to read as possible:

https://switching.social/spread-the-word/

The idea of the poster is to go on community noticeboards, so that more people in real life realise there are alternatives to what big tech offers them.

Feedback on design and content etc welcome.

#Alternatives

@cwebber @ajroach42

It's a *huuuuuge* topic but yes, people and groups are complex and fallible and contradictory and hypocritical. The more we get to know someone, the more we see these bad sides alongside the good stuff.

It's maybe an unwise idea to see people or organisations as heroes, because it will lead to either disappointment or denial.

A better thing to put on a pedestal is a particular principle or invention, as it's more clear what it is and why you appreciate it.

In case you missed it, the lead developer of open federated Reddit-alternative @prismo has put up a new flagship instance:

https://prismo.xyz

This replaces the previous instance (prismo.news) which suffered a major database failure.

You'll have to sign up if you want to post or upvote, but you can follow users and comment on posts from elsewhere on the Fediverse.

https://prismo.xyz/auth/sign_up

#Prismo #Reddit #ActivityPub #Fediverse #Alternatives

Bad news about #Article13, the copyright directive (which includes Art 13) has passed the council of ministers.

Interesting footnote: if the UK gov had simply abstained (or voted against), the directive would not have passed. Britain represents enough population to form a blocking minority.

However, the British government voted in favour.

The law can still be stopped in the European courts (which is what happened to the data retention directive), but this is much messier and more difficult.

Kiwix is a free open app that lets you view Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, StackExchange etc offline.

It's intended for people who cannot access a reliable internet connection, either for geographical or political reasons.

You can find out more here:

https://www.kiwix.org

You can follow it on the Fediverse here:

@kiwix

It's available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Firefox and Chrome.

#Kiwix #Wikipedia #StackExchange #ProjectGutenberg #OffTheGrid

@dev

Weird... the following is a bit wonky, perhaps because of Microblog being in alpha.

If you're having trouble following, the fediverse address to follow is dev AT microblog DOT pub. You may need to search for this address on the webclient to get a proper follow link.

Microblog.pub is an extremely lightweight single user blogging system which is ActivityPub compatible:

https://microblog.pub

You can follow development at:

@dev

You can see the code at:

https://github.com/tsileo/microblog.pub

It's still in alpha testing and not recommended for self-hosting yet, but thought some of you may be interested in following the project.

#ActivityPub #Fediverse #Microblogging

Linux is a really good privacy-friendly alternative to Windows, and nowadays it's easy for anyone to use. Modern Linux works just like Windows or Mac, you do not need tech skills to use it.

If you want to buy a computer with Linux preinstalled, there's a really good site that lists vendors around the world:

https://linuxpreloaded.com

(One of the major vendors, @Purism , is on the Fediverse.)

See also:
https://switching.social/ethical-alternatives-to-windows/

#Linux #Computers #PCs #DeleteWindows #DeleteMicrosoft

You can add your WordPress site to the Fediverse by installing an ActivityPub plugin.

This lets anyone on Mastodon etc follow your site, comment on posts and share them on the Fediverse.

There are two WordPress ActivityPub plugins available right now:

Pterotype
https://getpterotype.com/
@jdormit

AP for WordPress
https://wordpress.org/plugins/activitypub/
@pfefferle

An example of a WordPress site using Pterotype is WeDistribute:
@blog

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #Blogs

Just to emphasise, the battle isn't over about #Article13:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/03/eus-parliament-signs-disastrous-internet-law-what-happens-next

"But there’s also opportunities for the courts to rein in the Directive – or even throw out its worst articles entirely. ... Article 13 is meant to be compatible with the older E-Commerce Directive, which explicitly forbids any requirement to proactively monitor for IP enforcement (a provision that was upheld and strengthened by the ECJ in 2011)."

This could take many years to happen with many possible twists.

The #Article13 vote is today.

However it goes, it highlights the dangers of internet services hosted by someone else.

Self-hosting lets you control your own internet services and access them from your phone or computer, just like you would normally. Only you have access to the server they run on, which means ultimate privacy 👍

These projects are trying to make it easier for beginners:

YunoHost
@yunohost

FreedomBox
@freedomboxfndn

Freedombone
@freedombone

#SelfHosting #CommunityHosting

#Patreon is putting up their prices, creators will get less of their fans' donations.

There's a free open source alternative, #LiberaPay, which is non-profit:

https://liberapay.com/

LiberaPay is itself funded by donations.

You can follow them on the Fediverse:

@Liberapay

(alternative at request of reader @mjog 👍 )

#Alternatives #Donations #Payment

Excellent article by @maxeddy on PCMag about moving from Twitter to Mastodon:

https://www.pcmag.com/article/364850/how-to-ditch-twitter-and-join-mastodon

#Mastodon #DeleteTwitter

@badrihippo

There's a competition to win an Orange Pi from @cloud :

https://ap.lollipopcloud.solutions/notice/9gD2o5TeNJn9GH110q

Hey developers & ActivityPub enthusiasts!

@GetTogetherComm is a free open alternative to MeetUp.com.

The lead developer needs help with implementing federation, either coding or better documentation about ActivityPub.

There's an open issue for it here:

https://github.com/GetTogetherComm/GetTogether/issues/60

There's been discussion but no code contributions yet.

Can you help?

(It would be *so* cool to get this kind of service federated, imagine every town having its own instance :blobaww: )

#ActivityPub #FLOSS #FOSS