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Your world, your blog

hidden (robert) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:16:00 +0000

Having a hard time coming up with ideas for what to blog about?

Maybe you just need a little push in the right direction. Something to get you past that writer's block.

Here are three great topics to get you going:

Anything
Whatever
Whatnot

Don't overthink your blogging.

It's your blog, write about whatever you feel like. Your blog is not a billboard, it's a friend. And true friends can talk about anything, right?

Whatever you write about, no one else could have written it. Because you wrote it from your perspective, from your corner of the world, based on your life experiences.

Now go write. Nobody else can.

Look at this Egg!

hidden (vince) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:33:00 +0000

Egg in photo was consumed by me at a restaurant located a few blocks from Taipei Main Station.

your older self is begging you to enjoy right now

hidden (tala) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:10:00 +0000

Recently, I learned the term "hurry sickness," the compulsive exigency to race time, to chronically chase after the Next Big Thing in hopes it would save me. (Note: We tend to confuse this with "ambition.") I'm not cynical, but I often treat the present as an obstacle to survive rather than a period to fully inhabit.

These days, I find myself mourning being nineteen. At least I was a university freshman and had no career anxiety from a shitty job market! But I was miserable at nineteen. I hated being nineteen, but now at twenty-five, I look back at this period of my life with a nostalgic tenderness that would've baffled my teen self (Another note: Memory is a stealthy editor that buries the dread and keeps the soft parts).

Which means my future self is already doing to right now. These days, I've been convincing myself I'll finally enjoy life when I start my career and run a successful newsletter and become a successful artist. I wonder if me at thirty-five will say: Remember when you were twenty-five and felt like you had all the time in the world?

There's a version of you, years from now, who would give almost anything to be back inside this exact moment. It's not a particularly beautiful moment, but it's yours and it's now, and this version of you realizes something you didn't back then: everything passes.

I’m not interested in toxic positivity, of feigning the hard parts aren't hard; but perhaps I need to let this chapter to count. The side projects slowly taking shape, the feeling I can be anything right now, the skills/experiences I’m accumulating — these are becoming the past I'll one day miss. Your older self isn't asking you to be grateful every single minute, but rather not to sleepwalk through your life, constantly waiting for more!, more!, more!.

Good Job Hungary

hidden (lauram) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 06:48:00 +0000

It's been a thrill to read coverage today about Victor Orban conceding the election to his opponent. I don't know enough about Hungarian politics to know much about Magyar, but it's been great seeing reporters translate what people over there are saying. In particular I liked this quote recorded on Bluesky.

Perhaps Magyar's most important promise, and the one that certainly resonates with voters: "never again a country without consequences!"

The crowd chants: "To prison! To prison!" [with the corrupt officials of the outgoing government]

Re: the situation in the US, I posted previously about Peter Shamshiri's blog post about the need for retribution. I am comfortable calling it revenge, rather than retribution; in situations like this, you gotta let the people take revenge. To heal from a moral wound like this, you gotta show the people their tormenters going to jail, losing their wealth, crying for mercy and not getting it, and so on. You have to commit really hard to showing people that the rules have changed.

I hope Hungary gets this! They deserve it!!

Hi my name is deadcore and I have imposter syndrome

hidden (heyitsdeadcore) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 01:54:30 +0000

Hi my name is deadcore. While my LinkedIn profile might make it look like I have it all together, in reality, I really don't.

It looks like I have a "strategy" for my career. In reality I've been putting on a blindfold, starting a chainsaw, spinning around in a circle, and throwing the chainsaw and seeing where it lands.

I'm also ultra-paranoid because this is the internet and I'm a girl, and we all know the internet seems to hate us. Not sure why. Girls are awesome. Boys are awesome. Humanity is awesome, mostly. Except for some of us.

Thanks for reading my first post on bearblog.

The joy of being oneself

hidden (sigkill) — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 23:32:00 +0000

Yesterday I went down a bit of a rabbit hole reading and watching videos of early synthesizer artists. Most notably, I was fascinated by the story of Wendy Carlos. I was astounded I had not bumped into her story before. She also reminded me of a lesson I try to remind myself of every now and then.

Wendy Carlos was, and still is, a pioneer in the field. She wrote the score for a number of great movies including A Clockwork Orange and TRON. She released an incredible album of Bach pieces performed on a Moog Synthesizer, Switched-On Bach. In fact, she collaborated constantly with Robert Moog in the development of his eponymous synthesizer. In essence, if you have come into contact with any kind of electronic music, it was almost certainly influenced by Carlos's work, and much of what we take for granted in that field originated with her.

She also, however, struggled against every expectation that society had at the time. She was a trans woman in the public eye in the 1960s. She bucked every musical tradition by forging her own path to self-expression. Every time it looked like she had found a niche to settle down into, she immediately jumped to something new. She was, in all ways, what she wanted to be rather than what other people wanted her to be.

Even more delightful, however, she has a website with exactly the kind of oddball personal feel that I have found so wonderfully typical of the smallweb. She posts about her experimental instruments, about solar eclipses, and about map making. Rather than pigeonhole herself into one thing, she follows her interest wherever it takes her.

I think all of us should aspire to be so unapologetically ourselves. Most of what society expects or demands of us is just plain nonsense. Forget what people expect of you and just be yourself and stop worrying about what the rest of the world expects. I need to be reminded of that every so often.

Sonder, and thinking about the interesting lives of others

hidden (networkpuppy) — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 22:05:00 +0000

Sonder, noun
son·der / ˈsɒn dər /
"the realization and understanding that all other people have lives as complex as one's own"

Sonder is such an interesting word. I first read about it in some book or dictionary a few years ago. Every once in a while it pops into my head again and I spend some time to look at the people around me. It's such a fascinating thing, knowing that everyone's lives are just as—if not more—complicated as your own.

I went to the library today to get some homework done (and ended up writing this post instead lmao), and it was pretty busy, enough that it took a minute to find a spot to sit. There were all sorts of people there, from elementary age kids doing math worksheets to seniors sitting together in a half-circle all reading the same book.

A couple days ago I was at the mall, and I took the elevator all the way up to the rooftop parking for fresh air. Being up there gave me a really good view of both the street and the park across the street. Every single car and every single person walking around down below me really made me think about what kinds of lives they all must live.

How did that man with the limp injure himself? What hobbies does that woman with the floral dress have? What kinds of events have those high-schoolers been to? How long has that couple been a couple, and what are their plans for their future together?

I also love wondering what destinations cars are driving to. I assume most are going out for groceries or errands on a Sunday, but many could be coming from a vacation or a trip to visit family.

It's so much fun to pass the time with thoughts like these. Sonder is probably in my top 50 words of all time, because it really inspires me to think about the people around me more than I usually do. I hope that everyone who ends up reading this article also gives some thought to the lives of the people around them. :3

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This post was last updated 1 day, 12 hours ago.

Listening to jazz made my life much better

hidden (maximuscool) — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:55:00 +0000

Just enjoying different aspects of my life made it easier for me to find beauty in the next thing. I think it's a cheat code to life. Basically, jazz lets you practice joy. I put one of the albums on my song recs tab so far, but it's a good one.

I also noticed that it depends on your mood and/or your environment whether or not you will actually enjoy the album or the song you're listening to. I gathered that a good part of enjoyment is novelty and whether something interesting is going on in the track. A good way to find what you're looking for is reddit and maybe playing a mix of a song you like.

I don't know. I think jazz taught me how to find ways to give myself a present. I'm constantly looking for ways to make myself happy now. My enjoyment became one of the highest priorities in my everyday life. I also want to emphasize that it has to be something you actually enjoy, something that speaks to your soul I guess. It has to be new as well. The more diversity and change in things you enjoy -- the better.

Digital Independence Day ✊ April 2026

hidden (spu) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:59:00 +0000

I gotta be real, the list of Bad Places™ I'd like to leave behind has been growing for years and seems to only be expanding. To the point where it feels too overwhelming to even get started. Which is why I haven't as much progress in that area as I'd like to. Enter: DI.DAY (website currently only available in German, other languages "coming soon")

DI DAY, or Digital Independence Day happens every first Sunday of the month and is a call to leave some of the billionaire owned, quasi-monopoly tech-platforms controlling our lives in favor of smaller, more open alternatives.

A perfect opportunity to get started crossing some points off of that to-leave list, so I've decided to dedicate that first Sunday each month to one of those oh-man-I'd-like-to-I-just-never-get-around-to-s. And when that is too much, when it's a bad day, when an entire day is overwhelming, at least do a little something, or get started on it. Some transitions need a little time, aren't done in just a day, but can be easy to get started with.

This month I've installed VSCodium - an alternative to VSCode. Though "alternative" is kind of underselling it. It IS VSCode, minus Microsoft's tracking and "AI"-pushing. The code of VSCode is open source, but the app itself is not. You could just head on over to GitHub and build VSCode from source, VSCodium exists so you don't have to.

How this is going to go we'll have to see. I'm going to need some day-to-day time with it, check if I'll run into any deal-breakers. One of the benefits of VSCode is the vast ecosystem of extensions and plugins, which should work with VSCodium, but some are only licensed to be distributed through Microsoft's store. I can't really think of anything where I'm expecting this to be a problem, I have no plans to install Copilot, in fact, it's one of the things I want to get away from, but you'll never know what else this may apply to.

This has been my first DI-Day, and it's certainly one of those small steps ones, but you gotta get started somewhere.

Oh, and I also moved my website from a big name, overpriced, under-featured, upselling, AI-pushing, traditional webhost to Bear, that should count too, right?

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Bear Blog and the kindness of digital strangers

hidden (moodywarlock) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:04:00 +0000

So, it's a day after my colonoscopy (yes, I had to do the truly awful diet and prep, and I was up all night) and I'm still tired. Still, I now feel better than I did when hearing my heart beat all too fast under the glare of hospital lights!

As is usual since signing up for Bear Blog, I was browsing through my RSS feed and found a totally unexpected post from a most kind person at the Field Notes blog. They posted some very generous (too generous, really) words about the photo-related blog I have at Pika.

This made me think about three things ~ firstly, that I need to email this most kind person and thank them (I owe them an email anyway, but the past several days have been me fighting a very bland diet and dealing with a hospital visit); secondly, that I have a feeling we have a number of things in common; and thirdly, that Bear Blog has so far given me good feels around digital community and what has been truly lacking in the mainstream web universe of big social media, where an easy Like substitutes for authentic conversation.

Genuine online communication is what I've been missing.

Reply by email: moodywarlock@proton.me. Subscribe to my blog via RSS feed. All words and photos by me - a human. Not by ai.

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Orgasms

hidden (reedybear) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 20:57:00 +0000

Orgasms are great, genuinely one of the best feelings that I think we get to have.

Generally, this is achieved through masturbation or sex, and sometimes some of us might get them in our sleep.

I believe I've woken up post-orgasm once or twice in my life, but I've had many many dreams where I get extremely close. I've had several where I orgasm in the dream but not in real life, and in a way these in-dream orgasms are better than the real-life ones. At least in-the-moment, they are. The satisfaction is short lived, though, and the pleasure soon forgotten.

I've also come extremely close to orgasm several times in my life while awake, while hands-free. Let's not count the water-jet in the pool as a kid, even though that's technically hands-free. (and boy would I like a water jet lol those were so good but also that's super gross)

But I mean just through sheer will. I can't deny the possibility that my closeness came, in part, because of some friction or pressure from the blanket on top of me or underwear I was wearing.

I'm not sure the first time I came close just through will alone, but I do remember one instance, where I was sitting in the dark with my eyes closed. I wasn't dozed, but I wasn't fully there, either. And my little guy does what he sometimes does, spontaneously growing.

And of course that comes with a heightened awareness & a great deal of sensitivity. And boy, I tried to get there without touching it, but I was like 99% of the way there and then the pressure just faded, and the opportunity was lost.

In most of these almost moments, I switch to the usual method (though in this one case, I just gave up). But it's always so disappointing when I do. I go from that peak sensitivity and excitement into a frustrated need to orgasm, and the sensitivity fades, and then I have to go faster & maybe stir up some spicy thoughts.

And I guess it's not sheer will - there's also the flexing of the member itself, which is definitely part of the equation here.

My self-pleasure has pretty much always been very porn and fantasy heavy (depending on the day). But there are rare occasions, where I'm just present in my body. There's nothing, really, in my head. These are some of the best experiences, because I feel everything, much more thoroughly, and I'm not in a rush, I'm just enjoying the moment.

I'd like more of those moments - where it's just purely me with myself - no porn or fantasies with hotties. When I'm really in-tune with myself, there's the internal flexing too. It ceases to be just an activity of rubbing, and becomes something deeper - like I can feel the pressure inside my anus, even though I've put nothing inside my anus. (though sometimes I do and if you're a man, I suggest trying it, with plenty lube. It takes practice.)

It's odd to me that fantasy plays such a large role in something that seems to be a physical phenomena. But so too can you influence your body temperature through your thoughts - stir up some angry thoughts and you might notice yourself getting warmer. And sad thoughts can conjure up tears.

And perhaps if I want to get to the sheer-will-orgasm (I really want to get there), practicing the present-with-myself-orgasm is a good first step.

I also think meditation is part of it. Getting more in-tune with my mind & my body. Learning how to be less in-my-head and more in-the-moment. And, though this is generally not talked about in discussions of meditation, I believe it's a path to greater control over processes that are typically automatic or unintentional.

I don't see any reason why I can't have a sheer-will orgasm. It hasn't happened yet, but it's fun to try so why not go for it?

Here's how to actually add alt text to images - re: Jacob Varney

hidden (kami) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:37:00 +0000

Heya! I just saw this post from Jacob Varney about adding alt text to your stuff.

And, while I agree with the notion of doing that, the method he shows is sadly also wrong, and won't meaningfully improve your sites accessibility.

In markdown, to add alt text to your images, you do this:

![A description of your image](https://image-url.com/example.png)

The syntax Jacob showed is actually for adding title text, which is intended to show when hovering over an image, not for accessible image descriptions. Depending on the screenreader, it might not be read at all.

I've already emailed Jacob, but i figured I'd make a seperate post about this as well, to make sure noone is under the illusion that their images are accessible when they actually aren't.

update: if you want to give feedback/check the status of bears current lack of documentation on alt text, you can check out this github issue

💌 Newsletter #006 - Of Blasts from The Past, Thoughts 'n' Prayers Code, and the AI Fever Dream

hidden (technically-good) — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 14:25:00 +0000

✨ In This Edition ✨

📟 Short-Form Content: Claude Code leaks; Copilot is for entertainment only; BlueSky goes AI; The fine print, visualized.
📰 Long-Form Content: A Blast from the Past: "Looks just aren't as Important Online as IRL"
🌞 Good News!: The EFF quits twitter; Mastodon Collections; Happy 9th Mastodon Won't Survive Day! 🎂
📯 The Post-Script: Following & Reading: Anil Dash's "Actually, people love to work hard;" Senator Paula Simon's "The AI Fever Dream."

📟 Short-Form Content

So, uh, yeah. Claude Code's full source code leaked. Including gems such as:
- Thoughts 'n' prayers and asking nicely to please not write insecure code.
- Code asking it to pretend that it's not a slop machine.
- There's a hilarious (if it wasn't so awful) looking future ahead of us that'll involve "people [using] the code laundering machines to code launder the code laundering frontend."
A neat visualization of the length of the fine print of popular platforms. You've read them all, surely, before you clicked "Agree," yes?
Copilot, a popular slop generator that you get pestered with using/installing/enabling at every turn if you use Windows, has now been declared as existing "for entertainment purposes only." So... I hope you weren't planning on doing anything real or important with it.
BlueSky goes AI. This was entirely predictable (and is part of why my recommendations for alternative social networks do not usually include BlueSky.) Sign up on Mastodon instead.
Yes, the FBI recovered deleted Signal messages off an iPhone. No, this is not Signal's fault - these messages were recovered through content that the notification system had stored. If this sounds concerning to you, you can change your settings such that notifications do not show the name of the sender, or the message.

📰 Long-Form Content

A Blast from the Past: "Looks just aren't as Important Online as IRL"

Sparked by an excellent podcast episode, I have written up a piece on how modern visual-first algorithmic platforms are polar opposites of the predominantly text-based social networks of yore - and not only due to technological advancements, like "powerful computers with fantastic cameras in every pocket."

Edited image of an old-timey computer screen showing the word "hello" in handwritten lettering. Original image by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash.

The tl;dr:

Popular social media have shifted from text-based, exploratory forums into visual-first, algorithm-driven platforms that commodify attention, reward polished self‑presentation, and harm mental health.
Technological advances - smartphones with excellent cameras, fast wifi/mobile data - enabled this shift, but algorithms and engagement incentives amplified it & turned the platforms against users.
What we can do:
- Explore non‑extractive alternatives (e.g., Pixelfed, Loops, Mastodon-like federated apps);
- Demand better platform design and/or regulation; and
- Choose platforms that preserve community, curiosity, and have a lower emphasis on appearance.

Here's the full article.

Oh, and I have updated the Alternatives Pt. I post with one more browser and secure chat app that readers have recommended. If you haven't yet, give it a read - especially if you're on the lookout for a new (more secure, more private) email app, chat app, or browser. It can be done! You have the power! ✊🏼

🌞 Good News!

This is a new section in the Technically Good newsletter. In it, we'll highlight positive developments in the space of digital rights, digital sovereignty, and privacy, to show that it's not all doom & gloom.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a long-time steward of online privacy, is (finally) quitting twitter.
Mastodon is going to introduce "Collections" soon, which are kind of like BlueSky starter packs. I personally think this is a fantastic idea¹, as users can occasionally bounce off of Mastodon when they feel, after years of being told that algorithmic spoonfeeding is the norm, that their feed is "empty."
Oh yeah, on that note: Happy 9th Mastodon Won't Survive Day! 🎂

📯 The Post-Script

Following & Reading

Anil Dash's excellent essay on how Actually, people love to work hard:

What people face too often is being ground down by systems, institutions, and unjust leaders who insist on creating roles where people are forced to do dehumanizing, isolated, meaningless work, while not being given the agency to make smart and empowered decisions about how the work gets done. Or worse, they’re forced to do work in service of goals that are actively harmful and destructive, and contrary to their own values, or just contrary to basic human decency. It’s not that people are unwilling to work, it is that they are working — to balance their own humanity with the crushing burdens of having to provide for themselves and their families.

Senator Paula Simon's fantastic piece on the AI Fever Dream:

What worries me isn’t smart computers—it’s stupid humans, using the crudest energy-sucking generative AI tools to make themselves dumber, debase creativity and undermine the very concept of truth itself.

... and assorted other feeds - see the Technically Good BlurBlog!

We just released a new song called 'Oxygen'!

hidden (streetlightcadence) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 05:03:00 +0000

‘Oxygen’, the title track from our upcoming album, is available everywhere now!

Written atop Mauna Kea after a whirlwind day, ‘Oxygen’ finds us at our most bare, with nothing but voices and instruments and a call to keep riding the highs and moving through the lows.

Thank you for joining us in this journey, and for the many friends who have housed, fed, and occasionally clothed us along the way (some of who are in the music video)! Hope our sidewalk folk music is giving you some joy in your day.

We've recently had a lot of visitors who are finding us via the excellent game 'It Takes A War' by Thomas Mackinnon - thanks for stopping by and we're honored to be the band that soph33 loves!

‘Oxygen’ is yours to enjoy now - can’t wait for you to hear the whole album on May 15th! 💙

Listen to 'Oxygen' via Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, and SoundCloud.

Lyrics:

The air's so thin
Running out of oxygen
No, I can't satisfy these desperate lungs
The summit waits
Can almost see it through the haze
But the deepest breath I take just ain't enough

Am I living up to my potential?
Shedding everything but the essentials
Ten-thousand feet here above the waves
I always paid the price to keep the lights on
I've been working so hard for so long
Pressure's on for what I want and I can't wait

I get high, I get low
I get high, I get low

You're telling me there's some kind of lesson
It's hard to see that curse as a blessing
I hit a wall, final call, it's getting late
I don't know where this leads, but I'm going
I'm hoping somebody reaps what I'm sowing
I'll try to ride the lows and highs along the way

I get high, I get low
I get high, I get low
I get high, I get low
I get high, I get low

The air's so thin
Running out of oxygen

I get high, I get low
I get high, I get low
I get high, I get low
I get high, I get low
I get high, I get low
I get high, high

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Am I inspired, or stealing?

hidden (untidy) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:19:00 +0000

This past month, I've almost entirely replaced social media and mindless scrolling with surfing the web old-school style: reading blogs here on Bearblog and on the indie web in general. It's been a lot of fun! One of my favorite parts of reading blogs is seeing how the blogger expresses themselves in their style, both in their visual aesthetic and in their writing.

But all this exploration has presented a bit of an issue. I'm still exploring my style. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, so I'm still figuring out what I want to blog about, how I want my blog to look, the tone, etc. The problem is that sometimes I come across blogs¹ that are so cool and make me want tont to steal or emulate specific elements. It could be a font, a color palette, or a stylistic choice.

As I feel these kleptomaniac urges, I wonder if it's okay for me to copy an element? Is that inspiration? Or is that theft? I'm sure it matters how big the element I want to copy is: if I steal a blog's entire aesthetic, style, and tone, that would be clearly bad. But maybe copying one element would be okay?

I wonder if the blogs that I appreciate built their blog by stealing/being inspired by many different sources. Or did they just generate these ideas or designs internally? If so, how do I learn to generate original ideas?

Reader, I have questions. Do you have answers? Lmk.

I have such a blog crush on this one blogger. They are just so cool. If I could, I would steal every aspect of their blog. But, what I'm really getting at, I guess, is that I want to be someone who could produce something as cool as that.↩

I wish everyone had a blog

hidden (foolsgold) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:19:23 +0000

Like, seriously. I have no power to persuade people to leave mainstream social media to start blogging, so I won't even try, but my desire is strong. I wish everyone had a blog, so far away from algorithmically managed social media. That way, people would be somewhat forced to pay attention, or at the very least more inclined. I don't want to keep up with my friends because a feed reminds me of their existence. I want to keep up with them because either I'm genuinely interested in seeing what they've been doing, or because they had something interesting to say about a movie, a book, a recent trip they took or a visit to a local restaurant. A thought, an idea, a craft. I don't know what the Internet would look like if it were more like Bear and less than Instagram, but I imagine it would feel a bit more positive, smaller, less overwhelming. Surely there would be some thorny stuff I can't really anticipate. But I think I'd love that.

Some of my favourite memories of people I know have to do with their blogs, and because blogging went out of fashion ages ago, these memories are really old. A friend once posted about her team on Pokémon Platinum, detailing each Pokémon she trained and making up a personality for each of them. An acquaintance I knew when I was 13 got into rollerskating and opened a blog dedicated to chronicling her progress with it; a few years after she got really into mountaineering, and now shares her love for trekking and hiking.

There is a vulnerability in blogging, because by using our words, we're not relying on our appearance, which is something we've gotten used to in recent years. We know how to sell ourselves by the proximity to things or people we like, and pictures (whether they're photographs or videos or even slides made with Canvas) can communicate an awful lot of things, but most importantly, they can communicate status. We are so used to placing ourselves on the ladder, and using it to place other people too according to our view of the world. I think blogging changes that.

With blogging, I'm asked to show up and be myself. I'm only as strong, efficient, and captivating as my ideas and my words. And because I'm not used to this kind of social space, I'm still finding my footing. There are some things I'd like to talk about with a post, but I feel like they could be seen as childish, useless, or god knows what else—truly, this is just a projection of my own doubts and vulnerability. At the end of the day, people are free to judge me and my words however they want; my fear of being perceived as less shouldn't stop me from curating a space for myself where I can feel free to express whatever I'd like. I feel like, if more of my friends curated their own space, and if I could follow their journey through life, then I'd feel a bit safer in openly sharing mine.

But here's the crux of the matter: I've been blogging for roughly 10 days and many of my posts have been about blogging. I love it as a topic, and I find it quite interesting, but surely I need to break through this obstacle if I want to use this platform in the most rewarding way. One day, when I'm older and looking back at past posts, I won't be really interested in musings about Bear. I'll probably want to know what 2026-me thought of a film they watched, or a book they read, or a day trip somewhere where grass is lush and there's no buildings in sight. One day, this place will look like more like a diary rather than a log, but somehow I still feel like I need other people to share themselves like this before I get the courage to just do it.

GrapheneOS contre Projets Libres - L'élitisme technique étouffe la pédagogie du Libre

hidden (notromain) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 19:57:00 +0000

L'excellent podcast Projets Libres (animé par Walid Nouh) a publié un nouvel épisode passionnant intitulé « Mets de la vie privée dans ton smartphone ! », avec Antoine (alias Fla, bien connu au sein de Framasoft). Le but de l'émission était simple, salutaire et grand public. L'invité voulait expliquer la différence entre nos ordinateurs et nos téléphones portables en matière de collecte de données et présenter des alternatives viables (comme /e/OS, Ubuntu Touch, etc.) pour échapper à la surveillance de Google et d'Apple.

Pourtant, cette belle démarche de vulgarisation a rapidement été prise pour cible sur Mastodon par le compte officiel du projet GrapheneOS. Une réaction virulente, malheureusement coutumière de leur part, qui mérite qu'on s'y attarde pour remettre les choses dans leur contexte.

Les éléments de la polémique - Que reproche GrapheneOS ?

GrapheneOS n'a pas fait dans la dentelle, accusant à demi-mot Projets Libres de désinformer ses auditeurs en mettant en avant des systèmes comme /e/OS. Selon eux, ce dernier offrirait une confidentialité extrêmement médiocre et de graves lacunes de sécurité par rapport à leur propre OS mobile.

La team GrapheneOS a la fâcheuse habitude d'attaquer frontalement les autres systèmes d'exploitation alternatifs (LineageOS, /e/OS, CalyxOS) sous prétexte qu'ils ne respectent pas leurs standards très stricts en matière de sécurité pure (délais d'application des correctifs, utilisation de microG, politique de sandboxing, etc.). Dans leur viseur cette fois-ci, un podcast coupable à leurs yeux d'avoir donné la parole à un défenseur d'une approche différente de la leur.

L'attaque de GrapheneOS est injuste (et contre-productive)

Si GrapheneOS est incontestablement un système d'exploitation pertinent d'un point de vue technique et sécuritaire, leur communication agressive dessert totalement la cause du logiciel libre. Antoine a eu totalement raison dans son approche.

Il y a d'abord confusion entre sécurité et vie privée. Et c'est le point central de l'épisode, d'ailleurs très bien expliqué par Antoine. Ce sont deux concepts bien distincts. La sécurité (le modèle de menace de GrapheneOS) consiste à empêcher un attaquant de pirater votre téléphone. La vie privée (le modèle d'/e/OS) consiste à empêcher des entreprises légitimes, comme Google ou des courtiers en données, de profiler votre vie quotidienne de manière invisible. L'immense majorité des utilisateurs n'est pas ciblée par la NSA ou par des pirates étatiques mais par le capitalisme de surveillance. Pour ces personnes, retirer les services Google de base via /e/OS est déjà une victoire monumentale.

Parlons ensuite de l'accessibilité face à l'élitisme. Dans le podcast, Antoine explique avoir installé /e/OS pour une trentaine de personnes: ses parents, ses grands-mères, ses amis. Et ça fonctionne ! /e/OS se veut accessible au grand public et s'installe sur des dizaines d'appareils recyclés ou reconditionnés (comme les Fairphone ou de vieux Samsung). À l'inverse, GrapheneOS a longtemps nécessité l'achat paradoxal... d'un Google Pixel (bien que des partenariats comme celui avec Motorola commencent à changer la donne). Exiger que tout le monde utilise GrapheneOS, c'est fermer la porte de l'émancipation numérique à 95% de la population.

Venons-en maintenant au besoin de bienveillance dans le Libre (et dieu sait qu'on en a besoin). Attaquer un podcast communautaire francophone qui fait l'effort de transcrire, d'expliquer et de vulgariser les enjeux des smartphones est d'une grande toxicité. Walid fait un travail formidable pour mettre en lumière les communs numériques, l'open data et l'open source. Jeter l'opprobre sur un épisode d'une heure simplement parce que la solution technique mise en avant n'est pas "la leur" relève d'un esprit de chapelle épuisant. Le véritable adversaire, c'est le modèle d'extraction de données des GAFAM, pas le podcasteur qui essaie d'aider ses auditeurs à s'en défaire.

Soutien à Projets Libres !

Le logiciel libre nécessite des développeurs d'élite comme ceux de GrapheneOS pour pousser les limites de la sécurité technologique. Mais il a tout autant besoin de vulgarisateurs comme Antoine et de médias comme Projets Libres pour construire des ponts vers le grand public.

Je ne peux que vous encourager à aller écouter cet excellent épisode (n'hésitez pas à laisser un commentaire positif ou 5 étoiles !). Ne laissons pas la pureté militante ou la toxicité des réseaux sociaux étouffer la voix de ceux qui font avancer les libertés numériques au quotidien, de manière inclusive et pragmatique.

Ad blockers my beloved

hidden (networkpuppy) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:19:00 +0000

The wider internet has really gone to shit recently hasn't it? I genuinely cannot imagine having to use it as I see others using it. Who can even put up with 50+ ads per second beamed directly into your eyeballs??

It's something I've been thinking about recently, especially with all the fuckery youtube is doing with their ads these days. I cannot imagine at all going back to before I began using tools like ad blockers (adblockers?) and VPNs. I refuse to be advertised to, I physically recoil in disgust if I see an advertisement on a screen, whether it's my own, someone elses, or in public.

I use uBlock Origin on every device I own. It's the first thing I set up before browsing the internet. While there are countless other ad blockers out there, uBlock Origin is easily my #1 recommendation for anyone who uses the internet at all.

Since I built and started using my computer halfway through 2023, I've blocked a total of 3.13M ads, trackers and other internet annoyances with uBlock. That's 3130000+, for an average of over 1 million per year. That number just completely blows my mind.
And that's not even counting my phone or laptops! Each which also have blocked hundreds of thousands ads and other garbage from the internet.

I dislike the "arguments" that ad blockers are stealing, or dishonest, or immoral or whatever people say about them. Everyone has the right to block stuff on their own computers, and everyone has the right to privacy. Nobody deserves to have their habits and interests tracked and weaponized against them to sell things, but also just in general, advertisements are a plague across websites.

I swore to myself a long time ago that if I ever made anything that could serve ads, such as a game or a website, I wouldn't. I refuse to lower myself to that level.

Anyways, what I was getting at is I love ad blockers. I love seeing websites without annoying popups or banners or videos. I love watching youtube without being forced to watch product promotions for things I don't care about. I will always appreciate all the work put in by volunteers who make blocklists which enable uBlock and other ad blockers to work. I believe everyone who uses the internet should use an ad blocker, and everyone deserves to not be advertised to.

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Finding My Way Back

hidden (jedda) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:12:00 +0000

Hi, do you still remember me?

I know it’s been a while. 225 days or so, if anyone is counting.

Around the time I got laid off, my writing here began to slow down. It wasn’t right away, but gradually enough that I could feel myself slipping away. I remember telling myself I wouldn’t lose who I was in the process, and that my career wasn’t tied to my self-worth. In reality, I completely failed at keeping myself together. Still, I’d like to think I said all the right things in the beginning. They were the kinds of things that sounded solid and convincing in theory. I think some things are just easier said than done. Anyways...

I got lost.

I mean, really lost. The kind of lost where I wasn’t sure if I’d ever find my way back. Honestly, I’m still somewhere in the middle of it all. There were days when I thought I could see the light, and that I was getting close to something that made sense again. Then there were days I realized it might have just been my mind trying to give me grace, something to keep me moving forward. It felt like I was thrown deep in a forest with no clear path out, and for a while, even my own words couldn’t reach me there.

I did keep writing.

I kept writing, but just not here. I made a quiet decision early on to truly just write for myself. There was no audience, no pressure, no need to make anything sound polished, complete, or make myself sound put together. Most of them were just pages of thoughts I didn’t quite know what to do with. I poured everything into my journal including the messy parts, the unsure parts, the parts I wasn’t ready to share. Somehow, it kind of helped.

At that point, writing became the thing that kept catching me, like I was jumping off a cliff over and over again and my words kept finding a way to hold me before I hit the ground.

I also touched grass.

While all of that was happening, I tried, in small ways, to step outside of my own head. I went outside more and let myself sit in the warmth of the sun. On the plus side, my skin is starting to get that golden tan! I learned to appreciate running in solitude and even found comfort in the rhythm of it. I enjoyed the quiet, and the way it gave my thoughts somewhere to go. At the same time, I also found joy in running with others. In a completely unexpected turn of events, LC and I joined a run club. Somewhere in between those solo runs and group runs, I started to feel small pieces of myself come back. Baby (running) steps.

There’s a lot I could (and need to) say about these past seven months, including navigating my new norm of unemployment. I think at some point I’ll find ways to talk about it here and there. For now, I guess this is just a post to say hello, and that I am trying to find my way back here again.

Stay for a while, if you’d like. I have some stories to tell.

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If you'd like to comment, please send me an email, or sign my Guestbook.

Jules: Regarding your post on BearBlog, "Finding My Way Back." I just wanted to say, "Hello there." I, too, find it very helpful to write for myself (from time to time) without any intention of publishing it anywhere. It's always given me the private space I need to sort out my feelings and thoughts without any fear of being criticized or judged. I would recommend it to anyone, because not everything needs to be shared. Some things are just for us. Thank you for sharing your post. -jp

Syl: Welcome back! It was lovely to see a new post from you pop up on my feed reader. I'm glad you've been able to find some peace in running, being outside, and journaling. I keep a journal separate from my blog that's solely for me, and it helps a lot when I need to arrange my thoughts or get something out of my head. Nature always helps as well. I look forward to reading more of your writing, but it's important to take time to yourself if you need it. ❤️

Aeryn: I’m glad for your post and honesty. It really helps me to read other people going through their stuff and finding a way through. Best wishes and looking forward to your next post when it comes :)

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hidden (secretsofmeowgic) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:54:00 +0000

Today we continue our foray into the experience of gongfu cha and meet the one component that does have meowgical attributes even in its culture of provenance. I'm talking about the tea mascot, or tea pet.
Tea pets are small figurines made of unglazed purple clay, just like other traditional teawares. They are supposed to be doused with the water of the first infusion as a lucky gesture and so, over time, they too absorb the scent of tea and change their colour, in a process known as "growing" or "raising" the tea pet. It is not known when they first arose, but is likely that the Yixin artisan just wanted to put the leftover clay scraps to good use.
The rinsing of the pet is where the meowgic happens, and of course pets can be modeled after various creatures to attract different bounties. Choosing a tea mascot is then a rather serious matter, as it shows the aspirations and values of the owner. You can follow tradition and pick just one pet, but it is allowed to have several and choose every time what you want to attract. Whatever option you go for, however, I would advise to be mindful of the culture those figurine come from. That means, be sure you know the meaning and context of the figure, and maybe don't pick a zodiac animal if your knowledge of the Chinese zodiac is limited to magazine "horoscopes". Even if this is not a closed cultural practice, it is never good to meddle with things you only have a superficial, whitewashed understanding of.
The placement of the tea pet on the table is dictated by feng shui and depends on the specific figurine, however the one rule that you must always follow is that the pet should never face away from the area where the brewing is taking place. After all, they are meant to be a participant, right?

Mythological creatures
Probably the most common type of tea mascot is the one that represent a mythological creature. Dragons are very popular, since they represent strength, power and nobility in addition to good fortune. According to feng shui, this pet should sit on the east side of the table.
Pi Xiu is a winged lion that eats jewels but has no anus to poop them out, therefore it represent the slow and constant accumulation of wealth. Like all tea pets that concern money, it should always face towards the inside of the house.
The Qilin looks like a mixture between a dragon and a hooved creature such as a deer, horse or goat, and is analogous to the better-known Japanese Kirin. It is associated mainly with protection and good omens, but also wisdom, since it was said to live for 2000 years. Place this pet so that it faces the door or a window (but not away from the tea tray!).
Jin Chan, the "golden toad", is the three-legged toad that you can see in the picture from my previous posts. Of course, given that it carries a string of coins on its back and a coin in its mouth, what else could this pet bring you but money? If the toad has a coin in its mouth, place it facing you, so that it can "give" the money to you; if it doesn't, place it besides you, facing in your same direction, so it will attract money to where you are. Whatever the case, though, never place it facing towards the door, or it is said that the money will run out of the household, instead of in!

Zodiac Animals
Another popular choice for a tea mascot is one that depicts your zodiac animal. While the western zodiac signs cover a period of about a month and cycle over the year, Chinese zodiac signs cover a full year and thus repeat over a much longer period. If you are familiar with your zodiac animal and recognise yourself in it, this can be a good choice for you.

Pee-pee Boy
This one is very popular, for some reasons that completely escape me. It is shaped like a peeing kid and is submerged in cold water before the tea brewing. Then, when it is doused with the hot water of the first rinse, the cold water it had absorbed previously comes out... from its willy. Allegedly, the length of the squirt is an indicator of the temperature of the tea water, so I guess it has its purpose. However, since tea is also warm and yellow, I think I'll pass.

Other Animals and Shapes
There are many, many shapes for tea mascots, so here I will only highlight a few of the most common ones.
The second pet in my pictures is the shy cat, which is said to bring vitality and good feelings. Toads and frogs have the same meaning and rules of the Jin Chan, while elephants represent patience, strength and commitment to family. A tiger will give you courage and willpower if it sits on the corner facing you, and protect you if it faces the door. A turtle brings longevity, tranquility and the balancing of Yin and Yang; a turtle riding on top of another is a blessing for the future generations. The turtle should always sit facing you unless your grandparents are participating, in which case it should face them. A piggy is a symbol of wealth, good luck and contentment, plus its round shape makes it absolutely adorable. Gourds and cabbages represent abundance.
Finally, it is not uncommon for tea mascots to come in the shape of a deity or legendary figure, such as Buddha and Guanyin. I guess the cat's out of the bag when it comes to Buddha, which has been commodified to the Moon and back, but I still think you should best avoid those unless you are a Buddhist yourself, or at least knowledgeable on the subject.

Both my tea pets have been gifts from people very close to me, which makes them even more special. As a witch, I consider them as familiars, with the one specific task of bringing me their gift. Also like familiars, they are supposed to be taken care of: you should always have one partaking in your gongfu cha, and keep all of them clean of dust and leaf residues, and sitting in a comfy spot when they are not in use. You can even talk to them, if you don't mind being a bit weird. In fact, you should not be afraid of looking weird: we take ourselves too seriously all the time, a little bit of play can only be good for us.

Next time, we'll go over the many types of teas you can taste and then finally, finally, I'll explain you how to do the damn thing. Have a good one!

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GrapheneOS contre Projets Libres - L'élitisme technique étouffe la pédagogie du Libre

Les éléments de la polémique - Que reproche GrapheneOS ?

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Ad blockers my beloved

Finding My Way Back

Hi, do you still remember me?

I got lost.

I did keep writing.

I also touched grass.

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