So after posting to Bluesky consistently for two weeks, my key learning:
It definitely doesn’t replace my Akkoma server.
I keep butting my head against its many limitations.
However, I may run a PDS in the near future.
Today’s non-alcoholic beer is Sober Carpenter Irish Red.
I definitely approve. Bold taste! Super refreshing! 60 calories! 
Big news! Misskey now has more than 1 million users!
After Mastodon and Threads, it is now the third major ActivityPub-enabled platform to hit 1 million users!
9.3% of Fediverse users are on a Misskey server!
Moth.social is shutting down, and with it, one of the most high-profile VC-backed fediverse servers is shutting down too.
I can’t say this is entirely unpredictable because I don’t think there was a whole lot of room for VC-backed Fediverse servers. And what I mean by this is it’s not even so much that the culture of the Fediverse is anti-VC. I don’t believe that’s the case at all.
Frankly, I see a lot of folks on the Fediverse are also on Bluesky, which is VC-backed, and a good many of them are on Threads, which is run by Mark Zuckerberg. So it’s not as though people on the Fediverse are averse to VC-backed platforms.
The reason a VC-backed Mastodon server probably can’t survive is because VC is a land grab. When you invest in a VC, your goal is to 100x your ROI. The way you do that is by looking for an industry that is ripe for disruption—or destruction. Netflix, for example, wasn’t just disrupting movies and TV shows—it was destroying Blockbuster and video rental stores.
If I’m a VC entering the Fediverse, what am I disrupting? What am I destroying? I’m not disrupting legacy social media like Meta, which has already joined the Fediverse. ActivityPub integration with Threads was a defensive measure. If I were an investor in Meta, I’d applaud that effort.
If you’re starting a VC-backed Mastodon server, you’ve gotta ask, “What am I adding that lets me claim land?” You’re competing with 27,000 servers that don’t need to make a profit, answer to a board, or deliver ROI—they just need to exist.
Clearly, hosting your own Fediverse server isn’t the move for VC because there’s maximum risk and little land to grab. But that’s not to say there’s no room for VC investment—just not in hosting a server.
There are two opportunities if you’re a VC looking at the Fediverse. First, get into the hosting business. You’re competing with Amazon, but Amazon is a generalist, not specific to Fediverse hosting. A Fediverse hosting business has to add value Amazon can’t—like support. People need a panic button: “What do I do when my disk runs out of space?” Fully managed hosting is a huge opportunity.
Second, there’s customization. Most Mastodon servers are very vanilla. Few people customize the experience. Let’s say I’m a restaurant, and I want to deliver menu updates. A vanilla Mastodon server looks like a microblog, not a menu. What I’d want is a site where visitors, even those not on the Fediverse, can see a menu and order. Ordering—that is, making a transaction—is a feature missing from the Fediverse.
Another opportunity is NAS storage. The cost of storage is drastically reducing. Google One charges $30 a year for 200 GB. Over five years, that’s $150. A 256 GB SD card costs $30. A Raspberry Pi starter kit costs $75. So for $105, you have cheaper storage than Google’s subscription service.
Owning physical storage is drastically cheaper. NAS storage will only get cheaper. Right now, you can buy 10 TB of NAS storage for $500. Compare that to cloud subscription services. At some point, people will realize that running a server at home with a Raspberry Pi or NAS is super cheap.
The only barrier is the learning curve, but eventually, someone will make it dead simple. When that happens, small businesses, governments, and everyday users—not just nerds—will run Fediverse servers. Running a NAS will be as simple as using a smartphone, and the opportunities will be huge.
Most VC firms aren’t looking at these opportunities—they’re focused on AI, blockchain, and other trends. But at some point, someone will make it simple, and that’s where the potential lies.
Listen, if you’re looking for a Fediverse server with the best survival prospects, pick one that’s either run by:
* a non-profit
* a co-op
* yourself
Unless the monetization model is obvious (e.g., you pay for moderation services), avoid commercial servers.
Sadly, moth.social is shutting down.
It’s always sad when a major Fediverse server pulls the plug. But moth.social was part of a for-profit venture, and when that venture can’t sustain itself, the server can’t survive.
If you have an account there, migrate soon. 
People dislike NFTs because they reveal an uncomfortable truth: they’re the digital equivalent of something that already exists in the physical world.
The value of a painting, for example, lies in its nature as a non-fungible asset. Wealthy individuals purchase paintings not necessarily for the art itself but as a way to store and transfer money.
In the best-case scenario, they donate the painting—say, a $30 million piece—to a museum, claiming they’ve done a public good by allowing everyone to enjoy it. In return, they receive a substantial tax break.
In the worst-case scenario, they buy a painting, hide it in their luggage, fly to another country, sell it, and walk away with a large pile of money, often tax-free.
That, in essence, is the art world. Its existence revolves around the fact that paintings are non-fungible assets.
The uncomfortable reality is that society has largely allowed this to happen because we don’t want to admit that the true value of art isn’t in the work itself but in its non-fungible nature. As long as it remains non-fungible, it holds value.
This is where NFTs come in. Some people attempted to apply this concept to digital tokens, and it’s hard to blame them for trying. Digital tokens are far easier to transport than physical paintings, and NFTs are less prone to damage. For a brief moment, there was immense demand for NFTs because they offered the same benefits as physical art, but in a more convenient form.
However, NFTs faced a fundamental problem common to much of the internet: the lack of gatekeepers. Anyone with Ethereum can mint an NFT. There are no barriers, no gatekeepers deciding which digital tokens hold value.
Contrast this with the art world, where everything of significance happens because gatekeepers—curators, critics, and institutions like the Louvre—deem it valuable. Without these gatekeepers, much of it feels meaningless.
The art world relies not only on non-fungibility but also on social status. Value is bestowed when someone with authority at an influential institution declares something important. Only then can these works gain value, at least to those willing to invest in them.
So, while NFTs attempted to replicate the art world’s dynamics, they lacked the structure of status and authority that gives traditional art its perceived value. That, in my view, is the state of both the art world and NFTs today.
Where a lot of conceptual art fails is in its reliance on the artist’s statement to explain its purpose.
If you need to read the artist’s statement to understand why a piece exists, the focus shifts from the art itself to the statement. In that case, is the art the painting or sculpture, or is it the text that makes up the statement? If the text is more important, shouldn’t the artist’s statement be the piece up for auction rather than the artwork?
Good conceptual art should be self-explanatory. Take Marcel Duchamp’s urinal, for instance. He presented it as art, and you either agreed or disagreed. If you disagreed, you had to articulate why a urinal didn’t belong in an art gallery, which forced you to engage with the concept: the provocation about what defines art and why.
If we call Michelangelo’s David art, why not a urinal? The concept stands on its own—you don’t need to read Duchamp’s statement to understand the point. In fact, I’ve never read his statement and don’t care if it exists. The piece itself is the statement.
Now consider a different example: let’s say someone cuts out a patch of concrete with used gum stuck to it, frames it, and sells it in a gallery. What’s the concept? Why does this thing exist?
It’s not about whether it should exist—used gum on sidewalks exists everywhere. Asking whether it’s art is a tired and boring question. Anything made or altered by humans can be considered art in some way. That’s not a deep or navel-gazing statement; it’s just a fact.
But if you frame used gum on concrete and put it in a gallery, the meaning should be clear without a lengthy explanation. If I need to read a long artist’s statement to understand it, the piece fails. The longer the statement, the bigger the failure. That’s why good conceptual art is so hard to create.
I’d argue it’s harder to make a successful conceptual piece than a figurative one. Anyone can do a study of fruit, a nude, or a landscape. Factories in China mass-produce figurative art, and I’m not against that. If it brings people joy, great.
Bob Ross showed every week how easy it was to make a landscape painting, and he got people excited not just about art, but about making art. I still watch Bob Ross—he inspires me. He was one of the first people who made me think, “I can do this.” Big respect to him. But was what he did difficult? No.
Creating a novel concept, however, is hard. Coming up with something new, something that hasn’t been conceived before, is incredibly difficult. Even as I’m saying this, I’m sure someone else has had these exact thoughts.
So, respect to conceptual artists—it’s a rare thing to find truly great conceptual art.
Love this oil painting!
It’s a nice study of form, but the monochrome shading is superb.
This is the best thing to happen on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show.
This is obvious, but I have to say it anyway:
The cops form Lethal Weapon would definitely be fired in real life.
Today, it’s Lethal Weapon 2 on VHS.
Because, just for the moment, I’d like to take a vacation back to 1989.
You know, back when media was a physical good. 
This was the greatest moment in pro wrestling history.
Nothing again will ever be this amazing.
Just got Ridge Racer for PSP!
Great memories on the PSX and Nintendo DS. Looking forward to this version! 
Pierre Poilievre will likely be Canada’s next Prime Minister.
And trust me, that guy is an extremist. Much more right wing than Donald Trump. Smarter too.
Everyone needs to wake up.
How does your current alcohol consumption affect your health?
This calculator gives you some numerical estimates.
Funerals always screw me up.
A few years ago, I wanted to do something significant before I died—something that would change the world.
Now I’ve made peace with the fact I won’t do this on a grand scale. But at least I have family.
Well, if Jim Cramer likes something, that’s a bad sign.
A platform is only as free as its architecture.