Interesting question: do I think there’s potential for #ActivityPub compared to #Bluesky?
Well, if I didn’t think there was potential, I wouldn’t run my own server.
But here’s the better question: what’s the potential of ActivityPub compared to #ATProto?
Well, we only need to look at the nodes with each protocol. Right now, there’s 30,000 nodes operating via ActivityPub. With ATProto, I don’t know how many there are—apparently, no one’s keeping stats—but I’d say there’s only one node that matters, and it’s Bluesky.
More to the point it looks like more software, platforms, and services are building off ActivityPub than ATProto.
In another sense, though, it doesn’t matter which protocol wins because there’s a bridge that talks between the two of them.
Bathroom policies at restaurants are getting out of control!
Just had to use the bathroom at a Tim Hortons, and not only did staff manually open to the washroom door, but stood outside while I was taking a leak!
Here’s what the video feeds on Surf look like.
And when I say this app will solve the Fediverse’s social discovery problem, this is one of the ways. 
With Big Social sucking up to Trump, it’s becoming more clear that politics there is dictating content.
This is why Tom Allen believes now is the time for the Fediverse to shine.
https://www.computing.co.uk/opinion/2025/it-essentials-from-facebook-to-fediverse
Just in case you didn’t think the oligarchy is real.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-inauguration-ceo-guests-bezos-zuckerberg-musk-2025-1
I used to love stoner comedies.
Now they depress me because it’s as though I’m watching someone’s descent into madness.
Activity on #Pixelfed has slowed down today.
Which is entirely expected now that #TikTok is back. For how long? Well, that depends if they can find an American buyer in the next 90 days.
But either way, a seed has been planted about the #Fediverse.
Just started the novel Wraith by M.R. Forbes.
It’s gripping from the get-go. I love me some space opera, and this is exactly it.
To be frank: I’m not happy about a Trump presidency.
Nope, not at all.
It feels like we’re at the start of a movie where you hear a record scratch, followed by a narrator that’s says, “Yep, that’s me. I bet you’re wondering how I got in this mess…”
Watching Assassination Nation on the eve of Trump’s second inauguration as president was a strange experience.
I picked this film because I was in the mood for a trashy B-movie, something about kids getting into trouble, a good way to wind down. What I wasn’t prepared for was just how wild and bizarre this movie turned out to be.
To give you an idea of what it’s about: it’s essentially a retelling of the Salem witch trials set in the social media era. In fact, the town in the movie is literally called Salem. The story follows four girls who are targeted by vigilantes seeking to punish them for alleged wrongdoings—wrongdoings they didn’t actually commit.
The film came out in 2018, during the height of the #MeToo movement and the peak of social media activism like Black Lives Matter. That era felt like a turning point in online discourse, and Assassination Nation captures some of that chaos. It’s a brutal film that opens with a laundry list of trigger warnings: violence, blood, gore, toxic masculinity, gender-based violence—basically, it doesn’t pull any punches.
The core of the story is this: everyone in the town has their privacy violated. All their secrets are exposed, and people who feel wronged go looking for scapegoats. The four girls become those scapegoats, and the movie follows their fight to defend themselves. They’re victims of violence, but they’re also survivors, fully willing to fight back. That’s what makes the movie compelling—the raw defiance of these characters.
Watching this film in the context of Trump’s second presidency felt disturbingly relevant. We’re heading back into a time of outrage, scapegoating, and “us versus them” mentalities. Only now, Trump has even more control over the platforms that shape public discourse. Social media giants—Musk, Zuckerberg, TikTok, you name it—are bending the knee.
As a Canadian, I can’t just ignore what’s happening. Trump has openly talked about annexing Canada, and that’s not something we can dismiss as rhetoric anymore. The next four years are going to be rough, not just for the U.S. but for everyone in its orbit.
This is why we need the Fediverse. We need decentralized social media—platforms not controlled by billionaires or tech monopolies. We can’t afford to rely on corporate-owned spaces anymore. The last four years under Biden made us complacent; we thought we were safe, that Trump wouldn’t come back. Now we’re paying the price for that complacency.
The Fediverse could be our alternative, a space free from corporate control. But we need to open it up. I get frustrated when people say, “We don’t want TikTokers or Instagrammers here.” We don’t have the luxury to gatekeep anymore. The fight for decentralized, independent platforms isn’t just about principle—it’s about survival.
What does this have to do with Assassination Nation? Everything. The movie is about a witch trial, and witch trials are coming back. The social media-fueled mob justice in the film feels like a warning for what’s ahead.
Great movie. Heavy as hell, but worth watching. 
One of the coolest aspects of #Pixelfed is seeing all the cosplayers who have embraced the platform.
Someone asks, “Does the #Fediverse have a #Soundcloud equivalent?”
Yes, there is: #Funkwhale.
Not a whole lot of people use it yet, so give it some love. Or better yet, set up a server if you can so that other people can enjoy it.
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Just introduced my daughter to this album. Which I consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time. Yes, on vinyl. 
It happened again.
I mentioned George Soros and his career in FX markets, and someone called me an anti-Semite.
Wait. Contrary to what my name implies, I’m actually Jewish. I studied at a yeshiva in Brooklyn too.
Also George Soros is an actual person who really did FX trading. I swear to God, people treat him less as a human being and more of an idea—and that, in itself, is kind of anti-Semitic.
Haha! Come on, Danielle Smith can stand Edmonton winters but not one day in Washington DC? I don’t believe that for a moment.
The real reason Danielle Smith isn’t going to Trump’s inauguration is because, at this point, this “annex Canada” thing is also unpopular with Albertans.
Take a look at how this #Mastodon post is rendered in @surf@flipboard.social!
From now on, this will be my main Fediverse client because—for the first time ever—I have something that does social discovery on the Fediverse well.
To the point that I’m massively engaging more with other people’s posts. 
I’m happy to report that my #Pixelfed account (@atomicpoet@pixelfed.social) is now bridged to #Bluesky.
If you’re on Bluesky, follow @atomicpoet.pixelfed.social.ap.brid.gy to receive my photo feed.
Great question: if you Mastodon and Pixelfed accounts can just follow each other, how is a Pixelfed account different from a Mastodon account?
The difference is in media. If you follow Mastodon accounts from Pixelfed, you will not see text-only posts on Pixelfed. And if you follow Pixelfed accounts on Mastodon, you will typically see text before you see photos.
So really, the difference is primarily about design and how you wish t interact with the Fediverse.
Just got Flipboard’s Surf app, which is in beta right now.
This *will* solve the Fediverse’s social discovery problem.
That’s my first thought after playing with it for a day. Because now it’s easier to find things I’m interested in across the Fediverse, and makes content feel more diverse.
Social discovery is the biggest complaint about the Fediverse right now, and this app is a big fix! 
Listen, there’s only one reason to call a movie Air Force Two, and that’s to fool profoundly stupid people into thinking it’s a sequel to Air Force One.
The original Air Force One got its name because it was about a crisis aboard the U.S. president’s special airplane. Simple enough. But Air Force Two—that’s the vice president’s plane—and this movie isn’t even really about that. Why? Because the plane crashes in the first few minutes.
This is your basic mockbuster. I suspect they came up with the title after the movie was finished—because it’s also known as “In Her Line of Fire,” and was marketed towards lesbians. More on that later.
I knew this would be a trashy movie, and wow, it did not disappoint. It’s trashy in every way possible.
Let’s start with the lead actress: Mariel Hemingway. She was definitely a “C” cast for this role. A good lead for this kind of action flick would be someone like Sigourney Weaver or Grace Jones—someone who can convincingly pull off being tough. Mariel Hemingway? Not it. Most of the time, she’s just making faces, and whenever she gets into a fight, it’s utterly unbelievable. She doesn’t have the fitness or presence to make it work. I mean, not everyone’s cut out to be an action star, and that’s okay—but why cast her?
And no, she’s not playing the vice president. Instead, she’s a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the VP, who’s played by David Keith. Speaking of him, he’s neither charismatic nor convincing in the role. I have no idea why he was cast—maybe all the budget went to Mariel Hemingway? That’s just speculation, though.
As for the plot, this movie reminds me a lot of the original Far Cry game. In fact, this could be Far Cry if Jack Carver were played by Mariel Hemingway. They arrive on a tropical island, wander around, shoot stuff—it’s the same deal.
The budget? Nonexistent. The set designs were terrible. The costumes were terrible. The CGI? Laughable. Something as simple as fire looked like it came straight out of a 1995 video game. If you can’t render fire in your action sequences, you’re in trouble.
Despite all this, the movie is—somehow—watchable. Not good, but watchable. It’s entertaining in its over-the-top ridiculousness. Even Mariel Hemingway trying and failing to make “tough girl” faces was oddly fun to watch. And when she gets out a machine gun and goes berserk? That alone was worth the ticket.
The villain, played by David Millbern, was easily the highlight of the movie. He gave it everything he had—scenery chewing to the point of apoplexy. He was hilariously unhinged and single-handedly made the movie worth sitting through.
Now, the funny thing about this film is how it embodies the 2000s-era propaganda. It’s drenched in the whole “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” and “America is the beacon of democracy” shtick. Watching it now, it’s almost laughable. Back then, they really sold this idea of America as the Mother Teresa of nations. These days, no one buys into that anymore.
One final note: this movie was supposedly marketed as a “lesbian Rambo” film. Mariel Hemingway’s character is supposed to be a lesbian Secret Service agent protecting the vice president. But, in reality? There’s zero lesbian subtext. None. There’s one other woman in the movie who isn’t Mariel Hemingway, and the so-called “sparks” between them are non-existent. It’s like the filmmakers poured a bucket of cold water on any potential tension.
Even the tagline was misleading: “Behind enemy lines, no one can stop her. Only one woman can touch her.” I’ll admit, it’s a clever tagline, but the movie doesn’t deliver on it at all. As someone who pays close attention to potential lesbian subtext in films, I can confidently say there’s nothing here.
It’s also strange that they cast Mariel Hemingway as a lesbian. She’s not a lesbian—she was married to a man, had kids, and even after this movie, married another man. Maybe she’s secretly bisexual? I doubt it. If you’re going to make a movie about a lesbian action hero, maybe cast someone who is an actual lesbian—or at least someone who can convincingly play one.
Bottom line: Air Force Two is trashy, bad, and ridiculous—but it’s still watchable. Not good. But watchable. 