Ready Player One

Great points!

I totally agree we can’t simply drop SMS immediately, but what am I missing in supporting backwards compatibility (for example via my pseudo number solution, like how VOIP works) preventing us from moving forward during a stagged shutdown in the span of decades? MMS and RCS both would also fail under cellular data loss, and SMS itself hasn’t always been available during major disasters. I’m not sure I buy the argument you can’t have similarly low energy towers (even with net neutrality states, you can still cap all bandwidth per user), and a simpler tower that only does data should be far more reliable than a tower that provides multiple carrier services given the simplicity (and it’s very rare to have towers that only do voice + SMS anymore).

Yeah that’s a big problem that I’m trying to research solutions for myself too. It was way better when I could tell people to just install Signal and it’d replace their SMS app but be secure when others use it, but unfortunately Signal dropped SMS. Currently I just have all the apps, but since Signal does contact discovery (like Whatsapp) I follow a Signal, Whatsapp, FB Messenger, RCS (via Google Messenger), then SMS pattern and stopping when I can contact someone. Obviously, this has the issue that all these apps are getting far more data than they need and I’d like to look into a multiplatform app that does e2e. From what I’ve researched so far, Matrix bridges (servers that connect your Matrix account to a third party messaging service) might be the answer.

I haven’t tried it yet but there is a Matrix bridge that you can host if you are selfhosting a Matrix server (or use a commercial Matrix provider that already hosts it) that will allow you to connect to your Whatsapp friends without needing the Whatsapp app yourself that could be interesting for at least that use case https://docs.mau.fi/bridges/go/setup.html?bridge=whatsapp .

ASFAIK Signal doesn’t support RCS, only Signal protocol, after they dropped SMS.

Why not switch to something not owned by Facebook like Signal (or something on an open protocol like Element)?

Why should anyone care about RCS? The trend has been to get everything into data instead of carrier owned services for two decades now, we don’t need another SMS (it will likely always be a fallback). What we should move onto is a carrier and device type angnostic universal standard protocol over TCP / QUIC like XMPP or Matrix, with SMS as the backup.

When you get a phone you can get an phone system account and a telephone number already. Modern apps in the Google ecosystem should already recognize you are already signed in with Google and sync your contacts. Since almost everyone is already in the Google ecosystem, if Google supported it they could have extended their XMPP implementation in Hangouts to allow messaging directly via XMPP to those contacts and SMS for anyone not yet in the system (similar to how Signal did, Apple does, and Google does now with RCS). Unlike Apple, since its just XMPP, users can still add friends and be added by friends on other XMPP servers (ex. their ISPs, their own, or a third party). They could have supported or jumpstarted a new very simple open source alternative app for that portion for AOSP if the EU complained. Eventually Carriers could have supported passthroughs for those still on feature phones and other users of SMS to use the number@carrier accounts to hit XMPP users with generated SMS numbers for non-SMS users (pushed either by business necessity or part of a government / teleco org like GSMA staged removal of SMS and telephone numbers). It’s all data at the end of the day.

Instead, they developed a whole new protocol to fluff the telecos and keep the now badly managed telephone number system even more necessary allowing spammers and allow the problems of legacy SMS to continue.

Apple, Google, and Samsung should all be shamed for not supporting fully open protocols and necessitating dependency on user harming stacks.

Even if that is an accurate number, there are only ~56 million Americans living in census defined rural areas. With some actual planning we should be able to get missing backbones from our urban areas (which should be getting far more funding). Wireless is also a gamechanger, with microwave, 5g (and nextgen 6g), and Starlink, and that can really reduce this cost since not everyone needs fiber. If we can incorporate requirements for new backbone lines with any greenfield rail or highway projects we can get wireless coverage out faster and cheaper.

The existing integration works suprisingly well given the different use cases. Bettet than Masto and Peertube.

Unfortunately Mastodon not supporting group actors is the main difficulty in the integration on its end. Lemmy has hacks like auto-boosting thread posts, but kbin and peertube don’t so you can’t get thread posts without following the post author.

I think allowing user following (allow subscribing to user pages) and handling tags (which I’m not sure the right approach, probably can fit in whatever multicommunity feature gets developed) are the only missing things on the Lemmy side.

You can’t turn pictrs off as a configuration setting?

Can CSAM distributors use it as a test suite for workarounds?

Edit: first draft was too declarative where I meant to pose the thought as a question.

Frendica and Pixelfed.

Hydrogen is interesting for remote use cases, but the 10-15 year old used Leaf and Volt market argue against your second point. Most battery issues will be discovered in the first few years and after that it’s minimal (1-10%) loss after a decade, using far older tech than today’s models. The industry does need some standardization on battery modules to ensure less e-waste, more mechanics, and better pricing.

A giant electric “luxury” truck is still a giant “luxury” truck. Buying one over the other is like buying a cruelty free synthetic beaver cap over a cap made from an actual beaver. Yes it probably is better, but you are still wearing an ass on your head.

It’s 2023, most people live in urbanized areas where a truck is similarly ridiculous, especially the modern “luxury” models. Those that actually use their vehicles for hauling things at a farm want real work trucks and tractors (regardless of engine type) with lower and longer beds.

Aren’t these archives protected explicitly under several points in US Title 17 Section 108? https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#108

M365 is an option even without Windows, but LibreOffice and/or NextCloud could work too.

It’s not like the land wouldn’t be viable for high end housing if the corps could push for rezoning. It doesn’t have to stay only office space.

I’m lost on this one.

What would your preferred frequency be?

One of the new weekly special creations at my local ice cream shop. It changes every week, but I like trying the new flavors they create.