That "el" person on IRC

Libera Chat and OFTC staffer.

Fosstodon moderator.

They/She.

Last Notes

2026-10-17 00:09:25 UTC

Hey everyone reporting the #phishing #massping #scam #spam posts, thank you!
Please note that these are mostly accounts that got hacked. Probably with password reuse.
#2FA & unique passwords could prevent this.
Are you currently using 2FA & unique passwords for your accounts on this website?
If not, then please reconsider!
A password safe is an easy way to manage both unique passwords and 2FA!
It might be inconvenient, but at least you won't be the face of the next round of this nonsense.

2026-10-15 18:27:49 UTC

Another round of hijacked accounts are currently spreading what looks like phishing links. Please report them, don't investigate the links.

2026-08-05 01:08:23 UTC

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@nprofile…hrzl @nprofile…ctza Hi, I'm one of the mods. To reiterate what my colleague already said, please do report the accounts if they're dominating the timelines. Especially if they're local, but also if they're remote accounts. We do allow some promotional stuff from FOSS projects obviously, but not flooding. Preferably include a small number of examples of the posts in the report.

2026-03-20 00:28:32 UTC

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- Commonly used tags are parties, locations, and regions related to european or middle-east conflicts etc.
- May be mimicking pro-israel rhetoric, posting islamophobia, or pro-iran rhetoric, posting antisemitism, to cause anger and stir engagement from hashtags
- May be mimicking Ukrainian Azov members to make Ukraine seem dominated by nazism
Running a fedi server is not just the monetary cost of hosting the server.
Someone must spend time, DAILY, on bullshit like this as well.
🧵 5/5

2026-03-20 00:27:58 UTC

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- Posts split up by "..." which results in some posts starting and ending with "..." and happens no matter what the instance's char limit is.
- Almost all posts have images, and the images are reused a lot (including across multiple accounts)
- Sentences sometimes miss spaces between them (a fun thing AI bots do, so y'know)
- Posts repeatedly end with usernames on other platforms, or media site links (texts get split across multiple posts, so not all will end in these)
🧵 4/5

2026-03-20 00:27:13 UTC

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- Usernames that look like random strings that are kinda pronounceable, 5 to 8 characters long.
- Cutesy ai-generated cartoon you'd expect from a random profile picture generator
- AI-generated portrait photo that does not seem to match the firstname_lastname account name.
- Bio that looks real at a glance, but if you read it, it actually makes no sense. Occasionally their posts are like this too.
- Extremely prolific posting on exactly one political topic
🧵 3/5

2026-03-20 00:26:24 UTC

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This kind of activity is not new. See also https://about.iftas.org/2025/10/05/coordinated-pro-russian-propaganda-network-targeting-activitypub-and-atproto-services/
If you are absolutely certain that you cannot close registration or at least require account approval, you will need to be very vigilant and have someone watching your account creations or local timeline constantly.
CURRENT Russian misinformation troll farm accounts will usually fit at least 4, but never all, of the below:
🧵 2/5

2026-03-20 00:25:56 UTC

Are you running an open registration mastodon instance?
Have you dealt with local accounts being reported for Russian troll farm or misinformation activity?
You NEED to look at more than just those accounts.
For each one that is getting reported, there are probably a dozen that do not. Once the troll farms get one in and that lasts a while, they'll come back and make more. Lots more.
🧵 1/5

2026-03-07 21:40:14 UTC

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@nprofile…z6pq @nprofile…uuu5 nope. these are artisan made stickers and buttons (crafted from the finest last-decade HP laser jet) I did for taking to FOSDEM :)
I have a button maker and had a lot of materials for button making that I've had for over a decade, and decided to use them up on a variety of project stuff for my travels through December and January.
Maybe Kris can tuck some aside to send to you :)

2026-02-19 07:09:40 UTC

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@nprofile…65q8 oh so they are actually capable of defining what they mean with numbers, curious...

2025-10-27 18:26:19 UTC

DEI is:
- Expanding interest by encouraging underrepresented demographics
- Letting those people know that they won't be alone, and their needs will be met
- Showing that leadership practices won't punish them while rewarding those who are otherwise equal
It is not:
- Selecting people based on demographic instead of merit and good attitude
The negative things you've heard about DEI? They are scapegoats and myths that folks use to cope with their lack of success.
@nprofile…c97c made the right choice.

2025-10-23 22:38:30 UTC

The more I hear about what omarchy even is, the more I have flashbacks to circa 2008 and managing the support chats for Ubuntu. This was in the aftermath of automatix/ultamatix, which were a bunch of very messy shell scripts that did daft “opinionated” things, written by a guy who couldn’t cope with criticism or take responsibility for what he did. Wonder who else remembers those time bombs?

2025-10-12 04:55:26 UTC

Credit where credit's due, it seems that recent vibe checks indicate that the hyprland community has learned from their past: https://crimier.github.io/posts/Framework-Omarchy/#the-hyprland-part-in-short
The Omarchy/DHH stanning situation however remains pretty fucking grim. Hopefully Nirav can figure out that simping for the art of a eugenicist does not a big tent make, apologize, and let us be allowed to have nice things again.

2025-06-06 19:55:01 UTC

Moderating a volunteer-run platform is multi-faceted and complicated in ways that makes game of thrones seem mild. I've been doing it for almost 20 years, and I have once again done the silly thing where I volunteer to help manage yet another community. This time as a moderator here on Fosstodon, since this instance has a decent user base crossover with what I am already doing elsewhere. My aim is to provide guidance, mentorship, and help set up better processes.