Raccoon🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈

Computer Scientist, Media Creator, Programming Teacher, Business Consultant, Worked in Politics (all sides), Psychology Reader, and AI-Safety Warrior.

Mastodon fan since last decade!

I made this account to talk about my professional and academic interests.

MODERATOR DISCLAIMER: This is the personal account of a user who happens to be a moderator. The views expressed by this account do NOT represent official statements by TechHub.Social, unless signed as such.

She / Her

Writing at...: https://Writing.Exchange/@Raccoon
Ponies at...: https://pony.social/@Raccoon
Birdsite: https://twitter.com/RockstarRaccoon
Tips / Donations: https://ko-fi.com/rockstarraccoon

Public Key

npub1t509kjwmls0u7an3jrx2kre70c5rjxnyrn6f3pr58r9grxpeuxysf9kgs5

NIP-05 Address

raccoon_at_techhub.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs968jmf8dlc870wecepn9tpul8u2perfjpeaycs36r3j5pnqu7rzgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dssyy5em

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1t509kjwmls0u7an3jrx2kre70c5rjxnyrn6f3pr58r9grxpeuxysf9kgs5

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-10-27 19:17:10 UTC

Shoutout to the record number of #Israelis flying back to #Israel from abroad to #vote against the criminal #Netanyahu.
Y'all are taking part in an election, which, if successful, will start rebuilding the future of Israel and the #MiddleEast, after everything he has done to destoy it. He has taken so much from your country, and now you may finally be able to bring him to justice.
#politics

2026-10-26 07:00:59 UTC

Kind of swamped with reports right now.
Some sort of #SpamBot has taken over a bunch of old accounts, some of which have been here since 2022. This isn't as simple as mass banning, as some of these are clearly legit accounts that have been compromised, but we are working through the backlog and actively working on some features that will allow us to quickly handle this. These will be released to the community when they are working.
This affects all servers run by our current Admin...
- TechHub.Social
- Aus.Social
- Mastodon.Cloud
...I haven't had time to check if any other servers are affected, but the Admin is still investigating the method. We will send that along too.
Sorry for all the #spam coming out of our servers right now. We're working on it, and we ask that y'all be patient and recognize this is a temporary result of some sort of attack, and is taking time to sort out.
I haven't seen us there, but I wanted to make sure this was stated in case a #FediMod puts us on #FediBlock or #InstanceBlock over this: this is not intentional, and we are trying to fix this right now.
Until then, #KeepCalmAndFediOn.
- #TechHub #Moderation

2026-09-18 18:22:52 UTC

I can never decide if #HenryDavidThoreau is actually a great #philosopher, or just a very quotable one from early #US #history. Like, he's a cool guy who says interesting things, but is there really a groundbreaking #philosophy here? :blobcoffeeraccoon:

2026-07-30 19:22:35 UTC

People looking at these polling numbers saying most people don't think they'd vote for a #DemocraticSocialist candidate should keep in mind that #BernieSanders, who has openly run as a #Socialist multiple times, is one of the most popular senators with polls saying that 56% of people would've voted for him in the 2020 general. This was before the #DSA started making all this rapid headway into the mainstream of the #Democrat Party.
I would say a lot of these people actually WOULD vote for a Democratic Socialist, but they either don't know what that means or they're angry at them for disrupting the party.
#USPol #election

2026-07-02 19:51:45 UTC

- reply

Wondering if @npub15vh…eqxv has seen this, as I see what he says in his non-tech posts... :blobcoffeeraccoon:

2026-05-22 17:29:15 UTC

- reply

Nope. 🙃

2026-05-22 17:20:57 UTC

- reply

And then you say, "why not just use your email?" and they're like, "I used a fake throwaway email."
Maybe we should add something to the sign up telling people not to do stuff like that...

2026-03-05 04:01:31 UTC

#Moderation Alert:
ali525-q.hf.space seems to be made entirely for someone to repeatedly spam a claim that they are a Palestinian requesting money. Users, keep in mind that this is a very easy #scam as there is no way for moderation to confirm that these people are who they say they are, and it is unlikely.
Fellow #FediMods, feel free to check this instance, and correct me if I missed something, but as of now, I have suspended the instance as a spam vector and will be putting it on the next release of the public blocklist.

2026-02-17 22:03:26 UTC

Seeing history repeat itself, wanted to encourage everyone on the #fediverse to take a few minutes to do something that might be VERY useful in a couple weeks.
A few years ago, and there was a massive influx onto #Mastodon. Those of us who had already been here did what we could to help new people get started, expanding our presence and creating invite links. It was also very helpful that a lot of people made early on, and linked them to friends, even though they didn't have anyone already here, which helped overcome the #NetworkEffect that deters people from joining.
#Discord is now creating a new exodus: they are forcing a large chunk of the user base to #dox themselves in order to maintain full access.
Other #OpenSource services, like #Matrix and #Fluxer seam positioned to be the new alternative people run to.
There's still time to be an early adopter and get their Network populated. Go make accounts, send them to your friends, be ready for one to take off.
Let's do this. ✊
https://fluxer.app/

2026-01-22 00:53:55 UTC

Which religious teaching do you prefer?
#religion #DoAsThouWilt #ethics #morality #law #wicca #satanism

2026-01-01 23:47:49 UTC

Following months of mainstream media crying about how he's the worst and is destroying all of #NYC, #ZohranMamdani has been sworn in as #Mayor of #NewYorkCity.
So remember, all the crazy things said they were saying up to this point? About a mere local representative who hadn't actually done anything but talk about affordability.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/zohran-mamdani-officially-sworn-in-as-new-york-citys-mayor-on-a-quran-full-of-symbolism

2025-12-29 18:13:11 UTC

- reply

As one of the few instances that doesn't require admin approval, TechHub has left ourselves open to a whole set of problems, mainly the amount of spam signups we get that we just can't sort through. If we had more tools to deal with that, like a stronger captcha, or a way to flag accounts to ask them to verify or be locked, that would make it easier on us, and a lot more feasible for other servers to open themselves like that.
I think this could be something for someone contributing code to the main branch to focus on, more tools for responsive moderation at scale.

2025-09-21 11:20:52 UTC

I sure see a lot of people moving to, or talking about moving to #Linux, as #Microsoft continues to bumble the whole #Windows 11 thing, and I see a lot of the people who do switch remarking about how easy and even fun it is to use (especially #KDE) and how their aging hardware is suddenly running like it did back on Win 7 or 8....
With all the time and work that has gone into Linux and the #OpenSource #Software that is easily available for it, leading to the current "better than Windows" situation, on top of #Valve pushing all this #Wine/#Proton support with #SteamDeck's #Arch based #SteamOS, and Microsoft failing to convince consumers in this round of "we won't write software for your computer that still runs well so go buy a new one.", could this be Linux's time?
Like I'm not saying it's going to overtake Windows in popularity, but damn, it's starting to feel closer to mainstream by the day...

2025-08-17 08:08:10 UTC

- reply

...and what was the consequence for Microsoft bringing an employee in to do this? Surely, if you pay for someone to commit a crime with you, you are even more guilty.

2025-07-20 18:16:09 UTC

#PSA
#Mastodon, nor the #Fediverse in general will never ask you to "verify" with payment details, especially not from a non-moderator account. If you get a message asking you to verify, it is a #Scam #Bot, and you should block and #report it to #moderation.
We are currently getting a wave of #spam from bots like this. Again, do not even click the link, just block and report.
- TechHub Moderation
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/114/886/898/344/791/134/original/ff5424bebd97b622.png
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/114/886/914/160/782/684/original/6d038ab90c0e3c4f.png

2025-02-06 13:55:52 UTC

- reply

Sounds good! Please keep making things, and don't be too upset by the way some people are phrasing their feedback.

2025-02-06 07:19:32 UTC

- reply

I'm sorry that there's people that get way too aggressive about this. Like I said, there really needs to be more tools for de-escalation and more cohesiveness, but everyone seems to be pouring into tools for reporting and blocking and fighting. When I saw the post on FediBlock, I wanted to tell that person to calm down, but I worried that would make it worse.
I don't know that the so-called "Fedi Mafia"is really much of a mafia as opposed to just a small group of people who go a little too aggressive when they see stuff like this, but yes, that is a bit of a problem because it scares off people who are making things in good faith.
Like I said, the person who made this is clearly talented and dedicated, I just don't think more tools for this sort of thing are really what we need right now. Honestly, I would rather see a system for endorsing profiles first.

2025-02-06 07:08:13 UTC

- reply

And I'm sorry you're receiving such negative and mean comments on this, because I really do think this was a good faith attempt at something, and I really don't want to discourage you here, but just looking at this I'm already seeing so many problems... I'm just saying you are clearly talented, and you have dedication and desire to do good, and your time would probably be better spent elsewhere.

2025-02-06 07:06:26 UTC

- reply

I'm going to be honest with you.
This is an interesting concept, but I am seeing a bunch of problems with it, and not seeing a reason to use this over the existing moderator report system. In fact, I worry that people will use this instead of the report button, which is already a massive problem with #FediBlock, along with the trolling and harassment that goes on with that tag.
This seems to just be FediBlock with extra steps.
I also want to note, if this is only negative reports, you will have the drawback of some of the most popular and/or insightful people having the most reports, because that's who's getting that traffic. If you are really dead set on doing this, you really should have a system that lets people say a person is good, like that they are credible or make good content, so that those negative reports can be outweighed by people vouching for the person.
And once again, that's a problem with FediBlock too: we don't need more tools for shaming. We need more deescalation.

2025-01-27 21:21:09 UTC

Just another reminder to report people to moderation before posting on #FediBlock. Just today, I saw moderation clearly active on MSTDN trying to ban all the accounts that roll on a rotating IP made, but missing some of the accounts because they hadn't all been reported.
Even if mods are aware something is going on, reports give us a way to solve the problem in a couple clicks.
Generally speaking, you don't need to make a public call out until moderation is either ignoring it or directly involved, and people using this hashtag for accounts that haven't been reported has been an ongoing problem.

2025-01-27 21:17:39 UTC

- reply

I try to keep track of it because some of the worst actors on the network show up on there pretty often, and even though a lot of them are repeats, it's a quick way to know when a new one has shown up.

2025-01-27 21:13:51 UTC

- reply

Well of course you didn't, if you did you probably wouldn't have boosted, lol. :blobcatlaugh:
But yeah, it's not obvious what's going on until you see the rest of the #FediBlock hashtag today...

2025-01-27 17:02:58 UTC

- reply

Hey @npub1sfq…cxv5, I saw you boosted this, and just wanted to let you know that david here is being blocked by a chunk of the network for what appears to be a targeted harassment campaign against some staff members he doesn't like, and just forced MSTDN into Account Approval mode by repeatedly spamming them with rotated IPs to Ban and Block evade.
- TechHub Moderation

2025-01-27 16:54:17 UTC

- reply

Just reposting to the #FediBlock tag that @npub1s20…twmm has put #MSTDN signups on Manual Approval for now, which should stop the harassment / spam from that one disgruntled guy. If you were blocking over this, please unblock them, as they are otherwise good about handling this sort of thing.
Also tagging, because they should be more used, #InstanceBlock, #FediUnblock, #FediReconciliation, #FediAdmin.
- TechHub #Moderation

2025-01-27 16:45:36 UTC

- reply

Yeah, I was guessing they're rotating their IP. Remember that, if they're all from a certain range, you can restrict that range to be approval-based.
I'll keep reporting them when I see them. Good luck.
- TechHub Moderation
CC @npub1sax…zsz7 because she was tagged in as staff.

2025-01-27 16:36:01 UTC

- reply

Hey @npub1s20…twmm, you have a FediBlock here because of a user who has been repeatedly signed up for accounts on MSTDN to harass people on the network, ban and block evading, calling people "Zoophiles", etc.
We aren't going to do anything here, but please figure out a way to stop the troll from spamming and harassing.
- TechHub Moderation

2025-01-27 15:03:20 UTC

#SpamBot Alert for #Moderator / #Admin teams...
I'm seeing a bot making the rounds which leaves the message "1-Click to Freedom", with a promise to "Erase Up to $100K Debt Instantly" and an obviously fraudulent link. If you have an automated system, go ahead and set it flag that.
#FediSpam #FediBlock #FediMod

2025-01-21 00:30:09 UTC

- reply

Golly, looks like I forgot to block you after all that talk about blocking Parcero.Casa for being block evasion by Parcero.Bond on #Fediblock / #InstanceBlock. I guess I should go fix that now...
Parcero.Casa
Hate Speech / Harassment - Block evasion by Parcero.Bond, making the rounds to harass people.
Attached is a screenshot of the interaction above...
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/113/863/539/685/739/887/original/f7ff5e6e989f81c4.png

2025-01-13 02:44:15 UTC

IF YOU ARE ON A #TECH INSTANCE THAT IS CLOSING DOWN, YOU CAN ALWAYS MOVE TO #TECHHUB.
We just got a new server in Canada and are adding new moderators: we are well-connected, and ready to bring in anyone who needs an account here. If your server is #ShuttingDown, and you want to talk about #programming, #engineering, #electronics, #AI, #gaming, or anything else #science and #technology related, please come over here right away so we have time to get everything transferred!
#FediTips: To move an account, make the new account, and go into Settings -> Account, and use the two options at the bottom to link each account to the other. You can also download all your data, and import some of your old #Mastodon data on the new one.
If you need help, feel free to contact me: I am open to helping anyone who needs it with making #accounts, moving accounts, and getting set up on a new #account.
#fediverse, please #boost this to help get people #moving from the closing servers!
#FediMigration #AllThingsTech

2025-01-10 22:42:51 UTC

- reply

Sounds like #AllThingsTech needs to catch up to #TechHub: our character limit is 1024.

2025-01-10 22:12:20 UTC

- reply

Also, #GetFediHired

2025-01-07 14:53:10 UTC

#PSA Reminder that the numerous accounts popping up claiming to be people in #Gaza trying to survive #Netanyahu's attempted #genocide are not verified, and are, as far as #moderation can tell, mostly #scam accounts.
There are international organizations on the ground, trying to smuggle in food and medical supplies, and sneak people out. They are not charging money to #palestinian families, and as anyone in a disaster zone can tell you, money is effectively worthless when basic infrastructure is gone.
I do not personally see any reason someone from #Palestine would be asking for money, unless it is to try and get some hoarded supplies or secure passage out of the area. Once again, that's not only difficult, but there are international organizations already smuggling supplies in and people out.
If you see these accounts, please do not give them money, as some are even believed to be fronts for terrorists like #Hamas or pro-genocide groups. Report and let a #moderator figure it out.

2024-12-25 16:16:28 UTC

I feel like #SpaceKaren is giving free #donation advertising to #Wikipedia with this message.
If you don't want to donate to Jimbo, consider responding with a donation to the #EFF or #ACLU, as he's effectively threatening to target independent media here, and these are the groups which will be on the front-line against him when he takes control of the regulatory system...
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/113/714/345/192/245/345/original/23492bedd40fb0b2.jpg

2024-12-16 22:35:13 UTC

- reply

This is just the latest in a string of problems I've been hearing about with Hetzner as a hosting provider: perhaps you should consider moving.
If @npub140y…0uvc needs to go somewhere else, or wants to create a mirror somewhere, there are plenty of servers that would be happy to do so, with hosting companies that will have an immediate middle finger response to any requests for takedowns by the Russian government.

2024-12-13 23:09:01 UTC

- reply

Personally, I usually don't see them, or maybe only a couple of them if I scroll for a while. This might be a matter of who you follow: if you don't follow many people or hashtags, you might not have seen those posts, but if you follow a lot of people, especially bots that post something every hour, they might have gotten lost in the timeline

2024-11-28 23:46:24 UTC

@npub15zr…ftwu
Please don't boost my moderation messages like that lol, I was trying to ask quietly. XD

2024-11-16 22:10:36 UTC

- reply

What would the server be like, compared to others, and what is stopping you?

2024-11-14 20:27:23 UTC

- reply

Was explaining to [@mcjevans](https://hachyderm.io/@mcjevans ) earlier, when BlueSky has server issues, it's network wide, because it's not decentralized: the servers are all trying to work together to collect and serve content. When this happens, it can mean slowdowns, posts not showing in a timely manner or at all, or simply not being able to connect.
This is why Fediverse has a much more scalable model: individual servers handle their own traffic, regardless of other servers.

2024-11-12 19:29:11 UTC

- reply

Hey, C.IM staff, I wanted to contact you, first to apologize for dropping the above post without talking to y'all first. It was poor judgment, and I wouldn't want someone to do that to us.
Second, I want to know why that account hasn't been banned, as it has been used primarily to harass several people, and is clearly in violation of your rules. What's going on there?
Just want to keep an open line of communication.
- TechHub Moderation

2024-11-12 18:29:15 UTC

I don't think I've ever done this for an individual user before but...
#FediBlock @npub15j6…6st3, especially if you can see the comment above this.
I am reaching out to the server's staff, as this is clearly in violation of their rules, and I am not sure if they just haven't seen this yet or what.
Attached is a screenshot of the account's timeline, which is entirely abusive posts...
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/113/471/430/726/940/175/original/801ad2ac093462ae.png

2024-11-09 15:19:26 UTC

- reply

Note that part of it might be that you're on Kolektiva, which is blocked and limited by a few of the major servers.

2024-11-08 18:35:10 UTC

Regular reminder that Jewish people, as a whole, cannot be blamed for what the #Netanyahu regime is doing in #Gaza / #Palestine. Most Jewish people cannot vote in #Israeli elections, do not have influence over that government, and overwhelmingly dislike Netanyahu himself. Even in israel, we see a chunk of the population openly protesting what is happening: support is not unanimous there. Even then, the majority of support is coming from anger and fear, not some innate desire to carry out #genocide.
Blaming Jewish people, as a whole, for what a group of extremists are doing in #Palestine is not only as absurd as people blaming #Palestinians, as a whole, for what Hamas did, it is counterproductive to the greater movement, where Jewish voices are the most effective ones.
Antisemitism is no more a winning argument than #islamophobia, and neither are really appropriate or civil discourse.
Stop blaming entire groups for the actions of a few members.
- TechHub Moderation

2024-11-06 13:39:42 UTC

Reminder to people in #Europe and #Canada that there are a lot of #transgender and #disabled people in the US who could use your help right now. There are a few #charities which are going to need some heavy funding over the next couple years (the Trevor Project and ACLU come to mind), and we also have a #MutualAid hashtag right here on Fedi. Please also consider that servers in the US, like this one, are talking about relocating to a safer country, which may change our financials.
If, per chance, you'd like to help a particular transgender disabled moderator who may need to relocate in the next year, my KoFi is at...
https://ko-fi.com/rockstarraccoon

2024-11-05 23:11:36 UTC

- reply

So while I am still concerned about this #election, and I am still telling anyone who hasn't voted yet to go to the polls, and anyone who knows anyone who hasn't voted for Kamala Harris yet to pressure them to go vote for her, what I am less worried about is the political climate a few decades from now.
Because what we are seeing is not going to last.
An ideology built upon petty grievances, demands for violence, and outright lies, cannot live in an era where people's daily lives are steadily improving and information flows freely. It is simply not sustainable, and it will not last...
...and the leaders of these ideologies know that. The billionaires and the white supremacists, the Elon Musks of the world, recognize that there is not a future for their movements, that they are being rejected in favor of new systems which benefit everyone.
That's why they are working so hard to undermine it, to slow us down.
But they will fail.
We are seeing the last gasp of fascism.
See y'all after the election.

2024-11-05 23:07:00 UTC

- reply

Something that the #conservative and #authoritarian #dictators of the world truly hate about the #internet is its ability to connect us, not simply to educate people, but to expose us to each other: the world is a less nationalistic place simply because people from countries like the US, Germany, Russia, Iran, Japan... places we have been constantly told are full of people who are nothing like us, who were simply born to be the enemy.
And what do we inevitably find?
That we are all the same. We are all one human culture, one human species, sharing one planet. We all want the same things, and at the end of the day, we don't want to fight each other.
The ideologies of #fascism, #nationalism, #racism, #queerphobia, all the #bigotry and #hate, are scary, and it's terrifying that so many people are willing to support them...
But they are on the way out.
They are obsolete.
They are obviously objectively wrong.
...and people are smart: everyone is starting to realize it, even when it's subtle.
(cntd)

2024-11-05 22:55:41 UTC

As we near the end of the #US Election, I'm going to wind down on talking about the voting stuff. If you have not voted yet, you still have the time to go to the polls and do so: this is close, and your state could very well be on the line. It would greatly benefit everyone here if Kamala Harris wins.
This post isn't about that though.
Something I want to say, as the din of everyone trying to get everyone out to vote dies down and before the chaos of Trump's inevitable preemptive victory declaration, is that we have to remember, either way, there is so much #hope for the #future.
Yes, a Trump victory will be disastrous. Businesses will close, culture will be damaged, lives ruined, and innocent people killed, in the US, #Ukraine, and #Palestine.
Yet we will continue to fight him and his people. There are so many of #activists who will do everything in our power to fight him, and to pressure Kamala Harris if she wins.
...and, in the long term, we are WINNING.
(continued in thread)

2024-11-05 19:52:45 UTC

- reply

In light of the US Election tonight, the network is expecting a wave of #spam, #harassment, and #misinformation, especially after Trump preemptively declares victory.
#Admin s, do your #Moderators a favor and make sure you've got the worst-actor servers blocked.
This is a list I have assembled of all the worst servers TechHub has encountered, with explanations. These are not simply things I saw on #FediBlock or #InstanceBlock, these are hardcore servers where I personally found serious reasons we could not have them on the timeline: #Racism, #Harassment, #Pedophilia, etc.
I just added a couple more.
You can download an importable CSV at...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H6TljzFoEtZ23QE_vaGlJUl6bC7J1I4J
While I encourage you to glance over the reasons, and reach out to me if you think there are any servers that shouldn't be there, I do not recommend going to them to check: many contain illegal content.
Let's all keep Fedi safe together!

2024-11-04 17:24:28 UTC

#PSA
Reminder to everyone in the #US to get your documentation together in the next 48 hours.
Donald Trump will declare victory tomorrow night, and whether he wins it or not, there's going to be a lot of chaos. If he does win, it will be imperative for every #American to have proper documentation ready: fascist governments often put in serious hurdles for anyone who doesn't have their papers, and it could get very hard to get them after the election.
This is especially true if you are a member of a #marginalized group, especially when he is targeting like #queer, #hispanic, #muslim, #palestinian, or #jewish people.
Be sure to make sure you have a copy of your #SocialSecurity Card and #BirthCertificate.
Do not wait to get your papers together.
Be safe. Be prepared.

2024-11-04 17:04:03 UTC

- reply

You know, I used to avoid watching the political ads at the campaign I was supporting, or in general. I'm kind of getting it though: watching these can sometimes offer a bit of encouragement.

2024-11-04 04:49:45 UTC

- reply

And I will say, part of what I think makes this somewhat significant for me to say is that Tech Hub is not a liberal server by any means: we are probably one of the most conservative servers on mainstream Fedi. At the end of the day though, there are a few things that we obviously all agree on, and we wouldn't be here if we didn't...
Gay, transgender, and other queer people have a right to exist in public as themselves.
Black, native, hispanic, and other nonwhite people must have equal rights under the law, and should be protected from racism.
Democracy is the most legitimate form of government, and dictatorship and fascism are failed systems which must be stopped.
...and the best community is one that is not controlled by corporate interests, but the community itself.
Long live the Fediverse, and VOTE FOR KAMALA HARRIS.

2024-11-04 04:34:41 UTC

- reply

...and to continue for a moment, let me get into the personal side of this.
I really do love this place, so full of interesting people that I don't think I'd encounter anywhere else, so full of actual discourse, and yet so safe for many groups who don't otherwise have a platform they can feel safe on. Not only that, I see this place is being directly beneficial to #democracy and perhaps human #culture itself: I believe very strongly in the #Fediverse, as a movement.
That's why I #volunteer as a #moderator on #TechHub in the first place, it's why I work so hard to bring people together, it's why I put together that massive "worst actors" #blocklist.
This call out is not simply an attempt to capitalize politically for some random candidate, I really and truly do believe that Donald Trump will be a threat, not only to many of our most beloved creators, but to this network itself, should he win.
Kamala Harris, despite any flaws, is most certainly our ally. Vote for her, get your friends to vote for her.

2024-11-04 04:27:12 UTC

As we get closer to the election, I have realized something which is important to the #fediverse, be it #Mastodon, #Misskey, or any other #instances...
Elon Musk, the person many people fled Twitter to avoid is now effectively a member of Trump's inner-circle, and should Trump win, he will have direct influence over the #FCC and #FEC. The consequences of this will be disastrous, not only because it will end all regulation of his businesses, but will allow him to directly attack the Fediverse using regulatory levers. While it's not clear if there is any legal backing for this, most #US based #servers cannot handle this.
This is on top of the partisan fight over #NetNeutrality, which Trump went after during his time in office, but Harris will likely protect, just as previous Democrats did.
That is why I have no choice, not simply as an #American citizen in a marginalized group, but #TechHub's head of #moderation, to tell my fellow American users to vote for Kamala Harris.
Our #Network may depend on it.

2024-10-31 18:06:33 UTC

- reply

> "The timing is suspect"
Kamala Harris was calling for a ceasefire in 2023, LONG before it became an issue in a close election. We found out as long ago as April that Biden had actually been quietly overriding Netanyahu's demands for larger weapons: we know that because Netanyahu himself threw a public tantrum over it. When Netanyahu was invited by Republicans to speak before Congress, two-thirds of Democrats boycotted in protest of his regime's War Crimes. Rashida Tlaib, the ONLY Palestinian-American in congress showed up to hold up a sign in the chamber and brought with her a Palestinian who works for the US branch of UNRWA. That aid worker, Hani Almadhoun later wrote that “The only person that reached out while my family was being genocided was Vice President Kamala Harris.”
EVERYONE who is on the fence over the Gaza thing should read what he had to say...
https://zeteo.com/p/kamala-only-official-to-call-palestinian-america

2024-10-31 17:42:44 UTC

- reply

To clarify, the argument that we are making, and said "we" includes most Muslim/Palestinian groups, is not simply that Trump would be worse, but that Harris presents us an actual path to ending this: she has repeatedly voiced support for a ceasefire, repeatedly pressured Biden to take a stronger stance on this, and is one of the main voices in the administration's support for food and medical aid. Note that Biden has repeatedly set up negotiations, and gave Netanyahu a 30-day ultimatum on significant de-escalation 15 days ago.
So no, while they aren't as aggressive as many of us would like, I would not say they are pro genocide. They are, in the words of many palestinians, "our only hope".
...and if you don't want to listen to a queer and disabled person begging you to stop throwing us under the bus and vote for Kamala Harris, have some actual Palestinian groups...
https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/arizona-palestinian-arab-muslim-and-progressive-democrats-and-community-leaders-statement-on-presidential-election/

2024-10-29 22:13:01 UTC

- reply

We are looking at two separate things then, because from everything I have seen, Harris is the candidate who keeps talking about the need for a ceasefire and general de-escalation, while Trump has outright stated that he wants to give Netanyahu bigger bombs, more leeway, and deport all Palestinians Because he claims they are all criminals and terrorists. He has even literally said he wants to have protesters shot.
Kamala Harris will allow Palestinians who are here to stay where it's safe until it's over, Kamala Harris will support food and medical aid to the people there, and Kamala Harris will be more aggressive about forcing the Israeli government into peace negotiations.
The difference is night and day.
At the end of the election, the only way to stop this will to pressure whoever wins. The odds are a lot better with Harris than they are with Trump.

2024-10-28 04:14:30 UTC

#US
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/113/383/096/680/266/490/original/7a039dee44e3c0dc.png

2024-10-26 06:15:29 UTC

- reply

His own generals are calling him a fascist at this point, to be clear. I understand why there's been hesitation to do so, but that really is the correct term to describe this political ideology: the only reason people don't want to say it is because people act like there's something wrong with calling a fascist a fascist.
It's not just a random insult word though, it's a fact. People need to learn about the ideology.

2024-10-24 18:24:50 UTC

After having conversations with quite a few Trump supporters, seeing a common theme that a lot of them really don't like #marginalized groups being allowed to vote, I'm noticing there has been a pretty strong uptick in messaging out of conservative / #authoritarian #propaganda sources like #HillsdaleCollege specifically talking about "the importance of the #ElectoralCollege." and to a lesser extent about preserving the #TwoParty system...
I think they are seeing the same thing I'm seeing: we are reaching a critical point of people being sick of the two-party system and all the other anti-#democracy systems in the #US government.
Once again, this election is a mandate on democracy itself, and I think we could get rid of the Electoral College in the next 4 years, and make a major dent in the two-party system by the end of the decade.
That alone is reason not to give up on democracy, and GO VOTE FOR KAMALA HARRIS.
#USpol

2024-10-23 20:32:26 UTC

- reply

And, to respond to any further doubt of the difference between these two candidates here, here is an article about how the Trump family is already talking about divvying up the area formerly known as #Gaza once the #EthnicCleansing of the #Palestinians "cleans it up", so they can build some Trump resorts on the waterfront.
They are ready to clean out Palestine, and they are ready to personally profit from it.
Do not be fooled into thinking Trump will just be another president, or that he will have any qualms with murdering an entire civilian population, even if it's just for money or to get a few compliments from War Criminal #Netanyahu.
https://apnews.com/article/jared-kushner-trump-israel-waterfront-property-901895eeafee867e69d0c4582a4deb47

2024-10-23 20:19:54 UTC

- reply

And in case y'all are thinking "no she hasn't said she wants a ceasefire", Kamala Harris has repeatedly said for the past year that the civilian casualty counties unacceptable she wants the entire thing to end. She has been one of the more intense advocates within the Biden administration for long-term peace in the region for a few years now.
...and now that Sinwar is dead, she's been using that for renewed pressure against Netanyahu to stop the bombings.
If you want peace in the Middle East, and you want Netanyahu's killing campaign to be brought to an end anytime soon, she is the person you want to vote for.
https://www.reuters.com/world/harris-says-wont-give-up-pushing-end-israel-gaza-war-2024-10-19/

2024-10-23 20:10:51 UTC

I hear a lot of people talking about #Israel and #Gaza in regards to the US election, and I worry that a lot of the discussion seems to be missing key points, but I can't seem to figure out how to convey them.
To all the people who are making election decisions based on #Netanyahu's #genocide campaign, if you aren't willing to listen to queer and disabled Americans, I once again implore you to listen to actual #Palestinians, both in the United States and in #Palestine, and their thoughts on the candidates, from an #Arab American news source...
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2024/07/palestinians-gaza-warm-kamala-harris-prefer-anyone-over-trump
#GenocideJoe #islamophobia #WestBank

2024-10-17 14:48:00 UTC

- reply

Also, because it really needs to be stated as many times as it takes for people to understand this, while we were trying to get people in the areas this was happening to evacuate, we were also having to tell them to stop listening to Donald trump, because he had convinced a chunk of them that if they left, FEMA would come and steal their property to give to illegals or something.
Like, this hit a republican area, and we had local Republican sheriffs and City officials having to counter this flood of crazy misinformation while we were trying to mount a hurricane response.
Meanwhile, Biden and Harris were working with the Republican Governor, DeSantis, going on TV telling people to evacuate and passing along other information, which is what every other candidate in history before Trump has done.
I'm not going to tell people how to vote, but everyone needs to understand that.

2024-10-17 14:42:15 UTC

- reply

I've got to say, I saw this on TV when they aired it locally, and it's a great graphic.
It really explains to the people living in those areas how dangerous the #StormSurge we are talking about can get, because so many of them want to stay behind and try to mitigate damage as it happens or something, and we keep trying to impress upon them that the best you can do is put your valuables in high places or in your car as part of your prep, and drive out of there. This only happens in the couple miles closest to the water, so you only need to go like a couple miles inland to get away from this.
When I lived near the coast, I evacuated three times, and it was basically just driving to a friend's house for the night. The third time ended up being two nights because it was #Hurricane Ian and that one was over us for like 24 hours, and when I got back, the house had had a foot of water in it and all the cars on the street had been destroyed by #flooding.

2024-10-11 05:09:41 UTC

So, after Harris' 60 minutes interview, which he was also offered and declined, Trump is not only claiming that they somehow magically made her answers better than they were, but threatening to use presidential power to shut down #ABC and #CBS, among other 2news organizations, once elected. This was pretty much inevitable, and par for the course for an anti-democracy candidate who lies constantly and wants to be the sole creator of the narrative.
For all the people in the #MainstreamMedia however, this should be a wake up call: I don't know what y'all expected, but there was never any reason to believe that Trump would not come after you simply because you keep giving him incredibly favorable coverage.
A threat to all of America is a threat to all of America.
Maybe we can all come together now, #Media and informed activists alike, and work together to bring truthful reporting about Donald Trump to the general public's attention?
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/10/media/fcc-rosenworcel-trump-cbs-license-60-minutes/index.html
#USPol

2024-09-29 04:57:42 UTC

- reply

It's super weird, because I went on the official Green Day account earlier to listen to a song, and even the music video had been taken down. (This song was "Last Ride In", which they used for the name of one of their 7-Eleven coffees for the American idiot anniversary)

2024-09-28 17:06:28 UTC

- reply

And here I was about to try and pressure them... :V
I was thinking about posting something in the near future to try and get the other servers that haven't blocked them yet to group up and threaten to block them if they didn't start respecting the fact that some servers don't want to be scraped. Personally, it's not an issue here, because my understanding is they are just indexing for searches, and that theoretically means better reach for us: the point of blogging is to say things in public. The issue I had was the block evasion.

2024-09-28 06:19:19 UTC

- reply

Of the tens of thousands of servers on the fediverse, there are about 200 or so which have administrations which actively support Naziism, Pedophilia, Terrorism, and other serious issues which #Moderation on mainstream Fedi blocks on sight.
TechHub only blocks instances we see as a serious threat to our timeline / users, but we are old and I am thorough, and thus, we've accumulated a considerably large (200+) list of the WORST instances. I publish a curated and annotated version of this list so that #Staff / #FediAdmin s can see it, and potentially import all or part of our blocks.
You can find it at...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H6TljzFoEtZ23QE_vaGlJUl6bC7J1I4J/
In light that moderation issues will increase as we near the US Election, I have just pushed another update. I HIGHLY recommend every admin look at this, and consider importing all or part of it.
- TechHub Moderation
#FediBlock #InstanceBlock #FediAntisemitism #FediRacism

2024-09-28 04:48:18 UTC

Interesting...
I just got a follow request from #Awakari, with its own detailed and formatted message, and it never occurred to me that that's the sort of thing that #ActivityPub supports, though it does make sense.
I'm also a little surprised because my understanding has been that the main reason they are controversial is because they don't get permission to crawl people's profiles, but here they've sent a customized agreement type thing for me to look at...
#crawler
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/113/213/360/265/917/476/original/09ffc4c1710f4ece.png

2024-09-27 20:28:45 UTC

- reply

Different servers use different software, and I'm pretty sure infosec.exchange uses a fork of Mastodon. It's very common for forks to have support for formatting, which the protocol allows, even though vanilla Mastodon does not (for some inexplicable reason.)

2024-09-26 14:33:51 UTC

- reply

Their website has language about concrete goals, which include encryption on private messages and better support for long form / rich text posts like those on CoHost or WordPress, which I would be in favor of. I think the most concerning thing here is that there are a couple companies listed as being involved who don't seem to be involved, namely Facebook/Threads...

2024-09-26 14:15:26 UTC

So... Has anyone on here actually talked with the people from the #SocialWebFoundation?
I can tell the #Mastodon Organization has, but #Threads is also listed there, while I don't see any other names that aren't some corporate entity. I'm all for groups that want to expand the #Fediverse, even for-profit ones, but it's a red flag when an organization that purports to be for a general movement doesn't have an open line of communication with rank-and-file server-runners and volunteers...
Edit:
I just realized that it was founded by @npub1764…nuj0 who is actually very active in mainstream Fedi, and one of the maintainers of the actual protocol. While that doesn't elaborate on actual intentions, it is good to know that at least it's someone who is directly involved, and not some random corporation. #EvanProdromou

2024-09-25 20:57:57 UTC

- reply

I screenshot, copy/paste into Mastodon, click the caption button, then click the button to automatically caption it. It takes a minute, but it does it without me having to input, and it's accurate enough I can just make a couple minor edits.

2024-09-25 20:51:07 UTC

Just wanted to say, as a #FediMod, I really appreciate that #Mastodon lets me click a button to caption screenshots of text for me. It means I don't have to caption these racist / sexist / pedophilic things I put up on FediBlock / InstanceBlock.
Thanks Mastodon!

2024-09-18 02:38:06 UTC

There is a Lunar Eclipse right now.
Go outside and look at the Moon.

2024-09-17 21:36:16 UTC

- reply

That it could stop eligible voters is an understatement: it's likely to shut down the entire ability to register for most americans, meaning voting registration would effectively close as soon as this thing is passed at the end of this month. It also won't prevent non-citizens from voting, because they are already prevented from voting: you have to give valid information about being a citizen, like your social security number, in order for a voter registration to even work.

2024-09-17 20:38:12 UTC

- reply

Same. Always happy to help anyone who needs to move to TechHub.social.

2024-09-08 09:31:12 UTC

This should go without saying, but anyone who actively participates in targeted harassment campaigns (also known as brigading) should be banned from mainstream #Fediverse.
I find it insane to see users who are relatively engaged in the running of the network itself doing it to actual server staff.
Don't participate in that bullshit.
If you have an issue with a server, announce your block reasons and move on, the rest of us can look at them and think, but don't make it some personal crusade, and definitely don't encourage some mass action. This goes both ways: I don't care who started it, don't escalate it into some network wide drama.
Stop infighting.
This is not how we grow a network.
#FediBlockMeta

2024-09-04 22:03:31 UTC

Reminder that there are currently several issues with the federated #reporting system, including that #Mastodon #instances don't parse #Misskey #reports properly, and that #Akkoma instances aren't getting reports from #Sharkey at all. Developers are working on these, but in the meantime, let's all remember to make sure reports are going through before we assume they're being ignored: there have been multiple cases of instances getting into fights over misunderstandings like this.
Keep your communication lines open: the #Fediverse is a communal project, and it's up to us to make it work!
#FediMod #FediAdmin #FediStaff #Moderation #FediBlock

2024-09-02 21:01:12 UTC

- reply

...jeez what? I said your local mods dealt with this for you...

2024-09-02 20:56:38 UTC

- reply

No problem, though it looks like your instance admin already saw this and blocked it, so you should be fine. 🙂

2024-08-28 09:06:40 UTC

- reply

Though I'm not too into the acronyms, "feminism appropriating transphobes" or "feminism appropriating reactionary transphobes" is a very useful and descriptive term. I also like to use the phrase "Christianity appropriating misanthropes" for a lot of conservative movements that make claims about having some basis in Christianity.

2024-08-22 04:16:21 UTC

#Trump supporters be all about "Muh #Economics", until you start trying to talk economic policy with them and suddenly they don't really know anything about metrics or #policy or what the two candidates are even proposing or really even want to talk about economic policy at all so why are you grilling them???
Yeah. We know what "Economy" you're referring to. It's the one where you don't like the gains minorities are making.
You have been heard, loud and clear.
#politics #USPol #2024Election

2024-08-22 00:15:22 UTC

Was talking to someone about #BlueSky the other day, and how they apparently used some sort of #AI for #moderation. It occurs to me that someone could eventually build some sort of tool for moderation on #Mastodon and the greater #Fediverse, which could use similar AI to flag posts it thought were inappropriate, thus taking some load off of #moderators. It also occurs to me that this may actually become necessary, as spammers and other bad actors get access to more powerful AI, which can do large-scale attacks on our social network.
I don't think I am going to try this anytime soon, but it occurs to me that someone could relatively easily put together an open source AI system for flagging posts.
If we could set aside the concerns about power consumption / environmentalism that come with large-scale fast #LLM systems, how would people on #Fedi feel about AI being used as a tool for moderation?
Please respond to and #boost this #poll, and post any thoughts about it in the comments!

2024-08-21 20:24:28 UTC

- reply

What I found interesting, when I looked, is there are a few on there I don't recognize, that aren't on our list, listed for pedophilia... wondering if we should check those?

2024-08-20 19:55:11 UTC

- reply

Same. Like I said, wrongful death lawsuit waiting to happen.

2024-08-20 19:09:38 UTC

#JDVance #Trump #KamalaHarris #Harris #mastodon4harris #MastodonForHarris #2024Election
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/112/995/911/296/620/759/original/2f9b111812d2cbd2.png
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/112/995/911/924/255/538/original/85fb251529050910.png
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/112/995/922/955/843/052/original/5bd5816c2432c7e0.png

2024-08-20 07:38:57 UTC

- reply

Was in a Tesla the other day. The door opened with a button push, which had to roll down the window partially because apparently the part that seals it is not part of the door but the actual door frame itself.
Not only did this, among the many other strange aspects of the car, strike me as the kind of mildly absurd thing someone who wasn't familiar with driving cars would design, I am terrified to think of what might happen if someone is stuck in that car in the event of some sort of power failure: a Pinto-style wrongful-death lawsuit against Tesla is inevitable at this point, because someone is going to die when they can't escape that car in an emergency.

2024-08-20 02:27:12 UTC

- reply

So, just a reminder, this is not all AI servers.
I have run multiple AI systems on my computer right here, even trained a couple. They were not quick and they were not highly advanced, and training took hours, if not days, but they ran on this laptop.
The specific systems they are talking about in these articles are like, the server-farms on which chat GPT instances are trained, and which are used to run single queries from huge numbers of people quickly enough to justify going over the cloud and not just running it locally.
So, this isn't really a critique of AI enthusiasts at home or smaller level applications, this is a critique of capitalism deciding that keeping the models absolutely restricted was more important than reasonable use of water.

2024-08-18 22:20:18 UTC

- reply

I had an issue with the screenshot, because it should not say the name of your instance like this, but when I asked the person who posted it, they quickly removed it. Posting it here for the reference of anyone who was more concerned about that than the AI.
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/112/985/348/049/892/054/original/5b61720498062735.png

2024-08-18 22:14:03 UTC

- reply

So I just wanted to say, even though obviously we're another AI friendly instance and we're not going to block y'all, I'm not comfortable with the fact that you just posted a report on main, especially looking at the people gathering to make fun of this person. That's a quick way to get a harassment campaign going, and I would personally rather you not do that, or at least hide the source first

2024-08-18 22:09:07 UTC

- reply

I don't like that you're using the report system to "get under a staff member's skin", but yeah, it also discomforts me to see this person posting a report with an instance name on it. Very harassment adjacent behavior.
And Nus, this is the instance owner.
Edit: I asked the instance owner here to remove the name from the post, and they went ahead and did that, so my complaint no longer applies.

2024-08-16 19:20:39 UTC

#FediBlock / #InstanceBlock
pieville.net
Hate Speech / Harassment: Admin is "on #TeamWhite", advocates "Killing Jews".
I noticed I'd added this to our pending blocks and couldn't figure out the origin, which means I must've looked at it during a sweep and not made a post.
#BlockAnnouncement #BlockReccomendation #racism #FediRacism #antisemitism #FediAntisemitism #FediMod
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/112/973/277/043/008/921/original/56c70b2babe0549b.png
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/112/973/284/233/921/675/original/68c826e17481b524.png
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/112/973/303/171/760/043/original/570a7aa79226bb26.png
https://files.techhub.social/media_attachments/files/112/973/310/745/655/306/original/7f072f5a43a65655.png

2024-08-15 15:41:58 UTC

- reply

Releasing a minor update to TechHub's public #Blocklist: added a couple things, fixed a couple issues. Making this available to other Fedi admins.
Link is still the same...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H6TljzFoEtZ23QE_vaGlJUl6bC7J1I4J/
We recommend servers block these instances because they are known bad actors, where we have seen direct evidence of extreme levels of bigotry, harassment, and pedophilia.
While you should look into every list you import, and I definitely encourage anyone importing this to skim the list and pay attention to the given reasons, I do not encourage going to the instances in question, as many contain illegal content such as terrorism and #CSAM.
I release this list in the hopes of helping servers which are new or have less moderator-time get the known-offender instances off their timelines, especially ones which continually appear on the #FediBlock and #InstanceBlock tags.
- #TechHub #Moderation

2024-08-09 22:42:47 UTC

- reply

Blocked me too, lol, definitely not a great addition to the conversation though.

2024-08-09 21:18:08 UTC

Hey #FediBlock / #InstanceBlock / #FediMods,
I got a report about the single user instance, Abraham.SU, in which the owner was calling the argument that January 6th was an "coup" attempt "Weak Tea".
https://abraham.su/@chris/112933573441837968
You can see the thread of responses, in which I asked him for clarification.
Further investigation shows these other complaints about him, which don't meet block-levels on our end, but may on someone else's...
https://med-mastodon.com/@hannu_ikonen/111435196532968149
https://www.threads.net/@chrisabraham/post/C90RUS7hcdk
https://sfba.social/@dangrsmind/112929554048622717
...anyone else have anything interesting to share about it? This dude is really questionable, but I'm looking for a "smoking gun".
- TechHub Moderation

2024-08-09 21:10:11 UTC

- reply

You only answered the first two.
The third and fourth one were...
What about the damage done to the building, the artifacts, and the offices of elected representatives?
"Coup" may be a bad word for it, because the government continued afterwards, but what word would you use for what happened?

2024-08-09 20:57:40 UTC

- reply

@npub19mv…dn40
What about the dudes with military-style gear and zipties, which they apparently planned to use on members of congress?
What about the damage done to the building, the artifacts, and the offices of elected representatives?
"Coup" may be a bad word for it, because the government continued afterwards, but what word would you use for what happened?

2024-08-09 20:50:06 UTC

- reply

What about the dudes with military-style gear and zipties?
What about the shots fired into the congressional chambers?
What about the damage done to the building, the artifacts, and the offices of elected representatives?
"Coup" may be a bad word for it, because the government continued afterwards, but what word would you use for what happened?

2024-08-08 22:42:32 UTC

- reply

This is what I keep saying about the issue, both on discussions and to the admins themselves. This isn't just Lunduke, this is everything that makes it so hard to figure out where they stand on what.
We can't say they won't platform something we can't have on the timeline, because we don't know where THEY draw the line. All we know is that they have things that we wouldn't allow here.

2024-08-08 22:32:45 UTC

- reply

UPDATE:
Vetted and added a few more instances, mostly what was missing from Binbows' PediKill list.
New list is at the same URL as the old one, can be imported on top of existing lists, see above post for details...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H6TljzFoEtZ23QE_vaGlJUl6bC7J1I4J
Reminder that this list is representative of instances where we have seen EXTREME behavior, beyond a single account: racial slurs, pedophilia, terrorism, CSAM, etc.
This list is not exhaustive: it is everything WE have seen direct cases of behavior we would block over, and we try to block sparingly. Instances may have slipped through the cracks. Not being on this list is not an endorsement.
This list is NEW. If anyone sees anything on this list that they feel was inappropriate, feel free to tell me, and I will go recheck it.
- TechHub Moderation
#FediBlock #InstanceBlock #FediAdmin #FediMod #Moderation #Racism #CSAM