Clarifying a couple things about Chinese New Year
Them: Can you confirm you have no more than 15 personal electronic devices in your carry on?
Me: (excitedly infodumping) Well, it really depends what you consider to be a device. Many of these computers themselves contain multiple smaller computers. Consider these microSD cards (waves a small anti-static bag around), each of which has a tiny ARM processor - designed by a trans person from the BBC Micro team, if I might go off at a tangent for a moment. Or the battery controller chip on the LiPo pouch protection circuit, which significantly reduces the probability of a thermal excursion. And let's face it, nobody wants a spicy pillow in their lap at 30,000 feet-
Them: Just say yes. (Pleadingly) Just yes. That's all I'm asking. I'm begging you.
This year at #39C3, it felt that the congres was bursting at the seams. Nearly all of the assemblies I know complained about having less room and less tables then requested. The infrastructure review posted numbers e.g. about ~20% more DECT-phone calls, more internet usage then ever, ....
And, by chance, I consulted the wikipedia page about CCC:de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Co… , which also lists the (approximate) number of visitors: 16K this year and only 14.5K last year. Time to go to #leipzig again?
Problem is, orga doesn't scale appropriately. Leipzig was too big and throwing more people at the problem (provided there are enough volunteers in the first place) leads to huge amounts of more communication and planning, before it even starts yielding anything else.
Unfortunately, growth isn't everything.
Thinking back to last year I remembered the us-east-1 outage, how it affected Signal and how some of the users freaked out that they have to rely on US hyperscalers.
Wouldn't it be useful if @signalapp (and maybe similar providers) published their infra requirements with little crosses and ticks, so alternative providers could aim for "good enough for Signal" service levels?
Related articles by @bert_hubert :
berthub.eu/articles/posts/the-…
We have extensive discussions about our enormous dependence on American clouds, but what exactly are we talking about? And is Europe equally dependent on all types of cloud? This article is aimed at policy makers, but it may also provide some clarity…Bert Hubert's writings
I've got one word for average internet users in 2026:
yunohost ( @yunohost )
Let me also say: domain names are cheap, and for less than $5 USD/mo, @Tutanota helped me create privacy-focused email addresses on my custom domain with a step-by-step guide
let Google & Apple & Microsoft read ads while you get real mail elsewhere
Today, Bulgaria adopts the euro as its official currency. 💶
A new currency, a stronger bond with Europe.
Travel, work, and business will become easier and more connected.
With Schengen now fully in place, this means more freedom, more opportunities, and a shared future.
Progress is not a dream. It is a choice. And Bulgaria has chosen it.
Let's keep moving forward together. 🇪🇺🇧🇬
Welcome to Bulgaria.
But why the official communicate is only in english ?
ec.europa.eu/commission/pressc…
On 1 January 2026, Bulgaria will adopt the euro as its currency, marking an important milestone for the country, for the history of the euro, and for the EU as a whole.European Commission - European Commission
Just a reminder that you really should #BoycottFigma.
The fact they slurp all your designs into their slop machines by default, and you have to go opt-out if you don't like them stealing your creative work…**all in a product which literally exists to aid creators**…makes me nauseous.
There are other design apps you can use! Really, there are!
DI-Day im #c3d2
Der @c3d2 lädt zu mehr digitaler Unabhängigkeit ein und wir kommen mit vorbei.
Ihr habt Fragen zu freien Messengern wie #Matrix oder #XMPP, #Linux, dem #Fediverse oder anderen #OpenSource-Themen? Dann kommt gern am Sonntag den 4. Januar ab 14:00 Uhr in die Räume des c3d2, Riesaer Str. 32, #Dresden.
#DIDay #DIDayHelpdesk #DIDAySprechstunde
Hi everyone, some AntennaPod contributors plan to join the FOSDEM conference in Brussels from the 31th of January to the 1st of February. It would be nice to meet up and maybe even grab some drinks together.AntennaPod Forum
Tak snad ten ohňostroj stál za to 🤷♂️
#darwinawards
novinky.cz/clanek/krimi-muz-v-…
Vážné zranění utrpěl zhruba třicetiletý muž v Českých Budějovicích, když během silvestrovské noci odpaloval zakázanou pyrotechniku. Ta mu explodovala v rukou a amputovala obě končetiny v zápěstí. Policisté případ řeší jako nedovolené ozbrojování.Klára Mrázová (Novinky)
MapComplete is a webapp which allows to use and update OpenStreetMap within thematic maps. This repository contains all of the source code.Forgejo
A fediverse client with better support for Akkoma, glitch-soc, and Iceshrimp instances.enafore.social
Huy, feliz 2026.
Solo puedo afirmar que no soy persona. Me sacan un ratito de mi rutina de horarios y ya estoy echo una mierda.
Pues nada a empezar el año.
This is an excellent article about how important (and surprisingly easy) it is to build yourself a community.
A little effort goes a long way
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/thi…
Some self-help for the New YearJames O'Malley (Odds and Ends of History)
Huh. Right at midnight the Danish electricity tax dropped to basically zero. Instantly dropping the price of electricity by 0.12 euro per kWh.
It'll be interesting to see if this has a behavioral effect.
Na loňském #OpenAlt jsem slyšel komentář, že v Česku se spotové ceny elektřiny nevyplatí. Zanesl jsem tedy do grafu spotových cen za minulý rok také fixní ceny ze standardního ceníku ČEZu. V 84% časových úseků jsou spotové ceny levnější než nejlevnější nabídka #ČEZ. Měl-li bych odběrné místo s průběhovým měřením, rozhodně bych přešel na spotové ceny.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
Denní graf spotové ceny elektrické energie pro den 10. 8. 2025Historicks spotová cena elektrické energie OTE
Ich bin jetzt in dem Alter, in welchem ich immer häufiger (Blog-)Texte, die in Light- oder anderen Zier-Schriften geschrieben sind, ins Notizbuch kopieren muss, um sie dort entspannt lesen zu können.
Nicht wegen der Schriftgröße, sondern wegen der fehlenden Kontraste.
Zu lighte Fonts sind, finde ich persönlich, nicht inklusiv. Ich bin da vermutlich nicht die einzige.
Liebe Blogger*innen, sorgt bitte dafür, dass eure Artikel vollständig, also nicht nur als Auszüge, in Readern mit meist gut lesbaren Fonts lesbar sind. Danke!
Das ist ja ein Punkt bezüglich genereller #Barrierefreiheit
Mit diesem #Tool können Betreiber den Kontrast ihrer #Webseiten prüfen lassen
Děkujeme všem, kteří byli součástí OSCloud v roce 2025 — uživatelům, podporovatelům, přispěvatelům i celé komunitě kolem. Do roku 2026 přejeme hlavně zdraví, klid, stabilní systémy, funkční zálohy a komunitu, která drží při sobě.oscloud (Oscloud News)
If you're looking for an interesting read, my top enjoyments of 2025 were:
Dreambound, by Dan Frey.
Of Monsters and Mainframes, by Barbara Truelove.
When the Moon Hits Your Eye, by John Scalzi.
Last Lesson, by James Goodhand.
God's Junk Drawer, by Peter Clines.
I'll be emailing out monthly updates throughout 2026 with all my newly-read material
if you want to be on the list or just read more about what I enjoyed this year, the post is up at
buttondown.com/SeansShelf/arch…
Well hello, dear readers about reading, and welcome to the start of a new year. As you might have noticed, the last few weeks of the year truly fell by the...Sean's Shelf
Borris
in reply to Ricky Enger • • •