Make sure you’re inviting the right person to your Signal group!
To help confirm someone’s identity and keep track of your contacts, @signalapp offers nicknames and information about the groups you share in common with your contacts.
Learn about Signal’s identifiers:
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@freedomofpress Smarter still would be to use something that uses in-person QR code key sharing in order to join conversations... like Delta Chat, SimpleX, and Briar. Nothing confirms someone's identity better than the real world, right? Those are decentralized and actually open source, too.
From the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker:
Update: The Associated Press sued White House officials today over ban on its access to White House events, Oval Office and Air Force One because wire service continues referring to “Gulf of Mexico.”
It asked court for emergency order rescinding ban:
I have one prediction for 2025 that I am most confident about.
2025 will be the hottest year on record (since 1850), just like the two years before it.
Tiny Apocalyptic Time Tip 🌐✨
If you too feel uneasy about
the state of the world,
and you too worry about losing access to one of the greatest knowledge treasure of the internet,
Know that you can download an
offline copy of Wikipedia!
Here's how 📚👇
1. Download the free and open source software Kiwix (this will be your reader): https://kiwix.org/en/applications/
2. If you want smaller versions of Wikipedia, you can download them within Kiwix.
Within the app, go to "Categories" in the menu on the left, then browse to a topic/version you want. Scroll to the bottom for Wikipedia mini, for example. Click on it then click "Download" on the right 
3. Once you have downloaded a database, click on "Opened" on the left > database you want to search > "Open Main Page" on the right.
4. You can use the Search field on the upper-right to find topics like on online Wikipedia! 🔍
5. If you want the full English version of Wikipedia (110GB), you might want to download it from the torrent file instead. Install a torrent client of your choice (I use Transmission).
Then, go to this page, click on "Download - 109.89 GB" blue button on the first result (size may vary overtime), then select "Torrent file": https://library.kiwix.org/#lang=eng&category=wikipedia
6. Once you have the torrent file, open it with your torrent client to start the download. This is BIG! Be patient! 📦
7. Once the download is completed, open your Wikipedia `.zim` file with Kiwix!
8. Magic! 📖✨
Extra Tip: You can download many other awesome knowledge files from the Kiwix Library! Personally, I also got the iFixit knowledge base! ⚒️ 
#Wikipedia #Kiwix #Offline #KnowledgeIsPower
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Screenshot showing the application Kiwix with the open Wikipedia entry for Kiwix. Very meta.
Of everything they could've questioned Tulsi Gabbard about, Dems chose to grill her for past support of whistleblowers and the Fourth Amendment.
Because now's a great time to signal hostility to people who may leak evidence of government criminality.
https://freedom.press/issues/trump-attacks-oversight-dems-attack-whistleblowers/
New blog post: Three years of #SecureDrop
https://blog.legoktm.com/2025/01/31/three-years-of-securedrop.html
This is the longest I've ever held the same position at a job, so a few notes on what I've been up to over the past year and what I enjoy.
Congratulations to the ACLU, EFF and everyone else involved in this significant win for the Fourth Amendment.
Happy #NYC #CongestionPricing Eve!
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There's about 100 people in below freezing temperatures at 60th and Lex to celebrate, also a few counterprotesters.
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Cars cross 60th St and pay the #CongestionPricing toll that kicked in at midnight.
Loudest cheers are whenever a bus passes by.
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Some profanity aimed at NJ Gov Phil Murphy for all his (failed) last minute lawsuits to try and block #CongestionPricing
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An ambulance crosses into the #CongestionPricing zone. EMS and FDNY response times have gone up over the past decade because of increased congestion - the toll should help speed them up:
https://abc7ny.com/post/nyc-emergency-response-teams-set-record-slow-times-due-increased-congestion-report/15331864/
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I've uploaded my photos and videos from tonight's #CongestionPricing launch to Commons; you can find them in https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:New_York_City_congestion_pricing along with other folks' media. All are available under a 
license that allows for free reuse (usually only requiring attribution)
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Streetsblog has a really nice explainer and summary for everyone who hasn't been closely following the #NYC #CongestionPricing saga: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/01/05/congestion-pricing-has-begun-here-is-the-only-explainer-you-need
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@legoktm Woo!! I loved the quote in this article from an MTA spokesperson, responding to NYU Langone execs who objected to the toll because it "will hurt vulnerable patients and the healthcare workers":
“We don’t have a choice but to deal with horrible traffic congestion because people in ambulances are stuck in traffic and in some cases dying," said spokesman Aaron Donovan. "If NYU’s richly compensated executives are truly interested in cutting costs for drivers, they could start with their parking rates, which currently stand at $15 for 30 minutes.”
MaggieAppleton/digital-gardeners: Resources, links, projects, and ideas for gardeners tending their digital notes on the public interwebs
Using Python uv tool as a replacement for Poetry for a small Python utility I'm writing. It feels a lot like Rust's Cargo.
All that I can say for now is that it is certainly a better experience than setting up a virtualenv manually.
I am writing this proprietary tool for a team of JavaScript developers. I think they will feel that it is just as easy to use as npm/yarn or whatever is the new hotness this week.
Yes, I keep coming back to the thought which is expressed here...
Before You Can Have Smalltalk, You Must First Defeat Capitalism. - Matthew Gaudet:
https://www.mgaudet.ca/blog/2024/10/28/before-you-can-have-smalltalk-you-must-first-defeat-capitalism
"If you want to build a future that involves beautiful systems like Smalltalk, you must first rebuild the economic environment wherein it could be built. Wherein it could succeed!"
A look at Uber Shuttle, the shared bus service that has rolled out in over 20 cities and completed ~30M trips globally, as Uber awaits approval in Bengaluru (Anisha Sircar/Rest of World)
https://restofworld.org/2024/uber-shuttle-india-shared-bus/
http://www.techmeme.com/241207/p8#a241207p8
Food, meat [SENSITIVE CONTENT]
I made a "savory pumpkin pie" for Thanksgiving dinner. It contained bacon, onion, rosemary, cheese, and a bit of black pepper and cayenne. I think it turned out pretty well!
Alt...
Pie in pan on oven. The pie is covered with cheese.
To everyone when they see horrible privacy news about Microsoft replying with:
"I don't care, I use Linux"
Sure, you do. But does your medical clinic do? Does your therapist do? Does your family member typing a personal email to you in Word before sending it do too?
This is a systemic problem.
You cannot protect your own data only by using Linux yourself. You must also demand stronger regulations and enforcement to obligate organizations around to protect your data as well.
Problems with Free and Open Source Software
https://njoseph.me/blog/posts/foss-problems/
My last blog post for September. After not writing any blog posts for 4 years, I wrote 4 in one month!
New blog post!
Using small AI tools on Debian GNU/Linux
https://njoseph.me/blog/posts/small-ai-tools-debian/
I am using the word #AI as it is meant to be used, as click-bait. 😉
check out this beautiful post by @jimmyhmiller on What It Means To Be Open
I have started quoting liberally in my linkblog (subscribe via RSS).
Earlier, I was only writing my own summary or opinion of the subject, but quoting adds more context. This is inspired by the writing style of Pixel Envy blog. https://pxlnv.com
FreedomBox 24.14 has been released! This one adds a new "Automatic repair" option to the Diagnostics page. When enabled, it will attempt to fix some issues that cause diagnostics to fail.
https://discuss.freedombox.org/t/freedombox-24-14-released/3143
FreedomBox 24.6 released to Debian (unstable) with several fixes related to the setup, uninstall, and backup/restore for Wordpress and Zoph apps.
https://discuss.freedombox.org/t/freedombox-24-6-released/2982