Twitter is, of course, a closed and centralized system. Both Mastodon/Fediverse and Bluesky/ATmosphere attempt to replicate (some of) its key features in such a way as to move (some) power away from the center. How do they differ? It's Complicated™. Ongoing thoughts: 🧵⤵️ •1/
‣ The Fediverse is easier to understand, because its model is very similar to email. You sign up to a server, which creates an identity for you, and you can use it to exchange messages. Except that messages are (usually) public, it works very much like email: … •2/
… your server stores your messages for you, receives replies from other servers and keeps a copy of them. Every server is a fiefdom unto itself: the user has no right, or even any real existence in the protocol, servers are responsible for everything, … •3/
Two countries, both having N citizens, are having an election in a few weeks. In both cases, there are exactly two candidates, which we'll call “red” and “blue”. But the electoral system is different! … •1/5
In the country of Popularvotistan, it's very simple: the candidate with the more votes is elected. In the neighboring country of Electoralcollegistan, it's more complicated: the country is divided into 3 provinces, each divided into 3 regions, each divided into 3, etc. … •2/5
… down to the individual citizen level (so N = 3^k for some k); to elect the leader, the country picks the candidate who got the most provinces, and in each province it's the same (the province picks the candidate who got the most regions), and so on. •3/5
OK, this 🔽 blew up (and I'll need to mute the thread). I can't respond to every reply individually, but there are a few common ones that deserve specific attention. So here are a few followup points. 🧵⤵️ •1/15
First, there are number of things that I forgot to mention. Like how many homeless people were forcibly removed from Paris ahead of the games, or students being told to vacate their residence because they would be used as lodging for the games. •2/15
Or how the price of metro tickets has been suddenly doubled(!) for the games. Admittedly this is more of a tourist tax, because locals typically have monthly cards or could buy their tickets well in advance, but this is still crazy from a supposed public service. •3/15
I think non-French and non-French-speaking readers should be told about how utterly insane things are now in and around Paris because of the Olympics are. The opening ceremony is one week away and they've already barred any access to the Seine! 🧵⤵️ •1/19
The different levels of security perimeters are incomprehensible, but basically all areas within ~100m of the Seine are now completely off-limits. You can only go there, even by foot, if you live there or work there, and you need to get a special permit in advance. •2/19
Getting the permit is no sure thing: apparently some people have had their application denied (no explanations given), so they're not allowed to go where they work, or even where they live. Nobody knows what's supposed to happen to them. •3/19
En tant que Français et Canadien, je pense qu'il est nécessaire que je dise un mot au sujet du fait que les binationaux sont soudainement considérés comme suspects en France, presque des ennemis de l'intérieur. 🧵⤵️ •1/22
Je suis né en France d'une mère française, et j'ai vécu quasi toute ma vie en France, je parle français depuis que je sais parler, j'ai fait mes études en France, mes amis vivent en France, je m'intéresse à l'histoire de France, au droit français, à la langue française… •2/22
Bref, je suis non seulement légalement français, mais, que ça me plaise ou non, je suis aussi culturellement français, et, je n'ai aucune honte à le dire, j'aime profondément ce pays, au moins autant que Monsieur Bardella. Même si en ce moment j'ai du mal à en être fier. •3/22
Une chose fascinante avec le regard que la droite et le centre portent sur la gauche française, c'est que la gauche du passé leur semble toujours plus acceptable que celle du présent: Gambetta, Briand, Blum, Mendès-France, on conteste très rarement leur héritage, … •1/11
… souvent même la droite reconnaît explicitement que c'étaient de grands hommes et affirme que la gauche les aurait ensuite trahis (Sarkozy en 2007 par exemple: «la gauche d'aujourd'hui [n'a] plus grand-chose à voir avec la gauche de Jaurès»). •2/11vie-publique.fr/discours/16640…
La gauche du présent, en revanche, ou du passé proche, paraît toujours détestable: la victoire du Front populaire de 1936, et l'alliance des socialistes et radicaux avec les communistes, n'a pas été accueillie avec enthousiasme par le centre-droit d'alors, … •3/11