@GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa

Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · 5d ago

I was searching for some authors on the Fediverse today, and I discovered @ursulav@redwombat.social (T. Kingfisher).

Sadly, she hasn't posted anything since February 2023. I wonder if she will read this post, and if she does, whether she will consider returning to Mastodon? :-)

#bookstodon

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · 5d ago

Wordle 1 877 4/6*

⬛⬛⬛🟧⬛
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⬛🟧⬛🟧🟧
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧

#wordle #wordle1877

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · 6d ago

Happy Women's Day, South Africa! ♀️

#WomensDay #SouthAfrica

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · 6d ago

Wordle 1 876 5/6*

🟧🟧⬛⬛⬛
🟧🟧🟧⬛⬛
🟧🟧🟧⬛⬛
🟧🟧🟧⬛⬛
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#wordle #wordle1876

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Aug 07, 2026

Hey, I actually had no idea the eSports world cup was currently going on: https://esportsworldcup.com/en?utm_source=Mastodon

#gaming #EWC26

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Aug 07, 2026

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

-- Mother Teresa #quotes #love

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Aug 07, 2026

"Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted."

--Garrison Keillor #quotes #parenting

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 31, 2026

Replying to @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa

Incidentally, I'm also the sort to always tick the box to send usage data to the developers for apps I use. I figure the more information they have on how real users actually use their software, the better they'll be able to make that software. As a developer, I really enjoy seeing those sort of metrics from my users too, so it'd be hypocritical of me to not agree to give it to others. :-)

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 31, 2026

I've always been a bit of a survey junkie. Any time any company asks for my feedback, I'm going to give it. Especially if it's short. These days, I have an ulterior motive: if they ask what social network is my favourite and there's an "Other" option, I'll always choose it and type "Mastodon". Or if they ask what they can do to improve, or if I have any comments, my answer is always the same: "Join Mastodon". :-D #Mastodon #Fediverse

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 29, 2026

Replying to @JustinDerrick@mstdn.ca

@JustinDerrick@mstdn.ca @chroma@raccoonisland.social Yeah, I get that. And I get that it's a much bigger discussion. A lot of people don't WANT millions and millions of users on the Fediverse in general. And then there's the fact that some smaller instances couldn't sustain millions and millions of users. To me, I want the millions and the hundreds of millions and the billions. I want all the celebs to come. All the big brands to come. I want to see this place being the next Facebook or X or.... Even if that means trolls. I want us to go mainstream. With the exception, of course, that smaller instances wouldn't be able to handle it because it would just explode their overheads. For that, though, I think we need to ability for those to remain small if they want to. And we... almost do already, because you can block and defederate with other instances if you want. And you can open and close registrations if you want too, but I think we need a way to automate that process. Like IRC servers, where you can tell it, "don't allow more than 500 concurrent users in a server", we need a way to tell Mastodon to only accept a maximum of xxxx total users on a server, before automatically closing registrations. So you don't wake up tomorrow morning and suddenly see 100k new users having signed up overnight. That way a potential user could see something like, "Sorry, this server is already at capacity, so registration is closed. Please find a different server to join." :)

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 29, 2026

Replying to @chroma@raccoonisland.social

@chroma@raccoonisland.social The thing is, because there's a way to extract (monetary) value from them, those corporations can therefore justify investing capital into marketing, to make sure that more people know about them and how easy they are to use. And that's the point: marketing. Nobody's prepared to throw money at large-scale marketing campaigns for the Fediverse or IRC, because they have no way of making that money back. "If you build it, they will come" is no longer enough. You need to tell people about it. At scale. Not just one or two of your friends here and there, once in a blue moon, but thousands or hundreds of thousands of people at a time, constantly, so that it's always at the top of their minds. Neither the Fediverse nor IRC are particular difficult to get into. But people perceive them as difficult because there's a certain friction, a certain mental block, involved in the idea of selecting a server, and the for-profit networks take advantage of that by advertising the fact that THEIR platform is simple whereas the non-commercial ones are not. If we all banded together and each put some money down to start a massive, global, continuous marketing campaign for a month, I'm sure our platform would explode: I'm talking triple, maybe even quadruple, the MAU by the end of that month. But it has to be a constant, multi-platform campaign. I'm talking TV, radio, Google ads, X ads, Facebook ads, billboards, the lot. The average person should not be able to look anywhere for that month without being reminded of the Fediverse. We can do it. :-)

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 28, 2026

Replying to @oldrawgabbit@mastodon.world

@oldrawgabbit@mastodon.world I mean... there's no shame in it anymore. You don't have to stay in the closet. I certainly won't judge you. :-D

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 27, 2026

"Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though." #English #jokes

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 17, 2026

Replying to @libreoffice@fosstodon.org

@libreoffice@fosstodon.org To be fair, odt is significantly larger than docx. Which I guess makes sense, since docx is zipped. I found this out when someone sent me a docx yesterday, and I made changes to it, and then saved it as an odt before sending it back to him (because I want to start exposing more people to odt, and MS Word opens those fine). I was shocked at the file size difference. So as an experiment, I saved my edits as a docx too, and confirmed it: the docx was like 20kb smaller than the odt. :/

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 16, 2026

Replying to @dansup@mastodon.social

@dansup@mastodon.social I shiver with antici.... :D

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 16, 2026

Replying to @dansup@mastodon.social

@dansup@mastodon.social Ooh. New name and avatar. So *formal*! :-)

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 13, 2026

Replying to @dgoosens@phpc.social

@dgoosens@phpc.social

keeping people miserable is the best way to keep them docile, no matter what ideology

On that we definitely agree. And it's possible to do that regardless of the ideology too. :(

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 13, 2026

Replying to @dgoosens@phpc.social

@dgoosens@phpc.social Yip. And there will always be *someone* "in charge". Even if it doesn't start out that way, and despite the best of intentions at the outset, it is human nature to want to rule over other humans. And that person will inevitably become corrupt, because power corrupts, has always corrupted, and will always corrupt. :(

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 13, 2026

Replying to @dgoosens@phpc.social

@dgoosens@phpc.social Isn't that the whole message behind The American Dream(tm), though? That whoever you are, no matter where you are, or what you are, or anything like that, in America, you can make all your dreams come true? That essentially, in America, it truly *is* possible to become a millionaire? Ergo, if you're in America, and you're not yet a millionaire, you will be eventually, provided you're prepared to put in the work and never give up. Which, in principle, is a very good attitude to have, if you ask me. As opposed to Socialism, which essentially tells you that you will *always* need to depend on other people for your own survival, livelihood, and happiness. Don't get me wrong, there's truth in that too, what with ubuntu ("I am because we are"), but ultimately, I prefer not to have to depend on anyone else to get where I want to be. :/

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 13, 2026

This year, GirlCode runs from 15-16 August in South Africa; Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda from 5-6 September; and Ghana from 11-12 September: https://gadget.co.za/girlcodehackathon15m/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica #Women #SoftwareDevelopment #SouthAfrica

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 10, 2026

Replying to @jerry@infosec.exchange

@jerry@infosec.exchange Oh wow. Yeah, that would be cool. I'm sure there's no shortage of material! :)

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 10, 2026

Replying to @jerry@infosec.exchange

@jerry@infosec.exchange As in, who got breached this time and how could they be so stupid? :)

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 08, 2026

All my followers who want to be found by more people, edit your bio and include some hashtags you want to be known for[*], and also the hashtag #fedi22. Then go to https://fediverse.info/people scroll to the bottom of the page, and add yourself there. [*] You can also visit that page first and try typing in a few topics to get some inspiration. #Fediverse

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 08, 2026

Replying to @dansup@mastodon.social

@dansup@mastodon.social Ah, good point. So I don't have to remove myself first, right? Just re-add my handle?

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 08, 2026

Replying to @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa

@dansup@mastodon.social How often do you re-check profiles for added or removed hashtags? Because I added a few hashtags to my bio yesterday, but I'm not searchable under any of them yet....

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Graham Downs @GrahamDowns@mastodon.africa · Jul 08, 2026

Shorter attention spans are a boon for hackers: https://gadget.co.za/tiktokbrain74w/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica #infosec #CyberSecurity

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