The impression I have is that Germans are bigger users of the Fediverse in general than other countries, as in statistically overrepresented. Mastodon is originally a German project. Germans also created a Fediverse application for buying and selling second-hand items, Flohmarkt (Flea Market). Some other posts here have mentioned that Germans are culturally/historically more interested in privacy than many others, which may help explain the interest in the Fediverse. Finally, Lemmy is also an European project, so it makes sense that there would be more Europeans here, and Germany is the largest European economy and the most populous Western-European nation. Those are all probably factors contributing to this.

Millions of users, no. That only happens with either massive marketing and/or sheer luck to become the popular thing.

Niche communities, yes, if the software is tweaked a little. We already have niche communities. Now it’s just a question of making sure that the people who are interested in those topics and subscribed become more aware of posts in those communities. In other words, just a different algorithm for the main feed. Lemmy and Piefed have already tried adding new algorithms, but they didn’t seem to do the job (at least Lemmy’s new algorithm - I haven’t tried Piefed’s yet). Oh, and those new algorithms that would promote posts in niche communities to have more even standing with posts in large, general communities would need to become the default or at least widely adopted by users in order to have the intended effect.

For sure!

I don’t know about spambots, but here is one explanation of the Piefed karma mechanisms I’ve read here:

https://lemmy.zip/post/57943283/24279809

Oh, yes, I only noticed after replying to you that the OP mentioned gaming. I generally wouldn’t recommend most SFF PCs for gaming either.

Though spend a bit more for a solid i7 and avoid SFF.

The SFF’s can be great for just browsing, office use, light photo editing, etc. Obviously nothing too demanding, but they save a lot of power for their intended purpose. I picked up a USFF Lenovo ThinkCentre about the size of a Mac Mini for $100 a couple years back.

Interesting points. Piefed, the software on their instance, does have some form of karma, but supposedly it’s not publicly visible. Unfortunately I don’t know/recall the details of what effect that karma has in practice. Still, it makes me wonder if it might encourage karma farming by some users.

Very cool, thanks again!

Someone had made a bypass hack that didn’t even need 3D anything, only generated metadata, but the ID vendor has patched it: https://age-verifier.kibty.town/

Awesome, thanks, looks interesting! I had never heard of it before, and I’ve been researching Spanish courses for a while now.

Not to mention that American citizenship brings with it the burden of having to file and possibly pay US taxes even if you don’t live in the US. The US is one of only half a dozen countries in the world that does this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_taxation

Thanks, this is insightful and useful, and I’ll keep it in mind for if there is another opportunity.

You’re welcome!

Yes, good points.

Thank you, that is insightful and useful. I’ll definitely keep that in mind for if another opportunity like this comes up.

What backing is there for this strike? For example, are there any labor unions, community organizations, and cultural leaders involved like in the recent Jan 23rd Minnesota strike? [Edit: the answer is a pleasant yes! https://nationalshutdown.org/home#endorsers ]

Thanks for linking it. I had seen it. It’s a legitimate question. There seem to be lots of small organizations, but I haven’t noticed any of the major national unions yet. However, we have to start somewhere. If we could only build momentum on this, perhaps it could grow into something much larger.

Right, I’m thinking this way too, but it seems that there are many dimensions to this question. Aside from potential impacts on me and on my employer, I’m wondering by which mechanism does a general strike create an impact? Upward pressure? News coverage? Public sentiment and consciousness? All of them combined?

Honestly, this question is on my mind as well.

This is a different situation because we’re not making demands of our respective employers but of the federal government. I’m not sure what the right answer is.

When you see my comment in your inbox, you can click the small icon below it that looks like a chainlink. That will take you to the original comment I replied to. From there you can also navigate up the thread.