The money quote IMO is at the end:

Reddit, like any commercial platform, is only a community until its owners need it to be something else.

That's a good reason to be mindful of what we're building here on Kbin, Lemmy, and other federated networks. We're not just trying to build a Reddit methadone, to help us down from our high after quitting cold-turkey. We are, I hope, aiming to build (or rebuild) a community -- one not dependent on the monetizing whims of a private owner.

The author is right: Spez lost site of the community aspect. Here's an opportunity to show them that the idea still means something to a lot of us.

In the short term, people will come by to lollygag. In the long term, there's only so much John Oliver anyone wants to see in a day, so traffic to those subs will likely fall.

This is a naked appeal to have John Oliver cover the Reddit drama on Last Week Tonight once the writers' strike is over, and I am here for it.

Sadly, I suspect spez will see this as a win, since he's got a major celebrity name-dropping his site and encouraging people to visit it.

But of course, John meant "Reddit" the way we mean "Reddit" -- referring to the community, not the company or the product or whatever.

I will add that many of us who work remotely using publicly accessible wifi also use VPNs, and Imgur actively blocks IPs from multiple commercial VPN providers. If you want those users to see the image you're sharing, Imgur is not the way to go.

Pixelfed works well with other Fediverse services like Kbin and Lemmy. Try hosting there!

Yeah, I wouldn't call it misleading, but it's poorly written for sure. Active voice would be clearer and more succinct, e.g. "BlackCat claims to have hacked Reddit, threatens to leak data"

Also, if you're arrested in Louisiana and tell the cops "Just give me a lawyer, dog," be sure to make clear that there's a comma between "lawyer" and "dog." Otherwise the courts may conclude you haven't invoked your constitutional right to an attorney because you were asking for a canine.

Mastodon is primarily a microblogging social media platform akin to Twitter. The other two are primarily multi-forum board akin to Reddit.

All three rely on the ActivityPub protocol, so there is some intercommunication between them (esp. between Lemmy and Kbin). That's why they're often referenced in the same breath. That, and most websites operating under these standards are not run for commercial profit.

They previously announced that they would federate with ActivityPub, but yesterday we learned that it won't happen for "three months." With all the European regulatory issues and other factors, I'll bet it will be a lot longer than that. In fact, I'd be surprised if we ever see full federation capability.

Doesn't really solve the question of "how do I pick an instance," just substitutes one set of instances for another

Why should I care who made the software if they don't profit off my use of it? I'm not giving anyone at .ml a dime. Nor can they cash in and sell .ml the way (say) Reddit could do with its users -- at least not without risking blanket defederation and the flight of pretty much everyone using that site..

Neither Lemmy nor Kbin is a "system built for propaganda." They are systems built for community and communication. Which means they can certainly be used for propaganda, but also for many other things. I'm not going to write off an entire protocol just because a fraction of the people who use it are being jerks.

I scorned the Independent when they reported a few weeks ago that Trump would be indicted "tomorrow." None of the usual journalists in the know confirmed, and plenty of reasonably reliable experts cast doubt on it. And then the next day came, and lo and behold, the indictment was issued.

All this to say, I don't take the report as gospel, but I take it seriously.

I moved here two years ago. My tactic for initial pronunciation lessons has been to ride the SkyTrain and adopt the pronunciations used for station announcements.

Based on that, it's "LOW-heed"

I can't speak to the newer models (and have heard bad things about the company's customer service lately), but a Rad Power Bike from a few years ago would probably be decent for most uses.

Probably good to specify some additional things so people can help: What country do you live in? How far is your commute? Do you need options for cargo (baskets, a rack for panniers, etc.)? Any preference for stepover frames vs standard? Does bike weight matter (lighter ones tend to be more expensive)? Storage options (apartment or house/garage)?

I think @tchambers put it well on his Mastodon post: no need to preemptively block, but "stay vigilant with eyes wide open and a finger on the block button."

As I said above, I'm also on lemmy.ca. That has a donation link with funds going solely to the admins at that instance.

But even if every penny went to Chairman Mao Ze Lemmy or whatever, it wouldn't matter to me because I wouldn't donate a penny. So again, no one's profiting off my use.

Tusky is best for those who are newer to Mastodon. Visually it's very clean, straightforward to use, and largely free of bugs (it helps to have been around for so many years).

For users more familiar with Mastodon, I'd go with Fedilab. Despite a few bugs, it's the most customizable option, with so many features you can tweak to your own tastes.

But but but mah neighbourhood character...

I think you may have intended your comment as a top-level one rather than a reply to mine. But in case there's any confusion, there isn't a single thing about my comment above that suggests anyone should be "disrespectful" to police or anyone else.

Nor was disrespect at issue in article I linked. A guy demanded an attorney, as he was permitted to do under the US Constitution; he was denied that right; and a Louisiana Supreme Court justice articulated a frivolous reason for excusing that denial. Even if he had been disrespectful (and there's no indication he was), that should not be acceptable.

Some hypothetical about individual disrespect has no bearing on a systemic abuse like that. Which is why I assume you didn't mean your comment as a reply to mine.

Kbin is really only one instance (kbin.social - the only alternatives are alt language instances, I think?

Nah, there are like two dozen instances that are still accepting signups, and most of them are not language-specific in any respect.